text: Micro ATX Z77 gaming board powered up with exclusive audio/network features LGA1155 socket for 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor-based platform and 2nd Generation Core™ i7/ i5/ i3/ Pentium® / Celeron® ProcessorsIntel® Z77 Express ChipsetSupremeFX III - Supreme SoundGameFirst / Intel Gb LAN – Frag Without LagmPCIe Combo – Give Your PC A Power Up!NIVIDIA® SLI™ / AMD CrossFireX™ Technology SupportLucidLogix Virtu MVP - Up to 60% Hybrid Graphics BoostWindows 8 Ready – Assured Compatibility Shop Modal header The Republic of Gamers consists only the best of the best. We offer the best hardware engineering, the fastest performance, the most innovating ideas, and we welcome the best gamers to join in. In the Republic of Gamers, mercy rules are only for the weak, and bragging rights means everything. We believe in making statements and we excel in competitions. If your character matches our trait, then join the elite club, make your presence felt, in the Republic of Gamers. Windows 8 Exclusive Features Fast Boot Instant OS Login ASUS has released new hardware and software designs to shorten system boot-up time to 2-seconds* for a smoother user experience that removes annoying delays under Windows 8, and even previous versions of Windows. Faster system boot and restart means Windows starts quicker and higher efficiency - No more waiting around. ASUS Boot Setting Multi-startup Options Thanks to ASUS Windows 8 hardware optimization, ASUS Boot Setting provides better flexibility in customizing your PCs startup process. You can enter the BIOS directly with one click through a user-friendly interface, and quickly select your preferred system boot up method: either get to the OS in seconds or opt for regular boot up. Whatever your choice, settings are saved and persistent, with no need to choose every time you power on. ROG Gaming Features SupremeFX III Supreme Sound The SupremeFX III™ onboard audio solution is an 8-channel HD audio equipped with a carefully selected 1500uF capacitor which provides clean, ripple-free audio power and – perfect for enveloping gaming environments. With a metallic EMI cover and special layout design on the PCB, advanced SupremeFX Shielding™ technology isolates analog audio signals from digital sources for exceptional clarity and high fidelity, while a gold-plated jack ensures rich notes reach your ears with minimal distortion. A bounty of industry standards are supported, including EAX® 5.0 Advanced HD, Creative® ALchemy and THX® TruStudio™ PRO, so the same great audio experiences found in live performances, films and recording studios are reproduced faithfully right on the PC. When bundled with the Sound Blaster® X-Fi MB2 suite, the SupremeFX III™ is the perfect choice to provide an exceptional gaming experience with realistic sound effects. GameFirst The speed you need to pwn Low Internet latency allows you to frag more, and get fragged less. That's why ROG has introduced GameFirst, a feature that manages the flow of traffic according to your needs so that you can still listen to online music, download and upload files, and engage in Internet chats without sacrificing the low ping times you need to pwn your opponents. Intel Gigabit LAN Experience the fast network connectivity! The LAN solution from Intel has been long known to have a better throughput, lower CPU utilization as well as better stability. With the Intel Gigabit LAN solutions onboard, the ultimate network experience can therefore be delivered to its users like never before. ROG Exclusive Features mPCIe Combo Give Your PC A Power Up! Hook up immediate extra connectivity to your mATX board and say so long to physical limitations. The special adapter comes with one mini PCI Express 2.0/USB 2.0 combo port, and one mini SATA port. This way, you can connect extra devices without taking up valuable space inside the case, and get the best of both worlds: a compact PC with bigger expandability. Various devices can now connect instantly with no physical hassles. Extreme Engine Digi+ II Optimum power efficiency with premium components and intelligent digital design The Extreme Engine Digi+ II has been upgraded and equipped with the finest Japan-made 10K Black Metallic capacitors, while the digital VRM design allows you to achieve ultimate performance with adjustable CPU and memory power management frequencies. Precise adjustments create greater efficiency, stability, double lifespan and performance for total system control. ROG Connect Plug and Overclock - Tweak it the hardcore way! Monitor the status of your desktop PC and tweak its parameters in real-time via a notebook—just like a race car engineer—with ROG Connect. ROG Connect links your main system to a notebook through a USB cable, allowing you to view real-time POST code and hardware status readouts on your notebook, as well as make on-the-fly parameter adjustments at a purely hardware level. CPU Level Up A simple click for instant upgrade! Ever wish that you could have a more expansive CPU? Upgrade your CPU at no additional cost with ROG's CPU Level Up! Simply pick the processor you wanted to OC to, and the motherboard will do the rest! See the new CPU speed and enjoy that performance instantly. Overclocking is never as easy as this. Multi-GPU Technology LucidLogix Virtu MVP Up to 60% Hybrid Graphics Boost and 3X Faster Video Conversion LucidLogix Virtu MVP featuring HyperFormance™ Technology boosts your discrete graphics card up to 60% beyond its original performance through the test of 3DMark Vantage. Designed for Intel® processor graphics and Windows® 7 PCs, it perfectly combines the performance of discrete graphics cards with fast computing iGPU. Also with the newly designed Virtual Sync, users can enjoy a smoother gaming experience by eliminating tearing artifacts. LucidLogix Virtu MVP could also dynamically assign tasks to the best available graphics resource, based on power, performance and system load. This allows users to fully utilize 3x faster video conversion with Intel® Quick Sync Video 2.0 technology while retaining high-end 3D rendering and gaming performance, provided by both NVIDIA® and AMD graphic cards. When the discrete graphics card is not required, power consumption goes automatically down to near zero, making the system more environmentally-friendly. For users searching for perfection, LucidLogix Virtu MVP provides great graphical performance and the best flexibility and efficiency. * LucidLogix® Virtu Universal MVP™ supports Windows® 7 operating system. ** Intel® Quick Sync Video feature is supported by 3rd/2nd generation Intel® Core™ processor family. *** System Config: OS: Windows 7 64bit SP1 | MB: P8Z77-V DELUXE | CPU: CPU-1155-QB15-2700K-3.5G-Sandy BRIDGE100-8M |DIMM: DDR3 G.SKILL 17000CL9Q-16GBZH 4GB * 4 | Lucidvirtu MVP version: V22.214.171.12497 | On-board Intel VGA Driver version: V188.8.131.5298 | ASUS GTX580 Driver version: V126.96.36.19962 SLI/CrossFire On-Demand Why choose when you can have both? SLI or CrossFireX? Fret no longer because with the ROG Maximus V GENE, you'll be able to run both multi-GPU setups. The board features SLI/CrossFire on Demand technology, supporting up to Quad-GPU SLI or Quad-GPU CrossFireX configuration. Whichever path you take, you can be assured of jaw-dropping graphics at a level previously unseen. CPU Feature LGA1155 Intel® 3rd/2nd Generation Core™ i7/ Core™ i5/ Core™ i3/ Pentium® / Celeron® Processors Ready This motherboard supports LGA1155 socket for 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor-based platform and 2nd Generation Core™ i7/ i5/ i3/ Pentium® / Celeron® Processors in the LGA1155 package, with iGPU, memory and PCI Express controllers integrated to support onboard graphics output with dedicated chipsets, 2-channel (4 DIMM) DDR3 memory and 16 PCI Express 3.0/2.0 lanes. This provides great graphics performance. LGA1155 socket for 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor-based platform and 2nd Generation Core™ i7/ i5/ i3/ Pentium® / Celeron® Processorsare among the most powerful and energy efficient CPUs in the world Chipset Features PCI Express® 3.0 PCI Express® 3.0 (PCIe 3.0) is the latest PCI Express bus standard with improved encoding schemes that provide twice the performance of current PCIe 2.0. Total bandwidth for a x16 link reaches a maximum of 32GB/s, double the 16GB/s of PCIe 2.0 (in x16 mode). As such, PCIe 3.0 provides users unprecedented data speeds, combined with the convenience and seamless transition offered by complete backward compatibility with PCIe 1.0 and PCIe 2.0 devices. PCIe 3.0 will become a must-have feature for users who wish to improve and optimize graphic performance, as well as have the latest technology available to them. * Actual PCIe speed depends on installed CPU type. Intel® Z77 Chipset The Intel® Z77 Express Chipset is a single-chipset design to support LGA1155 socket for 3rd generation Intel® Core™ processor-based platform and 2nd Generation Core™ i7/ i5/ i3/ Pentium® / Celeron® Processors. It provides improved performance by utilizing serial point-to-point links, allowing increased bandwidth and stability. Additionally, Z77 chipset provides 4 USB 3.0 ports for 10 times faster data retrieval speed. Moreover, Intel® Z77 Express Chipset can also enable iGPU function, letting users enjoy the latest Intel® integrated graphic performance. Rich Software Bundled ROG CPU-Z Whole new design of CPU-Z ROG CPU-Z is a customized ROG version authorized by CPUID. It has the same functionality and credibility as the original version, with a unique design. Use the whole new look of ROG CPU-Z to truly report your CPU related information and your uniqueness. Kaspersky® Anti-Virus The best protection from viruses and spyware Kaspersky® Anti-Virus Personal offers premium antivirus protection for individual users and home offices. It is based on advanced antivirus technologies. The product incorporates the Kaspersky® Anti-Virus engine, which is renowned for malicious program detection rates that are among the industry´s highest. > Upgrade free to Kaspersky® Anti-Virus 2013 for Windows 8 (full version) DAEMON Tools Pro Standard The real tool for optical and virtual discs DAEMON Tools Pro offers essential functionality to backup CD, DVD and Blu-ray discs. It converts optical media into virtual discs and emulates devices to work with the virtual copies. DAEMON Tools Pro organizes data, music, video and photo collections on a PC, notebook or netbook.


