text:
Say what?!? These cupcakes just SCREAM St. Patrick's Day – at least to me. They are like black-and-white cookies but cupcakes!! YUM!
Black-and-White Irish Cream Cupcakes
- 1/2 cup butter
- 4 egg whites
- 2 cups all-purpose gluten free flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 3/4 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons Irish cream liqueur
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk substitute
- 1 1/2 cups coconut or rice milk
- 1/2 or 2/3 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons vegan butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, melted and cooled
- 1 recipe Irish Cream Ganache – In a small saucepan bring whipping cream just to boiling over medium-high heat. Remove from heat. Add chocolate (do not stir). Let stand for 5 minutes. Stir in liqueur until smooth. Cool about 15 minutes or until slightly thickened.
- 1/2 cup rice whipping cream
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 tablespoon Irish cream liqueur
- 1 recipe Irish Cream Icing – In a small bowl stir together powdered sugar, liqueur, and vanilla.
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon Irish cream liqueur
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
For the Cupcakes:
- Allow vegan butter and egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, grease and flour twenty-eight 2-1/2-inch muffin cups (or line with paper bake cups).
- In a medium bowl stir together gluten free flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds.
- Add sugar, liqueur, and vanilla. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk substitute, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined.
- Transfer 2-1/2 cups batter (about half) to a medium bowl; stir in melted chocolate. Fill each prepared muffin cup about two-thirds full, spooning chocolate batter into one side of cup and white batter into other side of cup.
- Bake about 20 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on racks.
- Spread Irish Cream Ganache onto tops of cupcakes. Let stand at room temperature about 1 hour (or chill in the refrigerator about 15 minutes) or until ganache is set. Spoon Irish Cream Icing onto centers of cupcakes. Let stand until icing sets.


text:
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain continued to hold off in requesting a bailout for the country's banks, citing lower interest rates in the wake of the European Central Bank's (ECB) decision to commit to unlimited bond purchases.
As eurozone finance ministers gathered in Nicosia, Cyprus, for a meeting to discuss, among other things, Spain's potential need for aid, Rajoy has held back, and said earlier in the week that he would not allow the European Union to decree how much could be spent on such necessities as pensions and health care.
Bloomberg reported Friday that Rajoy said there was no rush to request a bailout, which would come with tough conditions, now that the ECB has said it will buy bonds. That action drove down the interest rates that have been so crippling to Madrid, and Rajoy says he hopes that lower rates will make it possible for Spain to avoid a bailout altogether.
However, finance ministers were preparing to discuss not just Spain's needs, but Greece's as well. They were preparing to hear a report from the troika made up of the European Commission (EC), the ECB and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who have been preparing data on Greece's financial situation in advance of a decision on whether to release the next tranche of funding in its bailout.
Worried that too much hesitation on the part of the Spanish leader will lead to a resumption in the markets of skyrocketing interest rates, and reluctant to extend too much lenience to either Madrid or Athens, individuals in the group have expressed everything from determination to concern.
"Europe is stabilized," Finance Minister Maria Fekter of Austria said in the report. "We'll be equipped to deal with all phenomena that come along."
Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager of the Netherlands took a hard line before the meeting began, saying in the report, "If there will be support, there will be conditions. Spain is on the right way, but they have to continue to convince the markets that they have a sound policy."
Reuters reported that Finance Minister Michael Noonan of Ireland said, "I'd like them to set out their position because it hasn't been clear over the summer what their position is." Noonan voiced the concern of several countries in the bloc that Spain's hesitation was jeopardizing a comeback from the debt crisis.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Once again, I have traveled from my home in West Chester, Pennsylvania (USA) to dig with archaeologist David Starbuck at the Lake George Battlefield Park. The field school is sponsored by State University of New York, Adirondack campus, The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and Fort William Henry. Located at the southern end of the lake, the Lake George Battlefield Park preserves the sites of major battles and encampments from the French and Indian War through the American Revolution, making it a prime site for conducting archeology. Among the features found in the Park are the ruins of a stone bastion from Fort George, which General Jeffery Amherst authorized and began building in 1759, but later, abandoned after the British took control of Fort Carillon, now known as Fort Ticonderoga.
This is my third year digging in the Park. Last year, we excavated the casemates on the east wall of the Fort George bastion, as well as digging several test pits throughout areas of the park related to the various French and Indian War encampments that took place between 1755 and 1759. This year's dig focuses on two sites. The first is on the west side of the completed bastion of Fort George, while the second is narrowing in on the site of what the diggers believe to be a feature initially thought to be a latrine, but now appears to be the site of either a tent or cabin.
My assignment this year includes locating a cistern depicted on a 1759 map that shows the details of the Plan for Fort George. The cistern was supposedly situated near a gun platform on the northwest wall of the bastion. In 1777, as General Schuyler retreated from Burgoyne's attack, Schuyler reported to Washington that the enclosed bastion was indefensible and the cistern had been "fouled" so they had no water. Our hope in finding the cistern is to learn how it had been fouled.
My digging partner, Pam Collyer, from Fort William Henry, and I have excavated to a depth of 100 cm and have begin pulling out artifacts that include large spikes, animal bone and charred wood, among other things. While it is too early to make a definitive statement about the feature, we think we may have reached the level of the gun platform, but have unearthed no evidence of the cistern. The digging has been relatively easy as the soil appears to be fill used to level the area underneath the gun platforms.
Among the artifacts found so far: large forged spikes that might have held wood planks for the platform, a door latch, remains of charred wood and charcoal, animal bone fragments, glass from a medicine bottle, a fragment from wine or rum bottle, sherds of delft and cream ware, and what appears to be a round medallion. Another team digging in the bastion located a corner of the barracks, along with what may be a fire feature.
This will be the last year of digging at Lake George Battlefield Park for the SUNY Adirondack field school. Next year it will move to Roger's Island in Fort Edward.


