text:
Loving the pint-sized star of "Jersey Shore" has not been easy for ex-boyfriend Emilio Masella.
Snooki's "gorilla juicehead" had to watch his beloved bunking up with cast member Vinny on the latest episode of "Jersey Shore."
The scene was so upsetting he called People magazine to declare war on Vinny.
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
"Vinny is lucky he is not on the Jersey Shore this week," Masella said in a not-so-strongly-worded salvo. "I would confront him in person."
In the latest episode of this year's season of "Shore," an intoxicated Vinny beckons the pear-shaped Snooki into his bedroom, where the two roll together beneath the blankets.
In the following scene, Vinny walks out of his room the next morning and asks, "Did I do the unthinkable?"
Masella and Snooki were still an item at the time, and Masella said watching the episode stung worse than sand in the eye.
"I was at a bar and to see that in front of so many people, I was really hurt," Masella told People. "I felt so embarrassed."
The two are no longer a couple, over rumors that Masella was using the recently-jailed party girl as a stepping stone to launch his own reality career. He has spent the summer hanging out with another small screen fame-chaser, Spencer Pratt.
Masella even mounted a rescue mission to free his beloved guidette, flying across the country to bail her out when she was picked up for disorderly conduct. "I just wanted to tell Snooki how much I love her," the star-crossed lover told Radaronline.
But before he could arrive, his ex-boo was already out of jail and bopping around with another guy.
Still, Emilio Masella is not willing to turn the page on his romance with the Snookster. "You never know," Masella said about the two reuniting. "It's definitely possible. Anything's possible."

subset: commoncrawl


text: ← Development/Tutorials/Plasma4/Python/Writing DataEngines You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reason: The action you have requested is limited to users in one of the groups: Users, Administrators, trusted, KDEDevelopers. You can view and copy the source of this page. == Abstract == As you have seen in the [[../Using DataEngines | using DataEngines]] tutorial, Plasma applets can make use of DataEngines to visualize data of many different kinds. In fact, the already available DataEngines offer many options for your applets. But what if you have a specific need, not covered by those? The problem is easily solved by writing your own Plasma DataEngine, and this tutorial will show you how to create one. == Prerequisites == As with applets, DataEngines need the same directory structure (see [[../GettingStarted | the Getting Started tutorial]]), so the first step is to create the appropriate directories. The difference with respect to applets lies in the metadata.desktop file: <syntaxhighlight lang="ini"> [Desktop Entry] Name=Python Date and Time Comment=Python Time data for Plasmoids Type=Service Icon=preferences-system-time ServiceTypes=Plasma/DataEngine X-Plasma-API=python X-Plasma-MainScript=code/main.py X-KDE-PluginInfo-Author=Simon Edwards firstname.lastname@example.com X-KDE-PluginInfo-Name=plasma-dataengine-pytime X-KDE-PluginInfo-Version=1.0 X-KDE-PluginInfo-Website=http://plasma.kde.org/ X-KDE-PluginInfo-Category=Python Date and Time X-KDE-PluginInfo-Depends= X-KDE-PluginInfo-License=LGPL X-KDE-PluginInfo-EnabledByDefault=true </syntaxhighlight> Take a look at the ServiceType line. When using applets, it was "Plasma/Applet", but since now we're dealing with DataEngines, its value is "Plasma/DataEngine". == Main script == For this tutorial we'll use the <tt>plasma-dataengine-pytime</tt> code, which is available on KDE's SVN. This DataEngine is an equivalent to the C++ time DataEngine we connected to in the [[../Using DataEngines|using DataEngines tutorial]]. Its function is to display time and date with respect to the current timezone. You can view [http://websvn.kde.org/branches/KDE/4.2/kdebase/workspace/plasma/scriptengines/python/examples/dataengines/pytime/contents/code/main.py?revision=906699&view=markup the main.py file online]. As the file is rather long, we'll take a look at it in sections. <syntaxhighlight lang="python"> # Copyright stuff from PyQt4.QtCore import * from PyKDE4.kdecore import * from PyKDE4 import plasmascript class PyTimeEngine(plasmascript.DataEngine): def __init__(self,parent,args=None): plasmascript.DataEngine.__init__(self,parent) def init(self): self.setMinimumPollingInterval(333) </syntaxhighlight> We start with the copyright information, followed by importing the required modules (<tt>PyQt4.QtCore</tt> and <tt>plasmascript</tt>). Since we're dealing with time and timezones, we also import <tt>kdecore</tt> to make use of what KDE offers. In <tt>__init__</tt> we just initialize the class. In <tt>init()</tt> instead, we set the minimum polling interval, that is the minimum time (in milliseconds) that needs to pass between one data request (from an applet, for example) and another. <syntaxhighlight lang="python"> # Continued from above def sources(self): sources = ["Local"] sources.extend(KSystemTimeZones.zones().keys()) return sources def sourceRequestEvent(self, name): return self.updateSourceEvent(name) </syntaxhighlight> The <tt>sources()</tt> function is