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Originally published at the Huffington Post.
At this point in history, there is no reason why children should be born with HIV. Yet 390,000 infants around the globe were born with the virus in 2010.
Science has long established that providing mothers with antiretroviral drugs can prevent them from transmitting the virus to their children — as well as keeping the mothers alive themselves. What is needed is to take this intervention, available in affluent nations to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, and make it available in the developing world.
The good news is that we know we can do this, in even the most challenging settings. The U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has been the driver of a remarkable reduction in mother-to-child transmission in recent years. As we push toward the goal of an AIDS-free generation, the need is to broaden the participation in this effort.
This week marks an important opportunity to advance this goal: the Child Survival Call to Action, convened by the governments of the United States, India, and Ethiopia, in close collaboration with UNICEF. This high-level forum in Washington will bring together public and private partners to focus on one ambitious, yet simple, goal — to end preventable child deaths. It's an inspiring vision.
Helping mothers give birth to HIV-free children is an essential piece of the puzzle of ending preventable child deaths. Beyond keeping the child alive, doing so provides wider benefits by keeping the mother healthy, and preventing the orphaning of other children in the household. Each dollar we invest has a multiplying impact.
We are encouraged that many others share our vision. One year ago, PEPFAR and the United Nations Joint Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS) joined with other partners to spearhead the Global Plan towards the Elimination of New Pediatric Infections and Keeping Mothers Alive. The Global Plan's central goal is to virtually eliminate new pediatric infections by 2015, by focusing on the 22 countries which account for 90 percent of child infections. To get there, we need unified action and leadership in these countries, at all levels. Everyone has a role to play, and we all must step up our efforts.
At PEPFAR, we are fully committed to a strong U.S. contribution to the global effort to reach the finish line. We support national programs to prevent mother-to-child transmission in over 30 countries, strengthening sustainable health system platforms of care and support, while ensuring integration with other essential programs. We are working with partner countries to promote evidence-based, holistic programs at the community level to strengthen families.
In 2011 alone, we reached 660,000 HIV-positive pregnant women with antiretroviral drugs, enabling 200,000 babies to be born HIV-free. This is encouraging progress, but we can and must do even more. At the Call to Action, new data insights, effective technologies, and country innovations will be put forward to enable the global community to focus on the countries and populations with the highest burdens and the interventions that work.
Preventing new HIV infections among children is not only the right thing to do, but also a smart investment — stretching each dollar we invest to save as many lives as we can, both today and tomorrow. By saving mothers' lives and allowing babies to be born HIV-free we are foregoing future health care costs, stabilizing families and communities, and positively impacting economies and nations.
This is a hopeful moment in global health, including the fight against HIV/AIDS. I believe this week's Call to Action will resonate around the world, fostering hope — and action.
Convened by the Governments of United States, Ethiopia and India, and organized in close collaboration with UNICEF, the Child Survival Call to Action will be held on June 14-15 in Washington, D.C. Focused on ending preventable child death through the survival of newborns, children and mothers, the Call to Action will convene 700 prominent leaders from government, the private sector, faith-based organizations and civil society to kick off a long-term, focused effort to save children's lives. Please visit www.apromiserenewed.org for more information.


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Drug information provided by: IBM Micromedex
Fludrocortisone is a corticosteroid (cortisone-like medicine). It belongs to the family of medicines called steroids. Your body naturally produces similar corticosteroids, which are necessary to maintain the balance of certain minerals and water for good health. If your body does not produce enough corticosteroids, your doctor may have prescribed this medicine to help make up the difference.
Fludrocortisone may also be used to treat other medical conditions as determined by your doctor.
Fludrocortisone is available only with your doctor's prescription.
This product is available in the following dosage forms:
In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For this medicine, the following should be considered:
Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully.
Fludrocortisone may slow or stop growth in children or growing adolescents when used for a long time. The natural production of corticosteroids by the body may also be decreased by the use of this medicine. Before this medicine is given to a child or adolescent, you and your child's doctor should talk about the good this medicine will do as well as the risks of using it. Follow the doctor's directions very carefully to lessen the chance that these unwanted effects will occur.
Many medicines have not been studied specifically in older people. Therefore, it may not be known whether they work exactly the same way they do in younger adults or if they cause different side effects or problems in older people. There is no specific information comparing the use of fludrocortisone in the elderly with its use in other age groups.
There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding.
Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive.
Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is not recommended. Your doctor may decide not to treat you with this medication or change some of the other medicines you take.
Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines.
Using this medicine with any of the following medicines may cause an increased risk of certain side effects, but using both drugs may be the best treatment for you. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines.
Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. Discuss with your healthcare professional the use of your medicine with food, alcohol, or tobacco.
The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially:
Your doctor may want you to control the amount of sodium in your diet. When fludrocortisone is used to treat certain types of kidney diseases, too much sodium may cause high blood sodium, high blood pressure, and excess body water.
Take this medicine only as directed by your doctor . Do not take more or less of it, do not take it more often, and do not take it for a longer time than your doctor ordered. To do so may increase the chance of side effects.
The dose of this medicine will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of this medicine. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so.
The amount of medicine that you take depends on the strength of the medicine. Also, the number of doses you take each day, the time allowed between doses, and the length of time you take the medicine depend on the medical problem for which you are using the medicine.
If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses.
Store the medicine in a closed container at room temperature, away from heat, moisture, and direct light. Keep from freezing.
Keep out of the reach of children.
Do not keep outdated medicine or medicine no longer needed.
Your doctor should check your progress at regular visits to make sure this medicine does not cause unwanted effects.
If you will be using this medicine for a long time, your doctor may want you to carry a medical identification card stating that you are using this medicine.
While you are taking fludrocortisone, be careful to limit the amount of alcohol you drink.
Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.
Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur:
Some side effects may occur that usually do not need medical attention. These side effects may go away during treatment as your body adjusts to the medicine. Also, your health care professional may be able to tell you about ways to prevent or reduce some of these side effects. Check with your health care professional if any of the following side effects continue or are bothersome or if you have any questions about them:
Other side effects not listed may also occur in some patients. If you notice any other effects, check with your healthcare professional.
Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.
Portions of this document last updated: Feb. 01, 2023
Original article: https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/fludrocortisone-oral-route/precautions/drg-20063868
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Gavtrain.com is part of Gavin Hoey Photography. We offer a full professional photographic service as well as photo training. Gavin Hoey Photography is based just outside Gatwick in West Sussex, UK.
If you need to contact Gavtrain then please use the contact form below.
Please Note:
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Jude Law
English actor
David Jude Heyworth Law (born 29 December 1972) is an Academy Award-nominated English actor. His succession of leading roles in many high profile Hollywood films has seen him become one of the top A-list actors in the industry today.
- My only obligation is to keep myself and other people guessing.
- Reported in John McVicar, "Jude Law", Artnik, London 2006, p. 4.
About Jude LawEdit
- The best actors always retain an air of mystery. The boring actors are the ones who give 100 per cent. One will never get to know the real Jude Law.
- Po-Chih Leong, director of The Wisdom of Crocodiles, reported in John McVicar, "Jude Law", Artnik, London 2006, p. 4.


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Year in review: Triumph and tragedy in 2012
National, international events took the stage
Tragedy, turmoil, politics and protests marked the year that was 2012.
The year began with an unseasonably and record-breaking warm winter for New England. The National Weather Service declared winter 2012 as the second warmest on record for Boston and Worcester, one that lacked any notable snowstorm — which was welcomed after the previous winter literally brought roofs down around us. We were spared any major weather event until October, with the arrival of Superstorm Sandy.
By March, it was evident that it would be a long year of political discourse and punditry as the presidential candidates were weeded out in the primaries, campaigned their way to the national conventions in the summer and then went full-speed ahead into November. The "middle class" was the most sought after voting block; Mitt Romney revealed his "binders full of women"; Vice President Joseph Biden brought "malarkey" back into vogue; and U.S. Sen. Scott Brown and now Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren bickered over which of them best represented the working class of Massachusetts — the former model and Boston College law student named "America's Sexiest Man" in 1982, or the Harvard professor and bankruptcy expert with an oral history of Native American heritage?
There was a changing of the guard at many local landmarks and cultural institutions: Tower Hill Botanic Garden, Worcester Center for Crafts, Music Worcester Inc., the Worcester Art Museum and First Night Worcester all experienced a change in leadership. Even the Telegram & Gazette got a change of address as it moved from 20 Franklin St. across the Common to a modern office building at 100 Front St. The 20 Franklin St. site is now part of the proposed theater district.
And while the world didn't end on Dec. 21 as predicted by the Maya, there were many moments when it stood still: in July, when a gunman opened fire in a Colorado movie theater killing 12, and in Central Massachusetts when a man killed himself after killing his daughter and critically wounding his son; in August when a former Army officer killed six in a Wisconsin Sikh temple during services; in December in Oregon when a man killed two people in a shopping mall; 11 days before Christmas when a man shot his way into an elementary school in Connecticut, killing 20 children and six adults; and Christmas Eve in Webster, N.Y., when a man set a fire and shot and killed two responding firefighters and injured two others.
There were moments that caught our attention a world away as well. The civil war in Syria that has killed more than 40,000 people; attacks on embassies, including our own consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that included high-profile casualties; there were violent protests in Afghanistan in February when U.S. troops inadvertently burned Qurans; heightened tensions between Israel and Iran over nuclear capabilities and the launching of a long-range rocket by North Korea.
As the year comes to a close, we find ourselves in an old-fashioned cliffhanger, nearly as suspenseful as Who-Shot-J.R., but the consequences are far more real than the life and death ordeal of a fictional oil baron — we find ourselves dangling by our fingertips over the fiscal cliff, as Congress and President Obama are locked in a stalemate over financial welfare of the country, which could mean major tax hikes, spending cuts and a return to the recession that the nation has struggled to escape.


