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Schatzberg's Manual of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Ninth Edition
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Schatzberg's Manual of Clinical Psychopharmacology is a meticulously researched, yet down-to-earth guide for practitioners prescribing psychotropic medications to individuals with psychiatric disorders or symptoms mandating treatment. The ninth edition offers up-to-date information on current drugs, interactions, side effects, and dosing guidelines, and retains the strengths and features that have made it a standard text for trainees and practicing clinicians. The authors also include a new chapter on important developments in laboratory-guided pharmacotherapy, including pharmacogenomic testing, neurocognitive testing, quantitative EEG, and neuroimaging. Although the book's primary purpose is to provide the reader-practitioner with basic and practical information regarding the many classes of psychiatric medications, the authors stress that understanding how to select and prescribe psychotropic medications does not obviate the basic need to comprehensively evaluate and understand psychiatric patients. Accordingly, the book draws on the authors' clinical experience, as well as on the scientific literature, resulting in an accessible, yet rigorous text.
Features that have helped cement this book's reputation include:
- Coverage is not limited to long-standing and newly approved medications, but also includes agents that are likely to receive approval from the FDA in the near future, ensuring that the reader stays up-to-date.
- References are provided for key statements, and each chapter is then followed by a list of selected relevant articles and books for readers who want to go beyond the material presented, making for a leaner, more reader-friendly guide.
- Dozens of summary tables with key information on classes of psychotropics function as quick-reference guides, promoting learning and serving as convenient resources for overloaded clinicians.
- The appendix offers two kinds of suggested readings. The first, for clinicians, is invaluable to trainees, while the second, for patients and families, helps point clinicians to books aimed at a lay audience to supplement information provided to patients.
Staying abreast of both new medications and promising treatment protocols is essential in this rapidly evolving field. Schatzberg's Manual of Clinical Psychopharmacology delivers authoritative information in a friendly, collegial style, ensuring that both students and practicing clinicians are equipped to provide a superior standard of care.
- Preface
- Disclosure of Competing Interests
- Chapter 1. General Principles of Psychopharmacological Treatment
- Chapter 2. Diagnosis and Classification
- Chapter 3. Antidepressants
- Chapter 4. Antipsychotic Drugs
- Chapter 5. Mood Stabilizers
- Chapter 6. Antianxiety Agents
- Chapter 7. Hypnotics
- Chapter 8. Stimulants and Other Fast-Acting Drugs
- Chapter 9. Augmentation Strategies for Treatment-Resistant Disorders
- Chapter 10. Emergency Department Treatment
- Chapter 11. Pharmacotherapy for Substance Use Disorders
- Chapter 12. Pharmacotherapy in Special Situations
- Chapter 13: Laboratory-Guided Pharmacotherapy
- Appendix: Suggested Readings
- Index
About the Authors
Alan F. Schatzberg, M.D., is Kenneth T. Norris, Jr., Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California, where from 1991-2010 he was also the Chair of Psychiatry. He is currently Director of the Stanford Mood Disorders Center.
Charles DeBattista, D.M.H., M.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences; Co-Director of the Depression Research Clinic and Research Program; and Director of Medical Student Education in Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine in Stanford, California.
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World's Most Expensive Scooter
Vespa was founded in post-WWII Italy when Enrico Piaggio, owner of Piaggio & Co., decided to take his company out of the aeronautics industry. Because many of Italy's roads had been destroyed, motorbikes like the Cushman were more useful than automobiles. Inspired by the Cushman, Piaggio & Co. began working on a bike of their own. The result was the first globally successful scooter—the Vespa.
The Vespa featured a shield in front that helped keep the driver dry and clean, as well as a step-through frame that could accommodate women in long dresses. The internal mesh transmission eliminated the need for an exterior chain and the front fork design made it easy to change wheels.
The Vespa SS90 Super Sprint was introduced in 1965 and produced until 1971. It featured a narrower front end compared to other Vespas and a glove box and spare wheel mounted in the step-through area of the frame. It didn't do so well during its run, however, making the SS90 a rare piece of Vespa history today.
Because of its rarity—only 5,309 were ever made—and Vespa's storied history, the SS90 is now the world's most expensive scooter. If you manage to find one, you can expect to pay over $7,000 to own this costly scooter.
2 replies on "World's Most Expensive Scooter"
Pure madness !!!
kinda cheap compared to a harley

subset: commoncrawl


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Newspapers: Legal Documents that protect citizens "beyond the shadow of doubt"
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By Mike MacLaren
Paying for baseball umpires is more important than protecting your property from foreclosure.
That is in essence what elected officials across the country are saying as they push for "cost saving" legislation to allow government to post notices of legal actions on government-run websites.
"Baseball umpires? … You can't be serious," you say.
I am serious; I'm also worried. You should be too. Here's why:
Government officials say such legislation saves money that could be spent on police and fire fighters. But there are government programs that cost more than publishing these notices, such as umpires for city baseball leagues. It's a fact: the City of Niles (MI) spends more each year for baseball umpires than for publishing legal notices in the local newspaper.
But there's a larger issue at stake. These public notices are legal documents. News-on-paper notices give citizens an independent, authentic and verifiable record of what their government has done. If questions arise regarding ordinances, actions or any other municipal decision, courts will not accept a copy — they want the original document as proof. This news-on-paper publication requirement was put in place to protect public and municipal officials so that there's no question that a document had been doctored.
Requiring legal notices to be published in a venue independent of government is a form of insurance for taxpayers. How can you get "beyond the shadow of doubt" proof of the contents of a legal document from a website that can be altered with a click of a mouse, or hacked? Heck, even the Pentagon's computers have been hacked.
When was the last time you visited your local government website? Is it something you do weekly?
Newspapers deliver an ongoing information stream, so that if one person misses a property-rezoning announcement, others can alert them that a nearby wooded lot could become an adult video store.
Let me be clear: Under the guise of saving money, such "pull public notices out of a newspapers and post them on a government web site" legislation will make it easier for municipalities to have special meetings, make assessments and other important decisions with nearly no knowledge or input from the community. Yes, newspapers charge to publish these notices. More often than not, they are done at cost. But without these notices, more than a few community newspapers face the specter of shutting down. So on top of posting these public notices where the public won't notice, there may be no local paper to report on the results of the actions.
And let me be clear about something else: government officials across the country have thankless jobs. Most of the ones I've worked with are industrious and well-intentioned people. I sincerely doubt that they realized how this legislation could cause a crack in the cornerstone of communities across the country. But the truth is that these bills will hurt you and every other citizen across this nation.
So, government officials: Thank you for all the thankless work you do. It is a lot.
And thank you for reconsidering your support of this legislation. Because the taxpayers you work for deserve better.
— Mike MacLaren is executive director of the Michigan Press Association in Lansing.


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STOCKTON, Calif. - A homeless California boy and his father are getting help from strangers after a photo of the 5-year-old received widespread attention online.
Tsukiko Jack and his father, Anthony Whigham, live in squalor. Whigham says he does his best to provide for his son but adds what his son really needs is stability.
"He's healthy and happy and as far as he's concerned he's living a normal life," Whigham said.
Whigham says his trailer burned down when Tsukiko was just a toddler. They have been on the streets ever since.
"Him first, me last, and a lot of times that's my whole day. It's just making sure every day he has a normal, healthy life," Whigham told KTXL.
A photograph of Whigham and his son was shared on social media, which started a flood of worry from the community, from people like William Crockett.
"That breaks my heart to see him out there, struggling," Crockett said.
For the past 24 hours, people like Crockett have been donating items to keep little Tsukiko warm and fed.
But he's also had unwanted attention.
"The post on Facebook is not grounds to start your own investigation right there on the spot and detain me and my son for hours," Whigham said.
Despite the difficult conditions, Whigham says his son knows he's doing his best.
"He does need to wake up in a stable environment in the same place every day, in the same bed, in the same bedroom," Whigham said. "I would love that."


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The writing is on the wall
What's the meaning of the phrase 'The writing is on the wall'?
The expression 'the writing is on the wall' is used whenever an inevitable result or imminent danger has become apparent.
What's the origin of the phrase 'The writing is on the wall'?
'The writing is on the wall' is also sometimes expressed as 'the handwriting is on the wall' or as 'mene mene'. The first of those variations is an obvious synonym but what does 'mene mene' mean? This is a shortening of 'mene mene tekel upharsin', which is of Aramaic origin. If your Aramaic isn't that strong you can get some guidance from the Bible, Daniel 5, in the story of Belshazzar's feast. To cut a long Old Testament story short, Belshazzar was indulging in a drunken revelry and debasing sacred temple vessels by using them as wine goblets when a disembodied hand wrote 'mene mene tekel upharsin' on the palace wall.
On the face of it, and using a literal translation, this appeared meaningless. The expression seemed to mean 'two minas, a shekel and two parts' or alternatively 'numbered, weighed, divided'. None of this meant much to Belshazzar, who decided that he needed further interpretation and sent for the Jewish exile Daniel. It then became clear that the phrase was an elaborate wordplay, relying on the fact that each word can denote a different coin, and the third word can be interpreted as 'Persia'. Daniel's interpretation, as recorded in the first easily understood English version of the Bible, the King James Version, 1611, was:
And this the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. This the interpretation of the thing:
MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians.
The point of the moral tale was that Belshazzar couldn't see the warning that was apparent to others because he was engrossed with his sinning ways.
The subtlety of the biblical wordplay is now somewhat lost on those of us who don't speak ancient Aramaic. Perhaps a flavour of the style can be conveyed by comparing it to the lyrics of the popular World War II novelty song Mairzy Doats:
Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy diveya
A kiddley divey too, wooden shoe?
Literally, that's meaningless but a wartime Daniel could have translated it into its actual meaning:
Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy,
A kid'll eat ivy too, wouldn't you?
'Writing on the wall' began to be used figuratively, that is providing warnings where no actual writing or walls are involved, from the early 18th century; for example, Jonathan Swift's Miscellaneous works, 1720:
A baited Banker thus desponds,
From his own Hand foresees his Fall;
They have his Soul who have his Bonds;
'Tis like the Writing on the Wall.


