text:
86 S.Ct. 1148
16 L.Ed.2d 292
Hugo DeGREGORY, Appellant,
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF the STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
No. 396.
Argued Feb. 24, 1966.
Decided April 4, 1966.
Howard S. Whiteside, Boston, Mass., for appellant.
R. Peter Shapiro, Concord, N.H., for appellee.
Opinion of the Court by Mr. Justice DOUGLAS, announced by Mr. Justice BRENNAN.
This is the third time that the constitutional rights of appellant challenged in investigations by New Hampshire into subversion have been brought to us.1 The present case stems from an investigation by the Attorney General of the State under Rev.Stat.Ann. § 588:8—a (1965 Supp.), enacted in 1957, which provides in part:
'At any time when the attorney general has information which he deems reasonable or reliable relating to violations of the provisions of this chapter he shall make full and complete investigation thereof and shall report to the general court the results of this investigation, together with his recommendations, if any, for legislation. * * * (T)he attorney general is hereby authorized to make public such information received by him, testimony given before him, and matters handled by him as he deems fit to effectuate the purposes hereof.'
The 'violations' cover a wide range of 'subversive' activities designed to 'overthrow, destroy or alter, or to assist in the overthrow, destruction or alteration of, the constitutional form of the government * * * of the state of New Hampshire, or any political subdivision * * * by force, or violence.'2 § 588:1.
Appellant was willing to answer questions concerning his relationship with and knowledge of Communist activities since 1957, and in fact he did answer them.3 But he refused to answer a series of questions put him concerning earlier periods.4 His refusal, not being based on the Fifth Amendment, raised important questions under the First Amendment, made applicable to the States by the Fourteenth Amendment. He was committed to jail for a period of one year or until he purged himself of contempt. That judgment was affirmed by the New Hampshire Supreme Court. 106 N.H. 262, 209 A.2d 712. The case is here on appeal. 382 U.S. 877, 86 S.Ct. 162, 15 L.Ed.2d 118.
The substantiality of appellant's First Amendment claim can best be seen by considering what he was asked to do. Appellant had already testified that he had not been involved with the Communist Party since 1957 and that he had no knowledge of Communist activities during that period. The Attorney General further sought to have him disclose information relating to his political associations of an earlier day, the meetings he attended, and the views expressed and ideas advocated at any such gatherings.5 Indeed, the Attorney General here relied entirely upon a 1955 Report on Subversive Activities in New Hampshire to justify renewed investigation of appellant. The Report connects appellant with the Communist Party only until 1953, over 10 years prior to the investigation giving rise to the present contempt.
On the basis of our prior cases, appellant had every reason to anticipate that the details of his political associations to which he might testify would be reported in a pamphlet purporting to describe the nature of subversion in New Hampshire. (See Uphaus v. Wyman, 360 U.S. 72, 88—95, 79 S.Ct. 1040, 1050—1054, 3 L.Ed.2d 1090, Brennan, J., dissenting.) Admittedly, 'exposure—in the sense of disclosure—is an inescapable incident of an investigation into the presence of subversive persons within a State.' Uphaus v. Wyman, supra, 360 U.S. at 81, 79 S.Ct. at 1046. But whatever justification may have supported such exposure in Uphaus is absent here; the staleness of both the basis for the investigation and its subject matter makes indefensible such exposure of one's associational and political past—exposure which is objectionable and damaging in the extreme to one whose associations and political views do not command majority approval.6
'The First Amendment may be invoked against infringement of the protected freedoms by law or by lawmaking.' Watkins v. United States, 354 U.S. 178, 197, 77 S.Ct. 1173, 1184, 1 L.Ed.2d 1273. Investigation is a part of lawmaking and the First Amendment, as well as the Fifth, stands as a barrier to state intrusion of privacy. No attack is made on the truthfulness of the questions answered by appellant stating that he does not serve in a subversive role and lacks knowledge of any current subversion. There is no showing of 'overriding and compelling state interest' (Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, 372 U.S. 539, 546, 83 S.Ct. 889, 893, 9 L.Ed.2d 929) that would warrant intrusion into the realm of political and associational privacy protected by the First Amendment. The information being sought was historical, not current. Lawmaking at the investigatory stage may properly probe historic events for any light that may be thrown on present conditions and problems. But the First Amendment prevents use of the power to investigate enforced by the contempt power to probe at will and without relation to existing need. Watkins v. United States, supra, 354 U.S. at 197—200, 77 S.Ct. at 1184—1186. The present record is devoid of any evidence that there is any Communist movement in New Hampshire. The 1955 Report deals primarily with 'world-wide communism' and the Federal Government. There is no showing whatsoever of present danger of sedition against the State itself, the only area to which the authority of the State extends.7 There is thus absent that 'nexus' between appellant and subversive activities in New Hampshire which the Court found to exist in Uphaus v. Wyman, supra, 360 U.S. at 79, 79 S.Ct. at 1045. New Hampshire's interest on this record is too remote and conjectural to override the guarantee of the First Amendment that a person can speak or not, as he chooses, free of all governmental compulsion.
Mr. Justice HARLAN, whom Mr. Justice STEWART and Mr. Justice WHITE join, dissenting.
The Court appears to hold that there is on the record so limited a legislative interest and so little relation between it and the information sought from appellant that the Constitution shields him from having to answer the questions put to him.* New Hampshire in my view should be free to investigate the existence or nonexistence of Communist Party subversion, or any other legitimate subject of concern to the State without first being asked to produce evidence of the very type to be sought in the course of the inquiry. Then, given that the subject of investigation in this case is a permissible one, the appellant seems to me a witness who could properly be called to testify about it; I cannot say as a constitutional matter that inquiry into the current operations of the local Communist Party could not be advanced by knowledge of its operations a decade ago. Believing that '(o)ur function * * * is purely one of constitutional adjudication' and 'not to pass judgment upon the general wisdom or efficacy' of the investigating activities under scrutiny, Barenblatt v. United States, 360 U.S. 109, 125, 79 S.Ct. 1081, 1092, 3 L.Ed.2d 1115, I would affirm the judgment of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire.
DeGregory v. Wyman, 360 U.S. 717, 79 S.Ct. 1454, 3 L.Ed.2d 1540; DeGregory v. Attorney General, 368 U.S. 19, 82 S.Ct. 137, 7 L.Ed.2d 86. After remand of the latter case appellant purged himself of contempt by answering in the negative the question 'Are you presently a member of the Communist Party?' Subsequently, new hearings were held and it is out of them that the present case arises.
Although the Act purports to extend its protection to the Federal Government as well, that field has been pre-empted. See Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Nelson, 350 U.S. 497, 76 S.Ct. 477, 100 L.Ed. 640.
'I am not now a member of the Communist Party and have not been at any time since this authority under which I was subject has been on the statute books; that I have no knowledge of any communistic activities in New Hampshire during this period, or any violations of law during this period of six and one-half years. In fact, I have not even been aware of the existence of any Communist Party in the State of New Hampshire at any time that this authority has been on the statute books.'
'Have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?
'When did you join the Communist Party?
'Were you a paid member of the Communist Party?
'Were you an officer of the Communist Party?
'Did you ever have access to or control of membership or financial records of the Communist Party in New Hampshire?
'Did you attend Communist Party meetings in New Hampshire?
'To what extent did Communist Party District I in Boston, Massachusetts, have control over the party's activities in New Hampshire?
'Did you ever attend any Communist Party meetings in New Hampshire wherein any person advocated to * * * overthrow, destroy or alter the Government of the State of New Hampshire, by force or violence?
'Did you ever attend any Communist Party meetings in New Hampshire where any person advocated, abetted, advised or taught by any means the commission of an act to constitute a clear and present danger to the security of this state?
'Did you or any person known to you destroy any books, records or files, or secrete any funds in this state belonging to or owned by the Communist Party?
'Did you at any time participate or assist in the formation of or contribute to the support of the Communist Party in New Hampshire?'
Prosecution for these activities was apparently barred by the six-year statute of limitations, N.H.Rev.Stat.Ann. § 603:1, long before the investigation in 1964.
See Gibson v. Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, 372 U.S. 539, 543—544, 83 S.Ct. 889, 892—893; Bates v. City of Little Rock, 361 U.S. 516, 523—524, 80 S.Ct. 412, 416—417, 4 L.Ed.2d 480; NAACP v. State of Alabama ex rel. Patterson, 357 U.S. 449, 462—463, 78 S.Ct. 1163, 1171—1172, 2 L.Ed.2d 1488; Cf. Shelton v. Tucker, 364 U.S. 479, 485—487, 81 S.Ct. 247, 250—252, 5 L.Ed.2d 231; Talley v. State of California, 362 U.S. 60, 64—65, 80 S.Ct. 536, 538—539, 4 L.Ed.2d 559.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Nelson, supra, n. 2.
No plea of a privilege against self-incrimination was interposed by the witness.