text:
What's DOS?
1 Posts
United States
8 Signins
13 Page Views
I have a lenovo thinkpad edge 14 which I bought recently..
suddenly my touch pad and my track ball does not seem to work..
Please help me to fix this issue..
Token Ring
234 Posts
1115 Signins
6726 Page Views
This little Two finger scroll program is amazing! It offers the best scrolling experience of all the laptops I have had.
I set up two finger tap to work as a right mouse click, and it has much faster response than with either Synaptic's or Ultranav's driver. It's just instant response...
Two finger scrolling on my Edge 220s with Lenovo's drivers is just terrible, often choppy and unresponsive. One finger scrolling is little better but still far from perfect. This little program solves it all...
Thanks a lot for posting it!
wrote:I found this is another thread, it works awesome. 2 finger scrolling works wonderful now and I can still pinch and zoom. ColonelONeill:For two finger scrolling, go into UltraNav and disable the Smart Check filtering settings. If this still doesn't cut it, disable two finger scrolling for UltraNav and use the TwoFingerScroll utillity found here: http://code.google.com/p/two-finger-scroll/
I found this is another thread, it works awesome. 2 finger scrolling works wonderful now and I can still pinch and zoom.
For two finger scrolling, go into UltraNav and disable the Smart Check filtering settings. If this still doesn't cut it, disable two finger scrolling for UltraNav and use the TwoFingerScroll utillity found here:
6 Signins
21 Page Views
I bought E520 a week ago, and I also have problems with my touchpad, it stops responding for some time and starts working when i grind it with my fingers for a few seconds....
and there are other problems with lenovo system update, some updates are there like windows KBxxxx update and new power manager, but its not possible for me to install them, every time i finish the download and start installing the installer says its not possible to install....
thats 2 issues(sorry for OT),and the third would be weird font blur i experience on top of the web pages,half of the display is ok, and the upper part is somewhat blurry...
Thats its, for the first week I guess
Punch Card
31 Posts
Santa Barbara, CA
33 Signins
480 Page Views
So one solution I was told is to just turn off the touchpad and use a mouse (great, I buy a brand new computer and the "solution" is to turn off the pointing device.)
Anyone know how to turn off the touchpad?
Blue Screen Again
10 Posts
81 Page Views
Looks like touchpad has a lot of issues. Good thing I come upon this thread because I am planning to buy one.Anyways I am still a lenovo fan...
Paper Tape
14 Posts
12 Signins
68 Page Views
I haven't had the patience to read all the posts in this thread so I am not sure if I'm not repeating something that's already been said. Anyway, I am trying to enable touchpad when typing. I've been searching all over the internet, but haven't found a solution yet (but found dozens of solutions to disable the touchpad while typing). I've looking through the driver, including under the UltraNav tab (control panel - mouse), but haven't found anything referring to that. I am really annoyed by this, because there's a little latency after finishing typing and if I try to move the scroll immediately after I have typed, I can't, I have to wait a little.
So are there any solutions to turning my touchpad into a normal touchpad?
Thank you
6 Posts
Edmonton, AB
31 Page Views
OK is there a fix for this or what? I just got this E520 two days ago and like everyone else on this forum my touchpad is not working properly. It becomes unresponsive and freezes for a few seconds before I can use it again. Changing the sensitivity does not help. Is there a fix for this or do I have to return for a refund?
7 Posts
United Kingdom
16 Signins
79 Page Views
I'm having the same problem with my e420s, except my touchpad will randomly start doing stuff when I'm trying to use it and not while I'm typing.
Fanfold Paper
2 Posts
14 Signins
115 Page Views
Good Afternoon. I am a newby on this board. I am also a newbie using the Lenovo Edge. I have had my Edge 14 for approximately 1 week. At first everything was fine but within hours I started experiencing a jumpy cursor when I was typing. I have arthritis, so using a mouse on my computers is more comfortable than a trackpad, so the first thing I wanted to do was disable the trackpad. I found that even after disabling the trackpad, my cursor would skip all over the place when I was typing. I have read every one of the posts on this thread and decided to uninstall the UltraNav and it's current driver. I downloaded the older version driver, made sure that Windows would not try to update the driver and then I installed the older driver. WORKED like a charm. The older driver and trackpad software does not have all of the advanced features. I was able to disable the trackpad in the software and now, no more skipping around causing me to type stuff where I did not want to type stuff.
So for anyone who is not particularly interested in using the trackpad or with advanced features that has been experiencing the skipping around of the cursor, you might give the older driver a try and see if it does not solve your problem; it sure solved mine. Older driver:
Thanks to all who have contributed to this thread, I was almost ready to sell this baby and get a Toshiba or a Sony Vaio.
Please review our Guidelines before posting.
View All
View All
Lenovo is committed to environmental leadership from operations to product design and recycling solutions.
See our Sustainability Report.
Terms of Use |
Privacy Policy |
Browser Compatibility

subset: commoncrawl


text:
About how we don't value people near us and realize...
The Country of Deserts184781117
- by Myla.Lastivka
- Rating:
- Published: 2 Feb 2015
- Updated: 29 Nov 2016
- Status: In Progress
[romance, fantasy, Cell Phone Novel] Junah used to be a mighty country; however, it is known as the Country of Deserts now. Although it isn't quite true, the process of desertification broke its lapsed might, making people suffer from drouth. The king of Junah has the only way to save his people... that is to marry one of the princesses of Flowerland, who are known to have the power of one of the elements.
PS cover made by @[Eat, Sleep, Write]
PS cover made by @[Eat, Sleep, Write]
Join MovellasFind out what all the buzz is about. Join now to start sharing your creativity and passion
Loading ...


text:
The Guardians of Rescue, an organization headquartered in New York, has teamed up with
Animal Aid USA, and is headed to Hinesville, Georgia, to help rescue
over 170 dogs from a high-kill shelter on Saturday, January 19, 2013. This
shelter is located near the Fort Stewart Army base where,
many soldiers end up having to surrender their dogs as
they feel there are no other alternatives while they are away on duty.
"Sadly, many soldiers simply don't know what to do with their dog when
they are serving our country, so they take them to the shelter,"
explains Robert Misseri, president of Guardians of Rescue. "The problem
with the shelter is that it is not open to the public for adoption, and
the animals that enter the facility are ultimately destroyed. Our goal
is to help save the lives of these animals."
The group will be teaming up with Animal Aid USA to rescue over 170
dogs from the Liberty County, GA area. This weekend's rescue is the
largest animal rescue operation in the history of this community. They
plan to identify the animals and then relocate them to Miracle Ranch,
which is run by Animal Aid's volunteers. The Guardians of Rescue are
committed to helping soldiers care for their pets when they are called
up for duty. They are currently in the process of creating a national
service to help soldiers care for their pets, so that they don't have
to give them up to shelters when they are serving.
Guardians of Rescue have been active in several states around the
country, including New York and New Jersey, helping people care for
their pets by providing a wide range of services, as well as helping
with spay and neuter programs for feral cat populations. They help
provide food, shelter, foster care and veterinarian services, and
routinely rescue animals in need.
There are alternatives to giving up a pet to a shelter, if it is deemed
necessary to find someone else to care for it while military personnel
are on active duty. These options include:
– Reaching out to military Websites, blogs, and support groups with photos
of your pet, and a pet history.
– Search for, and contact, all local rescue groups.
– Post flyers in local pet supply stores and veterinarian offices to find
a responsible person who can take the pet.
– Try to encourage a local Boy or Girl Scout group to take on the job of
caring for the pet.
– Contact your local newspaper and see if they can help spread the word.
"Our military serve and protect us, yet they are routinely forced to
give up their pets when they are called up for duty," added Misseri.
"We want to help, to the best of our ability. We can help keep these
soldiers' pets safe and cared for. The soldiers watch out for us, so
now we need to pay back the favor and watch out for them and their
"It's important that we take measures to help reduce the number of
animals that are being surrendered to shelters," explained Prince
Lorenzo Borghese, of Animal Aid USA. "But to also help people find
viable alternatives to that option to start with."
"By teaming up with Guardians of Rescue we can help meet the needs of
both the animals in the area, as well as those who need to find homes
for them," said Karen Talbot, of Animal Aid USA. "We believe our
efforts this weekend are a big step in the right direction."
Guardians of Rescue provides assistance to animals out on the streets,
helping to rescue them, provide medical care, food and shelter, and
find foster home placements. Many families are still struggling, such
as from Hurricane Sandy, making it difficult for them to care for their
pet, either financially or while living in temporary housing. To learn
more, get involved, or to make a donation to support the Guardians of
Rescue, log onto their website.
About Guardians of Rescue
Based in New York, Guardians of Rescue is an organization whose mission
is to protect the well being of all animals. They provide aid to
animals in distress, including facilitating foster programs,
rehabilitation, assisting other rescue groups, and providing support to
families, both military and not, who need assistance due to economic
factors. To learn more about Guardians of Rescue, visit the site at
About Animal Aid USA:
Co-founded by Prince Lorenzo Borghese and Karen Talbot (M.O.M.S. Rescue
Founder) in January 2012, Animal Aid USA is comprised of a group of
volunteer animal lovers who drive more than 1,600 miles each month in
order to relocate animals from high-kill shelters to receiving rescues
and homes. In addition to finding homes for animals facing an uncertain
future, Animal Aid USA raises money to fund spay and neuter programs in
low income communities, and raise awareness of the legal cruelties
happening daily in the U.S., including gas chamber euthanasia. In July
2012, Animal Aid USA raised awareness of the cruelty of gas chamber
euthanasia through the Amazing Grace Caravan. This caravan also saved
144 shelter dogs. To date, Animal Aid USA volunteers have rescued more
than 3,000 abandoned and homeless dogs.
Borghese combines his animal advocacy commitments with his Royal Pet
Club product promotions by utilizing his on-air appearances to raise
awareness for animal rights causes. Royal Pet Club donates five percent
of its profits, plus $2 for every new customer to Animal Aid USA.


