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NEW YORK -- The man accused of kidnapping two Missouri boys and holding one of them for four years said life was good for him during that period, a newspaper reported Sunday.
Michael Devlin, 41, said his own parents, who live nearby, have not visited him since his arrest earlier this month, The New York Post reported.
"I don't know how I'm going to explain myself to my parents," Devlin told the Post in two 15-minute interviews at the Franklin County jail in Union, Mo., in his first public comments since his arrest, aside from a brief court appearance.
"It's much easier talking to a stranger about these things than your own parents."
The 41-year-old pizzeria manager is accused of taking 13-year-old Ben Ownby just after the boy got off a school bus Jan. 8 in Beaufort, Mo., about 50 miles southwest of St. Louis.
A schoolmate's tip about a white pickup led authorities to Devlin's apartment in Kirkwood, Mo., a St. Louis suburb, where they found Ben and Shawn Hornbeck on Jan. 12. Shawn had been missing since 2002.
"I guess I was relatively happy" during those four years, Devlin said.
Devlin pleaded not guilty Thursday to charges of kidnapping Ben. He also is charged with kidnapping Shawn but has not entered a plea in that case.
"I will not discuss anything related to the case," he told the Post.
Devlin said he "was never really interested in" romantic relationships but wouldn't say whether he was attracted to women.
"I can't talk about that because it has to do with the case," he said.
The Post said Devlin appeared downcast and red-eyed during the first interview Friday, but was smiling and more upbeat during an interview Saturday.
"I feel nothing," he said in the first interview. "I hide my emotions from other people. I hide the way I feel."
Around 2002, he started losing contact with close friends, most of whom he knew from Imo's, the pizza parlor he managed in Kirkwood.
"I guess you could say I was lonely. All my friends starting getting married and having kids," he said. "Hanging out with friends just becomes a lower priority (for them)."
In jail, Devlin is separated from other inmates because his lawyers and guards believe other prisoners could attack him.
"I'm not worried. It's inevitable. I will eventually have to deal with it," he said, "I haven't exactly done a great job of representing myself so far."
Devlin's attorneys, Michael Kielty and Ethan Corlija, criticized jail security Sunday and said they had previously advised their client against talking to the media.
They said they had a verbal agreement with jail officials that only family and Devlin's attorneys would see him. The lawyers claimed the reporter who got in to see Devlin presented herself as a "family friend" to jail officials, not as a reporter.
Kielty also said the woman told Devlin she was writing for a university publication.
The Post did not respond to the allegations that the reporter, Susannah Cahalan, told jail officials she was a friend. After speaking with Post editor Col Allan, spokesman Howard Rubenstein said, "The response of the New York Post is that they stand by their published report."
Rubenstein said later, "They're not going to make any further comments."
Kielty and Corlija said they planned to ask a judge Monday to move Devlin to a "more secure" facility, perhaps in nearby St. Charles or St. Louis counties.
"I don't care if she's a reporter for the New York Post, or the milkman, the fact that she can get in is a big deal," Corlija said.
Franklin County officials plan to investigate how Cahalan got access to Devlin, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. County officials declined to comment to The Associated Press on Sunday; they have previously said they believe appropriate security measures were taken.
The Post-Dispatch reported that Cahalan attends Washington University in St. Louis and used to work for the school paper. E-mail and phone messages left by the AP for a Susannah Cahalan listed as Washington University student were not immediately returned Sunday evening.
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Legal Question in Family Law in Illinois
me and my ex husband have joint custody of our children with me having physical custody I allow my ex husband to have the children in his care for 1 year...without my permission he gave his mother legal guardianship of our children can he do that?
Asked on 5/08/13, 10:46 am
1 Answer from Attorneys
Jonathan Shimberg SHIMBERG and CROHN, P.C.
Not without notice to you, if it is a full guardianship.
Answered on 5/08/13, 11:23 am

subset: commoncrawl


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Enamelled double glazed doors to aid thermal control in the Upper Perrin Gallery and provide inter-connecting vision between two gallery spaces.
Conceived to offer a new contribution to the museum whilst acknowledging the spirit of Lord Leighton's original studio home. A space intervention, with references to perception and the screens in Leighton's Arab Hall, combines the historic influences of the house with the present gallery use.


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|Among the paintings stolen yesterday was "La femme a l'eventail'' ("Woman with a Fan'') by Amedeo Modigliani.
PARIS — A thief stole five paintings valued at more than $100 million, including major works by Picasso and Matisse, in an overnight heist yesterday at a Paris modern art museum with a broken alarm system, officials said.
The paintings disappeared early yesterday from the Paris Museum of Modern Art, across the Seine River from the Eiffel Tower in one of the French capital's most chic and tourist-frequented neighborhoods.
The museum's alarm system had been broken since March 30 in some rooms, Mayor Bertrand Delanoe of Paris said in a statement. The security system operator ordered spare parts to fix it but had not yet received the equipment from the supplier, the statement said.
The museum reopened in 2006 after spending $19.04 million and three years upgrading its security system.
Christophe Girard, deputy culture secretary at Paris City Hall, said a single masked intruder was caught on a video surveillance camera.
He said "Le pigeon aux petits-pois'' ("The Pigeon with the Peas''), an ochre and brown Cubist oil painting by Pablo Picasso, was worth an estimated $29.2 million, and "La Pastorale'' ("Pastoral''), an oil painting of nudes on a hillside by Henri Matisse about $19.04 million.
The other paintings stolen were "L'olivier pres de l'Estaque'' ("Olive Tree near Estaque'') by Georges Braque; "La femme a l'eventail'' ("Woman with a Fan'') by Amedeo Modigliani; and "Nature morte aux chandeliers'' ("Still Life with Chandeliers'') by Fernand Leger.


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Regular price
1963 Corvette Stingray.
This image is from a patent for the 1963 Corvette Stingray filed in May, 1962 by William L. Mitchell on behalf of General Motors Corporation. This is an ornamental design for the Stingray and simply covers the 'look' of the vehicle.
Mould-made 100% cotton rag, acid-free archival papers and heavyweight Exhibition Gallery Canvas. Sizes are in inches.
All prints come with a margin:
If an image's dimensions don't match the paper's dimensions there is a wider margin on the narrowest side. The long edge on prints 47x34 and larger will vary depending on the dimensions of the photo and may be longer than the size listed.
Custom FramesWe work with Simply Framed to offer high-quality custom frames made in the USA. Allow an additional 2-3 weeks for delivery. Frames come in black or brown wooden finish and include UV-shielding plexiglass, acid-free 4-ply light cream colored mats with beveled edges, archival acid-free foam core backing, protective paperback finish, wall bumpers, hanging hardware + nails, hanging and care instructions. Frames arrive gift-wrapped in kraft paper.All framed sales are final.


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The left back scored two goals in the first half for the hosts but a goal from Baggies substitute Shane Long on the hour mark ensured a nervy finish at Goodison Park
The hosts looked to be cruising to victory after Leighton Baines plundered two first-half goals, but substitute Shane Long ensured a nervy finish with his headed goal.
Both sides started tentatively, with missed headers from Phil Jagielka and Romelu Lukaku the early highlights in a cagey opening 10 minutes. And matters took some time to improve, with 18 minutes having passed before Marouane Fellaini shook Ben Foster's post with a half volley inside the penalty area.
It would take a further 10 for a show of further genuine quality, but this time it would prove more decisive.
Baines collected the ball from Leon Osman 25 yards out after one of his trademark surges up the left and, in a show of class, found the top corner beautifully from the edge of the box.
The Baggies, who had been marginally second best despite the lack of cutting edge on show, were dealt a further blow when Thorne was forced to leave the field with injury. Things were about to get worse, though, as Thorne's replacement Claudio Yacob tripped Victor Anichebe in the box to hand a penalty to the hosts two minutes after coming on.
Baines, the scorer of the game's first goal, subsequently stepped up to send Foster the wrong way and give his side a 2-0 halftime lead which it had earned without breaking a sweat.
The teams came out with notably more enthusiasm in the second period but this simply resulted in a scrappy midfield battle rather than added quality, meaning the Toffees looked certain of closing out an easy victory with an hour gone.
However, the introduction of Long for the ineffective James Morrison changed things significantly, as the Irishman capitalized on Heitinga's inexplicable chip in the box to nod home with virtually his first touch.
That goal prompted a late flurry of attacking surges from both sides, with Osman's terrible miss in the box the most notable. The ball had bounced fortunately for the England international, but he did not take the invitation and smashed the ball over the bar from just six yards.
That was the best opportunity either side had before the end, as Moyes' men saw the game out well to earn another important win.


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Don't just fantasize about living in the loveliest house on the block. Our home improvement services and affordable pricing can make your dream a reality.