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Food Network won't renew Paula Deen's contract
The Food Network said Friday it's dumping Paula Deen, barely an hour after the celebrity cook posted a videotaped apology online begging forgiveness from fans and critics troubled by her admission to having used racial slurs in the past.
SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — The Food Network said Friday it's dumping Paula Deen, barely an hour after the celebrity cook posted a videotaped apology online begging forgiveness from fans and critics troubled by her admission to having used racial slurs in the past.
The 66-year-old Savannah kitchen celebrity has been swamped in controversy since court documents filed this week revealed Deen told an attorney questioning her under oath last month that she has used the N-word. "Yes, of course," Deen said, though she added, "It's been a very long time."
The Food Network, which made Deen a star with "Paula's Home Cooking" in 2002 and later "Paula's Home Cooking" in 2008, weighed in with a terse statement Friday afternoon.
"Food Network will not renew Paula Deen's contract when it expires at the end of this month," the statement said. Network representatives declined further comment. A representative for Deen did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment on the decision.
The news came as Deen worked to repair the damage to her image, which has spawned a vast empire of cookbooks, a bimonthly cooking magazine, a full line of cookware, food items like spices and even furniture.
She abruptly canceled a scheduled interview on NBC's "Today" show Friday morning, instead opting for a direct appeal via online video — one that allowed her and her staff complete control of what she said and how she said it.
"Inappropriate, hurtful language is totally, totally unacceptable," Deen said in the 45-second video posted on YouTube. "I've made plenty of mistakes along the way but I beg you, my children, my team, my fans, my partners - I beg for your forgiveness."
The online video allowed Deen and her staff a direct appeal to viewers and complete control of what she said and how she said it. Deen adopted a solemn tone as she looked straight into the camera. Still, her recorded apology featured three obvious edits — with the picture quickly fading out between splices — during a statement just five sentences long.
"I want to apologize to everybody, uh, for the wrong that I've done," Deen says as the video begins. "Uh, I want to learn and grow from this."
Deen initially planned to give her first interview on the controversy Friday to the "Today" show, which promoted her scheduled appearance as a live exclusive. Instead, host Matt Lauer ended up telling viewers that Deen's representatives pulled the plug because she was exhausted after her flight to New York.
Court records show Deen sat down for a deposition May 17 in a discrimination lawsuit filed last year by a former employee who managed Uncle Bubba's Seafood and Oyster House, a Savannah restaurant owned by Deen and her brother, Bubba Hiers. The ex-employee, Lisa Jackson, says she was sexually harassed and worked in a hostile environment rife with innuendo and racial slurs.
During the deposition, Deen was peppered with questions about her racial attitudes. At one point she's asked if she thinks jokes using the N-word are "mean." Deen says jokes often target minority groups and "I can't, myself, determine what offends another person."
Deen also acknowledged she briefly considered hiring all black waiters for her brother's 2007 wedding, an idea inspired by the staff at a restaurant she had visited with her husband. She insisted she quickly dismissed the idea.
But she also insisted she and her brother have no tolerance for bigotry.
"Bubba and I, neither one of us, care what the color of your skin is" or what gender a person is, Deen said. "It's what's in your heart and in your head that matters to us."