text:
Project Ara
Titan Arm
If necessity is the mother of invention, then the father must be ingenuity. Or imagination. Or determination. Or maybe even luck.
The point is, a lot of factors must align for someone to invent something that's truly groundbreaking.
Which is why when a lone tinkerer or a team of engineers capture lightning in a bottle, it should be celebrated for the rare achievement it is.
As part of our continuing focus on innovation, CNN once again is honoring 10 new inventions in technology and related fields. These are gadgets or prototypes with big, game-changing goals: to harness wind energy a thousand feet off the ground, to seal gunshot wounds in seconds, to send text messages by waving your finger, to ferry private citizens into space.
Some of these creations have been in the works for years but are finally ready for their close-up. Others are brand new on the scene. But all have the potential to shake up industries, to save lives, to make our daily existences a little bit easier.
May we present the 2014 edition of The CNN 10: Inventions.
Look, up in the sky! It's a blimp! It's a kite! It's a …wind turbine?
Yes, that strange-looking, helium-filled winged gray doughnut with the propeller-like blade in the center is a wind turbine – a Buoyant Airborne Turbine, or BAT, to be precise. And it just may be the answer for supplying energy to underserved regions, as well as providing cheaper and safer wind energy to the United States.
The BAT is the brainchild of Altaeros Energies, a Boston-based company founded by four MIT grads. With funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Science Foundation and the California Energy Commission, among many, the company's stated goal is to "deploy the world's first commercial airborne wind turbine to harness the abundant energy in strong, steady winds at higher altitudes," particularly in remote locations.
Wind turbines have become common in certain areas around the world. But the towering machines have drawbacks: their power generation is unreliable and sometimes more costly than established forms. They can be deadly to birds.
Moreover, they're often criticized for their unsightliness. One planned wind farm, off the coast of Cape Cod, has been mired in controversy for years, partly because it would spoil the views of scenic areas.
The BAT, says Altaeros, avoids many of those issues. The turbines, which are tethered to a power station on the ground, are portable. They're less problematic with birds and the surrounding environment. And at altitudes as high as 1,000 feet, they're more productive than ground-based turbines, since winds are much stronger and more consistent at high altitudes.
"The reason high-altitude wind is so exciting and worth going after is really very simple: there's just a lot more of it," says CEO Ben Glass in a promotional video. Other companies, including a Google subsidiary, also have high-altitude wind turbines in development.
The BAT won't necessarily displace other forms of energy. Wind power can be expensive on its own. But in the remote areas Altaeros is targeting, it can be far more economical than the alternatives. Altaeros currently is testing the BAT in Alaska, and hopes to bring power to other isolated areas.
In addition, the BAT may be able to function as a communications tool, useful for Internet and telephone transmission and weather coverage, as well as become handy in a crisis. If a disaster levels a local grid, a few BATs can provide emergency power.
Sounds like a hit.
In the mobile world, our screens have gotten smaller and more defined. Some are curvy or bendy and some show 3D images.
But what if we could skip the screen altogether? That's what Glyph promises – 3D images beamed directly into our eyes.
From Michigan-based Avegant, the Glyph headset looks like a chunky set of headphones with a pop-down, "Star Trek"-style visor. (They promise a sleeker look for the final product).
It hooks up to a smartphone, TV, gaming device or laptop and uses a system of 2 million microscopic mirrors to beam the images directly into your retinas.
Yes, the image will exist nowhere except in your brain. And that opens up a ton of possibilities. While other entries in the high-tech headset field, like Google Glass and the Oculus Rift, will rely on specially developed apps or games, Avegant says the Glyph will work with the media you already consume.
Early response has been strong. A Kickstarter campaign early this year aimed to pull in $250,000. It hit that mark in four hours and went on to raise more than $1.5 million.
"It's like ordering flowers for your girlfriend and they show up with a whole truck full of flowers," Avegant CEO Edward Tang told CNN.
When not being used, the visor can be flipped up and the headset can be used as a regular set of headphones.
Last month, Avegant said it remains on pace to deliver what they're calling beta-testing models of the headset to Kickstarter donors by late this year. The company has already sent headsets to outside developers, who they hope will come up with new, previously unknown uses for the technology.
If you're trying to improve the sound of music, it helps to have a rock 'n' roll legend on your side.
When that legend is Neil Young, with support from other rock royalty like Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty and Sting, you get Pono.
Pono is the triangle-shaped music player, set to be released late this year, that backers hope will bring the quality of hi-fi stereo sound back to the mainstream in the age of the iPod.
And even if its $399 price tag proves troublesome for some consumers, there appears to be, at the very least, a healthy niche market developing. A Kickstarter project to fund the device raised $6.2 million -- the 3rd-biggest campaign in the crowdfunding site's history.
"You have helped to set the stage for a revolution in music listening," Young wrote in a thank-you note to backers. "Finally, quality enters the listening space so that we can all hear and feel what the artists created, the way they heard and felt it."
Digital music sales and online music streaming have crippled the physical sale of CDs in much the same way CDs moved folks past vinyl albums. But with each step, we sacrificed a little sound quality.
For digital music, sound files get compressed to make them take up less storage space, squeezing out some of the music's more delicate details.
In Pono's Kickstarter video, rocker Elvis Costello compares the end effect to looking at a Xerox copy of the Mona Lisa.
Pono will stream music in 24-bit, 192-kHz sound, which is far cleaner than mp3s and even better than CDs.
Young had been a critic of digital music, particularly Apple's iTunes store, for years when he decided to do something about it in 2012. That's when he teamed up with Silicon Valley tech entrepreneur John Hamm, who now serves as Pono's CEO.
A handful of high-definition music players already exist. But they're super-expensive, sometimes going for more than $1,000, and there's very little music available for them. And that, in the end, might be Pono's most practical innovation.
The company says it has agreements with all major record labels to make music available in its online store and that it's working with independent labels to help them do the same.
Today's smartphones, it can be argued, are rigid and wasteful. With preassembly, there's no real way to personalize them. And if your camera breaks or battery dies, you've got a useless brick.
Google is reimagining that concept with Project Ara, a totally customizable phone made of individual pieces.
Need a new feature? Just add it. Something broke? Swap it out.
The phone starts as a basic frame, called an Endo. Then you pick out the microprocessor, camera, battery and extra hardware that's best for you. They snap together like Legos, except with magnets.
The world of possibilities really opens up when you consider that 3D printers could be used to make special add-ons that are totally unique to your phone.
The flexibility it gives phone owners is unprecedented. You can start at $50 and add on hardware as you can afford it. You can bulk up features for everyday use – or slim down for travel. And swapping out specific parts makes repairs cheaper and overall phone life longer.
But will it actually work?
If the magnets don't hold up, the phone will fall apart. Awkward combinations could make your phone buggy. And overall, it'll be more expensive. Big phone makers buy parts in bulk, so they can build entire devices more cheaply than you can.
Project Ara might turn out to be like custom PCs – a niche reserved for a crowd that doesn't mind higher prices and technical headaches. Maybe the unrivaled level of individuality will be worth it, though.
Google expects an early version of the phone will be available in early 2015. For now, it's calling on computer developers everywhere for input. And it's asking for everyday people around the globe to become "Ara Scouts" to help guide the engineers. The whole project is open source, so independent 3D printing shops can get in on the action too.
What's not to love about freedom and choice?
Modern technology hasn't yet been able to bring us magic wands, but we're getting close. Ring, a new project from Logbar Inc., is the latest step toward that goal.
Using a Bluetooth sensor and gesture-recognition technology, Ring lets you do things like send text messages and control connected home devices with just a few waves of your finger. As you walk into your house, for example, you might wave your finger to engage with your lamp and then, with another gesture, adjust its brightness or turn it off. Another couple of swipes will turn your TV off or on and allow you to switch channels.
Logbar has also developed payment software that you can use to pay participating retailers or other people just by waving your finger in the shape of a checkmark and then tracing out the amount you'd like to pay. Customized gestures for other tasks can be created using your smartphone or tablet.
Going forward, Ring's makers hope independent developers will come up with even more potential functions for the device, which works with both Apple's iOS and Google's Android software. It's also compatible with Google Glass and smart watches.
At the moment, Ring is only good for about 1,000 gestures before it needs to be recharged, so it doesn't make sense to use it for texting too often. It's also a bit cumbersome and isn't waterproof, so you may want to be selective about when you wear it. But as developers dream up novel ways of using it, Ring has the potential to give us continuous access to the "Internet of Things" without having to stare at our smartphones all the time.
The device was a big hit on Kickstarter earlier this year, blowing past its funding goal of $250,000 and ultimately raising over $880,000. The first models will ship in July, with donors having ponied up between $145 and $185 to get their hands on one.
Thanks to nutritional labels on packaging, most store-bought foods give you a breakdown of their contents: fat, sugar, calories, and so on.
But what about that watermelon in the produce aisle? The cheese Danish at Starbucks? That glass of pinot noir you're drinking?
A new handheld gadget called SCiO takes the guesswork out of analyzing your food. The device, about the size of a cigarette lighter, can be used to scan almost any food or beverage, analyze its chemical makeup and send the data wirelessly to your phone.
"The first application (of SCiO) is for consumers interested to know the nutritional value of what they're eating," said Dror Sharon, CEO of Consumer Physics, the Israeli company behind the device. "I often meet people who don't know what's in cheese, fruit and vegetables and have a hard time discerning what they should eat."
SCiO contains a tiny optical sensor, called a spectrometer, which reads the molecular fingerprint of an object by shining an infrared light on it. The gadget then sends the data to the cloud for analysis and forwards the results to your phone, all in seconds. An accompanying SCiO app displays fat, protein and carbohydrate levels down to the milligram.
The underlying technology has been used for decades by corporations in quality control of oil and chemicals, although SCiO is being pitched as the first portable spectrometer for consumers.
The sensor can only detect materials and objects that were previously uploaded to its database. But it's a smart device -- the more items you scan with it, the more it learns to recognize items and their ingredients.
SCiO was a sensation this spring on Kickstarter, where its creators asked for $200,000 and reached their goal within 24 hours. They eventually raised more than $2.7 million, and have promised to deliver the first SCiOs, for $149 apiece, to early backers by the end of the year.
Sharon acknowledges the device still has some flaws. It's not yet effective at identifying allergens, gluten or lactose. And its sensor is less accurate when it has to scan through glass, plastic or other packaging.
But the pocket sensor has more applications than just demystifying food. It can identify an unknown medication or check on the health of houseplants. And although its makers are quick to say SCiO is not a medical device, it could even be used to perform a basic, non-invasive blood scan.
The first version of SCiO may be somewhat limited in what it can do. But as the device learns and improves -- outside developers will likely want to create apps for it -- its potential will only grow.
Augmented reality is getting a lot of talk in the gaming world, with products like Sony's and the Oculus Rift promising to make play time more fun.
But what if it could make the roads safer?
That's what the makers of Skully promise with what they're calling the world's first augmented-reality motorcycle helmet.
The Skully AR-1 helmet's anti-fog, anti-glare face shield features a heads-up display that shows blind spots, navigation information, weather and other data. The rider can use voice controls to play music, answer phone calls and do other things that might otherwise involve fumbling around with their hands.
A rear camera shows what's going on behind the rider and a voice guide gives Google Maps-style voice directions.
Skully also features Internet connectivity and a Bluetooth smartphone connection.
According to a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 4,502 people were killed in motorcycle crashes in 2010 (the most recent year available when the study was conducted), an increase of 55% from 2000.
Skully's already making waves in the tech world. In March, the helmet won the coveted Accelerator Award at the South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin, Texas. Five hundred companies submitted for the contest and Skully was a category winner among the 48 chosen to present at the festival.
"This is a great jump-start for the new year as we head forward to our product going to market," Skully CEO Marcus Weller said of the honor.
The helmet is set to be released later this year and Skully is currently accepting applications to be part of an early beta test.
In 1968, the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" predicted regular Pan Am shuttle flights to a rotating space station equipped with hotels, restaurants and reasonably priced phone service.
Thirteen years after the actual 2001, Pan Am is long out of business and the space station is a sparsely furnished shell barely roomy enough for several astronauts. But, finally, we're embarking on an era of regular space flights – courtesy of Virgin Galactic's rocket plane, SpaceShipTwo.
It's been a long time in coming, as Virgin Galactic head Richard Branson is the first to admit. He and his colleagues in the proposed field of space tourism, including SpaceX's Elon Musk, have been tinkering with plans for some time.
SpaceShipTwo, based on the Ansari X prize-winning SpaceShipOne, is a clever solution to a challenging problem: How do you create a ship that can transport visitors to outer space and return them to earth safely, frequently, routinely and relatively inexpensively? Even NASA's space shuttles only went up 135 times in 30 years, far less than the space agency had planned.
The first challenge is getting it aloft. NASA's space shuttles were lifted by rockets; SpaceShipTwo has a jet-powered aircraft called White Knight Two, which takes the spaceplane to about 50,000 feet. At that altitude, SpaceShipTwo fires its RocketMotorTwo, a hybrid rocket engine powered by both solid and liquid fuel.
SpaceShipTwo then reaches supersonic speeds on its way to its intended altitude of about 62 miles above the Earth, which marks the beginning of outer space. At that point, passengers will get about five minutes of weightlessness before the bonds of earth retract with 6 G's of force.
The spaceplane will then glide back through the atmosphere to landing.
Is it safe? With composite lightweight materials, "feathered" rudders capable of turning 90 degrees and that hybrid system, as safe as modern technology can make it. As designer and aviator Burt Rutan put it in 2008, "This vehicle is designed to go into the atmosphere in the worst case straight in or upside down and it'll correct."
It'll have to be safe. In 2008, Virgin Galactic had plans for SpaceShipTwo to go up twice a day.
Of course, Virgin Galactic has been predicting the imminent launch of SpaceShipTwo for years. In 2008 it was supposed to start flying in 2009; in spring 2013 Branson said he'd be flying by the end of the year. There's a list of more than 600 people waiting to fly, including Stephen Hawking, Tom Hanks, Ashton Kutcher and Katy Perry – and the privilege costs as much as $250,000. NASA's also waiting in the wings with experiments.
But if tests continue to be successful, the next 12 months should tell. Then, perhaps, the 21st century can really start looking like "2001."
It's hard not to watch movies like "Iron Man" or "Aliens" without imagining how cool it would be to inhabit a metal suit that gives you superhuman powers. Suddenly, your puny arms can lift hundreds of pounds, and no physical task seems too daunting.
Sadly, that future is a ways off. But the Titan Arm is a promising first step.
Developed by a team of mechanical engineering students from the University of Pennsylvania, the Titan Arm is a battery-powered, robotic arm which instantly increases human strength. The arm straps to the right arm of the wearer, is anchored by a harness and can augment arm strength by 40 pounds -- not superhero level, but enough to hoist heavy objects with ease.
The device is mostly made of aluminum and steel components, and is powered at its elbow joint by a DC battery. It also can be locked into any position with a ratchet brake to hold an object steady without any exertion from its wearer.
Its makers believe the Titan Arm can help rehabilitate people with back injuries by allowing them to rebuild muscle and relearn motor control. They also think the bionic arm could assist people who lift heavy objects as part of their jobs, such as baggage handlers, warehouse workers or delivery-truck drivers.
This is not a small thing. Back problems afflict 600,000 American workers with a cost of around $50 billion annually to the U.S. economy, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
And the Titan Arm prototype cost only $2,000 to produce, which is much less expensive than other exoskeletons.
For all these reasons, the Titan Arm has already made a splash in the inventor community. The device earned its inventors $10,000 in the Cornell Cup for Innovation and then won last year's James Dyson Award, open to student inventors and engineers around the world.
"Titan Arm is obviously an ingenious design, but the team's use of modern, rapid – and relatively inexpensive – manufacturing techniques makes the project even more compelling," said Dyson in awarding the $45,000 prize.
Its young inventors hope to eventually market the arm as a commercial product. But they have already caught the attention of Hollywood. The students say they were contacted last year by the makers of "Elysium," the futuristic 2013 movie starring Matt Damon as a man who wears an elaborate exoskeleton to battle his enemies.
So with the Titan Arm, that sci-fi future may not be so far off after all.
As any Army medic will tell you, life in battle is measured in blood. And the standard method of plugging wounds -- packing them with gauze and then applying direct pressure -- can take too long.
This is why the U.S. military turned to RevMedx, an Oregon-based medical-technology company, for help. Their solution: The XStat, a syringe-like device, packed with tiny sponges, that could change the way troops are treated for gunshot and shrapnel wounds.
Medics insert the syringe into the wound cavity and inject dozens of tiny, pill-shaped sponges which have been treated with chitosan, a substance that clots blood and fights infections. The sponges expand to 10 times their size in seconds, plugging the wound and stanching the bleeding.
Its makers say the XStat can seal a wound within 20 seconds and remain in the body for up to four hours, stabilizing a wounded patient so that he or she can be transported to a hospital. This is especially crucial for wounds in the armpit or groin area, which cannot be treated with a tourniquet or manual compression.
"Three to five minutes can mean the difference between life and death," says John Steinbaugh, a former Special Forces medic and RevMedx's director of strategic development. "You put it (the XStat) in and the bleeding instantly stops."
Each of the absorbent sponges is marked with an X, visible via X-ray, to help doctors spot and remove them before a wound is stitched up.
In April, the device won a 2014 Inventions Award from Popular Science. That same month it won FDA approval, meaning that RevMedx can now legally market and sell the XStat in the U.S.
The company plans to provide a limited quantity of XStats to the U.S. military by late 2014, with hopes of making them available to other clients, such as paramedics and law enforcement officers, in 2015 and beyond.
RevMedx also is working on a slimmer version for wounds with narrow entry points.
Given that the U.S. Army says nearly 50% of combat deaths since mid-World War II were due to excessive loss of blood, the XStat could save countless lives -- on and off the battlefield.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
|System: PC, PS3*, Xbox 360
|Dev: EA Sports
|Pub: Electronic Arts
|Release: September 24, 2013
|Players: 1 (2+ Online)
|Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p
This is not to say that FIFA 14 doesn't have its visual flaws. Although the action during play is near flawless, cutaways to player shots can have screen-tearing and loading issues that make for some truly odd visuals. However, I believe this is due more in part to the limitations of the current consoles, not the design of the game.
Audio for a sports game is a curious thing. It is expected to be at a level that helps to immerse you in the gameplay, but normally never transcends anything beyond ambience. This is true of FIFA 14 as well. It's not to say that the quality of the audio in FIFA 14 is bad, far from it. It does its job admirably. Crowds cheer louder as a player nears the goal for a shot, announcers keep up with the on-screen action, and the sound of kicking a ball sounds like, well, you know, kicking a ball. The international soundtrack was kind of cool, even though I couldn't understand a word of some of the songs; it was a testament of the popularity of the sport worldwide. The only issue I had with the soundscape was that the announcers could become annoyingly repetitive, continually repeating the same phrases for similar situations. While this is the case with all sports games, it still bugs me. I will say, though, that the announcers are much better than other sports games I have played recently (I'm looking at you, NCAA Football 14!)
All in all, I really did enjoy my time with FIFA 14. I'm not sure if it's the best game in the series, but it kept me playing for hours on end, and that's enough for me. The visual and audio competence supported by the rock-solid gameplay is a winning combination, and just goes to show how much EA has perfected the major-league game formula.
So, will I run to my local department store, buy myself a multi-colored, long-sleeve shirt and proclaim myself a soccer hooligan? Nah, probably not. But I will definitely keep FIFA 14 in my collection for when I get the itch to feel like I can actually play a sports game. Well, for that, and when I want to yell "GOOOOOOAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLL" in a buddy's face. Either way, it's a good time.
Joshua Bruce
Video Director
Date: September 24, 2013
Game Features:


