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Min H. Kao Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Scott Ruoti
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Office Address: Min H. Kao Building, Room 344
E-mail: ruoti@utk.edu
PhD in Computer Science, Brigham Young University, 2016
MS in Computer Science, Brigham Young University, 2015
BS in Computer Science, Brigham Young University, 2011
BA in Chinese, Brigham Young University, 2011
Scott Ruoti is an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at UT. He received his PhD degree in computer science from Brigham Young University in 2016.
Ruoti's primary research focus is in computer security and privacy. He is particularly interested in researching how to create software systems that ensure correct and secure operation when deployed to actual users. As such, he conducts holistic, interdisciplinary research using methods from the measurement, security and privacy, and human-computer interaction (HCI) communities. His research process starts by (1) measuring the real-world impact of a given problem, then (2) designing systems that address those issues, and finally (3) conducting usability studies to evaluate whether the developed systems achieves its goals under realistic usage conditions when operated by actual users.
Ruoti's currently active research areas include authentication (improving password managers and multi-factor authentication), usable encryption (helping build usable, secure email and messaging systems), helping software developers create secure software, and building distributed systems where trust is decentralized (blockchain technology).
Prior to coming to the university, Ruoti was a researcher at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. While there, he led a range of efforts, including acting as the chief architect for the Department of Homeland Security's Cyber.gov program that is tasked with creating a next-generation cybersecurity architecture for all non-DoD federal departments and agencies. He also led a research team exploring non-cryptocurrency usages for Blockchain technology. Prior to his time at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, Ruoti also worked at Microsoft, Microsoft Research, Google, Blue Coat Systems (Symantec), and Sandia National Laboratories.
As part of his dissertation, Ruoti designed email systems that are both secure and easy-to-use, especially for novice users. The final version of our secure email system outperforms other similar systems in terms of usability, ranking in the top 15% among the hundreds of software systems subjected to a standard usability test. My design reduced user errors from 25% to 2%, and increased user understanding and trust in secure email."
Secure Software Development
Usable Encryption
Min H. Kao Building • Suite 401 • 1520 Middle Drive • Knoxville, TN 37996-2250
General Information: eecs-info@utk.edu • Graduate School Information: eecs-gradinfo@utk.edu


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Apple Granted Design Patent for iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS
By M Asad | May 5th, 2010
Apple has been busy lately in safe-guarding the design and innovation of its products by taking legal cover of patent grant policy provided by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In the recent past, we have seen how Apple filed a legal suit against HTC, for its alleged involvement in infringing 20 iPhone OS patents "related to the iPhone's user interface, underlying architecture, and hardware". Apple was also recently granted patent for the "Ornamental design" of the original iPhone which was released back in 2007.
The "ornamental design" patent that covered the original iPhone and iPod touch has got a second USPTO patent granted to Apple under the Patent No. D-615083 dated 4 May 2010. This apparently covers the more curvaceous iPhone 3G and 3GS. Among many others, Designer Jonathan Ive and Steve Jobs are listed as inventors, credited with the usual list of references. [via Engadget and USPTO]
iPatent – Steve Jobs Favorite iPhone App
Chinese iPad Clone that Costs $290, Set to Hit Shelves on April 3rd
New iPhone OS to Bring Contacts On Home Screen
China has Already Got the Next iPhone 4G. Sort of.
You can follow us on twitter or join our facebook fanpage to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google and Apple.
Kuo: New Redesigned MacBook Pro Coming With The Return of MagSafe, Newer I/O Ports – But No Touch Bar
Netflix Is Reportedly Testing Support For Spatial Audio On AirPods Pro And AirPods Max

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Sustainable Preparation of 3,3-Disubstituted Oxindole Derivatives
Author: ChemistryViews
Associated Societies: American Chemical Society (ACS), USA
Magazine:	Metal-Free Cross Coupling
Magazine:	Organocatalytic Route to α-Amino Acid Derivatives
Magazine:	Scandium Catalysis for Oxindole Synthesis
Magazine:	Amino Acids as Versatile Synthetic Precursors
Nuno Maulide, University of Vienna, Austria, and colleagues have developed a general electrochemical method to obtain unsymmetrical 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles by direct C–H functionalization. The team used a simple undivided cell with a graphite anode and cathode, constant current of 10 mA, tetraethylammonium p-toluenesulfonate (Et4NOTs) as the electrolyte, and a mixture of MeCN/EtOH as solvent and nucleophile.
The approach allows functionalization of unsymmetrical 3,3-disubstituted oxindoles through C–O formation. It can be extended to the formation of C–C bonds and C–N bonds by using silyl enol ether and TMSN3 as nucleophiles. The approach tolerates various substituents at the C-3 position of the oxindole core (pictured above; R1) and alkyl- and aryl-substituted nitrogen atoms. The electrosynthesis allows for environmentally friendly and mild reaction conditions. The approach does not rely on stoichiometric oxidants.
The team proposes two mechanistic scenarios, depending on the nucleophilic source used and its oxidation potential:
The substrates undergo two-electron oxidation at the anode. This results in the formation of the corresponding carbocation. This could explain the need for excess amounts of the nucleophile (in some cases used as a co-solvent), justified due to its role of acting as a proton source for hydrogen evolution at the cathode.
A one-electron oxidation at the anode leads to the formation of a radical cation. Through proton loss, a captodative radical intermediate is generated.
Electrochemical Umpolung C–H Functionalization of Oxindoles,
Miryam Pastor, Marie Vayer, Harald Weinstabl, Nuno Maulide,
J. Org. Chem. 2021.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.joc.1c02616


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What Reed Sheppard's commitment to UK means for Kentucky basketball recruiting
Jon Hale
LEXINGTON - Big Blue Nation got its wish.
Class of 2023 star recruit Reed Sheppard, the son of former Kentucky stars Jeff Sheppard and Stacey Reed Sheppard, committed to UK Saturday in a ceremony at North Laurel High School. The prolific scorer had garnered much attention from Kentucky fans since his breakout sophomore season and strong showing on the Adidas grassroots circuit last spring.
The 247Sports Composite ranks Sheppard as the No. 22 prospect and No. 5 combo guard in the high school class of 2023. Louisville, Indiana, Virginia, Ohio State and Texas A&M were among the other high-major programs that had offered Sheppard a scholarship, but Kentucky was seen as the heavy favorite to land his commitment as soon as UK coach John Calipari extended an offer in July.
Sheppard is Kentucky's first commitment in the 2023 class. Here is a look at what the commitment means for the Wildcats.
Kentucky basketball recruiting:Reed Sheppard could join these father-son duos who played for UK
More than a PR win for Kentucky basketball
Yes, Sheppard received an inordinate amount of attention from Kentucky fans for a prospect who was not even mentioned in national rankings a year ago thanks to his famous parents, but Calipari has made it clear over the years he will not offer Kentucky high school stars unless he thinks they can contribute.
Sheppard scored more points than any player in the state last season, averaging 30.1 points per game in 28 games as a sophomore for North Laurel. He followed his stellar high school season with a strong showing on the Adidas circuit.
Perhaps most impressively, Sheppard proved he was more than a shooter, taking over the game Calipari watched him play at an Adidas event in Birmingham in July despite struggling from 3-point range.
That showing earned Sheppard a five-star rating the 247Sports Composite, which averages the ratings of the major recruiting services.
"Is a lights out shooter with perfect technique and a quick release," 247Sports director of basketball scouting Jerry Meyer wrote of Sheppard. "Can score at all three levels. Capable of attacking left or right and finishing with strength. Doesn't have overwhelming speed but is strong with the basketball, crafty, and gets separation."
Kentucky basketball recruiting:John Calipari does not expect Shaedon Sharpe to play for UK this season
Reed Sheppard could be better than his parents
Now that he has committed to Kentucky, Sheppard's last name will bring additional pressure instead of simple attention.
Jeff Sheppard won two national championships at Kentucky and was named Final Four Most Outstanding Player in 1998. Stacey Reed Sheppard still ranks in the top 10 in Kentucky women's basketball history in games started (110), field-goal attempts (1,318), made 3s (175), 3-point attempts (548), assists (442) and steals (309).
"He's not better than his mom, that's for sure," Jeff told The Courier Journal in February. "She's definitely the best in the family. I will say this: I think Reed is ahead of me. Now, Reed is a different type player than I was. A lot of people are trying to draw analogies to us, but he plays more like Stacy in that he's very aggressive with his hands. He loves to kind of gamble and try to steal the ball.
"He can pass the ball better than I could pass the ball. He definitely can dribble better. I like to say I was just a little bit meaner, but I don't know that I was as a sophomore in high school. I can't remember exactly if I was able to make the play that he was. I kind of remember things and the intensity level at the end of my college career and the end of my pro career because that's kind of my last taste of basketball. I know he's played more games than me. He's been in bigger moments at this age. He has a better overall skillset than me. I think he's ahead, but the race isn't over."
Kentucky basketball:How UK proved it was more than Oscar Tshiebwe and Sahvir Wheeler vs. Ohio
What's next for Kentucky basketball recruiting
It appears Calipari and his staff are already finished recruiting high school prospects in the class of 2022. Kentucky will likely need to add at least one frontcourt transfer to next season's roster and could pursue high schoolers who reclassify from 2023 to 2022 in the spring, but for now the recruiting focus can be primarily directed at the 2023 class.
Kentucky has already extended scholarship offers to 10 players in the class.
The top target is five-star guard DJ Wagner, the No-1 ranked prospect in the class. Wagner is the son of former Calipari-coached Memphis star DaJuan Wagner and grandson of Louisville legend Milt Wagner. Kentucky is seen as the heavy favorite in his recruitment if Wagner elects to play college basketball rather than jump directly to the professional ranks either in the NBA's G League or overseas.
Five-star point guard Robert Dillingham could be the next player to join UK's 2023 recruiting class. Kentucky currently holds all of the analyst predictions for his commitment in the 247Sports Crystal Ball.
Email Jon Hale at jahale@courier-journal.com; Follow him on Twitter at @JonHale_CJ.