text:
Textbook Information Provision
In August 2008, the Higher Education Opportunities Act (HEOA) was signed into federal law. There are a number of HEOA provisions that impact the CSU. Complying with the HEOA requirements is a condition for the CSU receiving student financial aid from the Federal government.
The Textbook Information section in the HEOA defines requirements for campuses to implement new practices that provide students access to information about textbook and course materials associated with the individual CSU classes scheduled for each semester/quarter.
CSU Update on Existing and New State and Federal Regulations Regarding Textbook Affordability, Including the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA), Was Sent to Campus Presidents, September 7, 2018.
This memo highlights three state and federal regulations that campuses will need to respond to on a regular schedule, as well as recommended campus actions.
CSU HEOA letter to campus presidents, September 7, 2018
Frequently asked questions about HEOA's Textbook Information Provision
Question 1: What's the Intention of the HEOA requirements?
The intention of textbook information requirements is:
To ensure that students have access to affordable course materials by decreasing costs to students and enhancing transparency and disclosure with respect to the selection, purchase, sale, and use of course materials." (See PURPOSE AND INTENT of Section 133 for more details).
To encourage all involved parties…to work together to identify ways to decrease the cost of college textbooks and supplemental materials for students while supporting the academic freedom of faculty members to select high quality course materials for students."
Question 2: Will these requirements interfere with academic freedom?
The law contains a RULE OF CONSTRUCTION: "Nothing in this section shall be construed to supersede the institutional autonomy or academic freedom of the instructors involved in the selection of college textbooks, supplemental materials, and other classroom materials."
Question 3: What are the essential requirements that campuses must satisfy?
"To the maximum extent practicable, each institution of higher education receiving Federal financial assistance shall—"Disclose, on the institution's internet course schedule and in a manner of the institution's choosing, the ISBN (International Standard Book Number) and retail price information of required and recommended college textbooks and supplemental materials for each course listed in the institution's course schedule used for preregistration and registration purposes"
Question 4: Are there additional recommendations that campuses need to satisfy?
"An institution… is encouraged to disseminate to students information regarding
Availability of institutional programs for renting textbooks or purchasing used textbooks
Availability of institutional guaranteed textbook buy-back programs
Availability of alternative content delivery programs; or
Other available institutional cost-savings strategies"
You can provide students direct communications and through student organizations links to your campus bookstore programs and to the CSU's systemwide Affordable Learning Solutions website that has organized the wide selection of no-cost and low cost course material options.
Question 5: What happens if a campus does not comply with these requirements and recommendations?
Complying with the HEOA requirements is a condition for the CSU receiving student financial aid from the Federal government. Non-compliance could put at risk $1.6 billion in Federal student assistance for our CSU students.
Question 6: What price do we post online?
The same textbook can be offered at many prices – used, new, rental, digital, the campus bookstore current retail price(s) should be made available., etc. SUGGESTION: Whatever price(s) is posted, inform the students what "type" of price it is.
Question 7: What do we do when we don't know what materials are assigned for the course?
"if the institution determines that the disclosure of the information described in this subsection is not practicable for a college textbook or supplemental material, then the institution shall so indicate by placing the designation "To Be Determined" in lieu of the information required under this subsection;"
There are many challenges to providing the textbook information in a timely and accurate manner. Classes are cancelled or added, faculty assignments to classes change sometimes at the last minute. Continuously improving the percentage of courses with textbook information over time is what we can reasonably do.
Question 8: Who is responsible for implementing-maintaining HEOA requirements on my campus?
Collaboration across a wide range of units on your campus will be key to your campus' successful compliance to HEOA requirements and fulfilling the intent on the law. Each CSU campus has established processes that include key campus personnel that ensure the campus is meeting HEOA requirements. Many campuses have workgroups chaired by the Provost or delegated to an individual within academic affairs with representatives from the bookstore, library, CIO, a dean, a dept. chair, student financial aid, Associated Students, Academic Senate, and other appropriate stakeholders on your campus.
Question 9: What can we do to increase the timeliness of faculty submitting textbook and supplemental information?
Communicate to Faculty the Importance of providing textbook and course materials in a timely manner -
Emphasize that submitting textbook information by the campus due date enables the campus to provide the information to our students required by HEOA.
Messaging that faculty are helping to provide students more affordable options by providing course material requests to the campus bookstore by the campus due date.
Submitting course material adoptions in a timely manner benefits students with disabilities and allows sufficient time to locate alternative formatted materials.
Faculty submitting their course material adoptions in on time AND choosing no-cost and low-cost quality course materials can provide significant support for the academic success of all CSU students.
Students are more likely to come to class the first day with their course materials.
Communicating why and how to provide the textbook and course materials information is important to meeting the requirements of HEOA. To help you explain why it is so important to provide textbook information and to provide the to tools to make it easy, here are some suggestions for useful themes
Textbooks and Financial Aid: What's the Connection? – Faculty may not know that their campus' ability to provide Federal financial aid to their students is dependent upon a wide range of requirements, including the availability of textbook information within the course schedule. Raising awareness of this requirement can help faculty understand why they are being asked to submit their book requests so early and can help motivate more timely communication of the required textbook and supplemental material information.
Choosing Affordable Course Materials: The textbook information requirements in the HEOA are driven by the goal of making higher education more affordable for students. The CSU has an established and robust "Affordable Learning Solutions Campaign" that provides faculty and students an easier way to find no-cost and lower cost course materials. See http://als.csuprojects.org. Blending the HEOA requirements into a broader Affordable Learning Solutions campaign can provide a converging purpose for faculty communicating their textbook course materials information in a timely manner.
Affordability and Student Success: Students are not buying all the course materials they need to succeed because they can't afford them. Another motivating message can be, "Help provide students more affordable options by getting course materials requests to the bookstore on time."
Recognition and Rewards for Good Behavior: Students are the benefactors of this effort so consider a recognition program sponsored in partnership with your Associated Students where incentives can be provided by ASI organizations. Many campus bookstores can offer incentives for faculty/departments for communicating their textbook and course material requirements to the campus bookstore by the due date.


text:
Eco Touch Carpet + Upholstery Cleaner 128 oz.
Intense cleaning action that's safe on your hands!
Eco Touch Carpet + Upholstery is an intense carpet and upholstery cleaner derived from plant resources. It's safe on your skin, your vehicle, and the environment. But the best news is that Eco Touch Carpet + Upholstery really works! Remove wine, coffee, and more from carpet, upholstery, and rugs.
No kidding, plant-derived surfactants clean just as well as hard-to-pronounce chemicals and they won't hurt your vehicle or your skin. Eco Touch Carpet + Upholstery is made with an organic solvent combined with citric acid and natural surfactants. These ingredients lift spots out of carpet and upholstery fibers to leave your vehicle's interior looking fresh and clean.
Since there are no toxic chemicals or solvents, there will be no lingering fumes in the passenger cabin.
Eco Touch Carpet + Upholstery is non-toxic, biodegradable, and phosphate-free. (Phosphates are known to be harmful to aquatic life, so you won't find them in any Eco Touch products.) The natural formula is also easy on your skin. Some cleaners cause skin irritation, but Eco Touch Carpet + Upholstery is safe for you and your vehicle.
Eco Touch Carpet + Upholstery is designed for carpet, rugs, and upholstery. Simply spray it on and allow the cleaner to penetrate for 1-2 minutes. Avoid over-saturating the material. Blot the area with a clean, absorbent towel. Tough spots may require light agitation with a soft-bristled brush.
Eco Touch Carpet + Upholstery is a new way to look at cleaning! Potent bio-cleaners lift out food, dirt, and other common spots to leave your vehicle's interior clean and comfortable.
Detailing Tips:
- Vacuum your car's interior frequently as most of the wear and tear of carpeting is caused by dirt.
- Treat stains immediately after they occur. The majority can be removed very easily if they are treated sooner rather than later.
- Test first in an inconspicuous area to ensure colorfastness.


text:
Paris Is Burning: Giant Fire Breaks Out in Historic Neighborhood
Fire broke out in the underground parking garage today at Place Vendôme, the famous Parisian square near the Ritz Hotel and Tuileries Gardens. According to Huffington Post and its French affiliate, "over 100 firemen and 25 trucks" are "on the scene."
Car blog GTSpirit reports that an automobile caught fire in the garage full of "very rare and exotic cars." [@vincentdidier1, HuffPost]


text:
WARRANTY UNTIL JUNE 2023!!! (Passport Premiere)
Think of consummate hosts you've met. They support social interaction with beautiful settings and all the right amenities and offerings to bring life to the party, keeping the mood bright, lively and happy. You've just imagined the 510 Fly, with its highly functional social zones and crowd-pleasing features to keep you and your guests at full-smile. SkyFlow Design circulates light and air throughout the boat. The galley, salon and cockpit combine like an indoor/outdoor great room, and the expansive bridge layout is the icing on the cake. Hosting is easy in such an environment. And then when the pace has slackened, a full-beam master suite breathes peace into every weekend getaway.Key Features
Not all accessories shown or described herein are standard equipment or even available as options. Some features and options may not be available when a boat is built for outside North America and/or has CE Certification. Options and features are subject to change without notice. Not all model-year boats may contain all the features or meet the specifications described herein. Confirm availability of all accessories and equipment with an authorized Sea Ray dealer prior to purchase.
Main Office: 2 River Ave, Fairhaven, MA 02719
Fairhaven, MA 02719
United States


text:
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten (AP) — A judge in St. Maarten has ordered a Jamaican security guard detained as a suspect in the slaying of a South Carolina couple who were stabbed to death in their Caribbean vacation home.
Meyshane Johnson made his first court appearance Wednesday since his arrest on suspicion of killing Michael and Thelma King of Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. His white T-shirt was pulled over his head as was led into the courthouse.
The hearing was closed to the press and public, but Solicitor General Taco Stein said later that the magistrate ruled there was enough evidence to detain Johnson for at least 10 more days pending further investigation. Prosecutors must return to court after that if they want to keep holding Johnson.
His lawyer says he denies killing the couple.


