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Home » Budget Industry » Document: Think Tanks Call for Personnel and Base Reforms
Document: Think Tanks Call for Personnel and Base Reforms
The following is a Monday open letter to Pentagon leaders and Congress from a bi-partisan group representing ten D.C. think tanks that focus on national security issues. The groups are calling for reform on the most politically sensitive defense expenditures: Military compensation, closing excess military facilities and the size of the Pentagon civillian workforce. The letter appeared as an advertisement in The Hill newspaper.
Dear Secretary Hagel, Chairman Levin, Ranking Member Inhofe, Chairman McKeon, Ranking Member Smith,
Chairman Durbin, Ranking Member Cochran, Chairman Young, and Ranking Member Visclosky:
A striking bipartisan consensus exists today across the think tank community on the need for Pentagon and Congressional leaders to address the growing
imbalances within the defense budget that threaten the health and long-term viability of America's volunteer military.
It is our shared belief that the Department of Defense urgently needs to close excess bases and facilities, reexamine the size and structure of the DoD civilian
workforce, and reform military compensation. While we do not all agree on the best approach to reform in each case, we agree that if these issues are not addressed, they will gradually consume the defense budget from within.
This will leave a smaller share of the budget to pay for the manning, training and equipping of our armed forces that make the U.S. military second to none.
There is no shortage of useful ideas on how to begin addressing these pressing matters. The challenge has been getting Congress and the administration to
admit change is required and take action. For example, many in Congress are understandably fearful of repeating the mistakes of the most recent round of
base closures in 2005.
This round of closures was an anomaly in many respects because it occurred during a period of growth in defense spending and emphasized moving and consolidating facilities instead of outright closures.
Consequently, DoD's inventory of buildings only fell from 2.4 billion square feet to 2.3 billion — roughly 85 percent of which is within the United States.
This did not yield the kind of historical savings previous rounds of base closures have brought the taxpayer. Yet by DoD's own estimates, it currently pays
to maintain some 20 percent excess capacity in its infrastructure—resources that could be better used to sustain our military muscle. To its credit, the
administration has asked Congress to initiate another round of closures to reduce this excess capacity.
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle should partner with the Pentagon to identify the true scale of excess capacity
and then work expeditiously to better match the Department's vast network of facilities to its shrinking force.
The size and structure of the civilian workforce is another area in need of careful examination and restructuring that Pentagon leadership has been reluctant
to address. From 2001 to 2012, the active duty military grew by just 3.4 percent. Yet over the same timeframe the number of civilian defense employees grew by 17 percent, an increase five times greater than the armed forces.
While this large workforce supports essential missions of the Department and warfighter, its growth over the past decade has, by and large, been unchecked
and imbalanced. In the last four years alone, DoD civilians have grown by ten percent, but it is unclear if that growth was appropriately matched to
the changing needs of a downsizing military and shifting strategy. This is a critical unanswered question for policymakers since DoD civilians are directly
employed by the government, consuming $74 billion of the annual defense budget.
Under sequestration, DoD must reduce its civilian payroll expenses in 2013 using furloughs, but furloughs are merely a temporary means of reducing costs. When the new fiscal year begins on October 1, DoD will still have more civilian employees than it can afford and quite possibly more than it needs. It is past time for the Pentagon to rightsize this workforce and make permanent reductions in a thoughtful and targeted manner.
Finally, we all agree on the need for a comprehensive evaluation and modernization of the military compensation system. This system has remained essentially unchanged for forty years, yet America's highly-mobile youth expect and value various forms of compensation differently today. Better meeting the needs of a 21st century workforce should be the driving force behind reform.
But cost should be a consideration, as should the outdated forms of payment for the 80 percent of service members who serve less than a full 20-year career.
From FY 2001 to FY 2012, the compensation cost per active duty service member grew 56 percent, adjusting for inflation, or a rate of 4.1 percent annually. DoD has proposed many incremental changes to the compensation system over the past five years to reduce this rate of growth, but each time Congress has largely rejected DoD's proposals. Yet if Congress fails to curb the growth in military compensation costs, they will continue to grow as the defense budget shrinks, crowding out funds needed for training, readiness and for the replacement of worn out equipment. Congress took a modest step forward on this issue in 2012 by establishing a bipartisan commission to examine the military compensation system but stopped short of requiring itself to act on the commission's recommendations. To make meaningful progress on this issue, leaders of both parties should, at a minimum, commit to bringing the recommendations of this commission to a vote in both chambers.
None of these reforms will be easy, painless, or popular. But they are absolutely essential to maintaining a strong national defense over the long term. These smart and responsible initiatives should be undertaken by Pentagon and Congressional leaders regardless of the level of defense spending. While these reforms are necessary, they are not of themselves sufficient to meet the fiscal and strategic challenges the military currently faces. Those of us who have joined together in support of these efforts find ourselves with differing views on many other issues, including the proper level of defense spending and how that money can best be allocated.
But we are all in strong agreement on the need to pursue these key reforms for a transforming military. To paraphrase President Eisenhower, every unnecessary base that remains open, every excess civilian employee that remains on the payroll, and every mis-targeted dollar of military compensation signifies, in the final sense, a theft from both
the training and equipping of our young men and women in uniform and, ultimately, the security of our citizens.
It is time for Congress and the Obama administration to act.
Gordon Adams, Stimson Center
David Barno, Lieutenant General USA (Ret.), Center for a New American Security
Nora Bensahel, Center for a New American Security
David Berteau, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Barry Blechman, Stimson Center
Shawn Brimley, Center for a New American Security
Thomas Donnelly, American Enterprise Institute
Mackenzie Eaglen, American Enterprise Institute
Paul Eaton, Major General USA (Ret.), National Security Network
Eric Edelman, Foreign Policy Initiative
Nathan Freier, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Mark Gunzinger, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
Christopher Griffin, Foreign Policy Initiative
Todd Harrison, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
Lawrence Korb, Center for American Progress
Andrew Krepinevich, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
Maren Leed, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Clark Murdock, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Michael O'Hanlon, Brookings Institution
Christopher Preble, Cato Institute
Russell Rumbaugh, Stimson Center
Jim Thomas, Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
Kim Wincup, Center for Strategic and International Studies
Robert Work, Center for a New American Security
Dov Zakheim, Center for Strategic and International Studies
The views expressed in this letter are those of the participating individuals alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of their respective organizations
Article Keywords: AEI, bca, Bob Work, budget control act, CAP, CATO, cnas, continuing reouslti, CSBA, CSIS, cyber, FPI, railgun, sequestration, Stimson, tricare, Unamnned, US Army, US Marine Corps, us navy
Categories: Budget Industry, Documents, Education Legislation
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Wouldn't It Be Nice If….
As a de-facto Enterprise Architect, a little bit of serendipity today left me feeling much better with the world.
Worse still, every so often opposing factions appear trying to achieve the same marvellous end accompanied by media excesses telling us why one particular type of the current fad is far better than any of the others. Generally, in amongst the fad-meisters are a small core of pragmatists in the know, who try in vain to explain the truth behind the ballyhoo.
Thankfully, after a little while a new fad appears to displace the old one. Meanwhile the majority of us get on with quietly making whatever the previous fad was actually work, delivering realistic benefits, not the hyped conjecture.
Was the Terminator so wrong after all?
I get called all sorts of things by friends; colleagues; fellow OU students etc, but a common description I get applied to me is "random". Personally I prefer to think of it not so much as "being random", as more making connections between things that I come across. It's just that sometimes I don't make all of the connections explicit which is why some of my thoughts may be hard to follow.
I must start by admitting to having made a bit of a mistake. For several years I have disregarded friends & relatives who have, to my mind, been overzealous in their protestations that social networking is insecure and betrays their privacy. My argument has been that if you (a) want to be an early adopter, and (b) are happy anyway to share whatever you share on these sites, then you have only yourself to blame if your privacy is breached.
