Sunday, 30 September 2012

Pornography's Effect on the Brain, Part 1 | The Occidental Observer ...

NEMO REPENTE FUIT TURPISSIMUS
?No one became extremely wicked all at once.? ? Juvenal, Satires

The aim of this essay is a controversial one: to provide evidence in support of the thesis that porn addiction, especially when accompanied by compulsive masturbation over a long period, alters brain chemistry and can eventually produce brain damage. This is not a conspiracy theory. It is an intellectually defensible thesis for which there is now a growing body of scientific evidence.

Perhaps the quickest way to tame and tranquilize an unruly nation is to turn its citizens into sex addicts: for just as children are easily taken in by predators who tempt them with candy, most people are only too pleased to live under governments that offer them the seductive pleasures of porn: that is to say, cheap and easy orgasms as substitutes for happiness.

Sex addiction, especially when fueled by internet pornography, has been likened to crack cocaine or heroin addiction, only much worse. It allows its victims no respite. It is a sickness of the soul that drives many to suicide, transforming its worst sufferers, like Ted Bundy and Gary Bishop, into serial killers. (See here and here).

Advertisement

The striking similarity between orgasm and the heroin rush was confirmed in 2003 when Dutch scientist Gert Holstege announced in a press release relating to his research that brain scans of orgasm resembled brain scans of shooting heroin. Laboratory rats know all about this, as a famous experiment in the 1950s by James Olds and Peter Milner conclusively demonstrated.

1.? UNDERSTANDING? BEHAVIOR? MODIFICATION

Rats go into a veritable frenzy pressing levers (in Skinner boxes) in order to give themselves powerful pleasurable sensations, even if it means depriving themselves of food and life. ?Some rats,? we are told, ?would self-stimulate as often as 2000 times per hour for 24 hours, to the exclusion of all other activities. They had to be unhooked from the apparatus to prevent death by self-starvation. Pressing that lever became their entire world.?

In a subsequent related experiment involving humans, a woman suffering from severe pain was allowed to stimulate the pleasure centers of her brain by turning an amplitude dial: so much so that she developed a chronic ulceration at her fingertip. She became so addicted to erotic self-stimulation that she had to beg her family to limit her access to the stimulator. (See also here)

OPERANT CONDITIONING CHAMBER OR ?SKINNER BOX?

American behaviorist psychologist BF Skinner (1904-1990) devised the operant conditioning chamber or Skinner box in the early 1930s. His object was to experiment with behavior modification in animals and then apply the same results to human beings. His major discovery was the concept of reinforcement: behavior that receives positive reinforcement (reward) tends to be repeated and strengthened, and behavior that receives negative reinforcement (punishment) tends to be extinguished. When placed in the Skinner box, the rat will learn to press a lever. This will trigger a reinforcing stimulus such as food or water, or a punishing stimulus such as an electric shock. The rat will rapidly learn to press the right lever and avoid the wrong one. In short, good habits can be acquired and bad habits destroyed in a systematic and scientific way under laboratory conditions.

Seven important points are worth noting here. These will allow the reader to trace the connection between operant conditioning and porn addiction.

(1) In the 1950s, psychologists James Olds and Peter Milner made a vitally important breakthrough in behavior modification research: they introduced innovations to the Skinner box so that the lever, instead of delivering food pellets when pressed, would now deliver direct brain stimulation through electrodes planted deep in the brain. Rats would now press the lever as many as 7000 times an hour to stimulate the pleasure centers of their brains. All other activities, including eating and drinking, were neglected. Every single moment was spent in pleasurable self-stimulation.

(2) How does this relate to porn addiction? Quite simply, the porn addict is behaving exactly like the rat in a Skinner box. His lever is masturbation, and his positive reinforcement or reward is the orgasm. His addiction is the result of self-imposed operant conditioning, i.e., he is conditioning himself without knowing it. The buildup to orgasm and the orgasm itself is accompanied by direct brain stimulation through the release of psychotropic chemicals into the bloodstream, especially dopamine, that produce precisely the same feelings of elation and euphoria in the porn addict which the rat experiences by the stimulation of the electrodes implanted in its brain.

(3) What triggers the release of the psychotropic chemicals into the bloodstream? The exciting erotic images. So it goes like this: Erotic mind pictures ?> trigger psychotropic chemicals ??> which stimulate the pleasure centers of the brain ?> which in turn produces obsessive-compulsive behavior (or addiction) in an attempt to relive the pleasurable sensations ??> which finally cause neuroplastic changes in brain structure as a result of constant chemical bombardment.

(4) Further brain research was to give rise to truly spectacular results in behavior modification, but this was at the cost of ?deeply unethical experiments?, to quote one politically correct academic researcher. This research, conducted by two daring and enterprising scientists called Drs. Moan and Heath, was abruptly halted because, among other things, it had come up with a possible cure for homosexuality. Moan and Heath had obtained permission to engage the services of a hooker to see if she could turn on a confirmed homosexual male in the laboratory. Initially, the sight of this sexy young woman not only left patient B-19 completely cold but actually disgusted him. He found the idea of having sex with an attractive female quite repulsive. However, on being wired up and having the pleasure centers of his brain stimulated with electrodes, while the hooker proceeded to perform her tricks on him, patient B-19 began to perk up and soon experienced an impressive ?erection. ?And then, despite the milieu and the encumbrance of the electrode wires [poor B-19 was attached to an EEG machine the whole time], he successfully ejaculated [in her vagina].?

(5)? Needless to say, such experimentation could not be allowed to continue, even with B-19?s full consent and cooperation and even though many homosexuals might want to become heterosexual and start families. It was political dynamite. So the experiments were abruptly halted, with Drs. Moan and Heath receiving a sharp rap on the knuckles and the stern disapproval of their politically correct peers. Since we are expected to believe that homosexuality is as ?normal? and ?healthy? a practice as heterosexuality, it follows that it is deeply offensive and ?homophobic? to suggest that homosexuals might want to undergo heterosexual conditioning to ?normalize? them. Even if they should wish to become heterosexuals, they should not be allowed to do so ?on ethical grounds.? After all, one does not allow people to self-mutilate or commit suicide. One needs to protect them from themselves. In the same way, homosexuals, for their own good, need the state to protect them from the threat of heterosexuality.

(6)? The blocking of research into sensitive areas of behavior modification for political reasons has had far-reaching consequences which cannot be discussed here in detail. Suffice to say that if it is considered ?ethically wrong? (= politically incorrect) to permit research that would yield an effective cure for homosexuality, then huge sacrifices in knowledge are deliberately being made in order to maintain the status quo on behalf of a corrupt elite?an elite that is not only against the idea of heterosexualizing gays but is actually committed to the homosexualization of America ? beginning with the homosexualization of children and their corruption by exposing them to child porn in the classroom.? ?

(7)? It is clear that successful behavior modification could, in theory, produce a Utopian society of model citizens. There need be no more sociopathic and criminal behavior in society, no more personality disorders, no more phobias and manias, no more neuroses, no more depression, no more crippling addictions to drugs, alcohol, gambling, sex, eating, shopping, and self-harming. ?Such vast improvements in the mental health of society clearly cannot be permitted. If there were no more criminals, what would the police and legal profession do? There would no longer be a need for their services. That cannot be allowed. They need criminals. Fighting crime is their job. Similarly, if there are no more sick people, what would Big Pharma and the medical profession do? They need sick people. Fighting sickness is their job. A sad situation indeed when the greatest threat to the established order is a Utopian society of model citizens who have nothing wrong with them! Perfection, if it were ever achieved, would have to be banned.

(For further details on some of the points listed above, see here, here and here)

2.? PORN ADDICTION COMPARED TO HEROIN OR CRACK COCAINE ADDICTION

Columbia university neurologist Dr Norman Doidge, in his book The Brain That Changes Itself, describes how pornography causes rewiring of the neural circuits. He notes that in a study of men viewing internet pornography, the men looked ?uncannily? like rats pushing the levers in experimental Skinner boxes. ?Like the addicted rats,? Dr Doidge points out, ?the men were desperately seeking their next fix, clicking the mouse just as the rats pushed the lever.?

All addictions, Dr Dodge tells goes on to tell us, cause ?lifelong, neuroplastic changes in the brain.? This includes porn addiction:

Dopamine is also involved in plastic change. The same surge of dopamine that thrills us also consolidates neuronal connections. An important link with porn is that dopamine is also released in sexual excitement, increasing the sex drive in both sexes, facilitating orgasm, and activating the brain?s pleasure centers. Hence the addictive power of pornography.

The men at their computers looking at porn were uncannily like the rats in the cages of the NIH, pressing the bar to get a shot of dopamine or its equivalent. Though they didn?t know it, they had been seduced into pornographic training sessions that met all the conditions required for plastic change of brain maps. Since neurons that fire together wire together, these men got massive amounts of practice wiring these images into the pleasure centers of the brain, with the rapt attention necessary for plastic change.

