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R2-D2 Fit and Flare Dress
Office droid
Beep beep, droid girl coming through!
A ThinkGeek Exclusive!
Sometimes, when you're having a rough day at work and you just can't drum up the motivation to finish the stupid report your boss wants by EOD, it's best to channel your inner droid. R2 is the cutest droid, of course, but he had a little stubborn streak, so perhaps you should channel one a little more obedient. Then you can power through your work and go home to enjoy a nice glass of
oil wine.
R2-D2 print dress is made of 95% cotton, 5% spandex material, and is fitted at the top and flared in the skirt, hence "Fit & Flare Dress." Pretty cool how it work out that way. From our friends at Her Universe.Please note that the model is wearing a size small.
Sizing Table
|28-33 in.
|33-37 in.
|37-40 in.
|39-42 in.
|41-44 in.
|44-48 in.
|27-30 in.
|30-32 in.
|32-34 in.
|34-38 in.
|38-40 in.
|40-42 in.
|Body Length
|33 in.
|34 in.
|35 in.
|36 in.
|37 in.
|38 in.


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Avalon Waterways: Next-Generation River Boatsby Paul Motter | August 28, 2009
21st-century European river boats offer the amenities of modern cruise ships; Internet and balconies included.The Avalon Waterways Creativity
I already know that river cruises are fantastic because I have sailed on the Rhine, the Main, the Seine, the Danube, the Moscow, the Yangtze and the Nile. Now there is a new generation of riverboats, owned and operated by Avalon Waterways among others, with revolutionary features that even experienced river boaters have never seen before if they haven't sailed lately. The average age of all ten Avalon vessels is still just two years old.
These 21st-century river boats take river cruising to the next level. They offer more spacious staterooms with floor to ceiling sliding glass doors and French balconies for fresh air. There is a mini-bar for cold drinks and snacks in your stateroom at no extra charge, and there is even Internet Wi-Fi access available in your stateroom or anyplace else on the boat.
These new riverboats are just beautiful - sleek and stunning inside and out. You are surrounded by full picture windows so you never forget where you are. There are contemporary pubs, ornate dining rooms, hi-tech fitness centers and open air sky-decks for watching the world go by.
I have yet to sail on one of these luminous beauties but the pictures alone make me long for the adventure.
Avalon Destinations
I often recommend a river cruise as the third voyage after the Mediterranean and Baltic itineraries.
I have personally already sailed on cruises as far as humanly possible along the European continent. From Egypt to Gibraltar and from Dover, England to St Petersburg, Russia. I've sailed from the Canary Islands (off Morocco) to the North Cape of Norway and beyond. The only place in Europe I haven't cruised is the Black Sea, but I hope to make it there someday on an Avalon Waterways river boat.
The navigable extent of Avalon's cruises in Europe includes France, Russia, and various routes in both Southern and Northern Europe. You can sail from Amsterdam to the Black Sea traversing Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungry, Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria on the way. There are river cruises on the Rhone, the Rhine, the Seine, the Main, the Danube, the Moselle, the Yangtze and the Nile. After one visit to the web site I was humming those names like a nursery rhyme.The Avalon Waterways Poetry
There are places you probably never even realized you could reach by river - Switzerland and Austria for example. The mind boggles. You can sail to the North of France on the Seine, right past the Eiffel tour to the beaches of Normandy. Or you can sail through the South of France through Burgundy and Provence tasting a different variety of local wine with every meal.
Many of the cruises are nine days including travel time. Most are longer. Sailing the combinable itineraries from Amsterdam to the Black Sea take about 30 days. There are also plenty of options for additional time in choice Europe capitals before and after your cruise - something you will surely want to plan. Paris and Prague are both mandatory.
What Makes a River Cruise Unique? A river cruise offers you all the convenience of a regular cruise. You unpack once and all of your dining, tours and overnight plans are pre-arranged. But on a river boat you will not only see more land, you will spend more of your time upon it. All of the tours, which occur on almost every day, are included in the cruise fare including meals on shore. About the only thing you ever have to manage for yourself is getting in and out of bed. But let's not make it sound overbearing, you can go your own way every day if you want to, just be back on the boat before it leaves for the next stop.
Most days you will be driven to a local site. You may return for lunch and a different tour in the afternoon, or they may treat you to lunch onshore and continue your original tour throughout the day. All details are handled for you, onboard and on shore. On a river cruise you are in their hands from the moment you board until you leave. I have even been on a river cruise where they gave us each 12 Euros to buy lunch because they didn't have anything planned for us. That is the closest I have ever been to having to fend for myself.
Onboard, the chef will obtain local ingredients almost daily and pair them with the regional wines to give you an authentic culinary experience. All of these fine European wines and ales, as well as other spirits, are also included in the cruise fare.
The New Riverboat Technology In the past it was difficult for me to stay in touch with the outside world on a river boat - they barely even use satellite technology since they are always in the range of the public cell phone network. But Avalon now offers Internet access by Wi-Fi throughout their newer boats. Some older boats may not so, however.
That is an improvement over my Seine river cruise in just 2006. I only had 30 minutes a day when they would plug the modem into the one computer they had onboard. On my 2002 Rhine cruise I had to run through the ports with my laptop looking for Internet cafes. On the trip from Moscow to St Petersburg in 2001 there was almost a week when we were on the dark side of the moon.
Modern technology is what these new river boats are all about, and Avalon has the youngest fleet in Europe. There are eight new boats already in service since 2004 and two more coming online in 2010.
All of the locally hired Avalon tour guides use wireless headsets to speak directly into your ear, especially helpful in noisy or echoing cathedrals. The riverboat has a fitness center, a hair salon and a whirlpool hot tub.
Besides the innovative "French balcony," the new staterooms also have flat panel televisions, larger closets, mini-bar refrigerators, hair dryers, safes, Egyptian cotton sheets and, of course, European style duvets on the bed.A Junior Suite on Avalon Waterways
Highlights of Avalon Waterways
Avalon is running a 50 percent off air promotion for select 2010 bookings. You can get more information here: www.avalonwaterways.com.
The riverboat cruising season starts in April and lasts through early November. The European river boats are usually laid up through the winter except for the special holiday cruises over Christmas. There are two Christmas cruises still available in 2009, and five in 2010. They sail through Germany and include beautiful Prague, one of the best preserved 18th-century cities in Europe.
Here are the individual ship schedules:
- Nile - Year-Round
- Yangtze - April through October
- Danube - April through December (themed cruises in Oct and Dec)
- Main-Danube Canal - April through December (themed cruises in Oct and Dec)
- Moselle - April through October (wine cruise in August)
- Rhine - March through November (Tulip time cruises in March and April; Music cruise in Oct; wine cruise in Aug)
- Rhone - March through November (wine cruises in Aug and Oct; Jazz cruise in July)
- Seine - March through October
- Saone - March through October
- Galapagos Islands - Year-Round
There is a music cruise scheduled for October 18, 2009. You will visit the Opera House in Bayreuth, home to the annual Richard Wagner Music Festival and get a full day's excursion to Salzburg, city of Mozart's birth. There's an organ recital in Melk, Germany and a Strauss concert in Vienna - all offered to you at no additional cost.
There are several wine cruises through Burgundy and Provence and also through the Rhine region for Riesling wines. There are still two of these cruises on schedule in 2009, one in late October and one in early November. There are still many wine cruises on offer in 2010. Avalon offers unique theme cruises every year. You can attend the Oberammergau Passion Play in 2010. This unique event is only presented every 10 years so make your plans now.
Not sure if you will like a river cruise? Avalon now offers shorter four and five-day cruises on the Danube, from Vienna to Budapest, starting at just $214 per person plus port fees and taxes.
Avalon Waterways' affiliation with Globus Tours, an 80-year practitioner of escorted European vacations means that they have a first-class network of local tour guides and transportation companies to make sure your vacation goes smooth as silk.
I haven't had a chance to try an Avalon Waterways riverboat cruise yet, but I am certainly looking forward to the day I can. You can get more information here: www.avalonwaterways.com.The Avalon waterways Tranquility

subset: commoncrawl


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The UPS Store® (TUPSSTM) locations are independently owned and operated by franchisees of The UPS Store, Inc. in the USA and by its master licensee and its franchisees in Canada.


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LAS VEGAS (AP) Prosecutors in Las Vegas are letting San Francisco Giants pitcher Sergio Romo off the hook in a misdemeanor case stemming from a New Year's Day tiff with Transportation Security Administration agents at McCarran International Airport.
An aide to Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said Monday that a screening panel used prosecutorial discretion to shelve the case.
Romo had faced a Feb. 12 court date and the possibility of six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
He was issued a summons Jan. 1 alleging he failed to provide proper identification at a TSA checkpoint at the Las Vegas airport.
The Giants later released a statement in which the 29-year-old Romo apologized.
A TSA spokesman in Los Angeles declined to comment. The development was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.


