text:
Back in January 2004, as VoIP was catching on big-time, I wrote a piece for CNET entitled "The Metaphysics of VoIP." I predicted, correctly I think, that much of the coming debate over how VoIP should be regulated under the existing legal regime "would be downright metaphysical." And I pointed out that the dictionary definition of metaphysical means:(1) "of or relating to the transcendent or to the reality beyond what is perceptible to the senses"; (2) "supernatural"; or (3) "highly abstract or abstruse." Of course, in the regulatory world, not only philosophers, but lawyers, find good paying work on metaphysical playgrounds.
So, in another CNET piece, this one published in October 2004 and entitled "Calling for Regulatory Overall Bit by Bit," I called for a new communications law framework that would not be based on what I called "highly abstruse techno-functional constructs." I said such a regime would lead to continuing disputes about the boundaries of service categories that determine regulatory consequences. And I concluded: "What we need is a new market-oriented regulatory model, not a replacement regime based on another set of techno-functional definitions."
Regretfully, the discussion draft released by the House Commerce Committee staff late last week is a framework built on regulatory techno-functional definitions--classifications of BITS providers, VoIP providers, and broadband video providers with attendant regulatory consequences. The serious difficulty with this approach from a political economy and public choice standpoint is that, on the one hand it lends itself to legislators and regulators fiddling with the techno-functional constructs in ways that allow them to shape the market to their own ends, however well-intentioned. And, on the other hand, it leads those who might be benefitted or disadvantaged by manipulating the interpretation of such techno-functional definititons to invest in doing so.
For an example of the first hand, look at the broadband video provisions which require the provision of certain types of (not-yet-offered) integrated Internet functionalities in order to qualify for streamlined franchising treatment. Do the legislators (or regulators who will implement the provisions and, inevitably, the courts who will ultimately interpret them) really know what consumers will demand in the marketplace and or technological capabilities might evolve in the future, absent regulatory constraints, to meet such demand?
Or, to take on the second hand the market participants who seek to qualify for treatment as a BITS provider, or disqualify their competitors. Will the dispute over whether a new protocol is a "successor protocol" of the TCP/IP protocol really be anything other than a metaphysical food fight? And one with likely ongoing uncertainty and attendant long running litigation that will impede marketplace development? (Anyone reading this who remembers the FCC's decade-long struggle to define protocol processing for purposes of drawing the lines between "enhanced" and "basic" services please raise your hand!)
I have great admiration for those who have put in many long hours to produce the discussion draft. It is not easy making sausage on hilltops, especially with a lot of chefs in the kitchen. By virtue of the nature of the process, I believe, however, that the production of the discussion draft can be a constructive step in helping to focus the coming legislative debate. There are elements of the draft that have a deregulatory thrust that are commendable, putting aside for the moment ambiguities in the language that call into question whether that thrust would, in fact, be realized.
I am sure that if one assumes that the discussion draft model, which is what we called the IP Migration model in our DACA regulatory framework group, is the only basis for moving forward with communications legislation, there are ways to improve on the draft language to diminish the likelihood of regulation that is unnecessary and unwise in the current communications environment. To some extent the draft takes what one might call a "clean version" of an IP-Migration model and then reimposes some of the old legacy regulation on top ot it. See, for example, the Section 104 Net Neutrality provision governing "access to bits" or the entry registration requirements throughout. By definition, it is very difficult for any model based on technology distinctions to establish a deregulatory firewall in today's fast-changing technological environment. But it is my intent to offer a few such drafting suggestions that move in the direction of tightening up in another post, assuming for the sake of argument the current draft. I bet some of my colleagues might as well.
But, for now, what I suggest is this: Compared to the techno-functional approach taken in the discussion draft, the market-oriented model ("FTC model") that the DACA Regulatory Framework Proposal released in June presents an attractive, non-techno-functional alternative that deserves to receive renewed attention. It is likely that the reform debate will continue well into next year. There is time enough to reflect and make sure we get the overall fundamental framework right.
posted by Randolph May @ 3:58 PM |
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text:
I miss the Metal Gear Solid theme.
More specifically, the old Metal Gear Solid theme.
That's not to say the new theme music is bad, (it's not) I just feel the old theme was a whole helluva' lot better.
The composition was more interesting, the tune catchier, and the overall "feel" of the track seemed to fit the series like a glove.
For those that are unaware, the original Metal Gear Solid theme, used in all of the games up until the PSP exclusive Portable Ops; was removed from the series due to implications that the track had been plagiarized from an existing composition.
Composed by Tappi Iwase AKA TAPPY, the theme made it's debut as the background music of the promotional trailers for Metal Gear Solid, and was also featured as an alternate ending theme:
The original version of the Metal Gear Solid theme was entirely synthesized, and had a very electronic and, unfortunately; "cheap" sound to it despite it's instrumentation being intentionally implemented for the purpose of simulating an orchestral feel.
Despite it's somewhat primitive sound, (at least by today's standards) the theme possessed a rare combination of energy and catchiness that make it synonymous with the series to this day.
While the Metal Gear Solid theme was first featured in the game of the same name, the first time I can recall hearing it was actually in Konami's Beatmania games on the orginal Playstation.
I had a couple of friends that had "Goldfingers" for their Playstations, and I remember one of them being really into Beatmania and Dance Dance Revolution.
While I honestly wasn't too keen on either of those games, (still aren't) I remember playing a lot of co-op Beatmania specifically to hear the remix of the Metal Gear theme:
That, was my introduction to the Metal Gear Solid theme.
As a remix, it's actually kind of shitty; however the core sound of the theme manages to give the track a lot of strength and memorability.
Gotta' love that English dude yelling random shit in the background though…
*Ahem!* Moving on, I think the last time we got to hear the Metal Gear Solid theme music, was in the sequel; Sons of Liberty.
Combining TAPPY's previous motif with Hollywood film composer Harry "I do military themes that sound like Hans Zimmer's early 90's work" Gregson-William's, this iteration of the theme represents my favorite version of it:
Essentially split into 2 halves, the first portion of the composition is essentially an orchestral and synthesized re-imagining of TAPPY's original motif, while the second half is a decidedly more somber military march-esque tune composed primarily by Gregson-Williams.
The end result is a powerful and exhilarating theme that I had hoped would endure for years to come.
Sadly, this was not the case.
As mentioned earlier, facts surfaced regarding the composition of TAPPY's portion of the theme that heavily implied that the tune was stolen from Russian composer Georgy Sviridov's "The Winter Road":
Most likely fearing a possible lawsuit, Konami pulled the tune from all subsequent Metal Gear Solid related productions, including Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
With the "old" theme gone, Konami ended up using Gregson-Williams' half of the composition as the official theme of the series from that point forward.
As I said earlier, I really don't have a problem with the "new" Metal Gear Solid theme, truth be told it's rather good as far as themes go; it's just that it simply doesn't fit as well as it's predecessor.
It's like John William's Superman theme:
You can make new movies, and you can reboot the series all you want, but the day you stop using Johnny's theme music; is the day I stop believing a man can fly.
The original theme bore an energy and sense of urgency that really sucked you in.
If you closed your eyes listening to the Metal Gear Solid 2 version of it, I swear you could see Solid Snake running around chokin' bitches in your head.
The "new" theme, which bears more than a few of Gregson-Williams' somewhat one-dimensional compositional touches; feels a little slow and overblown if you ask me.
That being said, the Snake Eater version of Gregson-Williams' theme was actually quite good:
Essentially a medley of most the major themes used in the game, the full length version of the Snake Eater theme was an intense and far more organic sounding track than previous compositions in the series.
Let it be known, the heavy percussive segment towards the end of this track is one of my favorite action cues in the entire series.
The instrumentation of the track did well to keep in line with the game's dated Cold War setting and decidedly more somber tone by making use of a richer sounding orchestra, as well as a particularly effective acoustic guitar towards the end.
To date, the acoustic guitar version of the "new" theme remains my favorite version of it.
The Metal Gear Solid theme variant used in Metal Gear Solid 4, renamed "The Metal Gear Saga," left me with a bittersweet taste in my mouth:
While the core theme was retained, and the acoustic guitar element reused with the addition of a bugle for effect; the bulk of the track felt excessively busy and scattered.
The synthesized elements in particular stand out as being particularly noisy and extraneous, such that the track actually weakens the intensity of the sequence it plays over.
The Metal Gear Saga was used in a fight scene towards the end of the game, and I remember feeling genuinely disappointed upon hearing it.
Make no mistake, that scene was amazing; but the music that played over it, wasn't the one I had been humming to myself while I was playing the game…
While I knew ahead of time about the lawsuit regarding the Metal Gear Solid theme music, I played through Metal Gear Solid 4 hoping against hope that Konami would sneak it in there in some capacity.
The "new" theme is passable, but suffers from fairly generic composition, largely brought on by Harry Gregson-Williams' tendency to recycle his music… A LOT.
In my book, the "old" theme is the one true Metal Gear Solid theme music.
It's what I hear in my head whenever I think of the series, and it's what I scour the net for remixes of whenever I'm in the mood for good background music to write to.
Filed under: Comics, Games, Movies, Uncategorized, 2, 3, 4, Comics, composer, DC, film, Georgy Sviridov, Goldfinger, Guns of the Patriots, Hans Zimmer, Harry Gregson-Williams, Hideo Kojima, John Williams, Konami, lawsuit, Metal Gear, Mod Chip, movie, new, old, plagiarism, Playstation, Portable Ops, PS2, PS3, PSP, Russian, Snake Eater, Solid, Solid Snake, Sons of Liberty, Sony, stolen, Superman, Tappi Iwase, Tappy, Winter Road