They imagined these images when away from their computers, or while having sex with their girlfriends, reinforcing them. Each time they felt sexual excitement and had an orgasm when they masturbated, a ?spritz of dopamine,? the reward neurotransmitter, consolidated the connections made in the brain during the sessions. (See here)

It is in this way that pornography becomes a serious addiction, comparable to heroin or crack cocaine addiction, and begins its slow and deadly assault on the brain.? And as other research has shown, it facilitates callousness in sexual relationships?sex completely divorced from love and an interest in family and children.

3.? PORNOGRAPHY AND BRAIN DAMAGE: IS THERE A LINK?

Recent research has shown that pornographic images become permanently embedded in the brain, releasing large amounts of naturally occurring chemicals into the bloodstream: e.g., dopamine, epinephrine, oxytocin, serotonin, vasopressin, prolactin, and enkephalins or endogenous opiods, i.e., the brain?s own endorphins. People who view porn obsessively become literally intoxicated: drunk with an overdose of psychotropic chemicals. These mind-altering substances are now known as erototoxins, a relatively recent neologism meaning ?sex poisons?. This poison-bearing pornography, it has been shown in recent laboratory tests, ?actually alters brain chemistry? and will in time produce brain damage.

Just as alcohol in large quantities consumed over a long period will damage the liver and kidneys, and just as long-term tobacco addiction will adversely affect the? lungs and cardiovascular system, so highly charged erotic imagery accompanied by compulsive masturbation can eventually, it is argued, lead to chemico-biological brain damage. This will of course be strenuously denied by the Masturbation Lobby, but the claim has nevertheless been made by responsible medical researchers.

Dr. Gary Lynch, a neuroscientist at the University of California at Irvine, in discussing the effect that a single highly erotic image can have on the brain, points out ominously:? ?What we are saying here is that an event which lasts half a second [image imprint], within five to ten minutes has produced a structural change that is in some ways as profound as the structural changes one sees in [brain] damage.? (See here)

Dr Judith Reisman goes one step further. She refers to this brain damage as ?brain sabotage?, thereby implying that pornographers are in fact engaged in a species of ?sex terrorism?. She asks:

How does this ?brain sabotage? occur? Brain scientists tell us that ?in 3/10 of a second a visual image passes from the eye through the brain, and whether or not one wants to, the brain is structurally changed and memories are created; ?we literally grow new brain? with each visual experience.? Children and others who cannot read can instantly decode and experience images?. In fact, erotic (any highly arousing) images commonly subvert left hemisphere cognition.

Dr. Jeffrey Satinover, Psychiatrist and Professor at Princeton University, in his testimony to a Senate subcommittee on pornography toxicity, expresses himself even more forcefully:

Like cigarettes, that particular form of expression we call pornography is a delivery system that has a distinct and powerful effect upon the human brain and nervous system. Exactly like cigarettes, this effect is to cause a powerful addiction. Like any other addiction, the addiction is both to the delivery system itself?the pornography?and to the chemicals that the delivery system delivers.

It may seem surprising that I should speak of ?chemicals,? when one might be thinking instead of ?sex.? But, in fact, modern science allows us to understand that the underlying nature of an addiction to pornography is chemically nearly identical to a heroin addiction. (Emphasis added)

The pornography addict soon forgets about everything and everyone else in favor of an ever more elusive sexual jolt. He will eventually be able to find it only among other ?junkies? like himself, and he will place at risk his career, his friends, his family. He will indulge his habit anywhere and everywhere, at any time. No one, no matter how highly placed, is immune. (See here)

Porn addiction, we are told by practicing neurosurgeon Donald L. Hilton, Jr., MD, produces long-term brain damage in which

the frontal lobes atrophy or shrink. Addiction scientists have called this condition hypofrontality and have noted a similarity in the behavior of [porn] addicted persons to the behavior of patients with frontal brain damage? [which] can also result from a car wreck.

All addictions create, in addition to chemical changes in the brain, anatomical and pathological changes which result in various manifestations of cerebral dysfunction collectively labeled hypofrontal syndromes. In these syndromes, the underlying defect, reduced to its simplest description, is damage to the ?braking system? of the brain.

They are well known to clinical neuroscientists, especially neurologists and neurosurgeons, for they are also seen with tumors, strokes, and trauma. Indeed, anatomically, loss of these frontal control systems is most apparent following trauma, exemplified by progressive atrophy of the frontal lobes seen in serial MRI scans over time.

Not a peep of any of this in the mainstream media. You don?t need three guesses to know why. The world porn industry generates $97 billion a year in revenues. If porn damages your brain, this is the last thing the wealthy elitists who run the world and control the mass media would wish to tell you. ?The publishing industry is now heavily involved in pornography,? Dr E. Michaels Jones points out, ?and it is not in their interests to explain to the public that they are in the business of enslaving people.? (p.560)

Is one a Victorian prude for suggesting there is something seriously amiss here? The simple fact is that one awkward question remains unanswered by all these self-appointed ?sex experts??many of them egregious frauds and sexual perverts like Kinsey and Reich?and it is this: how can all this compulsive masturbation and porn consumption be good for you if they end up damaging your brain?

Masturbation doesn?t necessarily make you blind. Let?s hope it doesn?t. Maybe it?s not the eyes, but the brain, that ardent aficionados of the solitary vice need to worry about.

?End of Part 1

Dr Lasha Darkmoon (email her) is?an academic with higher degrees in Classics. She is also a?poet and translator. Her articles can be read here, her poetry here.?

Source: http://www.theoccidentalobserver.net/2012/09/pornographys-effect-on-the-brain-part-1/

winner of x factor cheesecake recipe leona lewis carlos beltran air jordan 11 concord unemployment extension the thin man

Mid-East Protests and Twitter Confrontations: Is This Democracy?

The Political Landscape is a weekly podcast where we discuss the news of the day with leading experts and analysts.

A series of ongoing protests at U.S. embassies and consulates have swept across several Middle Eastern countries the past few weeks. Many of these are countries that experienced changes in leadership during the Arab Spring: Egypt, Libya, Yemen, and Tunisia.

Ben Gilbert is a news editor for Al-Monitor.com, a new website devoted to news from and about the Middle East. Gilbert is currently working out of Beirut, Lebanon, and has been living in the Middle East for seven years. He was in Libya during the Arab Spring, and is now witnessing the Mid-East protests first-hand in Lebannon.

When we spoke with Gilbert, he had had to leave his office early because of protests in downtown Beirut. The phone connection was lost a few times during the conversation, so our apologies for the changing sound quality.

The ongoing protests across the Middle East have spurred a larger discussion over how America should handle these emerging democratic governments in the region.?National Journal senior correspondent James Kitfield has written on this topic several times in the last few weeks. Kitfield has covered national security and foreign policy for over two decades, winning awards for his first-hand coverage of the war in Afghanistan and the surge in Iraq. When we spoke with Kitfield, he said it was imperative that U.S. be on the right side of history in the Middle East, even if that means accepting an unstable landscape for the time being.

Check out last week's episode on the state of Iran's nuclear program.

Check out all past episodes of the Political Landscape.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/mid-east-protests-twitter-confrontations-democracy-135710527--politics.html

m.i.a super bowl coin toss madonna super bowl halftime kelly clarkson super bowl giants super bowl 2012 half time show halftime show 2012

Video: Biggest Ego: RIMM, NFL Refs or Bacon Lovers

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/49216780/

trailblazers michael beasley jermaine jones hbo luck unc asheville stephen jackson nba trade deadline

Saturday, 29 September 2012

Square Enix blames lack of new consoles for failures. Is this an ...

?

Really Square Enix? Is this a joke?

Speaking about Consoles, Square Enix had the audacity to say:

?This generation has been way too long, and I say this because you have a lot of developers that work on a new platform, and perhaps will not succeed, so they will wait for the next generation, and will jump on that platform,? Merceron said. ?You could not do that with this generation though. So these developers went elsewhere to see if the grass was greener. They found Web browsers, they found iOS, they found other things and a lot of them won?t come back to the hardware platforms.?

Your excuse for your horrible new games and your rape of the Final Fantasy series is that you just need a new console to sell your new games?

Is this because Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo are doing all the marketing?

Does their millions of dollars hyping up the consumers have anything to do with possibly bigger sales numbers on another rehashed and horrible Final Fantasy?