Please join us on Friday, November 16 for a spirit-filled, traditional Friday night davening, with beautiful melodies and energy like you might find in the summertime at Camp Ramah. Kabablat Shabbat and Maariv are followed by a delicious, register-in-advance Shabbat dinner, beginning with Shalom Aleichem and ending with zemirot and benching. Singles, families, teens and empty nesters are all welcome. Come lend your voices and welcome Shabbat with us.


As of this morning, I have sunk 156 hours and 30 minutes in my term project for the compulsory choice module on adaptive systems, the aforementioned maze. That's nearly 30 per cent of the entire time I have invested so far, outside lectures, this term, and — with four weeks to go! — already way beyond the notoriously impossible official workload for a single course. In fact, when I talked with the professor last week, he said for better or worse I had done enough. Obviously I had learned a lot about reinforcement learning and neural networks, and if I simply summarized my experiences well in the presentation and paper required en lieu of an examination I could be certain of a good grade.
That's probably true. Yet I feel defeated nevertheless. You see, so far in this study program I have always found that, even when I felt desperately unable to make headway with a problem, it was only about being stubborn enough. Where many of my peers gave up, I simply continued banging my head against the wall, and finally, every time, the wall would yield. But the walls of this maze are solid as rock, and in spite of reading tons of stuff on reinforcement learning with neural networks, trying a dozen of different techniques, playing with hyperparameters for several weeks, and debugging my code word for word, again and again, I'm simply not getting anywhere. My bloody networks obstinately refuse to learn.
Yes, this was a lot of trial and error. Yes, I have committed countless small mistakes, as in any programming project, and some big ones, particularly since I often changed the setup entirely to try a new idea. For instance, I had originally encoded the game board with a single network input value for each of the four edges of the board tiles, so to indicate where a connection existed and where not. I later changed that to a single binary encoding for each tile, converted to a decimal number (e.g. a tile might have connections up, right, and down, but not left, encoded clockwise as 1110 binary, and then converted to 14 decimal), to simplify the input. Unfortunately in so doing I forgot to encode the extra tile that is available for being pushed into the maze by the next player. So for a long time my network simply had no knowledge about the tile it had to push. Hard to learn anything that way. Even worse, a stupid comparison error in a helper method used to find the position of the next treasure made that method always return true for any tile checked. So the treasure was always encoded as being on the first tile encountered, the one in the upper-left corner of the board. Again, hard to find something when you have no idea where it is.
But even after I had ironed out these mistakes, the networks still refused to learn. I mean, learn anything at all. I had expected this to be hard, but hard in a way recognizable as hard but not impossible. As in, learning is painfully slow, but at least it's evident something is being learned. But that was simply never the case. I could run my networks for days on end and the results never changed. I went through all possible ways of improving the (non-existent) learning performance. The classic Q learning algorithm learns from the results of every single turn, which is generally acknowledged as being less than optimal for a sequential game, for the network might easily be caught in so-called local minima, i.e. learn only those things resulting from an earlier, in itself suboptimal, decision. The solution is called experience replay, meaning the results are stored in memory, and then the network learns from random (non-sequential) samples drawn at intervals from that memory. Experience replay itself can again be improved by different methods of selecting primarily, or only, the more relevant experiences, i.e. those that resulted in particularly valuable rewards or updates, either by replaying the last few results whenever a move resulted in a reward (enhanced experience replay), or by ranking the results according to the amount learned from each of them (prioritized experience replay). I tried all that, but vexingly, with experience replay my networks did even worse than with what I called "live" updates (learn once per turn from the results of the previous turn).
What really drove me nuts (or in fact is still doing that) is that the networks are far from totally inert. In fact, to the contrary: They are very sensitive to changes in the myriads of hyperparameters with which you can configure either them or the game. I am using the Keras library for building my networks, and Keras makes it very simple to finetune the network architecture. With a few keywords you can change the type and number of layers, the number of nodes in each layer, their initialization, activation function, the loss function and optimizer for the output, apply regularizers, adjust parameters for all those functions, and so on. Apparently even for experts this is all a lot of trial and error with very few generally quite vague guidelines.
Then of course you can play with your input, for instanze normalize or standardize it, so that all values are within a certain range. You can adjust the calculation of the error you provide as feedback for your network, i.e. how you come up with the numbers that tell it how to adjust its predictions. Change the learning rate, and the network will either overwrite what it has memorized when being given new information, or conversely hardly change it at all. Finally, the structure of the game rewards that impact on that calculation has a huge influence. In the purist's version I am giving a large positive reward for finding a treasure and a small negative reward for each turn used, so to make the networks aware of time pressure. But it also works with only the one or only the other, and in any case there is no knowing the appropriate relation between the two: I've been everywhere between 1 to -1 and 20,000 to -1. And it's possible to provide hints to the network, like give it a bonus for having a long contiguous path in the maze, or a path to the treasure, or for proximity of the player's piece to the treasure, and so on.
In short, there are several dozen parameters in the model and in the networks that you can configure independently and whose interaction has a huge impact on the results. But the vexing thing is that in my case none of them seem to have any obvious effect on learning. To the contrary, depending on the configuration–and I have tried and tested this literally for weeks–the networks take either more or less time for finding a treasure right from the start. In the very first tries, the networks would take about 30,000 to 50,000 moves to find all 24 treasures in a game. With a bad configuration, this could get as bad as half a million moves. Over many weeks and with constant experimentation I have found several configurations that get this number down to 1,000 to 2,000 moves. But again, this happens from game one. I can run the networks for 100,000 games, and the number of moves per game will stubbornly stay in the same range, oscillating but never going anywhere. I have records, logs, and graphs to prove it.
Of course this makes no sense at all. It's simply impossible to square this finding with what we know about the way neural networks, or reinforcement learning for that matter, works. I talked with the professor, in fact at length, and he was equally baffled. We could both accept the fact that the networks would refuse to learn at all, but then how would the hyperparameters of the networks (the settings outlined above) affect their performance? The professor suggested I should simplify the game, i.e. go from the original 7×7 tiles to a smaller number. This I did, and tried with 5×5 and finally a rather trivial 3×3 tiles. Now the networks solved the game a lot faster, of course–the 3×3 can be done with 10 to 20 moves–, but still there was no evidence of learning. And besides, there remains the fact that my 8-year-old daughter can find all 24 treasures in the original 7×7 board game within less than a hundred moves. The 1,000 moves my networks need at the best of times are simply ridiculous in comparison.
There is no denying it–since Q learning and neural networks, and even the combination of both, evidently work (they play chess at grand master level, you know!), there simply has to be a fundamental error in my model. Somewhere. Still, I have already analysed and debugged this nearly to death, and I am actually quite confident that my implementation is correct. The game works. The update rule for the learning mechanism works. The networks work. Yet still, nothing is ever learned.
In a desperate attempt to find out what was going on, I turned on the crude visualization I had created weeks ago when programming the game itself and watched my network play on the ridiculously small 3×3 board. Sure enough, this setup is trivial–there is usually an open path from the player piece to the treasure at least 80% of the time, and all the network needs to do is move the piece there and collect. Yet about with one treasure every game–there are six treasures in the small version–it obstinately avoided doing just that. Instead it ran past the treasure again and again, until the maze moved and the path was no longer open, and needed several hundred moves where it should have needed but one or two. After watching this for a couple of hours, it occurred to me that the moves repeated–both those of the network for sliding the tiles and of those for moving the player piece. The networks went into an infinite loop and didn't manage to break out of it for hundreds or thousands of moves.
And that, finally, gave me the hint I needed to find one last, but crucial error in my code. You see, in reinforcement learning there is a thing called the exploitation/exploration dilemma. With each move, the agent (the network) has to decide whether it wants to cash in on the experiences it has already made, i.e. choose the move it knows to be best, so far–exploitation–or instead randomly select a different move so to possibly learn something new–exploration–, with the chance to improve its strategy and thus get better rewards later. That choice, in any implementation, is governed by a parameter usually called epsilon that should start rather high, so that the agent initially explores a lot, and then be constantly reduced, so that the agent usually cashes in on its experiences, but never quite stops exploring. Now due to a stupid coding error I had made, my epsilon was almost instantly reduced to next to nothing within the first 4 or 5 games. So for the rest of the 100, or 1,000, or 10,000 games I ran the networks while trying to train them, they were virtually unable to learn anything new. They no longer explored! So that's why they were never able to break out of their infinite loops–they simply were not given the chance to do anything but do what they had learned in the first handful of games.
That was quite a find, because it explained why the networks were unable to improve, and even why, quite vexingly, sometimes the best games had been the first few games, after which the networks settled on a more average performance depending on the hyperparameter settings. After that, I was quite enthusiastic for a moment. Would my networks finally learn?
And now, unfortunately, stark reality interferes. Because today is the 14th of June, and on the 14th of July is the presentation. And I need to hand in the paper three days before that date, just four weeks hence. And besides, I now have to remind myself that this is just one course in four, albeit by far the most interesting one, and there will be three other exams before that one, and I very urgently have to start preparing for them. So basically I am now stuck with what I have because I am already out of time with this. As the professor said, I had now better start cut my losses and write down what I have found so far. Even though it means I have to swallow the bitter disappointment that, in spite of all the time and effort I have invested, this is the first wall in this course of studies that refused to yield. Regardless of how long and how hard I banged my head against it.
This entry was tagged Artificial Intelligence, Neural Networks, Workload. Bookmark the permalink.


