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Archive for the 'Race Weekend' Category
How the British GP will unfold
Posted in Race Weekend, tagged British Grand Prix, F1 News on June 20, 2009| 7 Comments »
The fuel weights have been published for the British Grand Prix and Sebastian Vettel is in even better shape than he looked after qualifying. The Red Bull has taken a huge step forward this weekend and Vettel took the pole with four laps more fuel in the car than Rubens Barrichello's Brawn. Vettel will stop on lap 23.
For once the luck was with him too, because his Red Bull team mate Mark Webber had set the fastest time after the first runs in qualifying, but hit traffic on his decisive lap in the form of Kimi Raikkonen, so the threat from him was neutralised.
Red Bull had two equally matched cars and drivers so they had to give one an advantage in qualifying and the other an advantage in the race. They have told the drivers that there are no orders at this stage, they are free to race. Webber was given the qualifying advantage by running three laps less fuel than Vettel, but he wasn't able to convert that into his first F1 pole. This surely was his best chance of making that breakthrough, so no wonder he as so annoyed with Raikkonen.
Meanwhile Vettel's main rival, Jenson Button suffered badly from not being able to get his tyres warmed up. Barrichello is more aggressive on the tyres and this hurts him relative to Button in the race (as we saw in Monaco) but is an advantage on cold days like today. Meanwhile it is clear that the Red Bull is able to warm its tyres up very quickly. We will see what that does to their longevity in the race tomorrow,
Vettel is in a position to dominate the race, from pole. The main areas of interest will whether Webber can get past Barrichello. He should do, he has the crucial extra lap advantage on the first stint which means if he is behind on the first stint, he can take on more fuel to leap Barrichello at the second round of stops. Button will be aiming for a podium, but might have to settle for fourth place, while the battle for points between Trulli, Nakajima and Rosberg, Glock and Raikkonen will be interesting. Nakajima looks the most vulnerable with only 17 laps of fuel in the car.
Pos Driver Weight (kg)
4. Jarno Trulli 658.0 Lap 19/20
5. Kazuki Nakajima 652.5 Lap 17
6. Jenson Button 657.5 Lap 19
7. Nico Rosberg 661.5 Lap 21
8. Timo Glock 660.0 Lap 21
10. Fernando Alonso 654.0 Lap 18
11. Felipe Massa 675.0 * Lap 27
12. Robert Kubica 689.5 * Lap 33
13. Heikki Kovalainen 695.5 * Lap 35
14. Nelson Piquet 682.5 * Lap 30
15. Nick Heidfeld 665.5 * Lap 23
16. Giancarlo Fisichella 668.0 * Lap 24
17. Sebastien Bourdais 687.5 * Lap 32
18. Adrian Sutil 692.0 * Lap 34
19. Lewis Hamilton 666.0 * Lap 23
20. Sebastien Buemi 672.5 * Lap 26
Vettel pole hints at turning point
Posted in Race Weekend, tagged F1 News, Sebastian Vettel, Silverstone on June 20, 2009| 26 Comments »
Sebastian Vettel took his third pole position of the 2009 season today with a stunning lap on his final qualifying run at Silverstone.
He and Red Bull team mate Mark Webber had been trading fastest laps all weekend, indicating that the Red Bull is now clearly the fastest car in F1. What is impressive about the latest round of developments on this car is that it is now clearly faster in the high speed corners, but also in the low speed corners, like the complex here in Silverstone.
Brawn did a good job in Turkey of improving their car in high speed corners, but here they have not been able to compete with the Red Bulls in that area.
Team insiders believe that this could be a turning point of the season, albeit tempered by the fact that Jenson Button enjoys a huge advantage over Vettel of 32 points.
Nevertheless some of them feel that Red Bull is now around half a second per lap faster than the Brawn, possibly the biggest margin between the fastest and second fastest car we have seen all year. Red Bull could be in for a second half of the season like Brawn's first half. If Jenson were to suffer a DNF at any stage, it could turn it from a formality into a sporting competition.
Toyota were quick in the qualifying session today, with Jarno Trulli trading times with the Williams of Nakajima and Rosberg.
Nakajima had one of his best days in an F1 car today, with 5th fastest time ahead of Rosberg. He was fastest in Q1, although no-one really noticed because of Adrian Sutil's accident which caused the red flags.
British fans at Silverstone were left disappointed with Button in 6th place and Lewis Hamilton a career worst 19th on the grid. The McLaren looked very unstable in the fast corners here and Lewis, as last year, was not able to match team mate Kovalainen in qualifying.
Adrian Sutil is fine and has been released from the hospital after a heavy accident, caused by a brake failure.
Meanwhile Bernie Ecclestone has said that Silverstone could well still be the home of the race next season if Donington is not ready in time. It makes sense for him to speak on this now because it will play well with the fans, who are feeling bruised by the breakaway talk this week and also because any venue needs to be able to start selling tickets in the week following a race. Amazingly that is when a great deal of the sales are made. It will also keep Silverstone on side and less likely to side with an FOTA breakaway, if it gets that far.
Ecclestone is also reported to have suggested that he is working on brokering a solution ot the breakaway crisis, proposing that the budget cap be dropped completely if the teams sign up until 2014. He told reporters, "I say, provided they commit for at least five years, they can spend what they like."
More will no doubt come out on this later.
FIA prime the lawyers, legal fight begins
Posted in Race Weekend, tagged F1 breakaway, F1 News on June 19, 2009| 94 Comments »
The row between the FIA and FOTA entered a new phase this afternoon as the FIA put out a statement saying that they were preparing legal action,
"The FIA's lawyers have now examined the FOTA threat to begin a breakaway series. The actions of FOTA as a whole, and Ferrari in particular, amount to serious violations of law including wilful interference with contractual relations, direct breaches of Ferrari's legal obligations and a grave violation of competition law. The FIA will be issuing legal proceedings without delay.
"Preparations for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship continue but publication of the final 2010 entry list will be put on hold while the FIA asserts its legal rights. "
The FIA is meeting fire with fire. Part of the reason for the delay is that some of the potential new teams have withdrawn, leaving a potential entry list looking thin.
The legal threat is serious, but it does allow a period of reflection and dialogue, if a way can be found to restart the talks. The next major stage is Wednesday's FIA world council meeting. I still think that the FOTA strategy is to try to effect change, but Mosley seems to be very sure of his ground and his support.
Ferrari are singled out in the FIA statement and their contract with the FIA remains the single most important aspect of this.
They responded this evening by saying that they have already launched an arbitration process at a civil court in Lausanne, this was done on Monday. This will establish the validity of the contract.
FIA responds to FOTA breakaway
Max Mosley arrived in the Silverstone paddock midway through this morning's free practice session and went straight into Bernie Ecclestone's motor home.
The announcement by FOTA of a breakaway series is no surprise to him, indeed he will have been expecting this. He has a huge appetite for this fight and he knows what a huge undertaking it would be to start a new racing series. The FIA put out a brief reaction earlier today as follows:
"The FIA is disappointed but not surprised by FOTA's inability to reach a compromise in the best interests of the sport. It is clear that elements within FOTA have sought this outcome throughout the prolonged period of negotiation and have not engaged in the discussions in good faith.
"The FIA cannot permit a financial arms race in the Championship nor can the FIA allow FOTA to dictate the rules of Formula One.
"The deadline for unconditional entries to the 2010 FIA Formula World Championship will expire this evening.
"The 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship entry list will be announced tomorrow. "
There is a grim determination about the FOTA members. They have decided to pull the trigger and now they await the full reaction from the FIA. This is likely to involve an entry list for 2010 which features Williams, Force India, Ferrari, Red Bull and Toro Rosso along with USF1, Manor and Campos, with another five teams from the list of teams hoping to enter, such as Prodrive.
The atmosphere here at Silverstone is febrile. It's going to be a dramatic day. The FIA press conference at 3pm will be interesting with four team principals, Brawn Horner (Red Bull), Parr (Williams) and Whitmarsh (McLaren).
Some good news…
Posted in Race Weekend, tagged Brawn GP, F1 News on June 18, 2009| 32 Comments »
Got this message today from one of my readers, Charlie. Put a smile on my face and hope it will do for you too.
"James, Do you remember me taking your advice and putting £20 on Brawn to win the Championship? at 15-1? well I got this email from Paddypower this morning:
…..With the British Grand Prix around the corner and Jenson Button and the Brawn team still thrashing allcomers, we've decided to accept reality and settle all bets on Jenson Button to win the World Drivers Championship and Brawn to win the World Constructors Championship as winners!
That's right – given there's no point in making you wait another four months to collect on what is effectively a racing certainty, we've paid you your winnings today…."
The suggestion was made when we first saw the Brawn in anger at the Barcelona test. You get a mega car which shows itself in pre season testing to be head and shoulders above the others about once every five years or so. Last time was Ferrari on the new Bridgestones in 2004, before that McLaren in 1998.
Behind Button and Hamilton's winning formula
Posted in Race Weekend, tagged F1 News, Mercedes on June 18, 2009| 26 Comments »
I want to write about something other than the FIA/FOTA war today. There will be plenty of that tomorrow.
It has been well reported that Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have exchanged fortunes from last season to this. Button has gone from the back of the grid to the front and Lewis the opposite way.
But there is a common factor in the success of both men and that is the Mercedes engine, which is made in Brixworth, about 20 minutes from Silverstone. Button visited the staff yesterday to say thank you for giving him an engine which has won six of the seven races so far and Hamilton dropped in today to say thanks for the KERS system, without which McLaren would be even further behind!
I also went there today to take a look around and to get a closer look at the only KERS system in F1 which is really working well.
Mercedes High Performance Engines is supplying three teams this year; McLaren, Brawn and Force India. Each team requires 16 engines for the season to cover the race weekends, eight per driver. It's a far cry from the days when engines were unlimited and before they were homologated, but there is no less effort going on.
As you would expect the place is spotless, I'm tempted to say like a hospital but I've never seen a hospital as clean as this. We toured the machine shop and design office and went to the engine build area. There are two men in there who build the engines, using 3,000 components. It takes five days to build one engine and they check each other's work. Quality control is the name of the game and they haven't lost an engine yet in a race.
Of the eight engines each of Mercedes' six drivers will use this season, roughly half of them have already been built. Engine planning is important this year, because you want to try to have a new engine for the real power tracks like Spa and Monza.
The most interesting part of the visit was looking at the KERS system which is the class of the field. The system is used only on the McLaren at the moment and weighs just 24 kilos. Of that the motor is 5 kilos, the converter pack is 3 kilos and the battery pack is 14 kilos. The rest is cabling. The cable, which connects the battery pack to the converter carries 700 volts, which is serious current to have running from one side of a car to another! There are several fail-safes to make sure that the driver doesn't get electrocuted. The system is 70% efficient, in other words 70% of the energy harvested under braking is available to go back into the system as boost on the straights when the driver wants it. Another thing I had not realised is that Mercedes has the system primed so that it can be used out of the final corner going into a qualifying lap and then reset when the car crosses the start line and then used again immediately.
For Mercedes the whole KERS project has worked out pretty much exactly as the FIA intended it. The F1 division has innovated and come up with a system, which is being used on road cars. So amid the political chaos of the moment is an example of one manufacturer which has worked with an FIA initiative and got something positive out of it.
Despite its success with KERS, however, Mercedes supports FOTA's position of getting rid of it for next season, to save costs. But it is not a waste for them, because in 2013 F1 will have a new engine, which will be based more on fuel efficiency, rather than capacity and all engineers agree that this engine will have to be based on the hybrid system.
The economic situation at the moment makes throwing cash at KERS difficult to justify but it will the standard in a few years time, with a system like the one Mercedes are running now at the heart of it.
Is there any talking to be done?
Posted in Discussion, Race Weekend, tagged F1 News on June 18, 2009| 68 Comments »
A tense day ahead at Silverstone for everybody. The teams have proposed that the deadline be moved back to July 1st to allow more time for discussion but that was rebuffed by FIA president Max Mosley yesterday. The FOTA teams sent a letter to Mosley with suggestions for a compromise to the issue of budget caps, and the method of financial control,
"We detect… that a solution might be possible based on the FOTA resource restriction proposal but with measures introduced," the letter said.
"We would propose in this respect that we nominate a top firm of independent accountants who will devise an audit methodology that will be implemented by all of the teams.
"This methodology and the annual results would be disclosed to the FIA… we can see no reason why such a system based on objective verification of compliance would not be acceptable to all parties."
But later in the day Mosley wrote back in a letter which was widely circulated, with his version of a compromise he would be prepared to accept. Once again this was based on the teams all signing up unconditionally and then negotiating changes to the rules from within. Mosley has said repeatedly that there has to be a cap. He has offered for an 'mutually acceptable auditor' to be the investigator should policing be required.
Mosley confirmed that there would be no two tier system of rules, but that Cosworth, which has not built a new F1 engine for three years, would be allowed to run their engine unrestricted.
A letter will go out today or tomorrow in Silverstone requesting signatures from all the FOTA teams with the deadline Friday.
With their actions last week, the teams have got themselves into a position where they seem to be suggesting that a deal can only be done if Mosley doesn't stay in his role. Mosley, for his part, is sticking to his guns.
Who will blink first?


