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Since the first academic lecture was delivered at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, in 975 AD, knowledge sharing has gradually taken root in universities around the world—2000 years ago in India, nearly 1000 years ago in Europe, and less than 400 years ago in the US.
For many centuries, progress in higher education was driven by political systems, religion, economic institutions, and commercialization. Today, technology, globalization, and the explosion of demand are the drivers shaping the future of education and changing the way we teach and learn.
At the Seventh Knowledge Globalization Conference held in Boston on Nov. 9-10, 2012, more than 120 academic leaders gathered to examine these changes. Representing towns across Europe, India, China, Indonesia, New England, California, Florida, and Arkansas, attendees discussed challenges to higher education, including distance learning in India and Africa; safety and emergency preparedness in the US and Turkey; stress management among teachers in Pakistan; sustainable development in Germany; and Egypt's 2011 revolution.
Some topics transcended political borders, including online education; MOOCs—massive open online courses; hybrid courses—traditional classroom learning blended with web-based lessons; flipped classrooms—video lectures viewed at home and class time spent on discussion; and social media as a learning tool.
Shared challenges included concerns about reducing the high dropout rate of online education; rising college costs; financing higher education; inflexible online curricula; and how to educate increasing numbers of students.
In his keynote speech, Suffolk University President James McCarthy cautioned the audience against too quickly accepting the latest technological tools to solve these concerns. "I don't think MOOCs are going to revolutionize higher education in the next 5-10 years," he said, citing one MOOC that enrolled 120,000 students, but 95 percent of students didn't complete the course.
"More time is needed before some of these potentially very powerful innovations can become effective," says McCarthy. "One of the reasons only five percent complete the course is the same reason why the graduation rate for fully online undergraduate programs is very low—it's easy to start, but not as easy to complete."
The bright lights on the horizon, according to McCarthy, include online curricula developed by publishers that allow educators to customize content, hybrid versions of introductory classes to take advantage of online learning tools, and flipped classrooms that enable instructors to teach more students in smaller class sizes.
Such innovative thinking will be necessary in the coming years. According to conference organizer Mawdudur Rahman, professor of accounting at Suffolk University and founder and president of the Knowledge Globalization Institute, more than 90 percent of the world's population lives in countries with poor-quality education, and the demand for higher education is increasing. By 2025, he says, eight million students will be seeking to study abroad, leaving developing countries that cannot meet the growing demands for education.
These future immigrant students will aspire to become scholars, entrepreneurs, and innovators trained to create businesses, technologies, and universities.
"Education is what allows a standard of living and society to change," says Sawyer Business School Dean William J. O'Neill, Jr. "It is one of the most valued change agents of society."
The Knowledge Globalization Conference is hosted jointly by the Sawyer Business School and the Knowledge Globalization Institute. "Our mission is the sharing of global knowledge for social and economic change," says Rahman. "The knowledge gaps among individuals and societies hinder social and economic progress."


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MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Federal regulators and safety officials should consider requiring more backup air supplies and work to develop better breathing devices that would help the nation's coal miners escape underground emergencies, a panel of experts said in a report released Thursday.
The report from the National Research Council makes seven wide-ranging recommendations to two agencies — the Mine Safety and Health Administration and the National Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Among other things, it urges better technology, including systems for communicating with people on the surface, real-time gas monitors and fail-safe tracking devices.
The independent, nonprofit National Research Council is the main operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences. The report was authored by a nine-member committee of experts with universities, the private sector, NASA and the United Mine Workers of America.
The report doesn't propose new laws or regulations, instead focusing on ways to better equip the nation's 50,000 underground miners.
Few will ever have to evacuate, but deeply ingrained training can prevent hesitation or confusion when they do, the panel said.
MSHA didn't immediately comment on the report, which grew in part from several West Virginia mine disasters.
In 2006, 12 men died after an explosion trapped them at International Coal Group's Sago Mine. Randal McCloy, the only miner to survive the 40-hour wait for a rescue in poisoned air, later told investigators that several air packs his crew had been carrying failed.
Last year, MSHA ordered mine operators to begin phasing out that model of "self-contained self-rescuer," the SR-100, after it proved unreliable in tests. All of the estimated 66,000 potentially defective air packs must be out of U.S. mines by the end of this year, and CSE Corp. of Monroeville, Pa., no longer manufactures that model.
Many air packs were stored in the emergency caches required under a federal law passed after Sago.
Mine operators are supposed to supply at least two hours of emergency air per miner and stash more air packs in escapeways. No miner should have to walk more than 30 minutes to reach one, and they are to be available in regular intervals the whole way to the surface.
Scrutiny of both industry and regulators has increased since Sago, though the report says more must be done. The Upper Big Branch mine explosion, which killed 29 West Virginia miners in April 2010, is "a reminder to remain ever vigilant."
The report also urges MSHA and NIOSH to re-examine how they approve new technology to make sure they're not deterring innovation — a suggestion that Bruce Watzman of the National Mining Association said is critical.
Bureaucratic barriers can keep new technologies from being introduced in the U.S. for months or years, even when they're successfully used in South Africa, Australia and other developed nations, he said.
"If we have technologies that have gone through rigorous testing by other responsible international bodies, why the necessity for us to go through the entirety of the process again here?" he said.
Watzman recalled being at a conference where one manufacturer held up a cell phone and said, "We sell more of these in New York City than we would to the entire underground coal industry. Where do you think we're putting our research dollars?"
"There are barriers," Watzman said, "and we have to overcome that."
Although federal laws are now stronger and the industry has spent nearly $1 billion on emergency preparations since 2006, the report says there's little research to indicate how well mine operators have complied with the new regulations or whether they've been effective.
The industry and NIOSH must work to promote safety "as a core value of the industry," the report said, and that includes compiling existing research and recommendations from other high-hazard industries to help identify strengths and weaknesses.
The committee also recommended more research on effective, science-based materials, training and procedures to help miners make better decisions in crisis.
It suggests comprehensive self-escape scenarios be played out at every underground mine at least once a year, and that the lessons learned from those drills be collected and analyzed. It recommends the creation of a public database that could help anyone who's interested examine the outcomes.

subset: commoncrawl


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Moderator: B&F Moderator
underated wrote:@ Ringo
Me Me Me I know !
4 String...........E A D G
5 String Extra....B
so more options for phrasing, a whole new Bottom end could open up.
Yes leroy was the master of simple melodic b lines, time less classics.
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Hey ladies with babies! Ever find yourself in a similar position?
That arm belongs to me, your trusty blogger, and that is my kitchen and you can't see it but I am stirring an overflowing pot of - well, that blue and yellow box should be spell it out for you. Dinner of preschool champions! Also dinner of kids who have an overly fussy baby sister who cannot will not be put down. Aaaand, there she is! That little bald head peeking out of the Moby wrap! And people, if it weren't for the Moby wrap this week, the big kids would be eating whatever they could scrounge off the kitchen floor. (Which actually, now that I'm thinking about it, would probably make for a filling meal, if not a nutritious one.) SUCH IS LIFE WITH A FUSSY BABY.
We thought it might be reflux. Then we thought it might be gas. A reaction to dairy? We have thought ALL SORTS of things and after a string of good to fairly awesome days, I was feeling pretty proud of myself. I mean, I gave up cheese. I DESERVE TO FEEL PROUD. Then today happened and OH MAN. Here I am, soaked in baby barf and leaning against a bag of frozen peas because I had that child in the wrap aaaall afternoon and my back hurts. And the I'm-an-old-person-now back pain, that's just the Cherry of Indignity on my Baby Barf Sundae.
I can't figure this kid out. One day she's an Angry Spitter, baby puke everywhere, fussbudget, "I'll wait till you whisk the diaper away and THEN I'll pee over EVERYTHING!" kind of baby. Then the next day she's a smiley, sweetie, snugglebunny who doesn't mind being wrapped into a baby burrito, accepts a pacifier jammed into her mouth and gazes adoringly as you plop her in the crib, hoping this Drowsy But Awake stuff actually works. And then it does! Those days are AWESOME!
Silly me, expecting consistency from a seven-week-old.
People keep asking me if "three is hard" and I have to say, I learned how to make mac 'n cheese with a baby in a wrap long before the third one came around. You know? For me it feels like the learning curve was WAY steeper when we added the second kid. The third one is actually my fussiest baby so far. The other two had their moments, but Emma is heaps more vocal than they ever were (and smellier and barfier). But still - I already know how to take two kids to Target. One more isn't a big deal.
I'm tired, though. I figured out how to feed the baby while half asleep in bed with Number Two, and while it's easier, I'm still UP. The laundry moutain has doubled in size thanks to all the spit up. I HATE carrying that baby car seat around again. I'm flailing away in the kitchen half an hour before my husband gets home, not sure if we'll have Actual Dinner or Toast that evening. It all depends on if I need to hold the baby. Or if the baby needs to eat. Or if the baby is happy sitting in her bouncy chair while her older siblings get up in her face and manhandle her tiny little baby head. YOU know what I'm talking about, ladies with babies! Where is our spa weekend?!
Anyhow, I salute you, Makers Of Baby Carriers! Thank you for making sure my older children get to eat! And guess who's fussing again... and I SWEAR I'm not making that up because I can't figure out how to end this blog post. SHE IS FUSSING. Let's all bet on how many seconds it will be before my husband utters my favorite phrase, "I think she's hungry..."


