text:
DALLAS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - For more than a century, ranchers and their kids have paraded cattle around the dusty show ring at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas, in a rite of passage that is part farm economics, part rural theater.
Today, with U.S. auction prices for champion cattle topping $300,000 a head and hefty scholarship checks for winners at stake, the competitive pressures are intense. It's no wonder animals with names like Beast or Chappie get the farm version of luxury spa pampering - shelter from summer heat, baths with pricey shampoos and careful coiffing with electric razors.
Many also get muscle-building livestock drugs added into animal feed. While performance-boosting drugs are banned today in most human sports competitions, Zilmax and other drugs of a type called beta-agonists are federally approved and generally allowed on the livestock-show circuit.
For many contestants the secret weapon of choice is Zilmax, a controversial feed additive sold by Merck & Co. Zilmax-based feeds can give show kids an edge in the headline competition for market-ready steers and heifers, say show sponsors and competitors. They add thicker meat where judges like it most, between the 12th and 13th ribs, where rib-eye steaks come from.
Merck temporarily suspended Zilmax sales in the United States and Canada in August, soon after the largest U.S. meat processor, Tyson Foods Inc, stopped accepting Zilmax-fed cattle for slaughter over animal welfare concerns. After Merck last week said it was preparing to return Zilmax to the market, food giant Cargill Inc declared it would bar Zilmax-fed animals from its supply chain until it was "100 percent confident" those issues are resolved.
But in cattle shows at state and county fairs across the farm belt, Zilmax remains popular. Despite the halt in sales of Merck's zilpaterol - Zilmax is the trade name - existing stockpiles of Zilmax-based show feeds circulated at fairs this fall. So, too, did products made with Optaflexx, a rival drug by Eli Lilly & Co.'s Elanco Animal Health group that is based on ractopamine, also a beta-agonist.
Ractopamine has not been tied to the animal welfare issues seen in cattle this year.
"If it's legal, you use all of your options," said Justana Tate, 17, a Texas state fair competitor, her championship belt buckle gleaming as she stroked her snorting steer to calm him.
Tate is a Zilmax fan. "I think it's a fabulous product," she said.
For drug giant Merck, the show-feed market is a tiny slice of Zilmax's U.S. sales, roughly $160 million last year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers Zilmax safe for animals and humans, though regulators say it requires labels warning people not to inhale the drug or handle it without gloves.
Zilpaterol can cause dizziness and shortness of breath when inhaled and cause rashes upon contact with bare skin, according to Merck and the FDA.
While the drugs remain popular with contestants, some show organizers are cracking down by testing for zilpaterol, the active ingredient in Zilmax. The organizers say they are taking their cues from the FDA, which has approved zilpaterol for use in steers and heifers slated for slaughter but bars it for use in breeding cattle and dairy cows as well as goats, pigs, sheep and horses.
Many of the fresh-faced kids who compete at cattle shows have seen beta-agonists on their family farms or feedlots. Full-strength Zilmax, when added to feed weeks before slaughter, can add about 30 pounds of muscle to the average 1,300-pound steer.
When those children begin competing, some reach for medicated show feeds, which are readily available at rural feed stores and via the Internet, say competitors and show organizers.
Merck does not make show feeds. Instead, feed mills blend the company's Zilmax with protein, fat, fiber or other products, and then market the mix under trade names like Showmaxx, Power Champ and Zillarator. The Zilmax in show feeds is far less potent than what is fed to commercial cattle but still adds muscle definition, show participants say.
In some cases, manufacturers distribute free samples of medicated feed to youth development groups 4-H or Future Farmers of America, said Richard Sellers, the American Feed Industry Association's vice president for nutrition and feed regulation. The practice is legal - and pragmatic.
"You want them to buy feed when they grow up," Sellers said.
Zilmax has not been implicated in any human health problems, according to Merck and a review of FDA records. Only one adverse drug event has been reported to regulators, in which a person who inhaled the drug reported pain, vomiting and difficult breathing.
According to the FDA, makers of Zilmax-based show feed products are required to list safe-handling instructions - and tell people to wear appropriate masks, gloves and eye protection when scooping it out to feed to their cattle.
Merck includes an FDA-mandated user safety warning on its Zilmax labels. Merck said it shares the wording of the labels with companies that buy Zilmax from Merck to use as an ingredient in their products.
The FDA requires any product containing Zilmax to carry this user safety warning, according to FDA officials.
In 2012, regulators found that a popular Zilmax show product called Showmaxx was made in a federally unlicensed feed mill and lacked safe-handling instructions on its packaging. Showmaxx marketer XF Enterprises, a nutrition consulting firm in Amarillo, Texas, last year voluntarily recalled Showmaxx. The company did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
But the FDA leaves labeling oversight to state regulators, and state officials in cattle-heavy Texas and elsewhere told Reuters the federal Food and Safety Act does not clearly state that such cautionary warnings on these lower-dosage products are required. The FDA disagrees. In practice, feed products have been approved for sale without safe-handling instructions.
When Reuters this fall purchased a Zilmax-based feed called Zillarator over the Internet, the product arrived in a plastic bucket that bore no safe-handling instructions.
Likewise for another Zilmax-based additive called Power Champ. Manufacturer Suther Feeds Inc of Frankfort, Kansas, said it consulted with Merck on the language used for its label. A state regulator later approved the product's labeling. Merck said in a statement that it provided a copy of a standard label template, including the safe-handling language, to Suther Feed.
Michael Johll, chief operating officer of Suther Feeds, said his company adhered to state and federal rules. "If there's something that we've failed to do, we'll do it. I don't believe we have," Johll said.
At the Texas state fair, champion steers routinely fetch six-figure prices at auctions held just after winners' belt buckles are handed out. The same goes for the recent American Royal livestock show in Kansas City, Missouri, or the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado, in January.
Slaughterhouses and agribusiness firms often buy the winning steers and market heifers to burnish their brands and encourage youngsters' farming careers. After that, the animals are slaughtered.
The zeal at livestock shows can run so hot that there have been drug abuse allegations in the past, though Zilmax has not been implicated.
During the 1990s and 2000s, scandals roiled shows in Ohio, Missouri, Colorado and elsewhere when some champion livestock tested positive for clenbuterol, a muscle builder that leaves toxic residues in meat. Now, drug tests are common at livestock shows, with malefactors who use growth hormones, steroids or other unapproved drugs facing lifetime bans.
At the Texas state fair last month, collecting a urine sample from a 1,329-pound champion steer named Corndog requires a certain amount of finesse. But veterinarian Dick Shepherd and his animal-health team armed themselves with funnels, specimen cups and patience.
"If you're going to let them use anything they want to you end up with everyone using drugs rampantly," Shepherd said. He was not testing Corndog or other steer for zilpaterol, since the drug has been approved for cattle.
Some parents and cattle ranchers want beta-agonist use banned at shows. Arizona rancher Harvey Dietrich, co-founder of advocacy group Beef Additive Alert, said the shows are fueling a culture of short-cuts.
But Daryl Real, vice president of the Texas state fair's agriculture and livestock department, shrugs off concerns. The FDA allows Zilmax in beef cattle heading to grocery stores, he reasoned, so contestants should learn to use it, too.
Real said most contestants use Zilmax responsibly: Even in Texas, judges don't want steers to be too big.
"I liken it to the way I like whipped cream on a dessert," Real said. "A little bit goes a long way. You can have too much whipped cream and ruin the dish."
Supplies of Zilmax show feeds have dwindled since Merck's sales suspension in August. Even so, some Zilmax-based products are still being sold online, and several show contestants told Reuters they had stockpiled their favorite feed additive after Merck's announcement.
At the Sandwich Fair in DeKalb County, about an hour west of Chicago, this September, Kendall Nelson, 14, said he was using a Zilmax-based feed this show season.
His father, Philip Nelson - a cattle rancher and president of the Illinois Farm Bureau - said he does not use beta-agonist drugs on his livestock. But the younger Nelson began experimenting based on advice from a livestock nutritionist, the father said.
The youngster's steers rapidly grew - though they fell short of winning blue ribbons at this year's Illinois State Fair.
"It's not dangerous," said Philip Nelson. "If it was, the government wouldn't let it be put it out for sale without a label."
Some young competitors say they'd rather win without Zilmax.
Ten-year-old Saige Martin of Hereford, Texas, raised her steer Corndog free of beta-agonists, said her father, show cattle breeder Brian Martin.
Corndog's closest competitor was a 1,318-pound cross-breed steer named Rojo, and 16-year-old Caitlen Doskocil of Holland, Texas, used a ractopamine feed "to stout him up," said Caitlen's father, Doyle Doskocil. The family's supply of a Zilmax-based feed had run out, he said.
Inside the Texas state fair show ring, Corndog - named after the popular American snack because of his coloring - towered over Saige, whose cool smile masked her jitters. A judge slowly circled the steer and ran his hands over the back, feeling for a thick padding of muscle.
Corndog impressed, and later was named Grand Champion steer. At auction, he sold for $110,000, a fair record.
Saige got a $30,000 check for her college fund - after Corndog passed his drug test.


