847 F.2d 841
Unpublished DispositionNOTICE: Federal Circuit Local Rule 47.8(b) states that opinions and orders which are designated as not citable as precedent shall not be employed or cited as precedent.  This does not preclude assertion of issues of claim preclusion, issue preclusion, judicial estoppel, law of the case or the like based on a decision of the Court rendered in a nonprecedential opinion or order.MURRAY WALTER, INC., Appellant,v.The UNITED STATES, Appellee.
No. 87-1615.
United States Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit.
April 8, 1988.

Before MAYER, Circuit Judge, SKELTON and BALDWIN, Senior Circuit Judges.
PER CURIAM.

DECISION

1
The decision of the Veterans Administration Board of Contract Appeals, VABCA No. 1848, is affirmed on the basis of the board's opinion.

OPINION

2
We are satisfied by the post-argument submissions that this case is within our jurisdiction under the Contract Disputes Act of 1978, notwithstanding appellant's mischaracterization of it as a Wunderlich Act appeal.  But our review is limited and we may not decide factual disputes for ourselves as appellant would have us do.  We can overturn the board's factual determinations only if they are arbitrary, capricious, unsupported by substantial evidence or rendered in bad faith.   American Elec. Laboratories, Inc. v. United States, 774 F.2d 1110, 1112 (Fed.Cir.1985).  If there is substantial evidence on the record to support the board's findings, see United States v. General Elec. Corp., 727 F.2d 1567, 1572 (Fed.Cir.1984), we are constrained to uphold them even if there is also evidence the other way.  On conflicting evidence, where credibility matters, we defer to the board.   Gyromat Corp. v. Champion Spark Plug Co., 735 F.2d 549, 552, 222 USPQ 4, 6 (Fed.Cir.1984).  So, too, with inferences.  In view of this, appellant has not shown any basis for relief.


Q:

Automated Web UI testing in nodejs

Are there any automated web testing libraries for nodejs, preferably headless?

A:

Zombie is a headless full-stack testing framework for Node.js.
Edit: To add to that, there's a full list of testing modules on the Node.js GitHub wiki.

A:

You should also check out PhantomJS and CasperJS. Together, it's a testing framework in pure JavaScript with a headless WebKit browser. Works in Linux, OSX and Windows.

A:

Selenium now has JavaScript bindings for Node.js.  You can use a headless driver along with the Selenium bindings.  (Check out ghostdriver)
Basically all you have to do is install node, setup your driver and then get your selenium module with npm selenium-webdriver.
I have some more detailed instructions and screenshots in my tutorial, here.


Salting-out assisted liquid-liquid extraction coupled with hydrophilic interaction chromatography for the determination of biguanides in biological and environmental samples.
A new salting-out assisted liquid-liquid extraction (SALLE) sample preparation method for the determination of the polar anti-diabetic biguanide drugs (metformin, buformin and phenformin) in blood plasma, urine and lake water samples were developed. The SALLE was performed by mixing samples (plasma (0.2mL), urine or lake water (1.0mL)) with acetonitrile (0.4mL for plasma, 0.5mL for urine or lake water), sodium hydroxide powder was then added for the phase separation. The effects of type of salting-out reagent, type of extraction solvent, volumes of acetonitrile and sample, amount of sodium hydroxide, vortexing and centrifugation times on the extraction efficiency were investigated. The upper layer, containing the biguanides, was directly injected into a HPLC unit using ZIC-HILIC column (150mm×2.1mm×3.5μm) and was detected at 236nm. The method was validated and calibration curves were linear with r2>0.99 over the range of 20-2000μgL-1 for plasma and 5-2000μgL-1 for urine and lake water samples. The limits of detection were in the range (3.8-5.6)μgL-1, (0.8-1.5)μgL-1 and (0.3-0.8)μgL-1 for plasma, urine and lake water, respectively. The accuracies in the three matrices were within 87.3-103%, 87.4-109%, 82.2-109% of the nominal concentration for metformin, buformin and phenformin, respectively. The relative standard deviation for inter- and intra -day precision were in the range of 1.0-17% for all analytes in the three matrices.


Q:

data is not inserting in mysqli

I have an old mysql code where it successfully inserts the name of an image file into the database. But since old mysql is being decapitated, I have attempted doing the same in mysqli (can't use PDO because of version of PHP I have). The problem is that I cannot get the image file name to be inserted into the database in mysqli. What am I doing wrong?
Below is the mysqli code:
    <?php

    session_start();

    $username="xxx";
    $password="xxx";
    $database="mobile_app";

      $mysqli = new mysqli("localhost", $username, $password, $database);

      /* check connection */
      if (mysqli_connect_errno()) {
        printf("Connect failed: %s\n", mysqli_connect_error());
        die();
      }

    $result = 0;

if(getimagesize($_FILES['fileImage']['tmp_name'])){

    if( is_file("ImageFiles/".$_FILES['fileImage']['name'])) {
        $parts = explode(".",$_FILES['fileImage']['name']);
        $ext = array_pop($parts);
        $base = implode(".",$parts);
        $n = 2;

        while( is_file("ImageFiles/".$base."_".$n.".".$ext)) $n++;
        $_FILES['fileImage']['name'] = $base."_".$n.".".$ext;

        move_uploaded_file($_FILES["fileImage"]["tmp_name"],
        "ImageFiles/" . $_FILES["fileImage"]["name"]);
        $result = 1;

        $imagesql = "INSERT INTO Image (ImageFile)
        VALUES (?)";

                if (!$insert = $mysqli->prepare($imagesql)) {
          // Handle errors with prepare operation here
        }

        $insert->bind_param("s",'ImageFiles/' . $_FILES['fileImage']['name']);

     $insert->execute();

            if ($insert->errno) {
              // Handle query error here
            }

            $insert->close();

    }
        else
          {
          move_uploaded_file($_FILES["fileImage"]["tmp_name"],
          "ImageFiles/" . $_FILES["fileImage"]["name"]);
          $result = 1;

        $imagesql = "INSERT INTO Image (ImageFile)
        VALUES (?)";

                if (!$insert = $mysqli->prepare($imagesql)) {
          // Handle errors with prepare operation here
        }

        $insert->bind_param("s",'ImageFiles/' . $_FILES['fileImage']['name']);

     $insert->execute();

            if ($insert->errno) {
              // Handle query error here
            }

            $insert->close();

          }
    }
    ?>

Below is the old mysql code where the insert did work:
    <?php

    session_start();

    $username="xxx";
    $password="xxx";
    $database="mobile_app";

    mysql_connect('localhost',$username,$password);

    mysql_select_db($database) or die( "Unable to select database");

    $result = 0;

if(getimagesize($_FILES['fileImage']['tmp_name'])){

    if( is_file("ImageFiles/".$_FILES['fileImage']['name'])) {
        $parts = explode(".",$_FILES['fileImage']['name']);
        $ext = array_pop($parts);
        $base = implode(".",$parts);
        $n = 2;

        while( is_file("ImageFiles/".$base."_".$n.".".$ext)) $n++;
        $_FILES['fileImage']['name'] = $base."_".$n.".".$ext;

        move_uploaded_file($_FILES["fileImage"]["tmp_name"],
        "ImageFiles/" . $_FILES["fileImage"]["name"]);
        $result = 1;

        $imagesql = "INSERT INTO Image (ImageFile)
        VALUES ('ImageFiles/".mysql_real_escape_string($_FILES['fileImage']['name'])."')";

        mysql_query($imagesql);

    }
        else
          {
          move_uploaded_file($_FILES["fileImage"]["tmp_name"],
          "ImageFiles/" . $_FILES["fileImage"]["name"]);
          $result = 1;

            $imagesql = "INSERT INTO Image (ImageFile)
            VALUES ('ImageFiles/".mysql_real_escape_string($_FILES['fileImage']['name'])."')";

    mysql_query($imagesql);

          }

}
          mysql_close();

    ?>

      <script language="javascript" type="text/javascript">
      window.top.stopImageUpload(<?php echo $result ? 'true' : 'false'; ?>, '<?php echo $_FILES['fileImage']['name'] ?>');
      </script>

A:

Try this, assign the value to a variable first and then bind it, dont build the data within the bind_param:
    <?php
    $imagesql = "INSERT
                  INTO Image (ImageFile)
                  VALUES (?)";

    $insert = $mysqli->prepare($imagesql);

    //Dont pass data directly to bind_param store it in a variable
    $insert->bind_param("s",$img);

    //Assign the variable
    $img = 'ImageFiles/'.$_FILES['fileImage']['name'];

    $insert->execute();
    ?>

Also you should check if the file is uploaded and if any errors have occurred with the upload before doing any db stuff:
<?php
//If POST
if($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD']=='POST'){
    //Check no errors on upload
    if($_FILES['fileImage']['error']==0){

        if(isset($_FILES['fileImage']['tmp_name'])){
            $imgSize = getimagesize($_FILES['fileImage']['tmp_name']);
            ...
            ...
        }

    }else{
        //get error code and display error
    }

}else{
    //No POST
}
?>


Wednesday, November 04, 2009

accept no substitutes - some notes

“The common translation of pharmakon by remedy [remede] – a benficient drug – is not, of course, inaccurate. Not only can phramakon really mean remedy and thus erase, on a certain surface of its functioning, the ambiguity of its meaning. But it is even quite obvious here, the stated intention of Theuth being precisely to stress the worth of his product, that he turns the word on its strange and invisible pivot, presenting it from a single one, the most reassuring, of its poles. The medicine is beneficial; it repairs and produces, accumulates and remedies, increases knowledge and reduces forgetfulness. Its translation by ‘remedy’ nevertheless erases, in going outside the Greek language, the other pole reserved in the word pharmakon, It cancels out the resources of ambiguity and makes more difficult, if not impossible, an understanding of the context. As opposed to ‘drug’ or even ‘medicine’, remedy says the transparent rationality of science, technique and therapeutic causality, thus excluding from the text any leaning towards the magical virtues of a force whose effects are hard to master, a dynamics that constantly surprises the one who tries to manipulate it as master and as subject.” -Derrida, Plato’s Pharmacy [B. Johnson’s translation]

I love this moment in Derrida’s essay in which the poles come out of the pharmakon – one thinks of it as like some extraterrestrial instrument or creature, from which suddenly poles shoot out. The word rests on one pole, or on the other – remedy or poison. We know these games - games of throwing dice. We just need rules in order to have winners and losers. Unfortunately, the game will be without rules in this post. There will only be losers. These are notes, bucko.

