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Wifi Module Setup
Activation Quick-Start Guide
Step 1
- Click the 'Register Now' link, located in the top-right corner of www.iFit.com.
- Click the 'activate One Year Free With Provided Code' link.
- Enter your activation code to register with iFit®(a card was included in the WiFi module package).
- You will be asked to enter information required to create your personal iFit® account.
- This data will allow iFit® to create a custom series of workouts to help you meet your fitness goals.
Step 2
Connect your iFit® wireless module to your computer using the included USB cable.
- Plug the included USB cable into the port on your iFit® Module.
- Plug the other end of the USB cable into a USB port on your computer.
Step 3
Install the iFit® Configuration Software by clicking on the appropriate 'Download' button below.
- On this page (www.iFit.com/install), click the appropriate 'Download' button (Macintosh or Windows PC) directly above to launch and configure your iFit® wireless module for use with your account.
Step 4
Activate your iFit® Wireless module, and configure a connections to your wireless network.
- Follow the instructions on your computer screen to configure your iFit® Module.
- When you complete the process, the words 'Device has been successfully configured' will be displayed on your computer screen.
Step 5
Disconnect your module and insert it into the expansion slot of your Treadmill, Elliptical, or Bike.
- Unplug the USB cable from your computer and from your iFit® Module.
- Unplug the power cord or your fitness product, or power off your surge suppression system.
- Insert the iFit® Module into the iFit® port on the console of your exercise equipment.
- Restore power to your fitness product.
Step 6
First time Users should expect up to 2 hours for exercise equipment firmware updates.
- With the power off, insert the module into your equipment console.
- Attach the magnetic safety key to your console.
- Power on your exercise equipment.
- Pull the magnetic safety key.
- Initial Firmware Updates are required. This process can take up to 2 hours to complete and does not require any supervision.
Step 7
Additional Information and Precautions
- Please do not remove the module from your console at any time when the green light is rapidly flashing. This indicates that the data transfer is occurring. The module downloads workouts, updates, as well as uploads results to your workouts.
- There is a slight risk that removing the module during a data write could corrupt information.
- It should not be necessary to remove the module from the console once you have configured it.
- Removing the module while the green indicator light is rapidly flashing could result in workout data being lost.
Note:If you have questions after following these instructions, go to www.iFit.com/support for assistance.
To use the iFit® Module, you are at the right place! For additional information, see your fitness equipment user's manual.


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Now that the season of beer garden-hopping and margarita-fueled beach volleyball is long gone, it's time to recommit to the very important practice of drinking indoors. Your standard bar games—darts, pool, beer pong—require some amount of physical aptitude, however hampered by alcohol it may be. When you've tired of those, look to trusty trivia night to liven up your cold-weather nights out. Gather your recruits—your sports-obsessed friend, the pop culture princess at the office, you get the idea—and put your knowledge to good use to win cash, discounted tabs and bragging rights. We've got one bar for every night of the week (minus Saturday) here, plus more options online at redeyechicago.com/trivia.
The Beetle Bar & Grill
2532 W. Chicago Ave. 773-384-0701
Time: 8-10:30 p.m.
Ten teams of up to six players compete at this Humboldt Park bar most weeks, vying for a $25 gift certificate or $15 or $10 off their bill. You'll be tested on multiple categories each night, including pop culture and geography, plus a picture round where you have to identify celebrities. Luckily the $3 Point Brewery lager pints and $4 Stoli vodka cocktails make drinking cheap even if you don't win a discount.
Sample question: Which state that starts with the letter "A" has the smallest population in the United States? (Alaska)
>>Find more Monday trivia nights
Rocks Lincoln Park
1301 W. Schubert Ave. 773-472-7738
Time: 8-10:30 p.m.
Rocks co-owner Tim Shepardson has been hosting trivia here for seven years, or as he said, "way before every place in the world started doing it." By 7 p.m. the bar is usually full with teams of all sizes snacking on $2 sliders while competing in six rounds spanning goofy themes such as "bad athlete cameos" and "name the STD from the symptoms." The first- and second-prize winners get a $50 or $25 gift card, respectively, and the third place team gets to choose the category for a round at next week's trivia.
Sample question: On the TV show "How I Met Your Mother," what was Robin Scherbatsky's stage name when she was a Canadian pop star? (Robin Sparkles)
>>Find more Tuesday trivia nights
2548 N. Southport Ave. 773-327-4900
Time: 8-10 p.m.
Even when there's a big game on, this Lincoln Park sports bar will make room for trivia fans, with teams of up to eight sharing $10 two-topping pizzas and competing in the upstairs lounge for the $150 first prize and $100 for second place. The bar's many TVs are put to good use playing YouTube clips or displaying logos that competitors have to identify based on weekly themes that have spanned everything from football to "Saved by the Bell." Third prize is a discount on your tab, so you have an incentive to order plenty of $3.50 drafts and $14 pitchers from Big Bay Brewing Company.
Sample question: What is the only word in the book "Green Eggs and Ham" that is more than one syllable? (Anywhere)
>>Find more Wednesday trivia nights
Bucktown Pub
1658 W. Cortland St. 773-394-9898
Time: 8-10 p.m.
You'll face tough questions about music, history, science and other topics here. Make sure to read the newspaper, since the current events round is worth double points. Teams of up to eight players can compete, though your score takes a hit after six people. Fuel up on $10 cheese or pepperoni pizza and $3.50 Stella Artois or Trumer Pils as you compete for $100 and/or a bottle of liquor.
Sample question: Which of the three is not a type of mushroom: cremini, enokitake or sumiami? (Sumiami)
>>Find more Thursday trivia nights
Merkle's Bar & Grill
3516 N. Clark St. 773-244-1025
The Wrigleyville sports bar uses its TVs to display questions about TV shows, sports and other topics, along with images that need to be identified during a picture round. Individuals and teams of up to six vie for gift certificates, bar tab discounts and other giveaways while taking advantage of $4 Jameson shots, $4 domestic drafts and $5 bombs.
Sample question: What famous expression does voice actor Mel Blanc have engraved on his gravestone? (That's all, folks.)
Give your brain a break. Trivia nights are rare on the busiest drinking day of the week. Bar owners: E-mail us at email@example.com if you decide to start a Saturday trivia night!
New Line Tavern
201 N. Clinton St. 312-212-5463
Time: 7-9:30 p.m.
Snack on half-price appetizers and down a few $2.50 Miller Lite or Bud Light bottles while testing your knowledge of current events and categories ranging from college basketball to movies. There's also a picture round where you'll be tasked with identifying celebs and logos. Teams of up to eight can compete, though your score will be docked for more than six players. The top two teams win gift certificates or other prizes such as glassware or drinks.
Sample question: In 2011, Microsoft bought what Internet communications company for $8.5 billion? (Skype)
>>Find more Sunday trivia nights

subset: commoncrawl


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Venusian Blobs
|Possibly Venus
|First appearance
|"The Series Has Landed" (1ACV02)
Blobs are a species of jellyfish-like aliens of unknown origin who have settled on Earth, Venus and the rings of a nearby planet. All known Blobs are easily angered.
Blobs, unlike most species on Futurama, are non-humanoids. They travel by sliding around on the floor using all six limbs for arms. Blobs do not possess a one-way digestive system, instead they are able to swallow any food, or annoying human, so long as it will physically fit inside them. Swallowed items will sit, visible, inside them until digested or otherwise removed from the body. Humans have the ability to remove small items, such as Popplers, through the chest of a Blob, but are unable to get themselves out should a Blob swallow them. This may not be the case if the swallowed human is carrying salt, because salt de-solidifies Blobs temporarily.
Blob reproduction is unknown, but may involve their spewers, which may-or-may-not be exclusive to the female anatomy. Spewers are apparently offensive to some people, despite being seen in popular art.
- Horrible Gelatinous Blob
- Brett Blob
- Mrs. Blob
- "Country Blob"
- Weather Entity Hal
- Model for the Venus de Venus
Additional Information
- The potentially offensive artwork, the Venus de Venus is both the only major clue as to the true name of the Blob species and the identity of the Venusians, as the art depicting a female blob was created on Venus (de Venus). However it is possible that Venus is just another planet that the Blobs have settled on.
- A Blob appears on the $20 note in Bender's Big Score
- "The Series Has Landed" (1ACV02)
- "The Problem with Popplers" (2ACV15)
- "The Route of All Evil" (3ACV12)
- "Bendin' in the Wind" (3ACV13)
- "Future Stock" (3ACV21)
- "Love and Rocket" (4ACV03)
- "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television" (4ACV06)
- Bender's Big Score
- The Beast with a Billion Backs
- Do not use this template, use {{clink}} instead.
- "The Big Sweep" (US#010)
- "Sideshow Fry" (US#012)
- "Kickin' It Old School" (US#016)
- "The Time Bender Trilogy: Part 3" (US#019)
- "Son of the Sun" (US#035)
- "Full Metal Racket" (US#037)


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NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press says it has sold iCircular, a service it developed to help newspapers and retailers place more advertising on mobile phones. The buyer, Wanderful Media, is a digital advertising company based in Los Gatos, Calif.
The companies did not give financial terms of the deal, which closed on Oct. 30.
ICircular is the mobile-phone equivalent of the stacks of coupons and other promotions that are inserted into print editions of weekend newspapers. The AP, a not-for-profit news cooperative owned by newspapers, launched iCircular in September 2011 to test the service with a limited number of newspapers and retailers.
The New York Daily News, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune were among an initial group of 40 newspapers using iCircular on their mobile phone applications. By the time Wanderful purchased iCircular, the project had expanded to more than 180 publications. It also had 21 retailers, including Target Corp., Macy's Inc. and Kmart, running ads.
The AP had always planned to sell iCircular, said Jessica Bruce, an AP vice president. The plan, she said, was to incubate and test the product on behalf of the industry to see if there was interest among newspapers, retailers and customers.
Wanderful Media owns the "Find n Save" brand of about 275 local shopping websites and helps retailers run local digital advertisements. Its goal is to reinvent the circular advertising business for the digital age. It is backed by 12 media companies, including The Washington Post Co. and Gannett Co., the publisher of USA Today. Wanderful had been operating under the name ShopCo Holdings until September, when it began using its current name.
Wanderful said it plans to use iCircular to broaden its products for mobile devices and tablet computers.