text:
Fans of "Breaking Bad" have just two more episodes to learn the fate of Walter White and his crystal meth empire, but at Sunday night's Emmy Awards, the AMC drama looks poised to glide over all.
The nail-biting serial, about a milquetoast high-school chemistry teacher who turns to the drug trade to pay for his cancer treatment, is drawing record ratings and generating a social media cacophony every Sunday night as it hurtles toward its Sept. 29 series finale. Created by former "X-Files" writer Vince Gilligan, "Breaking Bad," with 13 total nominations, is now the clear favorite to triumph in the intensely competitive drama category, where it's been an also-ran three times.
"There is no show that has more buzz, more excitement than 'Breaking Bad,'" said Tom O'Neil, editor of the awards-tracking website Gold Derby.
In a rarity for a long-running series, ratings for "Breaking Bad" have grown exponentially since it premiered in January 2008. Sunday's episode, "Ozymandias," drew a record audience of 6.4 million. That's double its ratings just a year ago and more than five times its Season 1 average.
Interest in the brutal saga's conclusion has exploded in a similar fashion. Although "Breaking Bad" has always been a critical darling, inspiring countless think pieces about Walter White's Nietzschean journey, it never quite captured the zeitgeist in the way that "Mad Men" and "Homeland" have in recent years.
That is, until it headed into its final, eight-episode home stretch this summer. Since then, it has thoroughly dominated the cultural conversation, spawning marathon screenings at Lincoln Center in New York City and lengthy parodies on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon."
And rightfully so, according to Huffington Post TV critic Maureen Ryan.
"This is a show that became more and more commercially successful the more it stuck to its guns creatively," she said, likening the current frenzy over "Breaking Bad" to the run-up to the series finales of "Battlestar Galactica" and "Lost."
But following the rise of the TV recap and social media, the mania is even more pitched.
"It's hard to imagine what 'The Sopranos' finale would have been like in the era of the full-blown Internet," said Brett Martin, author of "Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution: From 'The Sopranos' and 'The Wire' to 'Mad Men' and 'Breaking Bad.'"
Yet there's also something decidedly old-fashioned about "Breaking Bad's" late-game surge. It's the rare show that people feel the need to watch live —- otherwise, as Martin joked, "you're unfit for human consumption."
As Times critic Mary McNamara wrote this week, television shows like "Breaking Bad" are the new novels, and being culturally literate means having your homework done for Monday morning (if not sooner).
And even though Emmy voters are ostensibly judging "Breaking Bad" based on the eight-episode mini-season that aired last year, the deafening buzz, plus the fact that it's the only drama nominee currently airing original episodes, might prove too hard to ignore.
Still, there are some significant obstacles standing between "Breaking Bad" and Emmys glory.
While it would make sense to recognize what is widely viewed as one of the most important television dramas of the past decade, a "Breaking Bad" victory would also defy Emmy tradition, claims O'Neil. The group tends to honor "aspirational, elitist" series, like "L.A. Law," "The West Wing" and, of course, "Mad Men."
"'Breaking Bad' is not that. It's about a crystal meth cook, and a nasty one at that," he said.
Indeed, the Emmys have been slow to recognize the larger creative accomplishments of "Breaking Bad." Stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul have both taken home multiple trophies for their work, but the series earned its first two writing nominations this year. (The opposite is true for four-time best drama "Mad Men" and its leading man Jon Hamm, who's become the Susan Lucci of basic cable.)
Then there are the other nominees in the drama category, a group as formidable as any Mexican cartel. Last year's victor, "Homeland," is still a fierce contender, even if Season 2's extravagant plot twists alienated some viewers.
"Mad Men's" most recent season also earned some jeers but ended on a strong and unusually poignant note. In the wake of the infamous "Red Wedding," HBO's sprawling fantasy "Game of Thrones" has more momentum than ever, though even that might not be enough to overcome the industry bias against genre fare.
Last but by no means least is Netflix's political thriller "House of Cards," the first digitally distributed series to receive a nod for outstanding drama, which possesses the kind of big-screen cachet — in the form of Kevin Spacey, Robin Wright and David Fincher — that makes academy members weak in the knees. A vote for "House of Cards" is a vote for change (if not exactly hope).
"It has a very urgent industry message. It's a serious threat to the reign of establishment TV," O'Neil said of "House of Cards." "I think you will hear a howl across Hollywood from broadcast and cable TV executives if it wins."
But in its first showing at the Emmys, Netflix might just be its own worst enemy. The "Breaking Bad" ascendancy is due, in no small part, to the online subscription service, where the series became available for streaming in September 2011, enabling the curious to binge-watch on their own time.
"They have a symbiotic relationship," said Christopher Vollmer, leader of the global media and entertainment practice at the consulting firm Booz & Company.
Even in the comedy realm, there are hints that Emmy might turn away from the shiny and affluent and embrace its dark side. ABC's "Modern Family" has won the comedy prize for the last three years, but FX's moody, idiosyncratic "Louie," the first basic-cable comedy to earn a nomination in the category, could play the part of spoiler. The show's writer, director, producer, editor and star Louis C.K. heads into the evening with an astonishing nine nominations, a sure indication of his popularity with Emmy voters.
"Louis C.K. is himself the academy," O'Neil said of the balding, soft-of-belly comedian.
The eclectic mix of nominees, which also includes the "The Big Bang Theory," "30 Rock," "Veep" and "Girls," is "a reflection of where comedy is right now," Ryan said. "It's cheaper and less of a risk to experiment."
There's a certain irony in the fact that the Emmy Awards tend to be far less exciting than the medium they celebrate, particularly in this golden age of television (case in point: even the most obsessive awards-trackers will be tempted to switch over to AMC when "Breaking Bad" comes on at 9 p.m. ET). TV's biggest night can feel remarkably like "Groundhog Day," with the same names popping up year after year with slight variations here and there.
On Sunday night, however, there could be more twists and turns than an episode of … well, pick your favorite.
'The 65th Primetime Emmy Awards'
Where: CBS
When: 5 and 8 p.m. Sunday;
Rating: Not rated

subset: commoncrawl


text:
A fried egg is a food made from an egg fried whole with minimal accompaniment. They are traditionally eaten for breakfast, lunch or tea in English-speaking countries, but may be eaten at other times of the day in other cultures. Fried eggs are distinguished from other forms of eggs cooked in a frying pan, such as scrambled eggs and omelettes, in that the white and yolk are kept distinct rather than beaten or mixed together.
In 1991, Harry Potter was in charge of frying the eggs for Dudley Dursleys birthday. In 1992, Vernon Dursley had remains of fried eggs in his moustache while he was yelling at Harry. Also in 1992, the Weasley family was eating fried eggs with bacon as their breakfast. Later that year, Ron commented "You could have fried an egg on your face. You'd better hope Creevey doesn't meet Ginny, or they'll be starting a Harry Potter Fan Club," after seeing Harry's reaction to his singing Valentine from Ginny.
Fried egg was sometimes served as part of regular breakfasts at Hogwarts. One morning in early 1997, Ron waved a forkful of fried egg as he expressed his confidence that Harry would easily be able to get the memory about Horcruxes from Horace Slughorn.[1]
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (film)
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
- Pottermore
Notes and references
- ↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 18 (Birthday Surprises)


