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Declining property rates and easing of upward property rate pressure across multiple product lines should create a favorable year for insurance buyers, writes Willis in its 2014 North American marketplace report.
Willis expects property rates to fall an average of 10-12 percent for non-catastrophe exposed risks and decrease about 5-10 percent for risks exposed to natural catastrophes, such as hurricanes. The decline is driven by an influx of alternative capital to the insurance industry, especially to the catastrophic property risk segment.
The spring edition of Willis's Marketplace Realities paper predicted modest increases for both non-catastrophe and catastrophe-exposed accounts.
"The reaction has not all been positive, to say the least, especially with respect to the new sources of capital," writes Eric Joost, chief operating officer of Willis North America and senior editor of Marketplace Realities. "From our perspective we see clear benefits to these new vehicles, because our perspective is really that of our clients. For our clients—insurance buyers—the increase in supply of capital makes a more inviting marketplace."
Rates are expected to fall across eight lines including property, errors & omissions, aerospace, energy, environmental, marine, surety and trade credit. Willis's previous report predicted increases for E&O and trade credit insurance.
Overall, 14 insurance lines are likely to see rate increases. These include casualty insurance lines including workers' compensation and auto, employee benefits, cyber, executive risks, crime/fidelity, health care professional, construction, kidnap & ransom, political risk and terrorism. Buyers can expect continuing single-digit increases, with higher rate hikes in states such as California, where worker's comp may be up 20 percent.
Predictions for executive risks vary by line: flat to 5 percent for D&O, and flat to 10 percent for employment practices liability and fiduciary coverage. E&O is generally expected to decrease, except for 5 to 25 percent increases for programs with poor loss experience.
In its spring report, Willis predicted steeper rates in the Employee Benefits space as regulatory changes and employer preoccupation with health care reform increased health care costs. However, the rate predictions have fallen from 8-10 percent increases to 6-7 percent increases for self-insured plans and 8.5-9.5 percent for insured plans.


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Brodhead alderman resigns before facing hearing
BRODHEAD--The Brodhead alderman the city council had planned to consider removing from office because of attendance issues has resigned his council seat and withdrawn from the mayor's race.
Ward 5 Alderman Mark Coplien sent an email to Mayor Doug Pinnow on Tuesday night saying he accepted a job transfer to Crystal Lake, Ill. He wrote that he would be resigning from the city council and withdrawing from the mayor's race effective immediately, city clerk/treasurer Roseann Meixelsperger said.
Coplien was not seeking re-election to his council seat, but was challenging Pinnow in the April 1 mayor's race.
The city attorney on Tuesday sent Coplien written notification that the city council Feb. 10 planned to hold a hearing and consider removing Coplien from office for not complying with the council's attendance policy, attorney Jamie Olson said.
The hearing would have allowed Coplien to present evidence and testimony, and the council could have voted to remove him from the city council following the testimony.
The Gazette was not able to reach Coplien for comment Wednesday.
"I will be addressing all matters in my letter to the news paper," Coplien wrote in his email to Pinnow.
The council now will vote on accepting the resignation and discuss filling the position at the Feb. 10 meeting.
The council voted unanimously last week to hold the hearing after an update on city council attendance. Coplien, who wasn't at the meeting, reportedly missed 17 out of 54 meetings, attending 68.5 percent of city council and committee meetings.
Attendance problems had been discussed repeatedly at council meetings, council President Hubert Vickers said, and the council in November 2012 wrote a policy stating anyone that missed more than 25 percent of meetings would be subject to being removed from office.
The council has 24 regular meetings each year and 12 regular meetings for committees, plus any special meetings.
"Every month we would get an update on everybody's attendance record," he said. "That started over a year ago."
"I know everybody thinks it's because he's (Coplien) running for mayor. That isn't the issue," Vickers said Tuesday before learning of Coplien's resignation. "We thought it was time we better do something because he has missed so many meetings."
Meixelsperger said Coplien had been excused from council meetings for illness, family deaths and work conflicts.
"It's usually a reason," she said.

subset: commoncrawl


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Crash slowing northbound traffic on I-39/90 near Milton Avenue
Gazette staff
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
JANESVILLE — An accident is blocking the left northbound lane on Interstate 90/39 at Highway 26/Milton Avenue, according to an automated notice from the state Department of Transportation.
The notice says the crash occurred at 7:37 p.m. and won't be cleared before 9:30 p.m.
The left lane is closed along with the on ramp at Milton Avenue to remove a semi.
Rock County Sheriff's Office is handling the accident. No other details were immediately known.
The evening accident was the third accident connected to I-90/39 on Tuesday. A semitrailer tractor and its trailer separated in one incident reported at 7:55 a.m., while a second crash was reported at 10:37 a.m.


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By Taryn Ryder
At this point, when you date Taylor Swift, you should expect consequences (or rather, a song written detailing what went wrong in your relationship).
The 23-year-old singer covers New York magazine, and in the article, Taylor subtly reveals that she heard from Jake Gyllenhaal — whom she dated for about two months in fall 2010 — after her mega-successful album "Red" came out.
"I heard from the guy that most of 'Red' is about," Swift recalls (for those not keeping track at home, Yahoo Music can confirm most of the album is about the 32-year-old actor). "He was like, 'I just listened to the album, and that was a really bittersweet experience for me. It was like going through a photo album.' That was nice. Nicer than, like, the ranting, crazy e-mails I got from this one dude."
Considering Taylor has a long list of former flames — including Harry Styles, Joe Jonas, John Mayer, Taylor Lautner, and Conor Kennedy (just to name a few) — that doesn't narrow down who Crazy Email Guy might be.
However, it sounds like Swift preferred Gyllenhaal's approach.
"It's a lot more mature way of looking at a love that was wonderful until it was terrible, and both people got hurt from it — but one of those people happened to be a songwriter," continues Taylor, rolling her eyes. "So what are you going to do? Did you not Wikipedia me before you called me up?"
Jake is hardly the first victim of Taylor's poison pen.
On Taylor's 2010 album "Speak Now," she included the song "Dear John," about Mayer, 35, and many songs on "Fearless" were about Joe Jonas, 24.
"I only write songs about crazy love," Swift says in New York magazine. "If I go on two dates with a guy and we don't click, I'm not writing a song about that. It didn't matter in the emotional grand scheme of things. There's a lot that goes on in daily life that isn't really worth turning into a verse and a chorus."
However, Taylor is very self aware of what her critics have to say about that method.
"There's a spin on every single celebrity out there," she says. "I know that one of my spins is: 'Oh, Taylor's heartbroken. Oh, Taylor fell in love and the guy broke her heart. She's sad all the time, and lonely.'
"I mean, they can say that all they want," continues the country crooner. "Those are real feelings that every single person goes through. I think that it's okay to be mad at someone who hurt you. This isn't about, like, the pageantry of trying to seem like nothing affects you. I'm a songwriter. Everything affects me."
Taylor plans to spend much of 2014 writing and recording a new album, one we're sure One Direction's Harry Styles is eagerly anticipating.


