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In the 1950's RCA was one of the largest entertainment conglomerates in the United States; business interests included manufacturing record players, radio and electronic equipment (military and domestic – including the US version of the Theremin) as well as recording music and manufacturing records. In the early 50's RCA initiated a unusual research project whose aim was to auto-generate pop 'hits' by analysing thousands of music recordings; the plan being that if they could work out what made a hit a hit, they could re-use the formula and generate their own hit pop music. The project's side benefit also explored the possibility of cutting the costs of recording sessions by automating arrangements and using electronically generated sounds rather than expensive (and unionised) orchestras; basically, creating music straight from score to disc without error or re-takes.
The RCA electrical engineers Harry Olson and Hebart Belar were appointed to develop an instrument capable of delivering this complex task, and in doing so inadvertently (as is so often the case in the history of electronic music) created one of the first programmable synthesisers – the precursors being the Givelet Coupleux Organ of 1930 and the Hanert Electric Orchestra in 1945.
The resulting RCA Mark I machine was a monstrous collection of modular components that took up a whole room at Columbia University's Computer Music Center (then known as the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center). The 'instrument' was basically an analogue computer; the only input to the machine was a typewriter-style keyboard where the musician wrote a score in a type of binary code.
The keyboard punched holes in a pianola type paper role to determine pitch, timbre, volume and envelope – for each note. Despite the apparent crudeness of this input device, the paper roll technique allowed for complex compositions; The paper role had four columns of holes for each parameter – giving a parameter range of sixteen for each aspect of the sound. The paper roll moved at 10cm/sec – making a maximum bpm of 240. Longer notes were composed of individual holes, but with a mechanism which made the note sustain through till the last hole. Attack times were variable from 1 ms to 2 sec, and decay times from 4 ms to 19 sec. On the Mark II, High and low pass filtering was added, along with noise, glissando, vibrato and resonance, giving a cumulative total of millions of possible settings.
The sound itself was generated by a series of vacuum tube oscillators (12 in the MkI and 24 in the MkII) giving four voice polyphony which could be divided down into different octaves . The the sound was manually routed to the various components – a technique that was adopted in the modular synthesisers of the 1960's and 70's. The eventual output of the machine was was monitored on speakers and recorded to a lacquer disc, where, by re-using and bouncing the disc recordings, a total of 216 sound tracks could be obtained. In 1959 a more practical tape recorder was substituted.
It seems that by the time the MkII Synthesiser was built RCA had given up on their initial analysis project. Mainstream musicians had baulked at un-musical interface and complexity of the machine; but these very same qualities that appealed to the new breed of serialist composers who took the RCA Synthesiser to their heart;
The number of functions associated with each component of the musical event…has been multiplied. In the simplest possible terms, each such 'atomic' event is located in a five-dimensional musical space determined by pitch-class, register, dynamic, duration, and timbre. These five components not only together define the single event, but, in the course of a work, the successive values of each component create an individually coherent structure, frequently in parallel with the corresponding structures created by each of the other components. Inability to perceive and remember precisely the values of any of these components results in a dislocation of the event in the work's musical space, an alteration of its relation to all other events in the work, and–thus–a falsification of the composition's total structure…
Why should the layman be other than bored and puzzled by what he is unable to understand, music or anything else?…Why refuse to recognize the possibility that contemporary music has reached a stage long since attained by other forms of activity? The time has passed when the normally well-educated [person] without special preparation could understand the most advanced work in, for example, mathematics, philosophy, and physics. Advanced music, to the extent that it reflects the knowledge and originality of the informed composer, scarcely can be expected to appear more intelligible than these arts and sciences to the person whose musical education usually has been even less extensive than his background in other fields.
I dare suggest that the composer would do himself and his music an immediate and eventual service by total, resolute, and voluntary withdrawal from this public world to one of private performance and electronic media, with its very real possibility of complete elimination of the public and social aspects of musical composition. By so doing, the separation between the domains would be defined beyond any possibility of confusion of categories, and the composer would be free to pursue a private life of professional achievement, as opposed to a public life of unprofessional compromise and exhibitionism.
But how, it may be asked, will this serve to secure the means of survival for the composer and his music? One answer is that, after all, such a private life is what the university provides the scholar and the scientist. It is only proper that the university which–significantly–has provided so many contemporary composers with their professional training and general education, should provide a home for the 'complex,' 'difficult,' and 'problematical' in music.
Milton Babbitt
Among the composers who used the machine frequently were the Princeton composer Milton Babbitt and Charles Wuorinen, the latter of whom composed the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Time Econium" on it in 1968.
The pioneering RCA Synthesiser became obsolete and fell out of use in the early 1960s with the arrival of cheaper and reliable solid state transistor technology and the less complex programming interfaces of instruments such as the Buchla and Moog range of synthesisers. Neither machine survives in working condition today. The MkI was dismantled during the 1960s (parts from it cannibalised to repair the MkII). The MkII is still at Columbia University's Computer Music Center, but has not been maintained and reportedly is in poor condition, it was vandalised sometime in the early 1970's and little used after that.
Images of the RCAI& II
RCA issued a box set of four 45 RPM extended-play disks with a descriptive brochure. This set featured a narration and demonstration of the basic features of the synthesizer, and concluded with renditions of several well known popular and classical pieces "played" on the synthesizer:
|Side 1: The Synthesis of Music-The Physical Characteristics of Musical Sounds (7:13, 3.3 mb)
|Side 2: The Synthesis of Music-Synthesis by Parts (Part 1) (5:55, 2.7 mb)
|Side 3: The Synthesis of Music-Synthesis by Parts (Part 2) (4:37, 2.1 mb)
|Side 4: Excerpts from Musical Selections (Part 1) (6:05, 2.8 mb)
|Side 5: Excerpts from Musical Selections (Part 2) (3:28, 1.6 mb)
|Side 6: Complete Selections-Bach Fugue No. 2, Brahms Hungarian Dance No. 1 (4:47, 2.2 mb)
|Side 7: Complete Selections-Oh Holy Night (Adam), Home Sweet Home (Bishop) (6:42, 3.1 mb)
|Side 8: Complete Selections-Stephen Foster Medley, Nola (Arndt), Blue Skies (Berlin) (7:49, 3.6 mb)


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I discovered last week that I can only tolerate a Soft Play Centre if it's for a birthday party. If it's just to take the kids to play, I really would rather not!
Here are a few tips and warnings that might help you to stay sane, if you're anything like me!
What to wear
- Make sure you can move comfortably in whatever you wear.
- If you're going to play with your kids, then prepare to get hot and sweaty!
- Make sure whatever you wear actually fits you! You don't want to be showing anyone any cracks that they shouldn't be seeing, if you get what I'm saying!
- Wear socks!
- Expect lots of hyper kids running crazy. Everywhere!
- Don't expect all parents to discipline their kids when they do something they shouldn't. (Apparently, some parents go there so that they can completely ignore their kids! Don't get me wrong, I'm all up for kids playing and parents having a little rest…..but you need to keep an eye on your kid and make sure they're not hurting anyone or upsetting other kids.)
- Don't expect your kids to always act completely rational when it comes to having to leave. It's completely normal for them to turn psycho on you or run and hide. (A treat to bribe them may help in this situation 😉)
Keeping Hydrated
- Lots and lots of drink! The kids run around like crazy and get so hot and sweaty that they ask for a drink every few minutes!
I hope this helps!
Do you like Soft Play Centres? Do you have any tips or advice to add??

subset: commoncrawl


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Inquiring readers: Paul Emanuelli, author of Avon Street (click here to view the book and order it), has contributed posts for this blog before about the City of Bath as a Character , Law & Order and Jane Austen's Aunt, Walking in Austen's Footsteps, and Food – To Die For: Food Preparation in the Georgian Era. He has graciously sent in an article about crime and an incident involving Jane Austen's aunt, Mrs James Leigh-Perrot. Paul writes about Bath in his own blog, unpublishedwriterblog. It is well worth a visit!
Workhouses are thought to date back as far as the fourteenth century and the aftermath of the "Black Death." The plague was merciless in Britain and outbreaks recurred at intervals throughout the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. As a result, the working population was decimated and the shortage of labour pushed up wages. To try and halt this, several Acts of Parliament were passed aimed at forcing all able-bodied men to work and to keep wages at their old levels, but their main effect was to create itinerant labourers who travelled around the country looking for areas where they could earn more.
The Poor Law Act of 1388 tried to stop this by introducing regulations restricting the movements of all labourers and itinerant beggars. No one could leave their own parish to seek work elsewhere without the written permission of the local Justice of the Peace, and the poor were prohibited from begging and could only receive help from the Parish in which they were born. Alms houses were built for the destitute but the earliest known reference to the term "Workhouse" dates back to 1631, when the mayor of Abingdon (near Oxford) records:-
"wee haue erected wthn our borough, a workehouse to sett poore people to worke"
A further Poor Law Act in 1597 governed the care of the destitute right up until the 19th Century. This law required the local justices of the peace to appoint, annually, "Overseers of the Poor" to find work for those in need, to apprentice children, and to provide,
"the necessary relief of the lame, impotent, old, blind and such other being poor and not able to work".
This Poor Law required poor rates to be charged as a local tax, replacing voluntary charitable funding. The rate of charge and arrangements for distribution were to be decided by the Overseers. Though most parishes had houses set aside for the old, infirm and destitute these were more like alms-houses than workhouses and most support was given in the form of subsistence payments known as "out relief."
The real growth in workhouses took place in the nineteenth century, following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Hundreds of thousands of troops returned home to find there was no work for them. Most had been agricultural workers before the war and the new technology in farming had reduced the need for labour. At the same time a series of poor harvests had pushed up food prices and the Importation Act of 1815 had prohibited the importation of cheaper cereals from abroad. For most people, bread was the main part of their diet and yet they could no longer even afford bread. So many had become destitute and were starving by the early 1830s that the system could not support them. The Government sought a cheaper alternative to "out relief."
Read the rest of Paul's fascinating post and the workhouse in Bath at this link:
Click Here
In keeping with December, Charles Dickens' anniversary, and a Christmas Carol, Paul sent this message:
In "A Christmas Carol" the Spirit of Christmas Present reveals two children hidden under his robes. Scrooge asks him if they are his children and the Spirit replies that they are the children of Man – "This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased.'
'Have they no refuge or resource.' asks Scrooge.
'Are there no prisons.' said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. 'Are there no workhouses.'"
The well known passage from Oliver Twist:
"Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger, and reckless with misery. He rose from the table; and advancing to the master, basin and spoon in hand, said: somewhat alarmed at his own temerity:
'Please, sir, I want some more.'
The master was a fat, healthy man; but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupified astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder; the boys with fear.
'What!' said the master at length, in a faint voice.
'Please, sir,' replied Oliver, 'I want some more.'
More about Avon Street: Order the book
- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: The History Press (March 28, 2012)
- Language: English