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Wireless Extension Cords
Buy this and earn
microwavedGeek PointsGeek Points is a program to reward you, our incredibly cool customers, for shopping with us! The more you shop, the more points you can earn towards some pretty nifty rewards.
Power where you need it, without wires!Read more...
Power Where You Need It
Because technology is constantly changing, one of the greatest tools to the do-it-yourselfer is the extension cord. Now you can put anything in any room you want - even outside. Every once in a while, though, a long cord across the floor can be more dangerous than helpful. Sure you could just put a carpet or tape over the cord, but why bother? Let technology solve its own problems. Grab some Wireless Extension Cords, and leave the wires where they belong - somewhere else!
Just plug the Wireless Extension Cord (WEC) base unit into a standard wall outlet, and plug whatever you need into the satellite unit. The WEC uses microwaves in the 7.2GHz range, so it won't interfere with wireless networks, Bluetooth components, etc. Now, all you need to do is adjust the antennae on the two units so they are aimed at each other. Turn everything on and you have the power! The distance the WEC units can broadcast differs from situation to situation (due to interference of such things as walls, power lines, and microwave ovens), but we've beamed power over 300 feet! The future is wireless - and the WEC's are your ticket to the future.
Warning: Even though these microwaves are about as harmful as the leakage from an ordinary microwave oven (not much), do not put computers, televisions, other sensitive electrical equipment, food, liquids, paper, glass, flammable substances, magnets, or living things in between the base and satellite units. Just in case.


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Hyyyy! Well i have a lot to tell you because last week was wonderful and full of amazing events but right now i`m in a hurry so promise i will try to tell you more next time!
Now i will show you some pictures from this weekend at the seaside!!
Kisses, Manuella ♥


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Blood draw after mastectomy
Dear OncoLink "Ask The Experts,"
Twenty years post radical mastectomy, can a patient have an IV or blood drawn from the side of the mastectomy?
Lora Packel MS, PT, Coordinator of Cancer Therapy Services for the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, responds:
The issue is not the mastectomy itself, but the lymph node dissection. When lymph nodes are removed, there exists the potential of decreasing the body's ability to drain fluid from the arm, armpit and chest. For the vast majority of people, the remaining lymph nodes and veins can handle the removal of fluid without difficulty. However, for some, the lymphatic system can become overloaded, resulting in swelling.
Lymphedema (swelling caused by back-up of lymph fluid) can occur anytime after lymph node dissection (LND). Therefore, anyone receiving a LND should understand and follow lymphedema precautions, which include avoiding any trauma to the arm. Trauma can include blood pressures, IV's, sunburn or cuts.
For more detailed information regarding lymphedema, please refer to the coping with symptoms section on this website.


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Filed Under (Harley Davidson) by admin on 27-03-2012
Removing the Cam Chain Drive System. NOTES Changing camshafts and cam drives in the 2006-up Harley-Davidson® Twin Cam 88® engines is different than in pervious engines. Procedures require use • of some special tools. Installation should be done by an experienced mechanic with access to factory service manual and required tools. Tighten all fasteners to the correct specifications and in order described. Always use an accurate torque wench. • Incorrect installation can cause engine damage not covered under warranty. CAUTION Failure to install components correctly can result in sudden engine seizure. Engine seizure may result in serous injury to motorcycle operator, passenger, or others. A- Disconnect the battery ground cable to eliminate potential sparks and inadvertently engagement of the starter while working on the motorcycle. B- Remove spark plugs and pushrod cover clips. Collapse the pushrod covers to expose the pushrods. C- Safely elevate and stabilize the rear of the motorcycle. Place the transmission in high gear. Turn the rear wheel to rotate the engine until both lifters and pushrods for either cylinder are at the lowest point on the camshaft (TDC of compression stroke). Both intake and exhaust pushrods for that cylinder will be under pressure from the valve springs and will rotate with light finger pressure. NOTE: 510G camshafts may use stock style non-adjustable pushrods instead of adjustable pushrods. If installing non-adjustable pushrods, disassemble and assemble rocker boxes per H-D® instructions. All other S&S® gear driven cams require installing adjustable pushrods. As a time-saving measure, the stock pushrods can be removed with bolt cutters. Be sure to head caution and warnings of these instructions. D- Cut the pushrods for the cylinder that is at TDC with the bolt cutter and remove the pushrod covers from the engine. Rotate the engine to place the pushrods for the other cylinder at their lowest point. Cut and remove the remaining pushrods. WARNING CAUTION Cutting pushrods with a saw or cutoff wheel may result in debris entering the engine, causing engine damage not covered under warranty. WARNING Cutting pushrods without releasing spring pressure, by rotating the engine until tappets are at the lowest point of travel can result in bodily injury. E- Remove the pushrod covers and lifters form the crankcase. F- Remove engine cam cover and gasket. Secure lifers with a tool made from a large binder clip


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MIT Finishes 11th in Directors' Cup RankingsJuly 21, 2010CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Coming on the heels of one of the most successful campaigns in Institute history, MIT placed 11th among all Division III schools in the National Association of College Directors of Athletics (NACDA) annual Learfield Sports Directors' Cup. This was the highest ranking for the Engineers in the 14-year history of the program and the first time they were the best performers in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC).
MIT Water Polo Announces Class of 2014June 04, 2010CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Head coach Adam Foley is pleased to announce the incoming freshman class for the MIT water polo team, set to join the team in August. After losing four seniors to graduation this past year, the Engineers will welcome 10 new faces to the team in 2010.
MIT Places Three on CWPA All-North Division SquadNovember 23, 2009CAMBRIDGE, Mass. The MIT water polo team garnered three selections to the 2009 All-Northern Division squad, as announced by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) over the weekend. Leading scorer Devin Lewis was the Engineers lone representative on the First Team while Columbus Leonard and Brian Gardiner collected Second Team honors.
Engineers Down Iona for Seventh Place at Eastern ChampionshipNovember 22, 2009CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Devin Lewis and Mark Artz both tallied hat-tricks as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineers used a 5-2 scoring advantage in the first period to build a lead and never look back in the seventh place game of the 2009 Men's Eastern Championship.
Water Polo Falls to Brown, 7-6, In Overtime at Eastern ChampionshipNovember 21, 2009CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Goalie Kent Holland made a tournament high 17 saves between the pipes to earn Player of the Game honors and help his team rally back from 5-3 deficit entering the fourth quarter as the Bears tallied a 7-6 OT win in the second consolation game of the 2009 Men's Eastern Championship. The win places Brown into the fifth place game on Sunday against the Rams of Fordham University.
MIT Falls Short in Opening Round of Eastern ChampionshipNovember 20, 2009CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Douglas Wigley recorded a hat-trick to lead No. 18-nationally ranked Princeton University to an 11-9 victory over the host Engineers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The victory advances the Tigers to a 6:00 p.m. meeting on Saturday, November 21 against Bucknell University in the tournament semifinals.
Water Polo Takes Third at NorthernsNovember 08, 2009CAMBRIDGE, Mass. The MIT water polo team won a pair of games over the weekend to secure a third-place finish at the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Northern Division Championship hosted by Harvard. The Cardinal and Grey downed the host Crimson, 7-5, in the opening round and followed that up with a win over Iona in the third-place contest on Sunday. Techs lone loss was an 8-6 setback at the hands of eventual division champion, Brown.
MIT Holds off Iona, 9-6October 12, 2009CAMBRIDGE, Mass. Brian Gardiner scored four goals and Columbus Leonard had 11 saves to help lead the MIT water polo team to a 9-6 victory over Iona College at the Zesiger Pool Saturday night. The win was second straight for the Engineers, who improved to 4-11 overall and 2-2 in Collegiate Water Polo Association (CPWA) Northern Division play.
Water Polo Outlasts Queens, 14-13September 28, 2009QUEENS, N.Y. The MIT water polo team earned its first Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Northern Division win of the 2009 campaign with a 14-13 defeat of Queens College Saturday. Devin Lewis led the way for the Engineers, who rebounded from a last-second loss at home to Brown on Thursday to improve to 3-11 overall and 1-2 in CWPA play.
MIT Falls to Brown, 6-5, on Last Minute GoalSeptember 24, 2009CAMBRIDGE, Mass. A goal with just 26 seconds remaining pushed Brown past the MIT water polo team, 6-5, in Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) action Thursday night. John Preis and Devin Lewis each scored twice to lead the Engineers, who dropped to 2-11 on the season and 0-2 in CWPA play.
Water Polo Falls at Harvard, 9-6September 16, 2009CAMBRIDGE, Mass. The MIT water polo team traveled across town Wednesday night to take on its oldest and most familiar rival, Harvard, in a Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) match-up. The host Crimson was able to take control of the game during the deciding third period en route to a 9-6 win over the Engineers. The meeting was the 89th between the two Cambridge schools in a series that began in 1970. Mark Artz had a pair of goals to lead Tech, which fell to 1-8 on the season.
MIT Picks Up Win Over George WashingtonSeptember 15, 2009CAMBRIDGE, Mass. The MIT mens water polo team earned its first win of the 2009 campaign on Sunday, defeating George Washington, 10-7, in its final game of the Princeton Invitational. The Engineers (1-7) dropped the other three games in the tournament, falling to Santa Clara, Bucknell and Johns Hopkins, before downing the Colonials in the finale.
MIT Announces 2009 Fall Webcasting ScheduleSeptember 10, 2009
Water Polo Hosts Invitational to Open SeasonSeptember 08, 2009CAMBRIDGE, Mass. The MIT mens water polo team welcomed some of the top teams from around the country to its annual Invitational Tournament at the Zesiger Center Pool over the weekend. The Engineers dropped all four of their games in the tournament, losing to the University of Redlands, Pacific, St. Francis and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Devin Lewis was the high scorer for Tech, totaling five goals over the four contests.