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Team Pat - Essex Allstars Hoodie Exclusive Essex Allstars Hoodie by ToxicFox.co.uk Show your support by choosing one of our 10 awesome hoodies... Not only can you Smell REEM, Eat REEM but thanks to ToxicFox you can now look REEM. Fast Dispatch 3-5 Working Days.
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text: On Fri, 3 Apr 2009 10:18:17 +0200, Thomas Davie <tatd2 at kent.ac.uk> wrote: >On 3 Apr 2009, at 09:25, Benjamin L.Russell wrote: > >>[...] >> >> Or is that a logo of two octopi, one with four arms, and the other >> with three? Oh no, the poor octopi! > >If it's an octopi, surely it should have 3.1415926... arms? Where's >the 0.1415926...? Actually, according to the Wikipedia entry for "octopus" (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus), I probably should have written the plural as either "octopuses" or "octopodes": >The Oxford English Dictionary (2004 update[26]) lists octopuses, octopi > and octopodes (in that order); it labels octopodes "rare", and notes >that octopi derives from the mistaken assumption that octopus is a > second declension Latin noun, which it is not. Since the 3.1415926... derives from a mistaken assumption, the 0.1415926... disappears in a poof of logic. -- Benjamin L. Russell -- Benjamin L. Russell / DekuDekuplex at Yahoo dot com http://dekudekuplex.wordpress.com/ Translator/Interpreter / Mobile: +011 81 80-3603-6725 "Furuike ya, kawazu tobikomu mizu no oto." -- Matsuo Basho^