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Interest Koe de Oshigoto Manga's Konno, The World I Create Manga's Kazama Marry
posted on 2012-08-21 03:30 EDT by Egan Loo
Fellow manga creators Yoshikazu Hamada, Tokio Shima witness marriage
Azure Konno, the creator of the Koe de Oshigoto! manga and anime, revealed on Tuesday afternoon that he married another manga creator, Ayami Kazama (The World I Create/Boku no Tsukuru Sekai, Hatsukiai, With Hitorimi Haduki-san.) Kazama confirmed the news a minute later. Moreover, the witnesses to the union were fellow manga creators Yoshikazu Hamada (Tsugumomo) and Tokio Shima.
Konno's Koe de Oshigoto! manga inspired an original video anime project, and DC Comics' CMX Manga imprint published Kazama's The World I Create manga in North America.
this article has been modified since it was originally posted; see change history
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Vice & Luna - The Kill La Killing Joke
just for fun
Vice is absolutely determined to get his money's worth out of his old Kill La Kill cosplay, no matter what the cops say. ―
Magical Girl Special Ops Asuka GN 1
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Violet Evergarden, Saekano, Gundam 00, Shine at C3 Anime Festival Asia Singapore 2017
The C3 Anime Festival Asia Singapore holds the crown as the biggest anime festival in Asia outside of Japan. The con celebrated its 10th anniversary this year, and was attended by over 96,000 people. This year's events featured no major changes from the previous ones, but why fix what isn't broken? Notably, 2017's guest lineup included the main staff of Violet Evergarden, which was part of the con...
Answerman - Why Are Anime Voices Recorded After Animation Is Done?
We frequently hear about how in Western animation, performances are often taped before animation really starts - but the opposite is apparently true in Japan. Justin gets into it. ― James asked: Some time ago, you stated that one of the major differences between western animation and Japanese animation is that, in western animation, all dialogue is recorded first, and then the animation is done to m...
Shelf Life - Initial D Legend 1: Awakening
Paul gets into the recent film remake of this gearhead classic, along with all this week's new anime releases! ― I really liked the ending of Recovery of an MMO Junkie this week, but now I'm starting to realize that the early finale means I'll have to get through the rest of the season without it. You know a series is good when the thought of not having new episodes to watch makes you feel a little ...
Fruits Basket Limited Edition Blu-Ray
One of the most beloved shojo anime of all time comes to Blu-ray in this "sweet sixteen" special edition set! Rebecca Silverman looks back on how this heartwarming classic has held up sixteen years later. ― Back when it was first released, Fruits Basket, based on the manga of the same name by Natsuki Takaya, was a sensation. Combining elements of fantasy, slice-of-life, and reverse harem romance come...
The Mike Toole Show - Lastman, Standing
Mike devours a few episodes of the genre-smashing French action cartoon Lastman and wonders - is this anime? ― Earlier this year I was at the Crunchyroll Expo, where I hosted a bunch of discussion panels and presented a couple of my own. The homogenous look and omnipresent Crunchyroll branding took some getting used to, but it was ultimately an energetic and well-run show, a deft mix of the stuff I l...
My Monster Secret GN 6
My Monster Secret's sixth volume maintains its madcap romcom appeal in spite of some predictably glacial pacing. Nick Creamer has the details. ― At last, it's time for action. As My Monster Secret's sixth volume opens, our hero Asahi reiterates his determination to actually confess to his vampiric classmate Shiragami. Having been spurred into action by the courage of his childhood friend Mikan, he's ...
The List - 7 More Manga for Monster Girl Lovers
With Monster Musume and Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid in the rearview mirror and a few more weeks to wait before Killing Bites next season, here are seven great monster girl manga to whet your appetite. ― Back in 2015, monster girls were all the rage thanks to Okayado's hit Monster Musume. The anime adaptation was one of the first to introduce a harem of all non-human girls. It also successfully marr...
The Promised Neverland GN 1
Shonen Jump's rising hit series captivates with a dark tale about a cruel and unusual home for orphans. Rebecca Silverman plunges the depths of this promising new title. ― When Jonathan Swift published his satirical treatise on why the economic crisis in Ireland could be solved by eating children in 1729, it took him until the final lines to clue his readers in on the joke. The Promised Neverland tak...
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Journal Abstracts
Unlimited access to full-length articles is included with membership. Click memberships to become a member.
Birthing professionals are charged with the responsibility of freeing the baby whose head appears but whose shoulders remain stuck. How they manage this stressful obstacle and how the experience imprints the baby both physiologically and psychologically are examined in this paper through the application of body-centered therapy.
In this issue of JOPPPAH we connect strongly with one of the primary ancestors of our field, psychoanalysis, and find there relevance and wisdom that informs and challenges us to consider all perspectives in what constitutes pre- and perinatal psychology today. We find that psychoanalysis is not only an ancestor, but a current explorer in this realm. Nora Swan-Foster brings the Jungian perspective in with an in depth look at pregnancy as feminine initiation.
The Sound of Silence: Journeys Through Miscarriage, edited by Irma Gold. (2011). Capalaba, Queensland: Mostly for Mothers, a division of Wombat Books, 165 pages, ISBN 978-921632-12-9.
The neurodevelopmental risks of prenatal exposure to synthetic Oxytocin (OXT) during childbirth are relatively unexplored; however, it seems plausible that lifelong consequences could occur. This article expounds upon a pilot study (Kurth & Haussmann, 2011) that posited an association between prenatal OXT exposure and childhood onset of ADHD, suggesting neurodevelopmental disorders may be a consequence of this exposure. Study results, conclusions, and speculative impressions are discussed1.
Maternal Fetal Attachment: Can Acceptance of Fetal Sentience Impact the Maternal-Fetal Attachment Relationship?Abstract:
Research into maternal-fetal attachment is increasing yet has not yielded substantive scientific results due in part to the lack of a clear definition of the word "attachment." Furthermore, a controversy currently exists in the literature with debate focused on the use of the word "attachment" as referenced by John Bowlby when discussing the maternal-fetal relationship.
This paper discusses somatically informed parent-prenate counseling/ psychotherapy. It defines and presents the phenomenon called parent-prenate attachment. Further, it reviews the literature on parent-prenate attachment; and also reports on some of the factors that have been found to strengthen, or weaken, the qualities of bonding in this relationship. Finally, the article defines and introduces somatic psychotherapy; and proposes some of the potential ways in which somatic clinical interventions could enhance the practice of parent-prenate psychotherapy.
The Potential Effects of Contemplative Practices on the Cultivation of Empathic Attunement in MothersAbstract:
Recent research across various disciplines, including attachment theory, neuroscience, developmental psychology, and pre and perinatal psychology, suggests the importance of redefining parenting effectiveness to include empathic attunement. In light of this research, the importance of prenatal education and training for mothers in body-centered contemplative practices, due to the resulting potential for the development of empathic attunement and the corresponding impact on the developing mind/brain of their children, is discussed.
Prenatal and Perinatal Trauma Case Formulation: Toward an Evidence-Based Assessment of the Origins of Repetitive Behaviors in AdultsAbstract:
Historically, the practice of treating adults for prenatal and perinatal trauma has consisted of individual practitioners' modalities that lacked empirical validation around treatment specificity or efficacy. Yet, their commitment to understanding the origins of behaviors has provided hope for clients challenged with life-long problems. This paper describes, based on a review ofthe literature, a first step towards integrating prenatal and perinatal psychology theory and practice knowledge with current case formulation and evidence-based practice models.


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Jimmy Fallon's 'Tonight Show' Sets Will Smith and U2 as First Guests
Just a few weeks' time will see the late night landscape dramatically shift, as 'Late Night' host Jimmy Fallon finally takes the 'Tonight Show' throne from Jay Leno, and 'SNL' veteran Seth Meyers joins 'Late Night' in his wake. Fallon has tapped cinema icon Will Smith and Irish rockers U2 for his inaugural 'Tonight Show' gig, but who will join Seth Meyers on the couch?
Fallon broke news of his first 'Tonight Show' guests from the still-ongoing Television Critics Association press tour, specifically that Smith and U2 would kick off the festivities on Monday, February 17. Meyers' version of 'Late Night' on the other hand, will premiere on February 24 with the 'SNL' alum's former 'Weekend Update' co-host and 'Parks and Recreation' treasure Amy Poehler.
As for any major changes to either series, Fallon told reporters that his opening monologues would expand in length to better resemble those under Leno's tenure. "My monologues were about four minutes, and he was doing 10, so we have to double the material every night." Fallon also noted the reasoning behind his incarnation "starring" Jimmy Fallon as opposed to "with," saying "It's an homage, a tip of the cap to the origins of the show."
An adjustment though it may be, we're excited to see what either host comes up with in late February, so give us your hopes for 'The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon' and 'Late Night with Seth Meyers' in the comments!


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Frank Kaminsky to return for his senior season at Wisconsin
MADISON—While Frank Kaminsky was golfing Friday afternoon in the Madison area, the Wisconsin men's basketball coaches were on the road evaluating players they hope to add to the program.
They won't have to find a replacement for Kaminsky until after next season, of course, because despite seeking feedback from the NBA's Undergraduate Advisory Committee, the 7-foot, 234-pound center didn't waver from his original decision to return to UW for his senior season.
"He came in before that and talked about it, and he had indicated all along that unless he got some unexpected feedback that he wanted to come back," UW associate head coach Greg Gard said Friday. "But it didn't do any harm to submit his name and get some feedback. That is what he wanted to do."
The projections: Kaminsky could be taken anywhere from late in the first round to deep into the second round.
"It came back close to where we had expected, and where we had heard prior to the advisory committee taking a look at it," Gard said. "So nothing was altered in terms of his intentions or his plan or anything like that."
After averaging 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore, Kaminsky blossomed into a first-team all-Big Ten pick as a junior.
He averaged 13.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and was named the most valuable player of the NCAA Tournament's West Regional as he helped UW return to the Final Four for the first time since 2000.
"But as he laid out the pros and cons," Gard said, "the pros of staying far out-weighed the cons in terms of what can happen next year, and where he would be next year if he made another jump.
"The cons were: 'What is the likelihood of him making a team?' You really roll the dice when you're looking at late second round."


