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Fossil Fighters: Champions

Platform(s): Nintendo DS
Genre: RPG/Strategy
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Red Entertainment
Release Date: Nov. 14, 2011

About Brad Hilderbrand

I've been covering the various facets of gaming for the past five years and have been permanently indentured to WorthPlaying since I borrowed $20K from Rainier to pay off the Russian mob. When I'm not furiously writing reviews, I enjoy RPGs, rhythm games and casual titles that no one else on staff is willing to play. I'm also a staunch supporter of the PS3.

NDS Review - 'Fossil Fighters: Champions'

by Brad Hilderbrand on Dec. 20, 2011 @ 12:30 a.m. PST

Players get some hands-on time to hunt and clean fossils, and revive and battle vivosaurs. A fossil park is hosting a large-scale tournament in which competitors enter vivosaurs created from dinosaur fossils into competition. Fossil Fighters from all over the world battle their vivosaurs against one another to find out who will be crowned champion.

Remember when you were a kid and after you saw "Indiana Jones" for the first time, you wanted to be an archeologist? You thought it was all bullwhipping and discovering ancient treasures in lost ruins, but after a trip to the local natural history museum, you found out the harsh truth is that it's more akin to cleaning dust off broken shards of pottery with a tiny brush. The transition from Fossil Fighters to Fossil Fighters: Champions is similar, draining nearly all the fun and adventure out of the experience and leaving you with just the boring and repetitive work that destroys one's very soul.

Champions once again tasks players with digging up the fossilized bones of "Vivosaurs," cleaning them and sending them into battle against one another. The turn-based, team-oriented battles fall easily in line with Pokémon and other monster battle games, right down to the teams of three and elemental-based affinities. There's nothing new to see here, as combat is driven through tapping commands on the touch-screen and waiting to see how many points of damage your dinos manage to cause. Gamers looking for more involved or complex combat will be sorely disappointed.

The Fossil Fighters hook has always been discovering rocks in the various fields and then bringing them back to town to crack them open and find out what sorts of prehistoric monsters are housed inside. Using a combination of hammers and drills, players are tasked with exposing and cleaning each fossil under strict time constraints in order to revive new fighters. Cleaning is a fairly intricate procedure that requires a deft touch, as the initial power of each monster is tied directly to how deftly you cleaned their bones. A perfectly preserved skull will give you a leg up in leveling up your creatures and creating a powerhouse team, while badly damaged bones will yield beasts that require a lot more work to bring up to snuff. It's a clever nuance that requires players to carefully weigh speed versus thoroughness.

The major problem is that the cleaning aspect of the game is mostly unaltered from the original Fossil Fighters, so its novelty wears off exceptionally fast. Once in a while, you may find special fossils that require you to clean both sides, or giant fossils that are so large they require scrolling the screen, but these additions feel mostly superficial and don't do much to add to the experience.

Furthermore, even though each creature has four distinct body parts that must be tracked down and integrated to fully power them up, there isn't enough variety between the bones to make the cleaning process feel any fresher. Numerous hours are spent in the cleaning process, and there simply isn't enough variety or excitement to make the process entertaining. While complete newcomers may be taken with the cleaning mechanics, returning players will most likely grow bored within the first few hours.

The game's plot doesn't impress either, opting for a generic "tournament gone wrong" story complete with staid caricatures of good guys and the blatant Team Rocket rip-off that shows up to ruin everyone's fun. Don't forget the rich kid who shows up thinking people are nothing more than objects but eventually learns the power of friendship; you've got to have that guy. Normally in situations like this, I'd recommend you simply skip over the plot and get back to the gameplay, but as we've already established, it's not really a more compelling option.

There are moments when the game seems to realize just how cliché it is and tries to break the fourth wall through the dialogue, but merely winking at the fact that you're being predictable doesn't excuse it. In a game desperate for something to keep players interested both the gameplay and story elements, Fossil Fighters: Champions fails to deliver.

The one bright point in the title is the manner in which it portrays the monsters. Rather than going for hyper-realistic dinos, the creatures are colorful and more cartoonish. In addition to standards like the Tyrannosaurus and the Triceratops, the game also branches out and includes snakes, saber-toothed cats and even some vaguely Dodo-like creatures to round out the cast. All of them look great, and it's plainly evident that the team in charge of creating and animating the monsters took a great deal of pride in their work. It's just too bad their gusto didn't rub off on the other members of the staff.

Fossil Fighters: Champions is too derivative and too stuck on the source material to really stand out. Instead of bringing us something clever and entertaining, we're instead saddled with what feels like leftovers from the first game. None of the few new inclusions really add much to the experience, and the old-school turn-based battles are as boring as it gets. While I was a huge evangelist of the original Fossil Fighters, I can't summon up the same love or adoration for this game. It's an absolute disappointment in practically every respect.

Score: 5.5/10

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Columbus Museum of Art Renovations

| October 2, 2013 | 0 Comments

The Columbus Museum of Art is beginning its final phase of expansion and Executive Director Nannette Maciejunes gives us a preview of what to expect in the new wing as well as how to navigate during construction.

Tags: ,

Category: Museums, Video

About the Author ()

Jackie Shafer is the Producer of Broad & High. When she's not exploring all the fabulous arts and culture Columbus has to offer, she's choreographing very complicated and physically impossible roller-skating routines in her head.

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Archive for April, 2012

Follow a Path to Greatness

April 30, 2012 4:15 pm Audio, Macaulay Honors College, Multimedia

Dr. Lesco Rogers, M.D., was a member of the Lehman Class of 1984 and the Lehman Scholars Program.

Read More »

Nobel Prize Winner in Chemistry to Give Annual Arthur Sweeny Lecture May 4

April 30, 2012 3:33 pm Chemistry Dept

Nobel Prize winner Sir Harold Kroto, who is the Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry at Florida State University, will deliver Lehman’s 32nd annual Sweeny Memorial Lecture on Friday, May 4, at 5:15 p.m. in the Recital Hall of the Music Building.

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Lehman College Launches Technology Summer Camp for Teens

April 30, 2012 3:28 pm School of Continuing and Professional Studies, Summer in the City

Lehman College’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies will hold open houses on May 19 and June 26 for its first summer program for teenagers interested in computer technology.

Read More »

Lehman Professor Leads Holocaust Educators on Visit to Historical Sites in Poland and Israel

April 26, 2012 12:30 pm English Dept, School of Arts and Humanities

Lehman English Professor Sondra Perl recently led seventeen teachers from across the United States on an educational tour of historical sites in Poland and Israel.

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Bronx Zoo Launches Animal Tales Extravaganza

April 26, 2012 10:35 am Lehman Stages

Visit the Bronx Zoo this spring for Animal Tales Extravaganza on weekends from now through June 30. This year’s Animal Tales Extravaganza brings together the excitement and fun of wildlife, new zoo babies, children’s literature, and favorite children’s entertainment.

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School of Education to Hold First Alumni Welcome Back Reception April 30

April 25, 2012 6:00 pm Alumni, Alumni Relations, School of Education

Lehman College’s School of Education will hold its first Alumni Welcome Back Reception on Monday, April 30, from 4:30-6 p.m. in the Faculty Dining Room.

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Students Walk to Albany to Support NYS DREAM Act

April 24, 2012 4:22 pm Students

A group of immigrant youth that included seven Lehman College students recently walked 150 miles, from New York City to Albany, to raise awareness about educational access for undocumented students.

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Students Earn Tae Kwon Do Belts at Lehman

April 24, 2012 3:13 pm Student Health Center, Students

Tae Kwon Do students at Lehman had a chance to demonstrate the skills they have learned under Grand Master B.M. Kim during their final testing course in the APEX.

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Tobacco-Free Information Session April 26

April 24, 2012 3:10 pm School of Arts and Humanities, School of Continuing and Professional Studies, School of Education, School of Natural and Social Sciences, Student Affairs

Beginning on July 1, the Lehman College campus will be tobacco-free and all forms of tobacco use will be prohibited. In anticipation, the College will host its first in a series of Information Sessions for faculty, staff, and students on Thursday, April 26

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Lehman College to Celebrate Earth Day April 25

April 23, 2012 9:00 am Faculty, Students, Sustainability

Lehman College will celebrate Earth Day on Wednesday, April 25, with a special evening dedicated to the life of the late Dr. Wangari Maathai, 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the Green Belt Movement.

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Lehman College to Take Back the Night April 24

April 20, 2012 11:08 am Student Affairs, Students

In recognition of National Sexual Assault Awareness Month and in honor of survivors of domestic and sexual violence, the Lehman College community will host a Take Back the Night event on Tuesday, April 24.

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IT Launches College’s First Intranet

April 19, 2012 12:39 pm Information Technology

“Lehman Connect,” launched on April 18, is the Division of Information Technology’s latest Web resource project, designed to make accessing institutional resources and collaborating on projects between departments and offices more efficient.

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Parent and Community Liquidation Sale
July 14th-17th
Those shopping for grades K-2 9:00am-12:00pm
Those shopping for grades 3-5 12:00pm-3:00pm

The Ethical Community Charter School is a safe and caring community where ethics, service, and social justice are the principles that inform every aspect of school life; where teachers lead and collaborate with students in a culture of rigorous academics and mutual respect; where analytical thinking and creativity are prized; where children become individuals of integrity, insight, autonomy – and socially productive citizens, workers, leaders.


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The underlying factor of a good website is its content. Since it is people who constitute your website’s organic traffic, it is quintessential for you to uphold quality content in your website. User experience, site design and readability also play an important role. These are the factors that draw people to your site, makes them want to subscribe to your newsletter and follow you on Twitter.

