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Metronome Le Dac Digital-To-Analog Converter...
...and the Technicolor Dream.
Review By Paul Schumann
Those of you who have read some of my previous reviews know that I am in some ways a throwback, sticking with my compact discs while some audiophiles have moved to uncompressed digital files and others have embraced the vinyl side. I have a lot of CD's, and by god, I'm going to still listen to them. A few years ago I purchased the iFi Audio iDSD, and that opened up my world on how far digital has come in the last decade. At $599, it's one the great bargains in audio. But sometimes you start to wonder, are those fancy high-end DACs really that much better?
A few months ago, I noticed an announcement for a new DAC by a company called Metronome. Appropriately it is called Le Dac. The announcement said that the Le Dac is the new low-cost entry into the Metronome line. Interested, I contacted Steven, and before I knew it, the Le Dac was heading my way.
Be Careful For What You Wish For
There's an old saying "Be care careful what you wish for, because you might get it". On the day the Le Dac was supposed to arrive I was teaching, so I let my wife know it was coming. I said it shouldn't be a problem getting in the house, "It's just a DAC", and thought nothing else of it. When I came home that evening, there was this huge box in the middle of our living room. "So much for being easy to get in the house" quipped my wife. I guess I should have read the fine print. The Le Dac weighs in at a hefty 14 kgs. That's almost 31 pounds to us backward colonials. Not only is it heavy, but the Le Dac takes up a lot of real estate with dimensions of 425 x130 x 415 mm. That means it barely fit in my modest stereo cabinet. I've reviewed amplifiers that were smaller.
So what warrants this wide expanse and heft? Power supplies are usually the culprit and it didn't surprise me when I learned that the Le Dac has three separate toroidal transformers supplying ten(!) independent regulation lines. Every designer will tell you that a good product starts with the power supply. The Le Dac fulfills that promise. The heart of the Le DAC is an Asahi Kasei AK4493 conversion chips. The Metronome accepts inputs from S/PDIF 75 Ohms RCA connector, AES/EBU 110 Ohms XLR connector, TosLink connector and USB type B. As you would expect, it decodes all forms of PCM and DSD.
For the majority of listening, I had the Le Dac hooked up to my CD player, because that what I listen to the most. Once I got everything hooked together, I readied for that audio torture called "break in". Knowing that, I wasn't particularly concerned about the disc I put in first. I started playing Britten's Piano Concerto [Decca B00SAGBGM2].
Technicolor Within The Land Of Oz
Do you remember that scene when Dorothy opened the door to see Oz in full-blown Technicolor? Those beautiful realer-than-real colors? How can the wonder of 1939 technology still seem so magical? As soon as the piano and orchestra started playing, I noticed how dynamic and clear everything sounded. Then, at about seven-and-a-half minutes in, Roe hit a low chord with the sustain pedal that goes on for-ev-er. Dorothy's famous, "Toto, I've got a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore," came into my head. Well what the heck elicited that response?
There's still an argument going on as to what entails the real purpose of a sound system. The more I've been involved with this business, the more I've come to realize that we all hear things in different ways. What might sound great to one listener, can sound awful to another. I really dig tone and timbre, with no real exaggerations in any of the audio spectrum. If a piano or violin has the feel, for the lack of a better word, of the real thing, I can really get lost in the performance.
Like I said, the Le Dac gives the listener that Technicolor presentation to the music. No matter what I listened to, each instrument bloomed in its full-colored intensity. Listening to Britten's Symphony for Cello and Orchestra Op.68 [Naxos 8.553882], Tim Hugh's cello growled with such full-bodied vividness it was almost breathtaking. The complex interplay between his part and the orchestra ebbed and flowed, mimicking the struggle of the human condition. Each note had a profound meaning. By the end I was as exhausted as the performers.
Now let's move on to Prokofiev's brilliant Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16 [Decca B0000041LA]. Only a handful of pianists have tackled this monstrosity, Vladimir Ashkenazy with the help of Andre Previn (we miss you) give it a thrilling rendition. It begins with the orchestra and piano gently pulsating, then gradually becoming more intense and frantic through the first movement. Ashkenazy's larger-than-life piano (my one quibble with the recording) hums with electricity as he reaches the powerful cadenza. Listening to this I could feel the power of the concert grand as it vibrated the air and floor around it. Trippy stuff.
Speaking of trippy, how about Radiohead's "OK Computer" [XL Recordings B071DTQH43]. I listened to this album many times, but never with the fever dream I had with the Le Dac. Every moment was infused with emotion. Once again, I was drained by the end of the album.
Nothing beats being there live to experience the music. Recently I went to a performance of the Austin Symphony Orchestra. The piano soloist, Jon Nakamatsu, had done an excellent rendition of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C Major. Then he sat to perform an encore of Chopin's Fantaisie-Impromptu. I am very familiar with this piece from the recordings I have, but it was the first time I had heard it (or any Chopin) live. Suddenly I was transported to a new level of oneness with the music. It was no longer notes I was hearing, but pure beauty. Without even realizing it, tears started streaming down my face. For that five minutes, I was connected to the greatness of Chopin, and all was right with the world.
A couple of days later I asked myself, could I reproduce this experience? Unfortunately I don't have Fantaisie-Impromptu on disc. Instead I decided to listen to a fantastic performance of Pictures at an Exhibition by Ivo Pogorelich [DG 437 667-2]. In this recording the full delicacy and forcefulness of Pogorelich's playing was evident. The loneliness of the ox drawn cart, the foreboding of the catacombs, and the grandeur of the gate of Kiev, were all there. Was it as good as live? Not quite, but oh so close!
What Does The Metronome Le Dac Do Well?
Let's go back to the Technicolor analogy. You watch those old movies, you know that those colors are hyper-real, but you don't care because it's so beautiful. Those spectacular colors were due to the crazy way Technicolor worked by splitting the image in three, putting them through different filters and capturing the images in separate rolls of film. When those rolls were developed, it was up to a Technicolor technician to determine how saturated they should be. Most of the time they erred on the side of more and that is why those colors, to this day, are so vivid.
I think one of the contributing factors in the Le Dac's Technicolor presentation is it's rigorous power supply design. When the juice supplying the components in a device is spot on and lacking any ripple, then it makes a tremendous difference in the sound.
Metronome states in their literature that their goal is to produce digital gear that sounds like pure analog. I must agree that with the Le Dac they achieved that goal. Time and time again the Le Dac removed the veil between me and the music. Music that I've listened to for years gained new meaning. The Le Dac took me places that I never would have dreamed of with my own home system.
In every instance, no matter what the recording, the Le Dac gives every instrument and voice an eerie three-dimensional tactile quality. It makes everything sound better, and gives the listener a better connection to the music. It is not only the best DAC I've heard, it's one the best sounding pieces of audio equipment I've ever listened to. Realizing that it is the lowest-cost digital equipment that Metronome makes, I can only imagine what their more-upscale gear sounds like. On top of that, Metronome has its ultra-high-end Kalista line. As it is, the Metronome is an amazing D/A converter.
Sub�bass (10Hz � 60Hz)
Mid�bass (80Hz � 200Hz)
Midrange (200Hz � 3,000Hz)
Soundscape Depth
Type: Hi-Res Music stereo digital-to-analog converter
Resolution: 32-bit/768kHz
Dynamic Range: 175dB
Distortion + Noise: -140dB
Internal Processor: 32 bit at up to 211kHz
Analog Output: Class A
Frequency Response: 10Hz to 20kHz (+/- 0.1dB)
Dynamic Range: 123 dB
All inputs accept signals from 44.1 to 192 kHz:
S/PDIF 75 Ohms RCA connector
AES/EBU 110 Ohms XLR connector
Optical TosLink connector
USB Yype B: PCM and DSD from 44.1 to 384 kHz
Analog Outputs: Unbalanced RCA 3V, balanced XLR 3V
Power Supply: Three toroidal transformers with 10 independent regulation lines
Dimensions: 425 x 130 x 415 (DxHxW in mm)
Price: �5700
Metronome Technologie
166 Rue du Castellet
Z.A. Garrigue Longue
F-81600 Montans
Voice: +33(0)5 34 26 11 33
E-mail: contact@metronome.audio
Website: www.Metronome.audio