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Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's Baby Name Revealed — and It Doesn't Start with a K!
Kim Kardashian is breaking away from the pack.
Unlike almost all of her siblings - save for Rob - Kim and her beau Kanye West did not give their child a name starting with the letter K.
The craziest celebrity baby names
Instead, the couple chose what is sure to be a much talked about name, North West, for their new baby girl, TMZ reports. The website learned of the baby's name after obtaining her birth certificate from Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. A rep for Kardashian could not be reached for comment.
Obviously, the first name goes well with the rapper's last name, but is a far cry from the most recent rumored moniker - Kaidence. Kardashian, 31, welcomed her and West's first child Saturday several weeks ahead of schedule.
Do you like North as a baby name? Or do you think North is the new Apple? Weigh in below!
View original Kim Kardashian and Kanye West's Baby Name Revealed - and It Doesn't Start with a K! at TVGuide.com
Other Links From TVGuide.com


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It is often hard for people with arthritis to exercise as frequently as we want to — and it is even more difficult when we are confined indoors during these winter months, which, for many, are colder and with worse weather.
But, have no worries, have no fear — here is a list of 25 ideas that you can try to keep moving indoors, whether you have blustery cooler winter months or not!
- Chair yoga – "get fit where you sit" by doing yoga….in a chair. For some info, click here.
- Jumping rope – Buy a jump rope and have at it! Whether it's from a sporting goods store or the toy aisle at the dollar store, it's all the same — a great way to get the blood flowing. Here is one 10-minute workout. Remember, do workouts at your own pace!
- Dancing – create a playlist to your favorite song and dance around your house like no one is watching!
- Wii, X-Box Kinect, or Playstation Move – these video gaming systems allow you to move about without a wired controller, and your motions are a part of the game! There are fitness and dance options, too.
- Chores – yes, cooking and cleaning burn calories and will keep you moving. Doing chores can be exercise, and may contribute to better health.
- Stair-master – No, I don't mean a piece of exercise equipment — I mean, your stairs! Walk up and down the steps of your home to become a true stair master.
- Exercise TV – Verizon FiOS and Comcast (among others) offer "Exercise TV" On Demand under the Sports section. There are lots of fun options from dance workouts to pilates, yoga, tai chi, and more.
- Resistance bands – rubber resistance bands are a great way to tone and build muscle, and can be very low-impact.
- Suspension training – TRX is one example of "suspension training" where you use your own body weight to work out. Many physical therapists use this in their offices, and it can be hung over any door in your home. It comes with an instructional DVD.
- Jumping Jacks – Jump in place and do some jumping jacks in your living room!
- Sit-ups or crunches – Same thing, you can do these at home! If you have hardwood floors, invest in a yoga mat so that your back finds some comfort while doing your sit-ups or crunches.
- Touch your toes – Yes, just doing repetitive "bend down and touch your toes" motions can be good for you. Even if you can't ACTUALLY touch your toes, go as far as you can!
- Stretch – Simple stretching really does get the blood flowing. For the more advanced, yoga is a great option. No matter how severe your arthritis, you can stretch. Some people can more than others. It will increase flexibility, too.
- Neck rolls – Roll your head side to side and touch your tin to your chest. Be careful with tilting your head back, though — some doctors advise against this.
- Wall or Bed push-ups – Most of us with arthritis cannot do regular push-ups but what about doing a similar motion while standing against a wall or while on your bed to make it easier?
- Torso twists – Stand with your feet planted flat and firm on the ground, put your hands on your hips, and repeatedly twist your torso side to side, keeping your legs and feet still and only moving the trunk of your body.
- Light weights – Get 1, 3, or 5 pound weights or weighted balls, and do some bicep curls or arm extensions while watching television. You can even do the curling motion without weights to tone your biceps a bit.
- Jog in place – No explanation needed here. Jog in place, as fast or slow as you need to, with as many breaks as you need to.
- Seated leg extensions – Sit down in a chair and simply extend your leg out in front of you, one at at time to bend and straighten your knee. Do it with or without ankle weights.
- Ankle flexions and extensions – While seated, roll your ankle all the way around and also try some ankle flexions and extensions.
- Bounce a ball – You know those big rubber bouncy balls that you used to play in the pool with as a kid? Get one — or use a basketball — and practice bouncing it for hand-eye coordination. You'll be dribbling like a basketball pro in no time, and your hand-eye coordination will be improved!
- Sun salutations – This popular yoga move is a great way to get the blood flowing first thing in the morning. For a simple tutorial, click here. If you can't do all of it, just try to at least do the Mountain to Hands Up portion. It is a great stretch!
- Laying bicycle kick – Practice just laying on your back, legs up in the air, and kick them in a motion like you are riding a bicycle! For a video, click here.
- Try hand motion exercises – Keep your hand moving. Remember – use it or lose it. Check out this instructional video about range of motion exercises for osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
- Laugh! Laughter yoga is a fun new trend that's hitting the world of wellness. Laughing burns calories and releases endorphins that may help you to feel good!
I hope that these tips and ideas will help you keep active and fit during the winter months. Remember, too, that a brisk walk (while bundled up, of course!) is a great way to get some fresh air and to stay moving.
Remember to ALWAYS consult with your doctor and/or physical therapist before starting ANY new exercise program or activity! Also, be sure to ask your rheumatologists for other suggestions on ways to work out and get physical with arthritis! Always remember that levels of ability differ, and only do what you can. There's no shame in trying!
And it's never too late, you're never too old – Check out this 72 year old fitness instructor for seniors who is an amazing inspiration!
Lastly, you may want to check out this WebMD Rheumatoid Arthritis Exercises Slide Show for even further tips! Enjoy
Do you have any indoor exercise activities for people with arthritis? Please leave a comment and share!
Stay Well,
Ashley Boynes-Shuck
What's YOUR weapon against arthritis?
Follow us on Twitter @MidAtlanticAF!
"Like" us on Facebook here!


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This fall, do yourself a favor and take the time to focus on preventing falls. We've all taken a tumble or a spill here and there, and the truth is, while we sometimes come out unscathed, we can sometimes really hurt ourselves!
We often associate falls with children or the elderly, but the truth is, clumsiness and accidents can affect people of all ages — and if you live with arthritis or a similar condition, your fall could (pardon the pun) have even more impact on your body and your well-being.
Here are some facts and tips about preventing trips and falls, from the minor to the serious — no matter what your age or health situation may be.
- The risk of falling increases with age.
- The risk of having a fall is greater for women than for men.
- A decrease in bone density may contribute to falls and injuries. Many people with arthritis have osteoporosis or osteopenia, so this is something to watch out for.
- Many people with arthritis and chronic pain don't exercise enough, whether due to fear or physical inability. According to the University of Colorado, "Failure to exercise regularly results in poor muscle tone, decreased strength, and loss of bone mass and flexibility." In fact, they go on to say that this is one of the top 3 reasons for falls in the elderly or disabled, and go on to offer the following suggestions:"Failure to exercise regularly results in poor muscle tone, decreased strength, and loss of bone mass and flexibility. All contribute to falls and the severity of injury due to falls.
Prevention Tips
- Engage regularly (e.g., every other day for about 15 minutes daily) in exercise designed to increase muscle and bone strength, and to improve balance and flexibility. Many people enjoy walking and swimming.
- Undertake daily activities in a safe manner, such as reaching and bending properly, taking time to recover balance when rising from a chair or bed, learning the proper way to fall, and learning how to recover after a fall.
- Wear proper fitting, supportive shoes with low heels or rubber soles."
- Know the side effects of all medications that you are taking. Some may cause dizziness, lightheadedness, or even cause you to faint.
- The University of Colorado also states that "At least one-third of all falls in the elderly involve environmental hazards in the home. The most common hazard for falls is tripping over objects on the floor. Other factors include poor lighting, loose rugs, lack of grab bars or poorly located/mounted grab bars, and unsturdy furniture." Tips they offer are as follows:
"It is useful to conduct a walk-through of your home to identify possible problems that may lead to falling. A home visit by an interior designer or occupational therapist might also be useful in that they are trained to identify risk factors and recommend appropriate actions.
- Repair cracks and abrupt edges of sidewalks and driveways.
- Install handrails on stairs and steps.
- Remove high doorway thresholds Trim shrubbery along the pathway to the home.
- Keep walk areas clear of clutter, rocks and tools.
- Keep walk areas clear of snow and ice.
- Install adequate lighting by doorways and along walkways leading to doors.
All Living Spaces
- Use a change in color to denote changes in surface types or levels.
- Secure rugs with nonskid tape as well as carpet edges.
- Avoid throw rugs.
- Remove oversized furniture and objects.
- Have at least one phone extension in each level of the home and post. emergency numbers at each phone.
- Add electrical outlets.
- Reduce clutter.
- Check lighting for adequate illumination and glare control.
- Maintain nightlights or motion-sensitive lighting throughout home.
- Use contrast in paint, furniture and carpet colors.
- Install electronic emergency response system if needed.
- Install grab bars on walls around the tub and beside the toilet, strong enough to hold your weight.
- Add nonskid mats or appliques to bathtubs.
- Mount liquid soap dispenser on the bathtub-wall.
- Install a portable, hand-held shower head.
- Add a padded bath or shower seat.
- Install a raised toilet seat if needed.
- Use nonskid mats or carpet on floor surfaces that may get wet.
- Keep commonly used items within easy reach.
- Use a sturdy step stool when you need something from a high shelf.
- Make sure appliance cords are out of the way.
- Avoid using floor polish or wax in order to reduce slick surfaces.
Living, Dining and Family Rooms
- Keep electrical and telephone cords out of the way.
- Arrange furniture so that you can easily move around it (especially low coffee tables).
- Make sure chairs and couches are easy to get in and out of.
- Remove caster wheels from furniture.
- Use television remote control and cordless phone.
- Put in a bedside light with a switch that is easy to turn on and off (or a touch lamp).
- Have a nightlight.
- Locate telephone within reach of bed.
- Adjust height of bed to make it easy to get in and out of.
- Have a firm chair, with arms, to sit and dress.
Stairways, Hallways and Pathways
- Keep free of clutter
- Make sure carpet is secured and get rid of throw rugs.
- Install tightly fastened hand rails running the entire length and along both sides of stairs.
- Handrails should be 34 inches high and have a diameter of about 1.5 inches.
- Apply brightly colored tape to the face of the steps to make them more visible.
- Optimal stair dimensions are 7.2 inch riser heights with either an 11 or 12 inch tread width.
- Have adequate lighting in stairways, hallways and pathways, with light switches placed at each end."
- According to the Arthritis Foundation, "According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 5.8 million adults over age 65 reported that they fell at least once during the previous three months. About five percent of them had to seek medical attention or restrict their activities due to their falls. Among people 65 years and older, falls are the leading cause of injuries, hospital trauma admissions and injury deaths. As the U.S. population ages, the cost of falls is expected to reach $43.8 billion by 2020, according to the CDC."
- Arthriving.com suggests, "Learn how to properly get up after a fall. You can ask your doctor or physical therapist for a "cheat sheet" or some helpful tips tailored to your particular physical condition. Getting up improperly could worsen the injury."
- They also suggest to "Consider subscribing to a home security or personal care service in case you fall or have other emergencies while home alone."
Falling can be unnerving no matter who you are, especially if you suffer an injury as a result of that fall.
So every fall, let's make it a point to remind ourselves to "fall-proof" our homes, and to prepare for the winter which could lead to icy steps and other hazards.
Hopefully, you will not fall, but if you do take a spill, the following graphic may be able to serve as a guide and help you:
Good luck, and may you have a happy autumn season!
Stay Well,
Ashley Boynes-Shuck
What's YOUR weapon against arthritis?
Follow the Arthritis Foundation, Mid Atlantic Region on Twitter @MidAtlanticAF!
Follow us on Pinterest, here!
"Like" us on Facebook here!
Arthritis is Unacceptable.
Let's all unite against arthritis. Together, we will achieve the vision of a world free from arthritis pain.