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Theories - Origin of Life
Discussion of everything related to the Theory of Evolution.
Moderator: BioTeam
I think those ancient reasonable membranoids in Venus would create a special way of photosynthesis. They would have done such a super-heat-resistant catalytic process in which energy of absorbed photon was spent on a separation of CO2 - C + O2. Moreover, both components would be stocked in separate granules and vacuoles! And this technological structure would require the presence of special membrane rhizoids, which would look in the substrate compounds containing hydrogen - for exothermic synthesis of water! Energy would be allocated, by the way, can also be used for CO2 - C + O2!
Re: Theories - Origin of Life
The BBC love this type of headline grabber and treats reports such as this as fact.
The Nature article concludes with this acknowledgement by the authors.
Willbold, M., T. Elliott, et al. (2011). "The tungsten isotopic composition of the Earth/'s mantle before the terminal bombardment." Nature 477(7363): 195-198.
Btw these researchers are basing their ideas on Accretion Theory that you don't agree with
"membranoids" ---- Not my type of music
Well, actually, I'm not against accretion. Central hyper-astroid initially formed from the stars - the white giants that - the main population of elliptical galaxies. Such stars - pure hydrogen-helium white giants, as these galaxies formed by accretion (in my opinion). And later in the centers of these galaxies after falling stars on the growing star-monster appears hyper-astroid and stretched in the equatorial plane in a giant rotating spindle, which is detached from any planetoids and stars type "Main sequence".
Well, me, my "music" is quite suitable. Because this is my way to solve that problem, now called the crisis of the genre in molecular biology. Now the question is, what can explore methodological complex nano-phenomena in the cell membrane to describe it, "consciousness" of the cell - the "Active membrane model of the World on ... Spirit? Continuum?" - Oh, what's the difference?
So. Posted by Mr. Dawkins, another message. In my opinion, he does not read them.
http://richarddawkins.net/articles/6433 ... ins?page=2
Re: Theories - Origin of Life
May I put this to you.
You have a sincere belief in the evolutionary hypothesis and I understand that and respect it.
However unless you can establish those views have a scientific basis, then it is only a belief system like any other.
In order to get life started, for evolution to get going you have to believe that the early atmosphere lacked oxygen.
So an atmosphere lacking oxygen had to be designed to test out the view.
That design, whatever the combination of gases,is confronted with major problems.
1) Many experiments involving an oxygen free atmosphere have produced amino acids, the basic molecules in living organisms. However the energy that created these molecules also destroys them. That is why Miller and others had to get them out of the system once created. What natural process could have done that? (The problem has not even been addresses as far as I know)
2) All the experiments produce both left handed and right handed amino acids in more or less equal quantities. The life processes use only the left handed ones. Right handed ones are toxic. What natural processes are able to differentiate between them?
3) If life did evolve in, say an ammonia/methane environment, that organism had to evolve into one that breathes oxygen. How did that happen? Again there is no plausible explanation that has been offered.
4) How did the oxygen free atmosphere become an oxygen rich atmosphere? There have been a few attempted explanations, here is a statement on the subject of photosynthesis that you have referred to.
Science, Kasting, Vol. 293, 3 August 2001, "The Rise of Atmospheric Oxygen", page 819
5) How did the genetic code evolve? Koonan for example refers to this as an intractable problem
Here we have a clearly designed atmosphere that has proved not to be correct simply because for the past 60 years or so all attempts to surmount these problems I have mentioned above have failed.
Clearly no natural explanation has proved plausible. That is not in doubt.
When I suggested that the only plausible answer was that the atmosphere was clearly designed correctly with it's O2 content right at the start of life that is also designed all those problems go away.
Yet you responded this way
Now forget that I am using stupid logic as you put it, would you like to rephrase the second half of your statement because it makes no sense to me.
I simply do not know what you mean.
You know, I'm tired of arguing with you. That's problem of all of you, anti-evolutionists, you rather beat your opponents by writing lots of long posts, which may sound nice (how else would you get followers, right?) than by true arguments.
You are trying to look clever, but the least mistake you're doing is mixing origin of life and evolution. You should make it clear for yourself first, what are you talking about.
Regarding the oxygen, I know there are some articles, I have read some, but I'm not much willing to spend time searching them now (yeah, I'm sorry, but my memory is not that good to remember every article I've read years ago). But you're obviously using only these facts, which are usufull for you.
The fact, that we can create something is not proof that it must be created by someone and it cannot "evolve".
Cis or trans? That's what matters.
Re: Theories - Origin of Life
In other words you only believe what you think you know, but can't be bothered to actually find out if it is correct.
That's fair enough, belief based on emotion is a very difficult thing to combat, why should you want to change your comfort zone for the real world.
Hope this post is short enough.
Jackbean (and other participants in this thread).
It`s a mystery to me why you all encourage this pseudoscientific monologue to go on and on and on. Your arguments are only adding fuel to the fire. And you should know it. It`s like debating holocaust- deniers. You can newer answer all their shoe box questions and their citing of known and unknown historians. So you don`t do it. You know their motives and you know their tactics and you don`t invite them into an arena of honest and open thinking. It`s not about censorship, but about decency, really. On a biology forum I would not expect creationists given free space to prove their point that science can`t agree on the basics of life on earth. This thread serves to verify the"fight" inside the science community, which we know is false, but nevertheless demonstrated here. Science is about placing evidence before conclusion, not the other way around, like creationists do. Yes, I took this forum to be a science forum. But this never ending stream of modern day creationism proved me wrong. It`s a pity.
Re: Theories - Origin of Life
Nice bit of rhetoric, but as you say,
So where is your science.
See another short post
Hmmm. Well, actually, personally, I do study at first, and then concluding, moreover, my idea - not creationism. I criticize creationism and criticize distorted evolutionism that creationism is a giveaway. So this is Mr. Oldman's not about me!
Re: Theories - Origin of Life
Absolutely correct.
I thoroughly enjoy your posts
I am sorry you thought I was referring to yourself. I was simply responding to the rather bizzare outburst from oldman.
To my knowledge since he registered in June he has contributed just twice to this forum.
On both occasions he has directed his rather tribal fire at me personally. No science, just vitriol.
I suppose he needs to regularly vent his spleen as his frustration builds.
His statement
Well it speaks for itself. " Dissent will not be tolerated" mein Furheur
I will consider myself quite fortunate if I don't get anymore blasts of this nature.
In the Soviet Union was such a terrible time - Stalinism, and then was biology - Lysenkoism. Then the right was declared dogma Trofim Denisovich Lysenko, certain, and everything else - was considered the machinations of world imperialism. Then anyone who did not agree with the dogmas of Lysenko either shot or sent to concentration camps for life. Well, now we have some new trends on a global scale! .. The scientific controversy - administrative arguments. All learn to get version of evolutionary theory "from simple replicators to evolutionary crown of creation" and to ban argue with that! And anyone who does not agree - to declare "creationists" and "excommunicated", that is only true of the "admin-science"! And the fact that the opponents of the theory of creationism and does not smell - it does not matter. It remains to arrange the world "cultural revolution" with the Red Guards of Mao on the script - and ... Hello, Sunset Civilization!
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Sony PS4 to feature AMD X86 processor
20 comments
NEW YORK Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Wednesday (Feb. 20) dropped a bombshell at the press launch of its PlayStation 4 gaming console, revealing that the new platform will use an X86 CPU.
The Japanese consumer electronics giant, which developed its own CELL processor to power the high-performance PlayStation 2 gaming console in 2000, is now dropping CELL--and an Nvidia Corp. graphics chip used in PlayStation 3-- altogether, and switching in PS4 to a new AMD accelerated processing unit (APU) that integrates an X86 CPU and GPU on the same die, according to Mark Cerny, lead system architect of PS4 at Sony.
While Sony did not disclose the SoC supplier during the press event, the companys press release later revealed that PS4 will use a single-chip custom processor that includes an 8-core 64-bit x86 "Jaguar" CPU built by AMD, with a Radeon GPU capable of 1.84 TFLOPS operation to process graphics.
By choosing the X86 CPU for its next generation gaming platform, Sony will gain two things, said Rick Doherty, research director at Envisioneering Group. One is time to market, which is critical, and another is supercharged PC game developers excited to use their code and graphics rendering experience on PS4, Doherty said.
Although Sonys move is not an endorsement of the PC as a gaming platform, the switch to the X86 CPU should also attract a large installed-base of extreme PC gamers to PS4, he added.
In a way, Sony might have been announcing an ultimate PC gaming machine called PS4, quipped Doherty. Referring to Microsofts Xbox 360 game console based on the PowerPC architecture, Doherty said, Bill Gates must be banging his head on the wall now, saying why didnt we do this? Microsofts original Xbox was based on Intels X86 CPU.
According to Cerny, Sonys PS4 development started five years ago, during the early days of the PS3 rollout.
Cerny said three principles that drove the development of the PS4 system architecture were: superior core performance whereby nothing should come between the platform and the game play; enhanced connectivity by building a much more fluid, easy access among console, mobile devices and PlayStation Network; and what do developers want?
Calling PS4 a gaming platform by developers and for developers, Cerny described its hardware system as consisting of X86 CPU, enhanced PC GPU, 8 Gigabytes of unified memory using GDDR5 and hard disk drive.
Brian Dipert, the founder and principal of Sierra Media, noted that the use of GDDR5 is probably the most proprietary aspect of this otherwise very PC-reminiscent hardware design. Although GDDR5 is already used on standalone graphics cards, he added that it probably won't be in PCs as main memory for a while yet.