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The College of Mount St. Joseph and other local institutions have received $1.8 million of state grant money that is expected to fund cooperative education and internship positions. The Mount will be able to fund more than 20 new co-op positions for its students, an increase of 10% of co-op placements.
The grant is part of a larger $11 million investment from the Ohio Board of Regents with matching dollars from employers throughout the state. The Mount and its partners in southern Ohio--the University of Cincinnati and its branch campuses, UC-Blue Ash College and Clermont College; Cincinnati State Technical and Community College, University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College; and Shawnee State University—received the largest single award among the grants issued. The Cincinnati USA Chamber of Commerce and TechSolve will work closely with the program.
Jen Franchak, director of career and experiential education at the Mount, says the co-op positions will be selected in industries targeted for growth in Ohio, including biohealth; finance, insurance and IT; advanced energy; consumer products, brand development and creative services; food processing and agricultural; and advanced manufacturing, polymers, automotive and aerospace.
"The grant brings more than new opportunities to college students who will benefit from this program by receiving a salary from co-ops and internships," said Franchak. "It also benefits the many employers that receive hard-working students who are eager to gain experiences related to their career choice. This increases the career-readiness and professionalism for our students, and brings fresh talent to employers in southern Ohio."
The Mount will use the grant to pay scholarships for students in the program ($1,500 for part-time positions, $3,000 for full-time positions) which will offset the hourly wage offered by the employer. The scholarship portion coming from the grant funds will reduce the overall financial burden to employers, thus increasing the total number of positions locally. Approximately 25% of all undergraduate students at the Mount co-op prior to graduating.
The partnership of higher education institutions in southern Ohio that received this grant is an opportunity for the region as well. Companies such as TechSolve and the Cincinnati USA Chamber of Commerce will be able to interview students from all area schools on the same day, creating an efficient hiring process.
"There are many benefits to bringing new co-op and internships to many local employers as well," Franchak said. "There's a growing need for good employees in many career fields that aren't being met in Ohio. This grant will help expose students to those careers, and hopefully create more opportunities for them."
The College of Mount St. Joseph is an undergraduate and graduate Catholic college that provides an interdisciplinary liberal arts and professional curriculum emphasizing values, service and social responsibility.


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Climate Witness: Vladilen Ivanovich Kavry, Russian Federation
I was born in 1966 and I have lived here all my life. For generations my people have hunted marine mammals and herded reindeer for our livelihood. There are about 200 people in my village and several thousand more people living in villages spread out along the coast. We live surrounded by Artic wildlife and are use to the frozen conditions, strong winds and ice storms.
In the winter the sea freezes and the rivers close over. We have been able to walk on the sea ice for generations. Our village is on Cape Vankarem, a unique natural area where there is one of the largest walrus haulout site in north-eastern Russia.
Walrus "haul out" of the water to rest and bear their young during the summer. They are adapted to living on sea ice for most of the year. When there is no ice they haul out on the coastal sites. The walrus resting area is very close to our village but we have lived together without disturbing each other.
Shorter periods of sea ice
In my lifetime I have noticed significant changes in the cycle of freezing and thawing. The ice-forming period now lasts for about a month, which is longer that before. The ice now breaks up a month earlier than before.
Many of the people in my village have experienced the ice fields melting that used to last all summer, and there is no more old ice left here.
The changes to the seasons mean that the walrus stay longer at their haulouts. My friend Tilmyet, who is 82, says that the walrus are tired and have nowhere to rest because there is no more ice in summer.
We also see birds like ducks, gulls and snow buntings and leaving the area later, because of the change in the length of the seasons.
Polar bears, walruses and humans
During the last few winters we have noticed that the walrus haulout is more crowded. Also, more polar bears come closer to the walrus settlement and our village. We are pretty sure the more bears are here because of climate change. The bears depend on sea ice to get to their prey, mostly seals and without sea ice their hunting ground is shrinking.
The polar bears cause problems because they come looking for food in the village and often attack the sled dogs. It was not unusual for ten to visit the village in one day when foraging. We need to scare them away.
Polar bears are protected in Russia and hunting has been banned since 1956. We are now working to keep the bears away from people without hurting them."
Out on bear patrol
"In 2006 I worked with WWF to set up a "bear patrol". The patrol goes out around the village and puts out an alarm if the bears get too close. This way we can save both bear and human lives. In this way, the famous WWF panda bear is helping to protect the Artic polar bear.
We also keep humans away from the Walrus haulout. When people get to close to the walruses they panic - many can die in the squeeze. The smell of dead walrus attracts bears to the area, very close to our village, creating danger for people. Late last year, the bear patrol took some dead walruses on a tractor to a feeding area 10km away from Vankarem. This seemed to keep the bears satisfied.
The patrol is also collecting information to help WWF monitor the population changes caused by climate change. We are trained in monitoring and take radios and other equipment other on patrol. The feeding point is one of our observation posts."
Working for the future
"In 2006 we asked the government by petition that Cape Vankarem become a nature reserve because of its unique wildlife and environment.
I am very proud of my landsmen. People have lived here for centuries, and nowadays we have to work so that our children can admire the beauty of the land."
Scientific reviewReviewed by: Dr Oleg Anisimov, State Hydrological Institute, St.Petersburg, Russia
Vladilen's story is consistent with what scientists expected to happen under the conditions of the warmer climate. Interestingly enough, some of the environmental impacts in the Arctic that were predicted in late 1990s have already been observed, as illustrated by Vladilen.
Modern geographical science operates with the complex mathematical equations and models to predict changes in sea ice, animal habitat and behavior. Observations and traditional ecological knowledge of the indigenous peoples of the North are however the only sources of information about the changes that take place in reality. Here we see that the observations support the theory.
One of the conclusions following from the scientific readings is that the climatic and environmental changes in the last decade have exceeded the natural variability, and this is quite consistent with what people in Vladilen's village say.
- Further information about the climatic and environmental changes in the Arctic and a review of the most recent relevant scientific publications may be found in the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change,Volume 2, Chapter 15 (Polar Regions). Cambridge, 2007.
All articles are subject to scientific review by a member of the Climate Witness Science Advisory Panel.


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PLACE Online Course and Practice Tests
Basic Skills (90): Reading, Mathematics, and Writing
Our online course is the most complete system for addressing the specific needs and demands of the Program for Licensing Assessments for Colorado Educators (PLACE) Basic Skills Test (90). The course is designed around the content objectives of the Reading, Mathematics, and Writing sections.
The Student Demo provides a thorough overview of the course and practice tests. The course can be completed in 3 to 15 hours depending on your level of need. The instructional sections and sample tests directly relate to the information provided by the Colorado Department of Education.
PLACE Course Advantages:
Over 1,650 web pages of instruction address every tested competency in Reading, Mathematics, and Writing found on the Basic Skills section of the PLACE
Perfect your test taking skills with four practice tests each for Reading, Mathematics, and Writing. That's 12 practice tests all modeled on the test objectives from the Official PLACE Website, www.place.nesinc.com
Write a sample essay, send it for evaluation, and receive a reply with helpful feedback
A results page for each practice test shows scores, items missed, and offers an opportunity to revisit any item to see how it can be correctly completed
Students are continuously informed of weaknesses/strengths. Areas of weakness are accompanied by specific comments and suggestions for improvement
Course can be completed in as few as 3 hours and as many as 15 hours depending on your instructional needs (3 hours if brief review is needed, 15 hours if more rigorous study is required)
Meets 2018 PLACE Test Specifications
School representatives interested in a site license can call or send an email requesting an unrestricted preview of both the student and instructor sections of this program for evaluation purposes.
Money Back Guarantee
If for any reason you are not completely satisfied with our program, just notify us within 30 days of your purchase, and we will issue a full refund.


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Megadeth Madness
Frontman Dave Mustaine talks about reviving thrash-metal sound, getting back into the studio, hitting the roadBy MELANIE PLENDA
Special to the Union Leader July 03. 2013 5:51AM
WHAT'S IN A NAME? Ask Dave Mustaine to define his band and he'll say, 'We're just Megadeth. We're like a jazz-classical-punk outfit with long hair.' But the band at the forefront of the rise of thrash-metal in the 1980s gets back to its roots on its new CD, 'Super Collider.'
METAL MADNESS: Dave Mustaine will bring Megadeth of the Bank of New Hampshire Pavilion at Meadowbrook in Gilford on July 3.
'(Metal music) is about doing something no one else does,' Mustaine said. Which is why it shouldn't be so surprising that it's constantly changing. And Megadeth, itself, has gone through a metamorphosis. Where once a hard-core image was all the rage, now it's more about the music and bands just being what they are.
'This one has a real aggressive feeling, but doesn't have real juvenile lyrics to ruin it,' he said.
And as for the state of metal today, Mustaine said, it, too, has changed from the hazy heavy days of Led Zeppelin, and even the punk rock-infused days of speed metal. Still, he tries not to pay too much attention.'People would ask me, 'What kind of band are you?',' he said. 'And I would say, 'We're just Megadeth. We're like a jazz-classical-punk outfit with long hair.'
The show starts at 4:30 p.m. with doors open at 3:30 p.m. and parking open at 2:30 p.m. This is an all ages show. Tickets are $23.75, $33, $42 and $58, plus applicable service fees. For more information, log onto meadowbrook.net or call 293-4700.