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You are here: Home / Pageant Winners / MOAT / MAOTeen Announces the 2013 Miss AOT Sorority
MAOTeen Announces the 2013 Miss AOT Sorority
Thank you to all the former State Representatives who have joined our sorority this year! Your donation to the program will help fund the 2013 Fourth Runner Up's Scholarship!
Jalee Fuselier, Miss Hawaii's Outstanding Teen 2005
Natalie Benson, Miss New Mexico's Outstanding Teen 2012
Margana Wood, Miss Texas' Outstanding Teen 2012
Jennifer Stehlin, Miss Florida's Outstanding Teen 2012
Lexie Overholt, Miss Virginia's Outstanding Teen 2008
Kaitlin Miller, Miss Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen 2012
Annie Rossellini, Miss Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen 2005
Caitlin Patton, Miss South Carolina's Outstanding Teen 2011
Sarah Eash, Miss Ohio's Outstanding Teen 2012
Julia Rae, Miss Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen 2008
Jeanette Morelan, Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2010
Hilary Pulos, Miss Georgia's Outstanding Teen 2008
Courtney Jamison, Miss Virginia's Outstanding Teen 2010
Jessica States, Miss Nebraska's Outstanding Teen 2005
Kennedy Taylor, Miss Maryland's Outstanding Teen 2012
Ellie Smith, Miss Nevada's Outstanding Teen 2012
Brooke Ludemann, Miss Nebraska's Outstanding Teen 2011
Caitlin Brunell, Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2008
Tawni Darby, Miss Pennsylvania's Outstanding Teen 2006
Elizabeth Stolper, Miss Arizona's Outstanding Teen 2010
Andolyn Medina, Miss Virginia's Outstanding Teen 2012
Amanda DeBus, Miss Delaware's Outstanding Teen 2008
Kaitlyn Wehr, Miss Illinois' Outstanding Teen 2010
Morgan Burris, Miss Delaware's Outstanding Teen 2012
Brenna Weick, Miss New Jersey's Outstanding Teen 2009
Adrienne Nurss, Miss Arizona's Outstanding Teen 2005
Kaylee Seven, Miss North Dakota's Outstanding Teen 2012
Ashley Golden, Miss Wyoming's Outstanding Teen 2007
Laura Leigh Turner, Miss Arkansas' Outstanding Teen 2012
Maria Desantis, Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2007
Jameson Kenerly, Miss Georgia's Outstanding Teen 2012
Jaine` Coann Lefebvre, Miss Connecticut's Outstanding Teen 2012
Alexis Kosiak, Miss South Dakota's Outstanding Teen 2011
Photo credit: Photo by Miss America's Outstanding Teen Organization
View more Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant news
Read about Rachel Wyatt Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2013
About Miss America's Outstanding Teen Pageant
Miss America's Outstanding Teen is a scholarship-based program offering accomplished teens the opportunity to be awarded funds for college. The program promotes scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living and community involvement for America's teens. In the past five years, the organization has made available more than $4 million in college scholarships.
For more information, please visit www.maoteen.org
Note: Pageant Center is not affiliated with the MAOTeen Program
University of San Diego to offer scholarship opportunity to 2013 MAOTeen pageant contestants
Tawny Godin Miss America 1976 featured in 7 Beauty Tips for Summer
Miss Teen USA Pageant Announces 2005 Panel of Judges
Brittany Martinis the new Miss Florida Plus America 2012
Miss America's Outstanding Teen Pageant Sorority and Platinum Parents' Club support MAOT scholarships
Face of the South Pageant
Miss America 1959 Mary Ann Mobley has died…starred with Elvis Presley in movies
Tickets to the International Rose of Tralee Pageant are now on sale
2018 Miss America's Outstanding Teen to be held in July 2018 in Florida
Miss America's Outstanding Teen Pageant 2018 | Jessica Baeder wins
Miss America's Outstanding Teen becomes part of President's Volunteer Service Award Team
Rock the Vote partners with Miss America's Teen to register millennial voters
Miss America's Outstanding Teen named a DREAM BIG Award winner
New Hampshire's Allie Nault is crowned Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2016