Over time, Facebook, Twitter et al, have all moved from being something that was the preserve of our young children to being pervasive. As I drive to work in the morning I pass advertisment hordings which include Twitter & Facebook monikers, the BBC news reporters proudly have their Twitter names displayed. Familiarity has made these things acceptable to us all, and now we all entrust our thoughts, photographs and comments to them with impunity.
From time to time I read about more developments from Intel (other CPU manufacturers are available!) about the research efforts to squeeze multiple CPU cores onto a wafer & deploy them to get higher & higher levels of compute power. The efforts, called Intel Tera-Scale are steadily making progress. Parallel computing is nothing new, I wrote a research paper as an undergraduate back in 1981 on methods for parallel computing, but then it was all in the domain of the large corporations and academic research. Now you can watch videos of Intel researchers doing mundane things with 80-core processors: porting Linux, running graphical networking tools. How long will it be before I upgrade my PC to a 64-core I wonder.
The problem is that the software needs a mass of compute power, which many years ago (when I was an undergraduate writing my paper) would have been multimillion dollar stuff. Nigel's view is that we're making hardware cheaper and commoditising the parallel processing software which is starting to put this sort of complex decision-making not only into the realm of the possible, but also into the realm of the affordable.
But our friends at Intel research (and frankly other places too) are developing multiprocessor silicon and parallel processing software to drive into the commodity market. It's now not whimsy to ask "When can I have a 64/128/256-core PC?". This stuff is coming and we're seeing the large software companies working on applications around complex business rules.
There is a new trend which I'm finding disturbing. Today I was looking at an innocuous web site, the San Jose Mercury News tech pages (yes, laugh a minute stuff but very useful in my line of work) when I noticed that it had pulled through my Facebook details, inviting me to like the page. My concern was that I was at work, on a PC that I only use on Facebook very occasionally, yet SJMN had found the necessary on my PC, & then read my Facebook profile. Thank goodness it hadn't found my LinkedIn profile.
But what if it had? What if the SJMN, or any other online journal, decided to look at my LinkedIn connections, and the article I was looking at and then automatically sent them a link to it on the grounds that if I was interested, then they might be?
Or what if it had checked the connections for a certain demographic, and then intelligently forwarded to my contacts it felt were worthy of the content, creating a set of "cyber haves" and "cyber have-nots".
How about it isn't a media site but a product company? And the product company is automatically trawling my social network to see who I know that would be useful for them to approach based on decisions, from a complex rules engine based on commoditised multi-cpu processors that are now available.
Or better still, how about it measures how influential I am from how well I am connected and then uses some complex business rules, again enacted via some large multi-core parallel processing to decide how worthy I am of seeing the site content? Now I'm becoming the one categorised as "cyber-worthy" or "cyber unworthy".
To be honest, I'm still not too worried about this until I get to the last point. Some of that capability will be with us soon and some, as Nigel Rayner says, will take longer. In one sense, I'm not too fazed by this march of progress, as long as the machines aren't "thinking" then there are benefits to be had.
What scares the wits out of me is the social change that this brings about. I'm already modifying my behaviour around software. I used to turn on the TV or radio and they came on immediately, but now in the digital world they need time to boot up and initialise. I now know not to press buttons on the remote control until the TV has had time to initialise the various functions, my behaviour is influenced by the software in the TV.
But if I get into the wider implications of software making decisions based around my long-term online lifestyle, then I'm going to start modifying how I work with social networking etc so that I change my ratings. And furthermore the few who stay away from this stuff will rapidly be penalised.
We already have skills based accreditations around technicla products. I can be a very clever CISCO implementer with a vast experience, but if I haven't passed the exams then my value on the jobs market is reduced. What we are potentially talking about here is that my value could also be reduced if I don't know, or worse still don't have recommendations from, the right people.
So, the social network privacy issues become more important as we go forward. I can't afford to be public, but soon I could end up not being able to afford not to be. I'm not convinced it's a good thing….
Should System Design be Systemic?
After six months tomorrow is the day I finish my first, and almost last, OU module. I've just completed TU812, Managing systemic change: inquiry, action and interaction and I wait to see if I've done enough to get a pass. To be fair it's been a baptism of fire for me: first module with the OU; first time the OU have run this course; and trying to get the measure of being a postgraduate again.
If anyone has arrived at this page having searched on "TU812" then I'd advise you go carefully. It's a very conceptual course, and as a technologist I found it hard to get to grips with the sort of stuff that sociologists do in their sleep…but then by writing this my tutor would tell me I am being reflective. General consensus of opinion was that if you come to TU812 with a few other courses under your belt from the systems stream then you'll be ok, but a few of us newbies will be getting together starting on Thursday on the precursor course, TU811, Thinking strategically: systems tools for managing change so we all (hopefully) survived.
A colleague asked me if I felt I had actually learned anything, and on reflection I feel that I have. Before starting the course I had this feeling about things being interconnected but couldn't quite get it all sorted out in my head. Now I feel that it's fine to feel this, and that there are ways of looking at the complexity in the world and starting to make sense of it all in order to change it.
The trouble is that you start using this everywhere, and it came home to me on a project I'm working on in my day job. We're trying to put together a large software solution (yes, that sort of "system") made up of several components. We have a couple of software suites on offer at the core, and then we need to add a few ancillary packages around the outside and hook it all together with middleware. Piece of duff, should get it done by a week on Friday.
The trouble is that the two software suites at the core have very different backgrounds. Both have been built by their respective owning companies through acquiring products and then integrating them together. One is quite overt about the heritage of the core modules, and is trying to architect a neat solution to bringing them together in a pretty uniform way (well as uniform as it can be).
The other offering has been built more covertly, and has kept not only the application functionality but a lot of the other ways of working too. The problem we're having in trying to set the core design principles is that using this suite means there is more than one way of doing everything, quite often a lot more than one way. Furthermore, then isn't anything that is consistent over the whole suite, so we cannot choose one way forward without compromising somewhere.
Kick in my recent systemic inquiry course …. Bang! …. Isn't this a "wicked mess"? …. Bang! …. Don't we have co-evolutionary entities with conflicting views?
So, Ray, I apologise for taking your well-crafted "soft" subject and making it much "harder" to use in a technology context but I'd say that is learning, wouldn't you?
If you've managed to read the title of this post and still get to this point, well done! If you feel you need to know more, then suffice to say that in another life as an OU student, I am studying Systemic Inquiry. Where I struggle with this, other than finding that as an OU student you can't go to the student union every night and get the worse for wear on cheap Yugoslavian wine (why, oh why, did I ever drink that stuff?), is in trying to put what I learn into the context of my day-to-day life in strategy formulation.
At this moment I'm studying about Critical Social Learning Systems and Communities of Practice. The big case in Critical Social Learning Systems goes back to Australian agricultural issues arising around Hawkesbury in the 1970s, but I'm more interested in the application in IT & business strategy where I suggest we could actually learn a lot.
Probably best if I try & say what a Critical Social Learning System ("CSLS") is? Well, I'd actually describe it as a way that we all work together to develop our surroundings (I was going to say "environment" but I mean a wider sense than just eco-stuff); and in doing so we learn about ourselves & the changes we're making so that we keep moving towards a mutually better world in which build up an understanding of how things interoperate & depend on each other. "Hmmmmm..?" as Greg Pfister would say, and "What has this to do with IT Strategy?" which, to be honest, he probably wouldn't say.
First up is the use of the word Critical, or applying Critical Thinking around what we do. This isn't a negative thing, it's about applying a set of thinking skills around what we're doing in order to understand what we're trying to do (in the wider scale of things) & what's around to do it with. That latter piece: "What's around to do it with" in IT strategy terms means trying to looks at the alternatives, evaluate them & then apply them to solve what we've originally set out to do.