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Days of Summer. Gardens and happiness. Remembering your childhood, playing outside in the fresh air, searching for bugs and exploring nature. This is a slightly nostalgic but joyful piece. Good fun under sunny blue skies, dodging the raindrops, enjoying simple pleasures and smiling and laughing when you were young.
Files included:
1. Full version 1:24
2. Looped version 0:34 (wav)


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Value Line is regarded as the best independent research available. More than just recommendations, Value Line provides the rationale behind its picks for greater understanding.
With few exceptions, a real estate investment trust, or REIT, buys, sells, develops, and manages income-producing property. The type of REIT can run the gamut from apartment landlords such as AvalonBay Communities (AVB) and Equity Residential (EQR), to operators of retail outlets and self-storage facilities including Federal Realty (FRT) and Public Storage (PSA), to office tower developers such as Boston Properties (BXP) and Vornado (VNO). Healthcare and assisted living centers are a budding area, too, owing to the country's aging Baby Boomer population, a trend on which HCP (HCP) and Healthcare Realty (HR) hope to capitalize. Our REIT coverage isn't limited to property operators, with Annaly Capital Management (NLY), which owns and manages a portfolio of mortgage-backed securities, serving as a prime example.
But while the sphere of operation varies widely, all REITs have one thing in common: tax-exempt status. For a prospective REIT to qualify, and be exempt from corporate-level income taxes, no less than 75% of its assets must be real estate related, and at least 90% of its taxable income must be distributed to shareholders through dividends. Because of this structure, REIT stocks mainly appeal to investors stressing current income, since they generally have modest long-term upside potential, but offer substantial yields. In fact, the typical REIT issue under our review is expected to appreciate 40% in value over the next three to five years, well below the median for all equities in the Value Line universe. Conversely, the average dividend yield within our REIT industry is about 5%, more than double that of all the stocks we cover.
By offering a passive investment within the structured, highly-liquid confines of stock ownership, REITs removed three historical obstacles to real estate investment. First off, gone are the days when a significant amount of capital was required to purchase income-producing property, since investors can acquire as many, or as few, shares as their finances will allow. The relative illiquidity of real estate is also a thing of the past, since market participants are assured of their ability to buy or sell shares quickly and at fair market value. Finally, investors who may lack the time, interest, or wherewithal to take an active role in property management no longer need to, since the REIT acts as landlord and property manager on the shareholders' behalf. Although REITs have been around since the early 1970s, the format didn't gain in popularity until the 1990s when property values increased sharply and investors sought a way to capitalize on that phenomenon.
One of the main attractions of real estate ownership is the ability to generate cash flow, referred to as funds from operations, or FFO, within the context of REITs. Typically defined as net income plus noncash charges (namely depreciation), FFO is almost universally used as a stand-in for earnings. Consequently, when considering a REIT stock for a potential investment, a primary concern is the company's ability to generate FFO, since it is the firm's funds from operations that will ultimately support the dividend. Most areas of the Value Line page—such as the Capital Structure and Funds Flow boxes, or the Statistical Array—should be examined with that in mind.
Despite the real estate market's roller-coaster ride of the past few years, operating performance is usually steady from one reporting period to the next. This is largely due to the long-term nature of leases, which generally extend several years into the future, and in some cases can run upwards of a decade at a time. Thus, Timeliness is rarely a factor here, since most REIT stocks under our review are usually expected to mirror the broader market averages over the near term.
Special attention should be paid to the Capital Structure box, which gives a glimpse at the condition of the company's balance sheet. Too much debt (relative to its peers) can place an undue burden on FFO, since interest expense is typically the largest non-operating expense a real estate firm encounters. However, too little debt might mean the company is not taking full advantage of financial leverage, which can, if used judiciously, amplify returns on capital. A similar examination should be applied to interest coverage, which demonstrates the company's ability to meet its debt obligations.
The next stop down is the Funds Flow box, which illustrates how much capital the company has coming in and going out, as well as its sources of funding. Generally speaking, net profit plus noncash charges (i.e. FFO) in excess of dividends declared would be a positive sign, indicating that a company is covering its payout through its cash flow from operations, instead of borrowing or selling properties to appease shareholders. Investments funded exceeding investments repaid would also be encouraging, since it shows that a company is laying the groundwork for the future, as opposed to liquidating productive assets to generate short-term gains.
With respect to the Statistical Array, although each measure provides an important detail about the company's operation, three lines should be of particular interest: Funds from operations; dividends declared; and dividends declared to FFO. At the end of the day, REIT stocks are dividend vehicles. Tracing the relationship between the funds a company is generating through its core operations, and the percentage of those funds being distributed to shareholders, is of utmost importance while weighing an investment in a real estate investment trust. Consideration should also be given to the strength and persistence of that relationship over time, since a history demonstrating a steady, upward trajectory would be an encouraging sign for future payouts.
In all, REIT stocks are unlikely to stand out for short- or long-term price appreciation potential, although there are a few notable exceptions. Hotel developer FelCor Lodging (FCH), distribution center operator ProLogis Trust (PLD), as well as mall owners Developers Diversified (DDR) and Pennsylvania REIT (PEI), all break the mold in that regard. However, their considerable recovery potential is more attributable to steep share price declines over the past few years, than to their stellar long-term prospects. By and large, REIT stocks offer above-average yields, led by Annaly Capital and hotel owner Hospitality Properties Trust (HPT), and have a good track record for generating current income, while gradually increasing their payouts over time.


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Are the machines getting smarter...
...or are the humans getting dumber?
Politicians are not quite ready to pass themselves off as human: but machines are almost there. This was the shock conclusion from a Reading University competition run at the weekend designed to sort out machines from people. Five computer programmers from across the globe competed for the $100,000 Loebner prize for Artificial …
...or are the humans getting dumber?
...Welcome our artificial overlords with open arms (with chips implanted of course)
Mine is the one with the ups in the pocket
The unquestioning way the mainstream press has lapped up the bullshit spewed forth by Captain Cyborg in this story defies belief. "Two of the machines getting very close to passing the Turing Test for the first time"? "Conversational abilities of each machine was scored at 80 and 90 per cent"?
These are chat-bots, little better than Eliza. The winning entry Elbot can be tried online at www.elbot.com. It does a few clever tricks, but what kind of moron would confuse this thing for a human? It's obvious that this line of research, while certainly good fun, seems unlikely to provide any insight whatsoever into true machine intelligence.
...welcome our new thinking machine overlords.
are they female?
will ritalin make them think more coherently?
find out same time same bat channel next week
"if the responses from the computer were indistinguishable from that of a human, the computer could be said to be thinking"
This statement makes the assumption that the human in the situation is also thinking... I know many humans whose responses to anything could not be classed as 'thinking'.
Some might say that those are the politicians. I wouldn't say that, because they really are following me... even though my tinfoil hat shields the tracker that they implanted in my teeth.
Can't help thinking you've lifted this story verbatim from some place, missing an opportunity to have a dig at your favourite Captain Cyborg? It's just, well, it's not YOU!
Has anyone considered the possibility of a virus/phishing scam being extended through Eliza style emailing?
People are pretty wary of clicking unsolicited links, but what if this unsolicited link was from either a "friend", or started off as an inane chat back and forward for a while before a link was distributed? Equally, this could be used with MSN deployed trojans.
Mine's the one with the black hat underneath
He's right you'd have to be an idiot not to notice. It doesn't even seem able to reply on the subject!
It never seems to answer questions and seems more like a pseudo twat-athon generator.
My wife reckons I can do better than that even when I'm watching TV.
That "elbot" thing fooled a human 25% of the time? What kind of dummies did they use? Whenever you ask a slightly complex question, elbot either ignores you or spouts nonsense, and if you ask it to clarify the nonsense it tries to change the topic. Unless you are purposefully being soft with your questions, or the human conversators in the experiment are being purposefully dense, there's no way it can pass for a person.
I wish someone would give me a prize for getting more than 30%!
Perhaps the bar could be reset to 100% for the Turing test, but a cheaper, somewhat less prestigious prize (say, a doughnut) for the dumbed-down 30 percenters, aka the Warwick test.
"Tell me about your mother"?
The Elbot thing is so blatently useless I can't see how anybody wouldn't know it was a machine after 2 questions max. Any test should allow the human participants to lead the conversion. Until we're approaching the ability to do that, these contests are just a joke.
...and since when has Captain Cyborg been a "boffin"?
Paris, because people are unable to distinguish her responses from those made by a machine.
I must admit, the responses to "suck my c**k" were quite funny.
R Kev is enthusing - as usual ""This has been a very exciting day with two of the machines getting very close to passing the Turing Test for the first time.", but didn't the Cap'n write the questions himself?
Maybe if a real human drew up the questions we'd have a different result. I just thing that the questions were too close to being easy for machines to work on.
"However, one of the organisers did suggest that the obvious machines didn't really answer questions - they were quite vague or definitely evasive, obviously picking up on key words, and building an answer around those, rather than what they had been asked."
That'll be the Tech Support desk they were talking to then.
At what level of conversational ability does the machine has to perform to deemed as 'thinking' and 'human-like?'
If we made a machine capable of communicating at the level of a 5 year old child and used 5 year old children as the human control group, would adults talking to both the machines & the 5 year olds be able to tell the difference?
If so does this mean we have created a thinking machine? Most 5 year olds I know can come out with a fair amount of random rubbish when asked simple questions.
If this is not allowed, then what age group do the machines have to represent?
What implications does this have on human 'thought' if the machines have to communicate with people of a high intelligence & trick them into believing they are 'real'.
Are 5 year olds capable of 'thought' if they fail a Turing test?
What happens if you used Jade Goody as one of the control group? instead?
"Dr Warwick is an enthusiast when it comes to the rise of the machine. His personal website – I, Cyborg – explains in detail how he became the world's first Cyborg, when he agreed to have a silicon chip transponder implanted in his forearm."
Let me guess - the 'I, Tosspot' domain was already taken?
An article featuring the cyber-mentalist himself and minimal sarcasm, for shame!
Did they provide a "telepathy-proof room" in which to conduct the test? Alan Turing himself seems to have thought that one would be required. Perhaps this was his concession to the problem of Gödel incompleteness in finite state machines.
His starting point for the test, the imitation game, could be much more fun. Maybe next year...
me: "Describe in single words only the good things that come into your mind about... your mother."
bot: "Wait a minute. Are you saying that entities always come first"
me: <close tab>
So there were machines pretending to be humans and humans pretending to be humans, and testers asking them questions, and trying to correctly identify which were machines...
They give that stats for machines being correctly identified, but how many of the human control group were incorrectly identified as machines?? That would be an interesting statistic! And is back to the point about the human in the conversation perhaps not actually thinking!!
This is a great achievement but sadly the Turing test was never a true test of intelligence, it cannot show there is semantic meaning behind the answers. You could ask it "what is your favourite food?" and it might say, "my favourite food is Pizza" Here it has answered the question but this does not show it knows what a pizza is.
The 'Chinese room' is a good way of illustrating this, if you stick someone in a room and ask them written questions in Chinese symbols, if they were quick enough they could answer them all correctly if they had an answer book with a list of Chinese questions with appropriate answers. The person answering would have no idea of the meaning of the question or answer but they can pass off as being a Chinese person. This is exactly how a computer would do it, it is fitting questions to set answers it has, I know it is far more complex than this but it is not 'thinking' or showing any intelligence
Type in, "I suck cock" and it crashes...
Shame on you, El Reg, for missing the Quote of the Year from the Grauniad when discussing this ridiculous contest. Reproduced below for your delectation and delight:
"The event's credibility was hardly aided by the insistence of Hugh Loebner, the prize's American sponsor, that he had no interest in the result and had only set up the competition 18 years ago to promote his firm's roll-up plastic lighted portable disco dance floors."
If "simulated" intelligence is indistinguishable from "actual" intelligence, does it really matter if it's "simulated"?
No tounge in cheek humor about captain cyborg? Did you guys really take this press release seriously? Does El Reg just reprint AP now too?
Paris Hilton, because even she couldn't swallow this story...
> Whenever you ask a slightly complex question, elbot either ignores you or spouts nonsense, > and if you ask it to clarify the nonsense it tries to change the topic.
So you only have to add the ability to say "the severe end of severe" and you have a cabinet minister!
The shame!
dubya to computer: do them Iraqis have WMD?
computer: uuuuuuhh yeooooww (said like blind melon chitlin)
dubya to flunky: dang, i knowed it all along. git mah army in there and kick butt.
i'm embarrassed by this whole mess.
It told me it wasn't human twice. What were the 25 percent thinking?
<~~ Her, because...
The whole thing is silly, I mean what are they trying to do, implement reasonable machine intelligence or teach a bot to fake a conversation.
in response to By Steven Hunter, "If "simulated" intelligence is indistinguishable from "actual" intelligence, does it really matter if it's "simulated"?"
It makes a massive difference, true intelligence and a computer program that gives believable answers but understands noting of what it is saying are not even comparable. Think about what I said about the Chinese room, if I did it I would just be matching up symbols, I would have no idea of what the questions or answers meant, infact you wouldn't even need to tell me they were questions/answers, I could think it was just a match the symbols game and provide the correct answers. This is exactly how the artificial 'intelligence' is working.
Another way to look at is if I wrote (over many years) a book which had an answer to every question a human could think of, the book could pass the Turing test, yet it is just bits of paper, it does not think.
It evaded simple questions like
"Orange or blue?" and
"What is the average airspeed of an unladen swallow?"
A human would've certainly been able to continue with the second one and at the very least asked what the first question was about?