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COLUMBUS — At least 250,000 homes and businesses in Ohio are without power and hundreds of schools are closed or delayed as Superstorm Sandy brings high winds, flooding and the season's first snow to some parts of the state overnight.
The Cleveland area and northeast Ohio were being slammed the hardest early Tuesday, with rain and high winds bringing down power lines and knocking out electricity to a wide swath of the area. Some major arteries in the city were closed because of flooding, and hundreds of school districts canceled classes. A section of Interstate 90 was closed because of flooding from nearby Lake Erie.
FirstEnergy was reporting more than 246,000 customers without power in northeast Ohio, mostly in the Cleveland area, at 7 a.m. Tuesday. That was down from about 260,000 at the peak. Utility officials say it could be five days before all customers have power restored.
The utility also reported other scattered outages across the northern section of the state and down into central Ohio. AEP Ohio reported around 7,000 interruptions in the Canton area and central Ohio.
Snow was reported in some parts of eastern Ohio and south of Cleveland. Snow and icy roads also were reported south of Columbus.
High wind warnings, with gusts of 55-60 mph, are in effect in many areas of the state into the afternoon. Cleveland residents were being warned to avoid unnecessary trips outside because of the potential for flooding and the danger of downed power lines.
Thousands of flights were canceled at the state's airports.
The massive storm made landfall in New Jersey Monday night with 80 mph sustained winds, killing at least 16 people in seven states. It's left more than 7.5 million without power.
Sandy lost its hurricane status on Monday and is now considered an extratropical cyclone. It was centered west of Philadelphia Tuesday morning and was expected to move into western New York Tuesday night.
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Rescuers and residents stand next to a stranded car being pulled up from a flooded street under the Guangqumen overpass amid heavy rainfall in Beijing, July 21. According to local media, a driver of another submerged car was confirmed dead at the hospital. The heaviest rain in 61 years that lashed Beijing Saturday has left at least four people dead and six others injured, cutting off traffic and also severely disrupting air travel, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Discuss as:


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Despite efforts by the industry and OSHA, injuries and even fatalities are still frequent occurrences on construction sites. We found this infographic from Same Day Steel Deck that sheds light on construction site accidents with eye-opening statistics.
When it comes to construction site safety, it's essential to understand the risks and plan carefully. The infographic is a good place to start, along with these helpful articles.
– Planning Ahead to Prevent Construction Site Accidents
– Understanding and Evaluating Hazard Recognition and Tolerance
View full infographic Source: Click here


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Man, it has been about 3 weeks now and I am really missing Mike in the mornings (and on Saturdays) on WLW.
He was by far my favorite talker on radio...lots of varied topics, local and national...sense of humor...good guests.
I can't imagine how 'LW will be able to find anyone to replace him who will come close to measuring up.


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The Most Notable Vampires In Video Games
Surprisingly, blood suckers aren't as common in video games as you might expect. They might appear as a generic type of enemy, and of course there are a few of them in the Castlevania series. We collected some of these vampires, paying attention to leave out those who like to carry people on their backs.


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25 April 2013 2:01 am (c | mac os x)
I've spent a couple of days with a silly compiler problem. I have to admit that it was my fault but, at least, I learned something in the process. To make a long story short: do not forget to include header files and enable all warnings (-Wall).
In C, you can use a function without including its header file. Then, depending on how you set the compiler flags, it might not complain as long as it can find the function at linking time.
Imagine you have this function (defined in foo.h and implemented in foo.c) :
unsigned long foo_add (void);
and you use it in another module bar.c without including the foo.h header:
//#include "foo.h" unsigned long bar_add (void) { return foo_add () + foo_add (); }
Compile with: gcc -c -O2 bar.c (we just missed -Wall)
If we disassemble the code of bar.o we get:
$ otool -tV bar.o bar.o: (__TEXT,__text) section _bar_add: ... 000000000000000b callq _foo_add 0000000000000010 movl %eax, %ebx ... 0000000000000024 ret
Now, let's try to include the header foo.h and disassemble again:
$ otool -tV bar.o bar.o: (__TEXT,__text) section _bar_add: ... 0000000000000009 callq _foo_add 000000000000000e movq %rax, %rbx ... 000000000000001f ret
Note how the compiler uses two different instructions: movl (32-bit) in the first case, when it really doesn't know anything about the foo_add function, and movq (64-bit) when it knows that foo_add returns a 64-bit value.
This can lead to unexpected behavior as I have found in the code I was working on. And actually, I have only found this in OS X.
So, please do not forget to include header files and enable -Wall. It will save you from some headaches.


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On Saturday deputies responded to reports of shots fired east of the City of Williston large annual gathering of people labeled as "Crab Festival," according to a news release from the Levy County Sheriff's Office.
Five people were shot, including a 36-year-old man who died.
But it really wasn't a "Crab Festival," even though that's how this annual gathering-- which attracted 10,000 people this year -- is labeled, deputies said.
So you won't find booth after booth of crab legs, crab-cakes or crab ravioli at this fest.
The Crab Festival is unsanctioned and no individuals or organizations take credit for hosting the event, which is advertised underground primarily through social media, according to the Sheriff's Office.
The agency also said the "Crab Festival" is actually a series of "Hip Hop" style street parties in which violence have been reported in the past.
The Levy County Department of Public Safety was prepared for emergencies. The agency had pre-staged ambulances and a Medical helicopter in the area but the large crowds made it impossible for ambulances to reach the wounded. Instead deputies and EMS personnel had to evacuate the injured in law enforcement and private vehicles which had to maneuver the throngs of folks walking and dancing in the roadways.
WCBJ ABC News-20 in Gainesviile later reported that Devonte Tremaine Ocasi, 19, had been nabbed in Marion County for the shootings.