Social brings about thoughts of more social entities, say, families or tribes but it actually applies to organisations; or communities of practice or interest. While I tend not to find a tribe of jungle dwellers dropping emails on me from time to time, I do get organisations and communities of practice of all sorts trying to communicate with me. For me however, the key here is that the communication is two-way in this model. In formulating our strategic thinking it shouldn't be simply as a response to a challenge ("What is our strategy on cable radius, Russ?"…seriously!) but it should be co-operative across the business and set in the business context. After all, IT is following business strategy so it's clear we should be working collaboratively.
And so to the elephant in the room…Learning. We do actually do this in our day-to-day work, "If I had known then what I know now…." but I'd suggest we don't acknowledge it as a key part of what we do. Learning carries with it some bad connotations, "Why did it take you so long to find that out?", and we've got to work past these and understand that we constantly are learning; and that in turns mean we may occasionally have to change our minds. This applies to strategy formulation and roadmaps – the world changes and so do our plans.
But learning actually carries a bit more with it as well, it's not just about what I learned, but what I learned about how I learned so that maybe in future I can do it quicker or avoid a pitfall. It's also about learning about how we see the world around us and how that affected what we actually learned this time. How much of what we create is a future plan or roadmap is actually constrained by what we believe to be so. Not good if we're trying to be innovative with IT provision but our established view of the world cuts off potential solutions before we've given them consideration.
And so finally to System, or rather Systems. What is meant here is looking at the dynamics & inter-relationships between the components that make up the situation that we're interested in formulating strategy for. In IT terms it can be thought about as between the computer systems themselves, but also the organisational inter-relations; and how the information delivery relates to process delivery relates to systems availability relates to organisational capability…..and so on.
In summary, what have we got?
Well, I think that we've got to think about IT strategy formulation in a much wider sense than simply looking through the binoculars and deciding which next hot technology to deploy. We've got to put what we do in context (yes, the Enterprise Architects will be saying they already do that…"All hail TOGAF!"); but we've got allow joint learning on all parts, not just keep this stuff in the dark, and we've got to be honest about it.
So now I've got that off my chest it's time to go back to the academic dark side where there is a lot more structure about the use of language, I've been very lax in my descriptions above but hopefully I won't get shot….yet. For me a see a new framework for doing what I do appearing, so watch this space….
Do we need a "third way" in Systems?


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Tag: E3 2014 »
E3 2014 - The 7 Biggest iOS Highlights of E3 2014
Posted by Rob Rich on June 19th, 2014
As nice as it was to see such a strong representation of mobile games and devices at E3 this year, it also means more work when trying to figure out which were the most noteworthy. Seriously, there was a lot of great stuff on display and picking just a few to highlight wasn't easy. With that said, here are our notables from E3 2014 in no particular order.
Phonejoy
I stumbled upon the Phonejoy completely by accident, but I'm very glad I did. It's nice and compact, well-made, and easily attaches to iOS devices of any size and in any orientation. Unfortunately the version that's available now isn't MFi, but one is in the works - and you can be sure that once we find out about a release date we'll be sharing that info with you. Until then, the current Phonejoy model will still work just fine with other games that still support third party controllers like the iCade.
Final Fantasy VII G-Bike
Square Enix has apparently been developing an iOS game based entirely around that Golden Saucer mini-game from Final Fantasy VII without bothering to tell anyone about it. For shame, Square Enix. But while Final Fantasy VII G-Bike seemed to pop-up out of nowhere, it's definitely looking like a badass runner/driver/whatever you want to call it. Would that other 3D runners had this game's sense of style and production values!
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
I'm a Monster Hunter nerd, sure, but the reason Freedom Unite has made the list is because it genuinely impressed me. It looks like a fantastic port, plays very well, and even manages to add a couple of elements that the original PSP release was missing - namely legitimate online play and a lock-on feature. As someone who's already sunk hundreds of hours into the original Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, I simply can't wait to get my hands on this one when it officially comes stateside.
The Gamevice
I've yet to get my hands on the final version of the Gamevice, but the "beta" version I was able to play around with last week was definitely cool. It's uses are sadly limited to only the iPad Mini, but the combination of controller and iOS device make for a great handheld gaming setup. And because the Gamevice is essentially in two separate pieces that attach on either side of the Mini, it should also be pretty easy to tote around. Just in case.
Between Hitman Go [GET LINK] and now Hitman Sniper, Square Enix Montreal is definitely a developer worth keeping an eye on. What could have been something as basic as a first-person shooting gallery with a Hitman theme is actually a very clever (and unorthodox) approach to something sort of like a puzzle game. It isn't just fun to play around with the various interactive elements in each level, either. The constant competition with other players who are close to your rank on the leaderboards also acts as a great incentive to keep aiming (*rimhot*) for the high score.
Just Dance Now
I don't dance, and there's about a 99% chance I'll never play Just Dance Now when it comes out, but I couldn't help but be impressed by what I saw at Ubisoft's booth last week. The game is being developed with accessibility as its main focus, which is something I wish more developers took the time to consider. And not only is it being made to work with older iOS devices, it's also supposed to take it easy on your bandwidth. So it'll run on your old clunker and won't double your phone bill if you end up playing over 3G/4G. Seriously, big thumbs-up to Ubisoft for this one.
Image Source: whatculture
I can't name names, I can't mention developers, and there's a good chance I can't talk about genre. But if I'm obscure enough I don't see the harm in saying that this thing I played that I can't go into detail about was actually a whole lot of fun and probably the biggest surprise for me personally at the show. I know that's not much to go on but it'll all make sense in time. Suffice it to say, when a developer really cares and knows what they're doing just about anything can be a hit.
[Please note that the game in-question has nothing to do with Futurama. I just like Futurama and needed an image.]
E3 2014 - Bandai Namco Reveals Goofy Movie Puzzler Cinemagic
I don't know about you, but I've been getting mighty tired of all these awful movie sequels and "reboots." Well, thanks to Bandai Namco's upcoming Cinemagic, we can finally fight fire with fire! Or, well, we can at least fight bad movies with awesomely bad movies.
Cinemagic is a match-3 puzzle game in which you'll need to collect various movie-like elements (reels, tickets, etc), which are themselves used to activate special movie cards. These cards will determine things like the actors in your own movie, major plot points, and so on. Once you've run out of moves you'll be treated to a unique synopsis and movie poster for your creation - and if you're lucky you'll also have beaten that other movie at the box office and raked in some serious profits.
You'll be able to get your hands on Cinemagic for free this November.
E3 2014 - Say Hellooo to Gamevice from Wikipad
I only found out about the Wikipad recently, but when I did my first thought was "Wow it would be great if this were also available for iOS devices." And it is! Well, sort of.
Gamevice is a specially-designed control pad that attaches to the iPad Mini, effectively turning it into something like a handheld gaming device. I had the opportunity to play around with it at E3 last week (I'd have said something sooner but I was sworn to secrecy) and I was genuinely impressed. Even though the model I was using wasn't the finalized product it still worked quite well, and tearing across the highway in San Andreas was as responsive as it could be - seeing as I was using a truck at the time, anyway.
Wikipad is planning to release two versions of the Gamevice around during the holiday season later this year: one that can act as a battery back-up for the Mini, and one that uses its own power source. Both will be available in white.
E3 2014 - Have a Look at Snail Games' iOS Lineup
Snail Games' booth was filled with top hats and goggles last week, but nestled among all the steampunk were a few titles planned for iOS. It was a pretty decent spread, too. One action RPG, one puzzle game, and one strategy game. Personally I was most interested in the action RPG, but I'm kind of a sucker for those things.
Taichi Panda
Taichi Panda is that action RPG, naturally. The game features three playable characters (warrior, rogue, monk - guess which one's the panda?), loot drops, plenty of fighting, skill trees, and pretty much everything else you'd expect from the genre. The levels seem big enough to satisfy, but are also small enough to gel with a mobile gamer's play schedule. In other words they're a good fit for a commute.
