text:
Living in a materials world
Home / Research / Resolve Magazine / Volume 2, 2018
New Lehigh interdisciplinary research institute, a crucible for new ideas at a crossroads of disciplines, conjures the stuff that dreams are made of
The far-flung stardust and common matter that constitutes our planet and the world around us, bears within still, after millennia of human inquiry, countless riddles yet to be figured despite the most sophisticated tools we can devise being brought to bear against them. Solving the most urgent problems facing society in many cases will depend on finding new ways to crack the secrets of these stubborn substances.
That is the inspiration for the launch of the new Institute for Functional Materials & Devices (I-FMD), one of three new Interdisciplinary Research Institutes (IRIs) that create communities of scholars and catalyze crucial research in areas where Lehigh is poised to make lasting societal contributions.
As with the recently inaugurated Institutes for Data, Intelligent Systems, and Computation research institute (I-DISC), and for Cyber Physical Infrastructure and Energy (I-CPIE), I-FMD will be a crucible for new ideas at the crossroads of disciplines.
In areas like material fabrication and synthesis, and with materials such as semiconductors, composites and polymers, researchers are working across traditional boundaries to overcome interrelated challenges inherent in the development of tomorrow's energy systems, health advances, and a broad array of other fields.
"Research into new and existing materials, and the processes by which they are created, improved, refined, and utilized, is a longtime core strength across Lehigh's engineering community," says Himanshu Jain (photo, left), director of I-FMD and Lehigh's Diamond Distinguished Chair and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering. "Over time, we have leveraged the University's history of industrial collaboration in this space into a world-class research engine that cuts across many disciplines. Through the I-FMD, we are looking to build a more structured community of scholars focused around these topics. It's a grassroots effort to engage all of the relevant perspectives from around campus, and around the world."
The aim is to get collaboration right, says Steven McIntosh (photo, right), the Class of 1961 Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering associate director of I-FMD.
"We want to get our faculty-led research teams out of 'stovepipes' and into projects where they can work on bigger problems," he says. "Society's challenges require a wide array of skills and perspectives; the idea is to break paradigms and change the culture; Lehigh's new Institutes support and celebrate interdisciplinary awareness and thinking across our research community."
Lehigh's new Institutes support and celebrate interdisciplinary awareness and thinking across our research community.
—Steven McIntosh, Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering & Associate Director of I-FMD
That is the essence and mandate of I-FMD, to think broadly and pragmatically about discoveries that can make a difference. With materials, innovation is a multi-step process that begins with inventing new materials or improving existing ones, finding ways to produce them efficiently and economically, manipulating the materials to suit the needs of the new devices and applications, and finally, developing ways to create the materials at scale.
"This is the nature of the problem we face now, especially for what we want to do with materials all the way to devices," says McIntosh. "Individual research cannot conceptualize the material, make the new material, understand how it will function in a device, put all the components of a device together and make it into a feasible system or application. That takes a lot of different expertise. We have that expertise on campus and in our network of collaborative institutions and partners, so we have to aggressively work across boundaries and go after these things."
The I-FMD institute is broken down into five areas of emphasis: biomedical functionality, chemical functionality, mechanical functionality, optical and electrical functionality, and processing and manufacturing. The participants in I-FMD include more than 80 faculty members spread across 10 departments, so creating opportunities for dialogue is key.
"If we want to go after grand challenges, that means looking at problems in a holistic way, and dealing with the full complexity of the issues, and not just fix one part of it," Jain says. "A good materials person can create a better tire. If you want to improve transportation systems, you have to pull together a lot of experts in pursuit of the same goal. We will facilitate this in part with regular workshops that help connect our members to external partners and each other, where we can have intelligent conversations about technical aspects of our work, and do this across colleges and departments. We are also making a special effort to include graduate students and other members of our research community."
Even where researchers have competencies in similar niches, something as rudimentary as having different vocabularies for similar concepts can be a stumbling block.
"We want in these conversations to find common interests and strengths," says McIntosh. "Ideally, people come in and have a freewheeling talk, identify problems and limitations, and drill down on them together."
Bloody brilliant
As part of Lehigh's expanding health science and medical device initiatives, a team of I-FMD researchers is looking at a vital and complex clotting agent in blood, von Willebrand Factor (VWF). VWF is a plasma protein that helps clot blood in the areas of cut blood vessels. When blood flow increases, VWF senses the change and opens up to capture platelets and help them adhere to the walls of blood vessels, enhancing clotting. In essence, VWF jump-starts the clotting process when regular clotting cannot occur due to blood flow conditions. VWF is noteworthy in that it is one of the few compounds in the body that has a mechanical response—it is the physical stress of the increasing blood flow, which activates the unfurling of VWF.
Xuanhong Cheng, associate professor of materials science; Alparslan Oztekin, professor of mechanical engineering; Edmund Webb, associate professor of mechanical engineering; and Xiaohui (Frank) Zhang, associate professor of bioengineering, are bringing a formidable array of tools to learn more about the enigmatic compound. Zhang, who specializes in biomechanics, and Cheng, whose expertise is in microfluidics, are in charge of the experimentation and observational side of the project. Webb and Oztekin are handling the modeling and computation.
"Our model has a level of detail other authors don't have," says Webb. "When you marry that to our experimental data it is really powerful."
Learning more about VWF could lead to the alleviation of thrombosis, which can result from unwanted quantities of activated VWF in bloodstream. Maladies from dysfunctional VWF affect up to 3 percent of the global population. In addition, there is significant research on medical devices that shows that devices put into the body can alter blood flow conditions and activate VWF. A better understanding of VWF could help doctors counteract that. In addition, there are therapeutic possibilities for VWF-like compounds, which would employ the trigger mechanism in VWF for as-needed drug delivery in the body.
In its collapsed state, VWF circulates freely in the bloodstream. When activated, it can elongate to 10 times its original size. "The molecule has many sites for interacting and forming bonds of collagen and platelets that get exposed when it opens," says Webb. "Also, when it is recirculated into the blood, there is an area of VWF that, when it is exposed, you get a fairly quick reaction to cut the VWF at that site so you don't have large molecule floating around the bloodstream. It's really a fascinating entity."
Our study has already revealed significant insights that would lead to the design of synthetic molecules based on VWF.
—Frank Zhang, Associate Professor of Bioengineering
The team is combining single-molecule force spectroscopy and microfluidic imaging to track VWF in varying flow environments. "We have set up a microfluidic channel, and tagged the VWF molecules fluorescently to see how they respond to differing rates of flow," Cheng says. Oztekin and Webb are doing coarse grain modeling, using a base chain model made up of two beads and one string to represent a monomeric unit in VWF.
"The model is unique, and we also have the advantage of the experimental results to sharpen the parameters for the model," Oztekin says.
A section of the molecule is of particular note with regard to targeted drug therapies, Webb says, and its dual function makes it especially intriguing.
"It is a domain in VWF called A2. It's a nonlinear elastic spring. When it is partially opened it can react with platelets, but when it is fully opened it exposes a site that will cut the VWF down to size."
One aspiration for the team is to find ways to synthesize a compound that would mimic the properties of the A2 domain, to similarly respond to a flow change in the bloodstream and release a drug payload. "The idea is that if there is a normal flow happening in circulation, in a place where plaque is built up or place of internal bleeding there would be abnormal shear stress." Cheng explains. "We could take advantage of the molecule's mechanical response to different flow patterns to deliver drugs to dissolve plaque or coagulate molecules to stop internal bleeding. Once we understand the mechanisms of how A2 changes conformation under flow, we can make molecules rather than rely on A2, as it turns out that VWF is not easy to make."
In the team's sights is a polymeric design that mimics the critical functions of VWF.
"The basic biological properties of VWF have been elucidated, though as yet there is more to learn about the detailed biomechanical properties," says Zhang. "That said, our study has already revealed significant insights that would lead to the design of synthetic molecules based on VWF."
Taking aim at silicon's inefficiencies
Siddha Pimputkar, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, has focused recently on the production of gallium nitride crystals, which are difficult to produce in quantities with the level of quality technical applications require, and demand high temperatures and pressures in the fabrication process.
One of the major uses for gallium nitride, a wide bandgap semiconductor, is power electronics. "Think of electric cars, where you have a huge battery, and the voltage needs to be altered to run the engine," says Pimputkar. "Today's technology is built on silicon, which is not super efficient. You can lose up to 10 percent of the energy to heat. We can do better."
Another major market is LEDs, as the crystals can yield bright blue emitting LEDs, which has enabled blue lasers and energy-efficient lighting technologies.
Pimputkar is developing improved ways to create gallium nitride crystals at scale that meet the demands for size and quality. One method is an ammonothermal technique that dissolves gallium into a supercritical ammonia solution, and precipitates gallium nitride onto an existing seed crystal.
There is a lot of interest in substances that are tunable, both from an atomic spacing aspect and from an electronic and chemical properties perspective.
—Siddha Pimputkar, Assistant professor of Materials Science and Engineering
"We put the crystal we want to grow in a hot temperature zone of the autoclave, add high purity gallium nitride and create a temperature gradient between the two," Pimputkar explains. "This arrangement leads to a natural cycle of fluid motion due to the density differential between the two zones, ultimately causing gallium nitride to be transported from the source to the seed and precipitate out. The challenge is how to find ways to growth the crystal faster and ensure uniformity within and across all growing crystal boules."
With fellow I-FMD members Kai Landskron, associate professor of chemistry in the College of Arts and Sciences, and Nicholas Strandwitz, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, Pimputkar is at work growing other binary and ternary nitrides, including indium gallium nitride, which requires developing a novel growth process.
"Indium is a big atom and when added to a gallium nitride crystal reduces its bandgap leading to longer wavelength emissions in LEDs--effectively going from blue to green to red light. As we squeeze more of them into a gallium nitride crystal, the atomic spacing expands, and you eventually get a large mismatch to the gallium nitride substrate," Pimputkar explains. "This adds more strain and limits how thick a layer you can grow before introducing dislocations to relax that strain. If the strain hits a critical point, the efficiency of the device will drop off substantially. Starting with an indium gallium nitride crystal as a substrate possessing a larger atomic spacing would alleviate this problem, though such a crystal hasn't been demonstrated yet."
The menu of nitride crystals Pimputkar is growing make up a range of variable bandgap semiconductors that can be leveraged for uses in solar cells, sensors and other expanded uses. In August of 2018, he and Landskron were awarded a $450,000 grant from the NSF to explore the growth of cubic boron nitride using more scalable, sustainable methods.
"There is a lot of interest in substances that are tunable, both from an atomic spacing aspect, where you can change lattice parameters or atom spacing to fit the device you want to grow on top of it, and from an electronic and chemical properties perspective," Pimputkar says.
A quantum leap for quantum dots
I-FMD associate director Steve McIntosh is also part of a research team fashioning "quantum dots" for serious industrial application. These are nanocrystalline semiconductor compounds used in applications such as lasers, transistors and medical imaging, and currently manufactured using expensive techniques that yield toxic byproducts.
McIntosh, along with Christopher J. Kiely, the Harold B. Chambers Senior Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and Bryan Berger of the University of Virginia (formerly of Lehigh), through an "Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation" award from the NSF, had previously identified biosynthetic, environmentally sustainable routes toward the creation of quantum dots, a process which could bring about positive change across a number of industries.
The team, which has grown to include Mark Snyder, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has recently received a four-year, $1.5 million award from the NSF to focus on scalable manufacturing of nanocrystalline oxides and their structuring.
The inspiration for the new process came about while Berger was working with the Lehigh Valley Health Network to find ways to combat a drug-resistant microbe, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia. Berger noticed that when fed silver, a common antibacterial agent, it induced the microbe's threat response system to encase the metal in a kind of plaque and conveniently spit it out in the form of quantum dots.
The original group teamed up to see where the discovery would lead, beginning their exploration with selenides and sulfides, then, with the help of a Lehigh accelerator grant, shifting their focus to working with oxides. They also replaced the microbe with silicatein and other enzymes. The group is collaborating with the Cardiff Catalysis Institute in Wales, where researchers will test the team's oxide-based end products to see how they perform as catalyst materials.
One of the major innovations of the team's way of producing selenide and sulfide-based quantum dots is that it is done at room temperature and in aqueous solution, making it far more environmentally friendly than current industrial techniques. Since the precursor materials are virtually benign, there is no toxic waste from the manufacture to dispose of, and since high temperatures and pressures are not required, the process is more energy efficient. The team has also been working on producing cerium oxide, and has now further expanded this to ceria zirconium oxide. One major use for these latter materials is as catalytic supports.
The ramifications of the team's work could be vast. For example, the global market for automotive catalytic converters alone is forecast to reach $273 billion by 2024, and there is potential for other industrial and consumer applications as well.
"The challenge is to bring the quantum dot manufacturing to a scale that makes it industrially viable, and we are still very much in the infancy of that process," says Kiely. "We want to take it to the next level and investigate what other kinds of oxides we can generate by biomineralization, and see if we can grow them directly onto a pre-formed support."
That goes to Snyder's specialty.
In the quantum dots, you have a scale of around 10 to 100 atoms," explains Snyder. "Until now, the focus has been on these nanocrystalline samples. I have been using technologies in my lab to structure oxides through particle assembly or templating; we are looking to apply these concepts to bridge toward larger scale structured materials.
"At the larger scales," he continues, "challenges include supporting nanocrystalline particles in a controlled way on an inert or even structured support, creating higher order structures comprised of these small nanocrystalline oxides, or fashioning nanocrystalline materials into porous structures where molecules can easily transport to and from the surface to carry out a reaction."
The addition of zirconium increases the catalytic performance and stability compared to cerium oxide and creates a better catalytic support, says Kiely.
"The challenge is controlling how much zirconium we can dope into the cerium oxide. Can we controllably insert 10, 20 or 40 percent zirconium? We've had some success on this front, but need further development to more closely control the composition of the material once we add in the new component."
According to Snyder, the funding that Lehigh has provided to this research is a promising model for innovative projects.
"The early seed project led to an initial grant, and now a larger grant," he says. "Our work has brought together faculty that have different but complementary skill sets and interests, and it's the kind of approach that we hope can continue to grow across the university."
Kiely concurs. "I think that is part of the philosophy of these Institutes, to create more of these groupings and allow us to make more connections to industry and other external partners. and find new ways to exploit these materials," he says. "This quantum-dot project falls squarely under the founding idea of I-FMD, and the materials we are producing actually have a chemical function as optoelectronic materials and catalysts. It all fits beautifully."
Resolve Magazine: Volume 2, 2018
More from This Volume
A Few Good Collaborators
A laser breakthrough
A Material Impact: Q&A with Claire Rimnac '80G, '83 Ph.D
An Olympic test of composite's mettle
Boundless creativity
Kelly Schultz: Mending Materials
Kothare elected AIChE Fellow
Lehigh's future is now
Rooting out Ebola's biomechanical enabler
Seeing things differently
Smoking delays bone healing
Taking the gamble out of Ebola outbreaks
The future of electricity is a snap
This network makes a difference


