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Growl Notification Transport Protocol (GNTP) - v1.0
- Introduction
- Communication Overview
- General Message Structure
- Requests
- Responses
- Callbacks
- Forwarding
- Security
- Ports and Discovery
- Appendix
- Examples
The Growl Network Transport Protocol, or GNTP, is a protocol to allow two-way communication between applications and centralized notification systems such as Growl for Mac OS X and to allow two-way communication between two machines running centralized notification systems for notification forwarding purposes.
Communication Overview
An application MUST first REGISTER with the notification system. This registration will communicate the application's name, the notifications it may send, and details on those notifications. Requests to NOTIFY with information not corresponding to a previously registered application/notification pair will be ignored.
After REGISTERing, the application may at any time send NOTIFY requests. A NOTIFY request includes the information to be displayed, including title, text, and icon of the notification, and may also include hints to the display server, as detailed below.
General Message Structure
GNTP messages follow a structured plain text format with lines separated by <CRLF>, similar to MIME headers.
GNTP Information Line
The first line of the message MUST include the protocol identifier, version, message type, encryption algorithm id, and optionally, the key hash algorithm id, key hash, and salt:
GNTP/<version> <messagetype> <encryptionAlgorithmID>[:<ivValue>][ <keyHashAlgorithmID>:<keyHash>.<salt>]
where GNTP is the name of the protocol and:
- <version>
The GNTP version number. Currently, the only supported version is '1.0'.
- <messagetype>
Identifies the type of message. See 'Requests' and 'Responses' sections below for supported values
- <encryptionAlgorithmID>
Identifies the type of encryption used on the message. See 'Encryption' section below for supported values
- <ivValue>
If the message is encrypted, this is the hex-encoded initialization value
- <keyHashAlgorithmID>
Identifies the type of hashing algorithm used. See 'Encryption' section below for supported values
- <keyHash>
The hex-encoded hash of the key
- <salt>
The hex-encoded salt value
NOTE: <keyHashAlgorithm>, <keyHash>, and <salt> are not normally required for requests that originate on the local machine.
The GNTP information line is followed by a <CRLF> and then any message headers.
Header Value Data Types
Message headers MUST be in the format:
Header-Name: value
Each header name-value pair is terminated with <CRLF>. Neither the header name nor value may contain the <CRLF> character sequence.
Header values may be any of the following types:
- <string>
Any string EXCEPT one that contains the <CRLF> character sequence. If a newline must be passed in a value, use just the <LF> character ('\n' in a C-string). All strings should be encoded using UTF-8 encoding.
- <int>
Any integer value. Some headers may place additional restrictions on the range of valid values.
- <boolean>
A value that indicates True or False. [Yes|True] | [No|False]
- <date>
A date/time value conforming to the ISO 8601 standard with the following format: yyyy-MM-dd mm:hh:ssZ (e.g.: 2008-08-09 22:21:00Z)
- <url>
A valid url value
- <uniqueid>
A special pointer that indicates additional binary data will be appended to the messages. <uniqueid> values MUST be in the following format:
For example:
Notification-Icon: x-growl-resource://6027F6C0-64AF-11DD-9779-EEDA55D89593
<uniquevalue> could be the MD5 hash of the data, but can be any unique value. The server MAY choose to use a cached copy of data with the same uniqueid, so MD5 is an excellent choice. It may do this as a bandwidth conserving measure, as it may then interrupt packets before they are fully received if all uncached data has been received.
Each <uniqueid> value will correspond to a binary section which follows all other data in the request. Each binary section should start with the 'Identifier' header/value, followed by a 'Length' header/value:
Identifier: 6027F6C0-64AF-11DD-9779-EEDA55D89593 Length: 1048
where the value of 'Length' is the number of bytes of data. The 'Length' header should be followed by an empty <CRLF> line and then the binary data bytes, followed by another empty <CRLF> line.
Message Termination
A GNTP request must end with <CRLF><CRLF> (two blank lines). This indicates the end of the request to the receiver.
An additional end-of-message semaphore is also required in certain cases. See the Connection Handling section below for more information.
As of v1.0, the only allowed values for <messagetype> in requests are:
For each message type, the following headers are defined:
- Application-Name: <string>
Required - The name of the application that is registering
- Application-Icon: <url> | <uniqueid>
Optional - The icon of the application
- Notifications-Count: <int>
Required - The number of notifications being registered
For each notification being registered:
- Notification-Name: <string>
Required - The name (type) of the notification being registered
- Notification-Display-Name: <string>
Optional - The name of the notification that is displayed to the user (defaults to the same value as Notification-Name)
- Notification-Enabled: <boolean>
Optional - Indicates if the notification should be enabled by default (defaults to False)
- Notification-Icon: <url> | <uniqueid>
Optional - The default icon to use for notifications of this type
Each notification being registered should be seperated by a blank line, including the first notification.
- Application-Name: <string>
Required - The name of the application that sending the notification (must match a previously registered application)
- Notification-Name: <string>
Required - The name (type) of the notification (must match a previously registered notification name registered by the application specified in Application-Name)
- Notification-ID: <string>
Optional - A unique ID for the notification. If used, this should be unique for every request, even if the notification is replacing a current notification (see Notification-Coalescing-ID)
- Notification-Title: <string>
Required - The notification's title
- Notification-Text: <string>
Optional - The notification's text. (defaults to "")
- Notification-Sticky: <boolean>
Optional - Indicates if the notification should remain displayed until dismissed by the user. (default to False)
- Notification-Priority: <int>
Optional - A higher number indicates a higher priority. This is a display hint for the receiver which may be ignored. (valid values are between -2 and 2, defaults to 0)
- Notification-Icon: <url> | <uniqueid>
Optional - The icon to display with the notification.
- Notification-Coalescing-ID: <string>
Optional - If present, should contain the value of the Notification-ID header of a previously-sent notification. This serves as a hint to the notification system that this notification should replace/update the matching previous notification. The notification system may ignore this hint.
- Notification-Callback-Context: <string>
Optional - Any data (will be passed back in the callback unmodified)
- Notification-Callback-Context-Type: <string>
Optional, but Required if 'Notification-Callback-Context' is passed - The type of data being passed in Notification-Callback-Context (will be passed back in the callback unmodified). This does not need to be of any pre-defined type, it is only a convenience to the sending application.
- Notification-Callback-Target: <string>
Optional - An alternate target for callbacks from this notification. If passed, the standard behavior of performing the callback over the original socket will be ignored and the callback data will be passed to this target instead. See the 'Url Callbacks' section for more information.
- Subscriber-ID: <string>
Required - A unique id (UUID) that identifies the subscriber
- Subscriber-Name: <string>
Required - The friendly name of the subscribing machine
- Subscriber-Port: <int>
Optional - The port that the subscriber will listen for notifications on (defaults to the standard 23053)
Subscription requests MUST include the key hash (In practice, only instances subscribing from another machine make sense, so they would have to provide the key hash anyway since they are communicating over the network.)
Once the subscription is made, the subscribed-to machine should forward requests to the subscriber, just as if the end user had configured the subscriber using the standard forwarding mechanisms, with one important distinction: the forwarding machine should use a specially-constructed password consisting of -its own- password plus the Subscriber-ID value when constructing the forwarded messages (as opposed to the usual behavior of using the receiver's password to construct the message - see example below). This is due to the fact that the subscribed-to machine does not know the subscriber's password (but the subscriber must know/provide the subscribed-to machine's password when subscribing). Note that the subscriber should be prepared to accept incoming requests using this password for the lifetime of the subscription. This also ensures that if the password is changed on the subscribed-to machine, the subscribed machine can no longer receive subscribed notifications.
Subscribed-to Machine's password:
Subscriber-ID value sent by subscribing machine:
Resulting password used by subscribed-to machine when forwarding:
If the subscriber wants to remain subscribed, they must issue another SUBSCRIBE request before the TTL period has elapsed. It is recommended that the subscribed-to machine not set the TTL to less than 60 seconds to give the subscriber time to process notifications and issue their renewal requests.
If the subscriber does not issue another SUBSCRIBE request before the TTL period has elapsed, the subscribed-to machine should stop forwarding requests to the subscriber.
Generic Headers
For all request types, the following generic headers may also be sent:
- Origin-Machine-Name: <string>
Optional - The machine name/host name of the sending computer
- Origin-Software-Name: <string>
Optional - The identity of the sending framework. Example: GrowlAIRConnector
- Origin-Software-Version: <string>
Optional - The version of the sending framework. Example: 1.2
- Origin-Platform-Name: <string>
Optional - The identify of the sending computer OS/platform. Example: Mac OS X
- Origin-Platform-Version: <string>
Optional - The version of the the sending computer OS/platform. Example: 10.6
Connection Handling
The default behavior for GNTP messages is for each request-response-callback combination to take place on a seperate socket connection. The sequence looks like this:
- Sending application opens a new socket
- Sending application sends request message
- Notification system receives request, handles it, and returns the response message
- Sending application receives the response. If no callback was specified, the socket connection is closed
- If a callback was requested, the notification system will use the original socket to return the callback message
- Sending application receive the callback and the socket connection is closed
- Each new request repeats this process
Some applications may wish to reuse sockets instead of creating a new socket connection for each request. For this scenario, all request messages support an additional header:
- Connection: <[Close|Keep-Alive]>
Optional - If set to 'Keep-Alive', the socket connection can be reused by the sending application. Defaults to 'Close'
Note that the default behavior is the opposite of the way HTTP handles requets.
If the 'Connection' header is specified as 'Keep-Alive', all GNTP messages (requests, responses, and callbacks) must also include an end-of-message semaphore. After all message headers and any inline binary data, the following character sequence should be sent immediately before the usual GNTP message terminator (two <CRLF> sequences):
GNTP/<version> END
When reusing sockets, the sending application will be responsible for keeping track of which responses and callbacks are associated with which request. There are also important performance considerations to be aware of when choosing whether to reuse sockets. When sending requests with no inline binary data over high-latency connections, socket reuse can reduce the time it would have taken to renegotiate each connection. However, the receiving notification system is no longer able to read partial requests, so any inline binary data will never be eligible to be read from cache, significantly increasing the request transmission time.
Growl for Windows v2.0 does not yet support the 'Connection' header, socket reuse, or the
GNTP/1.0 END semaphore.
Custom Headers
In addition to the defined headers listed above, custom headers may be included and MUST start with 'X-':
X-Sender: PHP GNTP Library
Custom headers may link to binary content using the <uniqueid> syntax. To accomodate this, an application cannot send a custom header that contains the value of a literal string that starts with 'x-growl-resource:' (there would be no way to differentiate the intent)
Custom X-* headers are used to extend the GNTP spec without waiting for headers to become officially rolled into the spec. If instead you simply want to pass some extra app-specific data with your request which will be returned to you in any response, see the App-Specific Headers section.
If you are using custom headers in a GNTP implementation, please email the Growl team with the information. We will document such headers here to allow standardization (and possible official inclusion in a future version of the protocol).
Known custom headers:
- X-Application-BundleID: <string>
Growl (Mac OS X) - Used for application registration to identify the registering bundle ID, which is in reverse domain name notation.
App-Specific Headers
In addition to the defined headers listed above, an application can also pass arbitrary data in a GNTP request and that data will be returned in any response to that request. App-specific data headers are optional and MUST start with 'Data-':
Data-Filename: file.txt
App-specific data headers may link to binary content using the <uniqueid> syntax. To accomodate this, an application cannot send a data header that contains the value of a literal string that starts with 'x-growl-resource:' (there would be no way to differentiate the intent)
Data-* headers sent in a GNTP request will be echoed back in the -OK and -CALLBACK responses. -ERROR responses will not echo back the Data-* headers (since they may not have been parsed properly).
As with requests, the first line of a GNTP response must MUST include the protocol identifier, version, message type, and encryption algorithm id. However, the key information is never included.