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Most famously, the Fender Mustang is a quirky short-scale electric guitar launched in 1965, that later found favour with indie bands due to its cool shape and livery.
Joining it in the current-day corral are two new modelling amps that also use the Mustang moniker, but are as modern in specification as the Mustang guitar is now retro.
The lion's share of the Mustang II's spec is shared by the I, and you can assume that what goes for the bigger amp is the same for the smaller unless stated.
In fact all that separates them is the output, speaker size and cabinet dimensions, all of which are listed in the spec check: the operating system we'll describe is the same.
The tones are based around eight amp models, with three versions of each: orange, red and green. They're accessed via a rotary pot that scrolls all the way through; all the oranges, then greens, then reds.
There are no menus to squint at, or multi-element LED displays to keep track of, so the Mustang is immediately easy to use.
Although loaded with tones from the outset, the concept is that you set up a sound in the non-editable orange banks, then save it to the specific amp model's red or green equivalent. Press the save button, scroll between red and green, then save again and it's done.
The models comprise three of Fender's best-known amps, two British options and a trio of higher gain amps. All settings on the five-knob front panel, aside from the master volume, can be edited and saved.
Alongside the amps are a choice of effects and Fender has resisted the temptation to overload the Mustang with all manner of unusable noises in favour of different types of the same denomination of effect: chorus and deep chorus, a slow and fast Vibratone and so on.
There are also 12 reverb and delay effects - all of which are accessed, selected and edited via the mod or dly/rev pot.
Just how the effects are chosen comes across as a little clumsy in print so we'd suggest checking out the embedded video demo to see exactly how it's done.
The basic premise though, is straightforward. The mod and dly/rev knobs are divided up into four sections labelled A, B, C, and D. What's more, within each of these reside three effects - one, two, and three.
There are no notches to guide you nor, as we've said, a display to refer to, so the system can be a little fiddly at first, but the three small LEDs above the mod button illuminate to denote which effect you've dialled in.
For example, the octaver can be found as modulation effect C3, so, to access it, you need to rotate the mod pot to segment C and then stop when the three bulb lights.
It's possible to alter the wet mix: press the exit button while, at the same time, turning either the mod or dly/rev pot up or down depending on which effect you're editing.
What's more, the tap button not only regulates the delay time but can also be used to alter the speed of certain modulation effects.
For deep editing of effects and tones the Mustang comes out of the box with a DVD that, among other things, gives access to Fender's Fuse software, which allows you to really dig down into the amp via your computer. Even the most gnarly of luddites shouldn't be overly confused by this simple system.
The Fender amp models are very impressive indeed. The '59 Bassman, the '65 Twin and '57 Deluxe options have much of their inspirations' tonality with the classic glassy treble and expansive low end present in absolute spades.
Dial-in a smidge of the impressive '65 spring reverb and it sounds (albeit doesn't particularly feel) like the 'real' thing.
There's no doubt that the II's 12-inch speaker gives a better overall tone than the eight-inch loaded into the I, but that's not to say that the smaller Mustang doesn't sound good in its own right.
In fact, some of the Fender tones are twangier through the smaller speaker and can be warmed slightly by tweaking the EQ or adding a hint of phaser or tremolo. The 40-watt II does offer more than enough poke to fulfil smaller gigs, however.
The British 60s model, which provides a thick and usable overdrive, is very enjoyable, but the higher gain models - most notably the American 90s and Metal 2000 options - aren't up to the standard of the rest of the amp.
That said, we understand why Fender included them and, with a high-powered humbucker, they do provide an approximation of the correct feel for hard rock and metal.
There's a rather involved method of utilising an optional two-way footswitch to flick between just two patches in real time but, for the simple enjoyment of playing for playing's sake, scrolling through the amp models is more than satisfying.
If you're umming and ahhing about which boutique five-watt valve combo you should buy for home use, do you yourself a favour and try one of these. Neither boutique nor expensive, they nonetheless deliver top tones for home playing and practising.
The Twin, Deluxe and Bassman models impress the most - good, usable sounds - while Metal 2000 feels like more of a box-ticking inclusion.
Thanks to the 12-inch speaker, the Mustang II is certainly the better sounding of the two but at a mere £108, the Mustang I is still a very impressive option.
For practice, laying down some demos and even getting in touch with other users online and swapping sounds, the Mustangs are a steal. And thanks to the accuracy of many of its amp models, we're hard pushed to think of a better mix of vintage-inspired tones, price and modern technology.
When compared with other modelling amps available today, the Mustangs could be considered a tad backward, but when the tones are as good as this, we'd urge you to adapt. Tons of fun for not much money at all.


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The first one comes to you from Albany, New York where some intrepid citizens are handing out flyers to "flyers" informing them of TSA Opt Out and Film Week. A PR pencilneck comes down and starts acting like some kind of power hungry little Nazi wannabe. But check out the skill and professionalism of Deputy Lenic as he assesses the situation and sides with the law, stating back to this unAmerican NWO collaborator the New York Penal Code, etc.
Gotta love it when the pencilneck asks the cameraman for his identification and he tells him is name and even spells it for him. But the little Kim Jong-Il acolyte wants his papers, and he doesn't ask please. The expression on his face is one of brute statism worn by concentration camp gas chamber operators, Joseph Stalin, and their ilk everywhere. Too much? I don't think so. If it weren't for brave men like Dpy. Lenic we'd already be on the "Last Train to Aushwitz".
In case you want to send fan mail:
Attn. Deputy Stan Lenic
Albany County Sheriff's Office
16 Eagle Street
Albany, NY 12207
The next story comes from Arizona:
Jennifer Foster of Florence, AZ was visiting Times Square with her husband Nov. 14 when they saw a shoeless man asking for change. She writes, "Right when I was about to approach, one of your officers came up behind him. The officer said, 'I have these size 12 boots for you, they are all-weather. Let's put them on and take care of you.'
The officer squatted down on the ground and proceeded to put socks and the new boots on this man. The officer expected NOTHING in return and did not know I was watching*. I have been in law enforcement for 17 years. I was never so impressed in my life. I did not get the officer's name. It is important, I think, for all of us to remember the real reason we are in this line of work. The reminder this officer gave to our profession in his presentation of human kindness has not been lost on myself or any of the Arizona law enforcement officials with whom this story has been shared."
Verily I say unto you, In as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. --Matthew 25:45


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The National Corn Growers Association announced that the enhanced Compliance Assurance Program, which includes onfarm refuge assessments, an online survey and IRM education and awareness, is seeing strong success and an increase in the number of growers planting their corn refuge.
The CAP is designed to improve compliance with Insect Resistance Management requirements. The Agricultural Biotechnology Stewardship Technical Committee, a consortium of Bt corn registrants, submits an annual CAP report to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency describing industry-coordinated compliance assurance efforts for Bt traits.
In 2011, ABSTC launched a new IRM on-farm assessment program that focuses more assessments on growers who may not have purchased sufficient refuge seed according to their purchase records.
"The onfarm assessment process has proven to be an effective mechanism to identify Bt corn growers who are not following refuge requirements and provide assistance so that they can achieve compliance. The vast majority of growers found out of compliance in 2011 were found to be complying with the IRM requirements during the 2012 season," said Mike Smith, ABSTC IRM subcommittee co-chairman.
In addition to on-farm assessments, an anonymous IRM grower survey was conducted. Highlights of the survey indicate a decrease in the percentage of growers not planting any refuge acres and strong adoption of integrated refuge products, which include Bt and refuge seed interspersed in a single bag or seed box.
The CAP continues to be effective for all Bt corn products with structured refuge requirements
In 2012, the majority of growers surveyed planted the required refuge size on their farms and the majority of growers surveyed planted a refuge within the required distance for all of their Bt corn fields. Furthermore, the survey indicates that the percentage of growers not planting any refuge acres has declined from 16 percent in 2011 to less than 10 percent in 2012.
"We are pleased to see that the number of corn growers not planting a refuge declined last season," said Nick Storer, ABSTC steering team member. "We will continue to focus our education efforts in areas of highest risk of insect pest resistance development in the Corn Belt, as well as the cotton growing area, where IRM continues to be important."
The 2012 survey was the first year integrated refuge products were included, and 50 percent of growers indicated they planted an integrated refuge product on their farm. ABSTC projects that the adoption of integrated products will continue to increase, contributing to the overall increase in compliance, which helps preserve Bt corn technology durability.
Roger Zylstra, a grower from Lynnville, Iowa, planted integrated refuge products on his farm last season.
"Planting integrated refuge products is a very convenient way to manage my corn acres," said Zylstra. "It's simple, saves time, is the responsible thing to do for Bt trait durability, and eliminates any refuge compliance questions giving me peace of mind."
"We're pleased to see the strong adoption of integrated refuge products by growers coupled with the overall decline in growers not planting refuge acres," said Jim Zimmerman, Chairman of the NCGA Trade Policy and Biotechnology Action Team. "The vast majority of corn growers have always followed refuge requirements to help protect the efficacy of this important technology, but all growers must follow these requirements to help preserve the long-term value of this technology."
The ABSTC continues to promote education programs and strategies to preserve the efficacy of Bt technology. As part of these efforts, all seed registrants have incorporated prominent graphics illustrating the required refuge size of the seed product on the seed bag or bag tag.
In addition, the ABSTC continues to partner with NCGA to ensure that NCGA's membership and networks are fully informed of refuge requirements and the CAP. One collaborative example is the NCGA IRM calculator. Farmers can access the IRM calculator via computer, tablet or a smart phone by simply logging on to www.irmcalculator.com.
Activities under the enhanced Compliance Assurance Program continue to promote refuge compliance and help preserve the Bt corn technology. Industry and grower commitment to Bt corn product stewardship is further demonstrated through the implementation of the enhanced CAP and rapid adoption of integrated refuge products in the Corn Belt.
With the introduction of integrated refuge products, growers have an additional choice in adhering to refuge requirements.


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I want to generate a few random numbers using an LFSR. However, the LFSR output depends on the number of taps, so for a large period I use large (relative) number of bits. This causes the numbers to be as large as the period. For example, I would like to use a 16-bit LFSR to generate random 5-bit numbers. What is the proper way to reduce the number of bits but still ensure that single numbers don't repeat and that the sequences don't become shorter?
For degree 5, I am using the polynomial x^5+x^3+1 and the following code:
lfsr = (lfsr >> 1) ^ (-(lfsr & 1u) & 0x0014u);
For n = 16, I am using the polynomial x^16 + x^14 + x^13 + x^11 + 1
lfsr = (lfsr >> 1) ^ (-(lfsr & 1u) & 0xB400u);
Are any of these a problem?


