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2010-11 RotoRob NHL Draft Kit: Right Wing Rankings
We're expecting to see more goals from Corey Perry this season.
We're back with more of the 2010-11 RotoRob NHL Draft Kit today with another of our famous Cheat Sheets. While you wonder if the Coyotes will ever get a new owner, let's take a look at the Top 25 right wingers in Fantasy hockey.
Now to our list…oh my.
We are getting closer to our goal…err…the fun of the top 25s that are a little off the beaten path. However, today we are on Right Wingers, so time to take a ride and ratchet up the cider!
Last season's rankings are in parenthesis.
1. Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks (11): Kane had 88 points despite all the "20 cent" jokes and had a 30-goal season while helping lead the Chicago Blackhawks to their first Stanley Cup in 49 years. The key to Kane's big jump last season was he kept that shot total up at 261 and, as a bonus, played a bit better defensively; that +16 was a career best. The scary thing is this: many think he can only get better with the increased burden of scoring. Kane is the type of player that can only improve. The skill and young age are two things definitely in his favour and he should easily top this list. Our projection for him is about 35-54-89…pretty nice.
2. Martin St. Louis, Tampa Bay Lightning (2): Well, St. Louis exceeded expectations in 2009-10 with a 94-point season. After seasons of 102, 83, 80 and 94 points, I think St. Louis has another really good year left in the tank. His 21:00+ ATOI also helps. St. Louis is fast, can create his own shot, and the 14 PIMs means he stays on the ice. With a guy like Steven Stamkos on his side, it won't be bad at all in Tampa Bay. St. Louis is just too good not to get a bunch of points on the power play and the occasional short handed goal which Fantasy owners just drool over. I'm expecting an 85-to-90 point season out of this guy. How about 36-51-87 with a few more PPGs and about 275 shots on goal?
3. Marian Gaborik, New York Rangers (12): Gaborik deserves credit for staying healthy enough to play 76 games and tally 86 points on a team where he was clearly the focus. The 14 goals on the man advantage was also a boon for Fantasy owners who literally watched Gaborik buoy the Rangers for long stretches. So what to do here? Does he stay healthy again? If Alexander Frolov flourishes, Gaborik should be a 40-40 man again which means he should be one of the first two or three RWs taken. Expect about another 42-44-86 line from Gaborik, but maybe in less games…say 70 or so.
4. Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames (1): Iginla is not quite the same, but hey, Olli Jokinen is back in Calgary for what it is worth. At times, Iginla went so cold last season that we thought it was -40 in his wheelhouse. The 69-point campaign was a vast disappointment for the man who nearly led the Flames to the 2004 Stanley Cup. That seems like two lifetimes ago. Ignila's average of 0.84 points per game bothers me more than anything. That is a marked dip for a guy who has been around or above one point per game annually. We were way off on our expectations of Iginla last season, but there is no way that will happen again. Just warm up the retirement bus slowly as Iginla will get around 75 points. But let's face it, that is not what you want to see from this guy. So about 39-36-75 should do it! Oh, by the way, if the Sutters get canned, Iginla may be better off. That one may have to be explained later.
5. Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks (4): Perry qualifies as a Right Winger, so this works well. Last season, he had 76 points along with 270 shots and 111 PIMs. I am intrigued more with the middle number…the 270. It is also why I think the 27 goals he put up last season is a number he can exceed this season. That first line in Anaheim is pure gold and anyone that tells you any different might as well being an ostrich with its head in the sand. God help them! Perry can also average right around a point a game…and to think this guy is only 25. Our projected numbers for him are about 38-43-81 with a decent plus/minus and about 280 shots on net.
6. Marian Hossa, Chicago Blackhawks (16): All Hossa did was get 51 points in 57 games last season despite the shoulder injury that kept him out for the first chunk of the campaign. Now healthy, Hossa should get more time with less marquee players in Chicago. The only concern was that he compiled just seven points on the man advantage. Hossa is a sniper and with guys like Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews on the roster, he should be just fine. So what will Hossa be able to do in a full season? Well, a 75-point season should be just fine for Hossa owners. He is not expected to be the main man in Chicago and that suits him just fine. He should add ten goals on the extra man and a few short handed tallies as well. Hossa could see 20:00 ATOI and accumulate nearly 280 shots on net if all projects out. That is why he has risen to No. 6 on our list and may fall under the radar a bit in some leagues. Keep a watch out.
7. Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa Senators (12): Alfredsson piled 71 points in only 70 games last season and the addition of Sergei Gonchar may actually help Alfredsson; another "elder voice" in the locker room cannot hurt. The offense will have to score and Alexei Kovalev is a major concern obviously. That being said, Alfredsson at least can do very well for himself this year. I can see a 75-point season in about 75 games for him as he right around a point per game guy. The assists on the man advantage are big, but I see Alfredsson potting a few extra goals this year. There may be just one 30-goal season left in the old captain.
8. Martin Havlat, Minnesota Wild (6): Havlat should have a better season since 2009-10 started out so poorly. The 54 points he cobbled together in 73 games with a -19 was just painful to watch as he did stay relatively healthy. With Mikko Koivu at the ready and a team looking to not repeat last season's embarassing start, Havlat should improve quite a bit. I think he can stay healthy…at least enough to rack up some big points. So more ice time, more man advantage time, and more shots should mean more points…right? Well, only to a point. So an uptick to ten PPGs with 30 goals, 42 assists and 72 points in 78 games should be just about right.
9. Ales Hemsky, Edmonton Oilers (7): Hemsky's 2009-10 campaign was lost to a shoulder injury way too soon. A healthier Hemsky will at least lead to some goals being scored in Edmonton. I stand by a 72-point season at 29-43-72. I know Hemsky can pile up the assists, but he will also get a few more goals on the man advantage. He is only 27 so at least the ceiling is not limited just yet. Hemsky's prime is approaching and he is reportedly in very good shape heading into camp next month. He could push 200 shots and near 20:00 ATOI. So expect a nice season if you can snag him a bit later in drafts.
10. Jamie Langenbrunner, New Jersey Devils (10): The reason Langenbrunner cracks our top 10 is simple…he plays with Zach Parise. Langenbrunner is coming off an off season — especially compared to his recent levels of production.The 61 points included a meltdown from mid-March that culminated in him being called Mr. Grumpy. Langenbrunner has something to prove and that is why he rounds out this top ten in a thin pool. The 200-plus shots trend will continue for him. Oh , and the +25 is really about what he will do again this season. The Devils PP may actually be better this season with an infusion of youth, so Langenbrunner could get nine or ten PPGs, and that means the following overall stats: 30-41-71. Add in about 230 shots on net and 19:00 ATOI and you have a guy that just stays in the top ten by the slimmest of margins.
11. Jason Pominville, Buffalo Sabres (15): Simply put as Thomas Vanek goes, so goes Pominville. It will be interesting to see how Pominville starts off this season. However, I think he may surprise and does have some definite Top 10 potential.
12. Brian Gionta, Montreal Canadiens (12): Expect a rebound season with the Habs. A full season of Michael Cammalleri should be a boost to Gionta's production and music to everyone who owns the "Rochester Rocket."
13. Patric Hornqvist, Nashville Predators (NR): Hornqvist can score goals…even in Nashville. I would not be surprised to see him score around 30 again and improve on last season's totals. Think a poor man's Loui Eriksson.
14. Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks (3): Call it lower expectations; that, and the drama hurts. The contract squabbles heading into training camp really do create a sour environment at least to start. Anaheim's defense is, well, "offensive" in that bad sense and if Ryan is not on the top line with Perry and Ryan Getzlaf, it could spell curtains, Fantasy owners.
15. Teemu Selanne, Anaheim Ducks (18): Selanne's final season has potential with Saku Koivu. Selanne will at the least go out with a bang for Anaheim. Chances are he also stays healthy.
16. Devin Setoguchi, San Jose Sharks (17): A nice season for him could be a springboard and being paired with Joe Pavelski does not hurt either. If San Jose is to do anything, it needs that duo to catch fire early, late, and often.
17. Chris Stewart, Colorado Avalanche (NR): Maybe a few too many points? Not necessarily. Stewart has the talent to match last season's breakout. This is a nice way of saying it was not a fluke.
18. Phil Kessel, Toronto Maple Leafs (15): Kessell will play a whole season and score at least. Forty goals is not out of the question, but do not expect 40 assists as well.
19. Alexei Kovalev, Ottawa Senators (5): Kovalev is truly an enigma. It really is anyone's guess as to what happens with a guy like this. His age is getting up there and you may want to stay away from him.
20. David Backes, St. Louis Blues (20): Backes has nice potential and could finally tap into it. The Blues will improve on the Power Play and that is likely where the extra points will come from.
21. Mike Knuble, Washington Capitals (21): Knuble is dependable…it's that simple. He also goes where few Washington Capitals go — to the front of the net.
22. Kris Versteeg, Toronto Maple Leafs (NR): Versteeg could click with that Kessel guy, which would make him attractive in the very late rounds in deeper leagues.
23. Milan Hejduk, Colorado Avalanche (18): This is likely it for Hejduk. There is really not much more to say here honestly, but at least he will pile up some points.
24. Nathan Horton, Boston Bruins (NR): If Marc Savard is still in Boston, Horton could definitely benefit. If not, expect an injury or two as that is how Horton operates.
25. Shane Doan, Phoenix Coyotes (8): Not only is Doan the captain, but he is the Coyotes' most consistent point guy. He had to be on this list like and could surprise one more time.