text:
Q: Software license restricting commercial usage like CC BY-NC-SA I want to distribute my software under license like Creative Commons Attribution - Non commercial - Share Alike license, i.e.

*

*Redistribution of source code and binaries is freely.

*Modified version of program have to be distributed under the same license. Attribution to original project should be supplied to.

*Restrict any kind of commercial usage.

However CC does not recommend to use their licenses for software. Is there this kind of software license I could apply? Better if public license, but as far as I know US laws says that only EULA could restrict usage of received copy?

A: Your requirements restrict the use of the software, so at least by the definition of open source from the OSI (definition of open source), it is therefore not open source, so you will find no help in open source licenses. So forget AGPL, GPL, BSD, Apache, MIT, etc.
I also looked at the Aladdin license as suggested by @thiton. This does not restrict commercial use, only sale (just as @thiton pointed out). If that is not strong enough, you may want to start with the wording from, say, MIT license and add you restrictions (but don't call it the MIT license of course, and don't call it open source).
Like crypto, licensing is hard, and rolling your own is tricky. The world doesn't like more licenses (they add friction), and is part of why OSI exists - to catalog and promote existing "good" licenses for open source so people don't roll their own. Hope it works out.

A: The Aladdin free public license (AFPL) is a typical license prohibiting reselling your code (but using it in-house in a commercial enterprise is allowed). Use with care, though, because of the legal caveats the comments have mentioned, and because most distributions will (for good reason) never include a program licensed under the AFPL.

A: I'm not a lawyer, but I'm quite certain that the legal wording of CC isn't suited to software; there are many suitable open source software licenses.
Liberal licenses include ("liberal" here means both open and closed source products can be derived and commercialized) :

*

*MIT License

*BSD License

*Apache License

Reciprocal licenses include ("reciprocal" here means only open source products can be derived and commercialized):

*

*General Public License (GPL)

*Lesser General Public License (LGPL)

*Mozilla Public License (MPL)

For your needs, GPL is the best match: free use and redistribution of sources and binaries, reciprocation of any changes released, and derived products must be released under the same license.
Note that even with GPL, commercialization is still possible, albeit with a strong imposition of open source. If you don't want any commercialization, you may have to draft your own license.