As of v1.0, the only allowed values for <messagetype> in responses are:
Responses to successful requests should be encrypted using the same encryption algorithm and key specified in the request.
NOTE: -ERROR responses will always have the <encryptionAlgorithmID> set to NONE and will not be encrypted (since the error may have been due to a missing encryption algorithm id or not being able to decrypt the message, etc).
Growl for Windows currently always returns responses in plain text, regardless of the encryption algorithm used in the request.
For each response message type, the following headers are defined:
The response MUST include a header which indicates the <messagetype> to which it is responding, e.g.:
Response-Action: REGISTER
Additionally, responses to each <messagetype> should contain the following headers:
If the request was a REGISTER request:
[no headers required, but informational headers may be returned]
If the request was a NOTIFY request:
- Notification-ID: <string>
Required - The value of the 'Notification-ID' header from the request (even if it was an empty string)
If the request was a SUBSCRIBE request:
- Subscription-TTL: <int>
Required - The number of seconds the subscription is valid for
- Error-Code: <int>
See list of possible values in 'Error Codes' section below.
- Error-Description: <string>
A textual description of the error that occurred.
A request may result in an -ERROR response for many reasons, including (but not limited to):
- The request was not able to be sent because of network-related issues (host not available, socket prematurely closed, etc)
- The request is malformed, uses an unsupported GNTP protocol version, is missing required data, or is otherwise invalid
- Is a NOTIFY request, but the application is not yet registered, or has not registered the corresponding notification type
- The request requires a valid key but the supplied key information is missing or does not match
Generic Headers
For all types of responses, the following generic headers may also be returned:
- Origin-Machine-Name: <string>
Optional - The machine name/host name of the responding computer
- Origin-Software-Name: <string>
Optional - The identity of the responding framework. Example: GrowlAIRConnector
- Origin-Software-Version: <string>
Optional - The version of the responding framework. Example: 1.2
- Origin-Platform-Name: <string>
Optional - The identify of the responding computer OS/platform. Example: Mac OS X
- Origin-Platform-Version: <string>
Optional - The version of the the responding computer OS/platform. Example: 10.6
Custom Headers
All response types may also contain custom headers as defined in the 'Custom Headers' portion of the 'Requests' section above.
App-Specific Headers
Any app-specific (Data-*) headers received in a GNTP request will be echoed back in the -OK and -CALLBACK responses as outlined in the 'App-Specific Headers' portion of the 'Requests' section above. -ERROR responses will not echo back the Data-* headers.
Callbacks are sent back to the sending application when an action is taken in response to a notification. Callbacks are formatted similar to responses, but the only supported <messagetype> is:
If the NOTIFY message contains the 'Notification-Callback-Context' and 'Notification-Callback-Context-Type' headers, the notification system will send a callback when a callback condition is met. Callback conditions are:
- The notification is clicked by the end user
- The notification is closed explicitly by the end user
- The notification times out
Only ONE of these three conditions - whichever occurs first - will trigger a callback for any given notification.
A callback may be sent either via the TCP socket which made the connection initially or to an alternative URL specified in the 'Notification-Callback-Target' header of the request.
Socket Callbacks
If the NOTIFY request contains the 'Notification-Callback-Context' and 'Notification-Callback-Context-Type' headers *and* the 'Notification-Callback-Target' header is not specified, then the receiver will maintain the TCP connection until a callback condition occurs. The callback MUST contain the following headers:
- Application-Name: <string>
Required - The name of the application that sent the original request
- Notification-ID: <string>
Required - The value of the 'Notification-ID' header from the original request
- Notification-Callback-Result: <string>
Required - [CLICKED|CLOSED|TIMEDOUT] | [CLICK|CLOSE|TIMEOUT]
- Notification-Callback-Timestamp: <date>
Required - The date and time the callback occurred
- Notification-Callback-Context: <string>
Required - The value of the 'Notification-Callback-Context' header from the original request
- Notification-Callback-Context-Type: <string>
Required - The value of the 'Notification-Callback-Context-Type' header from the original request
Callbacks may also contain the generic headers defined in the 'Responses' section, as well as custom headers as defined in the 'Custom Headers' portion of the 'Requests' section above.
URL Callbacks
If a URL is specified via the 'Notification-Callback-Target' header, the TCP connection will be closed once a notification is received. When a notification is clicked, the callback url will be opened in the user's default browser. Unlike socket callbacks, URL callbacks are only triggered if the notification is clicked (CLICK|CLICKED), not for CLOSE|CLOSED or TIMEOUT|TIMEDOUT actions. The callback url is not modified in any way, so if notification information is required (such as Notification ID), it must be specified as part of the callback URL in the request.
- A notification can forgo callback notifications by omitting all of the 'Notification-Callback-*' headers.
If a message is forwarded by a notification system, it MUST add a 'Received' header in the following format:
Received: From <hostname> by <hostname> [with Growl] [id <identifier>]; <date>
Every 'Received' header will be propagated through any number of forwarded messages.
For forwarded messages requiring socket callback notification, each forwarding daemon should keep the connection open until the notification is clicked/closed/times out. Once the event occurs, the callback response is returned back up the forwarding chain to the original application (each return daemon should add the 'Received' header to the response as well). If the notification has already been acted upon in a previous context, further callbacks will be ignored.
The term 'Security' encompasses two main aspects of the GNTP protocol:
- Ensuring that only authorized applications can send notifications to the end user's computer
- Protecting the contents of messages that contain sensitive information
The authorization of messages is accomplished by passing key information that proves that the sending application knows a shared secret with the notification system, namely a password. Users that want to authorize applications must share with them a password that will be used for both authorization and encryption.
Note: By default, authorization is not required for requests orginating on the local machine.
Key Generation
When constructing a message that requires authorization or encryption, the first step is to expand the password into a key. The following procedure is used when converting a password to a key:
- The password is converted an UTF8 byte array
- A cyptographically secure salt is generated (should be between 4 and 16 bytes)
- The salt bytes are appended to the password bytes to form the key basis
- The key is generated by computing the hash of the key basis using one of the supported hashing algorithms
- The key hash is produced by computing the hash of the key (using the same hashing algorithm used in step 4) and hex-encoding it to a fixed-length string
For developers implementing the GNTP spec, use the Key Generation Check Utility to verify that your key generation routines will generate the correct values.
The supported hashing algorithms are:
(128-bit, 16 byte, 32 character length when hex encoded)
(160-bit, 20 byte, 40 character length when hex encoded)
(256-bit, 32 byte, 64 character length when hex encoded)
(512-bit, 64 byte, 128 character length when hex encoded)
The supported encryption algorithms are:
No encryption; messages are sent in plain text, no IV value should be passed
key length: 24 bytes (192 bit), block size: 16 byte (128 bit), iv size: 16 byte (128 bit)
key length: 8 bytes (64 bit), block size: 8 byte (64 bit), iv size: 8 byte (64 bit)
key length: 24 bytes (192 bit), block size: 8 byte (64 bit), iv size: 8 byte (64 bit)
All encryption algorithms should use a block mode of CBC (Cipher Block Chaining) and PKCS5 (PKCS7) padding.
NOTE: It is important to keep in mind that some encryption algorithms require keys that are longer than can be generated by some hashing algorithms. As such, not all hash/encryption combinations are valid (ex: MD5 hash produces a 16 byte result, but AES encryption requires a 24-byte key).
There are three different security scenarios when sending messages. For each scenario, the values required in the GNTP information line are listed below:
- No authorization required (local request)
- <encryptionAlgorithmID>
Should be set to NONE
- <ivValue>
Should not be included
- <keyHashAlgorithmID>
Should not be included
- <keyHash>
Should not be included
- <salt>
Should not be included
- Authorization required, but message not encrypted
- <encryptionAlgorithmID>
Should be set to NONE
- <ivValue>
Should not be included
- <keyHashAlgorithmID>
Set to the type of hash algorithm used in creating the key
- <keyHash>
The hex-encoded hash of the key
- <salt>
The hex-encoded value of the salt used when generating the key
- Encrypted message
- <encryptionAlgorithmID>
Set to the type of encryption algorithm used
- <ivValue>
The hex-encoded value of the initialization vector used when encrypting the message
- <keyHashAlgorithmID>
Set to the type of hash algorithm used in creating the key
- <keyHash>
The hex-encoded hash of the key
- <salt>
The hex-encoded value of the salt used when generating the key
The <salt> and <ivValue> values should be generated uniquely for each individual message.
Encrypting Messages
When encrypting GNTP messages, the first line of the message (GNTP information line) MUST NOT be encrypted. The list of messages headers is encrypted as a chunk. Any included binary data sections are encrypted seperately, using the same encryption algorithm and key information as the message headers. When encrypting the binary data sections, the 'Identifier' and 'Length' headers MUST NOT be encrypted (only the actual binary data).
To encrypt the message headers or binary data, use the key generated from the password and salt. Different encryption algorithms require different key lengths and IV sizes, so use the first X bytes of the key as required.
Using the IV sizes specified, create a cryptographically IV value. The hex-encoded value of the IV should be set in the <ivValue> portion of the GNTP information line. Using the generated key and IV, encrypt the message headers. The encrypted bytes should be included in the GNTP message after the GNTP information line in place of the plain-text headers.
If additional binary data is also being sent in the message, each binary object should be encrypted using the same key and IV value used to the encrypt the message headers. The value of the 'Length' header should be set to the number of bytes in the encrypted result (not the length of the original unencrypted data). The encrypted binary data bytes should be included in the GNTP message in place of the original unencrypted bytes. See the 'Examples' section below for a sample encrypted request.
<encrypted message header bytes>
Identifier: f082d4e3bdfe15f8f5f2450bff69fb17
Length: 1207
<encrypted binary data goes here>
If a GNTP request is encrypted, the corresponding GNTP response and callback will also be encrypted. The response and callback will use the same key, salt, key hash algorithm, encryption algorithm, and IV as the request.
Note: -ERROR responses WILL NOT be encrypted even if the original request was encrypted (because the error could be caused by a malformed message or an unsupported encryption type).
Ports and Discovery
The standard local GNTP port should be 23053. The port number is not user-configurable.
A GNTP server should advertise over Bonjour, if possible, using the name @"_gntp._tcp.".
Error-Code values:
- 100 - [reserved]
Reserved for future use
The server timed out waiting for the request to complete
The server was unavailable or the client could not reach the server for any reason
The request contained an unsupported directive, invalid headers or values, or was otherwise malformed
The request was not a GNTP request
The request specified an unknown or unsupported GNTP version
The request was missing required information
The request supplied a missing or wrong password/key or was otherwise not authorized
Application is not registered to send notifications
Notification type is not registered by the application
An internal server error occurred while processing the request
Flash Support
Flash requires that applications making cross-domain network calls must explicitly be allowed to communicate first. For any applications that use Flash as the communication mechanims (websites, AIR, Flex, etc), this requires that the notification system must be able to authorize Flash permission requests. In addition to the GNTP messages defined above, compliant notification daemons should support one additional message type - the Flash policy file request. The request will always look like:
(where the last byte is a null byte). The correct response is an xml snippet of a valid Flash policy, again followed by a null byte:
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE cross-domain-policy SYSTEM "/xml/dtds/cross-domain-policy.dtd">
<site-control permitted-cross-domain-policies="master-only"/>
<allow-access-from domain="*" to-ports="*" />
REGISTER, no key required
Application-Name: SurfWriter
Application-Icon: http://www.site.org/image.jpg
X-Creator: Apple Software
X-Application-ID: 08d6c05a21512a79a1dfeb9d2a8f262f
Notifications-Count: 2
Notification-Name: Download Complete
Notification-Display-Name: Download completed
Notification-Icon: x-growl-resource://cb08ca4a7bb5f9683c19133a84872ca7
Notification-Enabled: True
X-Language: English
X-Timezone: PST
Notification-Name: Document Published
Notification-Display-Name: Document successfully published
Notification-Icon: http://fake.net/image.png
Notification-Enabled: False
X-Sound: http://fake.net/sound.wav
X-Sound-Alt: x-growl-resource://f082d4e3bdfe15f8f5f2450bff69fb17
Identifier: cb08ca4a7bb5f9683c19133a84872ca7
Length: 4
Identifier: f082d4e3bdfe15f8f5f2450bff69fb17
Length: 16