What is Content Scraping?

content scraping in wordpress

In the simplest of terms, content scraping is the act of stealing your content. To elaborate this self-made description, when a website produces an article, it is that website’s property – sometimes even copyrighted. When another website copies that content (in its own page or email) without permission – that’s called stealing. It’s simply taking things that do not belong to you.

Why is it bad?

Well for starters, you don’t get credit for it. A writer always wants his work to be known. (That’s why some websites pay you a lot of money to contribute anonymously – and that’s also why very few of these website have engaging content.)

Also, and this is probably what you’ve been wondering – it wreaks havoc on your SEO scores. Consider the following situation:

Imagine you’ve started a new blog where you put in a lot of effort and produce detailed, well-researched articles. Since your site is new, it takes time for it to show up in Google. Sites that have been there a long time usually get more preference (in terms of SEO scores) than you, particularly in this case. The older site steals your content and publishes it. This affects both sites’ SEO scores. Of course, the site that’s copying content is probably using some black-hat technique – which is terrible in the long run. Hence, you’re the one in the loosing end.

Why do people do it?

There’s no shortcut to success. A smart man knows it. An honest man believes it. On the contrary, the world is full of people who think that Mr. Gates built Microsoft in a day. So they decide to give the shortcut a shot. At they end of the day, they’re bound to fail – I believe that – a personal, take if you will.

Which brings us to our question – what’s in it for the thieves?

  • Lead generation: Producing quality content is hard and if your newsletter contains useful stuff, you’re bound to get more visitors and subscribers.
  • Affiliate marketing: Replace the hyperlinks of the products mentioned in the stolen article with your affiliate link and you get a commission.
  • Ads: The more the content, the more space to put ads. Greater the visitors, the more you earn from each click!

Catching the culprits

detect content scraping

The first rule of war goes thusly:

Know thine enemy

How do we catch them? Primarily, there are four ways.

Google your post titles

Probably the oldest trick in the book. All you have to do is search Google with your exact post title. Best case scenario – you get your article as the first result, followed by your site’s tags, social media profiles, etc. Worst case – your site shows up at the 5th or 6th result and there are 4 other sites with your exact title and content.

Pingbacks and trackbacks

One of the golden rules of blogging is internal linking. Google vehemently emphasizes on this – and I don’t see any reason not to follow the leader. I know it’s a bit tedious, but hey – the fruits are sweeter! One of the perks of interlinking is that your site’s links are present in the rogue site (one which copies your content). When people are reading the stolen article, they’ll naturally follow the links and land in your website. You can utilize this action to your advantage. Closely monitor your site’s stats. A domain which send you trackbacks and pingbacks regularly (that you don’t know of) is most likely to be the culprit.

Google Webmaster Tools

Registering your site in Google and Bing Webmaster tool is of utmost importance for strategic monitoring of your site’s stats. Under Google Webmaster Tools head over to “Traffic > Links to Your Site”. This will link every inbound link to your site. The content scrapers are most likely to be on the top of this list.

Use a paid service

Copyscape is a premium service which costs like 5 cents per page searched. One of its products – Copysentry – monitors the interwebs 24×7 and tries to find copies of your article. Once a red flag is raised, you immediately receive an email with the details of the culprit. The next step is up to you. That’s right. Copyscape does not take action. It merely points out the content scrapers. If you’d like to read a bit more on their service and pricing, I suggest you take a look at their brochure.

How to prevent content scraping

Using WordPress plugins

Anti Feed-Scraper Message and Copyright Proof are two of the best WordPress plugins to prevent/combat content scraping.

Anti Feed-Scraper Message adds your site’s data to your RSS feed’s footer. You can enter the relevant data in the plugin’s settings page and the rest will be taken care of. Here’s a quick look at the final result:

adding site data to your rss feeds footer

Copyright Proof is a much more versatile tool which lets you a add time-stamped certificate along with a licencing and attribution notice below each blog post. You can also kick it up a notch by prevent right-clicking on your post area – which wouldn’t give the user any way to copy your content (unless he/she is skilled in HTML/CSS).

Google Plus Authorship

google plus authorship

Google’s patented technology – Content Author Badges appearing below links shown in the SERP took the SEO world by storm. Nathan recently discussed a complete guide to setting up Google Plus Authorship in your WordPress site.

Free Pinging Services

One of the best ways to prevent content scraping is by pinging a lot of search engines with your site’s URL. WordPress internally pings a certain services using Ping-o-Matic but if you want to take matters into your own hands, try Google Ping, Pingler and BulkPing to manually ping a plethora of search engines. Pingler also has a WordPress plugin (compatible up till v3.6) which will ping 5 new posts every 24 hours, whereas premium members enjoy unlimited pings.

Internal Linking

As explained earlier, internal linking your blog articles is not only a good but a necessary practice as well. It helps build a strongly linked website – according to Google’s liking. Also, in the event that your content is scrapped in another site – you have nothing to worry about – strong internal linking will only get you useful backlinks!

Add a link to your all post titles automatically

Since most of the content scrapers use automated scripts to steal your content, chances are that your post title will be copied as well. You can use this to your advantage. Open your theme’s “single.php” file, locate the title and replace it with the following code:

<a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?>

For example, if we wanted to enable this for the default Twenty Eleven theme, then we would open the content-single.php and replace the codes as shown in the image below:

Editing Twenty Eleven's content-single.php [BEFORE]

Editing Twenty Eleven’s content-single.php [BEFORE]

Editing Twenty Eleven's content-single.php [AFTER]

Editing Twenty Eleven’s content-single.php [AFTER]

Prevent Image Hotlinking

Also a really cool way to to shoo away scrapers, this method saves you a lot of bandwidth! Here’s how you do it:

  • Create an image informing the reader that the article was stolen from your site. In our tutorial, let’s consider our site name is and the name of the image is prevent.png
  • Upload that image to your WordPress’ installation directory (you must place it in the root/installation directory)
  • Append the following code in your site’s .htaccess file (also found in the root directory). Make sure you backup your .htaccess file just to be safe. If things go wrong you can always revert.
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(.+\.)?wplift\.com/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteRule .*\.(jpe?g|gif|bmp|png)$ /prevent.png [L]

Of course when you’re applying this tutorial in your site, you must replace the site name and image name accordingly. If you have uploaded the image in a different directory, then you must replace “/prevent.png” with “/path/to/your/image.jpg”.

How to fight Content scraping

Good Cop – File a DMCA Takedown

good cop - file dmca

Dealing with previously scrapped content can be a bummer. You have two choices – file a DMCA complaint and wait for them to take the right course of action. That’s called being the good cop. Both of us know that these content scrapers won’t stop and filing a DMCA complaint also costs your money! If you decide to buy the product, then you could also enjoy their WordPress plugin!
If the rogue site is hosted in a reputed hosting company like HostGator, you can simply use their DMCA form and file a complaint.

Bad Cop – Deny IP using .htaccess

bad cop - deny ip

However, if you want to take action right away here’s what you do – directly deny the scraping site’s IP address. Suppose the IP address was 112.338.23.102. First backup your .htaccess file (found in the root WordPress installation directory) and add the following code:

Deny from 112.338.23.102

We’ve all heard of the saying:

Prevention is better than cure.

This can not be truer in the fight against content scraping. If your blog hasn’t been scrapped yet – that’s a good thing. But you never know when you’ll fall prey to one. If you’re running a tutorial based site, then I’m sure each article takes a lot of time and effort to craft. It would really be a bummer when some dolt steals it – hence the preventive techniques. I would highly recommend enabling Google Plus Authorship, image hot linking and heavy internal linking in your blog posts – that’s the absolute best way to prevent content scraping.

Sourav is a WordPress enthusiast, an avid gamer and a sitcom collector. His playlists include heavy metal, electronic, and new-age tracks. When he's not online, he's spending quality time with his friends and family.

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Leave Yours +

  1. Thanks for that great post! Very useful informations!

  2. Hey Sourav,

    Cool article and will definately check out those solutions. When you get a ‘spare’ minute you might wish to also add to your arsenal.

    Seems a worthy tool if the copy/paste stats are right..

    Cheers, Stuart

  3. Good post and thanks for sharing. I always add internal links to my post and had some ridiculous theft of my articles recently! Jonny

  4. Nice article, you go through more options than any of the other articles I’ve read online, touching this subject.

    Yoasts’ SEO plugin has a pretty neat feature that allows you to add a tag line with a hyperlink to the bottom (or top) of your RSS feed.

  5. Content scrapping is a cause of concern to most bloggers and so long as your work is free on the internet, you must fight this war at one point in time. This article is really handy and forms a good guide as I have never imagined adding link to my post title before now.

  6. WordPress Content Copy Protection is another great plugin I would recommend. This plugin has FULL text AND image protection for your WordPress sites that makes it near impossible for a user to copy your text and images: They also have a free version available here:

  7. Outstanding post but I was wanting to know if you could write a litte more on this topic?
    I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further.
    Bless you!

  • Comments are Closed

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Home » WWE News » FCW Champion Works Dark Match Before Raw, The Undertaker’s Greatest Moments

— Reigning Florida Heavyweight Champion Bo Rotundo worked a dark match prior to tonight’s Raw taping in Hampton, Virginia. He defeated Primo.

Rotundo is the son of Mike Rotunda (a/k/a Irwin R. Schyster) and brother of Raw Superstar Husky Harris. He has been competing in Florida Championship Wrestling since December 2008.

— WWE.com has posted a feature counting down the top 25 moments of The Undertaker’s career.

The synopsis reads: “From The Undertaker’s fiery rivalry with his brother Kane to his brutal Hell in a Cell bout with the sick Mankind, WWE.com digs up The Phenom’s Top 25 “gravest” moments, presented by “Final Destination 5″ in 3D and 2D theaters August 12.”