text:
Alexandre Wigand (1880 – 10 January 1958) was a Belgian footballer. He played in two matches for the Belgium national football team from 1904 to 1906.

References

External links

1880 births
1958 deaths
Belgian footballers
Belgium international footballers
Place of birth missing
Association football midfielders

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Photograph by Ryan Nicoll/Unsplash
Adam Reiner
How a Woman Artist Helped Me Embrace My Choice to be Unmarried and Childfree
Emma Burcart
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Melissa Matthewson
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Arts & Culture | Places | Housing
The False Comfort of the '80s Suburban Lawn
Mowing the lawn is a frivolous act.
Mowing the lawn is a frivolous act. My teenage self never understood why anyone would spend hours pushing a machine the size of a shopping cart over giant swaths of grass that after a week or two would look the same as they did before. Along with cleaning my room, mowing the lawn was one of the many unwinnable wars my parents pawned off as character-building exercises.
My family history—apart from my father immigrating to New York City from Argentina before I was born—is defined by tenuously climbing into the middle class, grasping the rungs, and slipping off the ladder. In 1975, my parents moved to the Chicago suburbs and built a home in a modest new subdivision, typical of the sturdy tract housing developments that proliferated at the time. Urbanites like my parents were encouraged to retreat to greener pastures, and lawns were attractive features of suburban settings, bringing a sense of order and peace that was missing from urban life.
Like many upwardly mobile families, our struggle was mostly self-inflicted by living beyond our means. To my parents, belonging to this suburban enclave meant saddling themselves with the burden of racquet-club memberships, sleepaway camps, video game consoles, and Barbie dream houses. But no matter how out of hand our household expenses would become, my father always made sure that the house's landscaping was immaculate.
In her 2017 essay " The American Obsession with Lawns ," Krystal D'Costa wrote in Scientific American that "Lawns are indicative of success; they are a physical manifestation of the American Dream of home ownership." D'Costa explains that the American fixation with lawns exploded after World War II when government-assisted home mortgages helped fast-track many blue-collar families to owning homes. Suburban sprawl created a massive monoculture of European turfgrass across the United States, an ecological misdeed that not only contributed to accelerating climate change but also saddled generations of unfortunate adolescents like me with the burden of nursing it. In the absence of rain, lawns need watering. For me, that meant unfurling coils of heavy rubber hose and arranging a syndicate of oscillating sprinklers across the yard to quench the parched grass. "To have a well-maintained lawn," D'Costa wrote, "is a sign to others that you have the time and/or the money to support this attraction." For families like mine, it also created a facade of prosperity to hide behind.
Along with cleaning my room, mowing the lawn was one of the many unwinnable wars my parents pawned off as character-building exercises.
The exuberance of the Reagan years ushered in a new era of consumerism, drowning American families in their own materialism. My father—a Latin and Jewish immigrant with more chips than he had shoulders—quietly obsessed about proving he belonged in an unfamiliar and often unfriendly place. Our lawn became a touchstone for his rocky path toward assimilation and a constant source of tension in our family. He lost his job in 1988 working for a subsidiary of Alcoa—one of the country's premier producers of aluminum—at a time when plastics were kneecapping the metals industry. The more his career prospects faltered, the more the seams of our charmed suburban lifestyle began to fray.
We lived in a modest house on the corner of a quiet block with an expansive lawn that extended past the sidewalks into lush green parkways that bordered the street. We owned a bright green Lawn-Boy, an American-made pushcart mower. The brand dates back to 1934; its parent company, the Evinrude Corporation, made motorboat engines and is credited with manufacturing the first one-handed reel powered lawn mowers. Lawn-Boy remained an industry leader for decades until the company's fortunes declined, and Toro, a competitor, acquired the brand in 1989.
Taming nature—even when it was confined to these man-made parcels of sodded land—was like sailing into a windstorm for a suburban kid with no survival skills. Owning a Lawn-Boy was like having a sailboat with a hole in it. Every few weeks, when the lawn needed to be mowed, the Lawn-Boy brought our family to the precipice of a meltdown. When the machine broke—as it routinely did—knock-down, drag-out fights ensued. After one such row, my mother stormed into the garage, grabbed the mower by its hinged handle, and pushed it into the middle of our quiet street. I grew accustomed to the inevitable walk of shame to beg a neighbor for their more reliable mowers when ours wouldn't start. Most people would've given up on these machines, but my father remained devoted to Lawn-Boy products and their once-reputable brand for years despite owning several shoddy models.
On weekends, most of the neighborhood would be outside working in their yards. The thrumming lawn mowers and squealing Weed Whackers created an anxious soundscape while the air filled with the musty funk of petroleum and pulverized foliage. At any given moment, someone else's father would peek out from behind a fence brandishing a pair of garden clippers or amble proudly by with his mower across his domain like a feudal lord. His kids, on the other hand, mowed the lawn like mourners in a funeral procession, a feeling I understood all too well.
Under the scorching Midwestern sun, I pulsed the squishy rubber primer button embedded in the Lawn-Boy's handlebar and hoisted the drawstring to jump-start the motor. If I was lucky enough to get it started, I traced rectangular patterns around the perimeter of the lawn, weaving my way toward the center like a God's Eye. Garbage bags filled with grass clippings piled up next to the driveway. When I tied the neck of each full bag, it exhaled the hot breath of freshly cut grass and molten black plastic. Throwing away the mulch added to the senselessness of it all. So much effort to transport dead grass from one plot of land, ours, to another, the landfill.
If the mower didn't start, which was a common occurrence, I'd go inside the house and notify my father. This happened regularly, yet somehow he always managed to look surprised. Like clockwork, he'd come outside acting like I didn't know how to properly start the mower. Then he'd follow the exact same procedure with the exact same results.
My father chain-smoked cigarettes, like most businessmen did in the '80s. Our bulky, wood-paneled Buick station wagon was blistered with cigarette burns on the textured vinyl seat cushions like tiny lesions on human skin. The car permanently smelled like stale tobacco and work stress. There were empty cellophane soft packs of Vantage cigarettes strewn about the floor mats and half-eaten sleeves of square white Velamints concealed in the glove compartment.
I never really knew my dad's interests outside of his day job. I'm not sure he had any, or at least that he ever felt like he could afford to focus his attention on anything other than work. He would garden in the summer—a modest plot in the backyard lined with heavy lumber trellises and filled with store-bought bagged topsoil—but only because he thrived on the frustration it created. The nagging weeds, encroaching pests, and bruised produce provided a bumper crop of angst. He wouldn't admit it, but he reveled in the toil more than he savored the tomatoes.
My father had no lawn to mow when he was growing up in Argentina. His father died when he was thirteen years old of heart disease, and he became the man of the house before he hit puberty. Though I never saw it with my own eyes, his father was abusive, handing down a legacy of violence and bad parenting. On the surface, my father had a disarming sense of humor and could be quite charismatic to others, but, privately, he rationed affection and weaponized guilt. In our home, loyalty was all that mattered, and it could only be earned by enduring abuse, the way his father had taught him.
Decades later, it's easier to contextualize my parents' struggles. They were dangling on the precipice of American exceptionalism while it teetered on the edge of existence. They didn't know it yet, but their children would be worse off than they were, no matter how hard they tried to build a better future for them. Reagan's brand of economics—the dubious promise to the working class that cutting taxes on the wealthy will cause prosperity to trickle down—convinced Americans that they could buy their way out of any economic problems. Ironically, it feels like we're slipping back into the '80s all over again now—stagflation, epidemic gun violence, cold war, even Top Gun sequels.
They were dangling on the precipice of American exceptionalism while it teetered on the edge of existence.