There's no word on when Taichi Panda will be released yet, but it will be free with in-app purchases.
Heroes of Gaia
Then there's the turn-based strategy game, Heroes of Gaia. This one is all about tactics and managing your armies. You'll have to choose between one of four distinct races as you explore the world and try to gather resources. You'll also be squaring off against anyone else who might be looking for those same resources. Armies are customizable and upgradeable, naturally.
Heroes of Gaia also has no release date yet, but will also be free with in-app purchases.
Puzzle Heroes Saga
Finally there's Puzzle Heroes Saga: a sort of match-3 puzzle game where you match soldiers to send off to battle rather than clearing gems. Every successful match will activate a given unit's special ability, which will include various attack patterns and effects. What's interesting is that the enemy will attack constantly, regardless of how long it takes you to make your move. So you not only need to match, you need to match fast.
Puzzle Heroes Saga is TBA, but it will be free with in-app purchases.
E3 2014 - Pixowl has Big Plans for The Sandbox, as Well as Lasagna-Loving Cats
Pixowl has been working tirelessly for quite some time now, what with all the monthly updates to The Sandbox along with several other projects. It doesn't look like they plan on slowing down anytime soon, either.
Last week, in addition to the news of the Farmer's update, it was also revealed that The Sandbox is rapidly approaching 2.0 status. This milestone (which should be ready within the next three to four months) will include updated features such as an all new interface, reworked campaigns, and will be in HD just like its PC counterpart. This means it's going to look better, and give you a bigger place to play in.
The Sandbox EDU was also on display, which will be a premium paid version of the freemium classic that's been specifically tweaked to function as an educational tool. The plan is for parents, educators, and kids to use it as a way to study things like physics, electricity, hot/cold, and so on. All of the elements will be open from the start, and will be restricted to those that actually have some educational value (i.e. no zombies). The Sandbox EDU should be available in the App Store a little before "back to school" time.
Finally there's Garfield: Survival of the Fattest, which is due out in September. This one's sort of like Greedy Grub [GET LINK] but with Garfield characters. You'll get to complete missions for characters from the comic series, build stuff, collect resources, and even take part in three different mini-games. All in the name of getting the giant orange cat to lose weight. Or rather, to help the giant orange cat avoid losing weight.
Image Source: garfield minus garfield
E3 2014 - Ubisoft Invites you to Pick Up your iPhone and Just Dance Now
Want to earn points by flailing around in front of your friends but don't have one of those fancy new home consoles or their video peripherals? Well you're in luck! Ubisoft has announced Just Dance Now for the iPhone.
Just Dance Now uses the accelerometer to track your movements and judge the accuracy of your ability (or lack thereof) to dance. No big screen TV or AAA console required. You will need an internet connection, however. You'll also need access to a web browser on a nearby computer. But once you get all of that set up you simply have to log in to the "room" created in the web browser and get your various grooves on. In fact, there's no player limit. Provided there are enough devices and there's enough bandwidth to go around, you could have games with dozens, hundreds, maybe even thousands of other players. It's been designed to go easy on your bandwidth, too. Only a tiny bit of data is required to play, so even if you're without wifi you can still join in on the fun and not break the bank.
Just Dance Now will be available on the App Store "soon" for free.
E3 2014 - Gameloft Unveils Puzzle RPGs, Endless Racers, and a Swarm of Spider-Men
Gameloft has been busy (isn't Gameloft always busy, though?) lately. Several upcoming titles were on display at the popular iOS developer's booth last week, including the Totally 80s endless racer Asphalt Overdrive (a spin-off of the popular racing series), "web-runner" Spider-Man Unlimited, and puzzle RPG Dungeon Gems. Not a bad spread, really.
Dungeon Gems
Dungeon Gems is all about building up a formidable fighting force, then clearing colored gems to activate their abilities and clear out dungeons full of enemies. Characters can be collected and upgraded, and tend to conform to one of five different elements (fire, earth, water, light, and dark).
What's interesting about Dungeon Gems, aside from the fact that it looks pretty darn impressive when compared to similar titles on iOS, is that you don't actually have to match gems to fight enemies. Simply tapping on a single gem will trigger an attack, and you may connect multiple colors in one go - so long as you have enough Action Points (special points that refill as you defeat enemies) available.
Dungeon Gems will be available on the App Store later this month.
Spider-Man Unlimited
Ol' web-head is also going to be putting in an appearance once Spider-Man Unlimited is released.
This self-proclaimed "web-runner" pits Spidey against The Sinister Six. Actually, it pits dozens of Spidey's against dozens of villains from a bunch of different dimensions. Each of the 20+ Spider-Men will sport their own look and slightly different stats/abilities, and can be collected and fused CCG-style.
Spider-Man Unlimited isn't due out until later this summer, but it's definitely looking pretty good. And the supply of characters from alternate universes means we can expect lots of other characters to eventually pop-up.
Asphalt Overdrive
Finally, there's Asphalt Overdrive: a sort of spin-off of the Asphalt series that in no way is an official sequel so put down those torches and pitchforks!
Asphalt Overdrive is a lane-based endless racer that tasks you with going as far and as fast as you can while trying to outrun the police and avoid crashing into anything heavier than your own (licensed) car. It's also super-80s, with lots of neon and bright colors, eerily familiar vehicles (Kit?), and a distinct Outrun sort of feel.
Asphalt Overdrive will be releasing later this summer.
Sonic Jump Fever Recently Announced by SEGA
Posted by Ellis Spice on June 16th, 2014
Our rating: :: SONIC BUST :: Read Review »
Over in Los Angeles last week, SEGA announced Sonic Jump Fever - a new competitive multiplayer take on Sonic Jump. Much like the previous incarnation the game will feature jumping gameplay, with the aim of the player being to progress as high as possible via vertical platforming. A bunch of Sonic characters will be available to play as, each with their own unique abilities to go alongside the power-ups scattered along the levels and countless rings to collect.
At the beginning of every round players will be shown the scores of their friends that they'll be trying to beat. Players won't be able to rest easy on their high scores however, as leaderboards will be reset twice a week.
Sonic Jump Fever will be free to download when it launches later this Summer.
E3 2014 - This War Of Mine isn't Quite What I Expected, and That's Perfectly Okay
When I first saw that teaser trailer for 11bit Studios' This War of Mine, I wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. Now that I've had a little hands-on time with the game (it was the PC version as the iOS build isn't showable yet, but I've been told it's pretty much 1-to-1) I have a much better idea of what to expect - and it wasn't this.
I don't mean that in a bad way, though. Far from it, in fact. From what I've seen and played, This War of Mine is a bit more like a micromanaging sim during the day - in which you'll be issuing commands for searching for supplies and crafting items to the unfortunate souls forced to hole-up in a dilapidated building - and a kind of 2D stealth game at night - in which you'll want to carefully sneak through (hopefully) abandoned buildings as your chosen survivor scavenges for supplies. It's very, very bleak. It's also very, very interesting. There's no shortage of tough calls to make when it comes to divvying up supplies, especially once you start to gather more and more survivors.
This War Of Mine will be out later this year. No price has been announced yet, but it definitely has the look and feel of a premium release.
E3 2014 - Square Enix Shows Off More Final Fantasy Agito and Reveals Final Fantasy VII G-Bike
Square Enix's booth was full of Final Fantasy type stuff this year, but it wasn't all about the MMO or the Disney crossover series. The RPG giant was also showing off a couple of mobile titles: the greatly-anticipated Final Fantasy Agito, and the "where the heck did this come from?"Final Fantasy VII G-Bike.
Final Fantasy Agito
Final Fantasy Agito is a pretty great-looking title that's already out in Japan, but now it's been confirmed for a US release as well.
In Final Fantasy Agito you'll be able to create your own custom character, take down various enemies for experience (naturally), craft better weapons, and team up with other Agito players to battle massive bosses. Sounds cool, no?