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New listings added for the current week are indicated in italics. Print copies of the rules and regulations governing the writing contests listed here are available from Denise Lang in Suite 320.
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences announces its third annual Entertainment Law Initiative Legal Writing Contest. Essays should address a compelling legal issue facing the music industry. The first place winner will receive $5,000, and four second place winners will receive $1,500. The deadline for registering for the contest is November 15, 2000. The deadline for submitting essays is January 2, 2001.
The American Business Law Journal is sponsoring a writing contest for third year law students. Submissions should address any area of business law, broadly interpreted, including but not limited to: antitrust, banking, bankruptcy, business organizations, contracts, environmental constitutional, e-commerce, employment, ethics, financial, international, property, securities, taxation, and tort law. The first prize winner will receive a cash prize of $1,000 and an offer to publish the paper in the American Business Law Journal. The deadlines for submissions is December 15, 2000.
The Asian Law Journal announces a writing competition to encourage scholarship addressing the legal issues affecting Asian Pacific Americans. The author of the winning entry will receive a cash award of $250, and his or her paper will be published in the Asian Law Journal. The submission deadline is December 15, 2000.
The ABA Section of Antitrust Law announces its 2000 Student Writing Comptetition. Submissions must be published in the law school's Law Review; nominations must be made by the editor-in-chief of the Law Review. Artlices may address any antitrust-related topic of general and current interest to the antitrust law community, including (but not limited to) topics relating to civil and criminal antitrust law, competition policy, consumer protection, and international competition law. The winning entrant will receive an award of $1,000 and payment of expenses to attend the Section's annual Spring Meeting. Submissions are due no later than January 5, 2001.
The Patent and Trademark Office Society and the Journal of the Patent and Trademark Office Society announces their 2000 Student Paper Contest. The author of the best article on a subject relating to intellectual property will receive a prize of $1,000. Submissions must be mailed or e-mailed on or before January 10, 2001; submissions not received by January 15, 2001 will not be considered.
The Institute for Law and the Workplace announces the 2000-2001 Louis Jackson National Student Writing Competition in Employment and Labor Law, co-sponsored by the Jackson Lewis firm and by the Institute for Law and the Workplace. Submissions must be the law student authors own work and must not be submitted for publication elsewhere. Authors must have completed or be currently taking course work in employment or labor law, and must be enrolled in an accredited law school during the Fall 2000 semester. Papers may address any topic relating to the law governing the workplace, such as employment law, labor law, employee benefits, or employment discrimination. Only the first two submissions per law school will be accepted as entries for consideration. One top honors award of $3,000 and two $1,000 awards will be presented to the top three entries. In addition to the cash awards, the top three entries will be published by the Chicago-Kent Law Review in an issue containing the paper from Chicago-Kents annual Kenneth M. Piper Memorial Lecture in Labor Law. There are formatting guidelines that must be followed. For a flyer or questions, contact Professor Martin H. Malin by email at email@example.com. Submissions are due no later than January 12, 2001.
Epstein Becker & Green, P.C., announces its third annual Health Law Writing Competition. Papers may address any traditional area of law as applied to health care (e.g., antitrust, tax, corporate), or areas of law unique to health care (e.g., fraud and abuse, managed care, Medicare/Medicaid). Prizes will be awarded as follows: First place, $4,000; second place, $2,000; third place, $500. Submissions are due on January 19, 2001.
The Theodore Tannenwald, Jr. Foundation for Excellence in Tax Scholarship and the American College of Tax Counsel announce the first annual Tannenwald Writing Competition. Submissions may address any topic in the field of taxation. Prizes will be awarded as follows: First prize, $3,000; second prize, $2,000; third prize, $1,000. Submissions are due by February 1, 2001.
The ABA Section of Business Law announces its 15th annual Mendes Hershman Student Writing Contest to encourage and reward law student writings on a business law subject of general and current interest. Prizes will be awarded as follows: First place, $2,500; second place, $1,000; third place, $500. Submissions must be made through law schools' deans by February 1, 2001.
The National Association of Home Builders announces its first annual Legal Writing Competition on the following question: "Should the Constitution require just compensation for a landowner who has been barred from developing land that was purchased prior to the enactment of federal environmental statutes (e.g., Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act) on the basis that she should have been aware that a growing sensitivity toward environmental issues would eventually change the regulatory climate and bar development of her property? Or, put another way, does the U.S. Constitution demand that land purchasers anticipate future laws that Congress may enact that could have a potential impact on the ability to use a specific piece of property? Students may refer to Good v. United States, 189 F.3d 1355 (Fed. Cir. 1999) as a starting point for their analysis; however, mere recitation of points raised by the parties to this case is strongly discouraged." Prizes will be awarded as follows: first place, $5,000; second place, $2,500; third place, $1,250. Papers should be submitted no later than February 9, 2001.
The Roscoe Pound Institute announces its 2001 Roscoe Hogan Environmental Law Essay Contest on the topic, "Whose backyard is polluted? Remedies for environmental racism." The winning entrant will receive a $5,000 cash award. Each entry must be submitted through a faculty adviser. An intent-to-enter form must be submitted by February 9, 2001. The essays must be received no later than March 30, 2001.
The Alliance Defense Fund announces the fourth annual William Pew Religious Freedom Scholarship Competition, on the topic: Sexual Identity: Objective Reality or Sexual Illusion. The author of the winning paper will receive a $7,500 scholarship. Submissions must be postmarked no later than April 16, 2001.
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility announces an essay contest addressing the social implications of today's information technology. CPSR is looking for papers that will advance its work within its Working Groups and interests: community networks, cyber-rights, DNS/Internet governance, computers in education, intellectual property/UCITA/UETA, broadband technologies, computers and the environment, ethics, privacy, women in computing, and working in the industry. Up to 36 papers will be selected as winners. For each topic, a Working Group may select a student to be awarded a $100 prize. Up to two writers will be selected to present their papers at the CPSR Annual Meeting and receive $500. The deadline for submissions is May 1, 2001.
The Attorney-CPA Foundation announces its 2000-2001 Essay Contest. The topic for the graduate/professional division is: "Is independence impaired when an attorney-CPA who is a member of an accounting firm that audits a client renders ANY type of legal services to that client? Are there some legal services that could be rendered and others that could not be rendered? Are the rules different for publicly traded client corporations vs. closely held companies? Do the rules apply throughout the United States or are there different rules for different states? Are there different rules for international clients?" The grand prize winner will receive $1,500, and the the runner up will receive $1,000. In addition, there will be five regional prizes of $250 each. Essays must be received by May 11, 2001.
Foley & Lardner announces its second annual Intellectual
Property Writing Competition. Acceptable topics include, but are not
limited to: focus on metrics or other measurements of intellectual asset
management performance; protecting intellectual property rights to maximize
competitive opportunities; extracting untapped value from intellectual
property; auditing patents to determine whether they should be enforced,
licensed, donated or terminated; identifying prospective intellectual property
licenses. First prize awards of $5,000 each will be given to a first year
student, second year student, and third year student. Submissions must
be postmarked no later than May 15, 2001.


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Ghost House Underground: Dark Floors (US - DVD)
Gabe checks out a horror movie staring members of a Finnish shock rock group.
After a particularly unsuccessful MRI Scan, and a dose of experimental medication a red crayon loving, little autistic girl and her father are on their way out of a haunted hospital when something goes wrong. After a big, scary sound, their elevator stops on a mysteriously empty floor. The duo, along with a pretty nurse, an anxious visitor, and a creepy patient, explore their new environment only to find themselves menaced by monsters from a different world (played by members of metal band Lordi).
Despite some primo production values, decent effects, and competent performances, Dark Floors is an almost dully uninvolving horror movie experience. The plot pace is glacial, repetitive, and comes to a rather unsurprising conclusion. The basic formula consists of characters running from monsters, zombies, and/or ghosts into safe rooms in the haunted hospital, unravelling a sliver of plot, and repeating. The characters are pretty well rounded individuals, but their plight is so generic and strangely unthreatening that the best laid plans of suspense and shock play mostly as playful special effects show-offery. The film ends with more annoyingly loose ends surely meant to makes us think about the thinly layered narrative, but it simply strikes me as an impossibly cryptic bit of horror hobnobery.
So for most of us Dark Floors is a skip, or some kind of half-assed 'film fest' extra, but there are others that will positively love the film. Why would someone get excited about an unoriginal and pretty un-entertaining Finnish horror filmed in English? One word—Lordi. Okay, I hadn't heard of Finnish shock metal group Lordi either, but I'm assured they have their fans, and that their fans are rabid. From what I can best gather Lordi is sort of the modern Nordic equivalent of Gwar—a group of Kiss loving art school kids that decided to make a band/performance art group. Unfortunately for this guy who never heard of this band, the film's music is symphonically based, and written by some guy named Ville Riipa. I'm only given a small taste of the band's surprisingly poppy music during the end credits.
I can accuse Dark Floors of being a touch uninvolving, but I can't call it an ugly film. In fact, it looks better than a whole lot of major theatrical horror releases. The film loves its bleach bypass look. The hospital corridors are starkly white without too much grain, and stand in extremely high contrast to the blacks that live within them. Very dark shades are chosen for costumes, props, even blood, and despite a little bit of edge enhancement the transfer makes out pretty nicely. Details are consistent and reasonably sharp for standard definition, especially in pale skin tones and creepy, deteriorating set walls.
The solo Dolby Digital 5.1 track (all in English, no dubbing, despite the country of origin) does not disappoint. The audio effects are generally aggressive the entire runtime, even when their tone settles into drama. There's one bit of ace audio work around the twenty two minute mark where all the electronics of the hospital start turning on, starting with the television, radio and phones, which each settle into their own channel before a sort of arbitrary bass track starts to sneak onto the track. Everything builds to a reasonably effective screaming ghost revel. Ville Riipa's score, though not giving me a taste of the band's abilities, is surprisingly memorable and large without overstepping the rest of the film's general modesty. The score is occasionally mixed a little too loudly among the rest of the elements, but dialogue is always centred and clear enough to discern.
Dark Floors stands up with Dance of the Dead as one of the only discs in this Ghost House Underground collection featuring decent extras. Things begin with a commentary track featuring director Pete Riski and Lordi front man, Mr. Lordi. The track isn't as much fun as I'd hoped, as Mr. Lordi hasn't really planned for the event, and besides some insight into the scripting process, mostly just offers congrats here and there. Riski is so soft spoken I couldn't hear him half the time, but he does offer some interesting behind the scenes information.
My favourite extras are the two Lordi Music Videos: 'Would You Love a Monsterman' and 'Hard Rock Hallelujah'. I was initially expecting something super heavy out of the band, considering their gory costumes and Finland's reputation for brutal metal, but Lordi really is an extension of Kiss, and thusly pretty poppy, which is totally cool by me. The videos are pretty good too, with decent production values and narratives. The rest of the disc is filled out with a featurette concerning the world premiere press event (mostly in English) and concert (running about twenty three minutes), a general behind the scenes featurette (reasonably informative, eleven minutes), and trailers.
Dark Floors should be a plain bad movie, but it looks really good for its budget, and features a few very impressive special effects. There's nothing original, or even particularly interesting about the script, but the actors mostly bring their characters to life, and director Pete Riski has a great eye for ghostly and grimy imagery. The disc looks pretty good, and features a few fun music videos from the featured shock rock band Lordi. Not a good movie, but one of the better entries in the Ghost House Underground collection.
Review by Gabriel Powers
Worst Nightmare Senior Member Join Date: July 2002 Location: Australia Posts: 6,716
Gabe, Lordi won the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest by the way....
I was looking forward to this...oh well, I hope I do like it.
I see you have been busy Gabe - do you plan to do all the recent Ghost House movies?
I was looking forward to this...oh well, I hope I do like it.
I see you have been busy Gabe - do you plan to do all the recent Ghost House movies?
Gabe Powers Editor Join Date: September 2004 Location: United States Posts: 4,718
I ended up getting more than 30 discs in one week, so I have been pretty busy. I do plan on covering all the Ghost House Underground stuff eventually. Dark Floors really wasn't too bad, and if you're into the band you'll probably have more reason to enjoy it.
Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian
Disc Details
Release Date: 21st October 2008
Discs: 1
Disc Type: Single side, dual layer
RCE: No
Video: NTSC
Aspect: 2.35:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Colour: Yes
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Subtitles: English, Spanish
Extras: Director/Writer Commentary, Music Videos, Behind the Scenes,
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Pete Riski
Cast: William Hope, Ronald Pickup, Leon Herbert, Noah Huntley, Skye Bennett
Genre: Horror
Length: 86 minutes
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WASHINGTON, March 31 (UPI) -- Top U.S. defense leaders Thursday faced congressional members angered about the administration's push into Libya and skeptical about plans to end the conflict.
"History has demonstrated that an entrenched enemy, like the Libyan regime [of Moammar Gadhafi], can be resilient to air power," said Rep. Howard McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in his opening remarks. "If Gadhafi does not face an imminent military defeat or refuses to abdicate, it seems that NATO could be expected to support a decade-long no-fly zone enforcement, like the one over Iraq in the '90s."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen were the only witnesses at the hearing on U.S. military operations in Libya.
McKeon said it wasn't his intent to "second-guess or undermine the administration's authority. But I would like an explanation of the nature of this threat, and how American interests will be advanced through the use of military power."
Democrats, too, have asked why the U.S. involvement in the country, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., the top Democrat on the panel.
"Many have asked the question, you know, why Libya, but not some of the other places that have civil wars or disruptions going on?" Smith said in his opening statement.
Smith said he believed "there were a unique set of circumstances in Libya that warranted this action."
But it was important to explain what the circumstances were and "let the American people know that this is not something we're going to be doing in a great number of places," he said.
Gates, in his opening statement, said the NATO-led mission is a limited one, just as the coalition's mission before. NATO's mission, which began Thursday, is to maintain pressure on Gadhafi's remaining forces to prevent attacks on civilians, enforce the no-fly zone and arms embargo, and provide humanitarian relief.
"There will be no American boots on the ground in Libya," Gates told the committee, saying U.S. involvement would be limited to operations such as electronic attack, aerial refueling, search and rescue, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support.
Deposing the Gadhafi regime, "as welcome as that eventuality would be," isn't part of the military mission, the Pentagon chief said.
Mullen said no one is underestimating the challenge in Libya.
"Gadhafi still possesses superior military capability to those of the forces arrayed against him. He still shows every desire of retaking lost ground and, in fact, did so yesterday [Wednesday]," Mullen said. "He still denies his own people food, water, electricity and shelter. ... And he has made no secret of the fact that he will kill as many of them as he must to crush the rebellion."
During questioning, Gates said he couldn't offer a timetable for Gadhafi's removal, which Obama has stated as a U.S. goal and appears to be a "mismatch" of the military mission of protecting Libyan civilians, McKeon said.
"I think the one thing that may make a difference in terms of how long it takes for this regime to change is the fact that we continue to degrade his military capabilities, and I think that may contribute to some cracking of the unity of his own military," Gates said. "The bottom line is, no one can predict for you how long it will take for that to happen."
Smith asked Gates about Obama's bypassing Congress when the coalition airstrikes began.
"I think there's considerable consternation about that, particularly amongst my fellow members of Congress," Smith said.
Gates said -- and Smith agreed -- that Congress was consulted the day before the airstrikes began March 19.
"[The] president actually did not make his final decision on what to do until Thursday night" then consulted with congressional leaders the next day, Gates said.
"Even before the White House knows exactly what it's going to do, there is some benefit to bringing leadership in Congress into the discussion in terms of building support here," Smith said. "And I think that would have helped build more support in Congress if we felt we knew the thinking process leading up to that decision."
Ahead of the congressional hearing, U.S. officials said President Obama secretly authorized the CIA to provide arms to Libyan rebels. Weapons have not yet been shipped to the rebels, the officials said, because administration officials still debated the consequences of giving advanced weapons to little-known fighters, including some alleged to have ties to militant Islamist groups al-Qaida and Hezbollah.
Obama's order, known as a presidential finding, authorized the CIA to put operatives on the ground in Libya to support the rebels seeking to overthrow leader Moammar Gadhafi, the officials told several news organizations.
Operatives of the CIA and other Western intelligence services have been on the ground in Libya for weeks, officials said.


