I was watching the game today and noticed they still had the old astro turf instead of the new field turf. They play indoors so obviously they need some form of turf. I mean almost every team has upgraded though. so anybody know why they haven’t?
Does anyone know why the University of Northern Iowa would still have the old astro turf for football games?
March 21st, 2010Catherine Ventura: Is Twitter a Human Right? One Chinese Activist …
March 21st, 2010
“Twitter is the people’s tool, the tool of the ordinary people, people who have no other resources,” Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei said at the Paley Center for Media in New York Monday night, after challenging Twitter founder Jack Dorsey to make Twitter’s web interface available in Chinese.
Speaking on a panel he referred to as a “blind date” with Dorsey, Richard MacManus of ReadWriteWeb, and Emily Parker of the Asia Society — Ai Weiwei pressed Dorsey for a commitment to open Twitter to Chinese language translators, saying: “I need a clear answer, yes or no.”
Dorsey, who was participating via screen from San Francisco, clearly felt the pressure, but cautioned that, while Twitter’s goal was “end to end translation in every language,” it would take time.
“The Chinese people think you are some kind of god,” Ai Weiwei told Dorsey. “You created a possibility for people in this very dark room to see a ray of light… to freely give their opinion.” if Twitter were to create a Chinese language interface, he suggested, Dorsey would become “one of the most important heroes in Chinese political development.”
Saying he spent a minimum of 8 hours a day on Twitter, Ai Weiwei said that Twitter was well suited to a language where each character is an entire word. “With 140 characters in Chinese you really can write a novel,” he quipped.
Ai Weiwei, who sustained a serious head injury after he was beaten by police while attempting to testify at a colleague’s trial, made it clear that Twitter was a lifeline for Chinese activists eager to get their message out to the world. Access is limited to approximately 50,000 people currently, however, due to both a strong firewall and to the need to register in English.
On a day when the American Twitter stream was full of Foursquare check-ins from BBQ parties at the SxSW Conference and the news that Kate Winslet was separating from her husband, it was important to be reminded that, in many countries, Twitter — like IRC before it — plays a serious role in facilitating freedom of speech.
Ai Weiwei described the disappointment Chinese activists felt during Barack Obama’s recent trip to China, not only about his avoidance of Human Rights issues, but also because he made a point of saying that he had never used Twitter. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, drew praise however, for her strong stance on Internet Freedom.
Though Ai Weiwei did not walk away from the panel with a clear commitment or timeline from Dorsey about when the Twitter interface would be available in Chinese, the discussion did end on a positive note. Dorsey said he was now following Ai Weiwei on Twitter and that he’d be Direct Messaging him soon.
One fifth of the world will be waiting to hear exactly what that DM says.
Follow Catherine Ventura on Twitter: twitter.com/catherinventura
Rafael Nadal, partner will face top duo in BNP Paribas Open doubles final
March 20th, 2010
INDIAN WELLS — There will be a familiar face who’s not in a too familiar place this evening at Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
World no. 3 Rafael Nadal, the defending singles champ at the BNP Paribas Open, is in the men’s doubles title match tonight with partner Marc Lopez.
The duo advanced to the final match as a wild card entry and proceeded to knock off the 6th-seeded team of Simon Aspelin and Paul Hanley, 6-4, 6-4.
In the most recent attempt at doubles, the same duo lost in the round of 16 in Doha, where they were the defending champs. in the 2009 finals match, they defeated Daniel Nestor and Nenad Zimonjic.
Nadal will play in the singles semifinals at noon today and return for the doubles match not before 5 p.m.
Nadal-Lopez will face the no. 1 seed of Nestor-Zimonjoc, who have posted a 9-2 record in doubles in January, including picking up their 17th team title at Sydney before reaching the finals at the Australain Open, where they lost to the Bryan brothers.
Nestor-Zimonjic defeated the American duo of John Isner and Sam Querrey 6-4, 6-2 late Friday.
On the women’s side, the no. 3 seeded team of Nadia Petrova and Samantha Stosur took on no. 6 seeded team with American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Zi Yan for a spot in the finals.
Petrova-Stosur took the first set easily at 6-3, then cruised to a straight set victory, 6-2.
They will face Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik in this afternoon’s title match (not before 3 p.m.).