text:
Language is key to how we understand and describe mathematics teaching and learning. Learning new terms can help us reflect on our practice and grow as teachers, yet may require us to be intentional about where and how we look for opportunities to expand our lexicons.
Search Results
You are looking at 1 - 1 of 1 items for :
- Author or Editor: Miriam Gamoran Sherin x
- Gifted and Talented x
- Shapes x


text:
OK, I am really tired of having truly intellectual people like me "speak in riddles", so I'll put all the cards I have now on the table. There will likely be more into the future.
My biggest mistake - playing the invisible
For a long time now, I wanted to achieve greatness: be extremely famous, have my stories be read, have my web-site be visited countless of times, and become a household name, and also earn a lot of money in the process (to allow me to travel, be able to afford going out, etc.). However, having read in several places that "The Invisible Hacker is the most powerful" (a hacker is a talented worker that bends the rules, and for what "hacker" means, see "How to become a hacker" and Paul Graham's The word "Hacker"), I decided to play it the invisible. So I remained a relatively unknown Tel Aviv, Israel-based software developer, who studied Electrical Engineering in who was constantly looking for jobs, and who found a lot of joy in working on his personal web site, various pieces of open source software, and has been doing a lot of one-to-one, one-to-many and many-to-many communications on the Internet. I was happy, but constantly had periods of hypomanias.
I gradually felt that I was controlling everything behind the scenes, and finding trends right before they became mainstream, and having slowly gain popularity by word of mouth, and influencing people, but I kinda hated it. Some people can be quiet and benevolent value producers doing ordinary things. But not me - I want to be very good, not play "The Invisible". I am not a follower of trends - I set trends. And I want to be recognised for the truly great accomplishments that I have accomplished, am still accomplishing, and am planning on continuing to accomplish.
Note that this is not about being what Americans call "a winner" and win 1st place at some silly competition of who has the highest grade average or the highest television rating ever. I don't care about that too much, but I do care about being acknowledged. My stories are not perfect, but it is their imperfection and sometimes sloppiness that makes them perfect.
The Technion and the American concept of "Loser" and "Winner"
The Technion in Haifa, Israel, where I studied for my Bachelor of Science degree, is overall a fine institute to study in, but it has several problems. One problem is that it's "90% work / 10% play" instead of say "70% work / 30% play", because there's a strong discipline to study and only that. But an even graver problem is the fact that the staff prefers the scores of their tests to be an approximate normal distribution (or Gaussian) which makes many people who studied hard frustrated at their low grades. A better strategy would be to give a solid workload during the semester, and then to have a relatively easy test, so people who studied hard during the semester will easily pass with a high score, while the slackers will still fail.
It seems like there's a similar problem with M.I.T., but whereas in MIT they have a major problem with suicides of people who had straight A's in high school and became C average students in M.I.T., I have yet to hear of a Technion student who committed suicide because of low grades. Why? Because Israelis don't have the unhealthy obsession about not being a "loser" that Americans do. Technion students know best to realise that their low grades are not their own fault, but rather the fault of the institute's general policy.
I received some flak due to this. One Technion professor (who graduated from M.I.T.) once asked me why my grade average was relatively low. I told him I had better things to do with my time, and did not want to invest the much extra time in getting perfect scores, and that I never took a course or a test again if I got a passing grade (no matter how low). I spent many hours in my Technion studies working on my homepage and on open source software, interacting with my fellow students, browsing the web for information and knowledge, etc. and they later on provided fodder for my works of fiction, humour and philosophy. So I knew that I was right in trying to enhance my general skillset instead of just my grades.
Some Americans may think I'm a "loser" for finishing with an average grade of only 84.6% (which still made me a cum-laude student) and not being able to persist in the same job for a long time since. But I'm not competing like an Olympic athelete at some silly race on life. Life is meant to be enjoyed - it is not a silly race.
Silver Linings Playbook
A good friend recommended me to watch the film Silver Linings Playbook, and said it discussed a man who had Bipolar disorder (or "Mania-Depressia"), which is something I have been suffering from as well. I watched the film and found it imperfect: slow starting, irresponsible, and a little depressing at times. But it was a great film, with some great acting, many jokes and many awkward and funny situations, and many details I could relate to. So it was perfect simply because it was imperfect. Films that are too perfect are too boring.
Anyway, the theme of the film was that you can be happy and content even if it appears you are a "loser". Despite the fact that I am still living with my parents at 35, that I've never been in a relationship with a girl (and I am a straight guy), that I had a hard time keeping a job as a programmer, and it's been a while since I've gone out of Israel, I am not a loser, and neither probably are you.
That put aside, I still want fame, recognition, money, and becoming a household name. It's just what I want and what I think I can do. That's part of who I am, and part of what I think I can do.
Jennifer Lawrence
And Silver Linings Playbook brings us to Ms. Jennifer Lawrence, who played a lead role there and won many awards including the Academy Award for best actress (a.k.a the Oscars) at the young (for an Academy Aware winner) age of twenty-two (22). I was quick to dismiss her due to previously playing in the dystopian The Hunger Games (I dislike dystopian stuff) but I loved her on Silver Linings Playbook. Although attractive, Ms. Lawrence is certainly not the most beautiful woman I met or saw, and I'm sure she has some personality quirks (like we all do), but thanks to playing her card rights, she is now a much coveted Alpha Female, who can have the rest of her life (and I wish her a very happy and long life) go in a direction she chooses.
The Importance of Human Networking
While being an Objectivist, I am going to make a surprise statement: Ayn Rand's books The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged have a tragic ending. Yes, in The Fountainhead, unlike in my parody and modernisation of it which I called "The One With The Fountainhead", World War II is not prevented, and the characters each end up unhappy. On the other hand, in my parody, Dominique Francon becomes the president of the United States, Roark is her husband and father of her children and decides to pursue a career in paleontology (having reached saturation as an architect), Toohey starts a new career as an excellent saxophone player, and Gail Wynand transforms his newspaper empire into something more benevolent.
Furthermore, it is clear from the Fountainhead that like Howard Roark, Ayn Rand expected fortune and success to come to her at the time without her doing anything about it. In Atlas Shrugged on the other hand, all the characters including the protagonist Dagny and the antagonist John Galt, are constantly travelling and networking. Like it should be. Today you can do the same using mostly (but certainly not exclusively) Internet means.
And that was also my problem, which I've decided to avoid now.
David and Goliath
The Israelites and the Philistines schedule a large battle. The philistines have far superior equipment with armors made out of cast iron, which the Israelites don't have. Eventually, Goliath, a tall Philistine giant, steps forward and asks for an Israelite man worthy enough to fight him and determine the fate of the battle (something quite common in the Near East). The Israelites seem like they will lose the battle.
Out of nowhere, a young Israelite boy whom hardly anyone knew about steps forward with a sling and a few pebbles. Goliath thinks this is ridiculous and ridicules him. However, the boy quickly puts a pebble in his sling, and after rotating the sling to achieve a very large velocity (not unusual with slings) hurls it with great accuracy (also not unusual, because shepherds in the Near East effectively used slings to kill lions and other predators to their flock) into Goliath's face, which was uncovered to allow him to see. Even if Goliath's shield bearer wanted, he could not have lifted the huge shield in time, and Goliath was completely not agile in his suit and armor. The sling's rock smashes Goliath brain, and he falls to the ground dead. The Israelites have won the battle.
The Boy's name was David.
Why do I think it's important here? Because David was a hacker (see Paul Graham's "The Word 'Hacker'") - he knew the rules, and played by them, but knew how to bend them, in order to earn his victory. There were many other hackers since, and there are a lot of them today even if some of them think that "hackers" only mean no goodnick and malevolent computer intruders. Hackers come in all shapes and sizes - and many of them (including Ayn Rand and Jennifer Lawrence) were or are female.
Was David Jewish and Goliath a Philistine? Did the battle actually happen in its form? What really happened to David next? That is hard to know, because in a true open source fashion, the peoples of the Near East gladly borrowed legends and memes from other people and improved them, or adapted them to their whims. This is similar to how we now create fan fiction by the droves. (Only now it's in much greater speed and capacity.) Moreover, in a way, the tale of David and Goliath is obscured by the mentality of the times, and its context within the larger epos of the Bible.
The Machines That Can Give You Questions
Back when Pablo Picasso asked for commenting about computers, he said "But they are useless. They can only give you answers." and in a sense he was right, because most computers at his time were used for one-off (and time-consuming) calculations and simulations. But there was another use of computers that was still in its infancy then and unknown: computer networking. But as technology improved, it became more and more powerful and pervasive.
The 1986 film Jumpin' Jack Flash Starring Whoopi Goldberg (which I highly enjoyed and can recommend) exemplified the power of early computer communications, though it was still in its infancy. The early popular Internet around the late 90s, with the so-called "Web 1.0" was a hodgepodge of static web sites (often at Geo Cities), lots of useless or incomplete information, search engines that were still not very good, and naturally, lots of fan pages of Buffy and Sarah Michelle Gellar (who was the Jennifer Lawrence of the time).
If you wanted an interactive many-to-many discussion, you had to use Usenet, or mailing lists, or Internet Relay Chat (IRC), or Slashdot, or whatever.
That has changed significantly, with the fact that JavaScript matured, wikis, web forums and blogs became popular, search engines (most notably Google) became better, and, later on, we've seen the rise of web-based social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus, which provide a more integrated experience and a quicker and easier one.
That does not mean that all the old Internet mediums are dying - mailing lists , IRC, and even some Web 1.0 sites (including my own) are still alive and kicking, and people now are increasingly using Jabber/XMPP/GTalk/GChat.
Anyway, because computer networking allows humans to communicate with other humans, they can provide you with questions. Lots and lots of questions. So I think Pablo Picasso would have loved the Internet (and other means of online communications such as SMSes, phone calls, mobile phone calls, etc.) of 2013.
Chuck Norris
Which brings us to Chuck Norris, who reportedly lost only one fight - to Bruce Lee - from the time he became a professional fighter, until now when he is old, has a malfunctioning left leg, and can be beaten relatively easily by some of the most competent of his younger peers. However, I am sure this is not the only battle that Chuck Norris has lost, because we all had many disappointments in our lives, and things that didn't work like we wanted to, people we liked or even loved that hated us, moved out of our reach or died, and opinions we thought or proclaimed that turned out to be mistaken. Chuck Norris had those too. These lost battles are part of who we are as human beings and a natural part of life on Earth.
That put aside, Chuck Norris recently lost a much bigger battle than the one with Bruce Lee, because the seemingly silly and popular Internet meme, the Chuck Norris facts (and other memes that they span) have become a much bigger and better fighting machine than he has ever have been. Only it is not a physical war - it is a gentle and subversive (but equally as powerful) psychological war. And despite common beliefs, a good psychological war is not won by intimidation or "defeat", but by Saladin's method of respecting your adversary, showing mercy towards him, even supporting him by what appear to be his mistakes, forgiving him and trying to reach a common ground.
Many people were easily indoctrinated into the Chuck Norris facts meme. I recall this conversation on Freenode's #perl in June 2006, shortly after Randal L. Schwartz (a really great guy, whose relationship with me started on the left foot, but that we're now on good and even friendly terms with one another) told me about the Chuck Norris Facts Internet "meme" and I was quickly able to come out with my own fact. After collecting a few original facts like that, I set up a page for them on the humour section of my homepage having figured out that even if I had a silly quirk of writing such factoids about people and things, then people will still take me more seriously due to my longer stories and screenplays and my longer and more serious essays.
But the reason why Chuck Norris/etc. facts are so powerful is because they are so accessible and easy to create, not in spite of it. Chuck Norris facts like "Guns don't kill people. Chuck Norris kills people." or "There is no theory of evolution - only species of animals that Chuck Norris allow to live." or my own "Chuck Norris read the entire English Wikipedia in 24 hours. Twice." or "A is A and A is not not-A — Unless Chuck Norris says so." highlight some major problems and assumptions about our existence, and makes us think. They give us questions. A lot of them.
We all have a master, and should be humble
A Jewish tale tells of a mighty emperor, supposedly a "king of kings" who conquered so many nations and people, that he believed and proclaimed that he was unstoppable and not even God (the real "King of the Kings of the Kings") could stop him. God did not like him. So what did he do? He let a fly enter the emperor's head and keep buzzing. The emperor could not stand the fly buzzing in his head, and ended up being driven to insanity, and then committing suicide. So his Hubris (= excessive human pride) caused him to be killed by a creature as insignificant as a fly.
While this is a folk tale, it illustrates the fact that we as humans are still at the mercy of forces beyond us. As the old thought experiment goes, tomorrow Linus Torvalds, who created and still maintain the Linux kernel, and is the poster child of the open source movement (and a really smart hacker, and a father to three daughters) can get hit by a bus. I am almost certain the Linux kernel development and the open source world in general will survive this shock, but a wonderful and beautiful life will be lost forever. I can also get hit by an automobile, and so can Chuck Norris, who may now be old enough to have a heart attack or any other deteriorating health problems due to old age. We are all fragile, and must realise we should not succumb to Hubris, because even if God does not exist, then Hubris will make us do some really silly stuff, which will end up causing our downfall.
As surprising as it sounds, even God has a master: logic. Ever since Aristotle codified logic in his Organon (which back then was not so taken for granted - "A is A, and A is not not-A? Of course A can be not-A. What kind of drugs is he on?"), which mathematicians, scientists and engineers have used to construct greater and better technology - both physical and "concrete" (like the tall buildings in various cities around the world, land, air and space travel, and naturally - computer and computer networks) and mental (like the various philosophies, idea systems, and mythological systems, up to this very essay and very word), logicians have proved that some tasks are impossible to perform and true omnipotence is not possible. Perhaps the most famous is "Can God create a stone so heavy that he cannot lift?". However, a more recent and more important one is the Halting problem, which specifies that one cannot write a program which will finish within a finite time, that will determine if any other arbitrary program will terminate or alternatively run forever. While the formal proof is complex, there is a short and informal proof that most intelligent people can understand. So the King of the Kings of the Kings, as mighty and wonderful as he is, also has a master.
"Put your faith in Allah, but tie your camel"
The tale (a Hadith) tells that Muhammad saw a shepherd going to pray, while keeping his Camel untied. He asked the shepherd why he kept his camel untied and the shepherd told him: "I put my faith in Allah, that the Camel won't escape". So Muhammad told him (and I paraphrase) "Dude, it doesn't work that way. Camels can escape due to nature's whims. So: put your faith in Allah, but, for the love of God - tie your Camel." (I am an Israeli, agnostic, non-religious, Jew but I think I can borrow useful memes from Christianity, Islam, or whatever, if I think they have merit, right? See Ad-hominem).
As much as I admire God for his wonderful creation, I still have to help myself, and help him help me. I also am not sure whether I will continue to live after I die, so I'd rather not risk it. God's creation is wonderful, but there's always a risk I'm being toyed by some evil genius and that reality is not what it seems to be (see Descartes' "I think therefore I am" thought experiment, and naturally The Matrix concept from first Matrix film, which I have yet to watch). Alternatively, it is possible that God does not exist, and reality is simply whimsical and random, but still enabled the creation of life, intelligence, and finally - human consciousness. So it may sound farfetched to you, but I don't want to die - not now, not in a thousand years - not ever. Maybe it's a scary thought, but I have accepted it now, and wish to enjoy youth rejuvenating biological immortality. And I don't want me or any of the living heroes I admire in the present, both those that I know and those that I have only heard about (including some people I have a feud with, but still know are mostly good people), to ever have to die due to old age, accidents, or misfortune.
Hackers Own The World