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The Benefits of Vitamin B5 for the Skin
Most of us will do most anything to have younger looking skin that we can show to the world day after day. It is a great way for us to feel confident about our skin and allow us to look better in the process. We all wish to look our best and when we take the time to use products that can allow us to do so, we will feel much better about our skin.
Vitamin B5 is great to help the skin with certain problems that may pop up fro time to time, such as acne. Many people have acne from time to time and the best way to treat and control is to use ingredients which allow you to do so.
Vitamin B5 is often used to help treat acne and is quite effective when used on a regular basis to do so. This vitamin can be used in many forms to allow for the best results when it comes to fighting acne.
For instance, some claim that this vitamin may be best used by eating foods that contain it. There are many foods that do have this ingredient and when you eat foods that are rich in it, you can improve the look of your skin as well.
You also can purchase skin care products that have Vitamin B5 as well, such as ZENMED skin care products. Many of their product line offers this ingredient in an effort to aid anyone who uses them to reduce acne. By using a product that has the specific ingredient you need in it, you will have a much greater chance of accomplishing what you wish to do. So, be certain if you have acne you give vitamin B5 a chance to allow you to get the best possible result.


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Five-star Pars breeze through
Dunfermline are through to the second round of the Scottish Communities League Cup after a 5-1 victory against Annan at East End Park.
The Pars might have been forgiven for being a little ring-rusty after their scheduled opening game of the season against Raith last weekend in the Petrofac Training Cup was postponed following a rainstorm, but they had too much for their League Two opponents.
Alex Whittle opened the scoring with a rising shot from inside the area after 24 minutes before Gregor Buchanan's header nine minutes before half-time.
Annan went close when Josh Todd's shot struck the crossbar but Michael Moffat's low finish right at the start of the second half put Dunfermline out of sight.
David Hopkirk did pull a goal back with a tidy finish after 57 minutes but the Pars restored their three-goal cushion through Ryan Wallace's 71st-minute strike, and Lewis Martin completed the rout with a low effort late on.
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Brief SummaryRead full entry
Spiders in the family Salticidae are commonly known as "jumping spiders", for the impressive springing movements often exhibited when they are alarmed. This is the largest family of spiders, including more than 5,000 known species. They are common on all continents except Antatctica, occurring in a range of microhabitats from beneath leaf litter up into the forest canopy. Tropical regions have especially high species diversity (in contrast, only around 300 species, for example, are known from North America north of Mexico).
Although most jumping spiders are easily recognized as salticids, the appearance of these highly visually oriented spiders is nevertheless extremely diverse in both body form and color pattern. Many salticids are apparent mimics of ants or beetles; others may be camouflaged to blend in against a background of bark, grass, or stones. Still other salticids are brightly colored and patterned and males may use these decorations in complex courtship displays. Some salticids (such as many Phiddipus and many, if not all, Habronattus) have stridulatory mechanisms for communication, which are often used in courtship. In many genera, males may engage in ritualized agonistic behavior that may sometimes resemble courtship.
Maternal care of eggs seems to be the rule among salticids, with females closely associated with both eggs and newly emerged spiderlings until the spiderlings molt to the first free-living instar and disperse. Most salticids lay their eggs in a distinct sac, but females of some species (e.g., Lyssomanes) lay only a thin sheet of silk over the eggs.
Predatory behavior has been described as surprisingly reminiscent of that of cats, with some species showing remarkable abilities to locate prey and develop efficient prey captive techniques while minimizing risk of injury to themselves. Richmond and Jackson (1992) provide a review of salticid behavior.
(Richman et al. 2005 and references therein)
An excellent resource for anyone interested in accessing more information about salticids is the web page of Dr. Wayne Maddison at the University of British Columbia.


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Cerruti 1881 Infinite Love
July 15, 2018: The Cerruti 1881 infinite love is a timeless gift for your special lady. It embodies the spirit of romance and cherishes the everlasting love you both share. This timepiece exists to say that you don't really need a special day or a reason to celebrate the person you love. The Italian brand house of Cerruti 1881 is k...Read More


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At what point do you decide to do growth hormone testing on a kid? My little seems to be following a curve - but it's so much more shallow than the curves on the growth charts and he has continually fallen farther below the 3rd percentile curve. He is only 29.25" and 18.5lbs at 21 months old and seems to be severely "off the charts", especially for height (I feel like his low weight is directly correlated to his short height - so weight is less worrisome - but it seems to be the only thing that everyone focuses on - perhaps because it's the only thing we can attempt to "control"). He's always been little.. Not sure where to turn, but I've always posted here and got good peace of mind.
His pediatrician seems okay with it, and I am okay with it for the most part. We've never been asked to do extra weigh-ins or extra testing. I'm not sure if it's something I should be suggesting? Occasionally I get very freaked out when I see 4 month olds that are bigger than he is at almost two years old! We very frequently get comments on how well he can walk/talk/etc. because people think he is a lot younger than he is (he's got a baby face and still very thin hair which doesn't help his cause).
Birth - 5lbs 15oz, 20"
3mo - 10lbs 5oz, 22.5"
6mo - 14lbs 6oz, 25"
9mo - 15lbs 11oz, 26.5"
12mo - 17lbs 0oz, 27.5"
18mo - 18lbs 1oz, 29"
21mo - 18lbs 8oz, 29.25"
Also, I am 5'2" and hubby is 5'9" - so we are not tall but we are not extremely short like our boy is.
Still nursing at least 4 times per 24 hours, sleeps through the night occasionally, but more often than not he wakes at least ones for nursies. He eats solids well and has regular BM and wet diapers. We are working on potty training when we are at home.
I like that his pediatrician is not pushy or labeling him as "failure to thrive" but I don't know if I should just go along with the passiveness that the doc has - or if I should be pushing for testing to rule out (I don't even know what). I don't feel like it could possibly be a food allergy or celiac's disease...but should I be concerned about a growth hormone deficiency at this point? I have done small amounts of research and at this point I would not be on board with giving him growth hormones - so is there a reason to have him tested? I think if I expressed concern his pediatrician would see it as valid and not argue.. I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing by not pushing it with my ped?
It's stressing me out today. Here's my sweet baby:
Advice please?