As an adult, I've learned to forgive my father for having animosity toward his family for being soft. But it was an environment that he created, that he strived for, the trappings of suburban comfort. He always resented us for having it too easy, and we always tried to show him that we were resilient. Mowing the lawn was one way I felt I could prove myself to my father. But it never really moved the needle. I understand now that he was always moving the needle out of reach to those who sought his love and respect. Keeping us at bay meant he could continue to harbor resentment, always much safer and less vulnerable than giving love or receiving it.
My father died in January 2018, shortly before his seventy-ninth birthday. By then, he'd moved back to Buenos Aires, where he chose to live out his remaining years. We hadn't spoken to each other for over a decade. Letting go of him was one of the only ways for me to show a belief in myself and a commitment to a more compassionate way of relating to others. Without contact, he couldn't make me feel guilty for his unhappiness anymore. The only way I could dictate the terms of our relationship was not to have one.
We lost my mother to brain cancer in 1992. She was forty-five when she died, two years younger than I am now. Her illness and subsequent death decimated any shreds of chemistry left between my father and me. With medical debt piling up from my mother's treatment, he applied for food stamps without telling anyone. My sisters and I went off to different colleges, and my father put our family home up for sale. He was planning to move east for a new job, but the house lingered unsold while his financial condition and mental health deteriorated. Out of options, he arranged to sell part of the land on our house's plot to a next-door neighbor. The sale covered a large chunk of our front lawn and extended into the backyard to the area where he gardened. Forfeiting a piece of his precious lawn was a last resort for my father, a tacit admission of defeat.
In retrospect, we often dismiss the '80s altogether for its anodyne music, superficial movies, and clumsy fashion. But more than any other decade, in my view, it foreshadowed what the United States has become. The suburban dream was already in foreclosure, but as long as we seal coated our driveways and manicured our lawns, we could keep ourselves sufficiently distracted from America's imminent decline. Today, distraction is all we have left.
I moved to New York City shortly after I graduated, where lawns are a luxury foreign to most. It might be overthinking it to say that I moved to the asphalt jungle to escape the childhood trauma of mowing the lawn. Staring down at rats scurrying along the sheared subway rails, I should yearn for the pastoral setting of my childhood. But I don't. Like many settlers in New York, I came here to follow my dreams. I don't think it's a coincidence that I chose to reverse the migratory path of my father—toward the vitality of the city and away from the sterility of the suburbs—as if I needed to undo the sins of the past. The false comfort of an impressive lawn never fooled me. My dreams were here, where my father first came in search of his, but it was not the American dream. My family woke up from that fantasy decades ago.
Adam Reiner is a freelance writer and founder of The Restaurant Manifesto, a blog about dining out and restaurant culture. His work has appeared in Eater, Food & Wine, Taste Cooking, and Bon Appetit. He lives in New York City.
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Vanessa Garcia
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Green Home Loans
The Ecology Building Society is one of few UK lenders to look kindly on loans for off-grid properties. Borrowing on unusual properties is made harder by big lenders like Nationwide and Halifax — they charge extra-high interest rates for the loans, while the Ecology Building Society offers a normal rate — for them the use of solar and wind energy is a plus.
While it is unlikely you will find cheap loans on Green properties, there are also a few local councils, for example Burnley's Community Credit Union, offering averagely-priced loans for home improvements to save energy — but none are as wide-ranging as The Ecology which is "dedicated to improving the environment by promoting sustainable housing and sustainable communities." The building society is focused on energy efficient housing; ecological renovation; derelict and dilapidated properties; small-scale and ecological enterprise and low-impact lifestyles (i.e.providing finance to those living off the grid).
The Ecology granted its first discount mortgage on an earth-sheltered dwelling in 1998. Earth sheltering combines low energy use and minimal disruption to land and flora. The mortgaged property forms part of the Hockerton Housing Project in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, one of the most advanced developments in sustainable housing in Europe.
The houses were designed by Brenda and Robert Vale, who designed Britain's first autonomous house in nearby Southwell. That house was built by Hockerton founder member Nick Martin. The Martins and the four other families who have come together to create Hockerton Housing are effectively an ecological community, which is enshrined in their co-operative form of organisation.
The earth-sheltered aspect of the housing is the starting point and focus of an attempt by a group of people to live an holistic way of life in harmony with the environment, in which all ecological impacts have been considered and accounted for. Accordingly, and the Ecology Building Society is particularly proud of this — not only will the residents of the five houses be self-sufficient in energy and water, they will be aiming at producing all their own food and meeting as much of their needs for work from the site and project. This is no idle daydream – many of the elements to support these goals are now in place.
Hockerton project
All residents own their properties but are also members of the Co-operative which manages and maintains the development. The houses are set in a 25 acre site, and residents have rights and obligations in respect of the land. This might take the form of work on the communal organic gardens, the aquaculture pond (which will provide fish), or maintenance of the reed bed system. There's slightly less time for slumping in front of the telly here!
The development consists of five similar houses fronted by conservatories forming a terrace on a south facing slope overlooking a lake and wildlife pond. The view from the frontage overcomes the objection that earth sheltering must involve the loss of visual facility.
Simple materials and appropriate technology have been used to lessen the general environmental impact. Examples of this are the choice of bricks produced using waste methane gas, and the use of non-PVC cabling. In addition, the houses are not visible from the road, and over 3500 trees have been planted with more to come. Apart from contributing to the aim of increasing bio-diversity, this will counter any increase in CO2 emissions associated with the construction of the dwellings.
The houses feature very low energy requirements because there are effectively no space heating costs. The high thermal mass construction acts as a heat store, and there is sufficient heat gain from solar radiation, electrical appliances and body heat. The massive construction means that the internal temperature should remain at a comfortable 19-21 degrees all year round. Nick White of Hockerton says that so far this is being borne out in practice. In addition the buildings are heavily insulated. Hot water is provided from large water storage containers that can store 6 days supply of hot water, which will enable the group to make full use of a wind turbine once installed. This will be boosted by an energy efficient heat pump that takes up excess heat from the conservatory directly to the water tank. The turbine will also meet the ultra low energy requirements of the homes, which are less then 10% of conventional homes. Needless to say all lighting and appliances will be very low energy devices.
Rainwater harvesting and water recycling
Drinking water requirements will be met by collecting water from the conservatory roofs which is then filtered and mineralised. Water for other uses is collected elsewhere on the site and pumped to a small reservoir. Water efficient WC's are being used which reduce water use by a third. Waste water passes through a septic tank and the resulting liquid effluent is cleaned in an ingenious low maintenance floating reed bed system and can then be safely used for irrigation purposes.
Innovation doesn't cost the earth
Not least in terms of the many interesting features and advantages of the project is the low cost of construction – just £65,000 per house, discounting the costs associated with ancillary items such as the lake, reservoir and other amenities. This is partly due to the houses being terraced and through the sharing of services and facilities, but is also contributed to by the earth sheltering itself. A saving of about £10,000 per house was achieved through the self-build element of labour, but there is evidence that this type of construction has potential advantages in terms of affordability. Work on translating earth-sheltering techniques to affordable housing in an urban context is underway at the University of Glamorgan.
This is a project that the Society has been very pleased to be associated with. It demonstrates that truly sustainable housing is attainable and that the co-operative approach can be very effective in making the vision reality. Hockerton offer an information service, technical consultancy and site visits. To find out more phone Hockerton on 01636 816902 or email them at: hhp@hockerton.co.uk.