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Sean Filkins is an icon of progressive rock that may be best associated with his work in the band Big Big Train. However, as his 2011 opus 'War & Peace and Other Stories' made very clear, he is not a talent to be confined to any one project. Like many other progressive rock fans, I was very impressed with his solo career debut, and had a few questions to ask him about his music. Many thanks to Sean for taking the time to answer them!
Conor:What inspired you to pursue and create music of the progressive rock variety?
Sean: My parents always had music on in the house. Classical music, The Beatles, The Hollies, my dad played a lot of Jazz, plus early Progressive music by YES and Uriah Heep I always liked the way Classical composers could create fantastic picture music. Vaughan Williams Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus, Rachmaninov's Isle Of The Dead and Stravinsky's Firebird Suit are three that come to mind. Holst's The Planets was the first album I ever owned. Progressive music did the same for me, created fantastic musical landscapes, as did music by Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. Blodwyn Pigs Getting To This album was one I really got into at the time and I also bought Jon Andersons Olias Of Sunhillow and Squires Fish Out Of Water. A lot of my friends and their parents thought I was mad, or on something, but I got it, I could immerse myself in the music. I remember seeing the photo of YES on the inside cover of Relayer and new that one day I'd be like that.
Conor: What led you to go down a solo route, instead of releasing another album with one of your numerous bands?
Sean: I have been writing my own songs for a very long time now, and have always wanted to do something that I had created myself. I'd recorded a few solo tracks and covers for an acoustic CD I did for my wife in 1998 but nothing on the scale of War And Peace & Other Short Stories. Being in bands is great fun, but when writing albums can be hard work and one always has to compromise in a band. After my break up with Big Big Train, I was playing with Lee Abraham in my Prog covers band The Indigo Pilots and he was recording his Black & White album, which he'd asked me to sing on. During the recording sessions we got onto the subject of me doing my own solo album, which he said he would produce if I wanted and he asked if I had any material. I said I had but not enough for an album, but I jumped at the chance and got to work straight away on writing and arranging material old and new.
Over the years I have had a few disappointments with music and I was still a bit bitter about the BBT thang. I thought this would be a great way to show everybody that I was not "just a vocalist" and hopefully I could write an album that could compete with the big boys that I had admired through the years.
Conor: For fans of other bands you have been in, such as Big Big Train and Soma, what is different for Sean Filkins this time around?
Sean: The main difference is that all the songs and all the lyrics on the album are written and arranged by me. Except for the original acoustic music on Learn How To Learn. Also all the lyrics are about real people, real events. They are all based on my family, on me, my thoughts and fears, how I see things. I also didn't have to compromise on anything, I was able to tell the stories and use influences in the music that I would never have been able to do in a band and I was also able to use different instruments and sounds to help create the stories and the musical landscapes. When recording, I would take pieces away and listen over and over, to sounds and passages to, until I was completely happy. I thought if I do it that way, if I love how it sounds and could immerse myself in the songs, not compromising, then others would hopefully feel the same way.
Conor: Your solo debut, 'War & Peace And Other Stories' was released last year and has since received universal acclaim on many webzines. What can you attribute as the cause of all of its success?
Sean: I've got no idea really. Music is always subjective. There are always some who like what you do and others who hate it. I'd like people to say that I have written an honest album, as I said above, one where I haven't compromised on anything. I don't think I have released a Genesis, YES or Porcupine Tree covers album although influences of bands I like are there in some of the tracks for all to hear. But I've done it in my own way. I'd like to think it's something a bit different. Also even though the songs and lyrics are very personal to me, people have been able to relate to them as the songs are about real people. This has been one of the best things about doing the album. The personal emails I have received from fans that have said they found the music and lyrics very moving as they could relate to them with stories from their own families.
Conor: Though it is listed as a solo album, there are many people involved in the creation of 'War & Peace'. How did you get networked with these other creative people and bring them into the fold?
Sean: It is a solo album. I wrote and arranged all the songs and the lyrics. I also new from the start how I wanted the album to sound. What textures I wanted. I did add as I went, but a lot of what is on the album was how I originally envisaged it. Not just the music, even down to the pictures in the booklet I can play guitar, keyboards, drums etc but nowhere near as good as all the fantastic musicians that I asked to help me. I wanted to make the album the best I could, so I asked the help of some the many musicians I know to help me create the music and songs that I had written and I couldn't have done it without them. In the same way that Jon Anderson, Peter Gabriel, Kate bush etc do on all their solo albums. Even Mike Oldfield gets musicians in to help him. John Sammes is a great friend of mine and he had been with The Indigo Pilots from the start. When I had written all the songs I went to his house to do the pre-production, to see if all the songs, sounds and ideas I had written would actually work when put together. John helped with some of the arrangements where I wanted to link pieces. Lee Abraham and Gerald Mulligan were also in the Indigo Pilots. Gerald had also drummed on Lee's Black & White album. I had already recorded vocals for Lee and his album had great production. Lee also engineered the album and played a lot of the music to. A very talented guy. I had met Dave Meros while I was with BBT. He had played on The Difference Machine. Spocks Beard had invited BBT to their Astoria gig the year TDM was released and I had been chatting with Dave via Myspace for some time. While we chatted at the gig about music, he said that if I ever needed any bass on a project, all I had to do was ask. I wrote the rhythms, tempo's timings etc on The English Eccentric especially for the way Dave plays, hoping that he would take up the offer of playing bass on the track. Lee sent him the tracks and I sent him the remit of what I wanted and Dave did the rest. The way he followed all Mully's fills was superb. Darren Newitt and I had played together in 90's band Lorien, plus a duo called Lazy Jane. Darren knows just what I like about his playing and again after I gave him the remit, he came up with the two fantastic solos on The Soldier and Learn How To Learn. Initially I wasn't happy with the Soldier solo and it was hard to say so, I didn't want to upset a great friend, but I'm glad I told him because what he did in the end was awesome.
I new John Mitchell had played on Lee's album and he asked John if he'd do the same for me. I met John at an It Bites gig and asked him if he would come on down to Lee's and play for me. The same went for Gary Chandler. Gary had sung on Lee's album. I new what both these guys were capable of on guitar, so when they arrived at the studio I gave them the remit, told them roughly what I wanted and what the songs were about and the feel and mood of each piece and they went through the sections while Lee recorded everything. If there were bits I liked we kept it and being the great musicians they are they threw in ideas that they thought would go with the feel of the track. That was the great thing about all the musicians involved. Every one of them really embraced the project and went the extra mile to put down how I felt the music should go. They all got the point of the songs. Garima and Marc Clayton I found over the internet. We actually recorded the Sitar and Tablas at Garima's house. All the other musicians are either friends or musicians I have played with so it was easy to ask them to come and play for me.
Conor: There is a very strong sense of narrative storytelling in the album. What are some of these stories about, and what inspired you to tell them?
Sean: "Are You Sitting Comfortably" is really The English Eccentric part 1 for obvious reasons. Also it's a little tongue in cheek dig at my previous band. I remember a blog I saw where an ex band mate said "There should be more Brass In Prog". Also my favourite Gran would always say "Before we start, lets have a cuppa!"
"The English Eccentric" I wrote most of the lyrics for The English Eccentric in 1999, but the rest of the track, music and arrangement, were new to this project. The song is part autobiographical but I have added parts, little idiosyncrasies from people I know and others I have met, to create the character of The English Eccentric. There is a link to the next track, the line "Daddy went to war, we'd always hoped that he'd return"
"Prisoner of Conscience Part 1, The Soldier." This was a completely new song for the project, apart from a few lyrics. I'd had the story in my head for years. The character is based my Mothers Father, who went missing in the Second World War while out on patrol. My Mother and Grandmother never new if he was killed or wounded. My Mother always felt that he was alive somewhere, either badly injured or unable to say who he was or why he was. The character in the story is based on him being wounded, his return to England and slowly coming to terms with all that has happened to him and what he's seen and done. The pain and suffering, and the futility of it all.
"Prisoner Of Conscience Part 2. The Ordinary Man". This was based on a track I had worked on previously in 1999, with a couple of friends. I couldn't use all that work because I hadn't written it all, so I had to re-write certain passages and added a new arrangement. I new this part of the story could be extended so I wrote The Soldier to be the prequel to this. The lyrics went so well as a follow on from Part1. The Soldier, finally realising there is light at the end of the tunnel and that inside there was an honest man trying to survive. My Mother often felt she was being watched by someone, and even glimpsed a man in the distance on a few occasions that looked like her father but stooping and crippled, instead of tall and strong. She always felt he'd survived the War. It's a sad shame she never found out for real.
"Epitaph For A Mariner" This track is made up of five parts. Part 1 Sailors Hymn. Part 2 Sirens Song. Part 3 Maelstrom. Part 4 Ode To William Pull. Part 5 Epitaph. All segued together to make one track. It started out as a poem, which I wrote in the eighties, about my Great Grandfather, William Pull. He was a lifeboat man and boatman from Margate in the 1890's. The song is about him and men like him and their struggle to earn a living at sea. During a great storm, my Great Grandmother was in labour. The shout went up that a boat was floundering off the coast and the lifeboat went out, but he couldn't go as the midwife had been delayed and he had to help deliver the baby. His closest friends were on that lifeboat and it overturned and all but two were killed. The baby survived, my Grandmother. The joy they must have felt at the birth of their new daughter and the unbearable pain of losing most of your closest friends. A terrible conflict. The ideas, music and arrangements for Sailors Hymn, Sirens song and Maelstrom were all new to this project. I had my daughter sing Sailors Hymn as the subject matter is about her Great, Great Grandfather. The lyrics for Ode To William Pull and Epitaph are all from the original poem that I wrote plus I added extra lyrics to Ode To William Pull to suit the music. I came up with the music for Epitaph back in 1991, a song I did with Space Rock Band Soma. What is on the album is a completely different arrangement though and has new music added to this project, as I couldn't use some parts that we had written as a band. The end finale instrumental, the solos of duelling synths and guitar and the final lament were all newly written for this project. The lament at the end, came about one day when I visited John Sammes at his house. He was playing his mini-grand and I thought it sounded beautiful, a classical piece, then I realised it was my song, the vocal melody from the chorus of Prisoner Of Conscience Part 1. I just had to have it on the album and it was a fantastic way to link this song with the previous songs on the album. For me the whole duelling solos part and fade out piano lament is one of the highlights of the album.
"Learn How To Learn" This track started out as a new age acoustic instrumental track, written by my good friend Geoff Webb. His track was called "Pastoral" I had heard it while recording at the studio he worked at. It was so beautiful that I wanted to write lyrics to it, which became Learn how to Learn. It's a more positive track. It's about trying to come to terms with one's past and that we should all be looking and working towards a brighter future for all. For this album I wanted to make it a full blow Prog Rock track, so I added the mandolin, mellotrons, drums, bass, electric guitars, church organ and big guitar solo. I then added the Asian themes at the end, the real sitar, tabla drums and flute, because I felt it was a link to previous tracks and just such a great way to end the album.
Conor: 'War & Peace' tends to lean towards the more traditional side of prog rock, as opposed to the side ofthespectrum that draws more from contemporary sources. What bands or artists were inspiring you most at the time of writing the album?
Sean: I like a very eclectic mix of music, ranging from classical pieces to rock, reggae, synth music, some dance and ambient. All kinds. I won't just like a piece of music just because one of my favourite bands or artist has recorded it. As I said above, I'm a big fan of Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze. I love Hawkwind, The Beatles, especially George Harrison's Indian influenced tracks. Robert Schroeder, YES, Dan Fogelburg, [wonderful harmonies], Blodwyn Pigs, Getting To This, plus classical pieces by Stravinsky, Rachmaninov, John Foulds and pieces by Vaughan Williams. I like early Porcupine Tree especially Stupid Dream, Signify and Voyage, great stuff, plus recently I have bought Anathemas last two albums. I've been listening to a lot of Pendulums stuff recently, great music for driving too as is Van Halen's first album and anything by Hendrix. I wanted the music on the album to be a part of the whole story, not just a vehicle for the lyrics or just there for the sake of it, so the instruments, sounds etc that I have used have been an integral part to telling the stories of each track. Picture music. That's why some of the sections have been given time to develope. These songs aren't meant to be three-minute pop songs, they are meant to be picture music, so the listener can immerse themselves into each track. I haven't intentionally gone out of my way to copy any of the bands or artists I like but because I am very passionate about the music I listen to, some of those bands and artists music mentioned above has influenced the songs on the album.
Conor: How do you think the advent of the Internet has shaped the progressive rock community?
Sean: There are definite for and against's. The for's are that I can use social network sites to chat with fans and media alike. Send out news of albums, music, live stuff etc very quickly to a lot of people. Keep in contact with all the musicians involved. Send out promos, photos etc. I even created my own website so that people can contact me direct, read up on any news and order the album directly from me if they wish. [I can sign any bought this way :O)] It's a great way to interact with fans and I have met some wonderful people and made many new friends via the Internet since the album was released. It was great to be able to send tracks to musicians as well; Dave Meros and Darren Newitt had music files sent back and forth via the Internet so it made the recording process a lot quicker and easier. Also many Progressive Rock Radio stations and Prog forums have been set up that help promote the music, which is a great thing. Fantastic in fact. The biggest disappointment for me and for any artist, are the illegal download sites [That old chestnut I hear you say] But it's true. People keep asking me recently when I'm going to do a follow up to War And Peace & Other Short Stories. Well I haven't broken even yet from recording it. If I could have received just a pound or just something from every illegal download, it would go a long way to helping put money into recording the next album. Yes it's cool to get something for free, but at the expense of getting one's favourite artist to make the music one likes, I don't think so. All it means is that artists like myself bring out albums on a smaller budget. An expensive hobby more or less. Alright if you're a millionaire. One thing I am very pleased about is that although my budget for the album was a fraction of the cost of some of the Big Boys in the business, the reaction of fans and media alike has been overwhelming, couldn't have been better in fact, but I bet there are many artists out there creating fantastic music, but without the money to get it out to the fans. We need more fans to buy the music they like directly from the artist, or the music will only belong to a lucky few that can afford their expensive hobby. I'll get off my soapbox now. LOLOL
Conor: What lies in the future for Sean Filkins?
Sean: Well I've been really busy recently getting a band together to play WAP&OSS live. First gig is at The Celebr8 Festival at Kingston-Upon-Thames on the 7th July, [Big thanks to Jon and Geoff], playing alongside The Tangent, Pallas and IQ. I'm still doing a lot of promotional work for the album both online and in real time, doing interviews and meeting fans etc. I have also got a few ideas for tracks for a follow up written down. Music and lyrics, but nothing recorded yet. I recently sang a track for Jeff Green's up and coming album, Elder Creek. That was a great day, Meeting Jeff and Garreth Hickling also Phil Chelmsford, Jeff's promoter. I've also recently sung backing vocals for John Meriton. He's recording a contemporary folk album of his own material and wanted some harmonies. So there is plenty being done and still to come.
Conor: What is your view on the current progressive rock scene; any bands you might recommend to a fellow progger?
Sean: I like Anathemas last two albums though of the two I prefer We're Here Because We're Here. I enjoyed Nine Stones Close last album Traces. I'm also looking forward to hearing the next album from Days Between Stations, and for obvious reasons Jeff Greens Elder Creek. New bands I've heard and liked recently are Technopolis, from Hungry and Brother Ape, also Anubis and Poets Of The Fall, have recorded some great Prog recently. I think in 2011 there were over 1500 prog releases. As with any genre, not all of it is going to be every progheads cup of tea, but it's great that there has been a re-insurgence of progressive music from around the world. It would be great if some of us could get major label interest again and also get main stream radio play as Prog bands did in the seventies but I can't see that happening in the near future. Too many people allow themselves to be drawn into listening to "throwawayXfactorunemotionalsh*tenonmusic" and I can't understand why. That depresses the hell out of me but what can you do. All the time they do, people like Simon Cowell will be laughing all the way to the bank. At least with the internet, our music is slowly filtering out to a wider audience via sites like ProgArchives and via Prog Radio Stations like Tony Romero's Aiiradio show, Frans Keylard at The Rogues Gallery and Jos Heijman at Symfozone, Kevin Slaymaker, Geoff Banks to name a few. Also promoters like Stephen Lambe at the Classic Rock Society and all those involved with Celebr8 Festival, Classic Rock Presents Prog mag, and labels like David Robinson's F2, all these mentioned and many others are doing there bit to promote Progressive Music, so hopefully in the future younger fans and younger musicians and bands will pick up on the genre.
Conor: What advice might you give to other proggers that want to make music and get their work 'out there'?
Sean: Be honest with yourself. Don't record music that you think people will like but you don't. Record music that you have written from the heart, that you would like to hear. Be passionate about it and believe in what you write. Don't stick to the norm. Have influences, use them to help create your own sound, but don't be an artist or band that completely rips off another bands sound. Don't worry about getting bad reviews. Don't compromise with your sound as far as don't have a "that'll do attitude". If you think it might not sound quite right then others will, and if you leave mistakes in, you'll come to hate what you have recorded. And finally and most importantly, don't think you're going to get rich quickly lololololol.
Conor: The most important question I could ask; do you like cheeseburgers? If so, what is your favourite place to procure them?
Sean: That's a Googly of a question. [A Curve Ball from your neck of the woods :O)] Yes I like cheeseburgers. Food in general. I didn't get this figure eating rabbit food lolol. The best Cheeseburger I've had recently was at a local Bistro called Lu Chino's in Gosport, near where I live. I had added cheese and bacon put in it. With chips and a very crisp fresh salad on the side. Very nice it was to.
Conor: Anything vital that I may have missed?
Sean: Can't think of anything. I think I've said enough already.
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text: It's all about s#!t shows this week! The Jerks run down the Yankees' botching of A-Rod's farewell, the mess that is the 2016 Rio Olympics, and the farce that is Tim Tebow's attempt at a baseball career. Plus, the open letter that says Warner Bros. Studios is a s#!t show, and the latest on Captain Marvel, Star Wars, and the future of Ghostbusters! T2J: Proving there's a difference between a s#!tty show, and a s#!t show!


