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Real Estate Taxes (Monthly) $515
Maintenance/Common Charges $6,109
Property Description
LIVE WHERE IT ALL COMES TOGETHER35 Hudson Yards, the tallest residential building at Hudson Yards, was designed by David Childs/SOM featuring a beautiful facade of Bavarian limestone, while the residences- which start on the 53rd floor- feature interiors by AD100 designer Tony Ingrao. Residents will have access to the ultimate lifestyle including services and benefits unique to Hudson Yards. Just an elevator ride away, the building will feature a flagship Equinox Club with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, SoulCycle , Equinox Spa and the first of its kind Equinox Hotel. three on-premises restaurants will offer incredible cuisine and in-residence dining. In addition, residents will have a full suite of private amenities, including a residents-only fitness center, playroom, business center and board rooms, lounge, game room, dining room, and grand terrace with catering services overlooking the Hudson River.EXPERIENCE SPECTACULAR VIEWS OF THE HUDSON RIVER FROM THIS GRACIOUS CORNER THREE BEDROOM HOME. This expertly planned three bedroom residence boasts 1010 ceilings, lavish satin finish wide plank French oak floors, expansive corner Great Room, and stunning views of the Hudson River from every room. The windowed eat-in kitchen has been outfitted with luxurious Smallbone of Devizes cabinetry with opal white marble counters and backsplash. Full suite of Gaggenau appliances, inclusive of a wine fridge and coffee maker, truly make this kitchen extraordinary. The master bedroom boasts two large walk-in closets and a luxurious windowed master bathroom which is wrapped in stunning iceberg quartzite, complete with stunning double vanity with Kinon panels, and full depth soaking tub. The second and third bedrooms are both equipped with en-suite baths. The Washer/Dryer and handsome onyx- clad Powder Room are both conveniently located off the main hallway. No detail was overlooked in this truly exquisite home.Located on a very special site ringed by parks and directly on the new Public Square and Gardens at Hudson Yards, 35 Hudson Yards features the highest quality of grand-scale residences paired with a unique lifestyle that you can only find at Hudson Yards. A beacon for those with rarefied tastes and an appreciation for unmatched levels of privacy and discretion, 35 Hudson Yards is the very best of New York, all in one inimitable place. Residents will also be able to take advantage of the unique lifestyle that Hudson Yards will offer - incorporating the finest shopping, dining, arts, culture, fitness and innovation with the highest standards of residential design, services and construction - just moments from West Chelsea's unique combination of art galleries, museums, restaurants, schools and the spectacular Hudson River Park.Exclusive Marketing and Sales Agents: Related Sales LLC & Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group. The complete offering terms are in an offering plan available from sponsor. File No. CD16-0313. Sponsor: ERY North Residential Tower LLC, c/o The Related Companies, L.P., 60 Columbus Circle, New York, New York 10023. Sponsor reserves the right to make changes in accordance with the terms of the Offering Plan. Equal Housing Opportunity.
Listing Courtesy of The Corcoran Group


text: Description for a contract that will not be enforced by a court even though it is valid. An unenforceable contract provision is not void, and if the parties perform as stated in the contract, the court will not object. However, because of reasons such as dubious benefit to any party, or extreme physical hazard to one party, the court will not award any damages for breach.

subset: commoncrawl


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By Patricia Prijatel
The big news this week comes from the Cancer Genome Atlas program, which has announced a strong molecular connection between basal-like breast cancer tumors and ovarian cancer. The news stories I have read on the topic provide a great deal of hope for women with basal-like cancers. But the hope is, unfortunately, buried in a greater deal of confusion.
Here's the hope: We're getting closer and closer to understanding what makes breast cancer tick on a molecular level, and that means we could ultimately have treatments that target specific molecular anomalies, making the treatment more effective, efficient, and possibly less toxic. Most important, it would be clearer to doctors which patients need chemo and which don't, saving thousands of people from unnecessary and dangerous treatment. And making chemo for those who need it more precise.
Among those who could benefit most from this research are the women and men with triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), which is currently treated with anthracylines — chemotherapy drugs such as Epirubicin and Adriamycin — that can cause long-term side effects including heart disease and increased risk of leukemia. Moreover, metastatic TNBC — cancer that has spread beyond to distant organs — can be resistant even to current forms of chemo.
The research on the genome project, published in the 23 September 2012 online edition of the journal Nature, ties basal-like breast cancers to ovarian cancers on a molecular level, suggesting that ultimately TNBC could be treated with the less-toxic chemotherapy used for ovarian cancer, including a mix of a carboplatin (Paraplatin) or cisplatin with a taxane such as paclitaxel (Taxol) or docetaxel (Taxotere).
That's the hope. Now the confusion. The biggest confusion revolves around our understanding of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC).
Some news stories I have read equate TNBC with basal-like tumors, as though the two were synonymous, which is not accurate. There is a correlation between TNBC and basal-like cancers, but not all TNBC tumors are basal-like, and not all basal-like tumors are TNBC. In fact, some researchers break TNBC into three subtypes, including basal-like and non-basal-like.
The other, and bigger, problem, come in the terms journalists and researchers use for TNBC: "particularly deadly," "especially aggressive," and "lethal."
I understand why these words are used; it makes the research appear more significant. But these terms can frighten and depress those with TNBC and their families, and the research is significant enough to stand on its own without hyperbole.
Lost in the hyperbole is the fact that most women survive TNBC. The rates depend on too many factors to offer a generalization, but multiple studies have shown from 70 to 90% of patients with TNBC with no recurrence after five years. And rates for TNBC recurrence drop significantly after three years, so TNBC patients who have reached five years without recurrence often face better long-term odds than those with other forms of breast cancer.
It is a disease to take seriously, but who doesn't take cancer seriously? Patients and survivors don't need frightening words for effect. They are frightened enough.
Triple-negative breast cancer gets its name because tumors of this subtype lack receptors for estrogen, progesterone, and the human growth hormone Her2/neu. The significance of being negative for these receptors is that TNBC lacks a targeted therapy, such as tamoxifen, which blocks the effects of estrogen, Arimidex, which prevents the production of estrogen, and Herceptin, which treats her/2-positive tumors.
So, TNBC is a disease defined by what it lacks. But, thanks to research on the human genome, it may soon be defined by its specific molecular characteristics. And treating something you can define is a whole lot easier than treating what you can't.
Patricia Prijatel is author of Surviving Triple-Negative Breast Cancer, published by Oxford University Press. She is the E.T. Meredith Distinguished Professor Emerita of Journalism at Drake University. She is doing a webcast with the Triple Negative Breast Cancer Foundation on 16 October 2012.
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The best features of HP's $200 Photosmart 7520 e-All-in-One multifunction inkjet printer (MFP) may be its output quality and the 4.33-inch LCD control panel that makes this machine marvelously easy to use. It's also a well-rounded unit (print/copy/scan/fax), with good speed and all the features most home and small offices need.
It's easy to set up the Photosmart 7520, and the software is first-rate. The LCD panel has a clear, icon-based menu structure; though it's a touchscreen, you don't tap so much as press (for perhaps half a second) to invoke options. The printer has the now-ubiquitous cloud-printing capabilities, including HP's own Web-based apps, as well as HP ePrint and Apple AirPrint for printing from mobile devices.
While the Photosmart 7520 is photo-centric, its paper-handling features extend well beyond that. The main paper tray holds 125 sheets, and integrated into its top is a secondary photo tray that holds up to 20 sheets of photo paper (5-by-7-inch maximum). There's also a 25-sheet automatic document feeder (ADF) for the scanner. However, the lid for the A4 flatbed scanner doesn't telescope to accommodate thicker materials. The Photosmart can print and scan in duplex (both sides of the page), but duplex scanning requires two passes.
The unit achieved average to better speeds in our tests. Monochrome pages of text and text with graphics emerged at 9.5 pages per minute (ppm) on the PC and 9 ppm on the Mac. We chose a higher-quality setting for printing color photos, producing slower times but better output quality (see below). A 4-by-6-inch photo printed at default settings on plain (letter-size) paper took about 16 seconds (or 3.75 ppm). The same photo on letter-size photo paper took 62 seconds (0.98 ppm). A letter-size, high-resolution photo printed on the Mac to glossy paper took about 2.5 minutes (a middling rate of 0.4 ppm). Scanning and copying speeds are a tad faster than average compared with other inkjet MFPs we've tested.
The Photosmart 7520's output quality is among the best we've seen from an inkjet. Photos, printed using a high-quality setting, feature an elegantly cool color palette and excellent detail in even dark areas. Monochrome graphics lacked a distracting green or purple tinge. Text is sharp and dark at default settings, and nearly laser-like at best settings. Even draft-setting documents, which issue forth considerably faster, are more than legible.
Ink costs for the Photosmart 7520 are about average for a mainstream inkjet. The standard cyan, magenta, and yellow cartridges cost $10 each and last for 300 pages (3.3 cents per page), while the standard black costs $12 and lasts for 250 pages, or 4.8 cents per page (cpp). That's just shy of 15 cents for a four-color page. You can reduce color ink costs significantly with the XL cartridges, which are $18 for 750 pages, or 2.4 cpp. The XL black offers only slight savings at $23 for 550 pages or 4.2 cpp. The photo black cartridge costs $10 for 130 photos (7.7 cents per photo), or $18 for 290 photos (6.2 cents per photo).
HP's Photosmart 7520 offers outstanding print quality and ease of use, with all the features most small or home office users need. It's definitely worth consideration–especially by photo mavens. Canon's Pixma MX892 is a similarly straightforward and competent choice.