What I want to try out here is a precarious, a very precarious opposition. A shy mirroring, if we can imagine the mirror hiding itself (Ces nymphes, je les veux perpétuer) -- between substitution and addiction.

And futhermore - to advance slyly, slyly, and then fall on my face - on the side of substitution there is an institution – advertising. An institution devoted to disguising substitution. ‘Accept no substitutes’ was an advertising slogan that appeared in the 1880s – Chocolat Menier translated it as Evitez les contrafaçons. It is a command, an imperative, and as such is impervious to the truth table. One can obey it or not. But mark its strangeness, voyagers, nymphs and old boys. For what is being commanded here, and why? It is a slogan that must be extracted from out of its genre – advertising – where it exists as a sort of paradox. A paradox on the level of the superego. That command. For advertising, after all, consists largely of pursuading the audience that a difference exists where there is none. It produces images and words around what the industry calls “parity products” – that is, products that, in blind tests, can’t be told apart. Whiskies, cigarettes, coffees. In this context, a general command to the consumer to cease looking for substitutes is to substitute the image for the thing – or as David Ogilby, the advertising guru, said, you have to get the customer to drink and eat the image.

Take it another way - from another one of its poles – to accept no substitutes would be, really, to accept nothing – as they are all substitutes. They are, essentially, substitutable. Their presence is potentially already replaced. And thus, to obey the command is to enter into anorexia and death. For it would mean accepting nothing.

It is not clear, to all those who voyage to synthetica, that this is the voyage they signed up for. The artificial paradise is artful. and the substitutes proliferate here while denying that they are substitutes at all. Which brings us to my opposite, my secret sharer, my addict ... my special addict - my voyant addict. I'm speaking of the rare ones (although how do I know they are rare>) who come pre-addicted, the ones in whom the sensations don’t seem to go away. They pile up, they come back, they have a certain disturbing speed. De Quincey's Confession is full of the agony of those impressions that did not, like good Lockian properties, become absorbed in ideas, but lurked outside them.

There is no sense of the addict in the story told by Socrates upon which Derrida is commenting, naturally enough. Until the latter half of the nineteenth century, the notion of a morbid craving, of a need, a physical or psychological need for a drug, didn’t exist. Instead, the opium, alcohol, sugar you could not do without was viewed in moral terms. It was a supplement, a prothetic, a crutch. And here, of course, we return to Socrates’ tale.

Except I won't here. I'll introduce another tale. There’s a brief novella, Kokain, by Walter Rheiner, a German expressionist. Rheiner was an addict, his brief life was as the patsy of, the second fiddle to, the commodity. He was the straight man in that rouutine. The only work of his anybody really cares about is his little novella, Kokain. His single other contribution to art was to form the subject for his friend, Konrad Felixmüller's painting. It was a painting of Rheiner's suicide.

In the novel, the narrator cannot breath in his shabby surroundings – in his apartment, on the street, in his clothes, listening to the voices of the people in the bars he goes to – all of it seems to weave about him like a canvas sack and suffocate him. At the height of this feeling, he goes to a druggist he knows and buys his cocaine – on credit – and shoots up. And then the sack falls open, and he sees himself as a son of light. Until he notices that people are regarding him suspiciously.

“And there they bent close into one another and whispered.He strained to hear them… and there, wasn’t it there? Didn’t he clearly overhead the word, the fatal word, that was stretched gigantically across the firmament of this his night and (with the clanging of a pitiless machine) slowly chopped him up: - cocaine!co-caine! Pieces and pieces were chopped away from him, until he was soon purely and completely pulverized.” [my translation, 8]

The chopping machine –like a blade chopping out a line of powder – follows him throughout the brief little story.

About Me

MANY YEARS LATER as he faced the firing squad, Roger Gathman was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover
ice. Or rather, to discover the profit making potential of selling bags of ice to picnicking Atlantans, the most glorious of the old man's Get Rich schemes, the one that devoured the most energy, the one that seemed so rational for a time, the one that, like all the others - the farm, the housebuilding business, the plastic sign business, chimney cleaning, well drilling, candy machine renting - was drawn by an inexorable black hole that opened up between skill and lack of business sense, imagination and macro-economics, to blow a huge hole in the family savings account. But before discovering the ice machine at 12, Roger had discovered many other things - for instance, he had a distinct memory of learning how to tie his shoes. It was in the big colonial, a house in the Syracuse metro area that had been built to sell and that stubbornly wouldn't - hence, the family had moved into it. He remembered bending over the shoes, he remembered that clumsy feeling in his hands - clumsiness, for the first time, had a habitation, it was made up of this obscure machine, the shoe, and it presaged a lifetime of struggle with machine after machine.


Albany, Pennsylvania

Albany is an unincorporated community in far northern Berks County, Pennsylvania. The village is located in central Albany Township, the northernmost and most sparsely populated of all the townships in Berks County.

History
A post office called Albany was established in 1845, and remained in operation until 1953. The community took its name from Albany Township.

References

Category:Unincorporated communities in Berks County, Pennsylvania
Category:Unincorporated communities in Pennsylvania


Q:

Postgresql complains when interval is result of string concatenation

Using this answer to convert a (date + interval) into a date. Only in my case the date and the interval are strings that are the result of slice&dice of other strings. The problem is that it works when I construct the string for the date but not for the interval.
So, the following statements work:
SELECT (date '2013-01-01');
SELECT (interval '53 days');
SELECT (date '2013-01-01' + interval '53 days');

Now I want to synthesize the strings that are passed after date and interval by substring-ing some other string (think stored procedure where we operate on a passed parameter):
This works for date:
SELECT date (substring('2015015' from 1 for 4)||'-01-01')::text;

But it fails for interval:
SELECT interval (substring('2015015' from 5)||' days')::text;

with error message:
ERROR:  syntax error at or near "substring"

It actually works if I cast explicitly to interval either with CAST(x as INTERVAL) or equivalently with x::interval:
SELECT CAST((substring('2015015' from 5)||' days')::text AS INTERVAL);

or equivalently:
SELECT ((substring('2015015' from 5)||' days')::text)::interval;

Why does the date TEXT work regardless of how the TEXT is placed there, but the same with interval only works with direct text, but not with synthesized one.
I'm on Postgres 9.4.

A:

That's because date is actually a function in PostgreSQL. There is an interval function too, but you need to quote it:
SELECT "interval"(substring('2015015' from 5)||' days');

It is also possible to specify a type cast using a function-like syntax:
typename ( expression )

However, this only works for types whose names are also valid as function names. For example, double precision cannot be used this way, but the equivalent float8 can. Also, the names interval, time, and timestamp can only be used in this fashion if they are double-quoted, because of syntactic conflicts. Therefore, the use of the function-like cast syntax leads to inconsistencies and should probably be avoided.
The function-like syntax is in fact just a function call. When one of the two standard cast syntaxes is used to do a run-time conversion, it will internally invoke a registered function to perform the conversion. By convention, these conversion functions have the same name as their output type, and thus the "function-like syntax" is nothing more than a direct invocation of the underlying conversion function. Obviously, this is not something that a portable application should rely on.

(Bold emphasis is mine.)
date() may be an exception here, most database vendors support something like that.
However, it seems you might build your date() query wrong too, because
SELECT date (substring('2015015' from 1 for 4)||'-01-01')::text;

will first convert '2015-01-01' (from text) to date, then to text. This syntax has nothing to do with the date literals. Those can only expressed like this:
SELECT date '<constant string without any expressions>';

To avoid syntactic ambiguity, the type 'string' syntax can only be used to specify the type of a simple literal constant. Another restriction on the type 'string' syntax is that it does not work for array types; use :: or CAST() to specify the type of an array constant.


When genes go to sleep: the population genetic consequences of seed dormancy and monocarpic perenniality.
In many annual plant populations, seeds may be dormant for several seasons before they germinate. Here, we investigate the consequences of both conditional (dispersed seeds cannot enter a dormant stage) and unconditional seed dormancy on the amount and the distribution of neutral genetic diversity within and among populations. We present joint demographic and population genetics models for single and subdivided populations and derive the effective size and population differentiation at both local and metapopulation scales. We suggest that a Wahlund effect is unlikely to result from age structure alone. Furthermore, the differentiation among populations is decreased by the presence of seed banks. We also extend these models to describe monocarpic (semelparous) perennial life cycle, where the nonreproductive stages are vegetative rosettes instead of dormant seeds. The main difference between the models relies in the way the density-dependent regulation is acting. The effective size of monocarpic perennial species may be less than the census number of individuals, and among-population differentiation is always larger than in annual species. We discuss our results in the light of recent population genetics surveys of annual plants with seed banks.


South Korea men's national squash team

The South Korea men's national squash team represents South Korea in international squash team competitions, and is governed by Korea Squash Federation.

Current team
 JaeJin Yoo
 Ko Youngjo
 Jong Myoung Park
 Han Dong Ryu

Results

World Team Squash Championships

Asian Squash Team Championships

See also
 Korea Squash Federation
 World Team Squash Championships

References

Category:Squash teams
Category:Men's national squash teams
Squash


WASHINGTON – More financial assistance is on the way for farmers and ranchers hurt by retaliation from foreign governments in trade disputes with the United States.

President Donald Trump said Monday he has authorized Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue to launch the second and final round of payments from a $12 billion aid package he promised last July to farmers slammed by tariffs.

