Twelve-yea r-old Omar and his brothers and sisters were born and raised in the beautiful and bustling city of Bosra, Syria. Omar doesn't care about politics – all he wants is to grow up to become a successful businessman who will take the world by storm. But when his clever older brother, Musa, gets mixed up with some young political activists, everything changes . . .
Please leave your reviews as comments below. DO NOT publish your last name. All comments are moderated, and so will not appear immediately.
When I read the first chapter of this amazing book, I knew it would be a kind of book you don't read again! The book is about a 12 year old boy called Omar, who leaves his home as his dad moves jobs. But as Syria gets more dangerous they have to leave Daraa (as they are bombing the place) to a little farm with their auntie. While Syria is getting to a serious point they have to flee their home, but this time they have to leave Syria!
I can't believe it ends like this, arrghhh I wish it went on!
Omar and his family's story was a total eye opener!
Welcome to nowhere is a book about a 12 year old boy who lives in Syria with his brothers, sisters and parents. However his life is suddenly turned upside down when bombs hit Syria.I have just read welcome to nowhere. I really enjoyed this book because it had a lot of tension and suspense as you don't know what to except next. Also, i liked how courageous and was inspired by Omar when he risked his life because he cares about his family so much he is willing to get hurt or even die to rescue his brother.
Whilst reading this book, I felt an emotional connection with the characters. In a touching way, Elizabeth Laird describes Omar's feelings, thoughts and dreams as his world falls apart. She has captured the experiences Omar and his family go through in a stirring novel. I would recommend this book.
Welcome to nowhere is about people who live I Syria and it is getting bombed. It shows that they will do anything to survive.
I couldn't put this book down. It is so much more than just a book about a war torn country – it's about trying to live a normal life when all sense of normality has gone. Children still want to play and be children, adults still need to earn money, feed and clothe their children. You want to make friends and keep away from others. But how do you do that when no day is the same, when routine has gone and you can't trust anyone you speak to?
This story ends on a positive note with hope for the future for Omar and his family. But for me, the ending was less important that the story itself. And I can't help but wonder what has happened to all the other characters in the story who wouldn't have such a happy ending.
Enjoy isn't the right word to describe how I felt reading this book but it was captivating and thought provoking and I thoroughly recommend it to everyone, whatever your age.
Welcome to nowhere is about people who live in Syria and it is getting bombed. It show that they will do anything to survive.
This is not a children's novel. It is a wake up call to all of us! A refugee is a person just like you or me. The book tells of the terrors of events in Syria and puts you there- it's not just the incredible writing that makes you want to read on – it's the feeling of empathy that it creates. But this is no piece of propaganda, this -sadly- is reality to many people across this so-called civilised globe.
Read this book – then give it to your parents!
Welcome to Nowhere is a thrilling story where war has started in Syria and bombs are falling everywhere. The story is about the journey to the refugee camps in Jordan. I would rate it ten out of ten.
A deeply touching story which gives an insight to how terrible it must be to have to leave your home and be on the move from constant warfare. Syria is not a safe place to be for Omar and his family and this book portrays his journey and the feeling of hopelessness. However, the story is optimistic and inspirational.


As a business owner, you may be the first one through the doors in the morning, and the last one out each night. Simply locking up as you leave the premises doesn't effectively secure your business, your facility, and the valuable assets inside. however, a complete, tailored commercial security alarm system is necessary to ensure your business is protected from a variety of threats including burglary, fire, and flooding.
Nearly half of all business owners wait until they're the victim of a break-in or other disaster to install additional security measures like an alarm system, surveillance system, or access control. This reactive approach doesn't protect you or your business from a costly, potentially debilitating experience.
Instead, contact us at Holder's Security in Tulsa, Oklahoma to ensure that your business's entire facility is protected from a variety of common threats. Act now, before you become a victim, in order to keep your assets and employees safe at all times.
At Holder's Security, we create effective commercial security alarm systems for retail stores, warehouses, factories, traditional offices and everything in between. Our storefront intrusion and burglary alarm systems feature wireless equipment with remote monitoring capability that's easy to use, and not intrusive to your employees or customers.
Rather than offering you a "one size fits all" commercial security package, we begin our relationship with our business security clients with an initial assessment. Following a walk-through of your business's facilities, our experienced alarm technicians will be able to diagnose your security needs and customize an alarm system for your business that properly protects each vulnerability.
Each commercial burglar alarm can also be integrated with a variety of other equipment and features in order to create a security system that protects your entire property from multiple threats, and to make your business's security system as simple to use as possible. Many features can even be monitored and managed from any internet ready device, including your smartphone, so you can control security at your business from virtually anywhere.
Our state of the art monitoring station is located right here in Tulsa, Oklahoma and enables us to offer fast, responsive service 24-hours a day. With both natural gas and diesel generator back-up, our central monitoring station is always online and ready to dispatch help when your alarm sounds.
For more information on our commercial alarm systems, give us a call, or stop in and see us.
In order to create a completely secure environment for your business and employees, ask us about integrating a commercial fire alarm into your business's security system. Access control systems and video surveillance systems can also be integrated into your security system.
For an assessment of your business's security needs, contact us at Holder's Security: (918) 663-8660.


