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I was wondering if anyone here is working with UK "Freeview HD" recordings in Linux, and if so, which tools/workflows are working?
Video is 1440x1080i H.264 level 4.0 and audio is AAC in LATM.
I've tried tsmuxer, but this doesn't recognise the audio track.
I would like to remux them to a format playable on the PS3, and also a format accepted by Apple's mediafilesegmenter for http live streaming (HLS) to an ipad/iphone (or equivalent open-source segmenters).
I've many years Linux DVB/MPEG-2 experience (I'm the author of dvbstream and dvbtune), but am struggling to find a way to make use of recordings from my newly purchased DVB-T2 card.
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Trying to use ffmpeg on the original transport streams (e.g. ffmpeg -i input.ts -acodec copy -vcodec copy output.mp4) fails with an error related to the audio stream:
[mp4 @ 0x1bad840] track 1: could not find tag, codec not currently supported in container ... Output #0, mp4, to 'ffmpeg.mp4': Metadata: encoder : Lavf53.32.100 Stream #0:0: Video: h264 (![0][0][0] / 0x0021), yuv420p, 1440x1080 [SAR 4:3 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 27.46 fps, 90k tbn, 90k tbc Stream #0:1(eng): Audio: aac_latm ([17][0][0][0] / 0x0011), 48000 Hz, stereo Stream mapping: Stream #0:0 -> #0:0 (copy) Stream #0:1 -> #0:1 (copy) Could not write header for output file #0 (incorrect codec parameters ?)
The most progress I've made is with a combination of eac3to for demuxing, a tool called "LOAS_LATM_to_ADTS.exe" to convert the demuxed audio stream to ADTS format, and then either MP4Box or tsmuxer to remux the streams.
However, neither of these files are playable on my PS3 - the PS3 fails to recognise the audio stream in the TS version, and recognises (displaying the correct stream info) the audio stream in the MP4 version but just gives silence.
I don't know if it will help or not but you could try remuxing the video and audio into a m2ts file. The ps3 will also read that file type for h264 video.
It might be worth a test just to see if it would work. Strange that you'd have different behavior from the same audio/video in different file types.
Have you tried converting the audio to ac3 or aac?Donatello - The Shredder? Michelangelo - Maybe all that hardware is for making coleslaw?
Thanks for the responses. I've tried m2ts and that gives identical results to plain ts - the PS3 doesn't recognise the audio track. I'll keep experimenting though...
I've attached a 30 second sample recording from BBC One HD.
If anyone can convert (preferably without re-encoding anything) this for playback on a PS3 or iPad/iPhone, I would be very grateful for tips!
EDIT: I've tried converting the audio to AC3, and that works on the PS3 in TS but not in MP4. In MP4, the codec type is recognised, but I get silence (same as AAC audio).
My MP4Box command-line is simply "MP4Box -add video.h264 -add audio.ac3 test-ac3.mp4"
Last edited by 4candles; 17th May 2012 at 03:55.
didn't think about the latm thing,..
(or better: I thought the problem was fixed, but it occurs the 'fix' was removed from ffmpeg, again see: http://ffmpeg.org/trac/ffmpeg/ticket/320)
afaik the only application capable of extracting an latm codec aac stream to an adts aac stream is vlc
so you would need to:
1. extract the audio
vlc.exe -I dummy "Path to output.aac" --sout #std{access=file,mux=ts,dst="Path to input.ts"} vlc://quit
ffmpeg -i "Path to input transport stream" -an -vcodec copy - "Path to output.mp4"
MP4Box -add "Path to output.aac" "Path to output.mp4"
Cu Selur
Ps.: also read: http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=157467
PPs.: since I'm unsure if ipad can handle mbaff coded aav content, reencoding the whole thing is probably the best way to go.
Last edited by Selur; 17th May 2012 at 05:26.
Mediainfo is reporting the AAC profile/level as "High efficiency AAC@L2". The PS3 compatibility page says the only AAC format it supports is AAC-LC, so the audio might need to be converted as well.
mediainfo is reporting differently:
Audio #1 ID : 6602 (0x19CA) Menu ID : 17540 (0x4484) Format : MPEG Audio Format version : Version 1 Format profile : Layer 1 Mode extension : Intensity Stereo + MS Stereo Emphasis : CCITT Duration : 30s 442ms Bit rate mode : Constant Bit rate : 416 Kbps Channel(s) : 1 channel Sampling rate : 44.1 KHz Video delay : -882ms Stream size : 1.51 MiB (8%) Language : English Audio #2 ID : 6606 (0x19CE) Menu ID : 17540 (0x4484) Format : AAC Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec Format profile : High efficiency AAC@L2 Duration : 30s 37ms Video delay : -314ms Language : English Language, more info : Visual impaired commentary
I've only worked with .ts streams from Freesat, and recent versions of ffmpeg have dealt with the files - but I've always re-encoded the streams rather than remux them.
I'll see if I can demux that second audio track.
EDIT: Just to confirm that ffmpeg is reporting both tracks as aac_latm. Looks like mediainfo is wrong.
Last edited by intracube; 17th May 2012 at 07:21.
I too have worked with Freesat .ts files for a long time. As an aside, I found that up to about about July 2010, recordings from BBC HD on satellite would play back unmodified on my PS3. However, around that time, something changed, and all my recordings since then don't play back on my PS3. Do you have a PS3, and if so, did you find this? I still haven't determined the reason, but I think running the files through tsmuxer fixes them.
Going back to the Freeview HD recordings, I've now had some success, using some of Selur's last advice:
wine eac3to.exe -demux input.ts wine LOAS_LATM_to_ADTS.exe audio_from_eac3to.aac audio.aac ffmpeg -i input.ts -an -vcodec copy "output.mp4" MP4Box -add audio.aac output.mp4
I haven't resolved the audio sync issue yet (eac2to reports the delay, but the delay= option in mp4box doesn't seem to work with the PS3), but at least I know I can get the PS3 to play this combination of codecs. The most reliable way to do this is probably to trim the audio to remove Xms of audio (assuming the delay is "audio-first") - time for me to read about LATM/ADTS formats...
I'll also try and work out what's different with this and the other ways I have tried - my guess is that it's because ffmpeg is creating the mp4 instead of MP4Box. IIUC, MP4Box is just adding a second track to the existing file, and leaves a lot of the metadata the way ffmpeg created it.
I'm still interested in seeing if I can create a PS3 compatible transport stream though - I would like to be able to write a server app that streams these channels live to my PS3.
Thanks for everyone's help so far.
EDIT: This MP4 file is also playing fine on my iPhone 4S (which I believe has the same video capabilities as the iPad 2/3). My next problem is creating compatible transport streams, so I can attempt to implement live streaming to these devices...
Last edited by 4candles; 17th May 2012 at 08:33.
Originally Posted by 4candles
Also you might fiddle around with the streaming ability of vlc media player.
Edit - also I see you are in the UK. I know there is a tv addon device that was made for ps3 but was never released in the US. You might look into it - I think it was a pvr device. That might have what you are looking for. Though I'm not sure if that was only available in Japan or not. I don't remember what it was called though.Donatello - The Shredder? Michelangelo - Maybe all that hardware is for making coleslaw?
Thanks for the tips, but I haven't found any existing tools which would stream live DVB broadcasts in a satisfactory way. I've written my own tool (which I should get round to releasing at some point...) which is working to stream to the PS3. Currently it requires a separate DLNA content directory server (I'm using pshare) but the actual streaming to the PS3 is working fine (it's just transmitting the original transport stream over http, with a re-written PAT to only include the video and main audio PIDs). I've started work on incorporating a DLNA content directory server to it, which is working with VLC, but doesn't work the PS3 yet.
The TV addon device is called PlayTV, but that requires it to be connected to the PS3, and only works with standard definition DVB-T. I want a server-side solution, and support for DVB-T/T2 and DVB-S/S2 (and both SD and HD channels).
I'm still interested in seeing if I can create a PS3 compatible transport stream though - I would like to be able to write a server app that streams these channels live to my PS3.
ffmpeg -i bbc1hd-freeviewhd-example.ts -vcodec copy -acodec aac -strict -2 converted.ts
Originally Posted by 4candles
Good luck.Donatello - The Shredder? Michelangelo - Maybe all that hardware is for making coleslaw?
ffmpeg. The PS3 accepts TS files muxed by tsmuxer, but ignores the audio stream.
I've also discovered the "-absf aac_adtstoasc" option to ffmpeg when creating an MP4 file. IIUC, this is required to write the codec info atom in the MP4 file. With this option, the PS3 will accept MP4 files created by ffmpeg. I still need to convert the audio from LATM to ADTS outside of ffmpeg, but it shows that ffmpeg's MP4 support is working for the PS3.
I also tried just using vlc to create both ts and mp4 directly from the original recording. The MP4 file fails on both PS3 and iPhone, presumably because it is created with the audio stream as "self-synchronised", and the video stream synced to the audio stream. (every other method does it the other way around). The TS file plays on the PS3, but the PS3 fails to detect the audio stream.
So to summarise:
PS3 TS - works with tsmuxer or vlc, but no audio stream detected.