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SRRT (Social Responsibilities Round Table) RoundTable
Salary and Leadership: Bridging the Gendered Gap in Librariesby Jennifer Dorning (non-member) on Wed, Apr 20, 2016 at 10:23 am
Learn how library professionals can confront and overcome the impact gender can have on compensation and leadership opportunities. Join the ALA-APA Salaries and Status of Library Workers committee online Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 1pm EST for "Salary and Leadership: Bridging the Gendered Gap in Libraries."
The webinar will cover the impact gender has on compensation and leadership opportunities as well as offer practical advice on how to bridge those gaps at your library.
The session will be accessible online through ALA Connect and will last approximately 90 minutes. Space is limited. Register early.
Speaker Biographies:
Jessica Porter is an expert on gender, leadership, negotiation and creating change. She is the co-author of the book Negotiating at Work: Turn Small Wins into Big Gains, by Deborah M. Kolb, (Jossey-Bass, 2015), and was the lead researcher of Sleeping with Your Smartphone: How to Break the 24/7 Habit and Change the Way You Work by Leslie Perlow (2012).
Jessica Olin is currently the Director of the Robert H. Parker Library at Wesley College in Dover, DE. Her professional interests include building communities at liberal arts college libraries, bringing the lessons of intersectional feminism to bear in professional settings, and helping others bridge the gap between library science graduate programs and professional practice. She blogs regularly at Letters to a Young Librarian and tweets (somewhat obsessively) at @olinj.
Michelle Millet is the Director of the Grasselli Library and Breen Learning Center at John Carroll University. She holds an MLS and an MA in History. Her current research interests include leadership and management of academic libraries, gender roles and stereotypes, and identity in librarianship. She has also published and presented extensively on information literacy instruction and assessment of student learning. Additionally, she teaches in the ACRL Information Literacy Immersion program.
Dorrie Sieburg is the Program Manager for AAUW's Salary Negotiation Workshops, Start Smart and Work Smart. Dorrie has been working with the program for over 6 years. She is responsible for program development and outreach, facilitator training, and workshop operations. Dorrie lives with her family in Asheville, NC.
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Labor and African American History Bus Tour at ALA San Franciscoby Jennifer Dorning (non-member) on Wed, Jun 3, 2015 at 08:39 am
Registration is still open!
A special bus tour during ALA will trace San Francisco's labor and African American history. The tour will explore labor sites as well as sites along San Francisco's African American Freedom Trail.
The roots of labor and African American history run deep in San Francisco. A. Philip Randolph touched off the modern civil rights movement from San Francisco's Hotel Whitcomb in 1935 when he convinced the AFL-CIO to certify the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters and ban segregation in the labor movement. Other historic labor events and activities include the West Coast Waterfront Strike of 1934, support for the Montgomery bus boycott, the United San Francisco Freedom Movement, anti-apartheid activities, and the church-labor coalition.
San Francisco's African American Freedom Trail tours the sites where African American pioneers locally changed the world. One of the most dominant features of Fisherman's Wharf is the public art of Sargent Johnson, whose work adorns the front and back of the main building of the San Francisco National Maritime Historical Park as well as the stadium of George Washington High School. Among those who drew inspiration from his work were Maya Angelou and Johnny Mathis, as they matriculated there. Just up Hyde Street from the Maritime Park is the Russian Hill mansion where Langston Hughes wrote and partied with the Hollywood upper crust in 1934-35. Also near the waterfront is the apartment where Alex Haley wrote the Autobiography of Malcolm X and ROOTS.
The joint labor and African American Freedom Trail tour will be led by Oxford University Press historian and Trail curator John William Templeton. Raise your cultural awareness of our conference host city with the knowledge of where movements were born and the greats drew their inspiration.
Date: Friday, June 26, 2015
Time: 9:30am, tour will last approximately 90 minutes. Depending on demand, more times may be added.
Departs from: the passenger loading zone on the south side of Mission Street midway between 3rd and 4th Street directly behind the Moscone Convention Center.
Cost: $25
Register at: http://www.californiablackhistory.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=58
Questions? Contact Jennifer Dorning at 202-638-0320 ext. 114 or firstname.lastname@example.com.
Please note: this tour is not sponsored by ALA or RUSA.
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What are we to keep? thoughts on the National Collection (DttP Spring 2015 feature article)by James Jacobs on Mon, May 4, 2015 at 11:03 am
I've written a piece for GODORT's journal Documents to the People (DttP) about the future of the national collection (aka FDLP collections). I hope you'll read and comment on "What are we to keep? Thoughts on the national collection" as well as the What are we to keep? FAQ which gives more context and additional bibliography.
The question of "how many copies" of print documents the FDLP should collectively keep is the wrong question asked for the wrong reasons and trying to answer it will only lead to the wrong answers and irreparable loss of information. For me, even thinking about answering it raises more questions. How can we know how many copies to keep unless we specify the purposes for which we wish to keep them? What are those purposes? How will we know if we are meeting our goals? How will discarding paper benefit users? How can we be sure that we are not losing information when we discard paper copies if we do not have an inventory of the paper copies that exist? How can we implement a policy that is so vague that it doesn't define things like "a requisite number of copies," and how decisions will be made, and which apparently treats a born-digital XML document created by GPO and an indifferent digitization without OCR text and missing its maps and foldouts as of equal value?
Let's be clear. We are talking about the records of our democracy. Loss of even a single page could damage the ability of historians, journalists, economists, and citizens to understand our history and hold our government accountable for it successes and its failures. We have those documents now in our libraries; there are not hundreds or even dozens of copies of these documents floating around in used bookstores or elsewhere. They are in our charge.
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draft response to GPO policy - please comment!by James Jacobs on Mon, Jul 28, 2014 at 11:09 am
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Contact your representatives to save NTISby James Jacobs on Fri, Jul 11, 2014 at 10:57 am
At the last ALA conference held 2 weeks ago, the Government Documents Round Table (GODORT) passed a resolution in support of the NTIS. The text of the resolution is below. While the resolution passed GODORT, it has been sent back to ALA's Committee on Legislation (COL) to work on some wording before being sent to ALA Council.
Though it hasn't passed big ALA yet, we're sharing the text of the resolution now in the hopes that readers — especially those in OK, MO, NE, AZ, MT and WI — will contact their representatives to tell them to SAVE THE NTIS!
Whereas some three million scientific and technical reports are held by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), thereby promoting research, innovation, and business;
Whereas since 1940, NTIS has been co-operating with federal agencies to collect, preserve, catalog, and provide their reports in paper, microform, and digital formats;
Whereas many federal agencies choose not to maintain collections of their own reports and to depend upon NTIS to provide these reports;
Whereas many federal agencies do not have statutory responsibility or the resources to provide permanent access to these reports and depend upon NTIS to provide them to other government agencies and the public;
Whereas the process of federal agencies entrusting their reports to NTIS ensures permanent access to the public, eliminates duplication of effort, and saves tax dollars;
Whereas since many of the federal agencies that published these reports no longer exist, many of their reports are only available through NTIS;
Whereas over two million of these reports are held only in paper or microform by NTIS and are not available in digital form from any source;
Whereas NTIS has the statutory authority to provide information management services to other federal agencies, including such programs as the Social Security Administration Death Master File used by insurance and annuity companies and the Drug Enforcement Agency Controlled Substances Registrants Data Base, which enables members of the medical community to prescribe and handle controlled substances, and the Federal Science Repository Service which supports the preservation and long-term access of participating agencies content;
Whereas the "Let Me Google That For You Act" ( S. 2206 and H. R. 4382) would abolish NTIS, and the "Frontiers in Innovation, Research, Science, and Technology (FIRST) Act" (H. R. 4186), as amended in the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, would repeal the law that authorizes NTIS;
Whereas these bills make no provision for the preservation of the reports and their cataloging data;
Whereas these bills do not provide libraries such as the Library of Congress, the national libraries, and libraries in the Federal Depository Library Program an opportunity to help "determine if any functions of NTIS are critical to the economy of the United States";
Whereas the American Library Association has long supported the provision of all federal government reports and publications, at no charge, to the public through libraries and other services;
now, therefore be it
Resolved, that the American Library Association (ALA)
1. urges the United States Congress to appropriate funds to ensure that the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) continues to act as a central repository for scientific and technical reports;
2. urges United States Congress to fund the provision of these reports to the federal agencies and the public at no charge;
3. urges the United States Congress to consult with librarians at the Library of Congress, the national libraries, corporate libraries, and the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) in determining "if any functions of NTIS are critical to the economy of the United States";
4. urges the United States Congress to put NTIS under the umbrella of the Office of Science Technology Policy (OSTP) directive, "Increasing Access to the Results of Federally Funded Scientific Research" (February 22, 2013); and
5. urges the United States Congress to fund a digital preservation plan for scientific and technical reports, which would be developed by NTIS, CENDI (formerly Commerce, Energy, NASA, Defense Information Managers Group), the Government Printing Office, the National Archives, federal publishing agencies, and the library community.
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FGI analysis of COL FDLP Task Force final reportby James Jacobs on Fri, Jun 27, 2014 at 02:00 am
Jim Jacobs and I have analyzed and have some comments on the FDLP Task Force's final report. You can find the comments at http://freegovinfo.info/node/8840 or below. We hope our comments are taken as constructive criticism. We appreciate the committee's work, but were left wanting so much more. Hopefully our comments will spur the committee, ALA, and the documents community forward to a better FDLP.
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Progressive Librarians Guild Meeting and Conversationby Mark Hudson on Wed, Jun 11, 2014 at 01:01 pm
Sunday, June 29, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., Las Vegas Convention Center N211
Denise Scott, 2014 winner of the Miriam Braverman Memorial Prize, will give a brief presentation about her paper "Deconstructing the 'Books for Boys' Discourse." Scott's paper examines the "Books for Boys" rhetoric, which labels some books as being specifically "boy books" in order to encourage boys to read. The paper analyzes the prescriptive nature of gendering and the problems that accompany the discourse's reliance on gender stereotyping.
Also on the agenda: John Chrastka, Executive Director at EveryLibrary, the first nationwide Political Action Committee for libraries, will speak about EveryLibrary and answer questions. EveryLibrary is an organization dedicated exclusively to political action at a local level to create, renew, and protect public funding for libraries of all types. It provides tactical and operational support to local voter awareness campaigns, seed and sustaining monies to local ballot committees and PACs, as well as conducting direct voter advocacy in support of library taxing, bonding, and referendum.
For more information:
2014 Braverman Award Winner Announcement
EveryLibrary: Building Voter Support for Libraries
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Progressive Librarians Guild Meeting and Conversationby Mark Hudson on Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 11:22 pm
Please make plans to attend the Progressive Librarians Guild Meeting and Conversation at ALA Midwinter in Philadelphia.
Sunday, January 26, 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., Pennsylvania Convention Center 202A
Conversation Topic: Libraries and Poverty
ALA's Policy Statement "Library Services to the Poor" states that "it is crucial that libraries recognize their role in enabling poor people to participate fully in a democratic society, by utilizing a wide variety of available resources and strategies." What policies, services and programs do you think libraries should be implementing to respond to the crisis of increasing economic inequality and the needs of low-income people in the communities we serve?
For those interested, here are two readings to give our conversation a shared point of departure:
Classism in the Stacks: Libraries and Poverty
2005 Jean E. Coleman Library Outreach Lecture by Sanford Berman
Extending Our Reach: Reducing Homelessness Through Library Engagement
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Librarians and Archivists to Palestineby Amy Greer (non-member) on Tue, Apr 9, 2013 at 03:45 pm
- 1390 Views
Please sign our petition for open access to ALL govt informationby James Jacobs on Wed, Mar 13, 2013 at 01:27 pm
As part of Sunshine Week -- and in conjunction with the White House's new policy on Open Access to federally funded scientific information -- a small group of government information librarians has started a petition on petitions.whitehouse.gov asking the Obama Administration to assure that there is free permanent public access to ALL authentic government information.
we hope you'll sign the petition and forward on to all your friends and social networks to help us reach our goal of 100,000 signatures by April 11, 2013! Thanks in advance!!
Require free online permanent public access to ALL federal government information and publications.
1. Assure that GPO has the funds to continue to maintain and develop the Federal Digital System (FDsys).
2. Raise ALL Congressional, Executive & Judicial branch information, publications & data to the level of federally funded scientific information & publish ALL government information as "Open Access."
3. Mandate the free permanent public access to other Federal information currently maintained in fee-based databases - including the Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER), the National Technical Reports Library (NTRL), & USA Trade Online.
4. Establish an interagency, govt-wide strategy to manage the entire lifecycle of digital government information w/ FDLP Libraries - publication, access, usability, bulk download, long-term preservation, standards & metadata.
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BioWare CEO Ray Muzyka offered his take on the future console arms race in a recent interview. Muzyka foresees a future where one gaming console could rule them all--a future that many gamers will likely never see become reality.
Read the whole story
"Thin client"! LOL! You mean a freaking console that allows us to rent our games.
Go screw yourself BiowEAr.
@Matt Clary
If you own a console you effectively already do. One reason I stuck with PC gaming was that my games would work 10 years later on a totally different machine (hardware wise). With consoles when the hardware dies and the manufacturer isn't making the system anymore your out of luck unless they made their new system back compatible or you can find a good one on e-bay (I can't imagine how angry I'd be if I had 100 genesis or nintendo games and no system). Then when the next system comes out they repackage those old games and sell them for 10 bucks a pop to you again.
@Kani, I agree, but this takes it to a whole new level. With a "thin client", you never even have physical possession of the content, the console would just be a dumb client connected to their network.
Never going to happen so long as the console producers are also producing hardware. See also Sega pre- and post- Dreamcast
Interesting idea but im not so interested that EA wants to push this idea. If this were to happen, which it wont, whoever is heading this has to have the consumers best interest in mind. Like said in the article, they could charge you whatever they wanted for games and hardware. Competition might not be good for Sony, MS, and Nintender but its good for us who actually buy the stuff. No thanks though, i dont feel like booting up a generic box and sifting through all the bullcrap shovelware they used to make for DS and Wii
By the time most consoles become difficult to find on eBay, emulation of said consoles will have been practical for a long time. It's still easy to find a cheap working Genesis on eBay and there have been decent emulators for that system for years. Granted, dumping carts can be a bit of a pain, but modern consoles have moved to standard optical formats.
Also, if you go back far enough PC games aren't even necessarily compatible hardware wise. Most DOS games required a SoundBlaster 16 or compatible card if you wanted sound. Some older Windows games won't run on newer versions of windows and old versions of Windows won't necessarily have proper drivers for new hardware.
Wow... who would the EU sue over this....
There are Dos emulaters out there that do provide sound and support...
I support this notion. They could take a current high-end PC, stabilize the platform, include some high speed internet capabilities, and go to town. Have it run Windows so it can play PC games while comfortably hooked to the TV, and allow other parties to develop for it.
It'd be REVOLUTIONARY.
I've got a great name for it too...
We could call it the Phantom.
Now, who wants to buy into my idea?
I think it would a very good thing to have one console on the market. Provided it's an "open" system. What I mean is the creation of a standard by a dedicated group formed by industry members. The system would have to be royalty-free, just like the PC, but all the games would run on it just as the developers expected. The systems could be manufactured by various companies, as long as they adhere to the standard (like DVD players). The standard would allow the game market to grow and drive down the development cost for studios. Furthermore, the life cycle of the system would probably be longer and more controlled. Of course, the current console manufacturers would lose revenue in the short term, losing their royalties. But, they could make it up by increased sales software sales. Furthermore, that would remove the risks associated with the launch of each new console generation.
It won't happen for the foreseeable future. Who are you going to convince to quit making consoles? MS? Not likely, they just spent billions of dollars to get a machine they control hooked up to people's TVs, and I'm sure they are enjoying all the cash that comes from the DLC and game licensing fees. Nintendo? Nintendo does their own thing, and has the money to keep doing it nearly forever. Sony? They may drop out of hardware, but it won't be by choice. Sony is known for riding dead end technology into the ground, so I don't see why this will be different. If they think they can keep making consoles, they will.
It's like wishing that wars would stop happening, it's an interesting idea, but there are so many reasons why it will never happen that it's not even worth discussing.
I read his concept as:
It's competition that decides pricing, and royalty fees, and what incentives are given out on riskier projects by the stakeholders.
Not everyone will be happy, or successful. Those people and businesses will start their own competing systems.
It's funny how businesses want a competitive environment and bemoan the thought that Microsoft (or Sony) ends up being the gaming monopoly, on the other hand they demand it.
Plus, they have the obvious solution since there is absolutely a clear winner this generation. They could support the Wii exclusively and get access to a big chunk of the marketplace, which is growing hugely.
I think not. Name me one reliable PS2 emulator for the PC. Even the PS3 is no longer compatible with PS2 titles. Emulation is in no way guaranteed. Hence why I dislike consoles. Games are useless without the hardware to play them. Only the PC is a reliable gaming machine for titles both new and old.
Can I tweak that slightly:
With one video format (DVD), why push for better cinematography or new camera technology? Why ever lower the price of the player or the discs? Why fight to create the best films?
That argument is is just stupid.
How does collecting together some parts that someone else built so that other people can make games for it make you responsible for other peoples innovation?
The net functions just fine without being owned by microsoft; something as simple (in comparison) as the stuff in xbox live would have no trouble.
The wii has shown quite how irrelevant the hardware is; a peripheral is enough to make it the biggest selling console ever at this point in it's lifetime.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where console innovation is severely limited by a few large players who are able to throw enough money behind their closed platform; forcing people to pay fees to be able to sell their game. Which they then use to dominate further. That is closer to racketeering a free market.
PS2's are readily available in a store near you!
The bottom line, the consumer decides what they will buy. If they build it, people do not have to come. Executives always have ideas that help their companies make a company money. Whether the ideas are bad or good, sometimes they express their views and give everyone indigestion.
Is everyone in the world going to drive a gray colored sedan? Is everyone going fishing when the weekend comes? No, because as long as there are choices people will choose differently.
I think this is a very obvious idea, and it has already been thought of before.
Of course making a game for one platform is cheaper than making it for several. So why don't we have this already?
Some of us rent games, some of us buy them and some of us do both. Each model has its own benefits. If you take one model away and replace it with an inferior model, then a company will not gain customer they lose them.
Therefore, the executive can mouth off as much as much as he wants but does he have the bollocks to put his company's money where his mouth is.
You mean, if someone writes a patch to fix the incompatibilities caused by the latest driver from Nvidia...
Except that it isn't all that reliable.
I have a perfectly good copy of the game Red Faction that I can't play because it goes off into limbo after about 2 minutes, even though my system exceeds all the minimum requirements. I have a copy of the game P.O.D. that won't run at all. My copy of Test Drive 5(?) has completely screwed up graphics, making the game unplayable. The last time I tried to install Primal Prey, it ended up looking more like a CAD program than a game.
If you can tell me an easy way to fix the above games, especially Red Faction, I'd love to hear it.
"Senior Execute Gerhard Florin concedes that the bevy of available consoles has "made life harder for developers and consumers" and that the company wants "an open, standard platform which is much easier than having five which are not compatible."
I've seen this story before--it goes like this, "Let's standardize on an open computing platform and let that platform be run by Microsoft."
Competition between system sellers is good for us (the gamers). With each system trying to out perform the other game quality will continue to grow. If there were only to be one system on the market there would not be as much push to make games better and better.
Yeah, it'll never happen. Choice is good for us consumers, and if all platforms except one failed, someone would see the opportunity to sell a competitor. Although, I admit that I wouldn't be too unhappy if the console market was a little less crowded than it currently is.
When was the last time you had a choice of either the small white car, a large black one or similar grey and no other cars.
If cars were like the console market you would choose between three different methods of control (steering wheel, levers or joystick) and road systems. If you bought a car which did not have a road which went near your friends house you would have to buy a second car or just never visit them.
The lack of multiple dvd disc formats did not result in one grey box that everyone has, why would if for consoles?
Which is more choice?
1. 10's of companies producing hardware which is compatible with all games with various price points, build quality and features (such as wifi in the box or not) like cd/dvd players. While developers compete with each other to produce the best games, like the much more diverse music and film industries.
2. 3 which which use parts made by the same few companies (ibm, nvidia, amd) which are only just different enough from each other to ensure that they are not compatible with each other.
There is currently no innovation in console hardware, two of the boxes are just pcs with a fixed proprietary spec and nintendo didn't even bother with that, "souping" up the cube and packing in a new peripheral.
The problem with pc's is that you don't have a fixed target platform, if you did it would be console. That console would be the best of both worlds genuine competition like a pc but a rock solid platform like a console.
But why actually worry about that when there is money to made with cartels, backhanders to publishers, proprietary tech and plenty of other ways to squeeze developers and screw over the consumer.