There's no official date set for a release, but Final Fantasy Agito will be coming to the US App Store for free and feature in-app purchases.
Final Fantasy VII G-Bike was a total, although not unwelcome, surprise. Remember that mini-game from the Gold Saucer that involved riding around on Cloud's motorcycle while swiping at enemies? Well this is that but ratcheted up to a ridiculous degree.
G-Bike takes the core concept, heaps on a health dose of modern production values, dresses up the visuals significantly, and adds RPG elements like character customization. And it just looks sweet.
No release date has been announced yet, but it will be available as a free download with in-app purchases.
E3 2014 - Soul Guardians: Age of Midgard is a Super-Flashy Action RPG Worth Your Attention
One of the more surprising iOS surprises to come out of E3 last week was the seemingly out of nowhere online action RPG Soul Guardians: Age of Midgard.
I've seen my fair share of action RPGs on the App Store before, but Soul Guardians displays a cool mix of colorful style and ridiculously over-the-top attack animations that really stand out. You'll be able to collect monster cards, which can then be used as upgradeable special attacks. Seriously, there's a ton of action to shove in your face, and you'll be able to share it all with your friends or random strangers through online co-op.
Soul Guardians: Age of Midgard should be coming to the App Store within the next couple of weeks for free.
E3 2014 - Glu's Dino Hunter: Deadly Shores and Hercules: The Official Game are Bound for iOS
Last week I had a chance to sit down and take a look at a couple of new titles fro Glu coming later this summer: Hercules: The Official Game and Dino Hunter: Deadly Shores. But are either of them worth keeping an eye out for?
I'm thinking yes.
Hercules: The Official Game
Hercules: The Official Game is based on the upcoming film starring Duane "The Rock" Johnson and follows the demigod's quest to complete his legendary Twelve Labors. It's a task that appears to boil down to a bunch of one-on-one dueling, similar to titles like Infinity Blade. The game's environments are meant to be reminiscent of the film (so beware spoilers I guess?), while the gameplay will feature lots of weapons and equipment to collect.
Hercules: The Official Game should be released in late July for free, and will be available shortly before the movie is officially released.
Dino Hunter: Deadly Shores
On the other end of the action spectrum we have Dino Hunter: Deadly Shores. To an extent it's a lot like Deer Hunter 2014 with dinosaurs, but that's absolutely a good thing. Deer Hunter was surprisingly great, and being able to enjoy the same style of gameplay in a world of ancient animals and goofy/futuristic weapons (think along the lines of Turok: Dinosaur Hunter) only looks like it'll make for an even more entertaining formula.
Dino Hunter: Deadly Shores will hopefully be hitting the App Store for free in late July.
E3 2014 - Hitman Sniper is a Slick and Clever Game of Stealth Sniping
Take note: Hitman Sniper is not Contract Killer with a glossy shine. I was actually quite surprised to find out it's more like a high score-chasing puzzle game that just so happens to involve bullets.
Each level (2 locations are planned for release, with more expected at a later date) has a primary target that you'll need to take out in order to complete - but simply offing your mark right away won't net you much. To really rack-up a high score and get your name somewhere respectable on the leaderboards you'll need to build up combos by offing guards that are wandering around the environment. But this is no gallery shooter; you'll be able to shoot out railings guards are leaning on, create distractions by shooting alarmed cars, and interact with the environment in all sorts of ridiculous ways.
There are also upgradeable weapons, of course, as well as a Rival system that pits you against the player immediately above you on the leaderboards so you'll have a reasonable score to try and top every time you play. Everyplay support is also included, which means you'll be able to save your most spectacular setups and combos to show off to all your friends.
Hitman Sniper will be coming out this Fall for free.
E3 2014 - iOS Controller Roundup with SteelSeries, Razer, and More
The E3 show floor was awash with games, as you'd expect, but there were also a fair number of iOS controllers on display. Three in particular stood out, including a couple of big names as well as a third entry that seemed to come out of nowhere. Curious to know more? Well then read on!
SteelSeries Stratus XL
Imagine a much larger console-style rendition of the Stratus with pressure-sensitive left and right bumpers, a decent heft, comfy fit, a Quick Pair button that makes pairing with an iOS device much easier, and rubber on the analog sticks for a better grip. That's the Stratus XL.
This new full-sized controller ships with (and uses) two AA batteries and holds a charge for up to 40 hours of start/stop play, and will auto sleep after two minutes of inactivity just in case you forget to shut it off. It also features the same compatibility list as the original Stratus.
The Stratus XL should be available for purchase in September or October of this year. No concrete price has been announced yet, but I've been told it will sell for less than the classic model ($79.99).
Razer Junglecat
Then there's the Junglecat from Razer.
What makes the Junglecat interesting is the way it's been designed to act as both an iPhone case and a controller. The control portion actually slides out from the side, turning it into something that's about the size of most handheld gaming devices. Once you're finished with it you just slide it back and go back to using your phone as usual. It was designed with to be a more convenient portable solution to iOS gaming controllers, and it definitely shows.
The Junglecat is available in white or black for $99.99.
The PhoneJoy was tucked away in a corner towards the back of the expo hall, but I'm glad I had the chance to check it out because it's actually pretty neat.
It's certainly similar to the MOGA Ace Power Gamepad in the way it expands and cradles an iPhone, but make no mistake: this is a totally different beast. When collapsed, the Phonejoy takes up very little room - maybe about the size of a wallet - and can easily fit into a pocket, yet it can expand far enough to house a tablet in portrait orientation. Oh, yeah, it can be used with tablets. It also connects to iOS devices via bluetooth.
There are three packages available for the Phonejoy: Basic for $69.90, which is just the controller and a one year warranty; Advanced for $79.90, which includes the controller and warranty, a soft pouch, and a set of specially-designed adapters that will allow you to plug in headphones (because it covers the iPhone's jack) and act as a backup power source; and the Pro Gamer for $89.90, which includes all of the above plus a tablet kickstand and travel case.
E3 2014 - Hands-on with Monster Hunter Freedom Unite
The announcement that Capcom's Monster Hunter Freedom Unite was made just over a week ago, but even so I couldn't help but be surprised to find it on display at their E3 booth. Even if it was tucked away in a quiet, forgotten corner.
I jumped in after someone left a quest partway through, just to see how it all works. And I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised. It doesn't set the bar for touch controls or anything, but the interface works pretty darn well. Moving is done with a virtual stick on the left side of the screen, swiping the screen moves the camera while tapping resets it behind the character, and a series of virtual buttons and sliders on the right allow you to attack/block/dodge roll with relative ease. It took some getting used to as this control scheme is more in-line with the classic system from the original that relied on attacking with the right analog stick, but overall it worked quite well. making the button for harvesting, climbing, and so on contextual was also a good call.
The verdict is still out until we get the chance to review Monster Hunter Freedom Unite later this summer, but so far it's looking like a very respectable port of one of Japan's most popular series.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Single Shaft Shredders SSI's Uni-Shear ® line of single shaft, rotary shredders reduce the size of a broad range of materials to small, consistent particles — in a single pass. The Uni-Shear ® incorporates single-rotor, medium-speed design with reversible cutters and vertical feed with ram assist.
GL620 Single Shaft Shredder Cristina Battick 2019-01-29T16:21:14+00:00 The GL620 is a high-powered single shaft shredder with a 620mm rotor, and equipped with two-90, 110 or 160 kW motors.
The DGM 1500 Single Shaft Shredder has a 457mm diameter profiled rotor made of solid steel, operating at a speed of 74rpm. The concave ground, aggressive 4-way rotating knives are mounted in the grooves of the profiled rotor with special knife holders.
Single Shaft Shredder : Single shaft shredder: customized to ensure the maximum production capacity. Shredwell SSS series Single Shaft Shredder is equipped with a feeding hopper and an hydraulic ram designed to push the material between the rotor and the fixed blade.