subset: commoncrawl


text:
BOISE — Summer temperatures and precipitation in Idaho and eastern Oregon have gone different directions the past two years, and the result is depleted storage reservoirs.
Now farmers in the region are dependent on good winter snowpack to have a decent water supply in 2014. For some reservoir systems, there's a good possibility of that happening. But reservoirs in other basins are so dry that it will take snowpack levels well above average to return to normal levels.
"The past two summers, temperatures were above normal and precipitation was below normal. In addition, snowpack has been much lower than normal," said Idaho Department of Water Resources Bureau Chief Rick Raymondi.
"This has resulted in a decreased water supply and an increase in demand, especially from irrigated agriculture, which has resulted in a depletion of available storage in many of our reservoirs," he added.
The drought conditions in the region have placed a lot of pressure on some farmers, said IDWR hydrologist Liz Cresto.
"I got a lot of phone calls this year from people who wanted to make sure they were getting their fair share of water," she said.
Cresto said the drought has also impacted the department's efforts to recharge Idaho's Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer. While the IDWR's recharge programs were able to send 120,000 acre-feet of water back into the aquifer in 2012, that total was just 3,000 acre-feet this year.
For reservoirs to get back to normal storage levels, some water basins, especially those in eastern Oregon, will need snowpack levels much higher than normal.
"We have very low carryover levels in all of our reservoirs," said Ted Day, a water supply forecaster with the Bureau of Reclamation. Eastern Oregon has "a long ways to go for recovery. They are completely (dependent) on what this winter is going to bring."
For reservoirs on eastern Oregon's Owyhee River system to fully recover, the basin needs about 135 percent of average runoff next year, according to Day. Based on historical data, there is only a 30 percent chance of that happening.
To just squeak by and face a water supply scenario equivalent to 2013, he said, the basin needs about 70 percent of average runoff and there's a 65 percent chance of that happening.
Idaho's upper Snake River reservoir system needs about 110 percent of average runoff to recover and there's a 40 percent probability of that happening. To squeak by, the basin needs 75 percent of average runoff and there's an 85 percent chance of that occurring.
The Boise River system needs 85 percent of average runoff to fully recover and there's a 60 percent probability of that happening. To just get by, it needs 70 percent of average runoff and the historical record places the chances of that at 75 percent.


text:
As expensive as the Xbox 360 is and PS3 will be, the manufacturers take a loss on each unit sold. Not so with Nintendo. In an interview, Nintendo chief marketing officer Reggie Fils-Aime said that the company's next-generation console will be a money-maker from the get go. "We will make a profit on the entire Wii proposition out of the boxhardware and software," according to Fils-Aime.
Microsoft and Sony have historically sold their consoles as loss leaders. Both the Xbox and PlayStation 2 cost more to build than they sold for at launch. Over time, as components get cheaper, technology gets better, and economies of scale increase, the cost to manufacture usually drops until the company can turn a profit on each console sold.
Fils-Aime says the loss-leader model isn't an option for Nintendo. "We are a company that competes only in the interactive entertainment space so we have to make a profit on every thing we do," he said. "That really is a very different philosophy versus our competitors."
Philosophical differences aside, Nintendo's technical choices also factor into the equation. Unlike Sony and Microsoft, which have chosen in varying degrees to go with bleeding-edge hardware for their next-generation consoles, Nintendo is keeping it simple. Although little has been revealed about the internals of the Wii, the IBM Broadway processor providing the brains of the console is a simpler beast than the Cell and Xenon CPUs powering the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, respectively.
Another contrast is the optical drive choices made by the three companies. Sony chose to use the PS3 to provide a beachhead for Blu-ray. That is estimated to have added anywhere from $200 to $300 to the price of each unit. Lose the Blu-ray and the PS3 would be cheaper. Microsoft uses a vanilla DVD drive with movie playback capabilities and will offer an HD DVD drive as an add-on. Nintendo? You won't even be able to watch movies with your Wiithat's what your DVD player is for, according to Nintendo.
The results of the hardware choices made by the three companies are crystal clear. The PS3 will sell for $499 or $599, the Xbox 360 is $299 or $399, and the Wii brings up the rear at $250. Around a year from now, we should have a pretty good idea about gamers' thoughts on the next-gen consoles' value propositions.


text: A plugged up or non-flushing toilet can be a real hassle. It's tempting to try and flush the toilet again, but that will most likely cause it to overflow. Make sure you have good ventilation in the bathroom, then give us a call or book a SERVIZ appointment to get help from one of our licensed Los Angeles plumbers. We can get your clog cleared quickly and inexpensively.


text:
It's that most wonderful time of the year, when geeks and early adopters everywhere pull out the plastic and buy things for themselves (and occasionally for other people). This year, the Ars crew has put together a list of the gadgets that have enhanced our lives of late—not smartphones and tablets and the like, but gizmos and doohickeys that entertain, delight, and solve problems.
So enjoy the fruit of our gadgety labors, and if you have more geek gift ideas, be sure to share them in the comments. Also, don't forget to buy one or two items for someone else in your life while you're shopping for numero uno.
Part I: Play
Parrot AR.Drone
Price: $300 (Link)
The AR.Drone is a fully operational quadrocopter that is flown using your iPhone and the two cameras located on the drone itself. Buy two, and they can dogfight each other using a separate augmented reality interface. Check out our review for a full look at the hardware, but the short version is that the AR.Drone is worth the money, way too much fun, and a great use of many different technologies.
Ceton InfiniTV4 Tuner
Price: $399.99 (Link)
The advantage of owning the InfiniTV 4 Tuner is fairly straightforward: it allows you to record four TV shows at once in Windows Media Center, using a single CableCard. Gone is the philistine notion of "choosing"— Thursday and Sunday nights are once again yours to control.
Of course, the tuner is only worth it if you adopt the whole Media Center model—that is, a PC to record, and extenders at every TV to receive the content. If you're so fitted, the InfiniTV4 makes a nice addition. The only problem is getting your hands on one. Quite popular, the company is still filling pre-orders dating back to the spring of 2010. It might not be possible to get one in your hands before Christmas, but this is one line we think is worth waiting in.
Cyborg RAT 7 Mouse
Price: $99.99 (Link)
Yes, this looks uncomfortable and over-engineered, but wait until you get your hands on it. This mouse feels great under your palm, is absolutely jam-packed with high-level features and options, and can be adjusted to fit anyone's hand and anyone's taste. It's a mouse that works for high-level gaming, and it's also a great conversation piece; if someone sees it on your desk, they're going to want to try it.
Secret Mission Video Watch
Price: $49.99 (Link)
JAKKS Pacific continues to make toys that make us get our money out. This looks like a huge watch, but it has a built-in video screen and video camera, allowing you to take sekrit video while spying. Yes, it's goofy, and you can buy a snake attachment that allows you to see around corners, but it's also fun as hell. Pick one up for your "kids" and steal it for your own secret missions.


text:
Copy write Walnut City Lanes 2020
WALNUT CITY LANES (Home)
Your Place for Family Fun
Opened under new ownership in Oct of 1977, Walnut City Lanes in owned and operated by the Rettke Family and we strive to make your family bowling experience the most enjoyable possible. The bowling center has been renovated in current years boasting 24 fully synthetic lanes and approaches with fully automatic bumpers and and a new state of the art scoring system. Recent upgrades include a new arcade and new 8270 XL pinsetters.
Come see how much our family cares for yours!!!
Featuring 24 Fully Synthetic Lanes
24 Lanes of fully automatic bumpers
Full Service Restaurant and Lounge
New Scoring System with 55" monitors
Birthday Parties at Walnut City Lanes
Rain or Shine
Walnut City Lanes make your birthday party one of fun and excitement. You just bring in your decorations, cake and invite your guests and we handle the rest. We offer packages for every budget and desire. Every package includes a special gift to the birthday boy/girl.
And Best of all we take care of the mess
Call 503-472-4141 for more information or to set up your reservation.
We turn down the lights
Turn up the tunes
And bring you the best party in town.
Whether it is a family outing, a special birthday party or just wanting to party it up. Walnut City Lanes can make your night a bash. With laser lights, an upbeat music program and everything glowing in the dark. We bring you the excitement!!!
Call 503-472-4141 to make your
Reservation Now!!!
League Standings
League Information
Happenings at Walnut City
Walnut City Lanes
1800 East St
McMinnville OR 97128
|Open Bowling
|Cosmic Bowling
|Bowling Specials
|Holiday Hours
|Birthday Parties
|Corporate Parties


text:
Nobody wants to pay any more tax than they need to. There are simple steps a company owner can take to reduce their corporation tax liability which are acceptable tax mitigation and not illegal tax evasion. Some of the main points to consider are:
Company pension contributions - Making pension contributions is one of the most tax-efficient planning a company can undertake. The contributions by a company to a pension scheme are usually fully allowable in calculating the profits chargeable to corporation tax.
Remuneration strategy - It is important that you regularly review how you draw income out of your company. It is worth considering reducing salary to a level where you can still claim state benefits and then maximise the use of dividends. The attraction of paying a dividend is that it does not attract national insurance contributions and the payment of a dividend has no tax consequences for your company.
Claiming Allowances - It is essential that a company claims all available allowances to reduce corporation tax. The main allowances that are either not claimed or only partially claimed are Research and Development Relief and Capital Allowances. It is worth obtaining expert advice on these areas to ensure you receive all the allowances you are entitled.
The levels and bases of taxation and reliefs from taxation can change at any time and are dependent on individual circumstances.