Getting involved in the stock market is an exciting opportunity. There are multiple methods for investing and the one you choose should depend on your investment goals and how much risk you want to take. Before you invest, general market knowledge is needed. Continue on for some helpful investing tips that can be a guide to get you started in the market.
TIP! Carefully monitor the stock market before entering into it. Prior to making an investment, observing the market for awhile is wise.
Learn about the stock market by watching what it does. Studying the stock market at length is recommended before purchasing your first investment. You should have a good understanding of ups and downs in a given company for around three years. This will give you a view of how the market operates and increase your chances of profitability.
When shopping for a broker, whether an online discount broker or a full service broker, pay special attention to all the fees that you can incur. You need to find out about exit fees, as well as entry fees. These costs can really add up over time.
If you are the owner of some common stocks, try to participate in the voting process whenever you can. You may also have a voice in whether a company may make other changes which will affect shareholder value. You will have a chance to vote either by proxy via mail or at the annual shareholder meeting.
Be sure you invest over an array of different stocks. You shouldn't put your eggs all in one basket. For example, if you've only invested in one stock and it fails, you'll lose everything.
TIP! You should treat your stocks as real interest into your owned business instead of just simple things you can trade. Take time to analyze financial statements and evaluate the weaknesses and strengths of the business to asses your stock's value.
If you wish to target a portfolio for the most long range yields, be sure to have stocks from various industries. The whole market tends to grow, but there are some sectors that do not see any increase in growth. If you have holdings in different market sectors, it is possible to take advantage of big gains in individual industries and improve your overall standing. Re-balance every now and then to prevent the chances of profit loss.
Re-evaluating your portfolio is something you're going to want to be doing every few months. This is due to the fact that our economy is changing on a constant basis. Some sectors outperform others and companies eventually become obsolete. Depending on the year, certain financial instruments may be better to invest in than others. This is why it is critical that you keep an eye on your portfolio and adjust it as necessary.
You should never try to time the markets. Historical return tracking has shown that the most profitable results come from methodical investments on a regular basis over time. Figure out how much of your money you can afford to invest. Then, make a habit of investing regularly, and don't stop.
TIP! Try an online broker if you can do your own research. The trade fees and commissions of online brokers where you do all the work yourself are cheaper than both full service and discount brokers.
If you are knowledgeable enough to do your own research, you may want to look into getting an online broker. Online broker services will require you to do a lot of the work yourself. Because of this, they charge less than actual stock brokers. Since one of your investing goals is to turn a profit, reducing the costs of your trading pushes you closer to that goal.
It can be exciting and fun to get involved with the stock market, whatever way you choose to do that. Whether you invest in mutual funds, stocks, or stock options, apply the fundamental tips laid out here to help you get the returns you want to see from your investments.


During its upcoming meeting this spring, China's National People's Congress will consider enacting new legislation governing China's energy sector (the Proposed Energy Law).
If enacted the Proposed Energy Law would create a comprehensive energy policy and regulatory scheme governing all energy development, exploitation, and management activities within China.
The Proposed Energy Law would have the status of a "basic law." Such laws carry greater legal weight, because they generally relate to matters of public policy deemed to be of vital or strategic importance. Based on current drafts of the Proposed Energy Law, it appears that China intends for renewable energy sources to play a very prominent role in a comprehensive energy policy and regulatory scheme.
As proposed in the new law, the term "energy" is all-encompassing and includes coal, crude oil, natural gas, hydro power, nuclear power, solar energy, geothermal, electricity, petroleum gas, and any other renewable energy sources.
Against the backdrop of increasingly volatile energy prices, surging demand for crude oil imports, and the growing importance and strength of its automobile sector, China has in the past sought to establish a compulsory energy (oil and coal) conservation system. Such efforts have had mixed success, due in part to a lack of relevant legislation. Among other things, the Proposed Energy Law seeks to address some earlier shortcomings in energy conservation legislation, while also implementing a plan focused on a sound energy policy and its strategic implications.
maintain the safety and security of China's energy supply.
renewable energy sources in place of fossil-fuel sources.
The Proposed Energy Law would establish a department under the State Council tasked with supervising and regulating China's energy markets (the Energy Department). Some commentators have suggested that creating such an agency means China intends to restore its Ministry of Energy, established in 1988 and then abolished in 1993. No official confirmation has been made in this regard.
The Proposed Energy Law would require that local energy authorities and local governments (i.e., county-level government or above) establish independent energy departments to work in concert with the Energy Department to manage and oversee local energy administration.
Under the Proposed Energy Law, the Energy Department would also promulgate energy import/export policies as well as other energy administration rules intended to encourage the importation of clean energy, while overseeing the exportation of products with low energy efficiency.
The Proposed Energy Law stipulates that the State Council would be responsible for drafting and promulgating a national energy strategy over the next 20 to 30 years. In order to maintain flexibility and relevance, the national energy strategy and related policies would be reviewed and re-evaluated every five years.
The Proposed Energy Law provides that, as a general matter, all ore, water, and marine energy resources belong to the state, with the State Council exercising ownership rights over such resources. The Proposed Energy Law further stipulates that in several "key energy areas" (an undefined term), the state must hold a controlling interest in all enterprises.
any wind energy, solar energy, or biological energy development project (based on certain size and scope considerations) would require the approval of the provincial-level energy administration department.
From a policy perspective, the lower approval levels required for renewable energy projects suggest an intent to favor expeditious exploitation of such resources. At the same time, this approval indicates that China will exert a high level of state scrutiny and control ove foreign investment in traditional energy resources.
The state encourages Chinese enterprises to make overseas energy-related investments, and the Proposed Energy Law acknowledges China's commitment to strengthening cooperation with foreign countries in the areas of energy trade, energy transportation, energy technology, energy education, and energy security.
The state is committed to protecting the legal interests of foreign citizens conducting energy development and exploitation activities in China, while emphasizing that relevant Chinese laws and regulations are to be abided by in connection with such activities.
The Proposed Energy Law also provides that any potential restructuring or asset acquisition within the energy sector would be subject to the review and approval of the Energy Department.
Whether the Proposed Energy Law is ultimately enacted in its current form or undergoes significant revision, it is evident from the scope and tenor of the draft legislation that foreign investors should consider the implications these policies will have for new investment in green energy projects in China. The draft proposal indicates that China views renewable energy to be of vital long-term importance.
Note: Although the public comment period for the Proposed Energy Law expired on February 1, 2008, the draft legislation remains under review by the State Council. Some commentators have suggested that the magnitude of the Proposed Energy Law makes it unlikely such legislation will be enacted during 2008.