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The Model T4000 combo dumper, from Mepaco, features a sanitary design that is easy to operate and maintain. In addition to heavy-duty construction, the unit has a unique hold-down mechanism ideal for products that arrive in palletized combos with liners.
- Hold-down mechanism automatically secures the liner and helps prevent foreign debris from entering the product stream during the dump cycle
- Works well with IQF meats, vegetables and a variety of other products as well as container types
- System lifts vats, combos and tubs quickly and safelty
- Featuring 304 stainless steel construction, it has a 3,000-lb. capacity with discharge heights up to 82 in.


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For years I have been driving a very old car, and servicing it every 10,000 kilometres even though it took me almost a year to drive that much.
Now I have a newer car which I care about more. It's going to be doing very little kilometres -- mainly driving to/from the train station, with some driving on the weekend. I predict it will probably take me about 18 months to drive 10,000 kilometres.
Most advice I have read is that you should service your car every 10,000 kilometres OR 6 months, whichever is sooner. If I follow this advice, I will be servicing the car after only a small number of kilometres.
Given my circumstances, should I be following this advice?


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It's time for the gloves to come off on climate change

In the information war on climate change, stealing the opposition's documents is not a way to achieve change, but stealing the methods from skeptics' playbooks might make a difference.

The people who accept climate change as a real threat need to accept that they have failed to get other people to accept climate change as a real threat. One climate scientist, Peter Gleick, was so desperate to expose skeptics that he lied to obtain internal documents from The Heartland Institute, a libertarian group that questions the reality of climate change and has done well in discrediting Gleick and his peers.
But stealing documents is not the way that climate policy will see meaningful change here in the United States. Stealing some of the skeptics' playbook, however, might make a difference.
Liberal foundations (there are several prominent ones) that fund efforts here in the United States to make sure climate change is properly reported, and to have rapid response in place to rebut arguments from climate skeptics -- they all live in their heads. Their approach is rational. They underappreciate the fact that the issue at hand is emotional and visceral.
Conservative attack dogs understand this. They have no hesitation going for the jugular, or playing to our most primordial instincts and fears. The liberal elite, meanwhile, continue to try to influence policy and public opinion by citing science, by correcting factual mistakes and by engaging in "substantive debate."
They will never win, because they are not only playing by the wrong rules, they are playing the wrong game.
Prompting action on climate change requires open warfare. Gloves off. If there are rules, they are street rules, i.e. logic is out the window. On the street, it is all about protecting your people.
The idea that accurate reporting will change the way anyone thinks or acts on Capitol Hill is ridiculous. It's like planting a seed in Death Valley and expecting it to miraculously sprout into a beautiful carbon-mitigating flower. Not going to happen.
Recently, executives at many renewable energy companies have been discussing an opinion piece by Severin Borenstein, a professor of business and public policy at the University of California at Berkeley, who argues (largely correctly) that the Obama administration's linkage of clean energy to jobs and innovation is placing focus on the wrong issue.
His argument is simple: the dirty energy industry can just as easily claim that it is creating jobs and innovating, and they wouldn't be lying. Borenstein suggests that the true issue must be global warming. Nor is this incorrect. But -- no offense to Borenstein -- while he is no doubt a great academic, he is not an influence peddler. And that's what is required in this situation.
New research from the National Survey of American Public Opinion on Climate Change backs that up: Almost 4 in 10 Americans still don't believe in man-made climate change (and that's actually an improvement from 50 percent in 2010). Additional research by Third Way, a moderate Washington think tank, unveils an alternative to focusing messaging on global warming, and this alternative is rooted in the idea of talking about the benefits of arresting climate change.
As any good marketer knows, when you're selling something, you're selling the personal benefits, not the product itself. In the same sense with climate change, we need to sell the benefits of stopping man-made climate change.
Recent focus groups conducted in Ohio and North Carolina by Third Way confirm this approach. Besides concluding that "voters in traditional energy states want to get America running on clean energy," their findings -- Moving Clean Energy to the Center: Insights from Swing Voters in the Midwest and South -- reached three other important conclusions:
- Focusing on long-term economic growth potential and the consequences of inaction works. Selling near-term job creation doesn't.
- Tapping into concerns about pollution and the strong desire to eliminate coal works. Focusing simply on climate change doesn't.
- Describing a vision of government as a facilitator for the private sector works. Direct spending by government doesn't.
As the California campaign against Proposition 23 last year proved, concern about public health because of pollution made a huge difference in defeating the proposition, which aimed to cancel the state's nation-leading and progressive climate policy. The involvement of the American Lung Association gave the pollution message credibility and linked it in a very visceral way to personal benefit.
If Obama ever grows a backbone on the climate issue (he's shown he has courage when it comes to terrorism, and what is global climate change but the ultimate terrorist?), here are some suggestions for talking points that are tied back to the notion of protecting your people and personal benefit.
It's an approach that might make a difference to the people who can really matter in this discussion -- not the liberal elite, not the conservative skeptics, but the 4 in 10 everyday people going about their business and just trying to get by.
Climate Change Deniers | Climate Change Hawks | |
The EPA is a job-killer and must be shuttered. | Conservatives want to poison your water supply and make sure that your children are exposed to toxic chemicals and asthma-causing pollution. | |
Carbon regulation is an additional tax and an economy-buster. | The Extreme Weather Party (aka the Republicans) is actively preventing steps that would help communities from being destroyed by the increasing occurrence of deadly tornados, hurricanes, flooding and drought. | |
Clean energy jobs are a myth. | Clean energies like solar have a multiplier effect in economic development compared to dirty energy.* | |
The White House climate hoax is to blame for high gas prices. | $5 a gallon is a small cost compared to sending your neighbor to die in Iraq and Afghanistan to maintain stability of our oil supply, and the $1 trillion price tag for two wars that the U.S. taxpayers didn't want. |
We need to reach 10 out of 10 to achieve meaningful action. Reframing the conversation can help get us there. And as the American Lung Association showed in California, so can engaging messengers that are all about protecting your people.
Another such messenger is the insurance industry -- not traditionally seen as a bastion of consumer advocacy. Yet they see a severe threat from climate change, and are starting to get very nervous that their business model is in jeopardy. Last week, on the heels of the devastating tornados that ripped through the United States killing dozens and destroying whole communities, representatives of the industry went to Congress to implore them to not only believe, but to take firmer action on climate.
"From our industry's perspective, the footprints of climate change are around us and the trend of increasing damage to property and threat to lives is clear," Franklin Nutter, president of the Reinsurance Association of America, said during a press conference that also included representatives from Swiss Re, Willis Reand the nonprofit Ceres, which leads a number of industry efforts focused on sustainability.
Cynthia McHale, Ceres' insurance program director, took the gloves off a bit more and focused on personal benefit, saying that unless we end political paralysis on climate change, "extreme weather is certain to cause more homes and businesses to be uninsurable in the private insurance market, leaving the costs to taxpayers or individuals."
In the United States last year, we experienced a record 14 natural disasters causing more than $1 billion in damage each. Property and casualty insurers lost an estimated $44 billion in 2011, a year in which natural disasters were more severe, more frequent, less predictable and longer than in the past. The average weather-related insurance industry loss in the U.S. is now $20 billion a year, a more than six-fold increase from about $3 billion a year in the 1980s, according to Swiss Re.
*(This is where I slightly differ with Borenstein, whose Berkeley colleague Dan Kammen has shown that solar installation creates five times or more the number of jobs than does investment in a natural gas plant of comparable capacity).
Knuckle tattoos photo via Shutterstock.


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Duet 3.19 Premium Apk + Original for android
Duet 3.19 Premium Apk + Original for android
Duet is a Arcade Game for android
download last version of Duet Premium Apk + Original for android from revdl with direct link
Enter a mesmerising trance of co-dependence in Duet. The rules are simple: control two vessels in sync, survive against all odds and keep calm.
Selected for the PAX Prime, PAX East & PAX Australia Indie Showcases
Mobile Game of the Year 2013 – Kotaku
Best Games of 2013 – The New Yorker
4.5/5 – Touch Arcade
4.5/5 – 148 Apps
4.5/5 – App Smile
4/5 – App Spy
"…few other games are as fun when you succeed." — The New Yorker
"It feels as designed as a raindrop, and just as perfect." — Ben Kuchera, Polygon
"Duet does what the best video games do." — Kotaku
"Highly Recommended." — Penny Arcade Report
"Duet looks hard as nails. And I love it." — Touch Arcade
"Duet is a must-have." — 148 Apps
"Shiel's soundtrack … is as innovative as the game it scores." — Jake Cleland, The Vine
"Your eyes, ears, and thumbs were built to perform this Duet together." — Indie Games
"…Duet's plaintive and melancholic aesthetic imbues it with a sense of the profound." — CVG
"But while the aesthetic of Duet is familiar, the gameplay is all new." — Pocket Gamer
"It is fantastic." — Tim Rogers
"Instant love. Instant." — Mark Serrels
"It looks positively mind bending, and also, a really good time." — App Spy
Your survival is dependent on protecting two vessels – they are devices in sync, a dance and song between two entities tethered together in symbiosis. Feel edge of your seat terror where the world around you becomes quiet and numb as all that matters is the game living between your palms — that is Duet.
Experience eight chapters of deceptive narrative and nerve-twisting gameplay. Replay any stage to perfect your movements and unlock over 25 achievements. This is a game that will test you. Unlock the Survival mode, Daily Challenges and four additional chapters of bonus challenges.
With air tight controls and gameplay that's tuned to perfection Duet provides the perfect balance between challenge and pure gaming satisfaction. Touch either side of the screen to twist your vessels and avoid everything in your path. Remember: even that which begins simple can end complex.
An outstanding handcrafted soundtrack by Melbourne composer and Gotye multi-instrumentalist Tim Shiel. Nine unique and mesmerizingly beautiful compositions ensure an immersive experience for you at every step of your journey.
– Full Google Play Game Services sync support – sync your progress across all your devices.
– Phones and Tablet support – play everywhere.
– Compete with Google Play Game Services across the Survival mode and Daily Challenges leaderboards.
Duet is free to download and play with some advertisements between gameplay. However, you may pay a once-off in-app purchase to unlock "Duet Premium". This will remove all advertisements from the game, unlock Survival mode for endless score chasing delight, the Daily Challenges feature and four bonus challenge chapters. You will also help support more independent development of video games.
Selected for the Indie Showcase at PAX Aus and a finalist in both Game Design and Audio for the Freeplay Festival. This is another award-winning title from the team behind Time Surfer & Bean's Quest. We call Duet a "Hex-like" in honour of Terry Cavanagh's contribution to the medium of games and exploration of genres.
Tim Shiel is a composer/producer based in Melbourne. Tim is known to some as Faux Pas, the moniker under which he released a steady stream of constantly shifting electronic music for many years. He is also known for his work as a broadcaster at Melbourne independent radio station 3RRR FM, and for his recent role as multi-instrumentalist in Gotye's live band.
Say [email protected] we'd love to hear from you! And follow us on Twitter: @kumobius