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Local market gives warm reception to Rio's new chief
A financial market analyst says investors are embracing the choice of Rio Tinto's iron ore chief, Sam Walsh as the company's new chief executive.
Rio Tinto's share price had climbed 2.8 per cent to $66.41 by 3:24pm (AEDT), despite $US14 billion in asset writedowns being announced after the Australian share market closed yesterday.
Despite the big hit to profits from the writedowns, it appears investors are pleased with the replacement of Tom Albanese as chief executive.
IG Markets' strategist Evan Lucas says there is a strong impression Rio Tinto will be in more disciplined hands with Australian Sam Walsh at the helm.
"Rio Tinto obviously has unfortunately had two very public failed acquisitions," he observed.
"The Alcan acquisition back at the top of the market in 2007, which really has been quite a poor performer, considering that China has come in and been the largest aluminium producer in the world.
"The other one was obviously the Riversdale acquisition here in Australia back in 2011 for a little bit smaller amount."
Mr Lucas says more chief executives may resign over similar issues in the near future, as companies look for more conservative management.
"A lot of CEOs over probably the next 18 months to two years that have found themselves being a little bit sort of whimsical with funding during the boom time - particularly between 2004 and 2007 - may actually start taking the lead from Tom Albanese and stepping down," he said.
"Sam Walsh's steady hand will now probably move towards that kind of CEO rather than probably what Tom Albanese was."
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, corporate-governance, iron-ore, mining-industry, management, australia, wa
First posted


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Sonia Kashuk Eyeshadow Duos in Diamond Life, Take Cover, and Nudenick Review, Photos, Swatches
Sonia Kashuk Eyeshadow Duos in Diamond Life, Take Cover, and Nudenick ($6.99 for 0.12 oz.) are affordable, well-pigmented neutral-colored eyeshadow duos. I like Sonia Kashuk eyeshadows because they're fairly reliable — most of the duos have good color pigmentation levels and easy to blend. I found all three of these eyeshadow duos to hold true to that expectation. I'd say the only one I had trouble with was Nudenick, but it's more of an issue that one color is the same color as my natural skin tone… so yeah. On someone paler or over a base, you'd see it more. (But it would be good for a very natural, barely there eye.)
- Diamond Life is is a duo of a matte, cool-toned brown with gray and a frosty, shimmery champagne shade.
- Take Cover is a duo of a lightly shimmery peach with pale gold shimmer and a richer, golden-toned bronze.
- Nudenick is a duo of a glittery, cool-toned champagne and a matte, warm-toned light peachy brown.
- Product: 8/10
- Value: 9/10
- Ease of Use: 8/10
- Packaging: 7/10
Recommendation: If you're on a budget, Sonia Kashuk eyeshadows are always worth checking out!
Availability: Target
See more photos and swatches…


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In an interesting development, U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein (no relation to "Evolution Doesn't Explain Gravity!" Ben) has ruled that Expelled can use the 15-second clip of John Lennon's "Imagine" under the fair use doctrine. Over at PT, commenters are pointing out that this isn't an end to the lawsuit, but it may be moot at this point. I disagree with the decision — I think it could open the gates to all manner of dodgy copyright infringement — but at this point it really has no impact either way for Expelled, which is already out of theaters in the US after tanking with a pitiful $7.5 million haul after six weeks. The movie simply wasn't the takedown of science its producers were hoping for. But since they've created a nice little insulated world to live in, only exposing themselves to tightly controlled pre-release screenings to which the scientifically-illiterate choir were exclusively admitted, they'll never know that. So it's on to the church-basement DVD circuit, where it was going to end up anyway — while, off in the real world, science marches on and people with brains are actually learning new things.
I did find this part of the MSNBC article enlightening.
At a hearing last month, Falzone had argued that the segment of the song in the film — "nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too" — was central to the movie because "it represents the most popular and persuasive embodiment of this viewpoint that the world is better off without religion."
The film, he said, is "asking if John Lennon was right and it's concluding he was wrong."
It's a nice admission that religionists wouldn't think the world a happy place unless they had absurd ideologies and irrational beliefs to kill and die for.


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"The Velvet Underground's first album only sold 10,000 copies,"
's famous quote posits, "but everyone who bought it formed a band."
were never remotely in the same universe of rock hipsterdom that the Velvets have long occupied, but they may top
and company in terms of a nexus for far-reaching musical impact: The Southern California group's endlessly mythologized "Smile" album was never commercially released until now, yet it created an indelible impression on successive generations of musicians in its wake.
Several "Smile" songs surfaced on subsequent Beach Boys albums, and significant chunks of the recording sessions leaked out on bootlegs over the years, but "Smile" as a completed creation long stood as a Holy Grail of sorts for musicians.
"It seems to be an open experimentation that suggests anything is possible," said Wayne Coyne, leader of the
, the pop experimentalist band that recently recorded a single track that runs for 24 hours. "It's this way of approaching recorded music as something completely different than music that you play live."
Grizzly Bear member Daniel Rossen, an L.A. native born a decade and a half after "Smile" was originally scheduled to be released in 1967, was in college when "I fell in love with it as a piece of music, even though I didn't know quite what it was supposed to be."
"I would completely, honestly say it's influenced everything I've ever done," singer-songwriter Michael Penn said. "To me it said that pop, rock — whatever you want to call it — could be an art form."
Tuesday, 44 years after it was supposed to have been released,
is issuing an official edition of "Smile" that showcases the original Beach Boys' recordings. This version uses as a blueprint the 2004 "
Presents Smile," in which the work's chief architect reconstructed and completed what he hadn't been able to do more than three decades earlier. Capitol also has created a five-CD box set that includes extended segments from the recording sessions that show the album as a work in progress.
"The fact that it's the sessions that 'Smile' arose out of, you can hear what's behind it," Wilson, 69, said in Beverly Hills home. "Things just squeeze up to where you can hear them, so people can hear how we did it and just how fast we worked. We worked very quickly."
The back story of "Smile," often ranked as rock's greatest "lost" album, has been chronicled many times.
After the critical success of the Beach Boys' 1966 album "Pet Sounds," which had vaulted the group's artistry forward, group leader Brian Wilson sought to expand its reach even further.
"Our next album will be better than 'Pet Sounds,'" Wilson said in 1966. "It will be as much an improvement over 'Sounds' as that was over [its predecessor] 'Summer Days.'"
Wilson had teamed with composer-lyricist Van Dyke Parks for an album that would capture various strains of American vernacular music, from folk and gospel to
and Tin Pan Alley to
and rock. He employed a new process called "modular recording," in which he would record snippets of songs, some a few seconds long, others a minute, two or more, with the idea of fitting the various pieces together later into a musical jigsaw puzzle.
He also incorporated found sounds — ambient effects extending the anything-can-be-treated-as-music approach he'd begun with "Pet Sounds."
Lauren Onkey, vice president of education at the
, says it's hard to understate the artistic reach of "Smile." "Melodically and in terms of record producing, it really would have been ahead of anything anybody would have done at that time," she said. "This was the winter of 1966-67, before 'Sgt. Pepper,' but 'Smile' was way beyond it."
Perhaps 80% to 90% of the raw material for "Smile" was finished when the group and Capitol agreed to shelve it for a multiplicity of reasons that have been fodder for stories, white papers and books for decades.
Various attempts to craft and release some coherent version of "Smile" never materialized, largely because it would have required major guesswork, according to engineer Mark Linett, co-producer of the set Capitol is releasing this week.
"The only real requirement going in was to present the best estimation of an album based on Brian's completion of it in 2004," Linett said. "That was his decision and agreement that's what this version would nominally be based on."
Wilson's 2004 reconstruction received critical praise and scored a Grammy Award. Today, "Smile" songs such as "Surf's Up" and "Wonderful" still rank among the most beautiful ballads the group ever created, while "Heroes and Villains," "Cabin Essence" and "Good Vibrations" stand as three of the most inventive tracks in
The full album, in both incarnations, balances such classical music principles as theme statement and variation with the accessibility of pop melody and harmony. Wilson and Parks also combined serious themes such as Western imperialism and the cultural ramifications of Manifest Destiny with lighthearted views on health food.
In particular, Capitol's album mirrors the structure Wilson brought to his 2004 recording while using the Beach Boys' performances at the height of their vocal abilities, captured by Wilson at his creative peak as a composer, arranger and producer.
Told of the many younger musicians who cite "Smile" as a key influence, Wilson, who often has expressed uncertainty about the effect his music has had on audiences, offered just one word: "Really?"
"When I discovered 'Pet Sounds,' it changed my life" said Andrew McMahon, 29, of indie pop band
. "It's informed a lot of what I've gone forward doing as an artist," McMahon said. "You never want to get caught in that spot, making something you can't finish. It's a scary thought, and I've had that feeling: 'This can't be my "Smile." I've got to get this done.'"
As for any broader assessment of the recordings that influenced generations and, in many respects, represented Wilson's Waterloo nearly half a century ago, the former Beach Boy said, "I'm stripped. I'm at a loss as to what to think."
At the rock hall of fame, Onkey said, "It's unimaginable what he tried to do.… It's great for it to see the light of day now." In official form at last, she expects "Smile" to exert an even broader impact on pop musicians. "Younger artists will take pieces of this now, it'll get sampled and recontextualized. They'll do things we can't imagine."