A: The argument that the definition of "non commercial" is debatable has nothing to do with the CC license in particular and would equally apply to any other license in the world that has such a clause, so this is no argument against using a CC license for software.
The real reason why CC is not recommended for software is that there are typically different distribution forms for software: Source code, compiled code, transpiled code, etc. and CC does not address that at all, as for other media no such distinction exists. The result is that in some cases it isn't clear if a CC requirement only applies to the source code itself, to either the source code or a compiled/transpiled representation of it, or even to both equally.
Software licenses typically define that compiled/transpiled versions of source codes are not derived works but are in fact the same work in a different distribution form and that for the license it plays no role in what form a work is distributed, the same license conditions apply. Also in case of Copyleft licenses, they also define that whoever distributes a compiled/transpiled form, must also distribute the original source code; again, CC has no such requirement.
If using the CC "SA" attribute, it is guaranteed that derived works has equal protection and BY-SA 4.0 is even one-way compatible with GPLv3 (you can release CC BY-SA 4.0 code under GPLv3 if you like, as GPLv3 enforces all requirements of CC BY-SA 4.0 and even beyond it). So with "SA" attribute, compiled code shares the same license as source code for sure but also forces any work based upon your work to also use that license. That is a problem, if other parts of that derived work use a different license and conditions of that different license make it impossible to release the derived work as a whole under the CC license.
E.g. let's assume I write an app that uses your CC SA code. Because of "SA" my entire app (a derived work) must be released as CC SA. However, my app also uses code under a license that requires that I grant patent rights to users. If I release that app under CC SA, I would not grant those patent rights and thus violate the other license. But if I release it under a license that grants those patent rights, that would not be CC anymore and thus I had violated the SA constraint. So I can mix the source codes in a source repo (unless any source code has a license that also forbids that) and also distribute that source code but there is no license I could use to release a binary built from that source code that would not violate either one of these two licenses.
If using the "NC" attribute, it is not compatible with other software licenses anymore, as other licenses do typically allow any form of commercial usage. You can mix CC NC code with other licenses but only if the CC code stays under CC license on every redistribution.
And the NC attribute is sticky, meaning it will inherit to derived works. Derived works must be released also under a CC NC license or under a custom license with such a restriction and the later one is not recommend as writing licenses is a task for lawyers, not for software developers. If you write a custom license and mess up, your license may have loopholes and not provide the desired or required protection level and in that case the owner of the original work could sue you, as you would then be violating the CC license requirements. So to be safe, you will have release derived works also under any CC NC license, which makes "NC" as sticky as "SA" in practice.
So if you use CC SA or CC NC code for a project, you can mix in code under BSD or MIT or Apache license but the resulting product basically has to be CC SA or CC NC again, which is okay to permissive licenses as BSD/MIT/Apache; they allow the resulting product to have a different license than the the source code, also a more restrictive one and don't require any license requirements to carry over to the final product.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Words of Woodroffe : A Sports Blog
A simple man giving his passionate opinion on today's top stories in the sport's world.
About Brandon
Category Archives: NFL
Baltimore Ravens 2015 Schedule Released
Posted by Woodroffe14
The Baltimore Ravens have released their 2015 regular season schedule to public Tuesday night. The team will need to prepare to hit the road for most of the first half of the season, as five of their first seven games are on the road, kicking off in Denver against Manning and Gary Kubiak's run-style offense.
Here's the entire 2015 schedule (minus pre-season games):
Week 1, Sept. 13: at Denver (4:25 p.m.)
Week 2, Sept. 20: at Oakland (4:05 p.m.)
Week 3, Sept. 27: Cincinnati (1 p.m.)
Week 4, Oct. 1: at Pittsburgh (8:25 p.m., Thursday)
Week 5, Oct. 11: Cleveland (1 p.m.)
Week 6, Oct. 18: at San Francisco (4:25 p.m.)
Week 7, Oct. 26: at Arizona (8:30 p.m., Monday)
Week 8, Nov. 1: San Diego (1 p.m.)
Week 9, Nov. 8: BYE
Week 10, Nov. 15: Jacksonville (1 p.m.)
Week 11, Nov. 22: St. Louis (1 p.m.)
Week 12, Nov. 30: at Cleveland (8:30 p.m., Monday)
Week 13, Dec. 6: at Miami (1 p.m.)
Week 14, Dec. 13: Seattle (8:30 p.m., Sunday)
Week 15, Dec. 20: Kansas City (1 p.m.)
Week 16, Dec. 27: Pittsburgh (8:30 p.m., Sunday)
Week 17, Jan. 3: at Cincinnati (1 p.m.)
Key Matchups:
Week 1 at Denver: Right off the bat, you got to deal with Peyton Manning, in Denver. The upside is Gary Kubiak is their head coach, so the Ravens might know some of the tricks to stop that run/zone scheme that was a success during his time with the team last season. The downside is Kubiak might know the weak spot of the Ravens secondary, which I'm sure Peyton will enjoy. Not an easy game to start out with.
Week 6 at 49ers: a rematch of the "Black-Out" Super Bowl, and a reunion with WR Torrey Smith and Anquan Boldin. Will the 49ers be as dysfunctional as everyone expects after a wild off-season or will they be contenders in the West.
Week 14 vs. Seahawks: Two winners from the last three Super Bowls face off in Baltimore, the first time since 2003. Baltimore will need to improve their receiving core through the draft if they want to stand a chance against "The Legion of Boom", but I feel they'll lean heavily on the running game most of that game. Russell Wilson will also prove to be problematic with his elusiveness in the pocket, but the Ravens have a strong front seven, so getting a hat on him will at least take the passing game out of it, hopefully "Beast Mode" is kept at bay.
Week 16 vs. Steelers: Last game at M&T Bank will be against the Steelers. The teams might look different, the rivalry will be as strong as ever. We have seen how the Ravens responded after the Ray Lewis/Ed Reed era, let's see how well the Steelers respond post-Polumalu era.
Posted in 2015, blog, football, NFL, Ravens, Schedule, sports blog
Tags: 2015, Baltimore, blog, football, joe flacco, nfl, Ravens, schedule, sports
Is Polamalu a first ballot lock for the Hall of Fame?
As an inspiring journalist, I would consider Troy Polamalu not only one of the top safeties during his era, but possible one of the greatest to every play the game.
As a Ravens fan, I can't really say I'm that upset to see him go, just as Steelers fans weren't that upset when Ray Lewis called it a career.
But whether you liked him or hated him, no true football fan can deny the type of level Polamalu played at for the last 12 years with the Steelers. Considered one of the NFL's most explosive and dynamic players, the former first-round pick for Pittsburgh back in 2003 was a nightmare for teams (mainly QBs) to game plan around, serving as the backbone of the Steelers' defense. Polamalu retires a four-time first-team All-Pro, with eight Pro Bowl appearance, 2010 Defensive Player of the Year and two Super Bowl championships.
Though his resume show that he should easily be a first-ballot Hall of Famer in five years, some believe it might not be that simple for Mr. Polamalu. For starters, Polamalu isn't even considered the greatest safety the Steelers have every had. Some might say that Donnie Shell, who played for the "Steel Curtain" defense was equal as a good or even better than Troy during his time in the 1970s, and he's not in the Hall of Fame either. Yes, he might not have been as dynamic as Polamalu or as big of a name as "Mean" Joe Greene, but Shell was a three-time All-Pro, a five time Pro Bowler with 51 interceptions and a four-time Super Bowl champion.
Another discussion that pops up when you talk about Polamula is whether or not he is considered the best safety in his era. Let say in another month or so, former Baltimore Raven safety Ed Reed officially calls it a career (currently a free agent), both he and Troy would be eligible at the same time in five years, but the committee could only select one over the other ( which is possible since the Hall can only select five modern-day candidates in at a time, and there could be some big names up for consideration during this time).
Who would get in first? Both play with similar, yet distinct styles that opposing offensive coordinators had to be thoroughly prepared for. If you go by stats you probably would say Reed (643 Tlks, 64 INTs, 11 FF, 13 TD) over Polamalu ( 710Tlks,35 INTs, 13 FF, 4 TDs). If you want to look at championships, you would have to go with Polamalu's two over Reed's one. We can go back and forth with what this guy did or what this guy didn't do, but if you had to choose between the two to go into the Hall of Fame first, it's almost a coin flip in my opinion.
One thing that is certain is that it will be challenging for either of them to get in on their first try, safeties are among the most under-represented positions in the Hall of Fame. Though there are 24 defensive backs enshrined, only 7 of them are considered true safeties (others played both corner and safety).
Though the road to Canton might not be as bright as some Steelers fans would had thought it was for Troy Polumalu, it doesn't effect the lasting legacy he left on the field, the amazing plays that left our jaws on the floor, and the constant headaches he gave some of the teams over his career (especially for Ravens fans). There is no question, whether it's five years from or more, Troy will be receiving his bust up in Canton at some point down the line, probably sooner rather than later.
Enjoy you're retirement Troy, though I may not have liked who you played for, those Ravens-Steelers games won't be the same without seeing No. 43 run around in the secondary, with his signature black curls flowing in the air.
Posted in 43, football, NFL, Pittsburgh, retirement, Steelers, Troy Polamalu
Tags: 43, blog, Canton, Ed Reed, football, Hall of Fame, nfl, Pittsburgh, Ravens, Steel Curtain, Steelers, Terrible Towels, troy polamalu
Should the "Final Four" be moved out of Indianapolis?
Sometimes you have to wonder "Can't we all just get along?"
In case you haven't heard, a law has been passed in the state of Indiana that has the nation, organizations and some media figures in an uproar.
The Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), signed into law by Governor Mike Pence last week, makes it legal to discriminate against LGBT customers in the name of "religious freedom".The bill has set off a wave of criticism from all over the country, calling for the resignation of Pence and moving major sporting events like the upcoming NCAA Men's Final Four and the 2016 Women's Final Four out of Indianapolis.
ESPN reporter Keith Olbermann called for not only the NCAA but the NFL, who took quick action after a similar law was passed in Arizona before Super Bowl 49, as well as the NBA to cease doing business in the state. He went on to suggest the NCAA, which is headquartered in Indianapolis, should move their offices if the state chooses not to repeal the law.
Here's the entire segment:
Now, I would like to throw in my two cents on the matter, but before I begin I want people to understand where I'm coming from and understand my mindset (or at least part of it). Now, I grew up as a Christian, in fact I would consider myself Christian to this day. I had a pretty basic Christian upbringing as a child, went to church, attend sunday schools and youth groups, read my bible, etc. Obviously there are certain things were are told from the Bible that we as Christian should try to incorporate it into our everyday lives (don't steal, don't kill, respect your parents,etc.). Now though there are rules that we should live by, one of the biggest things to remember is to love each other or love your neighbor as yourself. Now there is a lot of things going on in the Bible, but love is probably one of the bigger messages that book has to offer. Loving your neighbor as yourself is probably something not only Christian, but pretty much everyone has at least heard about at least once.
Now, I don't want to make this post all about religion, I wanted to just make a point.
My mindset when it comes to topics like homosexuality is that though I was taught that being gay was a sin, I'm still going to treat you with the same respect I would treat anyone else that I know or see on the street. You being different from myself isn't going to change the way I act around you, life is way to short for all that. We all have done wrong or done something that others would agree with, does that mean that makes them less of good person than yourself. I get that people don't agree with that kind of lifestyle and have their own opinions about the matter (which they can have), but don't we all have more important things in our own lives to deal than worrying about how a homosexual chooses to live there lives?