PS3 MP4 - works with ffmpeg if using -absf aac_adtstoasc and ADTS formatted AAC audio.
For the iPhone/iPad (MP4), it seems my earlier report of success was premature. Audio is being played fine, but the video either freezing immediately (screen covered with green blocks) if I use ffmpeg for the muxing, or is freezing after about 30 seconds of playback (if I mux the video with ffmpeg, then add the audio with MP4Box).
For the benefit of anyone reading this in the future, the closest combination I have found to play back Freeview HD recordings on the PS3 is:
vlc -I dummy input.ts --sout '#std{access=file,mux=ts,dst="output.ts"}' vlc://quit ffmpeg -i output.ts -absf aac_adtstoasc -acodec copy -vcodec copy output.mp4
So still more investigation to do..
I've been investigating the A/V sync with vlc.
It seems that VLC is trimming the video stream before it remuxes it - presumably to skip any partial GOPs at the start of the recording. However, it doesn't seem to drop any audio packets to match the dropped video, or to attempt to sync with the start of the video stream. Hence there is an even longer difference at the start of these files than in the original recording.
I've adapted an existing ts manipulation tool I've written to remove all audio packets at the start of the file produced by VLC where the PTS is before the first PTS in the video stream. In my tests, this can drop up to a second (or more) of audio, and the resulting A/V first PTS difference is no more than about 10-20ms.
If I then run this through ffmpeg to convert VLC's ts to mp4, then the stream appears to be (more or less) in sync. I need to do more tests with different material to convince myself it's perfect though.
However, this has problems with A/V sync. The output.ts file is correctly synced, but has (in my test file) about 1s of extra audio at the beginning of the stream (this is in the input file too). The problem is that ffmpeg doesn't account for this correctly.
Does the PS3 only play ffmpeg generated MP4 streams if the aac has been formatted as adts?
You haven't mentioned mencoder yet. Might be worth seeing if it can generate compatible streams.
I wish I could be more help, but quite a lot of this is beyond my understanding
I've only been able to create MP4 files containing ADTS audio streams, so I don't know if the PS3 (or even the MP4 specs) support LATM.
I had a quick play with mencoder, and IIUC, it doesn't have its own mpegts muxer, but uses ffmpeg's. So I would suspect the same results.
My current thinking is that I will write a tool to convert LATM audio streams to ADTS "in-place" in the original MPEG-2 TS file. After conversion, ADTS is slightly smaller than LATM, which means I should be able to modify the contents of the audio transport stream packets without actually demuxing/remuxing the original recording. So this would give me my original TS file, but with ADTS audio instead of LATM.
ffmpeg can then be given that file directly, which may turn out to be me more reliable in terms of A/V sync than passing it through vlc first.
would be nice to have a stand alone open source command line tool to convert latm to adts packed aac streams,.. (open source, so one can compile it for linux/mac/windows ), so if you write one, please share with the community.
Cu Selur
It works by manipulating the contents of the transport stream packets directly - so it keeps the original timing etc from the source transport stream. It doesn't demux/remux the stream.
In my test streams at least, the LATM header is about 11 bytes, compared to 7 bytes for a standard ADTS header. The actual AAC payload is identical, although in the LATM version it is not byte-aligned. So the AAC data has to be shifted by a few bits to align it in the ADTS version.
My tool also changes the stream type of the audio in the PMT from 0x11 (AAC-in-LATM) to 0x0f (AAC-in-ADTS).
Everything is auto-detected - there are no command-line options currently. The main requirement on the input stream is that it contains PAT packets (PID 0) and exactly one stream of PMT packets (and the associated elementary streams for the service described in that PMT packet). The PAT can refer to multiple programs (common with DVB recordings), as long as only one actually exists in the file. As a bonus my tool strips out references in the PAT to all services apart from the one actually contained in the file. This should ensure maximum compatibility with other tools.
After being run through this tool, ffmpeg will convert my recordings to mp4 directly, and these mp4 files play with perfect A/V sync in VLC. However, my problem isn't solved as these files still exhibit unsynced audio when playing on my PS3. Seems like I may need to return to my idea of dropping audio packets at the start of the recording.
Like various other DVB-related tools I've written, it's GPL'd. I still need to do more testing and bug-fixing before I release it, and I hope to get time to do that this weekend.
In case anyone is interested, my WDTV Live played the bbc ts file from post #6 properly. The second audio channel was silent though.
Second audio channel being silent probably just means that there was no audio description for that broadcast (or during those 30 seconds I recorded).
I've now opened a support ticket with Sony asking if the PS3 does actually support transport streams containing AAC audio and will wait to see if/how they respond.
Am experiencing similar "challenges" using Mythbuntu 12.04 PCTV T2 Tuner and using Mythtv's built in UpnP Server to try to stream HD Recordings to PS3.
Similar to WDTV Live experience above, I've found that the Sumvision Cyclone Live Media Player Adaptor Version 2 1080p can successfully play/stream Freeview HD Recrodings directly from MythTV upnp Server without modification to the recording files. Cost of mine was ~45 pounds from Ebuyer in the UK and quite satisfied with this as a low cost option to stream Freeview HD Recordings from MythTV without need for LATM conversion/stripping.
I would still like to solve the PS3 Streaming scenario and would be interested to learn more of 4candle's work to date in this area. Can we see your work on the web somewhere?
I've been tearing my hair out with permutations of vlc and ffmpeg but it seems that you've made real progress with C Complier without major reconstruction/processing of transport streams.
I've been considering a similar approach to strip out commercials using AAC 2.0 / 5.1 transitions in 5.1 recordings and am wondering if this can be done quite coarsely, i.e. simply dropping A/V packets, during the 2.0 commercial breaks.
Reading/posting earlier gave me motivation to start experimenting again ......
On my Ubuntu 12.04 / Mythtv Server, here's a vlc-nox command line that will transcode audio in a Freview HD recording to MP2A and the resultant TS file can be streamed to a PS3. Audio seems to be in sync.
vlc -I dummy Input.mpg --sout '#transcode{acodec=mp2a,ab=192,channels=2,samplera te=48000}:duplicate{dst=std{access=file,mux=ts,dst =Output.ts}' vlc://quit
I think this should also work with acodec=a52 or ac3 however these encoders don't seem to be included in the standard install of vlc-nox. I think mp2a at 192kbs is sufficient for 2 channel audio.
I've decided to rewrite the LATM to ADTS conversion to use a different approach. The problem with that sample is that there are multiple LATM frames in each PES packet. UK Freeview HD streams only have one LATM frame per PES packet, and my program wrongly assumed that would always be the case. This new approach will make my code cleaner though, so I'm happy I saw that sample when I did. The outcome will be the same (changing the audio data inside the transport stream packets without remuxing), it's just how it works internally is changing.
I'm part of the way through this rewrite, and once my program is working with both that sample and Freeview HD, I'll release the first version. I can't promise when that will be though, as I'm only able to work on this in my spare time (family and paid work come first).
I started writing this tool just to perform the LATM to ADTS conversion, but quickly realised it would be useful to incorporate other TS processing features into it. The main features I have in mind are:
- Roughly cutting the recording based on the PTS timestamps (these are displayed in mplayer). I have a program that does this already but I never released it pubically. I intend to merge that code into this new tool.
- Synchronising the streams - dropping video packets at the start of the recording to start on a GOP and to drop audio packets to match. The intention is that if you use a third-party tool to then demux the streams and repack, no audio offset will be required to maintain sync (I'm mainly thinking about ffmpeg's mp4 demuxer, which apart from AV sync appears to work well).
- Similar processing at the end of a stream (but that's a lower priority, as it doesn't matter by that stage...)
I'm not sure about dropping packets at that point - I think the first approach I would take would be to split the file based on audio format. So you would get a new file every time the audio format changed. If you wanted, you could then "cat" the program parts together and see how the various players dealt with it.
I see you've called the file "input.mpg" in your example - does this mean that Myth records program streams, instead of the original transport streams? (the mpg extension is usually used for program streams). Or am I reading too much into your example?
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The universe has been sort of funny this week. I'm not sure what exactly it's trying to tell me, but I feel as though it's saying something, or at least hinting around. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and see what other surprises it has in store.
At the moment there are more important matters at hand. Like tomatoes. It's finally that time. Hot days in the Bay = tomatoes galore. The tomatoes around here are exploding right now; even my crazy little Sweet 100's are out of control. I'm ecstatic.
About this time last year, I bought myself a 20 pound flat of Early Girls, which was the best decision ever. I loved being able to crack a jar of the Girls open in the middle of winter. I enjoyed those tomatoes so much that I decided I would buy a flat every year going forward.
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I didn't wait long. I ate a few on toast, which was pretty spectacular. And then the rest went into a sauce. This recipe originally caught my attention because it was so simple and called for just a handful of ingredients. It also called for bottarga.
Bottarga is the dried, cured roe of the grey mullet or tuna. It is found on several restaurant menus in these parts, but it's only available in certain specialty stores and it can get a little pricey. I was on a mission, so I searched the net, made a few calls, did some comparative pricing. And then I headed to the Ferry Building to seal the deal. Thank you, Boulettes Larder, for opening your already closed doors and breaking me off a piece of this gold from the ocean.
