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For those new to the blog, I do a Q&A with an opposing team writer every week during the season. Sometimes I get comments asking why I'm not doing this for the Texans. And the reason for that is that if you are finding this blog, you likely are a Texans fan that already knows a lot about the strengths and weaknesses of the Texans, so why would I tell you stuff you already know?
Finding out more about the details of the opposing team can often given you insight of why certain things are happening during a game and things to watch for. I believe that the more you know about the players and teams of a particular spot, the more enjoyable it is to watch. (As an aside, I was thinking yesterday that I didn't have a favorite Houston Rocket or Houston Astro player this year, and the thought of that made me sad. I'm not talking stars for stars sake, but just a guy or two on the teams I particularly rooted for like I had in Rocket/Astros teams of old. And who knows what the Rockets are going to look like after David Stern's authoritarian puppeteering is done. This is so messed up that the MLB thinks this looks sane. /end of digression).
This post isn't completely about the Bengals. Some good Texans-specific information is near the bottom of the post.
In any event, I think you will like the next Bengals Q&A mostly because Todd's smart, entertaining and you can FEEL how much he cares in his writing. I empathize with his writing due to my years embarrassed by Bud Adams:
Please give me some information about yourself and your site that I can share with Texans fans.
"Excellent, my favorite topic of all: myself. But before I do that, let me ignore the topic you have asked me to write about and quickly say something very personal to someone I care about very deeply:
[turns to face camera]
"Jonathan Joseph – I kept your bedroom exactly as you left it. Whenever you want to return, we will take you back with open arms."
Anyway, my name is Todd Lippincott but in the internet world with my internet friends who write internet things I go by the name Sleeping With Bieniemy and write for the website/blog Who Dey Revolution. You may have heard something about us in, like, 2009 but our momentum has waned a little bit since then.
Essentially, we write about two things 1) the Bengals and 2) the uniquely poor ownership Bengals fans suffer under. Just read the left pane of our blog homepage for details. Our owner is THE WORST, just trust me on this. People may not care as much about "The Cause" as they did a few years ago with a good young core in place on the field, but the underlying problems remain. We'll keep writing about it until ownership changes the way they run the team, whether or not people listen is another thing.
Twitter is amazing you all should sign up posthaste. We run not one, but TWO, handles of note. First, we have a fake Mike Brown handle @MikeyBoyBrown and second we have our own @WDRevolution handle. If you want to, you know, hang out sometime just hit me up in the stream."
Explain what you can about how the 2011 Bengals team is different/same as previous years and what this has meant?
"Basically, the key difference this year compared to past 7 is that the Carson Palmer Era featuring Chad Johnson is over. You can think of the 2011 Bengals squad as new blood.
This generally means good things because anyone who maintains employment with the Bengals organization for longer than 4-5 years becomes what is officially termed "Bungalized". To be "Bungalized" means the relentless mediocrity of the organization slowly poisons you until you become mediocre yourself. Think about Carson Palmer from 2005-2007, when he was pretty much scientifically proven to be the best QB in the NFL behind Manning & Brady. Then think about Carson Palmer now and you will begin to understand the concept of Bungalization. No one is immune to it and those suffering under it often don't realize it until it's too late.
Bungalization aside, the 2011 Bengals are a very young, likeable and decent team. I can point out the fact that the Bengals literally don't have a scouting department but Mike Brown has been like "lulz who needs scowts amirite?!" and nailed a couple of recent drafts which are paying dividends. On the offensive side, you have two rookies, Andy Dalton and AJ Green, both playing as if they are 3-4 year veterans. On the defensive side, for literally the first time in my life that I can truly remember (roughly after 1990) we have a pass rush, led by 2nd and 3rd year players Carlos Dunlap and Geno Atkins.
The other revelation is coaching. Mike Zimmer, our defensive coordinator, has been working wonders with marginal talent for a few years now. However, we finally purged the most Bengals employee ever, offensive coordinator Bob Bratkowski, after ten years (TEN!) and brought in Jon Gruden's brother. Bringing in some famous football guy's relative is again, like, the most Bengals thing ever only this time it actually worked (unlike Dave Shula). His name is Jay, in case you were wondering, and he has the offense producing decently given the fact he's working with a rookie at QB and lots of new personnel at skill positions.
The new blood and good coaching manifest themselves primarily in one way that is different from years past: the Bengals fight relentlessly with few mistakes for all four quarters. If you are an average or bad NFL team the Bengals will beat you. If you are a good NFL team, however, the Bengals aren't quite there talent/depth wise to probably beat you. I don't know what you are anymore, Texans, good or average. You were clearly a good NFL team until injuries took out Schaub and Andre Johnson. I think you were so good that even with the loss of them you remain good. We shall see."
Any key Bengal injuries?
"The Bengals season hung on a few threads that were always a little tenuous. One of those was threads was Leon Hall at CB. As you well know, the Bengals chose not to make the effort needed to keep Jonathan Joseph during the offseason. So instead of enjoying yet another year with quietly perhaps the best CB tandem in the NFL, now we have just one elite CB. Well, now we have no elite QBs as Leon Hall tore his Achilles heel and is out for the season. This is why you pay up to keep your elite assets like Jonathan Joseph, Mike Brown. Did I mention 1) there is no individual team salary cap this year and 2) if there was the Bengals are estimated at like 20-30 million under the cap? Again, I hate you for taking Jonathan Joseph. But I hate our owner even more for letting this happen.
Also, Joseph's replacement, Nate Clements is not practicing this week cause of injury. Good times!
The other key injury is Carlos Dunlap. He may play this week for all I know, but he has been out in games past. With the coverage in the secondary weakened, we need him to get a strong pass rush. Well, we may not have him. So no pass rush +weakened secondary = HUGE problems."
What do you think are the strengths of this Bengal team?
"Weird as it is for me to type it about the Bengals, mental toughness is a strength. The other strength used to be the defense. However, with injuries to our best players, I don't think that can be called a strength going forward. We don't have real strengths, honestly. We're just, like, okay at everything."
And fans concerns with the Bengals?
"Oh, we have concerns. We have many concerns. Before the 2011 season worked out pretty well for the team, this offseason was basically the apocalypse. First, Carson Palmer asked to be traded or he would retire and forfeit the remaining $50 million on his contract. When Mike Brown refused to trade him, Carson actually retired. THAT WAS AMAZING AND NO ONE SEEMED TO CARE. He was a franchise QB, the rarest of rare assets in the NFL, and he hated playing for our team so much he was prepared to give up $50 million to go home and play with his kids. This does not happen to other teams.
Then, despite having tons of money to play with, the owner basically let Jonathan Joseph go without really making an offer that might have caused him to consider staying.
Then, of course, there was the lockout.
This has led to a collapse in attendance in 2011. In 2009, when the Bengals won the AFC North, the team averaged about 64k fans/game. In 2010, when they were just disgusting, and lost 10 games in a row, they average 61k/game. In 2011, when halfway through the season they were the #1 seed in the AFC, they are averaging about 49k/game. That is a shocking drop for a winning team. In case you didn't know, the 7-5 Bengals against the 9-3 Texans WILL BE BLACKED OUT IN OUR LOCAL TV MARKET. I compared the attendance drop in Cincy to teams around the league. It is standard deviations below even the worst drawing teams (like Miami and now Washington). Attendance has dropped about 25% in 2 years. It is a statistically significant outlier and should be a bigger story than it is. Oh yes, I would say fans have their concerns.
What is happening is that after 20 years of mismanaging the franchise, fans are getting much more wise to Mike Brown's game. They are withholding financial support of the team. Interest and fan support has never been higher, please keep in mind. The TV ratings for away games (not blacked out) are the highest they have ever been. But ticket sales are falling as fans send a message. Don't expect anyone in the mainstream media to get this story right, they will call the fans as lazy or unsupportive when what is really happening is a war between ownership and fans.
Certainly other factors are in play, such as a muddling economy and the tremendously enjoyable at home viewing experience. But the economy was bad in 2008, 2009 and 2010 and fans showed up. And I assure you there is nothing unique about in-home experience in the greater Cincinnati area compared to the rest of America. Their attendance trend is unique among all NFL teams.
Next year, you will see some fans come back because the team is young and decent as we are loaded with high draft picks. However, something is brewing in Cincy with their fans."
What do you think is the best way to beat the Bengals?
"As I mentioned earlier, the Bengals are okay at pretty much everything. Therefore, I can't point to one thing you need to do that is the best way to beat them. You will need to do everything pretty well to beat them. Though because of injuries you may not have to do those things as well as you would have 5 weeks ago. Then again, 5 weeks ago you would have had a QB (fwiw, I like Yates).
I think if Carlos Dunlap does play, you will need to worry about protecting your newly anointed starting QB, though. Even before you get to scheme, Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap can wreck offensive lines. When you factor in the zone blitzing concepts Mike Zimmer uses to create pressure without sacrificing men in coverage, it gets even worse. But assuming you protect well enough to make the passing game a little bit credible, your dominant running game should be able to control the game on offense.
And I don't think our offense is good enough to put up too many points on your D, so you shouldn't need to score a lot to beat us. What's it feel like to have a great D, by the way? The Bengals under Zimmer have had a good D for the first time in like, forever. I found it very disorienting but pleasing at first. I bet you feel the same way.
While we're talking about D…Wade Philips? Huh? How is he so freaking good as a defensive coordinator and so inept as a head coach? He is not the first example. People forget that Dick LeBeau was the head coach in Cincy before Marvin Lewis and he couldn't do squat. Now he's basically a living defensive God in Pittsburgh as their coordinator. And yes I'm comparing Wade Philips to Dick Lebeau.
The point of all this is that I think you guys will beat us just doing your thang. Of course, watch the game end up being high scoring pass-oriented shootout."
Who are some Bengals players that Texans fans may not know about who could have an impact on the game, positively or negatively?
"I named the two young stars of the defense already (Atkins & Dunlap), but they aren't necessarily household names. Our entire linebacking crew has been just wonderfully solid all year. You probably know Ray Maualuga, but Thomas Howard and Manny Lawson have been great contributors. I'm also told Reggie Nelson, an afterthought the past few seasons, is having a pro-bowl caliber year at safety. But I wouldn't know since TV coverage prevents you from actually seeing what your secondary is doing until the play has already happened. Those guys can contribute positively. I prefer both our backup runnings backs to starter Chris Benson. So keep in mind the names Bernard Scott and Cedric Peerman.
On the negative side, if Nate Clements is out, then you can familiarize yourself with Brandon Ghee, his backup at CB, but I don't know why you'd really want to. Fortunately, as I just mentioned, the TV will shield from watching him "play" should he be forced into duty. The offensive line is serviceable but vulnerable, particularly at LG. Nate Livings starts there even though for two years we had pro-bowl caliber Evan Mathis on the bench behind him (he now starts for Philly) and he has beat in the past and likely will be in the future."
Any question you would like to answer that I didn't ask?
"No, but I would like to state that I send my sympathies for the Schaub injury this season. It's been a pretty trying time in the past to be a Texans fan and this certainly seemed like a great year. That was brutal. Fortunately, the AFC is kind of crappy and young Yates has some promise.
I'd also like to reiterate that you can give us Jonathan Joseph back anytime now."
Please thank Todd for answer this Q&A (but no you can't have Joseph back).
My view is that this is going to be a very good test for the Texans this Sunday. What sorts of things will Mike Zimmer do to disrupt TJ Yates on the road? In a road game, where even with a healthy team it may be difficult to execute your offense right away, it's particularly important for the Texans defense to dominate.
Bengals-Texans By The Numbers:
Obligatory disclaimer. Despite what some misread into my writing, I do not think stats are the be-all, end-all. They are one of many tools to look at a football game, and are a good frame of reference and common point to start conversations. This is what the numbers currently say:
Bengals: Points (18th), Yards (18th) Pass offense (19th), Rush offense (20th). Defense (6th), Pass defense (10th), Rush defense (6th).
Texans: Points (5th), Yards (10th) Pass offense (17th), Rush offense (3rd). Defense (1st), Pass defense (3rd), Rush defense (4th)
Football Outsiders Efficiency Ratings (Considers per play situation compared to league average factoring in opponent–more than just total yards in conventional stats. More info at FO FAQs page)
Bengals: Overall (16th), Offense (17th), Pass offense (12th), Rush offense (20th). Defense (16th), Pass defense (18th), Rush defense (19th) , Special Teams (14th)
Texans: Overall (1st), Offense (5th), Pass offense (4th), Rush offense (6th). Defense (5th), Pass defense (3rd), Rush defense (12th), Special Teams (11th)
The conventional stats like the Bengals more than the efficiency stats that factor in opponent and down, distance, place on the field. Todd's assessment of the Bengals being about the same in everything is shown in the Football Outsiders stats. Statistically, the Falcons were the hardest team the Texans would face for the rest of the regular season. Fortunately that game was at home.
Other Numbers of Note.
This run defense is easier than the ones the Texans have faced in recent weeks but this team can get after the quarterback. The Texans are tied for second in the league in sacks with 35 and the Bengals are tied for 11th with 31 sacks.
The Texans still haven't been tested too much from playing from behind very much this season. This is evidence in particular by the rushing stats. The Texans are number 1 in the league with 432 rushing attempts. That's 33 more attempts than the Broncos who have second most attempts. To put this in comparison, the Ravens a team with a good defense who also like to run the ball when their coach doesn't goon out with play calling, has almost 100 less rushing attempts.
There's a sense that the Texans win when they run, but part of the reason why they can run this year is that they are getting leads with their offense, keeping those leads with their defense and then they have the luxury to grind out the run to win games. Last year they couldn't take that approach because opponents were scoring most of the time they had the ball.
Your Thoughts for This Game?
Can't wait. Please leave informative and/or entertaining questions or comments below to get us through game time.