called from applets to request what data sources a DataEngine has (for example, if your applet needs to connect to an online service, the DataEngine could offer a list of suitable services). In this case we first create a list with the "Local" name (which refers to the local time on your computer) and then we extend the list using <tt>KSystemTimeZones.zones().keys()</tt>. This adds the time zones known to KDE to the sources. As a final step, we return this list. <tt>sourceRequestEvent</tt> is a function that is called when the applet accesses the DataEngine and requests a specific source (<tt>name</tt>). This function is usually used to make preparations (for example, setting up a connection) before the data can be received. In this case, we simply return <tt>updateSourceEvent</tt> with the source name. <syntaxhighlight lang="python"> # Continued from above def updateSourceEvent(self, tz): localName = "Local" if tz == localName: self.setData(localName, "Time", QVariant(QTime.currentTime())) self.setData(localName, "Date", QVariant(QDate.currentDate())) # this is relatively cheap - KSTZ::local() is cached timezone = KSystemTimeZones.local().name() else: newTz = KSystemTimeZones.zone(tz) if not newTz.isValid(): return False dt = KDateTime.currentDateTime(KDateTime.Spec(newTz)) self.setData(tz, "Time", QVariant(dt.time())) self.setData(tz, "Date", QVariant(dt.date())) timezone = tz trTimezone = timezone self.setData(tz, "Timezone", QVariant(trTimezone)); tzParts = str(trTimezone).split("/") if len(tzParts)>=2: self.setData(tz, "Timezone Continent", QVariant(tzParts[0])) self.setData(tz, "Timezone City", QVariant(tzParts[1])) return True </syntaxhighlight> <tt>updateSourceEvent</tt> is the main function needed for a DataEngine, as it takes care of updating and storing the data from a specific source (in our case, <tt>tz</tt>, a timezone). As a first step, we set <tt>localName</tt> to be "Local", and we compare the timezone supplied to the function to it. If they're the same, i.e. local time on the computer, we set the data to current time and date (<tt>QTime.currentTime()</tt> and <tt>QDate.currentDate()</tt>), and then we get the name of the timezone using <tt>KSystemTimeZones.local().name()</tt>. The important part here is <tt>setData</tt>. That is how we put data inside a DataEngine. <tt>setData</tt> accepts a source name, a key which will be used to look up the information, and the actual information, stored as a <tt>QVariant</tt>. If "Local" is ''not'' the timezone supplied to <tt>updateSourceEvent</tt>, we obtain data on the timezone itself using <tt>KSystemTimeZones.zone(tz)</tt> and we assign it to <tt>newTz</tt>. Of course we may have supplied a non valid timezone, so we check it with <tt>newTz.isValid()</tt>, and we return False if it is not. After that, it's a matter of getting time and date relative to this timezone, through <tt>KDateTime.currentDateTime(KDateTime.Spec(newTz))</tt>. Then, we set the data into the DataEngine relative to date and time, and we assign <tt>timezone</tt> to <tt>tz</tt>. Then, we set the timezone name (for example, "Europe/Rome") into the DataEngine. We also want to get continent and city into the DataEngine, so we split the string into a list with "/" and we check if contains two or more elements. If so, we set the first (for example "Europe") as continent and the second ("Rome") as city. Then the function returns True. <tt>updateSourceEvent</tt> should return True if succesful, and False if otherwise. <syntaxhighlight lang="python"> def CreateDataEngine(parent): return PyTimeEngine(parent) </syntaxhighlight> The last two lines deal, in a similar manner as applets, with creating the DataEngine. == Installing the DataEngine == First of all, zip the directory contents (see the [[../GettingStarted|Getting Started tutorial]]), then invoke <tt>plasmapkg</tt> like this: plasmapkg -t dataengine -i <zip file name> Plasma can't automatically determine the type of package you are installing (defaults to applet) so you have to manually specify the <tt>-t dataengine</tt> option. Once installed, you will be able to use this DataEngine in your applets. == Testing the DataEngine == Run the <tt>plasmaeengineexplorer</tt> application (see [[../Using DataEngines | the Using DataEngines tutorial]]) and select the <tt>plasma-dataengine-pytime</tt> DataEngine. If all went well, it will behave in the same manner as the <tt>time</tt> DataEngine. == Conclusion == You can effectively separate presentation and data handling in your applets by creating DataEngines which deal with all the needs for data. In a few lines of code, you can set up your sources, retrieve data and then store it for applets to use. == Problems == Using your own python dataengines in KDE 4.2.0 leads to a crash. The problem is fixed in KDE 4.2.1. Return to Development/Tutorials/Plasma4/Python/Writing DataEngines. Retrieved from "https://techbase.kde.org/Development/Tutorials/Plasma4/Python/Writing_DataEngines"


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The negotiations parried back and forth for weeks in early 2010, encompassing virtually every detail of Joe Mauer's career. His lionization in his hometown. His status as an All-Star, and his allure to high-payroll contenders. His burgeoning power, Gold Glove defense and injury history.