Hackers like David are the true holders of power in the world. In the Jewish Bible, the myth of David is muddled by him later becoming a tragic hero, and that his only true love, the sexy, and likely minded, female hacker Michal becoming barren and supposedly jealous, but there are plenty of other hackers, both living and fictional, in the world whose story had a happy ending. And here's the thing: this is what an Action Hero is all about - he defies the rules, bends the rules, and eventually wins. A tragic hero on the other hand is bounded by many invisible rules, and cannot win. So Action is the exact opposite of Tragedy. (And to truly see why this is true, you should watch and listen to the 1m43s-long trailer for Shakespeare's Hamlet starring Arnold Schwarzenegger from the excellent film [the] Last Action Hero.) I also guarantee you that this very essay is not perfect, and that's OK, because I'm a hacker and like to bend the rules, and while I care about quality, I also care about getting something - anything - out of the door quickly. With the help of editors, I can always fix the essay later, in case a prestigious magazine such as Time Magazine or Playboy would wish to publish it, but if I wait until it is letter perfect before I publish and announce it, then it will be a big waste of time.
I also realised that even though I placed my stories and screenplays under the /humour/ part of my homepage, they were also almost always stories of action. Many action films now contain a lot of humour, and humour films and even dramas are often action films in disguise (and that includes Silver Linings Playbook). Many people complained that each and every popular Hollywood film now contains a mixture of action, love and sex, humour, drama, and naturally - a happy ending. However, my stories also have all that, and during writing them, I wasn't trying to make their "ratings" higher - just to write what was on my mind, and to make the story as fun as possible. And as surprisingly as it sounds, some of the most ancient myths (e.g: the stories in the Hebrew Bible, or those of the Greek mythology) also contained all that in their own old and now antiquated way.
Many people will think I'm being blasphemous by paraphrasing the story of David and Goliath, or the Hadith about Muhammad, and spicing them up a little, but the thing is - it makes these stories something alive and dynamic because our times are different. Shakespeare's plays were narrated as they were during his times, but reading them now is boring. And that is because our times are different (and hopefully better).
Hackers Make the Best Warriors
I once read a feature in an Israeli adolescents' magazine about the Navy SEALs, who are the chief commando unit of the United States Navy, and they said there that while many very muscular young men (which they called "a Rambo and a half") approached them about joining, they didn't survive for too long in their training, and that those who did were those with a "high I.Q." and a great character. The United States has an unnatural obsession with I.Q., which is not a good measurement for intelligence (for many reasons), but the point is that they are intelligent and competent.
And what is the recipe for such intelligence and competence? The answer is having a mostly happy childhood, being open-minded and knowledgeable about all sorts of small things, getting a lot of information, knowledge, understanding, and insights, and being a whole rounded person. The world's greatest warriors such as Chuck Norris or Bruce Lee were not overly muscular, and Chuck Norris had a happy and supposedly uneventful childhood. He also was aware that he has to stand for himself, and take decisive action ("The Gods help them that help themselves") instead of letting life lead him in its own way ("Go with the flow" or "Be a product of your environment"). So did most of the Navy SEALs.
A murderous villain can shoot to all directions and perform a lot of killing, but a good warrior requires precision, accuracy, intelligence and competence. This involves being a well-rounded, happy and benevolent person. Saladin was the greatest physical warrior of his time, and he was extremely noble, and spared and cared for the lives of the Knights Templar (who were really crazy people), to say nothing of that of innocent men, women and children who came in his way. Whenever I run into a moral dillema, I think to myself "What would Saladin do?" and then do exactly that.
A lot of people believe that the children of today are unusual because they don't have the patience to read anything longer than a twitter utterance ( see Noise to Signal's "TL;DR" cartoon), but I recall that most of the youth of my generation (I am 1977-born), also did not read any books, or read most of the history and other textbooks of my class (like I did too), , and instead spent a lot of time playing with friends or watching television or whatever, and they turned out fine eventually. Nowadays, many kids are bound to do things that will make some of us as grown-ups think that "the generation is diminishing" but naturally, this is folly (see the Noise to Signal's "Fire" cartoon and the comments about it), and is just indicative that you are growing more cynical.
As a matter of fact, newer generations can build on the work, knowledge, and wisdom of older generations ("Standing on the shoulders of giants") and achieve dazzling new heights. During Helenistic times, many people believed that philosophy was a useless mind exercise, that philosophers were contaminating the youth, and that they were parasites who make problems where none exist. That was all well and nice, until the Romans had a lot of pain and casualties, conquering the island of Archimedes due to the many devices and inventions he came up and that were used to protect it.
And like I said, there are many other ways to wage war that do not involve bloodshed or even violence.
In my screenplay Selina Mandrake - The Slayer, Selina runs into three vampire warriors ("The Three") dressed as Klingons, who tell her that "Every mighty Klingon warrior has watched Sesame Street" to which she exclaims: "Mighty Klingon vampire warriors who have watched Sesame Street… this decade royally sucks!!", but most of the best American warriors of the relatively recent past (of all kinds) have watched Sesame Street, because they loved it as happy children (and later as adults).
The New Alexandrias
Alexandria used to be the "It city" of the Helenistic period. While some inland cities like Jerusalem and Damascus had a good strategical position and were important religious centres, almost all the great philosophers lived and operated in Alexandria. Why Alexandria? Because it was a port city and close to the sea. It is well known that many of the peoples of the Near East lived by and loved the sea: the Greek, the Phoenicians (which the Israelites referred to as Canaan), etc. The Israelites (who are now the Jews) started as a kind of sub-culture and fashion among the Canaanites (and Archaelogists witness a transition in Palestine and other parts of the Levant from the Canaanite period to the Israelite period) but they later on were heavily influenced by both the Phoenician and the Greek, by culture, ideals and even by blood. Even in the Bible, the tribe of Dan is described as "setting sail to ships".
Today there are many Alexandrias: New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, San Fransisco, London, Barcelona, Rome, Rio-de-Janeiro, Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai - even (and for us Israelis - especially) Tel Aviv. And even Alexandria, in its more modern form, after at least a single destruction, is the second largest city in Egypt, and probably more vibrant than Cairo, which is the inland capital.
Here's the thing about human life: it's not preserved automatically. It must be kept alive by effort. Often a lot of effort. You must fight death, irrationality and stagnation, from within and from without. Often it involves some pain, but usually fighting for your life is fun and rewarding, and gives you a lot of joy. It is well known that of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World only the Pyramids of Giza still stand. But while the other wonders were marvels of aesthetical beauty, the Pyramids were just giant, unaesthetic, graves, which no one would like to live in. Even the Mayan pyramids in Yucatan look more pleasing than them.
My second biggest mistake: not accepting who I am.
Throughout most of my adulthood, I have been criticised for various things I believed in or liked: the fact I was a pro-life, and non-cynical person (or Aristotlean), the fact that I liked ponies, Ewoks, and smurfs (so cute!), the fact that I hated being Mr. Macho in real life (and was instead a gentleman among females), the fact that I didn't have a relationship yet, the fact that I placed photos of scantily clad females on some of the wallpapers on my desktop at home (and people claimed I was treating females as sex objects), the fact that I got into hypomanias (literally "below-manias"), the fact that I didn't consume caffeinated or alcoholic beverages at all, the fact that I found porn disgusting instead of arousing, the fact that I chat a lot on IRC, the fact that I listen to mostly pop music, and so on and so forth.
However, I now realise that these are some of the things that make me who I am, and I shouldn't try to be someone else. Geeks and hackers come in all shapes and sizes, and there is no need to try to fit better among fellow computer hackers, just due to the portrait of J. Random Hacker in the Jargon file. I do not mind people who deviate from my preference in some or all respects, but no two people (including not two identical twins) are alike. You should accept who you are too.
Please all → Please none
Aesop (who was most likely an ancient Greek meme, similar to today's Chuck Norris facts) tells the story of an old man, his grandson and a donkey who walk from one city to another and no matter how they utilise the donkey (without anyone on it; putting only the grandson on the donkey; putting only the grandfather on the donkey ; both riding the donkey; etc.), people criticise them for the situation. The conclusion was "Please all and you shall please none".
How is it important? Some people, especially those that are jealous or envious of you are bound to complain. You smiled while performing a sad song? Someone will complain. You're wearing prescription glasses? (Like I do.) Someone will label you as "half-blind". You wrote some Star Trek fan fiction? Someone will tell you it's lame. You wrote Chuck Norris facts or lolcats? Ditto.
You're thin? Fat? Chubby? Look too normal? Plump? Someone is bound to complain.
So just be happy with who you are. Naturally, if enough people complain, and/or you think their criticism has some merits, you can try to improve in some respects (without making a fuss about it). But be happy with what you have and who you are, despite all the haters.
Don't Just Go with the Flow - Act Now!
I read somewhere, that while the survival mechanism of animals and plants operates automatically, the survival mechanism of humans operates by choice. We must choose to use our consciousness (which some people refer to as "sentience" to distinguish from awareness) and see what we do now. "Going with the flow" (like only dead fish do!) or claiming you are just "a product of your environment" is not a good idea: act now, move something, make decisions, because the worst possible mistake is to not do anything at all. Initiate stuff.
If I didn't take the time to work on my home site, it would have not grown to a tenth of the size it is today. And I started with some spartan pages written in very old HTML with some mathematical riddles, and a C.V. and stuff. Now my home site is positively huge and people can spend days on end reading everything I've placed there, and also adding more and more stuff there is easier for me out of practise. A lot of people have been jealous (i.e: wishing what I created was created by me) or envious (i.e: wishing to destroy what I did) but I knew better than to be permanently set back by them.
You too can have a wonderful home page, or become a good martial artist, or write great fiction, or learn how to cook very well, or simply lead a happy life full of wonder, love, and happiness. But it means you have to lead your life by choosing to think, making decisions and acting - not let nature take you in its random ways the way it sees fit.
Even if consciousness is just an illusion, and we don't truly have free will, we should play by this illusion, because not playing by it will make matters very much worse. Those that don't think enough, become terminally ill with mysticism (= mental laziness) and become lazy (despite appearing to constantly work intensively in sedantry work), incompetent, lying, needy, envious and unhappy people who expect everyone to feel sorry for them and obey their orders blindly (up to actual genocide or killing 100 million of their own citizens). Like Adolf Hitler, or Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu.
What should be done now?
As you may have guessed, superb hackers who have ascended into Qs and stuff, are the true "Kings of Kings", and I am one of them, and not only that but the actual honest-to-God Messiah!. I am a bit disappointed by people not seeing beyond my words and understanding that they should become Messiahs too, and compete with me, but maybe that is the price I am paying for the fact that I had been playing the Invisible until now.
So what should be done now?
The Iranian government is at the risk of getting an atomic bomb and dropping it on Israel or wherever. They must be stopped. Send unmanned planes to bomb the site where the bombs are prepared and make sure that no one leaves or enters it in one piece.
Every Iranian soldier must proceed to: 1. Read my story The Enemy and How I Helped to Fight it or at least only its first chapter, or one of its translations (which should be worked on), and: 2. Proceed to put the Iranian adminstrative buildings under seige. Disobey your commanders if necessary by telling them "No! I can think on my own, thank you.".
These are the pressing things. As you shall see below, there is much more. Orders from above! Orders from the mother fucking "David fighting Goliath" of Messiahs!
People who are into the Internet world have probably ran into the recent trend about "openness" - open source software (such as the Firefox and the Google Chromium browsers, the VLC video player, various Peer-to-Peer programs, etc.), open and documented protocols and specifications, large-scale and small-scale open "content" collaborative projects (most notably the Wikipedias, many other wikimedia projects, and many other wikis), and lots of other stuff. Yet, openness is also mostly a synonym for such things as "honesty" and "sincerity": not lying, being direct, and not hiding things. It also means not playing games with people and being happy for their happiness and success, rather than being consumed with jealousy or (God help me) envy (which means you wish to destroy these values, rather than coveting them for your own).
So why is it important? Because you should be honest in everything you do. Do you like a member-of-the-appropriate-sex (MOTAS) that already is in a relationship? Admit it to him or her, but be happy for them, and tell them you can be on the rebound or if they have any friends who are looking for a significant other. That put aside even the most noble gentlemen (and ladies) and those that are happily married and possibly even have children, are allowed to flirt with other MOTAS.
Did your friend, spouse, a celebrity of some sort, or a complete stranger you heard of, who seems nice, get a good opportunity? You can admit you are jealous, but try to keep it at bay, and be happy for them.
Here's what I wrote when two of my best friends - a great male software developer (and a great hacker) called Omer, and a wonderful female software developer (and a great hacker) called Chen (a Hebrew first name meaning "grace" or "loveliness" which is common among both boys and girls) got married:
Hi Omer! Mazal Tov on Chen and yours marriage. It reminds me of a quote from Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre:
"At this period she married, removed with her husband (a clergyman, an excellent man, almost worthy of such a wife) to a distant county, and consequently was lost to me."
Well, in your case I can say that both of you are almost worthy of each other. Congrats again!
As much as I was attracted to Chen (and she likes a lot of the stuff I created too), I didn't try to break their relationship, and have her for myself, and wished them happiness. And I did it, because I knew there were plenty of wonderful female hackers (including those that are still not very good at computers, or even hate them) and I can eventually find a good one of my own. And I also knew that coming between Chen and Omer, will make both of them unhappy, and that's not what I want.
People may appear to not appreciate you being sincere with them, but believe me, that it will pay in spades later on, also because you'll feel better about yourself, and be happier, more peaceful, and more competent.
The same thing applies to jobs and work. You shouldn't lie on your job interview. Is the company developing in Java and you don't like Java a lot? Admit it. Say that you prefer not to work long hours because people are more productive working during sane hours. If you contribute to the wikipedia or to open source software, admit it, because workplaces that dislike such things about their employees, will likely not be places you'd like to work with. And yes, it means that you should be able to freely talk and admit everything about you (that you are an Israeli, a Jew, a Black person, a Catholic, a Muslim, straight, gay, anti-religious, homophobic, or whatever) instead of the silly laws that try to prevent discrimination and wish to "streamline" the interview while deliberately going against the liberty of speech.
Fact of the matter is, you are allowed to discriminate, even in accepting positions. I did not get many jobs despite feeling that I have done extremely well on the Interviews, yet I would not dream of suing the workplace for not accepting me. Whatever reasons they had they were OK. Furthermore, sometimes I was fired or laid off based on various reasons, and I also accepted my fate and moved on, because working for a certain workplace was not something I was entitled to - it was a privilege.
The Importance of Seizing Opportunities
A good hacker knows better than to create imaginary problems. If an opportunity
comes into your way - seize it, and don't read into the minds of those who
offer it, and their motivations. You were invited to give a talk? Go for it!
It doesn't matter if you were invited because you are
The end result of being cynical and not seizing opportunities and not allowing people to open doors for you is becoming something like the pitiful and tragic character of Captain Nemo in Jules Verne's excllent novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" who roams the seas, causing a lot of destruction of lives - all in the name of his own incompetence. The end result of seizing opportunities as you run into them is being happy, and eventually standing on your own. Perhaps up to the point of becoming a superhero such as Saladin, Sir Isaac Newton, Henry Ford, Walt Disney, Albert Einstein, or Aristotle Onassis, who despite their many faults (which were often not uncommon in their times) were incredibly noble, led a happy life, and died as accomplished and highly-admired people. I hope the living heroes and heroines I admire today will not have to die, or if they do, that their reputation won't be tarnished by many people who are jealous or envious of their success and competence.
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial licence version 3.0 (or any later version). See my interpretation of it.