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44 U.S. Code § 2103 - Officers
§ 2103.
The Archivist of the United States shall be appointed by the President by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The Archivist shall be appointed without regard to political affiliations and solely on the basis of the professional qualifications required to perform the duties and responsibilities of the office of Archivist. The Archivist may be removed from office by the President. The President shall communicate the reasons for any such removal to each House of the Congress.
The Archivist shall be compensated at the rate provided for level III of the Executive Schedule under section 5314 of title 5.
There shall be in the Administration a Deputy Archivist of the United States, who shall be appointed by and who shall serve at the pleasure of the Archivist. The Deputy Archivist shall be established as a career reserved position in the Senior Executive Service within the meaning of section 3132(a)(8) of title 5. The Deputy Archivist shall perform such functions as the Archivist shall designate. During any absence or disability of the Archivist, the Deputy Archivist shall act as Archivist. In the event of a vacancy in the office of the Archivist, the Deputy Archivist shall act as Archivist until an Archivist is appointed under subsection (a).
(Added Pub. L. 98–497, title I, § 102(a)(2), Oct. 19, 1984, 98 Stat. 2280.)
Prior Provisions
A prior section 2103 was renumbered section 2107 of this title.
Effective Date
Section effective Apr. 1, 1985, see section 301 of Pub. L. 98–497, set out as an Effective Date of 1984 Amendment note under section 2102 of this title.
LII has no control over and does not endorse any external Internet site that contains links to or references LII.


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Danielle Staub Analyzes 'Real Housewives Of New Jersey' Season 3 Episode 9
Disclaimer: Danielle Staub did not actually write this post. But, as avid fans of the show, we figured we might have a little insight into her own take on the show. The views expressed here are not those of Crushable, but rather are simply an imagining of what Danielle might have to say.
On episode nine of Real Housewives of New Jersey season three, it's Christmas time in Jersey! The ladies prepare to celebrate the good old-fashioned way, with professional tree/house decorators and a humongous party with a step-and-repeat and real live carolers. It's also Ashley's birthday, and we watch her grapple with the fact that her biological father wasn't able to come up to celebrate. Things come to a head at Melissa and Joe's Christmas party, when Kim G shows up with a Giudice nemesis, Monica Chacon, who is the lawyer suing Joe Giudice. See what Danielle Staub had to say about this week's episode.


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The Laureus World Sports Awards recognize sporting achievements worldwide and winners are judged by what the organization calls "the ultimate sports jury" — that being 46 top international athletes of all time.
And that panel of judges has nominated Kobe Bryant and the Lakers for awards that will be presented in a televised awards ceremony Feb. 7.
Bryant is competing against other star athletes, such as Rafael Nadal and Manny Pacquiao.
The 2010 NBA champion Lakers are up against Spain's World Cup Team, the European Ryder Cup Team, Champions League winners Inter Milan, the Red Bull Formula One Team and the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team.
Don't expect Bryant or the Lakers to show up and accept their award, if they win. The ceremony is being held in Abu Dhabi next month and the Lakers are scheduled to be in Memphis that day.


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Harry Fox Agency Claims Copyright Over Public Domain Work By Johann Strauss
from the of-course-they-would dept
I disputed this claim of course ... and in every case where I have disputed such a claim on youtube of ownership of a work clearly in the publc domain, the claim was released in a few hours.I'm sure this will end in some sort of apology, but shouldn't we be concerned that we keep seeing these kinds of things happening? Copyright holders have become quite lax in doing any sort of verification before silencing content creators. It's a huge problem.
I am amazed that Harry Fox Agency has reinstated the claim and that youtube now informs me that HFA may sue me or force me off youtube. The claim is patently absurd; Johann Strauss Sr. died in 1849.
Representatives of the Austrian embassy were at the concert from which the clip is taken and as this piece is practically a second Austrian national anthem, I am sure they would have objected to an improper violation against a national treasure.
Several well known music critics and artists have already written to you pointing out the absurdity of this claim as I tweeted a story about it.


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This issue clocks in at 171 pages.
First up is Toriko Chapter 219- I guess there is nothing as intimidating as group of pissed off chefs. As the Gourmet Corp launches a fearsome attack during the cooking competition, Toriko and his buddies counter with some powerful, yet ultimately useless attacks. Oh, my! Komatsu is in trouble! I don't think all the cooking skills in the world are going to help him save himself from the freaks attacking him. It's a good thing the other chefs seem more competent at defending themselves. Plus they will probably get pissed if their carefully prepared dishes are ruined. This series is still not one of my favorites, but at least there were lots of speed lines and attacks to keep me somewhat entertained.
One Piece – chapter 696 – Lots of eating and celebrating their escape from the island. The rescued kids are going to go with the Navy, and Luffy has big plans! He's going to crush all four emperors! Hopefully this wraps up all involvement of Caesar, because I thought he was obnoxious and I'm not going to miss him much.
Naruto – Chapter 617 – Naruto hands out chakra like it's candy. The ninjas get ready for an all out attack. Naruto's shoulder is dislocated! But wait! Now it's not! Can Naruto's buddies keep Neji's death from being a tragic waste? Maybe we'll find out next issue! Nah, probably not, but maybe the fighting will start again?
Nisekoi – Chapter 59 – Christmas chapter! Chitoge's mom is coming home for the holiday! She's a terror, too. Everyone is terrified of her, despite her less than imposing appearance. When her secretary collapses, she quickly lassoes Raku in to handle the job until Christmas Eve. Poor guy! She wants to see what he's made of, and I think his work experience with her won't be pleasant. I am curious to see just how bad Chitoge's mom can be! If he can stick it out, she'll reward him with a stay for two in a penthouse suite at a deluxe hotel. Can he make it that long?
One-Punch Man – Chapter 2 – Another short chapter, giving more background on Saitama. He became One-Punch Man after taking on a crab dude, and then trained like a fiend, losing his hair (as well as his good looks) in the process. I am a bit disappointed with the length of the chapters so far, and the lack of a story. Maybe we'll get a story next issue?
Bleach – Chapter 524 – Oh MY! The battle between Unohana and Zaraki rocks! That is all.
Cross Manage – Chapter 18 – Soccer team manager Chiumi drops by to watch the lacrosse teams' second game, and she has a crush on Sakurai! She's studied up on lacrosse, and she's all ready to wow him with her knowledge of the game and the team. She knows Sakurai has some problems communicating with girls, and she's going to help him with that, and earn some brownie points at the same time. This chapter was bogged down with lacrosse rules, and it didn't hold my attention like previous chapters.
Kintoki One-shot – Cute color splash page! Though I enjoyed this one-shot, it's more a throw away chapter than anything else. Great art but not much substance. It did get a few chuckles from me, and that's saying a lot since I am sick as a dog today.
Oh, they will start running a colorized DBZ starting next issue! And there will be new series announcements next week, too!