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Local cases show perils of 'sexting' by teens
Kids will be kids, but what about kids with smartphones?
The handheld devices have taken communications to a new level. In less than a minute, a girl can send a photo of herself bare-chested, as happened in a 2012 case investigated by Janesville police.
And a boy can take a picture of his genitals and send it to a girl, which happened in the same case.
Reports indicate police handled the case by talking to parents on both sides.
The boy's mother had no idea what was happening until an officer told her, the report indicates.
The girl's mother had no idea until the girl's sister found the boy's photo on a home computer.
The parents told police the relationship would end immediately. Police did not take the case any further, reports indicate, but they could have.
Consider the case of two rural Rock County teens. A 17-year-old boy asked the 14-year-old girl for nude photos of herself. Her parents discovered the young couple's emails and alerted the Rock County Sheriff's Office, according to a search warrant request.
The search warrant yielded cellphones and a tablet device on which investigators hoped to find images.
The girl, questioned by a detective, admitted she had sent the boy suggestive, nude pictures of herself.
These teens used email to communicate, and in one case the girl used the boy's iPad tablet to take a photo before returning the device to him, the document indicates.
The boy could be charged in adult court under Wisconsin law. The search warrant indicates he was being investigated for possession of child pornography, a felony.
Child-porn crimes have been charged in many jurisdictions around the country when police arrest teens for possessing on their phones sexual images from their romantic partners.
"The vast majority of instances seem to occur as part of adolescent courtship rituals during an era where cellphones, texting, sending digital pictures are mainstays in youth culture," wrote Justin Patchin and Sameer Hinduja of the Cyberbullying Research Center.
"… The growing sentiment is that youth should not be prosecuted using laws that were intended to protect them from adults," the authors continued. "We agree with this perspective, as teenagers who unwittingly engage in this behavior should not be placed on sexual offender registries as that will largely ruin their life potential."
Patchin, a UW-Eau Claire criminologist who has trained police and the FBI, is co-author of one of the many studies that have found significant numbers of youths admitting they sent naked or semi-naked photos of themselves to others.
The practice is called sexting.
Patchin's 2010 survey of 4,400 middle and high school students in a large public school district found 12.9 percent had received such images from someone at their school.
Nearly 8 percent of students admitted sending such photos, according to the study.
The proportion of students sending such images increased with age, to around 17 percent for 18-year-olds.
"We also noted that boys and girls were equally as likely to send naked images, while boys were significantly more likely to report receiving them," the authors wrote.
Patchin advises teens to delete sexts from classmates as soon as they receive them to avoid criminal charges or being placed on a sex-crime registry. The advice has been controversial.
The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says juveniles should report sexts to adults.
Telling a trusted adult "is generally good advice for a lot of problems you run into, however, in the case of a naked photo of an under-aged youth, this can be devastating for all involved," Patchin wrote in a 2011 blog.
"For example, if you show the image to a teacher, he or she is likely required by law to report it to the police. Teachers who don't can lose their teaching license and/or be fired. If they don't know what to do and seek guidance from a fellow teacher, they could get into even more trouble," Patchin wrote.
"For example, if you hand your cellphone with the nude image over to the teacher, and he or she shows another teacher, both teachers (and you) could be charged with possession of child pornography …
"In some cases you could even end up on state sex offender registries."
Larry Magid of SafeKids.com agrees with Patchin in some instances but writes:
"There are situations where parents, teachers and in some cases even law enforcement should get involved. Examples include when sexting is used to extort or pressure someone into doing something they wouldn't otherwise want to do or when a person who receives a sext forwards it to a number of other people.
"There have also been some cases where adults are encouraging minors to send them sexually explicit images."
Patchin agrees juveniles should not delete sexts that come from adults and should contact a trusted adult as soon as possible.
In a phone conversation with The Gazette, Patchin noted that images shared by two teens in a romantic relationship can and often do get distributed to others.
In two prominent U.S. cases, girls whose photos were distributed were subject to cruel abuse from peers and eventually took their own lives, Patchin noted.
Patchin advises parents to gauge their children's maturity when deciding when the child should get a cellphone.
"We usually advise parents to ease them into it, so don't provide the latest iPhone to an 8-year-old," Patchin said.
Parents should educate their children about the risks involved, and at certain ages, children should be told to expect their phones will be checked, Patchin said.
Later, teens who are mature enough should be given privacy and shown trust, "and hopefully you've taught them the right morals and values," Patchin said.
The nature of sexting is likely to change as cellphone "apps" are developed.
Snapchat, for instance, allows a photo to be sent to another person, and the photo disappears in seconds.
Some might find this to be the perfect app for sexting, but "now most people believe it's not really gone. It's still stored on the cellphone," Patchin said.
Software exists that can resurrect the image, or the receiver can take a screen shot—record an image of the phone screen—to preserve it, Patchin said.
Most now understand that Snapchat photos might be preserved, but someone new to it might be lulled into a false sense of security, Patchin said.
A variety of texting applications also have come on the market. They offer a variety of features that regular texting does not. One advantage, from a teen's point of view, is that parents might not know to check for texting apps when they check their cellphones, Patchin said.
One texting app called Kik was part of a recent sexual assault in Janesville, according to police.
Police say 20-year-old Nicholas W. Ackerman met a 13-year-old girl via Kik, which allows users to contact other Kik users who are strangers.
The girl's mother found out and made the girl remove Kik from her phone, but the two continued to communicate, according to a criminal complaint filed in Rock County Court last month.
After many days of texting, Ackerman got the girl to agree to meet him after school, according to the complaint.
The girl got into Ackerman's car in a parking lot on Center Avenue, and he drove to the dead end of South Washington Street near the Monterey Bridge, and that's when the girl said she tried to get out of the car but found the doors were locked, according to the complaint.
She told him she didn't want to have sex, but they did in the back seat, the complaint states.
At the hospital, a gynecologist was called in to help with the sexual assault examination because the girl was injured during sex, the complaint states.
"Ask questions. Ask your kids what they're doing, where they're going and who they're interacting with," Patchin said.
If you notice an app on your child's phone that you've never heard of, ask what it is and why she is using it, Patchin said.
"The key is to keep the open line of communications between parent and child," Patchin said.
"But it is hard to keep up," he added. "It's hard for me to keep up, and I live and breathe this stuff."
Patchin and Hinduja wrote that schools should work with parents and police when cases arise and should make it clear that the school will discipline students who distribute sexting images.
"Our prevention and response efforts are going to be less than ideal if we cannot effectively counter what society is hammering into the minds of adolescents, the researchers wrote.
"If the dominant message our kids are hearing is that teen sexuality leads to romantic love, personal fulfillment, popularity, and celebrity status with very little (if any) public or personal fallout, they will continue to push the proverbial envelope, and the line between right and wrong in this area will be increasingly obscured."


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Sherman Park
1301 W. 52nd St. Chicago, Illinois 60609
(312) 747-6672
Fee: Free
Age Range: 14 and up
Collaboraction presents Crime Scene: Let Hope Rise. This piece is a world premiere and timely theatrical reaction to Chicago?s history of violent crime and a call to discover what it might take to create lasting change in our city. The project couples nonfiction source material, such as interviews, articles, and online comments, with three true Chicago crimes to raise critical questions surrounding segregation, poverty, the news media, popular culture, and our numbness to it all.


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BRADENTON, Fla. – The 2014 USL PRO Combine continued on Saturday with six scrimmages that saw the 102 players in attendance get the chance to compete in front of the assembled USL PRO, MLS and international scouts gathered at the facilities of IMG Academy.
As teams sought to find chemistry, goals were few and far between in the morning session as some excellent goalkeeping and defending produced three 1-0 results. Former Chicago Inferno forward Gordon Gurson got the distinction of scoring the first goal of this year's Combine, as his first-half finished gave Team 2 victory against Team 1, while former Des Moines Menace man Chris Harmon won a penalty, and then converted from the spot, to lift Team 3 past Team 4.
The best goal of the morning session came in the third contest, when the SC United Bantams' Jack Metcalf took control of a free kick just outside the penalty area for Team 5. Metcalf curled a fine shot into the top-right corner of the net that gave the goalkeeper little chance to give his side victory against Team 6.
The afternoon brought better action as the teams began to develop more chemistry, and both former Ocean City Nor'easters GK Brian Billings (Team 1) and Bryce Boyd (Team 4) were called upon to make saves that kept their sides scoreless at the break in the first scrimmage of the second session. Team 4 would open the scoring just before the midway point of the second half, however, as a good pass by Ali van Gurp found Matthew Hamilton in space for a low finish into the left corner of the net, and that would prove enough for another 1-0 win.
The second game of the afternoon ended all square, as Team 3 and Team 6 played to a 1-1 draw. Harmon almost added to his goal earlier in the day, only to hit the post for Team 3, and Nathan Douglas forced a good save for Team 6, but it would be Team 3 that took the lead just before halftime as former Phoenix FC forward Tommy Ramos clipped home a finish from former Austin Aztex standout Max Gunderson's cross. Team 6 would get back on level terms in the second half, though, as Brad Vanino's free kick from the left eluded everyone, and snuck in at the far post.
Team 2 and Team 5 played an entertaining contest to close out the day, but the defenses again remained on top in a 0-0 draw. Stanford goalkeeper Jason Dodson (Team 2) saved a penalty kick in the first half from Xavier's Tanner Petrick (Team 5) as the teams went to the break scoreless, and was in fine form throughout. In the second half, he made a number of good saves as the game opened up, including a stop on a long-range blast by Metcalf, but neither side was able to finish off its chances as the game ended scoreless.
The USL PRO Combine continues on Sunday as each team closes out the event with one final scrimmage. Two of Saturday's three scrimmages can be seen live as Tourbeau Sports broadcasts on the USL PRO YouTube channel.