Now Playing In My *T-Pod* New Music Monica “Mirror” « Twana Tells …
March 20th, 2010
Check out new music from Monica “Mirror” I love her voice, I love the song finally real music is back!!!!!
“It’s not the bags or the trips or the clothes, it’s not the fans or the sold out shows, it’s the way you see through my soul, I’m so exposed, when I look at myself in the mirror I don’t have to feel ashamed ”
Monica’s “Still Standing” hit stores Tuesday March 23rd
Props to Atlien for the link click here to download
Lil rob has a song called 1218 wat does that mean?
March 20th, 2010
lil rod has a song called 1218 and i think a tattoo. so what does 1218 mean?
Twitter, Facebook Warn Users of Email Password Scams
March 20th, 2010
Twitter has followed Facebook in warning users to avoid malicious emails with attachments that claim to provide a new password.
Opening such attachment can unleash malware that may ultimately crack the passwords on the user’s computer beyond social media accounts, warn Internet security firms.
“Remember, Twitter doesn’t send emails asking you to download or open attachments. Don’t fall for that trap!” the micro-blogging site posted on its Twitter.com/safety page.
Twitter then provides a link to its “Keeping Your Account Secure” guidelines page.
Facebook issued its own warning earlier in the week about “another spoofed email going around” that claims it’s from the social media site and asks the recipient to open an attachment to receive a new password. Facebook says to delete such emails and warn friends of the scam.
“Remember that Facebook will never send you a new password in an attachment,” said the post on Facebook’s security page.
McAfee’s Security Insights Blog describes the attachments in the Facebook emails as “potentially very dangerous considering that there are over 400 million Facebook users who could fall for this scam.”
The attachment is a “password stealer” that installs when the user clicks on it, McAfee said.
“Once installed, the password stealer can potentially access any username and password combination utilized on that computer, not just for the user’s Facebook account,” the online security firm said.
One clue that signals a user of a spam email is poor grammar and awkward phrases, such as the greeting: “Dear user of facebook.”
NCAA: Omar Samhan of Saint Mary's has 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 …
March 20th, 2010
NCAA: Foul trouble for Saint Mary’s
Omar Samhan of Saint Mary’s had 17 points and seven rebounds but picked up his third foul with 6:31 left in the first half but the Gaels trailed Richmond 25-22.
Jacob Pullen started to heat up after slow start, scoring all 11 of his points over the past 9 minutes as Kansas State took a 35-21 lead over North Texas late in the first half.
Murray State missed seven of its first 15 free throws and was still tied 52-52 with fourth-seeded Vanderbilt.
Omar Samhan, who came into the tournament averaging 20.2 points per game, had 16 in the first 7½ minutes and Saint Mary’s trailed Richmond 24-21.
New Orleans native Tweety Carter finally scored on a fast break layup as Baylor opened the second half with a 7-0 run for a 37-31 lead over Sam Houston State. Fellow new Orleans native Ashton Mitchell answered on the next possession with his first points, a 3 that made it 37-34 with 17:12 left in the second half.
Kansas State outscored North Texas 18-4 in the paint in taking a 26-14 lead over the mean Green, who used three timeouts in the game’s first 13 minutes.
North Texas within 18-13 of Kansas State midway through the first half by beating the Wildcats at their own game: seven offensive rebounds in the first 10 minutes.
Omar Samhan had all of Saint’s Mary’s points — and five rebounds — as the Gaels took a 10-9 lead over Richmond.
Vanderbilt’s a.J. Ogilvy picked up his third foul with 13:33 to go and Murray State holding a 59-54 lead.
“Come on, Vandy, we got 20 minutes left!” one player hollered as the team returned to the court after halftime.
Sam Houston State, which came into the tournament shooting 37.8 percent from 3-point rangae, started 1 of 13 from beyond the arc and was shooting just 28 percent overall from the field. The Bearkats were in a 23-23 tie because Baylor has turned it over nine times in the opening 16½ minutes.
Oklahoma City is about halfway between Manhattan, Kan., and Denton, Texas, but Kansas State brought a much larger contingent of fans than North Texas, filling up about three-fourths of the Ford Center.
No. 13 seed Murray State knocked down 4 of 8 first-half 3-pointers on the way to a 36-32 lead over fourth-seeded Vanderbilt at the break. The Commordores are trying to avoid their same fate from two years ago, when they were a first-round upset victim of Siena when also seeded fourth.