text:
THE traffic lights at a major road junction in Crewe are being switched off this weekend as part of an ongoing refurbishment and energy-saving programme.
Traffic signals on the Crewe Road, Macon Way, Crewe Arms roundabout, will be turned off on Saturday, December 8.
While upgrade works take place, the junction will act as a conventional roundabout.
The lights are being replaced with Light Emitting Diode (LED) traffic signals.


text:
Sparkle Vamp Is Feeling Dandy
[Budapest, April 1. Image via INFDaily.]
[Budapest, April 1. Image via INFDaily.]
[London, January 22. Image via Pacific Coast News Online.]
Two little words appeared on the screen: New. Moon. And as you can hear in this clip, those words caused Twihards to yelp, clap, and shriek.
If you fantasize about remote-controlled zombies, Twilight action figures, mod Barbies or a doll of that new black princess from Disney's The Princess and the Frog, you're in luck: Entertainment Earth has what you need.
[On the set of "Remember Me," New York, June 19. Image via Splash.]


text:
The Village Market
17 Middle Neck Rd. Great Neck , NY 516-773-2406
Specialty, Shopping
Special features:
Breakfast, Near LIRR station
Walk into your average "gourmet takeout" and you are confronted with a tired litany of grilled chicken breasts, balsamic-dressed vegetables, Asian-noodle salad. You know the drill.
What a difference a French chef makes. Mathieu Frey, who opened the Village Market three months ago, is a native of Alsace and a veteran of 3-star restaurants in France and Daniel Boulud's culinary empire in New York.
Frey's refrigerated cases (which he built himself out of weathered wood and marble) display bay scallops, grilled black sea bass fillets, a "fancy" potato salad featuring Peruvian blue, baby Yukon and fingerling spuds, and a ratatouille whose vegetables were cooked separately to maintain their integrity. At breakfast, homemade croissants are split and filled with cooked-to-order eggs. At lunch, burgers are made from beef, turkey, salmon (when it meets Frey's standards); there is also a vegan version.
Everything is simple, fresh and real.
"I've always cooked with big crews and big budgets," Frey said. "But the idea was not to reproduce that kind of fancy restaurant cooking here. The idea was what would happen if a chef with this knowledge and this skill used them to make a great egg?"
In the past three years, Frey had built up a robust catering business, most of whose clients lived in either New York City or the Hamptons. His decision to open a shop in Great Neck was based on its accessibility to the Long Island Expressway and its proximity to an LIRR station (so carless freelance cooks could get to work easily). "I made no demographic study of Great Neck," he said, "but so far people seem to like us." -- Erica Marcus
Mathieu Frey is the chef-owner of Village Market in Great Neck. (Feb. 18, 2010)Website Add an event Correct this listing


text: This was a Hershey 2010 find for me, last one I had went with a dirt car I sold in 1985. They were used on dirt track race cars and some early Bonneville and Dry Lakes cars. We could start a thread of photos of cars with Chrysler tube axles, I post a few later today. Does anyone know what year and model these were under when new?


text:
Issue Date: January 21, 2013 | Web Date: January 17, 2013
M&G Picks Sinopec To Build Polyester Plant
Keywords: polyester, engineering, capital expenditures
Italy's Mossi & Ghisolfi has hired China's Sinopec Engineering Group to manage construction of the bottle polymer plant it is planning in Corpus Christi, Texas. The $1 billion project has become a platform for several foreign companies to expand in the U.S.
Two non-U.S. banks will fund the massive project, making it entirely financed, built, and owned by foreign firms. The banks are Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, which claims to be the world's largest bank, and Mexico's Banco Inbursa.
The plant, which will take advantage of low-cost U.S. shale gas, will be built over the next three years. It will have annual capacity for 1 million metric tons of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin and 1.2 million metric tons of the feedstock purified terephthalic acid.
"This is the largest PET investment ever in the Western world," says Marco Ghisolfi, CEO of M&G's polymers business. When completed, the project will make M&G the leading U.S. polyester producer after Mexico's DAK and Thailand's Indorama.
The project will allow Sinopec Engineering, a subsidiary of the Chinese-government-owned petroleum and petrochemical giant Sinopec Group, to extend its reach beyond Asia. Sinopec Engineering Group CEO Yan Shaochun calls the contract "a big milestone for entering the North American market."
"This project is a nice way for Sinopec Engineering to show what it can do in North America," says Chase Willett, senior director of aromatics at consulting firm IHS Chemical.
- Chemical & Engineering News
- Copyright © American Chemical Society


text:
sometimes its all too much (most of the time I'm all good) but this weekend has been not the best.
I got served divorce papers - a good thing right? I know its been over for more than 2 years. My ex moved straight in with his OW when he left me. I've dipped into dating and have enjoyed meeting a man here and there and have kept one for 6 months before we called it quits.
so why has this brought me down? I mean FFS I wouldn't go anywhere near his crazy ass ever again and if I never had to see or speak to him again I would die a happy woman.
and then today I got a call from my folks saying that my Mum has been diagnosed with alzheimers - earlyish days.
I get home tonight and find my two room mates moving out for a month while they house-sit.
and here I sit in the marital home which I'm trying to sell (been on the market for a year now) stuck. I've got no money to move back to my home-town until I sell.
and now I just feel like crying.
I hope they have true love cause I'd hate to think my life has been de-railed to this extent for anything less than true love.
sorry for the pity party for one. I'm sure tomorrow will bring me a better attitude.
well it better
things that happen in my life do not define who I am. I get to choose to be the best I can be, for me. cause I'm worth it.
Hugs. Be good to yourself.
As for true lurrve.....I don't think so but then one day soon you won't give a damn.
Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket!
And never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.
― Sarah McMane
I am so sorry you feel sad. You have had a few blows emotionally all at once!
Much love and support.
thank you all for your kind wishes.
today is another day and I'm feeling - not better - but more knowing that I can do this and this time will pass..... just wishing for a little quicker....
I am a serial lurker on this board and I always come away with some good things to ponder on.
I seriously think this place has saved me many times.
thank you good people of SI
I also think that some of it are triggers - if he hadn't been a lying, cheating, broken POS he would be helping you navigate through these tough times.
Truth is even if he hadn't cheated the sad clown never was equipped to help me navigate through anything. He was there in body but never really 'there' when I needed him.
I'm curious to know when I'll stop cursing his name whenever something bad happens. I don't 'blame' him when it rains on my washing anymore but I do sometimes seem to shift my focus from whatever unrelated bad feelings I'm feeling to thinking about all the bad things in the M pre and post DD.
Part of it is picking at an old wound when I'm vulnerable but I also think part of it might be that in a weird way I think that thinking of the hell I've been through might help me strengthen up for the challenge at hand. Like a weird, vulnerable, not healthy pep talk to self.
thanks Strong, yes I think you are onto it.
my first thoughts on hearing about my Mum were "bastard told me that when the time came we would move back to my home town and look after my parents"
but hey - he lied about everything else so why should I be surprised when I think of another 'promise' that he broke?
I did take out most of my grief, on the death of one of our sons, on him to be honest. my bad.
upwards and onwards shall be my mantra today


text:
Get a free shipping quote.
This is a nice blue roan filly that has already been broken and trained. She has about 20 rides on her already and we are riding her daily. She is coming along nice and has a great attitude. She is currently 15 hands and should mature to 15.1 or 15.2 She would make a great solid built trail horse for any age rider or a nice rope horse. This filly is big and built to work.
High Performance Bred Paint and Quarter Horses
Avoid Scams and Fraud - Potential areas of fraud: wire transfer, moneygrams, money orders, cashier checks, shipping, escrow, "transaction protection", "guarantee". Check out the Buyer Safety section for more info.