text:
Troubleshooting Tips
From NeoWiki
There are several common sources of problems that cause crashes, sub-optimal performance, or other undesired behavior in NeoOffice. This page collects some common problems and tips to help narrow down the cause of, or in some cases even fix, the problem. (For problems related to installing NeoOffice or NeoOffice patches, see NeoOffice Download and Installation Issues instead.)
To use this page, locate the problem you are experiencing under the "Common Problems" section. Then click on the link or links provided for more information about troubleshooting steps you should try. If you do not find your particular problem under Common Problems, try to find a similar issue, or ask your question in the NeoOffice Support forum on trinity.
[edit] Common Problems
[edit] For all problems
[edit] NeoOffice takes more than a minute to launch
- Disable system hacks
- Remove 24Uemail scripting addition
- Check the number of fonts installed
- Check for OpenOffice.org 2
- Beware of virus scanning software
[edit] NeoOffice fails to start, or crashes during startup or right after starting
- Disable system hacks
- Remove 24Uemail scripting addition
- Check the Console.log
- Ensure NeoOffice has the correct permissions
- Sample NeoOffice in hangs during the startup process
- Post the crash log for crashes during startup
- Check for an up-to-date Java version
- Check for a corrupt Java installation
- Check for corrupted Java Shared Archive
- Remove incompatible Java extensions
- Check for a a non-standard Java installation
- Check for corrupted user preference files
[edit] NeoOffice crashes randomly
[edit] Problems with the menus or menu bar
[edit] Dialogs or windows appear with no text
[edit] Crashing in the font drop-down
[edit] Text appears as gibberish, or certain characters are incorrect
[edit] Error Loading BASIC of Document
[edit] Performance
Common causes of slow or lackluster performance
- Check for background processes
- Disable auto spell-checking
- Insufficient RAM
- Check the number of fonts installed
- Check for OpenOffice.org 2
- Beware of virus scanning software
[edit] A patch does not appear to fix a bug it claims to fix
[edit] Preferences don't seem to stick
[edit] Certain keyboard shortcuts do not work
[edit] Documents zoom in and out unexpectedly
[edit] NeoOffice claims a document is in use by another user after a crash
[edit] Solutions and Troubleshooting Steps
Below are a series of solutions and troubleshooting steps that may help resolve common problems you may be experiencing with NeoOffice.
[edit] General Troubleshooting
[edit] Install NeoOffice Patches
- Always make sure that you are using the latest NeoOffice patch.
- NeoOffice is updated regularly through patches, and it is often the case that an issue you are experiencing has been fixed by the latest patch, so be sure you regularly install the patches.
[edit] Update Mac OS X
- Always make sure that you are using the latest iteration of Mac OS X (e.g., 10.3.9 or 10.4.10) and the latest available security and Java updates from Apple (see below for instructions on using Software Update and checking your Java version).
- While NeoOffice might run on older revisions of Mac OS X 10.3 and 10.4, each patch is only qualified against the latest "point" release at the time of patch release.
- Similarly, each NeoOffice patch is only qualified against the latest Java update for the appropriate Mac OS X version, and not having the latest Java update will cause bizarre and otherwise unexplained issues.
[edit] Disable system hacks
- Disable or uninstall any installed hack-like software, or add NeoOffice to the exclusions list for any APE haxie(s).
- Hack-like software, such as as InputManagers, SIMBL "plugins", or haxies (programs that use Unsanity's Application Enhancer (APE) framework), works by injecting its code into running applications in order to customize the behavior of Mac OS X or an application in a way that neither Apple nor the application developer intended. One of these programs may have a bug that causes an application to crash, or it may simply create a condition that the application is not prepared to handle and thereby cause a crash.
- Because of the scope of the project and the limited time and resources of the NeoOffice developers, no effort will be made to fix a bug that only occurs when hack-like software is present. Note also that Apple's official support policy is to disregard all reports of problems that occur when APE is present.
- Some haxies, particularly older ones, can cause NeoOffice to run up to 10 times slower than on machines that do not have the haxie.
- Not all random crashes are caused by haxies, but we have found a disproportionate correlation between the presence of haxies and strange NeoOffice crashes (this was particularly true of NeoOffice versions prior to 1.2 Alpha, which used Java 1.3.1). Many other Mac developers have experienced similar issues with their applications when haxies are present.
- Hack-like software, such as as InputManagers, SIMBL "plugins", or haxies (programs that use Unsanity's Application Enhancer (APE) framework), works by injecting its code into running applications in order to customize the behavior of Mac OS X or an application in a way that neither Apple nor the application developer intended. One of these programs may have a bug that causes an application to crash, or it may simply create a condition that the application is not prepared to handle and thereby cause a crash.
- To determine if you have hack-like software, and to disable it if you do:
- Check to see if you have Unsanity APE installed by opening the System Preferences application. If there is an Unsanity APE icon at the bottom of the window, click on it and then disable it (or at least disable it for NeoOffice).
- In each of the following folders, check for any subfolders named ApplicationEnhancer.bundle or Smart Crash Reports or SIMBL. If you find any, move them out of the folders and reboot your machine:
- /System/Library/SystemConfiguration
- ~/Library/InputManagers
- ~/Library/Application Support
- /Library/InputManagers
- /Library/Application Support
- Remember that ~/ represents your home folder, and that the leading / represents the startup volume (usually Macintosh HD).
[edit] Disable MenuCracker
- MenuCracker, while not an Unsanity APE haxie, is a hack for enabling third parties to add items to the Mac OS X menu bar, and it has caused problems in the past, such as the disappearance of NeoOffice's menus from the menu bar.
[edit] Disable trackpad gestures
- Many users have reported that their MacBook laptop's trackpad is too sensitve and that causes NeoOffice documents to zoom in and out unexpectedly. Since Mac OS X does not provide any way to reduce trackpad sensitivity, starting with NeoOffice 2.2.5 Patch 5 users can stop unexpected zooming by disabling all trackpad magnify and swipe gestures. To disable these trackpad gestures, do the following:
- Make sure that you have installed the latest NeoOffice patch from the patch download page
- Launch the /Applications/Utilities/Terminal application, copy the following command into the Terminal window, and press the Return key:
defaults write org.neooffice.NeoOffice IgnoreTrackpadGestures -bool yes
- Restart NeoOffice
[edit] Remove stuck lock files
If NeoOffice 3.0 crashes while a file is open, sometimes you will be unable to open or edit the file when you reopen it, and NeoOffice will warn you that the file is in use by another user. Beginning in OpenOffice.org 3.0, Sun engineers changed from using native file locking methods used by all applications on a particular operating system to using an invisible file only OpenOffice.org-based applications recognize. When the application crashes, the lock file is not removed and NeoOffice still thinks that the document is in use. To use the document again, you must clear the file.
- The preferred method of clearing the lock file is reopening and then closing the file by the same user in the same application that the crash occurred in.
- For example, if you had the file open in NeoOffice and NeoOffice crashed, you need to open and close the file in NeoOffice. If a colleague opened the file in OpenOffice.org and it crashed, then your colleague must open and close the file in OpenOffice.org.
- If it is not feasible for the original person reopen and close the file, or if that method does not work, you can remove the lock file manually:
- Launch the /Applications/Utilities/Terminal application, copy the following text, paste it into the Terminal window, and press the spacebar:
- Go to the Finder and drag the folder that contains the read-only file into the Terminal window.
- Copy the following text, paste it into the Terminal window, and press the Return key:
; rm .~lock.*
- Launch the /Applications/Utilities/Terminal application, copy the following text, paste it into the Terminal window, and press the spacebar:
You should now be able to access and edit your file again.
[edit] Check for corrupted user preference files
- Corrupted user preference files can cause crashes as well as unexpected behavior when the application is running. When preferences or settings changes don't seem to apply or don't stick between restarts of NeoOffice, the most likely cause is a some sort of corruption of your profile/preferences. Allowing NeoOffice to create a fresh set should fix the problem.
- Quit NeoOffice.
- Move or rename your ~/Library/Preferences/NeoOffice-3.0 (for 3.0) and ~/Library/Preferences/NeoOffice-2.2 (for 2.2.x) and ~/Library/Preferences/NeoOffice-2.1 (for 2.1) folders.
- Launch NeoOffice; it will then create a fresh preferences folder and settings.
- For instructions on how to narrow down the specific corrupted preference file (in order to save other preferences), see Recovering Settings from Old or Corrupt Preferences.
[edit] Check the Console.log
- Check the Console.log (via /Applications/Utilities/Console.app) for messages about Java, soffice.bin, or NeoOffice
- These messages may not make any sense to you, but providing them to NeoOffice community support volunteers may enable the volunteers to identify the source of your problem.
[edit] Ensure NeoOffice has the correct permissions
- If the NeoOffice icon bounces in the Dock for a while and then stops, open the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and type the following and then press return:
- cd /Applications/NeoOffice.app/Contents/program
- ls -al soffice.bin
- The first few characters should contain x three times.
- If not, type chmod +x soffice.bin, close the Terminal and try to launch NeoOffice again.
[edit] Sample NeoOffice in hangs during the startup process
- If NeoOffice starts but "hangs" during startup (longer than a minute or so on recent Macs), take a sample before force-quitting NeoOffice, one of the developers or community support team might be able to deduce the problem based on log info.
[edit] Post the crash log for crashes during startup
- If NeoOffice crashes, check for a current entry in ~/Library/Logs/CrashReport/soffice.bin.crash.log (the crash log for NeoOffice, and, unfortunately OpenOffice.org)
- These logs will often contain useful information, and even if they are gibberish to you, one of the developers or community support team can often deduce the problem based on log info.
- See this section of the Bugzilla Guide for more information about obtaining the crash log.
[edit] Insufficient RAM
- NeoOffice requires a Mac with at least 512 MB of RAM (memory). While NeoOffice will run on a Mac with 512 MB of RAM, it will run (and launch) more slowly, particularly if you have other applications also running (Mac OS X really runs best with 512 MB or more of RAM).
- Add more RAM to your Mac
- Luckily, RAM is cheap; adding RAM is the most cost-efficient way to speed up your Mac. See this thread for some real-life stories.
- Quit other applications before running NeoOffice
- Add more RAM to your Mac
[edit] Check for background processes
- Constantly-running background processes can degrade the performance of NeoOffice. If you open the Activity Monitor application, located in the Utilities subfolder of the Applications folder, and click of the CPU or System Memory tabs, you can see which applications are using the most processing power and memory on your machine. Some known culprits include:
- Seti@Home
- Folding@Home
- DNET client (http://www.distributed.net/)
- Dashboard/widgets
- disable all inessential widgets for best performance
- If you have any of these applications running, or if Activity Monitor identifies another application using all of your CPU or RAM, try quitting the application(s) before running NeoOffice.
[edit] Disable auto spell-checking
- Turn off auto spell-checking, because the wavy lines are a problem to draw.
- Due to the fact that the OpenOffice.org code sets individual pixels and Cocoa and Java (used for drawing in NeoOffice) don't have any functions for setting individual pixels, NeoOffice must do a much more expensive operation of drawing a 1x1 pixel filled rectangle for each dot in the wavy lines.
[edit] Beware of virus scanning software
- Some virus scanners scan all files when the files are opened, and other virus scanners scan archive files (.sit, .tar, .gz, and .zip and its cousins, like .jar) when those files are accessed; NeoOffice opens and access a large number of files at startup, including a number of .zip and .jar archives.
- Disable virus scanning of the NeoOffice application (/Applications/NeoOffice.app) and preferences directory (~/Library/Preferences/NeoOffice-3.0 for 3.0 or ~/Library/Preferences/NeoOffice-2.2 for 2.2.1 or ~/Library/Preferences/NeoOffice-2.1 for 2.1), or of just the archive-type files in the NeoOffice application and preferences directory.
[edit] Remove macros imported from older NeoOffice versions
- The error message Error Loading BASIC of document file:///xxxxx/xxxx/xxx General input/output error occurs when some BASIC files (macros) are imported from preferences files of older NeoOffice versions. To get rid of the annoying message, do the following:
- In the Tools menu, select the Macros sub-menu, then the Organize Macros sub-menu, and finally the NeoOffice Basic item
- In the dialog that appears, press the Organizer button
- In the dialog that appears, expand all of the macros in the My Macros item and check the path in each.
- For any items that have a path that does not exist, select the item and press the Delete button.
[edit] Check for shortcuts used by Mac OS X
- If you assign a keyboard shortcut in NeoOffice and it doesn't work, it may be because you've chosen a key combination that Mac OS X is already using either as a general system shortcut or is in use by one of the system-wide Services.
- Look in the System Preferences (Keyboard & Mouse preference pane, Keyboard Shortcuts tab) to see if your choice is in use already as a general system shortcut (this option is only available in Mac OS X 10.4).
- Open an application that supports many system Services, e.g. TextEdit, and look in the Services sub-menu of the application's Application Name menu to see if any Services are using your chosen key combo (e.g., cmd-shift-L is often assigned to Search with Google).
- If you never use the Services keyboard shortcuts and want to free them up, you can install:
- The Service Manager preference pane (freeware) to disable individual Services (works in 10.3.x and 10.4.x)
- The ServiceScrubber application (freeware) to disable Services or reassign their keyboard shortcuts (10.4.x)
[edit] Check for shortcut conflicts within NeoOffice
- If a key combination appears in one of the NeoOffice menus as a shortcut but doesn't actually work, it may be assigned to another command in the current NeoOffice module.
- If you assign a shortcut as a Global NeoOffice shortcut, it may be overridden by a shortcut assigned to the particular module you're in (e.g., Writer, Calc, etc.)
- This is the case with cmd-shift-F11, for example; the menu shows this key combination as calling up the Preferences window (via the Options item in the Tools menu), but this doesn't work in Writer, as Writer has it assigned to something else arcane to do with templates.
- Once you delete the module-specific assignment, the shortcut performs the command displayed in the menu.
- If you assign a shortcut as a Global NeoOffice shortcut, it may be overridden by a shortcut assigned to the particular module you're in (e.g., Writer, Calc, etc.)
[edit] Reboot to clear cached libraries
- Mac OS X "caches" shared libraries and Java classes to improve performance; unfortunately, it has a very nasty habit of not clearing the cache when updated libraries and classes are installed (like in NeoOffice patches). If a bug doesn't appear to be fixed after applying a patch that should fix the bug, try restarting your Mac, which will clear the old versions of libraries and classes from cache. If the bug is still present after rebooting, you can then reopen the bug in Bugzilla.
[edit] Java-Related Troubleshooting
[edit] Check for an up-to-date Java version
- Check to see if you are running the most up-to-date version of Java 1.5 on Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5 and Java 1.6 on Mac OS X 10.6
- Run the Mac OS X Software Update application (from the Apple menu) and install any Mac OS X Updates, Security Updates, and Java Updates that are offered. You may need to run Software Update multiple times in order to completely update your system. Do not ignore or skip installing a Java update for Java 1.5 or Java 1.6 because you only use the other version, as a Java update for one often blocks the appearance in Softwsre Update of updates for the other.
- Open the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and type the following and then press return:
java -version
- Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later:
java version "1.5.0_13"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_13-b05-241)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_13-121, mixed mode, sharing)
- Mac OS X 10.5.8 :
java version "1.5.0_28"
Java(TM) 2 Runtime Environment, Standard Edition (build 1.5.0_28-b04-382-9M3326)
Java HotSpot(TM) Client VM (build 1.5.0_28-157, mixed mode, sharing)
- Mac OS X 10.6.7 or later:
- Mac OS X 10.4.10 or later:
[edit] Check for a corrupt Java installation
- Check for a corrupt Java installation
- Create a plain-text file called Test.java and put the following lines in it, saving afterwards:
- import java.awt.*; public class Test extends Panel { public void paint(Graphics g) { Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D)g; g2.setColor(Color.black); Font font = new Font("Arial", Font.PLAIN, 12); g2.setFont(font); g2.drawString("Java works", 100, 100); } public static void main(String[] args) { Frame f = new Frame(); Test p = new Test(); f.add(p); f.setSize(500, 500); f.show(); } }
- Open the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app) and "cd" to the folder that you put the Test.java file in.
- Compile the Test.java file using the following terminal command:
javac Test.java
- Run the compiled program with the version of Java you are using with NeoOffice by using the following terminal command:
- Java 1.5.0 (default on Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5):
/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5.0/Commands/java -classpath . Test
- Java 1.6.0 (default on Mac OS X 10.6):
/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Commands/java -classpath . Test
- Java 1.5.0 (default on Mac OS X 10.4 and 10.5):
- If a blank window appears when you run the program, then you know that Java is working. [1]
- Create a plain-text file called Test.java and put the following lines in it, saving afterwards:
[edit] Remove incompatible Java extensions
- You have installed a Java extension in one of the following folders and it is messing up your JVM [2]:
- ~/Library/Java/Extensions/
- /Library/Java/Extensions/
- /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.6.0/Home/lib/ext/
- /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/1.5.0/Home/lib/ext/
- Remove the offending extension and try launching NeoOffice again (N.B.: NeoOffice tries to prevent extensions in the first two directories from loading, but the last two also contain key files for the JVM and its contents cannot be forced not to load).
[edit] Check for a non-standard Java installation
- Many sites on the Internet recommend non-standard methods (hacks) of changing the default Java version for Mac OS X or provide instructions for installing unsupported Java versions on different versions of Mac OS X. Although these hacks may work fine for simple, command-line Java applications, complex applications and those which use Apple's Mac-specific UI classes (such as NeoOffice) will usually break.
- Ensure that you have not manually changed the symlinks within /System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Versions/ (to change the default Java version in Mac OS X, use the General tab of /Applications/Utilities/Java Preferences.app instead).
- Ensure that you have not installed Java 1.5 from Mac OS X 10.5 on Mac OS X 10.6, as this will cause NeoOffice to crash at startup.
[edit] Remove 24Uemail scripting addition
- The 24Uemail scripting addition has been reported to cause Java problems; remove it from your user's ~/Library/ScriptingAdditions folder.
[edit] Check for corrupted Java Shared Archive
- Java Shared Archive corrupted (would this be detected by the above?)
- Often caused by some 10.3.x update; Apple issued another update to fix it (but other causes, too; Terry had a potential solution for them)
[edit] Font-Related Troubleshooting
[edit] Disable corrupt fonts
- This is usually caused by a corrupt font that hangs or crashes Apple's text layout routines (e.g. Vivaldi, DejaVu Sans Extra Light); check for a corrupt font and disable this font via Font Book
- Mac OS X 10.3.x: Use FontDoctor™ (demo mode)
- Mac OS X 10.4.x: Use Font Book:
- Select all your fonts in Font Book
- In the File menu, select Validate Fonts
- Select Warnings in the drop-down menu while Font Book operates
- Then check the fonts you would like to delete and click Delete selected fonts
- Mac OS X 10.5.x and up: Use Font Book:
- Select all your fonts in Font Book
- In the File menu, select Validate Fonts
- Select Warnings in the drop-down menu when Font Book has completed its scan
- Then check the fonts you would like to delete and click Remove Checked
- You should remove all fonts that are flagged with errors, as they will likely lead to crashes; you may be able to resolve some problems listed as warnings, such as duplicate fonts, without needing to delete the fonts. When in doubt, however, removing fonts is the safest choice.
[edit] Check for duplicate fonts
- Use Font Book to resolve duplicates
- Scan the list of fonts for a font that has a bullet (•) to the right of it
- Select any fonts with the bullet
- Choose Resolve Duplicates from the Edit menu
[edit] Check the number of fonts installed
- If you have a large number of fonts installed, NeoOffice will be slow to launch or slow to use (see this section of the Installation Issues article)
- Disable fonts you are not using
- Turn off Show preview of fonts in the preferences
- Choose Preferences… from the NeoOffice menu
- Select View in the NeoOffice section of the preference tree
- In the Font Lists section, un-check the box next to Show preview of fonts
[edit] Check for OpenOffice.org 2
- OpenOffice.org 2.x by default creates converted copies of all of your installed Mac fonts. Because these fonts are stored inside an application bundle in OpenOffice.org 2.x, all of the duplicate fonts are loaded by the Apple Type Server (ATS) process and made available to Mac OS X applications. This doubles the number of installed fonts, and these duplicate fonts seriously degrade the performance of NeoOffice, may cause fonts to display incorrectly, and may even cause crashes.
- Do not use the standard OpenOffice.org 2.x .app package; use Start OpenOffice.org and the "stand-alone" OpenOffice.org 2.x instead (may not fix it?)
- After using OpenOffice.org 2.x, reboot your Mac before using NeoOffice to clear the extra fonts from ATS
[edit] Check for the Tahoma font
- If NeoOffice dialogs or windows appear without any text in them (like this), you have probably experienced a bug caused by the "Tahoma" font included with Office 2004.
- Deactivate or remove the font and windows will appear normally. [3]