— Kane is featured on the cover of the September 2011 issue of WWE Magazine.

  • adam

    I think bo should come up and team with husky harris try to build up the tag division a little bit.

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Bret Hart Rips 'Useless' Hogan And Bischoff In TNA, Says AJ Styles Needs To Go To WWE

Bret Hart Rips 'Useless' Hogan And Bischoff In TNA, Says AJ Styles Needs To Go To WWE

Pictured: Bret Hart | Send Us Your Photo

Bret Hart isn't winning any new friends with his recent shoot interviews. Hart recently spoke to Wrestle Talk TV Extra, and gave his thoughts on Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff and what they are doing in TNA.

"I've got no faith in either one of them," Hart said. "If anything, they're [TNA] going to lose a lot of ground. They're spending a fortune on a guy who's worthless. And Bischoff's as worthless as Hogan, the two of them have zero to offer the business.

"The only thing Hulk Hogan ever knew was how to make Hulk Hogan. He couldn't tell you how to make AJ Styles or Samoa Joe. What's Hulk Hogan going to tell Samoa Joe? He doesn't know anything to even tell him, he's got zero to offer."

Hart also took a shot at Vince Russo, calling him a "magazine write" whose departure from the company was "a modest improvement," and noted that TNA is full of WWE "rejects." He admitted to enjoying their product before Hogan and Bischoff came in, and credited their Knockouts division during that period. He also said that AJ Styles needs to sign with WWE.

"He's spinning his tires in TNA," Hart said of Styles. "If he really wants to make it as the star that he is, he needs to jump the bush league and get to the big time... There's a lot of talent out there that miss their opportunities, and I just hope that AJ Styles doesn't waste his life in TNA."

You can watch Hart's comments about Hogan, Bischoff and Styles in the video above.

Follow Raj Giri on Twitter at @RajGiri_303. Got a news tip or correction? Send it to us by clicking here.

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Westminster Seminary California

Tullian Tchividjian

Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels
Tullian Tchividjian  |   February 16,2011   |  Scripture:   |  Type: Interviews, Office Hours

Rev. Tullian Tchividjian talks about his book, Suprised by Grace: God's Relentless Pursuit of Rebels.

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Colossians 1:9-14
Tullian Tchividjian, Guests  |   November 4,2010   |  Scripture: Colossians, New Testament   |  Type: Morning Devotions Series

The preeminence of Christ undergirds our lives no matter our earthly circumstances.

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WSO2Con 2013 CFP Banner

Binary with ADB

Archived Content
This article is provided for historical perspective only, and may not reflect current conditions. Please refer to relevant product page for more up-to-date product information and resources.
Discuss this article on Stack Overflow
By Chatra Nakkawita
  • 10 Aug, 2006
  • Level:
  • Reads: 11485

Service Oriented Architecure (SOA) developers are not so familiar with techiniques of sending binary content along with SOAP messages and this article by Ajith Ranabahu aims to provide the missing bits and pieces and also show how the Axis2 Databinding (ADB) framework supports binary content.

Chatra Nakkawita

Sending binary content in SOAP messages has been one of those interesting issues that have been in the discussion table for a while. There are quite afew improvements to the binary transmission techniques lately. Let's take a closer look in to these techniques.

How do you send Binary with SOAP Anyway?

When the SOAP message needs to contain an arbitrary array of bytes that causes a problem. The most important one is the serialization problem. SinceSOAP is based on XML and XML is primarily a protocol that works on text, the arbitrary bytes need to be converted into serializable characters. This can be done in two ways:

  1. Hex Conversion
  2. Place the bits in a sequence and pick blocks of four bits. Each 4 bit block matches to a hexadecimal number. Hence, use that relevant hexadecimal character in place of the four bits. This doubles the size of the message!

  3. base64 Conversion
  4. Place the bits in a sequence and pick blocks of six bits. Each six bit block matches to a number in the range of 0 to 63 (inclusive). A set of 64 characters is picked, namely A to Z (uppercase), a to z (lowercase), 0 to 9 (digits) and two other characters, '+' and '/'. The relevant character is used in place of the six bits. This results in a 33.3% increase in the size of the message. Also note that unlike in the case of Hex, there is also a need to add a 'padding' to the binary stream in some cases! (when number of bits is not a multiple of 6). Resource section contains a base64 reference that explains exactly how the padding is added.

Obviously the base64 conversion yields a better size and has been favored over the hex technique. However, even the base64 conversion results in a conversion overhead and an added increase of size. Optimizers have always tried to attack this point and there are two alternate ways to optimize the binary transmission in HTTP (which happens to be the most widely used transport!)

  1. Add the Content as a MIME Attachment

    MIME has been one of the proven binary transmission techniques. The SOAP message contains href attributes and contains the CID of the relevant MIME part. The disadvantage in this technique is the fact that the binary content is never a part of the SOAP message's infoset. It is treated as an attachment not only during the wire transfer but also at the API level, requiring special treatment and effectively alienating it from the infoset!

  2. MTOM'ize the Message

    This is a new technique that brings best of both worlds. When a message is MTOMized it is optimized only at the wire level and not at the API level. In short, the API can handle it as a usual infoset item but the wire transfer is optimized! To learn more about MTOM have a look at the resources section.

In the next section we will look at the optimizing capabilities of the Apache Axis2 framework and show how the optimization support of the ADB framework has been effectively utilized.

Axis2, ADB and MTOM

It is obvious that even when the transmission optimizations are available,if the SOAP framework is unable to use that to a performance gain, then there is no real use of it. Axis2 is built with first class support to MTOM and Axis2 code generator supports a fully optimized way of supporting binary data.

Take the following WSDL file fragment which has a Base64 binary node inits input message. (The full WSDL can be found in the resources section)

<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd=""
<xsd:element name="image">
<xsd:element name="meta-info" type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="image-attachment"
<message name="imageUploadRequest">
<part name="image" element="image"/>

<portType name="ImageHandlerPortType">
<operation name="uploadImage">
<input name="image" message="imageUploadRequest"/>

When this file is used in code generation (with ADB) it results in an ADBbean which has a javax.activation.DataHandler field. This is the field for the binary content. The following code fragment shows the piece of code from the Image class. The full source code for this article is avaialble in the resources section.

/** field for ImageAttachment */
protected javax.activation.DataHandler localImageAttachment;
* Auto generated getter method
* @return javax.activation.DataHandler
public javax.activation.DataHandler getImageAttachment() {
return localImageAttachment;
* Auto generated setter method
* @param param ImageAttachment
public void setImageAttachment(javax.activation.DataHandler param) {
this.localImageAttachment = param;

However, the most interesting piece of code is inside the parsemethod of the Factory class. Following are fragments of code from the parse method of the Image class.

...boolean isReaderMTOMAware = false;

try {
isReaderMTOMAware = java.lang.Boolean.TRUE.equals(reader.getProperty

} catch (java.lang.IllegalArgumentException e) {
isReaderMTOMAware = false;
if (reader.isStartElement()&&new javax.xml.namespace.QName(
equals(reader.getName())) {
if (isReaderMTOMAware && java.lang.Boolean.TRUE.equals
//MTOM aware reader - get the datahandler directly and put it in the object
object.setImageAttachment((javax.activation.DataHandler) reader.
//Do the usual conversion
java.lang.String content = reader.getElementText();
utils.ConverterUtil.convertToBase64Binary(content)); };
} ...

The rationale behind this rather odd looking bit of code is as follows:

The AXIOM representation which is optimized for the handling of MTOMized messages generates the usual OMText object for optimized base64 blocks but keeps the content as a DataHandler, read straight from the raw MIME part. If the text/string is required then there is no other choice than converting the content into a base64 string. However, if the data handler is needed, then there is no conversion overhead and everything would work nicely and efficiently.

For this seemingly straight forward scenario to work, there is one barrier! The world of OM is exposed to the world of data binding through theXMLStreamReader interface. Hence the information passed between these two worlds should take the form specified by theXMLStreamReader, which in the case of base64 Binary, happens to be text!

Axis2 worked around this seemingly impossible problem by using the readersgetProperty method.

  1. In XMLStreamReader implementations provided by AXIOM, the getProperty method returns the Boolean.TRUE object for the key ("IsDatahandlersAwareParsing")
  2. During a START_ELEMENT event the getProperty() method returns Boolean.TRUE for the key"Axiom.IsBinary") if the content of that node is optimized binary
  3. When the condition above is satisfied, the readers getProperty() method returns the data handler object for the key"Axiom.DataHandler")

By this technique, AXIOM provides a parser that is capable of handling binary the optimal way and ADB generates code that makes use of that optimization. If the binary content was received as a MIME part, ADB makes sure that there are no unwanted conversions in the middle.

Sending MTOMized Messages

If the readers run the sample code and look at the wire message, they would notice that there is no optimization at all in the wire message! This is in fact correct since there was no indication in the WSDL that the wire message needs to be optimized. The optimization can be forced by using the XMIME extension in the schema and the following WSDL schema fragment shows how this can be done.

<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd=""
<xsd:import namespace='' />
<xsd:element name="image">
<xsd:element name="meta-info" type="xsd:string"/>
<xsd:element name="image-attachment">
<xsd:extension base="xsd:base64Binary">
<xsd:attribute ref="xmime:contentType"/>

Unfortunately even though this fragment shows the correct way to force optimization, ADB does not yet process simpleContent extensions and hence will complain when the above schema is encountered.

The possible way to optimize the content is to force the Axis2 runtime to optimize the base64 blocks that it encounters. This can be done by setting a parameter in the options object.