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Chinese Tamales (Joong)
Makes 72 tamales.
10 lbs. sweet rice
1 lb. peanuts, shelled and skin removed
2 packages mung beans
1 lb. Chinese sausage
2 lb. lean pork shoulder
3 dozen salted duck egg yolks (make your own or purchase in vacuumed packages)
2 packages bamboo leaves
Dried shrimp, optional
Dried chestnuts, optional
Cotton string
1. Three to four day prior to making tamales, place bamboo leaves in a very large pot, pour in 2 cups white vinegar and continue filling with water to cover leaves.
2. Bring water to boil for 15 minutes.
3. Allow to cool and drain.
4. Rinse leaves until water is clear. Keep leaves soaking in water until ready to use; rinsing and changing the water daily.
5. When ready to prepare tamales, drain well.
1, Soak sweet rice in water for at least 2 hours (can soak overnight).
2. Drain well. Season with ½ cup of salt.
3. Place mung beans in a strainer and rinse under running water until the water is clear. Place in a bowl and mix in 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of oil. Mix well. Oil will keep beans from sticking together.
4. Place peanuts in a strainer and rinse under running water. Place in a bowl and season with 1 teaspoon of salt.
5. Slice Chinese sausage: in diagonal cuts. Each sausage should be cut into 6-7 pieces. Place in a bowl
6. Cut pork shoulder: into 1 x 2 inch pieces. Place in a bowl and season with 2 teaspoons of salt.
7. Separate duck egg yolks and cut in half. Place in a bowl
8. Place dried shrimp in a strainer and rinse under running water. No need to season. Place in a bowl
9. Soak dried chestnuts in a bowl of water overnight so that the dark skin can be peeled away. Drain chestnuts, place in a bowl and season with 1 teaspoon of salt.
Putting joong together:
1. Take 2 bamboo leaves: and fold to create a pocket.
2. To fill, place 1 1/2 Chinese soup spoon of rice in "pocket," then layer with 1 spoon of mung beans, 1 piece Chinese sausage, 1 piece pork shoulder, a few peanuts, a few chestnuts, a few dried shrimp, 1 piece duck egg yolk and cover with 1 more spoon of rice.
3. Fold bamboo leaves to close. Wrap well with kite string.
4. Place tamales in a large stock pot. Add enough water to cover. Boil for 4 hours. Continue to add water as needed to keep tamales covered.
5. Drain and cool to eat.
Notes: Uneaten tamales should be kept refrigerated or frozen. If you will eat them within the week, store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. If you want to freeze them longer, place them in plastic bags, removing as much air as possible (please note that they should still be cooked and cooled before being frozen).
The tamales may be reheated: several ways: Cook for 1 hour in a pressure cooker, boil in water for 30 minutes or wrapped in paper towels to keep in moisture and microwaved 1 minute if thawed, 3-10 minutes if frozen.
evelyn Hsu


text: Hi ladies! My son is 10mo as of yesterday, and I work full time. I pump at work and nurse when we are together. I would like to be done pumping around a year, but continue to nurse in the mornings, nights, and weekends. Any tips on weaning? Will I still be able to nurse during the day on weekends even though I won't be expressing milk the rest of the week? Would also love to know the best way to gradually introduce cow's milk for daycare. Thanks!


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Carroll man sentenced to 63 to 127 years for burglariesBY BOB HOOKWAY
Special to the Union Leader
May 19. 2013 7:39PM
HAVERHILL - A 34-year-old Carroll man who was the object of a police manhunt throughout New Hampshire and into Vermont in the summer of 2012 has been handed a sentence that will likely keep him in the New Hampshire State Prison in Concord for the rest of his life.
In a sentencing last week that prompted him to ask the judge for the death penalty instead - a prison term so steep his attorney called it "cruel and unusual punishment" - Kevin A. Balch received 63½ to 127 years behind bars.
The Grafton County Superior Court hearing in North Haverhill before Judge Peter H. Bornstein followed Balch's January conviction by jury on 14 felonies, including burglary and receiving stolen property.
But it was his decision to steal six guns during burglaries at two Bethlehem homes in September 2010 that ensured Balch would probably not see daylight again. At the time of those break-ins he was already a three-time convicted felon. Stealing the guns made him a felon in possession of firearms six times when he was convicted of those charges this year.
Under provisions enacted by the New Hampshire Legislature, each conviction on a "special felony" possession charge carries a mandatory sentence of 10 to 20 years; up to 120 years in all in Balch's case, just on those six charges.
Bornstein also issued him 3½ to seven years on two burglary counts, and a suspended sentence on his convictions for six counts of receiving stolen property.
Serving the minimum would make Balch 97-years-old when he left prison.
"It's insane, but it's because of the legislation. This is a horribly, horribly sad case," Balch's attorney, Leonard Harden of Lancaster, said Friday.
Harden said Balch would appeal. "Of course, why wouldn't he? What else does he have to do?" the attorney asked.
Harden said, against his advice, Balch had earlier decided not to accept a plea agreement. Since he couldn't recall if the details of that offer had been made public in court, Harden declined to discuss how much prison time his client would have received under that agreement.
"He did turn down a plea deal. That was his decision. The guy has struggled his whole life. He was abused as a child. This is not a guy who makes good choices," Harden said.
Deputy Grafton County Attorney Melissa Pierce, the prosecutor, had a different assessment of Balch in an interview Friday.
"He's a career criminal; a career burglar," who has left a long trail of victims throughout the Upper Valley of New Hampshire and Vermont and in the North Country, she said.
In court Thursday, Bornstein acknowledged that the sentence was very long. Asked the following day if she thought the prison term Balch faces was just, Pierce replied, "It is what it is because the legislature said so."
Multiple law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Marshal's Service, launched an extensive search for Balch in June 2012 that encompassed much of New Hampshire and parts of eastern Vermont. He was wanted for multiple burglaries, including in Lebanon and surrounding towns in both states.
Harden last week described Balch as a "North Country guy" and that's where authorities focused their search before they arrested him last summer in Littleton. According to court documents, in addition to living in Carroll, Balch also evidently maintained a Cornish address for a time, or was at least able to receive mail there in care of another person.
He was also on parole when he was caught, and was being sought by New Hampshire Probation and Parole Department investigators who had a warrant for his arrest.
Lebanon Police Chief Jim Alexander said at the time his officers were working with police departments in Claremont and Thetford, Vt., on the burglaries, and had recovered some of the items stolen from two homes.
Police did not offer details of Balch's arrest, but said, in addition to the Marshals Service and Littleton officers, police from Dover, Nottingham and Enfield had worked to find him.


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WASHINGTON (AP) — Guest lineups for the Sunday TV news shows:
ABC's "This Week" —Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus; Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., head of the Democratic National Committee.
NBC's "Meet the Press" — Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.; Kaci Hickox, the nurse who treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone and contested state-imposed restriction on her in Maine after her return home.
CBS' "Face the Nation" — Paul; Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.; Samantha Power, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
CNN's "State of the Union" — Paul.
"Fox News Sunday" — Mitt Romney; Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md.