text:
Vicki Noel
What are the barriers to doing this?
There are SO MANY tasks to get done in a leader's day – schedules to complete, calls to return, time and attendance tracking, issues to handle, projects to finish. As leaders we are typically not good at carving the time for our OWN self-development, let alone time to consider the development of our workforce. For many of us, we come to work each day with the best intentions and then allow ourselves to become distracted by "fires" rather than staying focused on the tasks that matter. When we allow ourselves to get absorbed by "the work" we aren't present for those we serve and over time, we may miss those subtle cues that our employees are giving us about their own development needs.
Why is it important to do anyway?
As a leader you have invested a great deal of time and resources hiring the right fit for your department. You invest a significant amount of time orienting and training a new employee for their position. But your role in developing that member of your workforce doesn't stop there. Now…I fully embrace the idea that development is a two-way responsibility (1) a person has to reach out and take responsibility for their own development and (2) a leader needs to be tuned into their employees to be ready to offer development options. For the members of your workforce that WANT to grow, it is our obligation as leaders to involve them in ways they might achieve their development goals. Trustworthy leaders help "light the way" for these employees to pursue accomplishments that may or may not be within their department. The employee benefits from the growth opportunity and the organization benefits by re-engaging an employee that may have been lost to a competitor…or worse, lost to disengagement or "presenteeism".
How can you do it?
- Pay attention to and be present with your employees. It is refreshing when a person is assertive enough to speak up and say "Hello! I want some development, here!" But 99.9% of your workforce may not be comfortable expressing that to their leader…or more likely, they are unsure of what they want, but know that what they are doing now is not satisfying. Know your team members and their strengths. Observe them…are they using their strengths to the fullest in their work? Are you seeing any signs of disengagement?
- Have conversations that matter. Ask your employees about whether or not they are engaged with their work and if there are other things they want to accomplish to fulfill their development goals. Do this regularly to role model the openness with which to talk about development needs. Share of yourself and how you addressed your development needs throughout your career.
- Don't stand in the way of someone following their dreams. Once you know what the development goals are for your employees…try like crazy to help fulfill them. This is true even if their dream is not in your department. This is VERY HARD to do. I know. The alternative, however, is an employee that is not committed to their current role and you risk losing an employee from the organization entirely.
What are some additional barriers that get in the way of helping your employees accomplish their development goals?
Log on and join the conversation at www.somc.org/blog . We learn best from each other's experiences.


text:
Release Date: 2007 |
robin EMERITUS (5)now who here among us still believes in choice?...br3ad_man EMERITUS (4)The Arcade Fire follow up their debut with an album that is even more grandiose. Although ...Clumpy (5)A vial of hope and a vial of pain. . ....JAD (4)What do a pipe organ, a military choir, a full hungarian orchestra, and tons of bombast ge...
FreddieDelaney31 (5)I'm gonna work it out...Chunky97 (4.5)...Artuma (4.5)In their second full-length album Arcade Fire goes to even bigger sound, which results an ...bwnstl (4)The Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible" keeps their sound big; however, it suffers from being TOO b...
This review is good.
This review is very good, so is this album
Very good review.
Album Rating: 3.5This album's a'ight.
Album Rating: 3.5It grew on me a bit, but still not as good as Funeral.
Album Rating: 4.0Someone finally gave this the right rating.
Album Rating: 4.5Hello everyone, and thank you for the kind remarks! I am new to Sputnik, and I was wondering why the system won't let me edit my review with html (italics for album names, etc.). Any advice?
To use italics, use brackets, like
[ i ] album [ / i]
but without the spaces inside the brackets. Same goes for bolding [ b ] and underlining [ u ].
Album Rating: 4.5...ahhh, I was using carrots < > < >. Thanks again!
Album Rating: 4.0I can't believe this got by me. Great job, though I wouldn't really have expected anything else.
This album is really good (strong contender for top ten of the year) but not quite Funeral good.
Album Rating: 4.0Yeah Top 10 sounds very accurate whereas Funeral is on a level higher than this. I thought they'd be better live too. I blame the crowds.
Album Rating: 4.0I wish I wasn't the only one on the whole site who thought this was better than Funeral.
Zorg agrees with you.
I do. I think this is truly one of the greatest albums of the decade so far.
Album Rating: 4.0You're probably right about that. I see it near the top, right behind Funeral.
Bands: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


text:
SIU Prospective Graduate, Medical, or Law Students
Prospective Graduate, Medical, or Law Students
Be a Part of this.
You're driven. Lucky for you, so are we.
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For financial aid consideration, complete and submit your FAFSA form as soon as possible. Our Federal School Code is 001758.
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Freshmen, apply now for Fall 2018. Transfer students, start your application now to jumpstart your future.
Did You Know?
If you watch AMC's "Better Call Saul" or "Breaking Bad," you're watching SIU alumnus Bob Odenkirk portray Saul Goodman.
SIU researchers are looking for innovative ways to decrease food waste and increase freshness. Using infrared and ultraviolet light, they hope to unlock the secret to saving billions of pounds of food each year.


text:
How To Camouflage Two Closet Doors in Living Room?
Q: One small wall in our living room has two clothing closets. I can fit an armoire between, nothing else along that wall. I can't take off the doors, as the closets are too visible. Would curtains be a good solution here?
I have hung pictures on the doors, but that is not enough. I live in a co-op, so am willing to do anything. There is no other way to get into the closets.
Sent by Connie
Editor: Leave your suggestions for Connie in the comments — thanks!
• Have a question for our community? Send us yours with a photo or two attached (questions with photos get answered first).
(Image: provided by Connie)


text:
Hi Guys, Whilst double checking a new package I noticed that dh-make-perl still creates a changelog with a low urgency. As per [1] the default urgency for all packages was changed to medium to reduce the delay in transition to testing, this change has been present in dch since November 2013. Should dh-make-perl be changed to track the change as well? Cheers, Daniel [1] https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=730343
Description: OpenPGP digital signature


text:
Is there anywhere in Toronto that sells whole packer briskets with point,flat,and fat still intact.European Meats was my go to place for brisket but sadly they are gone.
I cannot believe that most store sell just the brisket flats and trim the point away.But that is the best part of a brisket! What do they do with it?