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subset: commoncrawl


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Sorry that I've been silent for a while, the last few weeks have been very busy. Between family obligations and a number of other projects, I just haven't had a lot of time to blog. Also, I was pretty happy with that last blog post, and figured it could stand to have some more front page time. But things are slowing down for me in real life, so it's about time I got us caught up.
First of all, Simulationcraft version 540-5 has been released this week. As always, you can get it at the download page. It contains several notable improvements/changes for us
- Updated TMI bosses
- Damages fine-tuned to be closer to Garrosh damage
- DoT damage fixed at 5% of raw melee damage
- T17Q boss added for fun / playing with full heroic profiles
- HTML reports re-written to show healing (HPS) and absorption (APS) independently for clarity.
- Charts still show HPS+APS like they did before
- Divine Protection bugfix (this was actually in 540-4, I just didn't blog about it)
- Retribution APL tweaked for higher DPS, T16 profiles updated
To illustrate the reporting issue, here's how it looks for a T16N profile that's been tweaked to use Sacred Shield instead of Eternal Flame:
The "Results, Spec, and Gear" section now breaks down HPS and APS independently in a more readable fashion. So in this case, we generated 85892.2 healing per second, ignoring overhealing, and our Sacred Shield gave us 37299.5 absorption per second. The title line reports this as total HPS+APS, which is 123192 HPS, followed by the absorption in parentheses to tell you how much of that total was due to absorbs.
Scaling Problems
I'll also note that the results you see with these bosses are a little weird. For example, if you sim the T16H profile against the T16H25 TMI boss, you get a health timeline that looks something like this:
In other words, we're generating more self-healing than the boss is dishing out in DPS. This surprised me at first, but as far as I can tell the simulation is fairly accurate. It turns out that Eternal Flame and Seal of Insight scale very well with attack power, and thus with Vengeance. At a certain Vengeance level (reached around 10N T16 levels in appropriate gear) we simply become self-sufficient against this boss thanks to the sheer AP scaling of those two skills.
This means that at the top end, the TMI results will be fairly insensitive to small stat changes, and thus if you generate stat weights you might get garbage. And unfortunately, cranking up the boss doesn't always fix the problem – in many cases the sheer Vengeance increase is large enough that it doesn't matter.
I haven't found a good solution to this yet, unfortunately. Part of the issue is that the simulation is very rigid – the boss always attacks you every 1.5 seconds, so your Vengeance timeline looks something like this:
And note that this isn't the averaged version – this is for a one-iteration sim. Vengeance flatlines after the ~20-30 second ramp-up period, which makes you a self-sufficient healing dynamo. In reality, bosses look like this:
This is total AP, but obviously most of that is Vengeance. I don't start tanking on this boss (25H Malkorok), so my AP is pretty flat until I taunt. then we have the slow ramp-up from ~200k to ~500k as I take damage. Then the other tank taunts and my Vengeance begins to decay away. And this cycle repeats itself over the course of the fight.
Simulationcraft has no concept of aggro, so we can't do tank swaps (yet). But in any event, it's clear that at no point do we have a steady 500k Vengeance at our disposal. Our average while tanking is probably closer to 300k-350k, so our survival tweaks should be aimed at optimizing around that value. Which means we somehow have to artificially decrease the Vengeance we have in Simcraft.
My tentative plan at the moment is to introduce a damage source that doesn't grant Vengeance, like a ground effect that your tank automatically stands in. Then the TMI bosses would always include some amount of damage from this source to artificially reduce the Vengeance that boss grants. I don't think I'm going to bother doing this until the next expansion, which gives me some time to think about whether this is really the best implementation or not. I'm open to alternatives if people want to suggest them.
Warcraft Logs
In case you were wondering where that sexy AP vs. time graph came from in the last section, it's from Warcraft Logs. This is a new competitor to World of Logs designed and run by ex-Tankadin (now Feral Druid) Kihra of Temerity. I've been helping him bugtest it over the past month or two, though I really don't deserve much credit since all I do is upload some logs and complain to him about things that are broken. It's just recently gone into its Friends & Family alpha phase, so the client is invite-only at this point. But if you want to play around and see what sorts of things it can do, you can dig through my guild's logs here: http://www.warcraftlogs.com/guilds/6/
There are a lot of features that are planned for this site that I'm not comfortable talking about without Kihra's permission, but if they all pan out this will be the go-to site for combat log analysis. I really can't wait until it becomes publicly available. And of course, one of features I will incessantly nag Kihra to implement until he does so is automatic calculation of TMI for an encounter based on your health resource log.
Anyway, I encourage you to peruse the site and see what it can do. Note that I'm not directly involved with the site at all, just a friend of Kihra's who offered to help test the site. So if you're interested in participating in the beta, you're probably better off watching @Kihra and @WarcraftLogs on twitter.
Hopefully I'll have some time in the next month or two to do a full blog post on the site with a basic How-To guide and maybe highlight some of the more novel features. We'll see though, we're only a week away from Blizzcon!
Speaking of BlizzCon, I'll be attending this year. I haven't figured out my complete schedule, but I do know I'll be at the WoWInsider/wowhead party on Thursday night at the Anabella. Beyond that nothings certain, but I'll probably be at the Hilton parties Friday and Saturday night. I probably won't have a custom badge or anything, but if you look for a short guy in jeans and a polo shirt wearing a "Hi, My Name Is Theck" sticker, you might spot me. If you want to meet up or say hi, watch my twitter – I'll probably be tweeting where I'll be during the con so that people can find me.