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The Honda Civic is back as a smart-to-buy compact sedan, with a premium look inside and out, a more solid-feeling ride and a standard rearview camera on every model.
The Civic's steering is revised for 2013, too, and new standard equipment includes Bluetooth hands-free connectivity, iPod interface, Pandora Internet radio compatibility, speech-to-text capability, steering wheel audio controls and a sliding center armrest between the front seats.
Most of these features are costly extras on mainstream compact sedans. In the case of rearview cameras, they may not be offered at all.
The changes to the 2013 Civic came quickly after the 2012 Civic — a new, ninth-generation version — debuted to criticism from reviewers and consumers about cheap-looking materials and plain styling.
Nothing has changed in the engine compartment for 2013, and the Civic sedan continues with notable government fuel mileage ratings of at least 31 miles per gallon in combined city/highway travel for all but the performance-oriented Civic Si models.
In addition, Consumer Reports puts predicted reliability for the Civic at above average.
Starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, is up some $2,000 from the base 2012 Civic sedan. Partly, that's because the bare-bones, entry-level Civic DX sedan is not offered in 2013, and partly it's because of the additional standard equipment and upgrades made to the car's structure for safety.
So, the base 2013 Civic sedan is an LX, which has a starting retail price, including destination charge, of $18,995 with a 140-horsepower four cylinder and five-speed manual transmission. The LX, like all 2013 Civic sedans, now includes a 5-inch liquid crystal display screen up on the dashboard where the rearview camera images are shown.
The lowest MSRP, including destination charge, for a 2013 Civic LX sedan with five-speed automatic is $19,755.
These starting prices are higher than the $16,995 and $18,090 starting retail prices for the 2013 Ford Focus S compact sedan with five-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmissions, respectively. The base Focus engine is a 160-horsepower four cylinder. But standard equipment on the base Focus S doesn't include Bluetooth connectivity, Pandora Internet radio compatibility, sliding center armrest or a rearview camera.
Another compact sedan competitor, the 2013 Toyota Corolla, starts at $17,025 with five-speed manual and $17,855 with four-speed automatic. All Corollas have a 132-horsepower four cylinder. But the base Corolla L doesn't include Bluetooth, rearview camera or sliding center armrest.
The Civic is critical to Honda's success in the United States, and sales rebounded in calendar 2012 to 317,909 from calendar 2011's 221,235.
As a result, the Civic ranked as the fifth best-selling vehicle in the United States last year and the third best-selling car, after the larger-sized Toyota Camry and Honda Accord.
The changes for 2013 promise to answer the critics and position the 2013 Civic into the thick of the competition, where connectivity and technology are important to young buyers.
Longtime Honda fans are likely to appreciate the improved ride and handling of the 2013 Civic sedan vis-à-vis the 2012 Civic.
Honda engineers retuned various suspension components, including bushings and springs, to give drivers a more tangible feel of the road than the softer suspension of the 2012 Civic provided.
So, while the suspension continues with MacPherson struts up front and a multi-link rear, road feel is much improved, and passengers, while they notice some vibrations and rough patches, aren't subjected to an overly harsh ride.
The steering ratio is quickened for a more linear feel, and the test Civic EX conveyed competent, yet comfortable ride and handling.
Styling is definitely spruced up.
The black honeycomb design of the grille is nicely accented by chrome-look accents. The new hood has creases that fit well with the sweeping lines on the Civic sedan's sides and increase visual interest.
In the rear, new, substantial-looking tail lights, a taller trunk lid and a long strip of silver-colored trim give the 2013 Civic a richer flavor.
All in all, the restyling helps link the new Civic to the current Accord, and that's a good thing.
Still, during the test drive, no one was seen turning around to get a good look at the new Civic.
No matter. The lasting impression came from being inside the Civic and experiencing its spacious and quieter room.
As in Civics from the past, the dashboard, particularly on the front-passenger side, sits low, so there's ample window and an airy feel, even in a Civic without a moonroof. The dashboard, overall, feels like it's a good bit away from passengers, which adds to the roomy feel.
Yet, controls and gauges are well organized. And the large, easy-to-read, digital speedometer numbers that are positioned high up, near the windshield base, provide a quick reference to the speed the car is traveling.
Heck, the speedometer numbers are so big, people in passing cars can see the speed of the Civic, too.
Honda's colorful semi-circle of a tachometer that sits lower, down closer to the steering column, is eye-catching, and the standard "Econ" button on the dashboard helps maximize use of gasoline automatically.
The test car with automatic transmission averaged 31 mpg in travel that was 65 percent in the city and 35 percent on the highway. This was just a bit below the federal government's average.
For the record, the test EX sedan was rated at 28 mpg in the city and 39 mpg on the highway.
Shifts were mostly smooth from the automatic transmission, and sounds from the 1.8-liter, single overhead cam four cylinder were not obtrusive, save for times of hard acceleration.
The engine isn't direct-injected, and the Civic EX torque peaks at 128 foot-pounds at 4,300 rpm.