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Universidad de Antofagasta
The Bioinnovation Centre at Universidad de Antofagasta was recently created to promote innovative research based on microorganisms with potential biotechnological applications.
The principal research area is the study of microbial biodiversity in natural environments, focusing on aquatic coastal marine system in the north of Chile and saline waters of the Altiplano in the Andes and the Atacama Desert.
Microorganisms are isolated under variation of the culture media and conditions and possible biotechnological applications from secondary metabolites are investigated. The major goal is to understand the biological interactions of microorganisms with other organisms, which frequently come along with the production of secondary metabolites with antimicrobial or anti-cancer activity. The contribution to the Marine Fungi project will be the study of fungi associated with marine algae in coastal waters off Chile and the selection on the basis of biosynthetic genes of the PKS and NRPS pathways. Due to the almost total absence of previous studies on fungi in this habitat and the favourable environmental conditions for fungi this will be an important future project at the University of Antofagasta.
PI contact: Dr. Cristina Dorador Ortiz cdorador (@) uantof.cl


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A team of physicists at the University of Innsbruck, Austria, performed an experiment that seems to contradict the foundations of quantum theory – at first glance. The team led by Rainer Blatt reversed a quantum measurement in a prototype quantum information processor. The experiment is enabled by a technique that has been developed for quantum error correction in a future quantum computer.
Measurements on quantum systems have puzzled generations of physicists due to their counterintuitive properties. One of them is the fact that measurements on a quantum system are in general non-deterministic. This means that even if the state of the system is completely known, it is impossible to determine the outcome of a single measurement. Furthermore, the measurement alters the system's state so that a previous measurement will certainly return the same result as the first measurement. Thus the system is irreversibly altered by a measurement.
In their recent experiment, the scientists demonstrated that it is possible to reverse a measurement with the aid of a quantum error correction protocol. This seemingly contradicts the foundations of quantum theory which explicitly forbid the reversal of a quantum measurement. With a closer look it is easy to solve this riddle: The team around Philipp Schindler transfers the information of a single particle onto an entangled state consisting of three particles. If now an individual particle is measured, its original state can be reconstructed from the information residing in the remaining two particles which is not forbidden by the laws of quantum mechanics.
For more information visit www.uibk.ac.at.


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Damage to DNA in sperm is significantly higher in older men than in those who are younger, according to research presented 21 June 2005 at the 21st annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.
Dr. Sergey Moskovtsev, of the Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Canada, told the conference that an increase in the average maternal and paternal ages at the time of attempted first pregnancy made this particularly significant. "Older men tend to reproduce with older women", he said, "and the combination of increased female factor infertility, increased sperm DNA damage, low levels of DNA repair, and increased abnormalities in conventional semen parameters present in this population will have a pronounced impact on their reproductive potential."
Dr. Moskovtsev and his team examined the relationship of DNA integrity, a novel semen parameter related to fertility potential, to age in 2134 men presenting for evaluation of their fertility. They identified damaged and normal sperm by means of a fluorescent dye that attaches to DNA, staining red when attached to damaged DNA and green to normal. Using 20 000 sperm per sample, they calculated DNA damage in each specimen via the ratio of red to green plus red. They found that DNA damage was significantly higher in men over 45 years old than in all younger age groups, and that the damage was doubled in those men 45 years and older compared with those less than 30 years old.
"Sperm DNA damage cannot be repaired", said Dr. Moskovtsev, "and appears to be a marker of reduced fertility potential rather than a predictor of fertility. Men with normal DNA integrity may be infertile for various reasons. We need to investigate the possibility of developing techniques to identify and select sperm without DNA damage for use in assisted reproduction techniques." IVF and ICSI cannot overcome abnormalities in DNA integrity, said Dr. Moskovtsev, who intends to follow up his work by investigating further the role of abnormalities in protamine, a protein found in sperm. This is one of the putative causes of reduced DNA integrity in sperm. He will also look at older and younger groups of men with abnormal DNA integrity to see if there are differences in the mechanism of DNA damage between the two groups.
"The effect of age on male fertility is particularly interesting because of the growth in the number of men choosing to father children at older ages", he said. "In the United States, the birth rate for fathers older than 35 years increased by almost 20% between 1980 and 1995. ESHRE has reported that there had been an increase in the number of men between 50 and 65 years of age attending andrology centres over the same time period, and our study confirms these observations -- men over 40 made up almost 25% of our patient population.
"Many of these older couples will have trouble in conceiving and resort to IVF and ICSI", he said. "This will bypass the natural selection of normal, healthy sperm and may lead to fertilisation by sperm with damaged DNA which can result in early embryonic loss or the birth of unhealthy offspring."
An assessment of DNA damage in sperm should be an essential part of any examination of the fertility potential of older men, he said.
Story Source:
Materials provided by European Society For Human Reproduction And Embryology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
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Did Selena Gomez + Justin Bieber Break Up?!
Uh oh, Jelena fans. A cryptic tweet from Justin Bieber is leading a lot of Beliebers to believe he and galpal Selena Gomez are donezo. Did the PDA-happy couple's relationship really come to an end?
Not so, says E! Online! (Phew!)
Biebs allegedly tweeted, "Thank you for the time I had with you but now I have to move on." This freaked out the entire teen and tween world — seriously, the universe almost imploded. However, the tweet was a fake. Bieber's rep denied the breakup and insisted that the tweet was a PhotoShop creation. While this happens a lot in terms of damage control, it appears the PR person is telling the truth.
How does E! know? The site checked out the Celebrity Tweet archives, which keeps records of all — you guessed it! — celebrity tweets, even those that have been deleted, and this particular tweet is nowhere to be found on their site.
Rest easy, Beliebers. Biebs is still Sel's 'Boyfriend!'