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Among the companies whose shares are expected to see active trade in Friday's session are Beam Inc., Honeywell International Inc., and Procter & Gamble Co.
Beam US:BEAM is projected to report fourth-quarter earnings of 72 cents a share, according to a consensus survey by FactSet. The maker of Jim Beam and Maker's Mark will be sold to Suntory Holdings Ltd. of Japan for $16 billion to create an entity with annual sale of more than $4.3 billion.
Honeywell HON, +0.01% is forecast to post earnings of $1.22 a share in the fourth quarter.
Procter & Gamble PG, +1.35% is expected to report fiscal second-quarter earnings of $1.20 a share.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. BMY, +0.17% is likely to report fourth-quarter earnings of 43 cents a share.
Kimberly Clark Corp. KMB, +1.05% is expected to post fourth-quarter earnings of $1.39 a share.
Stanley Black & Decker Inc. SWK, -1.47% is projected to post earnings of $1.30 a share in the fourth quarter.
State Street Corp. STT, -0.32% is forecast to report earnings of $1.19 a share in the fourth quarter.
Xerox Corp. XRX, +1.86% is likely to post fourth-quarter earnings of 29 cents a share.
After Thursday's closing bell, Microsoft Corp. MSFT, -1.80% reported its fiscal second-quarter profit rose to $6.56 billion, or 78 cents a share, from $6.38 billion, or 76 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue increased to $24.52 billion from $21.46 billion. Shares of Microsoft gained 2.8% in after-hours trading.
Starbucks Corp. SBUX, +0.53% late Thursday said its fiscal first-quarter profit rose 25% to $540.7 million, or 71 cents a share. Revenue also increased 12% to $4.24 billion with comparable-store growth up 5% in the Americas and 5% globally. Starbucks shares climbed almost 1% in after hours.
Shares of E-Trade Financial Corp. ETFC, -0.88% edged up in extended trading after it announced it swung to a fourth-quarter profit of $57.86 million, 20 cents a share, from a loss of $186.06 million, or 65 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue fell 4% to $447.10 million.
Intuitive Surgical Inc. ISRG, -2.39% reported fourth-quarter earnings of $4.28 a share, compared with $4.25 a share a year ago. However, sales for the maker of robotic surgery systems slid to $576.2 million from $609.3 million in the year earlier period. Shares of Intuitive Surgical slumped 6.6% in after hours.
More news from MarketWatch:
Microsoft profit edges higher and tops forecasts
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The capital of Ontario, Toronto is the fifth biggest city in North America, and the largest as well as liveliest city in Canada. Home to a successful mix of tourist attractions, outstanding museums and theatres, and an amazing musical scene, as well as offering a host of possibilities for outdoor activities, Toronto is a cosmopolitan and ever-evolving city that will certainly lift your mood.
Toronto's most famous landmark, the CN Tower, is not only an architectural wonder that's 533 metres tall, it's also an award-winning dining and entertainment attraction. For the ultimate experience, you can take part in the Edge Walk, a hands-free walk on a 1.5-metre wide ledge at an elevation of 356 metres. However, if you prefer to enjoy the view without the thrills, then head to the 360 Restaurant or the Horizon Restaurant.
Art lovers will enjoy a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum and the Art Gallery of Ontario, while sports enthusiasts must visit the Rogers Centre, a multi-purpose domed sports arena, and the Hockey Hall of Fame, where you will be able to touch and even kiss the prestigious Stanley Cup. Be sure to visit the Casa Loma, an eclectic building reminiscent of a medieval castle, constructed for a Canadian multi-millionaire, with about 100 rooms, 36 bathrooms and several secret passages.
If you feel an irresistible urge to shop, then head to the St. Lawrence Market, one of the world's most famous food markets where local farmers have been selling their products for 200 years. Alternatively, visit the Eaton Center, a huge, ultra-modern shopping centre, which has been constantly expanding since it was built in 1869. In addition to the city centre, be sure to visit Toronto's Broadway, also known as the Entertainment District. It is particularly lively in the evenings and you can enjoy major theatre productions as well as amazing musical venues. Plan a visit to the Distillery District, a historic neighbourhood that has been given a second life thanks to hot designer boutiques, cafes, art galleries and performance venues. It's definitely the place to be in Toronto.
Toronto also offers tons of fun activities for children of all ages. From a stroll through High Park, a 165-acre public space, to a visit to the Toronto Zoo with over 5,000 animals, from the Ripley's Aquarium of Canada to the Ontario Science Centre, your kids will love their trip to Toronto. And if all that is still not enough, there's Centreville Amusement Park on Centre Island as well as Canada's Wonderland, the largest amusement park in Canada, just outside the city.
Just a short ferry trip away lie the Toronto islands, a chain of small islands where you can take part in a large variety of outdoor activities, like rowing, sailing, swimming and many more. One hour north of Toronto is Ontario's Lake Country, another popular tourist attraction with its picturesque landscapes and huge array of activities, especially water sports activities.
No trip to Toronto will be complete without a tour of the Niagara Falls. There are daily bus tours departing from Toronto to this world-famous natural wonder. In summer, the Niagara Falls is illuminated in the evenings, giving life to an incredible show of colours. And in the winter, the falls are frozen into incredible ice-structures. The Niagara Falls is worth a visit in every season!
Toronto and its surrounding region is also an ultimate destination for golf players. From the ultra-private St. Georges course to the legendary Glen Abbey to high-end public courses, golf enthusiasts are guaranteed a course that challenges them.
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In response to recent issues with their Unemployment standards, Georgia tacked on the words "through no fault of your own" onto their Unemployment Poster. These words clarifies the conditions set for receiving unemployment benefits. In addition, for each week a claim for benefits is made, a report must be made by the claimant containing all their search contacts for that week.
The poster now also notifies employees that claims are now available to be made online.


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Aurore Eaton's Looking Back: Ezekiel Straw, the King of Gingham - with a little help from EuropeBY AURORE EATON
June 17. 2013 7:05PM
With the Civil War over, Ezekiel Straw turned his sights towards finding a way to put the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company in the forefront of textile manufacturing in the United States and in the world. The answer was gingham. Gingham is a light or medium weight cotton fabric woven in stripes, checks and plaids. Prior to the mid-1860s the Amoskeag had specialized primarily in producing coarser types of cotton textiles, including tickings (for mattress and pillows), sheetings, flannels and denims. The company did very well financially with these products. The Amoskeag even won first prize in its class against European manufacturers in the 1851industrial exhibition in London.
During this era most of the finer fabrics used for dressmaking in the United States were imported from Europe. American manufacturers had not yet developed the know-how to produce these types of textiles. The most popular of these was gingham, which required expertise in dyeing the yarns and in setting up the looms to produce the patterns. Gingham was imported primarily from England and Scotland.
In July 1864 the U.S. Congress passed "An Act to Encourage Immigration" to stimulate the economy in the post-Civil War era. Under this law American companies were allowed to import skilled labor from abroad by paying the workers' transportation costs and by promising at least 12 months of employment. This was the opportunity that the Amoskeag needed. Agent Ezekiel Straw, the company's Treasurer William Amory, and its New York selling agent Gardner Brewer visited mills in England and Scotland to learn what it would take to establish gingham production in Manchester. While abroad, Brewer made arrangements with the American Emigrant Company to bring skilled gingham weavers to the city.
At the end of 1865, a total of 53 women and men from Lancashire, England, immigrated to Manchester, to form the nucleus of the company's new gingham department. Other skilled English workers followed, and in 1868 the company recruited 44 experienced weavers from Scotland, all women. Like the English weavers before them, they were required to pay back their passage costs to America once they started work.
In 1870, another group of Scottish women was brought to Manchester, mostly from Glasgow and vicinity. This time the Amoskeag required each weaver to provide a letter of reference from her pastor attesting to her fine character. Plus, the pastor had to agree to make good on the woman's promise to repay the Amoskeag for the $37.35 cost of her passage if she couldn't. A good number of these newcomers were older, experienced weavers who could train the novice mill hands.
Other skilled gingham workers from England and Scotland came to Manchester individually or with their families, bearing letters of recommendation from their former employers, family members, coworkers or clergy. Many of these remained with the Amoskeag for the remainder of their working lives, and their children often joined the company. These workers lived mostly in the brick Amoskeag workers housing west of the millyard.
A key factor in the Amoskeag's gingham production was its ability to develop beautiful and long lasting yarn colors. Ezekiel was determined to recruit the best dye masters in the world. These men were in Scotland. In 1867, Ezekiel hired James Reid of Glasgow to take over the Amoskeag's dyeing department. According to historian L. Ashton Thorpe, "Mr. Straw always regarded his success in persuading this very capable man to come to this country as one of the outstanding achievements of his career and a very vital factor in the ascendancy of Amoskeag in the gingham business."
Under Ezekiel Straw's leadership, the Amoskeag was able to recruit an important family of Scottish dye masters, Andrew Mungall and his three sons. Ezekiel purchased special gingham looms from Scotland, and he had several new mills built to accommodate the dyeing and weaving operations.
Gingham became the Amoskeag Manufacturing Company's major product. By the early 20th century, two thirds of the company's over 20,000 looms were used to produce gingham. The gingham works provided employment for many thousands of people, contributing significantly to Manchester's growth and prosperity. Ezekiel Straw's vision and managerial genius were essential factors in this story of achievement. He can truly be called Manchester's King of Gingham!
Next week: A Valley Cemetery Story — Ezekiel Straw's legacy.
Aurore Eaton is executive director of Manchester Historic Association; email her at email@example.com