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Olie Kolzig's 90-Acre Washington State Mansion Up For Sale
UPDATE: The house is now off the market and under new ownership, so we've removed the photos and struck out the now-inaccurate content.
Attention: The following is only available for RMNB Platinum readers in Washington state. To subscribe, please enter your AmEx Black Card number in the comments.
Former Capitals great and new associate goaltending coach Olie Kolzig has put up his 15,260 square foot property up for sale.
The 90-acre Kennewick, Washington estate is available for just $4.1 million or, in other words, just a few Maybachs.
Read More


text:
- This event has passed.
Tasting Room Open
December 23, 2018 @ 12:00 pm - 5:00 pm
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 12:00 pm on Sunday and Saturday, repeating until December 30, 2018
We are open every weekend from 12:00 – 5:00 pm, so stop by if you have the chance. Come see the grape vines and fresh meadows… and take a walk in the country! Pack a picnic lunch or order from nearby Anabelle's. (They deliver!)
Learn more about our tasting room…


text:
As has become our tradition, we will be donating ten percent of all HOPE ticket sales for the entire month of April to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. You can be part of a truly amazing conference and support one of the world's most important organizations, all at the same time.
With every passing year, the EFF becomes more vital in the fight for electronic freedom and as a defense against the evils of powerful entities who see freedom of speech as an inconvenience. Whether it's the NSA or the MPAA, patent trolls or oppressive regimes, the EFF has been there to stand up for what's right. This is our way of saying thanks. It can be yours too.
The Eleventh HOPE will take place July 22-24, 2016 at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City.
Click here for tickets to HOPE.
Click here to visit the EFF site.
As always, HOPE will feature a variety of talks by EFF staff attorneys and activists within our 100 or so presentations that weekend. We'll also have an EFF membership table and all sorts of other fun activities involving them, other organizations, and thousands of attendees. And, of course, we'll have a keynote address by Cory Doctorow. Watch the hope.net website for updates.
Source: 2600 News


text:
Futures jump sharply higher on budget deal
Stock futures are moving sharply higher after a Congress ended a budget stalemate and averted the so-called fiscal cliff.
Dow Jones industrial futures are up 178 points to 13,205. The broader S&P futures have added 22.7 points to 1,442.80. Nasdaq futures are up 44.25 points to 2,699.50.
The deal, reached just before midnight, leaves a host of issues unresolved and it remained unclear Wednesday how long markets would be buoyed by the agreement. Next up is what could turn into a vicious fight over the debt ceiling, or how much the government is allowed to borrow. Obama said he will not negotiate the issue.
Also on Wednesday, Avis said it will buy Zipcar for about $491 million, expanding its offerings from traditional car rentals to car sharing services.


text:
So yea, i decided to draw this picture for Taeshi's birthday! yay!!
here is the Deviant ART version if you're interested http://sukai-koneko.deviantart.com/#/d34ace7
this is really nice
... wait is mccain flying?!
You forgot Lily. Despite that i'm going to favorite this when I get to school tomorrow.
^Oops. It's me LOD.^
Meh, I never noticed until you pointed it out. :p
BTW Taeshi'll love this.
It seems u forgot jasmine's leg
This is very nice. good job
Awesome sauce!
Sue looks epic, Lucy looks like the lead off of some JRPG cover, and McCain is either
A.) Officially from the Matrix, and is the one.
B.) Officially Magneto.
Either way, McCain is awesome since he can bend reality WITH HIS MIND AND HE CAN FLY!
I love it
@Anon 5, His creator's name IS Matrixx... or 'rixx, though I don't know many of the facts. So I choose A anyways. :p
THATS AWESOME! You did such a great job! This looks like it was a hella lot of work! It sured paid off because this is great!
Thank you very much =]
this is neat. i can tell that she is loving it, either that, or happy that someone cares.
Lily's a ninja! You don't forget the hedgehog, you just can't see her.
love it
Oh my god. McCain just became the EPIC CHARACTER of this picture
McCain is NEO from the Matrix
wow, Taeshi and the others look really pretty
Mccain be flyin.
Oh my gosh, Jasmine looks so adorable.


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Curaçaokyo͝o´rəsō, ko͞oräsou´ [key], island (2015 est. pop. 158,000), 178 sq mi (461 sq km), an autonomous country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the Lesser Antilles off the coast of Venezuela. Curaçao is semiarid; most of the plant life is of desert character. Oil refining is the principal industry, and the island has one of the world's largest refineries, receiving oil from the enormous reserves at nearby Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela. There are also phosphate deposits. Other major industries include tourism (Curaçao is a free port and has a number of resorts and casinos) and ship repairing. Curaçao's ship-repair dry dock is one of the largest in the Americas. The head of state is the monarch of the Netherlands, represented by a governor-general. The head of government is the prime minister, who is elected by the unicameral parliament (Staten). The parliament's 21 members are popularly elected to four-year terms.
Sections in this article:
- Introduction
- History
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Caribbean Political Geography


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Hello and Namaste friends, my name is Ankit Bhandari.
I am a Third Generation trekking guide, like my father and his father before him I was introduced to trekking when I was a small boy and I would accompany my father on some of his treks through our beautiful countryside. Born and raised near Chitwan National Park, I always had the majesty of the Himalayas calling to me from nearby. I was still at a young age when I answered this call, and it has become my life's work.
I offer unique and wonderful trekking experiences specifically tailored for the adventure trekker, the first-time trekker and those who seek to get a deeper cultural experience around Nepal. Please check out my website for more information!


text:
PHOENIXVILLE - The defense appeared ahead of the offense as Phoenixville split its first two games of the season in the George Rocco Tip-Off Classic last Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7-8.
The Phantoms won their opener against Fleetwood, 55-46, before bowing to North Penn in the championship contest, 58-52.
Head coach Randy Reber felt the Phantoms did not shoot well from the floor either night, which was a surprise to him for a good shooting ballclub.
In the opener, Phoenixville trailed 26-25 at halftime but outscored Fleetwood 30-20 in the second half.
Sophomore forward DeAndre Gadsden scored 11 of his 18 points during the first half. He posted a double-double with 10 rebounds and also had three steals and a blocked shot. Gadsden made one trey and shot 7-for-9 at the free throw line.
Senior guard Marcus Howell scored 14 of his 19 points during the second half. Howell buried two 3-point field goals and shot 5-for-5 at the foul line with six steals and four boards. Senior forward C.J. Lindsay grabbed 10 rebounds to go along with eight points, three steals and one block.
Reber liked the defensive work of Gadsden, Lindsay and Greg Hughes against Tigers big man Kyle Flannery, who finished with a team-high 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Phantoms' Eric Wallace had five points with one triple, two foul shots and two blocks. Ian Harrigan made three steals off the bench.
Phoenixville shot 21-for-26 at the foul line for the game, a high accuracy that pleased Reber. Victor Bozzelli hit two free throws late in the game when the Phantoms were protecting their lead and the basketball.
Gadsden and Howell each scored 11 points while Wallace added 10 with two treys.
North Penn took a 13-8 lead at the end of the first period. The Knights extended their lead to 28-20 by halftime and 39-30 after three quarters.
The Phantoms overtook the Knights for a 50-49 edge with 2:52 showing in the fourth and were up again 52-51 with 1:27 left. But North Penn scored the final seven points of the contest to seal the verdict.
North Penn's Stefan Brown was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Brown tallied 14 points in the title game.
'We battled them and chased them around,' said Reber.
North Penn jumped out to a 10-0 lead at the outset of the title game, but the Phantoms fought back well.
'We just can't get off to those kinds of starts,' said Reber. 'But I can't fault the effort. We were down by 12 or 13 points and we battled back.'