“Today I am making good on my promise to defend our Farmers & Ranchers from unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations,” Trump announced on Twitter. “I have authorized Secretary Perdue to implement the 2nd round of Market Facilitation Payments. Our economy is stronger than ever – we stand with our Farmers!”

The program provides payments to almond, cotton, corn, dairy, hog, sorghum, soybean, fresh sweet cherry and wheat producers who have lost much of their export sales because of retaliatory actions by foreign governments, particularly China.

“While there have been positive movements on the trade front, American farmers are continuing to experience losses due to unjustified trade retaliation by foreign nations,” Perdue said in a statement. “This assistance will help with short-term cash flow issues as we move into the new year.”

In September, the Agriculture Department announced the initial $4.7 billion in assistance payments. Farmers who already have applied, completed their harvest, and certified their 2018 production will be able to receive additional payments for the second half of their 2018 production.

The first and second payments are estimated to total $9.5 billion.

The program has come under fire from some agricultural sectors for being too small to offset the impact of a trade war with China. The National Milk Producers Federation sent a letter to the White House this fall arguing losses from retaliatory tariffs would exceed $1 billion this year.

An association representing soybean farmers, among the hardest hit by the trade dispute, called on the administration earlier this month to begin the “critically important” second round of aid. The American Soybean Association said the impact from Chinese tariffs had vastly exceeded Department of Agriculture estimates.

Davie Stephens, the association’s president, said it is “improbable that sales of U.S. soybeans to China can be sustained” unless China removes a 25 percent tariff on soybeans. That barrier remains in place despite a friendly meeting earlier this month between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit in Argentina.

More:Trump talks up China trade progress, easing tensions that battered markets

More:Trump makes peace with China over trade at G-20, but can it last?

More:President Donald Trump predicts China trade deal, but aides say nothing imminent


Lotteries, fake scouting reports and more wild stories behind famous MLB Draft picks

On Monday night, the 2017 MLB Draft began, and a new generation of players started their journey to Major League stardom.

Of course, it doesn't always seem that way at the time -- the Draft is an inexact science, and the path from promising prospect to baseball legend is rarely a straight one. But don't take our word for it: Just take a look at the bizarre stories behind how some all-time great careers got started. Some were overlooked, some were late-bloomers, some weren't even sure they would play baseball -- but in every case, baseball history almost looked a lot different.

The fake Ken Griffey Jr. scouting report

The Mariners held the No. 1 pick in the 1987 Draft, and the team's brain trust knew just who they wanted to spend it on: a prep outfielder out of Cincinnati by the name of Ken Griffey Jr. Scouting director Roger Jongewaard and general manager Dick Balderson were in agreement. There was just one catch: The team's owner, George Argyros, wasn't.

Argyros preferred the relative security of college players, and he had his sights set on Mike Harkey, an All-American right-hander from Cal State Fullerton that Seattle had graded roughly the same as Griffey. Argyros was so convinced that at one point a Mariners official even told Harkey that he would be the pick. Still, Jongewaard and Balderson kept making their case.

"I don't want to knock Harkey, because he was good," Jongewaard told The New York Times back in 2009. "But Griffey was primo."

As the Draft approached, however, more drastic measures had to be taken. Jongewaard couldn't bear to watch the franchise let what he saw as a generational talent slip away. So he called area scout Bob Harrison into his office and asked him a favor: Doctor his report on Griffey, giving the outfielder extra points to help break the tie.

Harrison, who coveted Junior as much as anyone, was more than happy to oblige -- he laid it on thick, calling Griffey a once-in-a-generation talent, and eventually Argyros agreed to fork over a then-record $160,000 to bring The Kid to Seattle.

Todd Van Poppel says no, Chipper Jones says yes

Chipper Jones is synonymous with the Braves. He spent all 19 years of his Major League career with the team, racking up more than 2,700 hits, an NL MVP Award and a 1995 World Series ring. But leading up to the 1990 Draft, Chipper wasn't even Atlanta's first choice.

The Braves -- and just about every other team in the league, for that matter -- had their eyes on Todd Van Poppel, a 6-foot-5 power righty who some scouts deemed the best pitching prospect they'd ever seen. But in the months leading up to the Draft, Van Poppel told the team that he wouldn't sign with them if they drafted him, stating his desire to play at the University of Texas and pitch in the 1992 Olympics.

Unsure whether Van Poppel's threat was sincere or simply a bargaining ploy, Atlanta still considered drafting him -- according to legend, the team even offered him a seven-figure bonus just days before the Draft to see if he would bite. But Van Poppel didn't budge, and eventually, the Braves had enough: At the insistence of scouting director Paul Snyder -- who literally threatened to resign if he didn't get his man -- Atlanta instead settled on Jones, a high school shortstop from Florida who came with plenty of upside and a much cheaper price tag.

Van Poppel eventually went 14th overall to the A's, who signed him to a record $1.2 million big-league contract. He posted a 5.58 ERA over 11 seasons in the Majors. As for Chipper? We'll probably be seeing him in Cooperstown soon.

Mike Piazza was drafted as a family favor

When Mike Piazza entered the Hall of Fame last summer, he did so as arguably the greatest hitting catcher of all-time (and with undoubtedly the greatest facial hair of all-time). And we have one man to thank for giving him the opportunity: leading Lil Jon cover artist Tommy Lasorda.

As a first baseman at Miami-Dade Community College, no scout thought much of Piazza. It looked like he would go undrafted in 1988 -- until his father, Vince, decided to call in a favor. Vince had grown up with Lasorda in Pennsylvania (the then-Dodgers manager even served as godfather to Mike's brother Tommy) and the two remained close into adulthood. So, like any father would, Vince asked his old friend to draft his son if no other team showed interest.

As it turned out, no other team showed interest -- Lasorda had to convince L.A. to draft Piazza in the 62nd round, 1,027th overall. Still, the Dodgers were skeptical, concerned that the rookie's bat wouldn't play at higher levels. So Lasorda came up with an idea, as he told the San Francisco Chronicle:

"I had him work out for our scouting director and after a while, I finally said, 'I tell you what, if we brought a shortstop in here and he swung the bat like that, wouldn't you sign him?' He said, 'Yeah, if he was a shortstop.' I said, 'What if he was a catcher?' He said, 'I'd sign him if he was a catcher.'

I said, 'OK, he's a catcher.' He said, 'He's not a catcher.' I said, 'He's a catcher now. Sign him. All he wants is a chance.'"

Finally, the Dodgers caved, signing Piazza for a mere $15,000. Without speaking any Spanish, he hopped on a plane to the Dodgers' training complex in the Dominican Republic to get the hang of his new position -- and the rest is history.

Kirk Gibson agrees to a hometown discount

It would be awfully hard to tell the history of baseball without Kirk Gibson -- not only did he win an MVP Award and two World Series championships, but he also authored one of the game's most iconic moments. That's why it's so strange to think that he almost never played an inning of professional baseball.

Before he was Kirk Gibson: October Hero, he was Kirk Gibson: College Football Star. Gibson played wide receiver at Michigan State in the late '70s and was so good that he was considered a lock to go in the first round of the 1979 NFL Draft -- legendary Dallas Cowboys personnel director Gil Brandt even dubbed him the best athlete in college football after clocking him at 4.25 in the 40-yard dash.

And if the talent wasn't enough, the haircut surely was:

Gibson was a great baseball player too, of course. But he had just one season of college ball under his belt, and heading into the '78 MLB Draft, most teams were wary of using an early pick on him -- assuming that his future lay on the gridiron. Most teams, that is, except for the Tigers.

Detroit learned that Gibson would be willing to make an exception to sign with his home-state team ... provided that a couple of conditions were met. First, the Tigers had to give him a then-record $150,000 bonus. Second, they had to let him finish out his football career at Michigan State. Detroit agreed to both and signed him just days after selecting him at No. 12 overall.

Gibson did play that last season in East Lansing, hauling in 42 catches for 806 yards as the Spartans shared the Big Ten title with rival Michigan. And the next spring, he reported to Tigers camp.

The Tom Seaver lottery

The Draft always involves a bit of luck, but the 1966 edition -- just the second Draft ever -- took things to a bit of an extreme: a literal draw from a hat decided which team won the rights to Tom Seaver.

A right-hander out of USC, Seaver was a well-regarded prospect. He went 20th overall to the Braves in the secondary phase of the '66 Draft, and Atlanta signed him that February with a $40,000 bonus. Soon after, though, the deal hit a snag: USC had already played two exhibition games in its season (though Seaver himself never took the field), and MLB rules prohibited signing a player off a college campus once his team's season has begun.

Commissioner William Eckert nullified the signing, and the NCAA declared Seaver ineligible. Suddenly without a professional or college team, Seaver's father threatened to sue, until Eckert came up with a solution: Every team would have a chance to match Atlanta's initial offer of $40,000, and the winner would be determined through a lottery.

The Mets, Phillies and Indians were the only three teams to pay up, and on April 3, 1966, Eckert put the teams' names in a hat for a drawing. New York was the lucky winner, and over the next decade The Franchise helped take the Amazins from laughingstock to champions.


Shorts, mini-series and TV-episodes from anthology series where the episodes are unrelated, are allowed. Tv-series aren't allowed.**IMDb will be leading in this, but if you have good arguments exceptions to the rule can be made in consultation

IMDb lists and iCM lists are accepted. (If you can't make one of those, ask another user to help you out.)

Lists can be any length.

Each nominee can only be named once (of course).

Your list may be ranked, unranked, or partially-ranked. In a partially-ranked list, the top X films are ranked and everything after that point is unranked. When not specified I will consider a list as ranked.

Mocumentaries (e.g. This is Spinal Tap) are not allowed.

Stage shows (stand-up comedy, concerts, ......) are not allowed. Documentaries about artists in which stage shows are part of the movie, are allowed. In doubt, just ask.

For all boundary cases: ask yourself "if I want to recommend a documentary, would I recommend this as a documentary?". Don't try to bend the boundaries too much.