Freshly grated bottarga transforms a simple pasta dish into something special. It lends a saltiness and complexity that can't be achieved with salt. It offsets the sweetness of the sundried tomato sauce really nicely. If you can find bottarga and are not deterred by the cost, it's a great treat for yourself and those you are sharing with.
bucatini with oven-dried tomatoes and bottarga
adapted from A-16 by Nate Appleman and Shelley Lindgren
serves 4- 6
kosher salt
extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, smashed with the side of a knife
1/4 teaspoon dried chile flakes
2 cups oven-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped (see recipe below)
12 ounces bucatini
1-ounce piece bottarga for grating (or substitute fresh parmigiano reggiano)
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and chile flakes and sweat, stirring occasionally, for about 3 minutes, or until the garlic has softened. Stir in the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the tomatoes have plumped up. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed, keeping in mind that the tomatoes are seasoned and the bottarga is salty.
Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for about 1 minute less than specified on the package. Drain the pasta, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water, and return the pasta to the large pot over medium heat. Add the sauce to the pasta along with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and toss well, adding some of the reserved pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce. If the sauce is too loose, turn the heat up to medium-high and cook down the sauce with the pasta. It should be loose enough to barely pool at the bottom of the pot, but not too watery. Taste for seasoning, adding more salt if needed.
Serve the pasta in a warmed large bowl, family style. Grate the bottarga over the top to finish and serve immediately.
oven-dried tomatoes
1-1/2 pounds kosher salt
15 san marzano tomatoes
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Preheat oven to 200°F.
Spread the salt on a 13×18-inch rimmed baking sheet, creating a 1/2-inch thick bed of salt. Core the tomatoes and halve them lengthwise. Arrange the halves, skin side down, in rows on the bed of salt. Bake for 6 hours, or until the tomatoes are dried and look like sun-dried tomatoes. (if you have a convection oven, turn the fan on; the tomatoes should be dry in about 3 hours.)
Remove the tomatoes from the salt (the salt can be reused for another batch), and pack them into a container with a tight-fitting lid. Pour in olive oil, cover, and store in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.


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Zero food waste is the next frontier in going green for foodservice operatiors.
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As the foodservice industry continues to strive for ways to become more environmentally friendly, it is important to explore ways to better work with legacy equipment to help achieve the newer goal of achieving zero energy waste.


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All of the unique signature cakes in our cabinet are lovingly crafted and baked in-pub by our talented Farmhouse Cake-a-tiers.
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Conan O'Brien returned to the airwaves Monday after suffering a light concussion during taping last week -- and joked that if his audience was lucky he'd bang his head again.
In a transcript released by NBC, the "Tonight Show" host explained that he struck his head so hard "that for five seconds I actually understood the plot of 'Lost.'"
O'Brien and guest Teri Hatcher were in a footrace when he tumbled, forcing Friday's show to be halted. He was taken to a hospital for examination, and a "Tonight" rerun aired instead of the planned episode.
U.S. & World
"Last thing I remember was enjoying the play with Mrs. Lincoln, and the next thing I knew I was in bed being served cookies in juice," O'Brien said in a statement after the incident.
In his monologue Monday, O'Brien joked that he gotten so much media attention that he's planning a sequel with one of Hatcher's "Desperate Housewives" co-stars.
"So tune in tomorrow when Eva Longoria pushes me down an elevator shaft," O'Brien quipped.
Before showing clips from Friday, O'Brien suggested parents "wake up your children because this is a cautionary tale."
The race between him and Hatcher was to end at the studio with the two rushing down stairs to the finish line. His memory was fuzzy, O'Brien said Monday, but he thinks he was trying to slide on a slick floor when he lost his footing.
"Why don't we show people what happened. Set your VCR to record, and your friends can all laugh watching this later," he said before the tape rolled. "'His pumpkin really got pounded' — that's my father talking."
O'Brien took over as "Tonight" host in June, after Jay Leno's 17 years on the job. Leno is host of a new daily prime-time comedy show for NBC.
Fellow late night host Jimmy Fallon weighed-in on O'Brien's return during his monologue, which follows "Tonight."
"Apparently that thing on his head is not a protective helmet…it's his hair," Fallon joked.


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Multiple Dates
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Things to bring:
Loose, comfortable clothes suitable for Yoga or Tai Chi & water bottle.
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Bioenergetic Alchemy™ is a 21st-century reboot of the body psychotherapy masters of the 20th century, it is a dynamic fusion of Bioenergetic Analysis, Core Energetics, Humanistic Group process work, Breathwork and active meditation. A system of embodied experience.
The foundation of the Bioenergetic Alchemy™ 4 weekly practice system is based on the archetypal elements and the four basic feelings. Earth – Fear, Water – Grief, Fire – Anger & Air – Joy. Interwoven within these are exercises that work with our relationship with our body, and with loosening and bringing awareness to the 7 segments of body armouring. This is grounded in the theory of the 5 Character structures developed by Wilhelm Reich and Alexander Lowen.
The small print - always read the small print!
Refund policy
1) Before 7 days notice full refund 2) after 7 days notice, no refund available. This is so that we have adequate time to fill the space. Thank you


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Wednesday, July 25, 2007
"NASCAR Now" Moves Its Hype To ESPN
Last week, The Daly Planet celebrated the fact that ESPN had made some significant changes to its NASCAR Now program. Out was Erik Kuselias, and in was ESPN's own Ryan Burr. Race fans were upbeat, and the programs were outstanding.
This week, viewers could not believe that Kuselias was returned to the airwaves on a key week for both the network and NASCAR. The results have been a mess for both parties. On Wednesday, ESPN telecast a special version of this ESPN2 program.
The one hour version of this program began with the "merger mania" that is sweeping the under-funded NASCAR team world. As opposed to Ryan Burr, Kuselias is a "reader" who has no knowledge about the sport, and reads questions "in order" to his reporters. It changes the dynamic of the entire program when the host cannot speak freely about the sport with some authority.
Once again this week, feisty reporter Marty Smith talked over the host and added his feelings as a "tag" to a scripted question from Kuselias. The deer in the headlights look on Kuselias face always tells the tale. Someone has deviated from the script, and this is a big problem. Because Kuselias does not know...anything about NASCAR. This time he got off easy because no one asked him to provide an answer.
Over the past six months, The Daly Planet has referred to NASCAR Now as "bi-polar." This show was no exception. Kuselias was literally screaming from the opening tease throughout the show. Someone obviously told him "more excitement" and he interpreted that directive as "move volume."
Last week, the professional Burr was smooth and calm while delivering news and information at a rapid pace. Its almost tough to believe that this is the same network.
Both Terry Blount and Shannon Spake were put in uncomfortable positions on Wednesday by ESPN. Blount was forced to comment on the possible future contract restrictions that ESPN has decided are now needed for NASCAR drivers.
This has all come about because ESPN discovered that Carl Edwards got his thumb out of joint, literally, in a Late Model race last week. Blount took a deep breath and towed the company line while laughter echoed in the background since drivers are "independent contractors" and racing to most of them is life itself, not an optional behavior to be negotiated. At least he did it with a straight face.
Spake was forced to "hype" the theory that NASCAR events have to be "ranked," which is something that ESPN loves to do. She then was sent on a snipe hunt to ask around about what four NASCAR races are the "majors" of the sport. This feature showed a lot of racing types offering their opinion, and concluded the exact same way it started, with nothing solved.
Instead of the Blount and Spake reports, perhaps ESPN could have told viewers that there are three events this weekend in Indy. Friday night, the fantastic and exciting Craftsman Truck Series will be live on SPEED from O'Reilly Raceway Park. Saturday, the Busch Series takes to the same track live on ESPN2. This might be the best racing of the weekend.
Unfortunately, none of this matters to ESPN even in a one hour preview show on a Wednesday. They are obsessed with NEXTEL Cup, and will not lower themselves to deal with these "lesser" series unless they are forced to do so. It is the height of arrogance that ESPN shuns these two series, and the height of hypocrisy that NASCAR lets them get away with it.
This week, Ryan Burr and co-host Allen Bestwick have been absent on NASCAR Now. As the network leads up to its key NASCAR weekend, the executives have made the conscious decision to use the struggling Erik Kuselias during a week where many new NASCAR fans are being courted by the network.
Following a week of quality programming, NASCAR Now returned to the "screaming hype-fest" viewers have come to know so well. Another one hour special of NASCAR Now on ESPN follows on Thursday. One day out from the Indy on-track activity, it will be very interesting to see who the network chooses to lead the band. Thursday and Friday are the most important NASCAR Now shows of the season to date. We certainly will be watching.
The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below, or email firstname.lastname@example.com if you wish not to be published. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by.
21 comments:
- Anonymous said...
Obviously ESPN thinks differently about Kuselias than you do...
- July 25, 2007 at 8:47 PM
- Anonymous said...
ESPN is quickly becoming the MTV of Sports, if it has not already.