Murray State, back in the NCAAs for the first time since 2006 and trying for the school’s first tournament win since 1988, also crashed the offensive glass to create second chances — getting nine offensive boards.
Danero Thomas of Murray State had seven points, three steals and three blocks to lead the Racers to a 36-32 halftime lead over fourth-seeded Vanderbilt.
Sam Houston State started the game 1 of 10 from 3-point range and was still within 20-18 of third-seeded Baylor.
Scottie Reynolds’ two free throws with 9.1 seconds left in overtime gave Villanova a 73-70 lead over Robert Morris. And that was enough for the win.
With 35.5 seconds to play, Robert Morris trails 68-67 to Villanova.
Scottie Reynolds hit his first 3-pointer in eight attempts to give Villanova a 67-61 lead over Robert Morris with about a minute to play in overtime.
LaceDerius Dunn, Baylor’s leading scorer, picked up his second foul 3:07 into the game with Sam Houston State and the Bears trailing 10-3.
BYU outlasts Florida, wins 99-92 in double overtime.
Villanova scores first six points of overtime to take a 64-58 lead over Robert Morris.
Jimmer Fredette’s two free throws in second overtime gives him 36 points for the game and BYU a 99-90 lead with less than a minute to play.
Corey Fisher scores first basket of overtime to give Villanova its first lead over Robert Morris since the Wildcats led 9-8.
Villanova was unable to convert an inbounds lob pass with less than a second play in regulation and the second-seeded Wildcats and no. 15 Robert Morris went to overtime tied at 58.
Mouphtaou Yarou’s layup brings second-seeded Villanova into a 58-58 tie with Robert Morris with less than a minute left in regulation.
Florida freshman Kenny Boynton, who led the Gators back from 13 points down in the second half, fouled out with 27 points when he fouled BYU’s Jimmer Fredette on a drive with 3:57 left in the second overtime.
Scottie Reynolds missed 12 of his first 13 shots from the field but the senior was 12 of 12 from the free throw line, that last two bringing Villanova into a 55-55 tie with Robert Morris with 1:48 to play. it was the game’s first tie since 2-2.
Robert Morris led 55-49 over Villanova with 3:06 to play, trying to become the fifth 15 seed to win a first-round game and the first since Hampton beat Iowa State 58-57 in 2001.
Michael Loyd Jr. kept BYU alive in overtime against Florida going 4 of 4 from the free throw line and getting a basket off a broken play. The Cougars and Gators went to a second overtime tied at 81.
Robert Morris’ Velton Jones became the first Colonial to foul out, but the 15th seed still led Villanova 55-47 with 3:57 to play.
Florida’s Chandler Parsons, who made a couple of buzzer-beaters this season, missed a jumper with 2 seconds left and the Gators and BYU were tied at 75 headed to overtime.
Carleton Scott’s 3-pointer rattled around and out, and 11th-seeded old Dominion held off sixth-seeded Notre Dame 51-50. Trailing by three, the Fighting Irish rushed the ball up the court, but Scott’s attempt to tie the game wouldn’t fall, and Luke Harangody’s layup at the buzzer wasn’t enough. old Dominion (27-8) was led by Frank Hassell, who scored 15 points.
Harangody scored only four points for Notre Dame (23-12) and was held scoreless until the final minute. Ben Hansbrough led the Irish with 17.
BYU is trying to snap a seven-game losing streak in the first round dating to a 1993 win over Southern Methodist.
BYU, the nation’s top free-throw shooting team, missed its first two of the game then made 12 in a row. Jimmer Fredette is 4 of 4 and has made 37 in a row. Teammate Tyler Haws hit his only two free throws earlier in the game to break Fredette’s school record of 39 straight.
Freshman Karon Abraham made a four-point play to give Robert Morris a 42-34 lead over second-seeded Villanova with 12 minutes to play.
Jimmer Fredette of BYU hit a 3 when Florida had closed within 63-60 but freshman Kenny Boynton answered with his fourth 3-pointer of the game to keep the Gators within one possession.
Notre Dame led old Dominion 43-30 with 7 minutes to play despite leading scorer Luke Harangody being held without a point.
BYU went on a 10-0 run over 3½ minutes to take a 59-46 lead over Florida with just under 9 minutes to play.