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Although Cordyceps sinensis is often described as an herb, it's actually a combination of a parasitic fungus and the larvae of a moth (a caterpillar). The fungus attacks the caterpillar and destroys it from within. The remaining structures of the caterpillar along with the fungus are dried and sold as cordyceps.
Cordyceps has a long history of use in China as a "tonic," a substance said to generally strengthen the body, particularly following illness. It was also used to treat bronchitis, kidney failure, and tuberculosis.1
Cordyceps is widely marketed today as treatment for many conditions. However, there is no reliable scientific evidence that it actually provides any medical benefits.
Most research on cordyceps was done in China and is not up to modern scientific standards. In general, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies are the most reliable form of evidence. (For information on the reasons why, see Why Does This Database Rely on Double-blind Studies?) However, such studies have to be performed and reported according to certain standards. Although several double-blind studies have been reported on cordyceps, they all fall considerably short of the level necessary for scientific validity. These somewhat dubious double-blind trials hint that cordyceps might be helpful for reducing high cholesterol2 and improving male sexual function.3,4
Evidence is more negative than positive regarding whether cordyceps is helpful for enhancing sports performance.5-7
Weak evidence hints that cordyceps may modulate the immune system, which means that it stimulates some aspects of the immune system while suppressing others.8-13
On this basis, it has been tried in China as an aid in organ transplant surgery 14 and for the treatment of viral hepatitis15,16 and lupus.17,18
Highly preliminary test-tube and animal studies hint that cordyceps may help fight stress,19 control blood sugar levels (potentially making it useful in diabetes),20-22reduce cancer risk,23 lower high blood pressure,24 and help protect the kidney against damage caused by the drugs cyclosporin and gentamycin.25-27
Other test-tube studies hint that cordyceps may stimulate production of hormones, such as cortisone and testosterone.28-33 However, contrary to what some websites say, these studies are far too preliminary to indicate any therapeutic hormonal effect.
Typical traditional recommended doses of cordyceps range from 5-10 grams per day. Concentrated extracts are also available, taken at a lower dosage.
Use of cordyceps does not generally cause apparent side effects. However, comprehensive safety studies have not been reported. In addition, there are two case reports in which cordyceps products contained enough lead to cause lead poisoning.34 Safety in young children, pregnant or nursing women, or people with severe liver or kidney disease has not been established.
Pegler DN, Yao YJ, Li Y. The Chinese 'caterpillar fungus'. The Mycologist. 1994;8:3-5.
Shao G., You ZH, Cu XC, et al. Treatment of hyperlipidemia with Cordyceps sinensis. A double blind placebo control trial. Inter J Oriental Med. 1990;15:77-80.
Zhu JS, Halpern GM, Jones K. The scientific rediscovery of an ancient Chinese herbal medicine: Cordyceps sinensis. Part I. J Alt Comp Med. 1998;4:289-303.
Wan F, Guo Y, Deng, X. Sex hormone-like effects of JinShuiBao [Cs-4] capsule: pharmacological and clinical studies [in Chinese]. Chin Trad Patent Medicine. 1988;9:29-31.
Parcell AC, Smith JM, Schulthies SS, et al. Cordyceps sinensis (CordyMax Cs-4) supplementation does not improve endurance exercise performance. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2004;14:236-242.
Xiao Y, Huang XZ, Chen G, et al. Increased aerobic capacity in healthy elderly human adults given a fermentation product of Cordyceps Cs-4. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1999;31(suppl.): S174.
Colson SN, Wyatt FB, Johnston DL, et al. Cordyceps sinensis and Rhodiola rosea -based supplementation in male cyclists and its effect on muscle tissue oxygen saturation. J Strength Cond Res. 2005;19:358-63.
Chen DM, Zhang SL, Li ZN, Cheng ZQ, Liu XP. Effect of natural cordyceps and the cultured mycelia of Cordyceps sinensis on murine immune organs and functions of mononuclear phagocyte system. Chin J lntegr Trad West Med. 1985;5:4241.
Chen GZ, Chen GL, Tang QM, et al. Effects of alcoholic extract Cordyceps sinensis on T-lymphocyte subsets. Bulletin of Hunan Medical College. 1987;12:311-314.
Koh JH, Yu KW, Suh HJ, Choi YM, Ahn TS. Activation of macrophages and the intestinal immune system by an orally administered decoction from cultured mycelia of Cordyceps sinensis. Biosci BiotechnolBiochem. 2002;66:407-411.
Kuo YC, Tsai WJ, Shiao MS, Chen CF, Lin CY. Cordyceps sinensis as an immunomodulatory agent. Am J Chin Med. 1996;24:111-125.
Weng SC, Chou CJ, Lin LC, Tsai WJ, Kuo YC. Immunomodulatory functions of extracts from the Chinese medicinal fungus Cordyceps cicadae. J Ethnopharmacol. 2002;83:79-85.
Zhu XY, Yu HY. Immunosuppressive effect of cultured Cordyceps sinensis on cellular immune response [in Chinese]. Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Za Zhi. 1990;10:485-487, 454.
Yu J, Liu JW, Wu Y, et al. The application of cultivated Cordyceps sinensis in renal transplantation. J Am Soc Nephrology;5: 1016.
Yang YZ, Wang LS, Deng HY, et al. Short-term observation of treating chronic hepatitis B and post-hepatitis cirrhosis with XinGanBao. Research of Chinese Materia Medica. 1994;1:19-20.
Zhou L, Yang W, Xu Y, et al. Short-term curative effect of cultured Cordyceps sinensis (Berk.) Sacc. mycelia in chronic hepatitis B [in Chinese]. China J of Chin Materia Medica 1990;15:53-55.
Fu T, Lin J. Effect of Cordyceps sinensis on inhibiting systemic lupus erythematosus in MRL 1pr/1pr rats. Zhong Yao Cai. 2001;24:658-659.
Yang LY, Chen A, Kuo YC, Lin CY. Efficacy of a pure compound H1-A extracted from Cordyceps sinensis on autoimmune disease of MRL lpr/lpr mice. J Lab Clin Med. 1999;134:492-500.
Koh JH, Kim KM, Kim JM, Song JC, Suh HJ. Antifatigue and antistress effect of the hot-water fraction from mycelia of Cordyceps sinensis. Biol Pharm Bull. 2003;26:691-694.
Kiho T, Ookubo K, Usui S, Ukai S, Hirano K. Structural features and hypoglycemic activity of a polysaccharide (CS-F10) from the cultured mycelium of Cordyceps sinensis. Biol Pharm Bull. 1999;22:966-970.
Zhao CS, Yin WT, Wang JY, et al. CordyMax Cs-4 improves glucose metabolism and increases insulin sensitivity in normal rats. J Altern Complement Med. 2002;8:309-314.
Kiho T, Ookubo K, Usui S, Ukai S, Hirano K. Structural features and hypoglycemic activity of a polysaccharide (CS-F10) from the cultured mycelium of Cordyceps sinensis. Biol Pharm Bull. 1999;22:966-970.
Bok JW, Lermer L, Chilton J, Klingeman HG, Towers GH. Antitumor sterols from the mycelia of Cordycepssinensis. Phytochemistry. 1999;51:891-898.
Chiou WF, Chang PC, Chou CJ, Chen CF. Protein constituent contributes to the hypotensive and vasorelaxant activities of Cordyceps sinensis. Life Sci. 2000;66:1369-1376.
Zhao X, Li L. Cordyceps sinensis in protection of the kidney from cyclosporine A nephrotoxicity [in Chinese]. Zhonghua Yi Xue Za Zhi. 1993;73:410-412, 447.
Bao ZD, Wu ZG, Zheng F. Amelioration of aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity by Cordycepssinensis in old patients [in Chinese]. Chin J Integrated Med. 1994;14:259,271-273.
Li LS, Zheng F. Clinical protection of aminoglycoside nephrotoxicity by Cordyceps sinensis (CS). J Am Soc Nephrology. 1992;3:726 (abstract 24P).
Hsu CC, Tsai SJ, Huang YL, Huang BM. Regulatory mechanism of Cordyceps sinensis mycelium on mouse Leydig cell steroidogenesis. FEBS Lett. 2003;543:140-143.
Huang BM, Chuang YM, Chen CF, Leu SF. Effects of extracted Cordyceps sinensis on steroidogenesis in MA-10 mouse Leydig tumor cells. Biol Pharm Bull. 2000;23:1532-1535.
Hsu CC, Huang YL, Tsai SJ, Sheu CC, Huang BM. In vivo and in vitro stimulatory effects of Cordycepssinensis on testosterone production in mouse Leydig cells. Life Sci. 2003;73:2127-2136.
Huang BM, Hsu CC, Tsai SJ, Sheu CC, Leu SF. Effects of Cordyceps sinensis on testosterone production in normal mouse Leydig cells. Life Sci. 2001;69:2593-2602.
Huang BM, Ju SY, Wu CS, Chuang WJ, Sheu CC, Leu SF. Cordyceps sinensis and its fractions stimulate MA-10 mouse Leydig tumor cell steroidogenesis. J Androl. 2001;22:831-837.
Wang SM, Lee LJ, Lin WW, Chang CM. Effects of a water-soluble extract of Cordyceps sinensis on steroidogenesis and capsular morphology of lipid droplets in cultured rat adrenocortical cells. J Cell Biochem. 1998;69:483-489.
Wu TN, Yang KC, Wang CM, et al. Lead poisoning caused by contaminated Cordyceps, a Chinese herbal medicine: two case reports. The Sci Total Env. 1996;182:193-195.
Last reviewed September 2014 by EBSCO CAM Review Board
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.


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Israel's Chief Rabbinate facing new wave of criticism and calls for change
Published July 9, 2012
WASHINGTON — The latest battle over religious pluralism in Israel has unleashed a new barrage of criticism and calls for reform aimed at the Orthodox-controlled Israeli Chief Rabbinate. Unlike major flare-ups in past decades, however, this time it's not just the Reform and Conservative movements leading the charge — mainstream, consensus-oriented Jewish groups with no denominational affiliations are speaking out, too.
One flashpoint has been the fallout from the Israeli attorney general's decision to approve government funding for Reform and Conservative religious leaders as "rabbis of non-Orthodox communities" — albeit through the Ministry of Culture and Sports rather than the Orthodox-controlled Religious Services Ministry, which funds Orthodox rabbis.
That announcement drew a caustic response from Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who in a June 27 meeting urged more than 100 fellow Orthodox rabbis — including Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger — to pray "in order to stop the destroyers and saboteurs of Judaism [because] they are trying to uproot the foundation of Judaism," according to Ynet.
"There is a natural backlash on the part of American Jews and American Jewish leaders when the Chief Rabbinate issues such statements," said Steven Bayme, director of the American Jewish Committee's Koppelman Institute on American Jewish-Israeli Relations. "As we enter the 21st century, the [Chief Rabbinate] needs to be reevaluted in terms of democratic norms and modern Israel's relationship to world Jewry."
In response to Amar's remarks, about 50 Reform and Conservative rabbis protested outside of the Chief Rabbinate's building in Jerusalem. Two Conservative rabbis filed a police complaint accusing Amar of incitement — a particularly serious claim in Israel ever since the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
The Jewish Federations of North America, which has leaders from across the religious spectrum, but a group that in recent years has become more vocal on behalf of Israel's non-Orthodox Jews — was quick to respond.
"It is a fundamental Jewish virtue to 'love your fellow as yourself.' We condemn comments that disparage fellow Jews and, in particular, well-established branches of Judaism that represent 80 percent of North American Jewry," Jerry Silverman, the president and CEO of JFNA, said in a statement. "Statements such as those made by Rabbi Amar only serve to alienate our fellow Jews from our religion, our people and the Jewish state."
Shortly after that controversy, the board of governors of the AJC — another nonsectarian Jewish organization with no formal ties to either the Reform or Conservative movements — went even further in criticizing the Chief Rabbinate and calling for major changes to the institution.
"In the 21st century, a coercive Chief Rabbinate has become, at best, an anachronism, and at worst a force dividing the Jewish people," the AJC's leaders declared in a resolution.
The Chief Rabbinate's actions "threaten to divide the Jewish people and risk an anti-religious backlash against Judaism itself within the Jewish state," they wrote. The AJC even urged Israel's government "to undertake promptly all needed actions" to end the Chief Rabbinate's monopoly over issues of personal status.
The latest wave of criticism comes amid a backdrop of religion-related controversies — tensions between Modern Orthodox rabbis and haredi Orthodox rabbis over conversions; the push for civil marriage in Israel; and the struggle over whether haredi Orthodox men should serve in the military or continue to be exempt to study in yeshivas.
"Like any human institution, the Chief Rabbinate could use improvement," said Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, executive director emeritus of the Orthodox Union, a U.S.-based Modern Orthodox group. "What those improvements would be though requires a lot of thought and a lot of study, and from the OU's perspective in no way could the Orthodox nature and the halachic nature of the Chief Rabbinate be compromised."
Weinreb stressed that OU congregations and rabbis adhere to the Israeli Chief Rabbinate's decisions. He added that the process of electing chief rabbis could be refined so that it is "less political."
The call for radical reform of the Chief Rabbinate was greeted warmly by Reform and Conservative groups.
"It's is a powerful letter from the dead center of the American Jewish establishment weighing in on what the Israeli government and the Israeli public still thinks is a fringe issue," Mark Pelavin, associate director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, said of the AJC's position. "It's a welcome voice in that debate."
Rabbi Stuart Weinblatt, director of Israel policy and advocacy for the Conservative movement's Rabbinical Assembly, said that American Jews of various stripes believe that the time for major change has arrived.
"There's a sense of its time for the [Chief Rabbinate] to enter the 21st century, if not the 20th," Weinblatt said.
Focus on the topic is building, according to Martin Raffel, senior vice president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. However, he said that his umbrella group, which includes representatives of Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist groups, will not be taking a public position on the matter.
"There clearly is great interest in the Jewish community regarding matters of religion and state in Israel," Raffel said. "The JCPA considers the impact of Israeli policies and actions in this arena on Israel-world Jewish relations, and routinely shares assessments with government officials and others. But as an umbrella body — for the sake of 'shalom bayit' [Hebrew for 'peace in the home'] — long ago we decided not to take positions with respect to specific legislative matters" in Israel regarding religious pluralism.
Likewise, the AJC usually stays out of internal Israeli affairs, but not when they "directly affect the position of American Jewry, the American Jewish-Israeli relationship and the Jewish people," Bayme said.
About a year ago, he said, AJC leaders started deliberating on their statement in response to Knesset member David Rotem's unsuccessful effort to pass a bill cementing Orthodox control of the Chief Rabbinate. But religious pluralism is not the only reason for such actions, Bayme added.
"We're trying to signal to Israeli society that the U.S.-Israel relationship, which we pride ourselves on, rests on democratic norms," Bayme said. "Those norms and a coercive monopoly [by the Chief Rabbinate] don't easily exist."
The AJC, he said, is not calling for the dismantling of the Chief Rabbinate but for its radical transformation. One model suggested by the organization is England's Archbishop of Canterbury, who heads the 80-million member Anglican Church. The archbishop is chosen by the prime minister on behalf of the monarchy and has a largely ceremonial and ritualistic role with no political power.
But, Bayme cautioned, that is only one idea.