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537: Ducklings
Title text: DUCKLOOP'D?
The comic shows an elaborate, albeit useless, plan. The mother and her ducklings will always walk in a line. The ducklings will either follow their mother, or the duckling in front of them.
Cueball scares the mother duck, so she starts running away, her children following her in a line. Then Megan snatches the mother duck, leaving the first duckling to start following the last duckling, causing the ducklings to walk in a loop. Hence the caption at the end - "Operation: Duckling Loop." However, eventually the ducklings will probably realize something has gone wrong, and break the loop.
This behavior occurs naturally in real life with creatures that are less smart than ducks, such as sheep and ants (the phenomenon is called an ant mill).
The title text refers to a meme called "Duckrolled", where one would post a link to a picture of a duck on wheels. It became much more famous in its later incarnation as the Rickroll.
- [A mother duck and her ducklings.]
- Megan: Ready?
- Cueball: Ready.
- [The duck and ducklings move.]
- Cueball: ROAR! BOO!
- [The mother duck is frightened, and turns back. Her children follow.]
- [Megan snatches the duck with a yoink.]
- Duck: QUACK!
- [The ducklings are now trapped in a circle of sorts.]
add a comment! ⋅ add a topic (use sparingly)! ⋅ refresh comments!
My idea is more of creating an endless loop. A duckling will alway follow either its mother or another duckling. By scaring the mother she turns around and you create the first part of the loop. If you take away the mother in the right moment, the first duckling will see the last duckling and follow it. So the loop is closed. After seeing this comic I realy would like to test it in reality. But I think the sound of the mother will ruin everthing (shout out warnings).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ant_mill 22.214.171.124 15:49, 21 September 2013 (UTC)
Why is it useless?18.104.22.168 16:08, 26 February 2015 (UTC)
- tell us a practical use for this plan, then Just some random derp 02:31, 10 June 2015 (UTC)
- Maybe it could be used to generate electricity? 22.214.171.124 (talk) (please sign your comments with ~~~~)
I think the "duckloop'd" in the title text is a reference http://www.hrwiki.org/wiki/D 18.104.22.168 15:49, 6 January 2017 (UTC)


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Stephen Mark Stewart, 24, of Tobyhanna, died on Monday, March 25, 2013, in Pocono Township.
Born in Germany, he was the son of Mark W. Stewart and his wife, Joanne (Pascale) Stewart, of Tobyhanna, and Wendy Postlewait of Colorado.
Stephen was a lifelong resident of the Stroudsburg area and was a graduate of Pocono Mountain West High School. He was of the Methodist faith.
In addition to his father and mother, he is survived by a sister, Jessica Stewart of Fountain, Colo.; two stepbrothers, Christopher Pascale of Wisconsin, and James Brando of Mount Pocono; his maternal grandmothers, Jean Stewart of Sciota, and Ruth Pascale of Long Island, N.Y.; his paternal grandparents, Jackie and Melvin Postlewait of Fountain, Colo.; and his aunt and uncle, Lewann and Wayne Stewart of Sciota.
Visitation will from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, March 29, at Joseph J. Pula Funeral Home and Cremation Service, 23 N. Ninth St., Stroudsburg.
Funeral services will be held at 7 p.m. Friday March 29, at the funeral home, with the Major James Gingrich officiating. Cremation will follow the services.
Memorial donations may be made to the funeral home to defray funeral costs.
Joseph J. Pula Funeral Home
and Cremation Service
23 N. Ninth St., Stroudsburg
Stephen Mark Stewart
Stephen Mark Stewart, 24, of Tobyhanna, died on Monday, March 25, 2013, in Pocono Township.


text: Top Value Jewelry is an US based jewelry company. We are your favorite online jewelry store, for the most beautiful and wide selection of jewelry and wedding rings. Not like other jewelry stores, we get our products directly from jewelry makers, eliminate the middle-man - which allows us to guarantee quality service at the most affordable prices. We specialize in wedding bands in tungsten, titanium, and carbon fiber. We also have a large inventory in women pendant necklaces in 925 sterling silver, 18K gold plated, and stainless steel. Our product lines contain from wedding bands, fashion rings, to pendants, necklaces, bracelets, earrings etc... for both men and women. No matter what the occasion, Top Value Jewelry is your one-stop online-shop for the most diverse fine jewelry styles at the best prices. We make it easy for you to find the perfect gift your loved one will always remember.>


text:
Have you read this 1873 Karate description? (That's 1873, not 1973.)
"As regards more manly accomplishments, they are expert archers on horseback and good marksmen with the matchlock. Their skill in boxing is such that a well-trained fighter can smash a large earthen water-jar, or kill a man with a single blow of his fist."If you would like to see the source, go to Seinenkai.com and click on the What's New? link in the left frame. Our museum received an incredible donation today! The entire article (Notes on Loochoo, by E. W. Satow, Esq.) is now online thanks to the generosity of Goju-Ryu practitioner David A. Williams.
Charles C. Goodin


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Please request ebooks and audio books here. V15
So it's Goodbye from Me
KAT's Problems V2
Queen of the South
GAME OF THRONES Discussion Thread V3
Torrents that need updating / KAT changing/ Mod Work Thread Only..V6
Pokemon GO! and Indonesia
Medical Journal, Truth About Cancer
The Good, The Bad, and Pokemon GO!
Living under a table!
american horror story
bitdefender antivirus plus 2015
far cry 5
ass punishment
death note
Descendants of the sun e11
bad taste (1987)
james and alice
hindi dubbed
Extant gwc


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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Isis, a venture of three big U.S. mobile providers, is delaying the launch of its mobile payments service for the second time this year, an executive for the company said on Thursday.
Isis is an effort by Verizon Wireless, AT&T Inc and T-Mobile USA to provide mobile wallet services that would allow consumers to get rid of plastic cards and instead make payments by simply waving their phone at a check-out terminal.
While Japan has had mobile payment services for years, U.S. development of such services has been much slower. U.S. mobile providers have long said that they are keen to support payments to help improve their customer loyalty but it has taken a long time to forge agreements with card and merchant partners.
The latest delay follows Apple Inc's announcement of a new iPhone model on Wednesday without support for the near field communications (NFC) short range wireless technology that the Isis service will be based on.
Other phone makers including Samsung Electronics have embraced NFC but some analysts had hoped Apple would give the industry a shot in the arm by putting the technology in its hugely popular iPhone.
Verizon Wireless is owned by Verizon communications and Vodafone Group Plc. T-Mobile USA is owned by Deutsche Telekom AG.
Isis was initially expected to launch services in its first markets in the first half of this year but then changed its launch target to the summer of 2012, which ends on Sept 21.
Now Isis does not plan to announce the timing for its launch in its first two markets - Salt Lake City, Utah and Austin, Texas - until October, its head of marketing, Jaymee Johnson, told Reuters. Johnson declined to discuss why the project is being delayed but said that Isis has made progress.
"We are wrapping things up and finishing that final punch list of items," he said, adding that the company's partnerships for the service had not changed.
Johnson said that the venture would have hundreds of merchant partners by the time it launches in the two cites and that this number would increase to "thousands." Isis also plans to expand beyond its launch cities in 2013.
The venture's first partners will include American Express, JPMorgan Chase and Capital One Financial.
Reporting By Sinead Carew


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About Custom Anniversary Wine Labels — Picture Perfect
Choose from three label stocks for your anniversary wine labels: coated paper, waterproof vinyl, or static cling stock. All three print with fine detail, lusciously rich colors, and images that are sharp. The vinyl labels are a little bit stretchy which makes them especially easy to apply, and they will withstand trips through the ice bucket and the refrigerator without any visible problems. Vinyl anniversary wine labels are also very easy to remove, and the square shapes are even re-usable. Just peel them off starting at a corner and pull slowly, and then save them for another time or simply for the memories by putting them back on their carrier sheet. The static cling stock is an adhesive-free white vinyl which is truly an amazing product: it holds beautifully onto glass or metal for many years without adhesive, and without coming loose. It is waterproof as well. Picture Perfect anniversary wine labels come in several shapes for different sizes of wine bottles. Select a style from above to start customizing.