text:
Doumit's Slam Not Enough As Tigers Keep Division Lead
MINNEAPOLIS -- Miguel Cabrera hit a three-run homer to move into at least a tie for the lead in all three triple crown categories and Justin Verlander struck out eight in seven innings to help the Detroit Tigers stay in front in the AL Central with a 6-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
Cabrera's blast in the eighth inning off Casey Fien was his 43rd home run for the year, moving him into a tie with Texas star Josh Hamilton for the AL lead. He also leads the AL in batting average (.327) and RBIs (136) as he looks to become the first player since 1967 to lead the league in all three categories.
Verlander (17-8) allowed four hits and one unearned run to drop his ERA to 2.64 for the Tigers, who moved two games ahead of the Chicago White Sox in the division.
Cabrera's homer proved to be a big one after Ryan Doumit hit a grand slam off of Joaquin Benoit in the eighth.
Al Alburquerque helped the Detroit bullpen do what it couldn't do against the lowly Twins on Friday night -- finish the game. Jose Valverde picked up his 33rd save. Prince Fielder and Andy Dirks also went deep for Detroit.
Chicago lost to Tampa Bay 10-4 moments before the final out of the Tigers game.
P.J. Walters (2-5) gave up two runs on four hits with five strikeouts in five innings for the Twins. Joe Mauer went 0 for 3 with two walks, dropping his average to .320.
One day after Detroit lost a game of cushion to the White Sox when reliever Brayan Villarreal let a lead slip away against the Twins, Verlander came out determined to make sure the Tigers kept the pressure on Chicago.
With a free and easy delivery, the right-hander started the day as he often does, keeping his fastball at 93 or 94 mph while keeping the Twins off balance with an array of off-speed pitches. He started to ramp things up in the fourth when he blew Justin Morneau away with consecutive fastballs of 98 and 99 and hit 100 later in the inning.
It wasn't just Verlander's dazzling stuff that gave the Twins hitters problems. The afternoon shadows at Target Field make it very difficult for hitters to pick up the ball coming out of the pitcher's hand and often contributes to slow days for the offense.
That appeared to be the case early for Cabrera as well, who was befuddled by Walters. The slugger struck out in his first two at-bats and flew out to right in his third. Cabrera entered the day leading Mauer by five points in the batting race, Hamilton by eight in the RBI race, but trailing Hamilton by one in homers.
The bigger prize, of course, is the division title. Neither the Tigers nor the Sox will qualify for one of two wild cards in the American League, so their only way in is through the division door.
After wrapping up the series against Minnesota on Sunday, the Tigers will finish the regular season with three games in Kansas City. The White Sox have one more game against Tampa Bay before heading to Cleveland for three games.
* Verlander left with nobody out in the eighth after Denard Span reached on an error, marking just the fourth time all season he's been taken out in the middle of an inning.
* One night after making a costly error late in a 4-2 loss to the Twins, Fielder was sharp at 1B, making a quick decision on a hot grounder from Jamey Carroll in the fifth. Fielder threw to third base and Cabrera chased Trevor Plouffe down to get the lead runner.
* Plouffe snapped an 0-for-18 skid with a double in the fifth inning.
* The Tigers will send RHP Anibal Sanchez (4-6, 3.95) to the mound for the series finale against Twins RHP Liam Hendriks (1-8, 6.09). Sanchez is coming off of his first shutout in more than a year, a three-hitter against Kansas City that put the Tigers into a tie for first place.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Material may not be redistributed.