Though it might be too late for the NCAA to move the men's Final Four tournament out of Indy, I think it's best to move the women's tournament as well as any other operations in the near future, and I think other big name organization should follow suit if something isn't changed. Some might say "Oh it's the business has the right to serve whoever they want", but to say I'm not going to serve you because you look a certain way or you don't have the same views as me or because you're different is absolutely ridiculous to me,IT'S FREAKING 2015 FOLKS, GET OVER YOURSELF!!!!
I look at this situation and wonder how this is any different from what African-American went through during the civil rights movement, not being served inside restaurants because of the "law" says the owners didn't legal have to serve them because they didn't like their skin color. How can you say "I'm against racial inequality but if your gay, you need to find somewhere else to go".
What's the difference, your still alienating a specific group of people. How is that "justice for all". This is supposed to be a country that gives equal opportunities to those who put in the work and strive to make something of themselves. If this is the case, my question to Gov. Pence,the state of Indiana and anyone who agrees with this law is what kind of message do you think you're sending to not only the gay community but anyone who is different from you when you pass this bill?
The word "equality" doesn't come to mind.
Posted in basketball, Final Four, Indiana, MLB, NBA, NCAA, NFL, sports
Tags: basketball, blog, Final Four, gay rights, indiana, indianapolils, Keith Olbermann
Has Free Agency Effected Ravens Draft Plans?
The first week of the "new" NFL league year has left the league in turned upside down. This has been one of the more exciting starts to an off-season in quite some time. Teams are trading their star players left and right, players are returning to their previous franchises' and of course millions of dollars are being thrown like monopoly money.
Certain teams have used this off-season to show the rest of the league they are ready to throw everything on the table to win the Lombardi right now (like the Bills, Chiefs and Eagles),while some try to make do with what they have and build towards the future at the moment.
This is something the Baltimore Ravens have been doing for years under General Manager Ozzie Newsome and its been working. This off-season has been no different…
For the Ravens, this off-season has been a little bit smoother than the last year's. The team lost the "original raven" in Ray Lewis to retirement, they traded away the play-off warrior founded in Anquan Boldin, they were coming off an 8-8 record, missed the playoffs for the first time under John Harbaugh, the Ray Rice scandal was all the nation was taking about and it seemed the team, as a whole, took a few step backwards. Of course the move to acquire Steve Smith from the Carolina Panthers really saved what had been a terrible off-season.
This year, things weren't as crazy, but the drama was still pretty present after loss to the Patriots in the divisional round of the playoff. The team thought they were keeping Gary Kubiak as their offensive coordinator, but he pulled the Ol' Baltimore Colts/Mayflower stunt and headed to ELWAYLAND up in Denver (no hard feelings Gary). Then, we realized that we still have a good bit of dead money to deal with after cutting Rice during the season, which meant we had little cap space to make any moves (which was huge) and we might not be able to keep, possible any of the unrestricted free agents that were going to hit the market. Then, POOF…it's March, and free agency is quickly approaching and a lot of money i needed, well that normal means cuts (i.e. Jacoby Jones,Terrance Cody and Chris Canty). Then we lose Torrey Smith to the 49ers (blow to the wide receiving core), then Pernell McPhee to the Bears (blow to the linebackers),then Owen Daniels to the Broncos (blow to an already weaken TE core), then as soon as the Free Agency doors open up…BOOM, Haloti Ngata is traded away to the Detroit Lions (huge blow to the D-Line and the defense altogether).
Obviously, something need to be done to make space for the team's need and with some of those guys gone means there's money to be spent:
RB Justin Forsett (Three year deal/ $9 million)
S Kendrick Lewis (Three year deal)
CB Anthony Levine (Two year deal/ $2.2 million)
But that Ngata trade still kinda stings, but Ozzie knows what he is doing.
But, even with guys like NT Brandon Williams and DT Timmy Jernigan being very capable replacements for Ngata, they can't truly replace a player like that, he is a one of a kind, though he was declining due to age and injury, we saw how much of an impact he was during the playoffs after being suspended for four games. Now fans want to know what the priority is now heading into the draft. Is the secondary still number (ranked 31st against the pass in 2014), is replacing Torrey Smith for a bigger wideout our biggest concern or is replacing that big hole left by Ngata now more important than anything else?
Let's not forget, there are still plenty of qualified free agents out there right now to help replace some of the needs the Ravens now have (and the list keeps piling up), but how much money is Ozzie planning to use?
I don't have the answers to a lot of these questions, it seems the mock draft for us keeps bouncing around from WR being our top concern to DL to DB. All I can say is IN OZZIE WE TRUST!
Posted in Free Agency, NFL, Ozzie Newsome, Ravens, sports
Tags: blog, Chip Kelly, football, free agencies, gary kubiak, nfl, ozzie newsome, Ravens, Ray Rice, sports
NFL Free Agency: Day 2
Well, now that dust has settled, it's time for a Day 2 recap of the NFL carousel known as free agency.
Let's start with the Philadelphia Eagles, shall we…
Well, it started off with head coach Chip Kelly breaking down what the organization's free agency moves up to this point. Everything from why he traded his best RB in LeSean McCoy, to all the release of some of his star players, to the Nick Foles/Sam Bradford trade. But of course, everyone really wanted to know if Kelly would take a chance at acquiring Oregon QB Marcus Mariota in this year's draft. Obviously, everyone, including Kelly, believe the Mariota is possible the best QB in the draft, and placing a player like him in Kelly's offense would spell trouble for the NFC East teams and pretty much the rest of the league. But, for now, Kelly has other plans in mind stating, ". I think Marcus is a the best QB in the draft, but we'll never mortgage our future." So, it looks like, for now, Bradford will probably be the starter come September for the team, but that Kelly did mention he was offered a 1st round pick for Bradford, so never say never.
Moving on, news broke that former Charger Ryan Mathews would agree to a $11.5 million deal with the Eagles, which indicated he would be the starter next season. But, the this broke…
Filed to ESPN: DeMarco Murray, en route now to Philly, is expected to sign with Eagles, per source.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 12, 2015
Murray ended up signing a five-year deal, worth $42 million deal with $21 million guaranteed. For most people, would think, well Mathews needs to start packing his things because it's apparent who the team wants as their franchise RB…and it ain't you. But,Kelly decided to move ahead with the deal, however, which pairs Mathews with last year's rushing champion, which raises the question as to "what the heck is he going to do?" He won't keep both RB on the squad, would he or is there a bigger plan in the works?
Then, the dismemberment of the New England Patriot's secondary was completed when CB Brandon Browner decided to head to "The Bayou", signing with the Saints with a three-year deal ,worth $15 million, including $10 million guaranteed. The physical play of Browner upgrades the Saints secondary, which was ranked at the bottom of league last season. But, as if thing couldn't get worst for the Pats with both Browner leaving for the Saints and Revis leaving for New York, the Jets made a move that would make New England's run for their fifth Super Bowl one of the hardest it's been in a while. The Jets signed Antonio Cromartie to a four-year deal, worth $32 million, reuniting him with the New York and Revis, recreating the "Batman and Robin" duo that scared offensive from 2010 to 2012.
Their were a few other big name signings (J.Forsett re-signed with BAL, B.Orakpo signed with TEN, A.Johnson signed with IND, J.Cameron signed with MIA), but after the Murray signing, it was a pretty quiet day (compared to Day 1). Now tat most of the big name guys are off the board, the following days should be pretty normal for NF/l fans.
Posted in Cowboys, Eagles, football, Free Agency, NFL
Tags: Chip Kelly, Darrelle Revis, DeMarco Murray, Eagles, football, free agencies, nfl, Oregon Ducks, Ryan Mathews
Um….What the heck just happened?
The NFL world was moving along all fine and dandy , then 4 o'clock comes around and…BOOM, the entire league blows up.
As of 4 p.m. Eastern Standard time Tuesday afternoon, the "new year" of the National Football League began, and boy did it kick off with a bang. As soon as the gates opened, we hear Saints TE Jimmy Graham, yes the same Jimmy Graham who has been one of the biggest pieces of the Saints offense, is traded away to the Seattle Seahawks (BOOM!) Then,maybe two minutes later, Ravens DT Haloti Ngata is traded away to the Lions (I'm a little salty about it), but the even bigger trade was Eagles QB Nick Foles for Rams QB Sam Bradford.
Now things get interesting….
Obviously, Foles wasn't the long-term solution for the Eagles (or maybe wasn't the long-term solution for Chip Kelly), but I don't think Bradford is the answer either. It's apparent Philly is trying to make some major moves, possible a big push for a certain QB from the Oregon?
You had former 1st round picks retire, some believe way too early. Jake Locker, age 26, never really got anything going in Tennessee, and figured he would call it a career with his head held high. Patrick Willis, age 30, has been banged up for a few season, but when he was healthy, had a decent career with the San Francisco 49ers, and at one point was consider the best inside linebacker in the game for a few year (this was while Ray Lewis was still in his prime btw). One is no doubt going into the Hall of Fame someday, while the other will be just be remembered as a bust (just like all the other QBs of that 2011 NFL Draft).
Then there's Revis…
As the first day of free agencies came to a close, the New York Jets signed Darrelle Revis with a five-year deal, worth $70 million. The signing reunites the All-Pro corner with the ball club which he was with from 2007 to 2012.
Now that Day 1 is over, what does the aftermath look like?Who are the winners?
There's plenty of top name guys out there for teams to shop around for, but the clear winner of the day, to me, our the Seattle Seahawks. This team is making it clear that they are trying to win NOW! Remember, they were a yard short from being back-to-back champs, but if they had to rewind that pass play and plug-in Jimmy Graham into that play, we might be talking about how Tom Brady lost three straight Super Bowls.
I also think the teams of the AFC East (besides the Pats) are winning this offseason at this point. With both Revis and Brandon Browner leaving the team, that Patriot secondary looks bare again. The Dolphins and Jets both get an upgrade with Suh ad Revis, respectfully. But, those Buffalo Bills pose the biggest threat to the division crown at this point. Give this team a decent QB and we're look at an AFC team having to go up to Buffalo come January.
Oh, the story-lines are getting exciting and folks it's only Day 1!!!!
Posted in Free Agency, NFL
Tags: Chip Kelly, Darrelle Revis, free agencies, Jimmy Graham, nfl, Nick Foles, Sam Bradford
The McCoy Trade:Who's the winner, Eagles or Bills?
…Well, I didn't see that one coming at all, and I guess neither did LeSean McCoy.
The Philadelphia Eagles reportedly traded the star running back to the Buffalo Bills for linebacker Kiko Alonso, a former Oregon Duck during the Chip Kelly era. Now, the trade won't be finalized until Tuesday, March 10, when the new league year begins, but one thing that's for sure are the multiple pissed Eagles fans and the grateful Bills fans that are beginning to come forward. Former teammates Trent Cole, Todd Herremans and a few other players around the league took to Twitter to voice their thoughts on the trade:
No respect!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Caption that!
— Trent Cole (@Pro_Hunt58) March 4, 2015
pic.twitter.com/5852cG4Kem
— Mr. Herremans (@toddherremans) March 4, 2015
The Eagles won't miss Shady McCoy at all… not like he's one of the best running backs in the league or anything.
— Donté Stallworth (@DonteStallworth) March 4, 2015
The Philadelphia Ducks huh. lol
— Patrick Peterson (@RealPeterson21) March 3, 2015
Needless to say, they were all pretty surprised. But, the question now is why? Why make this type of trade when McCoy is still technically in his prime? Why wasn't anyone aware that something like this was going to happen (kinda of a smack to the face if you're an Eagles fan)? And was it just the players traded away or did someone have to give up something else (draft picks!!!)
Maybe the biggest question of them all: Who wins in the long run?