text:
For those still wondering about Dan Harmon's feelings about being ousted from Community, even after reading his blog posts and tweets or simply using their human capacity for empathy to make assumptions about how it would feel to be fired from the TV show you created, here's his first in-depth interview since it happened. Fittingly, it was conducted by Marc Maron—sort of the comedy world's Barbara Walters—on the occasionally confessional couch that is G4's Attack Of The Show, and his surroundings definitely got Harmon to open up. And not surprisingly, yes, he's still sort of wounded and just a smidge bitter about it all, though his feelings are still tempered with the usual self-deprecating humor, plus a new, oddly dystopian outlook.
"Television is a populist, derivative, democratic medium. You're supposed to make a hamburger that everyone wants in their mouth," Harmon says, adding that a TV show should relieve viewers of the tedium of the "Orwellian habitrails" they live in (but, y'know, in a good way). Because he didn't always approach Community as a populist, pacifying effort—and because people seem to think he's a "horse's ass"—Harmon says, "To people who work over me, I am a liability that isn't worth the benefit." And while he gives NBC credit for recognizing the show's status as both a "cross-platform triumph" capable of inspiring far-flung Internet worship as well as it's being a "critical darling," he admits that, "In the third season, you can see me start to go, 'Never mind [ratings]—just give me a good review in the Times." And, of course, he laments that "the Nielsen system isn't designed to measure that yet."
So, where does Harmon go from here, besides working on his house and hoping that someday soon, someone invents a box capable of taking into account broadcast viewers and people who make animated Alison Brie GIFs, then measuring a show's success that way? " My idea is to have less ideas, because I want to be successful in television," Harmon declares, instantly prompting a million grammarians to tell him that he means fewer ideas, which is sort of the last thing he needs to hear right now. But from the sound of it, he seems to be gravitating toward a more traditional multi-camera sitcom format, and creating a simpler show that will serve as a far better "pacifier for the masses." Dan Harmon's Sit Quietly And Watch This Married Couple Bicker Gently Before Love Fixes Everything, coming in the yet-to-be-determined fall.
Game Reviews - E3 2012 - Movies and TV


text:
Denne tråd blev arkiveret. Stil et nyt spørgsmål, hvis du har brug for hjælp.
Java disabled but I still get FF alert on startup
I got the Java disabled message:
Missing Java? "For your safety, Firefox has disabled your outdated version of Java. Please upgrade to the latest version."
and I decided I didn't really need Java so I removed it thru the Add/Remove programs feature in Control Panel. The message still pops up every time FF is started. It even comes up in FF safe mode with all add-ons disabled. I updated to ver 12 but that doesn't help either.
How can I stop this alert window from opening every time I start FF?
WinXP FF ver 12
Ændret af LocalHero den
Valgt løsning
That helps, thanks. I'll install the latest version and go with the two-browser approach.Læs dette svar i sammenhæng 👍 0
Alle svar (10)
Ok, well first update to Firefox 18. It's more secure and stable than Firefox 12, which is no longer supported.
Then Reset Firefox Refresh Firefox - reset add-ons and settings
Thanks. Funny thing is that I updated from some earlier version before posting this question. I'm not sure why when I asked FF to check for updates it downloaded ver 12 and never even let me know there was a ver 18 available. When it updated to 12, I assumed that was the latest.
Just the update to ver 18 seems to have stopped the java alert page. Reset Firefox is something I've never noticed before but it tells me it will not save extensions or at least extension preferences, site preferences and other stuff that seems like it would be a minor bear to restore.
Thanks for letting me know about ver 18. I'd have never thought to look since I'd just updated.
But wait.... another question please! Now with ver 18 I'm getting a message that my "Foxit Reader plugin is known to be vulnerable..." That's good, I'm glad that FF shuts down a plugin automatically when it's a problem. But I'd like to just remove the plugin entirely. There's no "remove" button for plugins like there is for extensions it seems. I also have a disabled Java deployment toolkit plugin that I'd as soon as remove too. Is there a way to remove unwanted plugins?
Thanks again.
To remove the Foxit Reader plugin, just uninstall the application from the Windows Control Panel Add/Remove Programs list. Ref: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/support/showfaq_technical.php
The Java deployment toolkit plugin is part of Java but it isn't needed for Java applets to run in Firefox. To remove it, you would have to find the file on your computer and manually delete it. I would Just leave it disabled.
More info:
Thanks Alice. I did go to add/remove programs but the java plugin doesn't show up there. I don't mind leaving it disabled if that's the best way.
However now another issue has cropped up. I use a website, zipform.com, that apparently uses Java. So I apparently do need Java. Is there a recommended policy to use Java as safely as possible? Does it make sense to install Java only on IE (which I don't normally use) and leave it disabled except for when I need to use zipform.com? I don't use it that often and it wouldn't be too cumbersome to have to open IE and enable Java for the occasions I use zipforms. Or is there another preferred method? Thanks, John
You see such a message if you visit the plugin check page with Java disabled and Java isn't detected, so you can ignore that message.
The message, Missing Java? For your safety, Firefox has disabled your outdated version of Java. Please upgrade to the latest version. on the PluginCheck page when you yourself disable the Java Platform plugin, or when Java isn't even installed, is a known bug, like cor-el said.
The Java Deployment Toolkit plugin npdeployJava1.dll is installed along with the main Java program but it isn't needed for Java applets to work on webpages . The file could be a leftover that wasn't removed when you uninstalled Java. On my Windows 7 x64 system, a leftover npdeployJava1.dll file located in the C:\Windows\SysWow64 folder wasn't removed when I uninstalled Java 7 in the past (to downgrade to Java 6). I had to rename the file to remove it from the Add-ons Manager. See http://kb.mozillazine.org/Issues_related_to_plugins#Plugin_location for more information.
If you need Java, Java 7 Update 11 is the current version and it includes a safety feature that enables Java to run with the high security setting by default. See http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/javase/7u11-relnotes-1896856.html
If you need more help installing, managing, or using Java, see
So is Java 7 update 11 considered safe? There's a lot in the news about Java being unsafe. My GF works at a college which just sent out a notice advising everyone to disable Java on their pc's. I know Oracle will say it's safe, but what do savvy computer users say?
You also asked, Does it make sense to install Java only on IE (which I don't normally use) and leave it disabled except for when I need to use zipform.com?
The Java installer includes the activeX control needed for Internet Explorer and the Mozilla plugin for Firefox and other browsers, so you only need to install Java once for Java to be enabled in all browsers. (That's different than Flash, which has a separate activeX installer for Internet Explorer and a plugin installer for Firefox and other browsers.) You could leave Java disabled in Firefox and then use Internet Explorer when you want to use a site that needs Java, which is actually the recommendation here:
If you need Java for a specific Web site, consider adopting a two-browser approach. If you normally browse the Web with Firefox, for example, consider disabling the Java plugin in Firefox, and then using an alternative browser (Chrome, IE9, Safari, etc.) with Java enabled to browse only the site(s) that require(s) it.
Valgt løsning
That helps, thanks. I'll install the latest version and go with the two-browser approach.


text:
(CMT Offstage keeps a 24/7 watch on everything that's happening with country music artists behind the scenes and out of the spotlight.)
Picture yourself at opening night of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's Las Vegas show. Now picture Bruce Springsteen sitting down in the seat next to you. It would be like the thrill of a lifetime — times a thousand. And it happened Saturday (Dec. 8) when McGraw and Hill's Soul2Soul show opened at the Venetian. Springsteen was there with his wife Patti Scialfa, along with Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson. For the lucky McGraw fans seated around all that star power, I can't even imagine what that must've been like. There's usually a really strong sense of camaraderie at most country shows, so I'd like to think this was just more of the same — just fans swapping stories of past concerts, arguing over which McGraw tunes were the best and offering to take photos of each other. The only awkward moment I can think of would be when McGraw asks — as he usually does — the crowd to sing along. I mean, do you sing along with Springsteen? Or let him belt out "The Cowboy in Me," backing McGraw on his own?