Is this just an excuse for your pathetic and weak sauce performance over the last few years?

~~~~~~~~~~~

The Sleeping Giant

I?ve been amazingly busy these past couple months but an article with so much gumption, balls, and simply b.s had to prompt a response. This statement forced the digital pen into my hand and inspired these words.

The comments on Gamespot went BALLISTIC with people calling out Square Enix for their amazingly sad excuse of failures. People lamented being told to throw away their PS3/360?s and spend another $500 on some new system.

Some comments included:

?I don?t really agree here. I mean I am just fine with my PS3 right now. I know a lot of other people are happy with their current consoles too. ? ~

?i love my ps3. Games on it look great, and most importantly play great. I don?t like the keyboard controls. I love being able to sit on my lazy-boy chair, sit back, turn on my 55? TV and PS3 and let my mind get lost in some awesome adventures.

I am still happy with this generation of consoles. When the new comes out I will be happy to get it? ~

?I don?t know about you guys, but I am still waiting for Square to release something good. I keep my hopes up, but the last few Final Fantasy games have been mediocre. The last good one was 9. They just want a new system, so they can release another mediocre game, and complain to us that we don?t support them enough, and that is why we will not get a remake of 7.?? ~

??This coming from Square Enix, who have so far released only ONE franchise title on the current gen console (XIII). Before you start looking for ?greener grass,? take a look at what?s underneath your feet.? ~

?I do not like Square-Enix anymore and I had hopes for them that they will treat gaming right. They are bunch of cynical bastards that are destroying gaming by re-rereleasing the same video games from the past. All my favorite?Japanese video game companies are dying such as Squaresoft, Capcom, and Nintendo. I guess Namco is the only Japanese company I like because of Tekken.? ~

?I disagree with his assessment. ?Studios who were unable to keep up with AAA game development this generation would not have been better served by having a new generation of consoles already. ?Console game budgets and development cycles will only continue to increase as expectations rise. ?The growth of the mobile and web platforms is more similar to the growth of indie game development and would have occurred regardless of the decisions Sony and Microsoft have made as those platforms have matured in the past few years.? ~

?What a lousy excuse for their poor development cycles. We have received 4 awesome Assassins Creed titles since 2007, and we have received 1.5 very MEH final fantasy games. Sure blame the other companies who can continually release awesome games on the current hardware.? ~

??What a load. These a holes take forever to make games and theyre talking about long life cycles, bit%6 please! How about you make a game that isnt almost exactly like all your other games. I used to love Square in the days of the SNES, their glory days are long gone IMO. And please stop with the male leads that look like females, i cant take it anymore.? ~

?Bull**** ! This is exactly why I dont like square enix. All they want to do is mint money. Besides the conventional wisdom here is that new consoles come when the older ones reach their full potential, both economically and in terms of tech utilization.? ~

??so its sony?s, microsoft?s, ati?s, nividia?s fault that you changed you?re internal dev structure by hiring cheaper staff to make browser/mobile games? how is this guy director of anything. maybe if they hired/promoted better directors in their corp. they?ll make better decisions and stop making stupid half thought statements like this one. ?? ~

?That doesn?t make sense. ?We aren?t going to develop for this generation because it is too old, so we are going to develop for mobile, which is like developing for consoles from 2-3 generations ago?. WHAT?? ~

?easy to say when you didn?t have to subsides a console for a couple of years or more before you break-even, easy to say when you are not the consumers that buys consoles, if you feel development restrictions on consoles why don?t they go crazy pushing the?envelop on PC; gamers that are willing to dish $600-700 for new consoles every couple of years are willing to upgrade a PC fto latest technology, given that developers show us that having the latest tech. actually enhances our gameplay experience?significantly (as if showing of engine with better graphics is enough)? oh wait developers are not taking that risk, instead they go after high profit / low cost from mostly?forgettable?single mechanic browser games and then you have the sack to blame hardware manufacturers. How much money does square throw at marketing new xbox or PS, not much if any. What ground does square have to say all this, when was the last time they blew our minds with a new experience FF13 pleeeeeaaaze, linear doesn?t hold its on against some games from original PS in my opinion. ? ~?

?Maybe stop making crappy games and we?ll be more inclined to buy them. How dare they blame the systems?? ~

?

uhh, really? this coming from Square-Enix? uhhh really? dude, i get it, you want all the latest tech an whatnot, but your company used to OWN the market on high quality games, legions of fans were born on the amazing output you had during PSone and PS2 days. and yet, most of your best games were produced at the end of each of those systems life cycles. This gen you have been so quite, SE, and your most accomplished outings were often via studios you aquired and were not in house games (like Deus Ex). Sorry, i feel it?s a bit out of place for SE to be making excuses about this generation when the actual games (gameplay, not just pretty presentation) they have put out this gen have been rather lackluster. Sounds like a set up to me, like: ?hey, investor, don?t get mad at us when our financials start to tank, it?s because the console makers didn?t get around to making new systems fast enough??

tech is great, and there is no stopping it, but it is only one element of what makes gaming great.

? ~

~~~~~~~~~~~

This is just a small sample of the comments left on that Gamespot article. The fact remains, Square Enix got this so wrong it?s not even funny. No one?s laughing. People are seriously offended at the laziness and incompetence of one of our favorite game developers.

Why not ATTEMPT to satisfy your fans a little before you go whining Square? Btw hows about making Kingdom Hearts 3 while you?re at it? We?ve only been waiting for 6 FREAKING YEARS! Geez.. and Microsoft/Sony are the lazy ones eh?

?

Source: http://theparanoidgamer.com/square-enix-blames-lack-of-new-consoles-for-failures-is-this-an-insanely-bad-joke/

Dictionary.com Chicago teachers strike yahoo finance september 11 2001 september 11 2001 dr oz serena williams

NYC Ferris wheel project has big backers

NEW YORK (AP) ? The Ferris wheel may be a steam-age invention, but it is back in vogue in New York, which this week joined a long list of cities where urban planners or developers have bet that massive, modern versions of the old ride can serve as economic engines.

After the towering London Eye debuted in early 2000, it seemed as if there was no end to the number of cities dreaming about stimulating tourism by building their own giant observation wheel, modeled after the one drawing 3.5 million riders per year in Britain.

Re-creating London's success has proved to be daunting, with failed or postponed projects in a number of world-class cities. But the concept still has luster. Work is being done on two new massive wheels in Las Vegas. Seattle saw a smaller version open on its waterfront last spring.

Now, the biggest test yet will come in New York, where city officials announced Thursday that a private development group had been given approval to build the world's tallest Ferris wheel, at 625 feet, on the waterfront in Staten Island.

The proposal, with a $230 million price tag, is audacious. Its success would rely on people being willing to travel by miles by ferry across New York Harbor to a remote, mostly suburban part of the city that has always been an afterthought to visitors.

Yet the people behind the project, led by a newly formed company, New York Wheel, include some heavy hitters.

The primary financial backers include Lloyd Goldman, a real estate baron who is part of the partnership redeveloping the World Trade Center site, and Joseph Nakash, a co-founder of the Jordache apparel company who now chairs an investment group that also owns airlines and real estate. The third primary investor is The Feil Organization, a real estate powerhouse that owns or manages commercial and residential properties across the country.

New York Wheel CEO Richard Marin spent decades as an executive at Bankers Trust Company, then led a subsidiary at Bear Stearns until some black eyes related to bad bets on mortgage securities led to his departure in 2007. After that, he had a job turning around a distressed real estate portfolio as CEO of Africa Israel Investments.

Now, though those real estate connections, he's found himself in the carnival business ? or at least the venture capital version of it.

"It's a short trip from Wall Street to P.T. Barnum," Marin joked in a phone interview Friday.

Marin said the heft in the investment group shows it isn't just blindly following a trendy tourism gimmick.

While the London wheel was "wildly successful," he isn't naive about the challenge in replicating its success. Marin said the company spent a year and a half in discussions with city officials about a possible site before agreeing on Staten Island.

Under the deal announced Thursday, New York Wheel will pay the city $1 million per year on a 99-year lease for a waterfront location within walking distance of the Staten Island Ferry terminal. Simultaneously, another development group will be building a 350,000-square-foot shopping mall and hotel on the opposite side of the terminal. The neighborhood is already home to a minor league baseball stadium.

"It's a location and a site that I have come to love," Marin said.

Having the wheel next to the ferry, which is already ridden by an estimated 2 million tourists annually, will save the developers about $100 million in transportation infrastructure costs, he said. And, despite the distance from other tourist sites, the view of New York harbor will be thrilling and unique enough, he predicted, to draw the millions of riders needed to earn back the ride's high cost.

Several other giant Ferris wheels built in the past decade have been successful. China's 525-foot-tall Star of Nanchang and Singapore's 541-foot Singapore Flyer have both been a hit with tourists.

In other places, planned wheels never got off the ground. A 682-foot-tall wheel that was supposed to open in Beijing in time for the 2008 Olympics was never completed. An earlier pioneer in the business, the Great Wheel Corp., had projects in the works to build similar wheels in Dubai, Berlin, Orlando, Fla., and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, but all were either suspended or collapsed.