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PBR - Unleash the Beast
BOK Center
Cains Ballroom
Civic Center Music Hall
Diamond Ballroom
Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tulsa - The Joint
Kansas Star Casino
Lloyd Noble Center
OKC Zoo Amphitheatre
Southern Hills Country Club
Stride Bank Center
The Cove at River Spirit Casino
The Criterion OKC
Tower Theatre - OKC
Tulsa Theater
USA Softball Hall of Fame Complex
Paycom Center Tickets
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Elton John (Rescheduled from 7/5/2020)2022-01-30T20:00:002022-01-30T23:59:00See Elton John at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on January 30, 2022 8:00 PM.
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Golden State Warriors at Oklahoma City Thunder2022-02-07T19:00:002022-02-07T23:59:00See Golden State Warriors at Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on February 7, 2022 7:00 PM.
WedFeb 09202212:00 PM
Sioux Falls Skyforce at Oklahoma City Blue2022-02-09T12:00:002022-02-09T23:59:00See Sioux Falls Skyforce at Oklahoma City Blue at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on February 9, 2022 12:00 PM.
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FriMar 04202212:00 PM
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TueMar 08202212:00 PM
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MonMar 14202212:00 PM
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Charlotte Hornets at Oklahoma City Thunder2022-03-14T19:00:002022-03-14T23:59:00See Charlotte Hornets at Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on March 14, 2022 7:00 PM.
Journey2022-03-17T19:30:002022-03-17T23:59:00See Journey at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on March 17, 2022 7:30 PM.
Katt Williams2022-03-18T20:00:002022-03-18T23:59:00See Katt Williams at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on March 18, 2022 8:00 PM.
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WedMar 23202212:00 PM
Stockton Kings at Oklahoma City Blue2022-03-23T12:00:002022-03-23T23:59:00See Stockton Kings at Oklahoma City Blue at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on March 23, 2022 12:00 PM.
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New Edition2022-03-27T19:00:002022-03-27T23:59:00See New Edition at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on March 27, 2022 7:00 PM.
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Korn2022-03-31T18:30:002022-03-31T23:59:00See Korn at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on March 31, 2022 6:30 PM.
Detroit Pistons at Oklahoma City Thunder2022-04-01T19:00:002022-04-01T23:59:00See Detroit Pistons at Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on April 1, 2022 7:00 PM.
Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder2022-04-03T18:00:002022-04-03T23:59:00See Phoenix Suns at Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on April 3, 2022 6:00 PM.
Portland Trail Blazers at Oklahoma City Thunder2022-04-05T19:00:002022-04-05T23:59:00See Portland Trail Blazers at Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on April 5, 2022 7:00 PM.
MonMay 1620227:30 PM
New Kids on the Block2022-05-16T19:30:002022-05-16T23:59:00See New Kids on the Block at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 16, 2022 7:30 PM.
FriMay 2020227:00 PM
Zac Brown Band2022-05-20T19:00:002022-05-20T23:59:00See Zac Brown Band at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on May 20, 2022 7:00 PM.
Andrea Bocelli2022-06-23T20:00:002022-06-23T23:59:00See Andrea Bocelli at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on June 23, 2022 8:00 PM.
WedSep 1420227:30 PM
Backstreet Boys (Rescheduled from 8/22/2020, 9/12/2021)2022-09-14T19:30:002022-09-14T23:59:00See Backstreet Boys at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on September 14, 2022 7:30 PM.
Shawn Mendes2022-09-27T19:00:002022-09-27T23:59:00See Shawn Mendes at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on September 27, 2022 7:00 PM.
Keith Urban2022-09-30T19:00:002022-09-30T23:59:00See Keith Urban at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City on September 30, 2022 7:00 PM.
Paycom Center Information
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Address: 100 West Reno, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102
Parking: Parking is available for purchase
Year Opened: 2002
Rules: Re-entry is strictly prohibited. Outside food, drinks, cans, signs, large bags, and noisemakers are also not allowed.
Previous Names: Chesapeake Energy Arena, Ford Center, Oklahoma City Arena
Occupants: Oklahoma City Thunder
The Paycom Center began its life as the Ford Center and was originally built to attract an NBA or NHL team to the sports-crazed city. After the devastation following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the New Orleans Hornets played an entire season in Oklahoma City. After seeing the overwhelming response from fans, the Seattle Supersonics were convinced that it was the right choice and moved to OKC in 2008 and became the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Paycom Center can hold close to 20,000 people and is located on the south side of downtown Oklahoma City. The arena is adjacent to many restaurants, shops, and hotels, and it is also very close to "Bricktown, " a growing segment of Oklahoma City that has seen a revitalization of old warehouses into nightclubs, retail stores, and patio cafes. There is even a small canal that runs through this neighborhood with water taxis and paddle boats that offer rides to visitors!
The Oklahoma City Thunder were greeted with great fanfare when they arrived in 2008, and they came with one of the NBA's bright young stars, Kevin Durant. After a lackluster first season, the team began to play its own brand of team basketball and made the playoffs with a 50-32 record. The Thunder would become the big story of the 2009-10 NBA season when they put a huge scare in the powerhouse Los Angeles Lakers. The Thunder would win their first-ever playoff game at the venue but were knocked off after a hard-fought six games. The Thunder are one of the most dangerous teams in the Western Conference, with a roster packed with young talent that is expected to make noise in the NBA playoffs for the foreseeable future.
The Paycom Center has garnered a reputation for versatility, and it has hosted large events such as the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Cirque du Soleil, Monster Jam, Sesame Street Live and the Harlem Globetrotters. The venue has also made a name for itself by attracting top tier musical performances, such as Miranda Lambert's Roadside Bars and Pink Guitars Tour, The Flaming Lips' Embryonic Tour, Elton John and Billy Joel's Face to Face Tour and Bon Jovi's Lost Highway Tour.
The rise of the Thunder and the Paycom Center are just two major developments that signal Oklahoma City's rise as one of the next big cities in America.
Paycom Center Seating Chart
View Paycom Center Seating Chart
Top Events at Paycom Center
Oklahoma City ThunderOklahoma City BlueMonster JamHarlem GlobetrottersNew Kids on the BlockPBR - Unleash the BeastZac Brown BandKatt WilliamsBanda MsGold Over America Tour
We help you Buy Paycom Center Tickets
We help Sell your Paycom Center tickets.
Paycom Center 2022 Schedule
Paycom Center currently has 53 events with tickets available to purchase. Browse the full list of events here to find the date you need, and then select the right seats from our large ticket inventory. Paycom Center ranks among the most popular venues in Oklahoma City, OK and has events scheduled through 2022.
Tickets are on-sale now for Texas Legends at Oklahoma City Blue at Paycom Center on 01/19/2022. This upcoming event is only 0 days away and there are currently 56 tickets available to purchase. The cheapest tickets start at $33 per ticket. Texas Legends at Oklahoma City Blue is scheduled to start at 7:00 PM local time. Tickets for events at Paycom Center can be purchased at TicketCity. Buy Tickets to Next event
The Paycom Center Seating Chart lets customers view the available tickets, and ticket prices, by clicking on that section of the seating map. The Oklahoma City Blue seating chart is displayed below the event listings for customers who want to see the venue layout. Customers can select the section and row of the tickets the want to purchase at Paycom Center.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Burano: It Never Gets Old!
The only problem with going to Burano is that you eventually have to leave. Sad every time! But perhaps not forever: someday Sassi Italy Tours World HQ is going to be here, I suspect!