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Wine Grape Cheat Sheets: Chardonnay
July 17, 2013 4 Comments
The Soundbyte: Chardonnay may very well be the world's most widely recognized grape variety. It was very likely the first wine you ever heard of, and what you will most likely be served if you order a glass of "white wine" at a cocktail party. The grape itself is quite neutral, but can be transformed via wine making magic into an oak-infused butter bomb, a crisp, citrus-and-mineral balancing act, or even a front porch-chugging box wine. There's a lot to be said about the chameleon known as Chardonnay!
Typical Attributes of a Chardonnay-Based Wine:
- Creamy, complex, high alcohol and lush flavors.
- The fruity aromas wary widely depending on the climate.
- The grape itself can be called "delicate" in aroma and flavors, but Chardonnay is very susceptible to the influence of wine making, and can be laden with aromas and flavors of oak, butter, cream, yeast, and vanilla, among others, through wine-making processes. Whether or not these are "good for the wine" is a matter of personal opinion and much debate.
- Attributes of a European "Chablis Style" Chardonnay: Crisp, Medium-bodied, terroir-driven, fruity, and mineral
- Attributes of a New World, "California Style" Chardonnay: Full-bodied, highly alcoholic, likely oak-aged, and "buttery"
- Chardonnay is also used in Sparkling wines, including Champagne and Franciacorta.
Typical Aromas of a Chardonnay-Based Wine:
- Fruity: Green Apple, Red Apple, Baked Apple, Pear, Peach, Apricot, Pineapple and Other Tropical Fruits, Citrus: Lemon, Lime, Orange
- Caramel: Honey, Butterscotch, Caramel, Brown Sugar
- Nutty: Hazelnut, Toasted Hazelnut, Walnut
- Yeast-Derived: Toast, Baked Bread, Oatmeal, Popcorn
- Butter (from malo-lactic fermentation…of course!)
- Mineral: Flint, Wet Stone, Wet Sand
- Oak-Derived: Vanilla, Coconut, Sweet Wood, Oak, Smoke, Toast, Tar
- The Burgundy Region of France, especially the Côte de Beaune and Chablis
- The Champagne Region of France
- Other regions of France, such as Alsace (where it is only allowed to be used in sparkling wines) and the Languedoc-Roussillon
- California, where it is grown in many diverse regions and produces a wide range of styles
- Oregon, where it shines in both still wines and sparklers.
- Australia, where it is a leading white wine grape
- New Zealand, where it is the #2 white wine grape after Sauvignon Blanc
- The cooler regions of Chile
- Franciacorta and other regions in Italy
- Canada, including Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia
- And…almost anywhere wine is grown!
Food Affinities – Base Ingredients:
- Seafood of all kinds
- Crab Cakes, Lobster, Shrimp dripping with butter and garlic…
- Chicken, Turkey, Game Hen, Duck
- Roast Chicken…Roast Chicken…Roast Chicken
- Veal, Pork…Beef. (About that beef…be careful with the preparation. As certainly as the heavier bodied white wines, including Chardonnay, can pair with beef, that does not mean that it is a good substitute for red wine in every case. Keep your dishes plain and simple, seasoned with herbs, mushrooms, or grilled onions. Unless you want to hurt someone, avoid Texas Chainsaw Barbeque Sauce and other condiments that are over-the-top rich and heavy in flavor, texture, sweetness, or spiciness. Trust me on this one.)
- Corn, Pumpkin, Squash, Polenta
- Tarragon, Basil, Thyme, Oregano and other fresh herbs
- Soft cheeses such as Brie or Camembert (especially good with unoaked versions)
- Semi-firm cheeses such as Havarti, Monterey Jack, Meunster and Gouda. Smoked versions of Gouda are especially good.
- Firm cheese such as Swiss, Emmentaler, Gruyère, Manchego, and Jarlsberg
- Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and Allspice (but resist the temptation to go sweet…think savory…savory…savory…)
- Hazelnuts, Cashews, Walnuts, Pecans, Coconut (savory…savory…savory…)
- Butter, Brown Butter, Cream, Sour Cream, Olive Oil
- Bacon, Ham, and other cured pork products
- Mushrooms, Onions, Garlic
- Dijon Mustard (think about it…where is the town of Dijon? hmmmm….)
Note: When it comes to food pairings, by all means—drink what you like!
The Bubbly Professor is…"Miss Jane" Nickles of Austin, Texas firstname.lastname@example.com


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Story highlights
The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa is suing poker champion Phillip Ivey Jr.
Ivey cheated by exploiting defects on the back of the cards, the casino claims
Ivey won $9.6 million at Baccarat in four months in 2012, the lawsuit states
An Atlantic City casino is suing poker champion Phillip Ivey Jr., claiming he cheated his way to more than $9.6 million in winnings.
The Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa alleges in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that Ivey exploited a defect in the line of cards used by the casino to increase his chances of winning in multiple sessions of the card game Baccarat.
The Borgata claims that Ivey used a technique called "edge sorting" to identify cards by memorizing the unique markings on the back of the card.
Gemaco Inc., the manufacturer of the cards used at the casino, was also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
"The pattern used by Borgata on the back of the cards purchased from Gemaco is required to be perfectly symmetrical so that the back of one card is indistinguishable from the backs of all other cards," according to court papers.
During play, Ivey and card player Cheng Yin Sun fixated on pattern flaws on the backs of the cards. The two asked to "turn" cards so that they could be distinguished from all others cards in the deck, according to court papers.
Gemaco did not immediately respond to CNN's request for comment.
"We believe the lawsuit speaks for itself, and in accordance with company policy, we will not be commenting any further on pending litigation," Liza Costandino, a spokeswoman for the Borgata, told CNN.
Ivey could not be reached for comment.
According to the court documents, Ivey set up four sessions of Baccarat in 2012. For each session, he requested a private area in the pit, an automatic shuffler for the cards and a dealer who spoke Mandarin Chinese.
Ivey was accompanied by Sun, who communicated with the card dealer in Mandarin to instruct the dealer on how to turn the cards as they were dealt, the lawsuit alleges. Once Ivey identified the good and bad cards based on their markings, he was able to tilt the odds of the game in his favor in 2012, winning $2.4 million in April, $1.6 million in May, $4.8 million in July and $825,000 in October of that year.
Attempts to reach Sun were unsuccessful Sunday.
"Ivey's true motive, intention, and purpose in negotiating these playing arrangements was to create a situation in which he could surreptitiously manipulate what he knew to be a defect in the playing cards in order to gain an unfair advantage over Borgata," according to court papers.
This alleged incident of cheating is not the first time Ivey had been accused of using "edge sorting" techniques, according to the lawsuit.
In August 2012, Ivey was accused of cheating at Crockfords casino in London in a game of Punto Banco, which is similar to Baccarat, according to the suit. The Borgata suit claims they confronted Ivey about the Crockfords allegations on his October visit, and the poker player "did not want to talk about it."
According to his website, Ivey began his career as professional gambler at 17 using a fake ID to enter casinos in Atlantic City. Since then he has won nine bracelets at the World Series of Poker. Ivey represents other elite high-stakes poker players on his own "Team Ivey."


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On the day he was to be enshrined with the inaugural class of the International Video Game Hall of Fame, Billy Mitchell was once again certified as the world record holder in Donkey Kong - and also Donkey Kong Jr.
The certifications, timed to coincide with the IVGHOF's "Big Bang" celebration this weekend in Ottumwa, Iowa, returns Mitchell to the top spot in Donkey Kong with 1,062,800, and gives him the Donkey Kong Jr. crown with 1,270,900. Twin Galaxies, the global sanctioning authority for video game high scores, certified Mitchell achieved the marks at Boomers-Grand Prix Arcade in Dania, Fla.
Mitchell's Donkey Kong record unseats Hank Chien, whose 1,061,700 took the top spot in early March. The Donkey Kong, Jr. record tops Mark Kiehl's 1,253,000, which in April topped Mitchell's rival and fellow IVGHOF inductee Steve Wiebe in a back-and-forth.
In a statement released by Twin Galaxies, Mitchell said that he originally intended to beat the Donkey Kong score, then decided to go after the Donkey Kong Jr. mark on the spur of the moment. "I remember a lot of celebration; hugs, kisses and a lot of hooting and hollering," Mitchell said. "Once that died down, stood there looking at Donkey Kong Jr. and thought 'there's one more thing I have to take care of'."
His time on Donkey Kong was two hours, 42 minutes; on Donkey Kong, Jr. it was three hours, 58 minutes.
Mitchell evidently quit his Donkey Kong game immediately after beating Chien's mark. Asked why, Mitchell said: "Some say I'm being cocky. Some say I'm being lazy. I say, I'm being Billy Mitchell."