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DANDRIDGE, Tenn. — For months, a tight-knit group of seniors at a North Carolina church had been looking forward to the road trip.
It was a tradition for members of the Young at Heart Ministry to attend the annual Fall Jubilee in Gatlinburg, Tenn., an event featuring gospel singers and speakers. The event's website described the gathering as "three days of singing, laughing and preaching" for "mature and senior believers."
But on the way back to Statesville, N.C., on Wednesday, the bus carrying the Front Street Baptist Church group blew a tire, veered across a highway median and crashed into a sport utility vehicle and tractor-trailer in a fiery wreck that killed eight people.
Fourteen other people were hurt in the accident in northeastern Tennessee, including two who were in critical condition.
Church members on Wednesday night were waiting for more details. None of the victims have been identified.
"This is hard," said Jerry Wright, whose 73-year-old brother, John, and his wife were on the bus. "You try not to think the worst, but it gets to you."
He believes his brother may have been driving the church bus because he had done so in the past.
"If he was driving, it's going to be bad," he said. "I've been trying to ring them. I've been calling their phone, but it keeps ringing and ringing and ringing."
Inside the Statesville church, people were crying and hugging each other. One woman whispered, "It's going to be all right" while hugging another woman. A service was held Wednesday evening. Police cordoned off the church to prevent reporters from talking to those who attended.
"There was a very long night for all of us," Front Street Baptist associate pastor Rick Cruz said Thursday morning.
The church has received a tremendous outpouring of love from the community, Cruz said.
"We know God is in control and is able to heal," he said.
George Stadtfeld, who has been a member of the church for eight years, said Wednesday he knew everyone on the bus. He said his wife, Elaine, had been on the trip but didn't travel on the bus. He said she called him crying.
"We're all shaken," he said. "As bad as it is, they're all Christians and I know where they're at. I'll join them later."
The church's Young at Heart Ministry reaches out to older members of the congregation. They go on road trips together and sing in the senior choir. The enjoy each other's company, Stadtfeld said.
"They were all friends," he said.
Dionne Stutts, wife of Front Street Baptist senior pastor Tim Stutts, said her husband and another pastor from the church were en route to the wreck site.
"They had been there and they were on their way home today," she said. "We are devastated and just ask for the people to be praying."
Authorities said the bus crossed the median and the cable barriers that divide the interstate around 2 p.m., clipped the oncoming SUV and slammed into the tractor-trailer, which burst into flames.
Several hours after the crash, clouds of smoke still rose from the tractor-trailer and tree branches that lined the highway were charred.
The bus was on its side next to the tractor-trailer, lying across two lanes of traffic and extending partially into the median.
The bus itself didn't actually catch on fire, but there was some "heat exposure," Jefferson County Emergency Management Director Brad Phillips said. Emergency responders were able to remove people who were alive rapidly to get them away from the flames and other Good Samaritans provided assistance.
The SUV was about 50 yards away from the tractor-trailer. It was still upright, but the back half had been completely ripped off.
The interstate was completely shut down in both directions, and the scene was eerily quiet, despite the presence of many emergency workers."This is an extremely horrific event," Tennessee Highway Patrol spokesman Sgt. Bill Miller said at an evening news conference.
He said authorities don't know yet what caused the tire to blow out.
The injured were taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville. Late Wednesday, center spokesman Jim Ragonese said 14 people from the crash were being treated at the hospital. He said two were in critical condition, seven in serious condition, and five in stable condition.
State Department of Safety and Homeland Security spokeswoman Dalya Qualls said in an email 18 people were on the bus and six of them were killed. One person among the three in the SUV was killed and the tractor-trailer driver also died.
Qualls said Thursday that all lanes of the interstate had reopened by 5:15 a.m.
Brady Johnson, superintendent of the Iredell County-Statesville City Schools, said a lot of people who work for the school system are church members. Johnson said he knew people on the bus and they were awaiting word on the conditions.
Johnson said the church had adopted N.B. Mills Elementary School, providing volunteers and school supplies for needy children.
Now, the school system is offering a high school auditorium as a site for a memorial.
"It hits the community as a whole when tragedy strikes. The whole community comes together," he said.
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subset: commoncrawl


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(CNN) -- President Barack Obama congratulated Michael Sam on Saturday for being the first openly gay football player taken in the National Football League draft, the White House said in a statement.
"From the playing field to the corporate boardroom, LGBT Americans prove everyday that you should be judged by what you do and not who you are," Obama said. He also congratulated the NFL and the St. Louis Rams, the team that drafted Sam.
Sam, an All-American defensive end who played for the University of Missouri, made history when he was picked by the Rams in the seventh and final round. He was the 249th of 256 players selected.
The 24-year-old got the news by telephone from Rams' coach Jeff Fisher, who told Sam: "You are a Ram. The wait is finally over."
Sam, who was filmed by ESPN as he got the call, broke down in tears and kissed his boyfriend. "Thank you," he could be heard saying to Fisher.
Later, Sam took to Twitter to post a picture of himself, smiling. "Thank you to the St. Louis Rams and the whole city of St. Louis," he said in the post. "I'm using every (ounce) of this to achieve greatness!!"
St. Louis is only a two-hour drive from Columbia, home of the University of Missouri, where Sam starred.
Besides being a first-team All-American, the 6-foot-2, 260-pounder was named the co-defensive player of the year in the Southeastern Conference, widely considered college football's best league. His fellow Tigers named him the team's most valuable player.
With those credentials, Sam was expected to be selected, but as the three-day draft wore on, there were questions whether he would.
Fisher told ESPN that Sam was a player who was rated by the team as going much higher in the draft.
"We weren't going to miss the opportunity to add an outstanding player to our roster," he said.
In February, Sam came out in interviews with ESPN and The New York Times, a decision that raised questions about whether he had damaged his chances to play in the NFL.
"I came to tell the world I'm an openly proud gay man," he said in an interview with ESPN.
Sam said he told his Missouri teammates in August and suffered no repercussions. He said he was surprised to discover many people in the media already knew he was gay.
"I understand how big this is," Sam said in the ESPN interview. "It's a big deal. No one has done this before. And it's kind of a nervous process, but I know what I want to be ... I want to be a football player in the NFL."
Sam also spoke about his sexual orientation to The New York Times, saying: "I just want to make sure I could tell my story the way I want to tell it. I just want to own my truth."
At the start of the draft on Thursday, it appeared it was also on Sam's mind.
"No matter what happen(s) these next few days, I will always cherish moments like this!!!," he said in a post on Twitter.
Sam's draft was viewed as a barometer of whether the NFL was ready to accept an openly gay player. His selection is viewed as a bright spot for a league that has faced a host of criticism in recent months, from questions about the lack of minorities promoted to the number of players arrested for bad behavior.
"I think this is a good day, against the backdrop of what has happened in the NBA recently," Margaret Hoover, a political commentator and gay rights activist, told CNN.
The NFL Players Association also weighed in on Sam's good news.
"We wish him the best of luck as we do all of the 2014 NFL Draft class," said George Atallah, the association's assistant executive director of external affairs.
Other athletes have come out as gay, but they didn't have Sam's profile. Among them are the NBA's Jason Collins, the WNBA's Brittney Griner, WWE's Darren Young, UFC's Liz Carmouche, MMA's Fallon Fox and Major League Soccer's Robbie Rogers.
Of those athletes, Collins made the biggest media splash.
"I think it's great. I'm looking forward to seeing him play," Collins, who plays for the Brooklyn Nets, told ESPN after the draft pick was announced.
The road to football stardom was not an easy one for Sam, who graduated from Missouri in December.
One of eight children, he grew up in Hitchcock, Texas, where he was raised primarily by his mother. At one point, he has said, he lived out of his mother's car and briefly stayed with another family.
Three of Sam's siblings have died, including an older brother he saw die from a gunshot wound. Two of his brothers are serving prison sentences.
CNN's Azadeh Ansari, Ralph Ellis, and Phil Gast contributed to this report.