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La route principale 6 (en hongrois : 6-ös főút) est une route hongroise reliant Budapest à la Frontière croate.

Route principale de Hongrie


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The Edgewater Park Site is a 3,800-year-old Late Archaic campsite situated along the Iowa River in Coralville, Iowa, United States. Plant remains recovered from the site suggest the inhabitants were in the earliest stages of adapting domesticated plants.

Excavations revealed a small encampment of two hearths and areas for faunal and stone tool production. Other features identified include a discard area and a deep feature of unknown function. Lithic analysis reveals that the site occupants probably recently traveled along the Iowa River from the north center of the state and were engaged in late-stage tool manufacture and maintenance. Floral analysis indicates the site occupation occurred during the warm half of the year and that the occupants utilized little barley, a non-local plant which was later cultivated, and barnyard grass, a local plant probably also later cultivated. This site is interpreted as a short-term, late warm-season occupation of people migrating down the Iowa River, possibly towards winter encampments in what is now the southeast part of the state.

See also
Iowa archaeology

References

Archaeological sites in Iowa
Geography of Johnson County, Iowa
Archaic period in North America
Coralville, Iowa


I've just noticed that my application is incompatible with Python 2.5, because ctypes.wintypes is missing SHORT constants. However, I can't find the information when these symbols were introduced first. To prevent such confusion in future it would be nice to extract symbol information for each Python release and automatically include the version of the first appearance in documentation.


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a story of the basciani beginnings
"There aren't too many people like us" even among the mushroom-growing families of Kennett Square and its environs, says Michael Basciani. "We're one of the very few, if not the only, fourth-generation mushroom farmers in the country. Not many make it that long."
The Basciani saga begins along the Adriatic Sea, in the Italian province of Abruzzi. Even today, the province is hardscrabble country. And it was from here in 1915 that Michael's grandfather left for a new life in the New World.
"He started picking mushrooms for the Pratt family in 1915," says Michael, "just like the immigrants who come into Chester County nowadays." Within five years, the grand old man was in business for himself. Three sons followed him, and one son's three sons followed in turn. They are Michael, Richard, and Mario. (Since this article appeared, all three have adult children that have come aboard)
You don't last four generations in a family business without family values being of paramount importance. Hard work is one of those values.
"This is not a business where you get a scheduled vacation," says Basciani. It's a year-round, wake-up-in-the-dead-of-the-night-to-check-the-temperatures business. It's labor-intensive, and the workers do some back-breaking work. "You gotta be a people's person," Basciani says. "If the workers don't see you working harder than them, it's not going to motivate them. You have to be the example!"
The business that the younger Bascianis enter is a far cry from their great-grandfather's farm….
"BASCIANI FOODS" does everything. They grow all sizes of white mushrooms and exotics, they pack for national retail grocery store chains as well as for foodservice distributors, they have processing and storage facilities in Chicago and Minneapolis, they ship over a million pounds per week! In 1970, they, along with other investors, bought The Mushroom Canning Company. This was done to control an outlet for secondary product, enabling BASCIANI to provide fresh customers with the highest quality prime products on the market.
Becoming #1 is a goal, but not an obsession. "Bigger isn't always better," Basciani says, "But if you constantly strive to be better… bigger just seems to follow."
-Michael Basciani SR. Chief Operations Officer
Generations of Farmers
Tons of Mushrooms Grown, Packed, and Shipped Weekly
Decades of Honest Business
Michael J. Basciani Sr.
Joanne Regester
Duane DeDominic
Head of Sales / Logistics
John M. Basciani Sr.
Michelle DiFilippo
Head Warehouse Supervisor
David Buitron
Richard A. Basciani Jr.
Stephanie Davis
Food Safety and Sanitation Specialist
Fred Recchiuti
Since 1925, our family has focused on providing our customers, employees, suppliers, and community with the upmost integrity, transparency, reliability, and creativity in our products and services as well as striving to be the most respected, trustworthy, and customer concentrated in the industry.
© BASCIANI FOODS. 2017
Buy better. Buy Basciani.


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North Carolina denied 99% of requested Hurricane Matthew relief funds
RALEIGH, N.C. (WFXB) – Federal funds for hurricane recovery in North Carolina came in well below what the state requested.
North Carolina asked the federal government for more than $900 million to help the Tar Heel State rebuild following Hurricane Matthew last year. Wednesday, Gov. Roy Cooper announced they've only been granted $6.1 million in relief money, less than 1% of the state's request.
Hurricane Matthew hit North Carolina in October of last year as a Category 1 storm. It killed 25 people and left parts of the state underwater for days. Cooper says he invited President Trump and congressional leaders to North Carolina to tour the affected areas.