text:
The biggest question of this draft concerns the biggest personality in it: Johnny Manziel. The MMQB sat down with five experts steeped in the quarterbacking business—David Cutcliffe, Mike Holmgren, Doug Flutie, Kevin Gilbride and Rich Gannon—to watch tape and judge how, or if, his talents will translate to the NFL
From now until the opening of training camps, The MMQB will run a series of our Greatest Hits from the site's first year. From May, Peter King travels the country to find out what the best quarterbacking minds think of Johnny Manziel...
DURHAM, N.C.—"He's got great balance. How good is that throw? I mean, how good is that throw?" says Duke coach David Cutcliffe, watching Johnny Manziel video in his office.
RENTON, Wash.—"He's all arm. He throws a lot of passes that way," says former Brett Favre tutor Mike Holmgren, watching Manziel video near his Seattle home.
MELBOURNE BEACH, Fla.—"He can make every throw, and I don't know every NFL offense from top to bottom, but just put him in the shotgun and spread the field out and let him play. You've got to find a way to let him play. He would be perfect for Chip Kelly," says Doug Flutie, who was Manziel before there was a Manziel, watching Manziel video in his home hard by the Atlantic Ocean.
SOUTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.—"His mechanics are awful. It's hard not to be influenced by the things you've heard, that the problem is lack of discipline. That manifests itself off the field and in the way he plays. Even just carrying out fakes—it's just like, 'Ah, screw it.' Those guys don't make it usually. But he's athletic enough and talented enough that if he works, he can make it," says longtime NFL offensive coach Kevin Gilbride, who retired after last season, watching Manziel video in his home a few long spirals from the New England coast.
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn.—"The kid's got the balls of a burglar," says 2002 NFL MVP Rich Gannon, waching Manziel video near his Twin Cities home.
* * *
We came, we watched, we dissected. In the past month I watched coaches video of Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel with five of the smartest quarterback people I know. Specifically, we watched two games from 2013: Manziel's two-man show (with wideout Mike Evans) in a thrilling narrow loss to Alabama, and Manziel's s struggles to cope with a disciplined defensive front in a decisive loss to LSU.
I wrote the cover story for this week's Sports Illustrated with the analyses of the five men on Manziel. I was struck with the "Yeah, but …" aspect of so much of what they said. Let me sum up: They, like so many in the NFL, are on the edge of a sword with Manziel—drawn to his athleticism and field presence and fearlessness, repelled by the prospect of his having to adjust from being a runner/thrower to much more of a pocket passer in the NFL game. That's a major generalization, of course. Each liked what he saw, to differing degrees. Flutie, predictably, would take Manziel high in the May 8 draft. Gannon, bothered by Manziel's sloppy mechanics, wouldn't take him high but thinks he's an intriguing prospect. Holmgren thinks he's a long shot to be a top NFL player. Gilbride does as well, but Gilbride thinks the right mechanic could fix Manziel's flaws and make him a very good player.
I found Cutcliffe's remarks the most intriguing. Not because he's smarter about the position necessarily … but because Duke played Texas A&M in the final game of Manziel's college career, and Cutcliffe and his staff spent three weeks prepping for Manziel, and because Cutcliffe has a close handle on the NFL game because of his off-season coaching with the Manning brothers.
So we will start there, in the office with Cutcliffe in this virtual roundtable, with me interjecting occasionally but mostly staying out of the way.
* * *
The Alabama tape is on. Manziel, on the first series of the game, launches two balls perfectly thrown, one 35 yards in the air to Evans' back shoulder, and then other 41 yards in the air, leading Evans perfectly down the right sideline.
Cutcliffe: "Somebody's coached him well. Yes, he's staring down the route, but it's man coverage, with no help. So what is critical is to throw it on time. You see how quiet his lower body is. He's not having to step. It's not just arm strength. That's torso strength. I like a torso throw. That's a beautiful throw to Evans. Look at that throw."
Gilbride: "Everything he does is sloppy. Those are two pretty good deep balls, though. I like his arm."
Gannon: "He's got a tendency … Watch his feet when he throws the football. He hopped. There's some things when you see him structurally with his feet that concerns you a little bit. He needs a coach who's going to be very disciplined with him and very demanding of him with the feet, because in the pocket you see a lot of examples of him flushing before he has to. There are some things where he's sloppy with his feet but gets away with it because he's such a great athlete. Good arm. Good throws."
And more throws. More mechanical issues, with a hop to his throw, and little use of his legs for power and leverage.
Cutcliffe: "Now what I don't like is this hop. It's a nightmare. That's a freakin' nightmare. He doesn't really have to do that. I don't know what got him started in that. … But his arm strength is incredible, I can tell you that. Even watching throwaways."
Holmgren: "I don't like some of the stuff he does. You see how stiff his front leg is? He must have a pretty good arm. He likes that throw. So much spread and shotgun—I'm not bothered by it, but I would call it a little bit like Alex Smith coming out of college. He was with Urban Meyer at Utah. He's a systems quarterback. He's a perfect fit for that system. Now are you going to run that system in the league? He's going to have to drop back. He's going to have to be in the pocket. He's going to have to protect himself. It's not going to be this system."
"In the NFL, are you going to get away from those D-linemen?" Flutie says. "From those linebackers who are faster than you?"
Gannon: "There's some things when you see him structurally with his feet that concern you a little bit. He needs a coach who's going to be very disciplined with him and very demanding of him with the feet, because in the pocket you see a lot of examples of him flushing before he has to. He's not going to take the extra hitch. He doesn't trust the protection. Part of it is that he's a six-foot tall guy, and I went through this a little bit, even as a 6-3 quarterback. These are big guys in front of you, and it collapses on you, and you're much more comfortable outside the pocket. I think he's much more comfortable outside the pocket, a much more accurate thrower outside the pocket. There's some things where he's sloppy with his feet but gets away with it because he's such a great athlete."
Flutie: "Sometimes he just trusts his athleticism too much. You can't just run around and make plays in the NFL. It doesn't happen. The field is too small, given the speed and size of the players. I found that out. But in the NFL, are you going to get away from those D-linemen? Are you going to get away from those linebackers who are faster than you? In the NFL you can't always rely on athleticism."
The mayhem throws, the running everywhere with no endgame but what's in Manziel's head … sometimes it works, sometimes it's a debacle, and sometimes his vision wins for him.
Gannon: "You talk to the people in Pittsburgh about Ben Roethlisberger. Mike Tomlin says, There's gonna be three or four plays every game where he runs around and makes six guys miss and then gets sacked and loses 10 yards. But we have to tolerate because of the couple times a game where he does that and he throws for a 70-yard touchdown. That's who he is. You're going to have to take some negative plays, because that's who he is. You can't take that natural instinct away from him."
Cutcliffe: "This is why I think he can be a good pro quarterback. He has great vision of the field. Down here at the 10-yard line, see 32 of Alabama there? Johnny Manziel is aware of him or he throws an interception right here. Anytime you see backers running laterally, you know it's man. Now you're trying to throw it on time. See how he thinks he's getting that guy clean? I'm telling you—seven out of 10 quarterbacks throw that. So he saw it. Bill Walsh said it best: When you're scrambling, make first-and-10 decisions—which means conservative decisions. More games are lost than won in football, really. This is an opportunity to lose a game."
Gannon: "I'll tell you what, though—he finds completions."
Gilbride: "His mechanics are awful! (Laughing) He's falling to the left! Oh my goodness. He's gonna drive somebody crazy, but you know what, you're gonna be hugging him too when he makes some of those spectacular plays."
Cutcliffe: "Johnny, are you doing this? Really? This is an arm throw. This is Harry Gilmer, the jump passer. All he has to do is a little pocket movement to his right, set his feet, and throw the football. That is a mechanical flaw.
Gannon: "He doesn't want to step up into the pocket. If you watch him here, he's a guy that likes to drift. There's a little bit of push, but he could step up. But he wants to get outside because it's easier for him. It's easier for him to see. It's easier for him to make these plays, and that's where he's had the most success. I talked to the defensive coordinator at Duke about preparing for him. He said you're better off letting him complete the pass to the primary receiver, because that doesn't hurt you. Where he really hurts you is when he gets outside contain, and that's where the big plays show up—off the scramble.
"The problem is, in the NFL—and we see it all the time with Vince Young and Terrelle Pryor and all these athletic guys—what happens is you get a good defensive coordinator who will get up the field and set the edge and force this guy to function and operate as a pocket passer. What we've always learned in the NFL is you talk about the integrity of the A-gap and the B-gap [the gaps on the offensive line closest to the center] and being able to step up and trust it. This guy, to me, is going to have a problem with that. Drew Brees is so good about sliding and resetting, and he's able to change his body angle and make awkward throws, and he's able to find gaps and windows.
"It's not just whether Johnny Manziel is ready for the NFL, it's whether that team is ready for him. Do they have a good defense? Do they have a running game? Do they have a veteran running back they can lean on while he figures stuff out? Because if not, it's going to be going so fast for him."
One thing all five agree on: They like Manziel's physical gifts.
Cutcliffe: "He's got great torso strength, shoulder strength, arm strength, hand strength. I want to see him be more consistent in his finish. If you're finishing consistently the same way, if you study some of the great ones—they find a way to finish the same way. If you do that, he will become more consistent as long as he's willing. He may be accurate, but he's doing more than he needs to do."
Gannon: "He has the ability to avoid the rush, and create, and improvise. I like that in a quarterback. That's the one thing when I watch this tape that gets me excited about Johnny Manziel. I like the fact that he can make something out of nothing. I like the fact that he can avoid the rush. I like the fact that he can keep plays alive. Those are all good things. Peyton Manning and Tom Brady can't do that, but they are so freaking good and have so much experience in audibles, changing plays, accuracy, timing, history, knowledge of the game—that's why they are able to survive. Because even when they can't run away, they can function or just flip it away."
Cutcliffe: "Look at his hand engulf that ball. He's got huge hands. Look at that. That's scary looking, that much hand. It looks like somebody's done a caricature. And because of that, look at where he throws that ball."
Holmgren: "I heard Gruden say Manziel reminded him of Steve Young. I had Steve Young in college. It's not even the same animal. Fran Tarkenton a little bit. Tarkenton was such a good passer. Oh boy. He was really a good passer."
Gilbride: "I'd rather have the guy who takes a shot than the guy who's afraid to take a chance. He ain't afraid to take a chance. Those are the guys who win. It's nice to have a guy who can solve problems. It's nice when you can solve them with your feet. It gives him a solution to difficulties that guys who can't run don't have. It can't be the only solution, or the team will never be good."
He abandons the pocket early, regularly, to make plays. Sometimes it's good, but it's the strict teachers in the group who wish he'd stay longer.
Cutcliffe: "This is pretty good poise in the pocket. I would want him to move up instead of back. One of the problems with his size becomes that issue—you have to have pocket movement to get vision if you're that size. But it also is a credit to the folks coaching Russell Wilson. Mike Holmgren said it: He's got to have the right people coaching him to understand all these idiosyncrasies to help him be successful. You're not going to run the exact same pocket as you had run with Tom Brady, who is big and tall. But in the end, he maintains his poise."