List length and halflife to be decided later. Last time it was a top 200 and 30.

Ranked of course ... bit of a sad list really, but while I find docs easy to watch, I find them extremely difficult to like. Maybe there aren't enough docs about subjects I care for, but I fear it's really just a combination of sappiness, lack of journalistic value and downright appalling propaganda.

I'm thinking about not even voting myself. Did some filtering in Excel, so I have a starting list now, but I need to go through it. I want to be selective and not include movies that I don't value as a doc, but more as something else. Because of this, I wouldn't even vote for A Man With a Movie Camera, because I value that mostly because of the camerawork and cinematography, not because it's telling a well structured story. That can be said about more experimental docs as well. But A Man... was #1 on the last poll and it's on several documentary-lists. Would feel stupid to exclude it, since I love it. But by excluding it I could give other "true" documentaries more chance. AAAARGGGHHH, why is this so hard?!

The Living Planet (1984)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135096/
I would call this a mini-series, as it is only 12 episodes. Imdb's automated system has the cut-off at 4, I think, so they call it a TV-series.

The Living Planet (1984)https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0135096/
I would call this a mini-series, as it is only 12 episodes. Imdb's automated system has the cut-off at 4, I think, so they call it a TV-series.

So when you are walloped in the melon with the stinging bolt you’ve batted away with admirable dexterity for years but now you are not so agile and oh fuck also on the wrong side of 35/45/55, now seeing in 4K the opportunities to be happy and fulfilled and to sign your name to an existence that leaves a footprint of any depth whatever that you missed or bungled and certainly will never have again, your only bit of visible light now a stab at well received mediocrity but heeeey you’re too tired even to grip a sharp implement, your only pleasure now the daydream of taking the artist’s plunge into a ceaseless slumber, your enduring aggravation a knowledge that you won’t and will instead flaccidly rub away each now to reveal the next, smaller and duller than the one it replaces until you’re left with the last, a grey and fading torn and stained miniature sheet of onion skin you will cling to when the monsoon arrives even though you don’t want the damn thing.

But hey. you still have access to blueberries and karagarga and a big comfortable rectangle to lay on. And there is also that dog that licks you like an ice cream cone when you see him.

That is, essentially, a half-life.

I think there is also a more sciencey definition of the term but I’m sure that’s not what you’re looking for when you inquired.

So when you are walloped in the melon with the stinging bolt you’ve batted away with admirable dexterity for years but now you are not so agile and oh fuck also on the wrong side of 35/45/55, now seeing in 4K the opportunities to be happy and fulfilled and to sign your name to an existence that leaves a footprint of any depth whatever that you missed or bungled and certainly will never have again, your only bit of visible light now a stab at well received mediocrity but heeeey you’re too tired even to grip a sharp implement, your only pleasure now the daydream of taking the artist’s plunge into a ceaseless slumber, your enduring aggravation a knowledge that you won’t and will instead flaccidly rub away each now to reveal the next, smaller and duller than the one it replaces until you’re left with the last, a grey and fading torn and stained miniature sheet of onion skin you will cling to when the monsoon arrives even though you don’t want the damn thing.

But hey. you still have access to blueberries and karagarga and a big comfortable rectangle to lay on. And there is also that dog that licks you like an ice cream cone when you see him.

That is, essentially, a half-life.

I think there is also a more sciencey definition of the term but I’m sure that’s not what you’re looking for when you inquired.

ICMMarch Challenge: But at the bottom, the immanent philosopher sees in the entire universe only the deepest longing for absolute annihilation, and it is as if he clearly hears the call that permeates all spheres of heaven: Redemption! Redemption! Death to our life! and the comforting answer: you will all find annihilation and be redeemed!


Succession patterns following soil disturbance in a sagebrush steppe community.
A study was begun in 1976 to measure succession patterns following soil disturbance within a sagebrush community in northwestern Colorado. The principal hypothesis was that type of disturbance affects the direction of succession, resulting in different plant communities over time. Successional dynamics were studied through 1988. Four types of soil disturbance resulted in 3 early seral communities: one dominated by grasses, one by annuals, and one intermediate. The annual-dominated communities were opportunistic on these sites, lasting 3-5 years and not determining the direction in which succession proceeded following their replacement. Twelve years after disturbance, 3 communities (one grass-dominated, one shrub-dominated, and one intermediate) occupied the site, the characteristics of which were functions of type of initial soil disturbance. For the period of time covered by this study (12 years), degree of disturbance was found to affect the direction of succession, resulting in different plant communities over time. There were, however, successional characteristics toward the end of the study that suggest that over a longer time period, succession might progress to a single community regardless of type of disturbance.


Friday, January 16, 2009

Caveat: This has been sitting in my drafts for about 2 weeks, I was actually about to dump it like so many other wayward posts...It was intended to be an anti-mommyblogger post, but due to current developments, it includes all "labeling" me a certain type of blogger, please excuse me if it seems a bit disjointed...

Mommyblogger.

BLEACH!!!

I hate the word.

I was recently mentioned in some Top 10 KC Blogs lists in a Present Magazine article. (Thanks, guys, I was really touched and honored!) What surprised me was how many bloggers identified me as a "mommyblogger" as a caveat and then went on to say they liked me anyway.

Ok, ok, I know my pseudonym is "Moxie Mama" but still.

I only sometimes write about my kid.

Why?

Because I secretly dislike a lot of Mommybloggers. Sure I read them, some of them are actually pretty great...but it's almost like a train wreck, I can't look away from the disasters (and I'm looking at you, Dooce.)

I hope my writing is broader than just that. At least I'm trying for that. Yes, mothering is my most important job and if I'm trying to chronicle the "Life, Times and Observations of Moxie" parenthood factors in. Darling is the funniest, most incredible, most profound person I know. But she isn't everything in my life (no healthy parent should be that child obsessed.)

I enjoy being a marketer and an historian. I know I should write more about both, but it's a fine line to walk when you really like and want to keep your jobs.

While I appreciate the creative use of alliteration in the label, I don't appreciate the sentiment. Yes, yes, I know that you shouldn't encourage anonymous posters because they like the attention, but dude, a few things, just to clear it up:

1. Be ballsy and brave enough to put your name on your uneducated comments. I'm not ashamed of any of my well-thought out, intelligent opinions. If you're going to call someone names, at least make it accurate to who you're talking about.2. I am not rabid. I've had my shots, dude.3. I am not retarded. I have above average intelligence and two college degrees. I'm guessing you don't.4. Holy Shit!!! I'm not a Republican! If you have read my blog in any depth, you'll know that I do not affiliate with any political party. I am not a republican, a democrat, a libertarian nor am I am member of the Communist party. I'm an American citizen that votes by the issues and her conscience. I want all politicians to be responsible and to be accountable for every vote, decision and action they make.5. I am not a housewife. Granted, I own a home and I am a wife (and a mommy) but I have 2 jobs. I make more money than my husband does. I don't sit around the house eating bon bons, watching soap operas and blogging about crap. I love being involved in more than I can probably handle. (Why does "housewife" have such a negative connotation? It's a noble profession for many women.)6. I am not part of any brigade. I generally avoid organized groups.

I knew it would stir feathers to criticize Obama's spending. I know this country needs a really kick ass party to celebrate our liberation from the Bush Administration. A little pomp and circumstance is in order, however, I just think it's in poor taste to spend more money than any other president in history considering how dismal the economy is right now.

I felt like he had the opportunity to set the tone for his expectations of his administration by sending a message of "The government is tightening it's belt on wasteful spending, how about you? Let's fix the economy that's broken. Yes, We Can (Do It Together)"

I'm actually supportive of the Obama Administration. I can't wait to see what he will do. It's going to be an administration like none other in history, but now I expect him to live up to the promises and rhetoric that got him elected.

Spending that much money on a party that no one will really remember 2 years from now is not getting started on the right foot in my opinion. Sorry.

That annoy commenter had to do some serious contortions of logic to make those conclusions. Nothing about your post suggested you deserved that label. I doubt they even read all of what you wrote, probably skimmed over the big words.

The term "mommyblogger" really bugs me for some reason - I'm glad I'm not alone in that. I DID stay home for 5 years (although I was working part time from home for most of it) but I didn't have a blog then. If I did, you can bet that I'd have been writing about something else in addition to kiddo. For me, that's the greatest thing about blogging - if I can't find someone nearby to hold an intelligent conversation with, I can blog my thoughts and get reactions to them from around the world. Like you, I think my kiddo is pretty spectacular. But like you, there is more to my life than kiddo. And I really doubt that anyone - in real life or on the internet - would want to talk to me if kiddo was all I ever talked about. I mean, it's great to commiserate and get advice from IRL friends and bloggers, but I'd like to think my relationships are about more than that. And the vision of mommybloggers that I have is exactly that: focus on self and family, and connecting with other bloggers for that reason only.

Oh, and I'm glad to know I'm not the only blogger who can't stand Dooce!

no blog with word "mama" in the title ever touches my reader. yours is the only one because I started reading it since day one and stuck around. you are also right that obama missed an opportunity to make a pr move.i wasn't even here at the time but even i know that iacocca worked for a dollar a year.these things stick around

About Me

I'm a multi-tasking super Mama who loves to argue politics, discuss current events and visit museums. I have an adoring, Handsome Hubby, a Darling daughter (who's an older soul than I am) and 2 insane cats. I hate garden gnomes, stupid people and most seafood. I also love crazy conspiracy theories and semi-drunk philosophical debates with others.