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Wrigley Field's 'Pink Hat Guy' is alive and well
This piece is from Midway Minute, the newsletter that makes it fun to be a Chicago sports fan. To get it free in your inbox every weekday morning, click here.
Reports of the Pink Hat Guy's death have been greatly exaggerated.
If you've been bopping around Cubs Twitter or various Facebook groups this season, there's a good chance you've seen rumors that one of the team's most visible fans went to the great club seats in the sky.
Hell, one person claiming to be a family friend even went as far to write a widely-shared eulogy post for Pink Hat Guy on Facebook.
The only problem with that report?
Jim Anixter is still alive and well.
"I'm 76 going on 12," he said when I called him for proof of life earlier this week. "I feel really good."
Anixter just hasn't been at Wrigley Field so far this season and his absence from his usual spots behind home plate has made Cubdom wonder about his whereabouts.
I have no idea that curiosity morphs into everyone just assuming he died, but social media has never been much for the truth.
So here's the real story, according to Anixter himself.
In November 2019, Anixter sought treatment for a massive blockage in his heart. A lung infection followed which sent him into the pandemic with two conditions that put him at risk (in addition to his age).
So Pink Hat Guy has thrown up a yellow flag for now.
"To put this into sports terms, I can't take a mulligan on my health," Anixter said. "I'm just going to listen to my doctors."
Anixter says both he and his wife have been vaccinated, but are waiting until rates drop so low that Wrigley Field is opened to full capacity.
Those were his doctors orders, he said.
Besides, Cubs season ticket holders can opt to have their money refunded for any game that isn't played to full capacity without losing their seats.
"I'm just going to wait until the right time," he said.
My grandpa, the Pink Hat Guy, has asked me to relay the message that he is alive & well. He will begin attending @Cubs games again when it is safe for full capacity (based on his doctor's orders.) Whoever is spreading this false information, please delete your posts. pic.twitter.com/iLTpD5McPy
— Grant Anixter (@gmanixter) April 7, 2021
That doesn't mean Anixter hasn't missed the ballpark.
The lifelong Cubs fan said he'd been to every Cubs home opener since 1967 until last year's fan-free debut in late July.
He also missed this season's opener, which was "frustrating."
Anixter and his children run AZ Wire and Cable in Northbrook. The company is the longtime owners of four first-row seats and 12 others in a nearby prime location.
The origin story of "Pink Hat Guy" has been told a few times, particularly as the Cubs made their World Series run and his prominent cap got a lot of screen time.
Anixter got his original pink hat with thousands of others at the 1990 All-Star Game, held at Wrigley Field. He continued wearing it, he said, as a way for his wife to pick him out on television and know he was at the game.
Over the years, the pink hat took on a life of its own as Cubs fans looked for it game after game. When the original one wore out, he replaced it with his own version. He continues to send pink hats to any fans who contact him and promise to make at least a $25 donation to cancer charities.
Today, Anixter is one of a group of baseball fans who have achieved some level of notoriety simply for watching baseball games. He counts the White Sox's "M&M Jacket Guy" (Windy City Limousine owner George Jacobs) and "Marlins Man" Laurence Leavy as friends.
"We're the three crazy baseball fans," Anixter said. "We can't get enough baseball."
(Photo provided by Jim Anixter)
Anixter was watching Tuesday night's game with the Pirates as we talked, pausing to cheer a big play and fret over Nico Hoerner as he left with his hamstring injury.
"All we have to do is get into the playoffs through a division which I don't think is very good," he said. "And then anything can happen."
He could even be there in his usual seat, provided that COVID-19 numbers keep falling.
But until then, he'll watch from home and hope that the Cubs fans who do miss him get the right story.
"My grandson who's in school in Texas saw that (fake story) on the Internet and immediately called our house in a panic," Anixter said. "He said, 'Grandma, where's Grandpa?"
"I was fine of course, but we had to get things straightened out."
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Who were the starting pitchers for the 1990 All-Star Game?
Cubs 4, Pirates 1
Trevor Williams finally got on track against his old team, allowing only one run in six innings and singling twice. The bullpen kept its run going, too, with three scoreless innings and David Bote pitched in with a two-run homer.
The Cubs are 7-4 against Pittsburgh this season and remain a half-game behind St. Louis for first place.
Next: Kyle Hendricks (4-4, 4.74) pitches for the sweep against Tyler Anderson (3-4, 4.73). Hendricks has a 2.36 ERA over four starts in May.
Cardinals 4, Sox 0
Carlos Rodon pitched great, striking out 10 in six innings. But the Sox offense struggled to score, so Tommy Edman's home off Rodon and another off Aaron Bummer was all the Cards needed to avoid a sweep.
Joe West had a hard time leaving the spotlight, confiscating the hat of St. Louis reliever Giovanny Gallegos over a substance on the bill.
Next: Dylan Cease (2-1, 3.18) opens the four-game Baltimore series against Bruce Zimmermann (2-3, 5.59).
Red Stars 2, Kansas City 0
Kealia Watt and Makenzy Doniak scored as the Red Stars got their first three-point night of the season.
Are the McCaskeys talking about selling the Bears? Bleacher Nation
Larry Mayer on new Bears DC Sean Desai and the trail he's blazing for Indian-Americans. Chicago Bears
Derrick Rose forever: 26 points over 39 minutes in the Knicks' big Game 2 comeback. Bleacher Report
The Sox stepped into a big social media mess by renaming a dining area honoring a longtime park worker. CBS Chicago
The story of an epic 216-mile bike ride to the Waffle House closest to Chicago. Chicago Reader
possibly the most chicago headline ive ever seen pic.twitter.com/cJGF6b4ZHT
— CtA (@CheerTheAnthem) May 27, 2021
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Newsletter Cubs Pink Hat Guy, Jim Anixter Fans Wrigley Field
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text:
www.housingeurope.eu/resource-1650/to-support-the-decarbonisation-of-the-social-cooperative-and-public-housing-by-2050-the-fit-for-55-package-must-mobilise-local-resources : 27-01-2023
← previous next → Position paper
To support the decarbonisation of the social, cooperative and public housing by 2050, the "Fit for 55 package" must mobilise local resources
Statement of Housing Europe
Brussels, 15 December 2021 | Published in Energy, Future of the EU & Housing
The social, cooperative and public housing providers drive the fair energy transition in the building sector. Their ambition to renovate 4 million homes by 2030 is a clear signal that they will be key actors of the EU climate objectives. We embrace the Fit for 55 goals, including the goals for the built environment. We need to accelerate our efforts in renovating the building stock.
Now is the time to ensure that the EU provides the right framework to support that ambition. The European Parliament has started to discuss the proposal for a revised Energy Efficiency Directive, Renewable Energy Directive and Emissions Trading Scheme for Buildings and Transport. The European Commission will soon publish its proposal to revise the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.
At the same time, a housing crisis is happening all across the EU. People are struggling to pay their rents or to find housing at all. Next to sustainability, affordability and availability of housing has never been more important. Key question for our sector is therefore: how do we balance between those 3 goals?
After decades of experience in bringing together positive environmental impact and social just, the social, cooperative and public housing providers consider that the only way to reach the objectives of reducing CO2 emissions by 55% by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2050 is to support a context-specific and district approach to decarbonisation.
We therefore call EU policy makers to support:
Contextualisation of the renovation obligation in the revised Energy Efficiency Directive (article 6 on the exemplary role of public buildings to renovate 3% of the stock at NZEB level).
This obligation to renovate 3% of the social housing stock would have an unequal impact from one country to another determined not by urgency of renovation or large potential CO2 reductions, but the proportion of social housing. Well-designed MEPS under the EPBD together with adequate funding will already ensure that there is sufficient level of ambition for the residential sector. Moreover, if we have both obligations (MEPS and 3%) the technical and financial obstacles will be such that it might endanger the social housing sector, particularly if NZEB is taken as norm.
NZEB is mostly a norm for new construction. Evidence shows that energy renovations have sharply declining returns to the point where they are no longer earned back by future savings on the energy bill. If we were to pass on the full costs of such renovations to tenants, their housing costs would increase significantly. Therefore, a lot of our members chose to only increase rents with the amount that is actually saved on the energy bill and finance the unviable part themselves. But this reduces our ability to build new homes. Unrealistic standard setting in legislation forces us to choose in our core tasks, affordability, availability and sustainability. We want to do all three, but need workable legislation for that.
Taking NZEB as norm for existing buildings leaves insufficient space to incrementally renovate to cost-effective, affordable, energy-efficient levels for different types of buildings.
Acknowledgement of the essential role of the district level in the reference to zero-emission building standard in the draft Energy Performance of Building Directive
Social housing providers are shaping new neigbourhoods and improving existing neighbourhoods, by investing not only in peoples' homes, impacting on their daily lives, but also in playgrounds, green spaces, living comfort. Zero-emission buildings must be understood as part of wider neighbourhood approach.
The definition of Zero Emissions Buildings is too restrictive. On many occasions, the supply of energy can be provided by district heating systems, whereby this energy is not produced on site but the decarbonisation of heat is achieved. In addition, renewable electricity for heat pumps cannot be generated locally at all times and it is necessary to get renewable electricity from the grid. We recommend to amend the definition by allowing for low-carbon electricity (such as hydro-electricity) or district heating to be produced not necessarily on site.
Maintaining reference to cost effectiveness and technical feasibility as conditions for the implementation of the timetable of Minimum Energy Performance of Standards in the Energy Performance of Building Directive
The European Commission is about to propose a fixed deadline for all buildings to reach a minimum level of energy performance. A same deadline for all countries in Europe does not take sufficient account of the local context and resources and could lead to measures that are not cost effective nor technically feasible. When linking to penalties, it must be taken into account that there are cases of factual impossibility to achieve minimum standards, e.g. if no credit is granted or if no capacities are available on the market (planners, craftsmen, materials).
Another potentially problematic point is the proposed timeline between the deadline for the setting up of the new EPCs (2025) and the moment where housing units labelled EPC G have to disappear from the market (2027). It is dubious that in such a short time scale, all the necessary renovation programmes will be designed, financed or implemented.
We call on the European legislators to facilitate a district-based approach and therefore argue that the EPBD should leave room for member states to follow an alternative approach if this demonstratable leads to considerable efficiency and scale benefits, while achieving an equivalent or better result.
Consideration of the district level in the revised Renewable Energy Directive (article 15) and in the revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive
Article 15.1 of the Renewable Energy Directive clearly refers to a target for the building sector while article 15.2 refers to minimum levels of energy from renewable sources in buildings. The term 'buildings' leads to confusion as it can both be read as a minimum level of renewables for the building sector, as a minimum level of renewables per building. To clarify this, we recommend to bring article 15.2 in line with the wording in article 15.1 and refer to the building sector, which would help to promote district approach
In the revised EPBD, the European Commission will propose a zero-emission building standard for the new buildings (in replacement of the NZEB). The energy that will still be needed to cover households will have to come from clean sources of energy which should include all types of low carbon energy sources produced on site or not (indeed district heating might be suitable solution although the energy is not generated at the building level)
Furthermore, the proposed introduction of MEPS does not take into account the potential of district renovation whereby the energy performance can be calculated for a group of buildings, including also the decarbonisation of the heating sources. Alternative approaches to single building renovations should be allowed under the MEPS provision.
Earmarking of the revenues generated by the new ETS for building renovation
Revenues generated from the auctioning of the allowances as part of the ETS for buildings and transport should be used for measures related to buildings and transport. The activities covered by article 10 (3) should receive funding through the general ETS framework. Reason for this is the important funding gap that is needed to be bridged if decarbonisation of the building sector is to be achieved. Ensuring affordable housing the efficiency classes cannot be achieved without funding.
. Furthermore, the Social Climate Fund (which is to be financed by 25% of the revenues generated from the auctioning of allowances linked to buildings and transport) will not be sufficient to compensate for the increase of cost of energy expected from the introduction of the ETS for Buildings and Transport.
Social, cooperative, and public housing providers have the ambition to drive the fair energy transition in the building sector and thus to contribute to reach the EU climate objectives. They innovate in many ways to achieve this ambition, while carrying out their mission of delivering affordable and decent homes for those in need. The "Fit for 55" package will determine the regulatory but also financial environment in which they will operate in the years to come. We need EU policy makers to get it right and we are ready to continue to explain the reality and challenges that the social, cooperative, and public housing are facing.
Read our op-ed 'When it comes to climate-proof and affordable homes, many roads lead to Rome'
Read the latest report of Copenhagen Economics 'Does one size fit all? Impact of Minimum Energy Performance Standards in the revision of the Energy Performance Building Directive'
Watch the recording of our last webinar 'The Green and Socially just transition to net-zero homes in Europe - Getting the path right'
Read about our 4 million renovated homes by 2030 ambition
Download our statement
Housing Europe Statement on Fit for 55 package - 15 December 2021.pdf (pdf) 166K
Press release 9 Dec 21
When it comes to climate-proof and affordable homes, many roads lead to Rome
Why the EU should focus on empowering more tried and tested paths to success?
Workshop 9 Dec 21
The Green and Socially just transition to net-zero homes in Europe - Getting the path right
9 December 2021 (Thursday) 12.30-13.30 CET | Online
Publication 9 Dec 21
Does one size fit all? Impact of Minimum Energy Performance Standards in the revision of the Energy Performance Building Directive
An in-depth study by the leading Danish consultancy, Copenhagen Economics
Article 23 Dec 22
Every project counts in achieving a fair energy transition
Have a look at the three newly started projects that use the approach of renovation
Shielding the most vulnerable while renovating must be made possible
People and housing at the crossroads of energy poverty and failing supply chains