ImageHandlerServiceStub imageHandlerServiceStub = new ImageHandlerServiceStub();
Options options = imageHandlerServiceStub._getServiceClient().getOptions();

Although handling binary is tricky with SOAP, Apache Axis2 comes up with very good support to handle binary content. The Axis2 Databinding framework also include features that helps it to fully utilize the Axis2 binary handling capabilities.

  1. Details on Base64 encoding
  2. Image Uploader Service WSDL
  3. XMIME enabled Image Uploader Service WSDL
  4. Full Code sample

Ajith Ranabahu, Senior Software Engineer, WSO2 Inc. ajith AT WSO2 DOT com


text:
Police: Teens drew swastikas on 3 buildings

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP) — Two teenagers have been charged with hate crimes for a series of vandalism incidents that targeted the Jewish community in Montgomery County.

Police say the teens drew swastikas on at least three buildings.

Police announced the arrests on Friday. The teens are 17 and 16 years old and were charged as juveniles. Their names were not released and they were released to the custody of their parents.

Among the buildings that were damaged were a synagogue, Young Israel of Potomac, a child care facility and a private residence.

Police say they identified the teens with the help of surveillance video and an officer at the area high school they attend.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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text:
Teen given scholarship for ‘doing the right thing’

found wallet

LATHROP, Calif. (CBS) – Paying for college for your child can be expensive, but a California couple is getting a little help because their son did the right thing. While on his most recent trip to his neighborhood grocery store, 16-year-old Matthew Hernandez found a wallet in the parking lot.

He opened it up and found a stack of $100 bills inside – $2,000 total.

Matthew didn’t even think twice about keeping the money. He went into the store and tracked down the rightful owner, who was inside looking for his wallet.

“I had to give it back, so, I had to do the right thing,” Hernandez said. “I know a lot of people that would have kept it, at the time, even adults would have kept it.”

After hearing the story, a California business owner was so inspired by Matthew’s honesty that he decided to give him a $6,000 scholarship, along with a Playstation 4 and a paid internship. Matthew plans to use the scholarship money to go to college and study law enforcement.

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FAYETTEVILLE, W.Va. — A Fayette County woman died this week of injuries she suffered in a Jan. 28 fire.

The state Fire Marshal’s Office said Nancy Knupp was critically injured in the blaze in her Fayetteville home. The cause of the fire was accidental.

Knupp suffered burns to 35 percent of her body when her High Street home caught on fire. Her husband was also injured.

Knupp died at a Virginia burn center earlier this week.

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VoIP Access – SIP Trunking

The benefits of traditional Colt telephony, delivered over an IP connection

If you are using an IP PBX then connecting to Colt with IP is a cost-effective solution that unlocks the benefits of convergence for your business. With Colt’s VoIP Access – SIP Trunking, you are connected to our core voice network. This is not consumer-grade internet telephony, with the quality risks that that brings, but business-grade service. Your voice quality is as good as – and often better than - the service you receive on traditional telephone lines

Switching  to an IP-based telephony system helps your business become more productive and competitive. Your employees can stay connected to your network, whether they’re working in the office or away from it.

  • Consistent service delivery across 13 countries
  • Connect directly to Colt via a line from our network into your IP PBX
  • Reduce your overall costs, and management time, with a converged voice and data network
  • Keep your existing numbers
  • Easily scale your telephony system up as your business grows
  • Reduce your calling charges with free calls between sites
  • Supports calls to all destinations, including emergency services

Colt VoIP Access – SIP Trunking eases your migration to a converged, voice and data IP network that connects you to the outside world. VoIP Access – SIP Trunking makes it possible to have an end-to-end IP network by allowing your calls to be routed (over an IP infrastructure) between your premises and the PSTN.

With Colt VoIP Access – SIP Trunking, you don’t have to invest in on-site gateways because we provide this functionality within the Colt network. VoIP traffic is passed between your IP PBX and our network, using one of the two best-known standards-based protocols in the industry: H.323 or SIP (Session Initiation Protocol).

While H.323 has proved a popular choice for use in VoIP networks in recent years, SIP is rapidly gaining popularity, and has been widely backed by major IP PBX equipment vendors including Cisco, Avaya, Aastra and Siemens. Colt lets you choose between these protocols, and will help you make the best decision for your VoIP network. Traffic may be sent between your IP PBX and Colt VoIP Access using either of the popular codecs: G.711 or G.729a. Fax and DTMF are also supported through standards-based protocols. Supplementary services such as Direct Dial In, presentation and restriction of CLI and Call Forward, and also emergency call handling, are part of the service offer.

Colt VoIP Access – SIP Trunking supports multiple access mechanisms, including Colt IP VPN (MPLS) and Internet access. Bandwidth can be scaled up as your voice capacity requirements grow.

Diamond Call Analyser

Diamond Call Analyser is a free to use online web-based service ideal for performing functions such as Telecoms Expense Management. It is available for the following Colt Voice services:

  • Voice Line (including IP Voice Line)
  • Voice Connect
  • VoIP Access (SIP Trunking)
  • IN Services

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Les Sweater Girls

Designers are just wild about sweaters.

PARIS — Designers are just wild about sweaters — especially in mohair, a favorite this season. Knits are turning up on almost every catwalk for day and evening in the form of twinsets, snug crops, bulky pullovers and even roomy tent dresses. Here, some of the best.

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text:
Saturday February 02
520 NW Davis St., 2nd floor
Margaret Evangeline is best known for taking rifles and shotguns to a firing range, aiming them at powder-coated metal panels, and riddling the panels with bullet holes. Although these visually and conceptually dramatic pieces put her on the map, it’s a lesser-known body of work that will be exhibited in this show: mixed-media watercolors. It will be intriguing to see whether they can approach the theatrical intensity of the gunshot works. Also appearing in the group exhibition are artists Mariella Bisson, David Geiser, Anne Raymond, Rick Stare and David Price. Jan. 3-Feb. 2.

Where: Butters
Phone: 248-9378
Address: 520 NW Davis St., 2nd floor
Website: www.buttersgallery.com

520 NW Davis St., 2nd floor
Other events in Visual Arts

Theory of Achievement

Sunday, Aug 30, 2015

This summer, Portland's Yale Union and the Parisian art collective Castillo/Corrales will swap houses, share people and exchange money. On Aug. 1, Castillo/Corrales will open its group exhibition � ...

Through Sept. 6. Opening 7–9 pm Saturday, Aug. 1.
Yale Union (YU) 800 SE 10th Ave., Portland Web | Map

A Peanut in a Suit is a Peanut Nonetheless

Sunday, Aug 30, 2015

Daniel Long's work appropriates common painting techniques and visual symbols into an open-ended rumination on representation and narrative. The ensuing world—populated by scenes of largely ancie ...

Opening reception 2-5 pm Sunday, Aug. 9. Through Sept. 19.
Nationale 3360 SE Division St. Portland Web | Map

Cedar Jocks and Sergei "Sm@ck" Khlopoff

Sunday, Aug 30, 2015

A two-person show featuring Contingent Memory, a video work by Cedar Jocks in a black-box installation, and a series of new paintings exploring our common ancestors and potential cousin ...

Through Sept. 13.
Mark Woolley Gallery @ Pioneer 700 SW 5th Ave., 3rd floor, Pioneer Place Mall Portland Web | Map
Also At Butters
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text:
Top climate change panel to launch groundbreaking renewable energy report

Posted on 03 May 2011
Most of the world's methods of producing, distributing and using energy are highly inefficient, and contribute to increasing levels of carbon dioxide emissions.
© WWF / Anton Vorauer
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is expected to launch an extensive and long-awaited report on renewable energy May 9 in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates.

The 900-page Special Report on Renewable Energy Sources and Climate Change Mitigation is significant because it compares 164 scenarios on renewable energy and is the most comprehensive analysis ever of trends and perspectives for renewable energy.

Preceding the launch, from 5 to 8 May, more than 100 governments will negotiate the Summary for Policy Makers.

The report comes after the launch earlier this year of WWF's vision for achieving a 100% renewable energy future by 2050, the most ambitious scenario of any published so far. This vision – The Energy Report – is based on a detailed scenario by energy consultancy Ecofys and shows the opportunities but also the challenges of such a development based on existing technologies.

The Energy Report unfortunately came too late to be considered by IPCC authors for inclusion in the IPCC analysis.

Although unique in its epic scope, the IPCC therefore underestimates the potential of deploying renewable energy even faster, especially when combined with top level energy efficiency, WWF said.

“IPCC delivers a landmark report that shows the rapid growth potential for renewable energy – but unfortunately does not endorse a 100% renewable energy pathway until 2050,” said Stephan Singer, Director for Global Energy Policy at WWF International.

“WWF’s report adds that missing piece – a bold vision with a clear timeline. We need to be fast if we want to tackle pressing issues as varied as energy security and efficiency, and at the same time keep climate change below the danger threshold."

The 164 scenarios compared in the IPCC report show that renewable energy is projected to remain the fastest growing energy source. Renewables beat fossils in global and regional availability; most of them will also see substantive cost reductions in the next decades, particularly solar energy.

“There are no real alternatives to energy efficiency and renewables,” said Singer. “As oil and gas within easy reach are dwindling, the world needs to move to clean and sustainable sources of energy and avoid any investment into dirty alternatives.”

WWF agrees with the IPCC that the recent large growth in clean energy investments and the simultaneous cost reductions in wind and solar energy provide a strong start for renewable energy expansion.

“If we want to bring renewables out of the niche and substitute fossil and nuclear fuels, we need to see substantive policy change and financial support in all regions of the world,” said Singer. “IPCC has done a great job in identifying both – the big challenges and the even larger opportunities and benefits of renewable energy for all nations.”