text:
Soundboks 3 Bluetooth Speaker Review: A Powerful Portable Party-Starter
Soundboks 3
The Soundboks 3 really pushes the limits when it comes to our idea of a Bluetooth speaker. Not only is it the size of a professional cabinet, it delivers the sound of one too. The speaker offers excellent sound quality at festival-level volumes. It is perfect for parties and has the staying power to keep going thanks to the Batteryboks. Highly recommended if you've got the spare $999.
Performance speaker
Made for epic sound
Alternative performance inputs
Brand: Soundboks
Connectivity: Bluetooth/XLR/3.5 mm Stereo
Integrations: SKAA (audio transmission)
Battery: 40 hours, rechargeable
Water Resistance: IP54
Excellent sound
Very loud
Nicely balanced sound
Customizable grills
Battery lasts well
Bluetooth is faultless
A bit heavy for one person to carry
Not fully waterproof
Would be overpriced for some
Soundboks 3 other
The Soundboks 3 portable performance speaker is, without a shadow of a doubt, the best speaker I have ever used in my life. Period. As it is a performance speaker, it is ideal for parties, and is loud enough to cope with the liveliest of gatherings.
It currently retails at $999, which some people might find somewhat excessive for a Bluetooth speaker. However, this isn't any Bluetooth speaker. Having road-tested the device for several months and really put it through its paces, I can highly recommend investing in one, if you're in the market for something that both looks and sounds professional.
Want to know more about this portable, pumping party-box? OK then...
What's in the Boks?
The Soundboks speaker doesn't come all on its lonesome when its formidable packaging arrives on your doorstep. Opening the box, you'll find the following:
One Soundboks 3 Bluetooth performance speaker.
One power cable.
One Batteryboks (the battery pack).
Instruction manual.
Soundboks stickers.
If you ordered any of the extras (of which there are several, including cable bundles, and backpacks for carrying the Soundboks), these will probably be in the big box of goodies, too. You get everything you need to get started with making a lovely old racket with your new speaker, anyway.
A Spectacular Sight
The first thing you'll notice about the Soundboks 3's appearance is its size. It is truly a behemoth when it comes to Bluetooth speakers, with dimensions of 25.6 x 17 x 13 inches, and weighing in at a scale-tipping 34 lbs.
Our review unit features all-black cabinetry, including the removable grill at the front of the device. You can replace the Soundboks branded grill at the front, with several colors and limited edition variants included in your options. If I had to choose, I'd go for the plain orange grill or one of the cool Artist Editions grills, which feature sweet graphics from some well-respected illustrators and muralists.
Remove the grill, and you'll see the speaker array housed at the front of the cabinet. This comprises two 10-inch, 96 dB woofers and a single 1-inch, and a 104 dB compression driver tweeter. This probably gives you an idea how loud the Soundboks 3 can get.
All eight of the corners have silicone ball bumpers, so the speaker can take a knock or two without breaking a sweat. On either side of the Soundboks 3, you have powder-coated, steel carry handles, which form part of the Pulse Reflex Port. This runs horizontally through the speaker cabinet, from one side to the other.
On the left face of the cabinet, above the Pulse Reflex port, is the battery enclosure (where you place your Batteryboks) and DC input to connect your power source (more on this later).
The right face of the cabinet carries the user interface panel, which comprises a power button, a TeamUp button (again, we'll come to that shortly), and the Bluetooth LED indicator.
The Batteryboks itself is pretty self explanatory. It is a brick-shaped, black, plastic box that holds your juice for portable playing. It has a fabric strap to remove it from the Soundboks battery port, battery level indicators, and there is also a rubber button to check the battery status. The Batteryboks connects to the DC power input on the Soundboks via its power lead.
Around the back of the Soundboks, you have your Soundboks Team ID panel (which tells you which number Soundboks you have and identifies it for customer service purposes). Below this is the Pro Panel, where you can expand on the power of the Soundboks aside from playing music streamed via Bluetooth. The Pro Panel houses an SKAA bond button (more on SKAA later), two 3.5mm stereo inputs, and combination mic and instrument inputs (XLR, 1/4 inch).
And there we have it. That's what the device looks like... but we haven't even started on the sound, yet.
A More Spectacular Sound
I'm going to repeat myself here and say the Soundboks 3 is by far the best speaker I have ever used in my life. Period. And I'm repeating myself because I really want to drive home just how impressive this speaker is. Not only is it formidable in size (which it has to be in order to house the massive bass drivers and the tweeter cone), but the sound you'll get out of this beast is seriously loud.
I tested the Soundboks in a number of conditions and in each and every one it held its own, drowning out any other sound around it. This is no surprise, as the speakers are capable of an advertised 96 dB for the woofers and 104 dB for the tweeter. I wanted to see just how loud it could go and actually went so loud I thought I'd blown the Soundboks within 20 minutes of unpacking it. Thankfully, that was the safety cutout.
I've measured the Soundboks 3's sound levels and found that it was hitting 114 dB, without maxing the sound out (saving myself from another safety cutout panic). For context, that is 4 db lower than the volume of noise an aeroplane makes. I'm genuinely surprised none of my windows imploded.
In general terms, the sound quality from the Soundboks is excellent and definitely gives the impression of a professional performance speaker. Using it for both DJing and simply listening to music, I can confirm it is worthy of its performance credentials.
Bass is round, fat, and pumps with every beat. The mid-range doesn't break up amidst the bass and treble, with instruments and vocals presenting with excellent clarity. The top end is devoid of sibilance, so treble-heavy tracks and bass-free moments don't jar the eardrums with a sudden shrillness.
As mentioned, I tested the Soundboks 3 in various situations, described below.
The Soundboks 3 is an excellent speaker to use indoors. Why? Because it can fill a room with sound without even breaking a sweat. Seriously, I can have the volume at 25% and can still hear the pounding bass of Futureshock's classic 2001 progressive house mix, Dark and Long, downstairs in the kitchen. And my house is pretty big.
I also used the Soundboks 3 as a party speaker indoors and it made sure the shindig was loud enough that everyone kept dancing and couldn't hear themselves think, nevermind speak to each other (all ears on the DJ, please). Not only that, but despite its volume, the sound indoors is never muddy or distorted. It fills a room, but does so nicely, despite its bassy emphasis and overall powerful sound.
Take it outside, and Soundboks 3 really comes into its own. Want an instant mini-festival? Fire the Soundboks 3 up and voila, you have one. In fact, this is what I did. Lockdown regulations meant I could only have five guests in my garden, which was good because my makeshift dance tent was only big enough to house that many people.
But I had my own mini-festival, in my garden, with five people and, my goodness, did the Soundboks 3 deliver on its performance credentials. There could've been 5,000 people there, such was the atmosphere the Soundboks helped create.
This rings true, as Soundboks speakers can be linked together via Bluetooth with the TeamUP feature. This way you can combine the sound from several speakers and power an actual festival (which I believe it has; Enchanted Forest).
The music started off with a mellow, disco, and house-driven daytime vibe. My set included the likes of Terr's Tale of Devotion and Flamingo Pier's Find Your Away. Both are vocal tracks and the midrange held strong during this element of my set; no external sound sources like cars or passers-by ruined the moment.
Later on, the music became a bit more lively, with a bassline set featuring DJ Q's Back to Basics and DJ Zinc's Let's Get Together. Suffice to say, nobody stopped moving, and the bass was heavy enough for everyone to pull disgusting pigfaces every time a killer bassline came spewing out of the front of the Soundboks.
We finished with some hard and acid techno. The acid techno features a lot of top-end, which the Soundboks 3's tweeter carried perfectly above the woofer-beating kick drums. The sound remained perfectly balanced until 3 am when I realized everyone within a six-mile radius would be dialing the police and putting in noise complaints (so we moved the party indoors).
So, performance outdoors is perfect when accompanied by the Soundboks 3. Combining it with my laptop and little Pioneer DDJ-200 controller, I had a truly portable setup, with enough juice in my speaker's battery to have a 40-hour party, should I want to. I also found that I could hook the speaker up to my Pioneer DM-40 DJ monitor speakers and direct the sound around a little more (using one as a monitor for DJing).
Even just listening to music outdoors is a fantastic experience with the Soundboks 3. Obviously, the day after the party is for chilling, so we relaxed in the sunny garden, the Soundboks 3 faithfully pumping out low-slung dub reggae vibes, the deep bass vibrating the soil we were sitting on, which was most therapeutic. Speaking of which...
Playing Non-Music Audio
I'll only be brief with this section, but I wanted to mention the non-musical applications of the Soundboks 3.
Because of its rumbling bass and high-volume output, I tested the Soundboks 3 playing some binaural beats and isochronic tones. I can confirm that I was somewhat blown away by the results. In a room, on your own, with the universal frequency—432 Hz—literally washing over you like a gong bath, you'll find the Soundboks 3 is great for meditation (if you like that sort of thing, which I do, so there).
I did this several times and found that I really became immersed in the moment, and it made clearing my mind a lot easier as the Soundboks 3 was drowning external audio sources out. I could also feel the frequency vibrating my bed, and therefore me, which was soothing and relaxing, as it probably did the same to my vagal nerve (see my review of the Sensate vibrating pebble to see what mumbo jumbo I'm talking about here).
Works Like a Big, Powerful Charm
So, does the Soundboks 3 live up to its numerous claims? In a word, yes. I wouldn't be without it, be that in my office working, streaming music, throwing six-person garden raves, or six-person kitchen raves. It works perfectly in almost every situation.
The only exception being very wet situations, like in the rain. While all the internal components have hermetic seals to a rating of IP65, I wouldn't subject the Soundboks 3 to Mother Nature's continued bouts of precipitation. But it'll be fine if the rain catches you out and you need to whizz it back indoors quickly.
The 40-hour battery life is certainly true. I got 40 hours out of the device in one battery charge; enough to power a very loud 12-hour party and then soundtrack our Sunday the next day, with half the battery left to keep me going until Wednesday. Not only that, but you can charge the battery pack and power the speaker simultaneously, using the supplied split power cable.
Bluetooth is equally impressive in terms of range. Any sound transmitted by Bluetooth never breaks up, at least not in my experience, which is excellent when you're really getting into your music session.
The speaker components are excellent and deliver perfectly on sound, as mentioned earlier. Soundboks 3's tweeter can disperse sound well, thanks to its flared cone. The Pulse Reflex Port passively amplifies bass, giving those rich sub-tones a real boost, which is particularly important for the outdoor festival vibes to present themselves.
The Soundboks features an intelligent boost converter, which is able to minimize clipping and helps the speaker avoid compression. It does this by boosting the voltage from 12.8 to 24 Volts. So, when the Soundboks 3 needs more power than the battery can provide, in order to deliver a big sound, the converter steps in and gives it that extra kick.
The speaker is portable, but it is difficult to carry for long distances, on your own, using just the carry handles. However, you can overcome this with the aforementioned backpack (meaning you can play music while you carry it around) or just have another person help you. It fits into the trunk of a car, though, if you wanted to take it to a forest and, you know, have a little unplanned party...
One feature I couldn't test (but which sounds excellent) is SKAA bonding. SKAA devices act as wireless bridges between a device transmitting sound, and the device it is transmitting to. So, with an SKAA device, you can connect any sound source to your Soundboks without pairing it up, as long as you have an SKAA transmitter plugged into the audio source and the receiver is SKAA compatible (which the Soundboks 3 is). Sadly, I don't own one of these SKAA transmitters, so I was unable to see how well this works.
You can also make use of the Soundboks app. This is great as it offers customizable EQ, mode selection (for switching to Instrument mode to play guitars, for example), and Soundboks controls. You can also use the app to control SKAA bonding, described above.
Would I Recommend The Soundboks 3?
Have you got $999 to spare? If so, and you're on the lookout for the ultimate performance party speaker, then I wholeheartedly recommend the Soundboks 3. It is a truly excellent speaker and I have real difficulty picking out faults, to be completely honest.
The lack of waterproofing is a minor disadvantage, but I recognize that would drive the price up further. I also recognize that the cost of this speaker will price it out of many people's wallets. However, given the joy it can help bring, I feel that, over the course of several parties, the Soundboks 3 will have paid for itself by providing good times. You can't put a price on nourishing your soul, which is what friends, music, laughter, and dancing do.
Soundboks 3 certainly manages that, by being such a well-balanced, powerful speaker, that works hard to keep on bringing the party wherever you take it.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Next:AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban Have A Plan That Sucks
Intelligence: The Secret American Army
June 29, 2008: The United States now has thousands of spies inside Iraq. This didn't happen overnight. For the last five years, the U.S. has been building an informant network there. This sort of thing takes time, and knowledge of how Arab culture works, and how to work it. The U.S. Army Special Forces, the CIA, reservist cops and Israel were key components. The results (mostly classified) have been impressive. For example, last year, tips from Iraqis led to the discovery of 6,963 weapons caches, plus similar information on safe houses and terrorists themselves. During the first half of 2009, tips led to finding nearly 5,000 weapons caches.
Back in 2003, the Special Forces and CIA already knew about the tradecraft of developing local informants. The Special Forces were always practicing this, but were now so damn busy chasing terrorists and taking care of so many special jobs no one else could handle, that spy networks were not something they could concentrate on. The CIA also had a shortage of people with practical experience in setting up informant networks. That's mainly because media and Congressional pressure in the late 1970s caused the CIA to largely get out of the spy business. Too dangerous because of the nasty people you have to deal with while recruiting quality informants. Thus the reservist cops and Israel became two of the major sources of expertise in this area.
In the United States, it's quite common for police to join the reserves. They don't always end up doing police work, but they have their experience with them always. In Iraq, reservists who were detectives and police commanders quickly saw the need for databases and developing informant networks. That led to the Israeli connection. Israel had been at war with Palestinian terrorists since 2000, and had cranked up their already extensive informant network in the Palestinian territories, and throughout the Arab world. Israeli advise turned out to be critical. But one bit of Israeli wisdom was decidedly unwelcome. Setting up a reliable informant network in Iraq would take time, and there was no way to rush it.
The "surge offensive" of last year was largely possible because the informant network had grown to the point where commanders were confident that many Sunni Arab tribes were ready to switch sides. They knew this because the Special Forces had taught so many officers how to "drink tea" (sit down and talk with local Iraqi big shots). Israeli intel experts advised on how to work an Iraqi neighborhood to find people willing to talk, and how to persuade them to do it even in the face of terrorist threats.
U.S. intel troops, mainly U.S. Army, persevered, and now that's paying off. You can tell by the confident pronouncements from U.S. generals about success in Iraq. It's career suicide to make such statements, unless you are very confident with your resources, especially your intelligence capabilities. Naturally, no one will talk openly about this stuff. Can't risk giving the enemy anything. But in a decade or so, if not sooner, lots of details will come out. It's quite an epic adventure.
Make A Comment View Comments (6)
AIR DEFENSE: Olympic Efforts
AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban Have A Plan That Sucks
Intelligence: Current 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999