text:
|Hostess Gift Set (you choose patterns) by CityChicCountryMouse
Here's the thing that always gets me. Our family does a gift exchange and there are mostly men in the family. Which means that every year, instead of getting to purchase some of these lovely handmade things, I instead have to go buy tools, dress shirts, or Home Depot gift cards. A girl can only buy so many boy things before she goes crazy. So this is my reprieve!
Need help getting those gifts to look even half as good as the ones you see on Pinterest? I found this sweet Etsy shop called Kawaii Goodies that has everything from baker's twine (an extra-chunky version I've not seen before) to rhinestone ribbon (YES PLEASE!!!) to washi tape to cute "handmade with love" stickers. For my own "DIY" version, I have some of those little doilies which I will be using in combination with baker's twine and various ribbons for wrapping some of my gifts. I also have some tulle ribbon in pale pink that I purchased years ago for one of my daughter's birthday party decor, but it has come in so handy as ribbon on wrapped packages. It's different and makes the gift seem extra special.
Gypsya is a shop that is new to me, although judging from all their positive press from other high-profile blogs and shops (anthropolgie sound familiar, anyone?) it's been around a while. I stumbled onto this shop while searching for organic bedding on Etsy. I've absolutely fallen in love with her textiles. If I could, I would re-do my girls' bedroom in white and use her blankets (#2 and #8) for a big pop of color. Then, I would get her animals duvet cover (#4 or #6) for my sons bedroom. At the risk of seeming creepy, I'd go even further and would wear her scarves (#3 and #5) while carrying her purse (#7) while creating a masterpiece using her homemade watercolor paints, made from flowers! (#1).
This is the part where I have to sheepishly admit I just purchased two of her lovely pillow covers (#9) when she had a Facebook sale. They have arrived and are lovely and happy and are just waiting for pillow inserts. Where have you been all my life, Gypsya?


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One alleged e-book colluder down, two more to go. Pearson-owned Penguin Group has decided to go ahead and settle with the US Department of Justice over its role in allegedly conspiring with Apple and other e-book publishers to raise prices after the launch of the iPad and iBookstore in 2010. The company did so for its own good—Penguin is trying to merge with another publisher, Random House—leaving only Apple and Macmillan to fight the DoJ.
The DoJ's case was filed against Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, Penguin, and Simon & Schuster in April of this year, with the DoJ accusing the publishers of engaging in an "ongoing conspiracy" to get e-book customers to pay more for their books. The accusation hinged upon the publishers' decision to collectively move to an agency pricing model—where they get to set the price and the retailer takes a cut—from Amazon's traditional wholesale model, which allows the retailer to sell at whatever price it deems appropriate.
Although the agency model itself is not illegal, the DoJ believed the publishers colluded to put pressure on Amazon (and other retailers) to switch to the agency model as well, thereby raising e-book prices.
Most of the publishers agreed to settle immediately, with Macmillan, Apple, and Penguin holding out. Now, however, Penguin is joining the ranks of those who have settled in hopes of moving forward with its proposed merger with Random House—apparently despite its continued disagreement with the suit.
"Penguin continues to believe that the agency pricing model has encouraged competition among distributors of both eBooks and eBook readers and, in the company's view, continues to operate in the interest of consumers and author," Penguin said in a statement. "But it is also in everyone's interests that the proposed Penguin Random House company should begin life with a clean sheet of paper."
The other publishers have already begun issuing refunds to some affected customers who bought e-books at a higher price here in the US. Meanwhile, the European Commission announced last week that it had reached an agreement with Apple and four publishers to modify their existing agreements and allow other retailers to discount their e-books for two years.