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Historic places have powerful and provocative stories to tell. As witnesses to the past, they recall real events that shaped history and actual people who faced those situations and issues. Places make connections across time that give them a special ability to create an empathetic understanding of what happened and why. As historian David McCullough explains, experiencing places "helps in making contact with those who were there before in other days. It's a way to find them as fellow human beings, as necessary as the digging you do in libraries." (Brave Companions, New York: Prentice Hall Press, 1992, p. x.)
It is not necessary, though, to visit a place to feel its connections and to learn its history. Through a variety of materials and activities, the Teaching with Historic Places program (TwHP) enables teachers and students to learn from places without leaving the classroom. Students can develop their own interpretation of places by examining and questioning readings, documents, maps, photographs, and by engaging in activities that help them connect these locations to the broad themes of American history.
Whether visited in real life or on a "classroom field trip" provided by a lesson plan, places add substance to the themes and events covered in textbooks. Why, for example, did children and world leaders alike flock to the doors of the modest cottage Eleanor Roosevelt chose to live in after her husband Franklin's death? TwHP lesson plans in this kit provide documents, questions, and activities that engage students in actively pursuing answers to questions like these.
Well-known places in United States history can help students connect national events and themes with the history all around them. In a lesson about the courthouse in St. Louis, reading about local debates over a railroad route that would have a national impact, and seeing that the Dred Scott Supreme Court decision started with a local case, will help students understand the important role their own local and state courthouses play. Real places in their own communities often make an even stronger connection for students than those more famous but farther away, often sparking students to learn more.
Places inspire investigations that enable students to develop a variety of basic and higher-order thinking skills. They learn to observe, gather facts, compare and contrast, synthesize and analyze, evaluate sources of evidence, develop and test hypotheses, and draw conclusions. Because places teach skills as well as content, they are well-suited to help teachers meet both state and national curriculum standards in social studies, history, geography, and other subjects. One of the ten themes in the Curriculum Standards for Social Studies, for example, is "People, Places, and Environments." The National Geography Standards use an understanding of the characteristics of and relationships among people, places, and environments as one of the marks of student achievement.
Ultimately, teaching with and about historic places benefits everyone. Educators have one more means with which to engage and excite students, students acquire knowledge from and an appreciation for cultural resources, and society gains a better-educated citizenry for tomorrow.


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4BETTER OR WORSE- The week in review
Most vicious: A brief storm July 2 takes out trees and electricity in the Jefferson Park Avenue area.
Wettest: Heavy rains close nearly two dozen Albemarle roads June 27, but the Scottsville levee holds.
Best election sniping: Democratic candidate Jim Webb takes on incumbent Senator George Allen when Allen notes Webb's opposition to the flag-burning amendment. "George Felix Allen Jr." sat out the Vietnam War "playing cowboy at a dude ranch in Nevada," fires back Webb, who commanded a Marine rifle company in Vietnam.
Best commentary on the contretemps: "Webb's team is determined that Webb will not be Swift-Boated," says Larry Sabato in an AP account.
Closest constitutional call: The U.S. Senate falls one vote short of the two-thirds majority needed to approve a constitutional amendment to ban flag burning– a practice that the Supreme Court has ruled is protected speech under the First Amendment.
Most credible call for constitution reform: In the new issue of Virginia Quarterly Review, Sabato proposes a state lottery for the first primaries and caucuses to limit the four-year politico camp-out in New Hampshire and Iowa.
Hottest school? Newsweek names UVA the hottest school for fitness because 94 percent of its students engage in some sort of physical activity.
Worst amen: After June 11 church services at Brunswick Correctional Center, officers enter the room, pull out rubber gloves, and strip-search inmates who attended the service, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports.
Second-lowest unemployment rate: The Charlottesville area at 2.2 percent in May, just behind Northern Virginia at 2.1 percent. The state's overall unemployment rate of 2.9 percent is the lowest in five years.
Most intriguing help-wanted ad: A "director of first impressions" is being sought by the Charlottesville Radio Group to handle receptionist responsibilities.
Worst breakdown: The I-64 rest stop below Afton Mountain is closed– again– because of problems with its plumbing, a nearly unique mineral oil waste-treatment system. Desperate travelers must use portable toilets until VDOT fixes the bathrooms.
Worst exposure: An infected contractor exposes 129 National Ground Intelligence Center employees to tuberculosis earlier this year, the DP reports.
Worst face stabbing: Julio Cesar, 32, is arrested early July 1 for the malicious wounding of another man.
Biggest bust: More than 40 pot plants, 20 guns, and almost $4,000 in cash are found when a dozen officers search 1052 and 1054 Broad Axe Road after receiving a tip from an anonymous source who saw pot plants in the backyard, according to the Progress.
Best sign Tim Longo isn't always behind a desk: The police chief collars a shoplifting suspect on the Downtown Mall June 29, Lisa Ferrari at Newsplex reports.
Most litigious: Waynesboro Councilman Frank Lucente sues the News Virginian, a Media General publication, and five employees for $1 million, claiming defamation from an editorial the day before the May election that called him, on the basis of another man's remarks, a "puppet master," NBC 29 reports. The News Virginian published a correction the next day, but Lucente contends that statements mistakenly attributed to him were published with "actual malice" and "reckless disregard."
Best bonus: Goldman Sachs drops $18.7 million on CEO Henry Paulson Jr,, who's slated to become the next Treasury secretary.
Best bikin' story: Evan Almighty director Tom Shadyac buys bikes for each of the movie's approximately 300 crew members from Cycle-Recycle in Waynesboro.
Best local connection to a Bush twin: Jenna's beau, Henry Hager, will be attending the Darden School at UVA, according to the Washington Post's Reliable Source, while Jenna heads for a teaching job in Latin America at the end of the summer.


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Thank you all so much for the sweet, encouraging comments on my last post. The final reading of my thesis went really well, and I got to spend some much needed time celebrating with people I love. Delicious food was eaten, movies were watched, champagne was cheers-ed. Oh, and I got a "congratulations-you-did-it" package in the mail!
|Moms are amazing.
I feel like a million bucks... and already have a list a mile long of what I want to do with my shiny new free-time. (I'd love to share it with you this weekend. I need help deciding what giant project to get all stoked about next!)
Right now, though, I'm getting everything ready for when my sister arrives in San Francisco tonight! It's going to be a wonderful weekend.
I want to leave you with some good advice I received this week. "No matter what you're doing, always do just a tiny bit extra, even if it's just smiling through a moment you dislike. If you do this, you will shine like a beacon."


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The release of the first iPhone forever altered the landscape of what was possible in mobile connectivity. Today, user expectations continue to grow by leaps and bounds with an ever-increasing number of apps for gaming, online media, fitness, productivity and even business. Unfortunately, many businesses are still struggling to catch up with the paradigm shift caused by mobile access and the many, many devices it entails.
With the release of the Apple Watch, Apple is upping the game again. According to Urban Airship, organizations must now also take Apple Watch connectivity into account when planning their mobile engagement strategy and ensure their apps are Watch ready.
According to Forrester Research, Watch apps "...require compelling 'notification intelligence' -- something that most firms and we fear all marketers don't yet fully understand. If customers turning off all notifications -- the so-called nuclear opt-out option -- is catastrophic on a phone, it's suicide on a watch. A smartwatch without notifications is just a geeky clock."
"The Apple Watch app enables users to choose which iPhone apps are allowed to send actionable notifications through to the Apple Watch face," said Brett Caine, president and CEO, Urban Airship. "As a brand, you're going to have to carefully consider engagement strategies for both iPhone and Apple Watch. App users must opt-in to iPhone notifications in order to have the option of receiving them on Apple Watch. This alone means only the best engagement strategies will keep your brand on users' wrists."
Urban Airship has identified five key tips to help organizations move beyond standard notifications to glanceable moments on Smartwatches.
Related Topics : In Their Own Words: The Four Dark Horses for the Third Major Mobile OS Speak, HTC, Mobile Search, 3G, Location-Based Services
Wearables are revolutionizing the workplace, with innovations that create a safer work environment or enhance the way professionals are able to go about their job. ... More >>
Here are the top 10 strategic technology trends that will impact most organizations in 2017. Strategic technology trends are defined as those with substantial disruptive potential or those reaching the tipping point over the next five years. ... More >>
Digital innovation is by far the biggest influencer, changing the way we do just about everything, from shopping to communication to running a business. ... More >>


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Notre-Dame indeed dates back to the XIIIth century and is one of the masterpieces of Gothic art cathedral in Western Europe. Its stainglasses and the huge interior are really stunning artistic experiences of mystical dimension. Located on the Cite island and surrounded by the Seine river, Notre-Dame is a flagship in the Parisian landscape and provides a magnificent view of the city from the top of its towers.
The site of the Notre dame is the cradle of Paris and had been the religious center of the city. The Celts had their sacred ground here, the Romans built a temple to worship Jupiter. A Christian basilica was built in the VIth century and the last religious structure before the Notre-Dame construction started was a Romanesque church. Maurice de Sully started the construction in 1163. The Cathedral was to be built in the new gothic style and had to reflect Paris's status as the capital of the Kingdom France. It was the first cathedral built on a monumental scale and became the prototype for future cathedrals in France, like the cathedrals of Amiens, Chartres or Rheims, just to name the most famous.
It took until 1345 before the cathedral was completed, partly because the design was enlarged during construction. The result is an overwhelming building 130m long with two 70 meters tall towers. The spire, which reaches 90m, was added in the 19th century by Viollet-le-Duc. The Notre-Dame has several large rose windows, the northern 13th century window is the most impressive. It is 21 meters high.
Excavations under the parvis have revealed traces of Notre-Dame's history from Gallo-Roman times to the 19th century. Vestiges of Roman ramparts, rooms heated by hypocaust (an ancient system with underground furnaces and tile flues), medieval cellars, and the foundations of a foundling hospital are displayed, as are several fascinating photographs of the surrounding neighborhood before Baron Haussmann's renovations.