The latest case of large-scale horse neglect comes from Fulton County, Arkansas, where a horse dealer named Rodney Kankey was found to have left a herd of more than 100 horses and donkeys without food or water.
According to reports, there had been several complaints of neglect at Kankey's farm over the past seven months. Previous complaints had led to warnings from authorities, but he did not comply. When animal welfare responders were finally able to execute a search warrant on December 9, they found horses with untreated fractures and several cases of strangles, as well as some horses that had already died due to lack of care. At least two have been euthanized since the seizure due to strangles infections. Strangles is not typically fatal, but the horses were already immunocompromised due to malnutrition and poor living conditions.
Welfare workers and the Fulton County Sheriff's department determined that Kankey had not provided any food or clean water for the horses since he was arrested for threatening several people with a gun on Thanksgiving Day. He was released after posting bond on December 6. No charges have been pressed for animal cruelty at this time as the investigation is still ongoing.
The horses are currently under custody of the Fulton County Sheriff's Office and in quarantine at the Mountain Home Livestock Auction barn where they will remain for at least 30 days. Volunteers and workers from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and American Humane Association (AHA) are working to bring the animals back to health and get them accustomed to being handled and groomed by humans.
Previous articleDo You Trail Ride on Public Land?
I wish I could help those horses.
I wish that there was a much worse penalty for being cruel to animals, it should be more than just a fine!
I think people should suffer just as much as they make their horses suffer. It's terrible that they do that! What's the purpose?
Hurrah they were all rescued. Now the long road ahead for recovery. It is almost certain that they would've gone to slaughter otherwise. This will have a happy ending!
This is just awful. I'm thankful that someone is now helping them.
HUMANS ARE SO DISCUSTING,ANIMALS R HELPLESS….THEY HAVE NO VOICE….THEY HAVE A PURPOSE…HUMANS HAVE NO PURPOSE….
O!! IM CRYING!!!! IM SO HAPPY THEY WERE RESCUED O IM SO HAPPY!!!!
Thank God they were rescued! So much of this going on with feed doubling in price. SO SAD!
God surely answered their prayers. I wish I was closer, to help out. Most of my horses, are also rescues, so I know first hand what the horses are going through.
My heart goes out to those poor horses, good thing there are compassionate people out there willing to help.
What a mean guy! He sure has a bad reputation. He should be HUNG TO DEATH! He deserves the worst. And the horses did not deserve what they got, but Thank the Lord that kind people are here and rescued them!
I wish I could help rescue them.


quartz crystal microbalance abbr., QCM; QCN	otherwise quartz crystal nanobalance	(rus. микровесы, кварцевые otherwise метод пьезоэлектрического микровзвешивания) — a mass measuring instrument that measures a change in frequency of a quartz crystal resonator (microbalance sensor) depending on the quantity of a substance placed on the microbalance.
The key element of a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) is a quartz crystal cut out of a monocrystal at a certain angle. Golden electrodes are connected to the quartz crystal on the top and the bottom. Applying alternating current to the crystal will induce oscillations in the crystal plate as a result of inverse piezoeffect. The vibrating system becomes resonant at a certain frequency of alternating current. When a substance is deposited on the surface of the instrument, the resonance frequency of the quartz crystal changes, allowing the mass of the deposited substance to be measured.
Quartz crystal microbalance devices are widely used in biochemical activities because they can be used in liquid environments, as well as in gas phase and under vacuum. For example, one of the biosensor types may be obtained through immobilisation on the microbalance surface of sensing biomolecules that capture a specific measured substance from a solution. Microbalance devices are most commonly applied in immunobiosensors used to recognize antibodies and DNA biosensors used to recognize short fragments of DNA or RNA molecules.


It's no secret that I don't like to bend my knees. That's right. I like to flex my powerful quads all the time to keep my legs as straight as an arrow.
Unfortunately, Mom & Dad don't share my enthusiasm for straightleggedness. They're trying to get me to walk and/or crawl, and frankly, I want no part of it.
Lately, I've been spending more time on my tummy, which I don't care for. I make swimming and flying motions, but no crawling motions. Also, they make me kneel and bend my knees a lot.
Maybe it will do me some good. Who knows? I'm not concerned about it.


text:
Car Makers Sued Over Deadly Keyless Ignitions
Image Credit Chuck Kramer
Walked away from your car with the engine running? Maybe you too can sue and cash in. But I hope you're better than that.
• News: Current Events • News: Oddities • News: U.S.
Some of the world's largest auto makers are being sued for providing so called "deadly" keyless ignition switches. Sounds pretty bad, right? It does until you hear what a "deadly" ignition switch actually is.
First off, if you have an older and don't know what a keyless ignition switch is let me explain. A regular keyed ignition is an actual key that you put into an ignition switch and twist to start your car. By contrast, a keyless switch is just an electronic "fob" that you can keep in your pocket. You then enter your car and push a button to start it. The car knows the keyless fob is on your body and starts up.
The thing about a keyless ignition is that you can actually walk away from the car and the engine will keep running. Just the same as if you left your old fashioned key in the ignition. So when you park your car you hit the same "start / stop" button to stop the car. It's pretty simple stuff, at least for most people.
A lawsuit that was recently filed in Los Angeles about this issue ad the 28 plaintiffs say that these keyless car systems can cause injury or have "deadly" results. Why? Because you can walk away from the car with it still running and your car will continue to spew carbon monoxide out of the exhaust pipe. That carbon monoxide can be lethal if you inhale enough of it. The issue is no different with a keyed switch, only that you can "forget" to turn your car off more easily with a keyless fob. You keyword here is that "you" can forget.
The defendants in this case include BMW / MINI, Mercedes Benz, Fiat Chrylser, Ford, GM, and Honda. Apparantly, there have been 13 deaths and several injuries that have happened because of this issue.
But let's take a step back. Injury and death is no laughing matter. But are the car manufacturers really at fault here? I don't think so and this feels like another frivolous lawsuit in our lawsuit-happy-country we call America. Think I'm wrong? Let's go over some other examples.
1. Let's start with a normal keyed switch car. It's not the act of removing and walking away with the key that shuts the car off. I have to remember to turn the ignition switch to the off position to stop the engine. I can then take the key with or "forget" it in the ignition. Or I can forget to turn the key off and the car will keep running. If I did that I'd be at fault.
2. If you forgot to turn your car off and got out of it, you'd certainly here the engine running still, right? Or you'd notice the various lights and computer displays still running on the dashboard before you got out, right? There are plenty of signs that petroleum powered cars are running or not.
3. What about your gas oven and stove? There is no key for that but it's still your responsibility to turn them off when you're done. Why does car ownership require any less responsibility on your part as the end user?
4. What about lawn mowers and other gas powered lawn equipment. Most don't use keys but a simple button or switch that you, the operator, must remember to turn off in order to shut the engine off.
Life is full of inventions that make our lives easier but still require us to have some common sense. Better yet, using those items is a privilege and privileges come with responsibility.
We need to stop being so eager to hop on the lawsuit bandwagon in hopes of a quick cash out. Having a legal system is a good thing. It's great to know that when somebody is truly at fault we can take legal action to stop it from happening again. But abusing a legal system like this is a terrible thing and part of what is running the USA into the ground. It's also part of the reason all the other countries don't like us all that much.
Sometimes, when somebody gets hurt or killed it's actually their own fault. As I mentioned before, I don't take injury or death lightly and feel bad for those that got hurt or killed here. Still, at some point we need to take responsibility for our actions rather than always looking for blame elsewhere. We need to put an end to this kind of frivolous legal action.


Included in Monday's testimony were the soldiers who were injured in the crash, family members of Ashcraft and Shrader, other drill sergeants and Marrow himself.
Tammy Shrader recalled the knock on the door from the two officers informing her that her son died, and watching as the casket carrying his body was unloaded at the airport. The dog tag that bears his name and was hanging on the casket was given to her, and she wore it around her neck in court Monday.
Steven "Dale" Shrader, Ethan's older brother, said they wrote letters to each other while Ethan was in basic training at Fort Jackson. In the last letter Steven Shrader sent his brother, he told Ethan he was getting married and asked him to be his best man in the wedding. Hours after Shrader's family learned of his death, Steven received a letter Ethan had mailed days earlier.
"It was him telling me he would be honored to be my best man at my wedding," Steven Shrader testified.
Amanda Kassen, Ashcraft's mother, said she calls her son's phone just to hear his voice on his voicemail greeting, and looks at the pictures on his Facebook page.
Ethan Shrader's younger sister has nightmares about a mob of people going to the cemetery and pulling her brother's remains from the crypt, Tammy Shrader testified.
"She has gone from being a regular kid to she kind of isolates herself from the rest of the family," Tammy Shrader said.
She was hit by one of the truck's front wheels and said she was able to move out of the way of the back wheels.
In the chaos after the crash, New said she was "in arm's reach" of both Shrader and Ashcraft. Her voice crackled with tears as she recalled seeing Ashcraft's injuries, a drill sergeant pulling a jacket over the dead soldier's face, and Shrader groaning in pain and calling for his mother.
New said she was having trouble breathing as the scene unfolded.
"I was just thinking about my son, if I was gonna make it home," she said.
She spent nine days in the hospital with three liver lacerations, a fractured spine and severe muscle and tissue damage from the crash, she said. She still undergoes physical therapy and sees a psychologist, and has more procedures ahead.
"The older I get, the worse it's gonna get," she said of the pain from her injuries.
Benjamin Key had a fractured hip from being hit by the truck, but on Monday, he also testified about the lasting mental and emotional damage of that day.
He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and nightmares, and is woken some nights by memories of the sights and sounds from that day.
"I'm hearing Ethan crying for his mom," he said.
After the crash, Key said he was no longer outgoing, didn't like being in large groups and couldn't physically pick up his children. At one point, he contemplated suicide but said he got help for those thoughts.
Another injured recruit, Alan Kryszak, has recurring dreams about that day, from the groans and "muffled screams" after the crash to resisting the doctors at the trauma center. Being around large groups after the crash, even his family, could trigger bad memories.
Earlier Monday morning, Marrow himself choked back tears as he recalled the events leading up to the deadly crash and seeing recruits stuck under the tires of the truck and trailer.
Before the crash, the recruits had been at a range for marksmanship training and were marching in two columns back to company headquarters, Marrow said.
Marrow had the option to pull over and ask to switch driving duties with another drill sergeant, he said.
"I awoke to numerous people screaming and shouting," he said. His voice broke with tears as he recalled getting out of the truck and seeing Ashcraft and Shrader under the tires of the trailer.
A risk assessment conducted before the road march did not account for drill sergeant fatigue, testified Sgt. First Class Sean Embler, who witnessed the crash. Drill sergeants work grueling 18- to 20-hour days, and even though naps are encouraged, there's not always time for them, Embler said.
In his testimony, Marrow mentioned driving home after 9 p.m. the night before the deadly crash and talking with his wife and children about their day.
Many who took the stand Monday, including the soldiers who were injured, vouched for Marrow and spoke highly of their experiences with him.
Some of the recruits called Marrow "a friendly drill sergeant" because rather than just yell at a recruit for a mistake, Marrow would educate and correct them, said Key.
"I really don't think that one bad thing should follow a man for the rest of his life," Key said on the stand.
Suggesting on Monday that she could someday forgive Marrow for her son's death, Amanda Kassen said on the stand that she was taught not to hate people.
The defense is expected to continue calling witnesses Tuesday morning.