Some may say the Eagles won it all (crazy right?). McCoy had a relatively quiet 2014 season, he finished with 1,319 rushing yards on 312 carries and 155 receiving yards on a career-low 28 receptions while scoring only five rushing touchdowns. Some believed that he since Chip Kelly came to town he really had no big role in his schemes, plus since he turning 27 (usually the ripping age for RB) he was flexible to give away by the club and could find someone else to replace him for the long-term.
Some say it was the Buffalo Bills (and I would agree with them). The Bills went 9-7 last season with a bad QB situation (though Kyle Orton did pretty good down the stretch), a star-in-the-making at WR,a decent defensive unit and still just missed the playoffs. Giving an elite player like McCoy to that team spells trouble for all the teams in the AFC East, especially the Pats. Shady is going to be playing with a huge chip on his shoulder this season as well, his mind-set has to be to go out their and show the world he is still the one of the top running backs in the game and has plenty left in the tank to make a run. I'm telling it's going to be scary to watch him play if he does what he's saying he will do, there is no doubt this team will closing in on a playoff spot, heck if this team is a good QB away from giving the Pats a good fight for that division crown (of course there's also the Dolphins who just signed Ndamukong Suh for $114 Million/6 yrs.).
We'll have to see who really is the winner during the season next year, McCoy has a lot to prove, but so does Kiko Alonso, coming off his second ACL injury had a great rookie campaign but is still young and unproven in the league. It could turn out to be a win for the Eagles in the long ru of things but if they were look to win a Super Bowl right now, this may be the worst move to make at this point.
#WoW (WordsofWoodroffe)
Posted in Bills, Eagles, football, NFL
Tags: Bills, Chip Kelly, Eagles, football, Kiko Alonso, LeSean McCoy, nfl, Oregon Ducks
What Should Happen with Peterson?
I guess the NFL are trying their hardest to make a point with this Adrian Peterson case. The question is, what is it?
On Thursday, a federal judge originaled ruled in favor of Peterson, overturning his suspension that has sidelined him for the majority of the 2014 season and possible all of the offseason. That victory was cut short when the NFL placed Peterson back onto the Commissioner's Exempt List, while the league attempts to appeal the court's ruling.
During his time on the exempt list, Peterson is still somewhat suspended, but it's more like on paid leave, which is an upgrade to what he was dealing with over the last five months. But, if Roger Goodell reinstate him for the 2015 season, is the former league MVP planning to return to the Minnesota Vikings, some believe not likely.
Though the team's front office has said that they would welcome him back whenever he is able to rejoin, it seem that Peterson has a bitter taste in his mouth left by the Vikings' organization. Peterson felt as though the organization gave no support towards him during his time in court and NFL limbo, he and his agent feel as though it time for a change of scenery. Peterson had hope to push his reinstatement up to March 10, the start of the new league year, which could be telling the Vikings that he is pushing for a trade, but with 3 years left on his current contract and the date for reinstatement is still set for April 15, the running back might have to suit up or sit out.
But, if Peterson does get reinstated by the start of the new year where would he end up? The 29-year-old has played in basically a year, though was coming off one of the best performance a running back could have in a year. The question is how much is left in the tank, can he still take the workload and the beating from the league after taking a year off? Is a team like Dallas really willing to trade to pick up a player like him at his age or should they just resign Murray? The sooner Peterson gets back in the league, the more interesting things will be in the NFL.
My question is, does he deserve to come back?
Posted in football, NFL
Tags: adrian peterson, football, nfl, suspension, vikings
It's official: Flacco is Elite!!!
Kubiak believes Flacco is elite, one of the best players he every coached. Photo credit: zimbio.com
I think we can all say that Joe Flacco is pretty much an above-average quarterback, and is obvious the best QB Baltimore has had since the late, great Johnny Unitas laced up his cleats in ol' Memorial Stadium.
But, can we slate Flacco as an elite in the league yet? Gary Kubiak thinks so.
This past Wednesday at the NFL scouting combine, the former offensive coordinator for the Ravens was asked that 3-year-old question…"Is Joe Flacco an elite QB?"
He's response: "You bet he is"
Well, if he says he is I guess it has to be true, right? I mean the guy was just his coordinator like a week ago, he spent the entire year with him, following him around, grabbing lunch, showing photos of their kids…oh and playing football I guess. And yes, Flacco's numbers were probably the best they have ever been during his time in the league, it was clear to see this season, it was "Good Joe"/"Bad Joe" every week (Thank God!) But, does he measure up to a Manning, a Brady, a Rodgers, a Brees or even a Roethlisberger?
I think it's WAY too early to welcome him into that prestigious club right now, but the resume' he has to offer has him knock at the door. He has beaten most of the guys on the "elite" list when it counts the most, the playoffs. He has knocked off Manning, he's knocked of Ben and it's pretty much a boxing match every time he plays against Brady, in Foxborough. He's numbers would say he's pretty average. He has never broken the 4,000 yard mark in a regular season, has never been selected to a Pro Bowl and can still have some pretty terrible games in a season that makes you question how he got into the league (cough* Houston cough*)
So he's got a lot of work to do but you have to think he's knocking at the door, the run he had in the 2012 playoffs is simple LEGEN *wait for it* DARY!, and if you consider Philip Rivers, Jay Cutler, Andrew Luck and Tony Romo elite-like QB, you can't tell me Flacco isn't on deck or at least above these guys on the list. (I mean most of those guys are one-and-done type
QBs in the playoffs). Let's see what he does this season, he does what he did in 2012 without the locker room figures of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed, makes the playoffs and the Ravens win the Super Bowl on his back, you have to consider him, whether he has the numbers or not. PERIOD.
Posted in football, NFL, Ravens, sports
Tags: Broncos, football, gary kubiak, joe flacco, nfl, Ravens
Even The Greats Need Help Sometimes…
I was having a conversation a little while at dinner with a few of my friends about the Chicago Bulls' championship teams back in the 90's with Jordan and company. We all agreed that obviously MJ is one of the greatest, and possible the greatest to every play the game, but one of my friends felt that his legacy was tainted because he had the help of guys like Pippen, Cartwright, Grant, Kerr and Rodman. And that was the comment that ended our friendship (kidding! No, but really)
Yes, Jordan was surrounded by decent players, he and Pippen were basically the Batman and Robin duo of the early 90's. But , just because the guy got an extra hand to get over that hump doesn't diminish the fact that he is one of the best. Jordan made himself a household name way before those guys were around, heck during his rookie season in 1986 he put up 63 points during a playoff game against Larry Bird and the Boston Celtics in Boston (where they were 40-1 that season) and still ended up losing and ultimately getting swept.
His example and plenty others just prove one thing: Even the greatest need help sometimes too!
Think about any great, elite-type players in any team sport (Football, Basketball, Baseball, etc.). Now think about if they won a championship or not. Now think about the team and the players that surrounded them, would they have won that championship without those guys.
Take Peyton for instance, think about all those record-setting teams he played for all those offensive weapons he had whether it was Harrison, Wayne, Clark, Thomas or even Welker. There were years where those certain teams were locks to take home the Lombardi, and yet they would always come up short.
Except for one season:2006, the same year that majority of the Colts defense seemed to be at full strength heading into the playoffs. That year, Manning walked away with a championship, what was the difference? Out of those years (including right now while he's in Denver) he had solid players on both sides of the ball.You give a decent QB a good offense and an ok defense your promised a few games for that season, you gie an elite QB like Manning that same offense and same defense he will at least get you to the big game.
Great players need help around, they can't do on their own, ask Brady and all those records he broke back in 2007, he went 18-0 and still walked away a loser that season. Why? Because his defense was exposed to be not a that great.
Still don't agree with me, ok. What about LeBron? Isn't the whole reason people hate him so much is because he left his hometown, his home team and pretty much wasted an hour of everyone's day with that "I'm taking my talents to South Beach special". What was his reasoning for leaving? Did you look at the roster he had to work compared the to Miami Heat roster with Pat Riley down there finding decent player left and right? Who would you want Sasha Pavlovic or Dwayne Wade, Drew Gooden or Chris Bosh? Don't worry, I'll wait.
Yeah he could have done a better job getting down there, but it's easy to say because James had the guys around him he didn't always had to be "Superman" or the hero to make to the dance, but even then it seemed as though the pieces around him helped elevate his game higher than it was by himself in Cleveland. Think the same can be said about Kobe and the Lakers when they required Shaq (though he did win two more after the two spilt), you can say the same for Isiah Thomas and the "Bad Boy" Piston of the late 80's, Montana or Young and all that talent that surrounded them during their years in San Francisco.
The point I trying to make is that the whole idea of there is no "I" in team is apparent in team sports, you can be the biggest, baddest player that ever was, you might be able to win yourself a few games, set some records and make a brand for yourself. But, I have yet to see the day that one player won a championship all by himself (Kobe is trying is hardest to do it in LA, but it's time for him to call it a career on his own terms before it's too late).
Posted in MLB, NBA, NFL, sports
Tags: baseball, basketball, football, Kobe, Lebron James, Michael Jordan, Peyton Manning, Shaq
Check out My Instagram
Archives Select Month January 2016 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
iPhone 5S Release Said To Be In September Alongside iPhone Lite
By Shawn Sanders
Jul 24, 2013 01:08 EDT
It has nearly been an year since Apple released the iPhone 5. While it has performed superbly in the market, a lot has changed over the past year. Samsung has increased its dominance over the global smartphone market, in fact in many markets it is outselling the iPhone. Naturally Apple has a tough time on its hands, and it must release a new iPhone that is capable of withstanding the onslaught of Android powered devices, not only from Samsung, but from the likes of HTC, Motorola and LG. According to latest reports, the next generation iPhone, better known as iPhone 5S, is on track to be launched in September alongside the much rumored low cost iPhone a.k.a iPhone Lite.
We have seen a lot of rumors pertaining to iPhone 5S release, but as yet Apple has not confirmed when exactly iPhone 5S release is taking place. We can't expect it to do so before it starts sending out invites to the media for the actual unveiling event. It is now widely believed that iPhone 5S will be released in September. Many reports suggest that due to production issues, it is possible that the launch may be pushed in to October. So there's no correct way to ascertain right now how long it would take after the unveiling for iPhone 5S release in the market.
As far as the low cost iPhone is concerned, Apple has reportedly developed this device to get a footing in the mid-range smartphone market. The fact that the company's previous generation iPhones such as the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4 account for nearly 50 percent of all iPhone sales, is enough to make the company believe that there's a mid segment waiting to be exploit through a budget iPhone.
The low cost iPhone is said to be similar to iPhone 5. However it won't use expensive materials such as glass and aluminium. Instead it is said to have a plastic casing that will not only make it lighter, but will also make it cheaper thus allowing Apple to aggressively price it. Both smartphones are expected to be unveiled together at an event this September.
Buy An iPhone 5S For As Cheap As $99 – iPhone 5S And 5 See Price Cuts Ahead Of September iPhone 6 Launch
Ramish Zafar • Jul 5, 2014
LG G3 Vs Samsung Galaxy S5 Vs Apple iPhone 5S Vs Sony Xperia Z2 Vs HTC One – Display And Screen Comparison
Lumia 1020 Xperia Z1 Camera Comparison – With LG G2, Nexus 5, iPhone 5s, HTC One And Note 3
Sohaib Ahmad • Nov 21, 2013
Apple iPhone 5S Revealed at iPhone Event – iPhone 5s Features, Specs and Details
Usman Pirzada • Sep 10, 2013
How to Watch Apple Event Online – Follow these Blogs!
Rafia Shaikh • Sep 10, 2013
ASRock's Flagship Z690 Aqua OC Motherboard Joins The Thousand-Dollar Club, Costs $1399 US