text:
Beat the Streak Report: March 31
Hiyoooo, Streakers!
After a long, dark, cold offseason, the time of reckoning is upon us: MLB.com Beat the Streak has returned for an 11th season. And the stakes have never been higher.
Presented by Scotts this year, BTS takes just 15 seconds a day to play. All you have to do is pick one player who you think will get a hit during today's games. Pick correctly, and you have a streak. Beat Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak by picking correctly 57 days in a row, and you could win an all-time BTS record $5,600,000 prize.
Yes, that's $5.6 million in U.S. currency. That number has more zeroes than a Roy Halladay line score. You can make a pick right here!
Last season, two Streakers reached 43 games — a mere two weeks away from Internet immortality and some serious pocket change. Is there a 50-gamer lurking out there this year? The official BTS Report Magic 8 Ball says: "It is decidedly so." There you have it, undeniable proof.
Anyway, the BTS Report will be along for the ride every weekday of the regular season. Check back for picks of the day, pro tips, riveting tales of hitting streaks past (Streak of the Week!) and oh so much more.
Now, in the words of both Marvin Gaye and Judge Mills Lane: "Let's get it on!"
Thursday's picks:
Oh, hello there …
• Martin Prado: .478 AVG (11-for-23) lifetime vs. Nationals starter Livan Hernandez
• Miguel Cabrera: .538 AVG (7-for-13) lifetime vs. Yankees starter CC Sabathia
• Scott Rolen: .636 AVG (7-for-11) lifetime vs. Brewers starter Yovani Gallardo
• Brian McCann: .389 AVG (7-for-18) vs. Nationals starter Livan Hernandez
• Derek Jeter: .368 AVG (7-for-19) lifetime vs. Tigers starter Justin Verlander
Feeling kinda spicy?
• Alex Gordon: .364 AVG (4-for-11) lifetime vs. Angels starter Jered Weaver
We've been waiting four years for the Gordon hype train to roll into Superstar Station. Maybe today is the day. Probably not, but maybe.
You'll thank me later …
• Mark Teixeira: .059 AVG (1-for-17) lifetime vs. Tigers starter Justin Verlander
• Matt Kemp: .100 AVG (2-for-20) lifetime vs. Giants starter Tim Lincecum
• Prince Fielder: .143 AVG (2-for-14) lifetime vs. Reds starter Edinson Volquez
• Buster Posey: .111 AVG (1-for-9) lifetime vs. Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw
Leaderboard time!
For today and today only, you are all atop the leaderboard. Enjoy it while it lasts.
Top MLB streakers
You know what's lame? The multi-season hit streak. Opening Day is a fresh start, a tabula rasa (raised table?), if you will. But if you must know, these players technically carry over a little somethin'-somethin' from October:
• Mark Ellis: 13 games
• Mike Stanton: 11 games
• Justin Smoak: 10 games
• Drew Stubbs: 8 games
8 Comments
Went with Rickie Weeks to start the season!
I bought a pack of Topps 2011 Opening Day cards. My plan is to have a streak with all the players in the pack:
— Justin Morneau (102 hits, in 81 games)
— Joey Votto (177)
— Pablo Sandoval (151)
— Hunter Pence (173)
— Chris Johnson (105 hits, 95 games)
— Carlos Pena (95)
The number in parenthesis is the number of hits each player got in 2010. Carlos Pena is going to be my weakest link.
Well, another year at trying to Beat the Streak. I see the bloggers group has not got into the spirit yet.
A couple changes since last year.
1) BTS: No weather report for the picks page. Not good
2) Survior: Didn't survive this year?
3) GameDay: No mini-game day applets? Hope that is to come
For weather reports, you can try one of this one:
Well another year for me trying as well. I am so excited for baseball to be starting up again. I went with A-Rod today and he came through with a double. It's always a good start when you get a hit on opening day when you never know who is going to start hot and who is going to be cold. Hopefully those in the bloggers group will show up in the next couple days. I know I missed the first day of the season last year because it came up so fast I didn't realize it was here until the games already started. GL to everyone this year!
I think that the bloggers will start to appear as a link to this blog was added to the beat the streak game. BTW like LaVolpe said why is there no survivor?
I'm glad to get back to trying to beat the streak. Started off the season strong by taking chipper yesterday and will look to continue with tulowitzki today. He doesn't have great stats against Ian Kennedy but he was hot during spring training and I'm looking for that to carry over. Goodluck everyone with your streaks.
Now here's a username, on page 2 of the Top2500, I can really appreciate: 102YearsNCountin. Go Cubs!
@yanksgiantsdevils33. Survivor may have been removed to make room for that new game ODYSSEY?