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Oracle has announced two products aimed at securely archiving enterprise content and email.
The Universal Online Archive application sits on top of Oracle's database, said Andy MacMillan, vice president of product marketing in Oracle's enterprise content management division. That means the content can use features like SecureFiles, a file encryption and compression system native to Oracle's 11g database release.
Oracle developed the core of the software organically, but it also employs some technology from its acquisition of Stellent, according to MacMillan.
Despite its name, the initial release of Universal Online Archive will first be available as an on-premises install, according to MacMillan. However, he added, "We are looking very aggressively at what it would take to make this an on-demand product."
The other new release, Oracle E-Mail Archive Service, provides a means for storing content from Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Notes and SMTP-based mail systems, Oracle said.
"The email archiving market is a growing market for a lot of compliance reasons," MacMillan noted. "This product really grew from a lot of market demand we got from our own customers."
The announcements garnered a nod of approval from one observer.
"I think what Oracle is trying to do with [Universal Online Archive] is develop an infrastructure application that will sit behind all of the other systems and allow retention and retention policies to occur and be managed centrally," wrote David Roe, a technical architect for Ironworks Consulting, on his blog.
"Where I think they are doing it right is by not trying to force companies into replacing their current applications," he added. "I don't think anyone would be interested in another Exchange or another SharePoint just to implement better compliance software."
Oracle did not name a firm date for the products' release, saying only that they are expected to be available in 2008. Universal Online Archive is expected to cost US$20 (310)per named user or $75,000 (£37,500) per CPU, and the E-Mail Archive Service will be priced at $50 per named user plus or $40,000 per CPU.
It made the announcements at the start of Collaborate 08, an Oracle user conference going on this week in Denver.


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Xbox One Skype app goes Snap
Skype has been updated on Xbox One will Snap functionality. Now, as you play whatever game it is you're playing, you can chat with friends via Skype while you do whatever it is you are doing. The 53MB update will be applied upon accessing Skype through the dashboard. Thanks, DualShockers.
Skype headlines
Xbox One Skype app update adds availability filters, larger chat logs, bug fixes
Skype has been updated today on Xbox One, with new filters and expanded chat logging. The latter allows users to logs the last 1,000 messages instead of just seven days of content. Now you have even more saved information in which to blackmail your friends. The app update also allows users to filters the contact […]
Xbox One: Microsoft is reportedly banning users from using Skype and Upload Studio for swearing
Xbox One gives you the ability to record your voice to accompany a gameplay clip and upload it to Xbox Live using Upload Studio, and it appears that multiple users have been temporarily banned for swearing in those clips.
Xbox One and Xbox 360 chat quality comparison released by Microsoft
Xbox One will have improved voice chat thanks to integration with Skype's audio codec, and when you combine it with the Xbox One Chat Headset, the voice quality will be high, according to the firm.
Microsoft sort of explains what sort of user data they give the US government
According to documents the famous/infamous Edward Snowden showed The Guardian, Microsoft was said to have handed over all sorts of data from Skype, Outlook and SkyDrive to the National Security Agency's PRISM program for several years now, and last week the paper detailed how all that works. Microsoft's general counsel Brad Smith today challenged those […]
Microsoft gave NSA access to users' Skype calls & emails - report
Microsoft is said to have given the US National Security Agency access to its users' Skype calls, Outlook emails and SkyDrive contents for the past three years. A new report based on leaked documents suggests that the company offered the data as part of a US government surveillance initiative called Prism.
Microsoft launching new security measure across Xbox, Windows & other services
Microsoft has laid bare its plans for a single log-in with enhanced security across its suite of Xbox and Windows services, as well as other apps owned by the company.
Skype to replace Xbox Live voice chat with next-Xbox - rumor
Skype, which was purchased by Microsoft for $8.5 billion in 2011, will be soon replace Xbox Live voice chat, according to someone familiar with the matter speaking with CVG.
Xbox 720 to support Skype according to job listing - report
Xbox 720 is to support Skype technology, according to a job posting discovered online.
Skype job listing mentions "next generation of Xbox"
A new job listing for Skype has given the clearest suggestion yet the Microsoft-owned VOIP program will make its way into the next-gen Xbox.
Skype heading to PlayStation Vita tomorrow
Skype will come to PlayStation Vita tomorrow, the company's announced on the EU PS Blog.
Microsoft looking to fill software engineer position for "Skype Xbox Engineering Team"
A job listing with Microsoft UK suggests the firm is looking into implement Skype into Xbox 360. Here's a pull from the listing: "As a member of the Skype Xbox Engineering Team in London, you will have a strong technical background developing client and/or embedded software." Unfortunately, the job description doesn't state whether it's developing […]
Skype-Live integration not in the "near-future," says Xbox Live EU boss
Microsoft is looking at how to integrate Skype into Xbox Live, the company has told VG247, but it's not something you should expect very soon.
Skype founder believes Microsoft can grow should it "do a good job" integrating the service
Skype founder Niklas Zennstrom feels it will be easy for Microsoft to capitalize on its recent $8.5 billion acquisition of the service should it expand it into mobile and focus on improving video calling features.
Ballmer excited over gaining Skype's 170 million users
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said during a press conference yesterday regarding the firm's purchase of Skype, that the company will continue to offer the service on non-Microsoft products.
Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5 billion, will support Xbox and Kinect
Microsoft's announced that its bought VOIP chat service Skype for $8.5 billion.
Nintendo: "No plans to release a Skype application for DS or DSi"
A Nintendo representative has told CVG that the company has "no plans to release a Skype application for DS or DSi". Skype is already available on PSP, iPhone and iPod Touch via its VoIP application, leading some to suspect it would only be a matter of time before Nintendo got in on the trend. Further […]
Skype PSP headset launches in the US
According to Engadget, the Skype PSP headset has now released in the US. It costs $30, despite an original price being set at $20. Them's the breaks. More through the link.
One piece PSP Skype headset for US release
Here. The one-piece "solution" will replace the current need to buy two separate earphones and microphone and will cost a very reasonable $20. No idea if this is going to appear in Europe.
Skype heads to PSP in Japan
No, they didn't get it when everyone else did. Yes, they're going to get it now. Apparently Skype will launch for PSP in Japan later this month after a two-month delay brought on because the microphone SCEJ had planned didn't meet specifications from Skype. Clear?
Page 1
Skype latest
Xbox One Skype app update adds availability filters, larger chat logs, bug fixes
Xbox One: Microsoft is reportedly banning users from using Skype and Upload Studio for swearing
Xbox One and Xbox 360 chat quality comparison released by Microsoft
Microsoft sort of explains what sort of user data they give the US government
Microsoft gave NSA access to users' Skype calls & emails – report
Microsoft launching new security measure across Xbox, Windows & other services
Skype to replace Xbox Live voice chat with next-Xbox – rumor
Microsoft looking to fill software engineer position for "Skype Xbox Engineering Team"
Skype-Live integration not in the "near-future," says Xbox Live EU boss
Skype founder believes Microsoft can grow should it "do a good job" integrating the service
Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5 billion, will support Xbox and Kinect
Nintendo: "No plans to release a Skype application for DS or DSi"


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BMT in Mycosis Fungoides/Cutaneous T-cell Lymphoma
Dear OncoLink "Ask the Experts,"
My brother, was diagnosed last August as having mycosis fungoides/cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (MF/CTCL) stage IV. Under the supervision of his doctor at, he received methotrexate, CHOP, 2-DCA without getting any temporary responses except from CHOP. The doctor who is treating him now has been suggesting bone marrow transplant (BMT). However, they say there is no published data about BMT in MF patients. Do you have any useful information on this matter?
Thank you in advance for your help!
John Han-Chih Chang, MD and Kenneth Blank, MD, Editorial Assistants for Oncolink, respond:
Thank you for your interest and question.
Mycosis fungoides/cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (MF/CTCL) is a clonal neoplasm of mature CD4+ helper/inducer T cells. This diaease has 4 phases:
- Premycotic phase: asymptomatic scaling red raised lesions in the sun shielded regions of the body ("bathing trunk distribution")
- Patch phase: thin lesions which are red and eczema-like
- Plaque phase: very palpable red lesions
- Tumor phase: cancer extends below the upper dermis, which is the "second layer" of the skin
Treatment of this disease has been difficult. You are correct in that there is no data published to support Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) as a treatment for this disease. I would be wary of this treatment modality, but this may be the only option at this time. BMT is a very tough regimen to endure. Ask your oncologists whether they have considered cutaneous photochemotherapy, local external beam irradiation or total skin electron beam therapy.
Cutaneous photochemotherapy utilizes a light sensitizer taken orally and UV-A light applied to the skin lesions locally. Treatments are three times a week for 3 - 6 months. Local external beam irradiation treats the skin lesions locally with x-rays or electrons. Treatments are 5 times a week for 4 - 5 weeks. Total skin electron beam therapy is reserved for patients who are refractory to cutaneous photochemotherapy or too extensive for local external beam irradiation. Patients are treated 4 times a week for about 9 weeks. The common theme in these 3 treatment modalities is that they treat the skin aspect of the disease. Being that your brother was on systemic chemotherapy, my assumption is that his disease has spread to distant organs or peripheral lymph nodes. Interferon has be utilized in situations where other systemic agents have failed. Interferon has many side effects which include a flu-like syndrome initially, chronic fatigue, neuropathy, dementia, myelopathy, and pancytopenia in the long-term.
Mycosis fungoides/cutaneous T-cell lymphomaposes a very challenging problem both to the patient and physician. Discuss with your brother's oncologist thoroughly before pursuing any therapy.