When a person receives a diagnosis of cancer, a whirlwind of treatments, side effects, statistics are thrown at them. They are often in for a long-term treatment regime that is scary and unfamiliar. Their friends and family also have their own set of questions, concerns and needs. Treating the cancer patient is an important task, and one that requires the talents and expertise of many people willing to work together for the good of the patient and family. It takes an entire team to successfully provide treatment.
Cancer patients often have multi-modality treatments; they do not have one treatment, but rather many different treatments working together to eradicate the cancer. The patient often undergoes surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. It takes members from each of these teams to work together to provide superior care for the patient. Surgeons, medical oncologists, and radiation oncologists are responsible to prescribe treatments for the patients. Nurses and therapists deliver treatments, and monitor progress. Ancillary staff provide care to help family and friends with emotional, spiritual, and physical needs.
A Radiation Therapist is responsible to not only deliver treatments to the patient but to also monitor side effects, and educate the patient and their families on their treatments and side effects. They discuss diet to keep a patient healthy, and work with social workers and clergy to help patients and families cope during this difficult time. A therapist works closely with other radiation therapists, dosimetrists, physicians, nurses, clergy, social workers, community outreach programs, receptionists, and even billing personnel. This is all done in an effort to make the patient comfortable and to provide high quality care to both patients and their caregivers.
Cambridge College is dedicated to teaching radiation therapy students to work in a team environment for the benefit of the patient. This begins with teaching teamwork and the roles of not only radiation therapists, but the roles of all members of the treatment team. But the education does not end there. Students in the clinical setting work with not only radiation therapists, but they shadow physicists, dosimetrists, nurses and physicians in order to better understand how to work with them as a part of the patient care team. Students at Cambridge College understand and learn that treating cancer patients involves a collaborative effort of providing compassionate care through teamwork.


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© HART
Home » News » Infrastructure » Honolulu Rail System Commences Trial Runs
Hitachi Rail
The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation has announced that the trial testing phase for the first segment of the Honolulu Rail System commenced on 29 August 2022.
The trial runs will test all aspects of the trains, stations, systems and personnel and will include the simulation of emergency procedures.
This is the final stage of testing before the service will be put into operation.
The Honolulu Metro vehicles are designed to meet the needs of the city's residents and tourists
During testing, multiple trains will operate along the tracks from Kualaka'i to Hālawa. Once the system achieves operational readiness, it will be transferred to city's Department of Transportation Services (DTS) for the official launch of the rail service.
HART Executive Director and CEO Lori Kahikina said:
"This is a major milestone for the rail project, although the larger milestone will be when trial running is complete. Many tests will be performed and we expect some problems to be encountered, which is normal for a new system and is the reason the testing is being performed. We do not have a deadline for the completion of trial running, but we are hopeful of turning the first operating segment over to DTS by early next year."
The Honolulu Metro is the first rail system to be constructed in Hawaii. It will operate using 20 four-car vehicles manufactured by Hitachi Rail that will each have capacity for more than 600 people.
Amtrak Recognises Canadian Pacific as Best Host Railroad 2021
Amtrak has recognised the Class 1 railroad Canadian Pacific as the best host railroad of 2021, keeping Amtrak passenger services on time.


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You are here: Iris Wiki>Main/Bio Web>HybridizerCleavesEdith (16 Jan 2019, davepote)Edit Attach
Hybridizer Edith S. Cleaves (1898-1975)
Los Gatos, Santa Clara County, California, USA (AIS Region 14)
Species: 'Edith Cleaves', 'Winter Gay', 'Winter Goldback', 'Winter Memories', 'Winter Mystery', 'Winter Snowflake', 'Winter Treasure'.
Tall Bearded: 'Claruth'.
From The Bulletin of the American Iris Society No. 219(October 1975): A great and gentle lady has left the iris world. Edith Stidston Cleaves of San Jose died May 17, 1975, after a massive heart attack. Mrs. Cleaves was one of irisdom's most knowledgeable authorities on irises. Although she knew, grew and hybridized tall beardeds, her special loves were species and Japanese irises, and she had sizeable collections of these as well as of the TBs. An indefatigable writer of charming letters, filled with wise and witty comment on irises, their habits and culture, Mrs. Cleaves had a worldwide correspondence. For many years she was active in the AIS Robin program and served as chairman of several robins. She also authored articles and comment on irises in the AIS BULLETIN, the Region 14 BULLETIN, and other publications.
Among her many activities was distribution of iris seeds both in the United States and abroad, and she was helpful in getting species started at Mona Vale Garden when it was established a few years ago in Christchurch, New Zealand. At least four irises hybridized by Mrs. Cleaves were named and introduced. The earliest of these was CLARUTH, a tall bearded. Later came three I. unguicularis selections, WINTER SNOWFLAKE, WINTER TREASURE, and EDITH CLEAVES. The last of these was of her own breeding, but was named and introduced by a friend. Mrs. Cleaves was the widow of Eugene J. Cleaves, a Southern Pacific employee. She leaves three daughters, nine grandchildren and nine great grandchildren. She will be remembered by friends on three continents, not only for her iris expertise which she shared so selflessly, but for her unfailing courtesy, her gentleness and her generosity. — Ruth Rees, California
Edit | Attach | Print version | History: r4 < r3 < r2 < r1 | Backlinks | View wiki text | Edit wiki text | More topic actions
Topic revision: r4 - 16 Jan 2019, davepote


Renovation of the Atlanta Marriott Marquis included; 1663 guestroom and suites renovation of all finishes; electrical fixtures, plumbing, keycard system upgrade, replacement of risers, and FF&E installation; full renovation of corridor finishes and fixtures, full liquidation of existing FF&E; conversion of over 500 guestroom baths from tub to shower; and complete warehousing of all FF&E for the project. Additionally, Digney provided value engineering services by identifying cost saving opportunities and documented measures developed by the Project Team and Ownership. Digney completed the project with an aggressive schedule and a dedicated team that worked to maintain the delivery dates. Project was completed while hotel was occupied.


Ghanaian actor John Dumelo is in a serious 'Marriage Debate' with a woman who goes by the name Harrina Alexandria Dembele. Harrina who is a US based model, actress and nurse claimed few weeks back that she and John secretly got married on March 11th 2013 in Virginia, USA, and to back her claims she actually released a marriage certificate as evidence of the marriage.
"Last two years they said I was getting married to one actress. Last year they said I was married with two kids. I'm sure in two years they will say I'm the newest grandfather in town".


It was a base election.
McAuliffe declared in his victory speech that "a historic number of Republicans" supported him. But that's just not how it happened.
The Democrat won only 4 percent of self-identified Republicans, according to exit polling. His key was getting more of his people to the polls — 37 percent of voters self-identified as Democrats and 32 percent self-identified as Republican.
In the exit polling, 28 percent of voters supported the tea party movement and another 28 percent were neutral. Virtually all the rest who oppose the tea party backed McAuliffe.
The partisan outcome wasn't for lack of trying. During the campaign, the former Democratic National Committee chairman embraced one of the main attacks against him — that he is a wheeler-dealer — and tried to flip it into an asset, calling himself a problem solver in a period of paralysis.
And, after his win, McAuliffe pledged to reach out to Republicans in the statehouse.
The gender gap mirrored the presidential.
Exit polls showed McAuliffe won women by only 9 points, the same margin Obama won them by in the presidential election last year. The Washington Post poll last week had put McAuliffe ahead among women by an astonishing 24 points.
This raises questions about whether women are starting to tune out "war on women" messaging and whether apocalyptic suggestions that Cuccinelli would try to ban common forms of birth control were effective at driving women to the polls who might not typically vote in an off-year.
Cuccinelli is a true-believer social conservative, who has spent his career battling abortion and trying to limit divorce. After avoiding social issues the first half of the year, he began defending himself and touting his anti-abortion bona fides in the final weeks as he tried to galvanize his base.
The margin will embolden both sides of the abortion issue to claim victories of sorts.
The Susan B. Anthony List, which spent $870,000 for Cuccinelli through a Virginia affiliate, noted that McAuliffe ran more than 5,600 spots on the abortion issue alone.
"This election shows that it is imperative for pro-lifers to be on offense in 2014 against the distortions and extremism of the left," said SBA President Marjorie Dannenfelser.
Obama himself was a mixed bag.
A 54 percent majority of those voting Tuesday disapproved of Obama's job performance, according to the exit polling. But 30 percent of those who "somewhat disapproved" of Obama nonetheless voted for McAuliffe.
And despite the widespread criticism directed at Republicans for the government shutdown, an equal number of voters pinned the closure on Obama vs. congressional Republicans.
The president's approval rating has slipped in the wake of the Obamacare fiasco and other scandals of his fifth year in office, and his trip to Virginia Sunday probably motivated some independents and Republicans to back Cuccinelli, but he still has deep appeal with the Democratic base.
Whether blacks would show up without Obama on the ballot was a big concern for the McAuliffe campaign, and they used the trips of Bill Clinton and the president to push turnout specifically among this community.
African-Americans made up 20 percent of the electorate, according to exit polls, on par with the presidential race as a share of the electorate and up from 16 percent in the 2009 governor's race. Since McAuliffe won 90 percent of the black vote, a 4 percent drop-off in the share of the electorate could have proved fatal.
The black vote helped Virginia Democrats break a four-decade streak — electing a governor of the same party as the sitting president for the first time since 1973.
The shutdown still hurt Republicans.
Though an equal number in the exit polls blamed Obama as blamed congressional Republicans, analysts in both parties agree that the shutdown galvanized Democratic intensity and helped give them the turnout advantage.
Republicans had a 4- to 5-point advantage on the generic ballot through the spring and summer, but internal GOP polling showed a flip during the shutdown. Likely voters preferred "Democrats" by 6 points on the generic ballot in their final polling.