text:
Nyhavn (Denmark)
Especially during summer Nyhavn is the perfect place to end a long day. Have dinner at one of the cosy restaurants or do like the locals and buy a beer from a nearby store and rest your feet at the quayside.
Nyhavn was originally a busy commercial port where ships from all over the world would dock. The area was packed with sailors, ladies of pleasure, pubs and alehouses.
Today the beautiful old houses have been renovated and classy restaurants dominate the old port. Nyhavn is filled with people enjoying the relaxed atmosphere by the canal, jazz music and great food.
No. 9, Nyhavn, is the oldest house in the area dating back to 1681. The design of the house has not been altered since that time.
Many of the houses lining the quays of Nyhavn have been the homes of prominent artists.
Hans Christian Andersen's Nyhavn
The famous Danish fairytale writer, Hans Christian Andersen, used to live in no. 20. This is where he wrote the fairy-tales 'The Tinderbox', 'Little Claus and Big Claus', and 'The Princess and the Pea'. He also lived twenty years in no. 67 and two years in no. 18.


text:
Daily Archives: August 1, 2009
Things I learned…
Bah! It's August already! How does this keep happening?? This morning's post is going to be borrowed from Ellie's "Things I Learned This Week." Except it's going to be "Things I Learned This Month." July was a big month for me!
- I learned I don't like steak but I do love hamburgers.
- I completely gave up what little vegetarian lifestyle I was clinging onto and embraced eating like my peers at social events
- My love for hummus was challenged by tzatziki. It has been an all-out battle ever since.
- I learned that I can do ANYTHING.
- I learned my body is more than just something that I want to look good. I learned that it carries me through life, and can be challenged in ways I never thought possible.
- Dude, I did a triathlon!!!
- I learned that chocolate pie makes a great dinner
- I set out new fitness goals for myself, only cementing that I'm in this for the long run. I want to be active for the rest of my life.
- I learned that life is indeed very long, and in some ways mine is only just starting.
- I don't have to do races to feel an enormous sense of accomplishment.
- Having a trunk that pops open is in fact the greatest luxury in the world.
- I only have a few people who truly support me in life, but those few are my rocks, my foundation, and I will never take them for granted.
- I learned I don't have to be a clean eater to be "healthy." Even processed junky foods are fine in moderation.
- Just because a food is "fresh and healthy" doesn't mean I can eat it in large quantities. There is such a thing as to much of a good thing.
- Balance is only ever acheived when you stop obsessing and just let things happen. Letting go is sometimes the best way to achieve the goals I always wanted.
And my favourite picture for July…
Taken seconds after finishing my first triathlon. It's true, I really can do anything I put my mind to!
I've got a few more things coming up in August:
- Moving into my sweet new bachelor(ette) pad
- Going on a weekend getaway with Chris
- Hopefully visiting my hometown!
- Sisters coming to visit :)
How about you? What did you learn in July? What are you looking forward to in August?