Evaluation of a 6-year highly active antiretroviral therapy in Chinese HIV-1-infected patients.
To evaluate the long-term efficacy and tolerability of nevirapine (NVP)-based regimens in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected Chinese patients in routine clinical practice. From October 2002 to May 2004, 57 HIV-1-infected patients commenced antiretroviral therapy (ART), and were followed up to December 2008. These antiretroviral-naïve patients, who originally received two nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors and NVP, had HIV RNA levels, T lymphocyte subsets and safety parameters assessed over 6 years. Of the 57 patients, 34 patients participated in the long-term follow-up. After 5-6 years, >60% of the patients had HIV RNA levels <50 copies/microl, and the median increase in CD4 cell counts from baseline was 329 cells/microl. gamma-Glutamyl transferase increased in 17 patients (29.8%); serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels were elevated in 15 patients (26.3%), and 25.0% (6/24) of the patients developed lipodystrophy (mainly females). Grade 3/4 adverse events occurred in 3 cases. ART with NVP-based regimens suppressed HIV viremia and produced continued CD4 cell increases in a majority of subjects for 6 years. Safety and tolerance were good with no unexpected long-term toxicity. Though based on a small group, this study demonstrates durable effects of ART in Chinese patients.


Colorado-based Never Summer Industries (NS) is the last upper-tier independently owned snowboard manufacturer in the US. Family-owned, Tim and Tracy Canaday are still involved in the manufacturing and engineering process as well as business operations.

When the summer is at its hottest and you’re going through snowboard withdrawals, 73 people go to work at the NS factory to make your next snowboard (or skis). The Never Summer factory produces their own snowboards, and they also press snowboards for Sims, Academy, and High Society along with skis for Icelantic, Fatypus, and Harvest, and adaptive ski companies Mountain Man and Enabling Technologies.

Never Summer took us on a factory tour to see just how they make your snowboards (or skis). When you see the website or hear a sales clerk tell you these snowboards are handmade, they mean it. There are quite a few craftsmen who take part in the assembly of each snowboard that goes through the shop.

How is it done? Every snowboard starts out as a block of laminated wood known as a core block. Each core block consists of six to eight snowboards with a production rate of roughly 250 units per day or around 180 snowboards and 50 pairs of skis. After the core blocks are assembled, the sidecut is machined in, sidewall attached and then the block is sliced into individual cores.

Once the blocks are cut to individual cores, they are then drilled for the mounting holes and ran through a programmable wide sander to taper the core for precise flex.

While the cores are being built in one area, the base is being made in another. The graphics are die cut and assembled together. The decals are cut from one color, and the background from a different color. However the cutouts are identical, so from one sheet of PTEX, they get both a graphic and a background. This way they waste less plastic and cut production costs.

The edges come in as a long roll of steel edge. They are rough shaped by machine, and then course shaped to the desired radius by hand using a pair of specially made crimping pliers. The edge is then glued to the base material, or PTEX.

The base goes into a cassette that has been precision machined out of aluminum. This form holds the shape and keeps materials from slipping or moving from one another. There is a set of these cassettes for each board shape and each size of that model. This is when the wood core now comes to meet the base of the snowboard.

A layer of glue is spread across the base, rubber stripping is laid around the edge, then a layer of biaxial fiberglass, more epoxy, and then the core. On top of the core goes any carbon stringers that need applied, and the topsheet that gives the board it’s flex pattern and graphic.

Once all of this is completed, the board goes into a vacuum press where all of the layers are drawn together under vacuum. Hydraulic pressure is applied, as well as heat in order to force the camber profile and cure the epoxy. After enough time, the board comes out and is ready to begin the finishing process.

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The boards come out of the cassette square, so someone takes the time to remove the flash, or extra material, from the board to give it the final shape that makes it look like a snowboard.

Never Summer boards come fully tuned from the factory. The boards are ran over several stages of base sanding from course to super fine belts to get that perfectly smooth base. Then they are sharpened, waxed, and sent to the inspector. The entire build process has taken five days from start to finish.

While the snowboards are inspected each step of the way by a manufacturing manager, there is a final 20 point inspection before being prepared for shipping. Then the shipping department does a final spot check as well. This is how NS keeps their manufacturer defects down to 1% of shipped product and can offer that three year warranty.

Even the boards that have cosmetic blemishes and are used for instructor proform and demo fleets are at an astonishingly low 4%, and a total failure of 1%. If you’re familiar with manufacturing at all, you understand just how impressive these numbers are. This is what results from having managers in each department with 15 or more years of snowboard manufacturing under their belts.

So the next time you hop on a Never Summer Snowboard, remember that there were a lot of people who helped craft that snowboard to bring you a product that you enjoy.

We would like to thank Vince Sanders for letting us come out and see the shop so that we could write this article, as well as setting us up with snowboards to demo so that we could write reviews and bring you more content.

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Comparison of backbone dynamics of reduced and oxidized Escherichia coli glutaredoxin-1 using 15N NMR relaxation measurements.
NMR-based structure determination of Escherichia coli glutaredoxin-1 in its reduced and oxidized forms revealed only subtle structural differences between the two forms. In an effort to characterize the role dynamics may play in the functioning of the protein, the backbone dynamics of both the reduced and oxidized forms of E. coli glutaredoxin-1 have been characterized using inverse-detection two-dimensional 15N-1H NMR spectroscopy. Longitudinal (T1) and transverse (T2) 15N relaxation time constants and steady-state [1H]-15N NOEs were measured for a majority of the protonated backbone nitrogen atoms. These data were analyzed by using a model-free formalism to determine the generalized order parameter (S2), the effective correlation time for internal motions (tau(e)), 15N exchange broadening contributions (R(ex)), and the overall molecular rotational correlation time (tau(m)). Sedimentation equilibrium measurements showed the reduced protein to be monomeric whereas the oxidized form could be fit to a monomer-dimer equilibrium. In order to try and assess the effect of dimerization on the dynamical parameters, the measurements on the oxidized protein have been carried out at two concentrations with very different monomer/dimer ratios. There is increased motion on both nano-picosecond and micro-millisecond time scales in the reduced form relative to the oxidized form, consistent with a more rigid oxidized protein. The increase in motion in the reduced protein correlates with its decreased thermodynamic stability. The role of the observed differences in the dynamic behavior in the two forms, particularly in the active site, in glutaredoxin-1's role as a protein disulfide reductant is discussed.


How Dads bond

It isn't as intuitive for a father to feel connected to his newly born baby as it is for the mother. After all, he wasn't the one going through the morning sickness or the in-utero kicking. Neither does he go through the whole experience of breastfeeding. The feeling of initial disconnect is completely normal.

What if I don’t love my child?

Your best mate rings you up. "Wow, what’s it like being a dad?""It’s fantastic," you lie. "She’s beautiful. From the moment she was born, I felt such profound and deep love…"You trot out these cliches, but you’re not sure you actually mean a word you’re saying. In fact, you may look at this tiny wrinkled creature in front of you and feel nothing.When my first child was born I’m not entirely sure that I loved her. Or, to be more accurate, I might have loved her in a zealous, fearful and slightly guilty way, but I don't think that I actually liked her.The truth is that many fathers find it very difficult to bond with their newborn baby. Who can really blame you when you’re experiencing such a mixture of emotions? You may be feeling daunted by the financial and emotional responsibilities of parenthood. Not to mention insecure. After watching your partner suffer during childbirth, all you want to do is care for her and for your baby, but it’s hard when neither of them seem to have much time for you. You worry that your partner doesn’t love you anymore and that you’ll never have sex with her again. You feel pressure to be this big, strong man, but you haven’t slept in days and feel physically and mentally exhausted.

Bonding

It’s obviously important that mother and baby spend a lot of time together in the early weeks. Your partner’s got a host of postnatal endorphins and happy hormones whizzing through her and, if she’s breastfeeding, she’s also developing important eye and skin-to-skin contact with your baby. Try to keep in mind that you’re not in competition with her, and the time they spend alone together is not something to be resented.

Still, as you all start to settle into a routine, find a part of the day when you can have some quality time with your baby. That’s when your little one will launch her charm offensive on you by simply grabbing your finger or smiling. Before you know it, you’ll be completely head over heels in love, and not just because you think you should be.

Scientific research on bonding

Studies show that fathers who are at their baby’s birth, and hold their little one shortly afterwards, have very similar feelings of attachment to those experienced by mothers for the first few weeks.Putting in the time and effort at the start is certainly worth your while. Most research suggests that keeping close during those early months will encourage a good relationship with your child as she gets older. Even talking to your partner’s bump before your little one arrived will have been time well spent, as your newborn baby is supposed to be able to recognise your voice. To look at it in crude business terms, it means that every nappy changed, every cuddle and every game of "peekaboo" is an emotional investment for the future, building trust between you.

Other studies from Canada suggest that expectant fathers actually experience biological and hormonal changes that prepare them for parenting. This research says that testosterone in expectant fathers will drop by a third, while the hormones prolactin and cortisol, both connected with pregnant women, will rise significantly in the three weeks before your baby’s due date. Similar research shows that prolactin levels in men increase when they cuddle a baby or even a crying doll. It backs up findings that there is some genuine physiological basis for expectant fathers experiencing the symptoms of a phantom pregnancy.

Bonding through play

Research also suggests that mothers and fathers tend to specialise in different types of contact once their baby is past its first few weeks of life. The mother’s role is likely to involve more talking and quiet interaction, while the father’s role tends to involve more physical playfulness. Obviously, this may just reflect existing role models and stereotypes. However, it does give fathers something to aspire to. You are the "fun parent", the one who does the piggy-backs, the flying baby, the raspberries. It also means that you’ll probably be the lucky one who sees your baby laugh for the first time.