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FTSE 100 near 16-month high after new UK jobs data
Marc Shoffman from interactive investor
After lagging rival stock markets during the recovery, there's interest in UK shares following this encouraging employment report.
The unemployment rate has fallen for the fourth month in a row as the easing of lockdown restrictions since March gave a boost to the jobs market.
Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows the unemployment rate for February to April was 4.7%.
The figure is 0.8 percentage points up from the pre-pandemic level, but 0.3 percentage points lower than the previous quarter, which the ONS says suggest the jobs market is "showing signs of recovery."
The FTSE 100 index remains volatile, but it traded as high as 7,183 on Tuesday, a figure not seen since late February 2020 during the early days of the Covid crash.
Two valuable lessons for every investor
Read more about UK shares here
For the three months ending April 2021, the highest unemployment rate estimate in the UK was in London at 6.5%, up 1.7 percentage points annually. Northern Ireland had the lowest jobless rate at 3.1%.
The number of payrolled employees increased for the sixth consecutive month, up by 197,000 in May 2021 to 28.5 million.
It is, however, 553,000 below levels seen before the coronavirus pandemic.
The ONS says: "Following a period of employment growth and low unemployment since the start of the pandemic, employment had generally been decreasing and unemployment increasing.
"However, the latest estimates continue to show signs of recovery."
The figures coincide with the first stage of lockdown restrictions easing earlier this year when schools were reopened in March and outdoor meetings were allowed.
Restaurants and pubs reopened from 12 April for outdoor seating, as well as "non-essential" shops, so some of the increased recruitment could have been in preparation for that.
The ONS says total hours worked have increased since lockdown restrictions have begun to ease during the quarter.
The number of job vacancies in March to May 2021 was 758,000, only 27,000 below the level before the coronavirus pandemic in January to March 2020, and the highest level since then, the ONS says.
Most industries have recovered to show vacancies above pre-pandemic levels, the figures show.
Since February 2020, the largest falls in payrolled employment have been in the accommodation and food services sector, people aged under 25 years, and people living in London.
In contrast, the strongest quarterly increase in vacancies was in accommodation and food services between March and May 2021.
Many of these jobs may have been advertised ahead of the anticipated full lifting of lockdown restrictions from 21 June, which has now been delayed by four weeks.
Check out our award-winning stocks and shares ISA
Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor, says the delay has "tapped the brakes" on the accelerating UK economic recovery.
He adds: "A marginal improvement in the unemployment rate is welcome, but the figures are akin to driving with the rear-view mirror.
"In particular, the rate within the hospitality sector and among the young remains stubbornly high, and the extension to the current lockdown restrictions is something which adds to this uncertainty.
"Overall, the employment rate has yet to recover to pre-pandemic levels.
"The market had been expecting the move, with the likes of hospitality and travel stocks in particular seeing a further lurch downwards, with the additional complication of certain of the government assistance schemes also nearing an end.
"There may yet be something of a compromise along the way to safeguard jobs further, with the government having played the cautious health card ahead of completely letting the economy loose.
"However prudent the government's decision proves to be, it nonetheless taps the brakes on what had been an accelerating UK economic recovery."


Expressing doubts about budget presentation on February 8, senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister R Ashoka has claimed that 20 to 25 disgruntled MLAs of the alliance were out of reach of their leaders and the coalition government was in a "coma." Also the saffron party has said it was not averse to moving a no-confidence motion against the Kumaraswamy-led government. In the budget, among other things, the government is expected to make an announcements directed at fulfillment of its loan waiver promise.
Recently in an interview to PTI, Kumaraswamy had said he will fulfill his Rs 46,000-crore loan waiver commitment made to farmers "completely" in the budget. The farm loan waiver scheme would be implemented in one stroke with required allocation in the budget instead of completing the process in four stages as was planned earlier, he had said.
This will be the first session after the cabinet expansion in December and political turmoil that engulfed the state following the alleged attempt by the BJP to topple the government by poaching disgruntled legislators of the ruling coalition. The crisis last month was triggered by few Congress legislators camping in Mumbai along with BJP leaders,allegedly with an intention to jump to the saffron party's side.
The Congress had accused BJP of luring MLAs with money and power and also threatening to fix them using central agencies. The Congress later called for a legislature party meeting that was seen as a show of strength amid the alleged poaching bid. Four MLAs, who stayed away, were served notices seeking explanation as to why action should not be taken against them under the anti-defection law.
There is still uncertainty within the Congress, whether these four MLAs will be on the coalitions side during the session or will side with the BJP or abstain, if the saffron party makes any move to destabilise the government or push for a trust vote, party sources said. With reports about more legislators being in touch with these four disgruntled MLAs, it has caused concern for the Congress and the ruling coalition.
Meanwhile, there are retaliatory moves planned by the coalition leaders to counter BJPs alleged moves to poach their MLAs, with Urban Development Minister and Congress leader U T Khader and Tourism Minister Sa Ra Mahesh of JD(S) on Monday claiming that few legislators from the saffron party were in touch with them and their leadership. The opposition is also expected to corner the government on issues like alleged squabbles between coalition partners affecting the administration, demand for Backward Class Welfare Minister C Puttaranga Shettys resignation from the cabinet as huge amounts of cash had been allegedly seized from a clerk working in his office.
Delay in the arrest of Kampli Congress MLA J N Ganesh, who is currently absconding following a case of attempt to murder for allegedly assaulting colleague Anand Singh during a brawl at a resort here recently besides drought mitigation measures undertaken by the government are among the issues that are on the BJPs radar. The ruling coalition too on its part is likely to corner the BJP accusing the saffron partys union government of bias in drought relief to state compared to others, non-clearance of MNREGA funds, among other things..


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Discussion in 'Discussion' started by Markblaster, Oct 10, 2016.
Was bored so was playing round tonight.
Tankbuster, speedyslyder, jus_me and 1 other person like this.
Yeah would be cool or even a polo shirt.
speedyslyder and Blaster crazy like this.


My day job is at a radio station and because of that I get to meet people in the business. I recently got a pretty cool client: The Rock and Roll Fantasy Camp (Toronto). For those who enrol in the camp, you get to work with "camp counsellors" made up of rock greats. This particular camp would be headed by Joe Perry from Aerosmith along with Sass Jordan and Gowan. Working with the organizers was a treat, but getting to be there to see a little of what it is all about was amazing!
There was a last minute decision to have a free music session with some of the counsellors at Steve's Music store in Toronto, and we were lucky enough to get a live remote booked, so DJ LoriAnn and I headed down for a day of promoting the camp. What we discovered was how this event changed people's lives. Hearing stories of how some of these exceptional young campers were taken under the wing of some of the counsellors who now help with their careers.
Nick showed us more pictures and told other stories of his past, other moments were he got to play on stage with some of his idols. Nick was the picture of graciousness, humour, humility, and genuine love for people with a passion. It made me really take a moment to reflect on how important it is for people to stay grounded; how they effect people at every turn. He mentioned that some of his rock heroes told him to treat fans as if the situation was reversed. Make sure when you meet someone that you impact their lives; the littlest thing you can do might mean the world to them. Take the time, it will come back to you. …Words we can all live by.
Oh, and he thought the pad Thai was amazing too!
**Disclaimer: Any "quotes" and opinions mentioned in this blog are that of the Blogger and not of The Local Biz Magazine.


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Next week's Prime Day is the first big Amazon sale event that will include Whole Foods, and the first in which shoppers will see discounts on everyday food items.
Last year, Amazon announced its intention to acquire Whole Foods (as reported in The New York Times, Wirecutter's parent company) prior to Prime Day in July, but the deal wasn't finalized until August. On Black Friday 2017, Amazon did sell some of its products (including Echo speakers, Kindle e-readers, and Fire tablets) at a few Whole Foods locations, but shoppers didn't see any deals on groceries during Cyber Week last fall.
For the past several months, Whole Foods has been running in-store sales on some items. This week, those sales include strawberries, chicken breasts, and sparkling water, and we anticipate a new group of discounts for the main event next week. We'll be keeping an eye out for sales on anything we regularly buy for ourselves, and we're ready to name some Whole Foods items as staff picks. But we also have some upcoming official Wirecutter picks from Whole Foods's 365 Everyday Value line.
This June, our entire staff gathered in New York for our annual all-hands meeting. With 115 Wirecutters in the same city, we blind-tasted eight types of snack foods: white corn chips, tomato salsa, wheat crackers, hummus, popcorn, trail mix, dark chocolate, and chocolate chip cookies. Although we're still organizing the survey data, we can say that early on we thought the clear hits from Whole Foods were the Original Hummus and the 365 Organic Classic Salted Popcorn. If we see either item on sale next week, we'll be sure to add it to our Deals page.
Or you can take the opportunity to sign up for Amazon's other grocery delivery service, AmazonFresh. The promo code 30FRESH will give you $30 off your first order. Just be aware that if you like Fresh enough to start ordering all your groceries through the service, Amazon will automatically charge your account $15 per month after the first 30 days if you don't cancel.
If you are a Prime member, spending more than $10 in any Whole Foods store before Tuesday will get you a $10 credit to your Prime account that you can use during the upcoming 36-hour sale—so long as you scan the Whole Foods Market app at checkout or give the cashier the phone number associated with your Prime account. If you already do some of your weekly shopping at Whole Foods, we think this deal is worth grabbing.
And if, like me, you have the Amazon Prime Rewards Visa Card, you'll also be able to get 10 percent back on all Whole Foods purchases from July 14 through July 17, up from the standard 5 percent bonus.