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Basics: iPhone
Saturday, December 16
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Apple Boise Towne Square
Go to My Reservations to cancel your reservation
New to iPhone? We'll help you get started. Follow along on your iPhone as we show you the basics, how to stay up to date, and great ways to use the built-in apps. We'll explore new features and share a few helpful tips and tricks.
350 North Milwaukee Street
Boise, ID 83704
More about Basics
New to iPhone, Mac, or Apple? Let us help you get started with the basics and walk you through the fundamentals of your device. We'll show you how to navigate, stay up to date, and feel confident about your new product.
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December 13, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Apple Boise Towne Square


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Verizon Communications Inc. set the rate on $14 billion of loans it's seeking to back its purchase of a stake in its wireless unit from Vodafone Group Plc, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.
A $6 billion term loan due in three years will pay interest at 1.375 percentage points more than the London interbank offered rate (Libor), while a $6 billion term loan maturing in five years will have a rate of 1.5 percentage points more than Libor, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to speak publicly.
The financing, being arranged JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Corp., and Barclays Plc, also includes a $2 billion revolving credit line that will pay interest at 1.25 percentage points more than the benchmark borrowing rate.
Verizon, rated Baa1 at Moody's Investors Service and BBB+ at Standard & Poor's, is buying Vodafone's Verizon Wireless stake for $130 billion to gain full control of the most profitable U.S. mobile-phone carrier.
A meeting with lenders to discuss the financing is scheduled for tomorrow at 8:30 a.m. in New York, according to the person. Under a revolver, money can be borrowed again once it's repaid; in a term loan, it can't.


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Glen Loyd Videos: Striking images of Grand Canyon
Glen Loyd
Friday, March 28, 2014
This week, we head for Arizona and the Grand Canyon. Look for the entrances to ancestral Puebloan granaries (second photograph) and the rock formation at the end of the video shaped like an eagle.
Glen Loyd lives on the Rock River in Janesville 15 days a month. He is a former public information officer for Wisconsin Consumer Protection, publishes a weekly consumer protection blog. Glen is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff. His opinion is not necessarily that of the The Gazette staff or management.


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U.S. investment in the developing world is making a comeback, but with a notable shift in the mix of high-growth markets that U.S. companies are investing in, according to a survey just released by KPMG. The biannual survey monitors merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in which the investing business takes at least a 5 percent shareholding interest in the other organization.
In the first half of 2008, businesses from the United States took an ownership stake in twice as many companies from China as from any other emerging market, including Brazil and India. By the first half of 2013, India had reversed that statistic, and Brazilian businesses were the targets of nearly four times as many U.S.-originated M&A deals as were Chinese companies. (See Figure 1, below.) For companies from other developed nations, however, China remained the second most frequently targeted emerging market in M&A deals, behind South and East Asia; third was Central and Eastern Europe.
Overall, the number of mergers and acquisitions in which U.S. companies invested in emerging-market businesses rose 5 percent, from 110 in the second half of 2012 to 116 in the first half of 2013, while global developed-to-high-growth (D2H) investment fell by 13 percent, from 607 deals to 526. In more than one in five deals involving a U.S. acquirer, the target was a Brazilian business, and 15 percent involved Indian firms. Other popular high-growth destinations for U.S. investments in H1/2013 included South and East Asia, the rest of South America, and Central America and the Caribbean.
"U.S. companies are exhibiting higher levels of confidence domestically, and we're starting to see this translate into increased acquisition activity in emerging markets," says Mark Barnes, national leader of KPMG's U.S. high growth markets practice. "But the United States was one of only a few developed economies to have an uptick in D2H deals, as overall D2H deal activity was at its lowest since 2009."


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Greg L. Pryce, Brodhead (1949-2013)
July 27, 1949 - December 6, 2013
Greg L. Pryce, age 64, passed away on Friday, Dec. 6, 2013, at Mercy Hospital, Janesville. He was born on July 27, 1949, in Monroe, WI, the son of William and Marilyn (Flora) Pryce. He married Cindy Olson on Aug. 1, 1970, in Albany, WI. Greg graduated from Albany High School in 1967, and was a member of the Albany United Methodist Church. He was a livestock dealer in the Brodhead area for many years and raised Mammoth Jack and horses. He loved going to all sporting events at Brodhead and Delavan, especially watching his grandchildren play. He enjoyed volleyball and softball and also coaching Azzy and McKenna. He was a great conversationalist and enjoyed family vacations in the west. The most important thing to Greg was his family.
Greg is survived by his wife, Cindy of Brodhead; children: Davis (Wendy) Pryce of Evansville, WI, Danielle (Brian) Venden of Brodhead, Danae (Bill) Bump of Delavan, WI; siblings, Jeff (Kristy) Pryce of Albany, and Peggy Keeney of Brodhead; in-laws, Thorvald (Pauline) Olson of Brodhead; a sister-in-law, Sharon Pryce of Albany; and 15 grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his mother and a brother, Harry Pryce.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m., Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013, at the ALBANY UNITED METHODIST CHURCH, with Rev. Pat Soddy officiating. Burial will be in Hillcrest Cemetery, Albany. Visitation will be held from 4 until 7 p.m., Monday, at the church. A memorial fund will be established. Online condolences may be made at www.dlnewcomerfuneralhome.com


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Kevin L. Ripp, Evansville, WI (1960-2013)
September 1, 1960 - December 14, 2013
Kevin L. Ripp died unexpectedly after a long battle with a stage 4 Glioblastoma Multiforme brain tumor on Dec. 14, 2013, at home. Kevin was born Sept. 1, 1960, in Stoughton, WI, the son of Virgil and Evelyn (Hookstead) Ripp. Kevin had been farming pretty much his whole life on his family farm. He had farmed with his family and friends and continued to do so as much as he could until the time of his passing. Kevin knew the land and how to nurture it, he loved to watch his hard work grow and he loved to harvest when the time came. Kevin also loved nature and to watch the animals in the field. He loved to drive the tractors; and when he could no longer drive them, he still loved to ride along.
Kevin is survived by his siblings: Allen (Shelby) Dewey, Virgil Ripp of California, Bruce (Gloria), Roger Ripp of Beloit, WI, Richard, Nolan (Barbara) Ripp, Kristeen (David) Farberg of Janesville, WI, Vivian (Charles) Martin Jr. of Pennsylvania, and Cherie (John) Ripp of Evansville; several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his father, Virgil; mother, Evelyn; his brothers, Robert and Donald; his sister, Kathleen Ripp; and his nephew, Chad Farberg
Special Thanks to Kevin's Lifelong Best Friend, Pat Beggs, who helped in his greatest time of need. Also to all of Kevin's friends that helped Kevin through thick and thin - we will never be able to thank you all enough for your help and support.
Funeral services will be held at 12 Noon on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2013, at the WARD-HURTLEY FUNERAL HOME, Evansville. A visitation will be held from 9 a.m. until the time of service on Saturday at the FUNERAL HOME.
Special thanks to the UW Hospital and Dr. Steven Howard, Dr. Ian Robins, Lori Hayes and their Staff for going above and beyond.
Memorials may be made to UW Medical Foundation Brain Cancer/ Dr. Howard research or The Rock County Cancer Coalition
Condolences may be expressed at Wardhurtley.com