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Saints Row 4 review: suped up send-off
Saints Row 4 closes out the story in its own imitable style. Our review.
The trajectory of Saints Row has been watching your player character, "The Boss," fail upwards. He (or she) is not particularly clever or skilled at anything besides causing havoc, but has ended every game at a higher level of power and influence.
In Saints Row 4, The Boss has now risen to the level of President of the United States, and of course, it's not going particularly well. The presidential premise seems to fall by the wayside once aliens invade and trap humans in a virtual prison, but I don't think it was just a silly throw-away idea. It pronounces upfront that your character is actually kind of a boorish jerk. This is an ensemble production, and trouble follows when the Boss forgets that he needs the Saints more than they need him.
That's probably why so much of the time is focused on rescuing and then fostering relationships with your "Homies." Oddly, the end result is an experience that draws many similarities to Mass Effect 2. The bulk of missions involve either rescuing your Saints crew from their own mind-prisons, or helping them wrap up loose ends in "Loyalty" missions. The recruitment missions are especially well-differentiated, predicated on the notion that the alien Emperor Zinyak has constructed a custom reality to trap each Saint.
Once rescued, you can even "Romance" the crew, and each of the vignettes is played for laughs. The romance options are admirably gender neutral, just like the personality of the Boss him- or herself. Only Keith David turned down my Boss--that scoundrel!
Being trapped in a virtualized Steelport is the perfect excuse to introduce a key new gameplay element: superpowers. Immediately, Saints Row 4 sheds its "GTA clone" legacy, by making cars wholly unnecessary: the first powers you earn are super versions of dashing and jumping, letting you traverse the world in a completely new way. As a superhero president, the sense of agility and speed the game endowed was wonderfully empowering, even if some of the later powers are a bit disappointing.
Of course, being an open world, Steelport needs to offer players a variety of activities. Saints Row 4 impresses, although some of them (like Fraud or Mayhem) are familiar from previous games. Secondary objectives are also the primary way to gather Cache for upgrades. Saints Row 4 stacks upgrade systems atop upgrade systems, and it's just on the hair's width from being overcomplicated. You can upgrade yourself and your equipment using Cache, or your superpowers using Data Clusters. In fact, the Clusters are are so numerous that obsessive collectors might have a hard time making it to the next mission objective in a timely manner, as glowing blue baubles tempt exploration around every nook.
As a franchise, Saints Row has never been as refined as some of its competitors, and that hasn't changed. It's still a B-tier open world game, and while that grants it some lovable qualities, the world and characters do lack some physical presence. The rag-doll effect when the Boss is knocked down looks particularly old-fashioned, which I found strangely charming. On Xbox 360, SR4 also suffered the occasional stuttering during some large-scale action sequences.
But what it lacks in technical prowess and budget, Volition makes up with humor. It can be a little hit-or-miss at times, but the hits keep coming when the game relies more on the studio's own sense of comedic timing than a referential bit. The writing is still a standout, with laughs coming within seconds of starting the game--and the less said to spoil the punchlines, the better.
Saints Row 4 doesn't do anything particularly new or revolutionary, and it certainly won't be remembered as a generation- or even genre-defining event. But it is a thoroughly well-executed absurd empowerment fantasy, and a fond farewell to its peanut gallery. This might not be the game to evoke essays on meaning and artistry, but I haven't had more fun this year. [8]
This review is based on early retail Xbox 360 code provided by the publisher. Saints Row IV will be available at retail on PS3 and Xbox 360. It will also be available digitally on PC on August 20th for $49.99. The game is rated M.
Steve Watts posted a new article, Saints Row 4 review: suped up send-off.
Saints Row 4 closes out the story in its own imitable style. Our review.-
Work in progress but if they are going to use them they also need to get the reviews added to metacritic. I assume the numerical value was mainly for this reason. Same with exposure on neogaf they have every review listed here but shacknews is missing.
"suped up" is legit: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/suped-up
make the score bigger, perhaps into an animated gif with flames coming off it
more reviews here: http://neogaf.net/forum/showthread.php?t=651619 -
haha http://chattypics.com/viewer.php?file=sr4pre_wczlglrjdk.png
the Obama mask -


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National Crime Agency
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Live online child abuse - 29 international arrests made
An organised crime group, which facilitated the live streaming of child sexual abuse to order in the Philippines has been dismantled after a joint investigation by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA), the Australian Federal Police (AFP) and US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Operation Endeavour, which began in 2012, has resulted in (to date):
29 international arrests
11 were part of the facilitation group in the Philippines
12 countries involved in the arrest of individuals who had been paying for the live abuse of children
15 children in the Philippines aged between 6-15 identified and safeguarded from sexual abuse
Over £37,500 identified as having been paid for the live abuse of children by the customer network
The crime group arranged for children to be sexually abused live on webcam in exchange for payment. Some of the facilitators were members of the children's own families.
Within the UK there have been 17 arrests which resulted in: five convictions, nine investigations ongoing, one required no further action and two individuals are deceased. The UK customer base had paid over £5,351 to the crime group.
The investigation began after Northamptonshire Police carried out a routine visit at the home of registered sex offender Timothy Ford and found a number of indecent videos on computers in the property. The force then contacted CEOP and, after working together, a number of 'customers' and associates were identified and a global law enforcement investigation commenced.
In 2012, ongoing analysis of the digital media associated with the investigation led to the identification of additional suspects and numerous children in the Philippines who were believed to have been sexually exploited. In August of that year, CEOP contacted ICE's Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) office in Manila, the Australia Federal Police and the International Justice Mission (a non-governmental organisation) to request support for the investigation. Together, the agencies presented the case to the Philippine National Police (PNP) for possible enforcement action and between August and October 2012 all were involved in efforts to identify the offenders and victims in the Philippines.
In October 2012, three search warrants were executed and with the assistance of CEOP, ICE and the AFP, the Philippine National Police arrested 11 Filipino nationals and rescued 15 victims. All of the victims rescued were placed in the custody of the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development.
In addition to Operation Endeavour, three other separate investigations are currently ongoing into the live streaming of child sexual abuse, which have already identified 733 suspects – 139 of these in the UK and 594 overseas. Among these is Michael Eller, who has been convicted and sentenced to serve 14 years in prison. One investigation is being led by the National Crime Agency's CEOP command and two involve UK police forces.
One of the UK 'customers' already convicted under Operation Endeavour is Timothy Ford, who was sentenced in March 2013 to eight and a half years in prison. Ford was paying for the live abuse of children and planned on moving to the Philippines to set up an internet café. Investigations into his activities and the wider customer network he was associated with identified other suspects including Thomas Owen who was sentenced in July 2013 to seven years in prison.
Owen was in possession of nearly four million indecent images of children when he was arrested. Evidence showed Ford and Owen discussing online how they could travel to the Philippines to carry out contact abuse of children. In one chat log Ford, who uses a wheelchair, suggested that Owen could act as his carer so they could travel to the Philippines together in an attempt to avoid detection.
The use of web cams to stream live abuse, particularly from the developing world, is a significant and emerging threat according to the NCA's CEOP command. Extreme poverty, the increasing availability of high speed internet and the existence of a vast and comparatively wealthy overseas customer base has led to organised crime groups exploiting children for financial gain.
Andy Baker, Deputy Director of the NCA's CEOP command said:
"This investigation has identified some extremely dangerous child sexual offenders who believed paying for children to be abused to order was something they could get away with. Being thousands of miles away makes no difference to their guilt. In my mind they are just as responsible for the abuse of these children as the contact abusers overseas.
"Protecting the victims of abuse is our priority and that means attacking every link in the chain, from dismantling the organised groups who are motivated by profit through to targeting their customers.
"This kind of end-to-end operation is only possible when law enforcement agencies work together. The NCA has valuable international partners, including the Philippine National Police and the International Justice Mission (IJM), to not only share information and intelligence, but ensure abused and exploited children are identified and safeguarded from harm".
The AFP's Assistant Commissioner Tim Morris said he is committed to taking all necessary action to protect children in Australia and internationally from sexual exploitation.
"Every day, AFP officers work with state and international counterparts to combat child sexual exploitation and to bring offenders to justice".
"The use of online media to drive these types crimes is a sinister development. To target the most vulnerable members of the community in this way cannot be tolerated in any society.
"It's abhorrent that these crimes occur and it is our duty as police and the wider community to ensure that every possible measure is taken to identify and assist the victims and to identify and take action against the perpetrators"
ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Executive Associate Director James Dinkins said:
"Thanks to this joint operation, children have been rescued from a living nightmare.
"The group responsible for these heinous crimes mistakenly believed that they could use technology to avoid detection, but they were wrong. We will continue to work tirelessly with our international law enforcement partners across jurisdictions and national boundaries to protect children anywhere in the world and bring criminals to justice regardless of where they live."