text:
Lands End
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This is what awaits you after a VERY long drive. The hike is easy but the drive is where the adventure is.
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Lands End (UT) (Mountain/Rock)
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text:
Booty And The ToysFavorites [+]
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You can now enjoy this movie on your iPhone®, iPad®, or compatible Smart TV & Android devices.
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Running Time: 166 minutes
Released: 08/2007
Studio Name: Gai Studios
Director: Ginetto Di Masolo
Categories: Black Muscles Dildo Bubble Butt Safe Sex
Description: Big booties can stash more and these guys prove it one incredible, playful, and wild toy at a time. This movie is packed with loads of hardcore action.
4 Scenes from Booty And The Toys
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Starring: Bastian Knight ... More Details
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Sex Acts: Rim Job, Anal Sex, Deep Throating, Oral Sex, Toy Play - Anal, Toy Play - Cock and Ball
Positions: Standing Missionary, Kneeling, Sitting, Standing Doggy Style, Laying
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Recommended Movies
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text:
Mornin' Peeplets!
I slept like a rock, then I got up and did 5 miles.
Have a wonderful day, everyone!
Jess runs for bacon
Good morning dailies! I slept pretty well last night. Hip and knee still cranky today. I popped a few advil which should knock it out. Tonight I'll do a workout video and my ITB rehab.
Off to the foot guy this am to assess for orthotics. I've been wearing an artificial heal lift, but I want a custom insert made. I haven't run all weekend as I worked all weekend and my back was sore from carrying in wood Friday before the storm. I'm hoping for 5 on the TM later today.
Kay if your half is in 10 weeks, you still have time to run it. I wouldn't set your expectations high in terms of finishing times, as you've been injured for a few months and it takes double that to come back to preexisting fitness. Remember, you can always defer until another date. You don't want to go backward. Its only a race. I know it sucks, but I had to do this when I was injured and it was ok. There are other races. I'm just looking out for you, please don't take this the wrong way.
Running is my mental-Ctrl-Alt-Del.
Morning B&B! My recovery day, so did not nor run this morning as i was dead tired from the weekend. Going to start running with my son 3-4 days a week to get him rdy for soccer next month. A couple miles with him tonite and maybe a couple more solo. Tough 11m LR yesterday. felt really good 3/4 of run and just ran out of gas last few miles. DW had to work so i did not run in am like I usually do and ran late afternoon. Think that might have been a factor as i don't typical run that long late in the day. I have not had a bad run in training in awhile so i was due for one.
Hope east coasters digging out ok from snow.
PR's - 5K - 20:15 (2013) | 10K - 45:14 (2011) | 13.1 - 1:34:40 (2013) | 26.2 - 3:40:40 (2014)
Up Next:
YAYpril - B-Plus
Morning! SRD. Maybe Myrtl/core at lunch, maybe cardio at lunch, maybe yoga after work... I think I'll fly by the seat of my pants today.
I slept alright last night. I woke up a million times which is pretty normal for me, and my organic alarm (kitten scratching at the door) got me out of bed 5 minutes before the REAL alarm would have gone off.
Team TJ
I planned to run this morning but when I woke up it was pouring rain. So....today is a rest day.
Running for TJ because he can't.
BasyaSpiliakos- Thanks for kicking off the Dailies. I slept terribly last night … went to bed too late and a wicked wind started in last night that kept waking me up. Enjoy your ab work and rest day today!
DaveP MI- Watch out for heat stroke in those conditions. Enjoy that yoga class and the rest of your day.
Just B.S.- Sorry you had a lousy night of sleep as well. Have a good morning swim!
KayPS- Now THAT is what I need this morning … and make mine a double. Don't worry about the impending HM – just trust your plan and those magic shoes. Seriously, 10 weeks is a loooong time to go until your race, you'll get there girl!! (BTW, if all runs were great ones you'd never realize how good they were. It takes the occasional tough one to give you perspective AND they tend to grow you more than you think)
LRB- Enjoy that day of nothing … quiet is sooooo underrated!
RunTomRun- Have a great day off and hope your 10 miles are a dry one today!
Luke79- Ahhhh, taper week. Enjoy that SRD and try to turn the brain off (at least as it relates to running, germs, the weather, injuries, aches, meteors, locusts &hellip
Vegan Ang- Good morning! Enjoy your class later on today as well as your SRD.
Docket_Rocket- Sorry to hear you're another of the sleep deprived this morning. Hope your day goes smoothly and you get done early for a relaxing recovery run later on today.
Adam_McAllen- Have a great SRD and rest up from that tempo + LR.
kristin10185- Take it easy today and here's hoping the SRD is just the medicine you need for the knee.
Flarunner- No fair! You got to sleep … you have beautiful weather right now … AND you already got in 5 miles - I'm jealous! Great job!
lilac_jive- Sorry you've got a cranky hip/knee today. Hope your day goes well and the ITB rehab keeps on progressing for you!
Nevrgivup- Have a good 5 on the TM later on and hope your apt goes well today for the orthotics.
jedigunnie26.2- Good job on toughing out the 11 yesterday. I completely agree that a sudden change of plans (time of day for the run) can wreck how the run feels.
AprilRunner- Enjoy your seat-of-the-pants SRD/yoga/cardio/core kind of day. Man I wish I could be flexible sometimes – I see what's on my schedule and just gotta do it.
As I already said, we had wicked winds blow through overnight and it sounded like the house was going to blow apart. Needless to say I will be having extra coffee this morning to hopefully counteract the lack of sleep. I am tempted to take today off, but will probably end up doing a few easy miles on the TM at work to help recovery. Enjoy your days and be safe out there today.
Train smart ... race smarter.
Morning! I slept well, though had to sleep fast after not starting until after 1 AM.
Three miles and some strength training today. If the rain clears up, it may be in the 50s though!
Kay - I'm in agreement with the others. With 10 weeks before your HM, you'll get there.
Happy running.
delicate flower
Happy Monday! I slept ok last night but did wake up a few times. I'll probably nap today. I start Week 2 off from work. More PT and more recovery today. I can see why my doc told me to take two weeks off from work...I am no shape to go back to work yet. Still in pain and still moving very gingerly.
Have a great Monday!
Good stuff.
The problem is that I haven't been able to run on the road on the weekends due to the weather. The TM at my gym seems to be the one giving me all the issues. Yesterday I was going to attempt 5 miles on the TM, but only made it to just past 2 before my IT band started getting angry. I'm hoping the snow and ice will be all cleared up before next Sunday. I know it sounds like an excuse, but I really have no interest in running on icy/snowy roads. I want to get better, not hurt.
Do you even run?
That is not an excuse. I drive 45 minutes (about 50 miles round trip) on Saturday and Sundays in a truck that drinks gas like a whale eats plankton, to run in a park that clears the running surface.
Trudging over snow and ice can be worse than the treadmill for some of us.
Beer-and-waffle Powered
For what it's worth. I got orthotics back in December and they really cleared up the problem I was having with my foot (we probably don't have the same issue, but still... I hope you have the same luck). It certainly took awhile to get used to though.
In the words of my late-coach : Just hang in there, relax... and at the end of a race anyone you see.....just pass them
Yikes I'm too happy for first thing on a Monday morning. I had a big breakthrough at the pool today. I just
completed my 5th week of swimming on the weekend and started into my 6th today. On Jan 5th I had a
hard time completing the 50 yards one way down the pool without my breathing making me feel like a
guppy being tossed around in an Atlantic hurricane.
This morning at 7:30am after 600 yards of warm up including 3 X100 individual laps I said "to heck with
it, I'm going to see how far I can push this thing",,,,,the next 400 yards were continuous and easy!!!!!!!!!!
I was very disappointed that it was time to leave because I felt like I could have easily kept going for a few
hundred more.
Happy dance!!
I did a really tough 10 miles yesterday, with 1000 feet of gain, temp of 0F and windy, roads were not icy but
they were covered in slush and snow from the big storm. 3 times I had a total right side of body slush splash
from big ass truck and their big ass tires. But I got 'er done!!!
5 easy miles later today.
Have a good one folks!
Barking Mad To Run
After 2 events done over the weekend, I slept like a rock last night, very nice, thanks for asking. Here are the links to my reports and photos...lots of photos, I guess I got a bit carried away, lol. But they were both great events with very nice post-race parties.
Be My Valentine 5K:
San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo 4-Miler:
Today is a rest day. As I was off Thursday and Friday, I will probably work a little late today to catch up on some stuff.
Hope you can get some nap time in today, Basya!
43 degrees is still cold for me, Dave! Glad it will be in the 60s today here in San Antonio. We are getting thunderstorms though.
Hope the pool rejuvenated you, Just B.S.
Sorry about the crappy run, Kay. As for your upcoming race...no pressure, just treat it as a fun event, walk some of it if you have to. Maybe do what I do with mine...carry your camera, stop a lot of times on the way, take photos. You don't even notice the miles going by!
Enjoy your doing nothing today, LRB!
Wow, Tom, you day off sounds quite busy! Good luck with everything!
Happy Taper Week, Luke! Don't go crazy...
Welcome back, Vegan Ang.....enjoy the class if you get to do it.
Happy recovery run and weights, Damaris. Don't fall asleep at one of the weight machines.. Hope you get your complaint/brief/thingy done with no problems.
I also learned that the only thing worse than getting up to make it campus at 9:00am is arriving there only to realize that it's closed because there's a holiday you didn't know about. That sucks. I did that once for work, forget to check the bad-weather line and just drove to work. Nobody there at all. So I just sat at my desk and worked. After 3 hours, the campus police came around checking all the buildings and offices and said "Why are you here? The campus was closed today due to potential road flooding." Duhhhh. They weren't kidding about the flooding either, took me 2 hours to get home on what is usually a 20 minute drive, had to keep back tracking and driving around to get by all the roads that were closed due to high-water over them. Enjoy your day off, Adam, and hope you feel 100% in no time.
Stairs are the worst for knees, Kristin. My knees especially hate going DOWN the stairs. Hope your knee behaves itself!
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt


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PALO ALTO — As temptations of pie and eggnog abound, a new Palo Alto juice store is offering a break from the usual high-fat and sugary holiday menu.
Pressed Juicery has opened in the Stanford Shopping Center, marking the company's fifth Bay Area location. Pressed Juicery sells cleansing, raw fruit and vegetable juices, as well as coffee, tea and almond milk drinks. The Palo Alto store held its grand opening on Black Friday, offering detoxing drinks to shoppers on the day after most had indulged in a Thanksgiving feast.
The Southern California-based company has expanded in the past year as the juicing trend has grown popular among health enthusiasts and foodies looking for natural and organic alternatives to sugary drinks. Pressed Juicery also has three locations in the San Francisco and two in Marin County.
Contact Heather Somerville at 510-208-6413. Follow her at Twitter.com/heathersomervil.


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Then become a subscriber to the Nautical Association's magazine THE LOG!
The NAA was founded in 1968 and is run by volunteers. It is dedicated to the
preservation and publication of the maritime history of Australia, New Zealand, and the South West Pacific. THE LOG is the only magazine published that records Australia's ongoing maritime history.
THE LOG is published four times per year and includes the latest news, historical articles, research and personal recollections, available to subscribers. The NAA also publishes specialist shipping books, many of which are now classics of maritime research.
See here for the new full copy of THE LOG
See here for the latest NAA books
Nautical Association of Australia Inc.


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The perfect addition to a REX is a Courier Pack from @vesselworkshop! Don't miss out on their epic sale going on NOW #messengerbag #messlife