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Charcuterie: Pâté Grand-mère, Pork Butts and Secret Tricks
When I first signed on as the charcutière at Formaggio Kitchen, I was excited to work with meat. "What does the position entail?" I asked Ihsan, the shop's owner. "You'll be making sausages, curing meat, breaking down whole pigs and rabbits. Stuff like that," he said. "And pâtés. Lots of pâtés." That stopped me in my tracks. Sausages, great. Butchery, no problem. How hard can meat curing be? But pâtés? This was another story.
Pâté was mysterious, classic and tricky-sounding. I accepted the position with a bit of apprehension. Now, entering my third holiday season at the shop, pâtés have become one of the items I particularly look forward to making. And we make a lot of them!
Pâté-making, once you get a few tricks up your sleeve, can be simultaneously simple and rewarding. I've tweaked some of the recipes that predated me and added a few new ones to our repertoire, and our house-made pâtés have become some of the shop's most popular charcuterie offerings.
My colleagues and apprentices over these past few years have been intrigued and surprised by the amount of work that goes into each batch of pâté. From the meat sourcing and grinding to the garlic peeling and thyme stemming, pâté making is a labor-intensive process that takes several days from start to finish.
Every pâté recipe has three components: meat, a liver binder, and a defining garnish. We start with the best and freshest meat available. Our meat, predominantly pork, comes from local, small family farms. We bone our rabbits ourselves, and cut our pork butts into meat-grinder sized cubes. The meat is carefully weighed, then salted and frozen in a single layer so that it does not bruise. We grind the meat while it's still about halfway frozen (secret trick #1), add fresh fatback and mix well.
The liver binder is the flavoring component of the pâté, and is the most labor-intensive of the three parts. Each pâté binder is a little different, and the ingredients in each vary to enhance the type of meat in the pâté. For example, our rabbit pâté is flavored with rum (for sweetness and depth) and lemon zest and fennel seed (to highlight the delicate flavor of Vermont rabbits).
The flavor components vary but all of the binders contain garlic, shallots, local eggs, cream, fresh herbs, our signature pâté spice blend, pork, chicken, or rabbit livers and some form of alcohol. The binder flavors the pâté but also provides the richness and density that are its defining qualities. We blend the binder until very smooth, then slowly combine it with the ground meat mixture.
The garnish is often the most fun part of pâté-making. This is the finishing touch that makes each pâté unique, whether it be the blend of fresh mushrooms and truffle salt in the Pâté Forestier or the delicious dried tart cherries that stud our Duck Pâté. The garnish allows the pâté-maker a little creative license, and maybe even a little whimsy. When I was developing our recipe for Pâté Grand-mère, I knew I wanted to make a pâté with a bacon lattice woven on top. But what to put inside to accent a rich, porky pâté? More bacon, of course! This time in the form of crispy little lardons. The interior garnish is prepared ahead, allowed to cool, and mixed into the pâté at the very end, "like chocolate chips in cookie dough," I always tell my apprentices.
Then the pâté mix is packed away and stored in the refrigerator for at least one night to allow the flavors to develop (secret trick #2). The next morning we carefully pack the meat mixture into glass baking terrines, pressing and smoothing as we pack to avoid trapping air bubbles. We get to garnish each pâté again, this time on top, with caul fat or pancetta or bacon, or prosciutto in the case of our Rabbit Pâté, each of which is individually wrapped in Prosciutto di Parma before baking.
The pâtés are baked slowly in a water bath and checked frequently until they reach their desired temperature. Some are then baked uncovered for a short time so that their tops become golden brown. Next the pâtés are removed from the oven and basted with their own juices while they cool (secret #3). They go into the refrigerator in their terrines overnight to firm up, and then the next morning we slide them out, wrap them up, and distribute them among our three shops.
The following is our recipe for Pâté Grand-mère, adapted for the home kitchen:
Pâté Grand-mère
Yield: 1 terrine (about 2 ½ pounds)
Special equipment: meat grinder, 1/2-quart glass terrine (Julie uses one that is 8 ½-inches long, 4 ½-inches wide and 2 ¾-inches deep)
- 2 pounds pork butt, trimmed of glands and cubed
- 1/2 pound pork fatback, cubed
- 1/8 pound pancetta, cubed
- 2 tbsps kosher salt
- ½ c pork liver, cleaned and diced
- 2 medium shallots, peeled and quartered
- 2 medium cloves garlic, halved
- 1 tbsp Italian parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 tsp fresh thyme, stemmed
- 2 tsp pâté spice blend
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp quatre épices
- 1/4 c brandy
- 1/4 c dry white wine
- 1 tbsp sherry
- 1 tbsp tawny port
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 c light cream
- ¼ pound slab bacon, diced into 1/2 inch cubes and sautéed for lardons
- 8 strips bacon, thinly sliced for wrapping tops of pâté
- Combine cubed meat, fatback and pancetta. Mix well with salt, spread on a sheet pan, and freeze until hard but not completely frozen.
- Meanwhile, sauté diced bacon until just crisp, then drain and cool.
- For binder, combine garlic, shallot, herbs, spices and alcohol. Pulse in food processor until roughly chopped. Add liver, eggs and cream. Blend well to emulsify. Mixture should be smooth.
- Grind partially frozen meat, then mix on low speed until well-combined. Finish immediately or keep well-chilled until ready to mix with binder and garnish.
- When you are ready to proceed, add binder to meat mixture and combine well, scraping down bottom and sides of bowl.
- Add lardons (bacon) and mix just until evenly incorporated.
- Spray a glass terrine with cooking spray and pack pâté mix into the terrine, pressing down with a rubber spatula as you go to eliminate any air bubbles. Top each terrine with finishing garnish of bacon strips. Trim bacon and tuck any loose ends into the sides.
- Spray a piece of tin foil with cooking spray and cover the pâté (sprayed side on the inside). Make sure foil is tented and does not touch the top of the pâté.
- Bake at 325°F in water bath that comes roughly half-way up the glass terrine. Bake until internal temperature reads 135°F, approximately* 1 hour and fifteen minutes. Remove foil and continue to bake until internal temperature reaches 155°F, approximately* 15 more minutes. Let cool in water bath, basting occasionally, until room temp, then refrigerate overnight. Pop out and clean off any extra fat before serving.
*Please note that baking times will vary depending on the shape of your glass container and on fluctuations in oven temperature. The key thing is to hit the specified temperatures.
Julie Biggs is charcutière and a frequent classroom instructor at Formaggio Kitchen Cambridge.


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Cold weather led to death of Rock County man, coroner says
TOWN OF AVON—The death of a town of Avon man on Monday is a reminder that winter weather can be dangerous, acting Rock County Coroner Lou Smit said.
Smit said Thomas G. Svoboda, 61, was found dead Monday evening near a rural residence. A heart attack figured in the death, but the weather also played a role, Smit said.
An autopsy was to be performed Thursday to determine exactly how the death occurred.
Svoboda was last seen alive around 9 a.m. Monday. Smit said he had walked about one-quarter mile to his brother's house and was returning when he collapsed.
Svoboda's girlfriend became concerned and went looking for him around 5 p.m. and found him a short time later, Smit said.
Smit has reported the death to the state health department as weather-related.
Smit said the temperature was minus 8 degrees, with a wind chill of minus 25, at the time that deputy coroners were called to the scene Monday evening.
Rock County Emergency Management and other agencies had publicized the dangers of exposure in advance of the cold, Smit said.
Smit has heard a report that suggests the current cold-weather pattern will continue into February, and he urged motorists to carry blankets, water and their medications if they are traveling any distance.
People with heart ailments should not be removing snow, Smit said.
"It's not necessarily the (shoveling) efforts. It's the shock of the cold weather that could cause a medical event," Smit said.
Svoboda's is the only weather-related death reported in Rock County this winter.


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Sound Off for Sunday, Dec. 15, 2013
On Blackhawk Tech: The Blackhawk Technical College Board and president have lost touch with reality. They must make more cuts before asking the public for more money. The public should never approve a $4-million-a-year, never-ending exemption to the revenue cap.
-- Does it surprise you that Blackhawk Tech is experiencing severe budget problems? It shouldn't because Gov. Walker and Rep. Amy Loudenbeck agreed to cut 30 percent of state assistance to all technical colleges. How do they expect young Wisconsin people to train for future jobs with limited budgets?
-- How many times must we hear it is going to cost the owner of a $100,000 home another $35 on their tax bill? Now the tech school needs money. How many times do people have to keep asking for tax money? If tech schools can't support their programs with tuition, maybe they need to close something or change the way they do things.
On Jay Winzenz: Page 6A Dec. 7 was about our acting city manager and how the council President Kathy Voskuil thinks he's done such a good job and that people should recognize him. So why didn't the council recognize him and make him our city manager? He did a fine job, and he deserved it.
-- How embarrassing that Voskuil failed the appropriate pomp, circumstance and ceremony to properly welcome our new city manager but instead raved on about the stand-in. She could have done that at a prior meeting.
On Obamacare: Last Sunday, the administration sent Dr. Ezekial Emanuel out on the talk shows. What a smug, arrogant elitist. Oh so you people didn't understand that you were going to pay a lot more if you wanted to keep your doctor? Well, you see it's not that the president is a liar. It's that you hillbillies are too stupid to understand English.
On rich: I got a kick out of your headline Tuesday about the new rich. Well, the super poor really don't want to hear the trivial lies of the super-rich when we're struggling check by check. What are these people going to do with all their money? Are they going to take it in their caskets when they die?
On Congress: Bravo to Paul Ryan and the Democrat who reached a bipartisan budget deal. Any reduction is just what is necessary to help cut more than $20 billion of our debt. Examine many more cuts for our spending, excluding food stamps and benefits for the poor.
-- Compromise has not been in the tea party's vocabulary, but hopefully in the new year, obstructionists will be replaced by compromise. A good start would be to enact the jobs bill that has sat in Congress since 2010 and calls for replacing defective bridges and deteriorated interstate.
On pope: Time magazine has chosen Pope Francis as its Person of the Year. He sealed the deal when he slammed capitalism as a tyranny and criticized the United States. Liberals love that.
On Packer quarterback: On behalf of the Chicago Bears, I would like to apologize to Packer fans for Aaron Rodgers' injury. It's not like the play was way over and one of our guys picked him up and slammed him the way the Packers did to Jim McMahon back in the '80s, but we still feel really bad about it.
On charter school plan: School board member Kevin Murray is opposed to having a charter school open (Page 1A, Dec. 11). Too bad he cares more about pleasing the tenured teachers than he does the kids.
-- Another charter school is being proposed. Who is going to pay for this? Aren't our public schools good enough anymore? If not, get rid of them or find out why they seem not to be able to do their job.
-- Karen Schulte's proposed charter school for minority students must be carefully evaluated. The school board should consider whether this proposal is a step toward re-segregation of our schools.
-- Taxpayers do not need to pay for any more schools. Put these kids back in Craig and Parker like everybody else has to do and quit making exceptions to let them go elsewhere and have the taxpayers pay for this.
On interchange: The landowner says he will pay for it. City of Milton residents, please do your own research and get informed on this industrial park and the developer who's proposing it. Question your leaders and demand open meetings.
On sidewalks in city: I have lived at the same address on the south side for over 30 years. There are many people who walk in the street. I'm not going to wait 10 years to install a sidewalk. There may be fatalities if I wait.