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Though Google is pitching it as an operating system for netbooks and lightweight notebooks, Chrome OS is essentially the Chrome Web browser bolted on top of a bare minimum version of Linux. The following extensions can improve the user experience of Chrome (OS or browser) to give you some of the functionality found in a traditional operating system.
1. Quickrr Calendar
Chrome OS lists the time on the upper-right corner of the screen, but clicking it only shows you the present date (and the option to open the time zone setting). What's missing here, and found in most OSs, is a basic calendar. Quirkrr Calendar rectifies this. When you click its icon, a big calendar of the current month opens. You can flip through the following and previous months, type in reminders in the date boxes to remind yourself of things you need to do that day, and sort through these days and activities by week or day (which further breaks down your to-do's by hour).
2. Elegant Calculator
There are several calculator extensions for Chrome, but we like Elegant Calculator because it looks, well, elegant, as a virtual representation of a real number cruncher. Enter numbers and functions either by clicking this calculator's buttons or typing with the keyboard. You can switch between "Basic" and "Advanced" versions -- the latter includes 20 more functions for common trigonometric and scientific calculations.
3. Panelize
The Panelize extension will turn any tab into its own panel, which you can then drag around and reposition wherever you want on the screen. A panel is simply a browser window minus tool bars or the other usual user elements of a Web browser. This extension is handy if you want to turn a Web app, such as a Web-based painting app, into an ersatz, self-standing application separate from the browser portion of Chrome.
4. Split screen
The Frame Two Pages extension works this way: when you click its icon, it takes the contents of the tab you are currently looking at and the one you viewed before, and re-loads both inside a third tab, setting each within its own frame in a vertical split-screen. You can adjust the width of the two frames by clicking on and dragging side-to-side the vertical line separating the two.
We really like this extension, especially when used on ultra-wide screens. As an example, within one frame you can use a Web app (like writing on Google docs) while continuing to browse the Web in the other frame to look up information without switching to and from another tab.
5. Tab organizer
Too Many Tabs neatly shows you thumbs of all your actively running tabs, and lists recently closed tabs. You can jump to any tab by clicking on it. As its name implies, Too Many Tabs was designed to help you navigate through your tabs when you have so many of them opened that the width of their name tags has shrunk to where you cannot read them.
6. AppJump App Launcher and Organizer
By default, the icons for apps installed on Chrome are laid out in a blank tab. So you have to open a new tab whenever you want to access an app. There are a couple of extensions that make getting to your apps more convenient in different ways, and having more than one of them installed doesn't usually conflict with the other.
The first one we like is AppJump App Launcher and Organizer which sets an icon to the right of the address bar. When you click it, a drop-down menu pops open listing the icons of your apps, and there's a search box you can use to quickly find one of your apps if you have several installed...
7. App Lists From Context Menu
The second one that we like is the wordy-named App Lists From Context Menu.Once it's installed, you can right-click a blank area within a Chrome page to call up the context menu, which will have "Apps" listed among its choices. Click this, and a menu listing your apps will branch open.
8. Virtual Keyboard (by Google)
This sets a virtual keyboard as its own panel that you can drag and reposition on the screen. Click on any of its keys and the character appears in the text box of a Web page. (We're surmising this extension was developed with touchscreens also in mind.) When used on a computer with a standard keyboard, Virtual Keyboard can make it more convenient to enter non-English characters.
9. Trash Can
The Too Many Tabs extension fulfills a similar function -- listing your most recently closed tabs and letting you re-open them with a click. But we think it may be worthwhile to also install Trash Can since its saved listing of closed tabs appears to be more extensive.
10. le solitaire
Because no operating system is complete without this time waster.
Read more about software in Network World's Software section.


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I've been working on a small house project over the past few days. My house has a basement workroom, which I use for whatever I need to do involving pliers or a saw. I've been slowly outfitting it over the past few years, and one thing I wanted to do was to wire it for music.
Not just a radio, but a computer that I could play sound file from, and stream audio. You can buy hardware for just that, but I'm cheap. I also wanted to keep it from looking like a computer desk; I have enough of that in my life already. This is a minor project; nothing like what you'd find on Instructables, but entertaining because it let me use DragonFly.
I purchased a set of cheap speakers from Newegg. You'll notice that the speakers have a metal frame that forms a loop at the bottom – that's important later. I bought the speakers and hooked to a tiny netbook, running DragonFly 3.0.2. It works fine for playing music, though the case speaker doesn't shut off when external ones are attached. That's not a problem here, though, since it's not loud enough to be audible over the separate speaker output.
Those metal loops on the bottoms of the speakers turned out to be handy. I found some scrap wood, and built a small armature to fit inside the loop and hold it offset from the ceiling joist. Both of these wooden blocks could have the speaker slide over it, upside down.
I stained both of the blocks so that they wouldn't stand out against the dark wood of the workroom ceiling.
I affixed the wooden hangers as far out as the cord on the speakers would let me, and slid the upside-down speakers onto them. There's enough length in the cords to place the separate volume control dial on the workbench, and I'm done.
You can see the ceiling speaker in the upper corner. How's the sound? Okayish. You aren't going to get much out of a set of speakers this cheap, but at least I don't have wires over my work area, and I don't have to worry about puncturing a speaker with a screwdriver by accident, or something similar. I can close the laptop to keep it at least somewhat protected.
This is not a terribly complex project, but it makes me happy to have a DragonFly-based jukebox when I'm home. (This laptop usually travels with me.) I'm playing the music with mpg123, which is a surprisingly capable command-line player for files and for streaming audio.
(Yes, that is a large black velvet painting of a bullfight in the background. It was a wedding present. I also have black velvet paintings of Kenny Rogers as the Gambler, Fat Elvis, and Jesus blessing a tractor-trailer. I don't know why.)


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
Most campers are equipped with separate holding tanks for both fresh water and sewage. The sewage holding tank must be properly emptied at a sanitary dump station. If you have concerns regarding violations of the Environmental Health Code, please send a written complaint to the Lenawee County Health Department at 1040 S Winter Street, Suite 2328, Adrian, MI 49221 and the complaint will be investigated.
Show All Answers
No. Since 2015, county public health officials have been working with these property owners to reach a compromise that meets the objectives of the environmental health code while allowing them to live in a manner that does not infringe upon their way of life. The property owners have been unwilling to comply with the rules and regulations that have been in place in Lenawee County for decades and that all other citizens must comply with. County public health officials have been and are still willing to discuss options for gaining compliance. The sole objective of the County in this matter is to fulfill its duty to protect the public health of county residents
Lenawee County is not persecuting any citizens because of their religious beliefs. Lenawee County requires that all property owners, regardless of religion, obtain the proper permits and meet inspection requirements for wells and septic systems. Similar requirements are in place throughout communities all across the State of Michigan.
The property owners have been offered options that would accomplish the objectives of the environmental health code and that do not require the installation of modern plumbing or electricity in the home. Options have been presented to the property owners that are used across the state of Michigan and throughout the United States. As of this date, the property owners have refused to implement any of these options.
A safe option for an outhouse is a permitted and approved concrete vault privy, such as you might find at a roadside rest area. This option is used across Michigan and throughout the United States. This option requires periodic pumping by a licensed septage hauler and the waste is properly disposed of at a licensed facility.
There are actually two issues we are attempting to resolve. The first is that the water supply must be permitted and constructed to meet the state well construction code requirements.
The second is that human waste cannot be disposed of in an unsanitary manner. The current system being utilized by the property owners is to collect waste in a bucket underneath the outhouse which is then emptied directly onto the ground. This untreated human feces is then spread on fields, which is a violation of state law. It is widely considered that using human waste as fertilizer for human food poses serious health risks due to the potential for contamination and spread of disease.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a safe sanitation system is designed to avoid and prevent human contact with human waste.
From the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): "Contamination of a private well can impact not only the household served by the well, but also nearby households using the same aquifer."
"Wastewater management and adequate sewer systems play important roles in sanitation and disease prevention. Wastewater can contaminate the local environment and drinking water supply, thereby increasing the risk of disease transmission."
Improperly used or operated septic systems can be a significant source of ground water contamination that can lead to waterborne disease outbreaks and other adverse health effects.
The presence of contaminants in water can lead to health issues including gastrointestinal illness resulting from campylobacter, cryptosporidium, E. coli, giardia, hepatitis A, norovirus, salmonella and shigella. Cardiac and respiratory problems such as chest pain, shortness of breath, myocarditis and pericarditis can also occur. Other symptoms that can occur are weight loss, joint pain and other allergic conditions.
The property owners are spreading untreated human waste onto their fields, which poses a risk to public health. The bio-solids that are spread onto local Lenawee County farms are treated and meet stringent standards as mandated in state and federal regulations.
Yes, this is their personal property. In the United States, you do have certain personal property rights, as long as they do not put yourself or others at risk. The Lenawee County Environmental Health code is in place to minimize risk and protect public health.
Almost all counties in the state of Michigan require property owners with similar beliefs to install septic tanks and drainfields to properly dispose of sewage generated by their homes. Additionally, these property owners are required to have a safe water supply that meets the requirements of the state well construction code. There are various options to meet these requirements, including those that do not require the use of electricity.