Sonic's always been there for me. He's taught me so much but maybe now it's time I learn to stand on my two feet!
— Miles "Tails" Prower, "Head's Up, Tails!"
Miles Prower (マイルス・パウアー, Mairusu Pauā?, lit. "Miles Pouer"), better known by his nickname, Tails (テイルス, Teirusu?), is one of the main characters in the anime series Sonic X and its comic series published by Archie Comics. He is a two-tailed fox from an unnamed world in a parallel dimension to Earth and Sonic the Hedgehog's best friend. He quickly befriends fellow inventor Chuck Thorndyke, who helps him build the X-Tornado jet-plane.
Tails is a young, anthropomorphic fox cub with a unique mutation of two tails instead of one. He has mostly yellow-orange fur with white fur around his muzzle, front torso, and the tips of his tails. He also has blue eyes. Typically, his attire consists simply of white gloves and red shoes with white toes.
Before meeting Sonic, Tails was bullied by other animals because of his twin tails. When Tails first met Sonic, he found Sonic's original Tornado, painted it blue, and made it faster. Sonic spotted him and they became good friends. Sonic and Tails eventually befriended Knuckles, Amy, Cream and Cheese and many small animals.
During a battle with Dr. Eggman, Tails, like many others from his own world, were transported to Earth. Tails quickly arrived with the Tornado 2 to rescue Sonic, Cream, and Cheese from Area 99 after Sonic attempted to infiltrate the base to rescue them, using his microchip paper airplanes to damage the base's electrical systems and laser surveillance cameras, before using the Tornado 2 to get Sonic, Cream, and Cheese to safety and back to the Thorndyke Mansion. Once meeting with Christopher Thorndyke, Tails and his friends decided to reside there for their stay.
During their say, Tails aided Sonic in a variety of different ways to help him defeat Dr. Eggman. The first time he fought Eggman after arriving on Earth, was when he and Chris fought E-23 Missile Wrist when he attacked Station Square. He continued to use the Tornado 2 in battle against E-11 Beacon as well. However, due to only Chris and Chuck knowing about him, Tails had to pretend to be a stuffed animal around Ella. However, when Cream blew her own cover to yell at Chris for thinking ill of his mother, Tails was forced to reveal himself to calm Cream down. Luckily, Ella was told everything about Tails, and he was soon allowed to wander the Thorndyke mansion as he pleased. Eventually, he built the Chaos Emerald-powered X Tornado to replace the Tornado 2 with help from Chuck Thorndyke after the Tornado 2 was unable to defeat Eggman's E-90 Super Sweeper in their first encounter with it. Later, Tails was flying the X-Tornado over Diamond Stadium, when the Chaos Emerald in the cockpit caused him to nearly crash into the stadium due to there being another Chaos Emerald there. There, Tails and the rest of Sonic's friends did battle with Eggman and his E-21 Ballios in a baseball game, but Eggman cheated once Sonic's team took the lead, allowing him to escape with the Emerald found at the stadium.
From that point onward, Tails continued to use the X-Tornado in battle with Eggman's robots, such as revealing its X-Cyclone conversion when dealing with E-35 Funfun while searching for the third Chaos Emerald at Tingalin Villa. When Eggman ended up getting away with the third Emerald, Tails took Sonic to Eggman's headquarters where Sonic managed to claim the Chaos Emeralds Eggman held before GUN destroyed Eggman's headquarters.
After Sonic and his friends were hailed as heroes for helping stop Eggman previously, they were given special passports due to their hero status. Now able to go out in public, Tails went shopping with Ella, Amy, Cream, Cheese, and Chris, only for Station Square to be besieged by Eggman in his new base of operations, the Egg Fort. Luckily, with help from Sam Speed and Mister Tanaka, Tails was able to retrieve the X Tornado so he and Sonic could do battle with the Egg Fort and manage to damage it enough to make it crash into the ocean.
Later on, Tails joined Sonic and the others on a vacation to the Sapphire Sea. There, they went on an underwater expedition to a sunken treasure ship, where they managed to retrieve another of the Chaos Emeralds, despite being attacked by Eggman and E-57 Clurken. However, during another dogfight between the X Tornado and the Egg Fort, both ships were shot down by each other and landed in the African Savannah, where Tails and Chris found themselves trying to prevent a pair of crooked men from trying to destroy the land for a dam construction project. Luckily, when Sonic arrived while facing Decoe and Bocoe in E-65 Gorru-Gaooh, the robot's camouflage ability was hindered by the construction equipment, allowing Sonic to not only defeat Gorru-Gaooh, but also ruin the crooked men's plot, leaving them to be arrested by the local rangers.
Tails eventually joined Sonic, Chris, Amy, and Cream and Cheese with going to one of the on-scene movie sets for the latest movie being done by Chris' mother, Lindsey Thorndyke, where they ended up having to deal with King Boom Boo and his Boom minions, especially after they managed to trap Tails in their dimension with Sonic and the others. However, Chris was able to free all of them and they escaped from King Boom Boo, not realizing that they may have still allowed some of his minions to escape when they returned the Talisman keeping them trapped to where it was originally found.
Tails and the rest of Sonic's friends were soon granted a vacation on the Thorndyke Family yacht, but while Tails tried to relax, Sonic went nuts with wanting to return to land, as being surrounded by water was driving him crazy. In an attempt to get back to Station Square, he suggested to Tails that the X Tornado might be lonely without him, and Tails fell for it. Though Tails learned that Sonic was tricking him when Amy learned of the trick Sonic played on her, he was willing to forgive Sonic. Soon after, the yacht was attacked by Eggman, now in his new Egg Fort II, but Sonic was unable to fight it due to his panicked state from the trip, until one of the senior citizens Mister Tanaka brought to the ship was able to help him regain his focus. To Tails' surprise, the X Tornado then arrived, piloted by a very furious Ella, who was after Bokkun for blowing a bomb up in her face. With her help, Sonic defeated the Egg Fort II, and was finally able to relax with Tails and everyone else.
Back home, Tails was awoken one night by the arrival of Chris' uncle, Sam Speed, who wanted to challenge Sonic to a race using his new rocket car, but Sonic refused until threatened by Eggman siccing a kissing robot on him if he did not accept. During the race, Tails used the X Tornado to have Chris deliver lunch to Sonic, only for Sam to leave both Sonic and Chris covered in dust from his exhaust when he took off to regain the lead from Sonic. Tails then took Chris back to the stadium to wait for Sonic and Sam to finish the race, joined by Chris' parents and many fans. Later, Tails joined Mister Tanaka on a trip back to his homeland of Japan, where he discovered a Chao colony when looking for Cheese after he got separated from the others. The colony was soon attacked by Eggman and his E-66 Da-Dai-Oh, but Sonic destroyed E-66 and helped Tails clean out the lake at the heart of the colony of the mud and dirt that polluted it from the attack by E-66.
Tails was later invited by Nelson Thorndyke to come to Filmdom City as part of a plan for him to surprise Lindsey for their wedding anniversary. However, when he revealed the ring he got her to be a Chaos Emerald, Tails witnessed it reacting violently to the one Sonic was carrying before being subdued. During the plan, Nelson's Emerald was exposed again to not just the Emerald Sonic had, but the one Knuckles was carrying as well. Eggman soon crashed the set in the Egg Fort II, and Tails joined Sonic and Knuckles in having Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe chase them across several movie sets before Eggman got the Emerald, and left E-74 Weazo to deal with Sonic and Knuckles. The two rivals managed to destroy Weazo though, and Tails joined everyone in celebrating the Thorndykes' wedding anniversary.
When Sonic suddenly began running frantically without stopping, no one realizing he had gotten a microchip from E-88 Lightning Bird stuck in his ear, Tails aided in several attempts to stop Sonic, but all of them failed. Realizing that E-88 had done something to Sonic in his last battle with it, Tails and Amy tracked down E-88, and Amy attempted to get revenge on it, only for the robot to trap her. However, Sonic arrived in time to finish the robot for good and save Amy, knocking the microchip out of his ear in the process.
With six of the seven Chaos Emeralds found, Tails and the rest of his friends tried to find the seventh one, but had no luck in finding it. However, Tails soon learned that Chris and Knuckles had taken the four Emeralds they had, along with the one Knuckles had found, to Eggman, all for an attempt to help Tails and his friends get home, but Eggman double-crossed Chris and Knuckles and took Chris hostage along with the Emeralds. With Chris having been taken hostage on the Egg Fort II, Tails took Chuck Thorndyke, Amy, Cream, and Cheese with him in the X Tornado to try and rescue him, but the X Tornado was unable to get close the Egg Fort II after it transformed into the E-99 Eggsterminator. Before anyone could do anything though, Sonic appeared, having been transformed by the Chaos Emeralds, which Chris had taken from Eggman and dropped when he was rescued by Rouge, into Super Sonic. Super Sonic tore the Eggsterminator apart within seconds, before unleashing Chaos Control. Tails worried that Chuck would be taken with them back to their world, but Chuck assured Tails it was not an issue. However, Super Sonic instead transported the Mystic Ruins and Angel Island to Earth.
With the arrival of the Mystic Ruins and Angel Island on Earth thanks to the Chaos Control caused by Super Sonic in his battle with the Eggsterminator, Tails established a workshop in Mystic Ruins, using it as the new hangar for the X Tornado.
Six months after the incident, when Sonic arrived to ask for his help regarding finding the Chaos Emeralds again before Eggman could use them to power up Chaos, Tails revealed he had already found the green Chaos Emerald. Using it, Sonic and Tails tracked down another emerald in Windy Valley, only to be attacked by Eggman in his Egg Hornet. Though Sonic destroyed the Egg Hornet, both emeralds landed in a lake, where Chaos was hiding, allowing it to evolve into Chaos 4. Sonic was able to beat it, but as Eggman fled in the Egg Carrier, Tails and Sonic gave pursuit in the X Tornado, only for it to be shot down by the Egg Carrier's massive weapon systems. Fortunately, Tails and Sonic survived the crash, with Tails only receiving some minor injuries.
Once Tails recovered, he used the X Tornado to attack the Egg Carrier again with Sonic and Knuckles, but this time revealed the X Tornado's new Battle Armor Mode, allowing them a chance to land on the Egg Carrier, only for Tails to realize too late that Battle Armor Mode has no landing gear, forcing them to crash land on the Egg Carrier. Onboard the Egg Carrier, Sonic and Tails split off from Knuckles to look for Amy, while Knuckles went looking for the last shards of the Master Emerald. Sonic and Tails soon confronted Eggman, Decoe, and Bocoe, but after Eggman retrieved the Chaos Emerald from the pendant Amy's Flicky friend Lily was wearing, he summoned E-102 Gamma to confront Sonic and Tails. Before Sonic could finish Gamma off, Amy intervened and convinced Sonic to spare Gamma, but Tails soon noticed that the damage the Egg Carrier had sustained was causing it to plummet out of the sky. Tails carried Amy and Lily back to the ground, meeting up with Chuck, who took them back to the Thorndyke Mansion. Later, Tails discovered that Eggman, furious about Chaos being defeated as Chaos 6, decided to raze Station Square with a large missile instead. Despite his initial reluctance at how he wanted Sonic there for support and guidance, Tails overcame his worry and managed to successfully defuse the missile, being hailed as a hero by Station Square.
The fame became too much for Tails, but with Ella and Mr. Tanaka's support, he evaded the crowd wanting to thank and praise him and rejoined Sonic. Later, they found Knuckles with an unconscious Eggman, who upon awakening, revealed that Chaos was still alive, double-crossed the doctor, and was looking for the Chaos Emeralds for its own plans now. Chris appeared soon after with the seventh Chaos Emerald, only to be caught by Chaos. Though Tails and his friends saved Chris, Chaos got the emerald, and with the negative energy in all seven of them, Chaos transformed into Perfect Chaos and flooded Station Square. Tails flew the X Tornado back to Station Square with Sonic, Chris, and Knuckles aboard, but despite a valiant effort, the X Tornado got damaged by Perfect Chaos. Before it could be finished off though, the X Tornado was caught in a mysterious light that landed it safely. The light revealed itself to be Tikal, having come to try and seal Perfect Chaos away in the Master Emerald again, but Sonic argued that as long as Chaos was filled with the anger and hatred that had plagued it for centuries, the cycle would only repeat. After Perfect Chaos spat out the drained Chaos Emeralds, Tails was among those to retrieve them and give them to Sonic, allowing him to use the positive energy in them to assume his super form. Tikal was shocked by this revelation, but Tails told her that caring and friendship can bring out the emeralds' more positive powers. Perfect Chaos attempted to attack Tails and the others to get to Super Sonic, but Super Sonic blocked the attack, which only provoked him further, resulting in Super Sonic blowing up Perfect Chaos, purging Chaos of its anger and hatred and reverting it back to its base form. Chaos then left peacefully with Tikal once it saw that the Chao it had sworn to protect were living peacefully among humanity. However, everyone noticed that Eggman fled in the confusion of the battle.
After Chaos' attack, Tails bit farewell to Chris when he and his family moved to the capital while their mansion was being cleaned from the flood. Tails soon discovered, however, that Sonic had become a wanted fugitive by the police and G.U.N., as recent robberies have caught what appeared to be Sonic on the security cameras, especially a recent robbery of a Chaos Emerald from a museum. Tails arrived with Chris and the others as Sonic got surrounded by police and Gun Beetles, where Chris pleaded with Sonic to give himself up to avoid further trouble. Sonic did so once he learned that he was being taken to Prison Island. However, refusing to let Sonic rot in jail, Tails and Amy took the X Tornado to Prison Island to bust him out, while Chris went with Mr. Tanaka by boat to climb the island's rocky cliffs to try and get in that way. However, their attempt to bust Sonic out coincided with an attack on the island by Eggman, aided by the true culprit who framed Sonic - the Ultimate Life Form, Shadow the Hedgehog - and an undercover Rouge. When it was learned that Eggman had planted explosives to destroy the island, Tails escaped with Sonic, Amy and Mr. Tanaka, but believed Chris to have perished in the resulting explosion. Fortunately, Tails learned later that Chris must have been taken to safety by Shadow.
Upon learning that Chris had been taken to Space Colony ARK by Shadow, Tails and the others infiltrated Eggman's pyramid base to find transport to the ARK, having to deal with the Egg Golem before they could as Tails was able to reconfigure the X Tornado for space travel. Once on the ARK, Tails provided Sonic with a fake Chaos Emerald in the hopes that it would sabotage the Eclipse Cannon, but Eggman used Amy as a hostage to allow him the chance to launch Sonic into space on an escape pod set to self-destruct, while Tails and the others tried to stop him from firing the Eclipse Cannon at Earth. However, when Eggman attempted to fire the Eclipse Cannon once all seven Chaos Emeralds were inside it, he triggered his grandfather's doomsday revenge plot for what G.U.N. did to Maria, leaving the ARK on a collision course with Earth to wipe it out.
Realizing that the Chaos Emeralds were what had turned the Eclipse Cannon into a mega-bomb, Tails opened up a passageway for Sonic, Knuckles, Decoe, and Bocoe to take to the chamber where the emeralds were so Knuckles could use the Master Emerald to drain the Chaos Emeralds and render them inert, essentially disarming the Eclipse Cannon from its highly-volatile state. Tails then watched as Sonic and Shadow, in their super forms, defeated the Final Lizard and managed to restore the ARK to a stable orbit, only to then discover afterwards that Shadow had apparently sacrificed himself to do so. Tails joined everyone in mourning for Shadow before returning to Earth.
Following the events with the ARK, Tails went back at the Thorndyke Mansion with everyone when he saw on the news word that Eggman had repaired the half of the Moon he destroyed with the Eclipse Cannon as an apology for his grandfather's doomsday plot. Later, when Amy was growing impatient with Sonic being tardy for their date, Tails watched her swing Piko Piko Hammer in frustration until she hit something invisible. Later, the Chaotix arrived to collect Cream, leading to a fight breaking out. When Sonic finally returned, Tails called him for help before being subdued by Vector, who called Sonic a kidnapper, until a person with Sonic appeared, revealed to be Vector's client, Vanilla, who happily reunited with her daughter. Upon seeing the happy reunion, Tails and the others thus brought their fight to a sudden end before laying into Vector for his little case of mistaken identity.
Some time later, Tails joined everyone on the Thorndyke family yacht to celebrate the New Year, only for the sunrise to be ruined when the Sun is eclipsed by the mended Moon, now known as the Egg Moon. Eggman confessed that the Egg Moon was malfunctioning, and while he worked on repairs to it, he offered his Sunshine Balls to compensate for it. However, Tails was shocked when Sonic decided to topple the Mirror Towers powering the Sunshine Balls, getting the police and G.U.N. on his tail. Hoping to talk to Sonic about why he was committing all that destruction, Tails was prevented from doing so by an angry mob of citizens led by Jerome Wise that had surrounded the Thorndyke Mansion. Luckily, Sam Speed and his Speed Team arrived and forced the mob to leave. The way clear, Tails took the X Tornado to find Sonic, arriving just as G.U.N. did with their Hot Shots, and interrupting Sonic having another bout with Knuckles, who had been asked to stop Sonic by some citizens. Sonic then revealed that Eggman had been lying to everyone as the Egg Moon would be unable to eclipse the Sun 24/7 due to the Earth's rotation around the Sun and the Egg Moon's rotation around the Earth. Realizing Sonic was right and that he owed him an apology, Tails took everyone, including Rouge and her partner Topaz, back to the Thorndyke Mansion to plan their next move. While Rouge, Knuckles, and Topaz went with Mr. Tanaka into space to deal with the Egg Moon, Tails took Sonic and Amy to the capital to rescue the President and Christina Cooper, whom Eggman had taken hostage in the White House. With a little help from Mister Stewart, Sonic rescued Eggman's hostages and kicked Eggman out of the White House. Now on the run from authorities, Eggman fell into a trap set up by Tails, Sonic, and their friends, resulting in him, Decoe, and Bocoe finally being caught and imprisoned.
Despite the newfound peace now that Eggman was locked up, it did not last before appliances made by Nelson's company, Thorndyke Industries, began to go berserk as a result of Eggman sabotaging them from in prison. Luckily, Tails and the others were able to deal with them, but it gave Bokkun the chance to bust Eggman and his lackeys out of prison to resume their evil ways.
Hoping to lure Eggman out again to arrest him once more, the President held a tournament with the red Chaos Emerald as the prize for the winner. Tails took part in the competition, but was eliminated in the early rounds.
Tails and the gang were later summoned to assist with the search for the G.U.N. destroyer Seahawk, which had gone missing, along with its crew, including Topaz. As they looked for it, they ran into Eggman and his new flying fortress, the Egg Battleship. As it turned out, Eggman was looking for the lost continent of Murasia with the intention to use it to take over the world in another bid to establish his Eggman Empire. Sonic and Knuckles managed to save Topaz and the crew of the Seahawk and destroy the Egg Battleship however. Tails and the crew then headed to Murasia to stop Eggman from erupting the volcano there. Their efforts prove successful, and Eggman was stopped. In addition, his two robot lackeys, Decoe and Bocoe, renounced their allegiance to Eggman and joined Tails and the others.
However, it was soon revealed that the Time Suspension Phenomenon was occurring, and Tails and the others had to return to their world to avoid time stopping permanently. Tails was able to build a portal to allow everyone and everything from their world to return with help from Chuck, the Chaos Emeralds, and the Eclipse Cannon. Tails was among those who are last to return home before Chris shut down the portal to prevent Sonic from following them.
Once back home, Tails was rudely awoken one night by Eggman flying about in his Grand Egg Imperial, calling Sonic out to face him. Tails confronted Eggman in the Tornado 2, where when he pulled one handle in the cockpit, he received a message from Chuck, who reconfigured the Tornado 2 into the Hyper Tornado. However, Eggman sicced a heat-seeking missile on Tails, and though he intended to self-destruct it, the missile never had that option installed. Tails appeared doomed, before the missile is destroyed by Super Sonic, saving Tails, and leaving him happy that Sonic was finally back home with the rest of them.
When the heroes return to their original home-world, they find a new threat to the galaxy: a group of robots and cyborgs named the Metarex. Tails then built the Blue Typhoon so that the heroes could travel into outer space to stop the Metarex's evil schemes as well as recover the Chaos Emeralds Sonic had discarded across the galaxy. During the course of this adventure, Tails fell in love with an ally against the Metarex, Cosmo, an extraterrestrial plant-alien, when they both got lost together in the underground cave controlled by the Metarex. This is also shown when the Chaotix attempt to pair the duo together in love, where Tails at the end became very flustered with her.
During the battles against the Metarex, Tails lost his morale, but thanks to Cosmo's encouragement, which let him make a comeback and he managed to save everyone on-board the Blue Typhoon from a nasty Metarex attack. When Shadow came after Cosmo to kill her, Tails protected Cosmo for as long as he could while his other friends got clobbered until a freak accident teleported them to Green Gate where they escaped Shadow's attack and learned of the Metarex's connection to Cosmo's species. Tails and his allies soon after united in a final battle against the Metarex and their leader Dark Oak, but unfortunately, Cosmo sacrificed herself by fusing herself with Dark Oak to immobilize him so that Tails could destroy him with the Sonic Power Cannon charged with Super Sonic and Super Shadow. Tails was extremely hesitant to fire, even ready to outright refuse to pull the trigger, and only did so at the urging of Dr. Eggman and Cosmo herself. In doing so, he admits how much she meant to her. Super Sonic and Super Shadow tried saving Cosmo with Chaos Regeneration, but only manage to produce a seed. When Sonic brought the seed to Tails, the fox collapsed with grief. Upon returning home, Tails had calmed down after the incident and planted the seed he got. Along with the other heroes, Tails did not see Chris return to Earth and along with Sonic, declares war on Eggman when he announces that he has returned to his evil ways.
Tails' adventures began when Ben-728 Packratbot, which was being controlled by Dr. Eggman, attempted to rob a bank. Tails and Amy fought against it, but were overpowered until Sonic joined the fight. He would be struck in the battle as he was searching for a Ring for Sonic, causing multiple Power Rings to scatter on the ground. Eggman used this chance to grab some of the Power Rings and fled as Sonic destroyed the robot. A week later, Tails would join Sonic on his mission given to him by the President find a Chaos Emerald in Captain Seamus MacGuffin's sunken ship. Eggman would use the Power Rings that Tails dropped to power his Dragonbots and sent them underwater, where they fought against Sonic, Rouge, Topaz and later Knuckles. After the battle, they discovered that there were no Chaos Emeralds and Tails wondered how Sonic was able to fight the robots underwater.
Another week later, Tails would join Sonic, Tails, Amy and Chris' class on a field trip to Station Square Space Museum, until they were ambushed by Eggman's robots. As Tails and Amy were fighting against them, Eggman activated Chris, Topaz, Sam Speed, the President and Mister Stewart and trapped them inside the machines. Sonic arrived to fight with them, none of them realizing that they were trapped until Rouge alerted them off this. As Knuckles, Chuck Thorndyke, Cream and Cheese arrived to help, Sonic told Tails about a device Eggman was holding and to take it off him. As he was about to accomplish this, he was grabbed by the robot with the President, but rescued by Cheese. With Chris and the President restored, Tails managed to grab and helped everyone else break free. Eggman made a hefty escape while the heroes celebrated their victory.
After Sonic had saved a spotted owl in a forest fire, Eggman began selling evil clones of Cheese to the citizens of Station Square. Within a week, Tails suspected that Eggman was up to something and that he may had found a way back to their world. All of their suspicions were proven true when Eggman activated the Dark Chao and they began to reek havoc in Station Square. It was not until Knuckles, Tikal, Chaos and her army of Chao joined the fight that they were able to save the citizens from the Dark Chao. Chuck eventually managed to create a device to stop Eggman's signal and Sonic used it to transform the Dark Chao back to normal. With Eggman defeated, Tikal waved goodbye to them as her, Chaos and all of the Chao, except Cheese, went back to the Master Emerald.
After Chris' birthday party in Paris, Nelson Thorndyke was going to show his company's creation: a space shuttle. Once the space shuttle was shown, giant robots appeared and began attacking the crowd, being controlled by Eggman. As Tails worked with the others to defeat the robots, Eggman fled into a house of mirrors to which they followed him. Another robot stomped through the roof of the building, which caused Tails to become trapped in rubble. He was saved by Amy and helped free the others who were trapped while Sonic fought the robot. However Eggman went off with the shuttle but Nelson assured them that he would build another one for them to go into space.
Later, Tails would greet the Chaotix on their arrival on Earth when the entire Chaotix Detective Agency disappeared. Excited with the event, Tails wanted to take some findings. He would be captured by Eggman and placed into virtual reality with Sonic, Amy, Knuckles, Rouge, Cream, Cheese and Vanilla. He was stuck in the world in Star Light Zone trapped by a fan. Sonic, Amy, Knuckles and Rouge would save him and continued through the virtual reality world eventually meeting up with the others. They were saved by Chris and Chuck before they were sent to the moon via Eggman's old base and left as the base exploded.
Tails worked on upgrading his plane with Chuck when Agents Cheung and Devine from G.U.N. arrived. They took him to their headquarters and was shown an alien craft by Captain Westwood. He lied to him that the President requested his help to fix the machine, and that he found the machine by himself. They managed to activate the machine, but is quickly went haywire and began creating havoc in Station Square. Sonic, working with Sam Speed, managed to bring the machine down, but were shocked to find them inside. Then the President's officials took Tails and Sonic for questions of the incident back at the G.U.N headquarters. They were both seen guilty and were thrown into prison. However, Nelson managed to convince the President to release Sonic and Tails and the duo went to a private island were Chris and Cream were having trouble and needed their help to save their mothers, which Sonic managed to accomplish.
Tails accompanied his friends to a laboratory, where Chuck's old friend Pell had discovered Rubinite to power his device. Unfortunately, Eggman, Decoe and Bocoe invaded inside powerful robots and were hit by the device with Sonic and Tails. They shrunk in size and Sonic and Tails worked together to escape, crashing into a toy store. They were separated and Tails hit inside a doll's house, where he found a toy car to catch up with Sonic. They found each other, but were about to be attacked by Eggman's forces when Pell managed to return them back to normal.
Tails would later appear with Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Chuck and Chris on television to show off their skills to Station Square. He ran the obstacle course, showing off his flying abilities while Sonic was trying to take the attention away from them. After they had showed off their skills, it was downloaded into Eggman's robot and sent to attack them. Tails tried to fight the robot by himself, but all of them eventually worked together. They managed to stop the robot and Sonic apologized for trying to hog the attention.
Eggman would unleash his new line of Greenbots to attack Station Square. Tails piloted his X-Tornado to help take down the robots with Sonic and Amy, but they fled. They managed to track them to Angel Island, where they fought against them with Knuckles, but were overpowered. The X-Tornado was damaged by one of the Green bots and the Chaos Emerald was stolen from inside the plane. The Greenbots used all of the Chaos Emeralds to summon Chaos from the Master Emerald and fused with Perfect Chaos, turning it into Chaosbot, to give Eggman control. He went with Sonic, Knuckles, Amy, Chris and Chuck clinging onto the Tornado to follow Perfect Chaos into Station Square.They watched as Sonic managed to obtain the Chaos Emeralds from Perfect Chaos to become Super Sonic. Sonic managed to destroy Eggman's controller and the green bot shell and Tails cheered for him. Chaos would disappear into the ocean back home to the Master Emerald.
Tails joined Sonic and his friends for a barbeque with the Chaotix. The party was interrupted when Chuck called the group to a meteorite he discovered through his telescope and believed that there was a Chaos Emerald inside. Chris decided to make it a competition that they would race to bring back to the Chaos Emerald; to which Tails was picked on Sonic's team with Big. He travelled to the South Pole to grab the Chaos Emerald within the meteorite and helped Sonic to retrieve the meteorite. Sonic managed to make it back, thus making them the winners but were unable to find the emerald. Chris arrived last with Charmy and Cream and had retrieved the Chaos Emerald, and thus winning the competition.
Tails would join Sonic and Amy at a pool party, which Eggman had won, and did not suspect as Sonic and Eggman had switched bodies. After the arrival and departure of the Prime Zone version of Shadow, Tails tried to find Sonic after hearing about Eggman's attack, but was too late to help out or meet Shadow again.
Tails is the loyal sidekick to Sonic. He is very intelligent and acts very kind and friendly to others, and as well humble and innocent. His best human friend is Chuck Thorndyke; the two create mechas together including the X Tornado. Tails has also been shown to be rather shy and he often had little confidence in the beginning of the series as he depended on the other characters, especially Sonic, to help him in times of need. Due to his timidness, Tails was often overshadowed by the other characters as he can be seen often keeping quiet as the far more outspoken characters got their ways in discussions. However, through the series Tails gained more courage and developed more leadership skills, which was especially seen in Season 3 where he was the captain of the group (being the owner of the Blue Typhoon) and his love for Cosmo furthered his courage.
Possessing a genius-leveled intellect, Tails has a talent for tinkering which enables him to turn out high-tech gadgets with ease. Tails can fly using his two twin-tails in a similar way as in the games and when he was defending Cosmo from Shadow he managed to maintain against his much more powerful enemy, even to the point of being injured severely. Also, when he fought against Hawk in a contest, he used his strong twin-tails to absorb most of his opponent's attacks.
Sonic and Tails out on an adventure.
Sonic the Hedgehog and Tails are best friends, sharing a close brother-like relationship. When Tails first encountered Sonic, he exclaimed that the hedgehog was cool and followed him to tinker with his Tornado. Sonic was amazed by Tails' work with the biplane and Tails asked if they could be friends and Sonic agreed.
Tails has been a true friend of fellow inventor Chuck Thorndyke. Both of them share a common passion for mechanics and they always worked together to develop new inventions to help Sonic stop Dr. Eggman.
When Chuck realized that Tails had to return to their own world, Chuck kept his emotions in check and wished the best for him. When the time came for them to say farewells though, Chuck and Tails both mourned their separations. However, before Tails left, Chuck game Tails a parting gift in the form of the Hyper Tornado.
Tails watching the moon alongside Cosmo.
Cosmo and Tails' love for each other was confirmed when they activated a love trap Amy had set for Sonic. Early on, Tails would get flustered with affection for Cosmo; when the Chaotix attempt to pair the duo together in love, Tails quotes "You're so beautiful, Cosmo," (or rather, almost says it); however, Cosmo mishears him and thought he said the stars were beautiful. Also in the Japanese version of "A Fearless Friend", Cosmo sacrificed herself and Tails admitted that he loves her. Cosmo admitted that as well just before dying. In the end of the final episode, Tails had planted the seed Cosmo left behind after her death, and it is shown to have sprouted two leaves, showing that Tails misses her.
The true strength of Tails' love was shown when Shadow, in an attempt to kill Cosmo, clobbers Sonic, Chris and Knuckles, but despite his efforts, could not manage to get past Tails, who was determined to protect Cosmo, no matter the cost.
—Tails when he found out that there was someone else who found a Chaos Emerald.
—Tails about to call Cosmo beautiful, but then got to his senses by realizing what he was going to say.
—When the X Tornado takes flight.
"You see, Sonic has a pure heart of intention."
—Tails explaining to Cosmo about Sonic's personality.
—Tails discouraging animals who were having their habitats destroyed and they weren't fighting back.
"You can help if you promise to back off!"
—Tails to Vector, who collared him and is snickering at his plan.
"How do ya' like me now Eggman?!"
—Tails fighting his way onto the Egg Carrier with the X Tornado in Battle Armor mode.
"Go, Sonic, go! This is no time for relaxation!"
—Tails cheering on Sonic in his race against Sam Speed in Sonic X #1.
—Tails when fighting one of the human-possessed robots in Sonic X #3.
Both Tails and Amy Rose appeared in the second-most number of episodes of Sonic X (72), but in a different order.
Tails swears in the Japanese version of Sonic X, despite being at a young age.
In the Thai dub of Sonic X, Tails' name was mispronounced as "Mires Power"
↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Masaki, Hiro; Houjou, Chinatsu (19 February 2005). "Prize Fights". Sonic X. Season 2. Episode 45.
↑ 4.0 4.1 Masaki, Hiro (7 February 2004). "Sonic's Scream Test". Sonic X. Season 1. Episode 19.
↑ 5.0 5.1 Tails'. MyVortexx. Archived from the original on 27 March 2014. Retrieved on 8 March 2014.
↑ 6.0 6.1 Masaki, Hiro (31 January 2004). "The Dam Scam". Sonic X. Season 1. Episode 18.
↑ 27.0 27.1 Yoshimura, Kiyoko (25 September 2004). "A Chaotic Day". Sonic X. Season 2. Episode 28.
↑ Sonic X #1, "Savings and Groan"
↑ Sonic X #2, "See Sonic! Sea Battle! See Sonic Sea Battle!"
↑ Sonic X #3, "Field Trip of Doom"
↑ Sonic X #4, "Boisterous Bot Battle!"
↑ Sonic X #6, "I Never Promised You a Chao Garden Part Two"
↑ Sonic X #13 - ""Hare-um Scare-um! - Part One"
↑ Sonic X #14 - "Hare-um Scare-um! - Part Two"
↑ Sonic X #21 - "Sub Sonic"
↑ Sonic X #34, "Fool Party!"
↑ Sonic X #37, "Switcheroo!"
↑ The world where Tails comes from is not named in the anime and comics. The comics state, though, that Tails and his friends traveled across dimensions on a parallel planet, Earth.