PROSINO Single Shaft Shredder Machine is a versatile shredding machine which covers a wide range of shredding applications. . Prosino PS-S-VP Series single shaft pipe shredder, also known as vertical single shaft pipe shredder or simply vertical pipe shredder, is particularly designed for shredding various types of pipes and tubes, such as PE .
Single shaft shredder,shredding paper watch video . Features: • Teeth are DC53 steel. Stator knives are D2 steel. • The main electronic controls are a combination of Siemens and Schneider. • Microcomputer technology incorporating rotator speed variations with start, stop and reverse features.


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Q: Upgrading from Ubuntu 20.04 to 22.04 LTS, Gnome on-screen keyboard not working While upgrading I run into some issues.
I had cleaned up the ppa purge things i had done.
Lenovo P53 with Nvidia stuff that seems to be working according to logs.
uname -a
5.15.0.52-generic  ... #58-Ubuntu

This is hate filled doing this on another PC not having my Ubuntu Desktop :(
I'm able to go in as recovery root and sudo - myuser.
Prior to the upgrade
had some pretty crazy stuff for foreign lang things for X fonts to work for another project.
the Syslog shows that the OS is doing stuff even the Gnome screen displays (both extra monitors).
keyboard and mouse are frozen.
Where do i start looking?
I've read through the logs and cross referred the guides, where or what should I be looking for for a troubleshooting this?

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Tag: Jane's Austen Museum
Spoil yourself in Bath, England!
WEST12Europe/Lisbon 63012, thEurope/Lisbonp30Europe/Lisbon09bEurope/LisbonThu, 15 Sep 2016 12:42:20 +0100 2018 WEST11Europe/Lisbon 63111, thEurope/Lisbonp31Europe/Lisbon08bEurope/LisbonThu, 16 Aug 2018 11:34:02 +0100 2018 Posted in Heritage, Local tourism, Museum, Reading, Touristic attractions, Touristic attractions in Bath, Somerset, England, TripadvisorTagged Bath City Sights, Guided tours in Bath, Jane's Austen Museum, Martini Restaurant Bath, The Circus and the Crescent in Bath, The Georgian city of Bath2 Comments
Bath – Breathtaking Georgian City
Welcome to Bath, a city that brings history to life! Bath City Sights, streets, museums and galleries. An author's home and gracious Georgian city.
1 Roman Baths and Museum (Abbey Churchyard)
2 The Royal Crescent was designed by John Wood the younger and built between 1767 and 1775. In Georgian times the houses were usually rented 'for a season'.
3 Assembly Rooms and Museum of Costume (Bennett Street)
4 The Building of Bath Museum – this museum tells the story of the creation of Georgian Bath and provides a fresh insight into how the splendid houses of this fashionable resort were designed, built, decorated and lived in.
5 Victoria Art Gallery ( Bridge Street)
6 Holburne Museum and Crafts Study Centre ( Great Pulteney Street)
7 Royal Photographic Society (Milsom Street)
8 Bath Industrial Heritage Centre (Julian Road)
9 Bath Postal Museum – a fascinating record of the development of the English post system from its earliest days. The first officially sent letter was posted from Bath in 1840.
10 Pulteney Bridge leads into Great Pulteney Street, Bath's magnificent residential street.
Outside Bath
The American Museum, the Stately Homes, the Picturesque Villages including Castle Combe and Lacock and other attractions such as Cheddar Gorge and caves; Longleat Safari Park, Glastonbury Tor; Wells Cathedral and The SS Great Britain.
Guided tours in Bath
In Bath enjoy a guided foot tour, bus tour, river tour or by balloon. Talking tour: Bath Abbey, Pump Rooms and Roman Baths, the Theatre Royal, the Queen Square, the Royal Crescent and its museum, the fascinating Circus, the Museum of East Asian Art, the Assembly Rooms and the beautiful Museum of Costume, the Building of Bath Museum and the Bath Postal Museum. The Pulteney Bridge and the Great Pulteney Street are both mandatory!
Hot air balloon taking off at Victoria Park, Bath
Hot air balloon taking off in Victoria Park – Bath
There are many fantastic places on Earth and Bath-Somerset-England is for sure one of them. A perfect destination for shopping at Milsom street and a gracious Georgian city. Take the chance to visit Jane's Austen Museum. During the eight years she lived here, Jane Austen wrote Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion, and revised Sense and Sensibility and Northanger Abbey. The historic seaside evokes the world of the most flawless of Regency novelists. The Roman Bath Spa for relaxation. The hot, mineral-rich water was the reason for Bath's popularity. The Royal Crescent and Circus. Take the best of life and travel to Bath Somerset
By the way, if you want to eat well do not look further: Martini Restaurant is the place (Italian cuisine made by great Italian professionals). Bath is a shopper's dream and many streets are pedestrianized and in addition to the West country's widest range of high-quality shops running from Milsom Street down to Southgate. Bath also has an expensive network of intriguing arcades and a daily antique market. Bath is the most beautiful city in the U.K. where I had the chance to live for nearly two years.
Bath Official Site
The Royal Crescent
The Circus and the Crescent is probably the most beautiful sight in Bath. But there are many more.
The Abbey in Bath
The Abbey in Bath and the surrounding area with coffee shops and gardens.
Fashion Museum in Bath, Somerset
Jane Austen Museum and Tour, Bath, Somerset
Jane Austen's Museum in Bath
Shopping in Bath is a dream being Milsom Street my favourite in the U.K.
Discover the imposing Elizabethan home of Jane's wealthy brother Edward.
Enjoy the view over the city of Bath from Beechen Cliff and visit the small cliffside garden close to The Cobb in Lyme Regis planted in memory of Jane.
The Museum of Costume


The new #ducati Traction Control EVO (DTC EVO) takes performance and safety to new heights, giving this sophisticated technology – an offshoot of #ducati research and exclusive MotoGP and SBK-derived know-how – a significant boost. DTC EVO was first introduced on the #1299panigales Anniversario, then offered as standard on the 1299 Panigale, #1299panigales Model Year 2017 and the cutting-edge, exclusive 1299 Superleggera and 1299 Panigale R Final Edition versions. #ducati has now decided to make the new traction control system available to all 1299 Panigale owners by providing a software upgrade for previous DTC versions mounted on the 2015 and 2016 range.
DTC EVO is based on an algorithm that makes system intervention faster and more precise. By interfacing with the Bosch Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU), DTC EVO constantly evaluates the bike's lean angle, using it to accurately calculate the degree of intervention needed to ensure suitable rear wheel spin (according to the DTC EVO level setting), providing higher performance and better safety.
To improve cornering performance, maximise acceleration and raise safety levels, DTC EVO acts on the throttle body valves and controls spark and injection advance. Offering increased precision and intervention consistency, DTC EVO is particularly advantageous in situations where grip changes, such as when the rear tyre becomes worn.
With simpler types of traction control, detection of rear wheel spin sees the system intervene to hold it in check. When optimal grip is re-established the system reduces intervention until spin reoccurs and the cycle repeats. This produces a graph that shows intervention oscillating around a theoretical "ideal intervention line" that represents the traction limit. DTC EVO reduces the magnitude of those oscillations, making the system operate closer to the perfect intervention line.
In addition to enhanced intervention precision, when set to "1" or "2" the DTC EVO system adds a new "Spin On Demand" function that lets the bike be ridden at a level otherwise reserved for experts and pros. Now, when the bike is leaned over, the rider can use the throttle to request more wheel spin than would be given by the normal intervention level, allowing the bike to pivot around its front wheel and complete the taken cornering line.
All 1299 Panigale owners can upgrade their DTC EVO systems simply by contacting their nearest #ducati Store. The upgrade is available, as an accessory, for the 1299 Panigale and #1299panigales models of the 2015 and 2016 range.


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Man stabbed in Langford home
A man was stabbed in a Langford home, Oct. 13. Tyler Wardrope, 22, has been arrested and remains in custody.