It is no coincidence that the IPCC report on renewable energy is being launched in the UAE, the country with the sixth and seventh largest proven reserves of oil and gas respectively.

“The UAE has started to make laudable efforts to diversify its energy mix and is fast becoming a leading country in clean energy development”, says Tanzeed Alam, Policy Director of Emirates Wildlife Society in association with WWF(EWS-WWF). “Our studies for the UAE Ecological Footprint Initiative show that by 2030 Abu Dhabi could reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 40% powered by a rapidly growing renewable energy sector that surpasses current targets.”

Most of the world's methods of producing, distributing and using energy are highly inefficient, and contribute to increasing levels of carbon dioxide emissions.
© WWF / Anton Vorauer Enlarge

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It's an area known as Breton Basin, and Callahan is a local land manager who often helps researchers such as Lopez explore environmental changes in coastal wetlands. The pair head to a concrete and steel structure that separates the bayou from the nearby Mississippi River.

Jason Saul / WWNO

A coalition of environmental groups is heading to Baton Rouge to fight legislation aimed at changing how levee board members are appointed. The changes would affect the levee board that is suing the oil industry to pay for repairing wetlands damaged over decades of oil production.

The U.S. lost an average of 80,000 acres of coastal wetlands from 2004 to 2009, according to the latest data published by federal agencies. More than 70 percent of the estimated loss came in the Gulf of Mexico; nationwide, most of the loss was blamed on development that incurred on freshwater wetlands.

"The losses of these vital wetlands were 25 percent greater than during the previous six years," NPR's Elizabeth Shogren reports for our Newscast unit. She also notes that the loss equals "about seven football fields every hour."

The state has acquired more than 11,000 acres of wetlands in Livingston and Tangipahoa parishes as part of a conservation project funded by a settlement over the Deepwater Horizon disaster.

The Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority of Louisiana said Monday that the $6.7 million purchase of the forested wetlands on the north shore of Lake Maurepas is funded by MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC, which was a minority partner in BP's blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Landowners interested in selling property to help Louisiana and federal coastal forest conservation efforts have until Friday to apply for part of the $7.4 million available in the second round of applications.

Bren Haase, deputy chief of planning with the state Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, tells The Advocate the Coastal Forest Conservation Initiative's goal is to protect coastal forest areas not only for the habitat they provide but also for their ability to hamper storm surge from tropical storms.

Ian McNulty

A new tool to channel private investment into wetlands restoration is one example of how the Idea Village and its Water Challenge are helping turn vexing problems into promising opportunities.

An LSU scientist has received the Wetland Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Association for Ecology.

The Advocate reports the award was presented to Eugene Turner during the organization's International Wetland Conference held in Orlando, Fla., in June.

Turner is a distinguished research master and holds the Shell Endowed Chair in Oceanography and Wetland Studies at LSU.

His work has focused on low oxygen levels in Louisiana coastal areas, a phenomenon known as the "dead zone."

There's plenty of mud flowing down the Mississippi River and getting washed out into the Gulf of Mexico every day. Now, in a bid to save the threatened delta, the Army Corps of Engineers says it wants to take mud dredged from the shipping channels to build up fragile wetlands.


text:
WorldWide Religious News

Africa - Nigeria

Nigeria prominent Muslim cleric 'assassinated'
(AFP, August 6, 2011)

Kano, Nigeria - Gunmen suspected to be members of an Islamist sect have shot dead a prominent Muslim cleric in Nigeria's northeast, hit by scores of attacks blamed on the extremists, residents said on Saturday.

A military official said they had received word of the Friday night attack in the town of Gamboru Ngala, near the border with Cameroon, but could not yet comment since a full report had not yet been made.

The cleric, Liman Baana Ngala, was the former chief imam for the town. He was said to have been resting outside his home after breaking his Ramadan fast on Friday night when two motorcycle-riding gunmen arrived.

"One of them approached the cleric who was sitting outside his house and, after a short conversation, he shot him twice before fleeing," said resident Hafiz Ahmad.

Referring to the Islamist sect, he said, "from all indications, it is the usual Boko Haram attack."

Another resident gave a similar account of the shooting. It was unclear why the cleric would have been targeted.

The sect has been blamed for scores of bomb blasts and shootings in Nigeria's northeast. Such attacks have targeted figures of authority, including police, politicians and soldiers, as well as religious and community leaders.

It claims to be fighting to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation of some 150 million people roughly divided in half between Christians and Muslims.

Nigeria's government recently inaugurated a committee to look into the violence in the northeast and recommend solutions, including whether to negotiate with the sect.

Related Sections | Fundamentalist | Sectarian Violence


text:
IBM® Cúram Child Welfare is child protection software that provides a full case lifecycle solution for child welfare organizations. This integrated, cost-effective case management software enables multi-disciplinary collaboration and innovation for better outcomes for children at risk of harm and for families in crisis.

Cúram Child Welfare enables social program organizations with:

Improved casework outcomes and outcome planning

Child protection software designed specifically for social organizations

Social program management domain expertise

A collaborative and agile engagement approach

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Collaboration: Case workers, providers and partners work together

Watch demo

Foundation: Use integrated assessments and outcome planning infrastructure

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Prior history: Individual and family involvement are summarized

Watch demo

Work allocation and task redirection: Manage unpredictable workloads

Cúram Child Welfare Resources

Cúram Child Welfare

Supports the transformation of child welfare service delivery

IBM Software Subscription and Support is included in the product price for the first year.

Not available to buy online. Other ways to purchase or learn more.

Contact IBM

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text:
Towards Heavy Fermions in Europium Intermetallic Compounds Print

For decades, intermetallic compounds of rare-earth metals have been favorite systems of the research community studying strong electron correlations in solids. Nowadays rare-earth intermetallics are often treated as model systems for studies of zero-temperature quantum critical phase transitions, since heavy-fermion rare-earth compounds (in which the electron effective mass is orders of magnitude larger than the bare electron mass) have provided the clearest evidence for these continuous phase transitions, which are controlled by such parameters as chemical composition, magnetic field, and pressure, rather than temperature. A new study of a europium-based compound by an international team led by researchers from the Technische Universität Dresden in Germany hints that this compound could join well-known compounds of cerium, ytterbium, and uranium as a new material suitable for research on quantum critical transitions. This finding is exciting, since physicists hope that the use of a new material will give an additional degree of freedom for researching quantum critical behavior.

Watching Quantum Critical Transitions

The resistanceless flow of electricity in complex copper oxide materials (called high-temperature superconductivity owing to the relative high temperature at which superconductivity occurs) holds the promise of super-efficient electrical transmission lines for our increasingly energy-challenged world. It is one example of a collection of behaviors that has so far defied understanding and hence full-scale technological application. One obstacle is that quantum critical transitions, thought to be involved in high-temperature superconductivity, are inaccessible to direct study because they occur only at absolute zero temperature, although their quantum nature makes their influence felt at higher temperatures. Quantum critical transitions are a special kind of continuous phase transition from one physical state to another and are unlike ordinary phase transitions like melting of a solid.

A different kind of material called heavy fermion rare-earth intermetallic compounds (so named because the electrons act is if their mass were a thousand or more times greater than that of electrons in other materials) also exhibits a variety of unusual behaviors connected to quantum critical transitions, such as continuous suppression of magnetism upon application of a small magnetic field that, in this case, drives a quantum critical transition. Interesting in their own right, rare-earth intermetallics also provide a convenient starting point for investigating in detail how quantum critical transitions operate. Danzenbächer et al. have taken just this tack in their study of a europium (the rare earth)–nickel–phosphorous intermetallic compound.

Thirty years ago, the discovery of superconductivity in the paramagnetic rare-earth intermetallic compound CeCu2Si2 followed in 1986 by the first observation of high-temperature superconductivity in the complex oxide materials ushered in the era of strong electron correlations in solids. In the case of the rare-earth intermetallics, the complex physics of heavy-fermion metals is governed by the delicate interaction between electrons in the partially filled 4f shells and itinerant (delocalized) electrons in the valence band. These interactions underlie phenomena like magnetism, mixed-valence behavior, and the Kondo effect. Thus far, research on the quantum critical transitions has been restricted to compounds of cerium (which has one electron in the f shell) and ytterbium (with one hole in the f shell).

Europium-based intermetallics are of special interest not only because the magnetic trivalent europium state can switch to a non-magnetic divalent state, giving rise to a mixed-valence behavior, but because seven electrons in the half-filled 4f shell in the europium ground state can interact with the delocalized valence electrons, possibly resulting in hybridization between these states, a feature associated with heavy-fermion behavior. To investigate this aspect, the researchers used angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) at BESSY Beamline UE112_PGM-2b and ALS Beamline 12.0.1, accompanied by computational studies based on a periodic Anderson model, of the europium 4f6 final state in EuNi2P2.

The angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) data for the localized europium 4f6 final states in the rare-earth intermetallic compound EuNi2P2 might suggest to some the strings of a musical instrument, as in the harp and its player shown at the right. The red "bumps" do not correspond to badly plucked strings but instead indicate hybridization between an f state and a delocalized nickel-derived valence band state and an associated energy splitting, a key finding in the experiment. [Figure courtesy of S. Molodtsov.]

The electron structure derived from the ARPES spectra reveal several important features: the individual components of the characteristic line-shape due to the emission from the 4f states, splittings and dispersion of a valence band whose origin is mainly nickel 3d states, the crossing points (energy and momentum) of the europium 4f lines with the nickel 3d-based band, and additional splittings and shifts at around 0.6 eV below the Fermi level. Band-structure calculations that treat europium 4f as core states confirm the presence of a nickel 3d-derived band but with a finite f character at the europium site, so that it is able to hybridize with the europium 4f states. The splitting of the multiplet component at 0.6 eV is also properly reproduced and explained. These findings demonstrate the importance of momentum-dependent interactions for the understanding of the properties of the 4f mixed-valence systems.