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Tarzana, CA, US
see all...Viewing 3 out of 9 projects
I began my career in the building industry after finishing college. I started with a commercial real estate developer and became proficient at creating pro forma and financial plans for building developments. I became familiar with the building delivery process from the Owner's point of view.
I wanted to learn, hands-on, how buildings were built, and to be familiar with the tasks, techniques and materials involved, so I got a job as a construction worker with a residential contractor in Los Angeles. Within a couple of years, I was foreman of a crew, responsible for the successful completion of projects. I was also on the roster of half of the scenery shops in Hollywood, building sets for commercials, music videos and a few Roger Corman Sci-fi features. I worked along side, and learned from, all kinds of people. The work was hard, fast and physical. I always got the work done well and on time, even if it took all night. I learned not to assume anything and to be prepared for problems and obstacles before they occurred.
In Architecture School I excelled in design and structural engineering, and graduated first in my class. I ran the lecture series, was a studio teaching assistant and worked part-time for the University Architect. After receiving my Degree I was a full-time Project Architect. My responsibilities included design, construction drawings, bidding and contract administration. I completed more than twenty campus projects while at CMU. My construction experience helped me arrive at practical solutions and to communicate with contractors.
When I obtained a significant private project in my neighborhood, I got a job with a full-service architecture firm in order to do it. The project was successful, and while with that firm I gained experience with several different building types. My design sense, production ability and knowledge of construction and development gave my employers confidence to put me in leadership positions rather quickly. I didn't let them down. I worked collaboratively with colleagues, clients, users, consultants and local planning and building departments.
Over the next several years my skills and judgment grew steadily with exposure to larger and more complex projects, which included schools, hospitals, theaters, office buildings, recording studios and a marina.
When I joined Gensler in Santa Monica, my personal skills and technical expertise won me a position as Project Architect and later as Project Manager. I managed large scale projects, including two office buildings in the Los Angeles area, each larger that 250,000 square feet. I was also responsible for the fee management, staffing and invoicing of those projects.
I left Gensler after my projects were put on hold due to the economic downturn. I have stayed connected by completing private projects, learning Google Sketchup, serving as an officer at the AIA San Fernando Valley Chapter, earning the LEED-AP BD+C credential and the CSI Construction Document Technologist certification. I am currently preparing to earn the title of Certified Construction Specifier.
I take responsibility for my work and the work of my team. I write clearly and succinctly. I am competitive, but play fair. I stay up-to-date and push for innovation. I get along with my colleagues and I don't take myself too seriously. I listen and follow directions. I stay in great physical condition.
Matthew D. Epstein, Architecture & Lighting Design, Tarzana, CA, US, Principal
Freelance Architectural Design, Production and Lighting firm. I'll design anything I can get my hands on and provide first-rate, professional services. No project is too small. MDE features creative, intelligent and practical design solutions along with professional project delivery.
Selected Projects:
• Young Israel of Northridge, Northridge, CA 2010-11
• Lukas Residence, Encino, CA 2010
• Mendler Residence, Tarzana, CA 2010-11
• LaFrenais Residence, Northridge CA 2009-10
• Epstein Residence, Woodland Hills, CA 2009
• Laurel Canyon Synagogue, Los Angeles, CA 2007
• Dua Residence, Malibu, CA 2006
• Independent Grocery Store, West Los Angeles, 2006-7.
• Perl Residence, Malibu, CA, 2005-6.
• Faber Residence, Studio City, CA, 2004-5,
• Laughlin Bay Marina, Phase I (with Samuel Wacht Associates): A full-service "clean" marina, clubhouse, administration building and boat storage facility on the Colorado River, Laughlin, NV, 2003.
Gensler, Los Angeles, CA, US, Project Architect / Project Manager
• Leading Technical Member of Building Design Team or commercial and mixed-use projects.
• Managed client relationships, contracts and fees.
• Prepared fee proposals for perspective projects and additional services.
• Led teams with technical design process, including code compliance, building systems and details.
• Coordinated the work of consultants and managed consultant contracts.
• Mentored and trained graduate architects and interns.
Major Projects:
• Tourney Pointe, Phase 2, (BIM, IDP), a 250,000 s.f. 6-story office building, LEED Silver, Valencia, CA, 2007-8. Project Manager and client contact.
• 700 Corporate Pointe, (BIM, D-N-B), a 290,000 s.f. 12-story office building, LEED Silver, Culver City, CA, 2007-8. Project Architect and Project Manager.
Jeff Cooper Architects, Inc., Calabasas, CA, US, Project Architect
Coordinated the architectural, engineering and construction teams for Post-production sound facilities.
• Universal Studios: Department of Sound Administration, 2002
• Universal Studios: Bldg 2313, Edit Building, 2002
• Ironworks: Recording Studio & Residence, Los Angeles 2002.
JSFA, Tarzana, CA, US, Project Architect
International live performance design specialists.
Project Architect. Directed teams in the Production of Design and Construction Documents, ushered projects through entitlements with City Planning and Building Departments. Administered contracts for construction.
• GAMproducts Inc.: Winner of the AIA-SFV Merit Award. A unique 22,000 s.f. Office Building and Rehearsal Center in Los Angeles, CA, 2001. (D-N-B)
• Boston Court Theatre: Winner of the AIA-SFV Citation Award. A 99-seat Main Stage Theatre and Recital Hall in Pasadena, CA, 2001. (D-N-B)
• Newman Residence: A 2,400 s.f. ADA Home Renovation & Addition for a symphony musician with multiple sclerosis, Mar Vista, CA, 2001. (D-B-B)
Gardner + Pope Architects, Pittsburgh, PA, US, Project Architect
Project Architect, responsible for project designs, directing production of construction documents, bidding, value engineering, and contract administration. Used personal skills to successfully market the company and secure commissions.
• Oncology Nursing Society: a 100,000 s.f. User Office Building, Pittsburgh, PA, 2000-1. (CMa)
• Penn Center West, Building Five: a 150,000 s.f. Office Building, Pittsburgh, PA, 2000. (D-N-B)
• Parkwest Corporate Center: a 100,000 s.f. Office Building, Pittsburgh, PA, 2000. (O-B)
• Westpointe Corporate Center Two: a 150,000 s.f. Office Building, Pittsburgh, PA 1999, built for the relocation of the NOVA Corporation. (O-B)
• Radiation Oncology Center: a 6,900 s.f. LINAC Clinic, Cape May, NJ, 1999. (D-B-B)
• Pointe Plaza: a 42,000 s.f. Office Building, Southpointe Office Park, Pittsburgh, PA, 1999. (D-B-B)
• Pittsburgh Boys and Girls Club: a 28,000 s.f. Recreation Center, Pittsburgh, PA 1998. (D-B-B)
• Westpointe Corporate Center One: Winner of the 1999 NAIOP Building of the Year Award, a 125,000 s.f. Office Building, Moon Township, PA 1998. (O-B)
Williams Trebilcock Whitehead, Pittsburgh, PA, US, Project Architect
Design and Production of Construction Documents for Renovations and Additions to various building types, Commercial and Educational.
Selected Projects:
• Dollar Bank Branch, Brecksville OH; (D-B-B)
• Chartiers Country Club Pool House Renovation, Robinson Township, PA; (D-B-B)
• Westinghouse High School, Phase 1-Automotive Technology Shop and Fieldhouse;
Phase 2-Renovations and Additions, Natorium. (D-B-B)
MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni, Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, US, Graduate Architect
Graduate Architect. Participated in all phases of various large-scale health care, educational and commercial projects, from Client Contact through Contract Administration.
Selected Projects:
• The Jewish Education Institute, Pittsburgh, PA. Relocation of a K-8 private day school into a former 19th Century Catholic Church and school facility. Complete Renovation. 1991-94
• Yeshiva Schools of Pittsburgh, renovations and additions to K-12 school & synagogue 1994
• Lawrence Village Plaza: Canopy Renovation, 1993,
• Mercy Hospital: Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, 1992.
• Mercy Hospital: Department of Medicine, 1991.
• Mercy Hospital: Cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, Pathology Lab, Blood Lab, Pittsburgh, PA, 1990-91
• Mercy Hospital: Outpatient Medical Wing, Pittsburgh, PA, 1989-93
• Mercy Hospital: Bridge & Arcade Project, Pittsburgh, PA, 1988-89
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, US, MArch, Architecture
Three-year Master of Architecture, First Professional Degree Program.
Pomona College, Claremont, CA, US, Bachelors, Mathematics
Liberal Arts Bachelors Program. Concentration in Mathematics.
AIA Henry Adams Medal and Certificate, 1st Place
This was awarded by the American Institute of Architects to the highest ranking graduating Architecture student at Carnegie Mellon University.
Pomona College: The Eda May Haskell Library Prize, 1st Place
Awarded for the best library submitted by a senior student, not necessarily for the largest or most expensive collection but for the most intelligently selected books in one or more fields of the student's interest. Endowed by John H. Kemble, Professor of History from 1936 to 1977.