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Local donations help JFNA Terror Relief Fund for Israelis
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In response to Israel's Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012, the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) joined with the Union for Reform Judaism and several other Jewish organizations to create one coordinated campaign to raise relief funds for Israel.
To date, the JFNA Terror Relief Fund has allocated and distributed $5 million dollars to provide relief, rescue and resilience training to communities throughout Southern Israel that have been affected by missile
attacks from Gaza.
The Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona raised $12,500 from community donors and contributed anther $10,000 from its emergency fund to the campaign.
"From the moment the rockets started falling in Israel, our number one priority was to bring spiritual and physical support to the people who were affected," said Rabbi Gilad Kariv, executive director of the Israel Movement of Reform and Progressive Judaism. "We are deeply grateful to the Reform Movement in North America and JFNA for recognizing our ability to provide this support and for providing the means to do so."
JFNA has released a report detailing how the funds were allocated, which can be read at http://www.jewishfederations.org/page.aspx?id=26017.
Roni Keidar, Israeli peace activist, to be Weintraub Israel Center guest › ‹ Operation Elijah to match Seder hosts, guests in Southern Arizona


While suicide is still taboo, many people seem to think that under certain circumstances you ought to be legally permitted to actively end your life, writes Bishop Tim Harris. Source: The Catholic Leader.
So-called voluntary assisted dying is now legal in the state of Victoria. It is also the subject of a Parliamentary Inquiry in Queensland. Queenslanders are rightly horrified by high levels of suicide in our state – the second highest in Australia according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. What puzzles me is why, at the same time, some Queenslanders want to endorse suicide for some people.
Some advocates of voluntary assisted dying want to avoid terms like physician-assisted suicide because, they argue, such terms already imply moral judgements.
Yet, in making such arguments, such advocates seem implicitly to think that suicide is morally wrong, or at least tragic, which is why they do not want that connotation to be brought to voluntary assisted dying.
Instead, and I am being careful to use morally neutral language here, they want killing yourself, or asking others to kill you, in certain circumstances, to be considered desirable and morally acceptable, unlike killing yourself in all other circumstances.
And more than that, they want this supposed moral acceptability enshrined in law.
If we, as Queenslanders, are rightly concerned about high rates of suicide in our state, then surely we should also be concerned about claims that some circumstances make suicide legitimate?
If such circumstances exist, then surely, if we are consistent, our first concern, as it is with all cases of suicide, is to work out what we can do to help a person live whatever life they have in a meaningful way?
The parliamentary inquiry in Queensland includes aged care, and palliative and end of life care.
Queenslanders are rightly concerned about shortfalls in our capacity as a society to care properly for an aging population in ways that help them and those around them continue to live meaningful and flourishing lives.
Similarly, we are rightly concerned about failings in our capacity as a society to properly alleviate the physical and existential suffering of those living with life-limiting conditions.
The suggestion that voluntary assisted dying should be legalised seems to be radically inconsistent with these legitimate concerns.
It would be all the more concerning if this were seen as a solution to the problems of our failings as a society to properly care for others.
– Bishop Tim Harris is the Bishop of Townsville and a member of the Australian Catholic Bishops Commission for Life, Family and Public Engagement.