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The Los Angeles Lakers have acquired Carlos Boozer on amnesty waivers, calling him "an established veteran and a proven All-Star who will be a welcome addition to our team."
Nine teams with cap space were able to make a blind bid to pick up the remaining portion of Boozer's $16.8 million deal with the Chicago Bulls. The Lakers won with a bid of $3.25 million, sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein.
"We're very pleased to have won the bidding process and to have gained his rights, and look forward to his contributions next season," Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a news release.
The Bulls must pay Boozer the remaining $13.6 million that he is owed in 2014-15 on the final year of his current contract. Releasing Boozer via the amnesty clause removes that $13.6 million from Chicago's books for salary-cap and luxury-tax purposes, but the Bulls still must pay him the money he's owed.
Boozer was released by the Bulls earlier this week as they made room to sign free agents Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic.
The Lakers have added two power forwards in the past 24 hours after agreeing on a two-year, $2 million deal with free agent Ed Davis on Wednesday. They also recently signed big man Jordan Hill to a two-year, $18 million deal. Center Robert Sacre is also on their roster.
Boozer averaged 13.7 points and 8.3 rebounds in 76 games for the Bulls last season. He played just 28.2 minutes per game as coach Tom Thibodeau often didn't insert him in the fourth quarter.
Information from ESPN.com's Marc Stein contributed to this report.