"These are expensive and difficult, big projects," said Wil Armstrong, the North American representative for Starneth, a new company, formed by veterans of the London Eye design and engineering team, that is providing the designs for the New York wheel. "Every city, it seems, of any size, has thought about it. But wanting to do and actually doing it is a large step."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nyc-ferris-wheel-project-big-backers-224238184.html

chrysler super bowl commercial madonna half time show fiat 500 abarth madonna halftime m i a mia super bowl tom coughlin

Graphics chips are for more than just eye candy

CHANCES are there is a graphics chip in your desktop computer, and it is fuelling a revolution. These chips, called GPUs, have of late been co-opted from their original use in giving video games their impressive visuals. Their talent for parallel processing is helping to speed up everything from medical imaging to studies of the cosmos. And they could be the key to future generations of ultrapowerful smartphones and tablet computers.

Introduced by chip-maker Nvidia in 1999, these graphics processing units took personal computing by storm. Augmenting a PC's central processing unit with a GPU allowed software designers to transform, say, video games, into the immersive virtual environments we now take for granted.

Software initiatives, such as Nvidia's CUDA, launched in 2007, and the Apple-led OpenCL project from 2008, opened up these chips for non-graphics applications.

Researchers have been reaping the benefits ever since. The chip's ability to calculate in parallel makes it ideal for tasks such as climate modelling. Here, virtual representations of the Earth are broken down into a three-dimensional grid, and mathematical equations can run simultaneously at millions of different points on the grid.

The same holds for medical imaging. A 5-minute functional MRI scan can accumulate tens of millions of three-dimensional units of data, each representing a tiny volume of the brain. This data has to be processed to compensate for, say, head movement, to create a more accurate scan. This can take days to process even with the multiple processing cores in the latest central processing units that allow for some, albeit limited, parallel processing.

Anders Eklund of Link?ping University, Sweden, and colleagues have shown that certain fMRI calculations, which used to take about 24 hours, are wrapped up in as little as 8 minutes using GPUs (Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine, doi.org/fsqz9m). Soon, people who come in for a scan will know the outcome almost instantly. "That's an enormous weight off anybody's mind," says John Owens, a computer scientist at the University of California, Davis.

The CPU is far from dead though: in the past few years, the rise of the multicore processor has given the nerve centre of every computer a new lease of life. The big manufacturers are now doubling up on chips, with designs for chipsets that put both GPU and CPU on the same piece of silicon. These include Intel's latest line, Ivy Bridge, Advanced Micro Devices' Fusion and Nvidia's Denver chips.

GPU-computing can even extend to studying the cosmos. Debbie Bard of Stanford University in California and colleagues have shown that the chips can help crunch the torrents of data that come in from a range of next-generation astronomical instruments. "The larger the data set, the more advantageous it is to use the GPU," she says.

This is just the beginning, predicts Owens. The chips are already finding their way into smartphones and tablets, mostly to power high-resolution screens and applications like 3D mapping. But as GPUs become ubiquitous in mobile devices, they will pave the way for applications that no one has yet thought about. "The future has barely been scratched from this point of view," Owens says.

If you would like to reuse any content from New Scientist, either in print or online, please contact the syndication department first for permission. New Scientist does not own rights to photos, but there are a variety of licensing options available for use of articles and graphics we own the copyright to.

Have your say

Only subscribers may leave comments on this article. Please log in.

Only personal subscribers may leave comments on this article

Subscribe now to comment.

All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.

If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support.

Source: http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10897/s/23ea19f1/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg215288450B0A0A0A0Egraphics0Echips0Eare0Efor0Emore0Ethan0Ejust0Eeye0Ecandy0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fonline0Enews/story01.htm

golden globe nominees joe philbin miss america pageant 2012 shipwreck jose aldo vs chad mendes lana del rey john 3 16

Friday, 28 September 2012

It Takes 275 Water Molecules To Make Ice

60-Second Science

By tracking the light absorption properties of clusters of water molecules, researchers determined that the change to ice occurs at 275 H20s. Gretchen Cuda Kroen reports.

More 60-Second Science

  • Showcasing more than fifty of the most provocative, original, and significant online essays from 2011, The Best Science Writing Online 2012 will change the way...

    Read More??

Have you ever wondered how many water molecules it takes to form the crystal beginnings of every ice cube and snowflake? Until recently researchers weren?t quite sure.? But we now know the answer: 275.?

But how did they get such a precise number? Water absorbs light at one frequency, ice crystals at another.? By using a few tricks to control the number of molecules, the scientists examined the response of tiny clusters of water molecules to infrared light at sub-freezing temperatures?and slowly increased the number of molecules until they saw a change.? When the number of molecules reached 275 ? bingo ? the clusters began absorbing light like ice crystals. At 475 molecules the crystal is completely formed. The study is in the journal Science. [Christoph C. Pradzynski et al, A Fully Size-Resolved Perspective on the Crystallization of Water Clusters]

The research creates the first-ever picture of how ice crystals are gradually formed from water.? Researchers say their method can be adapted for use with many other types of molecules and may potentially be used to look at a variety of chemical reactions between the interfaces of liquids, gases or solids?at the individual molecular level.

?Gretchen Cuda Kroen

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]
?


Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=46ad7d9c50f6d3e71db631af3bdd8717

marion barry virginia beach jet crash ridiculously photogenic guy amanda bynes dui ghost ship tiger woods masters jet crash virginia beach

Bawl so hard: Welcome to the Biggest LAN Video Gaming Party in ...

They drove more than 700 miles, from Arab, Ala. All three of them packed their super-charged gaming PCs carefully into that small, red Honda Civic, then their blankets and pillows, a few snacks and energy drinks, a few extra cables, and some clean clothes. They said goodbye to their parents and left for Dallas around 11 p.m. Tuesday. They arrived about 10:30 Wednesday morning. It was a cramped ride ? all three men are over 6 feet tall ? but it could have been worse, they decided. And it was worth it ? worth speeding through the warm August night and into the humid morning, knees jammed together, past truck stops and confusing two-way service roads and almost-catastrophic accidents ? because they were finally going to experience QuakeCon, the largest LAN party in North America.

If you don?t know what a LAN (local area network) is, imagine a bunch of computer gamers, sitting at home, playing against (or with, depending on the game) each other over the internet. Now imagine all of those gamers in the same room, with their computers linked together directly by an ultra-high-speed connection. Every year, nearly 3,000 people from all over the world bring their own computers to one gigantic conference room in a hotel in Dallas and connect to the zero-lag network. Considered the Woodstock of gaming, the event is free, sponsored by Texas-based id Software, the company responsible for not only the games "Quake," " Doom," and "Wolfenstein 3D," but also, to a large extent, modern gaming culture itself.

Part of the event is a PC gaming tournament with more than $100,000 in prizes, but for most people that?s more of a sideshow. The main attraction is the bring-your-own-computer area, where gamers from far and wide can congregate, discuss what?s new in the gaming community, compare machines, and, of course, blast each other?s brains out. The motto of QuakeCon ? which appears on thousands of T-shirts every year ? is "peace, love, and rockets!"

Chris Flemons did most of the driving, because he owns the Civic. He has a round face, a buzz cut, a small ring piercing his bottom lip, and the laid back drawl you?d expect from a 26-year-old living in Alabama. His shaggy-haired blond friend is Lee King. And the lanky man with the scruff on his chin is named Jeremy Green ? but the other guys just call him Bob.

For months they?d been talking about this, about what it?d be like to game for four straight days on a connection faster than anything they?d ever experienced. "There?s nothing that even compares to this anywhere near Alabama," Chris explained.

When they got to the hotel Wednesday morning, they were excited to learn they would be the second group in line. The event didn?t start until Thursday afternoon, but unless you paid $50 to reserve a spot ahead of time, it was first-come, first-serve. So they lugged their computers in, setting them down carefully on the soft, carpeted floor in the lobby outside the giant hall. They cracked open a few blue cans of BAWLS, the energy drink popular among gamers. (Bob made sure they brought a case with them in the car.) They took advantage of the hotel?s rather posh restrooms (full wooden doors on each stall), then folded their blankets and pillows into small nests and watched the organizers and vendors finish setting up. A team of id employees, AT&T technicians, and unpaid volunteers brought in server after server and ran endless miles of cable. It was loud and chaotic and terribly exciting. But the Alabama guys didn?t have a hotel room ? the Hilton Anatole isn?t cheap ? so they set up camp on the floor and tried to conserve their energy for the intense, mind-melting, teeth-grinding experience to come.

Inside Quakecon

The next morning the room was full of similarly bleary-eyed, disheveled, computer-toting young people. There were two lines: the one Chris and his friends were in ? which was first-come-first-serve ? and the Reserved line, for people who?d paid the extra $50 ahead of time. By lunchtime, both lines twisted back through the winding, Kubrickian hotel hallways and nobody seemed to be moving.