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Let me start by saying that I have been advocating #undirosak even before it became trendy on social media. So, you know where I stand on this issue.
I've been reading all sorts of news articles and comments about the ongoing campaign (if you can call it that) on social media. I don't presume to know everyone who supports it but a lot of remarks have been hurled at this group of people. Instead of trying to justify things, I thought that I would like to share a profile of one such person, myself.
I started voting in GE11 in 2004.
However, I was denied my right to vote in GE12 in 2008. I was a government scholar studying full-time overseas and tried to register as a postal voter in 2007. I chronicled it in my blog at the time. I couldn't accept my government arbitrarily denying me my constitutionally and legally protected right to vote.
So, when I returned home after graduation, I was fired up about elections and was determined to do my best to ensure that no one else would ever be denied this right. This led me to lodge a formal complaint and present documentary evidence to the Parliamentary Select Committee on electoral reforms in 2011.
Today, Malaysians who study abroad are all given the opportunity to vote by post. Please do not waste it. I would like to think that I had played a small role in fighting for this fundamental right and allowing all our fellow Malaysians who still care about the nation, even when residing abroad, to vote.
However, we still had many Malaysians at home who weren't even registered voters. So, I did what I could. I volunteered to help with voter registration. You might have heard me shouting at the pasar malam each week. I signed up thousands (possibly more than 10k) of voters in the years leading up to GE13. I was even appointed an Assistant Registrar to the Election Commissions until my license expired in 2013.
To facilitate my work, I even wrote a simple software application to check (in mass) the status of a voters registration against the SPR website. I also contributed a script to read the MyKAD directly so that we can easily capture the information needed to register a voter to reduce the reject rate of their applications (as the SPR would reject applications whose information does not correspond to their MyKAD data).
However, I wasn't done yet.
When parliament was dissolved for GE13, I opened my cheque book and donated to the opposition candidates running, whom I felt needed the support, as they were fighting an uphill battle. I even convinced my friends and relatives to open up their cheque books too as the battle needed a lot of funding.
In addition, I took two weeks of leave right up to polling day to volunteer with two constituencies that needed more man-power, enduring several sleepless nights in the process. Towards the end, I ended up helping to organise and manage the PACA for two districts and we had some of the largest districts in the nation.
On polling day itself, I went from polling station to station to check on the PACA whom I had assigned to make sure that things were going smoothly. That night, I was diligently checking and keying in results as they came in from our PACA. Finally, I joined in the celebrations in the hall where the EC announced our winning candidate. Another night without sleep.
I'm not someone who doesn't care about our democracy. I am not someone who is uninformed about our politics. I am not an armchair critic nor keyboard warrior. I am not someone who doesn't understand how flawed and unfair our system is.
I know. I have been a victim.
When it comes to elections, I have given money, time, blood, sweat and tears. I have fought for our rights. I have gone to the ground and done the hard work. I have even contributed software source code so others can benefit.
Oh, I forgot to mention that on the morning of the GE13 polling day itself, even though I barely had two hours of sleep the night before, I woke up, went to the polling station, queued and cast my ballot.
This GE14, I will definitely cast my ballot again and cast it with a clear conscience.


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"In Union We Stand" lyrics - OVERKILL
From the islands to the cities
From the ports into the sea
We are strong; we will always be
Blazing through the wreckage
Burning all we see
The life we lead
Committed to be free...
Our union is a fortress
Together, we are bound
A common bound in freedom and in sound!
So raise your voices high
For miles around to hear
Let them know we are drawing nearer
In union, we stand
As they blaze across the land!
In union, we make a final stand
A peaceful coexistence
Is dropping out of sight
So band together
Together, we will fight
Blasting the resistance
Marching to the top
They started this
We say when it stops
Strike fear within their hearts
Strike down those in your way
Let them know that we live today!
They throw us into flames
Did not hear our cries
But now from the ashes, we arise
In union, we stand
As they blaze across the land!
In union, we make a final stand


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Pennsylvania law requires real estate brokers and salespersons (licensees) to advise consumers who are seeking to sell or purchase residential or commercial real estate or tenants who are seeking to lease residential or commercial real estate or tenants who are seeking to lease residential or commercial real estate where the licensee is working on behalf of the tenant of the business relationships permitted by the real estate licensing and registration act. This notice must be provided to the consumer at the first contact where a substantive discussion about real estate occurs unless an oral disclosure has been previously provided. If the oral disclosure was provided, this notice must be provided at the first meeting or the first time a property is shown to the consumer by the broker or salesperson.
Before you disclose any information to a licensee, be advised that unless you select an agency relationship the licensee is NOT REPRESENTING YOU. A business relationship of any kind will NOT be presumed but must be established between the consumer and the licensee.
Any licensee who provides you with real estate services owes you the following duties:
A licensee may have the following business relationships with the consumer:
Seller Agency:
Seller agency is a relationship where the licensee, upon entering into a written agreement, works only for a seller/landlord. Seller's agents owe the additional duties of:
A seller's agent may compensate other brokers as subagents if the seller/landlord agrees in writing. Subagents have the same duties and obligations as the seller's agent. Seller's agents may also compensate buyer's agents and transaction licensees who do not have the same duties and obligation as seller's agents.
If you enter into a written agreement, the licensees in the real estate company owe you the additional duties identified above under seller agency. The exception is designated agency. See the designated agency section in this notice for more information.
Buyer Agency:
Buyer agency is a relationship where the licensee, upon entering into a written agreement, works only for the buyer/tenant. Buyer's agents owe the additional duties of:
A buyer's agent may be paid fees, which may include a percentage of the purchase price, and, even if paid by the seller/landlord, will represent the interests of the buyer/tenant.
If you enter into a written agreement, the licensees in the real estate company owe you the additional duties identified above under buyer agency. The exception is designated agency. See the designated agency section in this notice for more information.
Dual Agency:
Dual agency is a relationship where the licensee acts as the agent for both the seller/landlord and the buyer/tenant in the same transaction with the written consent of all parties. Dual agents owe the additional duties of:
Designated Agency:
In designated agency, the employing broker may, with your consent, designate one or more licensees from the real estate company to represent you. Other licensees in the company may represent another party and shall not be provided with any confidential information. The designated agent(s) shall have the duties as listed above under seller agency and buyer agency.
In designated agency, the employing broker will be a dual agent and have the additional duties of:
The designation may take place at the time that the parties enter into a written agreement, but may occur at a later time. Regardless of when the designation takes place, the employing broker is responsible for ensuring that confidential information is not disclosed.
Transaction Licensee:
A transaction licensee is a broker or salesperson who provides communication or document preparation services or performs other acts for which a license is require WITHOUT being the agent or advocate for either the seller/landlord or the buyer/tenant. Upon signing a written agreement or disclosure statement, a transaction licensee has the additional duty of limited confidentiality in that the following information may not be disclosed:
Other information deemed confidential by the consumer shall not be provided to the transaction licensee.
The following are negotiable and shall be addressed in an agreement/disclosure statement with the licensee:
Any sales agreement must contain the zoning classification of a property except in cases where the property is zoned solely or primarily to permit single family dwellings.
Real Estate Recovery Fund exists to reimburse any person who has obtained a final civil judgment against a Pennsylvania real estate licensee owing to fraud, misrepresentation, or deceit in a real estate transaction and who has been unable to collect the judgment after exhausting all legal and equitable remedies. For complete details about the Fund, call (717) 783-3658. "Adopted by the State Real Estate Commission at 49 Pa. Code 35.336."