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…about Benghazi, Fast & Furious and North Korea having a Long Range Ballistic Missile yet? How about the impending doom of fiscal insolvency due to Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare spending?
None of this rings a bell?
As long as you have forgotten then the current Administration doesn't have to explain themselves to you.
Move on (.org)… nothing to see here.
Except banning guns… and getting rid of any modicum of fiscal responsibility like the debt limit, or spending cuts… and hate speech is on deck since we seem to be in the mood to ban stuff.
Seriously, stop paying attention to that which is reality based and surrounded by unpleasant facts. Stay focused on hypotheticals and only those issues whose proposed solutions would continue to erode your individual rights. Banning Guns, Banning Hate Speech, and increased levels of Domestic Surveillance… that should take care of the 1st, 2nd and 4th Amendments. We may want to park some soldiers in your house for a few days without your permission sometime in the near future just to fill in the gap. We're working on that one… we'll get back to you.
So remained focused on gun violence… but not in Chicago. And ignore the crime wave associated with mental illness and gangs… because it is actually the wheel… sorry, the gun's fault.
It's imperative we stay on the path of fiscal insolvency driven by a unanswerable, nebulous, government… with the best of intentions.
Keep your heads in the game here folks… spend, spend, spend… punish those who create jobs… and keep those wars going. Have you tried the "Rocky Mountain High"? You should… need a match?
This has been a public service announcement from George Soros and the DNC, those people who care more about you than you do… and are here to help.
Links: The Fourth Horsemen, Faster and Furiouser, If Not Now when?, Yes Virginia, the North Koreans Can Kill Santa Clause.


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How Obamacare Lost Its Soul
The president has replaced the moral case for reform with a transactional one. That's a mistake.
For supporters of the Affordable Care Act, President Obama's new push to "sell" the law is a welcome sign that Healthcare.gov is on the mend, but it also risks devolving into transactionalism—a narrative of "Democrats delivering benefits on one side, and Republicans trying to deny them on the other," as Politico puts it. To make the case, Obama needs to strike the sustained, emotional moral clarity—consistent claims that go beyond economic benefits—that helped bring him to the Washington in the first place.
The president took a valuable first step at the Center for American Progress on Wednesday, delivering a cogent, thoughtful address on declining economic mobility in America. The speech showed flashes of Campaign Trail Obama's moral fire. He appealed to our shared obligations, citing last week's apostolic exhortation from Pope Francis ("How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure, but it is news when the stock market loses two points?") and, on healthcare, Martin Luther King ("Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane"). What remains to be seen is whether Obama will keep it up.
I worked for the president's campaign in 2008, running a small field office in the heart of Ohio's Rust Belt. One of my favorite members of our team was a high-school senior named Anoop Bal who, despite being on the varsity basketball team and student council and having to apply for college, somehow found six hours each afternoon and evening to spend organizing volunteers in his hometown of Canfield, a bucolic (if somewhat conservative) Youngstown suburb.
One the campaign's most inspiring moments for me was paradoxically also one of its most distressing. One Sunday evening, Anoop—an observant Sikh who wears a turban—was out canvassing, only to find himself detained by police officers called by a worried neighbor. A fellow resident of the Ohio town where Anoop was born and raised had found his appearance alarming. I'd later learn that this happened multiple times.
What was inspiring was that no matter what got in Anoop's way, he persisted in devoting every minute he had to the promise he saw in then-Sen. Obama's campaign. And he didn't do so out of self-interest—it was the result of emotional resonance with a cause. "I definitely identified with him on the moral and idealistic side of things," he told me over the phone on Tuesday. "[Obama's message] wasn't so much of a 'here's this specific benefit to you'—it was on more of a moral level."
Somewhere along the way, the political operation that recruited Anoop—and whose candidate transfixed the nation with the story of a nine-year-old girl who started eating mustard-and-relish sandwiches because her mom had cancer but no health insurance—turned to more transactional rhetoric. By mid-2009, Vice President Biden was cutting videos telling voters how "you'll be surprised at how much you'll get out of this health-insurance reform we're proposing"; then-budget chief Peter Orszag was explaining that the real reason to pursue healthcare reform was because it would help reduce the deficit. As Marshall Ganz, who helped pioneer Obama's 2008 field-organizing model, put it in 2010, "Obama entered office wrapped in a mantle of moral leadership," but, after taking office, "abandoned the bully pulpit of moral argument."
In the intervening years, Obama has claimed that bully pulpit only occasionally—in Strongsville, Ohio, in the days leading up to the ACA's passage, for example, where he connected healthcare to "what's right and what's wrong" by telling the story of Natoma Canfield, a woman stricken with cancer who could no longer afford her insurance premiums; at George Washington University, in April 2011, when he challenged Republicans on the morality of their vision for "changing the basic social compact in America." These sparks of righteous fire have been encouraging, but they've also been disjointed—too often, the president's light stays hidden under a bushel for long stretches, or only appears elegiacally, after national tragedies.
Now the White House is, according to Politico, "kicking off a three-week drive to refocus the public on the law's benefits," including decreased costs for preventative care and prescription medicines, protections for preexisting conditions, increased access to affordable plans.
These are real deliverables, and Obama is right to reaffirm and clarify them for voters, especially after so many of the law's virtues have been obscured, both by Republican demagoguery and the implementation fiascos. As Ganz put it in an email: "One of the big 'values' in health care provision is reliability, security, being there—which is exactly what this whole debacle has undermined. [In this case] 'making it work' actually has moral content."
But the program that Obama and his team are desperately trying to make work is also based on moral claims about human dignity and distributive justice—many of which, until recently, were pretty bipartisan. If Obama recognizes that "the basic social compact in America" is now under attack, why can't the basic social compact in America get its own three-week messaging calendar at some point? The vast inequalities and decreasing mobility in our society got their day in court Wednesday. Can he focus on how our common humanity and the advantages many Americans receive through the dumb luck of birth should inform their obligations to one another on a Thursday and a Friday?
The main argument against launching such an effort is that it would be politically hazardous—that any overt set of moral claims defending a program like the ACA would be tantamount to confirming one conservative thinker's charge that it's just "a massive, massive income redistribution."
For supporters of progressive taxation, the social safety net, and the responsibility to heal the sick, that rationale for shying away from moral claims is misguided to the point of self-sabotage. Adding a set of bold moral arguments for healthcare reform to a recitation of the program's transactional benefits is a winning strategy for three main reasons.
First, the risk is not that high. What does the worst-case scenario look like? Republicans assail his rhetoric, refuse to work with him on any part of his legislative agenda, and call him a socialist? Right.
Second, it's better than being ignored. Voters were already tuning Obama out before the Healthcare.gov woes. Now, with tanking approval ratings, he's in danger of becoming a lame duck. In this climate, a series of cautious, policy-heavy speeches about the ACA's benefits is unlikely to break through. Neuroscience research shows that emotions are key to engaging voters, and Pope Francis is a testament to how that a sustained moral critique can turn heads. Obama is more likely to enjoy the benefits of the bully pulpit if he continues to treat it a bit like an actual pulpit—a place more for making moral claims than listing goodies.
Third, Obama is the standard-bearer of a party in the midst of a fight over the validity of its philosophical underpinning. (The administration's Healthcare.gov incompetence has not helped.) With 2014 looming and many of his supporters in retreat (or at least feeling that way), Obama needs to fight the progressive corner. If the country has really come to a point at which a Democratic president won't defend the basic ideas behind "income redistribution"—something we've been doing for over 150 years now—Democrats are soon going to have much bigger problems than a malfunctioning website. Obama's opponents certainly aren't shying away from making their own moral claims.
In her new book Political Emotions, political philosopher Martha Nussbaum cautions that "ceding the terrain of emotion-shaping to antiliberal forces gives them a huge advantage in the people's hearts and risks making people think of liberal values as tepid and boring"; she rejects as bound for failure a liberal politics that is "morally 'neutral'" or lacks "a certain definite moral content." None of our greatest leaders—Nussbaum focuses on Abraham Lincoln and King from the American tradition—made these mistakes.
On Wednesday, discussing America's "economic and civic foundation," Obama promised that "over the course of the next year, and for the rest of my presidency, that's where you should expect my administration to focus all our efforts." Let's hope that's true, and that president relies on more than just economic arguments in proving it so.


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See, in the Spring issue of TROUT Magazine, there was a little article about blogs written by an author I choose not to mention by name (for his own safety). Within the article, there is an inset; "Ten Fly-Fishing Blogs You Should Check Out."
|Crappy picture hijacked from Kyle Perkins' Facebook page
The list contains the all the usual suspects, like top notch and well-respected blogs like Subterranean Trout, Choldy Mum, and The Fiberglass Book Report, etc, etc... but then smack in the middle happened to be this crappy blog. Believe me, I could not make up a such a work of fiction, even if I wanted to.
Now while I'm used to Troutrageous! being honored by the prestigious academic community - Ivy League institutions such as the Sports Medicine Schools and Zen Colleges come immediately to mind, I can only believe the author of the article in TROUT Magazine was either jet lagged, hungover, or enjoying one of those funny little cigarettes when compiling this list. Troutrageous! in a Ten Fly Fishing Blogs You Should Check Out....c'mon now! An April Fool's joke perhaps? Delusional journalism like this is nothing but reckless and irresponsible, and unfair to YOU the readers.
Geeze, after this list, can we really absorb anything TU puts into print without at least a hint of skepticism? The next thing you know, they're going to try to convince you that the Pebble Mine thing is a necessary evil for the future of our country...I mean who would actually believe that.....?


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The winner of this top is…#296 Kris Bair. Congrats, Kris! Contact email@example.com to claim your top!
The closet clean-out continues!
What: Leifsdottir Feather Print Shirt
Color: Pink, tan, green, brown
Size: Large
Fit: Very blousy in the middle, fitted at hem (not HIM!)
Worn: Once
Cute Factor: 9.0
I love this top. It's flowy and feminine and romantic. And poufy.
The sleeves are 3/4 length. And they pouf.
The scoop neck has lovely detailing.
I love this brand.
So what's the glitch?
The glitch is that while you can't really tell in this photo because of my artful arrangement (ha), the middle part of the top is nice and blousy and relaxed…but the hem itself gathers in a bit. With jeans (which is what I always wear), it tended to get a little snug in all the wrong places. And that was about five pounds ago; I'm afraid it'd be even more noticeable now.
I want one of you to have it! It really is a pretty top with the right set of hips.
If you're interested in this top, just say so in the Comments section of this post. I'll select a winner randomly and announce it later today, just before a new item is announced.


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McKeen Metro Glebe Paper Hearts Campaign
Events organized by the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation help raise dollars to ensure the Heart Institute remains a special place of healing, caring and learning. By attending and supporting the Foundation events, you become an integral part of the Heart Institute's journey.
Heart Institute Signature Fundraising Events
Thank you to our volunteer committees, sponsors, coaches and participants, these events would not be possible with you!
Community Events
Galas, gourmet get-togethers, golf tournaments, family running weekends, informative presentations, and heart-wise education — our busy calendar has something for everyone. Learn, socialize, change your life, and support heart health too: it's all here in the year ahead.
Plan An Event
Every year, many individuals and groups from our community raise money for the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Foundation by hosting their own Community Events. These events include everything from pier to pier fundraising to extravagant galas.
Are you ready to organize your own fundraising event?
McKeen Metro Glebe Paper Hearts Campaign
- This event has passed.