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I'm going to stop saying that things have been busy or crazy or hectic, because I've realized that this is life's current {and future, I think} "normal", and therefore, it is no longer news. If I happen to have a week that is oddly calm or easy, I'll be sure to let you know.
The reason I'm telling you this {aside from the fact that I obviously like to ramble} is because several of you have asked me to share a particular recipe for a few weeks now, and though it's been my intention to live up to my promise and do so, I haven't gotten around to it. And so I've been riddled with guilt, especially because there is no excuse in keeping this kind of deliciousness from you.
It's sort of strange that I even tried this out to begin with considering the fact that it doesn't really fit my "food style". My little sister Mary, on the other hand, would be all over it.
See, Mary and I have very different taste when it comes to how we like our treats.
Here are a few examples:
Ice Cream
Mary's Preference: Cappuccino Fudge Blitz topped with chunks of cookie dough, Coco Puffs, & chocolate sprinkles.
My Preference: Vanilla bean gelato. In a cup.
Mary's Preference: Mint Chocolate Chip Cookie Crunch Frappucino
My Preference: Vanilla Latte {Chai Latte if I'm feeling fancy}
Mary's Preference: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough topped with Brownie topped with Oreos Topped with Brownie finished off with Chocolate Glaze
My Preference: Fudge Brownie
Frozen Treats
Mary's Preference: Blue Raspberry Slurpee
My Preference: Banana-Pineapple Smoothie
There's nothing wrong with either preference. My tastes are just a little more "vanilla", if you will.
That's why I was so surprised when this particular recipe appealed to me. {But let's be real, here. I think the whiskey might have had something to do with it.} 😉
A layer of semi-sweet chocolate topped with a blanket of caramel, smothered with {whiskey infused} melted marshmallow, and then finished off with more chocolate & crumbled bacon. Yes... bacon.
I don't know what got into me when I decided that I must make it immediately... and then top my Chocolate-Whiskey Cupcakes with shards of it. Over the top. So unlike me.
I guess sometimes you have to take a cue from your little sister and let your taste buds take a walk on the wild side. 😉
Chocolate, Caramel, Marshmallow, Whiskey & Bacon Bark
adapted from recipe found at Whiskey Disks, but originally from Endless Simmer
1 ½ cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 cups mini-marshmallows
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon whiskey
Approximately 25 caramels, unwrapped
2-3 strips of crisp bacon
Prepare an 8x8 inch pan by lining with parchment or foil sprayed thoroughly with non-stick cooking spray. {Create flaps that hang over edges for easy removal.} Set aside.
In a medium microwave-safe bowl, heat semi-sweet chocolate chips in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth. {Be careful not to scorch, even when it looks like it's not fully melted it will continue to melt as you stir, so err on the side of caution.}
Pour about half of melted chocolate into prepared pan and smooth evenly with a silicone or offset spatula. Place in freezer to harden, about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, place marshmallows, butter, and whiskey in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high for about 45 seconds. {Keep an eye on it, marshmallows will swell and try to escape the bowl!} Stir and return to microwave for about another 45 seconds. Stir until smooth and elastic.
Pour onto set chocolate layer and, working quickly, smooth evenly. {If you're not using a silicone spatula, you may want to spray whatever you are using with cooking spray so that you don't have a sticky mess to deal with.}
Return to freezer and freeze for another 15 minutes.
Clean marshmallow bowl {or don't, it's really up to you}, and place unwrapped caramels into it. Heat for about 45 seconds, then stir, and continue heating in 30 second intervals until melted and smooth.
Pour over marshmallow layer and spread evenly. {And quickly! It will cool fast.}
Return to freezer for 15 more minutes.
Reheat remaining chocolate until warm and smooth and pour over caramel layer. Smooth evenly and, while still wet, sprinkle with crumbled bacon. Pat bacon crumbles down lightly so that they stick to chocolate.
Freeze for a final 15-30 minutes or until completely set.
When ready to cut, remove bark by gently pulling on foil flaps, then carefully peel foil from hardened chocolate. Cut into pieces with a sharp knife.
{Keep refrigerated. Bark becomes slightly gooey & floppy at room temp.}


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Cardinal O'Malley says church laws are insufficient
Members of Pope Francis' sexual abuse advisory board said Saturday they will develop "clear and effective" protocols to hold bishops and other church authorities accountable if they fail to report suspected abuse or protect children from pedophile priests.
Victims groups have long blasted the Vatican for refusing to sanction any bishop or superior who covered up for priests who raped and molested children. They have listed accountability as one of the core issues facing Francis and a key test for his new advisory board.
Francis announced the creation of the commission last December and named its members in March after coming under initial criticism for having ignored the sex abuse issue. The commission's eight members - four of whom are women - met for the first time this week at the pope's Vatican hotel to discuss the scope of their work and future members.
Briefing reporters Saturday, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston, said current church laws could hold bishops accountable if they failed to protect children. But he said those laws hadn't been sufficient to date and that new protocols were needed.
"Obviously our concern is to make sure that there are clear and effective protocols to deal with the situations where superiors of the church have not fulfilled their obligations to protect children," O'Malley said.
Victims groups have long cited the case of O'Malley's predecessor in Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as archbishop after the sex abuse scandal exploded publicly there in 2002 and Law was shown to have covered up for notorious child rapists. But Pope John Paul II then appointed Law to the plum assignment as archpriest of one of the Vatican's four major basilicas in Rome. Even today, another U.S. bishop remains in office despite having been convicted of misdemeanor failure to report suspected child abuse.
Marie Collins, a committee member and Irish survivor of sexual abuse, said she came away from the inaugural meeting of the commission "hopeful," primarily because the issue of accountability was addressed straight on.
"I know there are many survivors around the world who are hoping, and have great expectations of this commission," Collins said. "And what I can say so far is you can't make concrete promises. But as a survivor myself, I am hopeful that we are going to achieve what is hoped for."
That said, much remains to be done. The commission still has no founding statutes. Its independence within the Vatican bureaucracy is unclear. Neither a new date for a future meeting nor a timeline for drafting the protocols were set. And commission members hail mostly from the industrialized world, whereas comprehensive church abuse policies lag largely in the developing world.
O'Malley said he hoped to broaden the membership to reflect the universal church, specifically because so much of what the commission must do is educate church officials about the problem in places where the scandal hasn't yet exploded.
"There is so much ignorance around this topic, so much denial," O'Malley said.
He said the commission might also offer advice to national bishops' conferences to improve their own guidelines for handling abuse cases. Recently, the Italian bishops' conference released their guidelines and said they had no legal obligation to report suspected abuse to police. O'Malley said the church's response shouldn't depend on legal obligations, but rather "moral obligations" to report suspected abuse.
The commission met on the eve of a U.N. committee meeting in Geneva in which the Vatican is expected to come under a second round of criticism for its handling of abuse. A U.N. committee monitoring implementation of a key treaty on children's rights blasted the Holy See earlier this year, accusing it of systematically placing its own interests over those of victims by enabling priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children through its own policies and code of silence.


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Slow down, peel away, enjoy Simmered Artichokes
Eating an artichoke for the first time is an experience one remembers forever. Years ago, maybe 15 or so, my friend Cathy taught me how to eat the beautifully shaped green vegetable I'd often stopped to admire in the grocery store.
Eating an artichoke for the first time is an experience one remembers forever. Years ago, maybe 15 or so, my friend Cathy taught me how to eat the beautifully shaped green vegetable I'd often stopped to admire in the grocery store.
Cathy had already cooked the artichokes by the time I arrived at her house. As we sat at her table, she showed me how to pluck the leaves from the artichoke, one by one, dip them into a pool of melted butter, and scrape each leaf between my teeth to release the tiny bit of flesh within. As I peeled away the leaves, getting closer and closer to the center of the artichoke, they became more tender. The flavor of the flesh was soft and subtle, leaving a floral aftertaste in my mouth. I finally came to a pale cream-colored bristly cap - the choke. My friend told me to pull the choke away. That is part of the artichoke we don't eat. Under that fuzzy choke is the tender edible heart, the prize I had been working toward.
Life slowed down as my friend and I sat together and chatted as we ate our artichokes. The slow, relaxed dining experience gave us the opportunity to be present with our food and with each other.
Once I learned how to eat artichokes, I was no longer intimidated by the thistle-like flower and its thorny petals. I watched Erin Andrus Haefele prepare an artichoke for steaming recently when I was at her store, Green Scene, in Walker, Minn. She said she learned how to prepare and eat artichokes from her mother and she has introduced her own daughters to the soothing ritual of eating artichokes.
When I had friends over for artichokes the other day, I served the globes of tender petals with Aromatic Compound Butter and Spicy Dip.
Aromatic Compound Butter, a mixture of softened butter, a tiny bit of olive oil and fresh herbs, is a simple way to add elegance to a cooked artichoke. Pluck the leaves from the artichoke and swipe the creamy colored ends across the soft butter before sliding the petal between your teeth.
Spicy Dip has a base of mayonnaise. Sriracha, a sweet, tangy paste made with sun-ripened chile peppers, garlic, vinegar, sugar and salt, adds a zing of hot spice, giving the dip its name. Curry powder is a nice blend of spices to balance the flavorful dip.
Both dips can be made early in the day you will be serving artichokes. Serve them at room temperature.
Shop for artichokes that are tightly furled and firm. They should feel heavy for their size. Store them in a plastic bag in the refrigerator and use as soon as possible.
Don't be intimated by artichokes. Once you've prepared them and eaten them with family and friends, you'll find pleasure in the way they force you to slow down, be present and interact with the people who are seated around the table with you. You'll be hooked on artichokes.
Simmered Artichokes
4 fresh artichokes
4 cloves garlic
2 dried bay leaves
1 lemon, quartered, seeds removed
Rinse artichokes well under cold running water to remove any unwanted residue. Use a sharp chef's knife to cut off the top 1/4 of each artichoke, mostly leaf tops that you won't need. Use scissors to cut the pointed tips from the leaves that remain on the artichoke. Snap off any small, tough leaves from the base of the artichoke. Cut off the stem, leaving an inch.
Place artichokes in large pot, cut side down. Add 2 inches of water to the pot. Drop in whole garlic cloves, bay leaves and lemon quarters, giving them a little squeeze as you add them to the pot. Bring water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cover pot and cook artichokes 30 to 45 minutes, depending on their size. You will know artichokes are done when you can easily pull a leaf off and a fork will easily slide into the base of the artichoke.
Serve artichokes with Aromatic Compound Butter and Spicy Dip. Provide a bowl for discarding leaves. Serves 4.
Aromatic Compound Butter
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons minced fresh herbs
Sea salt
Use an electric mixer to beat the butter in a medium bowl until it is light and creamy. Add olive oil and minced fresh herbs. Beat until oil is completely incorporated into the butter, forming a very light and creamy mixture. Put Compound Butter in shallow bowls for serving. Sprinkle with sea salt.
Spicy Dip
1/2 cup mayonnaise or vegenaise
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon sriracha
2 teaspoons curry powder or spice blend of your choice
Juice from 1/4 of a lime
Use a spoon to blend all ingredients together.
Tips from the cook
--For the Aromatic Compound Butter, I used a mixture of fresh chives, thyme, marjoram, tarragon, oregano, rosemary and basil, all picked from my garden.
--Find Sriracha in a bottle in the international aisle of most grocery stores or in Asian markets.