text: Seller: ancientgifts (4,349) 100% , Location: Lummi Island, Washington, Ships to: Worldwide, Item: 381821324982 Click here to see 1,000 archaeology/ancient history books and 2,000 ancient artifacts, antique gemstones, antique jewelry! The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century by Roland H. Bainton. NOTE: We have 75,000 books in our library, almost 10,000 different titles. Odds are we have other copies of this same title in varying conditions, some less expensive, some better condition. We might also have different editions as well (some paperback, some hardcover, oftentimes international editions). If you don't see what you want, please contact us and ask. We're happy to send you a summary of the differing conditions and prices we may have for the same title. DESCRIPTION: Softcover: 288 pages. Publisher: The Beacon Press (1985). Bainton presents the many strands that made up the Reformation in a single, brilliantly coherent account. He discusses the background for Luther's irreparable breach with the Church and its ramifications for 16th Century Europe, giving thorough accounts of the Diet of Worms, the institution of the Holy Commonwealth of Geneva, Henry VIII's break with Rome, and William the Silent's struggle for Dutch independence. CONDITION: "VERY GOOD". Unread oversized softcover. Beacon Press (1985) 288 pages. Clearly never read, pages are clean, crisp, unmarked, unmutilated, tightly bound, unambiguously unread. However inside it is evident that the original owner must have written their name on the underside of the front cover, as it (presumably, or something at least) has been marked out with a black marker. So on the underside of the front cover there is an area about 3x1 inches which is marked out in black, and the black marker has bled through to the front cover, so there's a "blob" of black visible to the top side of the front cover. Otherwise, except for some very, very mild rubbing and edge and corner shelfwear to the covers, it is almost "as new". I would add for the record that, of course, the gloss white back cover is yellowed at the edges, and the pages inside are ever-so-faintly tanned at the edges. There's no "reading crease" to the spine of course, and except for these very minor, purely superficial, cosmetic blemishes the book is almost "like new". Except for the black marker overwriting what we presume to be the original owner's identifying information on the underside of the front cover, were that absent, the book would grade as "like new" with merely some very, very mild shelfwear. Satisfaction unconditionally guaranteed. In stock, ready to ship. No disappointments, no excuses. PROMPT SHIPPING! HEAVILY PADDED, DAMAGE-FREE PACKAGING! #1537a. PLEASE SEE IMAGES BELOW FOR JACKET DESCRIPTION(S) AND FOR PAGES OF PICTURES FROM INSIDE OF BOOK. PLEASE SEE PUBLISHER, PROFESSIONAL, AND READER REVIEWS BELOW. PUBLISHER REVIEW: REVIEW: Roland Herbert Bainton was Professor of Ecclesiastical History at Yale. He is the author of "Here I stand", the biography of Martin Luther, as well as monograms on important "Heretics of the Reformation"; Servetus, Castello, Ochino, and Joris. He has also written "The Church of our Fathers" and "The Travail of Religious Liberty". Dr. Bainton served in World War I with the Quaker unit of the American Red Cross. PROFESSIONAL REVIEWS: REVIEW: Dr. Bainton writes in a crisp and lively style, and his scholarship is never obtrusive. Only a scholar fully conversant with his theme could have achieved such a masterly compression of a century's almost chaotic detail. Here the main aspects are clearly distinguished and the central issues receive significant comment. This book is a masterpiece for the clarity and understanding which Bainton brings to his subject. REVIEW: Honored as one of the "outstanding religious books" of the year by the American Library Association's Religious Books Round Table in these words: "The evolution of the economic, political, and cultural world of the sixteenth century resulted also in religious divisions. The author portrays dissensions, heresies, and inquisitions with clarity. He gives perspective and character to the background and events surrounding Lutheranism, Calvinism, Anabaptism, Anglicanism, and the Reformed Churches. Bainton's "Reformation" meets a need that has long been felt. This is "popular" history only in the sense that ordinary people can read it without a dictionary. More fascinating and readable than a novel, it is also thorough scholarship. REVIEW: We have here the first thoroughly scholarly, yet popular history of the Reformation to be written for a full generation. Would that we had more history like this, so well-proportioned in its emphasis, and so pertinent to the understanding of history now in the making. "The Reformation" is a vigorous, popularly written history of the Revolution which contracts a vast body of scholarship into a little space. Contemporary woodcuts handsomely set off the text. READER REVIEWS: REVIEW: First, I must admit that I like history, but I am not very familiar with the Reformation. Having said that, I think Roland Bainton's book is an excellent introduction to the topic. It is very well written, well researched, and well presented. I was duly impressed with the author's ability to tell the story of what happened - the key discussions, decisions, participants, etc. without boring the reader. You can tell that Dr. Bainton possesses a deep understanding of this era. I highly recommend this book to anyone hoping to learn more about this important part of European (and Christian church) history. You will learn a lot, and the author's profound analysis is well worth the read. REVIEW: As is the case with almost all of Bainton's books, this book is very well written, easy to follow, and contains a good amount of historical facts and evidence. This text is very well researched, just take a look at the bibliography. However, the reader should keep in mind that this is a type of survey text, not a text with a specific target topic in mind within the Reformation; though Bainton does detail several key elements which he believes helped to shape the overall movement in Europe. Bainton covers all the major figures, movements, creeds, Papal Bulls, positions, assertions, and historical settings which occurred during the Reformation. Some detail is left out (for further research), but for a survey text on the Reformation, this is one of the best! Bainton begins with Luther (who is the core source of the Reformation) in Germany and then expands out into other areas and People who help to promulgate the ideas of Luther. He discusses the various movements such as Calvinism, Lutheranism, the Anabaptists, etc. Bainton also discusses the political atmosphere of the Reformation and details the ideas of nobility and political figures within the Reformation who either hindered or aided the movement. Finally, Bainton discusses the economic situations of various areas, its effects and ramifications of the Reformation. Overall, this is a wonderful survey text to whet the appetite of the reader regarding the Reformation. Bainton has very easy to read writing style and he keeps his audience's attention well. If you are interested in the Reformation and have yet to really dig deep into the issues, then this is a great place to start. If you are seasoned researcher of the Reformation, I still believe you will glean some wonderful gold nuggets of facts and information from this text. REVIEW: This is an example of what the fruits of scholarship should yield: careful, concise, clear, simple but uncompromised prose, moving from insight to insight, nothing gratuitous. If only such a book were available for every period in cultural history. Bainton renders the phenomena surrounding the Reformation so lucidly; really, in its own careful way, a small masterpiece. REVIEW: A concise yet not shallow study with unique vocabulary showing the interaction between the Roman Catholics, Luther, Calvin and the Anabaptists in the 16th Century and the impact on political, economic and family life. Bainton describes the breach between Luther and Roman Catholicism. The major figures are Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Erasmus, Knox, and Cranmer. He utilizes compare and contrasts on doctrines and positions; such as, justification by faith, predestination, separation of church and state. Most international orders cost an additional $12.99 to $33.99 for an insuredshipment in a heavily padded mailer, and typically includes some form of rudimentary tracking and/or delivery confirmation (though for some countries, this is only available at additional cost). There is also a discount program which can cut postage costs by 50% to 75% if you're buying about half-a-dozen books or more (5 kilos+). Rates and available services vary a bit from country to country. You can email or message me for a shipping cost quote, but I assure you they are as reasonable as USPS rates allow, and if it turns out the rate is too high for your pocketbook, we will cancel the sale at your request. ADDITIONAL PURCHASES do receive a VERY LARGE discount, typically about $5 per book (for each additional book after the first) so as to reward you for the economies of combined shipping/insurance costs. Your purchase will ordinarily be shipped within 48 hours of payment. We package as well as anyone in the business, with lots of protective padding and containers. All of our shipments are sent via insured mail so as to comply with PayPal requirements. We do NOT recommend uninsured shipments, and expressly disclaim any responsibility for the loss of an uninsured shipment. Unfortunately the contents of parcels are easily "lost" or misdelivered by postal employees – even in the USA. That's why all of our shipments include a USPS delivery confirmation tag; or are trackable or traceable, and are insured. We do offer U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail, Registered Mail, and Express Mail for both international and domestic shipments, as well United Parcel Service (UPS) and Federal Express (Fed-Ex). Please ask for a rate quotation. We will accept whatever payment method you are most comfortable with. If upon receipt of the item you are disappointed for any reason whatever, I offer a no questions asked return policy. Send it back, I will give you a complete refund of the purchase price (less our original shipping costs). Most of the items I offer come from the collection of a family friend who was active in the field of Archaeology for over forty years. However many of the items also come from purchases I make in Eastern Europe, India, and from the Levant (Eastern Mediterranean/Near East) from various institutions and dealers. Though I have always had an interest in archaeology, my own academic background was in sociology and cultural anthropology. After my retirement however, I found myself drawn to archaeology as well. Aside from my own personal collection, I have made extensive and frequent additions of my own via purchases on Ebay (of course), as well as many purchases from both dealers and institutions throughout the world - but especially in the Near East and in Eastern Europe. I spend over half of my year out of the United States, and have spent much of my life either in India or Eastern Europe. In fact much of what we generate on Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay goes to support The Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, as well as some other worthy institutions in Europe connected with Anthropology and Archaeology. I acquire some small but interesting collections overseas from time-to-time, and have as well some duplicate items within my own collection which I occasionally decide to part with. Though I have a collection of ancient coins numbering in the tens of thousands, my primary interest is in ancient jewelry. My wife also is an active participant in the "business" of antique and ancient jewelry, and is from Russia. I would be happy to provide you with a certificate/guarantee of authenticity for any item you purchase from me. There is a $2 fee for mailing under separate cover. Whenever I am overseas I have made arrangements for purchases to be shipped out via domestic mail. If I am in the field, you may have to wait for a week or two for a COA to arrive via international air mail. But you can be sure your purchase will arrive properly packaged and promptly - even if I am absent. And when I am in a remote field location with merely a notebook computer, at times I am not able to access my email for a day or two, so be patient, I will always respond to every email. Please see our "ADDITIONAL TERMS OF SALE." TRANSLATE Arabic Chinese French German Greek Indonesian Italian Hindi Japanese Korean Swedish Portuguese Russian Spanish


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After winning her first stakes ever at the Del Mar Racetrack, jockey Chantal Sutherland said she's not sure she's coming back next summer to race.
Sutherland won the $100,000 Torrey Pines Stakes aboard the A.C. Avila-trained Great Hot in the second race on Sunday's card. Afterward, Sutherland was asked if she plans to return to Del Mar.
"It's not for sure," she said. "We'll have to see how the spring goes. I'm really not going to make a decision until March. I love it here. I love my lifestyle here. And I hope to make a little more money if that happens, and then there'd be a good chance I'll stay."
Avila and Sutherland kept getting closer in races with the 3-year-old filly Great Hot, and after a fifth-place here on July 24 in the Grade II San Clemente Handicap and a third Aug. 19 in the Sandy Blue Handicap, Great Hot finally won. Both of those races were on the Del Mar turf. This time, on the Polytrack, Sutherland won with her in the one mile race for 3-year-old fillies.
"Chantal really rode her well, and this filly is much better on dirt," said Avila, who won his second stakes of the meeting. "First time she ran, she bled, and the next time she was better. This time, we got the job done."
Now with one stakes win, Sutherland 12 wins from 95 mounts and is in ninth place in the rider standings. She took the lead into the stretch on her very next mount aboard Pogonip, but got caught by jockey Joel Rosario and Regal Betty.
It has truly been a mixed summer for Sutherland. She was handed two separate three-day suspensions by the Del Mar stewards for riding miscues, and those days off ruined whatever momentum she had gained, according to her agent, Brian Beach.
But she stayed dedicated and could be seen every morning working horses and getting to know more and more trainers and owners in Southern California.
"Sure, I'd like to see her come back to Del Mar," Beach said. "We thought she'd have a lot better ending than start because a lot of her horses raced at the end of Hollywood. From a business standpoint, she got to meet a lot more owners down here, and that can only help her business."