Planning a new kitchen is exciting but it can be overwhelming at times too, with so many different aspects to consider. Selecting the colour scheme is an enjoyable part of the process, but clients are often scared of choosing colour as they are afraid it will date quickly.
However, if you stick to a classic neutral colour such as white, grey or timber veneer finish for the majority of cabinets, then add a contrast colour for the island bench or lower cabinets, your kitchen will have an exciting element to it with classic appeal. For instance in the kitchen above, the colour scheme is a traditional white on white, but by choosing a deep peacock blue for the island bench and some striking black elements in the stool's metal legs and pendants, this kitchen has become a lot more inviting and chic.
Take a look at some 'real life' colour swatches when you are shopping. Some colours will look differently on your computer or tablet screen than they do in real life. This is because it depends on what type of screen you are viewing it on, the resolution of the uploaded images and also the calibration of your screen. This is why it is always best that you choose colours for your kitchen, or any room in your home, from real swatches or sample paint pots and never from shade cards (unless real brush-outs have been used) or websites.
If however you're not feeling too adventurous, you can add some different colour accessories to change the look and feel of the space while keeping the large areas in the more neutral zone.
The dreamy mottled marble is a great accompaniment to the powder blue cabinetry in this kitchen, while the brass hardware acts as the jewellery and ups the glamour factor.
Our first post is going to be about something I'm very passionate about - THE ENVELOPE of a room! After all, when the last picture is hung and all the furniture is perfectly arranged, what makes the difference between a great room and take-it-or-leave-it-room, is a GREAT envelope.
So what is an envelope? It's a term we use to describe the walls, ceiling, floors, window treatments and lighting - basically anything that's a fixed feature of the room that you can't take with you when you move. It's what envelopes a space, the fruit bowl of the room that holds the fruit - furniture, accessories, art - together.
Amazing rooms in which we feel both excited and comfortable to be in don't happen by accident - they happen by design. Good design is thoroughly planned but remains open to flashes of creative spontaneity. All design starts with an idea that most interior designers develop into the concept for the room or the house. What ILI does is take that initial idea and apply if firstly to the envelope of the room - the walls, ceiling, floor and windows. We then let that inform how the space will come together and sometimes even dictate some of the furniture and accessories selection.
A good envelope addresses everything from colour, texture, tone, scale, proportion and balance. If done well it will literally make your room. If done poorly it will leave your room lacking and uninspiring. Paint goes a long way in changing the look of a room, but it discounts the hundreds of other possibilities you can use to reinvent that room - wallpaper, moulding, paneling, murals, glazing, metallic leafing or a clever combination of any of these finishes. The list of possibilities is endless - imagination, boldness and knowing how to put it all together are the more important requirements.
Windows and floors are also part of the envelope, and with them curtains and floor treatments. When you add in more colour and texture with curtains or set the mood of the room with carefully positioned pools of light using pendants, wall lights or an elegant chandelier, the stage is set for a beautiful space that you'll never want to leave. I use a simple test when I walk into a room - I imagine it empty of all the furniture, accessories and personal artifacts of the owner. If I still feel excited and comfortable to be in the space enveloped in its empty shell, then I know that room works.
Envelopes shape and define rooms. They are so important and so much fun to dream up because, like paint, they provide the biggest bang for your buck. So be brave and be bold with your envelopes!


We've said it many times before, but we'll say it again: There is never, ever a bad time to eat a taco. But that doesn't mean we don't get extra excited on holidays when tacos reign supreme, like Cinco de Mayo. This festive day gives us an excuse to show off our guacamole-making and tomato-chopping prowess. But this year we challenge you to use May fifth as an opportunity to expand your taco game.
More: We have everything you need for a stunning Cinco de Mayo party.
What are you planning to eat on Cinco de Mayo? Tell us in the comments below!


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Astronomers have discovered in the Kepler 51 system the most "soft and fluffy" exoplanet
BY Flyn Braun	 January 2, 2020 10:05 am GMT+0300 552 Views
Not so long ago, scientists astronomers discovered that in the star system of Kepler 51 are three completely unusual exoplanets. The mass of these exoplanets is several times the mass of the Earth, but the smallest of them exceeds the size of Neptune. This allowed scientists to suggest that the tiny rocky core of each of these planets is surrounded by a very thick layer of "fluff", gaseous matter with a very low density, which allowed these planets to be attributed to a relatively new class of "super-fluffy" exoplanets.
To obtain information on the parameters of fluffy exoplanets, scientists recorded three transit cases for the planets Kepler 51b and Kepler 51d using the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) of the Hubble Space Telescope. This information, combined with information collected at one time by the Kepler space telescope, allowed scientists to calculate the average density of matter of each of the planets. And this density was lower than 0.1 grams per cubic centimeter.
The planets Kepler 51b, 51c and 51d, whose size is comparable to the size of Jupiter, revolve around the star Kepler 51 with a period of 45, 85 and 130 days, respectively. The star Kepler 51 is relatively young, its age is about 500 million years, but it is very different from other planets of its age. It has a very low brightness, which in this case made it very difficult to measure exoplanet parameters.
But, having made a series of very complex calculations, astronomers still determined the mass and size of each of the three planets. And it turned out that these planets not only have a low density of matter, they are planets with the lowest density of matter among all the planets known today. Unfortunately, even the most accurate astronomical instruments are not able to determine the color of these exoplanets. Therefore, we absolutely do not know whether they look like balls of cotton candy, whose density is comparable to the density of the matter of these planets, or similar to something else?
"The new three planets of the Kepler 51 system are the planets with the lowest density at the moment, according to NASA exoplanet archives," the researchers write, "and you yourself can verify this by going to the appropriate section of the California Institute of Technology's website."


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CREATIONEST.COM
WHY CREATION MATTERS
GEOLOGY AND CREATION
BIOLOGY AND CREATION
ASTRONOMY AND CREATION
Evolution and Origins Science
Origins science is distinguished from operational science. Operational science is concerned mainly with how things operate today and is not concerned with the origin of those things. Fields such as engineering and applied sciences deal mainly with operational science while the basic traditional sciences such as biology, biochemistry, geology, physics, and astronomy deal with origins and are at the center of the debate. Basically, things that can be tested in a laboratory are part of operational science: the composition of a rock or mineral, the composition of a liquid substance, the anatomy of a pea plant, the description of how a machine engine operates, and the description of how a computer operates are part of operational science.
Origins science involves processes that cannot be observed in a laboratory, such as the origin of the universe, the origin of the earth, and the origin of life on earth. Origins science is based on theories developed by scientists that cannot be observed in a laboratory and therefore is open to assumptions that are difficult to be verified. The question of the origin of the universe, the earth, and life on earth is just as much a question of religion as it is a question of science. The mainstream science and academia prefers to exclude religion from their work, however it is unfair to say that the origin of the universe is not a religious question. Therefore, mainstream science attempts to use purely naturalistic explanations for all processes observed on earth and the universe, including their origin.
Evolutionists claim that they have contributed greatly to science but have only contributed in promoting their worldview. Evolutionists and their doctrine of uniform processes over millions of years have not explained any process in operational science or how any process in science works. Evolution cannot be tested in a laboratory, therefore it is not operational science. Evolutionists only contribute their false interpretations of geologic and biological processes that cannot be verified in a laboratory but can only be described as theories of origin that grossly contradict scientific evidence.
Creationists have confirmed their belief in the young earth and special creation with verifiable scientific evidence. Many natural processes long thought to take millions of years by evolutionists have been confirmed by creationists to occur quickly within weeks or months in the laboratory. Organic deposits such as coal and oil thought to have formed over millions of years while buried under layers of sediment have been confirmed by laboratory experiments to occur with in weeks or months when certain conditions are applied. The evolutionists reject this evidence and continue to promote their long gradual processes over millions of years.
Creationest.com is dedicated to promoting evidence for the young earth and universe according to the creation science model in addition to promoting the Bible and the Biblical worldview.
Copyright 2019. Creationest.com.