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Internet Explorer 11 will debut with Windows 8.1, and thanks to its ability to harness a device's GPU, it should provide blazingly fast performance while supporting a host of modern programming languages. Microsoft also claims IE 11 will support up to 100 tabs without putting a strain on battery life.
But like the original version of Windows 8, the update will evidently still include two versions of the Internet browser -- one for the desktop, and one for the Modern UI.
For all the fluidity Microsoft has managed with SkyDrive, the company has struggled to get the two sides of Windows 8 to cohere. In an interview before Build, Forrester analyst Dave Johnson noted to InformationWeek that IE behaves differently in each UI, and that certain defaults, such as the version of IE that will open a link, can be confusing. "It should just be consistent behavior," he said.
Microsoft VP Dean Hachamovich argued at Build that Windows 8 needs two versions of IE because each UI is suited to different use cases and different ways of engaging with content. This is a fair point. But it remains to be seen if users like the way Microsoft has responded to these divergent use cases. If not, the user-centric attitude that Larson-Green described might be tantamount to a good intention executed inconsistently.
5. The Windows Store looks better and will soon include some big-time apps.
Windows 8 launched with a relatively meager selection of mobile apps, and though it now features almost 100,000 titles, the Windows Store is still a long way behind marketplaces for iOS and Android. Worse, according to at least one study, users have been largely indifferent to the Windows 8 apps that are available, many of which cost more than they do on competing platforms.
Nevertheless, things are looking up for Modern apps. At Build, Ballmer said a native Facebook app would soon come to Windows 8, and one keynote also included a preview of PowerPoint for the Modern UI. Slowly but surely, big-name titles are reaching Microsoft's platform.
Users still need to buy these apps, though, and that's where the redesigned Windows Store comes in. It now features a cleaner look that makes better use of space -- an important concept, given that many Modern UI users will rely on tablets with small screens. It also includes a Spotlight section on the front page, as well as areas for recently launched apps, the top paid apps and the top free apps. Personalized recommendations are included, with search functions that now hook into Bing. The Windows Store can also support gift cards.
6. Developers have more tools to build compelling apps for Windows 8.1.
An improved marketplace and the gradual accrual of popular apps should inspire more developers to write for the Modern UI. To provide further encouragement, Microsoft has released a preview version of Visual Studio 2013, a toolkit with which developers can build and test new apps. It also opened Bing as a development platform, including not only search functions but also rich graphics and new ways to display content culled from disparate sources.
Prior to Windows 8.1, the Windows Store was more about catching up to iOS and Android than about cultivating a unique personality. If developers can make the most of Bing, that could change -- and nothing, as the iPad has shown, drives consumer adoption like new and delightful experiences.
7. Windows 8.1 includes hooks to cutting-edge technology, including 3-D printing.
Speaking of new and delightful experiences, Windows 8.1 will include support for a variety of new technologies. At Build, Microsoft executives claimed that users will be able to create 3-D objects on their PCs as easily as they create documents in Word. The keynote included references to low-cost 3-D printers that will soon be available not only at Microsoft's retail stores but also via big-box sellers such as Staples. As these printers creep into the consumer space, Microsoft's enthusiasm for the concept could pay dividends.
Microsoft also showed off a robot built from Lego's Mindstorms EV3 platform. Able to be controlled by a Windows 8 tablet, the robot was composed of the same small bricks most of us used as children, which offers an entirely new way to interact with Windows technology.
8. Installing the Windows 8.1 preview can be tricky.
Microsoft calls Windows 8.1 a "preview," but that's really just a euphemism for "beta." You can download Windows 8.1 right now, in other words, but the update's not finished yet, and to a certain extent, you'll be installing at your own peril. Some apps will work, others won't.
More to the point: Microsoft's FAQ makes clear this update is for tech-savvy users, not curious minds that simply want to take a test drive. The company warns that "uninstalling the preview isn't supported", but that "it may be possible to restore your entire system to its factory condition." If those words mean nothing to you, you probably want to wait for the final release.
If you install the preview on a system running Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, you'll only be able to get rid of Windows 8.1 by reinstalling the original OS. Windows 8 devices make the process easier, but you'll still probably have to reinstall apps. And if any of the few Windows RT users decides to give the preview a whirl, they will be stuck permanently. WinRT won't allow the preview to be removed; it can only be upgraded to the final version, when it becomes available.
All of the above assumes that you use the Windows Store to install the update. It's also available as an ISO file, but that makes the removal process more complicated, particularly if you use a Windows 8 tablet. If you decide to give Win8.1 an early look, be sure to back up your files first.


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Quickly check the visibility of your apps in App Store search.
Note down your competitors, track their press mentions, keywords from their descriptions.More
Look up other apps' keywords. See related phrases and popularity index. Get the idea for your own keywords.
Take a look at your competitors' press mentions
With AppCodes you can track your visibility for 200 search queries. We allow to increase the limit if requested, but few developers ever need more.
After every update you should use a positioning tool to review which keywords work for your app - that is which ones give you a position in top 10 - and which ones should you replace with something else.
In AppCodes you can mark apps as your competitors, and then review them all in one place. See which words they use in their descriptions and in their keyword list, and see what press wrote about them.
"Good artists copy; great artists steal." -- Pablo Picasso
See results as they appear on the device and discover:
- related phrases
- phrase popularity and competetiveness
- estimated app downloads (±10x)
- your competitor iTunes keywords
Some of our users asked us why we don't suggest keywords automatically. We believe that choosing proper search phrases requires creativity and common sense that no machine will ever posses. That's why the focus of AppCodes is to deliver you tools that will help you with the job, and the training to do the job properly. The Search Investigator is the best tool for this.
If you wish to perform any kind of press activity, it's good to know who wrote about your competitors and in which context. That's why we originally launched AppMentionAlerts.com, with a signup fee of $24.95. Later on we rolled back all of it's functionality into AppCodes. How cool is that?
Over 500 thousand developers have viewed our tutorials to optimise their Apps' performance in the app store.View more tutorials
© Motivapps 2012-15. AppCodes - The Swiss Army Knife for iPhone App Marketing. Privacy Policy Terms of service