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Titus Androgynous
"Madam, you are ugly. In the morning, I shall be sober."
Titus Androgynous is Shakespeare's first great tragedy. Contrary to popular belief, it is not about a goat.
Plot Overview[edit]
The play opens up in a small salad bar in Omaha, Nebraska. Near the sneeze guard, the band Slumping Bosoms plays, led by Titus MacLeod, lead singer, occasional heterosexual and protagonist of this piece of work. Titus sings his heart out for unappreciative diners, and understandably, nobody really understands his bisexually elitist, poorly produced stage show. As Titus finishes with his first song, he thinks back to his previous life in East Poland.
We now see Titus as an adolescent, tormented over his 'differences' with no knowledge of David Bowie doing the same thing in Britain. Titus is teased mercilessly by his very-secure-in-their-gender-roles classmates, and a carton of milk is poured down his trousers. He goes off to sulk, brood, and write poetry to explore his feelings. He also outlines plans to destroy each and every child at his school.
We learn that the cause of Titus' estrangement and belittlement lies in the pogroms placed on androgynous people by the infamous dictator Karol Wojytla, or as he is known by his followers, The Pureblood Pole. This horrible madman has sanctioned attacks on homos everywhere, and as Titus has never kissed a girl before, he is assumed to be gay.
Confused by his feelings, Titus is driven into the arms of a sympathetic American serviceman named Kermit, who opens up Titus' eyes to a whole new world. He promises to bring Titus back to America with him where they can move to Vermont or San Fransisco and open an antiques store. Only one problem, Titus would need to secure a passport, and his alcoholic father will not allow this.
Kermit stuffs Titus into a suitcase and carries him aboard the airplane as his carry-on. However, while trapped in this suitcase, Titus' penis atrophies due to lack of air. Upon being released from his Samsonite velvet-lined prison, Kermit sees what has become of his lover, and flees. Titus, alone in a strange new country, meets up with a travelling band of musicians and sings them his poetry of anguish and longing for acceptance.
Back in modern day, Titus meets a man, Collins, after the show who has been mugged. He takes him back to his modest apartment, and the man reveals that he is a famous music producer. Touched by Titus' kindness, he agrees to give the Slumping Bosoms a record deal, and Titus a date.
The Slumping Bosoms become an international hit, everybody who teased Titus in his youth is really sorry, and Titus' old elementary school blows up, for reasons only Titus and the audience know. The play then ends on the touching musical number "I Got No Junk (But I've Got Funk!)"
Character List[edit]
- Titus MacLeod: Androgynous hermaphrodite, lead singer of the glam-rock band Slumping Bosoms, snazzy dresser
- Kermit Andrews: Self-loathing homosexual American marine
- David Bowie: Artistic inspiration, public flagellation, baked goods
- Ryan: Lastnameless childhood tormentor of Titus, grows up to be a convict
- Collins: Rich and famous music producer, lover of Titus, one glass eye
Original Cast[edit]
Here is the cast list as it appeared in the playbill for the first public presentation of Titus Androgynous at the Orpheum Theater, Birmingham, December 29, 1980
- Titus MacLeod: Bob Saget
- Kermit Andrews: Oscar Wilde
- David Bowie: Himself
- Ryan: A tomato
- Collins: Ultra Jesus
Notable Quotables[edit]
"If only there was somewhere I could go to escape all of this pain and torment. . . Oh Auntie Em, there's no place like Macy's, there's no place like Macy's, there's no. . . Hey, a nickel!" Titus MacLeod (Act 1, scene 2)
"I shant, not without my brunch!" Kermit Andrews (Act 2, scene 1)
"There's no need to get all licentious about it, Dad, it's only lipstick," Titus MacLeod (Act 2, scene 2)
"Do I have any lines at all?" David Bowie (Intermission)
"Villain, I have done thy mother." Titus Androgynous (Act 4, Scene 2)
"Now no one will ever love me! Not that they did before, but now I don't even have a joystick!" Titus MacLeod (Act 4, scene kumquat)
"It's either your music or that last smack with the crowbar, but something keeps pounding in my head, and I'm not exactly sure that I want to lose it. . ." Collins (Act 5, scene 1)
"Honest officer, I haven't been to Poland in 8 years," Titus MacLeod (Act 6, scene 17)
"If this cruel fate hadn't happened to me, I might almost be inclined to chortle at myself," Ryan (Act 7, scene 1)
"Really, what was my purpose at all?" David Bowie (Curtain call)
Study Questions[edit]
- This, along with his other much-maligned work of gender-confused genius Much Ado About Yokels, explores the themes of sexual repression to a great degree. Could William Shakespeare have been trying to figure something out about himself in these plays?
- Would you, could you, love somebody like Titus?
- What is the purpose of the sneezing gardener in Act 2, Scene 2? Is he merely eye candy, or a comment on the need for unity among the differing social classes? Explain in Pig Latin.
- Seriously, ya think Shakespeare was a homo?
- Hey, I was baked, and Juliet was hot. Sorry, God.
|The complete works of William Shakespeare
|Antony and Cleopatra | Coriolanus | Hamlet | Julius Caesar | King Lear | Macbeth | Othello | Romeo and Juliet | Timon of Athens | Titus Androgynous | Titus Andronicus | Troilus and Cressida
|A Midsummer Night's Dream | All's Well That Ends Well | As You Like It | The Comedy of Errors | Cymbeline | Love's Labour's Lost | Measure for Measure | The Merchant of Venice | The Merry Wives of Windsor | Much Ado About Nothing | Pericles, Prince of Tyre | Taming of the Shrew | The Tempest | Twelfth Night | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | The Two Noble Kinsmen | The Winter's Tale
|King John | Richard I | Richard II | Henry IV, Part 1 | Henry IV, Part 2 | Henry V | Henry VI, part 1 | Henry VI, part 2 | Henry VI, part 3 | Henry VIII | Richard III | Richard IV | Richard V | Richard VI | Richard VII | Richard VIII | Richard IX | Richard X
|Poems and Sonnets:
|Venus and Adonis | The Rape of Lucrece | The Passionate Pilgrim | The Phoenix and the Turtle | A Lover's Complaint | Sonnet 18


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NEW YORK, N.Y. - A new J.D. Salinger film and biography are being billed as an unprecedented look into the mysterious life of the author of "The Catcher In the Rye."
Simon & Schuster announced Tuesday that it had acquired "The Private War of J.D. Salinger." It's an oral biography by author David Shields and filmmaker-screenwriter Shane Salerno.
Salerno's screenplay credits include the Oliver Stone film "Savages." Salerno has been working for several years on his documentary. It will air next January.
According to Simon & Schuster, the book and film will draw upon interviews with friends and colleagues of Salinger and will investigate "the cost" of war and of art. Salinger was reportedly deeply scarred by his service during World War II.
Salinger died in 2010 at age 91.


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Issue Generation Test
Rifts is awesome.
I like Systems Failure.
After the Bomb lets you play mutant animals. I wanna be a mutant aardvark.
© Copyright 2019 Palladium Books Inc. All rights reserved.| Site Developed by Rex Barkdoll
Rifts®, The Rifter®, RECON®, Splicers®, Powers Unlimited®, Palladium Books®, The Palladium Fantasy Role-Playing Game®, Phase World®, Nightbane®, Megaverse®, The Mechanoids®, The Mechanoid Invasion®, Coalition Wars®, Chaos Earth®, Dead Reign®, and After the Bomb® are Registered Trademarks of Palladium Books Inc. RPG Tactics™, Beyond the Supernatural, Coalition States, Heroes Unlimited, Ninjas & Superspies, Minion War, Mysteries of Magic, SAMAS, Thundercloud Galaxy, Three Galaxies, Vampire Kingdoms, and other published book titles, names, slogans and likenesses are trademarks of Palladium Books Inc., and Kevin Siembieda.