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RICHMOND – Leaving millions of dollars on the table, but eyeing the potential for greater gain and increased competition, VCU officially bid farewell to the Colonial Athletic Association on Tuesday and will join the Atlantic 10 Conference, effective this summer.
VCU's departure caps several months of discussion and study, and leaves CAA basketball demonstrably weaker, at least in the short term, as the conference loses one of its signature programs.
"By moving to the A-10, our ability to recruit and retain outstanding student-athletes will be significantly enhanced," VCU president Michael Rao said Tuesday during a press conference at the Siegel Center.
"It's part of a new vision for intercollegiate athletics at Virginia Commonwealth University. We want all of our student-athletes to enjoy a national-level championship experience. We are of course taking into consideration with any decision that we make, student success, and we're looking at the long-term benefits to the university as well as to our student athletes and to our athletics programs."
Atlantic 10 commissioner Bernadette McGlade called VCU "a perfect fit" for her conference, which also recently added Butler for the 2013-14 school year. The A-10 had lost Temple to the Big East and Charlotte, and its fledgling football program, to Conference USA.
VCU's immediate departure is a function of school officials wanting, and the A-10 complying, to permit Rams' teams and players to compete for conference championships and accompanying NCAA berths. That wouldn't have been assured as lame-duck members of the CAA.
"While I was disappointed by the decision, we all recognize that we're in an unprecedented period of change in college athletics," CAA commissioner Tom Yeager said. "There've been any number of decisions that have been made for all different kinds of reasons. Time will tell which ones were good decisions or not."
Yeager, en route from Hofstra's introduction of new athletic director Jeff Hathaway, was noticeably peeved during conversations with reporters. He didn't learn of VCU's decision until Rao phoned him Tuesday morning. He lamented the lack of substantive dialogue between VCU officials and the CAA office during the process, despite the fact that only a few miles separate the Rams' campus and the league office.
"In any event, each university has their own process they have to follow," he said. "They come to a decision. I don't have to agree with the decision or like it or not like it. But it is what it is and everybody's moving forward."
Moving forward for VCU means leaving behind money earned from its most recent NCAA tournament appearances – approximately $5 million, which would have been paid out over a six-year period. NCAA money remains with the conference to which schools belong at the time of their participation, and does not follow them if they change leagues.
In addition, VCU must pay a $250,000 exit fee to the CAA and a $700,000 entry fee to the Atlantic 10. Interim athletic director David Benedict also said that preliminary studies show that athletic travel costs will increase by approximately $150,000, a figure he called fairly insignificant, given VCU's $21 million annual athletic budget.
VCU basketball coach Shaka Smart was on campus, but didn't attend Tuesday's press conference. He released a statement that read, in part: "We are extremely excited by the opportunity to join the Atlantic 10 Conference. It is a phenomenal league, made up of programs with both rich traditions and recent track records of success. We are very appreciative of the time we spent in the CAA, the experiences we had and the relationships we gained. We plan to maintain our key rivalries with CAA teams, now and in the future."
Two primary factors that led to VCU's jump to the Atlantic 10 were its basketball track record and revenue-sharing model. The A-10 has had 12 at-large berths in the NCAA tournament during the past six years, while the CAA has had just four since 1987.
Under the A-10's revenue-sharing plan, schools keep 75 percent of what they earn from NCAA tournament appearances, with the other 25 percent going to the conference for overall distribution. The CAA's plan spreads tournament appearance money more broadly.
Rao acknowledged that the Atlantic 10's plan places more pressure on the basketball team to succeed, given the money that the school forfeits by departing the CAA.
"Absolutely and we wouldn't want it any other way," he said. "That's exactly how we looked at this entire opportunity. We are succeeding, and we're succeeding on a trajectory that led us to realize that we need to take the next step.
"I can't tell you in the last 18 years of service that I have provided as a president, how many times you can easily get hooked by what seems like a very significant factor, in terms of what you leave behind and therefore leaving you with potential indecision. What you have to do is you have to say what do you think will likely happen in this program if we can keep the components of its success together if we move ahead. The answer was we have a whole lot more to gain by making a move and a whole lot to potentially lose if we stay in place."
Speaking of which, the CAA also awaits a decision by Old Dominion on its future conference home. The Monarchs' brain trust is considering a move to Conference USA, driven largely by its football program and a move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Yeager said that he has been kept up to speed by ODU athletic director Wood Selig, among others, on the Monarchs' process.
Meanwhile, Yeager and the CAA membership will discuss such areas as scheduling and how to distribute the money left behind by VCU and Georgia State – the Panthers are lame-duck members for 2012-13, since they're joining the Sun Belt Conference – at league meetings early next month.
Yeager insisted that the CAA remains viable, despite Tuesday's hit and whatever Old Dominion decides. League officials, he said, are exploring the possibility of adding other schools, but won't simply add members to reach a certain number.
"We're going to be proactive," he said, "in making the league what the members want it to be."


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Rodents are important ecological components of virtually every terrestrial ecosystem. Their success is a result of their gnawing incisors, battery of grinding molars and diastema that spatially and functionally separates the incisors from the molars. Until now these traits defined all rodents. Here, we describe a new species and genus of shrew-rat from Sulawesi Island, Indonesia that is distinguished from all other rodents by the absence of cheek teeth. Moreover, rather than gnawing incisors, this animal has bicuspid upper incisors, also unique among the more than 2200 species of rodents. Stomach contents from a single specimen suggest that the species consumes only earthworms. We posit that by specializing on soft-bodied prey, this species has had no need to process food by chewing, allowing its dentition to evolve for the sole purpose of procuring food. Thus, the removal of functional constraints, often considered a source of evolutionary innovations, may also lead to the loss of the very same traits that fuelled evolutionary diversification in the past.
1. Introduction
Evolutionary innovations leading to major shifts in the morphological, and hence ecological, adaptations of organisms may unlock ecological opportunity and serve as fertile ground for adaptive radiation [1–4]. However, occasionally these innovations are reversed. Examples include the loss of tetrapod limbs in snakes and whales and the loss of flight in penguins, ratites and other birds. In each case, the loss of a key innovation allowed organisms to exploit resources that were not previously available.
Rodents represent a remarkable radiation, comprising over 40 per cent of all extant mammal diversity [5]. They are ubiquitous members of terrestrial mammal communities around the world and are major ecological components of nearly every terrestrial ecosystem, serving key functions such as seed dispersal and soil engineering [6–9]. The broad ecological success of rodents is undoubtedly related to their unique dental mechanics [10]. Indeed the name Rodentia is derived from the Latin roots rodere (to gnaw) and dentis (tooth). Because rodent incisors grow continuously, with enamel on only the labial surface, the lingual surface wears faster and gnawing maintains a chisel-shaped cutting edge. These incisors, combined with the diastema separating them from the cheek teeth, arm rodents with a powerful tool that facilitates access to resources not available to other mammals. The broad ecological success of rodents is a product of the general utility of their dentition. Most rodents are opportunistically omnivorous, feeding on vegetation, seeds and invertebrates. However, some species have specialized diets with major anatomical adaptations to their digestive tract and molar surfaces, but retain the key gnawing and grinding components of the rodent skull.
The most notable exceptions to the gnawing capacity of rodents occur among the shrew-rats endemic to Luzon Island, the Philippines (Archboldomys, Chrotomys and Rhynchomys) and Sulawesi Island, Indonesia (Echiothrix, Melasmothrix, Sommeromys and Tateomys). These species are not a natural (i.e. monophyletic) group [11–13], but rather have independently evolved similar morphological characteristics associated with dietary specialization on earthworms and other invertebrates. Shrew-rats have long faces with a pointed snout, reminiscent of true shrews. Their incisors have either reduced or lost entirely the enamel on the labial surface, thus limiting their capacity to gnaw. The lower incisors are long, slender and procumbent. The upper incisors are more typical of those of other rodents in their overall shape, though generally more delicate. All known species of shrew-rats have molars. Most possess the typical rodent arrangement of three molars per quadrant with complex occlusal surfaces (e.g. Echiothrix and Archboldomys). Others have fewer and simpler molars (Rhynchomys has two molars per quadrant). New Guinea moss-mice have some similar adaptations, including molar loss (e.g. Pseudohydromys ellermani has one molar per quadrant), but they retain typical rodent incisors [14].
Here, we describe a remarkable new shrew-rat that lacks molars and possesses bicuspid upper incisors, both of which are unique among the more than 2200 rodent species.
2. Material and methods
We collected small mammals during 2011 on Mounts Latimojong and Gandangdewata, Sulawesi, Indonesia (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S1). We made qualitative comparisons between specimens of the new taxon and all other known shrew-rat genera from Sulawesi (Echiothrix centrosa, Melasmothrix naso, Sommeromys macrorhinos, Tateomys macrocercus and Tateomys rhinogradoides) and Rhynchomys soricoides, an ecologically similar shrew-rat endemic to Luzon, Philippines. We took standard morphometric data from adult specimens of the earlier-named species (see the electronic supplementary material). We removed the stomach from one specimen of the new taxon and examined its contents.
3. Results
We collected one specimen of the new taxon on Mount Latimojong and another approximately 100 km to the northwest on Mount Gandangdewata (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S1). Both were taken in pitfall traps in mature forest. Morphometric data are presented in the electronic supplementary materials.
(a) New genus and species
Paucidentomys vermidax
(b) Holotype
FMNH 213102/MZB 35000 (figures 1 and 2; electronic supplementary material, figures S2 and S3), an adult male collected on 3 March 2011, fixed in buffered 10 per cent formalin and later transferred to 70 per cent ethanol. The skull was removed and cleaned. This specimen will be transferred from the Field Museum (FMNH) to the Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense (MZB).
(c) Type locality
Mount Latimojong (3.40755° S, 120.00780° E, 2050 m), Bantanase, Karangan, Desa Latimojong, Buntu Batu, Enrekang, Sulawesi Selatan, Indonesia.
(d) Paratype
We collected one additional specimen (MZB 35001) on Mount Gandangdewata (2.88289° S, 119.38644° E, 1571 m), Rantepangko, Mamasa, Sulawesi Barat, Indonesia. It was prepared as a dried skin, cleaned skull and fluid-preserved carcass.
(e) Distribution
Paucidentomys is known only from montane forest on Mount Latimojong and the transition between lowland and montane forest on Mount Gandangdewata, but probably occurs more broadly in mid- to high-elevation areas. The species may be endemic to the southwestern mountains of central Sulawesi [15].
(f) Etymology
The generic name combines the Latin 'paucus' (few) with 'dentis' (tooth) and the Greek 'mys' (mouse) in reference to the lack of molars. The epithet is a hybrid of 'vermi' (worm) and 'edax' (devourer), in reference to the animal's diet.
(g) Diagnosis
Generic and species diagnoses are the same. Paucidentomys has a medium body size and a very long rostrum (relative to other Sulawesi shrew-rats), small eyes, large ears, a soft pelage and a long, thick, hairy and dorsoventrally bicoloured tail (figure 1). The mouth contains one incisor per quadrant, but no other teeth (figure 2). Upper incisors are short with an anterior cusp and slightly inferior posterior cusp; these cusps are connected by a sharp, concave cutting edge at the lateral margin of the tooth (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S3). Palate is very long (see the electronic supplementary material, table S1). Vestiges of molar alveoli are visible under a thin layer of semi-translucent bone below the zygomatic process of the maxilla (figure 2). Pterygoid plate is absent (figure 2). Dentary is long and delicate, lacking significant muscle attachment points (figure 2). Lower incisors are unicuspid, procumbent, sharp and delicate.
(h) Brief description and comparisons
Paucidentomys vermidax is larger than Melasmothrix naso, Sommeromys macrorhinos and Tateomys macrocercus, similar in size to T. rhinogradoides, smaller than Rhynchomys soricoides and substantially smaller than species of Echiothrix. The face is more elongate than that of any other Sulawesi shrew-rat, but similar in this regard to Rhynchomys. Paucidentomys has bicuspid upper incisors and no molars (figure 2; see the electronic supplementary material, figures S2 and S3), both unique characters among rodents. Some rodents have a posterior shelf on the upper incisor (e.g. Mus and Musseromys), but only Paucidentomys has a prominent posterior projection on the upper incisor. Paucidentomys lacks pterygoid plates, distinguishing it from all Sulawesi shrew-rats except Echiothrix (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S2). Additional comparisons are provided in the electronic supplementary material.
(i) Ecology
The stomach of MZB 35001 was distended by segments of earthworms, each 5–10 mm long. No other contents were found. Paucidentomys probably eats only soft animal tissues and perhaps only earthworms. The incisors probably serve to cut or tear earthworms into segments before they are swallowed. Paucidentomys is probably a terrestrial (i.e. not scansorial or arboreal) earthworm specialist restricted to moist forests above ca 1500 m.
4. Discussion
Paucidentomys vermidax has an extremely long face, bicuspid upper incisors and a lack of chewing teeth, suggesting it is a specialist vermivore. It shares several features with Echiothrix, including the lack of pterygoid plates, very small coronoid processes and the general conformation of the basicranial region (see the electronic supplementary material, figure S2). Therefore, we suspect that Echiothrix and Paucidentomys are sister taxa. Ecologically, Paucidentomys is probably very similar to Rhynchomys. However, Rhynchomys is nested within an endemic radiation of Philippine shrew-rats [16] and is only a distant relative of Melasmothrix [13], the only Sulawesi shrew-rat yet included in phylogenetic studies. Therefore, it is unlikely that Rhynchomys and Paucidentomys are close relatives; their similarity is almost certainly the result of convergence. Both lineages are found in moist, high-elevation forests on tropical islands ([17,18], this study). They share a long, slender rostrum, procumbent lower incisors and the inability to gnaw. Rhynchomys retains molars, but they are greatly reduced and probably are of little functional consequence. As such, these genera appear to be approximate ecological equivalents, the result of convergent evolution in isolated but similar environments, suggesting a role for ecological opportunity in shaping morphological evolution.
On both Luzon and Sulawesi, potential competitors are present in the form of other shrew-rats and true shrews belonging to the genus Crocidura. Only one species of Crocidura is known from Luzon, but as many as nine species have been reported from Sulawesi [19]. However, it remains an open question whether shrews and shrew-rats interact competitively on either island.
Both Rhynchomys and Paucidentomys have lost the evolutionary innovations associated with gnawing, which presumably unlocked new ecological opportunity by allowing the efficient exploitation of soft-bodied prey in moist forests. The extreme facial elongation, with reduction or loss of molars and muscle attachment points associated with chewing, suggests a functional shift in the way food is procured and processed by the rodent mouth [20]. With the transition to soft-bodied prey, the mouth was relieved of the need to process food by chewing, and therefore was free to evolve according to the pressures of food acquisition. Many morphological features of animals are constrained by balancing selection because they perform multiple tasks. For example, the evolution of the pharyngeal jaws in cichlid fish relieved the mouth of the need to chew, perhaps facilitating diversification in oral jaws [1]. Paucidentomys and Rhynchomys use the mouth primarily for procuring food, not processing it, perhaps reducing the constraining influences of balancing selection and allowing the evolution of their unusual morphologies. These strange animals highlight the role of convergence in producing similar body plans under similar ecological circumstances, and the opportunistic nature of evolution, allowing the loss of previously successful evolutionary innovations.
We thank Mardin Sarkam, Rohim, Papa Daud, Gherzon, Jhon, Joni and Pailin for assistance with fieldwork, and Richard Marchant for help identifying stomach contents. The Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation, National Science Foundation (OISE 0965856) and Jim Patton provided financial support. Rafe Brown, Erich Fitzgerald, Lawrence Heaney, Guy Musser, Jim Patton and three anonymous reviewers provided helpful comments and discussion. Sean Maher and Rebecca Banasiak helped generate figures. We thank the staff of AMNH, FMNH and MZB for support and access to specimens.
- Received June 15, 2012.
- Accepted July 30, 2012.
- This journal is © 2012 The Royal Society