text:
Leaked Microsoft software is nothing new. Both Windows 7 and Office 2010 kept getting leaked during their development stages. Now, Softpedia is reporting that an internal Windows 7 Service Pack 1 build has been leaked. Although some websites are claiming that this is the release candidate (RC), the leaked file is most likely a pre-RC build.
The leaked image is a chinese Windows 7 (32 bit) installation, which has been slipstreamed with SP1. The build number is 6.1.7601.17104. According to reports, the leaked build is time bombed to 01.09.2011. In other words, the leaked build will stop working in September 2011. This indicates that the leaked build is at least a month old.
Installing leaked builds is never recommended. Not only are they likely to be unstable and rough around the edges, but there is also the possibility that they have been tampered by the releaser. However, if you are dying to get your hands on the latest and greatest from Microsoft, then you should be able to locate the leaked release with a simple Google search.


text:
Hey everyone,
want to get a preview of what's to come in the next version of SuperTux? We got you covered now:
Thanks to maths22, you can find recent SuperTux snapshots here:
Please note:
These snapshots are rather recent developer versions that might potentially contain severe bugs and untested features. You're using these at your own risk! We (The SuperTux team) are not responsible for any damages to your computer, your hard drive, your cat, your lawn mower or your sanity!
If you want to report bugs, please do so against our github repository which you can find here:
Thanks in advance and enjoy the very, very early releases!


text:
"Honest Claimants Not the Problem," Parliament Told at Whiplash Report Launch
15 Nov, 2012, 12:08 GMT
LONDON, November 15, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
New independent research 'dispels common myths' about whiplash and road accident claims according to Karl Tonks, president of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers.
Karl, who is a partner with Fentons Personal Injury Solicitors, appeared at a House of Commons reception on Thursday (8 November) to present the report with the aim of clearing the way for sensible debate about the issue.
"The people who suffer these injuries are genuine," Karl told MPs and peers at the event. "Honest claimants are not the problem - the problem is fraud, and fraud must be tackled by all sides working together if we are going to eliminate it."
Among the findings of The Whiplash Report 2012 - which is based on independent research - is the fact that 80 per cent of whiplash sufferers either report their symptoms accurately or underplay them, and as many as 90 per cent of people seek a medical diagnosis.
The report also includes a ten-point plan to cut fraudulent claims out of the system. Research on the duration of whiplash symptoms, the number of people who actually claim damages and the approach of the insurance industry are all included in the report, as well as the impact of road congestion and improved car design on road crash injuries.
Karl also used the opportunity to address concerns about potentially radical changes to health and safety law currently going through Parliament which, he said "could inadvertently put lives at risk by sending out the message to employers that the safety of their workers doesn't matter."
He also spoke about problems faced by people with catastrophic injuries whose compensation does not meet their care needs, pointing out that "if the injured person cannot pay for his care, the state must pick up the cost instead of the person who has injured him."
And told guests "that much of the hype and hyperbole surrounding personal injury claims detracts from the very serious issue of how best to look after people who have been injured through no fault of their own."
SOURCE Fentons


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Having installed it and displayed the XAMPP welcome screen I created a folder /Applications/XAMPP/htdocs/MyWebsites and in this created two more folders, Website1 and Website2. In these three new folders I placed simple 'index.html' files, each one containing text to announce the name of its parent folder.
As root I added two lines to the end of /private/etc/hosts to read:
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127.0.0.1 localhost
255.255.255.255 broadcasthost
::1 localhost
fe80::1%lo0 localhost
127.0.0.1 Website1.localhost
127.0.0.1 Website2.localhost
I then edited /Applications/XAMPP/etc/extra/httpd-vhosts.conf to read:
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NameVirtualHost *:80
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName localhost
DocumentRoot "/Applications/XAMPP/htdocs/MyWebsites/"
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName Website1.localhost
DocumentRoot "/Applications/XAMPP/htdocs/MyWebsites/Website1"
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerName Website2.localhost
DocumentRoot "/Applications/XAMPP/htdocs/MyWebsites/Website2"
I re-started Apache then typed 'http://localhost' into the browser. The index.html file from the 'MyWebsites' folder was displayed as expected.
I then tried 'http://Website1.localhost' with the result 'Server not found'. The same for Website2.
The alternative url format of 'http://localhost/Website1' correctly displayed the index.html file from the Website1 folder.
I then installed a multi-page website to the Website1 folder. The 'http://Website1.localhost' url format still failed, but 'http://localhost/Website1' correctly displayed the home page.
However, other pages of the site fail to display.
What must I do to get the 'http://Website1.localhost' url format working and to be able to display pages other than 'Home'.


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Lady E-Hawks Struggle Offensively Against Indians
Missing one of their starters with an injury, Emmetsburg's Lady E-Hawks struggled offensively in a 54-23 loss to Pocahontas Area Tuesday night.
With sophomore Ashton Connelly watching from the bench, the Lady E-Hawks put freshman Kaity Mason on the floor along with Hadley Egland, Whitney Kibbie, Alexa Naig and Michaela Rehm against an experienced Indian squad. Pocahontas took a 17-3 lead after one quarter and a 26-7 advantage at the intermission over the Lady E-Hawks.
Emmetsburg would regroup somewhat in the second half, scoring nine points in the third frame to trail 16-39 at the end of the third before falling to the Indians by the 54-23 final score.
For Emmetsburg, Alexa Naig would lead the offensive effort with 14 points from inside the paint, while Whitney Kibbie battled for five points. Hadley Egland knocked down a bucket for two points, while Michaela Rehm and Kaity Mason both sank a free throw each for the final points.
Emmetsburg will open heir Lakes Conference season next Tuesday night, Dec. 4, when they travel to Estherville Lincoln Central to take on the Midgets. Game time will be at 6:15 p.m. The Lady E-Hawks will return home on Friday, Dec. 7, when they play host to LeMars in another league contest at the Emmetsburg High School gym.


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- Just to reiterate what you probably already suspected: everything from sunscreen to mascara is chock full o' dangerous chemicals. Lead in lipstick, carcinogens in baby shampoo... the list goes on and on.
While it probably won't kill you (unless of course, you start eating your bath products) it definitely won't make you stronger. And since regulations are fairly lax, there is a real possibility that you could be slathering something really risky on your skin.
- Police in Maryland believe they have a man in custody that may have been responsible for the murders of four women. Though they haven't released his name, sources within the investigation say he was a stranger to the victims, and may have been targeting young women and their mothers specifically. Even scarier: the high body count already places him within the "serial killer" category.
- According to a recent study, women are most vulnerable to PTSD at age 51-55, while men's vulnerability peaks slightly earlier, from ages 41 to 45. The condition is twice as common in women as in men.
- British scientists announced on Wednesday that they've located what they believe is the most massive star ever discovered. The star, rather unpoetically named R136a1, "is middle-aged and has undergone a weight loss program," quipped astrophysicist Paul Crowther.
- President Obama is urging Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would make it easier for women to sue employers who pay them less than men. The legislation was first passed by the house in 2009, but it failed to clear in the senate. Obama correctly calls it a "common sense bill."
- Arnold Schwarzenegger has appointed actress Geena Davis to a state commission to promote women's equality, the Daily Express reports. Davis will serve on the Commission on the Status of Women, which works for women's rights in areas such as education and health care, for four years.
- All of the seven teams in the Women's Professional Soccer league are losing money, which means the league could go the way of its predecessor, the Women's United Soccer Association, which folded in 2003. WPS games average about only 3,800 fans a game, and attendance is down 15% from last season.
- Lawmakers in Spain have rejected a proposal to ban women from wearing veils in public places. However, the Socialist government does favor a ban on burqas in government buildings. Justice Minister Francisco Caamano has called the garments "hardly compatible with human dignity."


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Duravit AG, Hornberg, produces sanitary ceramics, bathroom furniture, accessories, baths, shower bases and health products and has undergone considerable growth in recent years, particularly in its export business. The company (2,300 employees, turnover around €160 million) has been influential in the development of the sanitary industry worldwide and has become a trend setter for innovative bathroom design.
The Situation
The internationally renowned designer Philippe Starck has designed a striking 19 m high building for the new Duravit Design Center – an outstanding building both literally and figuratively. On the side facing the new main road, Starck has ripped open the front and inserted a giant three storey-high toilet as a lookout tower (it is even floodlit at night). Visitors can get a fantastic view of the Black Forest from the top 12 metres up. This unique building not only highlights the Duravit brand, but also its products. Grandiose indeed!
The Grundfos Solution
The building has become a real El Dorado for trade and craftspeople from all over the world. In a skilful layout of workshop, showroom and events and product exhibition space, specialists from the sanitary industry as well as end users can become acquainted with the product and performance potential of Duravit. Workshops and seminars inform architects and planners about all they want to know about architecture and bathrooms, water and lifestyle, and those that want to can even view the latest pump technology in action. The Design Center is equipped with heating pumps from the Magna UPE and UPS series and cooling pumps from the TP, LP, LM and TPE series. The sanitary industry mainly uses AP-type submersible pumps including controllers.
The Outcome
The latest energy-saving pumps from Grundfos are installed in line with our motto "Design meets Emotion meets Art of Technique!". The entire technical installation, including implementation planning (air conditioning and cooling systems, the entire MSR and heating and sanitary installations), falls to the responsibility of H. Maurer GmbH, Schramberg. This design company prefers to work with Grundfos products, as confirmed by authorised representative Rainer Bühl: "The pumps supplied by this manufacturer offer clear technical benefits in construction engineering. This counts for a lot in complex building management systems. Grundfos is our First Supplier."
Heating: heating pumps from the Magna UPE and UPS series plus a circulation pump. Cooling: inline circulation pumps from the TP, LP, LM and TPE series. Sanitary: AP-type submersible pumps including controller.
Duravit AG, Hornberg
- Heating: heating pumps from the Magna UPE and UPS series plus a circulation pump.
- Cooling: inline circulation pumps from the TP, LP, LM and TPE series.
- Sanitary: AP-type submersible pumps including controller.
UPS Series 100
UPS Series 200
If you need a similar solution, please contact us for further information.
If you need a similar solution, please contact us for further information.