The first smile

After four, five, six weeks of putting your baby's needs above almost everything else, you've received absolutely nothing in return. It feels as if all your affection, attention, love and effort are being flung down a bottomless well. You've convinced yourself that parenthood is not for you and are even beginning to resent your new family member.And then your baby smiles.You might have thought you’d seen it before. Her face could have contorted into what looked like a smile, but it was merely her trying to force out some trapped wind. Her lips might have curled up into the semblance of a semi-circle, but it was merely the first stages of a whimper en route to a full-on wailing session. No, your baby’s first smile is in a league of its own, and there’s no confusing it.I remember watching a football match on television with my six-week-old daughter on my knee. Involuntarily, when my team scored I leapt up with my baby and suddenly saw that she had a big smile on her face. I grinned back and her smile turned into a giggle. Suddenly, the endless duties of the last few weeks seemed worth it and a few tears started welling up.Maybe it’s because we're shallow and easily pleased, but the emotion of making your child laugh is one of the most incredible you will experience. Ask other parents what makes their children giggle. You’ll often be surprised by the seemingly random answers. Try nodding your head, rustling a paper bag, putting on a jumper, sucking your thumb, blowing raspberries on your child's belly or pretending to bite her. If all else fails, peekaboo is one form of physical slapstick that will be guaranteed to work. Revealing your head from under a sheet, towel or jumper will, for some reason, have your child in fits of laughter for hours.Watch our videos to see real dads talking about how they bonded with their babies, and find out how feeding your baby a bottle of expressed breastmilk can also be a great bonding experience.This post is from here


Home sales picked up at the end of 2014, closing off a year that had a sluggish start but then showed encouraging signs in the second half, according to the National Association of REALTORS®’ latest housing report, released Friday.

Existing-home sales rose 2.4 percent in December month-over-month, bouncing back after a dismal November. Total home sales –reflecting completed transactions of single-family homes, townhomes, condos, and co-ops – reached a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.04 million in December.

“Home sales improved over the summer once inventory increased, prices moderated, and economic growth accelerated,” says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist. “Sales were measurably better in the second half – up 8 percent compared to the first six months of the year.”

Overall for 2014, the median national existing-home price was $208,500, reaching the highest level since 2007, and a 5.8 percent increase from 2013 when it was $197,100. However, total existing-home sales were 3.1 percent lower in 2014 compared to 2013, NAR reports.

Here’s a closer look at five housing stats from NAR’s latest report — reflecting December 2014 data — to gauge the market:

1. Home sales: Single-family home sales rose 3.5 percent in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.47 million compared to 4.32 million in November. Single-family home sales are 4 percent above the pace a year ago. Existing condo and co-op sales, on the other hand, dropped 5 percent in December.

2. Home prices: The median existing-home price for all housing types in December was $209,500 – 6 percent higher than year ago levels. This marks the 34th consecutive month of year-over-year price gains.

3. Days on the market: Properties typically stayed on the market in December for 66 days, a slightly shorter time frame than a year ago when the average was 72 days. Short sales were on the market the longest amount of time at a median of 98 days in December, while foreclosures sold in 61 days. Non-distressed homes averaged 66 days on the market. About 31 percent of homes that were sold in December were on the market for less than a month, according to NAR.

4. Distressed sales: Foreclosures and short sales edged up slightly in December, reaching 11 percent of sales compared to 9 percent in November. However, distressed sales are down from 14 percent a year ago. Of December existing-home sales, 8 percent were foreclosures and 3 percent were short sales. On average, foreclosures sold for a discount of 15 percent below market value while short sales were discounted 12 percent.

5. Inventory: Total housing inventory at the end of December fell 11.1 percent to 1.85 million existing homes available for sale. That represents a 4.4-month supply at the current sales pace, which is down from 5.1 months in November. Unsold inventory is now 0.5 percent lower than a year ago.

“A drop in housing supply in December raises some affordability concerns in the months ahead as minimal selection and the potential for faster price appreciation could offset the demand from buyers encouraged by a stronger economy and sub-4 percent interest rates,” says Yun. “Housing costs – both rents and home prices – continue to outpace wages and are burdensome for potential buyers trying to save for a downpayment while looking for available homes in their price range.”

By Region

The following is a look at how existing-home sales performed across the country in December:

Midwest: existing-home sales dropped 3.5 percent to an annual level of 1.09 million in December. Sales are 2.7 percent below December 2013. Median price: $159,100, up 5.3 percent from a year ago.

South: existing-home sales in the South climbed 3.8 percent to an annual rate of 2.17 million in December. Sales are 7.4 percent above December 2013. Median price: $184,100, up 6.6 percent from a year ago.

West: existing-home sales surged 9.8 percent to an annual rate of 1.12 million in December. Sales are 2.8 percent above a year ago. Median price: $299,600, up 5.6 percent year-over-year.


What Parents Need to Know About: Lice

Lice – just the word is enough to make any parent shudder and get the heebie-jeebies!

When I received not one, but two e-mails with the subject “Lice” a few weeks ago, my heart sank. Two of my daughter’s good friends were found to have lice, so I was on high alert. I systematically checked my daughter’s long hair a few times a week and bought a box of treatment to have available just in case. After a few checks with no nits and no lice, I was thankful that we seemed to be in the clear.

Then, a few weeks later I was sitting next to my daughter and actually saw a louse crawling on her scalp between her braids. My daughter freaked out (turns out, even though her friends had lice and they had talked about it, she didn’t really understand what it meant – she thought that lice were huge insects that would lay chicken size eggs on her hair). Once I reassured her and showed her what the louse looked like, I pulled out the treatment, immediately washed her hair with the smelly shampoo and systematically combed her hair all out. I called my husband who was with my son at a friend’s house, and they came home. We found a single louse on my son’s head, so he received the treatment as well. We then spent the rest of the weekend in intense cleaning mode. (I’ve never done so much laundry in my life.) My kids are being troopers with this whole ordeal – we’re still checking and combing every other day with no further lice or unhatched nits…so far.

A few things to know about lice:

Lice can happen to anyone. It doesn’t mean that you, your child or your home is dirty. In fact, lice prefer clean hair since it’s easier for them to hold on to.

Lice are common – other than the common cold, it’s the most frequent communicable disease in children, and it’s estimated that 1 out of every 4 kids will be affected at some point. 80% of schools have outbreaks each year.

Lice don’t jump. They don’t fly either. The only way to get them is to actually have contact with them. Kids frequently get them because they often put their heads close together. Or, they share hats or have their coats hung close together at school.

Lice aren’t immortal. If they aren’t on your head, they only live for 1-2 days at most. Nits can survive longer, but once they hatch, if there isn’t a human head nearby, the louse will still die within a day or two. This is important to keep in mind as you do your cleaning in your home.

Lice don’t transmit disease. They can cause itching on scalp due to an allergic reaction to lice saliva, but they don’t cause illness.

Lice are treatable many different ways. There are over-the-counter and prescription topical treatments, prescription oral treatments, as well as many other “word-of-mouth” treatments. You can also just do very careful combing on a regular basis and try to avoid any medications.

The bottom line is that lice are a pain in the butt. I don’t wish them on anyone, but they aren’t the end of the world…they may just ruin your weekend.


There is often a need to communicate a message in secret over a channel which can potentially be intercepted by an eavesdropper. Traditionally, such a problem has been addressed by encrypting or enciphering the message using a secret key. Quantum communication provides a highly secure method for sending such a key. By encoding the key on a series of single photons, where each photon carries one bit of information encoded as a quantum state of the photon e.g. polarisation, phase or energy/time of a photon, an eavesdropper cannot intercept the key without at least partially changing the key. It is not possible to completely prevent an eavesdropper from obtaining the key, but providing that there is a single photon in each light pulse sent from the sender to the receiver, the eavesdropper will be detected.
However, many current quantum communication systems use an attenuated laser as a source of weak light pulses. Such pulses often contain more than one photon which introduces security issues since it is possible for an eavesdropper to split off one photon from a pulse without affecting the other photons in the pulse, a so-called photon number splitting attack PNS. To address the PNS attack, security can be increased by reducing the distance and/or the bit rate at which information can be transferred securely by quantum key distribution systems.
One such method is a decoy pulse protocol which has been proposed to improve security and transmission distance. This method sends signal pulses which carry the encoded information and decoy pulses of a second intensity. By determining the transmission efficiency of the signal and decoy pulses, it is possible to statistically spot the presence of a photon number splitting attack.
Considerable work has been performed on methods for determining a secure bit rate for such systems. The secure bit rate is the number of bits per unit time which may be transferred securely between an emitter(Alice) and a receiver (Bob). It will be lower than the actual rate of pulses sent from Alice.
However, in a real quantum communication system, parameters such as the intensity of the pulses which are sent will drift over time, thus reducing the security of the transmission.


After a tough loss to RSL, the LA Galaxy looking to regroup

SANDY, Utah— For the first time since the start of the 2013 season, the LA Galaxy will go an entire week without an MLS regular season game or CONCACAF Champions League match. That’s 15 weeks straight with at least one league or cup match on the docket.

And following their 3-1 defeat to Real Salt Lake, their third consecutive loss in all competitions and their fourth in five games, LA believe that they'll need the time off to decompress and get their season right.

“I think that it’s good for us. We're all frustrated with the past couple games and maybe even the past five or six games as far as dropping points,” said defender Sean Franklin. “I think that it’s a good break not just physically, but mentally to get our heads right and ready for the 19th against Portland.”

However, Landon Donovan took the opposite approach.

“We need to play, and play better. When you win it’s a little bit nice to have a break, but when you lose it sits with you for a while,” said Donovan. “It’s going to be good to get a little bit of rest. Then we've got two really big two games against Portland and Chivas.”

That the Galaxy will play their next two matches at the newly-christened StubHub Center comes as a welcome respite after LA’s extensive travel as of late. Over the past month, the Galaxy have played seven matches across all competitions, with six taking place on the road just a single match at home—their 4-0 victory over Seattle Sounders FC on April 26.

Not only has the club been traveling, but the Galaxy have also logged heavy miles with a pair of trips to the East Coast. The jet set life has not been kind to LA as they have gone a paltry 2-5-0 in that span.

“We've been travelling all over the country, so it'llbe good for our guys to get their legs back,” LA Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena said following the defeat to RSL.

It won't be all time off, however, as the Galaxy will still host the USL PRO’s Los Angeles Blues on Saturday in an MLS Reserve League match in Carson. The reserve match will allow an opportunity for Arena to give minutes to players needing minutes as well as those coming back from injury like defender Todd Dunivant, who has missed the last two league games with a left quad strain.