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Chinese officials have bowed to pressure and pledged to investigate the strange death of a Tiananmen protest veteran after widespread suspicion and anger, Hong Kong media have reported. Li Wangyang, who spent 20 years in prison due to his role in the 1989 pro-democracy protests, was found dead in hospital last week in central Hunan province with a noose around his neck.
Officials in Shaoyang originally said that Li Wangyang took his own life, but later described his death as an accident. Relatives and friends said his feet were still touching the floor, questioned whether he was physically capable of hanging himself given his severe disabilities after his lengthy and gruelling jail terms, and said he had been making plans for his future.
"In addition to commissioning authoritative forensic experts from outside the province to carry out a postmortem, we have launched a further investigation by experienced criminal investigation experts," a Hunan police spokesman said, according to the Beijing-backed Hong Kong China News Agency.
He said the decision was made because of the attention Li's death had roused, including in the foreign media, and said the results of the investigation would be announced promptly.
Activists say Li's sister and brother-in-law have been detained and they believe his body has already been cremated.
Yin Zhengan, a close friend of Li, told the South China Morning Post: "[The investigation] is more of a gesture for provincial police authorities to get involved.
"I can hardly see positive prospects for a convincing result because the most telling evidence has been destroyed with the cremation of Li's body."
Around 12,000 people in China and overseas have signed a petition demanding an investigation into Li's death. Thousands took to the streets in protest in Hong Kong.
Even senior officials in Hong Kong have questioned the death, with the food and health secretary, York Chow, saying he doubted whether Li was able to hang himself, while outgoing chief executive Donald Tsang described it as "suspicious" and said he understood the views of the Hong Kong people, in a rare comment on human rights issues.


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Surgery of any kind can be a source of anxiety for the patient and LASIK eye surgery is no different.
Having a good idea of what to expect is an important step in overcoming your fear and remaining relaxed during the procedure. As a surgeon, I am constantly telling my patients the particulars of the procedure so that they will have no surprises during their LASIK. And it has been profoundly useful to me that I myself have undergone LASIK so that I can relate to them exactly what they will experience from the patients perspective rather than just from the view of the surgeon.
So, what can you expect from LASIK?
First of all, it is normal to feel a bit excited and even nervous as the time approaches to have the surgery. Even as an experienced LASIK surgeon, I found myself becoming nervous as I waited in the prep area before surgery.
In our LASIK center, we ask patients to arrive 30 to 45 minutes early in order to receive a number of medications before the procedure. One is an antibiotic eye drop and the other is a topical anesthetic drop.
I recall the anesthetic drop stinging a bit initially and causing my eyes to water up. I received a couple of sets of these drops while I waited and I was happy to see that the additional sets of eye drops did not sting at all.
That's usually what our staff tells patients to expect. The initial drop stings but since it also numbs the eye, the second drop will not sting at all. That just means that the drops are doing their job properly.
Also, while in the prep area, we give patients a pill (valium) to help them relax further. As I said earlier, it is normal to feel nervous prior to any kind of surgical procedure and I was certainly no exception. The pill helps to take the edge off your nervousness and makes you less fidgety.
I've had a number of people try to shrug it off and avoid taking the valium, but I insist that they do. Some people see it as an option and that taking it is a sign of weakness or that they aren't tough enough. Actually, the pills make the procedure go much more smoothly for the surgeon as well as the patient.
They actually decrease the hypersensitive reactions and subconscious, automatic eye movements that a person has. So with the valium, a patient's hyper tendency to blink or squeeze their eyes shut in reaction to the eye lid holders or to the microscope lights is significantly reduced which makes access to the cornea easier for the surgeon and makes for a smoother procedure.
Also the valium helps to suppress the normal involuntary movements of your eye and can make for an easier treatment by helping you stay locked on target.
In the LASIK room
From the prep area, I was taken to the laser room itself. Here the surgeon usually makes a number of marks on your cornea with a sterile felt tip pen. Again, because of the eye drops, you can't really feel any of it.
Then you lie down on the surgical table and are looking up into the microscope lights. In our system, you'd be looking up into a circular ring shaped white light and in the middle of the circle of light there is a blinking red lighted dot. The blinking red light is the fixation light that you will need to look at during the treatment.
One of the staff will usually take this time to use a sterilizing solution to clean the area around your eyes. That's done to reduce the amount of bacteria and lower the incidence of infections.
At this point, the surgeon is ready to create the LASIK flap on your cornea. So you will feel him hold your eyelids open and place a suction ring over the front of your eye. There is a little pressure associated with the suction ring but usually no pain.
The one exception is that if you have a small, tight eye socket or a prominent eye brow bone, you may feel some pain if the ring is pressing up against the bone. Obviously, the surgeon will work hard to avoid any unnecessary pain but depending on your bone anatomy, it may be impossible to avoid any contact in that area.
Once the suction ring is in place, everything goes dark in that eye. I actually remember seeing just sparkles and not complete blackness. But you should not be able to see the lights or anything else clearly at all.
That is actually a good sign and means that the suction ring is properly attached to your eye. I use the blade-free Intralase technology, so the next step is to attach the Laser mechanism to the suction ring and activate it.
At that point, it requires about 20 seconds to create a complete LASIK flap. Afterward, the suction ring is removed and your vision returns although it usually seems somewhat fuzzy. That's normal so you shouldn't worry about it.
The Intralase creates bubbles when it does its work so your vision should seem fogged. I usually proceed to create the second LASIK flap on your other eye at that point so you will experience the exact same things on the other side. Now we usually take about a 2 minute break. That waiting time allows most of the bubbles to absorb so that the view will be clearer during the treatment phase of the LASIK.
During the treatment phase of the LASIK, the surgeon uses the excimer laser to actually reshape your cornea.
A small eyelid holder is put in place so that you cannot squeeze your eyes shut for this part. It's okay to close the other eye and, in fact, I usually put a shield over it to block everything out so that you don't visually have any distractions to the other side.
Additional, numbing anesthetic drops are put onto the eye and additional marks are made on the cornea for orientation purposes. Again, you feel very little at this point except for some pressure. If you feel anything at all, it is typically from pressure on the lids or eyebrow bone. You will be asked to looked directly at the blinking red fixation light as much as possible. The surgeon will initially be getting the computer to lock onto your eye so that the treatment will be properly oriented.
After the computer has done its lock-on, the surgeon will carefully free up the LASIK flap and lift it out of the way. During this phase, the blinking red fixation light may seem to dance and move around so it may be somewhat difficult to hold steady. But after the flap is lifted, visually things return to a stable position.
With the flap out of the way, the laser will be activated and the reshaping of the cornea starts. From the patient perspective, you may visually notice some change in the lights and they may even seem to come into focus a bit better. You also will hear a very loud banging or clicking sound which the excimer laser makes while it works. In some cases, there will be an odor of burning or fumes as the laser vaporizes the tissue.
The laser doesn't actually "burn" tissue because there is no significant temperature rise. The eye never gets hot, but remains a normal temperature as the excimer laser very precisely vaporizes and reshapes tissue. This part of the surgery usually requires less than a minute depending on the amount of your prescription.
I usually let my patients know verbally how they are doing and how far along they are. Because you tend to be nervous as the patient, time seems to flow at a very different rate so it's nice to have somebody letting you know when you only have 10 seconds or so to go.
After the laser is finished, the surgeon will need to rinse the cornea and replace the flap. During the rinsing phase, you'll feel a lot of water flowing over the surface of your eye and some may flow down onto the side of your face a bit.
After the flap is put back into position and aligned, the surgeon will wait about a minute or two to let it settle. At that point, we do a blink test. The eyelid holders are removed and you are asked to blink rapidly to make sure that the flap has taken hold. Actually, for several days to weeks, the surgeon will ask you not to rub your eyes in order to let the flap fully heal into position.
Post LASIK procedure
After the procedure is complete in both eyes, we have the patient sit up. Typically, we expect to have the patient see significantly better almost right away so we have them look at a clock on the wall and tell us what they can see.
Most patients can tell the time by that point although it may seem a bit fogged up. I tell patients that it may seem like they have Vaseline on their vision or as though they were wearing glasses and came in from the cold so their lenses are fogged. That's very normal because there is in fact still some water in and under the flap which takes some time to absorb. By the next day, that vision will usually improve to the point that the patient could drive.
And that marks the completion of the LASIK procedure itself.
After you go home, the anesthetic drops will begin to wear off and you will begin to feel some minor irritation. For me, it felt like I had an eyelash in my eye but some people have more tearing and light sensitivity. In most cases, this discomfort only lasts in the first 6 to 8 hours after surgery. For that reason, we provide sleeping pills and pain pills for the patients.
We try to get our patients to go home and take a nap because if they can sleep through those first few hours, when they wake up, they will feel almost nothing and their vision will be improving even further.
Hopefully, this insiders' view of LASIK surgery from the patient perspective of a surgeon is helpful. Armed with an understanding of the process, you can go forward with much less anxiety. As I said, it is normal for anybody (even a surgeon) to feel nervous when they undergo a procedure.
But knowledge takes away the unexpected and when there are few or no surprises, you will find yourself focusing more on the exciting outcome of great vision that you will achieve.


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100 Lankan cricketers not paid since April
About 100 contracted Sri Lankan cricketers have not been paid since the island nation co-hosted the World Cup with India and Bangladesh in April earlier this year due to the debt that the country's Board is facing.
There are reports that the because of debt, Sri Lanka Cricket may not be in a position to pay the players for the next two months as well.
"There is a truth in those media reports to a certain extent," SLC chairman Upali Dharmadasa told 'BBC Sinhala'.
SLC is still awaiting payment from the ICC for co-hosting the World Cup.
"The ICC still owes us USD 4-5 million," said Dharmadasa.
Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage said Sri Lanka still owes more than USD 18.1 million to the Chinese construction firm that built the stadium in President Mahinda Rajapaksa's hometown, Hambantota.
The minister is hoping that the matter would be sorted out by the end of this year


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