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In the eighteenth century, the record for the fastest amputation at the thigh was nine seconds, start to finish, including sawing through the bone. Are you impressed yet? Even the average, thirty seconds, was pretty damned fast.
And speed was of the essence. Let's face it. If you needed surgery in the eighteenth century or the first half of the nineteenth, you'd better be strong and brave, because it wasn't a doddle. Not for the surgeon, and not at all for the patient.
Patients faced three major killers
They'd solved one of the major issues that killed people who needed surgery, reinventing ligatures to tie off blood vessels so the patient didn't bleed out on the table. Before the sixteenth century, they'd used cautery—burning—to seal any gushers, vastly adding to the pain. And, of course, closing up the wound as fast as possible helped.
And pain was the second issue. No effective anesthetics. Not until the mid-nineteenth century. The patient was awake for the entire operation, which was the main reason why speed (and some strong helpers to hold the patient down) mattered.
The biggest killer was factor number three. Germs.
Not that they knew that, of course. The prevailing opinion was that wound infections were caused by air, though how nobody quite knew. They had no way of knowing that the surgeon's hands and clothes, the bed sheets, the surgical instruments, the dressings, and a myriad of other surfaces that would come into contact with the patient were covered with organisms too tiny to see, but that would infect the wound. Most people sickened. More than half died.
Keep out the air to keep out the contagion
Some hospitals did pretty well. Their theory was that the infective element was carried in noxious fumes; that is, if it smelled like bad air, it would be bad for their patient. Alexander Monro (Primus and Secundus), a father and son team who headed the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, must have run a clean operation. They managed to get the death rate for amputations down to eight percent. Given that other hospitals of the time managed rates of 45 to 65 percent, that's truly impressive.
Most surgeons relied on speed to limit the amount of time the wound was exposed to the air, thus—they hoped—cutting down on the damage the air did to the tissues.
More butchery than medicine
So a fast surgeon was far more likely to be a successful surgeon for three reasons: less blood flow, a shorter time of acute agony, and (they thought) less contagion. No wonder that, to the rest of the human race, surgery seemed more a matter of butchery than medicine.
Naturally, as they thought at the time, physicians did not perform surgery. Physicians had, since medieval times, been university trained. They were gentlemen's sons with a medical doctorate, highly educated and knowledgeable about the humours of the body and the appropriate ways to balance them. In theory, their superior knowledge made them the only proper people to practice medicine and oversee surgery. They did not involve themselves in physical labour, but expected rather to command those who distilled the medicines they prescribed (apothecaries) or who carried out operations they deemed necessary.
Surgeons, barber surgeons and apothecary surgeons
Specialist surgeons learned their craft on the job, working as a surgeon's mate in the navy or the army, or as the apprentice to a barber surgeon or an apothecary surgeon.
Barbers were good men with a blade, so an obvious choice for removing some part that shouldn't be there or performing a beneficial bloodletting. The familiar red and white barber's pole dates from the time of the barber surgeon, representing the rod the patient held tightly during the operation and the bloodied and clean bandages used. When washed and hung to dry, they would twist together in the wind, forming the spiral we see today.
Apothecary surgeons had won a landmark case in the first decade of the eighteenth century, when an apothecary was taken to court by the Guild of Physicians for compounding and administering medicines without the benefit of a physician's advice. The Physicians won, but the Society of Apothecaries appealed to the House of Lords, who were unimpressed with the argument that allowing apothecaries to care for the sick would:
"Deprive the gentry of one of the processions by which their younger sons might honourably subsist and be a great detriment to the Universities."
The Lords reversed the judgement.
The rise of a profession
By the eighteenth century, surgeons were giving physicians a run for their money, some attending university as well as learning their craft by apprenticeship. However, they seldom had any formal qualifications before the Royal College of Surgeons was founded in London in 1800. They were 'Mister' compared to the physician's more prestigious 'Doctor', though the brilliant work of a plethora of eighteenth century surgeons raised their status and the work of medical teaching hospitals such as the Royal Infirmary mentioned above raised their knowledge.
By the time Victoria ascended the throne, the confidence of surgeons, and the income they could command, had risen to the point that the cheeky surgeons made the former insulting honorific into a badge of honour. In the UK, Eire and New Zealand to this day, surgeons are called 'Mister' rather than 'Doctor'.
Jude Knight's writing goal is to transport readers to another time, another place, where they can enjoy adventure and romance, thrill to trials and challenges, uncover secrets and solve mysteries, delight in a happy ending, and return from their virtual holiday refreshed and ready for anything.
She writes historical novels, novellas, and short stories, mostly set in the early 19th Century. She writes strong determined heroines, heroes who can appreciate a clever capable woman, villains you'll love to loathe, and all with a leavening of humour.
A Raging Madness is out May 9th. Stop by our sister blog today to see surgery in action in a new excerpt and enter two giveaways!


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PS3Blog.net Game Night | Sept. 26
In a effort to get more people to show up for game nights. Each time I'm going to post a new poll to gauge interest on what games you want to play that night. I'll play the top 2 games for that night if I have the game. I'll remove the poll after the game night is over and post the results.
Game: Uncharted 2
Host: Tosh (PSN: xBerserker)
Time: 6 pm – 8 pm MST
Game: Killzone 3
Host: TBA (to be determined)
Time: TBA (to be determined)
Game: Dead Island
Host: TBA (to be determined)
Time: TBA (to be determined)
I'm open to playing Killzone 3, Metal Gear Online, Tekken 6, Wipeout HD. But if you'd rather play something else, add it to the poll and comment below so you can meet up with other people that want to play the same game.
It makes it much easier to communicate quickly with everyone.
I'll be hanging around in the PS3Blog.net Home Clubhouse about 10 minutes before we begin if you want to hang out there for a bit. We have arcades machines, pool table and a golden throne for you to try out.
You will get 100 points for coming to a game night. When you show up for the game night I will message you on the PSN with a secret word which you can use below to get your points.
[question answer="snikt" option="gamenight" limit="2″]
If you'd like to join us, leave your PSN ID below. My PSN ID is xBerserker, but mention "PS3Blog.net Game Night†in your PSN friend request message or I will NOT add you.
If you would like to set up another time for a game night, you can arrange it in the PS3Blog.net Game Night Group. Or even do a post like this yourself.


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Fashion Crew Socks White / Red / Blue
Fashion Crew Socks White / Red / Blue
Crafted with a ribbed-knit finish these high stretch retro sportswear tubes are great to wear for skateboarding through to tennis and for casual wear styled with Converse trainers or sliders. A refreshing staple accessory with modern technical features and a timeless design.
Product Details
- One size only (UK 7 - 11 / Euro 41 - 45 / US 10 - 12)
- Soft, Cotton-rich fabric with a cushioned foot
- Elastic arch support
- Reinforced heel, toe and flat-linked seams for durability and comfort
- Stretch cuffs for a snug fit that doesn't slip down
- Composition is 75% Combed Cotton, 23% Nylon and 2% Elastane


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This Fruit Is The Shiniest Living Thing In The Whole World
Do you see these beautiful berries? These berries are the shiniest living things in the whole entire world. They are shinier than a blue morpho butterfly's wings. They are shinier than a scarab beetle's carapace. They are more sparkling than a child's sunny aura and more brilliant than all the secrets of the sea.
Congratulations, berries. We are all very proud of you.
"I have definitely seen a living thing shinier than that, before," you may say. Thanks for the lie, hater; you are incorrect.
Physicists from Cambridge University discovered the berries in a muffin they were eating! Haha, no, they learned of the berries on a colleague's recommendation while studying the reflectivity of certain plants, like buttercups and tulips.
Ulrich Steiner, one of the scientists whose study of the berry, Pointillist structural color in Pollia fruit, was just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, told NPR he wasn't even impressed by the berry at first, because it was "smaller than a blueberry" and how could anything good ever come out of something smaller than a blueberry? (Aside from an adorable tiny blueberry.)
Up close, however, Steiner reported that the fruit proved "incredibly luminous and intense."
The fruit's shininess stems from a combination of two factors: its high reflectivity (the berry reflects 30 percent of the light that hits it, while most surfaces reflect only a small fraction) and its "structural color," which comes from light's filtering down through the plant's coiled cells, which are arranged in layers of sheets. Most of the cells reflect blue light and absorb red, green and yellow, but some reflect the other colors and absorb blue. The resulting effect is a look Steiner describes as "pixelated."
Like a Chocolate Junior, the berry holds no nutritional value. In fact, scientists believe that's why it has evolved to become such a brilliant hue; it's speculated that birds pluck the berries either because they have mistaken them for another nutrient-rich plant, for use in mating displays, or because they're redoing their nests and want to decorate with a shiny bauble (seriously). Whatever the reason, the color seems crucial in helping to spread the plant's seeds.
To destroy the magic of the shiny fruit by learning more about it, check out the Discover Magazine write-up.
To see what the fruit looks like in context (while still on the Pollia condensata plant), click here.
[NPR // Image via AP/Silvia Vignolini et al. via PNAS]


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Anchored by Jake Tapper, The Lead airs at 4 p.m. ET on CNN.
We've moved! Come join us at our new show page.
national lead
Hi everyone,
We hope you will join us on the new CNN.com where you can find The Lead with Jake Tapper's show page filled with videos and extras. Hope you enjoy!
buried lead
If you're a nerd, it's the first question you asked when the clock struck midnight, 2015.
"So where are all the flying cars? And the hoverboards we were promised?"
In the blockbuster film hit "Back to the Future," which came out 30 years ago, and its sequels, this, 2015, is "the future" - the year Marty McFly and Doc Brown zoomed off to visit in their souped-up flying DeLorean.
Indeed the whole premise of the sequel was about all the amazing technology that we would have in the future, today. So how did the team behind the movies do in their predictions?
world lead
In addition to the urgent task of recovering the passengers still missing, investigators are racing to find the flight's black boxes.
Officials need these recorders to determine what exactly happened to AirAsia 8501, and to try to prevent it from happening again.
CNN Safety Analyst David Soucie and CNN Aviation Analyst Les Abend discuss.
world lead
Aviation and safety experts say the majority of the missing are likely together... still strapped in to the plane's main cabin.
Wednesday, an Indonesian search official told CNN he thought sonar equipment detected something that looked like the main fuselage at the bottom of the sea, but now search and rescue officials are backing off that statement.
CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has the latest details on the hunt for AirAsia 8501.
world lead
CNN's Tom Foreman takes a look at the search area on the Magic Wall.


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WSM Original Series Piston Rebuild Kit Fits Sea-doo - 580 cc
WSM Original Series Piston Rebuild Kit Fits Sea-doo - 580 cc
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KINGSTON >> A 4-year-old Kingston boy was in critical condition Friday after he wandered away from his babysitter and was struck by a hit-and-run driver on Frank Koenig Boulevard, according to city police.
Detective Lt. Thierry Croizer said police do not know whether the child was in any of the crosswalks near the scene when the accident occurred about 10:10 p.m. Thursday. He also said the department is "trying to determine if there is any criminality at this point" by the babysitter, who was taking care of the child in an apartment at Spring Brook Village.
The accident happened as the child crossed Koenig Boulevard near Spring Brook Village, police said. They said the driver fled the scene without stopping. Koeing is a four-lane, divided, highway-like road that is part of U.S. Route 9W.
Crozier said the boy does not live near the scene of the accident. Police did not release the child's name or the name or age of the babysitter.
The child was treated at the scene and then taken to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie before being transferred to Westchester Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition in the pediatric intensive care unit, Croizer said.
Spring Brook Village is near the corner of Garraghan Drive and Koenig Boulevard and has a side access road that connects to Koenig, across from Murray Street. The Kingston Police Department and a city firehouse are on Garraghan, between Broadway and Koenig.
Witnesses reported seeing a dark vehicle leaving the scene and heading south on Koenig toward Port Ewen, but it was not clear if the vehicle was involved in the accident, police said.
Police are asking witnesses or anyone who knows anything about the incident to call the Kingston Police Department at (845) 331-1671 or use the confidential "Submit a Tip" app on the department's Facebook page.