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Staying Human in the Inhuman World of The Last of Us
Take a closer look at the influences and inspiration behind Naughty Dog's upcoming postapocalyptic survival game, The Last of Us.
A few blocks east of the Naughty Dog offices in Santa Monica is a small, side-of-the-road Japanese diner. It's an unassuming, plastic-menus kind of place: a family joint on Saturday nights and a lunchtime hangout for employees of the neighboring strip mall the rest of the time. It's not where you'd expect to see a celebrity, do a business deal, or come up with a million-dollar idea. But it's where, in the summer of 2009, Naughty Dog game director Bruce Straley and creative lead Neil Druckmann conceived the idea for The Last of Us.
Announced as a PlayStation 3 exclusive on December 10, 2011, during Spike TV's Video Game Awards, The Last of Us is the first new intellectual property from Sony-owned Naughty Dog since Uncharted: Drake's Fortune in 2007. The game follows two survivors--an adult man and a teenage girl--making their way across postapocalyptic United States 20 years after the outbreak of a deadly virus. It's a third-person action adventure that promises a darker, more adult experience than other games in its genre. It's a project that, according to its creators, will aim to push the graphical boundaries of the medium and test its storytelling potential. This last point is important. Without a good story, the game conceived by Straley and Druckmann in that side-of-the-road diner risks being lost forever.
The Mute Girl
The brainstorming sessions started as a way for Straley and Druckmann to unwind during development on Uncharted 2. Long days in the office would be followed by a nightly trip into West LA, where the pair would take up a table at the Curry House diner and problem-solve their way through the night. The discussion usually centered on what was and wasn't working in Uncharted 2, and how they could fix it. Sometimes, they allowed their imaginations to go beyond the game they were working on, pitching ideas, concepts, and scenarios they believed had potential. It was during one of these "what if" moments that The Last of Us was born.
When Uncharted 2's protagonist, Nathan Drake, finds himself in a remote Tibetan village in the Himalayas, he encounters a Sherpa named Tenzin. Tenzin doesn't speak English, so Drake initially finds it difficult to communicate with him. Straley and Druckmann originally wanted a mute girl in place of Tenzin--a decision partly inspired by Fumito Ueda's Ico--who would form a bond with Drake over the course of their time together.
"The girl would wake you up in the middle of the night and gesture for you to follow her," Druckmann says. "She'd lead you up to this rooftop and point to the horizon, and you'd see the sun just coming up over the village, one beautiful moment against a backdrop of violence and war."
The mute girl eventually became Tenzin, but Straley and Druckmann held on to the hope that they'd get another chance to explore this idea of an unlikely bond. Halfway through 2009, following Naughty Dog's decision to branch out and work on two games simultaneously (something Druckmann says was done in order to better leverage the PlayStation 3 technology), the pair saw their chance to try again.
A small development team was handpicked from within the existing team to start work on a new project, headed up by Straley and Druckmann, as director and creative director, respectively. While the rest of Naughty Dog started work on Uncharted 3, the new team discussed the possibility of a new Jak and Daxter game, which had the benefit of being an established franchise with a large fan base. But as the team began designing concept art and 3D models, Straley and Druckmann found they just couldn't get behind the idea. So they did what any brave developer would do: they trashed the idea and moved on.
It took them six months to settle on the final design for The Last of Us. Straley and Druckmann returned to the mute girl, drawing out the concept to devise the character arcs for the game's protagonists, Joel and Ellie. (Druckmann says these arcs remained the same throughout the development cycle, the one thing that always felt right.) Next, the team had to work out what kind of world Joel and Ellie would live in, down to its size and history. They knew that they wanted the world to look beautiful and that this beauty had to contrast with an undercurrent of human suffering. It wasn't until Straley and Druckmann sat down to watch the BBC documentary Planet Earth that they discovered what that suffering would involve.
The David Attenborough-narrated series examines different communities of plant and animal life from around the world. The episode Straley and Druckmann saw talked about something called the cordyceps fungus, a species of parasite native to insects that attacks by replicating the host's cell tissue. Some strains of the cordyceps fungus are also known to alter the behaviour of their insect host to maximize the conditions of infection, which got Druckmann thinking about a similar scenario in which humans became infected with the same fungus. It seemed there was a lot to explore if this kind of outbreak were to happen: the initial panic, chaos and uncertainty, and the stuff that comes immediately after. What would civilization look like 10, 20, or 30 years on? Who would be in control? What would the cities, the highways, and the infrastructure look like? How many would die, and how would the rest survive?
"This is the kind of world that forces people into a kill-or-be-killed frame of mind," Druckmann says. "I wanted the game to show players just how easy it is for humans to descend into this state when society as we know it ceases to exist."
Druckmann studied films, books, and television shows with postapocalyptic and dystopian settings, but soon found the real world to be a much more helpful source of inspiration. In studying the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, he learned about paranoia and man's need to protect himself when faced with the threat of extinction; the polio epidemic of the 1880s showed him how differences in class can color people's perceptions of blame in the face of a great disaster. Examining the history of human suffering also helped Druckmann answer the question of whether The Last of Us was the kind of game that needed a bad guy.
The original plan was to design a villain that would chase Joel and Ellie all the way to the end of the game, adding to the already-existing threat of infected humans and outlawed survivors. But in the end, Druckmann thought it felt forced, like the game was trying to fit into a Hollywood structure it didn't belong in. Taking his cues from history, he wanted to explore the idea that there aren't necessarily good or bad guys in situations like this; while Joel and Ellie are forced to fight for their lives, there shouldn't be anything to indicate that they are any more correct in what they do than those who attack them.
When the idea for the villain was dropped, it was replaced by a renewed motivation to further flesh out Joel and Ellie's relationship. It was Druckmann's growing belief that this, more than anything else, would make The Last of Us a success.
Making a Connection
Druckmann first came to Naughty Dog as an intern after a chance meeting with the company's former co-president, Jason Rubin. Rubin "made the mistake" of giving Druckmann his number, which Druckmann used to hound the studio head for an internship until, one year into his Carnegie Mellon master's program, he was finally granted a short stint as a programmer on 2004's Jak 3. (Naughty Dog's website now includes a warning to ward off any future Neil Druckmanns: "Sorry, no internships or student works. Please do not send us game ideas.")
Since then, Druckmann has programmed, designed, and written for Naughty Dog titles Jak X, Uncharted, and Uncharted 2. The Last of Us is his first project as creative lead, and the first thing he wants to do is show people that story matters.
The problem with the way games are made, he says, is that 99.9 percent of them don't bother with story or character development.
"I might be engaged with a game, I might love the mechanics, but I don't care whether the characters live or die. Not every game needs a good story or good characters to be compelling, but I really do wish that storytelling was more of a focus in the industry."
He points to Hotline Miami as a good example of how things might look if done properly, saying the game made him care deeply for a character who had only a single line of dialogue. Druckmann wants more of that.
He's also a new father, which is proving more beneficial for his working life than you might imagine. On one hand, he's forced to spend more time with his virtual creations than with his own offspring, something his wife teasingly refers to as "marching off to war"; on the other, his new paternal emotions have afforded him crucial insight into the mindset of his characters. "All of a sudden I realized just how far I'd go to save my kid, things I've never ever thought about before. It's become a huge inspiration."
All his energy has gone into making Joel and Ellie the kinds of characters worth caring about. Joel, born before the outbreak, is a smuggler with no love for life under military rule. Ellie is a teenager who has been living in quarantine since she was born. For her, military rule, ration cards, and public executions are routine.
But there are problems with this relationship. Joel, haunted by memories of life as it once was, has given up hope of ever returning to it. For her part, Ellie knows nothing of life outside the quarantine zone. She is both naive and mature enough to witness and accept death as a daily occurrence. The two characters have very different worldviews.
Druckmann had to look no further than the ravaged war zones of Syria, Afghanistan, and the Gaza Strip to find inspiration for Ellie. He found countless examples of kids being kids, kicking footballs around in the middle of the empty streets or playing hide-and-seek in the rubble of collapsed buildings. Ellie is just like them: conflict is all she has ever known. What both Joel and Ellie have in common is a will to survive. It's pretty broad as far as shared interests go.
"Everything in the game--the mechanics, music, gameplay, story--it's all supposed to come together to help you realize how much they care for each other," Druckmann says.
The paternal relationship is a recurring narrative theme: Luc Besson's Leon: The Professional, Scorsese's Taxi Driver, A.J. Quinnell's Man on Fire, and Joe David Brown's Paper Moon all covered similar ground; more recently, Telltale's The Walking Dead examined the growing bond between a convicted criminal and a 9-year-old girl. (Incidentally, Druckmann says The Walking Dead was one of the best stories he has witnessed in any video game.)
But Druckmann is not aiming for comparisons; he wants The Last of Us to stand on its own as an example of a story that could not have been told in any other way, through any other medium. That's why he has given Joel and Ellie specific roles as characters: Joel--the only playable character in the game--is the practical type. He approaches each environment with caution, taking measures to ensure safety. He takes care of the scavenging and the worrying about how to stay alive from day to day. Ellie's role is to give you another perspective. She lets you see the world through the eyes of someone who has never witnessed natural beauty before: she will spend time noticing the sky reflected in puddles of water, the trees growing at odd angles from cracks in the pavement, the billboards and advertisements from a time and place she never knew. "Once Ellie leaves the quarantine zone, it's like she's in Disneyland," Druckmann says. "The game takes time to help players see that it's not always about fighting and survival, that there is time to admire the beauty of the world, damaged as it is."
One of Druckmann's main inspirations for The Last of Us was David Benioff's City of Thieves, a fictional story about two WWII survivors in a Russian city under siege. The story spends most of the time following the survivors as they search for food, but it balances the bleakness of their situation with lighthearted moments that reflect the triumph of the human spirit.
Still, not everyone will be interested in this kind of thing. But Druckmann hopes enough people appreciate a good story to know when to demand more.
"Steve Jobs once said that consumers don't know what they want until they see it. Once players see a game that has a really well told story, they're going to want more of it. We're all trying to push for this in the industry, to make stories more engaging. I think if we keep going, we'll make more and more games like this."
The Last of Us recently passed its alpha milestone, meaning the game is playable from beginning to end. The next stage of the development cycle will involve the team of a hundred or so programmers, artists, and designers working 12- to 14-hour days until the game is ready to be shipped. All Druckmann will be thinking about for the next four months is lines of dialogue, story points, game mechanics, and, if he gets a chance, Japanese curry.
And after that?
"A very long, well-deserved vacation."
The Last of Us is due out in North America on May 7, 2013.'
GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.
Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email email@example.com


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Let's just get right down to it: you don't care about the Super-Penetration Shovel because it's made entirely of steel. Or the tapered, pointed blade, the fully sharpened sides that bust through dirt and clay like so much cotton candy.
The reason you care about the Super-Penetration Shovel is that you get to say "Super-Penetration" over and over again in public places with this really earnest expression on your face, and people can't get mad at you or call you immature because what's the big deal, you're just talking about a shovel. Worth $120? Only if you've run out of contexts to flaunt your hoe. [Garrett Wade via Uncrate]