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Kyuss wrote:awesome, thanks a lot.
tho i can't see anything on the petlist section of your site.
no idea if it's my browser (ff) or anything else.
Mercedia wrote:I love this pet listing - thank you for taking the time and effort to make it! Any chance you could make it sortable? Thanks,
Poofah wrote:Did they update their list of which pre-MoP pets would be rare?
Poofah wrote:this is a wonderful resource, thank you!
A question: some of the rarities don't match the rarity they stated for the non-battle pets (going from this admittedly old list from beta). For example Spirit of Competition is not on Mumper's list, but shows up as rare on your app, which should be accurate as it's culled from Armory, which presumably reflects the game files. Did they update their list of which pre-MoP pets would be rare?
After reading the old thread I linked above, it seems that people have already noticed that Spirit of Competition has the stats of a rare pet, and as far as I can tell this is undocumented as of 10/03. I only noticed Spirit because he's a favorite of mine: it's possible there may be other examples too.
Poofah wrote:Yes, it's a little unfortunate that the rarity of the item that teaches you the pet often doesn't correlate with the rarity of the pet itself in the battle pet system. Crawling Claw is also a rare pet, not epic. Mechanical Pandaren Dragonling is an uncommon battle pet; Toxic Wasteling is uncommon; etc etc. It is not at all consistent.
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Vin Sylvia: Celebrating the best in New Hampshire sportsVIN SYLVIA
December 15. 2012 11:56PM
If you haven't seen it already, you'll want to check out the special section located elsewhere in these pages. In it, you'll find profiles of 80 of the state's best high school athletes, including the New Hampshire Union Leader's seven fall athletes of the year, and seven of its top coaches.
And come February, you'll have a chance to meet at least some of those athletes and coaches of the year in person, at the Union Leader's annual sports banquet, The Leaders: A Celebration of New Hampshire Sports Champions.
That's where we'll honor all of our 2012 Union Leader All-State high school athletes and coaches of the year, our 12 BASC/Apple Therapy Athletes of the Month, and some of the state's all-time best coaches and officials from various levels of athletics. The banquet culminates with the announcement of the Red Rolfe Male and Female Athletes of the Year, selected by the Union Leader Board of Judges from the group comprising the Athletes of the Month.
An annual highlight of the banquet, formerly known as the Parade of Champions, is the presentation of the Carl Lundholm Memorial Award, given to an outstanding volunteer in youth athletics. This year's winner is Tom Walton of Hopkinton, whose work as a coach and race director for years has benefited Granite State athletes of all ages.
Walton's nomination for the award came from his boss at NHTI in Concord, Paul Hogan, the community college's director of athletics. Recently granted a coaching stipend, Walton founded the men's and women's cross country programs as a volunteer in 2006, a year after he co-founded the Capital Area Race Series with Perry Seagroves. Before that, he was a physical education and health instructor in the Concord school district from 1971-2004.
In his letter to the Board of Judges nominating Walton, Hogan wrote, "Coach Walton is a very special and giving person to people and causes of every age. His compassion for young people is absolutely remarkable. For Tom Walton, 'no' is not in the vocabulary that he chooses to use on a daily basis. He has been helping educate, coach and mentor many an athlete and 'cause' for years."
The contributions of another longtime mentor to young people, the late Dan Duval, will be recognized with the posthumous presentation of a Union Leader Special Recognition Award. A multiple-sport star during his days at Trinity High School in Manchester,
Duval never fully realized his athletic potential, his playing career - and, for a time, his life - derailed by alcohol and drug abuse. But Duval made up for his shortcomings as an athlete by becoming an extraordinary person, overcoming his demons and dedicating his life to helping young people through his work as a public speaker, coach and advisor before he died of a heart attack in May.
Duval was a frequent attendee at Union Leader sports banquets over the years, initially as an honoree, later as a coach, friend and/or mentor to an athlete, coach or volunteer receiving an award. He would have loved the upcoming presentation of The Leaders, celebrating the achievements of New Hampshire's sports community with his huge circle of friends, applauding young athletes who almost certainly heard him speak in their schools at some point during the past few years of his too-short life.
The Leaders: A Celebration of New Hampshire Sports Champions is set for the afternoon of Sunday, February 10, at the Radisson-Manchester. Tickets are available through the Union Leader's Community Relations office.
Hope to see you there.
Vin Sylvia is Deputy Managing Editor-Sports, Photos and Features of the New Hampshire Union Leader and Sunday News. His email address is email@example.com.
- - - - - - - - -
2012 Award Winners
Athlete of the Month
January: Drew Ledwith, Keene, swimming
February: Zach Bridson, Sandown, wresling
March: Curtis Arsenault, Berlin, basketball
April: Peter Williamson, Hanover, golf
May: Morgan Andrews, Milford, soccer
June: Hillary Holmes, Exeter, track and field
July: Lauren Thibodeau, Hampstead, golf
August: Sarah Groff, Hanover, triathlon
September: Victoria Arlen, Exeter, swimming
October: Chelso Barrett, Keene, golf
November: TBA Dec. 18
December: TBD
- - - - - - - - -
Carl Lundholm Memorial (for dedication to youth in athletics)
Tom Walton, Hopkinton
- - - - - - - - -
John R. Clark Officials
Roland Bourque, New Hampton
Fran Maineri, New Hampton
Rick Forge, Moultonborough
Harry Irwin, Somersworth
Mike Gould, Nashua
- - - - - - - - -
Walter A. Smith Coaches
Charlie Beach, Keene
Deb Beach, Keene
Al Halpern, Goffstown
Tony Johnson, formerly of Manchester
Stan Lyford, North Hampton
- - - - - - - - -
NHIAA Athletes and Coaches of the Year
Boys' basketball
Player: Dimitri Floras, Merrimack
Coach: David Wheeler, Manchester Central
Girls' basketball
Player: Jane White, Souhegan
Coach: John Fagula, Londonderrry
Boys' ice hockey
Player: Zach Sanford, Pinkerton
Coach: Mark Putney, Manchester Memorial
Girls' ice hockey
Player: Maddie Dewhirst, Hanover
Coach: Stacy Boudrias, Concord
Boys' indoor track and field
Athlete: Jonathan Vinnenberg, Bow
Coach: Ian French, Pinkerton
Girls' indoor track and field
Athlete: Hillary Holmes, Exeter
Coach: Emily Blahnik, Bedford
Boys' swimming and diving
Athlete: David Pfeifer, Bishop Guertin
Coach: Karla Black, Bishop Guertin
Girls' swimming and diving
Athlete: Emily Wadlinger, Lebanon
Coach: Karla Black, Bishop Guertin
Athlete: Zach Bridson, Timberlane
Coach: Barry Chooljian, Timberlane
- - - - - - - - -
Player: Graham McIntire, Concord
Coach: Marc Schoff, St. Thomas Aquinas
Boys' lacrosse
Player: Bob Fahey, Bishop Guertin
Coach: Brian O'Reilly, Pinkerton
Girls' lacrosse
Player: Jane Symmes, Concord
Coach: Beth Rogers, Merrimack
Player: Taylor Carbone, Alvirne
Coach: Dennis Bruce, Winnacunnet
Boys' tennis
Player: Mark Hosang, Bedford
Coach: Shawna Morley, Bedford
Girls' tennis
Player: Julia Keenan, St. Thomas Aquinas
Coach: Debbie Lloyd, Bishop Guertin
Boys' outdoor track and field
Athlete: Romario Bailey, Stevens
Coach: Walter Roberts, Pinkerton
Girls' outdoor track and field
Athlete: Betsy Garnick, Bishop Guertin
Coach: Jarod Mills, White Mountains
- - - - - - - - -
Boys' cross country
Athlete: Jeremy Brassard, Coe-Brown
Coach: Jeff Wilson, Souhegan
Girls' cross country
Athlete: Elizabeth Conway, Manch. Central
Coach: Tim Cox, Coe-Brown
Field hockey
Player: Lindsey Nerbonne, Bow
Coach: Amanda Ward, Windham
Player: Tyler Grant, Exeter
Coach: Chuck Lenahan, Plymouth
Boys' soccer
Player: Erik Martel, Bedford
Coach: Mike Hachey, Windham
Girls' soccer
Player: Morgan Andrews, Milford
Coach: Michelle Winning, Bedford
Player: Molly Wotton, Dover
Coach: John Roemer, Salem
- - - - - - - - -
Special Recognition (for commitment to youth)
Dan Duval*, Manchester
*-Presented posthumously
NHIAA NHIAA NHIAA NHIAA Vin Sylvia Top Section Stories NHIAA


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Manufacturers & Distributors
Beth Minardi Signature Haircolor Launches Ten New Shades
Beth Minardi Signature Color introduces 10 new shades designed to expand colorists' technical options and creative possibilities. Included in the expansion is the introduction of six new demi-permanent liquid shades for color refresh and glazing services.
"Demi-permanent color is an expanding category in the haircolor industry and, even more important, it's an integral part of the Beth Minardi Signature Method of coloring hair," says Minardi.
Minardi, acclaimed salon colorist, educator and product consultant, recently shared her new color with Taryn Manning, star of the hit Netflix series Orange is the New Black.
Beth Minardi offers her commentary on the new Beth Minardi Signature Demi-Permanent Liquid Shades which include:
• 10BB/In The Buff
"This lightest beige blonde is ideal for Levels 7 through 10 and pre-lightened hair. It provides soft, beige/blonde tonal deposit and gently banishes unwanted warm and yellow tones. It's fabulous as a sheer toner and wonderful when used to refresh faded blonde lengths or to tone blonde highlights or fine, pre-lightened blonde hair."
• 7NB/Praline
"This medium, neutral, balanced blonde is wonderful when used as a mixer to balance and softly cool other shades, or when intermixed as a toner for blonde hair. It gently eliminates unwanted brassy tones and blends gray to an extremely soft, neutral blonde. It's also beautiful when mixed with lighter, warm blonde shades to tone highlights or to tone very fine blonde hair."
• 9NB/Almond Parfait
"I guarantee that this very light, neutral balanced blonde will become colorists' go-to shade for refreshing blonde hair lengths and for softly toning blonde highlights. It's great when used alone, and can also be diluted with Invisible (Clear) or other light or very light blonde shades."
• 10ICE/Hi Ho Silver
"This lightest, icy blonde provides effective "silverizing" when applied to gray hair. It's also ideal for creating a "silver fox" look for men. Intermixed with Invisible, it produces the palest platinum toner or can be used to neutralize yellow tones on very light blonde hair. When applied to damp, shampooed, blonde hair and processed for five minutes at the sink, it behaves like a silver rinse."
• 5CG/Cognac
"This lightest, copper gold brown can be described as a rich, spicy, lightest brown with balanced orange undertones—imagine the color of warm autumn leaves in a bottle! It's wonderful for effective gray blending and for adding lustrous warm tones to flat or ashy deep blonde or brunette hair. It also infuses natural color with believable, balanced warm tones."
• 6RCC/Light My Fire
"Choose this intense, deep red, copper blonde for clients who demand a vibrant, fashion-forward red. It can be used to infuse the reddest of red tones when no lift is required. It's the perfect refresher for red hair that has lost its brilliance. This intense shade contains no background color."
Minardi has also created four new shades for her Beth Minardi Signature Permanent Creme collection:
• 5NGC/Irish Setter
"This lightest natural golden copper brown creates a rich, oaky, auburn tone in various ranges of brunette. It covers gray hair to a delicious, warm, natural red."
• 7NGC/Golden Russet
"This natural golden copper blonde creates believable, red-blonde hues on lighter levels of brunette. It's perfect for creating red color on hair with high percentages of gray. It's also ideal when transforming deep ash blonde to soft red."
• 6G/Golden Sable
"Use this deep golden blonde to create light, golden coverage on hair that's up to 100% gray. It also lightens deep brown shades to a gold-infused
'brownette' level."
• 8G/Apple Cider
"This light golden blonde is great when mixed with my BBs or other warm shades. It provides 100% gray coverage, and when used alone, it infuses rich, honey-gold into lighter, natural levels and gray hair."
The 10 new Permanent and Demi-Permanent shades will roll out to salons in January and February of 2014.