The Anatole is a four-star convention hotel, two separate towers decorated in an oriental theme ? not the kind of place you?d expect to see thousands of greasy-faced videogame enthusiasts. While the gamers gathered on the west side of the hotel, there was a Mary Kay convention going on at the other end. On the walls in the wing where QuakeCon was held are large paintings of faceless Chinese masses and various deceased Chinese leaders. There?s an 8-foot Buddha in repose right next to the bar. A glass case near the concierge desk houses wooden figures from the Han Dynasty, which ended in 220 A.D., and glazed pottery from the Tang Dynasty, which ran from 618 to 907. And greeting QuakeCon guests just inside the front door were two immaculate life-size wooden elephants, hand-carved in Thailand from a pair of 12-foot Monkey Pod trees. The elephants were donated by a local real estate developer for the 1984 Republican National Convention, when the Anatole hosted both President Reagan and Vice-President Bush (in opposite towers).

In line, some people were laying down, with a lucky, exhausted few managing to sleep through the all-night rumblings of strangers. Some played drinking games. Two separate groups, hundreds of feet apart in line, were both playing intense games of flip cup ? a pastime that requires not only chugging skills, but also post-consumption dexterity. Plenty of people were eating the $15 large pepperoni pizzas Pizza Hut was selling in the parking lot ? and when the line got long enough, someone turned a discarded box into a sign reading WAIT-CON. There were lots of blankets, pillows, sleeping bags. A few people brought consoles and televisions and set them up along the walls to help pass the time. Some people did card tricks on top of the over-sized boxes and dollies carrying their computers, while others marched around showing off their matching clan T-shirts. One guy offered strangers passing him "free high-fives." Another guy argued that, if they were forced to fight by some sort of evil overlord, the Hulk could easily do away with Thor.

And, yes, there were costumes: everything from characters out of the game "Assassin?s Creed" to Mario?s dinosaur Yoshi to a husky man dressed as Santa Claus.

The CEO of id Software, Todd Hollenshead, is the gaming industry?s closest thing to a certified rock star. He mingled with fans in the line, his hair tied back in a ponytail that dangled in the direction of his designer jeans as he nodded along to each gripe about how ridiculous the wait was. He explained that the system was a little different this year, and that they were still working out the kinks.

That?s the goal. Once you start gaming, and you get in that zone, you can just go and go and go.

The event is staffed every year mostly by unpaid volunteers. They were the people checking everyone in, putting barcodes on each computer to ensure it couldn?t be switched or stolen, and inspecting every person and bag at the exit. There were also four or five busty young ladies walking around in QuakeCon gear, posing for pictures with anyone who asked ? and a lot asked. The QuakeCon girls are not volunteers.

Because the reservation line was moving so slowly, the first-come-first-serve line didn?t move at all. So on Thursday afternoon, roughly 27 hours after they first got to Dallas, Chris and his friends were still in the same spot. Chris was the only one up and talking, taking sips from a flask someone brought him.

"I met that guy last night," he said as he gulped. "Nice dude."

Bob and Lee were half asleep, now trying to ignore the hundreds of people milling around them. In front of the Alabama contingent in line was 18-year-old Michael Wilnot, who?d flown in from Maryland with his father and 14-year-old cousin. As he talked, he gesticulated wildly, a result of the high doses of sugar and caffeine coursing through his body.

Chris explained that if anyone in his group really felt like sleeping, they would just go out to the car ? disregarding completely the dangers of the 100-degree August heat.

"Honestly, we may just try and power through the whole weekend," he said. "That?s the goal. Once you start gaming, and you get in that zone, you can just go and go and go."

Sandbox_quake_feature_assets_v6_g-asdfasdf_medium

By 9 p.m. Thursday, both lines had been moving and were nearly gone. Chris and Bob and Lee had their computers set up in a row and they were just getting comfortable. They each had their respective screens and towers (Chris?s and Bob?s were both in markedly better condition than Lee?s). Bob also brought an external hard drive packed with gigs and gigs of movies and television shows and a separate laptop to play them?so they could watch and play at the same time. It was clear very early that gamers at QuakeCon consume digital stimulation the way guys at a frat party consume cold cans of beer: as much and as fast as possible. At the moment, the laptop was playing the movie "Phantom Menace." Michael, his cousin, and his father were set up across the table.

The bring-your-own-computer room was dark and cold. The open room spanned more than 25,000 square feet, with about 2,800 people divided among dozens of rows of computers. Some machines were tall, with bright insignia and customized cases. Some were compact, small enough to fit into a lunch pail. One kid sitting near the Alabama guys had converted his dad?s old backyard grill into a spectacular PC. Enough time sitting between warm super-charged gaming towers and most gamers were glistening in the pale glow of their monitors.

I?ve lost entire months of my life to this game.

Sandbox_bawls-computers_medium

Across the room, everyone settled in. Some brought their own camping chairs, and coolers packed with food. Some had special speakers; some had special head phones. A group of friends from Allen, Texas, removed their shirts and donned only professional wrestling style tights ? in florescent colors and vibrant patterns. Between their computers was a stick of deodorant, a handful of 5-hour-energy drinks, and a box of oatmeal cr?me cookies. They were playing "League of Legends," and any time one of them lost a life in the game, he?d have to drop to the cement floor and loudly count off a set of 10 pushups.

"I?ve lost entire months of my life to this game," one of them explained as he showed a novice the basics of buying a sword.

"What the fuck are you doing, you fucking noob?" another said. "Not that sword. What are you thinking? Down. Down. Right. Right there. Good. Now you?re gonna need a shield."

They explained the point of the game like this: "If you have the most resources, you win," adding, "It?s a lot like life."

As they played, periodic voices made whoop sounds in the darkness. Out of nowhere, someone somewhere in the room would call out "Whoop!" And the others would respond in kind: "Whoop!" Then more: Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! It happens so often at QuakeCon, most people barely notice.

Maybe it was the booze, or the caffeine drinks, or lack of sleep, but walking around, staring at the modified cases, the extended, tri-fold monitors, the people who?d driven even farther than they did, the Alabama guys couldn?t help but feel a bit overwhelmed. They made a point to note every booth handing out free T-shirts or dog tags, or glowsticks. As they went outside together for a cigarette break, they overheard a self-described professional gamer doling out advice over beers, talking about how to work your way up the hierarchy of gaming clans.

There was once a LAN with about 350 people someone organized in Huntsville, Ala. not too far from their hometown. They talked about it for weeks, but that didn?t even compare to the size of this. Lee smiled, a little giddy as he looked around.

"You forget how many people there are out there just like you," he said.

As they walked back to their computers, there was a Whoop! coming at them from every direction. Whoop! Whoop!

Michael explained that it was a little like "the Wave" for gamers. "Someone starts it," he said. "Then it works its way back around."

He leaned his head back and unleashed a high-pitched Whoop! into the air. This Whoop!, however, failed to evoke a response. After a few awkward seconds, Bob, smiling, sent a Whoop! back, out of pity for his new friend.

"Luckily we have Bawls" he said. "Those sweet blue Bawls."

Sandbox_bawls-master_medium

As the sun rose on Friday morning, it found at least one QuakeCon attendee passed out in the grass behind the hotel. Bob managed to sleep for a few hours in the hallway, not far from the bathrooms, but volunteers woke him up around 7:30 a.m. Chris and Lee were both hunched over, asleep at their computers, but the police officers roaming the BYOC area kept jostling them awake, mostly for their own safety, they were told. (That answer didn?t seem to make much sense, but neither did anything else after so little sleep.)

By now, they were forgetting which day of the week it was. Bob pointed out that he could count the hours of sleep he?d accumulated over the last three days on one hand. From his collection of movies, The Matrix flickered next to his monitor.

"Luckily we have BAWLS," he said. "Those sweet blue BAWLS." In gaming circles, there is no drink more ubiquitous. Extra carbonated and extra sweet, it comes in both cobalt blue bottles and 16oz. blue cans. It has roughly three times the caffeine content of Coke. After drinking them regularly for a few years, he explained, the caffeine doesn?t even affect him much. "It just levels me out now."

While the others were trying to sleep, Bob went out to the food trucks in the parking lot and bought himself a Vietnamese bbq sandwich. He looked at the thinly sliced beef, the cucumbers, and the strange colored cabbage.

"There?s definitely nothing like this where we?re from," he said.

Bob has been friends with Chris and Lee for more than a decade. They knew each other in school and started going to LAN parties at the only computer store in their hometown. It seemed to bring together the best parts of computer gaming and console gaming. They liked having all the accoutrements of a PC, but also being able to foster a competitive spirit that?s only possible when you?re breathing the same air. They?ve stayed close.

In the years since high school, they?ve all struggled. Jobs have been hard to come by. Plus all three men have spent significant time in the hospital. One was in a motorcycle accident. One was in a car crash. And Bob?s forearms were burned down to the bone in a grease fire he was trying to put out. The computer store where they used to hang out has closed down and they don?t get together as often as they used to. Not long ago, Bob signed up for the Air Force, and he?ll be leaving soon. He?s nervous there won?t be many gamers there.