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I recently viewed a vacant house for sale that was nice except that the partially finished basement got flooded just enough to saturate the carpets and cover every piece of drywall, door, and trim with nasty black mold. It was even on the concrete on the unfinished side.
It's clear the sump backed up from the recent storm and no one knew the pump quit. I was considering what it would take to bring this house back into shape. If I bought it, I'd certainly have a mold abatement specialist look at it. If the report shows the mold didn't spread beyond the basement, would I expect to run into any issues by simply demolishing the finished area's carpet, drywall and framing and then bleaching all the remaining surfaces?
In other words, assuming no further flooding the house may become livable but will the basement always smell funny? What are the chances mold can come back in the bad way? Would there be any long term health risks after the cleanup?


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While some greet the arrival of spring with joy, others regard it with dread. These people can be seen stocking up on tissues, and they often look afraid to go outside. Those with seasonal allergies and asthma are in constant search of relief. Some allergies, meanwhile, wreak havoc year-round, as symptoms are always close at hand. Your allergy-stricken customers will certainly benefit from understanding their conditions better. They'll also be in line to thank you if you can offer them natural herbs and compounds to help them stay symptom free.
Meet Your Allergies
Allergy sufferers may often ask themselves, "Why me?" Well, while there's nothing they did to deserve their symptoms, there is a rhyme and reason as to who gets them. First, the skinny on seasonal sneezes starts with the way these symptoms present themselves.
To help distinguish allergy symptoms from those of the common cold, consider the following tell-tale signs (1). Symptoms including sneezing, runny nose and nasal congestion that occur all at once, rather than one following up the other, are often an indication that one is dealing with an allergy attack. The occurrence of actual sneezes can also be a sign of allergies rather than cold, especially if those sneezes come rapid-fire, as in two or three at a time. Finally, a fever will most often be a tip-off that an illness is to blame for symptoms, rather than an allergen in the environment.
Nasal allergies that clog the upper respiratory system can make life unbearable, and sufferers typically have their parents to thank. That's because when allergies develop, they do so from a foundation of inheritance (2). The degree and length of exposure to antigens like pollen influence if and when this tendency will show itself.
Though individuals with allergies can't very well shut their nasal passages to keep the allergens at bay, they can at least know what and what not to be wary of. Tell them to remain aware of their local pollen conditions throughout the spring and summer months, which are made widely available in most weather reports. For the most part, only wind-pollinated plants including certain trees and grasses cause allergic reactions, and not wildflowers or garden flowers pollinated by insects (2). So, those with allergies should feel free to stop and smell the roses on their way to their health food store for some natural allergy relief. Which brings us to the more pressing question plaguing your customers: How do I get rid of this already?
Hay Fever Relievers
Herbs are standouts for allergy care. Here are five herbs your sneezing and watery-eyed shoppers should know about.
Butterbur. Butterbur (Petasites hybridus) has historically been used to treat a host of ailments from headaches to asthma, but today, one can draw on its research support for allergy care. In one study, researchers from the Petasites Study Group in Germany and the Allergy Clinic in Switzerland gave a high dose of butterbur extract to 60 patients, a low dose of the herb to 65 patients and a placebo to 61 patients. The team analyzed the effect on various seasonal allergy symptoms like runny nose, sneezing and congestion. In the end, those taking the higher butterbur dose saw the most improvements, and no negative side effects were noted (3).
Stinging nettle. Some supplement formulators believe the way to go for allergy relief is with nettle. In 2009, research published in Phytotherapy Research offered some good back-up for why. The scientists looked at one nettle extract (Urtica dioica) and determined it stopped several events that cause inflammation in the body. For instance, nettle extract was found to block histamine from binding to histamine 1 (H1) receptors, in essence inhibiting an allergic reaction like hay fever. It also stopped other inflammatory responses by inhibiting COX-1, COX-2 and other proinflammatory enzymes (4).
Quercetin. Flavonoids, water-soluble plant-based pigments, are antioxidants that are said to possess several important anti-allergenic, anti-histamine and anti-inflammatory properties (5). One such flavonoid found in several allergy care supplements is quercetin. Experts feel this component inhibits leukotrienes and histamine, two important contributors to the allergy cascade (5).
Bromelain. While shoppers may think of bromelain for digestion support, they should also be aware that it may support allergy care. Bromelain is said to help break down mucus and lessen inflammation by stopping the synthesis of proinflammatory agents (like prostaglandins and arachidonic acid) (5).
Traditional Chinese medicine. One shouldn't necessarily look at allergy relief as a series of standalone ingredients. Many formulas are based on the principles of traditional Chinese medicine, which involves combinations of ingredients as a holistic system that helps restore balance and harmony in the body (5). To exemplify this point, one branded natural supplement combines 23 herbs for allergy relief, including playcodon root, peppermint, ganoderma, glycyrrhiza and clerodendron. In a pilot study, the combination of these herbs helped improve chronic asthma symptoms (6).
Omegas and (m)E
The allergy care market has several non-herbal contributors, two of which are vitamin E and the omega-3 EPA. When the diets of about 1,700 individuals were analyzed, researchers discovered that those who consumed the most EPA and vitamin E were the least likely to develop seasonal allergies. The group speculates that the anti-inflammatory properties of EPA may thwart allergies. With regard to vitamin E, "its negative effect on the production of [prostaglandin E2] may be contributing factors to the inverse association of increasing vitamin E intake and hay fever seen in this study" (7).
Nasal Washes
Natural nasal sprays and saline solutions are important tools against seasonal allergies. These over-the-counter (OTC) remedies help clear nasal passages of pollen, excess mucus and debris. They can also be used to restore moisture to dry noses and keep cilia (small nose hairs that help trap bacteria) healthy (8). Saline sprays can aid in loosening mucus retained in the sinuses, decreasing crusting and inflammation inside the sinuses. With regular use, saline sprays may thin mucus, decrease postnasal drip and cleanse bacteria from nostrils (8).
There are a few different kinds of saline solutions. Most OTC saline solutions and sprays are isotonic (the same saline concentration as in the body), but there are also hypertonic saline sprays that have more salt than found in normal bodily tissue (8).
Customers may want to know if this solution can be made at home. The answer is yes, but there are risks. The solution is comprised of mixing about two or three teaspoons of kosher salt (to avoid additives) and one teaspoon of baking soda into one pint of room temperature water; if the sensation is uncomfortable or stinging, advise using less salt in the mixture (8). With the aid of a squeeze bottle or bulb, or with a specially designed nasal irrigation device like a neti pot, run the water through one nostril and out the other, tilting the head back to coax the solution into the nasal cavities and throat. Users should repeat in the other nostril and blow their noses afterward to flush out any remaining fluid while standing over a sink to avoid mess (8).
The risks develop when cleaning and sterilization are not handled properly. Whether your customers are using a store-bought mixture or making their own, remind them of the importance of cleaning their nasal allergy tools to avoid bacteria and infection. Water used to make an at-home solution should be distilled, sterile or previously boiled to avoid unwanted bacteria (8). Some customers may have heard some bad press recently about the use of nasal irrigation devices, but these stories can be chalked up to human error; washing out neti pots or other nasal irrigation devices is of the utmost importance. One neti pot supplier believes, "The Neti Pot should be cleaned after each and every use with an antibacterial dishwashing liquid and hot water. For optimum cleaning, you should use a small nylon bristled brush that fits into the pot and allows you to access all areas. You will want to concentrate on both inside and outside the nostril pot and thoroughly scrub the spout" (9). The company advises against using a sponge to clean and sharing your devices, as both will only help spread harmful bacteria. WF
1. "A Cold or Seasonal Allergies?" WebMD the Magazine, Oct. 31, 2005, www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=55042, accessed Feb. 13, 2012.
2. "Allergy Overview," Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=9&cont=79, accessed Feb. 13, 2012.
3. M. Williams, "Butterbur to Treat Hay Fever," Healthnotes Newswire, www.bastyrcenter.org/content/view/330/, accessed Feb. 13, 2012.
4. B. Roschek, "Nettle Extract (Urtica dioica) Affects Key Receptors and Enzymes Associated with Allergic Rhinitis," Phytother. Res. 23 (7), 920–926 (2009).
5. J. Berkowiz, User's Guide to Natural Allergy Relief (Basic Health Publications, North Bergen, NJ, 2003).
6. Nu Century Herbs, http://resprin.com/shop/ask_the_experts.php, accessed Feb. 13, 2012.
7. G. Nagel et al., "The Influence of the Dietary Intake of Fatty Acids and Antioxidants on Hay Fever in Adults," Allergy 58 (12), 1277–1284 (2003).
8. "Natural Allergy Relief: Saline Nasal Sprays," www.webmd.com/allergies/saline-spray, accessed Feb. 13 2012.
9. "How to Clean a Neti Pot," www.neti-pot.biz/how-to-clean-a-neti-pot.php, accessed Feb. 13 2012.
Published in WholeFoods Magazine, March 2012


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Miami's Remezcla GPS for July is here. This month is all about independence in the Americas. Besides the 4th of July in the EEUU, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, and Argentina all celebrate their independence this month. Fittingly, we've got parties, concerts, and festivals galore. Disfrute!
July Outdoor Events
[insert-event id=38571,38341,38574 share=1 cw=282px]
July Dance Events
[insert-event id=38553,38576 share=1 cw=282px]
Don't Miss These!
[insert-event id= 38543,38547,38569 share=1 cw=282px]
Ojo: did you calendar those events that caught your eye already?!