Heavy-fermion properties would be expected if the hybridized states were much closer to the Fermi level. For this to occur, the d band as well as the 4f multiplet would have to be shifted towards the Fermi energy. In principle, this shift could be achieved by redesigning the unit cell of the 4f compound. Such a possibility offers an intriguing opportunity for creating novel intermetallic systems with an ensemble of 4f states at the Fermi level providing a foundation for Kondo and heavy-fermion behavior.

Energy bands in crystalline EuNi2P2 as a function of momentum in reciprocal space. Left: Experimental ARPES spectra (brightness corresponds to intensity) obtained for energies and momenta (here represented by the "azimuthal angle") near the crossing of the europium 4f6 final states and the 3d band of nickel in the mixed-valence compound EuNi2P2. The bumps indicative of hybridization are again visible here. Center: Theoretically derived (LDA) band structure projected on the (001) surface Brillouin zone along the direction from the zone center symbol to a zone edge . Hybridization of the europium states with states from the valence band marked by the dark balls is possible near point "a", owing to their matching symmetry. Size of the balls represents strength of hybridization. Right: Numerical simulation (PAM) of the hybridization between the 3d band of nickel and the components of the europium 4f state well reproduces the experimental data.

Research conducted by S. Danzenbächer, D.V. Vyalikh, A. Kade, C. Laubschat, and S.L. Molodtsov (Technische Universität Dresden, Germany); Yu. Kucherenko (Technische Universität Dresden, and National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine); N. Caroca-Canales, C. Krellner, and C. Geibel (Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Physik fester Stoffe, Dresden); A.V. Fedorov (ALS); and D.S. Dessau (University of Colorado, Boulder); and R. Follath and W. Eberhardt (BESSY, Germany).

Research funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft; the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine; the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences (BES); and the U.S. National Science Foundation. Operation of the ALS is supported by BES.

Publication about this research: S. Danzenbächer, D. V. Vyalikh, Yu. Kucherenko, A. Kade, C. Laubschat, N. Caroca-Canales, C. Krellner, C. Geibel, A. V. Fedorov, D. S. Dessau, R. Follath, W. Eberhardt, and S. L. Molodtsov, “Hybridization phenomena in nearly half-filled f-shell electron systems: Photoemission study of EuNi2P2,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 026403 (2009).

ALSNews Vol. 300


text:
Bob's Links and Rants

Welcome to my rants page! You can contact me by e-mail: Blog roll. Site feed.

Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Just another layer of obfuscation

The supposedly moderate Repugs in the Senate, led by Chuck Hagel (NE) and Olympia Snowe (ME), have reached an agreement with the White House to provide a facade of oversight on domestic wiretapping. That the White House has conceded nothing and still claims dictatorial powers is clear from this:
A spokeswoman for the White House, Dana Perino, called the Republican senators' proposal "a generally sound approach."

"We're eager to work with Congress on legislation that would further codify the president's authority," Ms. Perino said. "We remain committed to our principle, that we will not do anything that undermines the program's capabilities or the president's authority."
The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were written largely in response to the autocratic powers claimed by an incompetent leader named George. Another George is taking them back, and the worthless Congress is unwilling to stop him.


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p2014.htm , which has been renamed as
g2014.htm at Janet and Robert Wolfe Genealogy
Note the change from 'p' to 'g' at the beginning of the name.

Please update your pointers. We apologize for the inconvenience.
If you got here from a search engine, please ignore this message, while they update their pointers.


text:
CEOs: Leaders versus Decision Makers

Leadership is a favorite topic of Business Schools and Military Schools.

This combination should be worrisome. At least it is a reminder that while leadership is a skill, it is certainly a skill that can be used for good, for evil, or for foolishness.

My own personal predisposition is to resist leadership, although I have known and liked plenty of charming people who appropriately view themselves as leaders.

A notion that I find more sympathetic is that of decision maker.

A person who makes good decisions, but who lacks leadership skills may, or may not, be a great success and a positive force for those he engages.

On the other hand, a person who makes faulty decisions and has the leadership skills that get people to follow him --- well, such a guy just creates a mess --- or sometimes, a tragedy.

I plan to collect on this page some of the items that I have found in the press that deal with this distinction between leaders and decision makers. For the moment, there is no clear organization, and there is some commingling of items more relevant to a rant on CEO compensation. Still, over time the page should evolve into an honest essay.

gold line

Can They Say It with a Straight Face?

"The men and women of The Coca-Cola Company have a passion for what they do that ignites inspiration every day. In this spirit, they have driven significant change through every aspect of the organization." E. Neville Isdell ,Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Annual Report 2006.

Let's see, here. You mean to say that they have passion that ignites their spirit to sell fizzy (and non-fizzy) water?

Also, while we wait for Roger Moore to line up Isdell for a new documentary, how about taking a moment to read an annual report that is not embarrassing --- and which even makes sense ?

gold line

The Good Company - Bad Stock Paradigm

"Probably the most vivid example of the good company-bad stock paradigm was provided by the popular 1982 book In Search of Excellence, by management guru Tom Peters. He identified numerous "excellent" companies using several objective criteria. Several years later, Michelle Clayman, a finance academic from Oklahoma State University, examined the stock market performance of these companies and compared it with a matched group of "unexcellent" companies using the same criteria. For the five-year period following the book's publication, the unexcellent companies outperformed the excellent companies by an amazing 11% per year. As you might expect, the unexcellent companies were considerably cheaper than the excellent companies by P/E, P/B, and dividend criteria. People naturally assume that good companies are good stocks, when the opposite is true most of the time. Psychologists refer to this sort of syllogistic error as "representativeness."

--- William Bernstein. The Intelligent Asset Allocator: How to Build Your Portfolio to Maximize Returns and Minimize Risk. (McGraw-Hill, 2000). Page 118. [Note: William is not Peter. William is a full-time neurologist and part-time financial commentator. Peter is a devoted financial historian and prolific journalist.]

gold line

CEO Compensation... What DOES it mean?

"In 1970, notes Business Week, the CEOs of the 500 top U.S. companies listed in the S&P Index took home 28 times more compensation than average American workers. These same executives are now averaging, according to the latest tally, 369 times the pay of average workers. "

"If average workers today were still earning 1/28th of what S&P 500 execs are making, their annual pay would sit at $374,800."

This quote from the amorphous web may have a message for some people, but personally I can't really sort it out.

I don't go for the 'capitalism run amuck' view --- after all, at this stage of life I am perhaps 1/2 an owner of the SP500 and 1/2 a salaried employee. As a consequence, I pay the CEOs' salaries.

My only question is whether I am getting my money's worth ---- and frankly I can't think of an analytical model that will tell me. If you want to work on this puzzle with me, let me know. It think it deserves an honest analytical look. There is a model buried here somewhere.

gold line

Compensation for What?

"Raymond T. Dalio, head of Bridgewater Associates, which has more than $30 billion in hedge fund assets, for example, took home $350 million last year even though his flagship Pure Alpha Strategy fund posted a net return of just 3.4 percent for the second consecutive year." (NYT)

This really is pretty strange. He underperfomed CASH and he collected 350M. Can I play? I like the follow up. It was a breath of fresh reality.

“I think one of the significant issues of this business that we are all struggling with is that there is an inverse correlation between compensation and drive,” said Mark W. Yusko, president of Morgan Creek Capital Management, an investment advisory firm. “In many cases the incredible wealth that is created by this incentive compensation structure has a propensity to dull the senses and dull the drive.”

Having your drive dulled by a few hundred million is pretty reasonable, don't you think? After all, we live in a world where at least a quarter of the population lives on less than five dollars a day per person.

gold line

Personal Success and Relative Advantage

"How would you advise them [the aspiring CUNY students in the audience] to be successful—to be, perhaps, the next Roger Hertog?"

Roger Hertog:

"I don't think it’s hard. I think it simply comes down to people’s inner drive to find meaning and personal growth in their lives. There’s nothing more significant than your God-given talents. After that, it’s working hard and trying to figure out where you have a comparative advantage: what do you do better than most people? Not necessarily the best—but better."

gold line

Sub-prime Lender Hits Tank Splashes Up Prisoner's Dilemma

"New Century's situation is not unlike the 'Prisoners Dilemma.' If the majority of lenders stand pat, they can mitigate losses. However, if they believe that other lenders will pull their lines, those first to act will be best served," Jefferies analysts told clients.

When I first read this I thought "Cool. A nice example for class!" Later, I had doubts. The messy issue is that New Century's creditors are quite unlike the classic prisoners with a dilemma.

Not only can the creditors talk to each other, there are legal constraints that force them into mutual disclosures.

gold line

"Jumped the Shark"

For those of you who are as media-clueless as I am, it might be amusing to learn that the expression "Jumped the Shark" roughly connotes "passed its prime."

Specifically, t he phrase has come to be used to describe the point at which TV series heads down hill.

It originates from "Happy Days" where in a hope to re-energize the show the producers put Fonzie on water skis and had him jump over a shark.

The lack of even a sit-com quality connection between Fonzie and sharks plus the rank implausibility of the stunt made it clear that the "bloom was off the rose."

BACK TO: Steele's Home Page or Surprise Me! or "Market Quotes" or the Rant index?