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Hydraulic Presses Supplier & Manufacturer
LCM Hydraulic Press designed unique specifications of the Drawing Press, Forging Press for globe customer.
LCM has created hydraulic presses for applications which include, but are not limited to: Die Spotting, Clamping, Coining, Compression Molding, Drawing, Embossing, Forging, Forming, Heated Platen, Injection Molding, Pad Forming, Powder Compacting, Punching, Stamping, Steel Rule Die Cutting, Tank Head Forming, Trimming, Tryout, and more.
Hydraulic Press


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Product Details
Infrico BMGN2450BT/09 Gastronorm Freezer Prep Counter
Designed and equipped with a variety of beneficial features, the Infrico BMGN2450BT/09 Gastronorm Freezer Prep Counter is an excellent catering addition for kitchens in such establishments as cafes and restaurants. The Infrico BMGN2450BT/09 Gastronorm Freezer Prep Counter comes complete with an interior and exterior stainless steel build. The stainless steel is used to ensure strength and reliability within the cabinet, allowing a continuously smooth high level of service with minimum inconvenience.
The Infrico BMGN2450BT/09 Gastronorm Freezer Prep Counter also features a 1 x 1/1 gastronorm shelf per door. A shelf is equipped per door to maximise the storage capacity, allowing more opportunities for storage and providing a more convenient service.
This model is also available with glass doors for an extra cost of ?�82.00 per door. However, if you select for the glass door option, this will extend the delivery time to 4 to 6 weeks.
Image used for illustration purpose only.
- Exterior high grade AISI 304 stainless steel
- Interior high grade AISI 304 stainless steel
- Internal corners rounded & internal drain for easy cleaning
- 1 x 1/1 gastronorm shelf per door
- 100mm coved upstand standard
- Adjustable legs
- Glass door version with illumination available
- Factory fitted drawer options
- Fan assisted ��� automatic defrost
- Electronic controller with temperature display
- Refrigerant R134a
- Ambient 38°C
- Supply 13 amp
Warranty Warning:
Some online reseller's are only providing a 2 years parts warranty on this product.
As standard we provide a manufacturer's warranty that covers 2 years parts & 1 years labour with an optional extended warranty to include a further 1 years labour warranty.
Our pricing is very competitive so before buying from an alternative reseller, please ensure that the level of warranty they provide is of a similar quality. If you require any further advise please call our customer help line on 0845 400 1044.
Additional Information
|EAN Code
|2 year Parts Only
|Estimated Delivery
|5 to 7 Working Days
|Refrigerant Gas
|Refrigeration Climate Class
|Finish - Exterior
|Finish - Interior
|Supplier Product Code
Product Downloads
Sorry No Reviews Available On This Product Yet.


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Dante's Chicken Tortellini
No inferno here, just peppery hot chicken wings. Tortellini in a spicy marinara sauce round out this meal bursting with flavor.
For Parmesan Pepper Crumb Breading:
4 cups Japanese bread crumbs
2 cups Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tsp. red pepper flakes, crushed
48 chicken wings
24, 8-in. bamboo skewers
Butter flavored oil
24 cups cheese tortellini pasta, cooked al dente, drained, rinsed, warm
12 cups spicy marinara sauce, commercially prepared, warm
1. Combine bread crumb ingredients in a shallow pan.
2. Store wings under refrigeration prior to use. Thread 2 wings per skewer. Dip both sides in oil to coat, then dredge in crumb mixture. Shake off excess.
3. Layer skewers on lined sheetpan and bake in a 350°F oven for 30-40 min. (or for 8-10 min. in convection oven).
4. For service: Portion 2 cups pasta on plate. Ladle 1 cup sauce over pasta. Arrange two skewers over top.


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ALGIERS, Algeria (AP) — An international military intervention into Mali at this time would be useless, a top advisor to Algeria's president said Saturday.
The remarks by Kamal Rezzag Bara, terrorism and security advisor to President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, underline Algeria's deep-seated unease with international plans to invade northern Mali.
There have been several international efforts to persuade Algeria, which is the strongest military power bordering Mali, to support the intervention, which would be spearheaded by West African nations with French support.
Bara said internationalizing the crisis would only "aggravate the situation" and he that Mali itself should be helped to come up with a roadmap and agreement involving all the actors to resolve the crisis.
"The question in Mali is an internal matter and there is no need to further internationalize it," he said.
His remarks, however, come as the West African regional bloc ECOWAS moves forward with plans to invade.
On Thursday, Djibril Bassole, foreign minister of Burkina Faso, said military intervention is inevitable after a plan to invade has been drafted.
Bara maintained that the international community has to distinguish between groups in north Mali with political demands ready to negotiate and terrorist groups. Ansar Dine, one of the main group's controlling northern Mali, denounced extremism last week and said it was ready to negotiate. Other groups in the area include the North African branch of al-Qaida and a splinter group that are believed to be mostly made up of foreign fighters.


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This week Shelly over at Cookies and Cups has declared it S'mores week and I am so on board!
There might be a small glitch in my master plan at creating a kick ass s'more though.
I have never eaten a s'more. This means I have no clue what they taste like.
But it can't be that hard can it?
And so i did what is natural when faced with a challenge – I Googled it! This was how helpful Google was:


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Non-profit And Community Organizations Invited To Free Fundraising Seminar – Designed To Help Raise Money
Santa Monica, CA (March 05, 2010) – American Golf Corporation, one of the leading golf property management companies, is reaching out to the community to help non-profit and community organizations with seminars providing ideas for fundraisers designed to help them to get more out of their fundraising efforts.
After years of putting on successful golf tournaments, corporate events, banquets and more, American Golf Corporation is giving back to the community with a fundraising workshop to help non-profit organizations, schools, churches and other community groups learn effective methods to improve the funds generated by their fundraisers.
Beginning March 23, 2010 at Dyker Beach Golf Course in New York, American Golf Corporation properties across the country will hold fundraising seminars in their communities to help local charities. The fundraising seminars will continue throughout the remainder of the year at various dates and locations.
"We believe it's important to give back to the communities in which we do business," said Derek Duronslet, American Golf, Regional Director of Sales. "We know our expertise in planning events of all types and sizes can benefit all organizations looking to increase their donations, especially in these lingering unstable economic times."
The American Golf Corporation Fundraising Seminar Program was designed to offer non-profit and other community organizations a step by step guide to effective and profitable fundraising events. The complementary seminars provide proven procedures, planning tools and case studies of successful fundraisers along with creative new ideas to fit every event budget. Effective fundraising ideas for non-profits, schools, churches, temples and community organizations will be discussed in this unique presentation.
American Golf Corporation, is one of the largest golf management companies in the world operating over 100 premier private, resort and public golf courses throughout the United States. For more information visit www.americangolf.com/fundraising.