- July 25, 2007 at 9:33 PM
- Unknown said...
ESPN is now just absolutely hopeless.
- July 26, 2007 at 3:38 AM
- Anonymous said...
How frustrating, on a day with lots of 'real' news, that ESPN chose to put the 'hype meister' Erik K in charge of Nascar Now. Thank goodness the on site reporters are learning to ignore him and his insipid (or downright stupid) questions and insist on reporting the news.We have had glimpses of what this show could be, which makes it even worse.
- July 26, 2007 at 5:51 AM
- Anonymous said...
It's pretty clear that ESPN doesn't care what the viewers think of their choice of hosts. They need to remember the first rule of business...ignore your customers and they'll go away.
- July 26, 2007 at 7:35 AM
- Anonymous said...
The only way ESPN will get a clear message that their choice of hosts and programming don't work is when race fans vote with their remote.
- July 26, 2007 at 8:24 AM
- Kevin in Brownsburg said...
In reply to vroom, did you ever think that they may not like him. It may be that he has some photos of someone high up at ESPN that involves midgets (sorry, little people)and farm animals? That's the only reason I can think of that he's still hosting. I turned it on the Monday night (I know, I am supposed to be boycotting but I thought someone else might be hosting after last weeks fantastic shows) and Erik, with a K's lead story had to do with the Stewart/Hamlin dust-up. Pure hype, no story, all shouting. I haven't turned it on since that night. I will check tonight to see who is hosting. If it's Erik, with a k, I will turn it off.
- July 26, 2007 at 8:41 AM
- Anonymous said...
Why will I NOT be able to see practive on TV on Friday?
ESPN is covering qualifying, so SPEED is not allowed to cover practice?
Someone somewhere does NOT want me watching NASCAR the remainder of the year.
Hey ESPN, my wife says thanks.
- July 26, 2007 at 8:50 AM
- Anonymous said...
I pity the people who don't have Sirius. My radio is tuned to nothing but the Nascar channel for my drive to and from work. By the time I get home, I don't need TV to give me the news.
While I wish their programs were better, my main, selfish concern is their race presentation.
If they treat any portion of the races the way they handle Nascar Now, I will start to lose interest in even watching most of the races.
TNT hurt my interest greatly. Though I'm still heavily connected to the sport, I have waning interest in watching right now because of the 6 weeks of TNT hell.
I have high hopes for ESPN even with Mussburger and Kolber. Their event coverage teams tend to be first rate and I hope that continues.
Thanks to TNT though, I won't be watching much of the Brickyard as it's lost some momentum with me and I made other plans...
- July 26, 2007 at 8:56 AM
- Anonymous said...
Paraphrasing my coments from last week. "Garbage Garbage Garbage". Thank you ESPN for craping on NASCAR fans.
Vote with your remote, if it sucks, turn it off or change the channel. Or better yet call the show's sponsors and let them know how you feel, and how you will not buy their product because they sponser a poor show and poor hosts. Everybody says that NASCAR fans are "Brand Loyal", show them how loyal by not buying the product or buying in to the HYPED Hype, When you hit them in the Pocket Book that when they listen. No Sponsership, No Show
- July 26, 2007 at 8:57 AM
- Anonymous said...
ESPN's coverage of NASCAR this year has been so disappointing. I just don't understand how you go from being absolutely AMAZING at covering a sport (in the 80's & 90's) to absolutely AWFUL at covering a sport (today).
Whoever is in charge should be fired. It's sad.
- July 26, 2007 at 9:17 AM
- Anonymous said...
For the person who wondered about televised practice--SPEED has changed the name to "Go or Go Home." The practices _will_ be on TV. You just have to compare the announced practice times (on the Brickyard website) with the SPEED broadcast time. I'm just surprised that Melanie tramp isn't being used as a reporter.
As for Kuselias: can anyone prove that he has actually attended a NASCAR race? ESPN is using morons like him and Musberger because they think the name recognition will draw non-NASCAR fans to watch. It could work--viz. Bob Costas. But at least an ethical reporter like Costas or Suzy Kolber would try to get some knowledge about the sport. Pretty boys like Kuselias and Musberger just care about their makeup. Makes me sick!
- July 26, 2007 at 11:22 AM
- Unknown said...
I cringed when Kuselias spelled out U-S-A-C instead of saying it the way all knowledgeable race fans pronounce it "YOU-SACK". This guy is just a waste.
- July 26, 2007 at 11:25 AM
- Anonymous said...
To vroom: your right ESPN does think differently about Kuselias than I do, they also think differently about NASCAR than I do. Apparently they think that just because they put NASCAR on it that people will watch it and I guess they think Kuselias is doing a good job. THEY ARE WRONG. I don't have to watch NASCAR NOW to get my news when there are so many other places I can go to get it and I don't have to watch some idiot who doesn't know anything about NASCAR and at time has problems just reading the questions off the sheet he has right in front of him. I watched NASCAR NOW for about 10 minutes yesterday, just long enough to hear about the merger and listen to Marty talk intelligently about the effects. If I want to hear someone well at me while I watch T.V. I'll go see my ex.From now on if Kuselias is host I will not watch it.
- July 26, 2007 at 1:09 PM
- Anonymous said...
NASCAR NOW with Alan Bestwick or Ryan Burr shows what ESPN can do. NASCAR NOW with Erik K. shows what ESPN thinks NASCAR fans deserve. Therefore, I see no reason to watch any ESPN studio or taped shows - and I will be muting the sound of the race broadcasts so I can listen to Barney Hall call the races.
- July 26, 2007 at 1:47 PM
- Anonymous said...
Practice is not being aired on Friday (only Nascar Live) and that seems to be a rather odd decision for one of the year's biggest races.... Go or Go Home is SPEED's new half hour show that precedes qualifying through the end of the season. It is scheduled for Saturday morning.
- July 26, 2007 at 2:32 PM
- Kevin in Brownsburg said...
I with ya on your comments but I just have to ask. Is Brent Musberger really a "pretty boy"?
- July 26, 2007 at 2:39 PM
- Kevin in Brownsburg said...
Shoulda said "I'm with ya" instead of "I with ya". Sorry, I'm not normally that sloppy or illiterate.
- July 26, 2007 at 2:40 PM
- Anonymous said...
Kuselias is a douche-bag with no real nascar knowledge. He is a joke. To have a guy on a multi million dollar network show who doesn't know the sport he is talking about is a crying shame. I have been a fan of ESPN for years but lately there total product is BS. From Nascar Now to this new crap "Who is more now" who are they trying to kid. Give the real fans a combo of Bestwick and Burr and let it be. Shuffle Tim Cowlishaw back to around the horn and ban him from all nascar telecasts because he is a douche-bag too. I like Boris Said and Stacy Compton both, and Tim Brewer is good as well, but Brad Daughtery had got to go too. I know that he used to own a team, but he is an idiot. Just my 2 cents worth thanks for the forum to air my gripes.
- July 26, 2007 at 4:41 PM
- Anonymous said...
I am delighted to hear that Erik is still on NASCAR NOW and not permantly re-assigned to ESPN Radio, where earlier this week he has been making co-host appearances and shooting off his mouth with some of the hosts in the early afternoon. John is right, he does like to create controversy on radio as well as on NASCAR NOW.
John, please keep posting the ridiculous pictures of Erik and I am hoping to see if you can get additional "shots" of him looking like a goofball like one with him on the Segway.
- July 26, 2007 at 7:40 PM
- Anonymous said...
What blows me away is I saw John Kernan this weekend working on ESPN's NHRA coverage.
What the F#*k is going on at ESPN when they still have Kernan on the payroll and he's not involved in their NASCAR coverage????
Erik K needs go go bye bye. Last week was brutal for nascar now. couldn't watch it.
- July 28, 2007 at 4:03 PM


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text:
[Verse 1: Bun B]
Let's get it started like transmission and alternators
Got the keys in the cage ready for who you call the greatest
Takin' 'em down from the biggest b*tches to smallest haters
I'm 'bout to serve these n*ggas, call 'em waiters
Got my mind right, money right, ready for war
And I got the C4, under my competitor's car
These n*ggas runnin' 'round talkin' 'bout they better than moi
When I'm done all that's gon' be left b*tch is ya head and ya bra
b*tch I'm the head of the pack, and I'm ahead of the game
And I put yo' head on a platter you put some sh*t on my name
b*tch I'm the sh*t, see the stains that I done left on the track?
And I ain't sayin' no names but I left the best on they back
And they ain't sayin' no names so I gotta say it myself
I'm finger f*ckin' this game so you gotta play with yourself
Don't pull a K off the shelf, or pull a strap out the stash
I ain't gotta draw the pistol, I'll be clap at yo' ass
I just let the hands of God toe-tap on you fast
Leave you mashed like potatoes on the top of the grass
Call the coppers to catch me and they'll just tell you to drop it
I'll find you sooner or later and they can't do sh*t to stop it
Got that thang and I'mma pop it like a bubble on the double
I am trouble in the flesh, you can't see me with the Hubble
We ain't wishin' these n*ggas good luck, go get a clover
This Bun B, it's "B.E. 3," this sh*t is over
[Interlude: Crooked I]
SLAUGHTERHOUUUUUSE! (Whoo, Kiiiiiiiid!)