Listed by Citiwide Properties Corp.
This home is ready and waiting for its new buyer! Fresh paint and flooring welcome you to your spacious open 4 bedroom home. The home is light and bright and at 2273 square feet feels even larger! The kitchen has granite and some stainless appliances and is open to the family room and nook. The large study offers options for a flex room depending on your needs! Come see this lovely home today!


text:
Week In Geek- Jessica Jones Returns, Star Wars Rebels Says Good-Bye, & Time Gets Wrinkled
Geeklings, it's Monday which can only mean one thing. A brand-spankin' new Week In Geek and this week we're a little more motivated. If you recall last week I gave a less than motivated edition of the WIG and it kind of wore on me. The Week In Geek is the one re-occurring column that we have here at I Am Geek and deserves to be treated with a little more respect. The thing was, I had just written a Walking Dead review for Fan Fest and was pressed for time and thought capacity. So I rushed it. Better to get something out than nothing at all.
We don't have to worry about that this week though. There was no Walking Dead review for me to write as the site gets pressers in order to get reviews up a little quicker (womp womp) which means all my focus can be here with my Geeklings.
Now, without further ado let's break down this week.
1. Jessica Jones season 2- I don't know about you guys but I have been patiently waiting for the arrival of March 8th ever since The Defenders wrapped. I made no secret in saying that I thought Jessica was the star of that series and her stand-alone series is some of the best Marvel Netflix work to date. Somewhere between the release of season one and the upcoming premiere of season two Jessica Jones became one of my favorite comic book characters. It didn't happen all at once more like a slow and calculated pace, but I really grew to love this character and her stories. At this point, I've read all of Brian Michael Bendis's Jessica Jones Alias books (which I can't suggest enough) and I'm up to date to her current Marvel run. There's just something about Jessica Jones that draws you in. Perhaps it's the tough guy exterior with the internal want for acceptance. Maybe it's how strong the character is despite how much she's been through. Maybe it's because she's different than any other Marvel character. Maybe it's because she curses and drinks. I don't know. All I do know is that I can't get enough of her stories so the arrival of season two is just in time in my eyes. This season looks to build off her victory in season one as well as her work with the Defenders, as Jessica looks for answers to her origin and finding a bit of peace for herself. The fact that the season drops on International Women's Day is no accident. I believe each episode is directed by a woman too which is extra awesome. Like I said, March 8th can't get here soon enough.
2. Star Wars Rebels series finale- Sadly tonight we bid farewell to Star Wars Rebels. I'm pretty bummed out about this to be honest as I've grown to really love this show. I don't think the Star Wars animation department gets enough credit for how awesome it is. Think back to the Clone Wars, a show that not only expanded the prequel universe but delivered better characterization on Anakin than the prequels ever could. Not to mention introducing the world to fan favorite Jedi apprentice, Ahsoka Tano (Anikan's padawan… yes he had one). Rebels took everything that was excellent about the Clone Wars and made it better, introducing us to a new set of characters who were instrumental in the formation of the Rebellion. We learned if there were other Jedi after Order 66 and what happened to some members of the Clone Army. Grand Admiral Thrawn was officially brought into cannon to the delight of the fans of the EU, Ashoka went face to face with Darth Vader to the delight of all fans, and we caught a glimpse of Obi-Wan on Tattoonie as he watched over Luke. The importance of Rebels to the Star Wars universe cannot be denied, they are catalysts in the grey Jedi discussions, and the finale tonight is sure to be a tear jerker. I'm still a bit behind which means I won't be watching tonight, but to those of you who are, I hope you get the conclusion that you're looking for. Me personally, I'd love to catch a glimpse of Rogue One and maybe get some closure on Ahsoka's story. Mostly I want to know that maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to see some of these characters again in a galaxy far, far away.
3. A Wrinkle In Time- It's only March but it feels like we've already had some big movies released this year. We cannot deny the freight train that is Black Panther (#WakandaForever), and now on its heels comes A Wrinkle In Time. Wrinkle is based on the beloved children's novel, which I can't remember if I've read or not, and stars none other than the Oprah. Granted, there's a bigger cast (including Mindy Kaling of The Office fame and Resse Weatherspoon of just fame fame) but everyone is going to be focused on Oprah. Based on the trailers this movie looks to be all types of visually stunning and maybe the first movie that can dethrone Black Panther from being Box Office champion. Maybe… Wakanda has some legit staying power. Here's hoping that A Wrinkle In Time dazzles audiences the way the trailers have dazzled my eyeholes.
4. Avengers Infinity War date change- We're officially getting Avengers Infinity War sooner than expected and I think we have Robert Downey Junior to thank for that (at least for the purpose of these Tweets). Bring on April 27th!
There you have it Geeklings, the best of this upcoming week. What are you guys looking forward to the most? Sound off in the comments below or hit me up on Twitter @iamgeek32. There's lots to be excited about. Let's geek out together.
Kevin Carey March 5, 2018 March 5, 2018 #wakandaforever, @iamgeek32, A galaxy far far away, A Wrinkle In Time, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Animation, April 27th, Avengers, Avengers 3, Avengers Infinity War, Black Panther, Book, Box Office, Brian Michael Bendis, Cartoon, children's novel, Clone Army, Darth Vader, EU, Fan Fest, Geeklings, Grand Admiral Thrawn, I Am Geek, Infinity War, International Women's Day, Jedi, Jessica Jones, Jessica Jones Alias, Jessica Jones season 2, Krysten Ritter, Luke Skywalker, March, March 8th, Marvel, Marvel Comics, Marvel Netflix, Marvel Studios, Mind Kaling, Netflix, Obi Wan, Oprah, Order 66, padawan, Prequels, RDJ, Rebellion, Rebels, Resse Weatherspoon, Robert Downey Junior, Rogue One, Star Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Story, Tattoonie, The Clone Wars, The Defenders, The Office, The Walking Dead, Twitter, Wakanda, Wakanda Forever, Walking Dead, Week In Geek
Previous Previous post: Kevin & The Tale of the Slight Inconvience Obtaining Sze Chuan Sauce
Next Next post: What If Superheroes Were Like Sports