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Following Fox's violent rhetoric, mother blames network for son's alleged Pelosi threats
Following the arrest of Gregory Giusti for allegedly threatening Speaker Nancy Pelosi's life over health care reform, Giusti's mother stated that Fox News was a factor in her son's alleged actions. In the wake of this incident, Media Matters for America takes a look back at Fox News' recent history of violent rhetoric and the apocalyptic language the network's employees used to describe the then-impending passage of health care reform.
Mother of man accused of threatening Pelosi blames Fox News
From an April 7 broadcast by ABC's San Francisco affiliate, KGO-TV:
ELEANOR GIUSTI: Greg has -- frequently gets in with a group of people that have really radical ideas and that are not consistent with myself or the rest of the family and -- which gets him into problems. And apparently I would say this must be another one that somehow he's gotten onto either by -- I'd say Fox News or all of those that are really radical, and he -- that's where he comes from.
Gregory Giusti allegedly "made dozens of calls" to Pelosi threatening her not to support health care reform. On April 7, Los Angeles Times reported that following Gregory Giusti's arrest: "Several federal officials say the man made dozens of calls to Pelosi's homes in California and Washington, D.C., and to her husband's business office. The suspect allegedly recited her home address and said that if she wanted to see it again, she should not support the healthcare overhaul bill that was recently signed."
Fox News figures tell viewers to "grab a torch" and use other violent rhetoric
Beck talks about "put[ting] poison" in Pelosi's wine. Glenn Beck stated:
BECK: So, Speaker Pelosi, I just wanted to -- you gonna drink your wine? Are you blind? Do those eyes not work? There you -- I want you to drink it now. Drink it. Drink it. Drink it.
I really just wanted to thank you for having me over here to wine country. You know, to be invited, I thought I had to be a major Democratic donor or a longtime friend of yours, which I'm not.
By the way, I put poison in your -- no, I -- I look forward to all the policy discussions that we're supposed to have -- you know, on health care, energy reform, and the economy. [Glenn Beck 8/6/09]
Palin: "Don't Retreat, Instead - RELOAD!" Fox News contributor Sarah Palin posted a list of House Democrats who voted for health care reform with crosshairs aimed at their locations. In a March 23 tweet about her map, Palin wrote: " 'Don't Retreat, Instead -- RELOAD!' " Palin's list was criticized by conservative Elizabeth Hasselbeck, who introduced and endorsed Palin during the 2008 campaign, as helping foster a climate of violent rhetoric. Hasselbeck added that the list is "purely despicable" and "insane."
Huckabee: Members of Congress "should be tarred and feathered as the original tea partiers would have done." As RightWingWatch.org noted, Fox News host Mike Huckabee said of members of Congress in January:
HUCKABEE: Every member of Congress knows in his gut what's in the people's interest and what's in K Street's interest. If you think your real boss is some smug guy in a corner office with his Gucci loafers up on a mahogany deck and not the folks back home, those folks who voted for you, who gave you 25 or 50 hard-earned bucks, who put up yard signs and made calls for you, you deserve to lose. Shame on you, you shouldn't just be fired, you should be tarred and feathered as the original tea partiers would have done. That's my view and I welcome yours.
Morris: "Those crazies in Montana who say, 'We're going to kill ATF agents because the U.N.'s going to take over' -- well, they're beginning to have a case." During a long conspiracy theory about a "super-national authority" that will oversee U.S. financial institutions, Fox News contributor Dick Morris asserted that because President Obama's policies are "internationalist ... [t]hose crazies in Montana who say, 'We're going to kill ATF agents because the U.N.'s going to take over' -- well, they're beginning to have a case." [Fox News' Your World with Neil Cavuto, 3/31/09]
Stossel said he has "Barney Frank in effigy" hanging above his sofa. In a February 3 interview with New York magazine, when Fox Business host John Stossel was asked, "What's hanging above your sofa?" he responded: "Barney Frank in effigy." [New York, 2/3/10]
Beck portrays Obama, Democrats as vampires, suggests "driv[ing] a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers." Beck aired a graphic portraying Obama and Democrats as vampires and said, "The government is full of vampires, and they are trying to suck the lifeblood out of the economy." Beck then suggested "driv[ing] a stake through the heart of the bloodsuckers." [Glenn Beck, 3/30/09]
Beck: "To the day I die, I am going to be a progressive hunter." Telling his listeners that they "are going to learn so much on Friday," Beck compared himself to "Israeli Nazi hunters" and commented, "I'm going to find these big progressives and, to the day I die, I'm going to be a progressive hunter." He added:
BECK: I'm going to find these people that have done this to our -- you know, to our country, and expose them. I don't care where -- I don't care if they're in nursing homes. I'm going to expose what they have done and make sure that the people understand, because our Constitution, our republic -- if it survives -- it will only survive because the people are waking up and through the grace of God, because we are that close to losing our republic. [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 1/20/10]
Beck: "Grab a torch." Asserting that politicians are addicted to spending, Beck stated: "When do we ever run those who are bankrupting our country and literally stealing our children's future out of town? Grab a torch." [Glenn Beck, 1/6/10]
Beck speaks for one-third of the nation: "[Y]ou will have to shoot me in the forehead before you take away my gun" and "before I acquiesce and be silent." During the July 30, 2009, edition of his radio show, Beck warned "ACORN, GE, Obama, SEIU" that "you are awakening a sleeping giant, and I have nothing to do with it" and that "America is waking up. You know the American Revolution took place with 12 percent of the population? Twelve. Are you telling me there is not 30 percent of this population that you will have to shoot me in the forehead before I let somebody into my house to tell me how to raise my children; you will have to shoot me in the forehead before you take away my gun; you will have to shoot me in the forehead before I acquiesce and be silent."
Beck: "There is a coup going on. There is a stealing of America." On his radio show, Beck stated that "there is a revolution, and they think they can get away with it quietly." Beck further claimed: "At this point, gang, I'm not sure, they may be able to because they are so far ahead of us. They know what they're dealing against; most of America does not yet. Most of America doesn't have a clue as to what's going on. There is a coup going on. There is a stealing of America, and the way it is done, it has been done through the -- the guise of an election, but they lied to us the entire time." He also said, "And they're gonna say, 'we did it democratically,' and they are going to grab power every way they can. And God help us in an emergency." [The Glenn Beck Program, 8/31/09]
Beck pours gasoline on "average American," asks, "President Obama, why don't you just set us on fire?" On his Fox News program, Beck claimed to be imitating Obama while pouring liquid from a gasoline can -- which he later stated was water -- on an "average American." Beck said during his demonstration: "President Obama, why don't you just set us on fire? ... We didn't vote to lose the republic." [Glenn Beck, 4/9/09]
Fox News figures: Passage of health care reform is "the end of America as you know it."
Beck: "This is the end of prosperity in America forever ... the end of America as you know it." Telling his audience, "You must not allow this to pass," Beck stated in November 2009 that "they're going to get passed that 60-vote barrier. And they'll get there by people like [Sen.] Joe Lieberman, who's a reasonable guy and has good intent. You'll get passed it by people like that, who say, you know what? Look, we got to be reasonable; we have to have a debate. And then Harry Reid will go for the 51 count and he'll pass this thing. And it will be a nail in the coffin of America." Beck added: "You must -- must get on the phone in your districts. You must wake everybody up you know. This is the end of prosperity in America forever if this bill passes. This is the end of America as you know it." [Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program, 11/19/09]
Beck: President Obama will be able to "control every aspect of your life." Beck "warn[ed]" that if the bill "passes, the country is in real dire trouble." He went on to say: "The pieces that the president needs to control every aspect of your life, to fundamentally transform America, will be finished. He'll have them all," adding: "If health care does not pass, warning, those on the left are going to become violent." [The Glenn Beck Program, 3/5/10]
Beck: "[T]he fundamental transformation of America is complete." Beck also said: "Not only are they doing health care, but they are doing education in this same bill. Education and health care." He added: "It is overwhelming the system. And I'm telling you, if this bill passes -- health care and education all in one bill -- if this passes, the fundamental transformation of America is complete. There's no going back from this point. It must not pass." [The Glenn Beck Program, 3/15/10]
Beck: "If you can be deemed someone who maybe shouldn't have a baby, they can have their people come in." Beck said on his Fox News show: "You know and I know in this 2,300-page bill that includes education, the control that this government has is endless. They will -- if this passes, they will control every aspect of your life." Beck further said: "They will be able to -- there is places in here that if you can be deemed someone who maybe shouldn't have a baby, they can have their people come in. The government is in our homes on this." [Fox News' Glenn Beck, 3/16/10]
Beck: We lose "the Democratic Party to the socialists." On his March 19 Fox News program, Beck stated: "If this passes, I think it makes the election of people like Lindsey Graham, who are the compromise with big government, darn near impossible, because you can't tone this one down. You've got to pull this back by strong constitutionalists. Don't we -- if this passes, don't we lose, really, the Democratic Party to the socialists? And the Republican Party either has to be, you know, real federalists, real people that understand controlled power, or you are going to have a third party?" [Glenn Beck, 3/19/10]
Morris said he was "100 percent positive" Obama will create panels to "curb medical care to the elderly." On the March 3 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News contributor Dick Morris said what Obama "has in mind is curbing medical care to the elderly," and that he's "going to set up a panel" to determine treatment. Morris said he's "100 percent positive" this will happen. [Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, 03/03/10]
Moore: "This is a dark day for America if we pass this bill." Discussing the market reaction to passing the health bill, The Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore said on Fox News: "I think personally -- I think that the markets have always thought for the last year and a half that eventually this day would come. And I think, by the way, this is a dark day for America if we pass this bill." [America's News HQ, 3/21/10]
Fox News: Doctors will shut down their practices. Several Fox News figures, including Neil Cavuto, Bret Baier, Morris, O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Steve Doocy highlighted an Investor's Business Daily/TIPP poll which found that "[t]wo of every three practicing physicians oppose the medical overhaul plan under consideration in Washington, and hundreds of thousands would think about shutting down their practices or retiring early if it were adopted." However, according to statistician Nate Silver, the poll was "simply not credible," and Fox News itself acknowledged that the poll was "not scientific."
Cal Thomas claimed health reform "is an outrage" and "a sham" ; "[e]uthanasia is coming." On Fox News' America's News HQ, Thomas said the health bill is "a triumph of the humanistic, atheistic philosophy. Instead of being endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, those rights are going to be taken away by bureaucrats who will decide whether you get a hip replacement or a heart bypass, based on your age and your ability to pay more taxes." He continued:
It is an outrage. It is a sham. Euthanasia is coming. You can call them death panels. That's exactly what they're going to be. We are going to really be sorry for this, but, unfortunately, when the guy in the white robe comes to give us our little pill, as President Obama told ABC, the 100-year-old woman who wants to live must get in order to make it equal for everybody and not to spend so much, it will be too late. [America's News HQ, 11/21/09]
Hannity: "If we get nationalized health care, it's over; this is socialism." In November 2009, Hannity said, "When you look at the extreme czars, and you look at Barack Obama, and you look at the Barack Obama that portrayed himself one year ago as a very different candidate, you know, why -- I feel like I have been vindicated. I was excoriated for saying he is far more radical than people know. You know, what do you see about him? Do you think he is far -- do you think he's a socialist? Do you think he's -- because I think this is -- if we get nationalized health care, it's over. This is socialism, and that's a kind word." [Fox News' Hannity, 11/2/09]


text: Cupcake, Donut, Eclair, Froyo, you get the idea. Delectable dessert names aren't the only common theme here, though: they're going in alphabetical order, so we need a "G" sweet next. Well, Google's Brian Swetland -- who works on Android's Linux-based kernel in Mountain View -- has dropped that knowledge in passing while discussing kernel versions on LWN.net. Ready for this? "Gingerbread." Sounds good to us, but naturally, we're more concerned about what's in the build than what it's named, and we don't have those details yet other than Swetland's belief that they'll "likely be on [Linux kernel 2.6.].33 or .34" by the time it hits. Time to start thinking about the "H" treat -- any ideas?