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Woohoo. It's that time again. ...
Time to swap the Polar Vortex for the outfield sundeck. Time to stop dodging falling icicles and start embracing rising stars. Time to quit reminiscing about John, Paul, George and Ringo, and start dreaming on Jose (Abreu), Masahiro (Tanaka), Xander (Bogaerts) and Taijuan (Walker).
In other words, it's time once again for all pitchers, catchers and frostbitten Northerners to begin stampeding immediately through those welcoming turnstiles at Joker Marchant Stadium, jetBlue Park and the ever-inviting Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, where spring training's idyllic land of hope and dreams can't possibly begin too soon.
But what that also means is it's time for us to restore power to your world, by aiming every space-heating kilowatt in our arsenal at the spring storylines you're about to be locked in on for the next month and a half -- with the help of 23 all-knowing baseball executives who were kind enough to take part in our 2014 spring training preview survey.
Here we go, into the spring balminess zone:
Most intriguing American League spring stories
1 Yanks A Million: Normally, when we ask the execs in our survey which teams or stories intrigue them, they name everything except their favorite spring concession stands. Not this year. It seemed as though everybody had a Yankees storyline that fascinated them. Such as: Is Masahiro Tanaka really worth 175 million bucks (counting the posting fee)? How much will Derek Jeter resemble that guy who used to play shortstop for the New York Yankees? Who plays second base? Who plays third base? Will Mark Teixeira ever be the same? What's the back of the rotation look like? What does the future hold for Carsten Charles Sabathia? And how much medication will Joe Girardi require when it really hits him there's no Mariano Rivera in his bullpen to wave for? Now doesn't that seem like a lot of questions about a team that just shelled out half a billion dollars in free-agent signings this winter? Yeah. We thought so, too.
2 Getting To Cano You: At least nobody has to ask who will be playing second base for the Seattle Mariners. There's a $240 million answer to that question named Robinson Cano. And now that fate, Jay Z and the smell of gourmet coffee grinds has led this man to Seattle, we can start contemplating the question that matters most: How much of a difference can Cano really make on a team with so many issues all over the rest of the diamond? At least he'll be joined in this camp by fellow newcomers Corey Hart, Logan Morrison, Fernando Rodney and, one of these days (possibly, probably, theoretically), Nelson Cruz -- but not by Jeter, Teixeira, CC Sabathia, Monument Park, the Empire State Building or the Apollo Theater. So it'll be interesting watching Cano assume the role of Leader of Men and Face of a Franchise for the first time in his life.
3 Feeding Leather To The Tigers: Here's another team that seems to fascinate everyone. The enduring image of those Detroit Tigers last October was Torii Hunter somersaulting into the bullpen at Fenway. Now that seems almost fitting, since this whole franchise feels as if it's turned itself upside down. Out went Jim Leyland, Prince Fielder, Omar Infante and Doug Fister. In came Brad Ausmus, Ian Kinsler, Joe Nathan, Joba Chamberlain, Rajai Davis and a newfound emphasis on seeing how many baseballs they can catch instead of how many baseballs they can whack into somebody's moussaka plate in Greektown. So we know this team will be different. But will it be better?
Other AL storylines:
• How much more imposing is the Texas Rangers' lineup now that they've promised to stuff $268 million into the pockets of Fielder and Shin-Soo Choo? On the other hand, is there any reason to panic over the state of this pitching staff, in the wake of Joe Nathan's exit and Derek Holland's misadventures playing with his dog (or whatever the heck attacked his meniscus)?
• Can those defending champs, the Red Sox, really repeat with Xander Bogaerts at short, Jackie Bradley Jr. in center and a new set of razor blades in every locker?
• Is there any chance the Tampa Bay Rays could still trade David Price this spring? Just asking.
• What are the odds Tyler Skaggs, Hector Santiago or even a guy who sure looks a lot like Mark Mulder could be The Answer for the Angels' rotation?
• Will Joe Mauer wear his shin guards out to first base?
• How is that famous medial patellofemoral ligament in Manny Machado's left knee feeling? And if the answer to that is "great," would he also mind pitching the ninth inning?
Most intriguing National League spring stories
1 Excess Hollywood: Here's yet one more team the execs in our poll are clearly mesmerized by. Since last we saw the L.A. Dodgers of Chavez Ravine, they've extended the contracts of their manager (Don Mattingly) and their resident Cy Young (Clayton Kershaw). They've provided helpful driving tips for Yasiel Puig. They've lengthened their rotation by handing much-lauded, one-year deals to Dan Haren and Paul Maholm. They've loaded up on bullpen depth by signing Jamey Wright and Chris Perez, and by bringing back J.P. Howell and Brian Wilson's facial hair. They've got a payroll that's still hovering somewhere around $220 million. And yet we still don't know what to make of their four-headed outfield monster, where Josh Beckett fits or whether much-ballyhooed Cuban infielder Alexander Guerrero can play second base. Then again, what we do know is that, if trouble arises, there's apparently enough money in the checking account to fix it.
2 Braveheart: In case you didn't notice, just two teams in baseball (the Red Sox and Cardinals) won more games last year than those Atlanta Braves (who won 96 of them). But not only have the Braves neglected to add a single Upton brother since last fall, they've barely disturbed any other family trees all winter. Ready for their only two big league additions? (1) A catcher/outfielder/DH whose DH skills won't come in real handy anymore (Ryan Doumit) and (2) a pitcher coming off Tommy John surgery (Gavin Floyd). In other news, when they weren't escaping ice storms, the Braves also waved sayonara to two of the dominant personalities on their roster over the last nine years (Brian McCann and Tim Hudson), and apparently never came close to keeping their unhittable closer (Craig Kimbrel) from heading to an arbitration hearing. So while the Braves are still a young, really talented team, the feeling in other front offices is that they had an odd winter.
3 House Of Cards: How many World Series teams overturn the middle of their infield? Well, the Cardinals have. Matt Carpenter is their third baseman now. Pete Kozma is a utility man now. So the big questions are: Is Kolten Wong ready to start at second base, at age 23, for a team with win-it-all aspirations? And was Jhonny Peralta really the $53 million solution at short after a brush with Biogenesis fame, especially, as one exec mused, considering that "multiple teams thought he couldn't play shortstop every day?" Granted, every recipe the Cardinals pop in the oven seems to come out smelling like peach pie. But this is a spring where we'll start finding out if they were right about their latest up-the-middle renovation plans. And they need to be.
Other NL storylines:
• Is Billy Hamilton ready to lead off in Cincinnati? Is he ready to steal 175 bases? Is he ready to become the most exciting player alive? The Reds could really use all of that to happen.
• With A.J. Burnett moving across the state, with questions about first base, with the memories of an actual trip to October warming their souls, where do the Pirates go from here, now that there are no more Curse of Sid Bream anchors attached to their shoulders?
• Will Ryan Braun look straight into the cameras this spring and utter any words that restore his standing as a player whom anyone in the state of Wisconsin will want to root for?
• Two and a half years after blowing out his Achilles, four years after he last slugged .500 and five years after he last hit 40 homers, which direction is Ryan Howard headed this spring - Feared Cleanup Masher or Not So Feared Half of First Base Platoon with Darin Ruf?
• Can Bryce Harper make it through the spring without sending any outfield fences to the emergency room? If Harper stays on the field and has a special season, the Washington Nationals could have an even more special season.
• Which first-year manager has the best chance of (A) getting ejected from a spring training game and (B) making folks forget the legendary manager he's succeeding -- Matt Williams (Nationals), Ryne Sandberg (Phillies) or Bryan Price (Reds)?
Most intriguing MLB spring stories
1 Video Games: Expanded replay is coming to a spring training park near you. Just not to every park, you understand. Only to parks where the game is on TV back home. Does this mean some managers will get a better feel for playing the Challenge Game than others this spring? We're about to find out.
2 Collision Course: At some point this spring, MLB expects to figure out the final details of its new rules on collisions at home plate. But the ripple effect is that everybody will have to be retrained to think and act differently when a runner is roaring toward home plate -- catchers, runners and umpires. Why do we think that, as that unfolds this spring, it won't be a smooth, serene sail on the spring seas?
3 Sign Of The Times: One of these days, weeks or months, Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez, Stephen Drew, Nelson Cruz and the shocking number of still-unsigned free agents have to show up in somebody's spring training camp. Right? And no, we're not talking about the camp at Rancho Bernardo High School.
4 Alex Rodriguez: Sorry. Just typed that from force of habit. Correctly, pick the date, time and place where Alex Rodriguez will be photographed first this spring, and you'll win a date with Cameron Diaz. Or not.
Most improved American League teams
1. Yankees
2. Rangers
3. Mariners
Even after laying out half a billion dollars to collect or retain nine free agents, blowing through the luxury-tax threshold they were once so fixated on, surviving their legal strife with their former third baseman (guess who?) and setting a new standard for most money paid to a man (Tanaka) who had never set foot on a major league field, the Yankees remain a team with many questions. But if you don't think they're much improved, you need to seek help for your deep-seated, Yankee-hater issues immediately. Name a team that added four players as important and impactful as Carlos Beltran, Brian McCann, Jacoby Ellsbury and Tanaka. Go ahead. We dare you. "They're clearly the most improved team in the league," said one exec. "Of course, they'd better be, for what they spent."
Fun poll fact: Does it tell you anything about how much more hyperactive the AL was this winter than the NL, that 10 of the 15 teams in the American League got a vote? Yeah, 10. And eight of them got multiple votes. (We allow voters to pick up to three teams per category). Ready? Here they come: Yankees (14), Rangers (6), Mariners (4), Astros (3)*, Twins (3)*, A's (2), Royals (2), Tigers (2), Angels (1), White Sox (1).
(* - it's all relative)
Most improved National League teams
1. Nationals
2. Padres
3. Dodgers
It was such a weird offseason that three different executives told us that when they first asked themselves which NL teams improved the most this winter, their first instinct was to answer: "No one." Half the teams in the league, quipped one exec, basically "took the winter off." But of the others, the Nationals pulled away from the pack, thanks mostly to their heavily praised deal with Detroit for Doug Fister. And while we like what the Padres have done, it's still kind of amazing, said the same exec, that they got the second-most votes, for "signing an injury-prone pitcher (Josh Johnson) and an eighth-inning guy who's getting a lot of money (Joaquin Benoit), and trading for Seth Smith. Really?" Hey, it was that kind of winter.
Fun poll fact: The Diamondbacks, Rockies and Mets managed the impressive feat of attracting multiple votes in both the "most improved" and "most unimproved" balloting. So however their seasons turn out, this poll has it covered!
Most unimproved American League teams
1. Orioles
2. Blue Jays
3. Tigers
There has to be a logical explanation for the Orioles' mystifying offseason. Doesn't there? We doubt we'll ever get to hear it (or at least all of it). But there has to be. Dumping Jim Johnson? Backing out of a deal for Grant Balfour? Never adding a veteran closer to replace Balfour (or Johnson, for that matter)? Flirting with a bunch of starting pitchers but signing none of them? Acting as if they were out of money, in an offseason where TV cash came flooding into the sport? Not good. There's still time for them to rewrite this script by signing an Ervin Santana kind of guy. But for now, the only categories the Orioles led this survey in were "I don't get its" and "I don't understands." In our experience, that's not usually a portent of great things to come.
Fun poll facts: We found it interesting that three of last year's playoff teams -- the Indians, Tigers and even the champs, the Red Sox -- got Most Unimproved votes. But no one was a match for the Orioles and Blue Jays, who crushed the rest of this field in the voting. In fact, only the Tigers (with four votes) were within 10 of either one of them. But there's so much certainty within the industry that the Blue Jays are a lock to add a starting pitcher, several of the votes they attracted were on an "until-they-sign-a-pitcher" basis. So they get an asterisk, if it brightens their spirits any.
Most unimproved National League teams
1. (tie) Reds, Pirates
3. (tie) Braves, Cubs, Marlins, Rockies, Phillies
A mere four months ago, the Pirates and Reds were battling it out for the NL's wild-card berths. Now they're duking it out again, for a slightly less prestigious honor -- the NL's dreaded Most Unimproved award. The Pirates' one notable offseason addition was a pitcher (Edinson Volquez) with the highest ERA (5.09) and WHIP (1.53) in the whole sport over the last three seasons. The Reds' big additions, in a winter where they lost both Shin-Soo Choo and Bronson Arroyo, were two useful players who, unfortunately, aren't projected to play much -- a backup catcher (Brayan Pena) and one of the best utility energizers in the game (Skip Schumaker). We get that both teams are really well-run, deep, talented and clearly positioning themselves to get big contributions from young players (Hamilton and Tony Cingrani in Cincinnati, Gregory Polanco and Jameson Taillon in Pittsburgh). But just because it's conceivable they could both make the playoffs again doesn't mean they're disqualified from the Most Unimproved competition. Sorry. We can't stop people from voting for them if that's how they see it.
Fun poll fact: You can tell, by that five-team, third-place tie, that there was feverish competition in this category. The Phillies had actually led that field before their A.J. Burnett signing. But when the polls finally closed, incredibly, 10 of the 15 NL teams had gotten multiple votes for Most Unimproved, which again tells us how unaggressive many NL teams were this winter. The exception was the Diamondbacks. They were plenty active. But our voters were stunningly divided on how it all worked out. They got five Most Improved votes, but three Most Unimproved votes. And that's almost unheard of in our humble polling experience.
Least recognizable teams
1. Astros
2. Marlins
3. Twins
This is almost impossible, but see those three incognito teams above? They're the same three that were picked in last year's survey. And in the same order! So if we have this straight, they've gone from unrecognizable to less recognizable? Hard to do. But the Astros continue to set standards for unrecognizability that are almost impossible to match. Do names like L.J. Hoes, Robbie Grossman and Jesus Guzman ring a bell? Bagwell, Biggio and Berkman they're not. But they are actual members of the Astros' projected starting lineup this season. "Wow," said one NL GM. "I don't even know if I could name them." Hey, join the masses.
Fun poll facts: and now for something completely different -- the Yankees got four votes in this category. The Yankees. Seriously. See what happens when your closer heads back to the Canal Zone and your favorite headline-grabbing third baseman is ostracized by the proper authorities? Hey, we don't want to deny anyone in this poll their right to vote as they choose, but our take on this is: The Yankees couldn't win this category if their entire roster retired.
Checkbook champs
1 It's a good thing the Yankees set out this winter to stay under the luxury-tax threshold. If they'd been in a what-the-heck kind of mood from the get-go, they might have spent more than the gross national product of France. But just so they know, for $503 million, they could have acquired 72.3 million Derek Jeter heroes from Othello's Deli in Astoria -- instead of all those actual baseball players they gave it to (including Jeter himself).
2 Let's see now. Shin-Soo Choo got $130 million. They owe Prince Fielder another $138 million, even with Detroit helpfully kicking in another $30 million. Another $4.85 million went to guys who crouch for a living (Geovany Soto and J.P. Arencibia), and there was still $3.75 million left for Tommy Hanson and Jason Frasor. That comes to $276.6 million worth of Texas-size spending on our calculator app. Which would have been almost as well spent on 10.6 million smoking Asada Jalisco fajitas at Pappasito's, if you ask us.
3 You'd think that, for $266.8 million, the Mariners could have led this category just once, but, apparently, a quarter-billion dollars just doesn't buy what it used to anymore. Robbie Cano grabbed $240 million of this pot, obviously. Bet you didn't know the rest went to Fernando Rodney, Corey Hart, John Buck and, of course, Willie Bloomquist. For what it's worth, that $266.8 million could have also allowed the Mariners to purchase 92.3 million Espresso Macchiatos at Cloud City Coffee. But who needs them? Just the Cano contract alone ought to be enough to keep them up all night.
Best free-agent signings
1. Brian McCann, Yankees (five years, $85 million)
2. Tim Hudson, Giants (two years, $23 million)
3. Jose Abreu, White Sox (six years, $68 million)
Jacoby Ellsbury raked in more dollars. Masahiro Tanaka inspired more headlines. Carlos Beltran and Derek Jeter might have generated more New York pizzazz. But what was the Yankees' best signing of the winter? McCann, said our voters, emphatically. "McCann signed so early, he's easily forgotten," said one NL exec, "but a great signing."
Fun poll fact: Want to take a stab at how many different players got at least one vote in the best-free-agent competition? Would you believe 31 -- including one vote for Roy Halladay as the best one-day contract of the winter.
Worst free-agent signings
1. Robinson Cano, Mariners (10 years, $240 million)
2. Scott Feldman
Astros (three years, $30 million)
3. (tie) Jacoby Ellsbury, Yankees (seven years, $153 million); Masahiro Tanaka, Yankees (seven years, $155 million, plus $20 million posting fee)
We rarely have a dramatic difference of opinion with the choices we get back in this survey, but this would be one time we'd like to respectfully disagree with the choice of Cano as "worst free agent" or "worst signing" of the winter. There's a second, related category, which is coming right up, in which the Cano deal absolutely belongs -- the Most Outrageous Contract department. But "worst free agent?" Don't see it. "There's no doubt this was a terrible [contract]," said one exec. "It'll be a disaster on the back end, but there's one thing I think people are forgetting: He's a great player." Right. And not a good thing to forget!
Fun poll fact: Here's our annual report on the players who got votes for both the best and worst signings of the winter. Ready? Here's that list of Jekylls and Hydes: Cano, Tanaka, Ellsbury, McCann, Jhonny Peralta, Choo, Carlos Ruiz, Matt Garza, Bronson Arroyo, Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Jason Vargas. Long list!
Three most outrageous contracts (free agent or otherwise)
1 Robinson Cano (10 years, $240 million): Now this is the proper description of the Cano deal. Too many years. Too many dollars. Too hard to believe that he and the residents of the great Northwest are really going to live happily ever after. "Ain't gonna happen," one AL exec said.
2 Masahiro Tanaka (seven years, $155 million, plus the $20 million posting fee): No quote emanating from Yankeeville in recent times has elicited more raised eyebrows than Brian Cashman trying his best to tone down expectations on Tanaka by labeling him a "No. 3 starter." Wow. "I know they're trying to downplay it," one exec said. "I get that part. The problem is, you can say you hope he's a No. 3 starter, but you're giving him No. 1 starter-in-the-sport money, so no matter how good he is or how young he is, you're definitely going to look up at some point and say, 'Oh my God. That's way too much money.'"
3 Jacoby Ellsbury (seven years, $153 million): Nice player, that Jacoby Ellsbury, but $153 million for a guy who has played 140 games once in the past four seasons? Nice little payday if you can get it.
Fun poll fact: We should really have had two of these categories -- one for Yankees and ex-Yankees, and a second for everyone else. So you should know that Clayton Kershaw's seven-year, $210 million extension topped the Everyone Else voting, with his teammate, Brian Wilson, finishing second, courtesy of a two-year, $18.5 million deal that wound up as the highest per year of any reliever all winter. Meanwhile, one exec voted for Scott Kazmir (two years, $22 million) three times, but we still counted that only once.
Best trades
1 The Nationals take the gold for springing what our voters clearly viewed as one of the all-time heists, getting underrated rotation force Doug Fister from Detroit for just a useful utility guy (Steve Lombardozzi), an effective left-handed reliever (Ian Krol) and a pitching prospect (Robbie Ray) whom the Tigers view as having bigger upside than virtually every other team we've asked about him. Tigers GM Dave Dombrowski is so good at his job, he always gets the benefit of the doubt. But one exec who admires Dombrowski still found himself calling this trade "an epic head-scratcher." It should tell you something that this deal got 14 votes in our poll, and no other trade got more than five.
2 Every darned spring, this section of this column includes some sort of Rays deal that other execs place in their What An Awesome Trade files. The upset is that this year, they did it without even moving David Price. But the rest of the sport loved the three-way trade with Cincinnati and Arizona that brought them an underappreciated defensive whiz behind the plate in Ryan Hanigan, whom they promptly extended for three years, $10.75 million. For the record, Tampa Bay also got Heath Bell and gave up two midlevel prospects (pitcher Justin Choate and outfielder Todd Glaesmann) in this trade. And the Reds got left-hander David Holmberg from Arizona when the transaction dust had settled.
3 Let's hand the A's the bronze for happily taking Jim Johnson off the Orioles' hands, for the meager price of second-tier catching prospect David Freitas and the artist formerly known as Jemile Weeks.
Fun poll fact: It always warms our hearts when a trade goes down that works for everybody. And that happened again this winter. The three-way Diamondbacks-White Sox-Angels extravaganza that sent Mark Trumbo, Adam Eaton, Tyler Skaggs and Hector Santiago flying in all directions was one of those deals. Votes flooded in for all three teams. Ditto the Prince Fielder-Ian Kinsler swap, although the Rangers got four votes for reeling in Fielder. There were three "both teams win" votes and zero for the Kinsler/Detroit end alone.
Bargain free agents
Best free agents signed to one-year deals:
1 You know the cash registers are ringing in this sport when a guy making 16 million bucks a year is considered a bargain. But our group loved, loved, loved the idea of the Yankees bringing back Hiroki Kuroda on a one-year deal. Even at the highest salary per year (tied with A.J. Burnett) of any free-agent pitcher who wasn't named Tanaka.
2 A.J. Pierzynski owns this category. He got the most votes of any player on the board in last year's survey. He missed repeating this year by only one vote. So for no fuss, no muss and no long-term commitment beyond their one-year, $8.25 million deal, the Red Sox reel in one of four catchers in the sport who have hit 40-plus homers over the past two seasons. The others: McCann, Matt Wieters and Wilin Rosario. "I love the fit of that guy, in that park, on that club," one NL exec said.
3 It tells us something when a guy gets a bunch of votes -- for anything in this survey -- before he even signs his contract. But that was A.J. Burnett, a beautiful one-year acquisition waiting to happen. Even at $16 million. If he'd signed with a team with a better shot to play in October than the Phillies -- say, the Pirates, Orioles or Nationals -- he might even have ranked higher on this list. But there's no such thing as a bad one-year deal for a pitcher who led his league in strikeout ratio last year. Right?
Best free agents $2 million and under:
1 Just when you thought the Dodgers paid everybody on their team $20 million or so, just for kicks, along came Paul Maholm to disprove that theory. A one-year, $1.5 million guarantee for a dependable left-handed, back-of-the-rotation starter? "One of the best signings of the winter, especially when you compare it to the kind of money other guys got who are no better than he is," one NL exec said.
2 How 'bout this? It's another bargain signing for the Dodgers -- one year, $1.8 million for 39-year-old reliever Jamey Wright, who is closing in on his 19th season even though he hasn't spent three full seasons with the same team since the '90s. Wright is one of just 11 right-handed setup men who have appeared in 60-plus games in each of the past three seasons (but have fewer than five saves in that span). "There's a level of professionalism there," one NL exec said, "that you don't get from a lot of guys."
3 Quick quiz: Name the only free-agent position player signed by the Pirates to a major league contract this winter. Nope, not Cano. It was, of course, Clint Barmes, for a mere one year and $2 million. On one hand, Barmes (.211, .249/.309 last season) isn't exactly Troy Tulowitzki with the old Louisville Slugger. On the other, he led all NL shortstops not named Andrelton Simmons in UZR/150 (Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 games). And whaddaya know, the Pirates noticed.
Best free agents signed to minor league contracts:
1 Mark Reynolds, Brewers: We count three infielders in baseball who have hit at least 20 home runs in each of the past six seasons. Two of them are Miguel Cabrera and Fielder, who will earn a combined $46 million this season. The third is Reynolds, who just signed a minor league deal with the Brewers. No wonder he wiped out the rest of the field in this survey.
2 Jason Kubel, Twins: The last time Kubel headed out into free agency, he was leaving the Twins, for a two-year, $16 million payday in Arizona. Now, for zero risk, the Twins are getting back a guy who had 30 homers and an .833 OPS as recently as two seasons ago. This struck our voters as excellent free-agent shopping.
3 Alfredo Aceves, Orioles: OK, so he might not be a model of decorum, but did you know Aceves has a better career Adjusted ERA-Plus (118) than Zack Greinke, Max Scherzer, Tim Lincecum or Gio Gonzalez? Go ahead. Call us devious number manipulators if you want. We plead guilty. But Aceves is still worth a shot on a minor league deal, right?
Most important injury comebacks
1. Albert Pujols (Angels)
2. Matt Kemp (Dodgers)
3. Derek Jeter (Yankees)
AL rookies to keep an eye on this spring
1. Xander Bogaerts, SS, Red Sox
2. Taijuan Walker, RHP, Mariners
3. Jose Abreu, 1B/DH, White Sox
NL rookies to keep an eye on this spring
1. Billy Hamilton, OF, Reds
2. Oscar Taveras, OF, Cardinals
3. Archie Bradley, RHP, Diamondbacks
Most unlikely names on spring training rosters
1 Mark Mulder (Angels: So where were you on June 15, 2006? What do you mean, you don't remember? Mulder remembers. He remembers because, believe it or not, that was the date -- almost eight years ago -- of his last big league win. How long ago was that? Not a single position player on his team (the Cardinals) who played that day is still active. How long ago was that? Justin Verlander has won 130 games since then. And Ichiro Suzuki has slapped 1,506 hits since then. So yeah, eight years is a long time, even longer than a Red Sox-Yankees series. So if Mulder can make it back from the "Baseball Tonight" set to make a real contribution to the Angels, would that be the story of the season, or what?
2 Tomo Ohka (Blue Jays): Speaking of blasts from the past, it's been five years since Ohka threw a pitch in the big leagues, nine years since he had a winning record and a full decade since he had an ERA in the 3.00s (for the 2004 Expos!). But he's heading for Blue Jays camp this spring to match knuckleballs with R.A. Dickey. You can't make this stuff up.
3 Russell Wilson (Rangers): Hey, it was either him or Tracy McGrady. We don't know if the quarterback of the Super Bowl champs is actually going to show up in Rangers camp, but let's hope. All we ask for is one flea-flicker involving Wilson, Fielder and Jurickson Profar, coming to a spring training field in a desert near you, and our spring will be complete.
Three stories that summed up the offseason
1 AROD-PALOOZA: Phew. Got that one out of the way.
2 The Draft Pick Five: Love this Buster Olney spy-novel nickname for the five free agents who turned down qualifying offers and found themselves still looking for an employer in February: Nelson Cruz, Ervin Santana, Ubaldo Jimenez, Kendrys Morales and Stephen Drew. If Russell Wilson shows up in somebody's spring training camp before Ervin Santana, it's safe to say something went amiss in somebody's offseason scenario.
3 Haymakers in the parking lot: Who says there was no action at the winter meetings? There was furious action. Out in the parking lot, where two agents (still defying firm identification) wailed away at each other in the middle of the afternoon over what was believed (according to circumstantial evidence) to be client stealing -- or the threat thereof. Still not sure what the bigger story was that week -- that brawl or the Boone Logan signing.