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Once again, the reader named PPott raised a number of important questions in response to my Dec. 13 blog "Why We Need a Financial Advisory Profession," that get to the heart of when and how a job—such as delivering financial advice or products—becomes a "profession."
First on his or her list is a point I meant to address in my last blog, but just ran out of space: "I am not certain that professions have to be exclusionary; all that they really need are to have requirements."
Well, yes—and no. That is, yes, professions certainly need to have requirements (as enumerated in my earlier blog; starting with a duty to put the interests of their clients/patients/flock first, ahead of their own). Yet those very requirements make professions, in practice, exclusionary: people who decline to adhere to their requirements are excluded from a profession, or are summarily kicked out, should they at some point fail to meet its standards.
To my mind, its eagerness to be as "inclusionary" as possible has historically been one of the stumbling blocks for the CFP Board in its attempt to create a financial planning profession. A profession has to be willing to clearly state "this is what we stand for" (including putting the clients' interests first), and to exclude people who do not meet those standards.
As part of the enforcement of their inclusionary/exclusionary process, professions use government-sanctioned licensing, which PPott also addresses: "Many of the occupations which you mention require something which is referred to as a 'state license'… … [including] requirements which a person has to meet and then grants them a license to do the job." Just so.
When the CFP Board was formed in 1985, by the IAFP and ICFP (the two forerunners of the Financial Planning Association), the fledgling NAPFA and the College for Financial Planning (which owned the CFP "mark"), the various representatives involved deemed it more expedient to create national certification rather than seek state licensing. This was in part due to their fear of a challenge to their sole "ownership" of the CFP mark. It is a decision, however prudent, that has hampered the creation of a financial planning profession to this day.
Finally, PPott raises the much-used critique that existing professions aren't so great anyway: "The legal system is a mess, and is hardly something that we should hold up as an example of something that works well. Our medical system is not the envy of anyone, and yet you hold that up as something revered. God bless our accountants: at least they present income statements which can be believed and relied upon (sarcastically said in case you missed it)."
Let's be clear: no profession is without its challenges, and none of them is perfect. After all, most of them involve people. The question we should be asking is whether the clients or patients of these professionals would be better off or worse off without the professional standards which are in place at present. Put another way, would retail investors be better off if their "advisors" were held to similar standards?
Seems to me that the vast majority of the public currently believes their financial advisors already are required to meet such standards.


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It's been a great week on the road for me- nine days of visiting family and friends, going to ballparks I'd never seen and spending lots of time with my exceedingly better half. As is usually the case after a long trip there's a lot for me to catch up on. The Pirates went 6-3 while I was away, which I'll wrap up in later posts. For now, here's the Cubs Preview (abridged.)
Current Record: 54-40, 2nd place in NL Central, 0.5 games back
Cubs record: 38-56, 5th place in NL Central, 16.5 games back
Probable Pitchers
Monday: RH Jeff Samardzija (6-8, 4.57 ERA)
vs. LH Erik Bedard (5-10, 4.55)
Tuesday: LH Paul Maholm (8-6, 4.09)
vs. RH James McDonald (10-3, 2.93)
Maholm looked pretty good on Thursday against Miami. JMac has been shaky.
Wednesday: RH Ryan Dempster(???) (5-4, 2.11)
vs. RH Kevin Correia (7-6, 4.31)
Late breaking word had the Cubs and Braves agreeing on a trade of Dempster for Randall Delgado. Then, Dempster said he hadn't been traded. Bottom line is that this matchup may change.
Filed under: baseball, Pirates | Tagged: baseball, Cubs, Pirates |


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australian friends!!
im so excited to announce that i'll be returning to australia in june to perform two special shows in melbourne + sydney!!!!
our special fan presale begins today, april 20 at 12pm and ends on sunday, april 22 at 5pm. tickets go on sale to the public on monday, april 23 at 9am.
both shows include the option to buy a limited number of charity packages benefitting youth off the streets, an organization that provides services to assist homeless + disadvantaged youth. each package includes 1 premium or GA ticket, a meet + greet, an exclusive signed tour poster + commemorative laminate
click below to purchase pre-sale tickets!!!!
i cant wait to see you in june!!!
love, cp
PRE-SALE PASSWORD: lovestrong
02 Jun - Melbourne, Australia @ Palais Theatre - PRE-SALE Apr 20 @ 12PM
03 Jun - Sydney, Australia @ Enmore Theatre - PRE-SALE Apr 20 @ 12PM


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WASHINGTON, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, said Monday he is "OK" after being hospitalized at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington.
Inouye, 88, the longest-serving member of the current Senate, has been at Walter Reed since Thursday, NBC News reported. Doctors are working to regulate his oxygen intake, and he has been seen recently on the Capitol grounds with a portable oxygen supply, NBC said.
"For the most part, I'm OK. Much to my frustration, I have to remain in the hospital for my own safety and to allow the necessary observation. I will be back on the Hill as soon as my doctors allow it," Inouye said in a statement. He was first elected to the Senate in 1963.


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Fifty years ago today The Sound of Music debuted on Broadway. The beloved musical by Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II is one of the most popular musicals of all time. While on Broadway it won six Tony Awards including Best Musical. As a child, I watched the movie version starring Julie Andrews frequently and pretended to star in the show, wearing my own special costumes and singing along with all the wonderful songs. I know nearly all the songs by heart and have passed my love of the musical along to my children.
Several years ago I read Maria von Trapp's, The Story of the Trapp Family Singers. I wanted to know the actual story that inspired my favorite musical, The Sound of Music. Those that wish to learn more about the von Trapp family should take the time to read Maria's book. Even though Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical isn't exactly historically accurate, I still love their version dearly. The music speaks to my heart and gives me goosebumps, especially the song, "Climb Ev'ry Mountain." Earlier this month on November 3rd, Masterworks Broadway released a restored, 50th anniversary edition of the original cast recording of The Sound of Music. In this original recording Mary Martin stars in the leading role as Maria and Theodore Bikel plays Captain von Trapp. Besides all the familiar songs, the new edition also includes three unusual bonus tracks, extensive liner notes about the show's history, and rarely seen photos of the recording sessions.
Sony Masterworks sent my family a digital download of the recording for review. The Sound of Music: 50th Anniversary Edition [CAST RECORDING] features songs performed by the original Broadway performers, restored for optimized sound. Even though most of the songs on the album were recorded on November 22, 1959, the sound is amazingly clear and of the highest quality. Mary Martin's voice is a little deeper and her style differs somewhat than Julie Andrews' performance style but we thoroughly enjoyed listening to this original version. My kids love the yodelling song "The Lonely Goatherd" and wanted me to play and replay the the track so that they could Odl lay ee along. Patricia Neway gives an impressive performance of the inspirational "Climb Every Mountain" showing off her powerful and strong voice. My mom's favorite, "Edelweiss," is featured on two tracks, the first song by Bikel, Martin and the children and later again in a very interesting version sung in German. Overall, this is an exceptional album and one that will be cherished by all fans of The Sound of Music. It's also great for family sing-alongs!
A new pop-up children's book has also been released by Simon & Schuster to correspond with the 50th anniversary. The book is titled, The Sound of Music: A Classic Collectible Pop-Up. (I will review the book at a later date when I receive a review copy.) A corresponding Sing-along activity kit is available for viewing online and includes a number of fun printables and activities, including some sing-along lyrics for "So Long, Farewell" and "Do-Re-Mi" to use with children.
Win your own copy! Masterworks Broadway/Sony has kindly offered to give away (1) The Sound of Music: 50th Anniversary Edition [CAST RECORDING] CD to a Brimful Curiosities reader.
To enter, leave a comment with the name of your favorite The Sound of Music song.
• For contact purposes, if you are a non-blogger or your email is not accessible in your blog profile, please leave a valid email address within the comment section.Four ways to gain extra entries (Maximum total entries is 5 - leave a separate comment for each entry):
• Contest is open to US and Canada
• Contest ends on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 11:59 PM CST.
• Winner will be chosen at random
1st extra entry: View The Sound of Music Sing-Along Activity Kit and comment with one of the words found in the The Sound of Music Word Search.
2nd extra entry: Follow Me! or subscribe by email or RSS reader
3rd extra entry: Blog about this contest then post your link in the comment section.
4th extra entry: Follow me on twitter (iambrimful) and tweet about the contest.
Thanks to Masterworks Broadway for this review opportunity and for providing a free digital download for my family to review. (View my full disclosure statement for more information about my reviews.)