text:
INTERVIEW: TIARA THOMAS
March 30, 2013 Category: ENTERTAINMENT NEWS, VideosTag: INTERVIEW, TIARA THOMAS, VIDEO, WALE
Rising star, singer Tiara Thomas, best known for her duet with Wale on the hit single "Bad", shares her story on how she met the Maybach Music rapper one night in Atlanta that forever changed her life. The Indianapolis native traded contact information with Wale and record label, the Board Administration, and sent some YouTube clips so they could get an idea of her sound.
"I was in Atlanta with one of my friends I went to school with; she was my manager at the time. She's like,'Hey, let's go to Atlanta for spring break, just to go somewhere,' Thomas recalls. We went and I had a fake ID. I was under 21 at the time and we just wanted to go to the club. So we went to the club and Wale was there. It was like, 'Hey, there's Wale, let's take a picture with him.' Wale listened to it, and he really liked it"
How "BAD" was created:
"There was this rap song called 'Some Cut' by Trillville. It used to be one of my favorite songs when I was younger. It's really vulgar. I wanted to find a way to cover the song and make it sound pretty," she says. "I started singing the words and then I just freestyled and started singing. I was like, 'Dang, that's tight!""I remember he texted me when he finished the first verse, he was like, 'Yo I just finished my first verse, is it dope?' He put his verses on and took the song to a whole new level. He made a story out of it. It's like a girl anthem and that's what I like so much about it. You wouldn't think that he would do that — a rapper puts out a girl anthem. But it's true and it's real. I think that's why people connect with it."
A guitarist and songwriter in her own right, Thomas says she is not limiting her sound to just R&B. Her album Sallie Mae is expected out later this year. When discussing her sound she states:
"I do write a lot of R&B music (but) I think it exceeds beyond urban. It could crossover into pop. I'm just excited for people to be able to hear the sound. It's a fresh sound; it's not strictly R&B music"
I am definitely feeling Tiara's sound and her style. I look forward to hearing more music from her.
Wale's album The Gifted is set for release on June 25th.
Watch the official video for "BAD" below.