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Maureen Hancock Reading with Wendy Littlefield [AUDIO]
Maureen Hancock is a renowned spirit medium, intuitive, lecturer holistic healer and author of the best selling book "The Medium Next Door". She is returning to Bangor, on Friday, May 2nd and will be appearing at the Cross Insurance Center.
She conducted a reading with Wendy Littlefield via the telephone, and Wendy graciously let us tape it. Maureen Hancock received no preparation and background information. I introduced the two of them on the phone, and what you hear is how the call played out.
I will tell you I had goosebumps and tears as I listened to the call! If you believe in the hereafter, I would strongly suggest you purchase your tickets to this event!
Here's what Wendy had to say about her experience:
My name is Wendy Littlefield and I have had the wonderful opportunity to attend Maureen Hancock's "Postcards From Heaven" Tour. During that event, I was able to connect with my daughter, Asheigh, who passed away nearly 4 years ago. I also recently was able to have a personal phone conversation with her when I was connected with Ashleigh via Maureen. Both of my experiences with Maureen were a little unbelievable but for me they were amazing. I have also read her book 'The Medium Next Door' and listened to her CD 'Grief Relief'!
Being a grieving parent has been a tough journey for me - It has taken me a long time to get to where I am today.
Lots of support groups, family support, counseling, good friends and self growth. Ashleigh was just shy of her 19th birthday when we died very suddenly from an medical issue we didn't know about.
I attended the "Postcards from Heaven" show just hoping to see what this would be all about - My daughter believed wholeheartedly in the afterlife when she was here so I did have a quiet hope that she would come through. I was near the back of a packed room and listened with tears and smiles through her whole show - I loved being reassured each time she connected with a loved one that there was 'a better place'.
One thing that stuck in my mind from that first show was her saying over and over again - 'they are not dead, they are just different', that quote replays in my mind each day.
When Asheligh came through that night, I was amazed and shocked and as Maureen shared with me things that only Ashleigh would say to me. I left that event with such belief that I had just heard from my girl. Over the next several weeks, I replayed that conversation in my mind (as much as I could remember) and smiled more than I had in years.
I also read her book - which reminded me and taught me so much about slowing down and seeing the sign. I shared this with my kids and husband so we could all just try to take the time to feel Ashleigh trying to connect with us.
Now - realize that 5 years ago I would have probably gone to an event like this and come up with all the reasons how she would know that and shake my head in disbelief but, when you have a loss like I have, you learn to take these small things that make you smile.
If I can smile each day just once about a memory of Ashleigh or a reason why I now feel like she connects with me (finding a dime with the year of her birth on it to the unexplained blinking light), then today will be a good day. My recent phone conversation was a very cool experience too.
I was a little worried that Ashleigh might not come through the phone but, not only did she come through, the thing that amazed me most was that her personality came through! Maureen was able to tell me things that HAD to come from Ashleigh! I was able to giggle as I could visualize Ashleigh bothering Maureen. I felt a little less overwhelmed and more able to concentrate and listen as Maureen told me again of things that only Ashleigh would now.
I can't wait to attend the next "Postcards From Heaven" Show in May and will take my Husband and children to this event. If they only see her and listen to her connect with others and also share her stories then it will be a complete night. I encourage all to open their hearts and attend the "Postcards from Heaven" Event - you never know who might check in and make you smile!!
Tickets to Maureen Hancock at the Cross Insurance Center on Friday May 2nd are $30.00.


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A nice game hit the market Memory Challenge
So bassically it's a memory game. I really dig this game but I need some tips to get better at it. What are some good strategies to finish the board really fast or to remember the cards more easily. All I could think of was to split the board in half and do all the matches from the first half and then do the rest. Any suggestions are welcomed I'm really looking forward to some great tips to improve at this game. Thanks.