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Wunderschöne Yacht in ausgezeichneten Zustand! Neue Badeplattform, neue Fenster. Fotos und Details auf Anfrage.
The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors, to investigate such details as the buyer desires validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.
Put Gradine 1


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Republican Sen. John McCain launched a heavy assault on Democratic Sen. Barack Obama's judgment and experience Wednesday night, making a last-ditch effort in the final presidential debate to change the course of a campaign moving decidedly in his opponent's favor.
McCain bore in on details of Obama's economic and budget proposals, saying they would mean steep tax increases for many Americans. "Why would you want to raise anybody's taxes right now?" McCain asked. "We need to encourage businesses."
Obama insisted that his plan would raise taxes on only the top 5 percent of earners and accused McCain of proposing to give tax breaks to oil and gas companies.
"We both want to cut taxes," Obama said. "The difference is who we want to cut taxes for."
In the course of the exchange, the candidates made a national star of Joe Wurzelbacher, a plumber who confronted Obama about his tax policies Monday at a rally in Ohio. Both men addressed their remarks directly to "Joe the Plumber," who would not say Wednesday night whom he would vote for.
"It's pretty surreal, man, my name being mentioned in a presidential campaign," Wurzelbacher told The Associated Press.
McCain hits Obama on numerous issues
McCain attacked Obama on a variety of other issues during the debate at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., saying his opponent had reneged on a promise to accept federal matching funds for his campaign, opposed all offshore oil drilling and had distorted McCain's position on stem-cell research.
Obama has said offshore drilling is worth studying. McCain, meanwhile, said he favored most research on stem-cell projects, opposing only work on cells derived from aborted human embryos.
The attacks were a calculated gamble on the part of the McCain campaign, which has seen its polling numbers fall as its anti-Obama rhetoric has diverged from substantive policy discussions.
The sharpest attacks Wednesday night came on Obama's ties to a national organizing group that he said was perpetrating the "biggest fraud in American history" in its voter registration drives in predominantly urban and minority communities.
McCain had said beforehand that he would also attack Obama's ties to William Ayers, a founder of the radical 1960s activist group Weather Underground. But Wednesday night, he shifted his focus to ACORN, which has been accused by conservative commentators of voter fraud because registrars have found phony registration applications submitted by canvassers for the group.
Other political news of note
Animated Boehner: 'There's nothing complex about the Keystone Pipeline!'
House Speaker John Boehner became animated Tuesday over the proposed Keystone Pipeline, castigating the Obama administration for not having approved the project yet.
- Budget deficits shrinking but set to grow after 2015
- Senate readies another volley on unemployment aid
- Obama faces Syria standstill
- Fluke files to run in California
- Animated Boehner: 'There's nothing complex about the Keystone Pipeline!'
"Mr. Ayers — I don't care about an old washed-up terrorist," McCain said, adding simply that "we need to know the extent of Senator Obama's relationship" with Ayers.
He hit much harder on Obama's ties to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, a liberal activist group that Obama represented in a voting rights lawsuit in the 1990s.
Obama maintained that ACORN's efforts were independent of his campaign and accused McCain of trying to change the subject from Ayers because his campaign's attacks were not working.
"Mr. Ayers has become the centerpiece of Senator McCain's campaign in recent weeks," Obama complained, saying he had "roundly condemned" Ayers' advocacy of violent reform three decades ago, before Ayers became a college professor and advocate for education programs.
"Mr. Ayers is not involved in my campaign. He has never been involved in this campaign. And he will not advise me in the White House," Obama said. "The fact that this has become such an important part of your campaign, Senator McCain, says more about your campaign than it does about me."
McCain breaks sharply with Bush
McCain also sought to shift the direction of the debate by breaking sharply with President Bush, saying Obama was running against the wrong man by criticizing the economic performance of the last eight years.
"Senator Obama, I am not President Bush," McCain said. "If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago."
Obama said that, nonetheless, McCain had voted for four of Bush's last five budgets and said a McCain presidency would be a continuation of the Bush administration.
"If I've occasionally mistaken your policies for George Bush's policies, it's because on the core economic issues that matter to the American people — on tax policy, on energy policy, on spending priorities — you have been a vigorous supporter of President Bush," he said.
The exchange came as both men outlined their new proposals to rescue the faltering U.S. economy.
"Americans are hurting right now, and they're angry," said McCain, calling struggling homeowners "innocent victims of greed and excess on Wall Street and Washington, D.C."
Answering criticism of the $300 billion plan he unveiled in the last debate to buy Americans' bad mortgages, McCain said his proposal would benefit, not hurt, homeowners who had continued to pay their mortgages on time.
"It doesn't help that person's home if their neighbor's house is abandoned," he said.
The McCain campaign stuck to its themes afterward, calling McCain's aggressive tactics "strong, clear straight talk about setting a new direction for our country."
"While Barack Obama is measuring the drapes and campaigning against a man not even on the ballot, John McCain demonstrated that he has the experience, judgment, independence and courage to fight for every American," McCain's communications director, Jill Hazelbaker, said in a statement.
The Obama campaign countered by condemning what it called McCain's "angry and negative attacks."
"We came into the debate with two-thirds of the American people thinking that John McCain is running a negative campaign, and Senator McCain spent 90 minutes trying to convince the other third," Obama's campaign manager, David Plouffe, said in a statement.
With less than three weeks until the Nov. 4 election, the 90-minute debate focusing on the economic crisis comes as polls show Obama with a clear lead nationally and in several key battleground states.
The latest Gallup Poll daily tracking report, which questioned more than 2,300 likely voters nationwide Sunday through Tuesday, showed Obama with a 52 percent-to-44 percent lead. Numerous other polls released this week mirrored those results, all showing Obama with a lead of 3 to 10 percentage points.
McCain was keenly aware of the stakes he faced after two debates in which supporters suggested that he was insufficiently forceful against Obama. Over the weekend, he promised to "whip" Obama's "you know what."
McCain first went on the attack, ironically, by accusing Obama of attacking him too strongly. He complained that Obama had not repudiated comments by supporters complaining about the Republican attacks on Obama. McCain intimated that the comments, by Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and other civil rights leaders, were racially motivated.
Obama responded by saying "100 percent" of McCain's ads had been negative.
"Senator McCain's own campaign said publicly last week that if we keep talking abut the economic crisis, we [the McCain campaign] lose, so we need to change the subject," Obama said.
For months, McCain and his campaign have tried to convince voters that Obama is an inveterate tax raiser whose spending priorities on health care and other issues would mean higher taxes on people of all incomes. Obama has said he would raise taxes only on people making more than $250,000 per year.
Heavy-duty response team
But McCain attacked Obama on a variety of issues, saying his opponent had reneged on a promise to accept federal matching funds for his campaign and opposed all offshore oil drilling (Obama has said it offshore drilling was worth studying) and saying Obama had distorted McCain's position on stem-cell research.
McCain complained that Obama had accused him of opposing stem cell research, which he said was not true. He said he favored most research on stem cell projects, opposing only work on cells derived from aborted human embryos.
Asked about their running mates, both candidates said Democratic Sen. Joseph Biden was qualified to become president, but McCain qualified his judgment by adding the words "in many respects."
McCain passed up a chance to say his own running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, was qualified to sit in the Oval Office, although he praised her performance as governor. Obama sidestepped when asked, saying it was up to the voters to decide.
Anticipating a full-bore assault from McCain, the Obama campaign planned to deploy a heavy-duty response team. For the first time, Obama's chief rival for the Democratic nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, was expected to be at the debate site to answer McCain's charges on Obama's behalf, aides told NBC News.
Obama's campaign also has taken some shots at McCain. In an internal memo sent to reporters by mistake Wednesday, senior campaign officials said their main message after the debate would be that "John McCain has been erratic and unsteady since this crisis began — staggering from position to position and trying to change the subject away from the economy by launching false character attacks."
Carrie Dann, Steve Handelsman, Andrea Mitchell and Domenico Montanaro of NBC News contributed to this report.