[Verse 2: Joe Budden]
Look at ya man look back at me, yeah I know, sickenin' huh?
If you got a Porsche with only two doors, need to upgrade cause you missin' some
We just got two different bills, different styles, different sums
Started as a drive-by, ended as a hit-and-run
Stop me in the streets, let it be properly when you greet
f*ck lookin' for me, I'm on your property if it's beef
Not for robbery of ya piece, it's lobotomy with my peeps
That comraderie is usually sodomy for the beat
'Less my critics put a lens on them, so I could look through it
Shut the f*ck up, probably mean that you too shook to do it
We'd see two pennies to your name, yet you so saucy
When I fix this game you can Thank Me Later for it, no Aubrey
Switch my demeanor up I'm, off my 380 sh*t
My, future's bright, stars is by my head, Baby sh*t
Make me sick, what you eat don't make me sh*t
Found out the reason they hate me is my God-like presence, must be atheist
While all of the frauds in rap is talkin' swag put a fork in that
Slaughter's back, listen n*gga I got houses all across the map
Even got a Boston pad, got this b*tch from Boston bad
Well put her in a wrestlin' move, but I heard she got that Boston Crab
Batteries in your back, go by what he say
Just need you to know that it's no lee-way, and the tables are turned, go DJ
So you know what that blindfold's for
That bloodshed's a secret, let's keep it behind closed doors
[Hook: Royce Da 5'9"]
Who you said was dope again?
Ay, it ain't nobody f*ckin' with us, nobody f*ckin' with us
Who you said was hot again?
Ay ay, it ain't nobody f*ckin with us, nobody f*ckin' with us
Who you say could spit again?
Ay, it ain't nobody f*ckin' with us, nobody f*ckin' with us
Who you say was dope again?
Ay ay, it ain't nobody f*ckin' with us, nobody f*ckin' with us
[Verse 3: Crooked I]
I'm the present and the future
Like Christmas in 2012 I'm the present in the future, an executive producer
You will never get to choose ya destiny cause you a pessimistic loser
Mess with me and I'll definitely shoot ya
I'mma do's ya like I'm reppin the Yakuza
Die hard like I'm sexing with Medusa, do something n*gga
Born thuggin', I don't f*ck with the cops
Nuts hang down my pant leg, balls tucked in my socks
I ain't gotta act tough to get a couple of props
Little n*gga raised hisself, I don't know what's up with my pops
Do I think I'm the dopest in America? I do
Make you switch your whole style like you're datin' Erykah Badu
Pair of Ferragamo shoes, I will stomp you
I'm f*cked up, like the relationship between Farrakhan and Jews
I'm spankin' this instrumental, like a wrinkly old b*tch
I'm whippin' the kick and snare, make 'em pick they own switch
I'm smarter than computers that know how to fix they own glitch
I'll leave you face down, like chicks who lick they own tits
And from this day forward, Crooked is aging backwards
Gettin' younger and fresher, puttin' bums under some pressure
Yes sir! Watch the next Slaughterhouse album
Every line is white powder, I ain't talkin' 'bout talc*m
I am tighter than "The Biggest Losers" cruisin' in a Smart car
Distinguished alkie, the flask on the armoire
I'm from the home of the most popular bomb weed
Most proper, hoes rock with my partners who top seed
Po' vodka, we gon' bottle pop in the calm breeze
No copper can stop a COB star - I'm a giant
Dumpin' my cigar ashes out on top of the palm trees
Chrome chopper, if I squeeze you drop on the concrete
You wanna' talk about the paper? Oh let's do it
Batter pocket syndrome, the money we gon' abuse it
Still gettin' out-of-town paper so don't confuse it
Tell the hip-hop cops nah, it's only music
And haters steady eavesdroppin' on "The Bar Exam"
Probably in your trunk now dependin' on what car I ram
[Verse 4: Royce Da 5'9"]
Flow tight I should probably ghostwrite for your idol
My pen game is God-like, I could write for the Bible
I'm so good, that after I rock it tonight
I'mma go Sexual Chocolate a drop the mic
Don't even attempt to stop me, mention me, top me
My pencil is nice, should only mentally be dropping the dice
I'm a speech beast, you best to not approach me
Matter a fact I think I second that emotion like a re-tweet
My stock goin' up like a Lamborghini door
I feel like Chuck Woolery in the damn Bellini store
You playing yourself you remind me of the lotto'
You was good and then you turned hood, you remind me of Moscato
I don't aim, I'm like di*k Cheney
The 4 spray and light your head up like Lo Pan when he gets angry
This ain't Simon Says, b*tch, this what Ryan says
I hit the track and it's a wrap like Aunt Jemima head
I'm beyond out of my mind, if you can imagine
Usin' Magic's johnson without a condom, I'm bonkers
Yeah, got the streets goin' "dude is tremendous"
If I come for your blood I ain't gonna be usin' syringes
I am raw, there is a difference between I and y'all
You opposed, you throwin' fire balls at an iron wall
The sound of Alan Grunblatt signin' his name on the dotted line
On that paper is your favorite rapper signin' off


text:
As indicated by the Bloomberg reports Microsoft is anticipating contend with iPad cost by propelling a portion of the new Surface tablets by 2018 mid-year. The point is to take some show of Apple's piece of the overall industry.
Microsoft is guaranteeing to dispatch at $400 that accompanies 10-inch shows with the adjusted edge cases, USB-C ports, nine hours battery life, and 20% lighter bodies than the more established models like Surface Pro and I Pads.
On March, Apple then again, propelled another variant of the $329 iPad with the speedier processor and Pencil stylus bolster. Also, $329 iPad has helped up iPad deals that has altogether expanded ever it got discharged a year ago. Macintosh has conceded that 9.7 inch tablet is their well known iPad.
Microsoft will be giving a tough competition to the Apple and the new Surfaces will have the new keyboard cover which Apple lacks. Apple doesn't sell its own keyboard cover for the entry-level iPad as well as lacks in Smart Connector.
Instead it relies on the third-parties like Logitech with the Bluetooth keyboard cases that cost around $100. Apple Pencil costs $99 and Logitech is going to release at the end of this year, Crayon stylus to education markets that costs around $49.
There is also something which Microsoft should bother about is there tablets aren't getting acknowledged from the reviewers and there is also possibility of platform war. The new Surface devices will run on Windows 10 Pro that lacks in touch-friendly apps which iOS devices 'App Store' provides to their customers.
Google along with the third-party hardware brands seems to be joining the queue, this year by shifting its focus from Android to Chrome OS for the tablets. And there is a bundle of interesting options from HP and Acer.
On 4th June, Apple will host its WWDC keynote that will reveal their next major OS updates- iOS 12, Mac OS 10.14, Watch OS 5, and tv OS 12. Still there will lot more updates coming on the way of both phones and tablets, iPad specific features which includes UI screen updates that has reportedly pushed back to iOS 13.
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Press Release:
PSA Bringing Zombies to San Diego Comic-Con
(San Diego, California) — PSA (www.psacard.com), the world's largest third-party certification company for trading cards, autographs and memorabilia, will be giving away free PSA-graded samples of The Walking Dead™ and Game of Thrones® trading cards at Comic-Con International: San Diego, July 17 – 21, 2013, while supplies last.
PSA will also be giving away, while supplies last, copies of the August 2013 issue of SMR magazine with a cover story about collecting autographs of actors in the hit The Walking Dead cable television program. The entire August issue of the magazine is devoted to the popular genre of entertainment collectibles such as Star Trek™, The Addams Family™ and classic movie monsters.
Visitors to the PSA booth (#5617) can also enter for the chance to win the zombie-inspired original mixed media on canvas painting created by renowned artist, Arthur K. Miller, for the magazine's cover. Valued at more than $3,000, the custom-framed artwork will be given away to a lucky visitor in a random drawing among those who register at the PSA booth during the show. No purchase is necessary to enter this drawing.*
PSA/DNA autograph experts will be available at Comic-Con to authenticate autographs on-site.
"PSA-certified collectibles often sell for premium prices because of the strength and credibility of the PSA brand," said Joe Orlando, President of PSA and Editor of SMR (Sports Market Report) magazine.
"PSA/DNA uses an invisible DNA marker on certified items. It can only be seen using a calibrated laser, and counterfeiters have only a 1 in 33 trillion chance of duplicating that DNA strand," explained Orlando.
Since 1991, PSA experts have examined and certified more than 20 million trading cards, autographs and other entertainment and sports memorabilia with an estimated cumulative value of more than $1 billion.
The Comic-Con convention will be held in the San Diego Convention Center, 111 W. Harbor Drive. For additional information about the event, go towww.comic-con.org.
For additional information about PSA's services, call Customer Service at (800) 325-1121 or go to www.psacard.com.
PSA is a division of Santa Ana, California-based Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT).


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Nawada is a city and a municipality in Bihar, India. It is also the headquarters of the Nawada district.