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It's only the first week, and the 2018 FIFA World Cup is already turning out to be a tournament of surprises. Among the top contenders, Germany has already suffered a setback in their opening match, while Brazil and Argentina too found themselves tied against opponents after lackluster performances.
Though the initial setbacks should not seriously hurt their prospects in the tournament, these top teams now need to regroup, rethink and capitalise on their strengths to wrest back the winning momentum. The hallmark of a great team, after all, is its ability to bounce back from failure and return to winning ways.
But this is true for all walks of life—including your career. The capacity to overcome a career setback and move ahead is one of the defining traits of a successful professional. If you've encountered a setback in your career, there's no need to let it linger for long. Instead, use these tips to recover quickly and get back on the road to success:
1. Acknowledge the failure
The first step to overcoming failure is also the hardest. Since acknowledging your failure also means accepting that you probably weren't good enough, the process of coming to terms with it can be a somewhat depressing experience. But it is an essential part of the process if you want to get ahead. After all, you can only improve when you recognise the need for improvement.
2. Don't be too hard on yourself
Once you've done the difficult thing by accepting responsibility for the failure, don't be consumed by guilt. Often, we tend to take our failures far too seriously to let it have a disproportionate impact on our lives. Understanding the truth that failure and success are two sides of the same coin can help us deal with it better.
3. Analyse
Bill Gates aptly said, "It is fine to celebrate success, but it is more important to heed the lessons of failure." A dispassionate and objective analysis of your failure is probably the most important step you can take to help your career get back on track. Asking yourself questions like what worked and what didn't, what you could have done differently, and what you missed completely, could throw valuable insights into the problems and how they could be tackled better.
4. Prepare an action plan
Now that you have an objective view of what went wrong, prepare an action plan. Define your goals, determine how you want to get there and break up your plan into small, actionable parts. Include deadlines and make a note of the resources you need to meet the objectives. If possible, run the plan by somebody who has recovered from a similar experience and ask for feedback.
5. Take action
You are ready for action! Forge ahead towards your goal with vigour and enthusiasm, wiser and better-prepared than the previous endeavour. If, at any point of time, you feel that things are spinning out of control, don't be afraid to ask for help.
There are many career lessons one can learn from football including the importance of teamwork, solidarity, sportsmanship spirit, and how to handle setbacks. The unpredictability of the game and the fact that anything can change in an instant are other valuable lessons the game can teach us. So enjoy the tournament as it progresses, and keep an eye out for lessons from some of the top teams and best athletes in the world!


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My sisters and I never saw eye to eye; rather we heard heart to heart through our telephone receivers. We lived a good distance away for most of our lives. And so our connections, close as they were, were nearly always via long distance calls.
The ear pieces on the phone grew increasingly warm and comforting with each laugh, each tease and each word we spoke. We spent hours on the phone, twisting the curly, stretched cord around our body parts, spilling out our hearts and our triumphs and our woes. But there is no record, no evidence, and sadly fewer clear recollections.
So I made up some memories.
* * *
I began to question the wisdom of this trip as soon as the line went dead.
The call Thursday night was unexpected. Sam and Dave – customers from the burger joint I'd worked in back home — had tracked me down in Boston. I'd left home six months earlier, and was surprised that the guys had found me. They had said they were in Boston often and promised to look me up – but so had a lot of people.
Six months away from home hadn't been nearly as fun as I expected my "coming of age" to be. I hesitated to admit that I was lonely and would love some company. But I hadn't even thought about Sam and Dave – forgotten them, in fact. Well, I barely knew them to begin with. Sam was tall, blond, nice smile. A well done hamburger with fries; Dave was shorter with shaggy brown hair that he often pulled back. He liked his cheeseburger rare with onion rings. Both drank Coke. One of them drove my favorite car, a 1974 Datsun 240Z. Blue.
"Great, we'll pick you up Saturday at 10," one of them said. Was it Dave? He and Sam were on separate extensions and kept finishing each other's sentences like an old married couple.
"Yeah, Steve gave us the address along with your number. See you Saturday!" said the other – Sam, I guessed. And then they hung up.
They didn't leave a number so I couldn't call them back. For that matter, they didn't leave their last names. First names, a car (cool as it was) and burger preferences. That was all I knew. Yet I had just agreed to spend the weekend with them at the Cape.
At only 19, I hadn't done too many stupid things with guys yet. So I called my older sister, Judy, 24, who had.
"This is ridiculous," I told Judy, pacing back and forth across my tiny apartment like a bobcat in the zoo. "I can't possibly go. I don't know who they are. And I can't possibly call them back – they didn't leave their number. They didn't leave their last names. They didn't even tell me where I just agreed to go. God, this has all the makings of a Hitchcock picture."
"Are you Tippi Hedren or Janet Leigh?" Jude roared at her own joke. "You've known these two cute guys for three years and never went out with them? Either of them? Or both of them – together?" she teased. "God you're boring. You'd be Doris Day in a Hitchcock movie."
"I'm just going to have to talk to them when they get here on Saturday."
"Ok," said Jude, swallowing her laugh. "You'll talk to them on Saturday. Good plan," she burst out again, "especially because you can't talk with them before that because you didn't get their number," she said, gasping for breath.
I began to relax. Somehow, when I told my troubles to Judy, they stopped being problems and became situation comedy.
"You're a huge help. I'll call you back next time I need abuse."
"Anytime," Judy said, hanging up.
I spent Friday at work bouncing between laughing and worrying. I didn't pack. Of course I wouldn't go with them – I didn't even know their last names!
At 10 am Saturday the doorbell rang. "Shit."
"We're here," Dave or Sam said through the intercom system. Another reason not to go – I couldn't keep them straight. I buzzed them in, and took a deep breath. I still didn't know what to do.
Did it take an hour for them to climb the two flights or were they upstairs in a flash? Suddenly I felt queasy. "Oh God," I thought as I shut the bathroom door, "what would Judy do?" I sat on the toilet for the longest time, trying not to panic. At last, I smiled, shrugged and said "oh, what the hell." I walked back into the main room and said "I'm not quite done packing, but I'll be just a minute."
I threw a bathing suit, a change of clothes, and a couple of other things in a backpack. "There's just one thing," I said, smiling at my dates, "I'd love to drive the Z."
* * *


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Bachelorette is about three friends (Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan and Isla Fisher) who reunite for the wedding of the overweight girl they deigned to hang out with in high school. They are superficial, bigoted and cruel. That's not a complaint; half the fun of Bachelorette is seeing just how awful this trio can be to each other, innocent bystanders and even inanimate objects. (After the bachelorette party, two of them, at least one high on cocaine, squeeze into the fat girl's wedding dress and accidentally tear it in half.) But it does place limits on what Bachelorette writer/director Leslye Headland, making her splashy feature film debut, can do with the third act in terms of remaining true to the tone she has set and to her gleefully nasty mean girl characters.
The group's Queen Bee is named Regan—my fervent hope is this was Headland's nod to The Exorcist—and played by Dunst, who glides effortlessly through the movie as if she were born to the genre of ribald comedies. Regan is, to put it mildly, terrifying. The groomsmen try to explain to the horny best man (James Marsden) why he should proceed with caution vis-a-vis the maid of honor: "You know how there are serial killers and then there is Hannibal Lector? Well there are girls and then there is Regan." Regan has a med school student boyfriend in Philadelphia and a vague job counseling preteen cancer patients that she appears to have taken simply so she can tell people about her alleged good works. It baffles and enrages her that the bride Becky (the gloriously funny Rebel Wilson) is beating her to the altar. "I've done everything right," she fumes to the rest of the trio.
(READ: About Bachelorette's wildly successful pre-release strategy)
She's certainly done more right than they have: Gena (Caplan, whose lively eyes and throaty voice remind me of a young Debra Winger), flies in from Los Angeles for the wedding, having toted a baby powder container full of coke past the TSA. She's unemployed and nervous about seeing her ex from high school, Clyde (Adam Scott), who is also a groomsman. Airhead Katie (the droll Isla Fisher), who flits in from her retail job at a nearby Club Monaco, is an outwardly sunny sort who dabbles in suicide attempts. But Headland gives Regan a bleak backstory as well; she's an unreformed and highly expert bulimic. The movie is filled with well-paced physical comedy, but the bitter tidbit that stuck with me was Regan making a tonsil pistol out of her index and middle fingers, running them under the tap (how hygienic!) and then inserting. Bachelorette taught me more about bulimia methods than four years at Duke in the 1980s.
(READ: Richard Corliss on Dunst at Cannes and Melancholia)
In terms of the big picture, Bachelorette is, as was Bridesmaids (which it will be compared to endlessly), thematically centered on immaturity. But within that scope, it is less mature. It's bold, lively and filled with knowing pop culture references (the classic Brian Krakow vs. Jordan Catalano debate from My So-Called Life serves as the basis for romantic advice) but still seems not entirely formed. In large part that's due to what Headland does with that pesky final act. Instead of unrepentantly sticking to her mean girl guns, she mostly makes nice. As the enticingly malicious froth she has built up deflates, so does the movie. Apparently Bachelorette has been divisive, with audiences either falling hard for it or walking away disgusted. I'd have fallen harder for it if I'd walked away more disgusted.
But I'm a Party Down devotee, which means I'd be happy to see anything that features, as the cancelled Starz ensemble comedy did, Caplan and Scott as sparring love interests. (The Starz show only ran for two short seasons, lamentably, but in those 20 episodes I found Caplan and Scott about as adorable as two people can be.) Gena and Clyde's narrative arc, involving an incident in which he let her down in high school and thus spurred her wasted young adulthood, feels cheap and emotionally suspect. If it weren't for Caplan and Scott's chemistry none of it would work. Their backstory echoes a similar plot point to the one in Young Adult, which suggested that the trauma of a very youthful pregnancy lost to miscarriage was what made Charlize Theron's character such a raging lunatic. Both movies have an undertone of conservatism in regard to young women and pregnancy, intriguing (and odd) since they are embedded in depictions of outrageous behavior typically viewed as "loose" (drinking, drugs, sex with whomever). We've come a long way baby, but not that far.
(SEE: Where Dunst landed on TIME's Top 10 Vampire List)
The best reason to see Bachelorette is Dunst, once a child star (Interview with the Vampire) with an uncanny ability to project maturity, now an actress with an ever-increasing range. In 2010 she was touching as a sunshine girl turned victim of domestic violence in the underrated All Good Things. Last year she had the key role in the acclaimed but not-exactly-multiplex-material Melancholia as the prescient depressive Justine. She's done comedy before (Dick, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People) but it hasn't been her specialty. Here she's funny in a wonderfully old-fashioned way; you can imagine her teasing the hell out of Cary Grant. Regan is not just a stone cold fox (in the elegant white dress she wears for most of the movie she'd make Hitchcock swoon), she's actually stone cold. "Chinatown!" she snaps at the hapless Asian wedding party planner before dressing her down for some minor canapé infraction. Regan learns a little and softens a smidge in the course of Bachelorette, but Dunst brings an edge even to that. I bet Bette Davis would love this Jezebel; I know I did.
READ: About one of Dunst's most daring roles as a teenager