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This is the story in France right now, with the BBC reporting there are already 40 journalists in the tiny rural town of Villers-au-Tertre, near the Belgian border.
The woman, a nurse in her 40s who has two daughters and grand-children, confessed to killing eight of her own babies between 1989 and 1996, but only two corpses have been found at their current home. Police suspect she might have brought the other corpses with her when they moved in.
The woman, mordbidly obese, managed to keep every pregnancy secret from her husband.
Not sure if this story is more a cautionary tale against morbid obesity or abortion versus infanticide.
Related articles by Zemanta
- French couple questioned over deaths of eight babies (telegraph.co.uk)


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There is no sound from the portable speaker when connected to the computer via USB connection
Check the following if there is no sound from the portable speaker when connected to the computer via USB connection:
IMPORTANT: Each of these steps represents a possible solution to this issue. Check if you can hear sounds from the portable speaker after completing each step.
- Make sure that the USB cable is properly and securely connected to the USB port of the portable speaker.
- For SRS-X9: Connect your computer to the USB-B port of the speaker.
- Some models are not supplied with a USB cable.
- For SRS-X9:
After pressing the USB-B button on the portable speaker, restart the music playback application on the computer.
For other models:
After setting the portable speaker to the USB mode by pressing the FUNCTION button, etc., restart the music playback application on the computer.
NOTE: The button name and setting method vary depending on the model. For details, refer to the manual.
- Stop the playback on the computer first before switching to another mode on the portable speaker. It may cause malfunction or damage to data when you switched to another mode while the music is playing on the computer.


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Times Square's crystal ball gets gleaming new skin
NEW YORK (AP) — Electricians working atop a New York City skyscraper on Friday installed the last of the 2,688 crystal triangles that give the Times Square New Year's Eve Ball its shimmer, including a panel dreamt up by a 12-year-old former cancer patient.
Each year, the intricate Waterford crystals that make up the skin of the huge orb are replaced with new pieces of glass.
This year's design features a kaleidoscopic pattern that will refract light in a splash of 16 million colors as the ball drops down a flagpole at the stroke of midnight. The ball is lit from within by 32,256 powerful diodes.
One crystal panel stands out from the rest. It was crafted from a drawing submitted by Coraliz Martinez, who was treated for bone cancer at St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., in 2011.
Waterford executives said they asked the hospital if they had a patient who could give them a design representing "the gift of imagination." The girl's colored-pencil drawing featured a single rose bloom, which Waterford's master sculptor, Fred Curtis, traced into the glass and cut with a diamond wheel.
"I wanted to get as close to her design as possible," he said.
Coraliz, who lives in Alabama, is now cancer-free, the hospital said.
It takes Waterford craftsmen about a year to make the crystals used in the ball, Curtis said.
Bolting them onto the ball's metal frame takes two weeks. That task is carefully performed by a crew from Landmark Signs and Electric, a company that also maintains the dazzling electronic billboards in Times Square.
Two employees, Nick Bonavita and Nick Russomanno, screwed in the final panels as photographers watched Friday.
Their hands were red from the cold. The crystal wedges, fitted in their metal frames, looked heavy. But Bonavita, who has worked on the ball every year since 2009, said they haven't dropped one yet.
"We have a perfect record so far," he said.


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HOUSTON – As T.J. Waldburger found out, Adlan Amagov can generate great power in short distances.
While Waldburger tried to get their fight to the ground, Amagov stung him close-in with punches to set up a first-round finish.
The welterweight bout was part of the preliminary card of today's UFC 166 event at Toyota Center in Houston. It streamed on Facebook ahead of additional prelims on FOX Sports 1 and the pay-per-view main card.
Amagov, a Combat Sambo champion, attempted a few of his patented spinning kicks to start off the bout. One of them, a back kick, slammed into the gut of Waldburger, who immediately abandoned his plans to stand with the Chechnyan fighter and clinched for a takedown against the fence.
There, while he held a leg and tried to wrestle the fight to the ground, Amagov stung him with punches to the side of the head. Upon separating, Amagov landed a left hook that took Waldburger's legs from him and sent him crashing face-first to the mat.
Waldburger rolled to his back and tried in vain to stop the punishment, but a series of huge punches overhead separated him from consciousness. Referee intervention came a little too late at the 3:45 mark of the first.
"I feel great," Amagov said. "It was a pretty short fight. He got me with a low kick. We exchanged low kicks and then I was able to knock him out. There's not much more to say. We'll see what's next. Whatever the UFC decides for me."
Amagov (13-2-1 MMA, 2-0 UFC), a Strikeforce veteran, earns his second straight UFC win since his transfer to the industry-leading promotion, while Waldburger (16-8 MMA, 4-3 UFC) goes back to the drawing board after a second-round submission of Nick Catone at this past December's TUF 16 Finale.
Up-to-the-minute UFC 166 results include:
- Adlan Amagov def. T.J. Waldburger via KO (punches) – Round 1, 3:45
- Tony Ferguson def. Mike Rio via submission (D'Arce choke) – Round 1, 1:52
- Andre Fili def. Jeremy Larsen via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 0:53
- Kyoji Horiguchi def. Dustin Pague via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 3:51
For complete coverage of UFC 166, check out the UFC Events section of the site.
John Morgan contributed to this report on-site in Houston.


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Continuing Education Credit
CAMPEP Credit
The AAPM will apply to the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Physics Education Programs, Inc. (CAMPEP) for approval of the Spring Clinical Meeting for MPCEC continuing education credit hours.
- To obtain continuing education credit, attendees must complete an online CEC evaluation survey.
- Please note your badge I.D. will be required in order to complete the online CEC evaluation survey.
- The survey will be available online Saturday, March 16 through Tuesday, April 16.
- Attendees must complete the survey by April 16 in order to receive CAMPEP credit.
- After the meeting:
- Medical Physicist registrants will be contacted with instructions for viewing the meeting transcript via the CAMPEP website. The transcript will list a description of the sessions and the number of continuing education credits obtained.
- Following the close of the AAPM Spring Clinical Meeting online CEC evaluation system, AAPM will provide CAMPEP with participant contact information, credits earned, and the appropriate processing fees in order for individual participants to access their personal 2013 AAPM Spring Clinical Meeting transcript via the CAMPEP online MPCEC Repository database. Please be advised, CAMPEP transcripts are viewable via the CAMPEP online MPCEC Repository database. Participants will not receive a hardcopy CAMPEP transcript. Should a participant need a hardcopy of the 2013 AAPM Spring Clinical Meeting transcript, an individual may order a hardcopy transcript from CAMPEP. View details here.
- MPCEC credits will be released on April 23, 2013.
- Note: Individuals registered as Companions are not eligible for MPCEC.
- Review basic knowledge of diagnostic and therapeutic techniques.
- Conduct sessions on the current state of the art and standards of practice.
- Provide a peer interchange forum for exchanging information and concepts.