The name evolved from Nau-abad, meaning the new town. Nawada is a part of the famous ancient Magadh division of south Bihar. The origin of the name Nawada is believed to be derived from the old persian name Nau-abadah , which means "new town" which was earlier known as 'The Eliot Market (Bazaar)'.
Before its acquisition by the East India Company, Nawada was ruled by the nearly independent Rajas of Hisua. After its acquisition, Nawada was in great disorder until 1845, when it became the headquarters of the newly created subdivision.
The elements of disorder resurfaced again during the Mutiny of 1857, when Nawada was overrun by marauding parties.
Nawada has been growing as a hub for sports competitions, both on a district and state level. Nawada is most famous for Handball and kho-kho in the state. In the city area, there is a stadium known as Harishchandra stadium for outdoor games like cricket, football, etc. Apart from that, there is one outdoor and one indoor stadium also available in the city.
Best time to visit the destination October to April.
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We are thrilled to announce that The Fry Art Gallery will be returning to Cambridge Art Fair again in 2016.
The Fry Public Art Gallery was opened in 1987 and houses an impressive number of paintings, prints, illustrations, wallpapers and decorative designs by artists of the 20th century and the present day who have local connections and have made a significant contribution to their field.
There is an emphasis on those who for a variety of reasons settled in Great Bardfield between the early thirties of the last century and the death in 1983 of John Aldridge RA who had lived in the village for fifty years.
Edward Bawden RA who, with his friend Eric Ravilious, discovered Bardfield a year before the arrival of Aldridge and dominated the scene for almost four decades, is represented by nearly 600 items. The Gallery has also acquired work by Ravilious and his wife Tirzah Garwood, and by those other artists who came to the village during the second world war - Michael Rothenstein RA, and his wife Duffy (now Duffy Ayers), Kenneth Rowntree & George Chapman.
The collection also includes prints and paintings by Bawden's son Richard, and examples of the very varied work of artists who made their way to Bardfield in the 1950s - Marianne Straub, Audrey Cruddas, Sheila Robinson, Bernard Cheese and Walter Hoyle.
The Gallery was built in 1856 to house the collection of Francis Gibson, a local Quaker businessman, and the building passed by descent to the Fry family, from whom the Fry Art Gallery Society purchased it in 2015.
Click here to visit their website.
Art Fair
News Blog
February 2019


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"What My Father Gave Me," Friend, Nov. 2012, 16–17
What My Father Gave Me
To be baptized … by one who holds the priesthood true … is just the thing I want to do (Children's Songbook, 104).
It all started with a question in a room full of people.
I've gotten lots of great birthday presents in my life, but what I got from my dad on my eighth birthday takes the cake. And it all started when he asked me a single question in a room full of people.
That room was in our church building, and the people filling it were my family members. I had never seen so many of them in church at one time! We were all there to see my cousin Bre get baptized.
As I watched Bre's parents take pictures of her in her white dress, I started feeling really excited about my own baptism.
I went over to look at the font, thinking about what my special day would be like. Would the water be warm? Would all my family be there? I hoped I would feel the peaceful, clean feeling that I had heard other people tell about. All of these thoughts were tumbling around in my mind when Dad walked over and asked the question that changed everything.
"Chris, who do you want to baptize you?"
Here's the thing: my dad couldn't baptize me because he wasn't a member of the Church.
My mom is a convert, which means she got baptized later in life. But my dad never seemed to want to be baptized, and that made me sad sometimes. I didn't talk about it very much because I didn't want to make him feel bad. But this time, I decided to tell him.
"I want you to baptize me. You're my dad!"
I still remember the look on his face. First he was surprised. Then he looked kind of sad. Then his expression turned thoughtful, as if he were thinking about something important.
"C'mon, buddy. We'll talk about it later," he said, wrapping his arm around me as we headed to our seats.
The next day, I stood with my dad again—this time in front of the bishop's office. It was time for me to meet with the bishop for my baptismal interview. I was pretty nervous, and it seemed like Dad was too. He kept pacing back and forth in front of the office door. After I had my interview, Dad walked right up to the bishop.
"What do I have to do to be able to baptize my son?" he asked.
The bishop froze, right in the middle of his handshake. You should've seen the smile that came across his face! He told my dad that he needed to be baptized and receive the Aaronic Priesthood. My dad said that he was finally ready to make these special promises with Heavenly Father.
You can probably guess how this story ends. A month later, I stood in the baptismal font dressed in white. The water was warm. My family was there. Best of all, my dad was standing next to me, ready to baptize me.
I know that lots of kids are still waiting and praying for a family member to get baptized. It's hard to wait, but we can keep being good examples and never give up hope. Knowing this makes me feel even more grateful for the decision my dad finally made—the decision that gave me the best birthday of my life.


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When Reservist Bill Lyons landed in Bosnia on September 11, 2001, he and his unit expected a routine peacekeeping mission. Instead, they spent the next seven months hunting terrorists.
After his tour of duty, Lyons happily returned to civilian life, where danger and death were not constant companions. The city of Somerville, Massachusetts, gave him his old job as director of traffic and parking. He had always prided himself on his communication and problem-solving skills, as well as his ability to satisfy constituents during their encounter with government.
Now, however, he found it difficult to focus, and he felt frustrated fielding calls about "allegedly unjust parking tickets" or petty complaints like someone parking in front of a house.
"I'd seen kids with missing limbs," Lyons says. "I was still very involved in the war on terrorism. My tenor and tone with constituents changed dramatically. I was curt, and less willing to hear out minor complaints."
Today, as reservists return from dangerous but adrenaline-filled tours of duty in Iraq and head back to once-challenging jobs they now see as mundane, Lyons's experience two years ago is instructive.
Sort Out Your Priorities
"You return with a lot of mental baggage on both a personal and professional level," says Alex Baxter, managing partner at Lucas Group, an executive search firm specializing in military talent. "The civilian world is a lot different from the military. In the workplace, people have different expectations of what can be done. You can get very frustrated if people don't meet the standards you're accustomed to. But you're not on a military timetable anymore. Tasks get missed; jobs don't get done."
Communication is important, Baxter says. "You have to convey what you want done, but you can't bark orders," he says. "Civilian work demands more persuasion, even with someone who reports to you. If you treat them like they're under your command, you lose loyalty and suffer turnover."
"It's a big adjustment," says Joe Riggio, a Marine for 26 years who now writes about making the transition to civilian life. "You've been in life-or-death situations, you're finally reunited with your family, and now all of a sudden you've got a project deadline. You have to be professional, but you also have to sort out what's important to you personally."
There may be special difficulty if a company has no clear policy on reintegrating returnees, or if coworkers oppose the military effort in Iraq. Resentment may be expressed as: "I've done your job for a year. Don't tell me what to do."
Riggio describes the natural reaction: "Hey buddy, I was over there fighting for you." However, returnees must resist that impulse and convince themselves: "They just don't understand. I can't get caught up in conflict or office politics. I have to remember, these guys don't have a clue."
Of course, that is easier said than done. "War is 24/7," Riggio notes. "Christmas and New Year's blend into one. All of a sudden, you're back in a Monday-through-Friday world. You have to keep that in mind and realize it takes a while to adjust."
Once you return you're being paid to do your job, Lyons says. "You've got to learn to focus. When your mind wanders to your friends overseas, you have to snap back and realize life does go on here." Though he struggled to maintain a professional demeanor, after a few months he rediscovered his civilian work rhythm. However, he says the underlying tension never went away.
Resources to Help Vets Adjust
The military itself can ease the adjustment. Active members have access to transition counselors at their full-time post -- some soldiers are ordered to meet with them before returning home. The MWR (Morale, Wellness, Recreation) division is another resource. Reservists may consult with transition and MWR officers at their base even after returning home.
Of course, some returnees find themselves so miserable or bored back in their old jobs that they consider changing careers. For them, the news is good. Skills learned in the service can be leveraged into a different position, even an entirely new field. Many employers, in industries as varied as contracting and IT, consider military experience a plus. And the government offers veterans a variety of scholarships.


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karismath - Turning Minds
Search result: "learners"
karismath - Turning Minds
|Math Stages
|For teachers and parents who seek further training in teaching math.
|Welcome to the leading edge Math courseware that uses dynamic imagery to unravel Math concepts from Number Sense (5 yr olds) to Algebraic thinking.
|Teaching Tips
|Read Shad´s Teaching Guidelines for starters. Tips to follow.


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Has it really been over a month since I went out on a Hunt? Sad to say but it has been a month since I went wild in the record store. I'm not sure what was up with May but I made up for things the right way by scooping up a bunch of new releases that came out the last couple weeks, grabbing a CD that I featured in a WANTED! post, and a couple of Ebay purchases. The weird thing was that I walked into my local Newbury Comics and the store was completely changed around! I had no idea where anything was! So let's get to this week's finds…..