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I don't know about you, but I can drink tequila year-round. I have to say, though, I especially love it in the spring and summer. I think tequila's crisp, bright flavors work very well with warmer temperatures and longer days.
What Kind of Tequila is Best for Margaritas?
Not interested in the whole rundown? Click on each brand to read about its advantages, price point, and more. For margaritas, check out Espolon or Gran Centenario (or read up on how to make the best margarita and the best chaser for tequila).
This list includes only 100%-agave tequilas. I don't recommend any mixtos here. The difference between the two is this: a fully agave tequila is made by distilling the fermented juices of agave. That's it. Nothing else is added to the fermenter, just agave juices and yeast.
Mixto, on the other hand, starts with a blend of agave juice and other sugars—glucose or fructose, or both—usually in the form of a sugar syrup. Mixtos were invented as a way to stretch the supply of agave and lower production costs. By law, they must be 51% agave. Most of us drank more than enough of this stuff in college.
My belief is this: Tequila should taste like agave, not like sugar. There are plenty of 100%-agave tequilas available for a good price—today I wanted to introduce you to a handful of my favorites that are available for $25 and under.
Although tequila can legally be made in several Mexican states, most of it hails from Jalisco, a state in the west of the country, about midway down the coast. Tequilas from Jalisco are generally divided into lowlands tequilas and highlands tequilas. The village of Tequila itself sits in the lowlands, in the valleys formed when volcanos arose in central Mexico. Though the volcanos are no longer active, they left their mark on the soil in the lowlands region, which produces tequilas that are more herbaceous, spicy, and earthy. The highlands region (also called Los Altos) has iron-rich red clay soil; it gets more rain and has cooler nights; and it yields tequilas that are richer in minerality and have more floral notes.
If you want to taste the differences between highlands and lowlands, you're best off tasting silver or blanco tequilas. Because they're not aged in wood, the flavors of the terrain aren't masked by the oaky vanilla notes derived from barrel aging.
These tequilas are all 80 proof (40% alcohol by volume), and the prices quoted are for 750-mL bottles (with one exception). The prices are for the blanco/plata/silver release, unless otherwise stated, and it's the blanco releases that I'm reviewing here. Of course, prices vary depending on your location.
El Jimador ($22)
Jimador is the Spanish word for the fieldworker who hand-harvests the agave plant. The brand El Jimador is a lowlands tequila produced by Herradura. The brand owner, Brown Forman, cites a Nielsen poll that indicates El Jimador is the top-selling 100%-agave brand in Mexico. If that's true, it's easy to see why. El Jimador's blanco is smooth and crisp, tasting of fresh agave and citrus. It's not a super-complex sipper, but if you're looking to finally graduate from plastic-jug tequila, El Jimador should be your first stop.
Espolon ($23)
Espolon, a highlands tequila, is a bit earthier than El Jimador, and not as crisp and light. Spicy and mildly floral, it carries hints of grilled pineapple and black pepper. I like sipping this one on ice, though I prefer it in cocktails, especially margaritas. Espolon is always a bit surprising to me because I always find myself preferring the blanco over the reposado.
Gran Centenario ($22)
Though Jose Cuervo is known mostly for its line of mixto tequilas, Gran Centenario is one of its 100%-agave brands. (1800 Tequila is another Cuervo 100%-agave release.) Cuervo products are all, I believe, lowlands tequilas, and in fact the main Cuervo distillery is located in the town of Tequila in the Jalisco lowlands. Like El Jimador, Gran Centenario Plata isn't really a complex tequila; it's smooth and refreshing, with citrus overtones and some grassiness. Though it's a simple tequila, it's satisfying and tasty, just right for a margarita.
Lunazul ($17)
Grassy agave meets a bowl of mixed tropical fruit in this lowlands blanco. The flavor has a hint of pepper and herbal notes, and the finish is mildly spicy. Though this isn't my favorite sipper of the bunch, it's great in cocktails. Try it in a Paloma, in the Mexican style, with a pinch of salt, some fresh lime juice (if you can afford it), and grapefruit soda.
Milagro ($23)
A highlands tequila, Milagro is rich and creamy, slightly herbal and vegetal, and freshly citrusy. It sips well, and it mixes better. Milagro is surprisingly good for its price, and it's easily one of my top three. Milagro would be nice sipped alongside Sangrita (no, not Sangria; they're very different things); the subtle herbaceous notes of the tequila would play well with the flavors of Sangrita.
Olmeca Altos ($21)
Probably my second favorite here. Altos is another highlander, with a rich entry and a long, smooth finish. It has grassy, herbal agave flavors up front and juicy citrus tones in the back. It mixes well into cocktails and it's delicious on its own, either on the rocks or neat. The brand is ramping up its US presence, so though it might not be in your area just yet, expect that to change as the year progresses.
Tapatío ($30 for 1 liter)
Yes, I stretched the budget a bit on this one, but it's a great tequila—my favorite on this list—and at 30 bucks for a liter bottle, it's about the same price, per ounce, as the other spirits listed here. Tapatío is much loved inside Mexico, especially in the highlands of Jalisco. (Drive around the countryside, and you'll see signs for it all over the place—billboards, painted signs on the sides of buildings, posters, handbills.) It's now finally available Stateside, though you might need to hunt for it. (You might actually have an easier time finding the high-strength 110-proof bottling, strangely enough.)
It's delicious stuff: rich in the agave grassiness you associate with blanco tequilas, with a crisp fruitiness and a hint of spice. Tapatío is great for mixing, though I really enjoy just savoring it neat.


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Humanity is sitting on a time bomb. If the vast majority of the world's scientists are right, we have just ten years to avert a major catastrophe that could send our entire planet's climate system into a tail-spin of epic destruction involving extreme weather, floods, droughts, epidemics and killer heat waves beyond anything we have ever experienced- a catastrophe of our own making.
If that sounds like a recipe for serious gloom and doom -- think again. From director Davis Guggenheim comes the Sundance Film Festival hit, "An Inconvenient Truth," which offers a passionate and inspirational look at one man's commitment to expose the myths and misconceptions that surround global warming and inspire actions to prevent it. That man is former Vice President Al Gore, who, in the wake of defeat in the 2000 election, re-set the course of his life to focus on an all-out effort to help save the planet from irrevocable change. In this eye-opening and poignant portrait of Gore and his "traveling global warming show," Gore is funny, engaging, open and downright on fire about getting the surprisingly stirring truth about what he calls our "planetary emergency" out to ordinary citizens before it's too late.
In 2005, the worst storm season ever experienced in America, it seems we may be reaching a tipping point – and Gore pulls no punches in explaining the dire situation. Interspersed with the bracing facts and future predictions is the story of Gore's personal journey: from an idealistic college student who first saw a massive environmental crisis looming; to a young Senator facing a harrowing family tragedy that altered his perspective; to the man who almost became President but instead returned to the most impassioned cause of his life – convinced that there is still time to make a difference.
With wit, smarts and hope, "An Inconvenient Truth" ultimately brings home Gore's persuasive argument that we can no longer afford to view global warming as a political issue – rather, it is the biggest moral challenge facing our global civilization.
Rotten Tomatoes Score:
100 minutes
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I am sure you have heard by now about the 99$ Touchpads. Too bad B&N canceled my order saying they oversold. How can they oversell in an eCommerce site? But they are gladly spamming me with their upcoming Nook announcements. Anyway, today I saw on HP site that Touchpad will be "Coming soon". I think they are going to have another inventory soon. Hopefully I will be able to catch them in the act when the site updates. Here is a short script to check to see if "Coming soon" notice has been removed from the page or not. And if that happens, it will play one of my favorite songs. Loudly.
while [ true ]
NUM=`curl 'http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/can.do;HHOJSID=1wg1TJ3NYLL2fcpQRTRCLKBTQ6tvHT9qdyGX2LZV1bLzrpQRlvb2!-388369811?storeName=storefronts&catLevel=1&landing=rts_tablet&category=rts_tablet&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/lateralnav_touchpads_home' |grep -i 'coming_soon' |wc -l`
echo Coming $NUM
if [ "$NUM" -gt 1 ]
sleep 60
afplay /Users/mislam/Music/Amazon\ MP3/Black\ Eyed\ Peas/The\ E.N.D.\ \(The\ Energy\ Never\ Dies\)/05\ -\ I\ Gotta\ Feeling.mp3


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Hyundai I10 Nios Spike Carpet Car Floor Mat Beige By Elegant
Introducing SPIKE mats, the new generation of PVC noodle mats. These mats have a unique grass like finish that is easy to clean and very durable. The mats offer a very soothing reflex action that give relief and comfort to your feet. Designed using two layer PVC grass technology – Top layer is unique grass mat that traps dirt and helps keep your car clean, while the second layer is a specialised anti-skid backing, which ensures that the mat does not slip and helps in a stress-free drive.