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Disney has released a new trailer for their upcoming 3-D adaptation of Rapunzel, titled Tangled, and though the film features a Disney Princess of sorts, the trailer focuses mainly on the prince.
It's interesting to see that the focus here is the male character, played by Zachary Levi; Disney is notoriously shameless about marketing their Princess line, and one would think they'd play up Mandy Moore's Rapunzel as a new addition to the Disney fairy-tale family. But Rapunzel is an afterthought here; the film, which began production three years ago, originally had her name as the title, but was later replaced by the more generic (and perhaps more boy-friendly) Tangled. For a movie that supposedly revolves around her, she doesn't seem to be a very important figure or a character Disney believes will be a draw at the box office.
Grady Smith of Entertainment Weekly notes that trailer seems to be marketing a "Disney princess movie for boys," with an emphasis on humor and action as opposed to romance and a dreamier fairy-tale take on things, perhaps to keep the film competitive at the box office. Of course, one trailer isn't really enough to know how the characters in the film will play out, but the fact that the prince seems to have taken a Shrek-like role (complete with amusing animal sidekick in the form of his slightly bitchy horse) does present the film as an heir to the now-retired Ogre's throne, complete with ironic winks and nods to former Disney films thrown in for the benefit of parents, which is a tired trend, really, as it's often overdone and seems to be used in place of actual storytelling. But again, it's early: perhaps Tangled will be a pleasant surprise and both the Prince and Rapunzel will prove to be new spins on stale Disney archetypes.
So what say you, commenters? Are you looking forward to this one? Or would you prefer that it stay locked in a tower forever?


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For Corn Farmers, There's Gold In Them There Fields
Corn is a mighty hot commodity these days.
Grain prices soared after weather damage across the Corn Belt led the U.S. Department of Agriculture to predict lower yields than previously expected earlier this month.
Some agronomists and farmers predict yields will likely be even lower because of ongoing heat and drought.
All the while, demand for corn seems to be insatiable — the ethanol industry, livestock and export markets can't seem to get enough. Economists say demand will likely continue to outstrip supply for some time, keeping grain prices and the cost of food high.
This flurry of high corn prices has traders flocking to the commodity, in some ways treating it like the new gold. Traders are speculating on corn prices well into 2013, and there are some bets on corn futures even further out. Money in corn futures is five times what it was in 2004, according to numbers from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. There is nearly a $2 trillion market for corn alone.
All this market frenzy has farmers — some just weeks away from the start of harvest — hoping for rain.
On his farm just outside Des Moines, Iowa, Vernon Flinn walks his cornfields with two grain buyers from Heartland Co-op to check on yields. Flinn twists off an ear of corn and finds some heat damage.
Still, when they measure the ears and count kernels back at the pickup, Flinn estimates a pretty decent crop, about 170 bushels per acre, compared with the 153 projected nationally.
Not Enough To Meet Demand
Farmers across the country planted far more acres of corn this year. So, even though flooding and drought lowered yield estimates, harvest time could still bring a good-sized haul in places that avoided the worst of the weather damage, like Iowa and Nebraska.
But the national corn yield won't be enough to meet demand, says Iowa State University economist Chad Hart. Demand from the ethanol industry, livestock feed and export market continues to outstrip predictions, he says, and that has boosted grain prices even more.
"When you look last summer, we had corn prices in some cases down around $3.50 a bushel," he says. "Now we're up in the $6- to $7-range, so we've seen nearly a doubling of prices over that past 15 months."
The USDA report suggests that grain prices will stay elevated for the next year or so. Corn stockpiles are nearing a 15-year low, and soybean stockpiles have been tight for at least four years. And in the past few months, another player has taken a bite out of the U.S. corn market.
"China's been a very early buyer of the corn crop we're growing now," Hart says. "And that's been something that has got the market a little worked up right now."
China bought some 21 million bushels from the United States in July, its biggest purchase in 15 years.
High Prices, High Stakes
High grain prices are usually good news for farmers — in the past, they helped Vernon Flinn buy a new tractor.
But today's even higher prices mean even higher stakes, and Flinn says selling in this volatile market comes with risks.
"I mean, you're kind of scared to sell it for fear you're going to miss the rally, and you're scared if you don't you sell it for fear we're going to say, 'Oh, heck, we should have sold it all last time,' " Flinn says.
Driving his truck over to the next cornfield, Flinn and corn buyers Nick Hyde and Ron Groskreutz discuss what every farmer struggles with: enormous swings in the market.
"It was a lot more fun when corn was $3 and ... if it moved 10 cents in a day, you know, that was huge," Flinn says.
Hyde adds, "When I got in the business, if it moved a nickel in a day, you were looking for a meteorite."
Flinn says this year, corn prices have averaged moving an astonishing 22 cents a day.
"I've always said, high-priced corn doesn't do anybody any good," he says. "If corn goes high, everything else follows suit whether it needs to or not, and all it does is cause financial havoc. It just takes a lot more money for us and the co-op to do business."
Adds Hyde: "The cure to high prices is high prices."
Farmers and traders alike are getting pretty worked up over the possibility of $8-a-bushel corn. But for consumers, this market frenzy translates into higher food prices.
Grocery items that rely heavily on grains — like meat, butter and eggs — are likely to keep going up. And much of it traces back to corn, which just may be the emerging gold standard of agriculture commodities.
Kathleen Masterson reports from Iowa for Harvest Public Media, an agriculture-reporting project involving six NPR member stations in the Midwest. For more stories about farm and food, check out harvestpublicmedia.org.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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The folks over at Linux Mint have just released their newest, latest and greatest, Linux Mint 9 "Isadora". This time, though, instead of having a single LiveCD to Rule Them All, they offer a LiveCD, LiveDVD and an OEM CD that does not create a default user account. Since I don't have immediate access to a DVD burner here, I'll be using the LiveCD. Let's take a look, shall we?
The LiveCD
Since I do most of my Linux work on older hardware, I'm used to very, very long boot times for LiveCDs. The computer I'm using for this is slightly better (but by no means new: it's a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 with 512MB of RAM), but the LiveCD booted much faster than previous LiveCDs. I won't go as far as to say it's fast, but it's certainly acceptable. Gnome came up with no problem, networking started just fine, and I was quickly looking at a more or less familiar desktop:
I had been planning to upgrade anyway, so let's get on with it.
Clicking "Install Linux Mint"
It appears Ubiquity remains the underlying installer. The normal selections remain the same as from previous versions (time zone, keyboard layout, disk partitioning, etc.) Ext4 is the default filesystem. Unless you want to do something funky with the partitioning or want a different filesystem, installation is very straight-forward. The most agonizing decision you'll have to make is your password. Once you click the "install" button the final time, the installer takes care of business. One tiny comment I have: the installer has a splash screen extolling Mint and the community, and concludes with "(h)ave a lot of fun with Linux Mint!" The "have a lot of fun" is reminiscent of early (i.e. pre-Novell) versions of SuSE, which tagged everything with, "have a lot of fun!" I don't know if it's intentional or not, but it's there.
(time passes…)
Okay, let's restart.
The Dime Tour
Right off the bat, I was greeted with a similar GDM login screen as was used in Mint 8. Actually, I didn't notice any difference there at all. I'm not the biggest fan of GDM, but since Gnome is the default desktop environment, that's what there is.
When I do a new Linux installation, one of the first things I do before customizing and making things the way I like them is getting the system completely patched and up-to-date. This obviously means that the Update Manager gets an early test drive.
The shield has replaced the lock icon for Update Manager. For new users, it's probably more intuitive, but for those of us used to seeing the lock, it will be a small adjustment. Otherwise, Update Manager looks and feels pretty much the same.
From a pre-installed software standpoint, a lot of things remain the same, but there are a few surprises. Pidgin has returned after a brief appearance by Empathy in Mint 8. Rhythmbox is the default music player. Gimp is still included for graphic editing, and OpenOffice remains part of the default installation. The default terminal is gnome-terminal, and gedit is the default text editor. I tend to prefer LXTerminal, so I'll be installing that in short order, as well as the Leafpad text editor. Overall, though, I'm generally pleased with the out-of-the box selections.
System and Management Tools
Under normal circumstances, I'd simply open a terminal and install extra packages from the command line, but since the Mint folks are touting their new and improved Software Manager, I would be remiss not to take it for a test drive.
The categories do tend to make more sense, but even firing up Software Manager and searching for available packages brought my system to its knees. I realize that updates and such are resource-intensive, but the load was heavy enough I could have sworn I was trying to run an application under Windows XP. That may have had something to do with the fact that some categories are HUGE and it tries to load the entire catalog into system memory. The program could really benefit from some sort of caching or something for those of us who don't have gobs and gobs of system memory. For now, I'm going to have to rely on the command-line, I think.
Overall Impressions
From what I can see, Mint 9 looks to be a worthy successor to the Mint line. They've largely left intact what works, and have worked hard to improve that which needs improving. As a full-featured desktop OS with modern hardware, this really looks great, but older hardware really struggles with some basic tasks. Firefox is sluggish, and, as mentioned previously, Software Manager brings my computer to its knees. In a few weeks I'll see how it performs on slightly newer equipment. For now, though, I'll have to bide my time until the LXDE or Fluxbox editions come out before I can consider using it regularly on my existing hardware.