This printed set of "Mayo Clinic Neurology Board Review: Basic Sciences and Psychiatry for Initial Certification" and "Mayo Clinic Neurology Board Review: Clinical Neurology for Initial Certification and MOC" comes with a year's access to the online version on Oxford Medicine Online. By activating your unique access code, you can read and annotate the full text online, follow links from the references to primary research materials, and view, enlarge and download all the figures and tables.
This two-volume, comprehensive board review guide will aid in the preparation for the neurology board certification and re-certification exams. These two volumes are divided into the basic sciences in "Part 1" and clinical neurology in "Part 2". Each volume has multiple chapters, numerous four-color illustrations, as well as neuroimaging, neuropathology, and other pictures throughout the. Text boxes highlight high yield information and board type questions conclude each section.
This set eliminates the need for obtaining multiple resources to study for the neurology board examination by providing high-yield information emphasized to highlight key facts.


Cost-effective Wi-Fi + Bluetooth 5.0 LE (WiBlue) module for dual-mode and gateway applications.
Integrate Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, BLE, Zigbee, and Thread into your product with RF modules, mobile and PC apps that deliver the experience your users are looking for. Create amazing interactions that your customers love, or collect valuable data for monitoring and analytics. We work with you, your software design house and manufacturing partner to integrate last-meter connectivity from concept design to mass production stage.
Device-to-cloud connectivity augments locally connected products by extending the reach of your services and functionality of the products. Our cost-effective Internet-to-last-meter gateway solutions helps you improve time-to-market and minimize risks. As we assist your throughout the development cycle and provide you with development kits for prototyping and tools required for design-to-manufacturing.
As the heart of every IoT platform, IoT Cloud is essentially a cloud-based Internet of Things operating system. From collecting sensor data to the cloud, to data analytics and visualization, to action triggering, We are familiar with major IoT cloud platforms in the market and toolboxes such as NodeRed. We ensure that your devices are well connected. You can also leverage our DxCloud which is primarily designed for the consumer electronics industry.


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Qatar aims for 80% of 2022 World Cup projects to be sustainable
Qatarisbooming
in Infrastructure, Renewable Energy
Qatar is on track to ensure the overwhelming majority of the projects to be used in the 2022 FIFA World Cup will achieve world-class standards of sustainability.
"We are saying that 80 per cent of the construction project activities from now to 2022 will be based on the principles and practice of sustainability," says Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD) founder and chairman Dr Yousef Alhorr. GORD is a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company. It promotes healthy, energy and resource efficient, and environmentally responsible building practices in Qatar and the Gulf.
"We have been talking about sustainability and our vision," Alhorr says. "These dreams are now being put into action in Qatar where we are really implementing sustainability practices. This includes in QRail, all the World Cup 2022 projects, the new cities and all new government projects including schools and hospitals." Alhorr is a keynote speaker on day one of the MEED Qatar Projects conference organized in association with Ashghal, Qatar's public works agency, which opens at the Grand Hyatt Doha on 10 March. "My presentation will help business understand what the opportunities are in this area and what is needed including materials and systems to support our sustainability plans," Alhorr says.
Alhorr says that Qatar is already demonstrating how it can successfully develop sustainable large-scale sports venues. The 2015 World Men's Handball Championship held in Doha on 15 January-1 February was hosted at two of the new venues built to meet demanding sustainability standards. These were the Lusail Sports Arena, and Ali Bin Hamad Al Attiya Arena, which achieved 4 Star rating. The tournament was won by France, who beat Qatar in the final 25-22. This was Qatar's first handball championship medal.
GORD was founded in 2009. It has developed the GSAS sustainable buildings rating system, the first to address the challenges presented by the region's climate. Alhorr says GORD is preparing to undertake sustainability projects in Saudi Arabia. "We have started training on the ground in the kingdom and we are doing capacity building with the aim of moving to implementation this year," he says. GORD has an agreement to promote sustainability in government and private buildings in Kuwait and has started talks about carrying out similar projects in Bahrain, Alhorr says.
GCC railway connection to be ready by 2020
Egypt to offer $10 billion petrochem, mineral projects at Sharm El-Sheikh summit