Whether you are looking to just get into better shape and be healthier, learn to defend yourself or just looking for the skills to improve your life, NT Tang Soo Do will give you what you are looking for and a whole lot more!
We know what it is like to start and to take that first step!
Every instructor and student at NT Tang Soo Do started as a beginner student and remember very well what it was like to step on the floor for the first time. Let us show you how we make it as easy as possible for you to kick off a new chapter in your life with Martial Arts!
"I always wanted to try martial arts but I feel a little unsure about what I would be walking into"
At NT Tang Soo Do we provide a safe and friendly environment with professional instructors who will look after you as soon as you walk through the door. The first lesson is usually the most daunting so let us outline what you can expect.
When you arrive at the studio, once registrations have been attended to you will meet our instructors and join the other students for a warm up.
You will then have one to one time with one of our Instructors who will introduce you to some basic techniques and Tang Soo Do philosophies. This is a great opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have about Tang Soo Do. When the class is ready to finish you will join back in with the other students for a cool down and end of class salutations.
"What can I expect when I join NT Tang Soo Do Karate Academy?"
Joining NT Tang Soo Do will give you many benefits, the obvious one is self defence skills that may one day save your life, however you will gain much more than just this.
Being on a martial arts path with regular training sessions promotes fitness and self-assessment in life styles which in turn provides you with numerous health and well being benefits.
At NT Tang Soo Do we have clear and defined set goals for you to achieve over your entire time with us no matter how long that is.
You will always be driven and striving for new achievements.
Gradings are held four times per year to accommodate the fact that each individual student will progress at their own rate and are not all ready for the next level of training at the same time.
"Do I have to be fit to train in Tang Soo Do?"
Whether young or older, in shape or inactive, male or female, our classes will get you into the best shape of your life while working at your own personal level and pace.
As you progress with your training your fitness, self esteem and confidence will naturally improve over time.
"Is it a safe training environment for me?"
At NT Tang Soo Do our focus on a safe and friendly environment is for a very good reason. Tang Soo Do is a long term journey not a quick fix exercise program.
We want your training to be serious and goal orientated but also fun and enjoyable. As with everything we teach, this too is an example of how a healthy balance in your life is essential.
Have you ever had Martial Arts on your bucket list?
You are never too old to begin Tang Soo Do training, nor should any physical ailment or disability dissuade you from joining. We will work with you from the start and make sure your training is safe and within YOUR limitations!
You will not be pushed through to a new level until you are confident and ready to move forward.
Adult training is structured differently to the teenager and younger students classes; we understand that adult's needs are completely different. You will be constantly challenged but at the same time be constantly achieving!
This is made possible by using the traditions of Tang Soo Do training mixed with modern teaching techniques and variety keeping the information both fresh and stable at the same time.
One of our friendly staff will be in contact soon.