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EVA Air Takes Delivery of its First Airbus A321 Equipped with Sharklets [PHOTOS]
EVA Air of Taiwan has taken delivery of its first Sharklet equipped A321 aircraft, on lease from GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS). The aircraft was handed over during a ceremony in Hamburg attended by Chang Kuo Wei, Chairman of EVA Air, and Norman Liu, President and CEO of GECAS.
This A321 is the first of eight A321s with Sharklets that will be operated by EVA Air under lease agreement from GECAS.
"We are very pleased to be Taiwan's first operator bringing the latest version of the cost efficient A321 equipped with Sharklets," Chang Kuo Wei, Chairman of EVA Air said. "Thanks to our new Sharklet-equipped A321s, we will continue to offer superior value and service to our customers."
"We are pleased to be partnering with EVA Air on their fleet expansion and the introduction of the fuel saving Sharklets. It is of particular importance to us to have the most modern aircraft in our portfolio and the A321 equipped with Sharklets is a perfect fit," said Norman Liu, President and CEO of GECAS.
"The Sharklets deliver up to four per cent fuel burn reduction on longer sectors, and this translates into impressive cost savings," said John Leahy, Chief Operating Officer, Customers. "In addition, EVA Air's passengers can fly assured that they are travelling on board the world's most efficient single aisle aircraft."
Sharklets are made from light-weight composites and are 2.4 meters tall. They are an option on new-build A320 Family aircraft and standard on all members of the new A320neo family. They offer operators up to four percent fuel burn reduction on longer range sectors and provide the flexibility of either adding an additional 100 nautical miles range or increased payload capability of up to 450 kilograms.


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Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash and his wife Perla Hudson are suing a real estate agent for selling them a Hollywood Hills home under false pretences: it wasn't suitable enough for partying…
The ex-Guns N' Roses star filed a lawsuit against real estate agent Gregory Holcomb and Sotheby's International Reality in November 2007 after he purchased - and promptly sold - a house on a supposed 'private street'. They lost more than $500,000 during the cock-up.
Two major gripes with the property reportedly stemmed from the lack of space inside and the lack of parking outside. Both vital statistics if throwing parties is your favourite pastime.
On a much more serious note, the high-profile couple were deeply concerned about the safety of their young family: "I thought I had found a dream home when Holcomb sent me information about a house with spectacular views on what was purported to be a private street," reads Perla Hudson's statement.
"In the summer of 2005 we were forced to obtain a restraining order against a deranged fan," she continued.
The case, which started on Friday 23 January, is still ongoing. The judge has refused to 'throw it out' and has given the defendants time to dispute the claims. We'll keep you posted…
(Via: NBC)


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The Sea Prince and the Fire ChildSynopsisOnce, when the world was young, the gods of Fire and Water lived together happily. Then, the evil Lord of the Winds, because of his jealousy, shattered the alliance of fire and water with his lies, setting them against each other in a terrible conflict. The war between the two gods was finally ended when the high lord of the heavens struck down the wicked Wind god and imprisoned him deep beneath the waves. The Fire Queen created the Holy Flame to keep the waters calm, and the two sides agreed to never come into contact with one another again, to prevent war and hatred from spreading anew. Enter Sirius, the Prince of the Sea and a child of water, who while out hunting with his friend, crosses a forbidden part of the ocean and discovers the place where the Holy Flame burns, and with it, the daughter of the Fire Queen, Malta, whose task it is to guard the Flame from going out. Curiosity leads to friendship and love, but their parents, still bitter from years of war, do not approve of the pair's union. Will their love for each other lead to another cycle of war between Fire and Water? Or will love once again conquer all? ReviewI first saw this film when I was very young, in the fourth grade to be exact, but at the time I of course had no idea it was Japanese in origin. My little sister and I watched this movie dozens of times, but after the local video store that had it for rental closed, it faded in my memory until a couple of years ago when I was searching through the bins at a "Going out of business" sale at a video store in Tennessee, where I found it once again. So, to be honest, this film has a personal attachment to me, and I enjoy it on its nostalgic merits alone, but even for anime fans who have never even heard of it, this movie has a lot to offer. To begin with, it's a classic. Fans that enjoy the older styles of animation (old Disney movies, Astroboy, etc.) will find the classic animation appealing. There are no computer graphics here, no camera tricks used on the cells, nothing even remotely "artificial" about it. This is 100% pure hand-drawn goodness done the old way. And even though it may seem dated (I prefer the word "Classic") to some viewers, it holds a certain charm and appeal just the same. The story, is basically a retelling of Romeo and Juliet with a heavy dose of mythology thrown into the mix. Our hero and heroine fill the lead roles, complete with best-buddy sidekicks that get them into (and out of) trouble throughout. Sometimes slightly goofy, sometimes a little sad, the story weaves along in a hypnotic way that might put more action oriented fans to sleep, but proves interesting enough to keep both children and adults watching. I remember this was one of the only "cartoon" films that wasn't Disney that my parents ever sat all the way through. The characters are endearing and colorful, and while the dialogue (at least in the English version that I own) is not anything truly thought provoking or astounding, its simple enough for children to follow and not overly cloying and insipid for adult viewers. On a similar note, the voice acting is actually very well done considering the age of the film (circa 1982 for its US release). If only more of the current studios had found such good people on their first attempts at English voice-over. I couldn't be sure, since no English voice credits were given, but I am almost positive the man who did the voice for Sirius also did Rick (Hikaru) Hunter from Macross (aka Robotech). In all, it's a sweet, wonderfully done fairy tale with plenty to offer for both children and adult anime fans who don't mind (or heaven forbid, even enjoy) older, classic animation. There was nothing even remotely objectionable I could find in this movie at all with one very small exception. In the last few scenes, Malta is transformed slightly, and in her new, more "adult" form she sports faint airbrushed nipples on her previously doll-like breasts. I know it is a small niggle, but parents who are wary of such things should be aware of it, especially since it was billed as a film for children. Highly recommended for good family viewing (if you can still find it.) Remove one star if you are not a fan of older animation or have issues with airbrushed areola. — Jason Bustard Recommended Audience: As mentioned above, one very minor and non-sexual instance of nudity, otherwise it may as well be Disney. Version(s) Viewed: VHS, English dub Review Status: Full (1/1) The Sea Prince and the Fire Child © 1981 Sanrio |
© 1996-2015 THEM Anime Reviews. All rights reserved. |


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Last month, I wrote about how Atlantic Media's new online publication, Quartz, offers business-to-business publishers a new advertising model to consider. Since then I've been thinking a lot about another new model Quartz embodies, this time involving its content. Instead of the traditional editorial beats, its coverage reflects what it calls obsessions.
Though this looks at first like a slightly precious and possibly meaningless distinction, on closer inspection, it isn't. In fact, for the B2B world in particular, it is a crucial concept.
The idea is best understood by reading Quartz news editor Gideon Lichfield's slightly nerdy but persuasive rationale for abandoning the beat. As he explains, "Today almost every news outlet is organized around fixed beats: 'financial markets,' 'real estate,' 'technology', and so on."
For Lichfield, the fatal flaw of the beat is that it is driven by the print model:
"Yet the beats aren't so much an objective taxonomy as a convenient management tool, devised for an old technology. When news came in a sheaf of pages it made sense to divide them into sections—domestic, foreign, business, and so on—with an editor and a team of writers for each one, and make each writer responsible for a slice of that section: a beat."
Lichfield's post has provoked a range of reactions. C.W. Anderson worries that giving up on beats means abandoning the "monitorial" role of the press. Others, like Joshua Benton and Paul Raeburn, don't think the distinction between beats and obsessions is very clear.
Benton does, however, underscore a key aspect of the concept: flexibility. "What I do like about the obsessions model," he writes, "is that obsessions are destined to be temporary and responsive to reality." This is clearly central to Lichfield. He repeatedly refers to beats as "fixed," and contrasts them with his definition of obsessions as an "ever-evolving collection of phenomena."
The other key concept Lichfield addresses is that of crossing traditional boundaries. Covering such phenomena through a traditional beat structure, he writes, "is difficult: they often cut across beat boundaries, taking in politics, economics, technology, and other issues. Our journalists have to be, to some extent, all-rounders, who aren't afraid to get outside their usual expertise and track the topic they're following wherever it leads."
Lichfield adds that online, "when there are no pages and sections to constrain you, you are free to reframe your description of reality." I would go a bit farther. That act of reframing is not simply an option, but an obligation, a key to survival.
The arbitrary distinctions and categories that characterize traditional B2B publishing—think yearly editorial calendars, ad/edit ratios, "controlled circulation"—make such reframing impossible. The niche still matters, but it is in constant flux, and to pursue it, you have to change with it.
In almost every way, the B2B print model is poorly suited to this pursuit. It commits publishers to a relatively fixed way of presenting information on a rigid production-driven schedule to an arbitrarily defined audience that may or may not want that information.
Thinking about B2B media from this perspective has been an interesting exercise. I've drawn, so far, three conclusions.
First, the way publishers cover information should not be driven by the needs of the print model. The insight is easy; acting on it, alas, is hard. Unlike the online-only Quartz, most B2B publishers want to protect substantial, if steadily declining, print revenues. One way or another, though, they will have to make the digital-first transition if they want to survive.
Second, publishers have to rethink their idea of their audience. It's not 20,000 subscribers assigned to one of six demographic categories (and it never was). It is now a constantly shifting group of people that changes with every new article and every new keyword. You can't write to them all (and you never could). So who are you trying to reach, and why?
Third, to succeed as an online publisher, you have to know when and how to change. When you substitute an evolving obsession for a fixed beat, you have to dig deeper and harder for things to write about. And when you write for an ever-changing group of readers, you have to be constantly assessing who they are.
The way you do it is through data. Most B2B publishers talk a lot about data, but mostly to ask, "Gee, how can we sell our data to companies and make a lot of money?" But the real value isn't in the data set itself, but in how that data can help publishers strengthen their relationships with their audiences. If you aren't actively mining and analyzing the data you have on your readers and their obsessions, you won't keep up with them.
These are not particularly new or original observations. But they underscore for me something less obvious: to survive online, you have to abandon not just the mechanisms of print, but the very thought processes.