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Dressup Kate Hudson 2
Nume: Kate Garry Hudson
Profesie: actress
Dată de naștere: april 19, 1979
Daughter of Bill Hudson and Goldie Hawn. Raised by Kurt Russell, Goldie Hawn's longtime partner. Named one of the '50 Most Beautiful People in the World' by People Magazine. Turned down the part of Peter Parker's girlfriend Mary Jane Watson in Spider-Man for the role of Ethne Eustace in The Four Feathers. As children, her brother Oliver tormented her by nicknaming her "Hammerhead" (as in hammerhead shark).


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Swithin Lui on proper incentives, optimism and mankind's second chance on climate change
A: During the peak of the Occupy movement, I was drawn to Carrotmob for their philosophy in creating positive change. Instead of threatening power holders with boycotts or other negative campaigning strategies, Carrotmob gives them proper incentives that reward green behavior. I also believe that businesses hold great influence in shifting society away from unsustainable practices and the fossil fuel industry; it was a perfect fit.
Q: Why do you Carrotmob?
A: I Carrotmob because one day in the future, when humanity lives in zero waste municipalities and power grids not only distribute energy but collect it from windy mountain peaks and waves crashing in the Pacific, historians will study where it all started. They will find, at some point, that in the beginning of the 21st century a little niche was created in campaigning for a sustainable future.
It started with a small business on the west coast of the US before spreading like napalm around the nation and then around the globe, catching human conscience on fire with the desire to do what is good, right and necessary for us as a collective people. Somewhere along the timeline of humanity, Carrotmob will have been an optimistic and revolutionary statement in the complex, epic story of how mankind took that all-important second chance and saved themselves from an impending climate change event-horizon.
Q: What's your favorite part of a campaign?
A: The most exciting part for me was after we had found our winning business and the winning bid. Finding fun and creative ways to advertise with your team is always a joy. I remember we split up into groups of two, armed with posters, flyers and chalk, and would often race each other through parts of campus and town seeing who could finish the fastest or who could create the most artistic chalk mural. The event date was a blast, seeing all your friends, mentors and engaged citizens coming to support the movement. And the fact that our team was awarded and recognized at the Sustainability Awards ceremony at CU Boulder was just the frosting on the cake.


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Strikeforce lightweight contender Jorge Gurgel (14-7 MMA, 2-2 SF) will return to action on Aug. 12.
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt today announced his intentions via Twitter. His opponent for the matchup has yet to be determined.
Gurgel is expected to compete on the main card of the as-yet-unannounced Strikeforce Challengers 18, which MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) reported Wednesday morning will take place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.
Gurgel fights for the first time since a March submission win over Billy Vaughan at "Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson." The much-needed result snapped a two-fight losing streak for Gurgel, who had dropped back-to-back outing to K.J. Noons and Billy Evangelista.
Gurgel competes in Las Vegas for the first time since a November 2008 loss to Aaron Riley at UFC 91. Gurgel was released from the promotion following the defeat, ending the Brazilian's octagon run after seven fights and a 3-4 record.
For the latest on Strikeforce Challengers 18, stay tuned to the MMA Rumors section of MMAjunkie.com.
(Pictured: Jorge Gurgel)


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Ubuntu lost sight of their main goal when they decided to go so far away from their base of Debian. Their main goal was an up to date Debian with the latest Gnome every 6 months. Then because they judged 3.0 crappy, they decided to go in another direction, which is actually more of a waste of time. At least Gnome had a valid reason for being created when KDE was already out there. Different strokes for different folks I guess.
But did you also take into account that the port to m68k architecture makes things more stable and better code because it has to be compilable across multiple architectures? Yeah, that's a waste too.
Besides, you keep focusing on "Ported to Amiga." when it's actually a port for m68k, which means anything that uses the m68k platform can utilize Debian.


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When you grow a crop for market, it makes you a producer. When you market a crop, however, it makes you a business partner.
In a panel discussion on alternatives to marketing North Carolina commodities at the Joint Conferences of the North Carolina Corn, Small Grains and Soybean associations recently, Wade Hubers challenged farmers to be "more proactive in marketing grain. Farmers need to be adamant about price."
Other panelists discussed alternative marketing opportunities.
A proactive marketing stance, says the Hyde County, N.C., farmer, means having a plan or a strategy and then a fall back plan. "Most of the time, we just hope for the best."
A marketing plan involves "knowing the numbers," Hubers says. For example, ending corn stocks are the lowest they've been in 28 years. "All those numbers, including USDA reports, give you information to use down the road."
Many options exist for the grain producer: Forward contracts, put options, pools or storage on farm, to name a few. "We need to decide how to use them and price and manage our risks," Hubers says.
For example, a cash contract puts a floor under the market when prices are high.
Most marketing strategies require time and money. Hubers called on lending institutions, grain buyers and merchandisers to help growers. "Grain buyers and merchandisers can help by combining an option with a cash contract to help manage risks."
He recommends thinking of marketing costs as another item in the budget. "It's just like crop insurance," he says. "It's difficult to spend it, because if you don't use it, you won't ever see it."
Ultimately, "it's our responsibility to insure ourselves a profit," Hubers says.
Don't be afraid to ask for help. Consider hiring a marketing consultant. "Ask your lender to help you," Hubers says. "Ask buyers to be creative."
A marketing strategy prevents you from being seriously wrong in the markets.
"Make it a goal to get in the top one-third of the price range," Hubers told the producers.
Other speakers urged growers to look at alternatives.
Braswell Milling Company of Nashville, N.C., has had success in the organic egg business. "We have a need to grow this business 20 percent in 2004," says Russ Powell of Braswell Milling Company.
The company uses 20,000 tons of certified organic feed each year. "We want to buy grain here in North Carolina," Powell says. Few North Carolina farmers, however, grow organic grain crops.
He says the company pays producers extra for soybeans and corn during the 3-year transition period to organic production. Organic soybeans are now in the $15-$16 per bushel range. "Organic beans could be in the $20 per bushel range by summer. Organic corn is $5.25 and could be $6 a bushel by summer.
"We hope farmers will have an interest in organic products," Powell says.
Dennis Tucker of Archer-Daniels-Midland, says flour consumption is down to 137 pounds per person from 146 pounds per person a year ago. He says the protein-based Atkins diet is largely to blame. "The Atkins diet has affected milling."
He, too, says organic production is an alternative for producers. Organic soft red wheat is currently bringing about $6 a bushel, compared with $3.25 for conventionally grown soft red wheat. Wheat for straw is also a growing market.
He encouraged producers to "be nimble and keep your ears open to where the niche markets are."
Sybil Bullard of J.R. Jones Grain Inc. suggests the development of a grain specifically for livestock feed.


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THE SQL Server Blog Spot on the Web
One of my biggest laments about being a SQL Server developer is that the tools provided by Microsoft to do our thang compare woefully to the feature rich, (largely) bug-free, "it-just-works" impression that one gets from seeing the tools available to "other" developers in the Microsoft ecosystem (I'm thinking of our appdev brethren here, the ones that use C#, Javascript, and all that jazz). I could write a long blog post complaining about this (and perhaps one day I will) but in this blog post I want to shine a light on a tool called Linqpad.
Linqpad enables you to issues queries written in LINQ against a database and in that respect is an alternative to SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). What is LINQ? It stands for Language Integrated Query and is a technology that Microsoft brought out a few years ago for writing queries inside .Net code. The great thing about Linqpad is that it enables one to write LINQ queries without having to know anything about .Net.
In the screenshots below I show a simple query against a database but written two ways, one using T-SQL that anyone reading this blog post will likely know, and one using LINQ:
Some things to notice here. The two queries look very similar in that they contain the same keywords {SELECT, FROM}. Second thing to notice is that the FROM clause comes before the SELECT clause and if you know anything about the logical order of execution of a SELECT query you'll realise that this intuitively makes sense. Lastly the table is called [dbo].[BulletinLine] but in the LINQ query its called [BulletinLines], its been pluralised (a convention that is common to .Net developers) and there's no [dbo] prefix. Other than those things its intuitively clear that these two queries are doing exactly the same thing and its worth pointing out that under the covers the LINQ query is converted into a T-SQL query.
So OK, if you accept that LINQ can do pretty much anything that a T-SQL SELECT query can do the next obvious question is "Why should I bother when T-SQL already does what I need?" The answer, in a word, is productivity. Or, to put it another way, intellisense works properly. Let's say for example I want to select a subset of all the columns, intellisense comes to our aid:
One might well retort "well that works in SSMS as well" but in my experience intellisense in SSMS is, at best, flaky. In some circumstances it simply doesn't work and the worst part of this is that its often inexplicable as to why. (In case you can't tell, intellisense in SSMS drives me up the wall and I'm sure I'm not the only one.)
Some other nice things about LINQ. Here's the equivalent of a WHERE clause to filter on [BulletinId]=6:
If you don't know LINQ then (in my opinion) its not intuitively obvious what's going on here. What the above query is doing can effectively be described as:
Take the collection of BulletinLines, filter in WHERE BulletinId equals 6
Take the collection of BulletinLines, filter in WHERE BulletinId equals 6
Where this gets really powerful is the ability to stack these things up like so:
Take the collection of BulletinLines, filter in WHERE BulletinId equals 6. From the resultant collection filter in WHERE Colour="White"
Take the collection of BulletinLines, filter in WHERE BulletinId equals 6. From the resultant collection filter in WHERE Colour="White"
If we only want the top 3:
Take the collection of BulletinLines, filter in WHERE BulletinId equals 6. From the resultant collection filter in WHERE Colour="White". From the resultant collection take the first 3
Take the collection of BulletinLines, filter in WHERE BulletinId equals 6. From the resultant collection filter in WHERE Colour="White". From the resultant collection take the first 3
I love how expressive this is and when you get fully conversant with LINQ its wonderfully intuitive too. If I haven't convinced then, well, that's OK. If you're not convinced but do want to be convinced then check out Why LINQ beats SQL. The overriding argument there is "LINQ is in most cases a significantly more productive querying language than SQL". Make sure you check out the section entitled "Associations" too which demonstrates how you can filter based on what is known about an entity in other tables, when you grok what's going on there you'll realise the power that LINQ brings.
If you want to give this a go then go and download Linqpad now from http://www.linqpad.net/. Its free however some of the more advanced features (such as intellisense) only light up when you pay for the pro or premium edition which are priced at $39 & $58 respectively for a perpetual license, a bit more than the app generation are used to paying but hardly bank-breaking either.
Are any other SQL developers out there using Linqpad? Please share your experiences in the comments below, I'd really like to read them.
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Actually started using it within the last month - mostly due to needing to learn LINQ/Lambda for BIML.
Nice Blog. I like Linq for some of the same reasons. Biggest downfall, IMHO, compared to T-SQL is what some may consider a benefit - required type-safe language operators. This makes it so you cannot dynamically sort and filter using strings in OrderBy and Where methods.
A possible solution appears to have been dropped and/or left incomplete by MSFT... Ling Dynamic Query Library...
I use this all the time. One of the really nice features is that you can use Lambda expressions. In your example you wrote "from x in BulletinLines select x". If you did this with a lambda, you can just write "BulletinLines" and hit F5. If you wanted the top 3, then its just BulletinLines.Take(3). No need to write everything else. Makes query writing even easier.
Hi Nick,
Thanks for the comment. Yeah, I did think about mentioning that however I wanted to keep the FROM & SELECT keywords so that it looks familiar to SQL devs. Baby steps, y'know.
My company already provides me with a premium edition of Visual Studio from MSDN, is there a quick way take advantage of LINQ within there similar to Linqpad?