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There's only one way to describe Miniature Wonderland in Hamburg: the biggest model railway in the world. Visitors are taken on a journey through different countries and continents, through realistic miniature landscapes and worlds of fantasy.
Situated in the heart of Europe, Germany has plenty of fantastic tourist attractions and unique sights to offer. Visitors from all over the world travel to Germany to see architectural treasures and fascinating places of natural beauty. The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) is interested in gathering the most popular attractions and has its international visitors name their German favorites. Almost 32,000 travelers to Germany from over 60 countries named 2017 their personal favorite.
There's only one way to describe Miniature Wonderland in Hamburg: the biggest model railway in the world. Visitors are taken on a journey through different countries and continents, through realistic miniature landscapes and worlds of fantasy.
If you haven't already been to Europa-Park in Rust, then what are you waiting for! Located in south-west Germany between Freiburg and Offenburg, Europa-Park is the biggest theme park in the German-speaking countries and one of the few that is open in winter.
The Lake Constance region, where Germany borders Austria and Switzerland, is a holiday paradise set around Central Europe's third largest inland lake. The most popular excursion is to the Flower Island of Mainau, famous for its magnificent park and gardens surrounding the baroque family residence of Count Bernadotte. Discover an oasis of natural beauty, harmony and relaxation.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a small town with a big reputation. Nowhere else will you find such a wealth of original buildings dating from the Middle Ages. You can't help but ask yourself whether time has stood still, as you amble past the beautiful old houses, secluded squares and tucked-away corners of the old quarter, where towers, taverns and town gates alternate with fountains, fortifications and former storehouses.
There are many ways to interpret or define culture. But it can be easily summarised with just one word: Dresden. The sheer abundance and splendour of the city's cultural treasures are enough to take your breath away. And since Dresden also just happens to be set amidst a stunning river landscape, your amazement is soon accompanied by pure delight.
A whole host of international stars, including Michael Jackson, have visited Phantasialand, the multi-award-winning, family-friendly theme park in Brühl, some 20km from Cologne. It also opens for a winter season that features a programme of unmissable shows.
Munich's Hellabrunn Zoo opened in 1911 in the Isar floodplains conservation area. With more than 19,000 animals in around 40 hectares of grounds, it is one of the biggest and most bio-diverse zoos in Germany and was the world's very first 'geo-zoo'.
The Moselle Valley is the oldest wine-growing region in Germany and a diverse recreational area that offers something for every taste.
There have been churches on the site of Cologne Cathedral since the 4th century. However, it was not until 1248 that this city on the Rhine became home to one of the foremost cathedrals in the Christian world – a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. When it was completed in 1880, it was the tallest building in the world.
Churches, towers and bridges, great culture and glittering festivals: Erfurt offers medieval charm in abundance and a rich history combined with a lust for life and a warm welcome. Situated at the crossroads of ancient German and European trade routes, the regional capital of Thuringia has always been popular with important intellectuals and is a self-assured, proud centre of innovation, as well as a magnet for visitors from around the world.
Open since 1998, Ravensburger Spieleland is home to the 'biggest playroom' in the world and is absolutely ideal for families with children aged three and above. The 25-hectare park is located in Upper Swabia between Ravensburg and Lake Constance.
Founded as Augusta Treverorum in 16 BC, Trier is Germany's oldest town and a true monument to history. Historical buildings of international standing, remarkable churches and magnificent Roman remains all make a visit to this romantic city on the Moselle an unforgettable experience.
The imperial cathedral in Speyer, officially known as the Cathedral of St. Mary and St. Stephen, is the town's most prominent landmark. Laid out in the form of a Latin cross, it is one of Germany's largest and most important Romanesque buildings, and was intended to be no less than the largest church in the western world when building work began in 1030.
It may sound like a German bar, but the Deutsches Eck (German Corner) is actually a spit of land at the confluence of the Rhine and Moselle. It got its name from the Teutonic Order of Knights which settled here in 1216 and a monument to Kaiser Wilhelm I was built here to commemorate the unification of the German Empire. Dedicated in 1897, destroyed in 1945, declared a memorial to German unity in 1953 and reconstructed in 1993, the 37m-high monument now attracts more than 2 million visitors every year and since 2002 it has been part of the Upper Middle Rhine Valley UNESCO World Heritage site.
The square is dominated by the neo-Gothic New Town Hall with its imposing facade and the sound of the delightful carillon in the town hall tower. Close by are some of Munich's most exclusive shopping streets, markets and beer gardens, as well as the trio of famous city gates – Isartor, Sendlinger Tor and Karlstor.
Rügen is Germany's largest island. Its 926 square kilometres contain everything you need for a perfect holiday: Baltic beaches as far as the eye can see, unspoilt natural surroundings and luxurious seaside resorts. A dream – in the middle of the Baltic.
The Harz National Park is located within Germany's most northerly mountain range. Together with the surrounding Harz Mountains Nature Park and Geopark, it is one of the most popular areas for walking and skiing in northern Germany. With sections in both Saxony-Anhalt and Lower Saxony, the park offers a mix of ancient legends and rugged scenery and is a popular tourist destination all year round.
Regensburg, the town of emperors and kings, offers impressive perspectives of around 2,000 years of history. The centre has over 1,500 listed buildings; of these, 984 form the 'Old Town with Stadtamhof' ensemble, which became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2006.
Just a short train ride south from Dresden, on the border with the Czech Republic, a stunning landscape of dramatic rock formations awaits walkers, mountain climbers and nature lovers.
Large, imposing and steeped in history: high above the town of Eisenach sits Wartburg Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1999. One of the best-preserved medieval German fortresses and almost 1,000 years old, it is possibly Germany's most famous castle, and certainly one of its most important.
The Romantic Road whisks you away on a journey of approximately 400 km from Würzburg to Füssen in the Allgäu . Anyone visiting this route is greatly rewarded with treasures such as magnificent stately homes, palaces of courtly splendour and romantic medieval timber-framed houses following in swift succession. This route also lives up to its name when travelled by bicycle or on foot.
Over a period of around 400 years, the monks built a remarkable monastery at Maulbronn, which became a distinguishing feature of the surrounding landscape. Today, this former Cistercian abbey, which is situated between Heidelberg and Stuttgart, is not only the most complete and best-preserved monastic complex north of the Alps, it is also a particularly fine example of medieval architecture and, since 1993, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The Eifel National Park has majestic beech forests interspersed with gnarled oak woods and tumbling brooks ensconced in mysterious ravines. The chance to get close to nature offered by the numerous plant and animal species here is unrivalled anywhere in western Germany.
A centre of imperial and episcopal power for almost a thousand years, and often referred to as the Rome of Franconia, Bamberg stands on seven hills surrounded by beautiful countryside. Dominated by its imperial cathedral, the town is a unique and superbly maintained masterpiece of urban design, uniting medieval and baroque architecture.
Lübeck, the undisputed Queen of the Hanseatic League, was founded in 1143 as 'the first western town on the Baltic coast' and provided a shining example for all the Hanseatic towns and cities along the Baltic. The medieval old town is one of the foremost examples of brick Gothic architecture and reflects Lübeck's illustrious past as an early centre of international trade.
Proudly enthroned above Cochem on mighty cliffs, you will find the venerable Cochem Castle (built circa 1,000 AD) with its unequalled layout, bay windows and battlements. Impregnable upon the prominent mount and rising over 100 metres above the Moselle, it is regarded as the highest hill fortress along the river.
The Sauerland holiday region wows visitors with its variety, as the glorious natural surroundings lend themselves to a huge range of leisure activities in both summer and winter.
The Felsenmeer nature reserve is a sensational scenic highlight. It is home to bizarre rock formations, an animal world with a wide range of species and an up to 250-year-old tree population. Legend has it that dwarfs once lived under their roots.
No other monument in Berlin is as famous around the world as Brandenburg Gate, built between 1789 and 1791 to plans by C. G. Langhans on Pariser Platz in the heart of the city. After the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, Brandenburg Gate became impassable for 28 years. As a signature attraction and symbol of German reunification, it now represents the past and present of the German capital in exemplary fashion. The gate is supported by six Doric columns, forming five passageways with pedestrian-only access. The famous quadriga depicting the goddess of victory, Victoria, riding a four-horse chariot was added in 1794.
The beautiful city of Potsdam is part of an extraordinarily rich and attractive landscape: expansive parks, majestic tree-lined avenues and some 150 buildings from the 18th to the 20th century all combine to make an outstanding cultural treasure. Extended to include architectural monuments in neighbouring Berlin, they have been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1990.
The Gothic Minster has been a dominant feature in the centre of Ulm for centuries and is the town's most famous landmark. It is also known far and wide for having the tallest church tower in the world: the 'Finger of God' stretches up to the skies reaching a height of almost 162 metres. This stunning piece of architecture is complemented by a number of exquisite art treasures inside the church. The minster is also famous for its 15th century choir stalls by Jörg Syrlin. The carved busts in particular are considered masterpieces of art history.
Covering an area of more than four square kilometres on the western banks of the river Isar, the English Garden is one of the largest inner city parks in the world. This delightful attraction holds a spellbinding appeal during the summer, but is also not without its charms in winter. One of the main attractions of the park is the Chinese pagoda with its famous beer garden. Visitors can even enjoy surfing on the Eisbach rapids or see a classical play at the tucked-away little amphitheatre.
It is one of the most beautiful town halls in Germany: the magnificent facade is a textbook example of the Weser Renaissance architecture typical of northern Germany. Along with the Roland statue, the city's very own 'statue of liberty', it still stands as a reminder of the pride that the locals have for their city, their freedom and their sovereignty.
Are the people of Freiburg so cheerful because their city gets more sun than anywhere else in Germany, or have they been rewarded with so much sunshine precisely because they are so good-natured? It's hard to say. But what is certain is that life is good in Germany's southernmost city.
Covering 240 hectares in the north Hessen city of Kassel, baroque Wilhelmshöhe Park is designed in the style of an English landscape garden and is Europe's largest hillside park. Together with Wilhelmshöhe Palace, it forms a unique whole that combines culture, nature and landscape architecture in perfect harmony.
As 100 top chocolatiers from Africa, North and South America and Europe gather in Tübingen's idyllic old quarter to pay homage to the cocoa bean, chocolate lovers will be in their element. This is pure indulgence for all the senses, with melt-in-the-mouth confections, handmade gourmet chocolate, therapeutic chocolate massages, luxury chocolate tastings, creative praline courses, artistic cocoa paintings, inspiring readings and unusual chocolate theatre.
There are plenty of historical town halls in Germany but probably the most beautiful of them all is the one in Michelstadt in the romantically situated Odenwald low mountain range. You'd have to search far and wide to find one as fancy and unique as this.
This is where the roots of the modern European city of Hamburg lie: the historical Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus district with the famous Chilehaus are synonymous with Hamburg's rise as a global trading power – and are today a vibrant cultural quarter. Having survived the years without damage or alteration, this historical ensemble has now been granted UNESCO World Heritage status.
A UNESCO World Heritage site in the heart of the city, Berlin's Museum Island is a hugely popular attraction both with locals and international tourists. One of the world's most important museum complexes, it is home to priceless cultural treasures. Collections at the Museum of the Ancient World, New Museum, Old National Gallery, Bode Museum and Pergamon Museum take visitors on a fascinating journey through art and culture from the cradle of civilisation in Mesopotamia through Egypt, Classical Greece and Rome, Byzantium, the Islamic World and the Middle Ages right up to the modern age and 19th century Romanticism.
You won't find the "longest bar in the world" in a bar. In fact, this term describes an entire microcosm that takes in over 260 hostelries, bars and restaurants in Düsseldorf's Altstadt (Old Town). It has already been a melting pot of all social classes for 350 years. It's the quarter in Düsseldorf where anybody can find what they're looking for – be it a fashion boutique, an art museum or a brewery inn.
What makes Altbier different from other beers?
Altbier can be described as a traditional (top-fermented) craft beer. It has always been hand-made – long before the art of brewing was supposedly rediscovered. And it's also "altbier" brown and tastes delicious!
Nuremberg Castle, where every emperor of the Holy Roman Empire lived, at least for a time, between 1050 and 1571, is one of the most important medieval imperial palaces. Friedrich Barbarossa and his successors added large extensions to the Salian royal castle which had been in existence since around the mid 11th century. The double chapel, which has survived intact to this day, dates back to this time. The imperial apartments and state rooms in the main building, whose original panelling has largely been preserved, contain 16th and 17th century paintings, tapestries and furniture.
The Elbe Philharmonic Hall, designed by leading Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, is a prestige urban project and a new cultural centre for Hamburg. This distinguished venue will offer a mix of classical and 21st century music as well as lighter entertainment with a sophisticated flair. The project will blend the new cultural identity with the harbour's former role as a gateway to the world. Visitors are going to travel up an escalator through the Kaispeicher A to a public plaza 37 metres above the ground. From here, they can enjoy spectacular panoramic views of the harbour, the river Elbe and the city. Read more
The Ozeaneum aquarium in Stralsund is the latest addition to the German Oceanographic Museum.
Würzburg Residenz Palace is generally considered the purest and most remarkable of all baroque palaces in Germany. Built between 1720 and 1744 and enhanced by the magnificent gardens between 1765 and 1780, it exemplifies a glittering era and is one of the most spectacular royal palaces in Europe.
Aachen Cathedral was the very first site to be granted UNESCO World Heritage status in Germany, and with good reason: built in around 790 to 800, the cathedral is of world importance in terms of the history of art and architecture, and is one of the great examples of church architecture. The final resting place of Charlemagne, it was also where German emperors were crowned for 600 years.
Idyllic Rüdesheim am Rhein is the gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley. Wine-growing has a long tradition in Rüdesheim and has established the town's reputation as a producer of acclaimed riesling and pinot noir wines. A stroll through the vineyards to the Germania monument or to Ehrenfels castle ruins offers fantastic views of the Rhine Valley.
Natural beauty and imposing landmarks, picturesque highlands and cultural and historical highlights – these are what make up the Teutoburg Forest / Egge Hills Nature Park, the largest in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The diversity of the Wadden Sea landscape on the North Sea coast makes it a unique habitat for countless species of plants and wildlife. This UNESCO World Natural Heritage site covers an area of around 11,000 square kilometres and includes the three Wadden Sea National Parks of Schleswig-Holstein, Lower Saxony, Hamburg and Denmark plus the Wadden Sea conservation area in the Netherlands.
Welcome to the home of fairies and princes, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella. Let the 600 km German Fairy Tale Route transport you to the magical world of the Brothers Grimm, from their birthplace in Hanau to Bremen, the home of the famous four-legged town musicians (Tiercombo).
Munich is Germany's beer capital – and the Oktoberfest is a byword for beer all over the world. When the first Oktoberfest was held back in 1810 to celebrate a royal wedding, nobody could have dreamt it would go on to become such a famous event. Since that time, the world's biggest beer festival has been held every year in September/October on the Theresienwiese grounds, bringing smiles to people's faces in classic Bavarian style with oompah bands, beer fresh from the barrel and plenty of good cheer. Anyone interested in the history of the festival can find out more on a guided tour of the famous Wies'n site, available since 1995 in several languages.
Expanding Hamburg's inner city: HafenCity – currently Europe's biggest urban regeneration project – is a model for new waterside developments in city centres all over Europe. While the historical warehouse district with its neo-Gothic brick-built architecture has long been a dominant feature of Hamburg, the new development at HafenCity is bringing a refreshing new twist to the old harbour. This addition to Hamburg's inner city sets a new benchmark in Europe and beyond. Covering an area of 157 hectares, the vibrant district is a fascinating mix of office and residential buildings, retail outlets, leisure facilities, restaurants, cafés and culture.
On the Hauptmarkt of the historic Old Town the 'Christ Child' ceremoniously opens the world famous Nuremburg Christmas market. The unique Christmas city presents a medieval atmosphere, the original Nuremburg gingerbread, Nuremburg Bratwurst, and the largest Feuerzangenbowle in the world. Atmospheric Advent and Christmas concerts in the churches, a traditional nativity play in the baroque church of St. Egidien and the Spitalgasse, Children's Christmas on Hans-Sachs-Platz, Partner City Market on Rathausplatz, crafts and arts in the Handwerkerhof, a parade by lamp light to the castle and rides on the post carriages – Nuremburg is turned into a unique all-out Christmas experience.
Quedlinburg, which enjoys an idyllic location on the Romanesque Route, was an important royal and imperial town in the Middle Ages. With its historical layout and over 1,300 timber-framed houses from a period spanning six centuries, Quedlinburg is a fine example of a beautifully preserved medieval town. It also boasts a wealth of art nouveau architecture.
Garlands, illuminated trees and fairy lights bathe the Christmas market and the romantic market square in a warm, festive glow. Musical accompaniment is provided by trumpeters in historical costume and alpenhorn trios. Beneath the towers of the castle there is an enchanting 'living' Nativity scene in a straw-thatched stable, while a musical shepherd features in the landscaped Nativity scene at St Michael's Church.
Mainz is famous for its university, its Roman heritage, its status as a media hub and regional capital, and its three most defining features: the Romanesque cathedral, the Gutenberg printing press and the Rhineland carnival. The people of Mainz have good reason to be proud of their city's history spanning almost 2,000 years. This rich cultural heritage incorporates a well-established winegrowing tradition, which only adds to Mainz's appeal.
Nestled deep in the Black Forest is the small town of Triberg, which is also home to a breathtaking natural spectacle: waterfalls plunging into the depths from a height of 163 m. A hiking path allows visitors to explore at their leisure, taking in its seven steps from all angles. The waterfalls can be visited all year round, and are an impressive sight – even in winter! At Christmas, millions of lights conjure up a romantic atmosphere and transform the surrounding forest into an utterly beautiful outdoor winter festival with performers and other highlights.
In its day, shaft XII at the Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen was the world's largest and most modern coal-mining facility and a leading example of the development of heavy industry in Europe. Today, with its Bauhaus-influenced design, the mine is a triumph of modern industrial architecture and a centre for art and culture.
From 1961 to 1989 the Berlin Wall divided the city in two. Most of this concrete structure has since been torn down, but fragments do remain a feature of the city. The Berlin Wall Trail, a route for walkers and cyclists split into 14 sections, follows the path of the former wall. Information panels installed at 30 points tell the story of the Berlin Wall. The colourful and recently restored East Side Gallery in Friedrichshain is a piece of the hinterland wall that in 1990 was painted by artists from 21 countries. On Bernauer Strasse, where there is a replica section of the Berlin Wall, you can also visit a memorial site, a documentation centre and the Chapel of Reconciliation.
Reminders of Germany's earliest industrial heritage: documenting around 1,000 years of mining history, the Mines of Rammelsberg on the outskirts of the beautiful old town of Goslar were once the largest interconnected repositories of copper, lead and zinc ore in the world. Energy for the mine was supplied by the Upper Harz water management system, the world's foremost pre-industrial water management system for the mining industry.
For centuries, Weimar in Thuringia was at the centre of intellectual life in Germany: the city experienced its heyday in the early 19th century when it was home to no fewer than three of Europe's leading intellectuals – Goethe, Schiller and Herder. The Classical Weimar ensemble is testimony to the enlightened, courtly but also civic culture of the period around 1800.
From the rolling foothills of the Alps all the way up to the mountain peaks, the Allgäu has always attracted active holidaymakers. As a sustainable destination for health and wellness, the region is aiming for more, and its Allgäu brand logo can only be used once a strict set of sustainability criteria has been met.
A truly unmissable Bavarian experience awaits at the famous Hofbräuhaus beer hall at Am Platzl in the old quarter. Originally a brewery, today it is an internationally acclaimed 'beer temple'. Locals can be seen dressed in traditional costume, drinking Munich beer from the famous Mass, a one-litre tankard, and enjoying traditional hearty specialities served up with a good dose of Bavarian hospitality. Probably the largest beer hall in the world serving some 30,000 guests every day, it is always noisy and full of beer-fuelled cheer.
The Medieval Crime Museum in Rothenburg comprises two buildings containing several hundred exhibits from all over the German-speaking world.
Wuppertal is the biggest city in the Bergisches Land and is the region's main centre for business, education, industry and the arts. It is above all known as the city with the suspended monorail – as Wuppertal's official slogan proudly proclaims. From the windows of the monorail, visitors look out onto a confident, historically aware city, with an amazing amount to offer.
With its rich, gold-adorned ceremonial room in the Augsburg Town Hall, the Golden Hall is regarded as one of the most important cultural icons of Germany's Late Renaissance. The ceiling of the 14-metre-high hall is clad with gold foil. It was completely destroyed in 1944 and reinstated in 1996 after 17 years of restoration. Since then, the Golden Hall is used as reception hall and meeting room for the city.
Since around 1290, the rows of houses with their gabled fronts and covered walkways have been a dominant feature of Prinzipalmarkt, Münster's oldest market street in the heart of the city. Shopping whatever the weather – this was even possible back in the Middle Ages under the arcades of Prinzipalmarkt. Once the town's main square, it features 48 gabled houses along with the famous town hall where the Treaty of Westphalia was signed, the wine tavern with its Renaissance facade, merchants' houses and the market church of St. Lambert.
The Pilgrimage Church of the Scourged Saviour at the foot of the Alps is considered a perfect example of Bavarian rococo architecture. Around one million visitors come here every year from all over the world – to look, marvel, pray, attend services, enjoy the summer concerts and, of course, for quiet contemplation.
Beilstein, or as many call it: the "Sleeping Beauty of the Moselle", lies between vineyards and the Moselle Valley.
The little town has a wild and romantic feel and exudes historic flair with its town wall dating back to 1310, its picturesque market square and its many nooks and narrow alleyways. It is no wonder this place is not only home to 140 people but also has been used as a backdrop for countless films!
In 1878, Ludwig II of Bavaria commissioned an extravagant palace to be built on idyllic Herrenwörth Island in Lake Chiemsee. Inspired by the French 'Sun King' Louis XIV, this fairytale showpiece now attracts millions of visitors every year.
The Fuggerei, the world's first welfare housing project, was founded by the wealthy merchant Jakob Fugger in 1516. Hardworking, honest but poor citizens were taken in and given fully furnished homes that even included cutlery. Featuring eight lanes and three gates, the settlement is known as a 'town within a town' and comprises 67 two-storey houses and 147 apartments, its own church, fountains, town walls and gates, which are still closed every evening at 10pm by the nightwatchman. The annual basic rent for an apartment is, to this day, one Rhenish guilder – a nominal amount equivalent to just 88 euro cents.
In the Bavarian town of Günzburg, one hour from Munich and Stuttgart, there's a land where everyone can be a true hero – LEGOLAND Deutschland Resort, which was awarded the Parkscout Public Award for the 'most child-friendly theme park' in 2012 and is ideal for ages four and above.
In Hainich National Park, part of the World Heritage region of Wartburg Hainach, world history comes face to face with nature: what was once a military exclusion zone is now the largest unbroken expanse of mixed deciduous forest in Europe.
The maritime town of Bremerhaven is opening a new chapter in its history: on the Weser dike, in the area around the old and new harbour, the Harbour Worlds complex offers a very special tour of discovery through maritime history. Bremerhaven's new town centre features a host of outstanding attractions including the Klimahaus® Bremerhaven 8° Ost and the German Emigration Centre, as well as the Zoo am Meer, the U-boat 'Wilhelm Bauer' - part of the German Maritime Museum, along with hotels and top-class restaurants. This ambitious project was completed in June 2009 and now attracts up to a million additional visitors to the town every year.
The route along Wilhelmstrasse right through the old and new government quarter and embassy district heads towards Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag. The ministerial buildings and the Federal Chancellery, in particular, reflect the successful synthesis of the old with the new through prestigious yet modest elegance. From here, your gaze is immediately drawn to the Reichstag, one of the most famous sights in Berlin. Its glass dome by leading British architect Norman Foster has become a hugely popular attraction for visitors from far and wide.
The atmospheric Christmas market in Bernkastel-Kues is set against the historical backdrop of the old town with its medieval squares, narrow streets and magnificent town hall. Other highlights are a giant Advent calendar, swimming with flickering torches in the Rhine and St. Nicholas tours.
When Karl Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach laid the foundation stone for the palace in 1715, he also marked the birth of the city. At his behest the palace was built amid previously unspoilt countryside in the Hardt forest, just like Louis XIV had done with Versailles. The streets and avenues of Karlsruhe radiate out from the palace – a symbol of power and perfection. The palace served as a residence for the Margraves and Grand Dukes of Baden until 1918. Today it houses the Baden State Museum and part of the Federal Constitutional Court.
The Bauhaus art school revolutionised artistic and architectural thinking and work in the 20th century. Today, the original buildings in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau, along with museums and exhibitions, provide an insight into this formative building block of the modern age.
The German Alpine Road – drive-in cinema at its very best! Welcome to a winding 450 km tour through the majestic panorama of the Bavarian Alps, from Lindau on Lake Constance to Berchtesgaden on Lake Königssee. Driving, cycling or walking this route is like travelling through the greatest hits of the Alps:
At a height of 100 metres, Germany's second longest rope bridge opens up a unique view of the Hunsrück mountains to walkers and nature enthusiasts.
Müritz National Park hugs the long eastern shoreline of Lake Müritz, which is by far the largest of the Mecklenburg Lakes in north-east Germany. A 660-kilometre network of trails leads through an enchanting landscape characterised by ancient beech forests, mysterious marshes and huge expanses of water – including more than 130 lakes.
Built in 1914, Stuttgart's market halls are regarded as a triumph of the art nouveau period. There's the aroma of exotic spices hanging in the air, a medley of voices speaking all different languages, and rows and rows of stalls covering an area of around 3,000 square metres. Flowers, fruit and vegetables, fish, meat and baked goods are available here every day. In this extravaganza of epicurean delights and other refined pleasures, visitors can sit and relax over a delicious latte or enjoy some Swabian specialities in the restaurant with the hustle and bustle in the background.