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Salvage Santa needs bike donations
PANAMA CITY — Santa's workshop is closer than you think.
For the last 29 years, Mike Jones has been repairing and refurbishing thousands of broken toys and beat up bicycles from a small shed behind his house on Hillsboro Avenue in Panama City.
Through the program "Salvage Santa," the like-new bikes and toys are then distributed by Early Education and Care as Christmas presents to needy children in Bay County.
"There are a lot of kids in this world that don't have anything," said Jones, a retired investigator with the Panama City Police Department. "It makes you feel pretty dadgum good when kids don't have anything and you can give them a Christmas."
With the holiday season here, Jones is back in full gear, spending nearly all of his spare time in his workshop, fixing up about a dozen bikes on his days off from his job as the chief of safety, security and campus police for Bay County Schools.
"September through December you won't find me anywhere else but this building," Jones said Tuesday as he tinkered with a blue "Hyper" bike donated from Wal-Mart. "I just need to replace the front brake cable and add a couple of brake parts and it's a pretty nice little bicycle. It's going to be a cool looking bike when I'm done."
Jones said this year at least 300 Bay County children will receive a salvaged bike for Christmas.
The idea for Salvage Santa first came when Jones was working a part-time security job at Sears.
"I was working at Sears part time and that's where it all started," Jones said. "They had some toys come in that were damaged and I said, 'What are you going to do with all those toys?' "
When he was told the toys would be crushed and thrown away, he immediately offered to take the toys home and make them new again.
With Christmas quickly approaching, Jones is once again seeking bike donations from the community. Old bike donations can be dropped off at Jones's house at 2715 Hillsboro Ave. off Transmitter Road between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
"This program would not be possible without the people of Panama City. We have the most givingest people here in Bay County," Jones said. "It takes a lot of work, that folks really don't know about, to make a program like this work."
Jones is also the author of the book "Salvaged Santa," which reflects on the Bible verse Proverbs 3:5. The verse advises "trust in the Lord with all your heart," something that Jones needed to do through the tough times in his life that came with being a single parent, losing loved ones and defending hostages during the 2010 Bay County School Board shooting.
"God got me through all of that," Jones said. "He's going to take care of you no matter what."
Jones will be at Wal-Mart in Callaway Friday signing his book from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. He also encourages those interested in supporting Salvage Santa to eat lunch at the Red Elephant in Panama City on Nov. 29, as the restaurant will donate 10 percent of sales to the program.
"The people of Bay County make Salvage Santa," Jones said. "I don't make it, I just fix the stuff, you know."


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April 18th, 2013
Will Smith steps into 'Focus' as K. Stew drops out
The upcoming con artist comedy "Focus" appears to have changed its casting plans once again.
According to Variety, Will Smith is in talks to play the film's lead hustler, a role that was once filled by Ben Affleck.
Back in December, Affleck was set to portray the more experienced swindler who takes a newbie con artist under his wing. At the time, Kristen Stewart was set to play the young, inexperienced grifter, but she's apparently no longer attached to the movie, either.
Affleck, who seemed excited about teaming up with Stewart, soon dropped out of the role because of his hectic schedule. With Smith being eyed as the replacement lead, Stewart reportedly parted ways with the film thinking their age difference would be "too large a gap." (Smith will turn 45 this fall, and the "Twilight Saga" star has just turned 23. Affleck, meanwhile, is approaching his 41st birthday.)
Written and directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa ("Crazy, Stupid, Love."), "Focus" was previously aiming to begin filming this month.
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Our daily cheat-sheet for breaking celebrity news, Hollywood buzz and your pop-culture obsessions.


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Announcing Oregon Manifest 14: The Bike Design Project. In our boldest configuration yet, we've partnered five high-level design firms with American bicycle craftsmen in collaborative teams - one in each of five cycling-centric cities - all competing to create the next urban bike. Working together from ideation through production, these teams are fiercely determined to develop their vision of the Ultimate Urban Utility Bike.
Once the five bike designs are revealed to the public on July 25 at a celebration event in each city, it will be YOU, our online audience, who chooses the winning bike!
We don't stop there. For the first time, the winning bike will move forward into production through our manufacturing partner, Fuji BIkes. The Oregon Manifest bike will be available and ready to ride in the city!
Learn more and meet our teams at oregonmanifest.com.
In other words, what they've done here is picked five "cool" cities and invited five "cool" bikey/designy cliques in each one to come up with a "cool" bike for riding to "cool" places within those cities in a great big Levi's marketing circle jerk.
As an aging parent who is currently obsessing over male osteoporosis, I can no longer distinguish among "cool" people or neighborhoods, and they all sort of ooze together in an indistinguishable, bearded mass. For example, here's the San Francisco team:
Or maybe it's the Portland team. I don't know. Or is it the New York team?
No, this is the New York team...or is it?
And if it is, who the hell are these people?
Honestly, the only team I could identify right off the bat was the Seattle team:
As for the quest to design the "Ultimate Urban Utility Bike," they're all wasting their time, because I built that a few weeks ago in my basement. It's called the "Son of Scat," and it is the culmination of a lifetime of cycling experience, from the BMX racing, to bike couriering, to the lofty reaches of mid-category Fred-dom:
In fact, the only one of their arbitrary criteria it doesn't fit is that it doesn't have a "Free-standing Under Load System," but those are for "woosies." (Just kidding, I badly need a center stand for my Big Dummy.)
Let's run through their cutesy little checklist and see how Son of Scat measures up:
Mandatory Features
Without exception, all entry bikes must possess the following useful features:
Anti-Theft System: System should prove to be secure and easy to use.
Yeah, I got that. It's called a U-lock (or three) and some "street smartz" (in graffiti font). Also, look at how the fucked-up saddle nobody would want anyway is chained to the frame with an actual bicycle chain through an old inner tube. Suck on that, "woosies."
Lighting System: System should aid rider vision and provide high visibility on the road.
Uh-huh, got that too. Thanks to Knog, I got more lumens than the lighting district. (Assuming the old lighting district hasn't been totally replaced by luxury condos, which it probably has.) By the way, if you need bike lights to see where you're going, you don't live in a real city, so in actuality any bike with such a "system" should be disqualified.
Load-Carrying System: Entries should be able to carry a variety of loads through a variety
of conditions. System should accommodate a typical user load, such as a bag of groceries, commuter or gym bag, etc.
Oh, my bike can take my load. I got a rack, I got bags, I got handlebars, and if there's really a lot of shit to carry, I've got a dental plan, because I'll carry a bag of takeout in my teeth like a golden retriever with a dead duck if I have to. I don't have a "gym bag" though, because gym bags are for "woosies." This is how I work out:*
*[Disclaimer: that is not how I work out.]
I bet John Joseph doesn't worry about male osteoporosis.
Free-standing Under Load System: Bike must free-stand under a variety of loads on a variety of surfaces.
Heh, heh. The bike has to stand up while taking a "variety of loads." [Insert your bukkake reference here.]
Fender System: Fender system must keep bike and rider clean.
I have a fender system. It's called "fenders." Amazing.
Road-tested: Bike should be road-ready and tested. The team-produced video should
include brief footage of the bike in motion on the road (including hills), carrying a load and in use during typical real-world scenarios.
Road-tested? I got your road-tested. That bike's been everywhere. It's been locked to every pole in New York. In a prior incarnation, it's even been raced at the SSCXWC in Portland. Lou Reed once borrowed it for four weeks. (That's a lie.) You think Fuji Bikes can market an "urban utility bike" with that kind of street cred? Because I don't--though this one came close:
It folds and it's a "collabo" with cigarettes. Actually, I bet if one of those teams submitted exactly that bike they'd walk away with the grand prize.
The point is, true city bikes aren't contrived by designsters. They're born of the parts bin and refined on the commute. Odds are the winning Oregon Manifest bike will be called The Gentrification Machine. It will have some sort of integrated lock you'd never want, custom racks that allow the rider to use the word "porteur" a lot, a fancy paint job, and a smartphone holder so you can run that app that alerts you when a landlord finally succeeds in harassing a rent-controlled tenant out of an apartment:
Then all you have to do is find a bike rack that's compatible with your integrated lock, park your "porteur," and fork over that $3,500 security deposit.
Speaking of gentrification, remember how David Byrne (who does not own a car) threatened to move out of New York City because the latest wave of rich people aren't cool enough? Well, now he's going to blow up the Internet with radioactive paintballs and start a new one:
So… imagine that a hypothetical group of disillusioned citizens obtains access to the same nodes – let's say it's an inside job by some building employees – but instead of tapping the nodes, as the NSA did, they break them. And to avoid any possibility of repair, they detonate a small timed radioactive paintball after they leave. No one gets hurt, but the radioactive splatter creates a no-go zone. As a result, no one can fix the fiber optics or even get near them for, let's say, 100 years. The city outside, and even the rest of the building, might remain safe, but don't go near that room on the 20th floor!
Hey, I'm just as creeped out by all this NSA spying as anybody, but David Byrne has more reason to be upset than most, since they carefully monitored him while he put together his most recent musical project:
Sorry, Dave, I had to do it:
I'm oddly fascinated with David Byrne since he's sort of the embodiment of "right message, wrong messenger." He doesn't own a car, but he can hire one whenever he wants. He thinks Manhattan sucks now, but he can sell his loft for a mint whenever he wants and move anyplace in the world. He's freaked out about being watched on the Internet, yet he has a blog and a strong online presence, which he totally doesn't need because his success predates all of that in the first place.
But yes, he makes important points--about cars, gentrification, and spying--though I'd be afraid to use David Byrne's new Surveillance-Free Internet, since it would probably be taken over by pedophiles in short order:
Sex offenders are why we can't have nice things.
Lastly, recently somebody Tweeted this at me:
@bikesnobnyc I feel I need to bring this http://t.co/VcgnboJtAG to your attention
— Giles Dring (@gilesdring) March 23, 2014