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A Lifetime of Healthy Breasts
healthy breasts for a lifetime.
As you enter your 30s, 40s, and 50s, your breasts will change right along with the rest of you. In your childbearing years, you may wonder whether breastfeeding will affect your shape. After menopause, you might be more concerned about breast cancer risk. WebMD asked breast specialists to guide women through each important decade.
Your Breasts in Your 30s
During this decade, hormones like estrogen help to keep breasts firm. Breasts contain no muscles. Rather, they consist of fibrous tissue, fatty tissue, and dense glandular tissue that includes milk-producing glands called lobules and ducts to carry the milk.
Fortunately, in the 30s, breast problems tend to be benign (noncancerous). Younger women commonly experience fibrocystic breast disease, a broad term that is characterized by breast pain , cysts , and noncancerous lumpiness. "Breast pain can be cyclic, coming with menstrual periods, or it can be more persistent," says Leona Downey, MD, assistant professor of clinical medicine at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center.
What helps ease breast pain? Avoiding caffeine , says Elizabeth Steiner, MD, associate professor at Oregon Health and Science University and director of the Oregon Cancer Institute Breast Health Education Program.
Fibroadenomas can also affect women in their 30s. These rubbery lumps made of fibrous and glandular tissue aren't cancerous, but they can hurt. If they're bothersome, they can be surgically removed, Downey says.
Worried About Breast Sagging?
During this childbearing decade, breastfeeding offers mothers some long-term protection against breast cancer. "One of the best gifts they can give themselves and their babies is to breastfeed for as long as possible," Steiner says.
But some women worry that breastfeeding will cause breast sagging. Experts tell WebMD, however, that nursing doesn't actually cause breast tissue to droop. Instead, breast swelling during lactation can stretch the skin over the breast. "Then when your breasts shrink again, you have this loose skin that makes it look saggier than it did before," Downey says.
In fact, one 2007 study presented at an American Society of Plastic Surgeons conference exonerated breastfeeding. But it named other culprits that contribute to sagging: larger pre-pregnancy bra cup size; greater number of pregnancies; cigarette smoking (which can weaken skin elasticity); and older age.
As the years go by, breasts become less glandular and fattier, which makes them less firm. Another factor is the stretching of fibrous bands in the breast called Cooper's ligaments. "They're fibrous tissue that holds the breast up a bit, and those can stretch over time and that leads to some of the sagging, too," Downey says. Hence the term "Cooper's droopers."
You can't do much to slow or prevent sagging, experts tell WebMD. Because the breasts contain no muscles, you can't really exercise your way to a perkier chest.
However, some doctors advise women to wear sports bras during jogging to prevent bouncing that can stretch the ligaments. "Wearing a tight-fitting bra on a regular basis probably doesn't make a big difference," Downey says, "but wearing a bra that prevents a lot of bouncing, like with jogging, probably does minimize stretching of those fibrous bands."
Low Breast Cancer Risk
Breast cancer is uncommon; women aged 30-39 face only a one in 229 chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Unless there's a strong family history of breast cancer, women in their 30s don't need mammogram screening. In fact, younger women's denser breast tissue makes it harder to detect breast cancers on mammograms.
However, regular manual breast exams by your doctor are crucial to check for lumps, skin dimpling, and other sins of breast cancer, according to experts.
Furthermore, Downey urges women in their 30s to report lasting breast changes or pain to their doctors. "Many of these things that cause breast pain in young women are going to turn out to be benign, but there are breast cancers that happen in young women," Downey says. "My advice is, just because you're young and you're less likely to have a cancer doesn't mean that you shouldn't get it looked at."
What about doing monthly breast self-exams at home? The American Cancer Society has declared them optional, citing a lack of evidence that they reduce breast cancer deaths. But each doctor who spoke to WebMD emphasized that women should still perform breast self-exams monthly -- at the very least -- to familiarize themselves with their breasts so that they can report changes to their doctors.
"It's easy enough ... and there are certainly women out there who find their breast cancers that way," Downey says. "I encourage all women to do a breast self-exam and get comfortable with what their breasts feel like."
If you are premenopausal, the ideal time to check your breasts is 5-10 days after the beginning of your period, Steiner says, before premenstrual lumpiness appears. "That's when you have the least hormonal effect and you're going to have the most accurate exam," she says.
Your Breasts in Your 40s
During the 40s, breast shape continues to change for most women. "As we get older, sort of in a progressive way -- but certainly after menopause -- the breast becomes more fat and has less glandular tissue," Downey says, leading to more sagging.
Cysts are the most common type of breast lump seen in women during their 40s, according to the Revlon/UCLA Breast Center, although cysts can develop at other ages, too. These fluid-filled sacs aren't cancerous, but they can be painful. Doctors can drain or surgically remove them.
Changes like atypical ductal hyperplasia may also begin during this decade, Downey says. These abnormal cells in the milk ducts increase a woman's chances of breast cancer.
The numbers show that breast cancer risk rises during this decade; a woman between the ages of 40 and 49 now has a one in 68 chance of being diagnosed. Therefore, mammogram screening enters the picture.
The medical community has debated the benefits of mammography for women in their 40s, in part because false positives can lead to unnecessary anxiety and procedures.
But the National Cancer Institute recommends getting a first mammogram at age 40 and then every one to two years afterward. However, women with a strong family history of breast or ovarian cancer should ask their doctors about starting mammogram screening before 40.
The National Cancer Institute also urges all women to report the following breast changes to their doctors:
- A lump in or near your breast or underarm
- Thick or firm tissue in or near your breast or underarm
- Nipple discharge or tenderness
- A nipple pulled back or inverted into the breast
- Itching or skin changes, such as redness, scales, dimples, or puckers
- A change in breast size or shape
But don't worry about underwire bras, antiperspirants, or trauma to the breast increasing your risk, Steiner says. None of these has been proven to promote breast cancer.
Your Breasts in Your 50s
After menopause, the breasts not only become fattier but will shrink because women no longer need the milk-producing glands for breastfeeding.
"We lose the hormonal effect on our glandular tissue in our breasts, and over time that tissue atrophies," Steiner says. "That's a time when women notice their breasts are less firm, certainly less tender if they've had problems with tenderness, and they're less lumpy."
While harmless lumps may come and go with the menstrualcycle in younger women, any new lump that appears after menopause requires a doctor's prompt attention, Steiner says.
Most breast cancers occur in women over age 50, according to the National Cancer Institute. From ages 50 to 59, a woman's chance of being diagnosed with breast cancer stands at 1 in 37.
In the 50s decade, experts advise women to get mammograms every year.
The good news? Doctors have an easier time detecting breast cancers in older women because breast density is less likely to obscure tumors. Dawn Hershman, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, says, "As the fat content increases, the sensitivity of the mammogram often increases."
It's also smart to keep your weight under control. Research has shown that the chances of developing breast cancer after menopause are higher in overweight or obese women.
By Katherine Kam
Reviewed by Louise Chang
©2005-2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved


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Your Talents, His Work
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Working in the Kingdom
Unique workplace elements make working here a one-of-a-kind experience. While it's not the same as going to church, the spiritual element provides additional direction to our work and an added measure of peace in our lives. Find out more about the Church work environment.
Compensation and Benefits
We work hard to fairly compensate and take care of our employees as they engage in this great work. In addition, our benefit options are designed to help employees care for their family in an affordable way, retire with dignity, and then serve missions or enjoy other meaningful pursuits. Learn more about our compensation and benefits.
Church employees find joy and satisfaction in using their unique talents and abilities to further the Lord's work. From the IT professional who develops an app that sends the gospel message worldwide -- to the facilities manager who maintains our buildings, giving Church members places to worship, teach, learn, and receive sacred ordinances, our employees seek innovative ways to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world. They are literally working in the Kingdom.Find your fit within Church employment.


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Defamation: it's not just a great name for your garage rock band, it's also a legal concept made trickier by the rise of the Internet. That's because, on the Internet, it gets more difficult to tell exactly what it means to be "published." According to attorneys for Nationwide Bi-weekly Administration, the Internet is so different from traditional publishing that courts should consider every request to display a particular web document as a new "publication."
This bizarre legal theory was advanced in a case that Nationwide filed back in 2004 against Belo Corp, the Dallas Morning News, and finance writer Scott Burns. Burns had authored an uncomplimentary 2003 piece on one of Nationwide's mortgage products, and Nationwide decided to sue for defamation, tortious interference, and business disparagement. Unfortunately, they didn't bother to notify the defendants for another ten months.
The case was handled by the US District Court for the North District in Texas, and it quickly turned on the question of whether the case was even admissible. In Texas, there is a one-year statute of limitations on libel claims. Nationwide had exceeded this because they "inexplicably failed" to notify the defendants of their intent to sue within the one-year window, according to the judge.
Here's where it gets interesting: Nationwide then claimed that the statute of limitations had not run out, because "a republication of the article occurs every time an Internet user types Nationwide's name into a search engine and retrieves the article, so that each 'hit' triggers the statue of limitations." Of course, this is like claiming that finding the article in a microfilmed back issue of the paper somehow amounts to "republication," and means that the statute of limitations might never run out.
The judge, recognizing that this ran exactly counter to the intent of the statute of limitations law, noted that such an idea "would hinder the development of a robust marketplace of ideas," and dismissed it. Without ruling on the merits of the claimed defamation, he threw the case out last week.
The ruling, one of the few on this subject, is important. If Nationwide's claim had been accurate, Internet speech would fall under a different set of rules from those that govern paper publication, and nuisance suits could be brought for things written years ago. Nationwide's argument is predicated on the idea that the Internet makes retrival of information so easy that it becomes qualitatively different from a back issue filed on the shelf at the library—even though both resources contain the same words, and both are publicly accessible. Is it?


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Online retail giant Amazon.com is back online after suffering a crash across its website and mobile app Thursday afternoon.
The outage appears to have begun around 2:25 p.m. ET this afternoon and lasted between 10 and 15 minutes. The site and app appeared to be up and running normally at 3 p.m. ET
Amazon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Users from across the U.S. reported the crash.
The site DownDetector.com reported a dramatic spike in complaints about the site's lack of responsiveness during the outage. According to its Outage Map, the crash appears to have been confined to the U.S.
When users attempted to reach the site, they received an "Oops!" message.
"We're very sorry, but we're having trouble doing what you just asked us to do," the message read. "Please give us another chance -- click the Back button on your browser and try your request again. Or start from the beginning on our homepage."