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Could a Virtual Scribe Solve EHR Usability Problems?
Jibo: A Home Robot Promises a New Level of AI Use
I ran across a new, five pound, home robot called Jibo in an IEEE publication my wife gets. Jibo, whose first planned product run has sold out at $750 each, promises to ship this Spring. It bills itself as the first social robot.
Started as an INDIGOGO project that banked close to $4 million, Jibo recently added $36 million from investors. Its technology smarts come from its founder, chief scientist and MIT Associate Professor, Dr. Cynthia Breazeal.
Jibo's driven by an ambition to bring artificial intelligence capabilities to the home market. Though it's not mobile, it's touch sensitive, gesture sensing and can dip and swivel 360 degrees to capture events. Jibo's natural language processing uses two high res cameras to recognize faces, do your selfies and run video calls.
With these capabilities, Jibo is far smarter than smart thermometers, vacuum cleaners or security systems. It'll use these to learn your phrases and gestures, so it can act as your calendar, inbox, media organizer and general personal assistant. Importantly, Jibo has a significant, developer program. That's what gave me the idea for a virtual scribe.
An EHR Virtual Scribe?
High end EHRs have been using natural language processing for years. You dictate and the system figures out what and where to put the text. These pricey add-ons aren't widely used.
Less versatile, but far more used is Dragon Voice. Other smart assists are various macro systems and front ends. These improve an often frustrating, mind numbing EHR interface, but are only a partial solution. Their major disadvantage is that the user is tethered to a machine. Ideally, a doctor should be able to talk with their patient, and seamlessly use the record as needed.
If new, smart devices such as Jibo really can aid around the house, it should be possible in another generation or so, to free practioners from their tablets or keyboards. An EHR virtual scribe with cameras and projector could do these tasks:
- Workflow. Set up workflow based on patient history and appointment type.
- Encounter Record. Record doctor-patient audio and video unobtrusively.
- History. Project the patient's history and labs, etc., as requested.
- Updates. As the user dictates, the scribe could show the entries to both.
- Assessment. As the user builds the note, the scribe could show how it compares to similar cases or when asked do searches.
- Plan. The scribe could produce potential plans and let the user modify them.
- Orders. Based on the plan, past orders, etc., it could propose new orders.
- Education. Provide tailored materials, references, etc.
- Appointment. Set up appropriate follow on appointments.
- Claims. Interface with claiming and reporting systems as needed.
Products such a Jibo hold the potential for a technical fix for EHRs seemingly intractable usability problems and do it at reasonable cost. Their combination of adaptable hardware, AI abilities and unobtrusive size may just be the ticket.
This post originally appeared at EMRandEHR.com
Carl Bergman
Managing Partner