Gannon: "His lack of patience in the pocket is a concern. I don't get the sense that he's very comfortable in the noise and the traffic up in the A and B gaps. He has a reluctance to step up inside the pocket, set his feet, and make an on-time delivery. He has so much confidence in his ability to create and improvise that at times it can be a negative. He is late with his eyes at times. You'll see him look on timing throws, trying to look off a near safety, it's not necessary. It makes him late with his eyes, and as a result, he is late with the throw. It affects his accuracy."
Gilbride: "He takes off, and he's just turning down underneath throws that in the pro game he's going have to make. Those intermediate guys are open. You say, 'Make them bleed. Make them bleed. Make them bleed' [on short passes]. Then eventually, they're going jump the shorter routes and you'll get the deeper throw."
Cutcliffe: "Out of the pocket, that's where he manages to get the job done. Again, his knowledge, his vision is what impressed me in person against our defense. He knew what we were doing and where to go with the ball. And his suddenness. He's not having to do a whole lot with his lower body to throw that thing incredibly well with velocity. That's just what I saw in person in the bowl game. I could not believe his ability to just snap it off and get it out there in a hurry—with accuracy and with velocity."
Gannon: "When I watch him—and I've watched probably half a dozen games—I don't see as much of the anticipation. He's a guy who sometimes wants to see the receiver open. Now these back shoulder throws, he's got so much confidence in this bigger receiver. But I'm talking about some of these in-breaking routes and out-breaking routes where he's not anticipating."
Holmgren: "Everyone's saying, 'Russell Wilson. Russell Wilson.' [Packers GM] Ron Wolf and I were evaluating running backs and I said, 'I really like this guy.' He says, 'How tall is he?' I said, 'He's 5-7 or 5-8.' He says, 'Don't move.' Runs into his office and comes back with a computer printout and goes, 'These are all the running backs who have ever played in the NFL. How many were good and were 5-8 or less?' There was one: Barry Sanders. He says, 'He might be the next Barry Sanders, but probably not.' If you say, 'Well now because of Russell Wilson, we should draft 5-11 quarterbacks"—well, Wilson is so special in other areas that allow him to do that. Plus their defense is so good. Plus their kicking game is good. Plus they have Marshawn Lynch. So it all fits that way for him."
Gannon: "He needs to go somewhere where you've got a great quarterback coach and a great coordinator, and they're really going to drill him on footwork—a guy like Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, somebody who's going coach the crap out of him on how to play in the pocket.
"You hope he goes somewhere and gets a chance to thrive, as opposed to Jacksonville or somewhere where he's got to be that guy and carry a team when he's not ready to do that yet. [Jags offensive coordinator] Jedd Fisch is not a guy who's going to take out the whip and crack it. He's not that guy. Johnny needs a guy who's not going to be his buddy—who's going to be his coach. This guy needs tight reins."
LSU often defended Manziel by rushing five, and putting them in sort of a halo around Manziel, making it hard for him to escape the pocket.
Flutie: "You bring five guys. This is a Belichick thing—you tell your defensive ends, Don't go deeper than the quarterback. His only escape is out the backside of the pocket, not up and through. It makes him stand in there and throw the football, and it creates a wall in front of him, which I struggled with at times as well. What I always did when I saw that is I picked the one matchup I like. I feel a five-man rush. It's usually man-to-man on the outside. It would be very difficult for me to go front side to back side and find another receiver. So I picked my guy and picked my matchup and put the ball on a spot where I thought I could get it to my guy and make a play for you. And that's what he's done with Mike Evans. He's his man-to-man bailout."
Gilbride: "Just like LSU did on defense, that's what [NFL teams] are all going to do. They're going to try to hold him in the pocket and make him prove he can be disciplined and accurate enough, and throw the ball to beat you. Can he do that? Sometimes there's going to be a breakdown and you solve it by running around, but you can't do that all the time and be good."
The game's changing, which should be an advantage to Manziel. Or is the game really so different from a decade ago? Feels like it is. Gilbride says no.
Gilbride: "I hear that all the time, but I say 10 years ago, Michael Vick was running around like a maniac. Kordell Stewart was running around like a maniac. Mark Brunell was running around like a maniac. Those guys have always had a place. More teams maybe are running the read option, which demands that a quarterback can throw and still be athletic enough. But if you think of the old days, quarterbacks were option football. They were great athletes. Then it was, Could they throw? And the ones that make it become quarterbacks. The ones that don't stay 'slash.' Manziel's got to grow. He's not going to make it just running around. But it will allow him to be successful early on while he's developing into the complete quarterback. Because early on he can still solve some problems with his feet."
Flutie: "It's not going to be textbook. His footwork is not great, but it's kind of out of necessity. As a smaller quarterback or as an athletic quarterback, I always liked keeping my separation from the offensive line. So sometimes you drift. Sometimes you don't really set firm, which would drive NFL people nuts. But he's still able to make throws and throw the ball accurately when doing that. When it's not there, now he's continued to drift a little bit and create that separation so he can be elusive."
Manziel reportedly got the highest score of a quarterback on the 50-question Wonderlic test this year: a 32.
Gannon: "Better than the alternative. Shows he can learn a new offense, probably pretty quick."
Holmgren: "You go into those meetings, discussing quarterbacks, and guys are saying, He's dumb. He got a 17 on his Wonderlic. So I get a bunch of these tests one day in Green Bay and call a staff meeting with the coaches, and I say, 'Okay, I'm going to pass this out. No questions. You have 10 minutes to take this test. Go.' I had taken it two days before by myself. So I collect them all and grade them. The next day I pass them out. They all got their scores… and Andy [Reid] got a 27, and he goes, 'What'd you get?' I said, 'I got a 33.' He says, "I want to take it again! I gotta take it again!' I didn't let him. From that point, guys there had a little more appreciation for the test. It's not that easy."
Cutcliffe: "You can tell he's smart. You train a quarterback from the neck up and the neck down. The neck down is all those mechanics and things that have to happen mindlessly. So what he tells me—he's got a little issue mechanically, but he's using his eyes and his mind really well. He's busy during the play. He gets it."
Flutie: "I love his situational awareness. His ability to rise to the occasion of the game—whether it is a two-minute drive at the end of the half or the end of the game, understanding that he's got to get two more scores in the last two minutes so we're going to hurry this up and take a few more risks. A feel for where people are in the pocket around him. All those instinctive things that you can't teach. I mean there are some guys that are 6-5 with a great arm and are smart and all that, but they get the ball stripped from them all the time. Guys coming around the corner. He knows where people are and where the defenders are. He has a knack for setting up his blocks when he takes off and runs, he'll move a guy. All those little things that are very instinctive."
What don't you like?
Flutie: "Throwing the ball up for grabs a little too much. Sometimes you have to give up on a play and throw it away. He really will not give up on a play. I've seen him throw some balls out of bound and throw them away, but boy, he gave it every shot he could. In the NFL, you've got to know when your journey is over, which means get down and don't take the hit. The biggest challenge for me as a smaller quarterback, and I think he's going to have that challenge, is that front side to back side read. When you bring five especially—to go from one side of the field to the other. He's going to have to move to make that secondary throw, rather than just pivot on his feet, keep the ball high and the ball out."
Cutcliffe: "Can he make it? Yes. Will he? Has a lot to do with all the X factors. Where he lands, the system he's in, who's coaching him, his commitment and willingness to continue to improve. Let's remember this: He's coming out early. He's got to take all of the skill he has and realize that 'great' doesn't come in how far you can throw it and how hard you can throw it or how many big plays you may or may not make. It comes in consistency. We can start talking 'great' player when you're an extremely consistent player. That means hitting open receivers when you should hit them. That means the accuracy stays there. Training that lower body to be friendly—to quit falling off throws, to lose his accuracy when he doesn't have to. Being on the field with him at the bowl game, it was total command of that football—his ability to spin the ball, put it where he wanted to put it, to his ability to keep his eyes downfield, and his awareness during a play downfield … Those things far exceeded what I thought it was going to be. And it wasn't just his quickness. His strength shocked me a little bit. He's an extremely strong football player as a quarterback."
Would you want to coach him?
Cutcliffe: "I would. How could you not want to coach this guy? I'd love to coach him. It's a challenge in some areas, but he's got so many gifts. He's the kind you want to get your hands on."
Gannon: "You've got Drew Brees, and you've got Russell Wilson—we're gonna see about this kid, but you like what you see so far. But how many guys are at six feet that have really thrived in this league. So, can he be that guy? I think there are subtle changes to be made. It's like taking a guy's golf swing—you don't try to change the whole golf swing. But there's simple things like, 'Hey, two hands on the ball in the pocket.' That doesn't change the way he throws the ball. That's a simple thing. There's some things with his feet, where if we could just show him on these cutups where his body angle is back here, we want to try to get up here more. We want you to play bigger, not smaller. His instinctiveness, his creativity, his maneuverability, his athleticism, his toughness, his willingness to run up inside with the football—all positives."
Holmgren: "I think [long-term success] is a long shot. When he makes plays, he's most effective moving, scrambling, gets a little lucky, and then he's got a lot of those throws that most guys can make. When he has to really throw the ball accurately, I just didn't think he threw the ball well enough. Now in his pro workout [Holmgren watched his Pro Day workout], he had a really good workout, but there's not people flying around. You're not reading things. You need to be able to throw in the pocket and make throws on third-and-nine, when everyone in the whole park knows you're going to throw. Two, physically, he's not exactly what you want. He's not tall enough. Now that doesn't mean he can't make it, because Russell Wilson made it. But not many guys do."
Flutie: "He's got to be a worker. Any quarterback at the NFL level absolutely has to be. In recent years the athleticism has been successful—just being an athlete at the quarterback position. But those guys are more than just athletes. You can't just run around and make plays in the NFL. The guy who's willing to come in early and leave late, first one in last guy out. Tom Brady—every day—first guy in, last guy out. Game planning with the coaches. Know that game plan inside out. I remember hearing Peyton Manning as a rookie, they said, 'Oh, he can't watch enough film. He's the only guy I've ever had come up and ask to watch more film.' I was rolling my eyes, thinking, What is this guy trying to do, impress? But in this day and age, with how much is being thrown on a quarterback—like getting out of plays, calling multiple plays in the huddle, and alerts at the line of scrimmage—you have to be that way."
The Final Word
Flutie: "I hope they don't take the fun out of the game for him, because I felt my first time around they did for me. After playing in Canada and coming back, I didn't allow it. I was more mature and confident about what I was doing. Johnny doesn't lack confidence, and they won't give up on him easily. I felt that in my era it was one bad game and I'm out. Russell Wilson isn't throwing for 400 a game, but he's doing all these little things to help you win. Scrambling for a first down. Hits some big plays here and there. I think the success of Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson—the spread offense guys—and also Drew Brees and Russell—the shorter guys—that Johnny's gonna get a legitimate shot. When I played, you had to be a 6-4 or 6-5 guy to have a couple years to screw up and still be around. I think they'll hang with him and give him a real shot. Because he's dynamic. His instinctive play is just phenomenal."
Photo credits for panel: Grant Halverson/Getty Images (Cutcliffe); Bill Nelson/SI (Holmgren); Paul Marotta/Getty Images (Flutie); Bill Kostroun/AP (Gilbride) Michael Loccisano/Getty Imagesfor SiriusXM (Gannon)