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12 U.S. Code § 5116 - Study and reports on defaults and foreclosures
The Director shall conduct an extensive study of the root causes of default and foreclosure of home loans, using as much empirical data as is available.
Not later than 6 months after July 30, 2008, the Director shall submit to Congress a preliminary report regarding the study required by this section.
Not later than 12 months after July 30, 2008, the Director shall submit to Congress a final report regarding the results of the study required by this section, which shall include any recommended legislation relating to the study, and recommendations for best practices and for a process to provide targeted assistance to populations with the highest risk of potential default or foreclosure.
2010—Pub. L. 111–203 substituted "Director" for "Secretary" wherever appearing.
Amendment by Pub. L. 111–203 effective on the designated transfer date, see section 1100H of Pub. L. 111–203, set out as a note under section 552a of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees.
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


text: Mitel bolstered its channel executive team with the addition of Sandra Hill as vice president of channel management and distribution for the unified communications company. Hill previously served at LifeSize Communications, the videoconferencing arm of Logitech, as senior director of Americas channels. She'll report to Joe Vitalone, Mitel's new executive vice president of sales for the Americas.


text:
Bar Refaeli Bares Her Bikini Bod
Bar Refaeli shows off her flawless bikini body while lounging on a yacht on Thursday (May 19) in Cannes, France.
"Yup! Can't complain," the 25-year-old Israeli model wrote on her Twitter page.
The next day, Bar was spotted chatting on her cell phone while strolling along the Promenade de la Croisette.
Bar has had a busy week in the south of France!
After glamming up the red carpet at The Beaver premiere, she helped designer Roberto Cavalli celebrate the opening of his new boutique and also attended the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS Gala.
FYI: Bar is wearing a Sydney Evan "Love" ring.


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Regarding the flap over the sale of Sunnyview, the million-dollar annual loss seems to be the deciding point financed by the county real estate tax. The real estate tax also is a significant contribution to public schools.
Remember, the real estate tax falls equally on rich and poor. We are told a large increase in school real estate tax is coming due to the state Legislature's 2001 illegal "pension grab" deal (done with the cooperation of Gov. Tom Ridge) that raised the pension benefits of state lawmakers by 50 percent and awareded a 25 percent increase in pension benefits to most other state employee and public school teachers. And there is no reform in sight.
Seniors are also looking at increased Medicare costs due to the illegal raid on Medicare funding by Obamacare, reputed to be $1 trillion, ignoring the needs of 10,000 baby-boomers retiring daily from now until 2030.
Seniors without children in school are objecting to school taxes.
It is obvious that real estate taxes are unfair and inefficient. Too many properties are exempt. Some western states are 70 percent-plus federal government-owned.
Due to the cost of nursing homes, relatively few people can afford nursing home care, if they don't qualify for Medicaid, and Medicaid will discontinue funding nursing home care under Obamacare. There is a limit to how much money even Obamacare can steal.
The Legislature-Ridge deal obviously created excessive pension obligations, the expenses of which should not fall to the local school board. The school board is only responsible for items in its own labor contract. Costs created by the state government are a state government expense.
On real estate tax, the solution is to end all tax exemptions — church, government, hospitals, schools and colleges across the board.
The increasing tax cost is falling on too small a field.