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On the healthcare section of InformationWeek.com, I read an article about Health IT Predictions for 2013. Not all of them dealt with mHealth, but several did. I thought it would be interesting to post those few ideas here and then come back at the end of the year to see how true they were.
- HIEs and body sensors will drive growth in analytics and data mining: First of all, I feel like I see a new body sensor on the market every day. Because of this, it wouldn't surprise me one bit to see body sensors leading the way in mHealth, particularly when it comes to gathering information. I think that HIEs and body sensors are definitely becoming mainstream, and it won't be long before we see them being used in doctor's offices and patients every where
- Patients will become more responsible for care: I think many patients are beginning to see the importance of being responsible for their care. I know I am. And with the help of mHealth, it is easier than ever. The article said that "mobile access to personal information will promote the migration to a more patient-centered model, encouraging individual engagement and responsibility in healthcare management." I do think there will be a very apparent shift to this. No longer are the days where patients just totally rely on their doctors for information. I know I'm grateful for access to my personal health records — otherwise, information on my low vitamin d levels may have slipped through the cracks (my PCP's office 'misplaced' the results and forgot to call me).
- Consumers will dictate the path healthcare technology takes: mHealth is very much driven by the consumer, and the more vocal patients are about what they want, the more likely it will happen. Because of the growth of mHealth, more people might be willing to voice their opinion on what types of technologies and apps they want created. Consumers do have a lot power when it comes to the future of mHealth.
- Cloud storage and mobile will explode: We have already see the growth and "explosion" of mHealth in the past year or so, and it's only going to continue. I think 2013 is going to be a huge year for mHealth. I'm excited to see what will happen.
What are some other predictions for mHealth in the coming year? Are there any types of apps or technologies that you'd like to see developed? I think there will be even more doctors and physicians becoming involved in social media, and seeing the benefit in doing so, in addition to some of the things mentioned above.


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"Nobody Puts Baby In The Corner"
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Print & Frame | Use as Clip art | Cut & Stick | Cut & Iron | Cut & Stencil


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Yamaha TP4300 Series 32" Pedal Balance Spring System Timpani with Aluminum Bowl
A newly designed aluminum bowl and the same floating mount system that is a feature of our high-end models combine to deliver bright tone and improved playability. The TP-4300 Series is an ideal choice for school performance and marching bands.
Pedal spring and head tension are balanced so the set pitch is maintained even if the player removes his or her foot from the pedal. Pitch changes across the entire range are smooth and easy.
In depth research into the effects of bowl edge angle and the dimensions of the openings in the bottom of the bowl have resulted in designs that bring out the most desirable characteristics of the aluminum materials used.
The timpani frame does more than just support the bowl. It plays a significant role in sound quality as well. Strength and playability enhancements have been combined with artist feedback to create a new, optimally balanced frame design. A suspension ring attached to the frame provides a floating mount in which the bowl does not directly contact the frame, allowing full, unrestricted resonance.
Yamaha Remo Renaissance Heads with aluminum insert rings offer outstanding expression with stable pitch and excellent durability.
Two types of casters that make moving and positioning Yamaha timpani easy also allow height adjustment so that the height and angle of the instruments can be precisely set as required. The large casters include a one-touch lock mechanism that contributes to fast, sure setup.
The tuning gauge can be easily attached to the left or right side of the instrument for compatibility with German system arrangements.
A tuning key/wrench holder that attaches to the side opposite the tuning gauge is included.
Large pedals have been adopted for easier operation.
Anthonys Music © 2020 Privacy Notice | Conditions of Use