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Poo Stance wrote:The footage from the trailing hand is way better than leading hand I reckon. Awesome vid tho. Loving the variety of angles and shots you put in. Was expecting the same old angle of the same mushy wave looped for 3-4mins, but well liked that. Something to be said for not mounting the cam on your board.
Think if you lick the lens you don't get drops on it.
Nice tunes too
Yes, I would agree. Some bits made me a bit queasy though! I'm finding the cam on the board footage I get is starting to look repetitive to me which is why I've been thinking about changing method however when I wrist mounted my old ATC2k I found the surf session was spoilt by thinking about the camera too much - you can just forget about a board mounted camera (until you slice your nose on it of course ).


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OTTAWA — Ottawa's Ben Bishop stood tall against the Rangers on Thursday night.
OTTAWA — Ottawa's Ben Bishop stood tall against the Rangers on Thursday night.
The Senators' 6-foot-7 goaltender was visibly pleased after making 24 saves to earn his second NHL shutout with a 3-0 victory over the Rangers.
"It's nice when you get the win, especially against a good team like that which has a lot of good players," said Bishop. "I thought the guys in front of me played unbelievable and they kept a lot of their shots to the outside and also scored a couple of goals."
Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist was slumped in his locker room stall after a 26-save effort.
"I don't know what to say. I have a few thoughts but I don't think it's going to help our group right now. Bottom line is it's not good enough and we're not going to make it if .." said Lundqvist, trailing off before continuing. "We need everybody right now and we need top plays and smart plays for 60 minutes.
"We're playing teams that are working really hard and we have to match it. If we're not matching it we're not going to win."
Andre Benoit, Guillaume Latendresse and Colin Greening scored for Ottawa, while Mika Zibanejad and Chris Neil chipped in with two assists apiece.
The Rangers applied heavy pressure while trailing 1-0 midway through the third period but could not get the puck past Bishop. The Ottawa goaltender was unflappable, throwing his body in front of a Ryan McDonagh shot and using the shaft of his stick to block another.
"I realized I was in big trouble and I kind of thought that (McDonagh) had that short side so at the last second I dove over there and got a piece of it," Bishop said.
When the Senators finally relieved the pressure after about a minute, they went down ice and Latendresse beat Lundqvist with a low shot from the faceoff circle. Greening scored into an empty net with just over two minutes to play.
"That's something the coach talks about, that when a team puts pressure, just settle down, don't panic and get to your position and good things will happen," Latendresse said. "They put a lot of pressure in the third and I thought they played well, so we were happy that goal went in, but it could have come from anyone else the way we played.
"Everybody played pretty well."
The Senators scored the only goal of the opening two periods when Benoit let loose a point shot that found the back of the net with Anton Stralman in the penalty box for tripping.
Lundqvist was visibly upset with McDonagh immediately following the goal. Not only did Lundqvist not see the shot, but he took an elbow to the head from his defenseman just before it went in.
McDonagh was in between Lundqvist and Neil battling for position in front of the net. Neil won that battle to help the Senators take a 1-0 lead and leave Lundqvist frustrated.
"It was such a big goal in the game and it's so important for us to get it done on the (penalty kill) and we're not," Lundqvist said. "We tried to get out of the period with a tie game and instead they get that one. I talked about it the other night that if we're losing special teams (battles) we'll have a tough time winning games. It's really disappointing and I'm going to leave it at that."
With the Islanders' shootout win over Philadelphia on Thursday, the Rangers fell into a tie with the Isles for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Senators are fifth in the East, two points back of Boston.


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Weekend Cook and Tell: Holiday Food Gifting
Welcome to our Weekend Cook and Tell where each Wednesday we turn the pages of the food sections of various national newspapers in search of inspiration for a weekend cooking project. We hope you'll cook along with us and share your experiences, recipes, and photos here.
It's that magical time of year again. You know, the time when we ponder long and hard what to gift our friends, family, and office-mates. Here in the SE office, we do a cookie swap. It's a great way to give a gift that demonstrates care, your personal taste, and make a belly happy. When it comes to food gifting, I personally think of the many fruit cakes that have come my way (my aunt possessed a deep love for fruitcake).
Jame Touzalin, of The Washington Post, speaks to the ridicule the faithful fruitcake has endured. For many, the fruitcake is destined for the trash or as a temporary brick/doorstop. You can even watch video of it being destroyed. Touzalin then goes on to propose "7 ways to fix fruitcake's image problem." The result is a gift-giving miracle. A fruitcake for all to be excited about receiving.
What are your favorite holiday food gifts? And what do you plan on gifting this year?
Share your favorite holiday food gifts on Photograzing (make sure to include "Weekend Cook and Tell" in your submission title) and tell us about your recipes here! If you'd like to blog the experience, please leave a link in the comments below. You can now also pin your creation on your Pinterest board as well. Please use the hashtag, #cookandtell, and tag us, @Serious Eats in your pin's text.
We'll post a round-up of your ideas, recipes, and experiences the following Wednesday, December 12th.
Comments are closed
The Talk forum is closed - check out our Reddit, Facebook, and Twitter accounts instead.


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About Our Academy
This section contains a wide variety of information and resources that we hope you will find useful. Use the links on the right of the page to navigate your way around. If there is information or resources that you would like to have available on our website then we would be very pleased to hear from you with your suggestion.


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It's hard to believe it has been seven whole years since the passing of John Peel. Naturally, there has been a bunch of stuff across the internet to remember the man. Obviously, there's a Twitter hashtag, which is #keepingitpeel, more found here. Here's the official Keeping It Peel website, too, where there's much, much more stuff around Peel himself, including a lovely podcast.
To give you a better idea, a statement on the website reads:
Today (October 25th) is a day designated for bloggers, tweeters, facebookers… and for you, who tuned in to Radio 1 every night to hear John Peel's dulcet tones. Also to hear some sometimes strange noises coming out of your radio. On this day – October 25th – we commemorate and celebrate the memory of one the most influential DJ's who ever was. How we do that is by posting on Facebook or writing a blog, or tweeting a link (using the hashtag #keepingitpeel) with your favourite Peel Session track.
In addition to all this, there is the upcoming John Peel lecture, which takes place on Monday, October 31 at the Quays Theatre, The Lowry in Salford. This year it is being given by Pete Townshend, who is asking/answering the question "Can John Peelism survive the Internet?". We've got a preview for that by Kevin EG Perry coming up, but in the meantime more information can be found here.
A couple of years ago we posted an extensive list of playlists of the Festive Fifties, for Spotify. Get that here and/or discuss Peel in this thread.
Of course there was the music. But here's one of my personal favourite things he ever did: it's him talking about beards on his Room 101 appearance some time ago. Click here to watch it.