Scottie Reynolds of Villanova went 0 of 5 from the field and had four points in the first half against Robert Morris after not starting the game over “a minor teaching point.” he hit his first shot of the second half, the time of the game he has been known to take over for the Wildcats.
Florida had seven turnovers in first 8 minutes of second half, matching its total from the first half. The Gators trailed BYU 51-46.
Jimmer Fredette, BYU’s leading scorer and the only player to break the 40 mark twice this season, had eight points in the first half against Florida, then matched that number in the first 6 minutes of the second half as the Cougars took a 47-42 lead.
Old Dominion opened the second half with a 9-2 run to go ahead 31-30, holding Notre Dame to 1-of-6 shooting over the first 6 minutes.
There was some big East synergy early in the tournament with both its teams playing in the first wave of games finishing with a halftime score of 28-22. The only problem for the conference with a record-tying eight teams in the field was that Notre Dame was leading old Dominion by the score, but Villanova was behind Robert Morris.
Villanova struggled to a 2-of-13 effort from 3-point range in the first half against Robert Morris with Taylor King, the one Wildcat who had struggled the most from behind the arc, making both 3s in the half. Robert Morris could have some foul trouble facing it as five players had two fouls at halftime.
Robert Morris held Villanova to seven field goals in the first half, the second straight solid 20-minute defensive effort by the Colonials. they held Quinnipiac to six field goals in the second half of the Northeast Conference championship game.
Villanova, which entered the tournament third in the nation in scoring at 85.2 points per game, trailed Robert Morris 24-16 with 4 minutes left in the first half after managing just one field over an 8½-minute stretch while getting outrebounded 17-5.
Second-seeded Villanova’s early 17-11 deficit to 15th-seeded Robert Morris shouldn’t be a total surprise. last year, the Wildcats, playing as a no. 3 seed, started their run to the Final Four by rallying from a 14-point deficit to beat American University 80-67.
Michael Loyd, Jr., who came in averaging 4.4 points per game, went 4 of 4 from the field and had all the points in BYU’s 10-0 run that gave the Cougars a 31-28 lead over Florida.
Freshman Karon Abraham hit his first three 3-point attempts as Robert Morris opened a 13-9 lead over Villanova.
Notre Dame had the first extended run of the tournament, scoring 10 straight points to take a 15-6 lead over old Dominion.
BYU came into the tournament leading the country in free throw shooting at 78.6 percent. Brandon Davies missed the first two the Cougars took against Florida.
Corey Fisher, the other Villanova starter benched for the beginning of the game against Robert Morris, came in at the first media timeout with the Wildcats’ leading 9-5.
Ben Hansbrough hit a 3-pointer to give Notre Dame a 10-6 lead over old Dominion, the first points scored in an NCAA tournament game by a member of his family since his brother Tyler Hansbrough led North Carolina to the national championship last season.
Scottie Reynolds, Villanova’s leading scorer, was in the game with just over 16 minutes left in the first half after not starting as a “minor teaching point.”
Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody, who missed five games with a bruised knee, entered the game at the first media timeout. It’s nice to bring a guy who averages 24.1 points per game off the bench.
BYU freshman guard Tyler Haws, team’s third-leading scorer, returns to starting lineup after missing last game with eye injury. he scored first basket of the tournament.
NCAA March Madness has begun with BYU and Florida starting things off in Oklahoma City.
Villanova guards Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher weren’t in the starting lineup against Robert Morris. Coach Jay Wright said it was a “minor teaching point” and they would both play.
Morgan State forward Anthony Anderson, who was diagnosed with leukemia after the Bears’ first practice this season, may be healthy enough to travel to Buffalo for the team’s first round game against West Virginia on Friday. Anderson, who has missed the entire season, is currently in a weakened state after having chemo treatment this week at John’s Hopkins.
Demi Moore's Twitter account part of suicide help for Florida teen …
March 20th, 2010
CASSELBERRY, Fla. (AP) — Actresses Demi Moore and Nia Vardalos were linked to an online chain of Twitter posts that ultimately led to Florida authorities intervening Friday when an 18-year-old man threatened to commit suicide.
Moore’s Twitter account, mrskutcher, was among those responding to a message from a young man threatening to hang himself in his front yard in Casselberry, north of Orlando. Moore – with more than 2.5 million followers – and husband Ashton Kutcher are both active on the social network.