text:
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen disembark the plane upon his arrival at Amman military airport, Jordan, Saturday, Jan 20, 2018. This is the second leg of his Middle East tour that will include Israel. (AP Photo/Raad Adayleh)
The Latest: VP to troops: 'You deserve better' than shutdown
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on the government shutdown (all times local):
Vice President Mike Pence is blasting Congress for playing politics with military pay by failing to keep the government open.
Pence told U.S. soldiers stationed near the Syrian border on Sunday: "You deserve better." He says the soldiers and their families "shouldn't have to worry about getting paid."
Pence spoke to troops in the Middle East as Democrats and Republicans in Congress show few signs of progress on negotiations to end the government shutdown.
The vice president says President Donald Trump's administration will will not reopen negotiations "on illegal immigration" until Congress reopens the government and until soldiers and their families receive "the benefits and wages you've earned."
Uniformed service members and law enforcement officers are among the essential government employees who will be working without pay until the federal government reopens.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul is calling the shutdown blame game "ridiculous on both sides."
The senator from Kentucky said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union": "It's gamesmanship and it's partisanship."
Paul was among a handful of Republicans who voted with most Democrats against the House bill to keep the government open. He says he's opposed to short-term fiscal bills.
Paul called on Republican leadership in both chambers of Congress to commit to a week of debate and a vote on immigration legislation in the next month, to win over Democratic votes to reopen the government.
But Democrats are insisting that long-term funding legislation include protections for roughly 700,000 young immigrants brought illegally to the U.S. as children — not just a vote on their status.
President Donald Trump says if the government shutdown drags on, Republicans should consider changing the rules in the Senate to make it easier to pass legislation without votes from Democrats.
But Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois says that would mean the end of the Senate as the Founding Fathers envisioned it.
The shutdown is now in its second day. Lawmakers are set to return to work on Capitol Hill later Sunday but there's no sign of a possible deal.
The Republican president is floating the idea of doing away with the 60-vote threshold to advance legislation and deny the minority party the chance to stall.
Senate Republicans now hold a 51-49 edge.
Durbin tells ABC's "This Week" that "we have to acknowledge a respect for the minority."
White House budget director Mick Mulvaney is defending himself from charges of hypocrisy in his attacks on Democrats over the government shutdown, given his own role at the center of the last fiscal clash in 2013.
Mulvaney said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union: "Everything that was in the bill Democrats support and have voted for previously." He says, "This is pure politics."
Mulvaney was a conservative member of the House in 2013 when a showdown over "Obamacare" funding led to the last shutdown.
Mulvaney reiterated Sunday that the administration won't negotiate with Democrats on immigration or a longer-term spending bill until they vote to reopen the government.
He says, "They need to open the government tonight or tomorrow and then we can start talking."
Feuding Democrats and Republicans in Congress are trying to dodge blame for a paralyzing standoff over immigration and showing few signs of progress on negotiations needed to end a government shutdown.
The finger-pointing played out in both the House and Senate, where lawmakers were eager to show voters they were actively working for a solution — or at least actively making the case the other party was at fault. The scene highlighted political stakes for both parties in an election-year shutdown.
Democrats refused to provide votes needed to reopen government until they strike a deal with President Donald Trump protecting young immigrants from deportation, providing disaster relief and boosting spending for opioid treatment and other domestic programs.
The Senate planned a vote by early Monday on a spending extension.
National budgets
Government budgets
National governments
European mass migration crisis