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But Honor is approaching her 80th birthday and, like so many journalists, has lived on the "spend as you go" financial plan. Her economic survival is dependent on a friendly book publisher who produced a life-saving volume collecting some of her best work — volume two is about to appear and a third is in proof form. Honor needs them to sell to continue her current style of life — and that means granting an interview to promote the second volume of her collection:
She had two hours to conceal the secrets of her life. Evidence of vanity, foolishness and worse must be expunged. Domestic disorder was not a concern; the maid had remedied that this morning. And though Honor Tait might have been a slattern by inclination, she was never a collector, of people or of things. Divorce, bereavement, a house fire, a stringently unsentimental nature and the protocols of regular travel had ensured that, for a woman of her years, the flotsam was minimal. She had always travelled light. In love, as in life, it was hand baggage only. So what was left here in the London apartment? Which piece of junk, what accidental survivor of time's winnowing, would betray her?
The reporter who is about to arrive is one Tamara Sim, a "regular casual" at The Monitor, a national newspaper with pretentions, who is looking for a more secure footing, i.e. a full-time post. She's in her twenties and her knowledge of Honor is limited — the piece on "the wife of a Chinese dictator from the 1950s" was a set text in her Media Studies course and that is about all she has read. She has been commissioned to do a 4,000-word piece for S*nday, the paper's upscale weekend magazine known more for the credentials of its contributors (Nobel and Booker prize winners) than its actual content. Tamara hardly fits the mold:
Tamara worked four days a week on The Monitor as a freelance sub editor and writer for Psst!, the paper's Saturday celebrity gossip and TV listings magazine — a brash oik to S*nday's snooty metaphysician. The world described in the primary-coloured pages of Psst!, peopled by sex-addicted soap stars and feuding boy bands, anorexic footballers' molls and drug-taking TV hosts, was as remote from the intellectual aristrocrats of S*nday as was Pluto, in both its planetary and Disney incarnations. Lyra Moore's [she is S*nday's editor] magazine, irreproachably elegant and cerebral, was regarded as the British riposte to the New Yorker, with the added appeal of pictures.
I've confessed previously a fondness for newspaper novels, so I approached The Spoiler with a positive frame of mind. Added to that was the appeal of what author McAfee personally brings to the project. On the professional side, she has worked in newspapers for more than three decades, including a stint as Arts and Literary Editor of the Financial Times and she founded the Guardian Review. So she has met and worked with more than one version of Tamara Sim in her career,
Perhaps more important to the success of The Spoiler, however, is McAfee's private background — she is married to British author Ian McEwan. In the literary world, McEwan is as close as you can get to being a "celebrity" and he has experienced both the ups and downs of press coverage that come with that designation in the world of journalism. McAfee knows as much about what it is like to be Honor Tait as she does Tamara Sim.
Tamara shows up for the reluctantly-granted interview totally unprepared — she hasn't actually read the new book and her "research" has been limited to looking at the Monitor's clipping file on Honor, mainly the Hollywood aspect, with particular attention to the sexy pictures. There is more Psst! than S*nday to her planned story — she wants sex, celebrities and scandal, not ancient journalistic history like discovering concentration camps. Honor, who wants no part of the interview at all, is only willing to revisit the circumstances of the serious journalistic pieces that are being recycled in the book — and would far prefer that the reporter read those instead of talking to her. In no time at all, using her inherent reporter's skills, she reduces Tamara to tears by exposing her shoddy preparation for the interview.
That establishes the two ongoing story themes of the novel and McAfee is faithful to them throughout the book. Tait's social life at the moment is pretty much restricted to the Monday Club, a monthly meeting of younger, male sycophants at her Maida Vale residence, which Tamara (who crashes a gathering of the Monday Club) zooms in on as the possible "sexy" angle for her story — what scandal lies behind these poseurs who regularly visit an elderly woman? On the other side of the coin, Tamara needs to keep performing for Psst! — she does the A lists (Ten Best/Ten Worst — haircuts, diets, cellulite thighs, that sort of thing) and other lists (What's In/What's Out, Going Up/Going Down, Good Week/Bad Week). If you read newspapers at all, you know about those lists which seem to show up on every other page. Somebody has to compile them — and I can assure you the "journalists" who do all aspire to be doing something else.
I have done no more so far in this review than outline how McAfee sets her story. After this, she sets both Honor and Tamara's stories in motion and performs admirably in keeping the novelistic version of the story together.
It is time for full disclosure, before offering an assessment. I spent 27 years in the newspaper business, the last half as a senior editor and publisher — it is a coincidence of timing that I left the business in 1997, the present day of this novel. I employed and mentored versions of ambitious Tamara; I dealt with scores of versions of Honor (or their agents) complaining on the other end of the phone or, even worse, in person. I also supervised Canada's largest international news agency for a number of years, so I even have experience with the foreign correspondent part of Honor's background (rest assured, they are a very special breed — and McAfee portrays it well). It is impossible for me to just be a "reader" of this novel — so bear that in mind when considering the following assessment.
What's good about The Spoiler? What works best for me is the way that McAfee uses the superstructure of her story to explore in significant satirical detail the way that contemporary print media work. Just as an example, she has an extended riff on what departments are located where in the Mirror building — Psst! and TV listings are in the basement, S*nday is on the top floor, along with the editor's office (he's rarely there as he enjoys visiting aristocratic friends in the country). Aspiration in the Mirror is literal — moving up a floor, or more, is promotion. If you want to learn about how newspapers work, this novel is an excellent source. Equally strong is McAfee's understanding and portrayal of the tension between reporter and celebrity subject — in the final analysis, she doesn't come down on either side, since she knows both equally well.
What's not good? The author has a tendency to go overboard on some detail. I love newspapers, but the repetition started to grate even with me. McAfee also employs another device that just doesn't work. Honor is composing a "coda" to introduce volume three of her collected works, a look back at the Pulitzer-prize winning story about Buchenwald. She retreats to working on it whenever she is upset in the present (which means most of the novel) and there are more than 20 versions of the opening paragraphs in the novel. Tamara does the same thing with her magazine piece. In both cases, it is interesting the first four or five times — after that, it becomes annoying.
Despite those quibbles, I heartily recommend this novel for anyone who is even mildly interested in how the news gets presented to you in print form — be it on dead trees or online. McAfee knows the business and has captured it exceptionally well, acknowledging that there is some exaggeration for effect. What makes The Spoiler special, however, is her understanding of the "other" side, the persecuted subject. As the novel moves to a close, the conflict between these two points of view becomes ever more important — and McAfee uses her knowledge of both to great advantage.
(A special thanks to Kimbofo at Reading Matters who drew my attention to this book. Kim is a journalist as well and we exchange touts on "newspaper" novels. Click on her blog title for a link to her review of The Spoiler.)


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NEW YORK (AP) — The mother grabbed her two boys and fled their home as it filled with water, hoping to outrun Superstorm Sandy.
But Glenda Moore and her SUV were no match for the epic storm. Moore's Ford Explorer stalled in the rising tide, and the rushing waters snatched 2-year-old Brandon and 4-year-old Connor from her arms as they tried to escape.
The youngsters' bodies were recovered from a marsh Thursday — the latest, most gut-wrenching blow in New York's Staten Island, an isolated city borough hard-hit by the storm and yet, residents say, largely forgotten by federal officials assessing damage of the monster storm that has killed more than 90 people in 10 states.
"Terrible, absolutely terrible," Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said as he announced the boys' bodies had been found on the third day of a search that included police divers and sniffer dogs. "It just compounds all the tragic aspects of this horrific event."
The heartbreaking discovery came as residents and public officials complained that help has been frustratingly slow to arrive on stricken Staten Island, where 19 have been killed — nearly half the death toll of all of New York City.
Garbage is piling up, a stench hangs in the air and mud-caked mattresses and couches line the streets. Residents are sifting through the remains of their homes, searching for anything that can be salvaged.
"We have hundreds of people in shelters," said James Molinaro, the borough's president. "Many of them, when the shelters close, have nowhere to go because their homes are destroyed. These are not homeless people. They're homeless now."
Molinaro complained the American Red Cross "is nowhere to be found" — and some residents questioned what they called the lack of a response by government disaster relief agencies.
A relief fund is being created just for storm survivors on Staten Island, Molinaro and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said Friday. And Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency Deputy Administrator Richard Serino planned to tour the island.
Four days after Sandy lashed the East Coast with high winds and a huge storm surge, frustration mounted across New York City and well beyond as millions of people remained without power and motorists lined up for hours at gas stations in New Jersey and New York.
In the city's Queens borough, a man was accused of pulling a gun Thursday on a motorist who complained when he cut in line at a gas station; no one was injured. And as the Friday morning commute began, long lines at gas stations in suburban Westchester County snaked along expressway breakdown lanes and exit ramps.
There were hopeful signs, though, that life would soon begin to return to something approaching normal.
Consolidated Edison, the power company serving New York, said electricity should be restored by Saturday to customers in Manhattan and to homes and offices served by underground power lines in Brooklyn. More subway and rail lines were expected to open Friday, including Amtrak' New York to Boston route on the Northeast Corridor.
But the prospect of better times ahead did little to mollify residents who spent another day and night in the dark.
"It's too much. You're in your house. You're freezing," said Geraldine Giordano, 82, a lifelong resident of the West Village. Near her home, city employees had set up a sink where residents could get fresh water, if they needed it. There were few takers. "Nobody wants to drink that water," Giordano said.
"Everybody's tired of it already," added Rosemarie Zurlo, a makeup artist who once worked on Woody Allen movies. She said she planned to temporarily abandon her powerless, unheated apartment in the West Village to stay with her sister in Brooklyn. "I'm leaving because I'm freezing. My apartment is ice cold."
There was increasing concern about the outage's impact on elderly residents. Community groups have been going door-to-door on the upper floors of darkened Manhattan apartment buildings, and city workers and volunteer in hard-hit Newark, N.J., delivered meals to seniors and others stuck in their buildings.
"It's been mostly older folks who aren't able to get out," said Monique George of Manhattan-based Community Voices Heard. "In some cases, they hadn't talked to folks in a few days. They haven't even seen anybody because the neighbors evacuated. They're actually happy that folks are checking, happy to see another person. To not see someone for a few days, in this city, it's kind of weird."
Along the devastated Jersey Shore and New York's beachfront communities, a lack of electricity was the least of anyone's worries.
Residents were allowed back in their neighborhoods Thursday for the first time since Sandy made landfall Monday night. Some were relieved to find only minor damage, but many others were wiped out. "A lot of tears are being shed today," said Dennis Cucci, whose home near the ocean in Point Pleasant Beach sustained heavy damage. "It's absolutely mind-boggling."
After touring a flood-ravaged area of northeastern New Jersey, Gov. Chris Christie said it was time to act, not mourn.
"We're in the 'triage and attack phase' of the storm, so we can restore power, reopen schools, get public transportation back online and allow people to return to their homes if they've been displaced," he said.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood planned to visit Christie's state Friday.
Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday announced the federal government will be providing rail cars to help NJ Transit get train service up and running. The governor said 25 percent of the system's rail cars were in yards that flooded.
LaHood's schedule has not yet been released. In Staten Island, police recounted Glenda Moore's fruitless struggle to save her children.
Kelly said the 39-year-old mother "was totally, completely distraught" after she lost her grip on her sons shortly after 6 p.m. Monday. In a panic, she climbed fences and went door-to-door looking in vain for help in a neighborhood that was presumably largely abandoned in the face of the storm.
She eventually gave up, spending the night trying to shield herself from the storm on the front porch of an empty home.
Associated Press writers Cara Anna and Karen Matthews in New York, David Porter in Moonachie, N.J., and Wayne Parry in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., contributed to this story.