text:
As a waitress, Barbara Corcoran thought she couldn't compete with a blonde bombshell waitress with giant breasts. Her mom, however, told her to put ribbons on her pigtails for a sweet and virginal image.
Sure enough, the tactic worked.
Renowned real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran tells us that she learned everything about marketing and building a business from her mother whose basic message was to "use what you got."
(One of her many books got much more specific: " If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons On Your Pigtails". Barbara's newest book is called " Shark Tales".)
As for our own Henry Blodget, even though he's "not that sexy," he has a charming, trustworthy face that can help promote his business (insider). Or did she mean Joe Weisenthal...
And Don't Miss...
• BARBARA CORCORAN: Here's How I Turned $1,000 Into $70 Million
• Trulia CEO: Prices Will Go Down, But 2011 May Be The Time To Buy A House
• Here Is Why Everything You Know About Negotiating Is Wrong
Produced By: Kamelia Angelova & William Wei


text:
With over 20 years experience installing and supplying solid fuel stoves in Wexford, Boyhill Cookers is a trusted family business based in county Fermanagh and serving all of Ireland, that continues to deliver the best quality and selection of both traditional and up-to-the-minute contemporary style stoves Wexford demands.
Call now or visit our showroom in County Fermanagh
Boyhill Wood Burning Stoves Wexford
We have a great range of wood burning stoves on display at our showroom at all times so that visitors can see them in action, and we can answer all your wood stove queries and concerns.
Looking for a wood burning back boiler stove or convection stove? No problem, just give us a call or drop in to talk to us now.
Contemporary Inset Stoves
Among the best of high quality insert stoves Wexford has seen are the Stovax, Esse, and Dovre brands, which are strongly represented in our range. Come and view these beautiful stoves in action and get a first-hand feel for the power and efficiency of these models. You will be delighted and amazed.
The Best Solid Fuel Stoves for Wexford
At Boyhill Cookers & Stoves, we only stock and recommend what we believe (after many years of firsthand experience) to be the most reliable, efficient, clean-burning and value for money solid fuel stoves Ireland has to offer.
With us, you will never feel pushed into a purchase by high-pressure sales people. We are low key and have a base of loyal, satisfied repeat customers throughout Ireland and the UK.
We aim to help you find the perfect stove for your needs by listening carefully to what you have to say and then offering you the benefit of both our experience. We hope that Boyhill Stoves Ireland remains the supplier of the best selection of stoves Northern Ireland or Southern Ireland has to offer for a long time.
We look forward to meeting you soon!
Browse Some Of Our Selection Of Solid And Multi-fuel Stoves
- Morso Stoves
- HWAM Stoves
- Stovax
- Esse Stoves
- Dovre Stoves
- Woodwarm Stoves
- Dunsley Stoves
- Yeoman Stoves
- Olymberyl Stoves
We are continuing to expand all the time to make the best selection of stoves that anyone in Ireland has to offer you.
Also, if you don't see what you want we may still be able to source it for you, just talk to us.
So, for top quality stoves in Wexford, friendly service and excellent value for money, contact us today!


text:
Accenture's innovative testing services help testing organization be a catalyst for speed, agility and business performance while achieving radical productivity. With more than three decades of experience, Accenture serves over 1,000 testing clients across more than 40 industries. We power high performance with our industry specialization, intelligent automation and digital innovations delivered through an unmatched global network of alliances and delivery centers.
Accenture offers the entire breadth and depth of testing services across a variety of applications, digital technologies and industries delivered under flexible business arrangements.
Defining strategy, developing assessment plans and providing recommendations.
Enabling automation, performance and security across the application lifecycle.
Delivering a seamless user experience across devices, interfaces, networks and platforms.
Providing services for every leading packaged application, custom systems and SaaS platforms.
Implementing and managing testing through a Testing Center of Excellence or as-a-service.
Validating the safety, reliability and transparency of AI systems with our "Teach and Test" methodology.
Our proprietary testing platforms enable intelligent, secure and automated testing delivery. These platforms allow testing teams to easily integrate tools from leading players such as Akamai, Applause, Conformiq, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel Saffron, Perfecto Mobile, Sauce Labs, Tableau, Tricentis and Worksoft among others. These testing platforms can be deployed independently or as part of Accenture myWizard®.
Testing Platform
Enabling automated, artificial intelligence and analytics-driven software testing to deliver new enterprise software solutions faster to market and with higher quality.
Testing Platform
Helping fast-track digital application delivery to create a seamless end-user experience whatever the user interface, while improving and realizing market potential.
Helping humans and machines reach their exponential potential in application services through intelligent collaboration across the entire testing process.
A communications leader sought to accelerate testing automation, improve time to market and deliver high-quality customer experiences. Accenture implemented an end-to-end intelligent automation framework underpinned by an outcome-driven model, to drive intelligence, and automation into the testing lifecycle. As a result, the client is now equipped to handle increased volumes and complexity with greater agility, better testing strategies, lower delivery effort and improved productivity.
A major retailer needed to enhance its e-commerce platform to deliver a seamless user experience across devices. It was faced with the challenge of addressing network latency, low rate of social media engagement, conversion and shopping cart creation. Accenture deployed its Omni-Channel Testing Platform to help the retailer boost revenues and enhance conversion rates of its e-commerce portal across web and mobile devices. The Accenture team leveraged digital optimization to enable search engines, social media and application store optimization for enhanced market uplift and brand value.
Latest Thinking
The Accenture Touchless Testing Platform combines AI and more to provide test engineers with new tools for greater efficiency.
Latest Thinking
Accenture's Bhaskar Ghosh and colleagues explain why collaboration with humans is essential when you implement machine learning.
Latest Thinking
Analytics and AI are breathing new life into automation tech. Three lessons we learned on the potential of intelligent automation.
Technology Blog
Our Technology Labs Blog provides bold thinking of new technologies that address many of the key business challenges facing organizations today.