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Northwestern defense feeds on turnovers
So which football team led the Big Ten in turnovers forced in 2012?
If you chose Michigan State, Penn State, Wisconsin or Michigan—which finished first through fourth in the league in scoring defense—you weren't paying close enough attention.
The honor belonged to Northwestern, which forced 29 turnovers (16 fumbles, 13 interceptions), four more than any other team.
And look who is leading the Big Ten in turnovers forced this season: Northwestern, which has 14 in five games (11 interceptions and three fumbles) and faces UW at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Camp Randall Stadium.
"They're opportunistic when the ball's on the ground," UW coach Gary Andersen said. "They're opportunistic when the ball's in the air and they make those plays.
"Tipped balls turn into picks, similar to what happened in the Ohio State game. The kid gets his hand on the ball late, ball goes in the air and they pick that off.
"A lot of teams, a lot of people sit back and say they are lucky with some opportunities. I disagree wholeheartedly.
"I think they're prepared. They take advantage of opportunity when the ball's on the ground and when it's in the air. That's very important to them. Something they work on."
UW (3-2, 1-1) will have to be wary of the Wildcats' penchant for taking the ball away.
The Wildcats (4-1, 0-1) forced three turnovers, two fumbles and an interception, in their 40-30 loss to Ohio State on Saturday.
Quarterback Braxton Miller twice lost fumbles, the first time in the backfield on a zone-read play and the second time at the end of a 5-yard run to the Wildcats' 2.
The interception occurred when reserve defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo hit Miller's arm as he was trying to throw, causing the ball to flutter downfield.
"I watched them against Ohio State and I saw them really ripping at the ball when Braxton Miller was carrying it," UW quarterback Joel Stave said. "I don't anticipate carrying it like he did, but everyone on the offense needs to be aware that they are trying to get it out."
Northwestern's interception total of 11 also leads the Big Ten. Four of the interceptions have been returned for touchdowns.
Stave has thrown four interceptions in 129 attempts. He has thrown one interception in four of UW's five games, with the only unblemished performance coming in the loss at Arizona State.
Stave's interception at Ohio State, which led to the Buckeyes' fourth touchdown, came when he was hit before he could release the ball.
"They do a good job pressuring the quarterback and forcing interceptions," Stave said of Northwestern's defenders. "We've got to make sure we're doing a good job protecting. I've got to make sure I'm doing a good job getting the ball out on time.
"We've just got to be smart in our route running and catching the ball."
UW protects the ball better than any other Big Ten team.
The Badgers enter the game with a league-low five turnovers. The lone lost fumble came on a punt return at Arizona State when the ball hit off blocker Sojourn Shelton.
Andersen likes the ball security exhibited so far by UW's backs and receivers.
"Very impressed, especially with the running backs, the way they hold the ball high and tight," he said. "When you watch practice, you can see how important that is to the running backs and to the offense as a whole.
"They've done a good job there. I really think we have. You're going to have turnovers when you play almost half the season, but doing a good job there.
"They've got to continue."
Particularly this week against a Northwestern team that is adept at taking the ball away from its opponents under former UW defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz.
"Hank really emphasizes it and so does our entire defensive staff," Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. "Our guys are the ones that own it.
"We had a few more that were really close to coming out on Saturday. You've got to give the young men from Ohio State credit. They were able to secure the football.
"But we work at it on every play every day and I'm really proud of the job the guys are doing taking the football away."


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Rock County Humane Society rebuilding bridges
JANESVILLE—Don't count your kittens before they're hatched.
Burning bridges is easy, but building bridges means you'll have to attend a lot of night meetings.
These days, Rock County Humane Society Executive Director Brett Frazier finds himself turning the traditional formulas on their heads in an effort to restore the humane society's role as a home for lost and homeless animals.
In January, only 10 of Rock County's 28 towns, cities and villages had contracts with the humane society.
Frazier has met with "almost every municipality" in the past several months in an effort to regain the trust—and stray animal contracts—those municipalities used to have with the humane society.
"I believe we have firm commitments from 16 municipalities, and we are still working with three," Frazier said. "It all depends on budgets, and I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched."
To keep the humane society going, the organizations needs about $300,000 in animal control revenue. Many of those contracts were dropped when the previous director, Angela Rhodes, and the human society board changed the way contracts were handled.� Rhodes and the board increased the costs of the contracts because they believed the increases more accurately reflected the costs of caring for animals. They also believed contracts that excluded cats from pick up didn't reflect their mission.
Local officials pointed out that the cost of having the humane society care for a litter of kittens could ruin a town's carefully crafted budget.
Since he started in June, Frazier has been making the rounds, attending town and village board meetings.
He's worked with each municipality to develop a flat fee—rather than a per-animal—arrangement.
The fee is based the number of animals that historically came to the society from the municipality. It also is based on population.
"Another nice part of the flat fee arrangement is that we get out of the business of telling people which animals are important," Frazier said. "For the municipalities, it allows them to budget, they know they're not going to get a scary bill."
The village of Orfordville was one of the municipalities that never ceased working with the Rock County Humane Society.
Earlier in October, village officials approved a flat fee contract with the humane society.
Before Rhodes tenure, the village was charged per animal, but officials could approve what animals were delivered to the humane society, said Sherri Waege, village clerk.
The community is small enough that somebody usually knew whose stray dog was loose.
"We had a lot of repeat animals," Waege said. "Sometimes we just kept them here in the office."
Then, the humane society changed its policy, and village officials no longer had any say over what animals ended up at the shelter.
As other town and municipalities began to drop their contracts with the humane society, village officials discovered that they were paying for animals that came in from other areas of the county.
All Waege had to do was look at the paperwork from the humane society to see that people from outside the village were dropping off or reclaiming animals.
"The costs kept going up every year. We just had no control," Waege said. "A litter of kittens would cost $600, and when you only budgeted $1,000 for animal control, that was a lot."
Officials can't create an accurate budget without knowing how many kittens or other animals to budget for.
Frazier, who served on the Milton City Council for four year and now is Milton mayor, said he understands.
"If you budgeted for 10 animals and it goes to 20 animals, it's going to throw the budget out of whack, and that means somebody's road doesn't get fixed," Frazier said.
The town of Turtle probably will not contract with the humane society, said Roger Anclam, town board chair.
He's concerned the human society board responsible for the oversight of Rhodes is still in place.
And then there's the money.
"We've been able to handle the dog situation for a lot less than we would if went with the humane society," Anclam said. "We've got inside and outside dog runs. We've also been very fortunate to get a lot of help from Friends of Noah."


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Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware is a full-featured, Web-based, multilingual, tightly integrated, all-in-one wiki, CMS, and groupware. Tiki can be used to create all kinds of Web applications, sites, portals, knowledge bases, intranets, and extranets. Tiki offers a very large number of features "out-of-the-box". It is highly configurable and modular. All features are optional and administered via a Web-based interface. Major features include a robust wiki engine, news articles, discussion forums, newsletters, blogs, file and image galleries, bug and issue trackers, a link directory, polls/surveys and quizzes, FAQs, a banner management system, calendar, maps, mobile access, RSS feeds, a category system, tags, an advanced themeing engine (Smarty), spreadsheet, live support, shoutbox, inter-user messaging, menu generator, advanced permission system for users and groups, internal search engine, external authentication support, and more. It was formerly named TikiWiki.
LimeSurvey (formerly PHPSurveyor) is a Web application that interacts with MySQL, MSSQL, or Postgres to develop surveys, publish surveys, and collect responses to surveys. Once a survey has been created, data can be inserted into the survey either by a "pretty" public screen which presents each question one at a time, or by a quick and nasty data entry screen. It includes the capacity to generate individualized "tokens", so that invitations can be issued to participants. It also has the capacity to set conditions on whether questions will display (branching), numerous question types, and a basic statistics function.
phpMyAdmin is a tool intended to handle the administration of MySQL over the Web. It can create, rename, and drop databases, create/drop/alter tables, delete/edit/add fields, execute any SQL statement, manage keys on fields, create dumps of tables and databases, export/import CSV data, and administrate one single database and multiple MySQL servers.
Seo Panel is a complete control panel for managing search engine optimization of your Web sites. It contains many SEO tools to increase and track the performance of your Web sites. It lets you develop your own plugins for the panel. It includes an automatic directory submission tool, Site Auditor with a sitemap generator, a keyword position checker, a meta tag generator, Google and Alexa rank checkers, a backlink checker, a proxy server feature, multi-language support, and the ability to schedule, send, export, and print reports.
phpMyFAQ is a multilingual, completely database-driven FAQ system. It support various database systems and it also offers a content management system with a WYSIWYG editor, an image manager, flexible multi-group and multi-user support, a news system, user tracking, language modules, templates, PDF support, a backup system, Active Directory support, and an easy to use installation script.
LiVES is a simple to use yet powerful video effects, editing, conversion, and playback system aimed at the digital video artist and VJ. It runs under Linux, BSD, Mac OS X/Darwin, IRIX, and openMosix. It is frame and sample accurate, can handle almost all types of video, and is fully extendable through plugins and the included plugin builder tool. It can also be controlled remotely using OSC.
A minimalist MessagePack implementation for Java.
A network server gateway solution.