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YARN: Any cotton or cotton blend yarn, I often use Anchor Magicline
NEEDLES: Whichever required to obtain desired gauge, I use 3.5mm
GAUGE: A nice tight gauge gives a good squidginess, and a cloth that won't stretch out too much when wet. I get a gauge of 22sts & 44 rows : 10cm/4 inches
NOTIONS: Yarn needle, soapy sudsy water!
Cast on 40 stitches. (or any multiple of 8)
Row 1: *Knit 4, purl 4*, repeat between *s to end of row.
Row 2: Repeat row 1.
Row 3: *Purl 4, knit 4*, repeat between *s to end of row.
Row 4: Repeat row 3.
Repeat rows 1 - 4 until cloth is the desired size.
Bind off all stitches reasonably loosely to allow for stretch.
Sew in ends.
Immerse in soapy sudsy water and enjoy your new squidgy cloth!!


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Outlook users who need to cook up a video conference will have an easier time with new updates Microsoft announced for the app on iOS and Android.
The updates, which are rolling out today, let users tap a Skype call toggle inside the app's event creation screen, which will automatically generate a link to a video conference for invitees. When the time comes, people who are supposed to participate just need to tap on the Skype link, and the video chat app will open up on their devices.
For those people who don't have a Skype app installed, Microsoft's recently-released Skype for Web will let them join in on the call, even if they don't have Skype accounts.
The improvement isn't all that surprising, given what Google has done with its own calendar invites. When creating an event in Google Calendar, there's a "create video call" button that allows users to spawn a meeting link through Google Hangouts that works in much the same way as the Skype link.
The updates come on the heels of Microsoft announcing yesterday that it will be rolling out free video conferencing to all users of the Skype mobile apps.
Outlook's calendar view also received a number of improvements, as the product team works to integrate the features of Sunrise Calendar into the app before closing down that dedicated application. Users can now see their full schedule at a glance by scrolling up or down on the two-week view that's in the calendar screen. There's also a new three-day view that lets users see a quick side-by-side look at any three days on the calendar.
Android users got a little extra love with this update, which gives them a quick navigation bar at the bottom of the app that lets them quickly navigate between the different mail, contacts, calendar and files tabs inside the app.