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Nick Farrell
Best Minecraft Bedrock shaders & how to install them
Minecraft villagers jobs guide: Types, job site blocks, how to change
Best Minecraft roleplay servers: How to join the best/most popular
Cyberpunk 2077 build classes explained: Netrunner, Solo, and Techie
Insomniac Games' Marvel's Wolverine: Trailer, platforms & everything we know
Todd Howard deals major blow to Elder Scrolls 6 release date hopes
BethesdaElder Scrolls 6
The current director and executive producer at Bethesda, Todd Howard, shed light on some development news surrounding The Elder Scrolls 6, and fans are seemingly going to have to wait a little longer than they would hope to play the game.
It is now coming close to exactly a decade since we last saw a new Elder Scrolls title, as Skyrim is now playable on every platform that has come out in recent years, and it is still a joy to play.
But, fans are growing anxious regarding when The Elder Scrolls 6 is going to release, as it was originally revealed back at E3 2018, with nothing more than a logo.
With no new revelations revealed at this past E3, Todd Howard has unveiled some news surrounding the development progress of The Elder Scrolls 6.
Bethesda/Xbox
Bethesda was purchased by Xbox earlier this year for a number reported to be over seven billion!
Elder Scrolls 6 still in "the design phase"
In a new interview with The Telegraph, Todd Howard finally talked about The Elder Scrolls 6, as it has been an eternity since we last heard any information around the game.
When speaking about the engine their next project Starfield is going to use, Howard noted that the next Elder Scrolls is going to massively benefit from this technology, and we can assume this is one of the reasons why we have not seen any gameplay yet.
"It's good to think of The Elder Scrolls 6 as still being in a design phase."
"Every game will have some new suites of technology so Elder Scrolls 6 will have some additions on to Creation Engine 2 that that game is going to require."
Skyrim has been one of the biggest releases of all time, and The Elder Scrolls 6 will undoubtedly surpass this.
This news comes as a bit of a surprise, with it now being close to 10 years since Skyrim releases, fans were hoping the game would be in the latter stages of development by now.
But, Bethesda is going to be releasing their sci-fi RPG, Starfield in 2022, and from what we have seen thus far, it could be their best title yet.
Limmy finds Fallout 4 bug in record time while streaming on Twitch
Brianna Reeves


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01Front Page
02Student Spotlight
03Faculty Q&A
04Featured Organization
05Major/Minor News
06In Your Words
major/minor news
What's Happening in Your Department?
Chess, trouble and television characters can bridge any age gap. Students in Honors College recently discovered the importance of spending time with war veterans during a visit to the Hampton VA Medical Center. Students in the Honors Service Learning seminar spent time with the hospitalized veterans in October. During the visit the students gave gift bags to all of the veterans. The bags were filled with lotions, pens, crossword puzzles, thank you cards, cookies, and juice.
The School of Business hosted its first Annual Building Fund Gala in the Student Center Ballroom on Nov. 14. Students, faculty and invited corporate sponsors enjoyed the elegant event that was held to raise money for the school. Corporate sponsors were acknowledged for their donations to the school. Each of the invited sponsors recognized the positive contribution HU and the students are making to the business industry. Prudential Financial presented a check to the School of Business for $50,000, during the ceremony.
Prudential presented a check to the School of Business for $50,000
Department of Aviation
As the only HBCU represented in the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA) the HU Flight Team is often seen as the underdog in competition. This year the flight team placed second overall in the Region X Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (SAFECON) proving that a few obstacles can't stand in the midst of their victory. The next level of competition for the team is Nationals, hosted by Middle Tennessee State University. The flight team has attended competitions at Nationals previously last year placing 20th in the competition.
HU Flight Team
Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications
In October, Nicole Livas, evening news anchor for WAVY-TV and Fox 43, and Janet Roach, co-anchor for WVEC's Daybreak and 13News at Noon, spoke with Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications' senior broadcast capstone students about breaking into the broadcasting field. Both Livas and Roach stressed the importance of proper writing and grammatical skills and the value of learning about other subject matter beyond journalism.
On Nov. 1, more than 40 English students gathered in Armstrong Hall to participate in the "Ghost Whisperer" Webcam College Press Tour. Students were given the opportunity to interview the executive producers of CBS's "Ghost Whisperer," Ian Sander and Kim Moses, via a live webcam session. These students, along with participants at DePaul University and the University of Michigan, spent nearly two hours in a full-access interview session. Successfully in its third season, "Ghost Whisperer" stars actress Jennifer Love Hewitt and airs on Friday at 8 p.m. on CBS.
Students participate in the "Ghost Whisperer"
Webcam College Press Tour.
Department of Military Sciences
On Oct. 26-28, a group of ten Hampton University Army ROTC cadets successfully participated in the 2007 Ranger Challenge at Fort Pickett, Va. The cadets won the bronze ribbon in the Army physical fitness test, the first time an HU team won a medal in more than four years. The Ranger Challenge is an annual event where cadets compete against other universities within the brigade. The cadets are tested in various events including a grenade challenge, 35 kilometer march, basic rifle worksmenship competition, day and night land navigation event, obstacle course, written exam, and a secret commander's event where prior to the event cadets are unaware of the challenge requirements.
Flex Gardner, Tiffany Tompkins and Steven J. Coble competed in the 2007 Ranger Challenge.
In response to recent reports of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections in schools, gyms and military facilities Hampton University's School of Pharmacy met with faculty and staff at the HU Child Development Center (HUCDC) on Nov. 6 to discuss prevention and control methods. Pharmacy doctoral students enrolled in their third professional year addressed questions related to MRSA. They shared information on the bacteria's origins, the differences between community-acquired and hospital-acquired strains, common causes and symptoms, and prevention and control methods.
Pharmacy students gave a presentation on MRSA.


German prosecutors have indicted four young men over the brazen theft of a 100-kilogram (221-pound) Canadian gold coin from a Berlin museum.
The "Big Maple Leaf" coin, worth several million dollars, was stolen from the Bode Museum in March 2017. Berlin prosecutors said Wednesday that they have filed charges of theft against four suspects at a juvenile court in the capital.
Three men, identified only as 21-year-old Wissam R., 20-year-old Ahmed R. and 23-year-old Wayci R., are accused of stealing the coin during the night using a wheelbarrow. The fourth suspect, 20-year-old Dennis W, worked as a guard at the museum for a private security firm and is accused of scouting out the scene.
Prosecutors believe that the suspects cut up the coin and sold the pieces.