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Sabrina's Tips:
1. Before the party starts, invite some of your best girlfriends over to help you decorate. Target has a ton of Halloween supplies such as pumpkin string lights, spooky tableware and outdoor decorations that will help set the mood for the party.
2. A Halloween party would not be complete without Halloween-themed snacks and treats. Put your sweet treats on display by making a glam centerpiece using a spider web two-tier tray. Be sure to add some spooky candelabras and position black and silver candles around the table. This will instantly create an eye-catching focal point on the table with a spooky Halloween feel.
3. Create a spooky Halloween music mix that you can play throughout your party. When picking songs to have on your playlist, include a mix of songs from classic Halloween movieslike the Addams Family and popular Halloween songs like Michael Jackson's Thriller and Monster Mash.
More From Seventeen
4. Play Halloween related games that will get everyone involved like bobbing for apples and mummy wrap. Save some money by using household items you already have around your house like toilet paper.
5. One of my favorite things to do around Halloween is pumpkin carving. Host a pumpkin decorating contest a few days before your party with your friends and use the pumpkins to line the pathway to your house. Visit target.com/halloween to download free printable pumpkin stencils and eerie decorative lighting stencils. These stencils are a fun and easy way to carve pumpkins and there are so many creative designs to choose from! Have boxes or large bags handy, so guests could take their pumpkins home with them at the end of the night.
6. A great way to end the evening is to send your friends home with a little goody bag that includes candy, fun Halloween costumes accessories like masks or spider rings and maybe even a mix of your Halloween playlist. Your guests will appreciate the thought and you will be praised for your party throwing skills.
There you have it! Now you can spend less time worrying about the party and more time planning out your awesome costume!


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A young Bruce Campbell talks about growing up with Sam Raimi, surrounded by monstrous heads. It's just one of the many, many delights available in The Incredibly Strange Film Show, a 1988-1989 British series about "psychotronic movies" that's on YouTube.
For anybody who's interested in weird films and horror classics, being able to watch these classic episodes is a must. The Incredibly Strange Film Show, the work of British television presenter Jonathan Ross, only ran for 12 episodes, six in 1988 and six in 1989, but in those dozen installments, Ross managed to talk to many of cult cinema's most indispensible masters.
Here's a segment about Stuart Gordon, filmed on the set of Bride Of Re-Animator and featuring an interview with Gordon at the La Brea Tar Pits, surrounded by dinosaur statues. (And Gordon talks about how much trouble he had to go to, to track down a copy of the long-out-of-print Herbert West: Reanimator, eventually getting to read it in a library that wouldn't let him take it out.)
Here's the segment on indispensible Hong Kong action movie producer Tsui Hark:
Here's the segment on Ed Wood, who was sadly already dead:
A whole episode on Ray Dennis Steckler, aka Cash Flagg, creator of The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies:
A segment on horror film pioneer Hershell Gordon Lewis, creator of the "splatter" genre:
Zombie film meister George Romero:
And Fred Olen Ray, the creator of such classics as Dinosaur Girls, Alien Dead, Evil Spawn and last year's Bikini Frankenstein:


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Apple has made IPS screen technology almost obligatory, so is there any point in the new BenQ GW2750HM monitor and its VA panel?
VA technology is certainly an intriguing alternative and offers advantages over both IPS and cheap 'n' cheerful TN screens. What's more, the BenQ's 27-inch diagonal puts it in a tricky market that hasn't yet been assimilated by the more affordable IPS screens.
Currently, you're either looking at £500-plus IPS panels, such as the Dell U2711 or the Samsung S27A850D, which both use closely related PLS panel tech, or any of a number of bargain basement 27-inchers with TN screens. There are also a few similar VA 27-inch monitors already available, such as the Philips Brilliance 273P3QPYES. But even then they are still £300 or thereabouts.
That leaves plenty of space for the sub-£200 BenQ to carve out a niche as an affordable 27-inch option with a premium panel.
Rare screen
We've established this 'ere BenQ monitor is unusual in the 27-inch market by virtue of its VA panel and modest price. What else is there to know?
For starters, it's 1,920 x 1,080 pixels and not the 2,560 x 1,400 grid offered by 27-inchers sold for around £500. Inputs wise, you get VGA, DVI and HDMI, and therefore all your non-DisplayPort bases are basically covered.
BenQ has also thrown in the usual image quality processing options, including dynamic contrast and three levels of pixel response. Oh, and if you're wondering about the backlight, it's LED.
What you don't get is a luxurious chassis or a fully adjustable stand. Anonymous black plastic and some tilting action is your lot.
But what about the image quality? At first glance, you might wonder what all the fuss is about. The colours are relatively subdued and the LED backlight isn't exactly turbo charged. Likewise, the image quality enhancements are no more use on the BenQ than they are on any other monitor. The dynamic contrast is clunky and the highest response setting introduces some fairly harsh inverse ghosting. Put it down a notch and the response is noticeably worse than your average TN panel.
Spend a little more time with the monitor, however, and you'll begin to appreciate the depth of the blacks this panel is able to generate. We're not entirely convinced the 5,000 to one claim is kosher though. But no TN panel we've seen produces blacks like this.
Props to BenQ then for putting this panel together properly. The result is even backlighting and no edge bleed. If you're paying a little more for a premium panel, you might expect more immediate visual impact than the BenQ is able to deliver.
It's a low-key monitor in terms of image quality, the build's not great either and the tilt-only stand is a bit low rent. But a sub-£200 price is very welcome for a 27-inch screen with a premium panel. It also has both DVI and HDMI inputs.
The BenQ is a cut above the TN hordes when it comes to contrast and viewing angles and a nice alternative, though not necessarily a must-buy.