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6:15 PM LG-Nortel doesn't want two boxes in your home
5:50 PM Just some Friday speculation...
AT&T saw a 41% increase in iPhone connections at wireless hotspots last quarter
4:45 PM The site is cashing in on a wedding dance video posted by a user
1:50 PM Plus updates to our LTE and 40- & 100-Gbit/s reports
Nagravision joins the fray while Evolution officially seeks an FCC pass for a hi-def digital terminal adapter
The established managed network services players are years ahead of Huawei with their outsourcing capabilities, claims top NSN executive
Vendor notches big cable modem termination system sales in the second quarter, but Docsis-based CPE shipments are slowing down
1:10 PM Of new products, KDDI, and Cox
1:05 PM WiMax's biggest competitor: WiFi
Ron Martin, hired to beef up ADVA's cred with North American carriers, has moved on
4:50 PM After a disappointing Q2
Tier 2 and 3 cablers messed with Texas this week. Here's some visual proof
4:10 PM And survey finds that quality matters and lots of content owners haven't felt the Internet's embrace
3:45 PM 2H09 is looking grim for most of Europe's incumbents
Moto suprises with a Q2 profit, but all eyes are on its first Android launches in Q4
1:30 PM Alcatel-Lucent CEO gets excited about LTE
Alcatel-Lucent is getting stronger, says CEO Ben Verwaayen, who predicts big things in North America and with LTE
Subscription growth slows in Q2 amid a tough economy, but results show that Verizon isn't kicking Cablevision in the teeth
Sale of Thales stake pulls AlcaLu into the black, and CEO cites 'positive trends,' but the carrier division continues to suffer
6:00 PM The cheddar has landed
5:40 PM Sprint's turnaround is long and so very slow, so investors may get restless again
5:15 PM Vendor says deals could come in early next year
4:50 PM Is a revamp afoot at the femto pioneer?
MSO expects to launch mobile WiMax in four markets by year's end, with Dallas and Charlotte, N.C., the first to be identified
3:50 PM Together at last
APAC will continue to be the most important of the three regional fiber-to-the-home markets in the near term, finds Heavy Reading
2:30 PM Cashing in on the simian craze
2:00 PM And Cisco, again, is the richer for it
1:40 PM Cable gets its name on an AT&T-sponsored event
1:20 PM Boston Mayor and telco spar over the reasons
1:00 PM Why focus on your audience when you can cover the planet?
The final payoff may be worth it, but cable operators that apply for a piece of the $7.2B Recovery Act funds had better be ready to lawyer up
Third-ranked US operator posts a bigger-than-expected loss, but monthly wireless subscriber defections may be slowing down
The demands of dealing with major carriers pushed CDN specialist Velocix into the arms of Alcatel-Lucent, and for a low price too
Courts clear Ericsson's $1.13 billion acquisition of Nortel assets, but the deal may still need approval from the Canadian government
5:50 PM The Avici story comes to an end
4:50 PM Includes YouTube and others
Comcast launches second WiMax market with more to follow in 2009
3:35 PM Bad news for cable?
The CDMA operator and inventor create a machine-to-machine venture that will take the market beyond niche status and likely bolster CDMA revenues
Moto and the Comcast Media Center are leading with deals, but other suppliers and integrators are also making hay with Tier 2 and 3 MSOs
Alcatel-Lucent pumps up its services and video capabilities with the acquisition of content delivery network specialist Velocix
Ericsson's new CDMA president, Magnus Mandersson, talks to Unstrung about his company's $1.13 billion move on North America
Has Alcatel-Lucent hired a giant robot that can turn itself into a truck to help it with its transformation strategy? (No)
8:45 AM For an equity value of $483 million
EchoStar is in discussions to licence its 'SlingLoaded' place-shifting tech to outside set-top suppliers and digital TV makers
Touching on another hot issue in cable circles, the edge router startup adds a bandwidth boosting application controlled by the subscriber
Denying reports that it's struggling, tunable laser vendor Santur picks up $13 million to nurture a possible 100-Gig product suite
Swedish vendor makes the case for spending $1.13 billion on Nortel's wireless assets
Tellabs CEO Rob Pullen says he won't be bidding to buy Nortel's Metro Ethernet Networks division as he discusses second-quarter earnings
Small and mid-sized cablecos aren't immune to the bad economy, with most saying that growth remains slowest in the voice category
2:25 PM Pat Russo can drive a hard bargain!
Former Alcatel-Lucent man Mike Quigley is put in charge of Australia's national broadband network project
Wireless and FiOS are still strong, but Verizon is looking to cut 8,000 more jobs in its wireline business after profits shrink in Q2
11:15 AM NSN is fallback for Nortel assets if courts reject Ericsson bid
Vendor claims 'Converged Video Exchange' will let cable ops deliver and manage video services to IP-based boxes and to more screen types
10:10 AM So says Thomson, the maker of the new IP-fueled 'communications hub'
9:35 AM Back away from the canary, sir!
What is MEF president Nan Chen's newest Ethernet startup? We're willing to take a guess
For $1.13B, Ericsson beats out Nokia Siemens to take ownership of CDMA and LTE assets, pending court approval
5:30 PM Charter gets more time, another operator wires up for wideband, and a glance at the cable set-top waiver wire
What a difference the iPhone 3GS – and an asset buyout – makes for AT&T in the race for cellular subscribers
A reported Ethernet services contract is still up in the air, with Juniper a contender
3:45 PM The latest financials from KPN, Telenor, and TeliaSonera
3:40 PM Chicago will be Clearwire's real test
As foreign investors find themselves locked in to their mobile startups, Bharti Airtel ratchets up its profits
Between Docsis 3.0 (next year, anyway) and the shift to HD programming, the chipmaker says cable's a good place to be
NOON Another Nortel exec finds a new home
11:40 AM Mobile data revenues are up nearly 20 percent
The global downturn is squeezing Ericsson, but its professional services business is making up for pressure on network sales
7:50 AM The real bidding war for the wireless assets starts (and probably ends) today
7:00 PM There's a Taco Bell moon a'rising
Service provider spending might be stabilizing, but Juniper isn't willing to call it an upturn yet
MSOs still don't think over-the-top video's about to devour their video business model, but they're clearly bracing for that threat
5:15 PM A snapshot of the former Bookham and Avanex's debut on the earnings-call circuit
4:45 PM Disney CEO Robert Iger thinks so
4:10 PM AT&T reports Q2, including fewer U-verse customer gains
You've got to spend a dollar to make a dollar, AT&T finds, as its second-quarter revenues are dragged down by the iPhone 3GS launch
2:00 PM The bell has rung for 21CN's 'Class of 2004'
12:30 PM Giant Swede stirs up Nortel auction
NOON Jon Stewart dons the Cronkite mantle
10:55 AM It's déjà vu all over again
9:50 AM NSN and Allot offer alternative views of mobile data traffic
Comcast among operators that will use Fairshare 2.0, a more scalable traffic management system that enables application-specific policies
Ericsson has submitted a bid for Nortel's CDMA and LTE assets and is now preparing to participate in Friday's auction
One analyst reports Alcatel-Lucent nabbed a $150M Ethernet services deal away from Juniper
A deal with Javelin (née Vyyo) has Arris selling 3 GHz gear to Cox, and possibly to other MSOs later
Qualcomm now says it will deliver MDM LTE samples in Q3 2009, which could mean proto-4G PC cards won't arrive until late in 2010, a chip analyst says
2:10 PM Plenty of people are window-shopping these days
Vodafone picks up BT's consumer and small biz customers and a deal for wholesale broadband services too
12:55 PM Some small ops line up to field test 'Digital Freedom,' a platform featuring BBT's downloadable security system
MSO completes Docsis 3.0 deployment in the Philly region, setting it up to compete with Verizon FiOS and cable overbuilder RCN
Etisalat will use Reliance's towers and infrastructure to roll out its Indian mobile network in a deal worth $2.2 billion
11:15 AM Has Vodafone learned a trick from its partner across the pond?
10:25 AM Cablevision's Rutledge and Comcast's Burke apparently out of the running
9:40 AM Nobody expects the Irish Inquisition!
8:20 AM HSPA's industry body, the GSMA, claims bragging rights
With IBM and Juniper doing cloud computing together, it's no surprise to see them strike up an OEM deal to possibly face off against Cisco
Private equity firm MatlinPatterson has put up a $725M offer for Nortel's wireless assets, versus Nokia Siemens's $650M. It's on!
NTT win, new CEO, 50 layoffs, and a smattering of earnings
S-CDMA is back! Motorola is taking a page from the Terayon playbook to clean up and beef up cable's thin upstream path
4:35 PM Cycling site Versus.com doubles its traffic from last year
3:20 PM Too bad for iPhone users UPDATED 7/22 2:05 PM
3:00 PM LTE engineers are still a catch for the BlackBerry maker, it seems
2:30 PM LTE interoperability kicks off in March 2010
AlcaLu gets commercial GPON contract from China Mobile and bolsters its position as a TD-SCDMA infrastructure supplier
Mobile operators will need a lot more cellular backhaul capacity to handle data traffic, especially when voice becomes packetized
Clearwire and Sprint are now clear to roam between 3G and WiMax, and Mac users will soon be able to get on the Clear network too
1:05 PM Is anyone ready to snack on Danish?
12:15 PM Italian rivals could join forces, if the price is right
11:25 AM Charter's got a fight on its hands, old is new at Echostar, and more
10:40 AM Details look interesting
As Clearwire launches in Las Vegas, Ciena reveals its role in the WiMax carrier's backhaul deployment
There's a fight brewing in Canada's high-tech corridor as RIM claims it's been blocked from submitting a $1.1 billion bid for Nortel's wireless assets
On the heels of big talk by Alcatel-Lucent and Juniper, Huawei says its next NetEngine router will get a 100-Gigabit Ethernet port in mid-2010
Nokia Siemens claims a unique solution for delivering voice over LTE networks and stays out of an industry initiative for new voice specs
CAT Telecom is preparing to build out a fiber-based fixed access broadband network, but won't be digging up Thailand's city roads
5:50 PM Router and cable modem maker beats the MSOs to the punch
5:20 PM Streams of the golf tournament jumped by 80% this year
Ericsson's been considered an IMS lock at Comcast, but Huawei's emergence may have knocked Nokia Siemens Networks out of the running
1:40 PM The sphinx of Kansas weighs in
Targets cable's Docsis 3.0 doings with two VDSL-fueled tiers, including one that pumps out 40 Mbit/s down by 20 Mbit/s upstream
The Enterprise Solutions unit is the next to draw a bid, on the eve of the stalking-horse auction of Nortel's wireless assets
Analyst note suggests Huawei has landed a 40G deal at Level 3, a decision that would be a blow to incumbent supplier Infinera
8:20 AM Vivendi pulls back from African acquisition
BT's high-profile CTO Matt Bross has quit after nearly seven years at the UK operator, and will not be replaced
Could mesh make a comeback in 'hotzones' that displace traffic from crowded 3G networks onto WiFi?
Broadband connections will double by 2014, driven by DSL and aggressive FTTH rollouts, according to a new report
4:40 PM + pickup trucks... what could possibly go wrong?
IP Gallery is going after cable and telcos with IMS and PacketCable 2.0 products, but it probably won't put a scare into the likes of Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson
Vodafone faces an uphill struggle as it joins the already-crowded triple-play market in Portugal with its own IPTV offering
But the choice leaves many wondering why
Google wants people to weigh in on what a national broadband plan from the FCC should look like
The long-running case is expected to be settled during the week of July 20
1:25 PM The one slight problem with these Apple & Verizon rumors
The Indian government is to audit five of India's private carriers, BSNL's profits slump, and Sistema Shyam pulls down a loan from China
8:30 AM Cisco will rake in WiMax winnings
5:55 PM Workers in France get their meeting; workers in San Jose get their pink slips
5:05 PM MSO tweaks plan with a provision that would bump up the amount of preferred stock it wants to issue
Operators like CenturyTel are still grappling with whether to apply for the Recovery Act broadband money or not
MSO offers iPhones a free app with no live TV and no DVR controls UPDATED 7/17 8 AM
Phone giant's results weren't sunny-side up
3:10 PM Behind the handset headlines, vendor services were key today
Nokia Siemens Networks may be feeling the bite of recession, but its Services division is growing in strength
Indian telco issues tender for the outsourced management of its 3G services, but will anyone bid when they see the conditions?
Firm boots up name change with CE-targeted 'Liquid' media guide, though some new features could eventually grace next-gen cable IPGs
The mobile handset market is a dog right now
The 7750 routers will get 100GE interfaces by mid-2010 – possibly putting them in line to compete with the likes of Cisco's CRS-1
Vendor giant sees deeper revenues decline in Q2, and now it's expecting to lose, rather than maintain, market share in '09
5:40 PM Set-top security, that is...
4:45 PM Gives users access to sites like Facebook on their TVs
Verizon's recent move to integrate social networking and Internet video into FiOS TV underscores the need for IPTV innovation
4:00 PM Whatever happened to Five Across, anyway?
Cellular backhaul is all abuzz today with news of a major multinational contract win, financial results, and new microwave products
UK MSO targets its main DSL rivals by slashing 50-Mbit/s prices, bundling in free netbooks, and prepping faster upstream speeds
12:55 PM Cablevision cleans everyone's clocks in the SMB groupings, but Comcast and TWC need to shore up customer satisfaction
Verizon adds Facebook, Twitter, and other apps, plus Web TV, to its FiOS service. Analyst expects AT&T to follow soon
11:40 AM Indian government proposes abolishing time limits on mobile licenses
11:25 AM China Mobile plans to cover 10,000 villages a year for next three years
10:50 AM O2 preps HSPA+ trial for Oktoberfest
Indian IT services company looks to its managed services skills to drive annual sales growth of up to 40 percent in Asia/Pacific
The upcoming auction process might see Nokia Siemens bid for more than just Nortel's CDMA and LTE access assets
6:30 PM Mayhem and moose droppings
Canadian MSO intros 50-Mbit/s 'Ultimate' tier, but couples the speedy offering with a monthly consumption ceiling
5:45 PM At least when it comes to the Nexus 5000 and certain green projects
5:20 PM Poll results. Which one gets used everywhere?
4:40 PM TV Everywhere gets its first broadcaster, along with 17 other content providers
1:50 PM COLT's cloud has a silver lining, and ntl:telewest spreads its wings with BT
1:15 PM At least one analyst sees a trend in Verizon's plans that doesn't bode well for router vendors
12:25 PM A French kiss-off – in video form – for Nortel and Ernst & Young
A recent court filing by Dish and EchoStar reveals that TiVo is seeking 'nearly $1 billion' in contempt sanctions
11:45 AM Datang's loss is ZTE's gain in China Mobile's latest TD-SCDMA tender
11:15 AM Now the fun begins
Alvarion could stand to benefit if WiMax ISPs get Recovery Act broadband stimulus money
9:50 AM Experienced hand taking over at Singapore's MSO
Unstrung snaps Huawei's first Mobile User Congress customer event in Munich
Neil Montefiore, high-profile former CEO of MobileOne, named new CEO of Singaporean cable and mobile operator, StarHub
Seeing OEMs wanting to outsource more of their engineering, IP Infusion jumps into the business of designing entire systems
8:20 AM Rival bid plans gather pace
India's service providers generated $8.24B in revenues in Q1 2009, according to the country's regulator
Huawei wireless product line execs told Unstrung their company has a different image now, as they hosted a customer event in Munich last week
A handful of cable parties are opposing a petition that's looking to kill a three-year DTA waiver recently awarded to Evolution Broadband
5:00 PM Move Networks finally gets its act together
HBO and Cinemax have joined Starz, TNT, and TBS in the lineup of Time Warner and Comcast's online joint venture
4:25 PM New theory: Mobility group in the works
12:40 PM In France, striking staff kick up a stink
As Ericsson agrees on green objectives with S. Korean President, it refutes reports it will pump $1.5 billion into Korean R&D strategy
Batelco increases its stake in Indian mobile newcomer S Tel, which is on course for a fourth-quarter services launch
7:30 AM New VP of Western Europe joins from bankrupt Canadian vendor
ERF's CEO makes the case for the wireless ISP getting $20M-plus for broadband in the boondocks
A few pics from a press meeting inside Cisco digital media nerve center
4:00 PM To join the TV Everywhere initiative
Portuguese cable operator launches 120-Mbit/s broadband as it loses customers in the face of fierce telco competition
Starz becomes the first premium network to join Time Warner and Comcast's online effort
1:05 PM It's Ericsson's problem now...
Guess who's taking its place?
As Bharti Airtel establishes apps developer community, MTNL hunts an international partner, and other operators roll out services
12:25 PM NTT DoCoMo's CEO talks M&A in Asia
French telecom and media giant is in talks to buy Zain's extensive African telecom operations in a deal believed to be worth around $12B
11:15 AM What's WiMax Worth to Comcast?
Cisco's gear performed well in an EANTC peer-to-peer traffic test, but ipoque and Procera can outdo Cisco in a rather obvious way
A sneak preview of the topics we'll tackle at the upcoming Packet-Optical Transport Evolution virtual tradeshow
A looming 2010 payment would get a little easier with the sell-off of Finisar's test division
The 'Can you hear me now?' carrier isn't going to follow its rival's outsourcing lead
Through the partnership, they will be able to distribute and provide metrics for Web TV campaigns
5:00 PM But what's really behind the partnership?
A major US wireless operator is handing over day-to-day management of network operations to a services partner
Bakrie Telecom has grown rapidly in the fixed wireless access market, and now has its heart set on an acquisition
BT launches fiber-to-the-cabinet services, brings forward its next-gen broadband rollout plans, and preps more fiber-to-the-home lines
3:00 PM ETSI plugfested GPON, and saw that it was good
12:30 PM Managed services deal with Sprint is a whopper
JDSU beefs up its test tools division with the acquisition of Finisar's SAN analysis products business for $40 million
Former Alcatel-Lucent chief marketing officer shows up at Openwave as senior VP of products and marketing
CTDI takes over the product line that was once the crown jewel of Next Level Communications
Google announces a second operating system, this time aimed at netbooks and, eventually, larger PCs
4:50 PM Light Reading's soccer team brings home the single most important trophy in New York-area, non-professional, adult-league, after-work, sports
With Eos software and services, the router vendor looks to save media companies from Google by having them host everything with Cisco
3:50 PM The service attracted huge traffic online, as fans mourned the superstar
Announced telecom mergers and acquisitions in the first half of 2009 totaled $88.3 billion in value, down 53% year-on-year
As O2 Germany completes 3G network upgrade to 7.2 Mbit/s, the operator launches Deep Packet Inspection to monitor customer data usage
Airvana has won the contract to supply Sprint's 3G femtocells, the first big 3G femto deal in the US
NOON Vince Groff isn't fretting about the threat posed by over-the-top and mobile video
The head of Cisco's consumer division gets the high-profile job of chief strategy officer
11:05 AM Sorry, we don't do tolerance
NYC transport authority is looking into the prospect of deploying free WiFi on some overland commuter trains
9:50 AM More bad news for the targeted advertising specialist
9:00 AM Malaysia's Axiata linked to $500 million bid
German chip giant sells its DSL and VOIP business to private equity firm for €250 million, but holds on to its wireless chips unit
What happens on WiMax stays on WiMax, with Clear going commercial in Vegas
5:20 PM Another view of the company's long-term ambitions
Digital Bridges, TowerStream, and ERF Wireless consider bids on broadband stimulus money, while the big cellcos remain 'undecided'
4:15 PM Metacafe says so, despite the growing popularity of longer video
India's government sets $7 billion revenue target for the country's 3G auction and looks to telecommunications to provide $10 billion in its annual budget
3:35 PM Session controller vendor scores a double whammy in Yoorup
VoLGA Forum unveils new specs to tackle the thorny issue of delivering circuit-switched voice and messaging services over LTE
Japan's NTT DoCoMo introduces new high-speed femtocells to offload mobile traffic in home zones
10:35 AM Check out our femto fotos
DoCoMo's vendor choices show it's building a new backhaul network for LTE, one that could be shared with next-gen fixed broadband
SDP player Aepona acquires payments and settlements system vendor Valista, a move that'll help meet carriers' needs, says analyst
Tellabs resizes in a market where mid-sized is the wrong size
News report says the DoJ has opened in inquiry into – gasp! – the possibility of anticompetitive practices in the telecom industry
4:35 PM Everyone's abuzz about Andreessen Horowitz
China Mobile will continue to dominate its domestic telecom market for the next five years, according to Pyramid Research report
3:20 PM Very, very slooooowwwwly...
Mike Volpi is now partner at Index Ventures
11:20 AM It starts
Media reports suggest private equity firm is in talks with other Nortel creditors about a bid for all of the bankrupt vendor's assets
BT mothballs plans to deploy targeted advertising technology from controversial vendor Phorm but could reignite its interest later
7:30 AM BT staff offered extended vacation with pay cut
11:00 AM Can NTT DoCoMo set another trend in developed markets?
10:00 AM ZTE's back in with Telenor after its ban
9:30 AM Will anyone mention BT as a suitor?
Swedish vendor boasts GPON traction with major Chinese carriers, and there's a chance of more APAC action for the vendor's FTTH business
A genuine IPO to come from Bangladesh's leading operator as it gets go-ahead for a $65 million offer
Clearwire says it doesn't need stimulus money to complete its WiMax deployments, but is reviewing the rules for a bid on the broadband billions
Cisco founder Len Bosack sheds new light on his company's DarkStar products and the appeal of DIY enterprise optical networks
3:00 PM Degradation, despair, and death
2:30 PM The Recovery Act could help Adtran recover from this year's initial spending slowdown
2:00 PM Buying American would have only complicated an already aggressive plan to extend US broadband networks
1:20 PM LG-Nortel keeps plugging its next-gen access tech
Len Bosack, CEO, XKL LLC
India's Reliance Communications confirms its partner Alcatel-Lucent as the front runner to manage its fixed network operations
Industry sources say one of Nokia Siemens Networks's new WiMax partners is specialist vendor Alvarion
Cisco's annual customer lovefest comes back to the Bay Area
Cable veteran leaves Vidiom to be CEO of Alticast's Americas unit as tru2way specialist gears up for a domestic growth spurt
Nokia Siemens tells Unstrung it has shifted its R&D focus away from WiMax and into HSPA+ and LTE
The cloud is nice, but who's going to provide the links between clouds? Any guesses?
5:30 PM A tru2way shrug, a Tom Lookabaugh sighting, cheap WiMax, tuned-out consumers, and a refitted SinglePipe
5:00 PM Less than 1 Mbit/s is less than acceptable
4:30 PM Despite a comeback from IPOs
4:00 PM Would you really want to be the next David Bowie?
3:25 PM Governments keep Telenor and China Mobile waiting for foreign investment approval
MSOs won't face fines for not having all their headends rigged up for tru2way by the original July 1 deadline
Pyramid Research report casts doubt on rapid takeup of FTTx in Malaysia, looks to WiMax to compete with Telekom Malaysia's DSL
Alcatel-Lucent turns green as it updates its ISAM multiservice access platform, but is it going too far with some of its claims?
11:00 AM Why not take all of Nortel, a private equity firm asks
Nokia Siemens tells Unstrung what it plans to do with Nortel's LTE access assets when the acquisition is complete
Italian broadband player to raise new capital and renew its domestic focus as the EU clears the sale of its UK triple-play operations