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Hubble Observes a Star On the Brink of Destruction
A NASA Hubble Space Telescope "natural color" image of the material surrounding the star Eta Carinae, as imaged by the Wide Fuel Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC-2).
The Camera was installed in the Hubble Space Telescope during the STS-61 Hubble Servicing Mission. The WFPC-2 optically corrects for the aberration of the telescope's primary minor, restoring the telescope's vision to its originally planned clarity.
Eta Carinae: A Star On the Brink of Destruction


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TMZ has learned Britney Spears has lasered in on Nicki Minaj as her opening act for her upcoming concert tour ... and lawyers for the two are in "serious talks."
We're told it's looking very good that Nicki and Britney will reach an agreement in the next day or so.
Nicki would take the place of Enrique Iglesias -- who bailed at the last minute because his ego could not take opening for Britney.
Nicki is currently on tour with Lil Wayne -- those concerts end on April 28. Britney's tour begins June 17 in Sacramento.
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Apologies for the non-wow content, but I suspect some of the regulars in this forum may be interested in this (I also put the same info in the "diablo 3" thread on this board's general forum, viewtopic.php?f=1&t=18761 )
For those of you who have the Annual Pass and already downloaded Diablo III, beware that you need to re-download part of it, see this post from blizzard: http://eu.battle.net/d3/en/blog/4410912/
Summary: if you downloaded your european-english or german version of diablo 3 before today, you need to re-download part of it using the downloader from the page linked above!
When you run the downloader executable it will ask you for a directory where to store the installer. Make sure that is the same location as you used before - it will be a quick 50 Mb download then, not the full 7 Gb. (It will quickly scan the 7Gb it had downloaded before, so the progress bar acts as if it is downloading the full 7Gb, but will jump to 99% soon)
If, like me, you forgot where exactly you had downloaded it before: the correct directory to point the installer to is a directory *containing* a directory named "Diablo-III-8370-enGB-Installer". In my case I saw the "Shortcut to Diablo III installer" I had on my desktop was pointing to "C:\Games\Diablo-III-8370-enGB-Installer\Diablo III Setup.exe", so the correct directory to point the downloader to for me was "C:\Games". Your location will likely be different, but this should be enough information to help you find it ...