ShopBack, the top Cashback platform in Malaysia and Southeast Asia, forecasts the number of online Cashback users in the country to reach one million by year-end, tailing closely after its counterpart in Indonesia and same time maintaining ahead of Singapore.
Alvin Gill, Country General Manager of ShopBack Malaysia said that compared to one year ago, there's a 260% increase in local user base (over 280,000 users in July 2016 versus over 750,000 users in July 2017), and shared that one million Malaysian users will be achieved soon given the rise of demand, convenient services brought by new online merchants, as well as supporting moves by government such as legalising ride-hailing services in Malaysia.
"On-demand delivery services have become pretty well received over the past year as it saves users time and petrol expenses from going back and forth for daily purchase. Who knows if Amazon Prime Now may make its way to Malaysia in the future?" Alvin expressed.
He also said that merchants' offerings are getting versatile. Coupled with government's support towards digital companies such as passing the bill for Grab and Uber (both are our partner merchants on ShopBack app) in the country, ShopBack is very optimistic about the future of digital economy here. The coming months will see ShopBack bringing higher Cashback and other smart services to propel the growth in Malaysia.
Some of the merchants that ShopBack recently partnered includes Eatigo, an emerging food promotion and reservation platform, HungryGoWhere, a popular food review site which has expanded into dining deals and table booking offers, Love-Bonito, a stylish fashion e-retailer and the first joiner in August (Aug 2nd onwards) is Uniqlo, the famous Japanese casual wear fashion brand.


text:
The Gospel Herald | Greg Laurie Shares the Bible Verse Every Christian Should Pray Over America
Greg Laurie, senior pastor at Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California, has revealed the "one prayer" every Christian should pray over America is that there will be a spiritual awakening.
"We should all be praying that God sends a great spiritual awakening," Laurie told The Gospel Herald in an exclusive interview. "We need to pray 2nd Chronicles 7:14 over our nation: 'If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.'"
He reiterated, "We all need to be pray in America for a spiritual awakening, because we desperately need one right now."
In a separate interview with The Christian Post, Laurie warned morally, that America isn't quite as far gone as Europe – but is well on its way.
"Europe has become so concerned with political correctness and has moved to what is often described as a 'post-Christian' state, where church attendance is at an all-time low. I think if the people of the U.K. and Europe in general would turn to God, they would find strength and truth that would help them in the battle against terrorism and their cultures in general."
"So, I think they are further down the road than we are. I hope we don't go down that road because America is great because America has been good, as it has been said. But, really that goodness is a result of our faith," Laurie continued. "I think if we stay close to that faith, not just faith in any god, but faith in God of the Bible, we will be stronger for it. The more we stray from that faith, the weaker that we'll become. The Bible says, 'Righteousness exalts a nation and sin is a reproach to the people.'"
Earlier this week, Laurie announced that his Harvest Christian Fellowship has officially joined the Southern Baptist Convention, the nation's largest denomination of churches, in an effort to "do everything possible to prepare the ground for" revival.
"I know the effect of the revival we seek firsthand because I came to Christ during the last great American revival, often referred to as the 'Jesus Movement,'" Laurie wrote in a blog post. "That revival emanated primarily from Calvary Chapel in Southern California, and I learned to preach the gospel and to teach God's Word myself within the Calvary Chapel movement under the example of Pastor Chuck Smith. Since that time, I've invested my life in the Calvary fellowship of churches while working with countless Christians from nearly every other denomination. I'll continue to do just that, and I also look forward to continuing to build bridges between our communities. It has also been my privilege to be friends with evangelist Billy Graham (himself a Southern Baptist) for many years, and from him I learned how to preach the gospel.
"I believe that the time is right to reach across the church and to lock hands in total support of the rapid advance of the gospel in our nation and in our world. I believe this decision is a powerful step in that direction. I appreciate the SBC's focus on evangelism as well as their outreach in missions and relief ministries that touch our world every day in a significant way."
Read more at Greg Laurie Shares the Bible Verse Every Christian Should Pray Over America.