The Reserve League match notwithstanding, the Galaxy have benefited from breaks from first team matches in the past as LA were able to start their rise up the Western Conference standings in 2012 after a 19-day international break between May 29 and June 17. Once play resumed, the Galaxy stormed up the standings, winning three straight and going on a 13-4-4 run to close out the regular season before going on to win their second straight MLS Cup.

This upcoming break from league and cup play won't be nearly as long, but after their loss to RSL, the Galaxy are hoping that it has a similar effect.

“Last year, we had a break and came back and changed the history of the team and won the championship. This is the same, it’s important,” said midfielder Marcelo Sarvas. “Everyone needs it to come back with a new energy and a new mentality. Then we'll see what happens.”


Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard responded to what she considered hostility toward her by CNN and The New York Times, among other outlets.

The Times and CNN co-sponsored Tuesday's debate, but put out "hit pieces" on her in the days leading up to the event, Rep. Gabbard, D-Hawaii, claimed Wednesday on "Tucker Carlson Tonight."

During the interview, host Tucker Carlson asked whether the apparent hostility surprised her.

"It doesn't," Gabbard responded. "I think it's kind of absurd actually."

TULSI GABBARD SLAMS CNN, NEW YORK TIMES DURING DEBATE FOR 'DESPICABLE' 'SMEARS' OVER SYRIA, RUSSIA

"As we saw in the days leading up to the debate last night, both CNN and the New York Times both ran hit pieces. For them to just sit there and try to portray themselves as neutral arbiters and independent entities working with the DNC to carry out a legitimate debate is frankly a joke."

She also fired back about claims in the media that she is a Russian asset or an "apologist" for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad because she does not support what she called "regime-change wars."

"This is exactly what happens to those like myself who are trying to end this regime-change war in Syria, who are calling for an end of our country's policy of being the world's police," the 38-year-old lawmaker said.

"What they're really doing is smearing anyone who is calling for an end to these regime-change wars -- including veterans."

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During the debate, Gabbard also spoke to that extent, "The New York Times and CNN have also smeared veterans like myself for calling for an end to this regime-change war." She had been asked about Syria, where President Trump recently ordered the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country's north.

"Just two days ago, The New York Times put out an article saying that I'm a Russian asset and an Assad apologist and all these different smears. This morning, a CNN commentator said on national television that I'm an asset of Russia -- completely despicable."

Fox News' Sam Dorman contributed to this report.


Window units in buildings, particularly older dwelling houses are usually made of an wooden frame having two window panels, namely an inner window and an outer window. The double window construction provides high insulation to the building. One type of such double window is commonly referred to as a double-hung window unit in which the sashes of the inner and outer windows are vertically slidable along their frames for opening or closing the windows. In some buildings, particularly older dwelling buildings such window units are made of wooden material which is not durable and readily subject to rot and breakage. Furthermore, it requires re-painting from time to time due to weathering and it is difficult to produce in a mass production process.
The drawbacks of wooden window units may be overcome by replacing them with window units made of a metal frame. Such metal window units lend themselves to mass prefabrication process, provide high durability and require virtually no repainting since the colour may be permanently provided in the metal material in the well known manners. However, in order to provide convenient operability, metal window units are normally provided with fully balanced sashes wherein each sash is provided with a counter balancing tension means such as a counter weight or a counter-biassing spring. The counter balancing tension enables the window to be opened with little force and can maintain it at any selected open position. But, due to the space required in housing the counter balancing mechanism, heretofore, it has been unable to provide a double-hung metal window unit having a thickness comparable or compatible with the existing wooden window units. Window openings in buildings particularly those having wooden window units, are usually provided with a jamb of only three to four inches wide, whereas known metal replacement window units, due to their constructional requirement for housing four counter balancing mechanisms, have a thickness of at least six inches, so that in order to install a metal replacement window unit in the window opening, major alteration must be made in the latter such as by removing the jamb or repositioning it so as to accommodate the window unit. Such major alteration of the window opening is time-consuming and costly to carry out. Attempts have been made to obviate the problems by making the inner window with balanced sashes while the sashes of the outer window are unbalanced and are provided with side latches. The elimination of the counter balancing mechanisms in the outer window in such window unit reduces its thickness to about four inches. However, it is difficult and awkward to operate. In order to operate the latches in the outer window so as to open or close it, one of the balanced sashes in the inner window must be moved downward or upward until the latches in the outer window are accessible for operation for moving the selected sash up or down half way and then the same balanced sash in the inner window must be moved back to its original position and to move the other balanced sash up or down until the previously moved latched sash can be reached to operate its latches so as to move it further or to open the window fully. It can be appreciated that the operation of such window unit is thus very awkward to carry out. Moreover, since the inner and the outer windows are different in construction, namely one has a counter balancing mechanism for both its upper and lower sashes while the other has a latching mechanism, the frame members of the outer window are thus different in configuration and construction from those of the inner window, so that they can not be produced with the same fabrication process.


For the last 30 years or so, our homes have been growing. The square footage in the average home today is TWICE what it was during our parent’s grade school years and up until recently, this trend didn’t seem stoppable.

Then the bubble burst and we found out that we really didn’t need a 4,500 square foot home with amenities galore. The McMansion could be going the way of the mastodon as home buyers discover the joys of less maintenance, less cost, and more family togetherness.

Whether you’re considering building a new home or buying and existing smaller home, there are some distinct advantages. A smaller home might just be the home of your dreams.

1. A smaller home is cheaper up front.

A smaller initial cost means less down payment, less points on your mortgage, and a smaller monthly payment for your budget. If you can swing it, putting more than 20 percent down might even get you a better interest rate and will certainly exempt you from private mortgage insurance, saving you a substantial amount.

2. A smaller home saves energy.

So long as it’s properly constructed and insulated, a smaller home has less cubic footage to heat and cool, provided you don’t build one with 14 foot ceilings! Smaller homes have fewer windows (energy leaks), fewer exterior doors (energy leaks), and smaller HVAC systems to run which will help save energy.

3. A smaller home is expandable.

So long as you plan for it (and sometimes even if you don’t), a smaller home can be expanded. If you think your parents may move in with you or you plan on growing your family, plan to build a smaller home with an addition mind.

4. A smaller home could leave more room for a garden.

If you build a 1,200 square foot home rather than a 2,800 square foot home, you’ll have more space to grow vegetables and flowers!

5. A smaller home is cheaper to decorate.

Do we really need a breakfast nook and a full-size dining room? How about a living room and a den? Every room you eliminate is one less room to heat, cool, and decorate.

6. A smaller home forces us to have a “home.”

When there’s four people in a 4,500 square foot monster, each of them in a separate part of the house “doing their own thing,” there isn’t any family togetherness. I know. My home is no where near that size but the five of us seem to rarely be in the same room – together.

7. A smaller home gives you peace of mind.

Half the size could mean half the price – and half the payment. If you lose your job, wouldn’t a 50 percent smaller house payment be nice?

8. A smaller home saves on maintenance and cleaning.

They have fewer windows to wash, fewer gutters to clean, less semi-annual maintenance to do, and a smaller roof to one day replace. Your broom, mop and vacuum cleaner will last longer. You might not need that maid anymore.

9. A smaller home can be more durable.

Since you’re constructing less square footage (and that is typically how a home builder prices his homes), you can afford to buy more durable materials (which are usually more expensive).

10. A smaller home eliminates the temptation to spend.

If you don’t have anywhere to put all the stuff you’re tempted to buy, you might buy less!

11. A smaller home gets you outside more often.

With less space, you’ll probably be more inclined to enjoy the outdoors more, giving you the motivation to exercise or just enjoy the sunshine and that garden I mentioned.

12. A smaller home is more customizable.

If you’re spending less to construct the home, you may have more funds to install fancier counter-tops, nicer faucets, better cabinets, or premium flooring. You have less space, so you’ll buy less of those upgraded products anyway!

Have you considered scaling down to a smaller home?


Effects of morphine and naloxone on glucose metabolism in uterine strips from ovariectomized and non-ovariectomized restricted diet rats.
The effect of underfeeding over glucose metabolism in uteri isolated from ovariectomized and non-ovariectomized rats subjected to a restricted diet for 25 days (50% of the normal food intake), was studied. Underfeeding decreases (14)CO(2) formation from U(14) C-glucose in intact animal uteri. While in ovariectomized rats (25 days), the effect is the opposite. The addition of morphine 10(-6) M to the medium does not affect rats fed ad libitum. However, (14)CO(2) levels increase significantly in intact animals receiving a restricted diet. In ovariectomized rats morphine does not show any activity, regardless of the type of diet rats were subjected to. None of the rat groups seems to be sensitive to naloxone 10(-6) M. The s.c. injection of morphine (4 mg.kg (-1)) increases glucose metabolism only in intact rats provided with a restricted diet, while naloxone (2.5 mg.kg (-1) ) produces a decrease of ( 14)CO(2) in ovariectomized underfed animals. To conclude, morphine either 'in vivo' or 'in vitro' is active only in uteri from intact rats subjected to underfeeding. Naloxone produces a decrease in (14)CO(2) production, particularly when it is s.c. injected to ovariectomized rats undergoing a dietary restriction. Since the uterus does not react to naloxone, the effect of the opiod blocker may be the result of endogenous opioids originated in other tissues.


If you happened to attend one of Roy Williams’ KU basketball camps in the mid-’90s, you almost certainly heard the rumor that Michael Jordan was, at one time, a camp counselor. Maybe you’ve even seen the above image—this one is plucked from a message board and it is, by far, the highest quality version of the image I could find. Jayhawks beat writer Matt Tait hit on MJ’s time in Lawrence a little bit in a piece yesterday, focusing on the 1997 Bulls-Sonics exhibition game at Allen Fieldhouse. But, like the Jordan-at-KU-camp legend itself, some details from the article present more questions than answers.