text:
DI Lady Flames rack up 10 goals in two shutouts of Raleigh
February 10, 2013 | Lynchburg, Va.
In a rematch against Tri-City Selects, a women's league team based out of Raleigh, N.C., Liberty University's Division I women's hockey team posted two decisive shutout wins Saturday and Sunday afternoon at the LaHaye Ice Center.
Forward Sarah Stevenson returned from a concussion suffered three weeks ago at Robert Morris in Chicago to score two goals in Saturday's 3-0 triumph, when the Lady Flames outshot the Selects by a whopping 65-4 margin. Then on Sunday, Chantal Lischynski made her second start in goal since recovering from knee surgery and recorded her second shutout in a 7-0 rout of Raleigh.
"We found the net a few more times today," Liberty head coach Paul Bloomfield said, noting the Lady Flames outshot their guests by a 51-7 count Sunday. "We only beat them by a goal each time in the fall (3-2 on Oct. 6 and 2-1 on Oct. 7). We worked on getting more goals, putting more pressure on the goalie today, so it paid off."
Stevenson, who returned to practice last Wednesday and was cleared to play Friday night, netted both of her goals off first-period power plays, the first on a 5-on-3 advantage.
"We work on our power play a lot and it's nice to know that at the end of the year, it's really coming together and it's nice to know we can get a goal off those," said Stevenson, who was assisted by Stacey McCombe on the first goal and Amanda Grainger on the second. "The first goal, there was a lot of cycling, passing around. We were cycling, talking, always knowing where each other was. The second goal, I was coming off a line change and I just called for the puck from Amanda from behind the net. She just put it right up into the crease and I just shelfed it, with a wrist shot from the top of the circle."
"Our power play was working good today," Bloomfield added. "We didn't get as many as I would have liked, but we out-shot them. We really need to work on getting them in the back of the net."
Stevenson was happy to contribute right from the get-go.
"It was my first game back, so it's been a while," Stevenson said. "It was really good, I missed it a lot. It felt good to do something, not just like make my way back, but to make a statement, kind of."
She had excellent chemistry with line-mates McCombe, who scored Liberty's last goal late in the third period, and freshman Carrie Jickling.
"We're actually all centermen, but we all work together in one line," Stevenson said. "We definitely dominate out there."
The Lady Flames used the weekend series to fine-tune some aspects of their game, but didn't overlook the Selects, whose only losses other than the four against Liberty came against two men's teams.
"Some of the girls on the team have played college hockey and just retired and some of them are high school kids," Bloomfield said. "They're pretty competitive. They've got some girls that have got some talent."
"I think our team really came out to play, didn't take them lightly even though it's not like a league team," Stevenson said. "That's what brought us over the top, even though we didn't have a big scoring game, we worked on really good things as a team."
Freshman Kristina Toppazzini earned the shutout in goal as regular starter Samantha Rupp took the weekend off.
On Sunday, Lischynski, who missed all of last semester but has started twice since Christmas, stopped all seven shots by the Selects.
"She looked very good," Bloomfield said. "She didn't get a lot of shots on her, but there were a couple she had to stand on her head to get, to work for."
Lischynski was the Lady Flames' No. 1 goalie last year, with Rupp serving as her backup all the way through the national tournament before Lischynski tore the ACL in her knee a week later.
"We're just slowly getting her back in the grind again," Bloomfield said. "You never know for sure until you get in to the heat of the battle, but I'm just trying to ease her in to get her ready for nationals."
Grainger, who played on the same line as McCombe and Stevenson last season, ignited Liberty's attack with two goals and two assists on Sunday.
"She plays well with everybody," Bloomfield said of Grainger, who stands 5-feet tall, but plays much bigger. "We put her on whatever line we need assistance with. She's tough around the net. She's small and mighty."
Grainger spent some time in the penalty box in the second period after battling around the cage.
"She got a little too aggressive, on a rough play around the goal," Bloomfield said. "She got an interference penalty because she was being aggressive around the net. She was in the goalie's face."
Grainger scored the game's first goal unassisted less than three minutes after the opening faceoff before she and fellow sophomore forward Jenny MacArthur assisted Laura Del Monte at the 11:08 mark. Courtney Fischer netted the game's only power play goal with 8:45 left in the first, set up by Jickling and Stevenson, before Grainger scored again, off an assist from Fischer, with just under five minutes to play in the period.
Liberty added two goals in the second period, with Sarah Fowler scoring off assists from McCombe and Jickling seven minutes in before Jickling finished off a feed from Autumn Kucharczyk two and a half minutes later. Finally, with 2:12 remaining in the game, Madi Fischer netted the seventh goal on a nice shot from the point off Grainger's second assist.
Next weekend, the Lady Flames (21-2) will travel to Pittsburgh, Pa., to play two games against Chatham, a women's college with an NCAA program, starting Saturday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
"Those games are for bragging rights," Bloomfield said. "Wins next weekend will count as wins (in Liberty's record) but the points won't count" toward the ACHA DI rankings.
The Lady Flames have been ranked No. 1 in the nation in the past two ACHA DI polls, with the last to be released on Feb. 22 or 23.
"We have two games (next weekend) and then we have two and a half weeks off until nationals," Stevenson said Saturday. "Everyone's going to take care of themself and show up to nationals as a full team, because we didn't last year. I think we're just going to get even better and build as a team and the sky's the limit for us, really."
By Ted Allen/Staff Writer
20130209 Women's D1 Hockey vs Raleigh - Images by Joel Coleman/Liberty University


text:
LUXE Rentals is Canada's premier high-end contemporary furniture rental company. Our collection of sleek and modern furniture creates ambiance that gives your event a distinctive and sophisticated air.
We pride ourselves on creating polished environments that reflect the occasion, and as such offer a complete package of illuminated bars and towers, sofas, tables, chairs, stools, rugs and accessories for the special event industry.
We strive to provide a striking vision to those who demand something beyond the expected, and our attention to detail and passion for what we do will show at your event. Our modular collection of coordinated products is unrivalled, as is our reliable and personalized service.
We offer a selection of furnishings designed and assembled specifically for the event industry, and is unavailable anywhere else. We are equipped to help make any event spectacular; from intimate private affairs to large corporate events, fundraisers or tradeshows - no event is too large or too small.
We are committed to surpass your expectations, consistently introducing new styles, finishes and concepts in innovative rentals Our impressive inventory of well maintained products are rented as a turnkey package including delivery, installation, cleaning and removal from coast to coast within Canada or the continental United States.
Allow yourself the luxury and confidence of working with an innovative and creative team to help you develop an individual look with flair and style. We invite you to schedule an appointment to visit our showroom.


text:
It didn't matter that it was the Rose Garden. The "M-V-P!" chant for Kobe Bryant was loud and clear.
Bryant scored a season-high 47 points and carried the Los Angeles Lakers closer to a playoff berth with a 113-106 victory over the short-handed but tenacious Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.
The Lakers moved a full game up on the Utah Jazz for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
"We've got no breathing room at all," Bryant said. "I'm still on edge. We've got to win three more games and we're in."
Portland, missing the playoffs for the second straight season, has lost nine straight, the most since an 11-game skid in the 2005-06 season. Rookie Damian Lillard led the Blazers with a career-high 38 points.
Pau Gasol had 23 points, seven rebounds and nine assists, while Dwight Howard added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers. Bryant was 18 of 18 from the free throw line and played the entire game, determined to pull out a win after trailing early.
"What he (Bryant) is doing is phenomenal. He's determined to get us in the playoffs," Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni said. "That's what happens when you open your mouth and guarantee that we'll get in the playoffs."
Bryant vowed in late February that his team would make it to the postseason. The Lakers wrap up the regular season at home with games against playoff-bound Golden State, San Antonio and Houston.
Gasol knotted the game at 96 with a layup and a jumper with 7:09 left. After Lillard's 15-footer, Gasol added another jumper to tie it again. His layup gave the Lakers a 102-100 edge before Bryant hit a pair of free throws and added a 23-foot jump shot with 4:09 left to make it 106-100.
Howard's alley-oop dunk from Gasol with 53 seconds left made it 110-104 and all but sealed it.
For much of the game, it seemed like Bryant the veteran against Lillard the upstart rookie.
"He's spectacular … really fantastic," Bryant said of the Blazers' five-time rookie of the month. "A lot of players get hot, but he's got the moves, patience, intelligence, the balance on his jumpers. He's the real deal."
Lillard has grown up admiring Bryant.
"I got to guard him and he got to guard me," Lillard said. "I enjoyed the challenge."
The deck was stacked from the start against the Blazers, who started four rookies for the first time in the team's history.
Portland was without starters Wesley Matthews (ankle), J.J. Hickson (back) and Nicolas Batum (right shoulder). As a result, two-time All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge was the only veteran starting with rookie forward Victor Claver, guards Lillard and Will Barton, and center Meyers Leonard.
Matthews injured his right ankle in Portland's 96-91 loss to Dallas on Sunday, while Batum was missing his fourth straight game with a sore shoulder. Hickson says he's been dealing with a painful lower back for the past several games.
But the rookies got off to an astonishingly fast start, going up 17-8 on Lillard's fadeaway jumper. Lillard banked in a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 22-12 and the Blazers made eight of their first nine shots from the field.
He hit another 3 to make it 35-25 and the Blazers went on to lead 41-33 at the end of the first, their most points in the opening quarter this season.
The Lakers chipped away at the lead and Bryant's long jumper on the baseline closed Los Angeles to 50-48.
The Blazers led 69-61 at the break, but the Lakers opened the second half with a 10-0 run capped by Howard's hook shot to pull ahead 71-69, their first lead of the game. Howard's layup extended the lead to 78-71.
The Blazers were hurt when Claver rolled his ankle late in the third quarter and retreated to the locker room, but they stayed on the Lakers' heels, coming within 86-85 on Eric Maynor's running jumper and pulling in front on Luke Babbitt's 3 pointer.
Maynor's fadeaway put Portland up 95-90.
"It was a very good effort by our team, but unfortunately we couldn't pull it out," Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. "A couple of plays down the stretch could have gone either way, a couple of shots could have gone either way. For the most part, I thought it was a well-played game against a team that's pretty hungry to make the playoffs."
Game notes
Combined with the Lakers' 104-96 victory over New Orleans on Tuesday night, it was the first time this season the Lakers had won both games of a back-to-back. … Lillard was awarded the NBA's Community Assist award for March because of his anti-bullying campaign. He is the fourth rookie to win the honor, and first since Atlanta's Al Horford in 2008. More than 5,000 fans have signed a pledge to help end bullying as part of Lillard's "Respect" program. … Lillard became second Portland rookie to go over 500 assists. Kelvin Ransey had 555 in the 1980-81 season. … The Blazers had won three straight and 12 of their last 14 against the Lakers at the Rose Garden.
25% Bonus via Western Union


text:
Kinect, Microsoft's new controllerless controller for the Xbox 360 is shaping up to be a monster hit, one that should give the gaming platform momentum enough to carry it forward for some time to come. Microsoft said last week that it sold 2.5 million Kinects in the device's first 25 days at market, and feels confident it will sell 5 million by year end. Which should give a nice bump to the company's top line.
In fact, Caris & Co. analyst Sandeep Aggarwal says he expects Kinect to generate about $2 billion in gross revenue for the Xbox ecosystem. Beyond sales of Kinect itself, the controller is also driving sales of most everything else Xbox related. In Aggarwal's view, Kinect offers four distinct benefits to Microsoft:
- Better material attach rate for the 45 million Xbox installed base
- Higher adoption and market share gain for the console itself
- An uptick from the sale of new titles
- Lower attrition and higher gross new subscriber growth for Xbox Live users
"As expected, the launch of Kinect increased noticeably the overall buzz around Xbox and helped improve the adoption of the console," he concludes. "Just before the launch, Microsoft increased its forecast for worldwide sales from 3 million to 5 million by the end of the year. This forecast seems conservative now, given the strong reception."


text:
When you're in the middle of a move, there isn't time to look for bowls and spoons when the ice cream comes out. Hand and fingers work just fine.
October 29, 2020, Church at Court
20 hours ago
Copyright © 2008 Crayons and Keyboards
Design by Styleshout | Blogger template by Blog and Web