26 thoughts on "Linux Mint 9: A First Look"
Defaulting to a music player that doesn't have an equilizer is Mint's only real sin in my eyes. But as with most things in Linux, this problem can be solved in seconds. All in all, Mint's a good distro with good forums.
@yoyo , This no equalizer thing is a common issue actually. i've been looking for one my self in alot of distros and i find the Music programs just don't ship with one by default it is however just a 100kb plugin for banshee or rhythembox. however this plugin sometimes does or does not show up. i'm sure the mint developers would be gald to include this if a user requested and recommended a good plug-in in for it (i can think of 4 off the top of my head).
Anyways great review look forword to testing it out. 🙂
I was also flummoxed by the lack of a decent EQ in Ubuntu. I finally settled on VLC, the cross-platform player, and it works very well for me. 🙂
>> it's a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 with 512MB of RAM
Sorry, but this is where I stopped reading your article. Your hardware is incompatible with Gnome or KDE desktop environment.
Don't know where you get that idea from, I've run (and still do) both on much less.
And 512MB is what the system requirements list for the current version, so "stopped listening at this point" is really your own damn fault.
The review makes no sense. The reviewer's "older" hardware is just under the upper end of current cpu's with drastically older memory system. 512 megs of memory? For real? Nothing will perform well on this system other than a root server. For a desktop review, use a real current system…you know, the sort of system that the distro is designed for…
Seriously, explain to me how you have a sub 1G memory system with more than 2ghz CPU. My netbook nearly rivals your test system! So essentially your review says that with suboptimal hardware Mint 9 runs suboptimally. THANKS. I still want a full description of your test system. I would also suggest that you upgrade to 2 gigs of ram. While I admire the linux systems that can run efficiently on par with something of the dated hardware of an Atari 2600, Mint is NOT designed for this. It is designed to be a linux desktop alternative to existing licensed systems. Why would someone think Mint could compare to frugal, user streamlined systems like gentoo, slackware, or arch? This is not the target group of the Mint OR Ubuntu OR Fedora OR openSUSE groups. They are targeting CURRENT hardware. And attempting to create REALISTIC alternatives to windows and osx. ChromeOS is right around the corner though, and it is scary how much of the things I like about gnome and KDE have been implemented. Google might sweep this next gen of devices. An ARM based system with proprietary chrome software doesnt mean the end of days for linux systems though, but I think it's a nice nod in the evolution of computing. MS trying to play catchup so late in the game is condescending when they tried to block such progression at every step.
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I installed Mint 9 when it came out. First I tried to do an upgrade (which the Mint team does not recommend). Well it didn't work. It booted to a terminal window and if I tried to start X-windows it just gave errors. So I wipped it out and installed a fresh copy, this is my main complate about Mint once I get my system all setup and running I like to keep it up to date and running (Ubuntu lets you upgrade from version to version). I was happy to see Mint 9 use SUN Java JDK not OpenJDK like Ubuntu. Ubuntu dosen't even have SUN Java in the repos bad choice. However, after installing Mint 9 Firefox crashes alot, that has to be fixed Ubuntu 10.04 runs Firefox just fine. So in my opinion neither Ubuntu 10.04 or Mint 9 is ideal but for now I will stick with Ubuntu since most things run, there is a compiz bug still and they need SUN Java in the repos. SUN Solaris is just too difficlut to install software and resize a ZFS partion. Windows 7 needs virus software. Mac OS X is nice but pricey and I don't Mac OS X updates both the OS and it's software like Update Manager in Ubuntu and Mint 9 does. I've also tried Fedora and OpenSUSE but I can't get LAME to install so no mp3 support and I can't get MySQL to work. PCLinuxOS and Mandriva also have some nice features but not very deep repos. So Ubuntu is probably the best overall OS in my opinion right now even with OpenJDK instead of SUN java JDK. Ubuntu 9.10 would not run on my old AMD Athlon desktop but Mint 8 does (that's what I am using now). So I will either upgrade to Mint 9 if the Firefox bug dosen't show up on my desktop or see if Ubuntu 10.04 will run. May have to keep running Mint 8 or buy a new desktop CPU.
anyone tried the new Zorin 3RC? has many features that none of the above have…they've done great work on bringing all the right tools into convenient locations!
Why is firefox so very sluggish in mint 9? Virtually unuseable.
Looks like a dsn lookup problem.
I installed mint 9 inside my windows XP home edition. My cursor is disappear when i change monitor resolution.
Hi, guys. I try to install chromium web browser in Mint 9. I get it very stable, not like firefox. Don't use firefox anymore in Mint 9
I have to agree….switching to Chromium (not Chrome) has made my desktop experience quick. I recommend the Ad-Block extension too. Firefox is only back-up now. Midori, Epiphany, and Arora are pretty fast and good too.
I saw Sammys comment. I would recommend him to give the New Pardus 2009.2 a try. It are pre-installed with all mediacodes, SUN Java etc..
Not as much Known as Mint 9 yet, propably because its developed in Turkey. But now they actually got a International/English version to.
I am sure in time they be among the top ten Linux distributions when people discover it.
Mint 9 will run okay on 512mb ram. I have P4 2.8gh with 1gb ram and MInt does fine, even with AWN dock.
I recommend trying Linux MInt XFCE (based on Xubuntu). It is a nice choice with plenty of customization options. It would run better on 512mb. I know some people like MInt LXDE (based on Beta Lubuntu), but even though it is fast, you sacrifice too much in options. XFCE is the middleweight champ. If you had 256mb or under go LXDE.
Linux Mint 9
Fast boot & window system is quite responsive (If without much effects)
The system is stable by default (comparing to other linux/bsd distro that I tried in past)
The update and package managements are useful (Easy and makes sense), fewer possibilities to mess up the system
The choices of apps are good (too many default choices like of many other distros tend to confuse me)
The gnome can look good (If I spend some time)
The backup system seems useful
I like the way the clock can be customized and displayed on systray
Most things are ready to use after installation in a pleasant way; I don't know how to say – it just feels good and comfortable mostly to me
The ability to start installation from Windows is cool. It makes me feel like it won't mess up other partitions (psychological).
I like the way it set up boot without messing up windows 7 boot. In past, I had problem in many systems trying to do dual boot with Windows 7, but not at all for this system.
Not so good
The default gnome theme doesn't look so good (fonts are too large @ some location, icons theme & size aren't very good). I can explore around web; but you know the free stuff, I never know something might go wrong after installing. Besides there are too many choices of free stuff out there.
So I think they should include a few more pretty themes by default. Well.. no thanx to some geeky themes though.
The log in window: It won't start once a while. So I had to hit ctr+alt+backspace.
Some of opensource apps: I understand that these apps are free. Being free, they aren't quite as pleasant to use as commercial ones on Windows or Mac.
Ex. OOO – It's heavy, and I can't get used of it much for some reason, and it's difficult to deal when editting windows formats), Thunderbird – I want it minimized in system tray like outlook or can be like OSX, GIMP – I have similar opinion about this app as for OOO except it's not heavy, keyboard input – it took hours to get Japanese letters finally type in…, and some other minor issues from other apps. By the way, Wine sux. I can't even start Office 2007 for whatever the reason, so I deleted it anyways.
File system icons on Desktop: It takes some time for Windows file systems to show up on Desktop after boot.
The firewall options: I prefer the way like OSX'S firewall.
The Menu: I feel like the menu needs a bit more improvement on style and functions. For example, when I have menu opened, it won't go away when I want to click other items unless I click on the start icon. It might sound like a small thing, but it's a bit annoying to me. Also the "remove" option from the menu doesn't always work, sometimes it cannot remove things completely. And I think adding a bit more useful options for right-click on menu items may make things easier.
Also can't I just drag item from menu to Desktop or something??
Shortcut icons: Creating shortcuts on Desktop and other places isn't so easy. Also I can't access on Windows Shortcuts (I have many shortcuts).
And I think also each program should have some option to install shortcuts on taskbar, desktop, or menu during installation.
And maybe, some good program to adjust partition size without messing up contents is a plus.
Another thing, the default app on double click gets messed up easiy.
I think Linux Mint 9 is overall the best suited for me comparing to other Free systems I tried in past. In past, I tried Linux Redhat, Suse, Mandrake, FreeBSD, DesktopBSD, PC-BSD, Ubuntu, and a few others. Most of the time, I lost patience and quit often. I Used to spend days to configure one desktop system, but I got tired of it. So I didn't use free stuff for quite some time.
This time, I saw LinuxMint 9 release and felt like maybe I should give it a try. So I did it. The installation was fast and pleasant. So I decided to explore more things and spend some time with it.
Linux Mint 9 is surly more than I expected although it might not be for a business use yet (mainly because of office app and the key input hassle I had).
Of course considering it being free, it's a great system. So I hope they will continue improving this system; and wont be taken over by some company or be discontinued like many other distros.
I guess everything has something good and something not so good. And I think LinuxMint 9 is best suit for me comparing to other free distros I tried in past.
i have a linux mint 9isadora in working condition ,but its update manager is not working.on updating it says that 'run dpkg manuallly" what should i do?
yet again the ugly Mint & it hidious slab menu appears to entice the gullible
possibly the worst version of Mint by far
PC/OS leaves the dreary green (again) Irish dotty distro way behind
why bother with Mint,..even Mandriva xfce 2008.1 is far superior
Hello still m use windows xp but it has some problem i want install windows xp and linux mint 9 so plz give all prosess step by step plz send me also on my email id my id is firstname.lastname@example.com as soon as psbl plz plz plz send me soon