text:
I've received a formal complaint from the MD of Ue Coffee Roasters regarding the thread concerning an outlet in Oxford. He felt that some of the content of that thread was libellous.
As an immediate resolution of his concerns, I've moved the thread to the Clubhouse so that it can't be seen by the general public. As someone said, Google's cache will retain an image of the page for a while, but there's nothing I can do about that.
Hopefully our daily content submission to Google will tidy things up swiftly, as to all intents and purposes (from the point of view of the outside world) the pages in question are no longer accessible.
Perhaps the moderators could contact me if they feel that further action is required. I'll also be replying to the gentleman from Ue, to establish whether the action in question is satisfactory.
Thank you for your continued of support of TMC.
(Site owner and admin - the guy whose ass is on the line)


text:
The WebGoat Project with Rick Lawson and Jason White
The WebGoat Project has developed a free online tool used to test and uncover application flaws that might otherwise go unnoticed. In this episode of OWASP 24/7, we talk with two of the WebGoat team members, Rick Lawson and Jason White, about how WebGoat is being used and future plans. More about WebGoat WebGoat for J2EE is written in Java and therefore installs on any platform with a Java virtual machine. There are installation programs for Linux, OS X Tiger and Windows. Once deployed, the user can go through the lessons and track their progress with the scorecard


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This website is meant for reference only, and is not meant to constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any interests in any securities, investment product, or fund. Any such offer or solicitation may only be made by means of delivery of a confidential private offering memorandum or other similar materials which contain a description of the material terms relating to such investment or fund. Any such investment or investment in such fund involves risks, and investors must read the detailed risk factors included in the definitive offering materials of the fund.
This website has not been reviewed by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (the "HKSFC"), nor has the information on this website been filed or reviewed by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (the "CFTC"), pursuant to an exemption from the CFTC in connected with pools whose participants are limited to qualified eligible persons.
This website is meant is for use in jurisdictions which do not restrict access to such information. In addition, the information in this website will only be made to 'Professional Investors" within the meaning of the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Ordinance, Chapter 571 of the Laws of Hong Kong ("the SFO").


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Do you remember the Microsoft Kin? It's okay if you don't — Microsoft certainly would like for you to forget it ever existed. Kin was a family of phones from Microsoft that launched to much fanfare in 2010, sold incredibly poorly, and that the company killed just 48 days later. Orange juice has a longer shelf life.
The Kin was Microsoft's attempt to roll out a hip, new phone — you know, for kids. The Kin One and Kin Two were built around media, putting music, photos and social media at the heart of the experience to try and capture the youth market. But it turned out that kids don't like things that don't work any better than the rest of us do. That meant the Kin proved to be more or less dead on arrival for a variety of reasons. It was too expensive and had too few apps, for example. But mostly, it just sort of sucked.
These internal Microsoft videos, provided to Wired by a person who worked on the project, show focus groups testing the ill-fated Kin. According to our source, these are pre-production models that changed very little from the shipping product, although "performance improved some prior to shipping." Watch them, and you can readily see why the project tanked: Kin phones just weren't usable. Or, as our source described them, they were a "pile of shit."
Given Microsoft's slew of new releases that break from the past, like Windows 8, Windows RT, Surface, and Windows Phone 8, these Kin videos seem worth a second look to see why the company so badly needed to start over from scratch. Also? They're kind of hilarious.
In this first video, testers are giving open-ended, overall feedback in their own words. It's not good. As one product tester notes, "It's frustrating, I can imagine my daughter would give this back very quickly."
In the era of apps, it's easy to forget that the most basic function of a smartphone is making calls. That is, unless you can't make them. Watch these frustrated testers try to do some basic dialing:
In this touch usability study, the lag-prone interface causes clear problems for testers:Go Back to Top. Skip To: Start of Article.


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This article is part of our Weekly Rankings series.
Sunday Update complete
Welcome to the Weekly Value Meter Rankings. This is a guide to help you decide who to start and sit in a given week. It's is not a season-long ranking nor a draft guide, and it's also not really intended as a free agent guide. While I appreciate that you want my opinion on pickups, every league is different, and your decision on whether to add/drop a particular player might also be dictated by other factors than who is rated higher in a given week.
Here are my operating assumptions for the rankings:
- The RB/WR/TE position rankings are for PPR leagues.
- The Flex rankings are for Standard leagues.
- 1 point per 10 rushing/receiving yards.
- 1 point per 20 passing yards.
- 4 points per passing touchdowns.
These are the rankings I use when I make my start/sit decisions. Please consult the rankings first before asking "Should I start Patrick Mahomes or Eli Manning?"
These are my particular rankings. If you want a second opinion elsewhere on the site, you can see our Weekly Projections.
Starting after Week 1, the rankings for the subsequent week will first post on Tuesday nights, roughly around 10:00 pm ET. I will then do a set of updates before kickoff on Thursday, and again before kickoff on Sunday morning.
I welcome debate on the rankings in the comments. Please keep it friendly.
|Patrick Mahomes KC vs. LAC
|Matt Ryan ATL at TB


text:
15 August, 2012 | (01 hr)
Sign In to access this Webcast
Many companies struggle to develop a robust pipeline of leaders prepared to manage expansion in uncertain global business environments. Learn how ADP successfully presented a business case for changing their leadership model to drive an aggressive global growth strategy, resulting in 10 percent corporate sales growth last year.
The presenters will discuss how to:
Create a long-term plan to ensure that your leadership pipeline is primed with talent as your business changes
Manage the critical transitions leaders face as they move up the ladder
Execute development approaches that get your leaders ready to deliver faster
Audience: Vice Presidents and Directors of HR, Learning and Development, Leadership Development, Talent Management, Organization Design
Jim Concelman
Mr. Concelman, for more than 20 years, has helped organizations identify, develop and strengthen their leadership talent through comprehensive leadership development systems. Prior to this appointment in 2005, Mr. Concelman served as a senior consultant and manager of Research and Product Develop...Full Bio
Karen Kichline-Ruef
Ms. Kichline-Ruef joined Automatic Data Processing, Inc. as vice president, Learning and Talent Management in February 2008. ADP, with nearly $9B in revenues and well over half a million clients, is one of the world's largest providers of business outsourcing solutions. Ms. Kichline-Ruef ha...Full Bio
Amy Lui Abel, PhD
Amy Lui Abel is Vice President of Human Capital Research at The Conference Board. She leads research efforts focusing on human capital analytics, leadership development, labor markets, strategic workforce planning, talent management, diversity and inclusion, human resources, and employee eng...Full Bio


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Napa Valley may be about to get a whole lot creepier. The sweeping hills and scenic vineyards are both a haven for tourists and a source of great pride for locals, but they're the last place one would expect to find anything more sinister than a bad batch of bacteria. Until now, that is.
NBC is currently planning a new supernatural prime-time soap opera for its 2011 season. The series, aptly titled Vines, will be set in Napa Valley, and will focus on a troubled family of winemakers and their lives, not unlike the CBS drama Falcon Crest, which aired from 1981 to 1990.
But unlike the characters on Falcon Crest, Vines' fictitious family won't be plagued by money-hungry relatives or an overbearing matriarch, but instead will be forced to grapple with the mystical and potentially dangerous powers that lie within their own grapevines. With this formula, and with a high-profile horror producer reportedly on board, Vines is sounding more and more like Falcon Crest meets Children of the Corn.
Mystical and paranormal themed shows had a rather large following in the late 1990s with Charmed and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and though ABC's Supernatural is still going strong after six seasons, these days there seems to be little room for more than one successful network series dealing with the occult at a time. CBS' Ghost Whisperer was cancelled after five seasons and ABC's short-lived Eastwick lasted only one.
Hollywood news sites report that Vines was originally conceived as a feature film by writer Mark Kruger and was adapted as a series with the help of film producers Michael Aguilar and Taka Ichise. While Ichise has proven in the past to be a master of the atmospheric horror film, having produced the original Japanese productions of The Ring, Dark Water and The Grudge, it's unknown how his style will translate into American prime-time television. It's also unknown if Vines will actually be filmed in the Napa Valley, or how the show, should it become a reality, may influence viewers' opinions of the area.
Allison Walker, vice president, communications of the Napa Valley Destination Council feels that despite whatever negative connotations may be portrayed in the show, it will take more than a few vines with mystical powers to taint Napa's lustrous image.
"We all know Napa Valley has magic vines," says Walker, clearly painting the projected show with a tourism hue. "But I wouldn't say they're dangerous—more like wonderful."