Discovery Center's annual Secret Garden Tour and Party kicks off the summer season the first weekend in June.
Get a sneak peek at four backyard gardens, all the while benefiting the programming offered at Discovery Center, a hands-on environmental center and museum.
Festivities kick off with the Secret Garden Party at 7 p.m. June 1 at the home of Christy Fancher, 1546 Georgetown Lane in Murfreesboro.
The ambiance for the evening event is a breezy Italian summer supper. Five Senses will provide food. Decorations in the lush green backyard will be reminiscent of the colorful Amalfi Coast in Italy. Tickets are $100 per person. Visit explorethedc.org/sgp or call 615-890-2300 to purchase.
Enjoy perusing four local gardens as well as the Discovery Center. Hours for the tour are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 2 and 1-4 p.m. June 3.
Cost is $10 per person and can be purchased at the Discovery Center or at the gate of each garden or shop.
You'll first want to check out the flora — and likely, fauna — in the wetland area of Murfree Spring, adjacent to Discovery Center. See heron, fish and turtles while you stroll along the elevated boardwalk that winds through the marshy ecosystem.
Stepping stones through a pond-like water feature next to the outdoor amphitheater demonstrate an aquatic food chain.
Outdoor activities at Discover Center are free and open to the public. Admission is charged for the museum. Visit explorethedc.org to learn more about the center and its exhibits, and how you can become a member.
A spa should be a place of peace and tranquility. This is the motive behind Jennifer Durand's Inspiration Garden tucked behind Nurture Nook day spa. The garden is enclosed with a privacy fence adorned with hanging planters, metallic frogs, butterflies and sun ornaments.
There are three inviting sitting areas, as well as hammock chairs for relaxing. Close your eyes and listen to the gentle splashing of water and the music of wind chimes drifting across the garden.
Ferns, elegant elephant ear, caladiums, yellow calla lilies, Gerbera daisies, petunias and other annuals grace the garden.
The home is surrounded by yews, spirea and clipped hedge. Japanese maple, buddleia, rainbow honeysuckle, hostas, day lilies and ornaments are all players in the this garden. Two cottages offer background and privacy.
Brett and Julie Neal will open their 5-acre woodland wonderland. The Neal's have a unique slant on gardening. Jack-in-the-Pulpit, may apple and trilliums share space with pink flamingos, See Rock City birdhouses, mushrooms, flying squirrels, whimsical signs, hemlocks, crepe myrtles and a pair of barred owls.
Paths lead to a 20-foot tree house perched above tumbled rocks. Climb steps to a view of the forest, where there are over 200 birdhouses. There's also a tiered pond.
Tracy Toy, owner of Quinn's Mercantile, has a knack for creating elegant floral arrangements and container designs.
Find the perfect pairing of flowers and plants to vases and pots. Browse through the gardening supplies to help you achieve a beautiful garden in a pot. Demonstrations on potting plants will be offered from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday and flower arranging will be from 1-4 p.m. Sunday.


Do you have any "extra" veterinary pharmaceuticals lying around the house? You know, expired medications or drugs left over from previous illnesses or long-deceased pets. I know I do. I was looking for something in my "drug box" a couple of nights ago and ran across some prescriptions that had expired years ago. Of course, I just tossed them back in because at the moment I didn't have the time to do anything else with them.
Disposing of drugs properly is often easier said than done. Gone are the days when flushing drugs down the toilet or washing them down the sink was an acceptable practice. Drugs are turning up in our streams, rivers, oceans and drinking water supplies, and we just don't know what effects they may be having on wildlife and people.
So if you have some drugs lying around the house that you can no longer use, what should you do? First, check to see whether your municipality has a prescription drug disposal program. Some are associated with pharmacies, others may be run by waste disposal organizations or law enforcement agencies.
The website disposemymeds.org has a search option for finding a pharmacy near you that participates in a drug take back program, as well as a lot of other good information about the importance of proper drug disposal. The site is focused solely on the disposal of human medications, but since there is an awful lot of overlap between veterinary and human pharmaceuticals, it is very relevant.
If you can't find a nearby drop-off location, you can buy specially designed, postage-paid envelopes at Rite-Aid and Walgreens and ship your medications to a company that runs an incinerator approved for drug disposal. You'll need to check that the medication you need to get rid of is approved for this service. For example, controlled substances like opioid pain relievers cannot be disposed of in this manner.
If you have to hold on to unusable medications in your home for a period of time, there are a few things you can do to help keep them from contaminating the environment or being misused. For liquids or powders that are at risk of being spilled, fill a leak proof container with kitty litter, squirt or pour in the medication, and seal it up tightly. Mark the container with the names of the drugs contained inside. Tablets, capsules, and other types of pills should remain in their original packaging so they can be easily identified. If you want to make these medications less attractive to people who might misuse them, add a small amount of slightly damp kitty litter to the bottle.
Of course, another good resource is your veterinarian's office. They should already have a relationship with a medical waste disposal company and may be willing to include medications brought back in by clients along with their regular shipments.


This Royal Doulton Falstaff measures approx. 3 5/8"H and 4.25" from spout to handle. No chips or cracks. Nice paint -- there's a little flash glare/reflection from the flash. Royal Doulton signing is on the bottom. I gladly combine shipping.


Fightin Phillies - blogging Phillies baseball: The Mets vs Phillies rivalry cooling off a bit?
The Mets vs Phillies rivalry that existed the previous few seasons has taken a back seat recently as the Phils seem to have mastered the Mets of late.
The well documented 2007 Mets disaster flop at the end of the season started the decline. It was the worst falls from first place a team has ever seen so late in the season. The Mets were up so much on the second place Phillies team in Sept. 2007, with the Amazin's being 7 games up in first place on September 12, 2007 and then to end the month culminating with them losing the NL East crown. The Mets proceeded to lose 12 of their final 17 games to accomplish this. The Phillies meanwhile put together a miracle in 2007, and on the final day of the season, they won against the Nationals and captured the NL East. It was probably one of the best games that I've ever seen in person. 44,865 were in attendance for that final Phillies home game, and the electricity in the air that day just from the fans was something that I'll never forget.
The Mets bolstered their team after the 2007 flop, they added big names and big salaries in their quest to take the top spot in the NL East. All of that has been moot. The GM of the Mets and manager have somehow survived all of the losing and not being successful which is really strange to see in baseball. Omar Minaya, Mets GM, and Jerry Manuel, Mets manager, have nine lives it seems in dodging blame for the way the Mets have really failed in the past couple of seasons. In a city like New York, where the media and fans have such a loud voice, Minaya and Manuel have had the best of chances to make something happen and still haven't somehow been booed out of town by the fans who should demand better from the team's owners.
Best Phillies season overall vs Mets?
Best Home record against the Mets?


Whistler WS1088 Digital Handheld Radio Scanner. Easy to use full keyboard. New object oriented, menu driven user interface. The complete radio reference USA and Canada database on Micro SD card. Weak signals from distant stations.
2-Way radio reception is line-of-sight. Consider an outdoor antenna; the first 30 feet of elevation makes the most difference.
Attenuator in use on weak signals. Check performance with and without attenuator activated, use setting with best reception. Strong signal overload from nearby transmitter. Inspect antenna and connectors and correct any problems found.
Ensure that proper modulation mode is selected for the type of system being monitored. If necessary, use the PC Application to change modulation mode.
The Whistler WS1088 digital handheld scanner is a multi-system adaptive digital trucking scanner with Motorola P25 phase 1, x2-tdma and phase II capabilities. It features a full backlit alphanumeric keypad in addition to the familiar scan, pause, select and navigation controls. The full keyboard allows you to easily create new and edited trunked systems, sites and talk groups directly from the scanner without the use of a pc for users on the go.
Thank you for shopping at our store. The item "Whistler WS1088 Digital Handheld Radio Scanner" is in sale since Friday, September 2, 2016. This item is in the category "Consumer Electronics\Radio Communication\Scanners".
The seller is "pavin-store" and is located in Federal Way, Washington. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, South Korea, Indonesia, Taiwan, South africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi arabia, United arab emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa rica, Panama, Trinidad and tobago, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica.