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Atul Dwivedi, an Indian hacker paid a visit to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) last Monday by defacing their website.
This accident comes amid a raise in violence targeted towards Indian native in Australia and apparently Dwivedi protested this situation by leaving a message on the website:
"This site has been hacked by Atul Dwivedi. This is a warning message to the Australian government. Immediately take all measures to stop racist attacks against Indian students in Australia or else I will pawn all your cyber properties like this one."
This site is now up and running as per normal. Of course the webserver wasn't connected to any internal network and didn't contain any classified information according to a spokewoman:
"No sensitive information was compromised as the air force internet website is hosted on an external server and, as such, does not hold any sensitive information,1"
Microsoft products are used in pretty much every Western armed forces. So it's save to assume the webserver used by the RAAF is probably running IIS. Of course, IIS implies as Windows machine and a Windows Server machine means that everything is almost certainly all Microsoft based. Of course we can now verify those claims and according to David M Williams from ITWire2 the website is hosted through Net Logistics, an Australian hosting company. The aforementioned article tries to explain the hack with the use of exploits. Which might have been the way Dwivedi did it, but the analysis is quite simple and lacks depth. The site still has an excellent link to a blog detailing the WebDAV exploit, see below for the link.
It's not impossible to think that Dwivedi might have tricked someone into giving out too much information also. Social engineering can do lots and is usually easier than technical exploits. The Art of Deception by Kevin Mitnick should convince most people of that. Someone could look up on Facebook or another social networking site for some people in the RAAF and then try to pose as them and pose as them.
Then also, why not look for the FTP server? And God knows what else the server is running; maybe a SMTP server also (and probably it does). Now I wouldn't suggest doing this, but running a port scan would probably reveal a lot of information. Moreover, using web vulnerability tools like Nikto could help find misconfigured settings in ASP or forgotten test/setup pages/files. Up to there, only two things are important: information gathering and imagination.
See also:
"Hacker breaks into RAAF website", AAP, Brisbane Times, July 16, 2009, http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-national/hacker-breaks-into-raaf-website-20090716-dmrn.html accessed on 2009-07-17
"WebDAV Detection, Vulnerability Checking and Exploitation", Andrew, SkullSecurity, May 20, 2009, http://www.skullsecurity.org/blog/?p=285 accessed on 2009-07-17
1 "Indian hacks RAAF website over student attacks", Asher Moses, The Sydney Morning Herald, July 16, 2009, http://www.smh.com.au/technology/security/indian-hacks-raaf-website-over-student-attacks-20090716-dmgo.html accessed on 2009-07-16
2 "How did Atul Dwivedi hack the RAAF web site this week?", David M Williams, ITWire, July 17, 2009, http://www.itwire.com/content/view/26344/53/ accessed on 2009-07-16


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LITTLE ROCK — An attorney for a Russellville woman argued Thursday before the state Supreme Court that a Georgia company has been illegally collecting a sales tax from some Arkansas medical patients who request copies of their medical records.
LITTLE ROCK — An attorney for a Russellville woman argued Thursday before the state Supreme Court that a Georgia company has been illegally collecting a sales tax from some Arkansas medical patients who request copies of their medical records.
Attorneys for the company, HealthPort of Alpharetta, Ga., and for state Department of Finance and Administration Director Richard Weiss argued that the tax is appropriate under Arkansas law.
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments but did not immediately issue a ruling in Theresa Holbrook's appeal of a Pope County circuit judge's ruling dismissing her class-action lawsuit against HealthPort, which maintains records for health-care providers, and Weiss.
Holbrook's attorney, Jimmy Streett, argued Thursday that the state Access to Medical Records Act allows a health-care provider to charge a patient who requests his or her medical records only for the cost of producing the records.
The law "does not recognize in any way the significance of the fact that a hospital or a nurse or a clinic in this case might use a third party to act as the agent for delivery," Streett said.
He said HealthPort has a business relationship with hospitals that is taxable, but it does not have a business relationship with Holbrook. He compared the service HealthPort offers to the service that FedEx offers and asked the justices how they would view the transaction if they ordered a product that was delivered by FedEx.
"Would it ever cross your mind that you have somehow engaged in a transaction or entered into any sort of financial relationship with FedEx? Of course it wouldn't," he said.
B.J. Walker, attorney for HealthPort, said the company charges the tax because it has been advised to do so by the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration.
Joel DiPippa, attorney for Weiss, said HealthPort created physical copies of Holbrook's records, and therefore the state sales tax applied.
"The gross receipts tax is levied on all sales of tangible, personal property completed within this state for valuable consideration," he said.
The state Legislature has created specific exemptions to the sales tax, but there is no exemption for medical records, DiPippa said.
"What the appellant is asking you to do is infer or imply an exemption where the General Assembly has not created one," he said.
The court did not indicate when it would rule.


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Nearly all B2B executives consider customer experience (CX) to be a critical factor for success, according to recent Accenture Strategy research. Yet, only 20 percent of B2B companies are distinguished as CX masters.
B2B CX masters achieve twice the returns on their CX investments than their peers. They take threats and opportunities more seriously, invest more strategically, and focus on building experiences that are not just personalized, but highly relevant.
Four areas of focus across the customer engagement lifecycle set CX masters apart. These include: Monetizing CX; rethinking ecosystems; doubling down on digital trust; and aligning the workforce to a CX mindset.
Ninety percent of B2B executives cite CX as a very important factor to achieving their organizations' strategic priorities. That's up from 86 percent who felt that way two years ago.
While there may be general agreement among B2B companies on the importance of an increased focus on CX, there is considerable variability when it comes to how well companies are using CX to drive revenue growth. Only 20 percent of B2B companies excel at CX and achieve strong financial results (see figure below). These CX "masters" typically generate 2X the return on their CX investments than their less masterful peers. At the other end of the spectrum, "laggards"—those companies with the largest gaps between CX strategy and execution—achieve very low or negative revenue growth.
While interest in CX is growing among the vast majority of all B2B companies, CX masters act on that interest more decisively. They outpace laggards by 30 to 40 percent when it comes to investing in CX enablers—from cloud-based solutions to IoT capabilities to sales force training. They understand the effect of market changes on their business. And they take the trends that are shaping customer experiences more seriously:
DISRUPTIVE COMPETITORS. Seventy-two percent of all B2B company leaders believe their customers are open to doing business with new market entrants. But 86 percent of leaders at "master" companies feel the same way.
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES. Seventy-three percent of B2B execs surveyed believe smart devices and the Internet of Things (IoT) will completely change the way they market, sell and serve their business customers. Among masters, that figure soars to 85 percent.
EVOLVING CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS. Masters are more likely to acknowledge the impact of changing expectations for product quality (83 percent of CX masters versus 70 percent of laggards) and consumer-like interactions that are real-time, always-on and multi-channel (82 percent versus 60 percent).
CX masters are expanding their focus to hyper-relevant experiences that dynamically adapt to the evolving contexts of their business customers. They are doing so by building such a keen understanding of their customers' fast-changing needs and preferences that they are able to continually and proactively deliver solutions, services and experiences that business customers value.
Masters' shift to hyper-relevance is evident in the capabilities they are planning to develop over the next three years. By a margin of 25 to 30 percent, masters indicate they are more likely to focus on developing more compelling experiences and maximizing the relevance of products, services and experiences. Their focus on relevance changes the game and allows them to maintain their growth momentum.
Our research revealed four distinct imperatives that CX masters pursue.
Nearly half of all companies (49 percent) admit they are failing to deliver the cutting-edge, relevant experiences their customers crave. And approximately 40 percent are unsure how to monetize their experiences. Masters achieve different results, primarily by having a better understanding of what customers value and also by generating revenue from customer data. In fact, 93 percent of them believe they successfully monetize CX. Only 76 percent of laggards can say the same. Their self-assessment.
B2B executives must determine how to improve CX while ceding more of the experience to their partners. As CX masters demonstrate, the answer lies in adopting an ecosystem mindset and business model. Specifically, masters are more likely to manage innovation and offering development with a network of partners that co-evolve, share resources and create value as a unified team. They provide key partners the tools they need to grow their businesses. And they orchestrate a trusting environment that encourages the right partners to deliver the right experiences to drive connected growth.
To learn more about how CX masters achieve connected growth with ecosystem orchestration, download our companion point of view, Make music, not noise.
One in five B2B company executives admits their customers don't trust them to handle data effectively and securely. This can have dire economic consequences. More than three-quarters (78 percent) of B2B customers indicate they are more likely to do business with companies they trust. This gives CX masters, who are also masters of digital trust, a distinct advantage. Masters understand the digital trust imperative. They are much more likely than laggards (88 percent versus 67 percent) to recognize that suppliers and partners play a key role in data security. And they invest significantly more to ensure their customers' data is safe.
Digital investments alone won't create experiences that drive growth. Human skills, organizational agility and culture are the things that ultimately enable B2B companies to constantly adapt to changing customer needs. Masters are far ahead of their peers when it comes to building talent models and organizational mindsets centered on customer experiences: Eighty-four percent of them foster a culture designed to improve relevance and 88 percent augment their workforces with tools to enhance CX (versus 50 and 51 percent of laggards, respectively).
They can continue to pay lip service to the importance of customer experiences—and watch their revenues, market share and profitability erode. Or they can support their rhetoric with these four actions to create CX value at every turn. CX masters have clearly chosen the latter option. It's time all B2B companies do the same.