text:
Q: Determining the session with the highest max count I have a table that has the following fields:

*

*Visit_ID

*CPCCID

*Date

*Time_IN

*Time-Out

*Course

*LA_CPCCID

There are 3 sessions, 9-12, 12-3 and 3-6.
I need a script that will calculate which session has the most visitors.
I have this attached code that will determine the session # and the max count:
select Time_In ,
CASE
When cast(Time_In as time) >'12:00:00' and cast(Time_In as time) <='15:00:00' /* and date = cast(GETDATE() as date)*/ then 'Session 2'

when cast(Time_In as time) >'3:00:00' and cast(Time_In as time)<= '6:00:00' /*and date = cast(GETDATE() as date)*/ then 'Session 3'

else 'Session 1'
end "sessions"
from Lab_Visits2;

select max(visit.cnt)
from
(select course, count(course) cnt
from Lab_Visits2
group by Course) visit;

A: If I'm understanding your question correctly, you want to return the session and course with the most visitors grouped by session/course.  If so, this uses a couple of common-table-expressions to select the sessions, and then groups by session and course to get the count of visitors.  Finally, using row_number to establish the max:
with cte as (
  select
      case
        when cast(Time_In as time) >'12:00:00' and cast(Time_In as time) <='15:00:00' /* and date = cast(GETDATE() as date)*/ then 'Session 2'
        when cast(Time_In as time) >'3:00:00' and cast(Time_In as time)<= '6:00:00' /*and date = cast(GETDATE() as date)*/ then 'Session 3'
        else 'Session 1'
      end session,
      course
    from Lab_Visits2
  ), ctecnt as (
  select session, course, count(*) cnt
  from cte
  group by session, course
)
select session, course, cnt
from (
  select session, course, cnt, row_number() over (order by cnt desc) rn
  from ctecnt
  ) t
where rn = 1

*

*SQL Fiddle Demo
If I misunderstood and you only want the session with the highest count (regardless of course), then just remove the course field from all of  the queries.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


One of the most 'clicked on' electronic artists on the internet today, with over 7 million Facebook 'likes' and 2 million Twitter followers, Hardwell's live sets have to date racked up in excess of 150 million plus views worldwide to date. A true festival–straddling superstar, his sets have conquered festivals at the most prestigious and crowd-pleasing of parties in the world such as Ultra Music Festival Miami, EDC Las Vegas, Creamfields, Coachella, TomorrowWorld, Mysteryland, and various Sensations. Whilst his residencies at Hakkasan Las Vegas and Ushuaia Ibiza during the summers, Hardwell travels the world with his I AM HARDWELL show, playing in venues like Madison Square Garden, New York. Last month Hardwell broke the world record for biggest solo show with 40.000 people in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
"United We Are" was published in early 2015, debuted on #1 in the album Top 100 and is still among the bestselling albums of this year. The album, entitled "United We Are Remixed", includes remixes of the original tracks . Many big, well-known producers like Armin van Buuren, Dirtcaps, W&W and more worked their magic on the 'United We Are' album tracks, which provides a spectacular collection of remixes.


Biomark worked with Douglas County PUD (DCPUD) to establish PIT-tag detection at the Rocky Reach Juvenile Fish Bypass; owned and operated by Chelan County PUD. The North and South dewatering channels terminate in "flow-spreaders" that transport collected fish into the bypass facility. DCPUD wanted to monitor PIT-tagged fish as they exited the dewatering channels. Biomark was the project manager and responsible for the design and fabrication of the PIT-tag antennas. Biomark worked with Plasti-Fab, Inc. on the design and manufacturing of the fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP) flow spreaders and steel vertical gates. The FRP flow spreaders needed to meet the design criteria of the existing steel flow spreaders. Dix Corporation was responsible for removal of the existing flow spreaders and installation of the new PIT-tag specific FRP flow spreaders. Water velocity through the antennas is 9 to 12 fps. Detection efficiency of the antennas is approximately 89.5% based on releases of PIT-tagged fish into the dewatering channels, approximately 25 ft upstream from the antennas.