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TSCHAIKOWSKI / Koenigs / Manistina, Mantashyan, Sushkova, Pinkhasovich, Volkov
01,03,06 & 09 March 2024- Vienna State Opera
- Info & Tickets
The servants of the wealthiest man in Vienna are busy preparing the stage for a planned performance in their master's palace. Two troupes have been engaged and are busily making preparations behind the scenes. One them is to play the opera Ariadne on Naxos, the first work by a young composer, whilst the other will perform a dance masquerade in the Italian buffo style. Petty jealousies between the members of both troupes already have emotions running high. The situation is exacerbated by an unexpected and incomprehensible change of programme communicated by the lord of the house through his major-domo: he now wishes the two pieces to be performed for his invited guests not one after the other, but at the same time. Deeply mortified, the composer wishes to withdraw his composition and forgo its first public performance, since the work represents an authentic implementation of his artistic worldview. However, he has a change of heart thanks to the practically minded music teacher, and Zerbinetta: well versed especially in the art of seduction, the latter inveigles the inexperienced young composer in no time at all. With a resounding hymn to the nature of music, the composer accepts reality and the instructions of his patron. The opera Ariadne on Naxos will therefore be performed in the desired manner, with interludes by an troupe of Italian comedians.
Outside a cave on the shores of the island of Naxos, Ariadne longs for death after being abandoned by Theseus, her rescuer and lover. Oblivious to everything going on around her, she takes no notice of the three nymphs, nor of the comedians trying to cheer her up, nor even of Zerbinetta. Drawing on her wealth of experience, Zerbinetta sings an audacious aria advising the grieving Ariadne not to shed a single tear for her departed lover, and to remain open for new love.
A radiant youth is seen approaching in the distance: it is Bacchus, the god of the eternal regeneration. He comes from the arms of the sorceress Circe, where he was unable to find what he was looking for. Mistaking him for the messenger of death, Ariadne, goes out to meet him: without immediately noticing it, she falls ecstatically in love with him, an emotion which the god reciprocates. Transformed by one another as if reborn, Ariadne and Bacchus bring the opera to a close as a truly mystically united couple.