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Badfinger 1970 albums
Buy Magic Christian Music
Buy No Dice
Badfinger thrust into the world of popular music with their first two releases, the soundtrack Magic Christian Music and the rock album No Dice. The first of these was actually an unplanned hybrid of five songs recorded specifically for the film The Magic Christian and seven songs released in the late 60s when the group was known as "The Iveys". The latter was their pop/rock breakthrough as it significantly expanded the group's popularity with a handful of indelible songs.
Based in London, The Iveys caught the attention of Mal Evans in early 1968, shortly after he was brought on board the Beatles' brand new Apple Records. The group was signed to the label in April 1968 and immediately began recording soft rock styled pop singles, which were released throughout the next several months. In early 1969, Maybe Tomorrow by the Iveys was compiled from previous singles and released as a debut album. Later that year, the group changed their name to Badfinger and recorded a few songs, produced by Paul McCartney, intended for a multi-artist soundtrack to The Magic Christian. However, when Apple couldn't retain the rights to Thunderclap Newman's "Something In the Air", the label decided to release a Badfinger-only soundtrack.
The band refined their sound in a more rock-oriented direction on No Dice. This was due in part to the arrival of guitarist Joey Molland, formally of the band The Rain. The four group members also recorded sessions on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass album. Mal Evans was the original producer for this album but, after Apple execs expressed dissatisfaction with the sound, longtime Beatles' engineer Geoff Emerick was brought in to finish the album. Even though No Dice was released during a very competitive Christmas season for rock records, it did very well commercially and became the band's best-selling LP.
Magic Christian Music by Badfinger
Released: January 9, 1970 (Apple)
Produced by: Paul McCartney, Mal Evans, & Tony Visconti
Recorded: Abbey Road, Trident, IBC & Olympic Studios, London, 1968-1969
Crimson Ship
Dear Angie
Beautiful and Blue
Rock of All Ages Carry On Till Tomorrow
Walk Out In the Rain
Knocking Down Our Home
No Dice by Badfinger
Released: November 9, 1970 (Apple)
Produced by: Geoff Emerick & Mal Evans
Recorded: Abbey Road & Trident Studios, London, April–August 1970
I Don't Mind
Midnight Caller
Without You Blodwyn
It Had to Be
Watford John
We're for the Dark
Pete Ham – Guitars, Paino, Vocals
Tom Evans – Bass, Guitars, Vocals
Ron Griffiths – Bass, Vocals (Magic Christian only)
Joey Molland – Guitars, Vocals (No Dice only)
Mike Gibbins – Drums, Vocals
"Come and Get It" was written by McCartney during the sessions for Abbey Road but not included on that album. He offered the song to Badfinger along with his producer services on the condition that they record it exactly like this demo. The opening track and lead single from Magic Christian Music, "Come and Get It" was the group's first hit, reaching the Top 10 in both the US and the UK.
Other new tracks recorded for the movie included "Crimson Ship", "Give It a Try", "Midnight Sun", and "Rock of All Ages". The latter song was also produced by McCartney and has a pure, Early-Beatles' inspired rock feel that made it a highlight of the album's first side. "Dear Angie" was written by bassist Ron Griffiths and producer Tony Visconti as the Ivey's second single in 1969. Griffiths left the group later in the year, making this his only composition for the band.
Tom Evans started off as a guitarist but later moved to bass following the departure of Griffiths and the arrival of Molland. On Magic Christian Music, Evans composed and sang lead vocals on many tracks, including the folk-tinged "Fisherman", the pop-oriented "Beautiful and Blue", the quasi-psychedelic "Angelique", and the closing ballad "Maybe Tomorrow". This last track was the Ivey's first single in mid-1968 and includes string arrangements by George Martin, but had disappointing chart success following its release.
Evans co-wrote "Carry on Till Tomorrow" with Pete Ham. This track may be the most complex on the album, starting dark and melancholy, but adapting contrasting musical arrangements ranging from simple folk with rich vocal harmonies to sweeping strings and blistering lead guitar. Ham's other contributions to Magic Christian Music are the upbeat, jazzy rocker "I'm in Love", the sixties folk tune "Walk Out In the Rain", and the Roy Orbison-like crooner "Knocking Down Our Home", a song with piano, clarinets, and Caribbean-like beats in a laid back and breezy journey through catastrophic irony.
Starting with No Dice, Ham would play an increasing role in Badfinger's musical direction, as evident on the hard rock opener "I Can't Take It". Still, this album was incredibly democratic compositionally with drummer Joey Molland writing or co-writing several tracks. "I Don't Mind" is a flange-induced rock ballad, sung by Evans with Emerick adding subtle production effects. "Love Me Do" is the first song with Molland on lead vocals as a very basic rocker and apparent homage by the band to their mentors.
The true heart of the album begins with Ham's ballad "Midnight Caller". This simple but exquisite song features beautiful vocals by Ham to his simple, rocking piano, steadily strummed acoustic, slightly funky bass and subtle drums. The hit song "No Matter What" was originally cut from the album when Apple considered its sound (produced by Mal Evans) to be insufficient. Later in the sessions, however, the group needed another track and revisited this track to find a pure pop/rock sound that perfectly fit the times in late 1970. Complex harmonies, call and response vocals, and good rock instrumentation with effective sonic treats like a distorted organ and fine lead guitar, all worked to make this simplest of upbeat love themes one the group's biggest ever hits, peaking at number 5 in the UK and number 8 in the US.
The polar opposite of previous feel-good song, "Without You" is a melancholy classic and a true collaboration between Ham and Evans. Actually the song is a fusion of two ballads with Ham's "If It's Love" used for the verses and Evans' chorus giving the song its title. Badfinger's version features a smooth, George Harrison-like lead guitar by Molland and a long outro chorus with building instrumentation. However, this original version was far from the most popular version of this song, which has been covered by over a hundred artists. Harry Nilsson heard the Badfinger recording of this song and instantly decided to cover it on his Nilsson Schmilsson album in 1971. His version topped the US pop chart for four weeks in 1972, and was one of the highest selling singles for that year. When Nilsson passed away in 1994, Mariah Carey decided to record the song as a tribute to him and it once again topped the pop charts.
Side two of No Dice contains some lesser known tracks which are of no less quality. Ham's "Blodwyn" is an upbeat, drinking pub type folk song with Country-inspired lead guitars, while "Better Days" with interlude guitar riffs and Elvis-inspired lyrics by Molland as well as an effective key change for the final verse. "It Had to Be" is a simple ballad written by Gibbins with Ham offering the emotive lead vocals, while "Watford John" is a band jam with a boogie piano named after a studio engineer employed by Apple.
The album ends very strong with a gem each by Evans and Ham. "Believe Me" is a John Lennon-inspired rock screed with harmonized vocals and a methodical but powerful delivery, along with the best overall guitar lead on the album, a duo effort which is slightly harmonized and slightly competing. This track was one of the earlier efforts by the group and Mal Evans. An absolute gem by Ham, "We're for the Dark" completes the album as a simple but effective arrangement with tremendous sonic effect. This includes a fine fade-in of single acoustic, Ham's double-tracked vocals, and the slightest accompaniment of bass guitar and orchestration, which never overpower the root acoustic and vocal elements. Although there are no drums, there is a consistent, rapid, heart-beat like beat throughout, which works to boast the songs motion overall.
Upon completion of No Dice, Emerick and the band began recording songs for a potential follow-up album. Although the project never materialized, several of these tunes appeared as bonus tracks on later versions of this album, with the beat-driven, slow rocker "Mean, Mean Jemima" being the best of this lot. In 1971, Badfinger started over with a new album project which spawned Straight Up, another successful pop rock release by the group.
Tags: 1970 Albums, 2015 Reviews, Album Reviews by Ric Albano, Badfinger, British Artists, Paul McCartney
Plastic Ono Band
John Barleycorn Must Die
Top 9 Album Closing Songs | River of Rock June 22, 2015 at 9:53 pm
[…] by Rush "How Many More Times" by Led Zeppelin "Better Things" by The Kinks "We're For the Dark" by Badfinger "Space Truckin'" by Deep Purple "Push Comes to Shove "by […]


Five lions, using the power of steam, come together to defend the universe with the Voltron Steampunk Robot Lithograph Art Print.
The technology of this alternate universe might be different but it still needs defending, and that's where Keith, Lance, Pidge, Shiro, and Hunk come in. Assisted by Princess Allura, they learn to operate five steam-powered lions, ultimately joining them together to form Steampunk Voltron.
The 18" x 24" print, limited to 150 pieces, was created by artist Lee Kohse.
The Voltron Steampunk Robot Lithograph Art Print will be available August 2016 but it can be pre-ordered now for $39.99 at Entertainment Earth.