Vardalos’ eponymous account included a message that she had called a suicide hotline and been connected to Florida police. “I gave his name+city. they went to home, helped him,” one message read.
Listen to the 911 calls here
The Seminole County Sheriff’s Office said authorities received two calls around 2:30 a.m., one from California and one from Vancouver, British Columbia. Both callers reported the suicide threat on Twitter. There was no record of the callers’ names, Lt. Sonia Pisano said.
Deputies went to a home and took the man to a hospital, Pisano said.
The teen’s mother told the deputy responding that her son “was very emotional and diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder,” according to a report released Friday by the sheriff’s office. her son was sitting at his computer desk crying when he told the officer he “did not know what to do with himself without help” and admitted to posting the tweet.
The man was then placed in protective custody.
A phone message left by the Associated Press at the home was not immediately returned.
Calls to representatives for Moore and for Vardalos, who starred in “My Big fat Greek Wedding,” went unanswered early Friday.
Moore’s Twitter account was involved in a similar case last April, when a California woman messaged that she was going to kill herself. San Jose police said they took a woman to a hospital for “psychiatric evaluation” after someone called about a tweet sent to Moore threatening suicide.
Is there a trick to the timing of the Zelda Twilite Princess sheild attack?
March 20th, 2010I just cant seem to get the timing right and i have been sitting here for an hour.
How to Retweet Using Twitter and TweetDeck: Passing on Messages …
March 20th, 2010
Passing on Messages with the Retweet Function and Traditional Method
Mar 19, 2010Zoe Robinson
Twitter’s retweet function allows fun, amusing and important messages to be passed on quickly between groups of followers. However, the method behind it can be confusing to both newcomers and those who know how to tweet but are unfamiliar with other Twitter functions.
What is a Retweet?
Retweeting is, basically, copying what another Twitter user has written into a new tweet, so anyone following the new Twitterer will see the message. in order to avoid plagiarism, the original twitterer’s name is usually added to the start of the new tweet; along with a statement that the message is a retweet.
As with much of Twitter culture and etiquette, retweeting began as an informal process where Twitter users would simply copy and paste tweets they liked into their own twitter feed; usually preceded by a comment of their own and “RT @username”, where username is the name of the original messenger. “RT” is simply Twitter shorthand for “retweet”.
However, the coders at Twitter have developed a more streamlined system now that retweeting is fully supported by the Twitter website. this new system has not rendered the old style obsolete however, so it is still possible to retweet in the traditional style for those occasions where adding a comment to the message is needed.
How to Retweet from the Twitter website
Because there are now two versions of the retweet function, there are two ways to retweet from the Twitter website. the simplest way is to use the new, hard-coded retweet function developed by the Twitter coders. this will do all the retweeting with one click of the mouse.
When a user moves their mouse pointer over any tweet, the background will darken and two options will appear after the tweet, to the lower-right: reply and retweet. Clicking on the retweet option brings up a confirmation box and once “yes” is selected, the message is automatically retweeted.
The traditional method is slightly more long-winded. Here the user copies the text of the original tweet into the “what’s happening?” box at the top of the website and pastes it as if making a new tweet; then adds “RT” and the “@username” for the original Twitterer to the front of the message.
The message may need a little trimming to fit into the 140 word limit with this method but it does have the advantage that a new comment can be added along with the retweet, if desired. the new method requires comments be added in another tweet.
How to Retweet using TweetDeck
TweetDeck is one of the most popular applications to make Twitter more user-friendly but it handles retweets in a slightly different manner to the website. to retweet in TweetDeck, move the mouse over the picture beside the message to be retweeted. this will bring up the options menu for that tweet; which comes in the form of four symbols.
Click on the “right arrow” symbol (which is the one in the bottom-left) and TweetDeck will bring up two options: “Retweet now” and “Edit then retweet”. the “Retweet now” option is the same as using the new retweet function on the website: once clicked, it retweets the message and any comments will have to be made in a separate message.
The “Edit then retweet” option is the traditional method for retweeting messages. TweetDeck will place a copy of the tweet into the edit box, complete with “RT @username” already in place. the tweet can then be edited for length or added comments before being sent in the normal manner.
Although it can seem difficult at first, retweeting is a simple process that helps to streamline the information-sharing process on Twitter. the different methods have their advantages and disadvantages but with practice, the value of each method will become obvious very quickly.