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Music News Archives - Page 409 of 1152 - THE WOLF Sacramento

RCA Studio A Saved From Demolition by New Deal

In a last-minute deal, the Nashville company that planned to demolish the building that houses RCA's historic Studio A sold the building to a non-profit organization devoted to preservation. Continue… MORE

Little Big Town Invited to Join Grand Ole Opry

The members of Little Big Town got a very welcome surprise during their performance at the Grand Ole Opry on Friday night (Oct. 3). Continue reading…

Miranda Lambert Helping Furry Friends With Appearance at New Vegas Festival

Miranda Lambert's seventh annual Cause for the Paws event is landing in Sin City on Saturday (Oct. 4) for the first-ever Route 91 Harvest Festival. Continue reading…

Glen Campbell’s Wife Gives Update on Singer’s Alzheimer’s Battle

After Glen Campbell announced his diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease in 2011, his family has continued to update country music fans on his health. The singer's wife, Kim, has offered a… MORE

Nicki Minaj’s ‘Anaconda’ Gets Awesome Vintage Bluegrass Remake [Watch]

Looking for a good way to get your hip-hop loving friends to that hoedown? Try this amazing bluegrass remix of Nicki Minaj's latest hit, 'Anaconda.' Continue reading…

Garth Brooks Reveals ‘Man Against Machine’ Album Cover

More information on the highly anticipated forthcoming Garth Brooks album is slowly trickling in. The legend — who is making a monstrous comeback in 2014 — has announced the title,… MORE

Thomas Rhett Puts His Swagger on Display in ‘Make Me Wanna’ Video

Thomas Rhett's 'Make Me Wanna' video isn't your average country music visual. The relative newcomer dons his finest threads, dances a little (ok, a lot) and remixes his hit single…. MORE

Lady Antebellum Bring ‘Honey’ Sweet Surprise for Army Wife, Family [Watch]

Lady Antebellum's '7FOR7' project has been a treat to watch as it unfolds. Together, the trio are bringing seven surprises to seven fans in seven days. Their latest episode will… MORE


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Dispute leads to shooting in Lincoln Park: Man shot during fight likely paralyzed, police say

SAN DIEGO - A 47-year-old man was in custody Wednesday on suspicion of shooting a 30-year-old man who lives next door to him in Lincoln Park, police said.

The shooting in the 5000 block of La Paz Drive was reported at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday, according to San Diego police Sgt. David Jennings.

The victim was shot once in the back with a 9mm handgun and was "probably paralyzed" but he was expected to survive, Jennings said.

The shooting arose from "a squabble, a fistfight went wrong and a gun got produced," he said.

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Surveillance Cameras Capture Clear Images Of Northeast Side Bank Robber

UPDATED: Thursday December 6, 2012 10:28 AM

Police released clear images Thursday of a bank robbery in progress.

Cameras captured the man approaching the teller counter of U.S. Bank, located inside the Meijer store at 5555 Cleveland Ave., around 11:32 a.m. Wednesday.

Police said once inside, the man demanded cash. The robber fled with an undisclosed amount of money.

Authorities said that the man fled in a dark colored sedan.

No injuries were reported.

Anyone with information about this robbery is asked to contact the Columbus Division of Police at 614-645-4665.

Watch 10TV and refresh for more information.

©2015 by All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Ohio Public Colleges Adjust After Enrollment Dips

UPDATED: Sunday October 27, 2013 6:17 PM

Enrollment at Ohio's public colleges and universities has fallen for the second year in a row amid state and federal efforts emphasizing graduation rates over student totals.

The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday that more schools are laying off employees, freezing travel and reviewing academic programs after enrollment declines and funding reductions.

That includes the University of Akron and Shawnee State and Youngstown State universities.

Statewide enrollment figures show the number of students in college rose rapidly after the 2007 financial crisis then dropped almost 6 percent in 2012 and another 2 percent this year, the newspaper reported.

Campus officials cite fewer high school graduates, records numbers of students pushing to graduate before schools moved to semesters, changes in federal financial aid and more Ohioans going straight into the workforce.

©2015 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Spanish Word for labyrinth

Lookup Another Word?
Translation type:

Word to be translated:

English Word: labyrinth

Spanish Word: dedalo, laberinto
The Spanish Word for labyrinth
Now you know how to say labyrinth in Spanish. :-)

More Spanish - English Translations

Interested in travelling to a Spanish-speaking country? Read the travel blog below:

Spanish School - Day one   (Oaxaca, Mexico)

Day one - Espanol Interactivo My school - Espanol Interactivo My school is right downtown, about 2 blocks from the Zocalo, or main plaza. It doesn't look like anything from the outside. Like many of the buildings here, it presents a blank face to the street, but inside is ful of life. You enter the school through a big wooden door that swings in to plant-lined corridor to an inner...
[ view entire travel blog ]

Popular Phrase: possessive pronouns spanish worksheet | Future Tense | Conjugated Verb: arquitecturar - establish [ click for full conjugation ]

; ;


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What's New

**Minor bug fixed.

App Description

The Size Converter can be used to convert your clothing size to all international clothing sizes. Simply select your clothing size from the drop-down list which corresponds to the sizing scale used in your country, and the equivalent sizes in all other international standards will be displayed.

- Womens Clothing Size
- Womens Dresses Size
- Womens Blouses Size
- Womens Shoes Size
- Mens Clothing Size
- Mens T-Shirts Size
- Mens Jeans Waist Size
- Mens Shoes Size

iPhone Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

Size Converter(Lite) screenshot 1 Size Converter(Lite) screenshot 2

App Changes

  • June 10, 2014 Initial release
  • August 28, 2015 New version 1.2.1


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What's New

- iCloud implementation: now you can continue playing on different devices with the same save game
- Loading times significantly reduced
- Minor fixes and improvements in the hint system
- Sound effects can be turned off separately in the menu now
- Various fixes to reduce crashes

App Description

Bridge Constructor Medieval has been voted as one of the "Best of 2014" games in the App Store in 13 countries!

Dive into the Middle Ages and play the successor to the worldwide #1 hit, Bridge Constructor

Bridge Constructor Medieval turns back the clock a few centuries to the time of knights and castles. Build sturdy bridges to supply your city with provisions - or cunningly constructed bridges that collapse under the weight of attacking troops, sending the horde of enemies into the abyss below. You won’t even be safe from cannon fire in the 40 brand new levels. Protect your foot soldiers and your horse-drawn carriages with covered bridges and stable pillar structures.

There are a total of five materials available to help you build the perfect bridge: wood, heavy wood, stone and ropes, along with the new addition of the bridge roof.

The exciting background story allows you to familiarize yourself with the various materials on a step by step basis, and learn everything you need to know so that your bridges meet the requirements of the different levels.

Innovative game modes in store for you!

Besides building stable bridges, there's also plenty on offer for veterans to discover in the new game modes.

In the siege level, your bridge is bombarded by enemy catapults. Strengthen your bridge so that it doesn't collapse, and protect your own troops on the bridge with a bridge roof.

In another new game mode, you build your bridges so that they collapse under the load of enemy units to send as many of them as possible into the abyss.

In addition, the unique bonus challenges will leave even the most experienced players at their wit’s end. That way, both bridge-building professionals and novices will face a challenge in Bridge Constructor Medieval.

- For the first time: Build bridges in the Middle Ages!
- Brand new levels and game modes for a completely new gaming experience
- Design sturdy bridge roofs to protect yourself from enemy catapults
- Construct cunning bridge traps to send advancing enemy troops into the abyss
- Exciting and funny background story
- Enjoy beautiful medieval landscapes
- Game Center Achievements and rankings
- iCloud implementation to have game progress available across different devices

Like the game? Then support us with 5 stars in the App Store!

Follow us on Twitter and Facebook:

If you have any problems with the game, send us an email to: [email protected]

iPhone Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

Bridge Constructor Medieval screenshot 1 Bridge Constructor Medieval screenshot 2 Bridge Constructor Medieval screenshot 3 Bridge Constructor Medieval screenshot 4 Bridge Constructor Medieval screenshot 5

iPad Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

Bridge Constructor Medieval screenshot 6 Bridge Constructor Medieval screenshot 7 Bridge Constructor Medieval screenshot 8 Bridge Constructor Medieval screenshot 9 Bridge Constructor Medieval screenshot 10

App Changes

  • May 01, 2014 Initial release
  • May 31, 2014 Price decrease: $1.99 -> $0.99
  • June 02, 2014 Price increase: $0.99 -> $1.99
  • June 06, 2014 Price decrease: $1.99 -> $0.99
  • July 18, 2014 New version 1.2
  • July 18, 2014 Price increase: $0.99 -> $1.99
  • December 20, 2014 Price decrease: $1.99 -> $0.99
  • January 05, 2015 Price increase: $0.99 -> $1.99


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Alpha Squadron Review
+ Universal App
$2.99 Buy now!

Alpha Squadron Review

Our Review by Blake Grundman on January 17th, 2013
Rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: BRILLIANTLY NOSTALGIC
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How to traipse close enough to infringing on Star Wars but not be thrown in the Sarlacc pit.

Developer: Martian Monkey LLC
Price: $2.99
Version: 1.4
App Reviewed on: iPad 2

Graphics / Sound Rating: starstarstarstarblankstar
Game Controls Rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar
Gameplay Rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar
Replay Value Rating: starstarstarstarblankstar

Overall Rating: starstarstarstarblankstar

In the last couple of months the world of space combat games have been turned upside down. It seems like only a few weeks ago that Arc Squadron released, instantly cementing itself as the iOS spiritual successor to Nintendo’s Star Fox franchise. The next logical choice of games to emulate on Apple devices would be LucasArt’s abandoned Rogue Squadron series. Right on schedule, in swoops Martian Monkey’s new game, Alpha Squadron. Could this actually prove to be the rebirth of Biggs and Porkins, or is this nothing more than a feeble attempt at recapturing Lucas’ magic?