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The Keysound clan re-convene this Friday at Fabric. To celebrate we shared our recent Brooklyn set, complete with crowd noises.
Finally we were on Rinse in April, here's what we played:
Rinse FM April '14
Sully "Blue (Logos vapour dub) [forthcoming Keysound Recordings]
Moleskin "The fantasy between your lips" [forthcoming Keysound Recordings]
Moleskin "Slow Dancing with Ms Haversham to Moments in Love in Satis House" [forthcoming Keysound Recordings]
Charlux "Unmarked Patrol" [unreleased]
Flava D "New Era" [Formula]
Otik "Fist Clench" [unknown]
Blackdown "Timeless" [unreleased]
Brunks "Sioux" [unreleased]
Cliques "Chro (Wen Remix)" [unreleased]
Kalbata & Mixmonster "Voice make a joyful noise ft Prince Jazzbo" [forthcoming]
Parris & Etch "Kill A Deep House Guy Dead" [unreleased]
JD Reid "Ralph" [released]
Damu "0001 24-Audio-19" [released]
Filter Dread "Square Layer" [unreleased]
Circula "Word" [unreleased]
Silas "Untitled" [unreleased]
Woz "Cold" [Black Butter]
Krept & Konan "Don't Waste My Time (DJ Cable Jersey Edit)" [unreleased]
Moleskin "Turnt On" [forthcoming Goon Club Allstars]
Samename "Sakura" [forthcoming Pelican Fly]
Qualifide "Think about it" [forthcoming]
Sully "Feel it" [Frijsfo Beats]
Qualifide "Think About It" [forthcoming]
Murlo "No Name Yet (Can't Keep Calling Them Untitled)" [unreleased]
Wookie ft Zak Abel "Higher (Wookie 94 raw remix)" [forthcoming]
Nights "GTR" [unreleased]
J Majik "Your Sound (Etch refix)" [unreleased]
Threnody "Fractured" [unreleased]
Chainless "Gatekeeper" [Rinse]
Luke Benjamin & Occult "3rd Eye" [unreleased]
Luke Benjamin "Hoods Up" [unreleased]
Innke "One Two Three" [unreleased]
Etch "Seaside curse" [unreleased]
Grovestreet "Mook" [unreleased]
LV & Josh Idehen "Imminent" [forthcoming Keysound Recordings]
Kalbata "Man God" [forthcoming]
Spyro & Mumdance "Don't Get Lemon" [Rinse]
Dark0 "Amethyst" [unreleased]
Moleskin "Grand Ballet" [forthcoming Keysound Recordings]
VesperTown "Fancy" [forthcoming Donky Pitch]


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In the three gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus repeatedly casts out demons, speaks to them, etc. He tells his disciples to do the same. There are so many references it would be difficult to put them all here.
This is not a topic that is very frequently mentioned (if at all) in my experience in the modern church (here in the USA at least). But reading the New Testament it cannot be easily glossed over.
What is the church's view on demonic possession today, especially in light of modern psychology and drug therapy? Where people possessed by demons in ancient times but not today? Are people with certain types of psychological disorders (or in certain times/cases) actually possessed?


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Larry and Suvian Daves
Larry and Suvian Daves will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with an open house in their honor on Aug. 24 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Cortez Church of Christ Annex Building, 631 E. Montezuma, Cortez, Colo. Friends and relatives are invited. Cards, pictures and memories are welcome, but no gifts please.
The Daves were married at the Cortez Church of Christ on Dec. 22, 1963, and have resided in Lewis, Colo., since. They are the parents of three children: Travis Daves, Teresa (husband Bobby) Nash and Tanya Daves. They have eight grandchildren: Dalton, Ryan, Tyler, Kiffany, Kellsie, Shane, Sophia and Connor.