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Jones was taken to hospital following the first-half incident, although he was able to return to the ground and link up with the rest of his team-mates after United's 2-1 defeat.
"Phil is okay," said United manager David Moyes. "He has been checked at the hospital.
"He was out for a little while. I saw him falling back and his head going back on the grass. He got up but when we went to treat him he lost consciousness for a while.
"The medical team did all the right things. They got him to hospital but he is fine. It looks like concussion. He should be okay."
Jones' exit followed that of central defensive partner Jonny Evans, who suffered a calf injury as the bad luck that has dogged Moyes throughout his short time at Old Trafford surfaced again.
Even the details of a first ever Premier League defeat to Stoke, and a first loss at the Britannia Stadium, showed how ill fortune has attached itself to the Scot given Charlie Adam's opener came courtesy of a massive deflection off Michael Carrick.
Robin van Persie equalised early in the second half, only for Adam to seal victory with an exquisite 20-yard strike.
"I thought we were the better team," said Moyes.
"We got to the byline eight, nine, 10 times but the ball back never picked someone out in the box. That was our undoing.
"In the end we lose to a free-kick from 30 yards with a massive deflection and a worldy (a world-class strike)."
The result deals a massive blow to United's chances of qualifying for next season's Champions League.
If Liverpool beat West Brom on Sunday, Moyes' team will be nine points adrift of fourth spot and seemingly incapable of stringing the results together required to force their way up the table.
They have now lost eight times this season.
And after West Brom, Everton and Newcastle all broke long sequences without winning at Old Trafford, Stoke have now done it on home soil against United.
The last time they defeated United in a league game was on Boxing Day 1984, so long ago the match was played at the Victoria Ground and current Stoke boss Mark Hughes was a 20-year-old striker for the Red Devils.
"I can't remember that one," said Welshman Hughes.
"The one I do remember was in the League Cup (in 1993). I lost at the Victoria Ground, which tells you how long ago that was.
"I was at fault for one of the goals."
The latest success was more remarkable for the fact Stoke had fallen into the bottom three at kick-off, only to take a massive leap out.
"At the start of proceedings we were in the relegation zone," said Hughes.
"We have ended up 11th. That tells you how crazy the league is at the moment."


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Betty White Pens 'If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't)'
'Golden Girl' actress reflections on life and her enduring career.
May 3, 2011 -- Betty White's name is synonymous with the popular 1980s sitcom "The Golden Girls," but the the 89-year-old actress is enjoying a tremendous resurgence in popularity and her career is hotter than ever.
The Hollywood funnywoman and seven-time Emmy Award winner also is an author and in her new book -- "If You Ask Me (And Of Course You Won't)" -- she looks at life through the lens of her time in show business. White shares her thoughts on life's most important topics with her customary humor.
Read an excerpt from "If You Ask Me" below, then check out some other books in the "GMA" library.
One thing they don't tell you about growing old— you don't feel old, you just feel like yourself. And it's true. I don't feel eighty-nine years old. I simply am eighty-nine years old.
If I didn't feel so well, I might have a different philosophy altogether.
But I fall into traps sometimes.
Let's say I meet someone I find attractive. I have to keep reminding myself of how old I am, because I don't feel like I'm that old. I fight the urge to flirt and try to shape up. No fool like an old fool.
But I don't get depressed as the number climbs. Perhaps because I don't fear death. To some it is such a bête noire that it ruins some of the good time they have left.
Estelle Getty was so afraid of dying that the writers on The Golden Girls couldn't put a dead joke in the script. This was early on—long before she ever got ill.
Again, I'm quoting my mother, but her take on the subject I thought was great. She said we know so much and can discover so much more, but what no one knows for sure is what exactly happens when we pass on. When we'd lose someone we would grieve, of course, but she would say, "Now he knows the secret." Somehow that helped the pain for me.
And now—she knows the secret.
If you've ever lost a loved one, or witnessed it, you can't help but see that the body is an envelope for the letter.
My friends kid me that when it happens to me, Allen's going to be up there waiting for me and probably my mom and dad. That's my family. But before I can get to them I'm going to have to wade through Booty and Binky and Bob and Panda and Kitta and all my pets through the years—
Picturing that always starts me laughing.
In show business, the mirror obviously plays a big part in one's life, but early on—long before I started working—my beloved mother taught me another role the mirror plays. I can still hear her:
"Bets, you can lie to anyone in the world and even get away with it, perhaps, but when you are alone and look into your own eyes in the mirror, you can't sidestep the truth. Always be sure you can meet those eyes directly. Otherwise, it's big trouble, my girl."
It may sound like a cliché, I realize, but oh, it's so true. On rare occasions I have tried to prove my mom wrong. I stare back at my reflection and try to rationalize my way out of something, but it never works. Those eyes in the looking glass take on a life of their own.
It still works, Mom. Even after all these years.
Several times throughout this opus, I mention how much I love this business I'm in. And I mean every word of it.
But for all the things I enjoy about it, if ever I'm asked if there's something I don't like, the answer is a resounding Yes.
Red-carpet events.
Don't get me wrong. When I'm at home watching television, I love seeing who's there and what they're wearing. But when you're the walkee, it can be an absolute nightmare.
In real life, you step out of the car and immediately you're struck blind and deaf as you're greeted by a line of photographers armed with flash cameras and microphone- wielding television reporters, three deep, all shouting at you.
Over here!
Betty, look here!
Look up, Betty!
Mrs. Ludden! (They know that will get my attention!)
With all the flashing lights and the noise, you tend to lose your balance. All of a sudden, you're staggering and you're sure people are thinking, Oh, she's had a few! The lights are glaring and the noise is horrendous, but you try to be as polite as possible, because these aren't villains, they're just people trying to do their jobs.
Sometimes the function has somebody who takes you down the carpet. For instance, TV Land will send someone if the four of us are doing the event. But always, I also have Jeff walking behind me, at the edge of the media zone, off the red carpet. Riding shotgun, which I need.
Historically, premieres have always had these redcarpet events. But the process has taken on new proportions of late. Every event has a system of protocol, and the number of stars and reporters and photographers and media outlets just seems to grow and grow.
After more than thirty hours a week on live television for four years, there were those who thought of me as sickeningly sweet. They'd say, "She'll make your teeth fall out!" But if we met at a party, they would tell me, "Oh, you're not as bad as I thought you were!"
I was certainly typecast as icky sweet on Life with Elizabeth and even Hollywood on Television. But then Sue Ann Nivens came along and changed the whole picture.
It feels like everyone's there with a microphone. And I know a lot of them—we do interviews all through the year. So as you're stumbling around, you're trying to talk to all sorts of different people. Usually a representative from the project (whatever project it may be) guides you to various reporters along the way—likely, they mix and match us along the way, to be fair to all the outlets. But you can't really hear what they're saying, given all the noise, so you just keep talking and hope you're making some kind of sense. It's all seat-of-the-pants.
You can't resent it—it's a necessary evil to promote a project. It's a hazard one just has to get over. It's not my favorite part of my job. Have you noticed?
I would rather go to the dentist for a root canal.
The neighborhood nymphomaniac on The Mary Tyler Moore Show was a surprise to everyone (including me)! The character was written as "an icky-sweet Betty White type."
The casting director, Ethel Winant, said, "Why not get Betty White?" But the executives said they couldn't have me read for the role because Mary and I were best friends, and it might make it awkward for Mary if it didn't work out.
As an actor, you don't get every role you try out for, so it wouldn't have bothered our friendship at all, but they didn't know that.
Well, I guess they couldn't find anybody sickeningly sweet enough, so they finally called me one Saturday morning and explained the part of the Happy Homemaker and asked, "Would you do it?"
Of course I said I'd be thrilled!
So I called Mary and said, "Guess who's doing your show next week?"
She said, "Who?"
I said, "Me."
She said, "Oh, no, you're not! I have veto power!"
She was kidding, of course.


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A mortae, also referred to as a cavern implement, was a type of mining tool that was used by Ardanan Troglytes for mining zenite.
Aware of the arrival of the USS Enterprise to Ardana in 2269, the Disrupters (malcontent Troglytes) began "despoiling" the cloud city of Stratos by, as in one instance, placing a mortae into a work of art located the council gallery. In explaining to Enterprise officers, James T. Kirk and Spock, why anyone would defile a work of art, the Ardanan high advisor, Plasus, explained that art meant nothing to the Disrupters, and that the mortae was "the only form" that they understood. A short time later, two sentinels discovered an non-permitted Troglyte attempting to leave the city. Plasus confronted the Troglyte with the mortae used to damage the artwork, asking him if it was his.
Until the arrival of the Enterprise, mortaes and thongs were the only weapons the Disrupters had to use to bargain with the Stratos city-dwellers. Vanna, one of the more intelligent Troglyte-Disruptors, nearly changed that when she temporarily acquired Kirk's Starfleet type 2 phaser, after having taken him hostage. This acquisition was short lived, however, because Kirk was able to quickly reacquire it from her.
After succumbing to the effects of zenite gas, Plasus challenged Kirk to hand-to-hand combat, while both were trapped in the caverns, when he asked Kirk if he was "as brave with mortae as [he was] with a phaser?" As Kirk threw his phaser aside, he stated "both will kill," before taking on Plasus's challenge. (TOS: "The Cloud Minders")


text: Ken Jeong: $5 Million for 'Hangover III' 7:00 AM PDT 5/22/2013 by Tatiana Siegel FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Getty Images Ken Jeong Hangover 3 - P 2013 The actor and former doctor reveals how his career took off and his audition with Todd Phillips: "I really improvised a lot. … I remember Todd saying: 'This guy is insane. I must hire him.' " This story first appeared in the May 31 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. From doctor to struggling stand-up to key part of a $1 billion franchise, Ken Jeong's career arc is nothing but improbable. With the Hangover trilogy ending May 23, the actor has plenty of options. Sources say Jeong pulled down more than $5 million to reprise his role as Mr. Chow in The Hangover Part III -- not too shabby for a former general practitioner who quit the medical profession in his late 30s to pursue comedy. In addition to another season on NBC's Community, Jeong is developing four film projects that could catapult him to leading-man status, including the comedy After Prom (with producer Jason Blumenthal) and indie satire The Clapper that Dito Montiel will direct. "Ever since Hangover, my life went from black-and-white to Technicolor," says Jeong, 43. PHOTOS: 'The Hangover Part III': Exclusive Portraits of Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis Those dark days included years as a stand-up until manager Brett Carducci helped Jeong land his first film role as an obstetrician in Judd Apatow's Knocked Up (2007). That led to an audition for Hangover director Todd Phillips, who saw Jeong in YouTube videos with comic Mike O'Connell. "I really improvised a lot in that audition," recalls Jeong. "I was in character, screaming and yelling. I remember Todd saying: 'This guy is insane. I must hire him.' " Jeong, raised in North Carolina by South Korean immigrant parents, says his four years on Community served as acting grad school. His reps now are focusing on film, with Jeong also mulling two studio comedies and new commercials to follow his well-received Miller Lite ads directed by Peter Berg. And though his character died in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, a Paramount insider says the door is open for a return. Notes Jeong, "I'm kind of humbled and pleasantly surprised and grateful for all of this." ♦♦♦♦♦ VITAL STATS Name: Ken Jeong, 43 Reps: CAA, manager Brett Carducci, attorney Chad Christopher Low point: Years of rejection after quitting a medical practice to pursue comedy. Big break: The scene-stealing role of Mr. Chow in 2009's The Hangover. "From the moment I jumped out naked from that trunk," says Jeong, "everything just changed." Big payday: $5 million-plus for Hangover Part III. FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Tatiana Siegel email@example.com @thr