Charla Huber
Oct. 15, 2013 9:00 a.m.
West Shore RCMP attended a home on Sutherland Round at the scene of a stabbing, Oct. 13.
The 911 call came in at about 10:45 p.m. It was reported a man had been stabbed at the Langford residence.
When police arrived they located the victim inside the home with a laceration on his chest and back. He was taken to hospital by B.C. Ambulance.
Shortly after Tyler Wardrope, 22, who matched the suspect's description, returned to the home and was arrested by West Shore RCMP. Police say the victim and the Wardrope may have known each other.
At the time of the attack the suspect had already been court ordered to not carry a knife. He was charged with aggravated assault and assaulting a police officer.
Wardrope remains in custody and his next court appearance is Oct. 30 at Western Communities Provincial Court.
RCMP Major Crime Unit has taken over the investigation.
Saanich volunteers have fingers crossed for solid salmon season
Free vaccine available people at high risk of complications from influenza


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IP/Entertainment Case Law Updates
Ronnie Van Zant, Inc. v. Artimus Pyle
USDC S.D. New York August 23, 2017
Following bench trial, district court grants permanent injunction enjoining film company from producing and distributing movie about rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, ruling that film company was barred from doing so by long-standing consent order to which it was not party.
Plaintiffs Ronnie Van Zant, Inc., Gary R. Rossington, Johnny Van Zant, Barbara Houston, as the Trustee of the Allen Collins Trust, and Alicia Rapp and Carinna Gaines Biemiller, as the personal representatives of the estate of Steven Gaines, sued former band member Artimus Pyle, Cleopatra Films and Cleopatra Records, seeking to enjoin them from producing and distributing a movie about Lynyrd Skynyrd and the 1977 plane crash that ended the lives of band members Ronnie Van Zant and Steven Gaines.
The basis of the lawsuit was a 1988 consent order that resolved a dispute between Van Zant's widow, Judy Van Zant Jenness, and the other surviving band members, Rossington, Collins and, critically, Pyle, following efforts by the surviving band members to mount a tribute tour over Jenness' objections. The consent order set forth a number of restrictions regarding how the parties to the 1988 dispute could use the name Lynyrd Skynyrd and name and likeness rights of Van Zant and Gaines. Among the restrictions was a requirement that there could be no exploitation of the history of the band without the prior written approval of Rossington, Collins and Van Zant's estate. The consent order's terms applied to third parties acting "in concert or participating with" the signatories.
Upon learning that Pyle was working on a film project with Cleopatra about Lynyrd Skynyrd, plaintiffs sent Cleopatra a cease and desist letter in July 2016, notifying Cleopatra of the various restrictions on Pyle contained in the consent crder. Cleopatra asserted its First Amendment rights to continue with the project, and continued production with the involvement of Pyle in its development. After Variety released an article detailing the project in April 2017, plaintiffs initiated the action for a permanent injunction. After initially denying plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction and temporary restraining order, the court held a two-day bench trial in July 2017.
Following trial, the court found that the film Cleopatra was producing with Pyle's participation "is, overall, a film about Lynyrd Skynyrd" that fell within the consent order's prohibitions. The court thus ruled that Pyle was barred by the consent order from participating in the film's production, rejecting defendants' argument that Pyle's notation on the consent order that he was signing "Under Protest" rendered it nonconsensual and thus nonbinding.
The court further ruled that Cleopatra, a nonparty to the consent order, was bound by the order based on the participation of Kyle. The court explained that its power to enforce consent orders derived from the All Writs Act, which empowered the court, as with injunctions, "to enjoin [nonparties] from acts that would frustrate the consent decree's operation on parties that are bound to the decree." Because Pyle was in violation of the consent order, and Cleopatra was acting in concert with him, an injunction against Cleopatra was "essential to the implementation of that order." The court explained that such enforcement required that Cleopatra "had knowledge of the consent order," which the court found it did because it continued working with Pyle on the film after plaintiffs advised Cleopatra of the consent order's prohibitions.
The court rejected defendants' defenses of laches, unclean hands and First Amendment rights. With respect to the laches defense, the court found any delay in seeking to halt the film's production was not unreasonable and that there was no significant financial prejudice from any delay, because the bulk of Cleopatra's expenditures on the film came after it learned of the consent order. With respect to unclean hands, the court ruled that plaintiffs' own prior modifications of the Consent Decree could not be relied upon to excuse defendants' actions, as those other "violations" — which included "narrowly-tailored and reasonable" modifications to the consent order — did not rise to the level of "unconscionable" action so as to foreclose equitable relief.
With respect to the First Amendment defense, defendants argued that enforcement of the consent order against them would constitute an impermissible prior restraint. This theory offered no protection, the court held, because Pyle had expressly signed away his right to exploit the band's history via "a private agreement that is narrowly-tailored to protect the bargained-for rights of its signatories." Cleopatra's First Amendment rights were not violated because the prohibition against making a film about Lynyrd Skynyrd was not a blanket one. As the court explained, "Cleopatra is prohibited from making its movie about Lynyrd Skynyrd when its partner substantively contributes to the project in a way that, in the past, he willingly bargained away the right to do just that; in any other circumstance, Cleopatra would be 'free as a bird' to make and distribute its work."
The court granted plaintiffs an award of reasonable attorneys' fees and costs based on an attorneys' fees provision contained in the consent order. The fee award was issued against Cleopatra as well as Pyle, because Cleopatra was aware of the consent order "and continued to make their film, in clear disregard" of its restrictions.
Summary prepared by Wook Hwang and Erin Smith Dennis
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Click here to download a PDF of the full decision.
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Wook Hwang
+1.212.407.4035 whwang@loeb.com
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Legal Publications Editor
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Brown Grad School
About Brown
Kaufman Wins American Indian Science and Engineering Society Fellowship
Doctoral student Sierra Kaufman was selected as part of the fourth cohort of students in the Lighting the Pathway to Faculty Careers for Natives in STEM from the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). Kaufman is a member of the Shinnecock Nation, a small tribe on Long Island. At Brown she studies in the Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences program and is also a Presidential Fellow.
"This fellowship is important to me because it offers support and mentoring sensitive to the issues relevant to Native Americans. My short term goal is to become a capable and competitive applicant for future academic positions and in the long term, to be able to give back by mentoring young members of a diverse STEM community," says Kaufman.
She will receive a stipend for two years and travel funding to attend the AISES National Conference and Leadership Summit in Denver. At the conference, Kaufman will be assigned a Native STEM faculty mentor and will have the opportunity to engage with the active community of Native STEM researchers.
"I am now a part of a more connected network with mentors who have faced many of the hurdles that I am likely to encounter on my journey to become a faculty member. While networking at conferences in my field may enable me to meet a small subset of people who share my very specific interests, I believe being part of a cohort of people with both broadly similar backgrounds and goals will offer a different, enriching, and valuable experience which will help me grow and succeed," says Kaufman.
AISES was awarded a 5-year NSF grant to create this program with the goal of increasing the representation of American Indians, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiians in STEM faculty positions at universities and tribal colleges across the country. The program aims to create an intergenerational community of students and faculty and to provide students with valuable academic and professional support, travel funding, and educational, research, fellowship, and internship opportunities.
About the Graduate School
Healthy Brown FAQs for Graduate Students
Living & Resources
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For Graduate Students
Brown University Graduate School
Providence, Rhode Island 02912, USA
Maps & Directions / Contact Us / Accessibility
© 2022 Brown University
Graduate School Handbook
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Unleashing The Power Of Cauliflower
Cauliflower is a versatile vegetable, closely related to a variety of other popular plants like broccoli, cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, collard greens and many others in the Brassica oleracea group. Understanding more about cauliflower and how to incorporate it into a wide variety of dishes is an important consideration for online culinary certificate students to make. A stronger grasp of the many uses of cauliflower is another step forward in assembling top-notch dishes and creating complex flavor profiles.