Savannah – s/t (1998) – $15: Once I posted the WANTED column for this CD, I decided to go out and get it right away. I went to Amazon and found the Nightmare Records store where they had a brand new copy for $12 ($3 shipping). The listing stated that it was the U.S. version but it turned out to be the Japanese pressing with the bonus track: 'Too Young Hearts' (Soul Version). I was surprised to get the Japanese pressing because it usually goes for $50-$75 in most places…..definitely a bargain!
Alyson Avenue – Omega (2004) – $11: I read online somewhere that both Alyson Avenue albums were going to be re-released but then I couldn't find the article again. I have the band's first album PRESENCE OF MIND (2000) and that goes for big bucks at auction now so I figured I might as well find OMEGA and have a complete set of original pressings. This album was easy to find but at inflated prices but I found this auction because the band's name was misspelled…..I won for $8 + $3 shipping.
Joe Lynn Turner – Rescue You (1985) – $12: I love Joe Lynn Turner, he has one of the finest voices in Rock and I've taken an interest in picking up everything he's done in the last few years. RESCUE YOU has been on my wishlist for quite some time now and it's an easy album to find on CD because Wounded Bird Records reissued the album in 2004. I've actually seen a copy or two in my record store hunts! I was watching an auction for one of the reissues and I found this one ending soon for a Japanese pressing from '85. I always prefer an original over a reissue especially when there is nothing extra on the reissue so winning this one for $9 + $3 shipping was a great deal!
Record Store
Whitesnake – Lovehunter (1979) – $12 used: I know $12 is a lot of a used CD but I haven't been able to track down LOVEHUNTER in a few years, once I saw it I grabbed it right away! I posted a WANTED column for this album just over a year ago and I've been giving this the weekly search online…..you can't find this online for less than $10 and, if you do, a bidding war starts! Another hole in the collection filled!
Candlemass – Death Magic Doom (2009) – $12: This album came out last week but I never went to the record store…..I ended up missing the $9.99 sale price and had to settle for the new $12 sale price. I haven't really paid much attention to Candlemass lately, especially when Messiah Marcolin left again in 2006, but I decided to give the band a fresh listen. This U.S. version has a bonus track 'Lucifer Rising' (album outtake).
Stratovarius – Polaris (2009) – $9.99: Here's another band that I haven't paid much attention to in the last few years and another album that came out last week. The good news is I got the special first week $9.99 sale! Power Metal is one of my favorite genres of Metal so Stratovarius should be one of the bands I really enjoy but I haven't bothered to pay attention to the band since they released INFINITE in 2000. Something about the album cover really interested me this time around and the sale price helped out as well.
Alestorm – Black Sails At Midnight (2009 limited edition) – $13: Pirate Metal! I've been getting into Alestorm a lot lately by listening to their first album, CAPTAIN MORGAN'S REVENGE (2008), online and the LEVIATHAN E.P. (2009) that I picked up a couple months ago. I couldn't resist picking up this CD when I saw that the limited edition included a DVD of the band's performance at 2008's Wacken Open Air festival. Comes in a nice digipak slipcase with the original artwork on the booklet.
Doro – Fear No Evil (2009 limited edition) – $9.99: The reigning queen of Metal is back with another album and it just seems like she just keeps releasing new albums every year. This album has been out everywhere but the U.S. since January and this version says it's a limited edition because of the online access to bonus content with the CD. That really makes no difference to me because the digipak version from Europe has 2 bonus tracks AND the online bonuses. A little disappointed brcause I'd want the other 2 songs but the price was good, I'll keep my eye out for the European version though.
The Gathering – The West Pole (2009) – $12: I got into The gathering back in 1995 when I heard 'In Motion #1' from MANDYLION…..after that I became a big fan of the band and vocalist Anneke Van Giersbergen. I followed the band closely, buying every new album, until they released IF_THEN_ELSE (2000). By that time I was getting bored with the direction the band was taking into a more atmospheric realm. Now Anneke is gone, having left after the tour for 2006's HOME, and new singer Silje Wergeland (ex-Octavia Sperati) is on board. I'm interested in how Silje sings and if the music will be different with a new vocalist.
Stream Of Passion – The Flame Within (2009 limited edition) – $12: I'm going into this CD blindly because I have never heard a Stream Of Passion song before but I read quite a few positive reviews from some well respected Metal websites so I figured I'd take a chance. Arjen Anthony Lucassen from Ayreon used to be in the band so I figure the music has a Power/Progressive/Ambient quality. The limited edition digipak release for the U.S. has a bonus track called 'Far And Apart'.
Týr – By The Light Of The Northern Star (2009 limited edition) – $12: Well Napalm Records surely got my business this week with Týr, Alestorm and Stream Of Passion all coming out the same day and all U.S. limited editions! Big fan of Týr since I picked up LAND (2008) and I started into their back catalogue. I didn't realize they had a new record coming out but I know it's going to be good.


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The quality of your game influences the long-term success of your game -- in terms of installs, player rating and reviews, engagement and player retention. Before publishing your game, it's important to make sure that your game meets the basic expectations of game players through compelling features and an intuitive, well-designed UI.
This document helps you focus on key aspects of quality, feature set, and UI that can have significant impact on your game's success. Each focus area is presented with a checklist of minimum requirements, best practices, and good-to-have enhancements. In the interest of delivering the best possible product to your players, follow the checklist recommendations to the greatest extent possible.
1. Sign-in
The following checklist tasks apply to implementing player sign-in functionality in your game. For code examples of how to implement sign-in on mobile games, see Implementing Sign-in on Android.
|Provide players with a sign-in option to
Google Play games services.
Your game must implement one of the following ways for players to sign in:
|Do not request unnecessary scopes when creating your sign-in client.
Remove any unneeded scopes from your
// This way you won't get a consent screen GoogleSignInOptions signInOption = GoogleSignInOptions.DEFAULT_GAMES_SIGN_IN;
|Allow players to stay signed-in.
After the player signs in successfully to your game, connect them automatically whenever your game starts, until the player explicitly signs out.
|Provide players with a sign-out option.
After signing in, the player must always have the option to sign out. The default Achievements and Leaderboard UIs provided by the Play Games SDK already include a sign-out option, so you don't need to implement a sign-out button for these UIs.
Consider providing a sign-out option in other game screens in your app. For example, your sign-out button can look like this:
|Remember if players declined signing-in.
If the player declines to sign in when your game initially starts the sign-in flow (for example, if they clicked Cancel in the sign-in UI), you should still allow the player to proceed with gameplay.
When the player launches your game again, don't invoke the sign-in flow automatically. This saves players from having to repeatedly decline signing in whenever they start your game.
One exception is if players are trying to access a gameplay feature that is dependent on being signed-in (for example, submitting a score to a leaderboard). In this case, prompt them to sign in before continuing with gameplay.
|Best practice
|Maximize the number of players signed in.
Having more players sign in to Google Play games services benefits your players by increasing the opportunities for collaborative and competitive gameplay. To maximize the number of players who are signed-in to Google Play games services, you are strongly encouraged to automatically prompt players to sign in, as described above.
Otherwise, direct players into the sign-in flow as early as possible from one of these points (most recommended first):
|Follow Google branding guidelines.
To provide players with an end-to-end experience that is attractive and consistent, implement the Google Play games services branding guidelines.
|Remind players that they are signed-in.
Give signed-in players an appropriate reminder or cue when your game performs some action on their behalf. For example, when a signed-in player finishes a level, you can provide a message like this to indicate that the player's score and achievements are being automatically uploaded: "You are signed-in with Google. Your achievements and scores will be saved automatically."
|Display the 'Connecting' pop-up appropriately during sign-in.
On Android devices, the Google Play Games 'Connecting' pop-up is displayed by default whenever the sign-in flow is invoked. On Android, verify that this pop-up is shown when signing the player in automatically at the start of your game.
If you are signing the player in based on a UI interaction (such as a sign-in button click), you may optionally suppress display of this pop-up. To learn how to control the display of the pop-up, see Implementing Sign-in on Android.
The following example shows how the 'Connecting' pop-up might appear in an Android game during sign-in followed by a brief animation of the Google Play games services logo.
|Avoid losing player progress information.
If possible, try to maintain the player's progress locally, then sync that progress when the player eventually signs in. This helps to prevent losing any of the player's progress if the player postpones signing in to your game.
2. Achievements
The following checklist tasks apply to implementing the Achievements feature in your game.
|Ensure that all achievements are attainable.
Players must be able to unlock all achievements you create.
|Best practice
|Make achievements distinct.
All images, text, and descriptions should be unique across achievements.
|Best practice
|Score achievements proportionately.
Achievement points should be proportional to the amount of time or skill required to earn that achievement.
|Best practice
|Design achievements for a variety of difficulty levels.
Include some easy achievements that a player could earn through casual gameplay, a number of intermediate difficulty achievements that require more skill or player dedication to earn, and one or two very difficult achievements for the most dedicated players.
For example, the following screenshot shows a hard-to-earn achievement that helps to motivate and retain fans of the title.
|Don't frontload achievements.
Avoid awarding more than one achievement in the first 5 minutes of gameplay, since players who are new to your game won't be deeply invested enough to care.