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Note that personalized support through tickets and Live Chat is only available with Silver and Gold Support Plans – purchasable separately.
If you purchased a Silver or Gold App Studio Support Plan, your Support Center Account will be setup for you by our team within 48 business hours of your plan purchase. An email will be sent to you containing a password reset link, which you need to click on. Please remember to check your Spam folder in the event you do not receive your email.
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Parkview School District will ask voters for $17 million
ORFORDVILLE--For the second time in two years, Parkview School District voters will see a school referendum on the April ballot.
Monday, the Parkview School Board unanimously approved a resolution asking voters for permission to borrow $17 million to build/renovate a new junior/senior high school at the existing Parkview Elementary School and to build/renovate a new 4K-6th grade facility at the current junior/senior high school.
As part of the plan, Parkview Primary School in Footville would close.
The second part of the referendum will ask voters for permission to exceed state-imposed revenue limits by $350,000 for non-recurring purposes.
In April 2012, district voters rejected a $5 million referendum that would have added 13 classrooms and a new gym at Orfordville Elementary and closed the schools in Footville and Newark. The school board voted later that month to close Newark Elementary and consolidate students into schools in Footville and Orfordville.
Parkview Superintendent Steve Lutzke said when feedback was collected after that referendum, many people asked why high school improvements weren't included. They also said they would not vote for a referendum unless it included consolidating district buildings.
For the past year and a half, a long-term planning committee has been working on several referendum options and seeking public feedback.
Two other options were considered: The first, which would have cost about $9 million, included building a new gym at the high school and doing upkeep on the rest of the buildings. The other option was a $20-million plan to expand the high school.�
After two public feedback meetings in fall, the long-range planning committee recommended going forward with the $17-million plan.
The potential annual tax impact of the $17-million plan would be about $262 for the owner of a $100,000 home.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us," said Clay Hammes, school board president and member of the long-term planning committee.
A "Vote Yes" committee has been formed, and it will do much of the work on the referendum. School district employees can only give out information on the referendum; they cannot encourage people to vote for the project.
Board Vice President Steve Haberman said the work was needed in order to keep the district competitive.
"I was talking to a realtor that had a home for sale in Footville," Haberman said. "She said that part of the problem was that people didn't have to go very far to get to a school district that had already been updated."
Hammes believes the upgrades could mean great things for the community—but it was hard to quantify that effect with an exact dollar figure.
"We are staring to be noticed for the things we're doing inside of the schools," Hammes said. "I can't tell you an amount, but I think we could have a little gem here."
Last updated: 10:14 pm Monday, December 16, 2013


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State Views: Walker's Obamacare policies costly for Wisconsin consumers
A report released last week by Citizen Action of Wisconsin reveals health consumers in Wisconsin will pay on average a stunning 79 percent to 99 percent more for health insurance than their counterparts in Minnesota on the new marketplaces created by Obamacare.
The report shows that two decisions made by Gov. Walker's administration explain a substantial portion of the disparity. The fundamental difference between the two states, which are similar geographically and demographically, and have comparable underlying medical costs, is that Minnesota has embraced the national health care reform law and is using the tools it provides to deliver more affordable health insurance, while the Walker administration has tried to undermine the law at every turn.
One bad decision involved Badgercare. It is already well known that Walker's decision to reject enhanced federal Medicaid funding to strengthen Badgercare cost the state budget $119 million more to cover fewer people. Our new report shows that forcing more low-income Wisconsinites into the new marketplaces (also known as exchanges) also increases health insurance premiums for everyone else.
A Rand Corp. report estimated that states rejecting enhanced federal Medicaid dollars will increase premiums between 8 percent and 10 percent. The reason is that lower-income people are relatively less healthy, and low-income people with health conditions are more motivated to enroll and pay higher premiums and cost sharing. This means insurance premiums on the Wisconsin marketplace on a typical plan will cost an average $207 more per year because the Walker administration rejected enhanced federal BadgerCare dollars.
Another key difference is the two states' dramatically different approaches to rate review. An important provision of the Affordable Care Act tasks state regulators with reviewing health insurance premium rate increases and determining if they are excessive.
Minnesota has a robust rate review process and took the additional step of rejecting health insurance rates that were unjustified, lowering rates on their new marketplace by up to 37 percent. Scott Walker's insurance agency, in stark contrast, has been so passive in its rate review that it has yet to find a single health insurance rate submission to be excessive.
Overall, the report concludes that Walker's decision not to use the tools made available by the national health care reform law may cost Wisconsin consumers as much as $1,000 more per year in insurance premiums. This dwarfs the meager $13 tax reduction Walker and his legislative allies are touting.
These numbers ought to shake up the health care debate. Most Wisconsinites are tired of the conservative obsession with sabotaging health care reform. Few doubt that access to quality, affordable health insurance is not a luxury but is indispensable to the opportunity to thrive, prosper and achieve the American Dream in the 21st century. Shockingly higher premiums ought to be a clarion call for lawmakers to put aside the ideological divisions and work cooperatively to secure the full benefits of national health care reform for Wisconsin.
Robert Kraig and Kevin Kane, the co-authors of the report, are executive director and lead organizer, respectively, for Citizen Action of Wisconsin, 221 S. 2nd St., Suite 300, Milwaukee, WI 53204. The full report is available at www.citizenactionwi.org. Contact Kraig at email@example.com.


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New Dodgers owners prove they mean business
By Richard Justice / MLB.com
This is what Stan Kasten promised when he took over as president of the Los Angeles Dodgers seven months ago. He said the Dodgers would be aggressive and that they'd attempt to get better quickly. He said they'd think big and be a franchise others are measured against.
His words had weight because he had an impressive track record. He was instrumental in making the Atlanta Braves one of baseball's most successful franchises under John Schuerholz and Bobby Cox in the '90s. Then, he helped lay the groundwork for what the Washington Nationals are today.
If you ask him about the things that have excited him the most about his new job, Kasten would talk about long-term projects, about putting a great baseball staff in place and attempting to build the best player development system in the game.
He'd point out all the little nuts-and-bolts things that allow teams to sustain success. He has made it clear that no franchise, including the Dodgers, can live on free agency.
"Because," he said, "if you do it that way, you have to do it every year."
Kasten is proud of his vision for Dodger Stadium and how the new management team is improving it from top to bottom and making it the best place on earth to watch a baseball game.
Still, it all begins here, with tangible moves that make the Dodgers better immediately. That's what happened last summer with the acquisitions of Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett from the Red Sox. The Dodgers are spending in a time when most teams are spending cautiously.
At last count, they had $200 million in salary commitments for 2013, with more to come as arbitration-eligible players sign up. That was before the Dodgers were on the verge of landing the biggest prize in this offseason's free-agent marketplace -- right-hander Zack Greinke.
He'll receive $147 million over the next six years, for an average annual salary of $24.5 million.
But enough about money. With Clayton Kershaw and Greinke at the top of the rotation, the Dodgers arguably have two of baseball's 10 best starting pitchers. In the last five seasons, Greinke has averaged 207 innings and 201 strikeouts. He's 27 games above .500 in that time and still only 29 years old.
If Ted Lilly, Chad Billingsley and Beckett are all healthy, the Dodgers have scary depth in the rotation. If Matt Kemp, Crawford and Hanley Ramirez are healthy, and if Gonzalez is comfortable back on the West Coast, the Dodgers could be spectacularly good in 2013.
The New York Yankees have led Major League Baseball in payroll every year since 1998, but unless something dramatic happens, the Dodgers will be No. 1 in 2013.
Sure, maybe they'll have buyer's regret down the road if they're saddled with a bunch of bad contracts.
But if their overriding goal was to send a message that this new era of Dodgers baseball would be nothing like the previous one, they've succeeded. Yes, folks, it's OK to believe in the Dodgers again.
There are no guarantees. The Nationals might still be the National League's best team. The Cardinals and Reds could end up being as good as the Dodgers.
The Giants? General manager Brian Sabean has kept the band together, getting 21 of his 25 World Series players under control for 2013.
But there can't be a conversation about the best team in baseball without mentioning the Dodgers. Go ahead and look up and down their roster and find a need.
If Beckett and Gonzalez don't bounce back from bad seasons, or if Kemp gets hurt again, the Dodgers could struggle.
But after three straight seasons out of the playoffs, the Dodgers may have found the last piece of the puzzle needed to bring October baseball back to their ballpark.
Even if it doesn't work out -- and the D-backs and Giants would like you to know the games still have to be played -- the dynamics around the Dodgers have changed dramatically.
And seven months ago, when the new owners took over, that was the first goal. Stay tuned for more.
Richard Justice is a columnist for MLB.com. Read his blog, Justice4U. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.