Every factor that the Twins and Mauer's representatives could think of was discussed, projected and appraised before an agreement was reached. Every factor but one.
"I don't think there was ever any expectation on either side," Mauer's agent, Ron Shapiro, said, "that Joe would be anything but a catcher."
It was simple supply and demand: Catchers who can hit are scarce. Batting champions who can throw out baserunners and handle a pitching staff, they're unicorns. Joe Mauer wasn't the best of his class, he was the only member, a singular talent that Shapiro believed could be worth $30 million a year on the open market.
At $184 million over eight years, the terms the two sides finally agreed upon, the Twins were purchasing, practically into perpetuity, an asset that no other team possessed.
An asset that lasted under that contract, as it turned out, for only 192 games.
"Joe was the best catcher in the game. Of course you'd hope he would be able to stay back there his entire career," said General Manager Terry Ryan, who was an adviser to former GM Bill Smith during Mauer's negotiations. "But things happen that you can't anticipate. So you adapt."
A concussion is what happened. A full-time move to first base that Mauer had a difficult time embracing is how the Twins will adapt, beginning next week in Fort Myers. And the truth is, the team is better prepared for the transition than it might seem, because Mauer hasn't been healthy enough to be the Twins' regular catcher for years.
"You'd like to have your catcher catch about 130 games a year, the top-of-the-line guys like the Yadier Molinas of the world," Ryan said, referring to the Cardinals' All-Star catcher, who has started at least 128 games behind the plate for five consecutive years. "You can't ask for more because of the demands of the position — that's the price you pay for catching. But 130-135 [games], that's about right."
It's also a level that Mauer reached only once in his 10-year career as a catcher, back in 2008; in fact, since his debut as a 20-year-old on April 5, 2004, Mauer, 30, has started only 885 games behind the plate, or just 54.6 percent of the Twins' 1,622 regular-season games in that time. And since his contract extension went into effect in 2011, a variety of injuries limited Mauer to a mere 192 starts at catcher, or 39.5 percent of the schedule.
Knee surgery, back pain and the ill-described "bilateral leg weakness" put him on the disabled list for at least a month in five different seasons, and last August's 90-mph blow to the head, a foul ball that jarred his catcher's mask and triggered nearly three months of queasy symptoms, was the worst yet.
"I can't remember any year when I've had so many foul tips, especially taking them off the head," he said in May, three months before another one ended his season. "I've probably taken 12-15 balls off my head already this year. You don't want to mess around with [your head], especially with concussions."
Had hoped to catch again
Yet even when he remained sensitive to light and noise a month after the season, even when he had to leave the room to clear his head when his 6-month-old twin daughters cried, Mauer was reluctant to give up the position he has played since junior high.
"I think I kept visiting different doctors," he said, "hoping that somebody would tell me that it was OK to get back behind there."
Instead, the general manager told him it wasn't. Ryan met with Twins doctors shortly after the season, and after hearing their prognosis — that Mauer, having suffered a major concussion, was at greater risk of a reoccurrence, and potentially long-term consequences — decided that the time had come for the team's most valuable property to be moved out of harm's way. Even if it meant that Mauer's value, the likelihood that he would be worth the $115 million the Twins still owe him, would decline severely by moving him from the most difficult defensive position on the diamond to the easiest.