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Review: Eggheads for iOS
Egg-cellent
Barnstorm Games continues to showcase their attention to detail and excellent game-crafting skills.
Take on the Eggheads wherever you go with Barnstorm Games' latest offering.
Barnstorm Games, makers of the excellent home game versions of the game shows The Chase, Perfection and Tipping Point, are back once again with a brand-new game, based on the BBC show Eggheads.
Eggheads, a long-running mainstay of BBC daytime television, is a show where a team of five compete against five of a stable of Eggheads, who are some of the brightest quiz minds in Britain. The first four rounds are randomly chosen specialist subjects. The team elects one player and one Egghead to go head to head in three multiple-choice questions. Whoever gets more right wins and knocks the other out of the final. If, after three, the scores are level, the game goes into Sudden Death. The winner of Sudden Death stays. In the final, all remaining players play as a team for one final General Knowledge round. The gameplay itself is solid, with strategy in deciding who should play against which Egghead. While not as exciting as The Chase, the team dynamic is interesting and actually fun to play.
Barnstorm's take on the game is very flexible. One to five people can play on one device, forming an entire Eggheads team. Graphically, the game is a virtual mirror of the show, right down to the five randomly-chosen Eggheads at their plexiglass table. (For those wondering, even Daphne Fowler's in the game.) The on-screen graphics and transitions mirror the television program's presentation practically spot-on. The only thing missing is Jeremy Vine reading out the questions—but, with 3,500 questions built into the game, who'd have the time to record all those voice files?
One of the neat things about Barnstorm Games is their worldwide jackpot. Everyone in the world who's playing Eggheads works out of one bank. With a worldwide loss, the bank grows by £1,000. If you win, the worldwide bank resets. This gives the game a subtle, but dynamic, universe where everyone's indirectly playing against everyone else.
Other features include a Quick Play match where you try to beat every Egghead one-on-one in a general knowledge matchup, as well as detailed statistics on any player or Egghead's performance in game. According to Barnstorm, each Egghead's in-game performance model was carefully crafted taking into consideration their real-life strengths and weaknesses. Fans of the show should be able to use this information to their advantage when playing against the Eggheads. Casual players can probably try to profile the eggheads and give the old folks stuff about music and television.
The trivia written is very good, and it should be—there's over 3,500 questions taken from the actual show. Surprisingly, an American like myself managed to do well with educated guessing and inferring from clues, but since every answer is multiple choice (even the Sudden Death questions, a rare deviation from the show), it's not too hard to take a punt once in a while.
At this point, Barnstorm Games has proven themselves the masters of crafting game show experiences as video games. They take the source material and treat it with care and respect, and then trim to fit the limitations of possible players and devices. Eggheads is fun with a group of 5, or just yourself, if you have 30 minutes or 5 minutes to kill. It's a solid trivia game, and an excellent addition to any game collection.
The game launches on Thursday in the UK App stores for iOS, Google Play and Amazon App Devices. For more information, or to get the game, you can head to EggheadsApp.com.
BuzzerBlog was provided a copy of the game from the developers for the purpose of this review.
Celebrate Canada Day with Three Canadian Game Shows
ABC Revives To Tell The Truth
Review: The Great Holiday Baking Show November 30, 2015 | Cory Anotado
Review: Perfection for iOS January 7, 2015 | Cory Anotado
Review: Race to Escape July 27, 2015 | Alex Davis
Review: Weakest Link (2020) September 30, 2020 | Alex Davis


Video software and services specialist Ooyala is showcasing the latest enhancements to Ooyala Flex, the media logistics platform that connects the different elements in a production pipeline, and its integration with Microsoft Azure.
Ooyala Flex enables users to streamline the creation and delivery of media in a time-critical market. The update includes temporal metadata support and a new dynamic timeline, creating richer metadata that enhances contextual search and enables rapid asset discovery and distribution. New support for growing files means that customers can work with files in near real time, speeding up delivery and generating quicker returns.
Ooyala is also showcasing its integration with Azure Transcode Services, adding new cloud-based transcode resource from within Ooyala Flex.
Indexer, which extracts metadata such as the dialogue, people and text in the video. This metadata is returned to Ooyala Flex travelling with the asset, automatically offering a deeper set of metadata.


We've come a hell of a long way from the days where only vinyl records and cassette tapes could be found in music shops. Remember when you had to listen to songs from track 1 to track 12 on albums? Or how about when money got between you and listening to every band that ever existed? Streaming has taken all of those little annoyances away, having opened us up to a whole new dimension of music, often for free, all-you-can-eat style. We have all of the albums, playlists and songs we could possibly want within a few clicks. Brilliant! Right?
Not always. As much as our favourite streaming platforms have taken away our limitations on our music consumption, perhaps they've also created new issues. And this time, they affect even more people - not just us, the listeners, but those very artists we play day in, day out, and even the record labels which get those artists into our ears.
Part of the issue with streaming is the very thing that attracts people to them in the first place: having it all, and having it yesterday. Isn't it kind of overwhelming? There's a new kind of pressure to know anything and everything about the Next Big Things because investigating them is so much easier, and it's a wonder how we can divide our time, love and money between them all. With so many other things we could be listening to as well, maybe in this era we feel like music has to be more immediate than ever; otherwise we can press pause and stick something else on. It reduces our appreciation for what we hear because we don't have to focus as much on it. We ignore how great music doesn't always have to be immediate - some music demands time and attention, but is so much more rewarding as a result. But the decline of our appreciation for music doesn't end there; streaming has perhaps also diminished our appreciation for albums. For some reason, we prefer to just play a few songs on repeat rather than take the time to unwind with an album playing from start to finish. We've become complacent. Some might say we're lazier listeners. If you think about it for too long, it seems almost depressing.
But for the artists, it's even worse. Sure, they still earn money from streaming, sure it's better than piracy, but it's still not enough. On Spotify, for example, it takes roughly 1,000-10,000 plays of a song just for the artist to earn a dollar. Album sales have plummeted as a result of streaming, leaving bands with only merch and tours to make money from. And when you consider part of the reason that Warped Tour is ending is declining ticket sales, things look pretty grim on that end too.
The music industry is cut-throat enough as it is. Many fellow creators on Vocal would understand that making money from what you love is often part of the dream, but alongside the frustration of that, it makes it harder to live off that dream. Some band members are still working 'normal' jobs on the side because the money they make from their music isn't enough. Other bands have caved in entirely. It's devastating. It's tough. They need more of our support.
Imagine squeezing toothpaste out of the tube and trying to put it all back in again. You can't do it. It's the same with streaming. I'm not suggesting you abandon Apple Music right this second and swear to only buy vinyl for the rest of your life (unless you want to). We just have to think about how much we stream and the impacts on both us as listeners and the artists we listen to. I'm doing exactly the same; even now I sometimes think I use Spotify too much. But we can get there.
If you have the money, try buying your albums when you can - I do. I listen to it on Spotify first to prevent wasting money on something I'm not going to like, and then I download it on iTunes. Perhaps you can go a bit further and support an indie record store at the same time. See how you appreciate it differently from how you would if you streamed it - I've certainly noticed a difference. And even better, no internet connection required!