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Okay. So I am pretty sure that the actual article I am pointing to here (probably behind a pay wall – sorry) is not peer-reviewed. It is the editors' introduction to a special issue of the journal Instructional Science. In this introduction they tell us that there are five empirical research reports and two commentary pieces in the issue, but this piece is neither empirical research nor peer-reviewed.
So, take a look at the whole issue, if your access to Springer journals is sufficient. If not, I will summarize!
So, expertise reversal theory. Sounds fancy. I have definitely heard much talk about its theoretical context – cognitive load theory. That shows up all over the place in library instruction circles. I was in an airplane during the opening keynote at WILU last week, but from what I heard (and I heard it a lot – the keynote must have been really good) the "brain guy" talked about the kinds of things that come up in conversations about cognitive load theory.
Expertise reversal theory is a subset of this research. It suggests that the very same things that reduce cognitive load in novice learners can actually increase cognitive load in expert learners, or in learners with more domain knowledge.
The implications of this for library instruction seem immediate and obvious.
In the classroom. How many times have we talked about the problem of the class that seems to be equally divided between the students who have never been pointed to a database and students who have been to the library classroom four times this year? You can't pitch your presentation to the experts in that scenario, and depending on what you have to do for the novices, you might find yourself saying "well, hearing it again won't hurt them.". This theory suggests that maybe it will.
On the web. This is, of course, the really significant place where we have to think about the possibilities this theory raises, Who makes Beginning and Advanced online help possible? (okay, maybe Zotero but who else?)
I have been thinking about my tutorial posts from last year, because they were part of a larger process that Hannah and I presented on at WILU. One of the main takeaways I took from the craft tutorials was the way that they assumed that the people using the tutorials brought with them a body of knowledge, and that idea runs throughout this discussion of expertise reversal theory. The authors argue that the most important cognitive factor in learning is prior knowledge:
Studies of expert-novice differences in cognitive science have clearly demonstrated that learner knowledge base is the most important and fundamental cognitive characteristic that influences learning and performance.
Basically, the way I read this overview is like this – novices don't have a set of mental models, body of domain knowledge or prior experiences to structure their interaction with new information, tools, etc. They need help – and to reduce their cognitive load, we provide help that gives them that structure, whether it be text presented together with images, detailed step-by-step instructions, or whatever the case may be. More experienced learners have those mental models in place. When you give them that structuring information, it becomes something they have to wade through, and it might actually impede their ability to access their own prior knowledge.
At the most basic level, they need the opportunity to "opt out" of the extra help you put in there for novices.
A couple of the papers in the special issue are of interest, though I haven't read them closely enough to analyze yet – they look at how well expertise reversal theory holds up in messy domains (specifically literary criticism and writing-to-learn in psychology) instead of focusing on "well-structured" domains like math or physics — and as instruction librarians, messy domains are where we usually live, right?
Kalyuga, S., & Renkl, A. (2009). Expertise reversal effect and its instructional implications: introduction to the special issue Instructional Science, 38 (3), 209-215 DOI: 10.1007/s11251-009-9102-0


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Why Is Thailand Jailing More People for 'Insulting' the King?
Thai officials are enforcing Lèse-Majesté laws, already the strictest in the world, more aggressively than they have in decades
Over the past five years Thailand's Lèse-Majesté law, by far the strictest in the world, went from being scarcely used to being used an extraordinary number of times annually. According to a group of Thailand scholars, statistics from the Office of the Judiciary show a 1,500% increase in Lèse-Majesté cases in the past six years. In addition, Thailand has in recent years broadened the law in order to prosecute Thais who have allegedly insulted the monarchy on the Internet, in blogs, and using social media; one U.S. citizen recently was arrested in Thailand for just such a "crime."
WikiLeaks and South East Asia
Is It Time for America to Harden Its Asian Alliances?
India's Tragedy
What is Suu Kyi's Role in Burma Today?
Lèse-Majesté, indeed, has become a political weapon -- perhaps the most potent political weapon in Thailand -- even though the king himself has said that he is not above criticism and seems to dislike the law. Royalists in the military, the bureaucracy, and the Democrat Party have used it to crush dissent. Striking back, the Puea Thai opposition and its allies have also in recent years used Lèse-Majesté against their political opponents. Whatever the original purpose for the law -- which actually largely fell out of use in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, a time when the monarchy was much weaker, that original purpose has vanished today. The rising use of Lèse-Majesté has grown concurrentlywith increases in censorship of all types, as well as self-censorship in the print and online media in Thailand.
Many Thais hoped that the July election of Yingluck Shinawatra and the Puea Thai party would mean a diminishing use of the Lèse-Majesté law, since Puea Thai's members and followers have themselves had the law used against them many times. Allies of Yingluck say that she is personally sympathetic to trying to reduce use of the law and reform it in the long run. After her election, for example, bloggers posted an interview she had given in which she said that she did not want the law to be misused.
But the first months of Yingluck's administration have not given much hope for advocates of free speech in Thailand. She has done nothing to address the highest-profile cases of Lèse-Majesté, including that of a famous blogger named Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul, who is serving an eighteen-year jail sentence for Lèse-Majesté. The parade of Lèse-Majesté arrests has continued, including that of the aforementioned U.S. citizen. Meanwhile, Yingluck's government promised two weeks ago to clamp down even harder than in the past on people using computers to allegedly defame the monarchy.
A group of concerned scholars have submitted to Yingluck a public letter calling on her to review Thailand's laws on Lèse-Majesté and on cyber crimes. They also have called on her to push for the release on bail of people facing Lèse-Majesté charges, many of whom are being held without bail. So far, Yingluck and her cabinet have not given any signs that they are taking notice.
This article originally appeared at CFR.org


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Man gets 15-18 years for deadly Sheffield crash
Moira Banks-Dobson killed in crash
A Connecticut man with a history of drunken driving infractions will serve up to 18 years in prison for causing a crash that killed one person and seriously injured another in Massachusetts last year.
Frederick Weller of Newtown, Conn., pleaded guilty in Berskhire Superior Court Thursday to vehicular homicide, drunken driving and other charges.
Prosecutors said Weller's truck slammed head-on into a car on Route 7 in Sheffield, seriously injuring the car's driver. The truck then landed on top of a car driven by Moira Banks-Dobson, killing the 24-year-old Sheffield woman.
The Berkshire Eagle reports that in sentencing Weller to 15-18 years in prison, Judge John Agostini cited his previous crimes and said Weller showed clear disrespect for the law.
Weller's lawyer said his client was remorseful and grew up in an alcoholic household.