"Money isn't a factor. It doesn't matter if it's Joe or anyone else — you've got to weigh the risk to someone's life," Ryan said. "It was the right thing to do."
Ryan consulted with Shapiro and met with Mauer and his wife, Maddie, urging him to give up catching.
"The person who least wanted to accept the decision was Joe," Shapiro said. "He just loved being a catcher. It was a major give-up for him to have to move away from that position."
It made sense to everyone, though, including another concussion victim: former teammate Justin Morneau, who "actually told me, 'Joe, you need to move on. It's just not worth it,' " Mauer recalled.
Finally, he said, he realized "I'm a husband and father first. ... It wasn't a tough decision, but it was, just because I love to catch and I've put in so much work to become the catcher that I was."
Now he's got a lot more work, because even Mauer admits that until now, his approach to his new position was more as a hobby than a scholarly pursuit.
"Playing first base was kind of a day off [from] catching. I kind of went out there as, 'Do your best, and whatever happens, happens,' " said Mauer, who has 54 career starts at first, though only eight last year. "Now it's my job, and I'd better do a good job."
The Twins have tutors lined up to help him drill down on the finer points. Paul Molitor and Rod Carew, Hall of Fame hitters who ended up at first base after years elsewhere in the infield, will be in Fort Myers for daily consultation, and Molitor joins the major league coaching staff full time this year.
And former manager and first baseman Tom Kelly has long concentrated on the first basemen in spring training, helping Morneau become a solid defensive player.
"Joe has a pretty good grasp of it; we've had a few sessions, and now that he can devote his full attention to it, you might be able to get into a little more [detail]. I've got a couple of things in mind that I'd like to pass on to him," Kelly said. "It takes a lot of repetition, but he's such a good athlete, he'll be fine.''
The goal: 150 games
Mauer said he believes he will benefit from fresher legs and fewer bruises. He's focused on regaining lost flexibility this winter, and already notices the difference in focusing less extensively on his legs during winter workouts.
"He's got a lot of the requisites for being a good first baseman," Ryan said. "His [6-5] size is ideal, he's a perfect target. He's athletic, agile, and he's got the instincts for it. If he had stiff hands, you'd be worried."
Mauer's range and glove have ranked slightly above average for the position, according to spray-chart and statistical analysis by sabermetric site Baseball Prospectus.
"His athleticism and reaction times will benefit him. He does a good job moving to his right, in particular," BP analyst Nick Wheatley-Shaller said. "If he adapts like [Boston's] Mike Napoli did, he's not going to hurt you out there."
The Twins hope Mauer can play 150 games this season, as 12 major league first basemen did in 2013, as Morneau has done four times.
"I'm excited to see how I feel in August," when he's normally beaten up by months of foul tips, Mauer said. "Justin said, 'You won't believe how much better you'll feel.' "
The Twins will feel the same way if Mauer continues to compile a .400 on-base percentage, as he has done six times, and whack 30 doubles, as he's also done a half-dozen times. But major league teams received an average of 23.8 home runs from their first basemen in 2013, a level that Mauer has reached (or even approached) only once. Mauer slugged 28 homers during his MVP season in 2009, 16 of them in the Metrodome. Considering he has hit only 10 career homers at Target Field, it's unlikely that Mauer will provide the power that most teams crave at the position.
"That's all right. There have been some pretty good first basemen who were doubles-type hitters. You can win with them," Ryan said. "I don't see Joe changing his swing, changing his strike zone, just because he's over at first. We wouldn't want him to."
Ryan declined to say that this is the last position change Mauer might be asked to undertake. The GM says the All-Star is "athletic enough to play a lot of positions.''
That versatility may come into play someday if Miguel Sano, the minor leagues' top slugging prospect, proves too big to remain at third base, as many scouts project, and winds up at first base. Ryan insists that the Twins are committed to Sano as a third baseman, for now.
"We've got a first baseman, and a good one," Ryan said. "I'm excited to see what he'll do there."
Now the Twins must look for another catcher, five years before they had planned. But Mauer's agent believes the Twins and Mauer will be happy with how things turn out.
"In the long run, when the team returns to its winning ways, as I know they will under Terry, and Joe delivers the hits that he will deliver, I think everyone will feel that what value was lost was de minimis compared to what was gained in this," Shapiro said. "Sometimes things don't work out the way you expect, but Joe is still one of the best hitters there is. That hasn't changed."


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