text:
Most bands don't start with a standing ovation, but that's exactly what greeted [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Incubus[/lastfm] during their massive Live On Letterman concert. And the veteran California band met the applause and adulation in grand rock n' roll style — with clanging guitars, driving rhythms, and the stylish voice of lead singer Brandon Boyd.
The band kicked off their hour-long set with Megalomaniac, a chart-topping song from the band's 2004 album A Crow Left of the Murder… Next came "Wish You Were Here," another vintage track, this time from the band's 2001 album Morning View. Obviously a fan favorite, it had the entire front row of the Ed Sullivan Theater singing along.
The band moved up a few years with the next song, "Anna Molly," one of two songs during the night's show that represented the 2006 album Light Grenades.
Considering this was practically a record-release party for the band's brand-new album If Not Now, When? (hitting stores the next morning, July 12), it was surprising the band took its time getting into brand-new material–but what a song it turned out to be. "Promises, Promises" is the lead track off If Not Now, When? and in many ways it redefines the new Incubus as a band fully embracing the promise of soulful balladry.
Then in yet another turn of events, lead singer Boyd stripped down to just a white T-shirt and jeans and even dabbled in a bit of scat-singing during the jazz-funk intro to "Nice To Know You," proving yet again that this is a band that remains fully unpredictable.
Incubus returned to their new album for the next three songs, the energetic "Thieves," the complex, multilayered "In the Company of Wolves," and the wild-eyed "Adolescent."
"Wolves" is a unique, slow-boil of a song that begins with neo-folk acoustic guitar and winds up somewhere slow, sexy, and moody–Brandon Boyd will never be mistaken for Barry White, but at the same time, his lustful howling can't help but pull you in. ""I want to be the microphone," wrote one social media user during the live webcast.
The funky "Pardon Me" (with emphasis on turntables and a skittering hip-hop rhythm) concluded the main set. But then Incubus returned for a surprise encore that featured two more vintage tracks — "Consequence" from the album Make Yourself, and the fan favorite "Love Hurts" from Light Grenades.
Luckily for fans who didn't catch the show live, the entire concert webcast will be available on-demand starting Tuesday, July 12. You can watch it anytime right here or on CBS.com.Vodpod videos no longer available.
Presented by AT&T — Re-Think Possible
Free Incubus MP3:
On Tuesday, July 12, download a free MP3 of the song "Promises, Promises" courtesy of MP3.com!


text:
GAIAM TV is a streaming media service that provides unlimited opportunities for transformation. From energizing yoga classes to inspiring documentaries and cutting-edge programs, GAIAM TV takes you beyond the boundaries of mainstream media to reveal new perspectives for our changing world.
To use the GAIAM TV app, you need the following:
To download the app, follow these steps:
To start the GAIAM TV app later, go to apps, My Apps, and then GAIAM TV.
The first time you start the GAIAM TV app on Xbox 360, you must sign in to your GAIAM TV account.
You can manage your GAIAM TV account from a browser on an Internet-enabled device by visiting GAIAM TV User Account and signing in with your GAIAM account information.
For support concerning your GAIAM TV account, see GAIAM TV Support.
If you use Family Settings to control which movies and TV shows can be watched through Xbox Live on your console, the GAIAM TV app will follow those settings. For example, if you use parental controls to restrict access to some kinds of TV programs, those programs will be marked with a "restricted" icon in the GAIAM TV app. To play a restricted item, an adult must enter the Family Settings pass code.
For more information about how to restrict access to Xbox Live content by using Family Settings, see Set parental controls for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.
Xbox Live connection problems
If the GAIAM TV app isn't functioning smoothly on your console, you may have a connectivity problem. See Troubleshoot Xbox 360 connection to Xbox Live.
Xbox 360 audio or video problems
If your Xbox 360 console isn't providing good-quality video or audio for your app, see Audio or video problems in an app on Xbox 360.
The GAIAM TV app doesn't respond
If the GAIAM TV app doesn't respond, delete and reinstall it. Here's how:
You may get one of the following error messages when you try to use the GAIAM TV app.
Availability errors
To resolve the error, follow these steps:
GAIAM TV is responsible for all content in the app. To report a content error, visit www.gaiamtv.com/contact.
Video errors
To resolve the error, wait for approximately one minute. Then, try to launch the content again.
If you continue to receive this error, return to the prior menu and select a different piece of content to watch. To notify GAIAM TV of the content error, visit www.gaiamtv.com/contact.
Thanks for your feedback!
Provide feedback for this topic
Would you like to contact Support regarding the "GAIAM TV app on Xbox 360" issue you were reading about or a different issue?


text:
Despite a major research thrust by the World Health Organization (WHO), no effective vaccine exists for the visceral, or internal, form of leishmaniasis. A milder form of leishmaniasis, which infects the skin, was reported among American military personnel during Operation Desert Storm and other conflicts in the region.
Peter H. Seeberger, Ph.D., of the Laboratory for Organic Chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich headed the research group. It also included researchers from the Swiss Tropical Institute in Basel and Pevion Inc., a biotech company focusing on virosomal delivery systems. The group reported their findings in ACS Chemical Biology, one of 34 peer-reviewed journals published by the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society.
Several leishmaniasis candidate vaccines are in various stages of development. Seeberger's group, however, reported development of a unique two-part preparation. It is among a new genre of carbohydrate-based vaccines stirring excitement in medical circles. Carbohydrates are chemical compounds that include sugar and are made from units linked together like beads on a chain.
"This is the first and only carbohydrate vaccine candidate against this disease," Seeberger stated. "This candidate vaccine brings something new to the table and may be of use not only in humans but also for pet vaccines. Dogs get leishmaniasis, particularly in Southern Europe and a vaccine is urgently needed there, as well."
Carbohydrate vaccines already are used in everyday medicine, including vaccines to immunize against meningitis and other bacterial infections, mainly in small children in the United States. Those vaccines use carbohydrates isolated from the actual bacteria responsible for the diseases. The carbohydrates act as antigens, which stimulate the immune system to deploy a protective shield against disease.
"Right now there is a major push to utilize synthetic carbohydrates as antigens in order to control the purity and composition and avoid possible contamination," Seeberger explained. His own group, together with a biotech company -- Ancora Pharmaceuticals in Medford, Mass. -- is working on one such malaria vaccine that is in late-stage preclinical trials. Other candidate vaccines against anthrax and tuberculosis are at an earlier stage of development.
One major drawback with carbohydrate vaccines is the difficulty in getting them to produce a strong immune response. Vaccine manufacturers achieve this by adding a booster substance -- an adjuvant. The standard existing adjuvant, alum, has limitations. Potential alternative adjuvants are toxic, expensive or have other problems.
Seeberger's candidate vaccine combines the delivery vehicle, immune-stimulating antigen and adjuvant into one package.
The delivery vehicle is an influenza virosome -- the empty envelope of the influenza virus. These flu virus shells contain none of the infectious genetic material in full-fledges flu viruses. The virosome also acts as an "adjuvant," boosting the immune response of the candidate vaccine. The antigen is a synthetic carbohydrate similar to substances on the surface of the leishmaniasis bacteria.
With laboratory studies showing that the candidate vaccine produces a strong protective action against leishmaniasis, Seeberger's group is moving on to the next step toward a leishmaniasis vaccine -- tests in animals.
"To date, carbohydrates have not been used on this delivery platform," Seeberger said. "Therefore, this is a proof-of-principle study that will be applicable to many carbohydrate antigens of importance in other diseases as well," he said. Seeberger cited both infectious and parasitic diseases and vaccines against cancer.
WHO assigned a high priority to development of a leishmaniasis vaccine because of the huge human toll and the lack of any effective treatment. The most common drugs used to treat leishmaniasis have serious side effects and are expensive.
Symptoms of visceral leishmaniasis include fever, weight loss, and abnormalities of the liver and spleen.
The online version of the research paper cited above will be published April 21 on the journal's Web site. Journalists can arrange access to this site or request a copy of the paper by sending an e-mail to email@example.com or calling the contact person for this release.


text:
Harvest Time Sunbonnet Sue Redwork
Legal Notice: Making a copy, by any means, of our artwork or embroidery design files is a violation of copyright law. Our design files are licensed to the original customer only for embroidery use only at one location. Please read our full Terms of Use Policy.