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Kathie Lee & Hoda get 'royal' treatment on Halloween
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Hundreds of thousands of protesters in the streets of Istanbul. Tens of thousands of policemen attacking with teargas bombs and rubber-bullets. The Bosphorus bridge heaving with demonstrators. Solidarity meetings all over Turkey and beyond. A government that seems to have lost touch with events on the ground. An establishment media whose patrons have been bullied not to report what is in front of its eyes. A nation in turmoil. A prime minister, who in 2011 was lecturing Hosni Mubarak about democracy and divine justice - and who was re-elected then with a massive popular vote - who now looks
A makeshift medical emergency centre
Turkey seems among the unlikeliest candidates for a popular uprising. It has one of Europe's few thriving economies, with record growth, falling unemployment and decreasing urban poverty. The country's technical infrastructure was never as advanced, its people never as educated, its society never as broadly middle class as it is now. A peace process in Kurdistan promises a new deal with the country's largest and most brutally oppressed minority after decades of war. The socio-economic factors which drove people in Egypt, Tunisia, Greece and Bulgaria to the streets are largely absent. Despite all this, a small protest in the Gezi Park of Istanbul's Taksim Square quickly turned into an enormous eruption of protest.
So why Turkey, and why now?
The background
On Wednesday 29 May 2013, a small group of students and ecologists tore down the barriers to occupy the Gezi Park adjoining Taksim, the most symbolic of Istanbul's central squares. Their declared aim was to stop developers from building a shopping-centre that was to be housed in a replica of a military barracks building demolished sixty years ago - resulting in the destruction of much of the park. The group attracted support from intellectuals and politicians, notably the pro-Kurdish socialist MP Sırrı Süreyya Önder.
The event was completely peaceful, but the police response to activists was, by any measure, disproportionate. Their repression initially forced the protesters out of the park, but caused wide public outrage. Soon, mobilised by social media, they were back - and in hugely greater numbers. By Friday 31 May, tens of thousands were clashing with police units in different Istanbul neighbourhoods, while clouds of teargas darkened the skies. Police units threw gas-bombs and teargas into metro-stations, hotel-lobbies and residential buildings. By midnight, protesters had retaken the park, even as street-fights continued and spread to many, mostly middle-class, suburbs. Hundreds of protestors were wounded and hundreds more taken into police custody. Clashes intensified on Saturday and spread increasingly around the country.
The Ataturk Cultural Centre on Taksim Square under occupation: "Don't give in"
On Sunday afternoon, all police units suddenly withdrew from Taksim Square and Gezi Park. Since then, the only evidence of their presence is a few burned-out police-vans. By Monday, the police also withdrew from the Dolmabahçe area and from Beşiktaş, home to prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's Istanbul office as well as to its most politicised and darıng football-supporters' group (called Çarsı). As of Monday night, 3 June, and after two confirmed deaths, the police had either completely evacuated or settled for less brutal policing strategies.
"Tahrir is now Taksim: forward for the revolution"
The context
What, beyond their immediate spark, has motivated the protests? At least three interrelated factors have incubated them:
* an increasingly uninhibited neoliberal development process
* the government's growing conservative zeal
* a troubled foreign policy
These three factors come together in a further overarching source of discontent: with the prime minister's authoritarian style of government.
A neoliberal restructuring
The ruling AKP's political success in the decade since it came to power in November 2002 owes much to its balancing-act between neoliberal readjustment and the extension of welfare, health and educational provision. As a result, a large section of Turkey's society has gained access to better public services. At last, though, the AKP and its leading cadres have succumbed to the logic of neoliberal capitalist exploitation, and this is shredding their reputation among many Turkish citizens.
For example, hundreds of hydroelectric power-plants are being built in Turkey's mountainous regions, against the will of local people. Most of them are based in very diverse and delicate ecosystems, and their construction is destroying the forests, the fauna, the flora and the cultural geography of these places. Local protests by steadfast villagers intent on defending their territory have been brutally treated by police and gendarmerie, who behave as if they are the private army of construction companies (which often have links to the family of senior government members). Some villagers have succeeded in fending off the construction, even in the face of this treatment and hundreds of court cases brought against them; others have joined documentary filmmakers and environmental activists to tell their stories of resistance to the privatisation and appropriation of their common goods. Many of the latter were at the initial demonstration in Taksim.
The neoliberal boom has been felt particularly in Istanbul, where a process of massive urban regeneration and dispossession is in evidence. Entire neighbourhoods housing the urban poor have been cleared of their former residents in opaque planning processes by the municipality and large construction companies (again, close to the government).
Tarlabaşı, for instance, was an impoverished but cosmopolitan neighbourhood close to Taksim, that gave shelter to what the municipality considered as "marginal groups": Kurds, transsexual sex-workers, African immigrants. Most have now been driven out of their crumbling 19th-century houses into suburbs several dozen kilometres away from their workplaces to make way for inner-city luxury apartments. The century-old Roma settlement of Sulukule was cleared in the same way, destroyed and completely rebuilt by private developers. This policy of state-led dispossession - not limited to Istanbul - is now being repeated in all major Turkish cities.
Even more daunting are the new megaprojects, which have become synonymous with their greatest proponent, Erdogan himself. They threaten to destroy a substantial part of the city's forests on its northern fringe. These include a third Bosporus bridge, Europe's largest airport (with a capacity of 100 million passengers), and a canal planned to connect the Marmara Sea and Black Sea, which will have serious and probably irreversible effects on the marine ecosystem. The government has pushed these projects through without either public consultation or environmental-impact assessments, leaving many Istanbulites with the feeling that their city has turned into a massive rent-generating machine.
A conservative project
Even as Istanbul's built environment is being reshaped, the government has imposed socially conservative and religiously inspired policies that have shattered any pretence of secular politics. A school reform has increased the number of required religion classes and forced many pupils to attend religious schools, often against the will of their parents. The right to abortion has been curtailed, while social policy has increasingly focused on increasing birthrates and recasting women as dependent mothers rather than as equal individuals.
A law pushed through parliament recently has introduced severe restrictions on the promotion and sale of alcohol, in addition to already heavy taxes. The prime minister has intervened directly to ban the sale and consumption of alcohol on university campuses and ensured that open-air drinking in the centre of the city's nightlife has become close to impossible.
Celebrating the withdrawal of police forces from Istiklal Avenue
An unstable foreign policy
It is not long since the government was promoting the idea that Turkey is the new hegemonic actor in its neighbourhood. A series of setbacks, especially in its Syria policy, has exposed this as an illusion. Turkey has broken all its links with the Syrian regime and become both a leading supporter of foreign fighters there and a conduit for weapons entering Syria. In backing the largely Sunni opposition, the language of Turkey's foreign policy has taken a sectarian turn, thus upsetting many non-Sunni Muslims and non-religious people in Turkey.
Turkey's humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees has been exemplary, but its porous borders and the safe passage it has granted to transnational jihadists has put the border province of Hatay at serious risk. The bomb-attacks on 11 May in the town of Reyhanli, which killed at least fifty-one people, leave little doubt that the government's Syrian policy is spiralling out of control.
These three factors are alienating enough to many Turkish citizens. But an additional one makes them even more irksome: the autocratic manner and language of an unbearably arrogant and self-aggrandising prime minister.
A review of Erdogan's speeches and statements since his last election victory in 2011 suggests a near-delusional worldview. "Women should have at least three children"...."Abortion is murder"..."The Sunnis of Syria are our brothers" (implying that the Alawis are not)..."We want a pious youth"..."Alcohol is destructive"...."Zionism is a crime against humanity". Millions of Turks - at least the 50% who did not vote for the AKP - feel that this is not the man to become the country's first elected president, the top position Erdogan has announced as his personal-political goal. But even within the electorate of the AKP, dismay is rising.
The protesters
It was young ecologists who began the occupation of Gezi Park. They were soon joined by students, middle-class professionals and left-wing political activists. Over these days, pretty much everyone who has not voted for the AKP - and even some who did - has come to Taksim. In terms of symbols, probably the most visible now are a variety of left-wing organisations, as well as ecological, LGBT and feminist groups. In terms of numbers, students and professionals as well as fan groups like Çarşı are the most important constituents. Many trade unions and most professional organisations have shown support, the latter playing a major role in organising legal and medical aid for affected protesters.
A music band joins the protestors
The main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) also welcomed the protests, and eventually even individual members of the right-wing Nationalist Action Party (MHP) joined in. The Kurdish organisations were at first reluctant to join, probably alienated by the increasing numbers of Turkish flags and slogans (including, among some groups, "We are all Ataturk's soldiers") and concerned that the protests might derail the peace process. Nevertheless, Kurdish organisations also entered the square in the end; by late on 3 June, all of these groups were demonstrating (and drinking) peacefully at Taksim. Without the cops, one protester said, we are much better off.
The future
The events in Taksim have a striking resemblance to the "Republic of Tahrir". The immediate outpouring of support and solidarity; the makeshift emergency treatment centres for the wounded that emerged overnight; the involvement of the bar association and individual lawyers; the provision of food (and the essentials of fighting teargas - lemons, milk, water, gas masks and construction helmets) by many schools, hotels and restaurants. Soon, these services were also provided by private entrepreneurs, who completed Taksim's social infrastructure. The buildings around the square were adorned with graffiti; hundreds of slogans ridiculing Erdogan were chanted; the rock group Duman even released a protest song.
"Does (the prime minister) want three more children like us?"
Yet, Turkey is not Egypt and Erdogan is not Mubarak. Despite the police brutality, the city did not come to a standstill; protesters were able to cross the barriers and go home to get some rest; the boats, buses and metro services continued to run. Eventually the police withdrew and violence subsided, and the news blackout was lifted after the intervention of President Abdullah Gül.
On the boat after a long day: a generation discovers politics
Turkey is still a democracy and this protest is not about regime change. It is an explosion of discontent with a leader who has done a lot of good for the country, but who has become arrogant, out of touch, shielded from society by second-rank advisers, and unable to listen to anyone who disagrees with him. Erdoğan's charisma is now significantly damaged and his chances of becoming Turkey's president are diminished.
If President Gül and the more independently minded members of the government show that they take the protesters, and the "other 50%" of Turkey's population seriouslly, then the protests that began ın Taksim Square will enter the annals of Turkey's history of the struggle for democracy and human rights. They will be recorded as the country's first urban movement, whose most visible symbol is a beer bottle.
To achieve this, the government in Ankara - now intent on damage control - will have to move. On 5 June, deputy prime minister Bülent Arınç meets members of the Taksim Platform which represents the protesters. The changes sought by the demonstrators include a repeal of the plan to build a shopping centre; a withdrawal (or an agreement not to enforce) the law on alcohol consumption; a review of the most extreme excesses of neoliberal urban and economic policies; due process for the investigation of police brutality (and particularly for at least one case of possible murder by a member of the police force); and an assurance that a societal project rooted in Islamic conservatism will not be imposed.
All this is possible, though probably not under prime minister Erdoğan, who seems to have passed the zenith of his power. If these measures are not conceded the protests will continue, with the risk they become vulnerable to provocation by non-democratic groups, and of more lives being lost. In that case Turkey will enter another period of polarisation, uncertainty and decline. The stakes are high. But there is now also a prospect for a better, more inclusive democracy in Turkey.
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