Cauliflower has a wide variety of culinary applications.
The wonderful world of cauliflower
The most important thing to remember about cauliflower is its versatility. This vegetable has traditionally been served as a side dish accompanying an entree, with a variety of preparations used. Some of the most popular include steaming, boiling and roasting, similar to the basic and common preparations of broccoli seen throughout the world.
There's more to cauliflower than traditional cooking techniques and a role as a side dish, however. Frying cauliflower is one option to put a spin on the flavors involved and make the vegetable more of a star on the plate.
The deep-fried version of the dish shared by the Food Network is not only a vegetarian substitute for the down-home favorite of chicken-fried steak, it's delicious in its own right. This mix of a very traditional recipe with unique ingredients is just one example of how far the power of cauliflower can go in your culinary efforts.
Another aspect of cauliflower to consider is its ability to be pickled and served just like any other vegetable soaked in brine and carefully stored until its flavors peak. Soulayphet Schwader, the chef and owner of Khe-Yo, New York City's Michelin-recognized and first totally Laotian restaurant, advocated for pickled cauliflower in a discussion with Serious Eats.
Along with sharing a simple pickling recipe, he said pickled cauliflower has useful applications as a garnish that provide an important element of flavor and texture, namely a sour taste and a physical crunch. He also suggested using colored variations of the vegetable to add a little more visual intrigue.
Cauliflower is also useful when taken beyond its traditional presentation as individual heads. The Today Show reported on the long-running fad at grocer Trader Joe's related to riced cauliflower, where customers in especially busy locations routinely buy out individual store's stocks.
Similar in end product to traditional rice in appearance, color and culinary use, this application of cauliflower is a novel way for chefs to substitute a carbohydrate-heavy dish with something a little more balanced. To make riced cauliflower in your own kitchen, you can simply pulse the vegetable in a food processor until it has the consistency of rice. The Kitchn has a more in-depth recipe to peruse as well.
Few multi-course meals are complete without dessert. To that end, it's also worth considering the sweeter uses of cauliflower. One such recipe, shared by the Unconventional Baker, offers a chocolate cauliflower ice cream cake that is also gluten, dairy and egg free. Other options, like Divalicious's cauliflower chocolate cake recipe, involve more traditional ingredients beyond the vegetable itself.


I had an issue with my internet connection and the agent on the chat couldn't fully resolve my problem, and then offered to schedule a tech visit as the next step. I verified multiple times (and the correspondence is recorded) whether there will be any fees or charges associated with that visit, to which the agent replied that there won't be any fees unless the tech will be asked to fix an issue that is not related to Xfinity.
The tech arrived and couldn't resolve my issue, only suggested that I check my equipment and that was it. To my surprise I find a $70 charge under 'recent charges' for in-home service fee. This is completely opposed to what the chat agent explained to me and according to our correspodence this visit was supposed to be free of charge. This is unacceptable and I demand for that charge to be fully removed from my account.
Hello, maxmal. Thanks for reaching out to us on the forums. I apologize to hear that your issue wasn't resolved and you were charged for the visit. I would like to look into this for you. Can you please send me a PM with your first and last name so I may further assist you?
Hello, maxmal. I have not heard back from you. If you still need assistance, please feel free to start a new thread.


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The COVID-19 virus (coronavirus) outbreak has now quickly spread across the globe and into every region where Logicalis operates.
Please find below the Logicalis actions to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which are in addition to our business continuity plan (BCP). This page will be updated as official guidance and our response changes (updated 24/03/2020).
Logicalis regularly checks the WHO and Public Health England updates for advice, and have implemented the following travel restrictions, which are effective immediately:
International travel: All international (cross-border) business travel is suspended until 30th April 2020, except for business-critical travel, which requires the approval of the regional CEO.
Business-critical travel is defined as that which is essential to our continued operations and customers business.
Domestic travel for internal meetings: As per the recent government advice, Logicalis has taken the steps to temporarily close both our Slough and London offices. All office-based staff have been moved to a remote working model until further notice. Staff who are based at a customer site will adhere to customer regulations and follow their suggested security protocol. Our data centre is isolated from the rest of our offices, and visits to the data centre have been restricted to business-critical only. All staff still on-site have been asked to monitor their health carefully and to self-isolate if they feel unwell. All home-based staff will utilise Cisco Webex or Microsoft Teams to conduct any internal meetings.
Domestic travel for external meetings: Again, the use of Webex or Teams is preferred unless the meeting is considered critical, in which case, domestic travel should be approved by an Executive Leadership Team member.
Forms of travel
In addition to travel policies we are introducing the following travel rules:
Avoid peak hour train travel: Travel in non-peak time or drive to desired locations
Avoid London tube/bus: Use taxis where available if travel is essential.
To avoid the increased risk that large gatherings of people from across the organisation brings and in light of government advice, we have taken the difficult decision to postpone all internal and customers events scheduled to take place between now and the end of April. These decisions will be reviewed in-line with government advice as and when it is updated.
Employee Safety and Business Continuity Plans
Our Business Continuity Plan has been prepared to assist the organisation to manage a serious, disruptive crisis in a controlled and structured manner, and to limit the impact on both employees and customers.
We deliver continual training to our staff in relation to information security and best practices, and we have a range of remote connectivity and collaboration tools in place to ensure we can continue to work effectively and efficiently with each other, our customers, and our suppliers.
The majority of our core business applications are SaaS-based, and our employees' laptops have full encryption technology applied. We are confident that our business operations and service commitments to customers will continue as normal, and that we can operate all of our systems and processes remotely with little to no interruptions.
If any of our employees are experiencing any flu-like or feverish symptoms or believe they may have come into close contact with anyone else experiencing these symptoms, we will ask them to self-isolate and begin to notify anyone who may be at risk due to recent contact with that employee.
In areas of extreme concern, teams may be broken down into smaller cells to reduce the risk of virus transmission.
Our priority is to keep our employees in good health and there are some simple things that we can all do to reduce our risk. We have communicated guidance from WHO to all employees and are actively driving the following advice:
Wash hands frequently and for a minimum of 20 seconds with soap and water.
Practise 'respiratory hygiene' to prevent the spread of germs and viruses. When coughing and sneezing, cover mouth and nose with flexed elbow or tissue – discard the tissue immediately into a closed bin and, in any event, wash your hands.
Maintain social distancing, wherever possible, keep at least one metre between yourself and other people and avoid close contact with people suffering from acute respiratory infections.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth to limit transferring viruses from surfaces.
The health of Logicalis' clients, employees and partners is our primary concern, and we will continue to monitor developments and factor these into plans as WHO and Public Health England advise.
All Logicalis UK employees who are visiting customer sites will be asked to adhere to the highest level of guidance in place, whether that be the guidance issued above, or whether any customer sites have implemented further controls. The internal guidance will continue to mirror that of the WHO and Public Health England, and may be updated at any time.
Our service centres are actively implementing similar policies, and we are confident that we will be able to continue to operate at full service. As a global organisation, we also have the backup of service centres around the world, and we are working on contingency planning as government advice evolves.
You can check this page regularly for any updates to this guidance. For customers of IBM, Microsoft, or Cisco, you can find their statements below.
IBM: https://www.ibm.com/blogs/think/2020/03/ibm-statement/
Microsoft: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/03/05/our-commitment-to-customers-during-covid-19/
Cisco: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/en_us/partners/downloads/coronavirus-faq.pdf
Where possible, Logicalis UK is committed to doing everything possible to reduce any supply chain disruption. However, in instances where delays are out of our control, we remain committed to keeping our customers informed every step of the way.
Further information regarding Logicalis Group's response to the COVID-19 outbreak can be found here. If you have any questions or queries, please do not hesitate to contact your Account Manager or email info@uk.logicalis.com.


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