text:
Pro-euthanasia group says now is the time for End of Life Choice Bill to pass
WATCH: 'Treat me like an adult': Cancer patient's plea to politicians debating euthanasia Credits: Video - Newshub; Image - File
A pro-euthanasia group says the mood of New Zealand signals now is the right time to make assisted dying an option for some people.
On Tuesday, the Justice Select Committee reported back on the End of Life Choice Bill with no substantial changes. It would give people the option to request assisted dying if they have a terminal illness or a "grievous and irremediable medical condition".
Lawyers denounce End of Life Choice Bill as 'threat to Māori'
'Treat me like an adult': Cancer patient's plea to politicians debating euthanasia
While the Bill has met opposition from organisations, like the New Zealand Disability Rights Commissioner, the New Zealand Medical Association and Hospice New Zealand, one group says they represent a minority.
Maryan Street from the End of Life Choice Society told Newshub after years of back and forth, now is the right time for the Bill to pass.
"We have had this debate twice before, it is a long time since the last one, and I think the whole conversation around assisted dying has changed," she said.
"Every poll that has been run has indicated a two-thirds to three-quarters majority of New Zealanders across all parts of our spectrum, who are in favour of this Bill."
The select committee received more than 38,000 submissions on the legislation, but Street says she isn't concerned about opposition.
"I am not much fussed about them, because I know they have come a minority of New Zealanders with a particular worldview."
There will be several amendments put forward with the bill, including to introduce a referendum. It will likely come up for its second reading in about six weeks time.


This is my hashtag for 2016 — clean slate (#CleanSlate2016). Clean Slate as an idiom is defined as a state in which you are starting an activity or process again, not considering what has happened in the past at all.
I chose this as my powerful line for the coming New Year because of two things. One is I want to start the year by forgiving myself and at the same time forgetting and learning from my mistakes, lapses and shortcomings this 2015. Two, I am keeping my hopes high in welcoming more opportunities and conquering new challenges in 2016. Clean Slate 2016 for me is planning my life for the forthcoming year with a burst of joy, surprises and creativity. Living a life is no longer enough for me. I want to live a meaningful and beautiful one. I want to live a life that matters and to me that means living my dreams, doing what I love to do, loving abundantly, making memories and practicing generosity. That's quite a lot, I know. But I think it will just boil down into one, living my life to the fullest by being guided by God's will.
So, it's going to be a #CleanSlate2016 for me. No more boring, repetitive and theoretical plans, just definite, tangible, measurable and quantifiable course of action. No dreams (dreams are in my head only), just (specific) goals. I've come up to this power line while reflecting for the next presidential election. I have watched a CNN interview of one presidential candidate and his VP. All they mentioned in that interview were ideas, plans and philosophies. There was no mention of any concrete steps on how to achieve those perfect scenarios. The world is already full of great minds and great ideas. We however lack action, hard work and real conversion. Too many laws, so weak implementation. I realized that in my own life, I was like those politicians full of great ideas of what must be done or achieved by me. However, I do not offer any actions to be taken by me in order to transform those great ideas into my real life.
Changing rules this coming 2016. Let's not stop at dreaming for dreaming is only the beginning. What's your hashtag or power line for the New Year? I'm just here to listen and read what you have to say!


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Uptown Theatre Ready For Close-Up After Months Of Renovation
Filed Under:Mark Rosen, Uptown Theatre
Photo Gallery: Uptown Theatre Readies For Reopening
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — For decades, the Uptown Theatre had a charm of its own, but after so many years the historic movie house became a dump.
All that, however, is about to change this weekend. Six months after going dark — and $2 million later — the Landmarkoperated theater will be ready to open its doors on Friday afternoon.
In the age of multi-plex, family-focused cinemas, the Uptown is playing catch up while simultaneously maintaining its old-school, mature charm. The original chandeliers, which have been in place since 1939, remain, as do the theater's signature murals, which line the theater's walls.
Inside the theater itself, some of the most impressive renovations come with the seats. The Uptown has actually downsized, going from 950 tattered seats to 350 new ones. The seats are spacious and provide enough legroom that movie-goers don't have to stand up to allow for passers-by. There's also a VIP section in the balcony, which holds about 100 seats, including sofas.
And moviegoers don't have to worry about all the good seats being taken before they arrive. All the seats in the theater will be reserved.
Michael Fant, the vice president of construction and development for Landmark Theatres, said it was interesting to work within the confines of the historic building.
"I get a lot of people coming [to the theater] saying how nice it used to be," Fant said. "And once they come back, I think they'll see how nice it is again."
The theater's screen is about double the size, and those time-honored 35-millimeter independent film cans have been replaced by the now in vogue – and very expensive — digital projectors. The Uptown has a Barco 4k digital projector that, according to Landmark's chief engineer Bobby Parry, produces an extremely fine image.
"The picture should look like a painting on the screen," he said.
The Uptown's two bars will serve local beers, wine and cocktails to go with popcorn or made-to-order pizzas.
The Uptown will kick off its reopening weekend with the independent comedy "Sleepwalk with Me."
Landmark said not many tickets remain for the theater's first week, but ticket availability can be seen online.


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Home / Europe / Lisnagarvey appeal for EHL spot successful as independent panel overrule "null and void" decision
Lisnagarvey appeal for EHL spot successful as independent panel overrule "null and void" decision
Lisnagarvey have successfully appealed against Hockey Ireland's allocation of men's European club spots for the 2020/21 season in the wake of the abruptly cancelled current campaign.
July 4, 2020 | 3,670 views | Comments (1)
When Hockey Ireland declared the EY Hockey Leagues "null and void" on May 6th, the governing body took the decision to allocate the European club spots based on the 2019/20 placings.
Daniel Nelson celebrates a Lisnagarvey goal in their 4-3 win over TRR this season. Pic: Adrian Boehm
This meant Three Rock Rovers initially retained their place as first Irish seed, bringing with it a place in the elite Euro Hockey League while Garvey would be destined for the EuroHockey Trophy II – an event they would have hosted this year but for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Garvey, however, appealed the decision which was upheld by an independent Appeals Panel – as per bye law 20 of the HI constitution – on Monday, concluding the Hillsborough club should be given the first seed and Rovers the second.
It means Garvey will play in the Euro Hockey League at Easter 2021, a competition which will feature 12 teams in a reformatted state for this season only. Rovers will play in the third tier EuroHockey Trophy II – both venues have yet to be announced.
Lisnagarvey chairman Kyle Lunn welcomed the decision, saying: "As a club, we are very appreciative of the work that Hockey Ireland are doing to keep the sport going in challenging times due to the pandemic – particularly an all island sport with different guidance and advice from multiple stakeholders – including governments and sporting bodies.
"The rapidly changing situation is naturally making planning and decision making difficult, and on this particular question we felt strongly that the decision was incorrect. We're pleased with the outcome and feel that it is fair."
At time of writing, what was contained in Lisnagarvey's Letter of Appeal and the subsequent reasoning made by the three-person appeals panel have not been disclosed publicly.
But the decision appears to have overturned the "null and void" position with on-field performance in the 2019/20 season a determining factor.
"We are in uncharted territory in the current situation," said HI chief executive Jerome Pels of the situation.
Well done @lisnagarveyhc I thought I'd have more chance of dating a super model than you winning that appeal – maybe I shouldn't give up 🤣🤣🤣
Seriously on a scale of 1 to 'what the hell are you doing' this is a 12….@hookhockey @FLACKEROOS https://t.co/cWh4rp326R
— ƝƖƓЄԼ ƦƖƝƓԼƛƝƊ (@nigelringland) July 1, 2020
"The Hockey Ireland board took the decision to declare the season null and void. From there, we had to go back to the last point we had a final result and worked from that basis [for European placings].
"That is the position we took. The Appeal Panel has taken a different view. We will see what the consequences are but I can imagine a lot of clubs are looking closely at the situation."
At the time of lockdown, Garvey were the runaway men's EY Hockey League leaders and clear favourites to land national glory with 11 of their 18 scheduled games played. Winning the EYHL brings a European spot, albeit the second seeding with the top berth decided via the end-of-season EY Champions Trophy playoffs.
If Garvey were awarded the first seed on this basis, both Banbridge and Monkstown could make a case for the second European spot on offer. Rovers were in fourth spot.
Meanwhile, in the women's EYHL, Pegasus were originally given the top Irish seeding as last season's champions in May but Loreto were leading the league at the time and so could possibly make a similar case for an upgrade in their Euro treatment.
Currently, Pegs are due to play in two Euro Hockey League competitions with last season's FINAL8 refixed for mid-October and the 2020/21 EHL Women to be played from April 1 to 5. Loreto are destined for EuroHockey Trophy II the same weekend.
Hockey Ireland's statement on Wednesday did say the women's Euro places remain as previously announced and so the findings of the Appeals Panel will be awaited with intrigue. Additionally, if the top spots are no longer null and void, questions could be raised over potential promotion and relegation from EYHL2 due to on-field performance.
Big news released today. Bound to see an appeal from Loreto who were top of women's league as well. Or indeed Monkstown or Banbridge who would have had hopes of catching Garvey. Either way I'm sure HI will clear all up… 😂😂 https://t.co/GqLdohoYMd
— IHL and Ulster Hockey Transfer News (@ihltransfernews) July 1, 2020
Release of information on the appeal process is currently on hold as HI appraise Three Rock of how things played out. Among the questions will be the application of Rule 20 which outlines the timeframe for each step of the appeals process.
From the original HI decision on May 6, the appeal must be lodged and appealed with 28 days with a further maximum of eight days until final notification to the relevant parties of the decision taken. This would leave a June 11th final deadline; final notification was declared on July 1st.
Should Three Rock wish to appeal, as per bye law 21, they can make their case to Just Sport Ireland within 14 days.
Gormley's shock call to take on top Bundesliga coaching job
Avoca and Three Rock announce new coaches
Monkstown ladies storm to Div 7 title 2 views | 0 comments | posted on March 31, 2011