Why do they call him Bob, by the way? It?s because he used to weigh about 270 pounds and wear a long trench coat, a little like Silent Bob. One day, a friend?s mother remarked that he looked more like a "Bob" than a "Jeremy," and for some reason it stuck.

"I?ve been Bob ever since."

The case of BAWLS they brought in with them was more than half gone already. On every table in every direction, there were empty blue BAWLS cans. The drink itself has a slight yellow tint and a taste that sometimes makes the uninitiated cringe a bit. After two cans though, you feel like your eyeballs might be sticking out a few inches from your face. The drink is so popular here that a few years ago, it spawned a QuakeCon-sanctioned BAWLS chugging competition.

The returning champion was a man known simply by his gaming persona: KenCo12. He?s from Detroit, a big guy, with glasses and a goatee. Slung over his shoulder was a homemade championship belt: a weight-lifting belt painted blue and covered with promotional BAWLS stickers the company sent him. As a few competition regulars acknowledged him, he patted his blue status symbol and said to no one in particular, "Everyone?s gunning for the belt."

Though KenCo had been in the finals five times and won the competition twice, a few weeks before this year?s QuakeCon he had a serious jaw surgery, and he wasn?t sure if he was completely healed. "When I yawn sometimes, my jaw still shakes and quivers," he said.

Each contestant in the first round was to chug one entire can of ice cold BAWLS. The counting ? and throbbing techno music ? began when the contestant lifted the drink to his or her mouth and ended when the can was turned over empty. Any spilled BAWLS or unconsumed foamy remainder resulted in additional seconds added to your time and anyone who puked was automatically disqualified (but they were allowed to keep what they hadn?t finished in the free can of BAWLS).

Hundreds of people stopped and watched the spectacle on the stage. The chuggers went one at a time, with KenCo near the front of the crowd. His time, somewhere north of 13 seconds, was far from the best he could do.

"I sucked," he said. He was forced to sit back and hope his time would end up in the top 15 as more than 50 different people competed. Ordinarily, he explained, he can do it under 11 seconds. But the can was too cold.

"I?m kind of like the John Cena of BAWLS chugging," KenCo said, imagining himself a WWE-style wrestler. "Like Ric Flair, minus the women." He paused, thinking for a moment. "But maybe the QuakeCon girls will see what I can do with my mouth."

When the top 15 were finally announced, KenCo was 13th, but he looked relieved. In the next round, all the times were reset, wiped clean. To celebrate, he jumped on stage, lifted his blue belt over his head, and tried to look intimidating.

Sandbox_quake_feature_assets_v6_g_medium

That evening, the Alabama guys walked to Denny?s. When they came back, their bodies nourished slightly, they felt like getting back to their "gamer roots." Bob put the Johnny Depp version of Alice in Wonderland on the player and clicked open "Diablo III." Lee felt like playing an old text-based game. Even Michael, still sitting across the table, felt inspired to go back to "Half-life," a game nearly as old as he is.

Near midnight, there was chanting coming from the center of the BYOC room. A few hundred feet away KenCo and some friends were gathered shirtless under a banner that announced the a2m clan. Gaming clans are like teams of players that play together ? sometimes against each other, sometimes in tandem against other clans ? in any number of multiplayer games. The a2m clan (the origins of the self-styled name are too filthy to recount here) is a group of 25 or so guys from all over the country, including KenCo. One of their clan traditions involves playing a round of shirtless "Quake." They were passing around a vaporizer that may or may not have been filled with marijuana and sipping from a 7-11 cup that may or may not have contained large quantities of Captain Morgan rum. Apparently the shirtless tradition is a few years old. Last year, a few a2m members explained, Todd Hollenshead was there when they started playing. They asked him if he wanted to play shirtless Quake and he said yes. So there they were, playing "Quake" at QuakeCon with no shirts on, right next to the man at the head of the company that created the game.

They were passing around a vaporizer that may or may not have been filled with marijuana and sipping from a 7-11 cup that may or may not have contained large quantities of Captain Morgan rum.

"It?s one of the coolest memories we?ll ever have," said a New Mexico man who goes by "Cobalt,", recounting the previous year.

They tried calling him over again this year, but Hollenshead merely waved from the computer command center.

"Maybe he isn?t drunk enough yet," someone said.

The clan eventually initiated their game without him, splitting into two teams and playing a form of futuristic capture the flag. As they played, they yelled at each other. Sometimes it was vulgar and angry: "Fuck you, you piece of shit." Sometimes it was clever, like screaming "Don?t taze me, bro." And sometimes it was just strange: "Get out of the kitchen, ?cause I?m making sandwiches." At some point, a few guys began singing a parody of the Carly Rae Jepsen song, "Call Me Maybe," changing to lyrics to "Frag Me Maybe."

Around 5 a.m., Chris and Lee went outside for a cigarette. When they came back, Bob was nowhere to be found. They figured he went off to the restroom, but when he never came back they began to worry a bit. They called his phone, but there was no answer. They walked up and down the nearby aisles. After a few minutes went by and there was still no sign of him, a bit of panic set in. They sat at their computers, wondering where he could have possibly disappeared to, when Lee noticed something under the table. At some point, Bob had crawled up next to the remaining BAWLS case and thrown a blanket over himself. Chris and Lee were relieved enough to pass out almost immediately.

Saturday morning was the quietest time of the weekend. The entire a2m clan was gone, their screens all dark. The Alabama guys were still asleep, too ? the movies were finally off ? and by now, fewer people were going around waking others up. When Bob and Lee eventually did wake up, they decided it was time for a shower.

They knew they weren?t going to get a room when they packed for Dallas, but they brought soap and shampoo with them anyway ? "optimism," Lee called it. So when most people at QuakeCon were still asleep, those two snuck over to the hotel pool. They went into the locker rooms, and into the private shower stalls to enjoy a glorious hot shower and especially soft hotel towels. It was brief, but neither could remember any other shower in their lives feeling so good.

While that was going on, a few weary gamers stumbled out to the food trucks. While most people stared, squinting in the sunlight at the menus, a college kid from San Marcos, Texas, had a story to tell.

"So," he began, "I got pranked last night." He explained that a friend, "a real-life friend, like, someone I trust," asked to use his computer. He thought nothing of it and went for a walk. When he came back, all of the icons on his desktop had been switched to Internet Explorer (an especially unpopular program in this crowd) and his Facebook account had been changed. His settings had gone from private to the most public option, he had recently "liked" Chick-Fil-A, and according to his most recent status update, he really loved cock.

But, he explained, "They made the mistake of going to bed before me." He touched his backpack. "So I?ve got 30 gigs of RAM in here. They?re going to find it quite difficult to boot up a computer with no memory."

Despite the successful act of friendly retaliation, security was for the most part tight. Aside from someone trying to sneak a laptop out in a pizza box, the volunteers checking bags and watching the doors reported no major incidents.

KenCo managed to make it down to the stage for the second round of BAWLS chugging. He said he was hungover ? "I polished off a bottle of Russian Standard," he said proudly ? but he was feeling more confident. He explained that he had watched the tape of the first round, that he?d practiced, and that he was ready to take on all comers.

Once again, he was one of the earlier chuggers. When he got up on stage, he put his blue belt down on the table and spun his lanyard around so it would hang over his back. He opened the can, clutched it with both hands, and began to chug. Then, 11.4 seconds later, his can was upside down, empty. KenCo knew only the top three times would make the finals. He was so nervous, he had to go back to the stage after the next competitor to collect his belt.

Several other contestants put up solid times after him. There was an 11.7, then a 10.8. One guy had a 12.1, but spewed into the garbage can on stage. There was a 12.4, a 13.8, and then a few around 14. When they announced the top three times, KenCo was the last name called.

As the room woke up through the day (mostly well after noon), everyone seemed much more at-home in the BYOC area. Michael put on his green super hero costume from the movie "Kickass". A few people started projecting episodes of "Big Bang Theory" on one of the hotel walls. Some guys couldn?t help it anymore, and began watching porn at their computers. There are more female gamers than ever, but there still aren?t a lot at places like QuakeCon. There are some, but most of them are girlfriends who agreed to tag along. And perhaps it?s just as well, because by this far into the event, there was a distinct odor emanating from the BYOC area, an unsettling bouquet smelling something of socks, dried sausage, and stale beer.

By now, the Alabama guys were in serious pain. The exhaustion had crept into their bones, their joints, the middle of their backs. They talked about how much their eyes hurt. So they decided they were going to try to beat the check-out line. It had taken so long checking everyone in they couldn?t bear the thought of waiting in a line like that again. They?d leave sometime after midnight, they explained, and stop at a cheap motel a few hours out of town, somewhere they could afford two beds and an extended nap.

First though, they decided they wanted to get the most out of their last few hours at QuakeCon. They headed to the Saturday night party in the main ballroom. There were free beer and appetizers served to people in free T-shirts, by people wearing tuxedos. There were more cans of BAWLS and more T-shirts tossed to the crowd.