Anyone who has ever seen a Star Wars film is going to be blown away at how close Alpha Squadron comes to toeing the line of infringement. Everything from the player’s ship, which looks like an X-Wing, to the enemies, which resemble TIE Fighters, reek of the popular brand but somehow manage to differ just enough to be legally safe. Heck, even the sweeping orchestral soundtrack in the background sounds like it could have leapt off the baton of John Williams.

When a developer manages to stick that close to the subject material, there is a high probability that it will attract a similar audience. If there is one thing that prevents the game from being a legitimate successor to the throne it would have to be the production values. While the game looks decent enough, there are significant cases of re-used art assets, not to mention invisible walls on the battlefield. Also, players never have any chance to switch up their weaponry. The only option available is the laser mounted to the ship, which can’t even be modified to fire in single or double shot bursts. This flies in the face of the variety (both weapons and ships) found in later Rogue installments.

Criticisms aside, Alpha Squadron strikes enough of the same notes that its overall chord will certainly feel and sound familiar. Though the mission structure seems rather dogfight heavy, players will find more than enough gameplay to justify the $2.99 sticker price. Most importantly, it plays like it could have existed in the GameCube era, which is enough to render it an instant purchase. Red Five would certainly be pleased.

iPhone Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

Alpha Squadron screenshot 1 Alpha Squadron screenshot 2 Alpha Squadron screenshot 3 Alpha Squadron screenshot 4 Alpha Squadron screenshot 5

iPad Screenshots

(click to enlarge)

Alpha Squadron screenshot 6 Alpha Squadron screenshot 7 Alpha Squadron screenshot 8 Alpha Squadron screenshot 9 Alpha Squadron screenshot 10
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LIVE › 10-Noon Sunday SportsTalk
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Updated: August 11th, 2013 4:37pm
Twins deal veteran infielder Jamey Carroll to Kansas City

Twins deal veteran infielder Jamey Carroll to Kansas City

SportsWire Daily

Get the 1500 ESPN SportsWire delivered to your inbox daily, and keep up with all the news in Twin Cities Sports

Jamey Carroll will spend the rest of the season playing in the American League Central but it won't be with the Minnesota Twins.

The Twins dealt the veteran infielder to the Kansas City Royals on Sunday for a player to be named or cash. The trade was announced after the Twins' 5-2 victory over the White Sox in Chicago.

The Royals placed Miguel Tejada on the 15-day disabled list Sunday because of a strained right calf, creating the need for Carroll.

"If I can go there and contribute in a positive way, I know the team is playing extremely well right now and they have a bunch of good young guys and some great pitching," Carroll said.

Carroll got the start Sunday at third base in place of Trevor Plouffe and went 1-for-4 with a run.

In 59 games this season with the Twins, Carroll hit .230 (44-for-191) with six doubles and nine RBI. Signed by the Twins before the 2011 season, Carroll has spent part of 12 seasons with Montreal, Washington, Colorado, Cleveland, the Dodgers and Twins.

The Twins will make a corresponding roster move on Monday night before their game with the Cleveland Indians at Target Field.

The Associated Press contributed

In this story: Jamey Carroll, Trevor Plouffe


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Birthday - Article - Birthday Flower Cake
Radio Specials

Section Navigation

Back to Birthday >

The Birthday Flower Cake

birthday flower cake

The Birthday Flower Cake®

Over the years, we've collected literally thousands of letters and thank-you notes telling us how fun it is to receive one of our signature Birthday Flower Cakes. Often imitated but never duplicated, here's more information about this all-time favorite.

A Video Introduction to the Birthday Flower Cake

Watch a video introduction to the Birthday Flower Cake from Julie Mulligan, a 1-800-FLOWERS.COM Expert Designer who helped pioneer the first 1-800-FLOWERS.COM Birthday Flower Cake.

The History of the Birthday Flower Cake

The Birthday Flower Cake itself is celebrating its own birthday! 10 years ago, the first Birthday Flower Cake was made, and ever since then it's been making people smile. How did it all get started? Here's an excerpt from Stop and Sell the Roses, by 1-800-FLOWERS.COM Founder and CEO, Jim McCann. In this excerpt, Jim recounts the story of how the Cake, one of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM's most popular flower arrangements, came to be.

One of our best ideas came from a bull session on one of my trips. We had visited a number of our BloomNet florists. BloomNet is a nationwide network of over 9,000 flower shops that we have handpicked to fulfill our orders. They have the right customer service attitude and take service seriously. As we talked with florists in a number of towns, I kept hearing the same message: "We want to be able to do something more with our craft capability." It made sense, come to think of it: if you are in the flower business, the odds are you have an artistic bent. You want to do something more than wrap up a dozen roses and send them out with the driver.

One night, toward the tail end of the trip, I brought up this subject with a group of florists. It just so happened that Lily Buckland, one of our fulfilling florists near Denver, was celebrating her birthday. That night we all went to dinner at one of those Rocky Mountain places where they serve you a steak the size of a German shepherd. We fell deep into conversation about what we might do by way of a new offering for birthdays – something that only a florist could do. At that very moment, the lights dimmed and the waiters filed over with a big beautiful birthday cake with sugar flowers all over it. As Lily took a deep breath to blow out the candles, a little light went off in each diner's well-fed brain: "A-ha! What about a birthday cake made entirely of flowers?"

The next day, before we flew out, I went down to one of our BloomNet shops and a bunch of us clipped stems and wove leaves around wire frame and made a prototype birthday flower cake. Good idea, but the cake wasn't there yet.

We sent out the word to all of the BloomNet florists. Could they submit a design for a birthday flower cake? The winner would get a trip to New York with their significant other and two tickets to see Whoopi Goldberg in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. One of our Long Island florists, Carlyn Ahmad, worked with my sister Julie and with key associate Jerry Rosalia. Together they dreamed up an incredible cake design. We went with it. The Birthday Flower Cake® is the single most successful design we have ever made. If I hadn't taken the time to hang out and go to a dinner with some of our people, we would never had done it.

It pays to keep every line of communication open because one of these days, right out of the blue, a valuable message is going to come down it.


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Cancer today

As the Moon and Mars align in your career sector today, this gives you a chance to put your professional instincts and passions on the same page, giving you an intuitive sense of what excites you. As your emotional responses and passions mix this is likely to evoke a reaction and it’s within those reactions that some valuable truths can be discovered.

Daily Cancer horoscope

Horoscope & Astrology

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Points: 5
Cover Story: It Came From Outer Space!

chad mohr

Total Points:
Kill Streak
Last Visit:
regina, SK

What I'm Playing

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons Call of Duty 2

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my life

my life

Dec 22, 2005 8:05PM PST

I have one question to throw out there ...what is the actual problem with the 360's..my freind kirk jr(also xbox tag)his 360 screwed up not from over heating but from internal error's I got my xbox from the same bunch to but mine is fine...i would really like to know what is causing the problem did they mess up one of the cpu's? or cd drive again? i cant seem to figure it out at all.So kirk called up microsoft at about 12:30 at night and they told him to go thorugh some trouble shooting proccedures and what not so he did after about a 20 minute trouble shooting extravaganza they told him that it was screwed and that it would take 4 business days for them to ship a pakage to his house so he could send it there and they could repair it.so the next day we went to eb and talked to the store manager Amanda(southland mall regina,sk)and she told kj to bring his system in and exchange it (because me and my freind both purchased a one year warrentty ) so we did and she just pulled a system out from a core bundle and put kjs right where the core used to be.the point of this little story is that why would microsoft risk shipping f*cked up units in the first place ...i think that is the worst possible thing to do when competeing for number one against the big N and sony.The Xbox 360 is amazing one of the best systems i have played (thanks to live) but if the day comes that my 360 screws up I will be very angry and most likly write them an angry letter then get mine exchanged for a working system...xylanth2 = gamer tag for live
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Comments (2)

  • gcpnoy
  • ahahaha...

    Posted: Jan 03, 2006 12:00AM PST by  gcpnoy
    Hey Chad, if you have been checking out my blog's lately it is chock-full of Animal Crossing banter and barely anything else (except for dillusional stories of drunken karaoke grandeur) sorry for the dry spell but I can only talk about games if I play em', right? I have been playing Mario Kart DS but I am so thoroughly pissed with that game. Idiots that can't take a defeat fairly so they turn off their DS at the possible second in hopes of somehow defeating me in the closing leg of the race. Upsetting! So I only play with "friends" now which isn't very often considering I am in Japan and the rest of the 1UP gaming universe is located in North America! Oh well, at least I can catch random people whose AC:WW I somehow bamboozled and visit their towns! Great fun! Well dude, keep writing and be thankful your 360 isn't the one all fcuked up! I still say you should get a Revolution, stick with Nintendo and ignore the rest! That's my honest opinion, though! ;) Layterz...
  • gcpnoy
  • yo...

    Posted: Jan 05, 2006 12:00AM PST by  gcpnoy
    Hey Chad. Just to remind you the only reason I even own a PSP is because I won it here on 1UP. Thanks 1UP! But yeah, PSP has a few games that I want but so far haven't proven that I want to play them. I know I wan to play my WWE SvR 06 but I just can't put down AC:WW. When I do, I end up picking up MK:DS or SuperMonkeyBall:TnR. I did buy quite a few NDS games but none of them were for X-mas so I didn't put em'. I got Sonic Rush, SMB:TnR, AC:WW, MKDS, and Metroid Pinball all within' the last week of November and first 2 1/2 weeks of December. Oh yeah, my son is in Vallejo, Ca. right now going strong and being a cute baby! I'll see him in February! ;) Layterz...
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