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What is DBT?
DBT means Dialectical Behavior Therapy, which could also be referred to as becoming more open minded. A dialectic is a dialogue between opposites. Dialectical therapy seeks the ability to tolerate opposites and to see truth in more than one perspective. DBT is an offshoot of CBT, or Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This branch of psychology is aimed at helping you understand your thinking and behavior choices so they are more effective for your life and happiness.
|Mindfulness is balancing emotion mind and wise mind.
|Distress Tolerance is when you have a problem you cannot solve, but you don't want to make it worse.
|Emotion Regulation is having less negative emotions and vulnerability, and more positive emotional experiences.
|Interpersonal Effectiveness is asking for what you want and saying no effectively.
Monday, January 17, 2011
DBT Books
Posted by Jane Rekas at 7:32 AM
Labels: Books
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Scott Dunbier, special projects editor at IDW Publishing and innovator of the Artist's Edition line, holds a Captain America sketch that Jack Kirby drew for him when he visited the comics legend as a teenager. Dunbier edited "Jack Kirby's New Gods: Artist's Edition," which came out earlier this year. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times)Link
This scan of a page from Wally Wood's "Mars Is Heaven," a Ray Bradbury adaptation originally published by EC Comics in "Weird Science" No. 18 in 1953, was used for "Wally Wood's EC Stories: Artist's Edition." Mike Mignola says of the finished book, "you'd swear you can smell the cigarette smoke coming off those pages." (IDW Publishing)Link
The newly released "Mike MIgnola's Hellboy: Artist's Edition" includes the recent "Hellboy in Hell" and some older material, including "The Corpse," which Dunbier says is "honestly one of my favorite stories, period." Mignola will sign the book at IDW Publishing's booth during Comic-Con. (IDW Publishing)Link
This scan of an original page from the 2004 "Hellboy: The Corpse," a one-shot originally published by Dark Horse, was used for the Hellboy Artist's Edition. Comparing his volume to earlier Artist's Edition books of older art, Mignola jokes, "I wish I'd manhandled the artwork more. You do see some notes in there. You see the white paint I used, and in one place you see that I cut a page in half. So yeah, that's my only regret is that the stuff isn't nastier-looking." (IDW Publishing)Link
The just-released "Jim Steranko's Nick Fury Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Artist's Edition" is 15-by-22 inches, with a book design by Steranko himself ("It exudes Steranko," Dunbier says), who will sign the book of his classic Marvel work at IDW Publishing's booth during Comic-Con. "It showcases Steranko from the very beginning up until the point where he's really starting to break free and become Steranko," Dunbier says. "The work is vibrant, incredible, full of kinetic energy." (IDW Publishing)Link
"Dave Gibbons' Watchmen: Artifact Edition" is the first in the Artifact line, a designation meaning it doesn't have complete stories. "[A]ll the pages have been spread to the four corners of the Earth, and there would be really no way to get enough complete issues," Dunbier says. "So it's a book that collects individual pages as well as covers as well as portfolio plates, promo and design pieces by Dave." Gibbons will sign the book at IDW Publishing's booth during Comic-Con. (IDW Publishing)Link
Lots of kids love comic books. But Scott Dunbier's passion went beyond the four-color fantasies on the spinner rack — to their artists' original black-and-white pages.
As a teenager living in Woodland Hills, he tracked down Jack Kirby's phone number and called the co-creator of Captain America and the X-Men to ask for some original artwork, as he had with other artists he admired. But Kirby went further than mailing back a sketch, suggesting that Dunbier's mother drive him to the artist's Thousand Oaks home for a weekend lunch — mentioning that he should bring some comics to have signed.
"I brought like 50 comics," Dunbier says with a laugh. "I didn't know that was kind of not good etiquette. He signed every single comic. He answered all my questions."
More than three decades later, Dunbier has crafted a unique way to share his passion for comics artistry with like-minded fans, many of whom are set to gather this week in downtown San Diego for Comic-Con International, the annual pop culture expo that draws upward of 125,000 enthusiasts of superheroes, sci-fi, horror and fantasy to Southern California.
As special projects editor at San Diego-based IDW Publishing, Dunbier, 51, oversees a line of limited-run hardcover art books collecting the works of such comics legends as Will Eisner and Kirby.
In the four years since IDW introduced the collection with "Dave Stevens' The Rocketeer: Artist's Edition," it's published more than 20 archival-quality volumes that reproduce important stories illustrated by essential comic book artists from their original black-and-white pages — in their true, larger-than-originally-published size, as though straight off the drawing board.
In creating the series, Dunbier's drawn on connections forged during roughly 15 years in the 1980s and '90s as an art dealer, then as a comic book editor at Jim Lee's WildStorm studio and at DC Comics, which acquired Lee's imprint in 1998.
He has established valued relationships not only with artists and publishers, but also with collectors who are willing to entrust him with handling artwork sometimes worth tens of thousands of dollars.
"He's able to do this on a scale that I don't think anybody will be able to equal," IDW Editor in Chief Chris Ryall says. "Some of the newer stuff, people have scanned and kept copies of, so it's not a surprise to me to see a 'Walking Dead' book coming. But to be able to do books with Will Eisner and the old Marvel material and the EC stuff is something that I think is limited just to Scott."
Artwork used for Artist's Editions is scanned and reproduced in full color so that readers can see the non-photo-blue pencil lines artists use to lay out a page before doing detailed art — lines that disappear in other means of copying.
"You get more of a sense of what was done, what the artist was thinking, what changes he made, what corrections he did, what corrections he didn't do — there's a lot to be studied," said "Hellboy" creator Mike Mignola, who collaborated with Dunbier on a newly released Artist's Edition collection of his own work.
Using full-color reproduction on black-and-white pages was a lesson Dunbier learned in the 1990s while trying to photocopy Neal Adams pages he had for 60 or so fellow comic book art enthusiasts in an amateur press association.
Black-and-white copies "just looked terrible," Dunbier says. "They didn't show off any of the originality of them. They just looked like crappy photocopies. So I decided to experiment with making color photocopies, and they looked great — especially the pencil drawings … it wound up probably being something like 600 color copies. And I don't remember if you recall how much color copies cost back then — it was a really stupid thing to do, but it looked really cool. I call that sort of my first Artist Edition."
The finished books are vivid: Mignola says of a volume of Wally Wood-drawn EC Comics stories, "you'd swear you can smell the cigarette smoke coming off those pages."
But assembling the material for the Artist's Editions can sometimes feel like a treasure hunt.
Putting together "Jack Kirby's New Gods: Artist's Edition," released earlier this year, involved one of the most challenging aspects of Dunbier's job: assembling complete stories from pages that in some cases are scattered around the world.
The editor had found most of the first issue's original pages together, and had narrowed his search to three missing links. Over the next two days, he called two friends to commiserate: animator Bruce Timm ("Batman: The Animated Series") and writer-artist Walter Simonson ("The Mighty Thor"). As luck would have it, Timm had the issue's first page; Simonson had the last page.
On a roll, he called Mignola, who replied: "You're out of luck, pal."
And so the Artist's Edition of "New Gods" is missing a page from No. 1.
Though the editor has reassembled several favorites from his youth — and is set to announce new Artist's Editions at Comic-Con — some dream books remain out of reach."If somebody were to find a giant stash of Jack Cole Plastic Man stories, that would be a pretty incredible thing," Dunbier says. "I don't know how well it would sell, but I'd really love it."
Dunbier's efforts stand to be recognized Friday at the Eisner Awards, the comics industry's answer to the Oscars, where he received three of the five nominations in the archival comic book project category (he's won the prize four years running).
He's quick to express gratitude, cite luck, and qualify any credit that comes his way for all those Eisner Awards for Artist's Editions and past work. (He may have more competition in future years as other publishers have started to adopt the format he innovated: DC Comics and Graphitti Designs have teamed to do Gallery Editions, launching in November with "Batman: Kelley Jones Gallery Edition"; and Dark Horse has a book, also called a Gallery Edition, of Frank Miller and Walt Simonson's "RoboCop vs. Terminator," out this month.)
Though he doesn't take accolades too seriously, he continues to pursue the passion of sharing original comic art, but there's one masterpiece that isn't leaving his house: an original sketch Kirby drew for him at their weekend all those years ago of Captain America waving and saying, "Hi, Scott."
"I try to bring a level of care to what I do," Dunbier says. "I feel a responsibility to both champion and support writers and artists…. I've always been attracted to damn talented people."
– Blake Hennon | Google+ | @LATHeroComplex
Dunbier's IDW Artist's Editions Comic-Con panel, with writer-artist Walter Simonson and IDW President Greg Goldstein, will be held on Thursday from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. in Room 4.
'Batman' No. 33: Scott Snyder discusses showdown with Riddler in 'Zero Year' finale
Comic-Con 2014: 12 vital comics creators to watch
Comic-Con 2014: George R.R. Martin, '24,' 'Goonies' on Thursday slate
Comic-Con 2014: 'Game of Thrones,' 'Walking Dead' top Friday lineup
Comic-Con 2014: 'The Hobbit,' Marvel surprises, 'Gotham' on Saturday
Comic-Con 2014: Guillermo del Toro, 'Lego Batman 3' on final day
WonderCon: IDW inks Gabriel Rodriguez; Buscema's Silver Surfer, more
IDW announces Jim Steranko, Darwyn Cooke, Dave Gibbons, Charles M. Schulz books


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Thursday, November 08, 2012
Tartine Bread: Day 10
I think it's Day 10, although I'm no longer completely sure. At any rate, the proto-leaven actually seems to be turning into a real leaven, and there is a discernible rise-and-fall routine to it now. I'm going to give it a few more days, and then it's time to try a loaf of bread this weekend! That will be a long process, with, I hope, a lot of illustrative photos. I especially hope for a good result. Here is yet another factoid about sourdough. It is estimated that only about 1% of yeasts have been identified. Questions: How the heck do they know that? And who is doing the identifying? And are people actually on the lookout for more? Like elements?
Posted by Marie at 7:27 PM
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Zhougongmiao the Western Zhou Dynasty to commemorate the famous statesman, military strategist and thinker, the founder of ancient Luoyang, China's Confucian shrines founder of Duke Ji Dan, also known as Yuan Temple. Many parts of the country were built Zhougongmiao, which Luoyang Zhougongmiao, Qishan County, Shaanxi Zhougongmiao, Qufu, Shandong Zhougongmiao most famous, and said China's three major Zhougongmiao.
Shandong, ancient place of for the Qi and Lu, located at the east China coast, the Yellow River downstream, the Beijing Hangzhou big canal's north section, the provincial capital supposes in Jinan, in the province the main super city has Jinan, Qingdao, Yantai, Zibo. Western connects the interior, with Hebei, Henan, Anhui, Jiangsu four provinces borders on separately from north to south; Middle high suddenly, Taishan is the throughout peak; The eastern Shandong Peninsula enters Yellow Sea, north separates the Bohai Sea channel and the Liaodong Peninsula relative, surrounds and protects Beijing and Tianjin and Persian Gulf, east separates Yellow Sea and the Korean Peninsula faces one another, the southeast is near depends on broad Yellow Sea, to look out south East China Sea and Japan the chain islands.


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Length: 2:40
Category: Trailer / Background Music
Style: Hybrid Rock / Orchestral
The worlds of rock drums, orchestral strings, massive booming sound design, metal guitars, and orchestral brass collide in a concert hall and bring in a powerful soundtrack with an apocalyptic overtone. Very dynamic. Should fit well with either opening titles or closing credits.