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Business magazine Forbes has named the University of Colorado's Boulder campus to its 2014 list of America's most entrepreneurial schools.
The list, which appeared online this week, will run in the magazine's Aug. 18 print issue.
Forbes ranked CU-Boulder No. 19 behind schools such as Stanford, at No.1, and the University of California, Berkeley at No. 3. Other schools on the list include the California Institute of Technology, Princeton University and Syracuse University.
The magazine evaluates universities based on their entrepreneurial ratios, which is the number of alumni and students who identify themselves as founders or business owners on LinkedIn, divided by the total number of students.
The list gave highlights for each school. It noted that CU received a $4 million grant from Blackstone Group in April to build an entrepreneur network for the state.


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Death on the Nile
The Secret: Dare to Dream
Knives Out
Love at the End of the World
Bullet Train
Upon the Magic Roads
Avatar: The Way of Water
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
The Wedding Pact 2: The Baby Pact
Hero No. 1
Bridal Boot Camp
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Long Day's Journey Into Night
Mektoub, My Love: Intermezzo
Cocaine Bear
King of Ravens
A Summer's Tale
Chris Rock: Selective Outrage
A Good Lawyer's Wife
Hollow Man
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
The Night Belongs to Lovers
The Witch: Part 2. The Other One
Creed III
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Yu Pui Tsuen
Perfect Addiction
Fifty Shades Freed
The Whale
That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime the Movie: Scarlet Bond
Secret Love: The Schoolboy and the Mailwoman
Mavka: The Forest Song
Brahmāstra Part One: Shiva
Exploits of a Young Don Juan
Sweet Scent of Eros
Memories of Summer
Too Close to the Sun
How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Howl's Moving Castle
Fifty Shades of Grey
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
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Usually I'm the type to think, "Wow, I can't believe it's already [insert month]! Time is flying!" when I make these monthly wrap-ups. But for some reason, January felt super long and slow! February brings tax reporting and Hallmark holidays, but hopefully it'll have a bit more pep in its step than January.
Though it was a sluggish month, I got a good bit of viewing in during January, so here's the monthly wrap-up!
New-to-me viewings: 14
Re-watches: 2
Total for January: 16
Total for 2018, so far: 16
Not a huge month, but pretty good! About a film every other day (though the viewing was mostly done in mini movie marathons over weekends).
The new-to-me list:
- 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
- The Big Sick (2017)
- The Incredible Jessica James (2017)
- Man's Castle (1933)
- The Matchbreaker (2016)
- The Racket (1951)
- Tension at Table Rock (1956)
- Four Jacks and a Jill (1942)
- Born Strong (2017)
- The Shape of Water (2017)
- Castle on the Hudson (1947)
- If Winter Comes (1947)
- Hostiles (2018)
- Youth Runs Wild (1944)
Quite the mix this month — new, old, and all over the place in terms of genre!
My favorite discovery of the month would probably be Man's Castle (1933), which features a fantastic performance by Loretta Young. I also LOVED 10 Cloverfield Lane. What a great film to start off the year!
The Big Sick and The Shape of Water both made their way into the top five of my ranking of 2017 releases, but neither could top what is still my favorite film of the year, Get Out. (I have a few more films to catch up on from 2017 — after that, I'll share my ranking if anyone is interested!)
- Wedding Crashers (2005)
- The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
With this very short list of re-watches, I think you can guess which film will be featured for this month's Favorite Things post! (Hint: It rhymes with "The Shmost and Shmrs. Shmuir.")
Viewing methods:
- Amazon Video – 2
- At the cinema – 2
- From my collection – 1
- From my sister's collection – 1
- Netflix – 3
- Warner Archive Instant – 1
- WatchTCM – 1
Made a little dent in the DVR this month, with about a third of my viewing being from taped TCM showings. (One of my movie resolutions for the year is to clear half of the DVR. I have around 200 films recorded!)
By decade:
- 1910s – 0
- 1920s – 0
- 1930s – 1
- 1940s – 5
- 1950s – 2
- 1960s – 0
- 1970s – 0
- 1980s – 0
- 1990s – 0
- 2000s – 1
- 2010s – 7
A precise, even split between modern and classic this month! Eight and eight! I attribute this to the fact that I spent some of the month catching up on 2017 releases (something I'll be continuing through February — I'm finally seeing I, Tonya today!).
The month in blogging:
January is always a month with a lot of wrap-ups here on the blog. In addition to the monthly wrap-up for December, I posted my yearly viewing stats for 2017 and my most memorable discoveries of the year.
The Collector's Corner series saw two updates. First off: a haul sharing the movies and entertainment-related books I got for Christmas. Then, not quite ready to give up on posting about Stanwyck, I chose her as the second star to explore for the Star Collections subcategory.
A few sporadic series got updates this month. Historical Context, in which I share excerpts from my vintage magazine collection, had me sharing some classic movie-related tidbits from a 1958 issue of LOOK. The Second Looks series had one new post in January, a look at a fantastic Deborah Kerr performance in The Innocents (1961). TMP's exploration of period films also continued, with the 1930s-set boarding school thriller The Silenced (2015).
The rest of the month was filled with standard classic film reviews. They were:
- Death on the Diamond (1934), a mystery-comedy about murder and sabotage surrounding the St. Louis Cardinals during the World Series
- The Girl from Chicago (1932), an Oscar Micheaux production about a couple who find themselves trapped in the fringes of the crime world in both Mississippi and Harlem
- The Happy Road (1957), a comedy of two children escaped from boarding school, directed by the wonderful Gene Kelly
- The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949), in which Jane Wyman stars a consumer protection expert whose credibility is called into question after she claims to have had an unusual under-the-sea experience
- Until They Sail (1957), a romantic drama following the highs and lows in the lives of four sisters in World War II-era New Zealand
- Upper World (1934), a Warren William-led tale of a businessman who gets wrapped up in blackmail and murder after befriending a showgirl (portrayed by Ginger Rogers)
Happy February, and here's to another month full of movie-watching!


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Story by
Alex Wilhelm
Alex Wilhelm is a San Francisco-based writer. You can find Alex on Twitter, and on Facebook. You can reach Alex via email at [email protected] Alex Wilhelm is a San Francisco-based writer. You can find Alex on Twitter, and on Facebook. You can reach Alex via email at [email protected]
Yesterday we brought you the news that Microsoft was preparing a one-click solution for Internet Explorer, protecting users from a security flaw that was discovered.
The company adamantly states that few users were in fact harmed, but does acknowledge the potential for further infections. Microsoft has now planned a security update for this Friday that will be 'cumulativel.'
Right now, however, if you want to get yourself protected, Microsoft has you covered:
[T]oday we have released a Fix it that is available to address that issue. This is an easy, one-click solution that will help protect your computer right away. It will not affect your ability to browse the web, and it does not require a reboot of your computer.
If you use Internet Explorer, hit that link. If not, why are you reading this post?
As an aside, fear over Internet Explorer security recently led to Germany advising against its use. Microsoft needs to get this issue behind is so that it can get back to the brand progress it has made since Internet Explorer 9.
Update: In our inbox following the annoucement is a short statement from nCircle, praising Microsoft. It's interesting enough to warrant sharing:
In contrast with every other major software vendor, Microsoft has been communicating with users all week. Even if you think there are a lot of things Microsoft can improve, they are light years ahead of other vendors in providing clear, consistent, valuable communication to their users on security issues.
Top Image Credit: Aanjhan Ranganathan
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LEXINGTON (AP) A judge in Davidson County has issued an order blocking police from taking any products from sweepstakes businesses that use a specific company's software.
The Dispatch of Lexington reported (http://bit.ly/11eJv0M ) that Superior Court Judge Robert Johnson wrote the order to temporarily block police from seizing any products from businesses that use software licensed by International Internet Technologies.
Davidson County sheriff's deputies charged the operators of a business in Midway with illegal possession of electronic machines and other devices for sweepstakes. The move came after the North Carolina Supreme Court said a 2010 law banned the machines.
Owners of the business and ITT filed a complaint earlier this month saying a recent change in the software made it comply with state law.
A hearing on the issue is scheduled Monday.


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Starting last week, I officially turned my day-job attention to online web graphics instead of the previous focus on print maps and graphics (only done a few thousand of those!). I am still working for The Washington Post's NewsArt department but will now be collaborating with my colleagues over at WPNI.com to produce interactive graphics from inside the Washington Post newsroom in downtown Washington DC.
Alberto Cairo has some interesting things to say about creating the same infographic for print and the web. (Flowchart above credit Alberto Cairo.)
I'll still have some cartographic duties (like map editing and the weekly real estate value maps) but my primary focus will be on interactive maps and graphics.
Here's my first week's efforts:
Careless Detention: Medical Care in Immigrant Prisons
The latest from Pulitzer prize winner Dana Priest and Amy Goldstein, co-published with 60 Minutes.
- Day 1: Flash map with HTML table below listing out the mouseOver data. The age and origin charting were dropped from the online presentation but the raw data is present in the table and mouseOvers. The map is auto plotting long-lat pairs out of a KML data file onto the Albers projected map and getting the mouseOver and name from the KML markers 🙂
- Day 2: Satellite map as JPG of the print graphic.
Burma's Cyclone Nargis
Breaking news, natural disaster, humanitarian crises in south-east Asia.
- Day 1: in Flash with mouseOver behaviors directly linking text descriptions to map locations.
- Day 2: in HTML with html image map on JPG linking down to table entrees about map locations.
Tags: , Flash, html, kelso, newsart, washington post, workflow, wpni


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All this while, I've been keeping my milk stock in this pre-sterelized milk bag like this!!
Really not-so-clever and not space savvy at all!!
Silly me!
Recently I have discovered a new (for-me, at least!!) way of storing my stock..
Flat on the surface.. soooo much better, I safe a lot of space in my fridge!
This fridge is like a drawer (tilt your head to your left for better view :p)
It looks more like a filing drawer in the office, arranged according to date!
Love, X
Update:: Click here if you wanna know on how long you can keep your breast milk