Search Results - "Current distribution"
We studied a collection of lice from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Chile containing all four known species and one new species (described herein) in the genus Tinamotaecola, parasites of birds of the families Cariamidae and Tinamidae. We also (1) describe previously unknown second and third nymphal instars of two Tinamotaecola species, (2) discuss hosts and geographical ranges for all Tinamotaecola species, and (3) speculate on possible macroevolutionary events that may explain the current distribution of these lice on their respective avian hosts.
Keywords: Tinamotaecola; Philopteridae; Phthiraptera; Chewinf lice; New species; Nymphal instars; Hosts; Cariamidae; Tinamidae; Tinamotis; Eudromia; Cariama; Chunga; Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; Ciencias Biológicas; CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS.
Plant disjunctions have provided some of the most intriguing distribution patterns historically addressed by biogeographers. We evaluated the three hypotheses that have been postulated to explain these patterns [vicariance, stepping-stone dispersal and long-distance dispersal (LDD)] using Munroa, an American genus of grasses with six species and a disjunct distribution between the desert regions of North and South America. Ages of clades, cytology and ancestral characters and areas of distribution were investigated in order to establish relationships among species, determine the time of divergence of the genus and its main lineages and understand further the biogeographic and evolutionary history of this genus. Bayesian inference recovered the North American M. pulchella as sister species to the rest. Molecular dating and ancestral area analyses suggest that Munroa originated in North America in the late Miocene-Pliocene (7.2; 8.2?6.5 Mya). Based on these results we postulate that two dispersal events modeled the current distribution patterns of Munroa; the first from North to South America (7.2; 8.2?6.5 Mya ago) and the second (1.8; 2?0.8 Mya ago) from South to North America. Arid conditions of the late Miocene-Pliocene in the Neogene and Quaternary climatic oscillations in North America and South America were probably advantageous for establishment of populations of Munroa. We did not find any relationship between ploidy and dispersal events and our ancestral character analyses suggest that shifts associated with dispersal and seedling establishment, such as habit, reproductive system, disarticulation of rachilla and shape and texture of the glume, have been important in these species reaching new areas.
Keywords: AMERICAN ARID LAND; AMPHITROPICAL DISJUNCTION; CHLORIDOIDEAE; HISTORICAL BIOGEOGRAPHY; LONG-DISTANCE DISPERSAL (LDD); MOLECULAR PHYLOGENY; MUNROA; STEPPING-STONE DISPERSAL; VICARIANCE; Otras Ciencias Biológicas; Ciencias Biológicas; CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS.
Roadsides may homogenize the distribution of native species and act as corridors for the spread of alien taxa. We examined the variation in native and alien plant species richness and composition at two spatial scales defined by altitude and habitat type (edges and fill slopes), as well as the relationship between native and exotic species richness in roadside plant communities in mountains from central Argentina. Following a gradient from 1100 to 2200 m a.s.l. along a mountain road, plant species cover was recorded within sample plots of 30 m × 10 m systematically located at 100-m altitude intervals on both roadside habitats. Although native species richness decreased with altitude and composition changed accordingly, the number of alien species peaked at both extremes of the elevation gradient and did not reflect an altitudinal replacement of chorological groups. The number of both native and alien species was higher in roadside edges, but a negative association between the richness of native and alien species occurred only on fill slopes, suggesting that roadside habitats differ in their susceptibility to plant species colonization and in the mechanisms driving native and alien species richness. Our results highlight the importance of altitude and roadside habitat as factors controlling plant species richness and composition along roadside communities in central Argentina. Although altitude acts as a filter for native plants, it apparently did not constrain the establishment of alien species along the studied roadsides, indicating that the influence of this road as a plant species corridor may increase with time, promoting the opportunities for aliens to expand their current distribution.
Keywords: ALIEN SPECIES; ALTITUDINAL GRADIENTS; FILL SLOPE; MOUNTAIN GRASSLAND; Ecología; Ciencias Biológicas; CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS.
Closely related organisms with transoceanic distributions have long been the focus of historical biogeography, prompting the question of whether long-distance dispersal, or tectonic-driven vicariance shaped their current distribution. Regarding the Southern Hemisphere continents, this question deals with the break-up of the Gondwanan landmass, which has also affected global wind and oceanic current patterns since the Miocene. With the advent of phylogenetic node age estimation and parametric bioinformatic advances, researchers have been able to disentangle historical evolutionary processes of taxa with greater accuracy. In this study, we used the coastal spider genus Amaurobioides to investigate the historical biogeographical and evolutionary processes that shaped the modern-day distribution of species of this exceptional genus of spiders. As the only genus of the subfamily Amaurobioidinae found on three Southern Hemisphere continents, its distribution is well-suited to study in the context of Gondwanic vicariance versus long-distance, transoceanic dispersal. Ancestral species of the genus Amaurobioides appear to have undergone several long-distance dispersal events followed by successful establishments and speciation, starting from the mid-Miocene through to the Pleistocene. The most recent common ancestor of all present-day Amaurobioides species is estimated to have originated in Africa after arriving from South America during the Miocene. From Africa the subsequent dispersals are likely to have taken place predominantly in an eastward direction. The long-distance dispersal events by Amaurobioides mostly involved transoceanic crossings, which we propose occurred by rafting, aided by the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and the West Wind Drift.
Keywords: ANTARCTIC CIRCUMPOLAR CURRENT; LONG-DISTANCE DISPERSAL; OCEANIC DRIFT; RAFTING; SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE; TRANSOCEANIC DISPERSAL; WEST WIND DRIFT; Otras Ciencias Biológicas; Ciencias Biológicas; CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS.
Los géneros Cardiospermum y Urvillea (Sapindaceae, Paullinieae) están ampliamente distribuidos en América, desde el centro de los Estados Unidos hasta el centro de la Argentina. Los registros fósiles correspondientes al Eoceno tardío de América del Norte hasta el Plioceno de América del Sur registran patrones de distribución en ambos géneros durante la Era Cenozoica. El objetivo de este trabajo es establecer las áreas de endemismo y los patrones de distribución de Cardiospermum y Urvillea mediante un análisis de simplicidad de endemismos (PAE) basado en cuadrantes y un análisis panbiogeográfico basado en el algoritmo propuesto por Echeverry & Morrone (2010). El área de estudio está comprendida por las regiones Neártica y Neotropical, la Zona de transición sudamericana y la Zona de transición mexicana. La información de la distribución proviene del tratamiento taxonómico realizado por Ferrucci (2000) y especímenes de herbario de 33 especies de ambos géneros. El PAE permitió detectar y mapear seis áreas de endemismo. Los resultados del análisis panbiogeográfico y el registro fósil nos permitieron relacionar estas áreas de endemismos entre ellas, demostrando que coinciden con la actual distribución geográfica de los bosques secos estacionales neotropicales. Estos resultados sugieren un temprano evento de dispersión y una posterior serie de eventos vicariantes relacionados con la expansión y reducción de los bosques secos estacionales neotropicales que explicarían los patrones de distribución actuales de Cardiospermum y Urvillea en América.
Historical biogeography of Cardiospermum and Urvillea (Sapindaceae) in America: Geographic and historical parallelism with the Neotropical seasonally dry forest. The genera Cardiospermum and Urvillea (Paullinieae) are widely distributed in the Americas, from central United States to central Argentina. The fossil records from the late Eocene of North America to the Pliocene of South America record an early distribution pattern of both genera during the Cenozoic Era. This study aimed to establish areas of endemism and distribution patterns of Cardiospermum and Urvillea by means of a grid-based parsimony analysis of endemicity (PAE) and a panbiogeographical analysis based in the algorithm proposed by Echeverry & Morrone (2010). The study area includes the Nearctic and Neotropical regions, the South American transition zone and the Mexican transition zone. We used the distribution information of Ferrucci´s (2000) taxonomic treatment and the herbarium specimens for 33 species of both genera. The PAE led us to detect and map six areas of endemism. The panbiogeographic results and the fossil records allowed us to relate these areas of endemism between them, showing that they match with the current geographical distribution of the Neotropical seasonally dry forests. These results reveal an early dispersal event and a posterior series of vicariant events linked with the expansion and reduction of the Neotropical seasonally dry forests, which could explain the current distribution patterns of Cardiospermum and Urvillea in the Americas.
Keywords: Análisis de simplicidad de endemismos; análisis de trazos; eventos dispersivos; eventos vicariantes; Bioquímica y Biología Molecular; Ciencias Biológicas; CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS.
Las Yungas subtropicales se extienden por el noroeste de Argentina y sur de Bolivia, ocupando aproximadamente 56 000 km2. Se caracterizan por su amplia distribución altitudinal (400-2300 msnm), donde el recambio de especies de árboles determina la ocurrencia de tres pisos altitudinales (selva pedemontana, selva montana y bosque montano) con cambios consistentes en la fenología foliar y los síndromes de dispersión de las especies arbóreas. Dominan las especies caducifolias en los extremos del gradiente, y las especies semicaducifolias y siempreverdes en las elevaciones intermedias. Por su parte, las especies dispersadas por el viento o la gravedad caracterizan la parte baja del gradiente, mientras que las dispersadas por animales caracterizan los pisos superiores de vegetación. Los cambios físicos y biológicos en el gradiente altitudinal condicionan los usos y las estrategias de conservación de las Yungas subtropicales. La desforestación alcanzaba 18% de la superficie original de este ambiente en Argentina en la década de los 70 y 31% en el año 2010, principalmente (>90%) en las zonas bajas y planas. Las Yungas de Argentina presentan protección formal estatal (nacional, provincial y municipal) en 22% de su extensión actual, sin considerar las categorías internacionales, que pueden ser instrumentos valiosos, si se logra una implementación efectiva de los criterios de uso sustentable de los recursos naturales. Adicionalmente, los planes de ordenamiento territorial en marcha vinculados a compensaciones económicas podrían jugar un papel importante en el marco de estrategias regionales de uso y conservación.
Subtropical Yungas are distributed in northwestern Argentina and southern Bolivia over approximately 56000 km2. This vegetation type expands across a large altitudinal gradient (400-2300 m asl), where tree species turnover promotes the occurrence of three altitudinal belts (pre-montane forest, lower montane forest and upper montane forest), with associated changes in leaf phenology and dispersal syndromes. Deciduous tree species are dominant at the extremes of the gradient, and semi-deciduous and evergreen species are dominant at mid elevations. Alternatively, wind- and gravity-dispersed tree species characterize the lower part of the gradient, while animal-dispersed trees characterize the upper part of the gradient. Physical and biological changes along the altitudinal gradient determine uses and conservation strategies. Deforestation of subtropical Yungas reached 18% of the original distribution in Argentina during the 1970's, and raised up to 31% by 2010, mainly (>90%) over low and flat areas. To date, 22% of the current distribution of Argentinean Yungas is formally protected (at national, provincial and municipal levels), not including international categories that may prove useful if sustainable-use criteria are successfully implemented. Additionally, land-use plans articulated with economic compensations might play a key role for planning regional use and conservation of subtropical Yungas.
Keywords: Áreas protegidas; Bosque nublado; Distribución de árboles; Gradiente altitudinal; Ordenamiento territorial; Otras Ciencias Biológicas; Ciencias Biológicas; CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS.
A reactor was built, experimentally studied and modelled having six bipolar electrodes placed between the terminal ones, all of them were RuO2/IrO2 on a Ti sheet. The interelectrode gap was 1.5 mm. Plastic plates were optionally arranged in the inlet and outlet to the electrodes to produce entrance or exit regions. The Laplace equation was numerically solved for the solution phase to obtain the current and potential distribution. The calculations performed without entrance and exit regions show that the current distribution is pronounced at the thickness of the electrodes and at the electrode edges. The presence of the entrance and exit regions covers the electrode thickness, increases the current distribution and diminishes the leakage current. The hydrodynamics of the reactor was analysed by the stimulus-response method and the best behaviour was obtained when the equipment was filled with glass beads. This reactor was tested analysing the in-line production of sodium hypochlorite from drinking water. In a typical galvanostatic experiment, carried out at 10.3 A, with a volumetric flow rate of 2 dm3 min-1 the hypochlorite concentration at the exit was 25 mg dm-3. In this case, the applied potential difference was 128 V and the current efficiency was 4.3 %.
Keywords: Bipolar electrodes; Drinking water disinfection; Electrochemical reactors; Parallel plate electrodes; Ingeniería de Procesos Químicos; Ingeniería Química; INGENIERÍAS Y TECNOLOGÍAS.
Aim: To analyse the current geographical structure of chloroplast DNA variation in the Turnera sidoides L. complex in order to establish historical biogeographical hypotheses for the mid‐latitude South American lowlands. During the Quaternary, the climate shifted from tropical humid to cold dry, and the vegetation cover has not been stable. The consequences of these processes on the current distribution of the vegetation of this area have received very little attention. Location: The mid‐latitude South American lowlands extend between c. 20 and 40°S and include Uruguay, northern, central and eastern Argentina, southern Brazil, and parts of southern Paraguay and Bolivia. They are surrounded by higher‐elevation systems. Methods: Turnera sidoides is a well‐studied polyploid complex of perennial rhizomatous herbs occurring throughout the area of interest. We analysed 321 individuals from 79 populations of the five recognized subspecies. We also included progenies from artificial crosses in order to analyse chloroplast inheritance. After screening sequences for four non‐coding chloroplast DNA regions, the trnL–trnF spacer was selected to characterize the collection. Results: Three haplotypes can be easily identified, with each differing from the others in two independent characters. A clear geographic structure is revealed when haplotypes are plotted for the complex as a whole regardless of subspecies and cytotype. Three distinct regions can be identified. Main conclusions: We propose three putative refugial areas for the Turnera sidoides complex, which are associated with the orographical systems of the region. Ravines and slopes in the Haedo Cuchilla system in northern Uruguay, the elevations of the western side of the area in Argentina, and the eastern Serranías system in south‐eastern Uruguay may each have served as refugia in which the A, B and C haplotypes became fixed during the drier climatic phases. Biogeographical patterns in the area covered by T. sidoides, particularly east of the Uruguay River, have not previously been analysed from a historical perspective. Location The mid‐latitude South American lowlands extend between c. 20 and 40°S and include Uruguay, northern, central and eastern Argentina, southern Brazil, and parts of southern Paraguay and Bolivia. They are surrounded by higher‐elevation systems. Methods Turnera sidoides is a well‐studied polyploid complex of perennial rhizomatous herbs occurring throughout the area of interest. We analysed 321 individuals from 79 populations of the five recognized subspecies. We also included progenies from artificial crosses in order to analyse chloroplast inheritance. After screening sequences for four non‐coding chloroplast DNA regions, the trnL–trnF spacer was selected to characterize the collection. Results Three haplotypes can be easily identified, with each differing from the others in two independent characters. A clear geographic structure is revealed when haplotypes are plotted for the complex as a whole regardless of subspecies and cytotype. Three distinct regions can be identified. Main conclusions We propose three putative refugial areas for the Turnera sidoides complex, which are associated with the orographical systems of the region. Ravines and slopes in the Haedo Cuchilla system in northern Uruguay, the elevations of the western side of the area in Argentina, and the eastern Serranías system in south‐eastern Uruguay may each have served as refugia in which the A, B and C haplotypes became fixed during the drier climatic phases. Biogeographical patterns in the area covered by T. sidoides, particularly east of the Uruguay River, have not previously been analysed from a historical perspective.
Keywords: BIOGEOGRAPHY; DIVERSITY; SOUTH AMERICAN LOWLANDS; TURNERA SIDOIDES; Genética y Herencia; Ciencias Biológicas; CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS.
Ectothermic organisms strongly depend on temperature, making them an excellent model to study the impact of global climatic change (GCC). Under global warming, species may be forced to move toward colder environments, such as higher latitudes, higher elevations or both. However, several studies show that responses may vary significantly in different groups of species. Therefore, it is unclear whether species' current distribution range sizes will be affected in future climatic scenarios. In addition to the specific possible effect of range size changes, the potential consequences of distributional range shifts also should be considered. Here, our aim is to assess whether GCC may affect a group of Liolaemus lizard species based on their current geographic distribution range size and whether the effect is uniform across all species using species distribution models (SDMs). Our results show that range boundaries of the fourteen species switch toward higher altitude and latitude in future scenarios. Additionally, there is not a unique pattern in terms of increase or decrease in potential range for lizards in Patagonia in future scenarios. Finally, our results show that the original distribution range size is determinant for the resultant SDMs projections, suggesting that species with a high degree of endemicity may be susceptible to a greater impact of GCC.
Keywords: PATAGONIA; LIZARDS; LIOLAEMUS; SPECIES DISTRIBUTION MODELS (SDMS); GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACT; RANGE OF DISTRIBUTION; Ecología; Ciencias Biológicas; CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS.