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There seem to be many hurdles to get ones game onto Xbox, so far I have uncovered:
You need Visual Studio (once your game becomes commercial you cannot use Express - but have to pay for professional). $1000+
- You then buy a XBox to find you also need a harddrive - so buy a Xbox harddrive too. $400
- You need to buy XBox
GoldLIVE subscription. $70(Free)
- You need to buy AppHub Creators Club subscription $100
Then after all that I cannot even find the place on my XBox to download Indie games?!!! Seriously WTF - after doing all this I could have come proficient in WebGL and done it all for free...
Before I go all the way down this path (hole) are there any other hidden hurdels before I can publish my game?
UPDATE: "Indie Games are not available in Australia, due to the requirement for all games to be rated by the Australian Classification Board, and the prohibitive expenses involved."....... im going to have to break something....


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Editor's note: Ed Husain is a senior fellow for Middle Eastern studies at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of "The Islamist." He can be followed on Twitter via @Ed_Husain
(CNN) -- When I visit Jerusalem and the West Bank, I frequently ask young Arabs about their views on Hamas. In almost every discussion, Christians and Muslims alike refuse to label Hamas as a "terrorist" organization. When I raise criticism of Hamas and its targeting of innocent civilians, my comments never register. The responses are some variation of "Israel has taken over our lands and killed thousands of Arab civilians over the years. Hamas is only resisting occupation and fighting for our rights."
I hear similar sentiments in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and even non-Arab Pakistan. Al-Jazeera Arabic gives prominence to the popular Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood cleric Yusuf al-Qaradawi, who has repeatedly called suicide bombings against Israelis not terrorism, but "martyrdom." He argues that since Israelis all serve in the military, they are not civilians. Even children, he despicably argues, are not innocent. They would grow up to serve in the military. Qaradawi is not alone.
I can name tens of Muslim clerics, important formulators of public opinion in a region dominated by religion, that will readily condemn acts of terrorism against the West, but will fall silent when it comes to condemning Hamas or Islamic Jihad. Put simply, support for violent resistance against Israel among Arab and Muslim-majority countries -- including allies of the United States such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, Tunisia -- remains popular.


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Calling all #OJBG darlings: We've got a fun opportunity in store for you! This Wednesday at 6 p.m. EST, Curve Magazine will host a live chat with OJ creator Otessa Ghadar & with cast members from the show. Become a part of the conversation … Continue reading
October 14, 2013
by The OJBG Team
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Dozens of peace activists walked into Des Moines, Iowa, yesterday, following a nearly 200-mile march from Rock Island, Ill. The march ended with a rally at the gate of the Iowa Air National Guard's 132nd Fighter Wing, where drone pilots will soon be trained. The Des Moines Register reported:
"Dozens of protesters walked during each leg of the march, which was organized by the Chicago-based Voices for Creative Nonviolence. The group covered about 15 miles a day, camping and staying in host houses along the way.
"Organizers said the march was also to protest the development of drone technology at the Quad Cities Manufacturing Lab in Rock Island. According to a company brochure, the lab manufactures UAV, or unmanned aerial vehicle, engine components."
Read more here.
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Services set for girl killed in pile-up crash
Sammy Reagan will be laid to rest Friday
Funeral services have been set for a South Lebanon girl killed earlier this week in a massive pile-up crash.
Sammy Reagan was killed Monday when she was struck by a cable median barrier after getting out of a vehicle that had been involved in the pile-up.
The 12-year-old was a sixth grader at Columbia Elementary School, which she attended with her twin brother, Jack, and younger brother, Brian.
Visitation services will be held Thursday from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Rivers Crossing Community Church in Mason.
The funeral services will be held Friday at 3:30 p.m. at Hope Church in Mason.
At least 20 people were hospitalized following the crash, which involved 96 vehicles, but deputies said they all were expected to recover.
A separate crash Monday on Interstate 75 in Turtlecreek Township involved 52 vehicles and sent 10 people to hospitals for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.


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US men, women's basketball teams ready to get to work in Rio
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The U.S. men and women's basketball teams arrived in Rio, spent some time on their luxury cruise ship that will house them for the next 20 days and then the ladies went to work.
"The boatel," a laughing Diana Taurasi said Wednesday. "There's so many different restaurants and places for us to hang out. It's big, but not too big."
Both teams have spent the last few weeks crisscrossing the country on pre-Olympic exhibition tours. They piled up easy victories in those contests, but the travel was starting to get to them.
"When you spend eight nights in five different hotels it's tough to get into a routine," Auriemma said. "Now we're in the same place for a while and can focus on our goal."
The U.S. women had a light practice before speaking to the media Wednesday evening while the men's team had an optional shootaround after arriving on a charter flight from Houston. They will have their first news conference in Rio on Thursday.
It's the second time both teams will be housed on a cruise ship during the Olympics. Taurasi, Sue Bird, Tamika Catchings and Carmelo Anthony — all four-time Olympians — were on those squads.
"I've never been on a cruise," Taurasi joked. "The last time I was on a boat was in 2004 in Athens when we stayed on the Queen Mary. So this has kind of almost been like normal for my Olympic experience."
Winning gold medals has been normal for the American women, who will be trying for a sixth consecutive one in Rio. They've won 41 straight Olympic contests.
"We never take it for granted when we come to the Olympics," three-time gold medalist Sue Bird said.
The men will be attempting to win a third straight gold medal. They went 5-0 on their exhibition tour, averaging 102.8 point and overwhelming their opponents by 43 per game. The road to Rio was easy, but before the team left the U.S., coach Mike Krzyzewski cautioned that it won't be easy when the Olympics tip off.
"The competition is going to get better. I mean, really good," Krzyzewski said.
The men play their first game Saturday against China and the women begin Olympic play Sunday versus Senegal.
"We'll have a chance to get a few days of consistent practice now," said first time Olympian Elena Delle Donne, who made a few headlines when she talked openly about her fiancee Amanda Clifton in an upcoming story in Vogue magazine. "It was great to get some shots up and get our legs under us."
To the reigning WNBA MVP it was no big deal discussing her relationship in the magazine during an interview she said was done several months ago.
"It was just one of those articles where they came into my home, spent a couple days with me and Amanda is a huge part of my life," the reigning WNBA MVP said. "So to leave her out wouldn't have made any sense. It's not a coming out article or anything. I've been with her for a very long time now and people who are close to me know that."
Delle Donne said she and Clifton got engaged on June 2.
"I don't plan on having our relationship out in the public and all this media on it," Delle Donne said, "but obviously there's excitement right now because people see it for the first time."
AP Basketball Writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this story.