Saturday night was the final round of competition in the videogame tournament, for which event organizers handed out more than $100,000 in prizes. But first came the finals in the BAWLS chugging challenge.

Sandbox_bawls-oklahoma_medium

One of the three named finalists didn?t show, leaving just KenCo and a man who goes by Cosmic Cow who wore a University of Oklahoma sweatshirt. A few minutes before the contest, KenCo was nervous, pacing back and forth by his friends. Judges announced that the rules would be different for the final round. In this round, the two contestants had to pour two shots of BAWLS each. Then they were to take a shot, chug the can, and take the other shot.

When he was called to the stage, KenCo tried to calm himself. He was hoping the finals might require chugging two cans ? he figures the more chugging required, the more the rules favor him. In his turn, KenCo acquitted himself admirably, pounding both shots and the can of cold BAWLS in 12 seconds flat.

Up next was Cosmic Cow. Before shooting the BAWLS, he yelled to the crowd: "Boomer Sooner!" He carefully poured the shots, then lined them all up. He dropped both shots and the cold can in just about 11 seconds, but when he flipped his can over, there was foam. The judges added two seconds to his time, making KenCo the champion once again.

Both men were invited backstage for a stack of prizes that included keyboards, headsets, mother boards, and hundreds of dollars worth of swag. KenCo couldn?t stop grinning as the models handed him his winnings.

As midnight came and went, Saturday turned into Sunday and there was another round of shirtless "Quake" in the a2m section. Chris, Bob, and Lee forced themselves to begin the process of unplugging and packing up. They exchanged numbers with Michael, and they all promised to come back again next year. They?ll do it better next year too, Chris explained. They?ll bring more people, and they?ll chip in together to get a room ? with a shower. Bob promised he?d find a way to make it work with the Air Force, no matter what it takes.

They got a cart from the hotel concierge, and began loading their towers, monitors, pillows and blankets. Together, they?d collected about 15 new T-shirts, too. After checking out of the BYOC area, they passed two Mary Kay women in the lobby and loaded their stuff into the car. As the red Civic pulled out of the hotel parking lot, Lee and Bob both leaned out of the window to wave goodbye to QuakeCon and all their new friends. Then they drove away, back into the darkness.

night drive

Michael J. Mooney is a staff writer at D Magazine. He also writes for GQ, Outside, and Grantland. He is a graduate of the Mayborn School of Journalism, and is on the advisory committee of the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Conference.

Source: http://www.sbnation.com/2012/9/26/3411978/peace-love-and-bawls-chugging-welcome-to-the-biggest-lan-video-gaming

pink slime eagle cam us soccer trayvon martin case affordable care act the line bobby brown arrested

This week in UBC Okanagan Athletics (Sep 26-30) ? Athletics ...

?

September 26-30

Home Events
Men?s Basketball ? vs. Langara College, Friday (7 p.m.) at Immaculata Regional High School
Men?s Soccer ? vs. Thompson Rivers, Saturday (1 p.m.) at Nonis Sports Field, UBC?s Okanagan campus
Women?s Soccer ? vs. Thompson Rivers, Sunday (1 p.m.) at Nonis Sports Field, UBC?s Okanagan campus

Away Events
Men?s Volleyball ? at Thompson Rivers University, Wednesday (7 p.m.) in Kamloops, B.C.
Men?s Rugby ? vs. Mount Royal, Friday (4 p.m. PST) at Calgary Irish Fields
Women?s Rugby ? vs. Mount Royal/Calgary mixed team, Friday (5 p.m. PST) at Calgary Irish Fields
Women?s Basketball ? at Fraser Valley, Friday (6 p.m.) at G.W. Graham Sec. in Chilliwack, BC
Women?s Rugby ? vs. Lethbridge, Saturday (10 a.m. PST) at Calgary Irish Fields
Men?s Cross Country ? at Pacific Lutheran, Saturday (10 a.m.) in Tacoma, WA
Women?s Cross Country ? at Pacific Lutheran, Saturday (11 a.m.) in Tacoma, WA
Men?s Rugby ? vs. Calgary, Saturday (11:30 a.m. PST) at Calgary Irish Fields
Women?s Rugby ? vs. Alberta, Saturday (1 p.m. PST) at Calgary Irish Fields
Women?s Soccer ? at Thompson Rivers, Saturday (1 p.m.) in Kamloops, BC
Women?s Basketball ? at Trinity Western, Saturday (6 p.m.) in Langley, BC
Men?s Soccer ? at Thompson Rivers, Sunday (1 p.m.) in Kamloops, BC
Men?s and Women?s Golf ? at Vancouver Island University, Sat-Sun at Nanaimo Golf & Country Club

Men?s Volleyball ? The Heat have played some stiff competition so far in their early exhibition schedule, playing the CIS two-time defending champs, the Trinity Western Spartans, last Wednesday, and a two game set versus the U23 Argentinean team on Friday and Saturday. The Heat was unable to defeat either of those squads, but gained valuable floor experience to the nine newcomers to the squad. The Heat will travel to Kamloops to play their first preseason game away from Kelowna. The game will take place in the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops at 7 p.m., on Wednesday, Sep 26.

Men?s Rugby - The Heat men will play Mount Royal University on Friday, September 28 at 4 p.m. PST at the Calgary Irish fields and then play the University of Calgary on Saturday September 29 at 11:30 a.m. PST on the same pitch. The Heat men 15?s team will use these games to prepare for the 2nd annual Hindson Cup that will be held in Kelowna on Oct 27, 2012.

Women?s Rugby - This weekend will feature the only Rugby 15?s games that the Heat women will play this year. The Heat women will play a mixed team of Mount Royal University and University of Calgary players on Friday, September 28 at 5 p.m. PST at the Calgary Irish fields and then play a series of half games on Saturday September 29. The women play University of Lethbridge at 10 a.m. and the University of Alberta at 2 p.m.

Women?s Basketball - This will be the first action of the year for Heather Semeniuk?s team, her nineteenth at the helm of the UBC Okanagan women?s basketball squad. The first game of the preseason will see the Heat play the Fraser Valley Cascades in Chilliwack at G.W. Graham Secondary on Friday night at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Langley Events Centre the Heat will take on the Trinity Western Spartans, game set to start at 6p.m.

Men?s Basketball - Pete Guarasci got his career off to a flying start with two wins in his first two preseason games as head coach of the Heat men?s basketball team versus the visiting Seattle Mountaineers. He will have his squad primed for a third straight preseason win this Friday night when they play the Langara Falcons at Immaculata School; game will tip-off at 7 p.m.

Women?s Soccer (CCAA ranking: No. 9) ? The good news for the women?s soccer team is that they have just one loss on the year. The bad news: only two wins in their six games so far this PACWEST season. UBC Okanagan?s record is now (2W-1L-3T) and has them fourth in the league, holding on to the final playoff spot. The Heat will reach the halfway point on the season with their match in Kamloops on Saturday, and will look to get a win against the best team in the league, as the WolfPack?s record is (5W-1L-0T). These two teams will play again Sunday, this time in Kelowna at UBC Okanagan?s Nonis Sports Field. Both days the game will start at 1 p.m.

The game on Sunday will see Claire Paterson and her staff go shoeless to raise awareness and funds for Right To Play, an international organization that uses the power of sport and play to teach life skills and improve health.
www.righttoplay.ca

Men?s Soccer ? After four straight road games the Heat look forward to defending their turf this Saturday when they host Thompson Rivers at 1 p.m. The Heat lost two and tied two on their road trip, putting their record at (0W-3L-3T), and look to capture their first win of the season against the (2W-3L-1T) WolfPack. The second game of the home-and-home will be in Kamloops on Sunday and will see the two teams battle again at 1 p.m.

Cross Country ? After a tune-up race against Thompson Rivers last weekend the Heat will travel to Tacoma, WA to run in the Pacific Lutheran University?s PLU Invitational Cross Country meet on Saturday Sep 29. The men will run an eight km. race at 10 a.m. and the women will run at 11 a.m. in a six km. jaunt.

Golf - Cody Bell, the second year golfer from Salmon Arm, has finished third and second in the first two tournaments of the PACWEST season. Bell won two of four tournaments in the PACWEST season last year en route to him earning provincial player of the year. Bell has his men?s team in fourth place at the halfway point of the PACWEST golf season. Jen Woods (Kelowna, BC), in her senior season on the golf team, has already won a tournament this season and has the Heat women?s golf team atop the PACWEST standings primed for a fourth consecutive provincial banner.

Bell and Woods will be with the men?s and women?s golf teams at a tournament hosted by Vancouver Island University this Sat-Sun, September 29-30 at the Nanaimo Golf & Country Club.

?