Resolute—and quarantined—I figured it was about time someone got the truth of the matter, especially since no one can even agree on the basic details of the photo, including the year it was taken. (Online researchers have narrowed down to ‘89, ‘90 or ‘91, a period where Jordan is the biggest star in sports). Thanks to the roaring success of the new ESPN Jordan doc, The Last Dance, everyone wants to talk Jordan right now, including me. So, I put a few feelers and media request out into the ether, largely guessing about who might be the most credible source on the topic. Who was around at the time? And what do they remember?

Long story short, I got a unexpected response to one of my e-mails. Earlier this morning, I spoke with former KU coach and current UNC head coach Roy Williams about MJ’s time at KU, Wanda Williams’ fried shrimp and how much of that “MJ gave Roy a motorcycle!” story is true.

So, the famous Jordan photo. No one—at least no one that I know of—has firm details about it. So where and when did it happen?

ROY WILLIAMS: Well, try this. I have, in my office here at North Carolina, a picture of him with the Kansas basketball t-shirt on. It's a blue one. He’s in Nebraska doing an event—I think it was Coca-Cola-sponsored event for the Boys and Girls Club of Omaha. And the way that picture came out is that the editor of the Omaha World-Herald sent it to me.

So I'll give you the background and I'll try to do it quickly. So in the summer of ‘88, I go to Kansas. Michael and his family had been great to me. And, you know, it's full speed ahead and then all of a sudden on Halloween night we were put on probation. Then we go through the year and we're trying to recruit—we’re trying to recruit as hard as we can. And so then the next summer, which was the summer of ‘89, we had our first Roy Williams Kansas Basketball camp. We had pretty good interest, but at the end of that camp I said, “All right, next summer, we're going to want to get some people to come.” And so I think—and I want to emphasize the word think—that the summer of ‘90, uh, was the first summer that Michael came to camp. He came in ‘90 and in ‘91.

But he never really quite “worked” the camp. What he did was a pretty methodical routine. I would pick him up at the airport, take him to the golf course, beat him while he was still stiff from the plane. We went to Alvamar and then we’d come back and he would speak to the campers for about 45 minutes to an hour in the afternoon, when we got all the campers together. He would shoot some and do those kinds of things and then he would leave.

And so then the next year, I brought him back again. Same story. Pick him up at the airport, take him to Alvamar, and Randy Towner, the golf professional there, plays with us. Randy is really playing well. And, and he's telling Michael where to hit the ball. And Randy would hit it exactly where he said and Michael would hit it, but it didn't end up being quite as good every time. So finally, Michael Jordan said to Randy Towner, “Randy, I don't get this! You hit the ball where you say, and it does well. And I hit the ball there and it doesn't work as well.” And Randy Towner had the greatest lines, ever. He took his finger and he put it in Michael Jordan's chest and he said, “Michael, just remember this.” He taps him on the chest and says, “N.B.A.” And then he tapped his own chest. “P.G.A.” We just died laughing.

At the end of that round—this is the second year he came—we take him back to the gym, to Allen, and he works out for the guys and does his talk. He talks about some offensive moves or whatever it was he talked about. And then he takes a shower, comes up to my office and I say, “Mike, take a couple of these t-shirts and every now and then, work out in one of them. You’ll help Kansas. You’ll help me.”

He said, “Give me that blue one right now. And so he's standing there in the middle of my office. He took his shirt off. I said, “What are you doing? And he said, “I'm going to Omaha tonight for the Boys and Girls Club for Coca Cola. And I want those people to know where I stand cause [Nebraska] is in your conference.”

I said, “Michael, they're going to boo you!” That’s where the picture came from—it was in the Omaha World-Herald. And the editor and owner, as I said, sent me the picture.

And it’s in color?

ROY WILLIAMS: I've got the real deal. It's in my office.

Editor’s note: Reader Brian Stratman came through with a color image post publication.

In the picture, he's got a whistle around his neck. He's refereeing a pickup game with the kids in Nebraska. And I said, “Did they boo you when you took off your warmup top?” And he said, “No. But there was a lot of whispering going around.” So he never really worked the camp as a counselor. He was a guest speaker, a guest lecturer. We did that all the time. I had Kenny Smith, I had Chris Webber come to camp. Danny [Manning] would come back every year.

So that’s what Michael did. He came back two times. In the third year he was scheduled to come again. And the day before, or maybe two days before, I said, “Michael, I don't want you to come.” I’m doing this on purpose. I said, “You really helped me get the camp established and I don't want you to come. but I don't want you to tell your agent. Take two days off.” Because we had talked earlier in the spring and his calendar was just ridiculous. Everybody was running him ragged because, at that time, he was coming off of two world championships.

He said, “Coach, are you serious? “ And I said, “Yes, go to the golf course. Just don't tell your agent.”

I was going to say, ‘90 and ‘91 aren’t exactly minor years in the Jordan story. He’s one of the biggest stars on the planet at this point. What was the reception to his appearance like?

ROY WILLIAMS: The kids—you had a hard time getting them under control, but that’s something we did every day. The problem was all the people in the university, the maintenance crew or the secretaries or the assistant athletic directors, those people coming out wanting to picture an autograph or something. They were more of a problem. We hired extra security.

But that was nothing compared to the exhibition game. I just remember that that was the mob scene of all mob scenes, after that game. And Michael is so coachable for me, ‘cause I said “Give them a few minutes and I will come and get you out of it.”

So after the game they had him and I went in and said, “Guys, Michael's got to do something with me.” And nobody said a word and like…. you're taking Michael Jordan. So I took Michael upstairs in the office and my wife Wanda fried him some shrimp. So he had shrimp and french fries in two big boxes. And I asked “Do you want some more of these in to-go boxes, so you can give some to your teammates? He said, “Coach, I’ll pass them the ball. But I’m not giving them my shrimp.” I think Wanda cooked him two pounds of shrimp and he didn't share a thing.

When I was a camper, there was a story about MJ plucking out a then-teenage Ryan Robertson from a crowd of kids and playing him one on one. Ryan says this is not true. But I’m wondering if you might know where that story came from?

I have no idea where that came from. Because I know it's not true. I remember he would show kids a jab step and show them how to protect the ball. So he would get one of the little kids up to stand in front of him. But he never played any of the kids one-on-one.

This is probably my last question and I saved it for last on purpose. There’s a rumor that MJ bought you a motorcycle. Is that true?

ROY WILLIAMS: This was about ‘97 or ‘98—Wanda is here with me and she may remember this too. [Asks Wanda] She's thinking, but let me get the story going.

I came back to the Jimmy V Celebrity Golf Classic. [Wanda reports back] She said it was ‘99. So I came to the event and Mike and I would usually get together with Coach Smith—actually, Coach Smith and Michael would get together and they’d let me tag along, that’s the better way to put it.

This is in the spring, and the event is in North Carolina. They have a banquet. And so I'm sitting there with Wanda. Michael comes walking in and draws Barkley with him. Hootie and the Blowfish are at another table. So it's a big time basketball, celebrity kind of crowd. Michael sees me and I motion for him. And he came over and I said, “We have room here if you want to sit down with us.” And the [event staffer] said, “Michael, I've got you at a table” And he said, “No, I'm going to sit here with Coach. I haven't talked to him or played golf with him in over a year.” He sat down at our table.

[An aside] Wanda and I had a beach house in Charleston. Every time we would go down there, we would rent a car for the week and take it back. And Wanda said, at one point, that we should get us an old clunker to just leave down there when we went to the beach.

Back at the event, they start the auction. The very next week, Michael and I were going on a golf trip together. The last day of the golf trip was his anniversary. And so they bring out this diamond necklace and I said, “Big fella, you need to buy that for Juanita, because you're getting home late on your anniversary and you’re going to need something.”

So Michael bid on it and got the necklace. Then, all of a sudden, the very next item was coming out on the stage—it was a Harley. It was a little one they called a Sportster, not one of the big boys. And Wanda makes this very innocent statement—“You could buy that for me and that’d give me something to get to the grocery store at the beach.” And Michael said, “Do you ride?” And I said, “Michael, she doesn’t ride a bike.” But she said, “I could learn!”

And you know—it was a very innocent comment. And Michael said, “I'm going to buy you that motorcycle” And Wanda said, “No!” I said, “Michael, don't do something silly.” And he said, “Coach, do you realize how many meals of fried shrimp that she has fixed me over the years? I'm buying her that motorcycle.”

And so the bidding starts going. And Charles Barkley is sitting at the other table with Hootie and the Blowfish. And Charles is bidding against Michael. And finally Michael yelled, “Charles!” And he gives him the stop sign, the “cut it off” sign. “I'm buying this for Wanda,” and he pointed to Wanda. And so Charles gave him the thumbs up. You know, Charles was just trying to make Michael spend his money—that kind of thing. Charles had been great to me as well. And so Michael buys a Sportster Harley for Wicked Wanda.

So we go up on stage and they bring Wanda up on the stage. Michael presents it to her. It took until November, late fall, before we actually got it delivered to Kansas. And we’d start it up in the garage—I just loved the sound of it. I'd ride it down to the end of the driveway and back up. We went to Topeka and bought helmets and one day even signed Wanda up to get lessons or get her license, something like that. But Wanda fell that winter and broke her collarbone. So that delayed everything.

Some time later, we run into Pat Croce, the former president of the Sixers. He’s using a crutch or a cane, he’s limping. And he said “I've heard [the motorcycle story.]” And he looked at Wanda and he looked at me and said, “Do not ride that motorcycle. They’re so scary. You can get killed.” He himself had a serious motorcycle accident.

And so we started thinking about it and then Wanda said, “Well, I'm certainly not going to give it away and I’m not going to sell it.” And so one of these days—don't laugh!—I'm going to help make it into a coffee table.

I mean, Michael Jordan buys your wife a motorcycle. You don't sell the dadgum thing. You don't give it away. You keep it.