text:
Spicy Masala Bhindi is delicious and flavourful vegetable. Tender , fresh Ladies finger is cooked with flavourful mixture of Gram flour and spices , tastes finger licking good ..
Those who regularly read my blog, are very well aware about my love towards stuffed vegetable. I have posted many stuffed vegetable recipe on blog. Check them out here. Stuffed Tinda , Stuffed Onion Potato, Stuffed Turai , Stuffed Bottle gourd, Stuffed Capsicum etc.
I personally feel, stuffing vegetable is an art.. Just few spices , some flavourful ingredients and it will take vegetable to another level.
Checkout the video recipe here…
lets see detailed recipe …
- 500 gm Fresh Tender Okra /Bhindi/Ladies Finger
- 1/2 cup Oil
- 1/2 tsp Asafoetida
- A Pinch of Turmeric Powder
- Some Fresh Coriander, finely chopped for garnish
To make Stuffing:
- 1/2 cup Gram Flour
- 2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1 tsp Turmeric Powder
- 2 tsp Coriander Cumin Powder
- 1/2 tsp Roasted Cumin Powder
- Salt
- 3 tsp Dry coconut , Shredded (optional)
Wash and clean Okra. Remove head and tail. Split into two halves. Keep aside. Always Choose fresh and Tender Okra, so seeds wont be muchLii inside. Still , in case you wanna remove some seeds , just keep ladies finger in a colander and just shake it.. Some of the seeds will fall down for sure. Checkout the video recipe for details.
Here, I have cut into two, one can also stuff Bhindi with this stuffing.
In a Kadai , dry roast Besan , Sesame seeds and fennel seeds on slow flame till flour leaves aroma. It will turn slightly pink color. When Besan starts changing color , switch off the gas. Now add all other spices and mix well. Allow it to cool completely.
In a non stick pan, take oil . Allow it to heat nicely. Add asafoetida and Bhindi. Sprinkle some turmeric powder and cook on slow to medium flame. Little later sprinkle some Salt ( Be care ful as we have added salt in stuffing too ) Mix well.
Allow it to cook completely. Stir occassionally. As its cut into halves, it wont take more time to cook. Once done , add stuffing Masala.
Add one powdered rusk. If you have bread crumbs available , just add 2 tsp . This step is purely optional . This will help to keep Bhindi not to be so sticky…
Mix well. If needed sprinkle 1 tsp water or 1 tsp Oil . Cook for more a minute .
Garnish with coriander. Serve hot with Roti.
Hope you all will love this Spicy and tasty Ladies Finger . Do try and please share your feedback …
Happy Cooking 🙂 🙂


text:
The publishers and editors of Her Majesty's Secret Servant are pleased to announce the publication of our latest issue. This one — our best yet, we think — is packed with interesting reading about all matters Bondian.
We have some old friends returning and some new ones joining us for the first time. Our good pal Deborah Lipp checks in with two fascinating articles; one about Live and Let Die's monkeying around with tarot cards, the other about recurring themes of voyeurism and concealment in You Only Live Twice. Ron Feyereisen returns with a contrarian view of the ongoing Daniel Craig "reboot" tenure; suffice it to say that he's not a satisfied customer. Speaking of reboots, regular contributor Derek Austin Johnson casts his gimlet eye on the latest 007 literary adventure, Jeffery Deaver's Carte Blanche (the James Bond watches man, Dell Deaton, offers a rebuttal). On the subject of the latest Bond novel, we're rerunning Mark Henderson's excellent interview (first published last April here on the blog,) with the author. We're excited to welcome Stuart Basinger (that's "Dr. Shatterhand" to you civilians) to the fold with his imaginary interview with former CIA director (and friend of Ian Fleming) Allan Dulles. James Bond is discussed. Ian Fleming Foundation member Colin Clark regales us with the story of the discovery and acquisition of Franz Sanchez' escape plane — the Cessna we saw Timothy Dalton's 007 lasso in Licence to Kill. And our stalwart senior editor Bill Koenig unearths the amazing story of what 1979's Moonraker could have been like, if only Eon's budget had matched the screenplay's requirements. Bill's story also covers script-to-screen changes in Diamonds Are Forever and Tomorrow Never Dies.
So set aside a little time, mix yourself a cool martini, and point your web browser to HMSS.com, for some thought-provoking entertainment and a heaping helping of, as the French say, le jamesbonderie (even though they probably don't). Enjoy!
Filed under: Her Majesty's Secret Servant | Tagged: Bill Koenig, Carte Blanche, Carte Blanche Reviews, Colin Clark, Deborah Lipp, Dell Deaton, Derek Austin Johnson, Diamonds Are Forever, Her Majesty's Secret Servant, HMSS, Ian Fleming Foundation, James Bond screenplays, James Bond scripts, Jeffery Deaver, Jeffery Deaver interview, Licence to Kill, Live and Let Die, Mark Henderson, Moonraker, Ron Feyereisen, Stuart Basinger, Tarot cards, Tomorrow Never Dies, You Only Live Twice | 2 Comments »