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Hey ladies...do any of you vlog? I'm tempted to start vlogging some...but am terrified of trolls and hurtful comments. I'd love some tips on how to deal with mean people and build confidence on camera. Thanks in advance!!!
Views: 5
Thanks to Shynea for sharing my site link! It's been fun co-hosting March Vlogging Madness with her.
I've been vlogging since spring 2008 and I'm totally addicted.
There is a sister site to this one - http://momvloggers.ning.com/ It's not as active as this one, but it will let you connect with other vloggers.
The confidence on camera comes from practice. You can practice in front of a mirror and then record. Start with short videos - 1 minute or less - so you don't get overloaded with the technical side and you gain confidence on screen. It also helps to talk about something you love or something you really want to tell people.
Happy Vlogging!
Thanks ladies for the great advice and links!!!
I love to vlog! It's a great creative outlet for me. My advice is to just go for it. Who cares if you make a mistake. You'll learn as you go. It's all about stepping outside the box and taking risks. Feel free to check out any of my videos.
By the way, I use a Flip video camera. It's awesome. Very light weight. Versatile. Takes great video/audio.
Good luck!
Thanks guys!!! I've been working on vlogging and trying to get comfortable in front of the camera. Here is a link to my second vlog : ) (My first one was a rambling mess...ha! ) It was pretty easy once I got the hang of it. I have a flip as well...I just have to get the editing down. Here is the vlog... http://nikkipullen.blogspot.com/
Thanks for all the help and encouragement ...you ladies ROCK!!!


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Handmade figurine is individually cast, sculpted and handpainted with up to fourteen coats of pigment. The rug has a textured weave and fringe.
Measures 3 ¼" x 2 ½" x 3" h.
Item #: BF822WB
Catalog HotKey: G1215
In 1874, a Herend artist picked up his tools to try to mimic a Chinese plate's fish scale design and the illustrious fishnet pattern was born. Porcelain from Hungary, handmade and handpainted with 24k gold accents.
Measure 1 ¾" x 3 ¾" h.
18k yellow gold with lapis lazuli cabochons (9.50 cts) with hammered borders. Handmade in America exclusively for Scully & Scully.
Measures ¾" x ⅞".
Handcarved mahogany scoop back dining armchair with a panelled and upholstered back above an upholstered seat in Chesham cream fabric. Scroll arms on turned and reeded legs.
The pineapple has traditionally been recognized as the symbol of welcome and hospitality throughout America. The true insignia of gracious living, combining beauty, function and superior workmanship, this brass pineapple bookend made of solid brass is truly a performing work of art. Lacquered finish prevents tarnishing. Polishing not necessary. Sold individually.
Measures 5 ½" x 10" h.
The traditional art of decoupage on coasters handmade in England of glass with protective felt backing. Exclusively at Scully & Scully.
A firm favorite with royalty around the world, each is handmade of suede-lined fine calfskin with a gold plated rope logo lock. Carries eight credit cards and has three slots for bills. Handmade in England with the Royal Warrant.
Measures 5 ½" x 1 ½" x 3 ½" h.


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WASHINGTON – D.C. United and Toronto FC battled to a wild 3-3 draw in the U.S. capital Saturday night.
In a game with an early red card, goals galore and a coach ejection, Dwayne De Rosario's hat trick saved a point for the home side as Toronto couldn't capitalize on having a man advantage for 83 minutes.
The fireworks began early, but it was the finish that was spectacular. After fighting back from 1-0 and 2-1 down, Toronto took a late 3-2 lead when Danny Koevermans slipped a shot through, getting a deflection off Andy Iro past back-up 'keeper Steve Cronin's wickets. The Reds looked to be on the way to their first MLS road win of the season, but De Rosario – playing against his former team - hadn't had his final say yet.
RELATED: Watch The Highlights
RELATED: Errors Cost TFC Two Points
RELATED: Toronto Lets Road Win Slip Away
VIDEO: Julian de Guzman with his first MLS goal.
On the ensuing kickoff, De Rosario sent in Austin da Luz down the left in flank behind Toronto's defense. Da Luz's shot was saved by Stefan Frei, but Da Luz collected the rebound, and Andy Iro fouled the winger in the penalty box. De Rosario stepped up and converted the spot kick for his third goal of the evening to tie the game 3-3 entering stoppage.
The Canadian legend then went down and almost scored again in the 90th minute, curling just wide of Toronto's goal after Chris Pontius created space in the box. But that would be all for the pyrotechnics on the evening, as DC missed on a couple of late set piece opportunities.
It was much the same throughout the night. An early red card for 'keeper Bill Hamid meant DC would be forced to play down a man as in the 7th minute, Hamid came out on a bouncing ball and went sliding in towards a long ball that newly acquired Eric Avila was charging down. The two collided and Hamid sent Avila flipping forward, and after consulting the assistant referee, Jasen Anno handed Hamid his marching orders.
Up a man, TFC began to press the issue while DC looked to sit back and strike on the counter.
Avila nearly opened the scoring early when he beat Cronin, who'd come on for Stephen King in place of Hamid, but couldn't sneak it inside the left-hand post.
Then De Rosario got his chance. On an 18th-minute free kick, Santino Quaranta played a short ball to the veteran at the top of Toronto's box and he made no mistake, firing a shot Frei could only parry into the net.
Holding the lead, DC were content to sit back and try to absorb Toronto's pressure as they searched for the equalizer. Even with numbers forward, the best chance of the first half was a Joao Plata header that missed the target.
Seven minutes after the break, however, Toronto got the tying goal. Cronin attempted to punch out a cross from the left hand, but instead pushed it off his own defender and watched helplessly as substitute Peri Marosevic simply tapped it into an empty net.
From there, Toronto kicked it into a higher gear, hoping to earn their first road win of the season. But it would be the home side that would take the 2-1 lead when a Pontius cross wasn't cleared by Iro. De Rosario was there again, pouncing on the ball, rounding Frei and scoring his second of the game.
In a strange set of circumstances, Toronto equalized again in the 69th minute. With DC defender Brandon McDonald down, United tried to make a substitution. But the ref waved play on, and Julian De Guzman fired in a shot from long range that Cronin couldn't get a hand on. United protested vehemently, with coach Ben Olsen seeing red and joining Hamid in an early exit.
With the draw DC (6-6-9, 27 points) stay solidly in the Eastern Conference playoff hunt. Toronto (3-11-11, 20 points) remain last in the East with nine games left in the season.
Scoring Summary:
DC -- Dwayne De Rosario 7 (Santino Quaranta 1) 19
TOR -- Peri Marosevic 2 (unassisted) 52
DC -- Dwayne De Rosario 8 (Chris Pontius 3) 64
TOR -- Julian de Guzman 1 (Ashtone Morgan 1) 69
TOR -- Danny Koevermans 3 (Joao Plata 4) 86
DC -- Dwayne De Rosario 9 (penalty kick) 88
Toronto FC -- Stefan Frei, Richard Eckersley (Matt Stinson 51), Doneil Henry (Peri Marosevic 46), Andy Iro, Ashtone Morgan, Torsten Frings, Eric Avila, Terry Dunfield (Julian de Guzman 55), Joao Plata, Danny Koevermans, Ryan Johnson.
Substitutes Not Used: Danleigh Borman, Ty Harden, Eddy Viator, Milos Kocic.
TOTAL SHOTS: 17 (Joao Plata 6); SHOTS ON GOAL: 7 (Danny Koevermans 2, Joao Plata 2); FOULS: 12 (Andy Iro 3); OFFSIDES: 4 (4 tied with 1); CORNER KICKS: 5 (Joao Plata 3); SAVES: 5 (Stefan Frei 5)
D.C. United -- Bill Hamid, Perry Kitchen, Dejan Jakovic, Brandon McDonald (Ethan White 69), Daniel Woolard, Santino Quaranta, Stephen King (Steve Cronin 9), Clyde Simms, Chris Pontius, Dwayne De Rosario, Josh Wolff (Austin Da Luz 60).
Substitutes Not Used: Brandon Barklage, Blake Brettschneider, Marc Burch, Charlie Davies.
TOTAL SHOTS: 13 (Dwayne De Rosario 7); SHOTS ON GOAL: 8 (Dwayne De Rosario 4); FOULS: 6 (Dwayne De Rosario 2, Santino Quaranta 2); OFFSIDES: 4 (Dwayne De Rosario 3); CORNER KICKS: 4 (Santino Quaranta 3); SAVES: 4 (Steve Cronin 4)
Misconduct Summary:
DC -- Bill Hamid (ejection; Serious Foul Play) 7
DC -- Dwayne De Rosario (caution; Unsporting Behavior) 79
Referee: Jasen Anno
Referee's Assistants: -Brian Poeschel; Bill Dittmar
4th Official: Andrew Chapin
Attendance: 11,684


text:
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The alternator, which is bolted to the engine, keeps your car's battery charged and produces the electrical power necessary to run the vehicle's electrical systems. When starting your car, stored energy in the battery powers the starter motor. Once the engine is running, the alternator produces the electrical energy that your car needs by spinning a magnet on a rotor through a stationary coil of wire. To ensure that the alternator provides the right voltage output for your car's electrical system, there is a voltage regulator built into the alternator. The voltage regulation is built into the car's Powertrain Control Module (PCM) on newer vehicles.
The following electrical or mechanical faults are signs that the alternator may need to be replaced:
One should exercise caution. Should the alternator fail while you are driving, the battery alone will power the car's electrical system for a short while. Cars require a substantial amount of electrical power though and the battery will likely discharge relatively quickly. The car may stall and it would be impossible to re-start if the battery discharged completely. When the battery or charging system warning light illuminates, the situation should be investigated and resolved as soon as possible.
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