Source: https://news.ok.ubc.ca/athrec/2012/09/26/this-week-in-ubc-okanagan-athletics-sep-26-30/

ann coulter tom brady sister dad shoots daughters laptop brandon jennings channing tatum the vow review luol deng

Thursday, 27 September 2012

Samsung SGH-T799 tablet turns up at the FCC wearing T-Mobile's 4G colors

Samsung SGHT799 tablet turns up at the FCC wearing TMobile's 4G colors

If you liked the look of Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 when we reviewed it back in May, but were holding out for a T-Mobile 4G variety, then your patience might soon be rewarded. A Tablet-shaped device from Samsung sporting the model number SGH-T779 has just popped up at the FCC. While that code name might not tell us much, the T-Mobile branding, and the 4G logo are a little easier to make sense of. There was another model, SGH-I497, that went through the FCC with the same ID -- which had a distinct AT&T / Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 flavor to it -- so betting fans might consider the odds of this being the same thing, but for another operator, as being reasonable. Those who prefer not to chance the hand of fate, likely only need wait a short while, however, for this to pop up on the network's store to find out.

Filed under:

Samsung SGH-T799 tablet turns up at the FCC wearing T-Mobile's 4G colors originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 13:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Unwired View  |  sourceFCC, FCC (2)  | Email this | Comments


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/61GZgpuY_80/

howard johnson blackhawks levon helm firelight world peace elbow kevin love think like a man

Wednesday, 26 September 2012

Romney Says He Won't Gut Teachers' Power to Strike

{ttle}

{cptn}","template_name":"ss_thmb_play_ttle","i18n":{"end_of_gallery_header":"End of Gallery","end_of_gallery_next":"View Again"},"metadata":{"pagination":"{firstVisible} - {lastVisible} of {numItems}","ult":{"spaceid":"2146372284","sec":""}}},{"id": "hcm-carousel-412340895", "dataManager": C.dmgr, "mediator": C.mdtr, "group_name":"hcm-carousel-412340895", "track_item_selected":1,"tracking":{ "spaceid" : "2146372284", "events" : { "click" : { "any" : { "yui-carousel-prev" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"prev","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } }, "yui-carousel-next" : { "node" : "a", "data" : {"sec":"HCMOL on article right rail","slk":"next","itc":"1" }, "bubbles" : true, "test": function(params){ var carousel = params.obj.getCarousel(); var pages = carousel._pages; // no more pages, don't beacon again // if same page, don't beacon if(("_ult_current_page" in carousel) && carousel._ult_current_page==pages.cur) return false; // keep track of current position within this closure carousel._ult_current_page = pages.cur; return true; } } } } } } })); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings = '"projectId": "10001256862979", "documentName": "", "documentGroup": "", "ywaColo" : "vscale3", "spaceId" : "2146372284" ,"customFields" : { "12" : "classic", "13" : "story" }'; Y.Media.YWA.init(Y.namespace("Media").ywaSettings); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {(function() { try{ if (Math.floor(Math.random()*10) == 1) { var loc = window.location, decoded = decodeURI(loc.pathname), encoded = encodeURI(decoded), uri = loc.protocol + "//" + loc.host + encoded + ((loc.search.length > 0) ? loc.search + '&' : '?') + "_cacheable=1", xmlhttp; if (window.XMLHttpRequest) xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); else xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); xmlhttp.open("GET",uri,true); xmlhttp.send(); } }catch(e){} })(); }); Y.later(10, this, function() {if(document.onclick===YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.newClick){document.onclick=YAHOO.Media.PreventDefaultHandler.oldClick;} }); }); });

Heritage Loom Patio Furniture AngelWings Marketing

Heritage Loom Patio Furniture Madrid Stacking Set


Ideas For Your Outdoor Furniture

Patio furniture has advanced from the old classic plastic lawn chairs and tables that most of us used to have when we grew up. Patio furniture styles have advanced with new technology for outdoor furniture. For the new demand in patio furniture has patio furniture manufacturers now increasing the development of new materials for your deck patio furniture with new styles and prices that is in reach of anybody?s budget. While the climate and your personal taste in patio furniture should be taken into consideration you also have to decide on how the outdoor furniture will be used.

If you buy outdoor furniture made from wood, one of the primary problems that you are going to face is sun damage. UV radiation from the sun will bleach the finish or stain on your wooden folding chairs and loungers. This will cheapen the look of your deck or patio furniture which is why buying a beautiful set of cushions is a great idea because they will help protect against sun damage.

An outdoor area will look great in the evenings if you have candles at hand. Get several votive candles in glass jam jars or purchase some inexpensive tea light holders from your home improvement stores. These candles when hung and placed around the patio will create a romantic atmosphere for you and your loved ones. It will be a great place to just relax and enjoy each other?s company.

This can likewise be finished the table, where a wood Carved base can be crafted to serve as the table top secured at the middle of the table. One other good thing about these timber Carved accents are it can be made to suit your design preferences.

To get the best results for your wood working project buy the material at least two to three weeks before you are ready to start construction. Stack your timber in a dry location with spacers between the boards, allowing for plenty of air circulation so the material will dry out. This way you will get less warping or splitting of the wood after you have built your outdoor furniture.

There are many reputable companies offering great deals on garden furniture therefore it is important to shop around for the best deal possible. The first thing you should do before hitting the shops is to take a few measurements so you are aware with the space you have to work with. There is no point visiting a store and guessing as it may look very out of place or even not fit at all. It will also help you to narrow down the ranges you can choose from.

Outdoor furniture made of resin and recycled plastic is extremely durable and weather resistant. You can leave it outside with very little concern about the effects of the elements. Because it?s lightweight, resin furniture can be stored easily; it?s often stackable, and pieces like tables can be broken down when you need to put it away.

Set the tone for spring-fall, bring in the most beauty your yard and / or garden has ever had before, and increase your ability to relax and unwind during your downtime. Most of us understand the importance of being able to get some ?me time? from time to time, in the little time you have to your self. Screens, tables, umbrellas, chairs, benches, planters, and much, much more outdoor accessories, outdoor furniture, and outdoor equipment, are all available at great prices when you look around and find the right stuff.

?

?

Preparing Patio Furniture For Use.
In this video BuildDirect co-founder, Rob Banks, shows how to prepare your Heritage Loom patio furniture for use. Many of the features are discussed as well.

?

?

?

?

?
BuildDirect Top 10 Most Popular Products

This set is so cool! It stacks into a chimney, how cool is that? Makes storage a breeze!!

Not everyone has it but many people want it; high-quality outdoor patio furniture at incredibly great prices. It?s so well priced you?d think our outdoor patio furniture is being liquidated. But it?s not. It?s just great manufacturer-direct pricing from BuildDirect.

Heritage Loom Patio Furniture:

Heritage Loom assembled patio furniture sets are made from all-weather resin wicker and produced to fulfill your needs for high quality. Unlike many other wicker products on the market, resin wicker will not fade, shrink, loose its strength or snap. Another advantage of this material is its high resistance against sunlight and water. It has especially been improved to withstand North American weather.

The frames are made out of powder-coated stainless aluminum, in a cage built for high stability. The aluminum is lightweight and rust-free. The cushions that come with the patio sets underline the elegance of all Heritage Loom patio furniture while providing permanent comfort. The cushions come with covers that are specially treated with liquid resistant coatings and are removable and machine washable.

Due to the high quality materials used, Heritage Loom patio furniture sets can be left outside in any weather or season, although it is recommended to cover the furniture in the winter months. Each and every piece is checked to ensure quality standards are met. It is ideal for both domestic and commercial use. All patio sets come with a two year warranty, although, the expected life of Heritage Loom Patio Furniture sets before they start loosing the original look is 7-8 years.


Indoor Elegance. Outdoors.

?

Patio Furniture FEATURES!!!

Beautiful Handmade Patio Furniture
Handmade from 100% Recyclable Resin Wicker
Resin Wicker looks like natural wicker, but is made of synthetic polyethylene fibres
Resin Wicker is durable, easy to maintain and resistant against the elements
Tables Include 10mm Tempered Glass Top (except Madrid Stacking Set)
Water Resistant Cushions (Double-stitched for strength) are removable and washable
Furniture has a rust-free, powder-coated aluminum frame
Full Body Color throughout
Madrid 9 Piece Cube Set table legs require assembly
Madrid Dining Set comes with a 60cm Lazy Susan
UV Resistant Wicker
2 Year Warranty

Want something a little different? Give BUILD DIRECT a visit today!!


Indoor Elegance. Outdoors.

BuildDirect Better Quality For Less End Of Story

?

Watch for more great products and sales from buildDirect in our BLOG!!

?

?

Related Product and Links from BuildDirect

Free Granite Tile Samples

Free Samples of Hardwood Flooring

Free Samples! No membership or credit card required


Warm up your summer with a fire pit.


Source: http://angelwingsmarketing.com/heritage-loom-patio-furniture.html

beverly hilton hotel whitney houston found dead i will always love you whitney houston 2012 grammy awards powerball results pebble beach golf beverly hilton