Rode microphones offer live, recording, studio, video and broadcast mics with exceptional quality and at affordable pricing.
Seamlessly variable dual 1" condenser valve microphone (omni through cardioid to figure-8).
Live performance super cardioid condenser microphone. Locking on/off switch.
Matched pair of compact 1/2" cardioid condenser microphones.
All new fixed cardioid 1" condenser microphone with only 4.5dBA of self noise. Package includes NT1 and SMR shock mount.
Incredibly quiet 1" cardioid condenser microphone, includes SM6 shockmount and 20' cable.
Seamlessly variable dual 1" condenser microphone (omni through cardioid to figure-8), HPF and PAD.
Multi pattern 1" dual condenser microphone, featuring, omni, cardioid and figure 8, SM6 shockmount and cable.
Compact 1/2" cardioid condenser microphone.
Pair of acoustically matched NT5 1/2" cardioid condenser microphones.
Versatile USB condenser microphone. Compatiblewith PC, Mac, iPad and most Android tablets.
Broadcast quality cardioid end-address dynamic USB microphone. Features 18-bit resolution and 8-48kHz sampling. Windows and Mac compatible.
Live performance super cardioid condenser microphone. Satin nickel finish.
Live performance super cardioid condensermicrophone. Black finish (Not Pictured).
Superior Shotgun condenser microphone for cameras. Rycote Lyre suspension system. 9v battery required.
HS2 Headset Microphone for film, television, video, theatre, house of worship and live vocal performance.


text:
Wikipedia Review — це Інтернет-форум та блог для обговорення проектів Фонду Вікімедіа, зокрема змісту та конфліктів у Вікіпедії.

Wikipedia Review був вебсайтом сторожової організації Вікіпедії, ретельно вивчаючи Вікіпедію та звітуючи про її вади. Він надав незалежний форум для обговорення редакторів Вікіпедії та їх впливу на вміст Вікіпедії. На піку учасники включали нинішніх редакторів Вікіпедії, колишніх редакторів Вікіпедії, кількох користувачів, заборонених до Вікіпедії, та людей, які ніколи не редагували.

Після його закриття декілька колишніх користувачів створили Wikipediocracy, подібний блог та форум.

Історія
Сайт був заснований у листопаді 2005 року «Ігорем Олександром» та розміщений у ProBoards. 19 лютого 2006 року він перейшов до власного доменного імені за допомогою програмного забезпечення Invision Power Board. Сайт вимагав реєстрації, використовуючи адресу електронної пошти, що дозволяло зберігати анонімність та перешкодити роботі кількох облікових записів одним користувачем .

Wikipedia Review необхідна була для обговорення концепцій редагування вікі та участі в оцінці WikiDashboard Palo Alto Research Company .

Коментар
Сет Фінкельштейн написав у The Guardian, що Wikipedia Review є координатором для розслідування питань, пов'язаних із Вікіпедією, таких як «скандал з Essjay». Кейд Мец приписував Wikipedia Review відкриття приватного списку розсилки, що призвело до відставки адміністратора Вікіпедії. Індепендент зазначив, що «звинувачення проти певних адміністраторів озвучились на сайті під назвою Wikipedia Review, де люди обговорюють дії адміністраторів». Вебсайт ірландських технологій Silicon Republic запропонував відвідати Wikipedia Review, щоб «слідкувати за суперечками, дискусіями, редакторами та загальною бюрократією у Вікіпедії». Філіп Коппенс використовував публікації, опубліковані в Wikipedia Review, щоб допомогти скласти звіт, опублікований в журналі Nexus, на WikiScanner, і твердження, що спецслужби використовували Вікіпедію для поширення дезінформації .

Зміст та структура
Загальнодоступні форуми Wikipedia Review розбиті на чотири загальні теми:

 Інформація про форум;
 Дискусія, орієнтована на Вікімедію, яка містить підфоруми, присвячені редакторам, бюрократам Вікіпедії, метадискусії, статті та загальні теми, орієнтовані на Вікімедію, які не вміщуються в іншому місці;
 Медіа-форуми, що містять стрічку новин та дискусії про новини та блоги із зображенням Вікіпедії / Вікімедії;
 Поза темою: обговорення, пов'язані з Вікімедією.

Список літератури

Посилання

 Вікіпедія Оглядові форуми

Інтернет-форуми
Історія Вікіпедії
Вікіпедія
Блоги

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


(Newser) – A mother is locked in a battle with an Alabama school district over whether her son should be allowed to die at school. Rene Hoover's 14-year-old son, Alex, has a terminal heart condition that has narrowed his mitral valve. The AP reports that has hampered his blood flow, a situation exacerbated by his growth. Alex was hospitalized multiple times over the summer, and WHNT reported last month that the family's doctors feel the best choice for Alex from a quality-of-life perspective would be to let him die naturally. The teen has hospice care twice a week, according to DecaturDaily.com, and his family obtained a legal advance directive stating Alex is not to be revived if he goes into cardiac arrest. There's only one problem: East Limestone High School refuses to honor the advance directive and has said it will do everything it can to save the teen if something happens while he's at school.
It would be a shock to many students, if he's allowed to die. Their families can also sue for the shock the students will get seeing someone die that can be saved.
I know i dont know Alex personally, i said a prayer for him just now when i read this story :( I've had a difficult life myself as well i was diasnosed being autistic recently and i've had occasional siezures most of my life since 11/2004 . i dont just sit at home and feel sorry for myself it helps me ALOT just keeping occupied i love to cook , draw , exercise and do other physical activities, my spiritual faith is strong also.
You don't have a right to traumatize all the other students and staff at the school. He's not currently living a "normal" life and sending him to school to die won't make his life "normal" either. It's very sad that this is his life now, but again you don't have a right to traumatize all the other students and staff at the school.


text:
Are E-books Obsoleting Ink and Paper?
Filed under: eBooks,future of printed word,hardcover books,ink and paper — gator1965 @ 5:31 pm
Another interesting question and one I have alluded to in past posts. I don't feel that printed books will ever go away…they just won't be the prom queen anymore.
This Paul Levine post in the Huffington Post is informative, descriptive AND funny:
I was standing in a circle of Chardonnay sippers at an art show in Santa Monica when the conversation turned to the future of reading. As a novelist, I had skin in the game, so I grabbed a canape, sidled over, and eavesdropped.
"I'll never buy one of those electronic gizmos," said a heavyset man in his fifties, a humanities professor. "I'd miss the smell of ink on paper, the conjuring of medieval libraries and ancient parchment."
Funny, I don't recall anyone blissfully sniffing their books until the threat from e-publishing appeared. Now, readers can't resist comparing their moldy old tomes to the finest Bordeaux.
Respectfully, I say, move over Gutenberg!
E-books are to traditional publishing what the internal combustion engine was to the horse and buggy. Some experts predict that half of all books will be digital downloads within two to three years. That's astonishing. For 600 years, Johannes Gutenberg's printing press and its progeny have produced our books, newspapers, and magazines. Now, in the blink of an electronic eye, the application of ink to paper is approaching obsolescence.
Complaints about progress are hardly new. When Gutenberg invented movable type, a Venetian judge whined that "The pen is a virgin, the printing press a whore." Some New York publishers have called Amazon and Google even worse names.
I'm all for nostalgia. I have dreamy memories of a rickety blue Bookmobile rumbling into my central Pennsylvania hometown, and my standing on tip-toes to haul down a well-worn volume about dinosaurs. But my Kindle holds more books than that old truck, and there are 600,000 more at Amazon just a few clicks away.
A recent newspaper headline asked: "Will the Kindle Save the Written Word?" The hope is that those techno-savvy kids will interrupt their music and games and videos and texts and tweets and blogs…and start reading.
Call me crazy, but I think they will. I predict that packing a portable library will soon become a hip way to impress the opposite sex. More so, hopefully, than a barbed wire tattoo.
So why is that wine-sipping professor so afraid of the Kindle or Nook or iPad or Kobo? There will still be books in hardcover, trade paperback, and mass-market.
Or will there?
Garrison Keillor, the bard of the prairie, recently wrote that "book publishing is about to slide into the sea." The numbers give reason to worry. For the first quarter of 2010, Simon & Schuster reported a decline in revenue from print, but a 233 per cent increase in digital publishing. Expect that trend to continue, industry-wide. Is the book biz in the same position as the music industry a decade ago? It's not a coincidence that Apple's iTunes store now sells e-books, too.
Consider Amazon, where you can buy a 6000 BTU window air conditioner or a Kindle e-reader for the same $189. Amazon is now a book publisher, not just a retailer. The company is cutting deals with fledgling and mid-list authors for original e-books. How long will it be before Stephen King, or some other literary luminary, inks an exclusive deal to publish in both print and digital editions?
Amazon enjoys a huge advantage over both New York publishers and the bricks-and-mortar retail stores. The Internet behemoth knows the e-mail address and reading habits of every customer, and it need not kill trees, run presses, or hire trucks to produce and distribute its electronic products.
There are advantages for readers, too. Classic literature can be downloaded for free. My first two Kindle "purchases" were "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"and "Pride and Prejudice." Both gratis. Prices of bestsellers are in a state of flux, but they're consistently lower than paper-and-ink books.
The new paradigm is a great deal more democratic for authors, too. Writers who could never land a literary agent, much less a publishing deal, are putting their books on Amazon at customer-friendly prices. True, the writing often warrants a C-minus in eleventh grade English class, but there will be undiscovered gems to be dug from the electronic slush pile.
The shelf life of dead-tree books roughly approximates that of a pint of yogurt, but out-of-print books get eternal life on the Internet. Recently, I celebrated the 20th Anniversary of my debut legal thriller, "To Speak for the Dead." The book is long gone from bookstores, which is where e-publishing comes in. For less than $1,000 in costs – scanning, proofreading, formatting, and cover art – I became my own publisher. In the next year, awaiting release of an old-fashioned hardcover novel from the Bantam imprint at Random House, I'll be publishing eight of my out-of-print mysteries and thrillers.
Woody Allen once said, "I don't want to become immortal through my art. I want to become immortal by not dying." The latter remains impossible, but the former – our work living on forever – just became a bit easier.
"To Speak for the Dead," by Paul Levine, is now for sale at Amazon's Kindle Store and Smashwords, with all proceeds going to the Four Diamonds Fund for cancer treatment and research at Penn State Hershey Children's Hospital. More information at http://www.paul-levine.com/content/jake-lassiter.asp