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-against- MEMORANDUM OF LAW
Respondent, AFFIRMATION IN OPPOSITION TO MOTION TO FILE A
-against- MEMORANDUM OF LAW
N.Y. Co. Ind. No. 10938/96
Cal. No. 98-10474
MARK DWYER, an attorney duly admitted to practice before the courts of this state, affirms:
1. I am an Assistant District Attorney, of counsel to ROBERT M. MORGENTHAU, District Attorney of New York County. I submit this affirmation in response to the motion of Michael Thomas Fois in the above-captioned matter. Mr. Fois identifies himself as an attorney for the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF), and seeks leave to file a Memorandum of Law amicus curiae on behalf of that organization (Fois Aff. 1).
2. Of course, this Court has the discretion to permit interested parties to file amicus curiae briefs that may prove helpful to the Court. However, the People respectfully submit that this Court should accept amicus briefs only from organizations with recognized reliability, and expertise in legal matters. On a practical level, there is no point in burdening the Court, or the parties, with a brief filed by a phantom entity. Furthermore, the credibility of such an organization would be suspect at best, which would raise serious doubts about the substance of any arguments it wishes to present.
3. Our research reveals that the so-called NCSF is just such a phantom entity. About all that Mr. Fois asserts concerning the NCSF is that it is a "not for profit organization, founded to defend the right of American citizens to individual autonomy and privacy in the sexual sphere" (Fois Aff. t 2) However, a comprehensive review of listings, phone books, and databases reveals no proof that there is such an organization as the NCSF. Indeed, a thorough search of the relevant public records indicates that no organization named the "National Coalition for Sexual Freedom" has ever filed for non-profit status, nor has any such organization filed a tax return or been chartered as a business entity.
4. In his motion, Mr. Fois lists the address of the NCSF as 381 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 10009, and lists its phone number as (212) 353-8984 (Notice of Mot.). This appears to be a phony address. For starters, the phone number is a Manhattan phone number (area code 212), while the address is in Brooklyn. And the zip code listed (10009) is located in lower Manhattan — not in Brooklyn. The correct zip code for 381 Manhattan Avenue in Brooklyn is 11211.
5. Moreover, no organization called the NCSF is listed at either the address or phone number provided by Mr. Fois. The address is not a business address; it is a residential apartment building. Neither Mr. Fois nor the NCSF is listed as a resident of that building. The phone number provided is a residential number, listed in the Manhattan phone book as belonging to Mr. Fois.
6. Further, there is no mention of the NCSF in any reported opinion, in any jurisdiction. As far as we can tell, this is the first attempt by the NCSF to inject itself into any legal proceeding.
7. While the NCSF does not seem to exist in the "real" world, it does appear to exist in the "virtual" world of cyberspace. The NCSF has a website (httv://www.ncsfreedom.org), which is dedicated to the discussion of various sexual practices (including, but not limited to, sadomasochism) , and which contains links to other websites of a similar nature. The website makes no mention of Michael Fois or his affiliation, if any, with the NCSF.
- From all that appears, the NCSF might simply be one or two people who have a computer, internet access, and the capacity to create a website. It does not have a verifiable identity and, for all intents and purposes, is accountable to no one. Under these circumstances, the People respectfully submit that it would not be a sound exercise of discretion for this Court to accept an amicus brief from the NCSF.
- Furthermore, the NCSF's motion to file a Memorandum of Law amicus curiae is untimely. As this
Court is undoubtedly aware, this case has attracted more than its share of media attention.
Yet the NCSF waited until January 22, 1999 — merely eleven days before the scheduled oral argument date of February 2, 1999 — to file its motion, and made the motion returnable on the day of oral argument. By filing at such a late date, the NCSF has given the parties little opportunity to respond to its contentions. This alone is a sufficient reason to deny the NCSF's application to file an amicus brief.
10. Further, the NCSF brief has nothing to offer on the merits. First, the NCSF characterizes the People's position as an argument that all sadomasochistic conduct is illegal (Mem. of Law at 2-3) That is an absurd mischaracterization. The People instead have argued that if all the statutory elements of assault are made out, that the victim allegedly consented is not a defense.
11. The NCSF's response to the People's actual position is meritless. As discussed in Point XI of the People's Brief, the plain language of the assault statutes, the structure of the legislative scheme, and the case law compel the conclusion that the Legislature did not intend for consent to be a defense to criminal assault. Nevertheless, the NCSF claims, the People have fallen "asleep at the switch" in making this argument, in that they have failed to notice "a myriad of decisions" in New York cases supposedly rejecting the People's position (Mem. of Law at 3) . Oddly, however, the NCSF cites only two New York cases that were not addressed in the People's brief. See Mercurv Bay Boating Club, Inc. v. San Diego Yacht Club, 150 A.D.2d 82 (lst Dept. 1989), affld, 76 N.Y.2d 256 (1990); Pillow v. Bushnell, 5 Barb. 156 (Sup. Ct. , 3rd Jud. Dist. 1849) And neither of these cases even remotely supports the NCSF's argument that consent is a defense to criminal assault.
12. First, Mercury Bay, on which the NCSF relies heavily (Mem. of Law at 13-17), is completely inapposite. The issue in that case was whether New Zealand violated the terms of the Deed of Gift of the America's Cup by entering a catamaran in the world famous yacht race. See 150 A.D.2d at 82-101. This, obviously, has nothing to do with whether consent is a defense to criminal assault.
13. The NCSF asserts that Mercury Bay supports its position because of language in a concurring opinion by Justice Rubin, exploring, in dicta, the history of sportsmanship. See 150 A.D.2d at 101. In this discussion, which the NCSF fails to identify as coming from a concurring opinion, Justice Rubin noted that if a hockey player were charged with assault for hitting another player with his hockey stick and injuring him, the courts would be required to determine, inter alia, whether the stick "was wielded with the requisite intent to constitute an assault," and whether the "injured player may be deemed to have consented to the use of such tactics by his participation in the game." However, Justice Rubin did not opine as to whether a hockey player actually is deemed to have consented to such an injury. Rather, Justice Rubin merely made the obvious point that, in such a. case, the courts would be required to determine whether consent might be a valid defense. Ana certainly, Justice Rubin never implied that consent might be a defense to a violent sadomasochistic assault, involving the use of dangerous instruments, as occurred here.
14. The NCSFI s reliance on Pillow v. Bu-shnell, 5 Barb. 156 (Sup. Ct. , 3rd Jud. Dist. 1849), is equally unavailing. In Pillow, a woman brought a civil suit against her husband for assault and battery. on appeal, the court held that the trial court had erred by permitting the defendant to compel his wife to testify at trial. Id. at 157-61. The court also noted, in dicta that the trial court correctly charged the jury that it would be a defense to the civil suit if the husband could prove that the wife consented to the assault. Id. at 161.
15. Thus, Pillow merely restated the common law rule that a plaintiff may not recover civil damages for assault and battery if he consented to the tortious conduct. See Restatement (Second) Torts ¤ 892A. This is a far different question from whether consent is a defense in a criminal prosecution. Indeed, the Restatement specifically notes that while consent is a defense to a civil assault action, it is not a defense to a criminal prosecution, see Restatement (Second) Torts ¤ 892C, cmt. a and ill. 1, unless, of course, such a defense is provided by statute. And, as detailed in the People's brief, the New York Penal Law does not provide a consent defense to assault.
16. Finally, at bottom, the NCSF's claim is one not of law but of policy. Despite the clear legal precedent to the contrary, the NCSF believes that consensual, sadomasochistic sex should be protected by the law and the constitution, because it is healthy, "innocuous love-play" (Mem. of Law at 2) . The People take no position on the merits of this argument as a political matter; rather, we merely point out that under the Penal Law, if a sadomasochist engages in conduct that falls within the ambit of the assault statutes (e.g., intentionally causes "physical injury" or "serious physical injury" to another) , he is guilty of assault, regardless of whether the victim "consents." Of course, if the NCSF wishes to decriminalize all sadomasochistic assaults, it should take its arguments to the Legislature. After all, its website boasts that it is a lobbying organization.
WHEREFORE, the People respectfully request that the NCSF's motion to file a Memorandum of Law amicus curiae be denied.
Dated: New York, New York January 26, 1999
Assistant District Attorney
CC: Mr. Michael Thomas Fois
Attorney for Amicus Curiae
C/o National Coalition for Sexual Freedom 381 Manhattan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11211
Diarmuid M. White, Esq.
Attorney for Defendant
148 East 78th Street
New York, NY 10021
Respondent, -against-
N.Y. Co. Ind. No. 10938/96
Cal. No. 98-10474
District Attorney
New York County
One Hogan Place
New York, New York 10013
(212) 335-9000
Mark Dwyer
Assistant District Attorney
Of Counsel


text:
At the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) we're more than just a hospital. We're a nationwide medical facility. And with well over 250,000 employees, we are one of the largest and most technologically advanced health care systems in the world. WHAT WE DO We provide the men and women who …Read More »
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