Don't define your achievements such that they are unintentionally granted too early in gameplay. For example, watch out for achievements that are likely to be trivially earned at the start of the game, like "Complete a level without taking damage".
|Define achievements around compelling in-game activities.
Select metrics to build achievements that make your game more compelling and replayable (for example, "number of zombies killed" is a more interesting metric than "number of miles your character walked").
|Use color achievement icons.
Google Play games services uses grayscale versions of achievement icons to show if they're earned or unearned. If you are restricted to using all black (or all white) achievement icons, display them on a colored background.
|Minimize the use of hidden achievements.
Hidden achievements should only be used to avoid in-game spoilers; they should not be the norm.
|Avoid achievements that are too reliant on chance.
"Find 100 treasure chests" is a better achievement than "Find an item that has a 1% chance of appearing in a treasure chest."
|Think like an 'Achievement Hunter'.
Some players will attempt to earn every achievement you create. Try to provide achievements that cater to this category of players. Avoid creating achievements that rely too much on elements beyond the player's control or cannot be earned once the player has made a decision in the game.
|Ensure your achievement icon appears correctly.
When an achievement icon is displayed in an Android toast, the icon is overlaid with a circle and its outer corners are hidden. Make sure that your icon still looks good under these circumstances.
3. Leaderboards
The following checklist tasks apply to implementing the Leaderboards feature in your game.
|Best practice
|Make leaderboards visible in your main menu and after key
Leaderboards should be readily accessible on the loading of a game. After critical transitions in a game (for example, at the end of a level, or when the player dies), players should immediately see links to the relevant leaderboards.
|Best practice
|Define upper limits for scores that can be submitted.
If possible, add limits when defining your leaderboards so that obviously fake scores are discarded.
|Best practice
|Use custom icons.
Create a custom icon for each leaderboard you define; don't just use your game's icon, as it will display poorly in the Google Play Games app.
|Best practice
|Keep the frequency of score submissions appropriate.
Submit scores after critical transitions in the game, such as at the end of a level or when a player's game character dies. For games without critical transitions (for example, an "endless runner" type game), use good judgment on how frequently to submit scores. Scores should not be submitted continuously or every second.
|Make use of scoretags.
Scoretags are extra bits of data that can be sent with your score submission. For instance, you can implement a scoretag as a flag to confirm that a player's submitted score is valid.
Custom leaderboards can also read this tag data. If the scoretag consisted of an ID for a YouTube video containing that player's gameplay, for instance, your game could create a link to view that video within your leaderboard.
|Creatively design your own leaderboard UI
If you have the resources, build your own custom leaderboard view on top of the social leaderboard data. Social leaderboards typically create a more engaging experience than public leaderboards. Check first to determine if there are any entries in the social leaderboard. If not, use the public leaderboard instead.
|Show players how they stack up against the competition.
The leaderboards API supports showing score windows (for example, a player's rank within +/-10 spots). If you are creating a custom view, this can be a powerful way to motivate engagement. This could be shown right after a critical transition in the game (for example, at the end of a level or when a player's game character dies). Avoid putting unnecessary clicks between your players and their ranking information.
4. Multiplayer (General)
The following checklist tasks apply to implementing real-time multiplayer or turn-based multiplayer features in your game.
|Allow players to engage in a multiplayer match if your game
uses invites.
If your game uses the multiplayer APIs to create a room or a turn-based match but does not allow players to enter into a multiplayer match, this may be considered an abuse of the service, and can be cause to block access to Google Play games services.
|Make sure you understand and fully abide by the Google Play games services
terms of service.
You must also have a player's explicit permission to share his or her personal details to other players in a multiplayer game, beyond the details Google Play games services normally shares.
|Best practice
Provide a 'Quick Match' button that gets players directly
into a competitive match.
Give players an easy way to start playing against randomly selected opponents via auto-matching. For an example of this in practice, see the Clumsy Bird game.
|Best practice
Notify players that they have received an invitation in the game.
Developers should implement the invitation callbacks so that they can notify players while in the game that an invitation has been received.
|Best practice
|Take players directly to the action.
When a player clicks to accept an multiplayer match invitation, the player
should be taken directly into the corresponding match. To implement this
behavior, you can use the match information that is included in the
|Best practice
|Handle invitations properly when your Android game is brought to the background.
When your game goes to the background, the multiplayer invitation callbacks in your game will continue to consume any incoming invitations. This prevents invitations from appearing in the notification shade, keeping players from accepting these incoming invitations.
You are encouraged to unregister your callbacks in your activity's
|Best practice
|Avoid over-partitioning your player pool when using
bitmasks or variants.
The smaller your potential player pool, the longer it will take for your players to be auto-matched and to get into a game.
|Best practice
|Use variants or bitmasks only if there are no other
Consider if players would leave your game if they did not get to play the type of game they wanted. If so, provide this type of game as a variant that players can select while starting a multiplayer match. Otherwise, consider letting players select the type of game only after they have been matched.
|Make it easy to play again after a multiplayer match is over.
At the end of a multiplayer match, allow players to immediately re-engage either by starting a rematch with the same match opponents or by starting a new match with new opponents.
5. Real-time multiplayer
The following checklist tasks apply to implementing the real-time multiplayer feature in your game.
|Best practice
Clean up real-time multiplayer rooms.
If you don't leave the room appropriately, Google Play games services will continue to send event and invitation notifications to the client. You should leave the active room whenever one of these scenarios occurs:
6. Turn-based multiplayer
The following checklist tasks apply to implementing the turn-based multiplayer feature in your game.
|Best practice
Alert players to turn-based matches that require their attention.
You can add a small icon or a number next to the Multiplayer option of your main menu to indicate matches that are waiting for the player to take a turn or accept an invite. For an example of this in practice, see the 1941 Frozen Front game.
Design turns to take more than 15 seconds to play.
Avoid designing your gameplay to have rapid turn transitions. This is to prevent spam-like behavior that could result in your game going over its API quota limit or keep players from correctly receiving turn notifications.
7. Quota and rate limiting
The following checklist tasks apply to managing the quota and rate limiting in your game. To learn how to manage your game's quota and detect when its rate limit is exceeded, see Managing Quota and Rate Limiting.
|Best practice
Use the client libraries.
The mobile client libraries employ a number of strategies to reduce the calls you make to the service. For instance, data for achievements and leaderboards is cached, so players can view their achievements as often as they like without requiring the service to make multiple calls.
The Android client library will not to send a player's score to the server if your score isn't as good as one you recently submitted. The Android library also automatically combines frequent achievement increment calls when it detects that you are being rate limited.
Limit your reliable message transmissions.
If you are making reliable calls in your Android app using
Tip: If you need to send data more frequently than this, consider using unreliable message transmission instead. Unreliable messages do not have a quota.
Combine frequent calls to incremental achievements.
If you're making a fighting game and you have a 'Throw 5000 punches'
achievement, don't send an achievement increment call every time somebody
throws a punch. Wait until the end of the round, and then send one
Be aware of your usage.
Be conscious of the number of calls you make to Google Play games services. Even if you avoid hitting rate limits, frequent calls can lead to high network traffic, and cause the device's battery to drain more rapidly. To avoid this, you can use these techniques:
8. Saved Games
The following checklist tasks apply to implementing the Saved Games feature in your game.
Add metadata to provide additional context for saved games.
At minimum, you must include the following metadata when committing a saved game:
Allow players to load saved games.
Load the correct saved game when players make a selection from either the Play Games app or the default Saved Games selection UI.


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World - Forgotten Realms map + originally unfinished continents with some Wheel of Time classes, Codex Alera and Romans, Greeks, Egyptians, Celts, Vikings, and Gauls transported to Toril via lost fleets from Storms at Sea. Using PATHFINDER rules.
We have a 14 x 4 foot gaming table with Plexiglas cover, overhead projector for maps with 12 x 6 foot screen, about 2000 D&D figures monsters and heroes, enough 28 mm buildings to layout a city, enough forest terrain for Fangorn Forest,
We are a gaming group in Chesapeake Beach Maryland who meet once a month for battles. We have a 14 ft x 4 ft terrain table, books, material, 3d terrain, and software for mech sheets.
We do team battles, challenges, and run battle campaigns.
Always looking for more ADULT players.
We usually cook dinner here or order out and there's a Keg of beer on tap 24/7 (right now it's Smithwicks Irish Ale)
Right now we're playing a campaign in 3031 with all


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"A treasure trove of invaluable insights from an unimpeachable source. I couldn't put it down."
—Frank Langella, Tony Award nominee for Frost/Nixon
"Political history that reads like a thriller. Passionate, intelligent, entertaining, and human."
—Michael Sheen, Evening Standard and Laurence Olivier Award nominee for Frost/Nixon
"A riveting account."
—Richard Ben-Veniste, former chief of the Watergate Task Force
"Reston's memoir is a compact and gripping behind-the-scenes narrative focused on Frost's struggles to prepare for his encounter with the formidable Nixon. Reston captures Nixon's inner turmoil and myriad moods during the tapings.
Above all, the book sheds important light on Nixon's failure to rehabilitate his reputation after his 1974 resignation."
—Matthew Dallek, Washington Post