text:
Kreatech FISH Probes
Kreatech FISH probes are the latest in advancements in FISH probes. Developed with the use of REPEAT-FREE technology, Kreatech FISH probes eliminate the use of Cot-1 or blocking DNA, providing a clearer background and a brighter signal.
By combining the advanced performance of REPEAT-FREE technology with Kreatech Diagnostics proprietary ULS labeling method, new Kreatech™ probes offer the next generation of FISH probe performance by eliminating the repeat sequences. With the introduction of these probes, the use of Cot 1 or blocking DNA is not required. This results in probes that are brighter and have a clearer background yielding enhanced signal to noise ratio.
The current product portfolio offers over 400 probes. Kreatech is committed to providing an ever expanding menu that reflects the latest in scientific innovation as well as customer needs. Custom probes are available upon request.
Want to know more information about REPEAT-FREE Technology? Click here


text:
Starring Arthur Franz, Joanna Moore and Troy Donahue
Directed by Jack Arnold
Written by David Duncan
Universal Studios Home Entertainment
Until the moment about an hour in when the titular creature is finally revealed, 1958's Monster on the Campus is a half-decent sci-fi monster mash whose debates about evolution and how man's primitive nature lies just below the surface of civility are engaging enough to suspend our disbelief about such a silly concept. Then we see Bud Westmore's masked monster and the whole thing devolves into ridiculousness… fun ridiculousness at that, though.
Arthur Franz (Invaders From Mars) stars as Prof. Donald Blake, a university scientist excited by the arrival of a coelacanth from Madagascar to his campus laboratory. But the arrival of the creature, previously thought to be extinct since the Cretaceous period, brings with it deadly trouble as all those who come in contact with it, animals and humans alike, find themselves reverting into primitive versions of themselves. A series of murders, which Blake attributes to a subhuman creature exposed to the coelacanth's gamma-irradiated flesh, leads the scientist to conduct an experiment which will confirm just how close to animalistic brutality we all are.
Screenwriter David Duncan, responsible for the English version of the original Rodan (1956), keeps the talkier scenes breezing along with half-plausible dialogue delivered with an admirable amount of seriousness by the cast, especially Franz whose character Blake is at times testy, arrogant and unlikeable. Points, too, to Duncan for naming the Madagascar scientist Blake talks to over the phone "Dr. Moreau." Very nice. Further nods to Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde become obvious, too.
Director Jack Arnold's pedigree as a monster man was well-established by 1958, having helmed sci-fi horror classics like 1954's Creature From The Black Lagoon, the Richard Matheson-scripted Incredible Shrinking Man (1957), and not-so-classic but still entertaining genre fare like 1955's Tarantula and 1953's It Came From Outer Space. His work here is solid, although he's let down by his Black Lagoon makeup man Bud Westmore who replaced Jack Pearce at Universal when Pearce's painstaking techniques (he created Boris Karloff's Frankenstein's Monster and the Mummy) were determined to be too expensive and time-consuming, and were replaced by hacks, I mean purveyors of foam rubber like Westmore. The resulting "monster" looks like a dime store rubber mask you'd pick up the afternoon of a Halloween party.
Monster on the Campus can be found on Universal's The Classic Sci-Fi Collection, Vol. 1, a six-disc, 10-film set which also includes Arnold's Tarantula and The Incredible Shrinking Man, overall a great collection of fun creature features whose monsters result from science run amuck. Monster on the Campus isn't the best flick in this set (that would be Shrinking Man, of course), but its flaws and cheesiness aren't strong enough to make me think I'd been made a monkey of.
Rating: 3/5
2 Responses to "NIGHTMARISH NOSTALGIA: MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS (1958)"
[…] to create a Neandertaloid hominid. Various 2010 reviews and appearances of this 1958 (e.g. here, here, and here) movie appeared to emphasize the coelacanth as much as or more than the […]
[…] darklordbunnykins.wordpress.com […]


text:
According to University of Illinois assistant professor of crop sciences Fabián Fernández, most of the nitrogen applied last fall is probably still in the soil. However, some fields are showing what appears to be a nutrient-deficient crop.
He said that, at the end of February, most of the nitrogen was still present, mainly in the ammonium form, in fields in central Illinois that received a late November application of 150 lb. of nitrogen per acre with NServe.
Between Feb. 27 and Mar. 29, a large amount of ammonium was transformed to nitrate because of the warm soil temperatures. The ammonium concentration at the location of the ammonia knife declined by 39%, and nitrate levels in that location increased from 11 to 44 mg/kg. The data between Mar. 29 and April 8 indicate that nitrification is continuing.
The potential for nitrogen loss depends on the quantity and frequency of rain this spring. While some rain is needed now, the dry conditions have allowed nitrogen in the form of nitrate to be retained in the soil.
Fernández said, "Unless we get unusually high precipitation from now on, I do not anticipate a large potential for nitrogen loss. Because soils are dry, it takes a large amount of water to recharge the soil profile."
Once the soil is recharged, nitrate normally moves approximately five to six inches for each inch of rain in a clay loam or silt loam soil. In sandy soils or heavily tile-drained soils, it is possible to move nitrate as much as a foot for each inch of rain.
"However, it is important to remember that between rain events, nitrate will likely start to move back up," said Fernández. This movement is due to water evaporation from the soil surface that creates an upward suction force that moves water and nitrate closer to the surface. If crops are already growing actively, evapotranspiration will cause a similar suction force in addition to some nitrate uptake by the crop.
Fernández said that crops in some fields are showing nutrient deficiency. "The most common symptom I have observed this spring is pale green leaves, but I also received reports of some that have observed a purplish tint in the canopy," he said.
The pale green is probably due to nitrogen deficiency. Nitrogen is important in chlorophyll, which gives leaves their typical dark-green color.
The purple coloration is due to lack of phosphorus in the plant, which impairs the formation of complex carbohydrates. The sugars that accumulate in the leaves are converted to a red-purple pigment (anthocyanin).
These symptoms are due to cool, dry soils that reduce nutrient availability. Also, the crop is not yet actively growing, which also reduces the capacity of roots to take up nutrients.
Another common symptom that is often observed early in the season when soils are dry is potassium deficiency. "I have not seen or heard reports of this symptom so far this year," said Fernández.
Whatever the nutrient deficiency symptom may be, it is important to remember that, if the soil has adequate nutrient levels or has been adequately fertilized, these symptoms are temporary and have no negative impact on yield. Once the crop starts growing actively, these symptoms will quickly disappear.


text:
Redmine Certified by Bitnami
Product Overview
Redmine is a powerful project management and issue tracking platform that enables teams to manage multiple projects from the same place. It is completely free and open source, yet includes many of the same features found in enterprise project management and bug tracking tools.
With Redmine, individual projects can be tracked separately with their own Gantt charts, wikis, calendars, forums, and more. The application integrates with the most popular version control software such as Git and Mercurial, making it possible to automatically update and report on progress towards software development goals and milestones for multiple teams. Features such as LDAP user access management, multiple database support, and multi-language capability make Redmine one of the most flexible project management platforms available.
Why use Bitnami Certified Apps?
Bitnami certifies that our images are secure, up-to-date, and packaged using industry best practices.
With Bitnami, you can trust what is in the app you're launching. We monitor all the applications we package for vulnerabilities, outdated components and libraries, and application updates. When any of these are identified, we patch and release every affected listing within a couple of days.
Operating System
Linux/Unix, Ubuntu 16.04
Delivery Methods


text:
FWIW, I found this to be very true in the martial arts, too. At first, you're into learning more and more techniques, with fine gradations for each possible scenario. What I found was that after maybe 20 years of that, my trajectory reversed, and I gave up on a lot of techniques.
It is confusing to see the plethora of SD methods, techniques, and "arts" that are out there, each one claiming to be just what we need.
Over time it's down to a handful of simple, effective, relatively universal things.
I've trained in so many different martial arts over the last 25-30 years I would have to make a list to count them all. Some of them were very good, a couple were excellent, but most were just a rehash of the others and very impractical for realistic self-defense.
When I was in fights as a cop, I used a few core techniques I learned in almost every fight I had.
Don't get bogged down in the minutia, just learn the basics and practice those until they are instinctual and you will be well prepared to face whatever comes your way.