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Peterson runs for 212 as Vikings top Rams 36-22
Adrian Peterson peeked up at the video board at the end of his 82-yard touchdown run and saw St. Louis Rams players trailing far behind him.
And with each fancy high-step to cap it off, the Minnesota Vikings running back moved closer to the NFL rushing record.
Peterson piled up a season-best 212 yards on 24 carries in a 36-22 victory Sunday that wasn't as close as the score indicated. He has a career-best 1,812 yards rushing, leaving him 294 shy of breaking the NFL's single-season mark of 2,105 set by Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams in 1984.
"Yeah, yeah, I was able to see myself," Peterson said. "I just told myself to stay relaxed and 'You don't have to put on too much juice, but make sure you get there.'"
He remained hot on the trail of Dickerson's record. Peterson, less than a year removed from a serious knee injury, has two games left — at Houston and home against Green Bay — to top it.
"Yeah, it's been in my sights," Peterson said. "I'm not focusing on it. It's in the back of my head that, hey I definitely want to accomplish that.
"I look at today's game and I could have had 300."
Slight consolation for the Rams: Without the two long-gainers, Peterson had 78 yards on 22 carries.
"He's very elusive, very elusive," tackle Michael Brockers said. "You've got to get all tacklers to the ball. On some of the big runs, we didn't do that very well."
On Peterson's long touchdown run in the second quarter, he was able to turn what appeared would be a short gain into a big score.
"He continues to amaze you with some of his runs," coach Leslie Frazier said. "It looks like there was nothing there and the next thing you know he's out the door."
The Vikings (8-6) scored 10 of their 23 points in the second quarter off turnovers by Sam Bradford, including a 29-yard interception return by defensive end Everson Griffen, who had dropped into coverage. The Rams quarterback watched in disbelief from his knees.
"Yeah, that's one of those things I've got to be able to see," Bradford said. "He's right there. You can't throw one right to him like that."
They were up by 26 before Bradford, whose botched center snap also cost the Rams (6-7-1) a field goal in the second quarter, threw touchdown passes to Danny Amendola and Lance Kendricks in the fourth quarter.
The Vikings remained in the playoff picture while seriously damaging the Rams' postseason hopes. St. Louis had won three in a row to become a dark horse candidate for the playoffs.
Steven Jackson became the 15th player to rush for 10,000 yards for one team. He had 73 yards on just eight carries and has 909 yards on the year, keeping him in range of an eighth straight 1,000-yard season.
A moment of silence was observed for victims of the Connecticut elementary school shooting before the national anthem, with dozens of children wearing uniform jerseys holding hands with players in a circle extending from the 30-yard lines and centered on the Rams' logo at midfield.
In a tribute to the 26 victims, each team sent the players wearing the No. 26 jersey — Rams running back Daryl Richardson and Vikings cornerback Antoine Winfield — and they held hands with coaches Jeff Fisher and Frazier to form a smaller interior circle.
"What went through my mind? I have a son that's in kindergarten," Jackson said. "You drop your kid off at school and he or she wants to go there and learn and better themselves, and to then go to the school and find that your child will no longer be with you, I couldn't imagine that thing."
Peterson topped his previous single-season best of 1,760 yards in 2007 on a 52-yard run in the fourth quarter. On both long runs, Peterson made something out of nothing with nimble cutbacks to daylight.
Christian Ponder had a turnover-free game and ran for the game's first score for the Vikings, who had been just 1-5 on the road with the other victory at Detroit in September. Rookie kicker Blair Walsh was perfect on five field-goal attempts, three of them from 50 yards and beyond.
The Rams stopped Peterson, held to minus-3 yards on five carries, but not Ponder on the Vikings' opening drive. Benefiting from a short field at the St. Louis 45, the quarterback was 3 for 3 for 38 yards plus a 5-yard scramble that put them up 7-0.
Rookie Brian Quick won a jump ball with A.J. Jefferson in the end zone on a 4-yard reception, landing just inbounds to tie it early in the second quarter.
Then, the Vikings took over.
Peterson had eight carries for 8 yards before breaking his 82-yard score on the next play.
"It's all about famine, famine, feast," Peterson said. "We knew it was going to be tough early and our offensive line was dialed into it. We just kept pounding them."
Walsh's 50-yard field goal made the Rams pay for Bradford's botched snap and Griffen's first career interception and return gave Minnesota 17 points in a span of just 3:56.
"He threw it right to me," Griffen said. "It was a dream come true. I want to say 'Thank you, Sam Bradford.'"
Peterson entered the day with more rushing yards than 23 teams, including the Rams, and accounted for more than two thirds of the Vikings' 322 yards. Ponder was a facilitator, going 17 for 24 for 131 yards.
Throw out the costly mistakes and it looks as if Bradford was on his game, going 35 for 55 for 377 yards. Jackson caught eight passes for 73 yards, and Brandon Gibson and Amendola had six receptions each.
NOTES: Griffen stepped up for the Vikings in place of DE Brian Robison (shoulder), injured in the first quarter and ruled out just after halftime. Frazier said Robison has an AC sprain and will undergo an MRI exam on Monday. ... Bradford has been sacked in 30 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NFL. ... The Vikings' previous best for the first half was 17 points in two games, and four times they were held to single digits. ... The Rams are 5 for 6 on 2-point conversions after Amendola's catch in the fourth quarter.
Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP—NFL


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Barrichello, Kanaan, Tracy Join Entry For Final Test Session
January 2, 2013 Leave a comment
Please see attached press release, below is a text-only version.
Barrichello, Kanaan, Tracy Join Entry For Final Test Session
Three-Day Roar Before The Rolex 24 Begins Friday At Daytona
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Jan. 2, 2013) – With teams preparing for the "dress rehearsal" for the 51st Rolex 24 At Daytona, open-wheel stars Rubens Barrichello, Tony Kanaan and Paul Tracy lead the list of late additions for this weekend's Roar Before the Rolex 24, the final three-day test before the 2013 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series opening event.
The Roar Before the Rolex 24 is a three-day test from Friday through Sunday at Daytona International Speedway. Expected to participate are 57 Rolex Series cars – including 17 Daytona Prototypes – and 55 entries from the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge.
Barrichello and Kanaan are part of a two-car GT entry filed by Dener Motorsport, and will co-drive the team's No. 21 Challenge Brazil Porsche GT3. Tracy will co-drive the No. 77 Doran Racing Ford/Dallara with Dr. Jim Lowe, Colin Braun and Jon Bennett at the Roar, with the team upgrading to a third-generation DP for the Rolex 24.
Barrichello was an 11-time winner in a Formula One career that spanned 19 seasons from 1993 through 2011. He competed for KV Racing Technology in 2012 IZOD IndyCar competition as a teammate to fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan.
Kanaan was the 2004 IndyCar champion, winning 14 races since joining the series in 2002. He also raced in CART for five seasons. He finished 11th overall and third in GT1 in the 1998 Rolex 24 for Tom Gloy Racing.
Tracy, the 2003 Champ Car titlist with 30 victories in major open-wheel competition, is an 11-time competitor in the Rolex Series, with his best finish in four Rolex 24 appearances seventh in 2012 for Doran Racing.
Other teams, including Wayne Taylor Racing, Michael Shank Racing and Napleton Racing, are expected to announce their lineups during the Roar weekend.
Friday's schedule includes Rolex Series practice from 9-10:45 a.m. and 1:30-4 p.m., with Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge sessions from 11 a.m.-noon and 4:15-5:15 p.m. Saturday's practice opens at 9 a.m. with the first of four Rolex Series sessions, concluding with night practice from 6:30-8 p.m. The Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge will have two practice sessions.
The Roar concludes on Sunday with two sessions for each series, beginning with CTSCC practice at 9 a.m. and concluding at 3:30 p.m. Tickets for the Roar Before The Rolex 24 are $15 and can be purchased online atwww.daytonainternationalspeedway.com, by calling 1-800-PITSHOP or at the gate.
Practice for the Rolex 24 begins on Wednesday, Jan. 23. Live SPEED coverage of the 51st Rolex 24 begins at 3 p.m. ET on Saturday, Jan. 26.
317.908.2975 (m)
For additional information: www.sundaymanagement.com, www.facebook.com/sundaygroup, www.twitter.com/Sundaygroup


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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Charles Woodson has another team interested in signing him.
Woodson"s agent, Carl Poston, tells The Associated Press that the 36-year-old defensive back will visit with The Oakland Raiders on Tuesday.
The 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year would"ve traveled to Oakland from Denver after meeting with the Broncos on Wednesday, but he had charity obligations this weekend to support Mott Children"s Hospital.
Poston says the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers along with a couple other teams, who he says don"t want to be mentioned, have also contacted him about the eight-time Pro Bowl player.
Woodson spent his first eight seasons in Oakland after leading Michigan to the 1997 national championship. Green Bay cut him in a salary-cap move three months ago.
Online: http://pro32.ap.org and http://twitter.com/AP—NFL


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On summer visits to Japan as a child my favorite sweets were kakigori topped with milk. Only when I grew up did I realize that it wasn't milk but it was sweetened condensed milk. No better way to cool down in the Tokyo heat than a bowl of shaved ice topped with a sweet syrup. Flavors like mattcha and azuki, mango, or anzu (apricots) will have you smacking your lips. Many kanmidokoro (Japanese cafes with traditional sweets) serve kakigori, but usually only for the summertime so this is the best time to dig in.
Here are a few places to dig into kakigori in the summer. Shops usually put a small flag outside with the kanji for ice on it. 氷
Mihashi's original shop in Ueno (Taito-ku, Ueno 4-9-7) opened during the Edo period. This location, in the basement of Tokyo station in the area called Ichiban Gai, is more centrally located.
Chiyoda-ku, Marunouchi 1-9-1, Tokyo Station, Ichiban Gai B1
Walking around the historic Ningyocho district is always fun. Morinoen is a tea shop that specializes in houjicha. Here is their houjicha kakigori. You can smell the houjicha being roasted out on the street. Pick up a bag of the tea while you are here to take home. It's great both hot or cold.
Chuo-ku, Nihonbashi Ningyocho 2-4-9
Naniwaya in Azabu-Juban is renowned for its taiyaki (fish-shaped pancakes stuffed with azuki). It's been grilling taiyaki for over a century. Step inside and grab a seat for an anzu (apricot) kakigori.
Minato-ku, Azabu-Juban 1-8-14
Kagurazaka is also a fabulous place for walking around and Kinozen is my favorite place for a kakigori.
Shinjuku-ku, Kagurazaka 1-12
Toraya in Ginza serves up a yummy ichigo (strawberries) kakigori.
Chuo-ku, Ginza 7-8-6, 2nd floor