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|"Harry, your eyesight really is awful."
The title of this article is transcribed from an image. Due to several factors, including poor image quality and difficult-to-read fonts/handwriting, it may have been transcribed incorrectly. If you have a higher quality version of the source image, or a more accurate reading of the text, please visit this article's talk page.
Emma Vane was a student who began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1991. In her third year, her mother, Mrs Vane, signed the permission slip that was required for her to visit Hogsmeade village on weekends.[1]
She may have been related to Romilda Vane.
The name "Emma" was originally a short form of Germanic names that began with the element ermen meaning "whole" or "universal". It was introduced to England by Emma of Normandy, who was the wife both of king Ethelred II (and by him the mother of Edward the Confessor) and later of king Canute. It was also borne by an 11th-century Austrian saint, who is sometimes called Hemma. After the Norman conquest this name became common in England. It was revived in the 18th century, perhaps in part due to Matthew Prior's poem Henry and Emma (1709). It was also used by Jane Austen for the central character, the matchmaker Emma Woodhouse, in her novel Emma (1816).
Behind the scenes
- This character is mentioned only on a prop permission slip that was featured in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.[1] Her name is presumably a tribute to Emma Vane, who worked as a draughtsman on every Harry Potter film up until Half-Blood Prince, excepting Chamber of Secrets.
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (film) (Name seen on document)
Notes and references
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Auf der Suche nach Harry Potter in London Sommer 2004" on Butterbier.de (in German)


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I didn't think it looked that much more huge than the original, actually... It's bigger, but I'd say the AT-TE is an overall more substantial toy, at least by my eyeballing of the Falcon... It seems still like something you can pick up and pretend-fly it. I don't know that it'll be quite as easy as it used to be though...
Why wouldn't the chair give a sense of scale? Just imagine seeing a VOTC Han sitting in it.
The medical bed can be seen there off the side where the entrance hatch would be normally. Assuming it fits a figure laying on it, I think the "size" of this Falcon is more in the depth of the vehicle than the overall width... It's definitely deeper to fit figures standing and things, but I really think the circumference isn't gonna dwarf the original by a lot.
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Our timetable offers a listing of all scheduled flights operating under PS flight numbers.
Listed scheduled flights with three-digit numbers (for example, PS353) are operated by UIA.
We also list codeshare services operated by our partners (flights with four-digit numbers, for example, PS9911).
Please note that the schedule may change. Information on unplanned schedule changes is available here.
IMPORTANT: Cancelled flights due to COVID-19


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2844 Cottman Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19149
Toll Free: 800-767-8358 Local: 215-338-5800Email Us
- 2844 Cottman Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19149
Rose Velt Florist is a local family owned full service flower shop located in Northeast Philadelphia since 1991. We are the rose specialist! Send that special someone an unusual gift of blue roses! Our goal is to exceed our customers' expectations with quality, value and professional service. We offer a large variety of fresh flowers and gift items. Enjoy the convenience of safe and secure ordering online 24 hours a day.


text:
The Legend of Korra napisy
Legenda Korry (2012)
|#1 - #2 - #3 - #4 - napisy nieposortowanych
|14 kwietnia 2012
|Janet Varney, J.K. Simmons, Maria Bamford, Kiernan Shipka, Darcy Rose Byrnes, Logan Wells, Dee Bradley Baker, David Faustino, P.J. Byrne, Jeff Bennett, Seychelle Gabriel, Steve Blum, Mindy Sterling, Lance Henriksen, Daniel Dae Kim, Richard Epcar
|8.6 / 10 (76290 votes)
|Udostępnij ten:
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Defiance (S01E11) 24.06.2013
Die Entstehung unserer Erde (S01E05) 10.03.2009
All Round to Mrs. Brown's (S02E01) 19.05.2018
Bad Banks (0) 31.01.2020
Carter (0) 20.12.2019
Гріфіни (2020) 10.05.2020
Cactus Flower (1969) 1969
Popetown (2005) 05.07.2005


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The Sugar Creek Association of Wabash Men welcomed Professor Melissa Butler to their luncheon program today, their final program of the school year. Professor Butler recounted her travels last year as a faculty member aboard the ship SS Universal Explorer, taking part in a program called Semester at Sea.
The trip is essentially a semester aboard ship with a full faculty and college classes taught throughout the duration of the trip. Field trips are also a part of the program. Students have the opportunity to select field trips, which occur at the different ports of call, depending on their particular area of interest.
Melissa pointed out that the highlight of the trip was a chance for all the students and faculty to attend a speech by Cuban president Fidel Castro. Attendees were handed a bag of food as they entered the hall - the talk lasted four hours!
Melissa stated there were two main lessons she took away from the trip. First, she said, was the sheer size, beauty and power of our world. She complemented her presentation with several great photos. Second, she said, was the smallness of the world in terms of human communication and the awareness of all things American.
Many thanks to Melissa Butler for her very interesting presentation.
For more information on Semester at Sea, see their web site at: www.semesteratsea.com/index.html


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16 Mar Games Night at BRB
Posted at 18:00h in 0 Comments
Monday night is Games Night at Bath Road Beers!
Shake off the Monday blues with a beer and a board game. We'll be playing Settlers of Catan as well as Scrabble and Chess but feel free to bring your own games and get involved!
Just pop into the store between 6pm and 8pm


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About 4,000 child support recipient cards were used at Target stores during the time frame of the Target breach, and were replaced "as a proactive measure."
A handful of people who receive child support through the State of Wisconsin had money stolen from their debit accounts after Target's data breach last year.
Joe Scialfa, a spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families, said nearly 4,000 debit cards belonging to people who receive child support from Wisconsin were compromised in the breach.
The department's role is to facilitate child support payments; in essence, it is the pass-through agency. The state collects child support from the payers and distributes it to payees, either through direct bank deposits or debit card accounts.
About 100,000 child support recipients have EPPIC debit card accounts. The 3,998 compromised cards were used at Target stores during the time frame of the Target breach, and were replaced "as a proactive measure," Scialfa said.
The Target breach took place between approximately Nov. 27 and Dec. 18, 2013, and affected 40 million debit and credit card accounts nationwide.
Target CIO Resigns
Following the massive security breach that is thought to have affected as many os 110 million U.S. residents, Target CIO Beth Jacob resigned on March 5, PC World reported. She had been the company's CIO since 2008, and was previously its director of guest contact centers and VO of guest operations.
EPPIC, the company that manages the debit MasterCards for the state, issued new cards to all affected cardholders Jan. 9 and contacted them by letter and by phone to let them know new cards were issued, Scialfa said.
Former Milwaukee resident Anita Lichtenberger, who now lives in Massachusetts, said she found out she'd been a victim in January when she made a routine call to EPPIC to find out the balance on her card. Instead of the normal automated system that tells her the balance, she was transferred to an EPPIC rep, who informed her that $3,597 was stolen from her account through an ATM overseas on Jan. 6.
"The person I was transferred to said, 'There have been several transactions on your card in London, England. They took three withdrawals for approximately $1,300 each,'" she told the Public Investigator this week. "I was freaked out."
Lichtenberger said she was told she'd be mailed a fraud questionnaire that she needed to fill out and mail back to EPPIC. If the form was completed within 10 days of her call, she'd get a provisional refund to her account. Lichtenberger said she's still waiting for that refund.
Lichtenberger and state officials disagree on whether she responded fast enough to qualify for that refund. She said she first called EPPIC on Jan. 9, but that the company didn't mail her the form until after Jan. 20.
Scialfa said Lichtenberger first called EPPIC Jan. 20 and didn't mail back the form within 10 days of that date, which is a prerequisite for getting a provisional refund.
He said EPPIC received Lichtenberger's completed questionnaire Feb. 25, three weeks after her deadline.
Because Lichtenberger "wasn't very proactive," she may have to wait up to 90 days for EPPIC to complete its international fraud investigation before getting her money back, he said.
"I wish we could do something about it, but that is how the procedures work," he said.
Scialfa said of the 3,998 EPPIC accounts affected by the breach, the state was informed there were "a handful of confirmed cases" in which money was stolen. He did not have information on how much money was stolen.
He said EPPIC worked with victims in those cases to make them whole as quickly as possible. He said Lichtenberger was the first victim he heard of who had any problems getting money back.
"Though this is troubling for the individual, this is not an example of a systemic problem," Scialfa said. "This is an example of someone who, unfortunately, didn't do things the way they needed to be done in a timely manner to get a provisional credit, which was offered to people. The investigation has to play out now to find out if she was a victim of fraud or not. Then she'll be made whole."
He said EPPIC didn't have to offer a temporary credit.
"EPPIC even went so far as to offer provisional credit to people who returned needed paperwork within 10 business days of their initial report of suspected fraud to EPPIC, despite the fact that they were under no obligation to do so," he wrote in an email.
Federal law generally offers more protection for fraud on credit cards than for debit cards, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Under the Truth in Lending Act, a credit card holder's liability for unauthorized charges is capped at $50. But under the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, the liability of a debit card holder is capped at $50 only if the person notifies the bank of any unauthorized charges within two business days.
With transaction errors on debit cards, banks can take up to 90 days to investigate but generally have to temporarily credit the consumer's account for the error amount pending the outcome of the review, according to the FDIC.
According to a notice on the Wisconsin Department of Children and Families website, EPPIC was able to reach 3,000 of the nearly 4,000 cardholders to notify them of the breach affecting their cards and the spending restrictions imposed.
Scialfa said more than 3,000 replacement cards were sent out and that "only a small percentage" of them have not yet been activated. He said until Lichtenberger, no one expressed any concerns related to the breach or EPPIC's efforts to help victims.
Scialfa said anybody who receives child support payments through the Wisconsin child support system and has security concerns can choose to have money direct deposited into his or her bank account.
EPPIC cardholders who believe they're victims of fraud or have questions should call EPPIC's customer service center at (877) 253-3686.
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