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WORCESTER � The Salisbury Street neighborhood became "Sea of Trees" central this week for the filming of Academy Award-winning actor Matthew McConaughey's latest movie.
Since Tuesday and wrapping up filming here on Friday, the house at 29 Metcalf St. was being used as the home of a married couple in "Sea of Trees," played by McConaughey and two-time Oscar-nominee Naomi Watts, the film's unit publicist Gregg Brilliant said.
"In the story, it's (McConaughey and Watts) a fairly, upper-middle-class New England couple," Mr. Brilliant said. "And, we have location scouts, and they look at different neighborhoods and we settled on this area of Massachusetts because of the scenery and the forests. And then the call came in that we had to shoot interiors."
Mr. Brilliant said the Metcalf Street home is being used primarily for interior shots. He said the four-day shoot has been "fantastic" and the neighbors have been "wonderful." Mr. Brilliant said Massachusetts has been a great place to film and he would film here anytime.
"The neighbors have been so accommodating. People have been interested, but not disruptive. We have a lot of local crew on this movie," Mr. Brilliant said. "We're staying within a 60-mile radius of Worcester until mid-September. New England in the summertime is beautiful."
Friday afternoon, two-time Academy Award-nominated director Gus Van Sant ("Good Will Hunting" and "Milk" took a break from filming to dine on a hot dog (which was heavy on the relish).
During lunch, McConaughey was whisked away in an SUV and driven back to his silver trailer, which was parked at the Second Church of Christ Scientist, at the corner of Academy and Salisbury streets.
Jennifer Brunelle, who lives .86 miles away, was jogging in the neighborhood, hoping to get a glimpse of the "Dallas Buyers Club" actor.
"It's so cool," Ms. Brunelle said. "I'm a big Matthew McConaughey fan. I purposely ran by here, hoping to get a glimpse of him, and I did. � He's a little skinny, but I'm not picky."
Yda Filberti said it's pretty exciting to have a major motion picture being filmed in the neighborhood.
"I think it's great fun. I'm sure it's a little bit of an inconvenience for people whose house it's right in front of," Ms. Filberti said. "You get to see how it's done, and it's a little bit of history. It goes on film, and it's your neighborhood."
Pam Kelly, who shot photos of a bespectacled McConaughey in a tux and Watts in her wedding dress, said the neighbors are talking about pulling their photos together for "a pre-cocktail party" when the movie comes out and then going to see it.
"I'm not a big moviegoer at all," Ms. Kelly said. "When I heard about this, I thought nothing about it. But when I went down and I actually started to get into the excitement, I've been there every single day now."
In a scene filmed Friday afternoon after lunch, a lawnmower-pushing McConaughey is interrupted by a mailman who questions, "Been on vacation? ... The box has been full all week � See you later." Van Sant directed the scene several times while a modest-size crowd of onlookers (made up mostly of women) watched.
"I hope Matthew McConaughey mows the lawn without his shirt on and asks me to marry him," Lisa Stake said, well-aware that the actor and herself are already married to other people.
"I came with Lisa to stalk, I mean, see Matthew McConaughey," Lynn Gremo interjected.
Earlier in the week, film crews reportedly shot at the Guild of St. Agnes child care center on Grove Street. In late July, film crews descended on Purgatory Chasm in Sutton for a three-day shoot.
Contact Craig S. Semon at email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @CraigSemon


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MONDAY, Sept. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Cancer is now the leading cause of death among U.S. Hispanics, a new report reveals.
While death rates for both cancer and heart disease have declined among the Hispanic population in the United States, cancer has edged out heart disease as the number one cause of death, according to the report published online Sept. 17 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. Heart disease remains the top cause of death among non-Hispanic whites and blacks in America.
An estimated 112,800 new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and 33,200 cancer deaths will occur among U.S. Hispanics in 2012, the American Cancer Society noted in a news release about the report.
In 2009, data showed that 29,935 Hispanic people in the United States died of cancer, compared with 29,611 deaths from heart disease.
"Death rates of heart disease are declining faster because there are more interventions available for heart disease," explained study lead author Rebecca Siegel, at the American Cancer Society. "It's positive that rates of heart disease and cancer-related deaths are decreasing, but we can do more to improve access to health care for these folks and decrease rates further."
From 2000 to 2009, cancer incidence rates among U.S. Hispanics declined by 1.7 percent per year among men and 0.3 percent per year among women. By contrast, cancer incidence rates declined by 1 percent among non-Hispanic men and 0.2 percent among non-Hispanic women during the same time frame, the investigators found.
In addition, cancer death rates among Hispanics declined by 2.3 percent per year in men and 1.4 percent per year in women during that same time period, compared with yearly declines of 1.5 percent and 1.3 percent among non-Hispanic white men and women, respectively.
Hispanics are at greater risk for cancers related to infections such as liver cancer, stomach cancer and cervical cancer, Siegel said, which is a reflection of greater exposure to cancer-causing infectious agents, lower screening rates and possibly genetic factors. Specifically, incidence and death rates for cervical cancer are 50 percent to 70 percent higher among Hispanic women than non-Hispanic whites. For most cancer sites, Hispanics are diagnosed at an advanced stage of disease more often than non-Hispanic whites, the report found.
Enter access-to-care issues.
"[Hispanics] are disproportionately poor and uninsured," Siegel said. "Fully 31 percent of U.S. Hispanics are uninsured compared to 12 percent of non-Hispanic whites." As such, Hispanics are also less likely to undergo screening for cervical cancer, which prevents this type of cancer, but also detects it earlier when it is in its most treatable stages, she noted.
Hispanics have lower incidence and death rates than non-Hispanic whites for all cancers combined and for breast, prostate, colorectal, and lung and bronchus cancer -- the four most common cancers -- the report showed.
In particular, lung cancer rates among Hispanics are about one-half those of non-Hispanic whites. This is likely due to the fact that some Hispanics may be less likely to smoke cigarettes than non-Hispanic whites.
There are also differences across Hispanic populations, Siegel said. For example, "Cubans are more likely to smoke and that is important in terms of many types of cancer," she said. "Obesity is a concern among Mexicans, and has been associated with several types of cancer including breast, colon and endometrial. We need tailored interventions at the community level that are focused on specific Hispanic subpopulations."
Don't discount the effect of genetics, said Dr. Kimlin Ashing-Giwa, director of the Center of Community Alliance for Research and Education at the City of Hope Cancer Center in Duarte, Calif.
In addition, "many Hispanics work in the service or farming industry where they are exposed to environmental agents and chemicals that may increase their risks of certain cancers," noted Ashing-Giwa, who was not involved with the study. Still, "the main issues are access to care and later-stage diagnosis, especially with the cancers we could screen for such as breast and cervical," she said. To shore up these gaps, "we really need to work on community partnerships that increase screening," she added. "Better screening and earlier detection will save more lives."
More information
To see the full report, "Cancer Facts & Figures for Hispanics/Latinos 2012-2014," visit the American Cancer Society.
SOURCES: Rebecca Siegel, M.P.H., American Cancer Society; Kimlin Ashing-Giwa, Ph.D., director, Center of Community Alliance for Research and Education, City of Hope Cancer Center, Duarte, Calif.; Sept. 17, 2012, CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, online
|Copyright©2012 ScoutNews,LLC.
All rights reserved


text:
Honoured to hold six Best Design Awards to date, we're pleased to be selected as a finalist in the 2015 Best Design Awards for our new platform, the Avanti Corsa ER.
The Corsa ER is our new endurance road bike platform; using new damping technology and an evolved, forward looking product design language.
Hundreds of hours of real world and simulated testing and analysis were undertaken in the design of the Corsa ER. The performance brief was to significantly improve stiffness where possible whilst also providing ultimate compliance and damping for enduring long distance rides across a variety of road terrain, including hard chip commonly found on Australasian roads and unsealed gravel roads.
A closer look at the Corsa ER:
The front end of the bike is reduced to a number of twisting planar surfaces. The result is a confident and controlled sculptural front end that is clearly differentiated from the amorphous styling of competitor's bikes. This planar approach is also expressive of function - a strong and torsionally stiff front end is a desirable attribute in a bike frame as it maximises efficiency and ease of handling.
The down tube continues this expression of stiffness all the way to the bottom bracket. The sides of this profile twist away from a triangular section into a powerful box shape before splitting into twisted box section chain stays.
The rear triangle of the Corsa ER frame above the bottom bracket offers a similarly visual description of function. Taught boxy shapes give way to softer sections and more fluid transitions, adding flexibility in a part of the structure where this is critical to its damping function.
Our integrated seat clamp technology is again employed, keeping the frame minimal and clean.
A complex bike mounted data system, with technology adapted from the motorsport industry, was used to measure the acceleration differential between the wheels (the road) and the seat and handlebars (the rider) on various bike frames, including existing Avanti models, prototypes and competitors' frames. Finite element analysis was then used to measure and compare the performance of design concepts against this data before committing to the tooling of multiple sizes. The net result was a 57% improvement in overall damping.
The Corsa ER incorporates the latest standards in road bike components such as Shimano's new flat-mount disk brakes and thru-axle wheel hubs. A damping stem and seat post also compliment the entire riding package.
Winners are announced October 9, 2015


text:
More Americans Join The Super Wealthy and More
What's News: The surging stock market boosts the number of American millionaires. Warren Buffett's take home pay remained unchanged in 2012. Video game sales hit hard in February falling 27%. Photo: Getty Images
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
... the Madison joined the rest of the super wealthy ... this is what is this hour I'm WS J live I'm Kelsey Havre ... the surging stock market has boosted the number of American millionaires according to a study by Chicago research firm spectrum group ... at the end of twenty twelve the number of American households worth at least a million dollars and that's excluding their primary residence was nine million and a sum of four hundred thousand more millionaires than last year ... and speaking of the super wealthy one profits to come pay remained unchanged in twenty twelve ... Buffett who is ranked fourth on the fourth list of the world's billionaires ... was paid one hundred thousand dollars in salary and now has remained unchanged for more than three decades ... his total compensation was close to four hundred and twenty four thousand dollars ... far less than most high-profile CEOs ... hosted Buffett's income comes from his personal investment portfolio videogame sales hit hard in February falling twenty seven percent ... at the bigger drop than analysts had anticipated despite the release of top selling games such as Dead Space three and Crysis three ... the numbers released by NPD group also show sales of game hardware falling by thirty six percent ... the results do not include games sold over digital channels looking keep us in on all the latest news developments the rapid and what's news I'm WS a lot ...