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YAY ME! I'm no longer a comic con newbie!
I attended my first comic con a few weeks ago, when my niece invited me to go to Salt Lake Comic Con with her. I was thrilled to accept the invitation because I come from a pretty nerdy family and it didn't seem right that I hadn't been to at least one comic con; especially living as close as I do to one of North America's larger events.
Even though I had never been to a con, I had a fair idea of what to expect: Large crowds, expensive food, celebrities ranging from major Hollywood types to C-listers, and more cosplayers than the populations of many small towns in middle America.
Salt Lake Comic Con didn't disappoint.
I lost count of how many people were dressed up as Spiderman. Same with Deadpool. And Jedi's. And storm troopers. I even ran into Darth Vader getting dressed in the men's restroom. Surprisingly, I only counted 12 Starfleet officers.
Even my niece dressed up. She is hands-down the nerdiest of my family—which is why I love her so much—and she was in her element. She cosplayed a character from one of her favorite anime series and I was surprised at how many times people stopped her to take pictures. She even ran into another young girl dressed as the same character, so they of course took their picture together.
Oh yeah… note to self: At my next comic con, remember to text myself any pictures I take from a friend's or relative's phone. I was so busy taking pictures with my niece's phone I forgot to take pictures with my own.
Since I was being guided by a veteran of previous cons, I was happy to go along with whatever my niece wanted to do. I'm glad I did, because I had a blast. As I said, my niece was in her element. She patiently explained all of her fandoms as we walked around and she excitedly pointed out unique characters I had no idea existed.
Be prepared to spend lots of money. I didn't care about getting celebrity autographs, buying fan art, or filling up my home office with more stuff that will just gather dust. But if that's your thing, then take lots of cash or leave plenty of room on your credit card… and be disciplined enough to stick to a budget. You'll thank yourself later.
Plan on leaving the convention center during the event. Why? You have to eat at some point. Convention food is already expensive, but at a comic con? Prices are as astronomical as the budgets of Hollywood blockbusters. $8 dollars for a churro that I can get for $.75 cents from a street vendor? Ummmm… no.
Just keep in mind that you'll have to battle crowds no matter where you go during a con, so plan for at least a 90 minute lunch. This is especially true in a city like Salt Lake where the city blocks are HUGE and most "quick" food options are a few blocks away.
Speaking of crowds, don't go if you're claustrophobic. Crowds don't bother me, but even then I had a hard time navigating the vendor floor. There were hordes of people there. Think Times Square on New Year's Eve. That's what it felt like. I learned that if there's an invitation to geek out, those of us tuned into that siren song will answer the call. And since I live in the nerdiest state in the U.S.… well… need I say more?
"Business Of…" panels are more interesting than pop-culture panels. This is strictly my own opinion. I attended several artist panels with my niece and I was fascinated to hear insider perspectives on what it's like to work as an artist in the entertainment industry. I got a real education in a very short time.
At one point, I got curious enough about a Marvel panel I slipped away to attend it. I thought the panel would involve one or two Marvel studio execs sharing what they could about their plans for the Infinity War movies. What I got instead was a panel of local celebrities speculating about what they think might happen and what they would like to see happen. The discussion was interesting, but after 15 minutes, I quietly rejoined my niece.
I admit I was disappointed, but that's okay. My point is that if you're going to a comic con, attend as many panels as you can. You may be pleasantly surprised, or you may be disappointed. At the very least, you'll get an education and you'll better define what you like and what you don't.
You're going to have fun no matter what. I know that comic cons aren't everyone's thing; but if you're even remotely curious, go. In spite of the crowds, the overpriced food, and a pair of extremely sore feet at the end of the day, you'll have more fun than you'll expect.
One last thing: Watching my niece light up so frequently, and having her explain so many unknown elements of geek culture to me, was by far the highlight of my day. Go with someone you know appreciates all things geek, and your experience will be that much better.
And if you're wondering if I plan to attend next year's con, the answer is yes. I'm all about living joyously, after all, so why not?
Appio is an author, speaker, spiritual guide, and self-described champion for living joyously. He facilitates conversations with groups and individuals about how they can be authentic and experience community, connection, and alignment every day. Appio is also co-host of the Real Men Feel Show along with his good friend Andy Grant. You can learn more about his work at AppioHunter.com.
Learn more about the New Warrior Training Adventure and ManKind Project.
Real Man Pop Quiz: Do You Store or Explore?
Maybe you've heard of or watched that show about hoarding. If not, you probably know what hoarding is: a compulsion to collect and store large amounts of stuff. In the show, we see inside the lives of hoarders, which usually includes tours of homes crammed from floor to ceiling with things people just can't throw away.
Thinking about that show made me realize that we don't just hoard physical stuff. We can also compulsively store things virtually, on our computers, online, and—most importantly—in our minds.
Ask yourself right now: are there things you're squirreling away unnecessarily, due to some fear you're harboring, or due to sheer procrastination? Is there something you want to do that you're putting off, maybe for the wrong reasons?
For me, I think of all the emails I get every day about career and life advice I'd like to put into practice. I place a lot of those emails in various folders in my email account, neatly saving them for "later" (whenever that is) instead of taking the most important and reading them right away.
Really think about it right at this moment: are you hoarding your goals, hopes, and dreams? Are you standing in place, storing your aspirations for a "someday" that might never come?
When you feel the urge to put off a change you want to make in your life, make a conscious effort to overcome that habit. Instead of hoarding, take action.
So, that means I need to start reading those emails most relevant to what I want to accomplish right away, and write down the most important take-aways as I read them. This helps me think about what is most important when it comes to my ongoing education, so I can advance toward my goals.
You've probably heard about the book The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. According to the author, the most common end-of-life regret is "I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me." We all-too-often compromise when it comes to our dreams. Too many of us reach the end of our lives with things left unfulfilled.
I believe that there's nothing wrong with wanting to store things. But we also need to be explorers. I also believe that we are all introverts and extroverts to some degree, and these tendencies ebb and flow constantly throughout our lives in a natural cycle.
There are times when we're focused inward, and at those moments in life we should definitely work on ourselves, gathering our strength and absorbing wisdom. But those times of storage should be balanced with outward exploration, when we show the world what we've learned and created.
Don't keep all that good stuff inside you locked away! Others can and will benefit from what you have to contribute!
Have you ever hoarded your skills, talents, wisdom, or dreams? What have you done to overcome that urge? If you can relate to this post in any way, please leave a comment below and share your experiences!


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