With holiday shopping comes anxiety about getting the right gifts. Does Dad already own a copy of "Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits"? Was Mom expecting a new pepper mill, or was that Aunt Carol? It's even worse for people shopping for the video gamers in their lives: Understanding the technical specifications of each console can seem as difficult as getting to the highest level in a game of Halo.
This week, I've done the dirty work for you: I've amassed a collection of vital details about the three most popular systems—Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox 360, Sony's (SNE) PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii—so that you can get a handle on what each offers and what it will cost you.
Nintendo recently dropped the Wii's price, for the first time, to $200 from $250. The Wii Console comes with a controller, an additional controller called a Nunchuk, and the Wii Sports game, which includes baseball, tennis, golf, bowling and boxing. It holds 512 megabytes of flash memory, but you can increase this by inserting SecureDigital memory cards. It also accepts high-capacity SD cards, or SDHCs, of up to 32 gigabytes.
The couch-potato world of videogamers was shaken up when the Wii, with its motion-sensitive remote control, was introduced about three years ago. Users can play Wii Golf, for instance, by swinging the remote like a golf club. In September, Nintendo added to its lineup a $20 remote-control accessory called Wii MotionPlus that was designed to add more precision to game motions. I tested this snap-on piece and found that it did make the Wii's motions feel more realistic. But it works only with Wii MotionPlus games—and there are only six of them; 10 more are planned for 2010.
Wii encourages users to move around in more ways than just waving a remote: Its Wii Balance Board, which comes with the Wii Fit Plus game in a $100 bundle, works like a digital exercise step. It records the body's weight shifts and movements for activities from yoga to wake-boarding.
The Wii accesses the Internet and lets users compete online against others. About 655 packaged games are available for between $30 and $50. Also, you can use pre-purchased Nintendo Points to buy and download about 150 WiiWare games and over 325 titles from the older Virtual Console library. Each game costs between 300 and 1,500 points, or between about $3 and $15.
WiiConnect24 can send messages from one Wii to another over the Internet, as long the two users exchange "Wii numbers." Users can also surf the Web with Wii's Opera browser. But beyond this, no other Web features—like downloadable movies, social-networking applications or streaming music—will work on this system.
Parental controls can be set on the Wii to restrict kids from using the Web browser, playing games that have a certain rating or communicating online.
Microsoft recently stepped up its game by adding features to its $200 Xbox 360 that make it well-rounded rather than strictly geared toward serious gamers. People who buy the Xbox LIVE Gold membership, for $50 a year, get applications for Facebook, Twitter, the Last.fm music-streaming service, online multiplayer game play, video chat, Netflix (Netflix subscription required), photo sharing via the Xbox, and movie or photo "parties" that allow users to watch a movie simultaneously with seven other friends.
Xbox LIVE Silver membership is free and includes basic features like voice and text chat, as well as access to the Zune video library's 20,000 TV shows and movies to buy or rent. The Xbox also allows media-streaming over a home network. To wirelessly connect to the Internet on your Xbox, you'll need to buy a $100 Wi-Fi adapter. By contrast, the Wii and PlayStation 3 have built-in Wi-Fi.
Anyone who owns a Microsoft Zune media player can buy a TV show or movie and download it to an Xbox or PC as well as the Zune. Zunes can be plugged into the Xbox to play music, as can Apple (AAPL) iPods.
The base Xbox comes with a wireless controller and 512 megabytes of memory. For $100 more, the Elite Holiday Bundle includes a 120-gigabyte hard drive, headset, wireless controller, and two games: "LEGO Batman: The Videogame" and "Pure." More than 1,200 games are available for the Xbox, mostly costing between $29 and $60. About 350 of the games can be downloaded from the Xbox LIVE Arcade (costing 400 to 1,600 points, or $5 to $20) or the Games on Demand library.
Microsoft confirmed plans to introduce Project Natal, a system that lets people operate games with gestures and body movements rather than remote controls. Natal will work with all Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft won't confirm a date.
Family settings let parents control whether their kids play games online and with whom they play, as well as the ratings of the games. A Family Timer regulates how long kids play.
Sony's PlayStation, like the Xbox 360, is designed with serious gamers in mind. Its base version costs $300 and includes a 120-gigabyte hard drive and a DualShock 3 wireless controller; $50 more buys a version with a 250-gigabyte hard drive. Both systems can be upgraded with any standard 2.5-inch hard drive. The PlayStation is also a Blu-ray disc player.
Like the Xbox, the PlayStation 3, or PS3, now offers extra features, but these features are all included in the PlayStation Network, which is free (not $50 yearly like Xbox LIVE Gold). These PlayStation Network extras include Netflix (NFLX) instant streaming, a Web browser, photo slide shows, the ability to stream media over a home network to the PS3, a Facebook application that shares game information with friends and the PlayStation Network video-delivery service, where users can purchase 2,400 high- and standard-definition movies and 15,000 TV episodes.
The PS3 and the PlayStation Portable, Sony's portable gaming device, are married in many ways. A new feature called Blu-ray Portable Copy lets users make a free standard-definition copy of some Blu-ray movies for transfer to a PlayStation Portable. Remote Play lets people stream media files from the PS3 to the PlayStation Portable in Wi-Fi hot spots or remotely turn the PS3 on or off using the PlayStation Portable. Movies and TV shows from the PlayStation Network can be transferred to either system, so you can start a movie on a big-screen TV and finish it on the PlayStation Portable; the same can be done for games.
About 400 games are available on Blu-ray for the PS3; these cost between $30 and $60. More than 150 titles, costing between $3 and $40, can be downloaded directly to the PS3. Sony confirmed that it will release a motion-sensing controller, but it hasn't set a date.
Parental restrictions for the PS3 include the ability to restrict games, DVDs and Blu-ray discs with certain ratings. Parents can also limit monthly spending or Web browsing.
Here are some of the key differences among three popular videogame systems.
Xbox LIVE Gold costs $50 a year. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated in the second reference to the price that it costs $50 monthly. Also, the Xbox 360 can be connected to the Internet via an ethernet cable for free, as well as via Wi-Fi. A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that connecting your Xbox to the Internet would require the purchase of a Wi-Fi adapter.