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Suppose there are $N$ parties $p_j$, each with a binary $b_j\in{\{0,1\}}$. The problem needs to compute the multiplication of number of ones times that of zeros, that is, $R=(\sum{b_j})\times(N-\sum{b_j})$.
The computation should be secure in the sense that no party can know more than the final result $R$. For example, it's not ok to perform secure sum, because then $\sum{b_j}$ is known, which is sensitive in my problem. So, is there any existing secure computation protocol that fits my demand?


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From APIDesign
It is time to announce results of APIFest08. Listen to related podcast or download it!Contents |
Would you win?
The celebration of 10 years of NetBeans releases is in progress and that is why it is also time to celebrate all those who contributed to the NetBeans architecture, and design practices which make NetBeans platform the most stable Java rich client application framework.
The best way to have fun is to play games. The best way to learn is to play as well. The best way to teach is to organize such game. When me and CZJUG lead Jakub Podlešák realized that, we decided to organize similar game as described in Chapter 17 of TheAPIBook. It is a game to teach, learn and have fun while designing architecture and APIs and practising BackwardCompatibility principles in software interfaces.
There were four base rounds (1, 2, 3, 4) in the APIFest08. We started with fourteen participants. However as the competition advanced further and further, only those who were really eager to win managed to finish all four design tasks. Still, six solutions advanced to the final judgment day/week.
The judgment round is in fact the start of the real competition. However it is also much more difficult than the first four rounds. Instead of looking into own solution, one needs to dig into solutions provided by others and seek for left compatibility problems which is different and time consuming. Still I am glad that two participants, Petr Šmíd and Jan Žák did not give up and sent me their hacks showing BackwardCompatibility evolution problems in many solutions.
Problems in Solution 04
Both guys managed to find some problem in solution 04. Actually there were multiple problems as demonstrated by Petr, however the most obvious one was source incompatibility caused by the addition of new method into a subclassable interface as shown by Jan and me (my solutions are just illustrative, I am not one of the competitors). The lesson to take is that if one is seeking for 100% BackwardCompatibility one needs to prevent modifications to classes that can be subclassed.
Problems in Solution 06
The author of solution six did few compatibility mistakes. First of all, as Jan demonstrates, the once public field Convertor.one disappeared in subsequent revision, which is clearly incompatible for clients using it.
I found an interesting source incompatibility caused by adding overloaded version of constructor. If there are two methods with the same name and number of parameters, but different types, one can try to call them with null and the compiler will refuse the compilation:
against-solution06/test/apifest/CurrencyTest.java:18: reference to Convertor is ambiguous, both method Convertor(BigDecimal,java.util.Currency,java.util.Currency) and method Convertor(Convertor.RateProvider,java.util.Currency,java.util.Currency) match Convertor c = new Convertor(null, cur1, cur2);
Obviously the code compiled before the second constructor was introduced. It failed with later version. This is not that big incompatibility in practise, but it is enough to loose in APIFest08.
Petr exploited another functional incompatibility. The text of a thrown exception changed between two releases. As such it is enough to generate the exception and compare the text. A thing to remember? There are different kinds of APIs, text messages being one of them. For purpose of APIFest08 all of them are equal.
Problems in Solution 07
When I checked the state of all solutions after task 3, I found a perfect way to win. The solution 07 is an example of absolute API stability. The author of this solution managed to guess my future requirements and he changed nothing in the original API in first three rounds! Indeed, it is impossible to find an inconsistency in two versions of an API if they are identical. That is why my own goal for task 4 was to force the author of solution 07 to make some changes. I succeeded, the API version 4 is different than the previous versions, however as the solution 07 is based on a variation of request/response pattern, it still seems unbreakable.
And actually nobody managed to question BackwardCompatibility of the solution. But Jan Žák noticed an important problem. To quote his email: Sometimes - like in the Task2 - the author even added nothing to the API and implemented the requested feature directly in the test case. I'm not convinced, that this approach is strictly fair.. When I look at the quest of the second round and see the complex subclassing classing code provided by solution 07...
/** Merge all currency rates of convertor 1 with convertor 2. * Implement this using your API, preferably this method just delegates * into some API method which does the actual work, without requiring * API clients to code anything complex. */ public static Convertor merge( final Convertor one, final Convertor two ) { // quite a complex code with subclassing }
...I have to agree. All other solutions got this correctly. As such I am giving Jan one point for finding a problem in solution 07 - finding that it does not meet the requirements.
Problems in Solution 11
This is the solution designed by Jan Žák and it seemed completely unbreakable for me. However, Petr had other opinion. He realized that when a code like:
private String k1, k2; public Constructor(String k1, String k2) { this.k1 = k1; this.k2 = k2; } public boolean canConvert(String s1, String s2) { if (k1.equals(s1) && k2.equals(s2)) { return true; } if (k2.equals(s1) && k1.equals(s2)) { return true; } return false; }
is modified to be more general:
private List<String> keys = new ArrayList<String>(); public Constructor(String k1, String k2) { keys.add(k1); keys.add(k2); } public boolean canConvert(String s1, String s2) { if (keys.contains(s1) && keys.contains(s2)) { return true; } return false; }
The result is not the same. Petr managed to exploit this with his test. Congratulation, this is very clever!
This shows how carefully we need to evolve APIs of our libraries. Even slight change in Runtime Aspects of APIs can lead to incompatibilities.
Problems in Solution 13
This solution suffered with source as well functional compatibility problems. Jan managed to exploit both, Petr concentrated on the source incompatibility and I on the functional one.
The thing to remember is that as soon as you implement equals, you need to stick with its implementation. Changing it can be exploited either by careful hackers or by everyone who puts the objects into List or other collection classes.
Problems in Solution 14
This is the solution provided by Petr Šmíd. As Petr is one of the last standing hackers, his solution is not easy to break. I managed to exploit change in implementation classes by using obj.getClass().getInterfaces() check. This does not require any additional permissions, everyone can do this, however it is not really fair. If this was the only way to break Petr's solution, I would still consider his work unbreakable.
However Jan Žák created more intrinsic exploit that generates ArrayStoreException, if executed with newer version of the API. The reason for that is that the task4 version wraps all CurrencyRate with own TimeLimitedCurrencyRate objects. As these objects are not used only internally, but also exposed to clients with a getter getCurrencyRates, it is enough to pass in own objects and check that the returned values are of the same type. Excellent work Jan!
The lesson to remember is to Separate APIs for Clients and Providers as advocated in Chapter 8.
All solutions are flawed in one or other way. As such nobody gets ten points for creating an unbreakable solution. The only points awarded are only for exploits:
Petr Šmíd
Petr is one of the winners of APIFest08.
Petr broke solutions 4, 6, 11, 13.
Jan Žák
Jan broke solutions 4, 6, 13, 14 and challenged correctness of solution 7
Both Petr and Jan visited in Sun's Prague office on Thursday 30, 2008 and got their copy of TheAPIBook. Jan is the absolute winner of APIFest08 - he broke four solutions, plus correctly challenged another one. However, I'd like to congratulate you all, dear participants. I enjoyed the game and I hope you are not sorry for participating either.
Thanks, Jaroslav Tulach!


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I've seen a lot of deals lately on Class 4 and Class 6 SD cards mixed in with deals on Class 10 SD cards. The price difference between these classes of SD cards is now nominal and, as a result, there's really no reason you should buy a Class 4 SD card anymore.
The prevalence of this problem came to light recently when a friend brought his Canon 60D to me, stating that it wouldn't record video for more than a couple of seconds. My gut told me to check the SD card first thing. And, sure enough, he had an old SanDisk Ultra Class 4 SDHC card in it. I swapped it out with one of my SanDisk Class 10 SDHC cards and it worked like a charm.
He ordered a new Class 10 SDHC card that day. His 60D has captured video just fine ever since.
If you don't already know, the Class-ratings on SD cards relate to a minimum write speed. When recording HD video, you need a minimum-sustained write speed in order to dump the data off the camera and onto the card. In many cameras today, Class 4 (4MB/s) and Class 6 (6MB/s) cards just can't handle the data transfers.
Class 10 cards are currently the fastest rated for minimum write speeds available and will handle video capture for most, if not all, current HD video DSLRs and camcorders today.
If you want to know more about SD card speed ratings and classifications, check out my article on Demystifying SD Cards.
If you want an easy recommendation, go with SanDisk Extreme Class 10 SD cards.


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Ask the MB: Tony D'Aunnzio's Sunglasses from Caddyshack
A: Was Tony D'Annunzio The Situation before The Situation?
We cannot determine the exact make or model of D'Annunzio's sunglasses. (If you know, let us know.) The closest we think you're going to get -- and it's pretty close -- is vintage I Ski reflectors like the ones 44 is wearing (inset) before he turned into the most powerful toolbag on earth. These always turn up on eBay or vintage eyewear sites.