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(CNN) -- Every day, 10 women are killed in domestic violence cases in a country known for its glorious models, according to a new study released Sunday.
And it takes a high-profile incident -- such as the case against a Brazilian goalkeeper who is the prime suspect in the disappearance and murder of a woman -- to bring attention to the problem, said Women's Affairs Minister Nilcea Freire.
The government-sponsored study, called Map of Violence 2010, found that 41,532 women were murdered in Brazil between 1997 and 2007.
Last week, Brazilians were shocked by the details emerging from the case of Flamengo goalkeeper Bruno Fernandes Das Dores de Souza, who is accused of overseeing the kidnapping and dismembering of former lover Eliza Samudio, with whom he fathered a child.
Samudio's body remains missing a month after her disappearance. And Souza has refused to answer questions on his alleged involvement, police said.
"When cases emerge involving famous persons," Freire told the official Agencia Brasil, "that's when society becomes aware of what is not being printed... that women are violated, subjugated daily through inequality."
Freire said studies show that most women are victimized by men they knew well.
Samudio claimed recently, in a television interview in front of a police station, that Fernandes threatened to make her disappear -- and refused her pleas to acknowledge the paternity of their son.
Like Samudio, who sought help from police several times before she was killed, Brazil's women's police stations -- which handle gender-based cases -- register an exorbitant number of complaints of threats that see no prosecution.
Freire said that a law allowing gender-based crimes against women to be judged in special courts should have been respected in the Samudio case.
Named after Maria da Penha, a woman who became a paraplegic after suffering numerous beatings at the hands of her husband, the law also allows for an aggressor to be arrested not only for the act of committing a crime, but preventitively.
Several other high-profile murders committed against women have gained national attention.
Attorney Mercia Nakashima's body was found floating in a man-made lake in Sao Paulo last month. The 28-year-old's boyfriend turned himself in and has been named a prime suspect.
Estado de Sao Paulo journalist Sandra Gomide was shot in the back and head in 2000. The main suspect, her former boyfriend, Antônio Marcos Pimenta Neves, was a former director for the newspaper. According to local reports, Neves served seven months in prison.


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Despite the ongoing challenges everyone has faced with COVID, supply chain bottlenecks and a challenging labour market, sellers like you have continued to thrive in Amazon's European stores. Third-party sellers sold more than 3.4 billion products in Amazon European stores alone – and we welcomed more than 130,000 new sellers. We are inspired by your efforts and are proud to have supported you during this time with significant investments in our fulfilment and delivery network, and through powerful new tools and services.
Since the start of the pandemic, we've more than doubled our fulfilment capacity across Europe and spent over €1.9 billion across our fulfilment network to help keep employees safe. We opened more than 250 new fulfilment centres, sortation centres, regional air hubs and delivery stations in Europe to ensure that we are able to quickly receive your inventory and deliver your products to customers. In 2021, we offered more than 250 new tools for sellers, and our teams are working hard to innovate further. We are building a range of programmes and services, from FBA New Selection to recovery services (Liquidations and Grade and Resell), to help you expand your selection, reduce costs and grow your business.
Throughout the pandemic, we have worked to support you – postponing and keeping fee changes low, reducing or eliminating select fees like those for customer returns, and absorbing billions of dollars in increased costs on your behalf – all while making significant and necessary investments in people, technology, transportation and infrastructure. As you've seen widely reported in the press and have likely experienced yourselves, costs are rising and we now need to make adjustments to this year's fee structure in response. We will adjust our fees to partially offset the higher permanent operating costs we face going forward.
Effective March 31, 2022, certain selling fees were adjusted in our Amazon Europe stores. Most referral fees did not change, and we made only moderate increases to fulfilment fees.
For details follow the link below:


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Inside Google workplaces, from perks to nap pods
(CBS News) Google has been named the best company to work for in America again, CBS News reported last week.
Google named best company to work for for fourth year
About 2.5 million people send their resumes to the high-tech giant every year, and, as CBS News learned, human resources at this company is also a science.
The Google campus in Mountain View, Calif., is considered the good life for employees. The company offers comforts, privileges and perks to its employees that workers at most other companies can only envy. But what may seem like luxuries are actually good business and Google can prove that because the company studies everything it does.
Laszlo Bock, who heads Google's People Operations Department -- human resources in most companies - said, "We try to bring as much analytics and data and science to what we do on the people side as our engineers do on the product side."
Google's talent for data mining gives him detailed information on what pays off. Bock said, "When an employee starts on their first day, we have data that says, if the manager shows up and says, 'Hi nice to meet you, you're on my team, we're gonna be working together,' and does a few other things, those people end up 15 percent more productive in nine months."
To make sure the rest of a Googler's career remains productive, is David Radcliffe's responsibility. He's in charge of creating the perfect environment.
Radcliffe, vice president of Google's Real Estate & Workplace Services, said, "We thought it would be a great idea to build a building that allowed us to really try out new things and find out what works and what doesn't work."
He's in charge of creating the perfect environment, what the company calls, Radcliffe said, "our living laboratory."
Inside the living lab, Radcliffe's team tests everything, from floor to ceiling. Diner booths, it turns out, can work better than traditional conference rooms.
Radcliffe said, "Casual collisions are what we try and create in the work environment. You can't schedule innovation, you can't schedule idea generation and so when we think our facilities around the world we're really looking for little opportunities for engineers or for creative people to come together."
The rooms Google has created for those creative people include ski gondolas in the Zurich office, a pub-like meeting room in Dublin, and sidewalk cafe in Istanbul.
The designs are to help employees, according to Bock. He said of one conference space, "The idea behind this is the employees should own their individual space, be as creative as possible and we shouldn't get in the way."
When all that innovation gets too much, there's a solution for that, too -- a nap pod. Radcliffe said, "No workplace is complete without a nap pod. We found that the five-minute to 15 minute power nap, works on Sunday before you watch the football game, why not here at work?"
The lab searches for building materials that are free of chemicals, such as soy foam furniture. Even the impact of paint colors is analyzed. Radcliffe said of one purple space, "We actually get a negative response out of this color so you probably won't see it popping up in other parts of the company. ... I don't know what it is. I actually like the color myself, but it doesn't work in the work environment."
While unhappy workers sometimes feel they're toiling on a treadmill, Google offers treadmill desks as an option. Research has shown that walking while you work can be good for your health.
The company maintains 1,000 bikes on campus and gives workers their own garden space to grow vegetables.
Google famously provides free food, three meals a day, plus unlimited snacks. The company's data mining revealed that was making Googlers gain weight. A change was needed.
Bock said, "We started experimenting with what we call 'nudges,' which are small interventions we can make that don't force people down a path, but make it easier to make a better decision."
"Nudges," promoting smaller plates increased their use by half. Food choices are now color-coded green, yellow and red -- red being the least healthy. Salads and greens moved to the front of the line and sugary snacks became a bit harder to find.
Bock said, "We took the sweets, M&Ms for example, and we moved them a little further down the shelf. And what we found was over a seven-week period we actually had people consume over three million fewer calories of M&Ms."
Ultimately, the goal behind all of this number-crunching is to extend the life of the average Googler by an astonishing 30 years. The company wants people to live longer, Bock said. "It's funny," he said. "I think our oldest Googler is 83 years old and we want people at Google for a lifetime."
Watch John Blackstone's full report in the video above.
for more features.


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Apple Chicken Curry Stir-Fry with Art School Rice
Crazy Simple = Crazy Good
Just in time for the last hurrah of Fall- before Winter begins in earnest- I thought I'd share my very old school, crazy simple recipe for comfort food that is spicy and sweet, and infused with curry.
Because I love to mix up flavors (don't you?). I'm interested in how traditions influence, enhance and co-mingle. Perhaps because I'm an eclectic heritage bundle myself.
And dear vegans, don't assume this recipe isn't for you. In fact, I make a vegetarian version of this recipe all the time. Use drained canned chick peas in place of the bird- or slices of gluten-free tempeh- it's a fabulous meatless and budget-friendly option.
Karina's Apple Chicken Curry Stir-Fry Recipe
By Karina Allrich August 2009.
An easy weeknight stir-fry with warm harvest flavors this recipe can be a super fast toss-together dish by using bagged cole slaw mix and cooked chicken. For a vegetarian version, substitute the chicken with a can of drained chick peas.
You'll need:
You'll need:
About 2 1/2 to 3 cups Art School Rice- recipe follows
1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon red or green Gluten-Free curry pasteor powder- hot or mild, to taste
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 heaping cups finely shredded cabbage or slaw mix
3 large carrots, sliced into matchsticks
1 apple, peeled, cored, chopped
1/2 cup unsweetened apple juice, more if needed
1/2 cup golden raisins
2 generous cups of cooked chicken pieces* see notes
Heat a large deep skillet over medium-high heat; warm the oil and curry seasoning. Add the garlic and stir briefly.
Heat a large deep skillet over medium-high heat; warm the oil and curry seasoning. Add the garlic and stir briefly.
Add in the shredded cabbage, carrots, and apple; stir and cook for five minutes.
Add a half cup of apple juice and cook until the vegetables and apples are tender-crisp - about seven minutes. If you need a splash more apple juice, add it in.
Add the raisins, cooked chicken pieces, and cooked rice, and stir-fry until all the juice is absorbed and the chicken is heated through.
Serve immediately with a garnish of slivered almonds, if desired.
Serves 4.
Karina's Notes:
If you don't have cooked chicken on hand: Stir-fry chicken 'tenders' or sliced chicken breasts until no longer pink in the center- about ten minutes.
Karina's Art School Rice Recipe with Curry, Carrots and Raisins
By Karina Allrich August 2009.
I lived on this simple dish in art school. It was my favorite comfort food. Most often I would stir-fry the cooked rice with thinly sliced carrots, or sometimes fresh baby greens. Slivered almonds add protein and crunchy texture.
1 cup long-grain brown rice, rinsed well with cold water
1 cup long-grain brown rice, rinsed well with cold water
1/2 cup unsweetened apple juice or cider
2 cups water or low sodium chicken broth for added flavor
2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
1/4 cup golden raisins or dried cranberries
1/2 to 1 teaspoon gluten-free curry paste or powder- mild or hot
Combine the ingredients in a rice cooker and follow the manufacturer's instructions - or - combine the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, cover; reduce heat to low, and cook for 40 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated.
Combine the ingredients in a rice cooker and follow the manufacturer's instructions - or - combine the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil, cover; reduce heat to low, and cook for 40 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated.
Let the rice rest for 5 minutes before serving. Fluff with a fork and serve as is, or stir-fry the cooked rice in a touch of olive oil with slivered carrots, cashews, or baby spinach leaves.
Protein Boost Options:
Serve with a sprinkle of slivered almonds, pine nuts or chopped walnuts.
Add drained canned chickpeas to warm through just before serving.
Serve with a dollop of Greek style yogurt on the side.
Serve with a side of hummus tahini.
Serves 4.
If you are making this rice dish for the Apple Chicken Stir-Fry recipe, it is not necessary to add the raisins or apple.
Chopped apples, raisins and cinnamon make a perfect combo for breakfast rice.