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Oh really
Do they really think people will pay for the utter shite that ITV turns out ? ITV haven't made any good programmes since the '70s.
ITV is expected to launch a pay-TV service that'll include a new channel and high definition versions of its current selection. ITV The broadcaster is in talks with BSKYB to supply HD versions of ITV2, ITV3 and ITV 4 as satellite channels, according to yesterday's Sunday Times (behind a paywall so no link love). New CEO …
...even if they are seriously considering pay tv (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/jul/19/freesat-considers-pay-tv).
I doubt ITV as a Freesat partner would be terribly interested in having two differently-encrypted versions of ITVx HD so their long-term commitment to Freesat must be in some doubt if they're pursuing the Sky option.
Given 5's pulling out of terrestrial HD and C4's current HD absence on Freesat, it seems that auntie's going to have two platforms from which there are departures but no arrivals.
Are we speaking of the same ITV that nearly crashed and burned 8-10 years ago for coming up with a pay service that, um, nobody actually wanted?
Are we talking of the same ITV that gets viewers hooked on a good series (a few homegrown, or numerous imports), only to then cancel said series for a stupid excuse like "to reinvigorate our brand"?
Are we talking of the same ITV that showcases the innumerable talents of Mr. Cowell over and over and over...?
Are we talking of the same ITV that believes ... REALLY... long... ... ... pauses ... ... in critical places (Philip Schofield, Dancing on Ice - I'm looking at YOU) cranks up the tension to unbearable levels? It actually has become so silly it is its own cliché, but hey, it's another 45 seconds that they don't have to fill!
Are we talking the same ITV that cares more about its advertisers than its viewers, to the degree of cutting to adverts during critical parts of sporting events, such as, oh, perhaps, during the FINAL lap of the F1?
Are we talking of the same ITV that still, after all these years, has not learned the art of cutting scenes transparently, and sometimes does things as stupid as dubbing an American shouting an obscenity with a Scouser speaking a softer word. Nah, we'd NEVER notice that...
Are we talking of the same ITV that offers "I'm A Celebrity..." Who the hell are those people?
Are we talking of the same ITV that makes programmes like "The nation's billion favourite adverts" which probably cost next to zero to make and fill an oversized chunk of programming time which is, no doubt, preferable to having a Real Idea.
Are we talking of the same ITV whose lovely rousing go-out-on-a-high-note ending of "Britain's Got Talent - Talent Search" is the same predictable thing every frigging time.
Are we talking of the same ITV that is so obsessed with "brand-awareness" that they'll append the same puke-looking end credits to every programme, and not content with that, they'll do older (like, '80s...) programmes the disservice of the pukey-ending.
No, I don't think we are talking of THAT particular ITV, for if we were, I'd stuggle to wonder why people would be interested in a pay version...
I remember watching an American commentator on a Clive James programme back in the late 80s shortly after Sky launched it's 4 channels on the Astra 1A satelite. They were talking about how 4 channels would quickly increase, and there were questions about the level of quality of the programme making.
The commentator (can't remember his name) made the comment "In a few years time, you will begin to realise that Benny Hill is one of your major intellectuals". I think that this has proven to be pretty accurate.
I have no problem with the increase in channels or even if they want to charge for it. If someone really wants to watch the WWE and pay £15 for the privilege, that is their concern. As I am not the slightest bit interested in the football, they can even charge for watching those games as far as I am concerned.
The problem is that BSkyB paid so much for the rights to broadcast football, they couldn't get it all back from those that want to watch. They therefore charged all the other viewers extra (although they denied this). With their tie in with Sky, it was only a short time before ITV would want to move to the same kind of business model as it appears to be successful.
The concept of quality seems to be something that doesn't even get discussed. Expect more stupid game shows, more "reality" programmes, "grittier" (i.e. tackier) soap operas and talk shows that make Jeremy Kyle or Jerry Springer look like Mother Theresa on happy pills.
Fortunately, my TV still comes with an "Off" button - I wonder how long it will be before the TV companies manage to do deal with the manufacturers, so that you can't turn them off?
You will be a good little consumer.
So instead of just "the voting show" we're going to have "the voting channel"... Vote now for the vote you'd like to vote in.
Sorry excuse me a moment... *answers phone* Hello? Yes, this is the smart ass who posted about itv... You loved the vote show? 12 episodes? Sure, not a problem.
Sorry, where was I?
I'd suggest ITV's big problem is nobody actually wants to watch them at all, even for free. As well as haemorrhaging viewers and going even further downmarket - their fall has resulted in lower ad revenues that they need to fix BY PRODUCING PROGRAMMING PEOPLE WANT TO WATCH.
Pay TV channels is missing the point - crap TV is the problem.
No, not kidding, it seems certain folks are really keen on a £1000 + for a HD 'ready' tele where the only decent interesting programmes are by Sir David At' or David Dimbleby . Or maybe watching England being beaten in high spec. picy!
ITV in the last few years after sweeping all that 'messy' Anglia, HTV , STV and the rest into a nice ITV programmes/studios heap now really show how prepared to go the extra mile to cobble things up more by expecting the bloke with the 50" screen over the fireplace - designed to give kneck problems- to pod (uw sorry) pay more of his beer and pizza money on ITV2/3 HD! ok we know BBC3/4 only starts at 7pm and the programmes are really awful - but 'Holiday Showdown' famous for its " I'm not stayin' ere it's a **** hole" comments, (****'s beeped out) and that other programme where one can 'enjoy' watching TV personalities deliberately ****ing (where the ****'s are deliberately kept in), hardly warants high definition !
Between them ITV and BBC have messed up TV and radio in the UK - it would be a brave but sensible government who ended ITV's franchise and BBC charter and said lets first ask the viewer and listener.
No matter how high the definition of a picture of a turd, it is still a picture of a turd. Exciting though, because now there will be more opportunities to watch a wider variety of turds in higher definition - although no doubt trying to use the same amount of bandwidth as the pixelated turd channels.
What's that you say, they want to charge you _extra_ for it?
Most of what ITV 3 & 4 show is repeats of old shows filmed on video. There are no HD versions to show, only scaled versions, which is barely any better than just letting your own TV scale it up for you.
And even the old 60s stuff that was filmed... are they really going to go back to the studios and pay for new HD scans of the same shows which will then get watched by a few tens of thousands of viewers? Unlikely, and if the amount of scratches and general aged condition of the SDTV copies they show of The Persuaders is anything to go by, a real HD copy would look terrible.
It's fine having an HDTV and an HD channel... but if you have nothing to actually show on it that's genuine HDTV, it's all a waste of money.
For the average consumer, the difference between the "worthy" alternative and the bog-standard product is slight, if it exists at all. However, the benefit comes from the nice warm feeling you get when you buy something that's just a little better than what (you think) the unwashed masses get. Even if the benefit is something intangible like a couple of pennies going to a farmer in a dusty country, or the cows getting music played to them while they lactate.
So, no. I doubt there will be any initiative to take rescanned copies of the original material. We'll just be treated to stuff that is upconverted, then compressed, then sent to our tellys, then uncompressed, then squided (technical term) about some more for overscan, then displayed with a little channel logo on the screen. Meanwhile, the story, characters and dialog will be exactly the same as on any other TV of any other size, technology, shape or screen type. Just as it has been every other time we've seen that particular episode of whatever it was, at any time in the past 40 or more years.
Whatever ITV do, the Beeb always seem to copy. Whether that's because they feel the need to chase audiences or just to honk them off is difficult to say. Though my money's on the latter, since the beeb seem to think it's all a big game anyway.
In this case, I fully support ITV's plans. Not because they have any programmes worth watching - except possibly the Rugby World Cup finals in 2011, but because there's every chance the BBC will follow them, lemming-like into the pay-per-view or subscription arena. If they do that, then we'll be able to kiss goodbye to the TV licence tax - as the government now call it - and only be forced to pay for the stuff we watch, rather than all the stuff the BBC board randomly choose to mug us for at present.
There is nothing on any of the subsidiary channels that is even remotely HD, The professionals or Randall and Hopkirk Deceased aren't going to look any better, the only difference it'll cost you to watch old shows that you can watch currently for free, and frankly apart from the Tour De France on ITV 4 there is nothing worth watching anyway, and as it goes ITV is the best of the Subsidiary channels (IMACO).
This would be the same ITV which regularly adds an extra advert break to shows such as The Sweeney (which has 2 advert breaks catered for in the original transmission) thereby cynically cutting the important parts out of shows...? Yes, this is the same ITV which thinks we actually enjoy shows starting at 3 minutes past the hour, then going for a break after 6 minutes.
We all knew this was going to happen. The Tories had to promise the Murdoch empire something, and the recent relaxing of TV rules is the start of this. Jeremy Hunt is now waffling on about the BBC being a subscription service, which is music to the ears of news corp.
After ITV got rid of World in Action and replaced it with Trever McDonald's dumbed down rubbish, ITV could never recover. Adverts "accidentally" inserted during live TV, well they do that in America too, so why not here...?
"The Dream that died" is a good book if you want to know why ITV collapsed in a pile of its own brown matter.
I'll stick to downloading my TV shows minus the ads thank you.
I could make a double entendre about Paris and slipping or going downhill but that would probably be ITV's next show...
Having previously worked with someone who was involved in "digitising" their back catalogue, it seems the idea that digital copies never deteriorate and can be played over and over again has come true. They are living on their past, and their present is, er, gruesome. There is so little I want to watch on it, let alone pay for it, what's the point?
I don't want to pay Sky and if free TV is going to get even worse than I'll do what I did in the 80's and get rid of the telly altogether - and put up with being pestered by the TVLRO National Socialists.
... can we go back to the days when all your TV came with was four channel buttons—with one of them a spare*, too?
I have fond memories of my last television, which finally popped its clogs in 1995. Particularly the sonic remote control which had even fewer buttons than the remote control units Apple sells.
ITV and Sky take the Microsoft approach: offer everything they can dig up—gold, platinum, turds, bits of old tat, etc. And then they claim this is a Good Thing(TM) because it means viewers have a "choice". Utterly missing the point that people only care about *meaningful* choices.
* (Usually labelled "ITV2". Not once did I ever see spares labelled "Channel 4". So much for foresight.)
...that all ITV-slammers also are not Beeb-slammers. Else we really are in trouble. Surrender to Sky is imminent. V is for visitors.
Mind you, ITV made its own shit shell so it kinda deserves it.
To make my point: I'm watching Top Gear in HD as I write this. First: ITV could have but didn't commission a Top Gear-esque programme. Imagine the pairs of eyes it could have delivered to advertisers. 5 million?
But hey, why take the risk on an "expensive" programme? Better to show some shite such as (checks EPG expecting to find shite) Ladette to Lady or The Zone, where we can apparently join Jilly Halliday with some great quality bedding on offer.
Secondly: I'm watching on HD. I can't get ITV HD on satellite whereas I can get BBC HD. Hmm.
(In the name of balance the same EPG tells me BBC3 are showing Gavin and Stacey Christmas Special, not my cup of tea, but it's hardly Christmas) and Baby Beauty Queens (definitely not my cup of tea!). Mind you at least BBC4 have some documentary about parks on.
There's an idea: EPG Watch. (Might be more interesting than the programmes.)
Exposure to ITV has become a little like being strapped into a chair in a room with your demented Aunt, who repeatedly recounts her only remaining memory of earlier life; a distorted recollection of a day trip to Clacton as a four year old. The new innovation is to apparently amplify her voice and make you pay for the privilege.
I'm personally happy to pay the licence fee as the BBC and C4 have more than enough for my needs, and there is zero chance of me paying Murdoch for imported drivel.
ITV were never up to much even before the implosion of the last 10 years. Until they work out that you have to offer something worthwhile to fill the gaps between the ever increasing ads, the relentless spiral down will continue. They should be freed of the public service remit and cut loose to sink or swim like any other private broadcast business, in which case their demise would be assured by Christmas.
We don't even have ITV normal def up here.
We have STV, which does show a lot of ITV through the day, but is different most evenings. We get crap like Underbelly (an Australian true crime thingie) instead of the Bill and other such nonsense.
Doesn't sound like we are missing much.
Biting the hand that feeds IT © 1998–2020


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