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This will be a long post, because we're in the middle of two holiday seasons here in the States, and that generally means people are sitting at work, over lunch, bored off their ass and waiting to go to New Years parties.
So I have three sections. I talk about Professions some more, I talk about Gathering techniques, and then I ramble on about readers.
I hope this provides you with some measure of distraction and enjoyment.
Yesterday, I spoke a bit about Professions.
My opening point was that everything you really want for PvE can be purchased somewhere, so you are free to choose Professions that you enjoy, Professions that excite you.
I approach my Professions, personally, as a means to both have fun, and to make useful stuffs for me and my friends. It also used to be a way for me to get advantages in playing my class in raids, but these days not so much. So while I absolutely appreciate that some folks look at your Professions strictly as a way to make money in the game, and I totally respect that, it's not what I do. So you're never going to get those protips here. There are plenty of other websites that are devoted to ways to make $$$ fast, and this ain't one of them. My focus, now and forever, is on having fun in the game, as I see it.
Now, I do mention things here once in a while concerning making gold, Professions and stuff, because I would rather have more time to have what I think of as fun, and less time spent grinding or farming. Even though doing daily quests is a good way to consistently make money, I don't like doing them because it requires I spend time grinding dailies that I could be spending doing fun things.
I do like farming for Ore and Herbs, though… because I love flying around mindlessly jamming to tunes, swooping in for loot and flying off. I find it relaxing. It's almost evil, how much I enjoy just flying around swooping down on an Ore node or Herb frond, listening to music, for hours on end. Especially as a Hunter, since my pet keeps the mobs off my ass while I harvest.
But aside from my weird love of fly-farming (as opposed to fly-fishing, which just annoys me), I would rather spend my gold on things that someone else has spent their playtime getting and putting on the AH. I do not begrudge spending gold on what someone else farmed. They took the time to gather it, playtime that is quite valuable to me. They chose to spend that time farming. I didn't make them. And since what I want is right there, at a price I can afford, and it saves me the TIME of farming it myself… well, buy it now and move along, little doggie. If the prices for items I want on the AH rise high enough that I think it's approaching theft, 'cause it doesn't take THAT much time to farm the bloody thing, then I'll go get it myself. But if the price seems to me to be worth spending so I don't waste precious game time doing my own farming, and I have the gold, then I will.
Because to me it's not about making more money than anyone else. It's about having enough money to do the fun things I want to do. Period.
If I have everything I want already, I don't farm gold. Because I don't need it. I'd rather play.
I walked into Wrath darn near flat broke, because prior to Wrath I had everything I could have possibly wanted.
Now, there are lots of things in Wrath that I'd like, for myself and for Cassie. She has a Hunter and a Rogue that need lots of epics, I have a Hunter, a Druid and a Priest that need lots of epics, and so I am actually doing things to make money… only what money I feel I need, to get what I want.
I talked yesterday about enjoying Jewelcrafting and Inscription and Engineering, because I am delighting in being able to make things we can use, the Nesingwary guns, the Mammoth Cutter ammo, the scopes, the gem cuts, the epic rings, the scrolls, and the trinkets. And those things are not just for us, but my guildies, who do not take advantage of what we can craft, but what can you do?
As soon as I had made for myself and Cassie the epic Nesingwary guns, I started sending all my spare ore to my Jewelcrafter to prospect. I have something like 14 stacks of saronite ore in the bank now, and 20 titanium bars in the bank, because my JC has at least 10 of each kind of blue gem in the bag already, so I just don't need any more right now to provide for future guildie needs… not that guildies ever ask for cuts.
I did not sell Dragon's Eyes on the AH until well after I got what I felt were the most critical rare gem cuts for Rogues, Druids and Hunters. I only just got the Titanium Impact Band recipe, and made one for my Hunter, and I've got three Dragon's Eyes in the bank towards one for Cassie's Rogue. Once I have made a ring for her, I'll save tokens to get the first of the two tanking ring recipes… and make the tanking rings too. I know a few JCs that have the recipes, but why not just get them myself? I don't really need the gold right now, and I like being able to make the stuff myself, and for anyone in the guild that needs it.
I just don't sell ore, I don't sell gems, I don't sell food. I don't sell herbs, because what I don't use in Inscription Cassie can use to make Flasks and Pots. We use it to make stuff, and if we don't have to make stuff, I stockpile it against the day we DO need to make stuff, and if the stockpile is big enough? Generally, I stop farming it.
What I do, is make those things I don't need that my Professions provide, that take only a little bit of time, and sell them. The Titansteel is made every single day. I farm the ore, I farm the Eternals, I store it in advance… and after 5 days I put a stack of 5 up for 1100g. That's free money as far as I'm concerned. Once I've made some epic rings, I can assure you those Dragon's Eyes are going right back up on the AH every day. Why not? Unless a guildie needs a ring, of course.
If a guildie said to me, "Could I use your Titansteel cooldown, I'm trying to save for a such and such…" I'd just send them the Titansteel itself. I tried to do that with Falromord, and he refused to take my bars.
The gold economy is a means to an end for me, I use it to fund having fun. It's not the end in itself.
BUT! I darn well know there are some folks who LOVE the economy game, love playing the AH, love racking up insane levels of gold.
I have absolutely nothing against it. Not at all, I can totally see the fun in it. There is a joy to be had in manipulating market conditions, buying low and reposting to fair market value, or cornering a market and posting all at high levels and watching for those that lowball, grabbing theirs as well and posting high. Lurking to see if someone will catch on and try and bust your bankroll. On our server, Bankofzerg is famous for being the controlling force behind the Alliance AH economy. Has been for years. Is he a goldseller front? Is he a machiavellian overlord of gold? Who knows? But Bankofzerg is famous simply for the percentage of AH business traffic he controls. I hear his name dropped in random conversations all the time.
I just happen to see tons of other things that, for me, are even MORE fun in the game.
I know I do not do what is smartest to make the most gold. But I do try and make what gold I need to have fun, in the shortest amount of playtime, so I have time to do other stuff.
So when I talk about stuff like this, it's not to brag about how much money I'm making. I figure everyone has the same capability no matter what Profession they happen to have at the moment, since everyone can choose to drop a Profession that ain't working and take something else. Lord knows I have dumped so many maxed-out professions in my time for something else, that I wish there was an Achievement for having 5 or more maxed-level Professions on one character.
Windshadow alone has been a maxed Enchanter and a maxed Tailor in Burning Crusade, a maxed Engineer (twice), a maxed Miner (three times), a maxed Herbalist (once and holding), and now almost maxed in Inscription. Six maxed Professions for one toon, and that in Burning Crusade terms.
Windstar was a Engineer once, dropped it, and is one again.
Do you know, neither my Hunter nor my Druid can make the Mote Extractor, because once you drop Engineering, you can't do the quest that gives you that recipe again?
Fortunately, Mote Extractors don't bind, you can mail them around your toons. Whew!
Now, I know you may not enjoy your Profession for it's own sake, you may have it for a money making enterprise. You may expect certain things from your Profession, and in the new game, you may feel disappointed that you're just not getting what you want out of it.
But may I humbly suggest, and this is just me talking, but if you currently have a Profession or two that you hate, that you actively despise, a Profession that has you cursing Blizzard, that has made you bitter and whose rewards seem meager and vile, a Profession that does not meet your needs in the game…
Okay, moving on.
A few thoughts on Gathering
I mentioned yesterday that I have, amongst my two flying characters, Herbalism, Mining, and Engineering for mote farming.
I've talked about it before, a long time ago, but I think it bears a refresher course.
I find it convenient, when playing, to sometimes set aside time just to farm. Dedicated time spent cruising to tunes, following a routine, swoop in and grab dat Herbage, and move-move on-on.
To facilitate mindless farming, I use an entire suite of various addons, each providing me something the others cannot alone.
The litany of addons?
Cartographer (for the base map that I use, compatible with QuestHelper, Routes, and all addon marking.)
Fubar 3.5 (for easy access to my RoutesFu menu.)
GathererDB (provides a comprehensive database of all nodes of Mining and Herbs on Wowhead. Very complete. Import this into Gatherer.)
GatherMate_Data (I use the GatherMate suite of addons, with all Mining and Herbs shut off, to provide me with my updatable Cloud nodes for Engineering farming.)
Routes is a truly remarkable addon, and it still works great. It is completely compatible with Cartographer farming data, Gatherer and GatherMate. When you set up a new route in a zone, you can select exactly which data, from what addon source, you want included in the route… and then you can choose what color to make the route. You can shut some off so as not to clutter your screen or minimap, or you can make them all different colors so you can see what is what and leave them all up there. You can certainly mix and match, such as Mining and Steam Clouds for a Mining Engineer, for example.
I personally use Gatherer as my source for Mining and Herbalism node routes, because GathererDB is an incredibly complete source for nodes and I like the Gatherer interface, and GatherMate for mote Clouds since it grows it's database and learns as you find gas clouds of your own.
I also go into each addon and turn off node marking, since the route lines themselves serve as markers for me. I have found that with so many addons, sometimes the node markers can actually obscure the golden dot of the node itself. Slows ya down, trying to figure out if that is really a node there or not on the map. Can't be having with that!
As you can see from the picture I'm using as an example, I have three routes setup in Sholozar. I have a green route for farming Adder's Tongue, a red route for Steam and Fire Clouds, and a light blue route for Ore.
See? Isn't that awesome? A nice route right there on your minimap that you can use to follow and look for nodes.
Now, you might ask yourself, "Isn't he shooting himself in the foot by posting this? Isn't he afraid of more competition?"
Well, no, I don't think so.
And that brings us to talking about you, my readers. The few, the proud… the demented.
First, for one thing, ain't that many folks read this blog. I mean, c'mon, it's nice to think so, but there are a lot of servers, and the chances that more than 3 or 4 people on any one server read this blog are fairly remote, I'd think. You're not gonna crush an economy by sharing gathering tips with 3 or 4 folks on a server.
For the other thing, I have noticed that I have two main groups of folks that seem to read my blog.
The majority of readers are incredibly nice, come from all walks of life, and mostly seem to have two common bonds; a love for and enthusiasm for the game, and an appreciation for the same weird sense of what passes for humor around here as I have.
Druid love is optional 🙂
Then there is the other group. The ones that come here to bitch about theorycrafting and jump on my and anyone else's mistakes in comments, and stroke their own egos. I keep hoping they'll leave us alone, to be honest. And with my not posting a ton of theorycrafting, with my leaving WoW Insider so as to stop drawing some of the immature fanbase they seem to cherish and nuture in their comments in the quest for greater pagehits, I think that group has begun to die out.
See, I think of those of you who have stuck with the blog as my friends, peers, fun folks to hang with and geek out together and generally feel free to be just as flaky as me. Not, as some people seem to think, as master and servant, teacher and student. No, you are fellow travelers along the road of geekdom. I ain't here to educate, just to share and write and have fun.
Because that's what we are, fellow travelers sharing our joy and enthusiasm for the game. I don't write for ANYONE except you.
I try not to be judgmental on any aspect of the game we play. I'm judgmental on lots of stuff, but not on that. And there is a good reason for that.
Everyone's got different interests, different backgrounds, different priorities, different ways of enjoying playing the game. I don't see any of them as being inherently better than the others, or having more validity or being more important aspects of the game. Some undoubtedly take more effort, preparation or time commitments than others. But time is something that some folks don't have available for such things. It does not mean that people who DO spend the time are better than those who do not, or vice versa. Not to me. They are both just playing the game as their lifestyle and interests permit them to. Period. Raiders, no, I do NOT think your playstyle is more special or important than roleplayers. Nor do I think that you are better players than those with a more casual playstyle. You may think so, but I do not share that opinion. Nor do I think that people who love PvP are less important or deserve less respect than people focused on PvE. Nor do I think people on PvP servers are more leet than those on PvE servers. It's not better, it's just a different emphasis on aspects of the same game.
And no, I do not think that those people who spend hours on theorycrafting the math behind why things work in the game are special or better than other folks, or smarter either. OMIGOD, not in the slightest. Because in truth, anyone can do so. There is nothing unique in the ability to manipulate numbers. It takes time to gather data, a definite investment in time and effort, and I appreciate those who make that effort to share some guidance on how things work, and choose to provide tips based on research to help folks that have not made that effort to better succeed in the game. I just don't think doing it makes someone better or smarter than other players, thank you very much. The majority of people that play a video game for entertainment just choose not to spend hours gathering data and doing maths. That's not part of the playstyle they enjoy. Some folks do; again, everyone enjoys different parts of the game.
I do laugh hilariously at folks that make calculated assumptions, known in professional circles as scientific wild ass guesses (or SWAGs), and then spend time deriving detailed mathematical models for how things will change based on those SWAGs… and then rant about it. It's a subset of the genre that really amuses the living heck out of me. Yes, I am petty in this regard. It's a weakness, a defect in character I choose not to work on.
But I don't judge people based on what kind of game, what kind of playstyle they enjoy. Why the heck would I?
I just judge people based on how they treat other people, on how they act. I reserve the right to rant at those I personally perceive to be asshats all day long, but never on how you like to play the game.
When I had the pleasure to meet some readers last November, I asked what they enjoyed doing in the game the most… not to judge them, or to decide who to talk to. I wanted to know because I only play a narrow part of the game, and I love talking to people that play different parts of the game I never experience. It's fun. It's geeking out on enthusiasm for the game, and I love it.
Those are the readers I love, the readers I try and encourage, the vast majority of kick-ass nice folks I wish I got more of a chance to chat with in the comments and via email.
You know, the folks who are probably only reading this blog while at work, over a lunch break in between webcomics, and comment from work, and when they get home are too busy actually doing stuff and having fun to post a comment.
God bless you, keep it up. 🙂
Anyway, I think we're alone now. There doesn't seem to be anyone around. I think we're alone now… the beating of my heart… Gah! Okay, hold on, gotta get that song out of my head…. /cry. Quick, someone cue up some Ramones, I wanna be sedated after that.
There. Sorry.
Now, with this blog being, essentially, as asshat-free a zone as I can possibly make it and still have a free flowing exchange of ideas…
You're my friends. OF COURSE I want my friends to get the most benefit out of their farming time. Of course I do! What am I, Ebeneezer McDuck over here? Hoarding the Ore and Herbs? Mine! Mine, I tell you!
Nah, I want you to go out there and farm what you want to farm, as efficiently and quickly as possible, so you can get it done and move on to playing! And if the farming happens to be what you like best, well, you probably already use those addons and far, far more.
Just do me a favor, and don't go broadcasting it to the heavens. See, the gold farmers undoubtedly already know all about it, but maybe that jerk that wants to fight you for each and every single Titanium node, whether you have already started mining it or not, doesn't.
So instead, just share the addons with your friends, and make sure everyone you know that's a friend of yours is getting the most out of their gathering professions, and do your bit to compete with the goldfarmers on a level playing field. And hope that the Titanium node jerkoff doesn't know about that sweet mining spot in Icecrown where you always find that one overlooked node.
Have fun, and I'll see you in game!