Sci-Fi Art ? Vero Beach Tattoo. Deuces Wild Tattooing and Body ...

Monday, April 30th, 2012 by: RobertHBryan
RobertHBryan

When we imagine science fiction we can?t support but think of the remarkable sci-fi art that switches into the creation of our favorite comic books, movies, television shows, video games and other forms of entertainment we associate with sci-fi.
Before science fiction franchise companies such as Star Wars as an example, ever came to the particular silver screen there was the particular sci-fi art of designers such as Ralph McQuarrie. He or she helped bring the particular concepts of Jude Skywalker and Darth Vader to life whilst developing the world we have come to really like. Before we had Star wars there were sci-fi artists building those starships, uniforms, and also the bridge of the popular Enterprise ship.
On the planet of video games we have stunning sci-fi art developed even before the game titles go live. This particular art helps the roll-out of the game and it carries on long after the game is actually released as these photos help us enjoy the computer game even more. Concept sci-fi fine art is used in the early levels of the video game and frequently it?s quite different from what you get in the finished online game. It sets the stage for brainstorming as well as creating something exclusive for players to savor. Without these great artists we wouldn?t have got games like Mobile, Crysis, World of Warcraft, and countless others. It?s the artists along with their visions that help variety these games to the entertainment we love today.
Sci-fi art brings us visions of how starships will appear or how a futuristic city might appear. This particular art brings all of us characters that turn out to be icons and make the posters that shape our doorways along with rooms. This art work takes us from our own lives and also into something special. Sci-fi art is what makes the world of sci-fi so special and unique to those that love the particular genre.
Sci-fi art is a part of comic books also it makes these books any treasure for those that go through them. Children and also young adults love to lose themselves in the stories but it?s the stunning artwork that draws us into the book and keeps us looking at. This artwork cause a comic book delicious and why all of us come back to them issue after issue.
Once we browse the local book store it?s the sci-fi artwork on the countless science fiction novels that bring us to the name. This artwork gives us a vision of what we?ll discover in the book and sets off our curiosity so we will buy the book. We buy sci-fi image selections to lose ourselves in the worlds of our favorite stories or just to gather the great images produced by these amazing and talented artists.
To visualize the world of science fiction we require art to see the particular creations by those who write the testimonies and create the personas and the worlds that we love. The art work is as much a part of the story as the words and phrases themselves and devoid of the art work science fiction simply wouldn?t be the same. Sci-fi art helps us lose ourselves in the world of fantasy with stunningly beautiful people with impossible muscle tissue. These images get our imaginations and for a short while we ignore the troubles of our todays modern life and enjoy those of illusion that these images, paintings, and paintings carry us.

Fantasy arts

Without the photos of sci-fi art the joy of science fiction would be dull and boring using only words to help our imagination. Your art takes these stories and ensures they are seem larger than living in the images. We can easily visualize ourselves about that immense fight cruiser or the arms around the stunning woman in the tale. We see the potent weapon in our hands and the strange new worlds around us. Sci-fi art is indeed a gorgeous powerful medium to bring the creative visions of many writers, designers and those that love science fiction to life in our personal world.

For more information about digital sci-fi artwork visit our website.

Tags: sci-fi artwork

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Low-intensity training isn't the best for fat burning- Health, Exercise ...

There is no ?right? way to get really fit. Everyone has that friend/brother/cousin ect that can eat whatever? and get? ?in shape?. If you are reading this than that isn?t you. There is a place for all intensities, but in terms of getting the most for your time, you can?t beat high intensity. HERE is a great piece on high intensity training and fat loss.

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GOP Austerity Means People Will Suffer Like in the U.K.

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Home For Sale in Franklin ? Should I Make An Offer To Buy, Before I ...

You think you?ve found your dream Home for Sale in Franklin, Tennessee or the surrounding areas, but the problem is you still need to sell the home you?re in now; do you make an offer, or wait? Real estate expert Monte Mohr has some advice on how to handle this situation.

Here are some common questions that have been asked by real homeowners in Middle Tennessee:

Lonnie from Murfreesboro asked?

?We would like to sell our home and buy another one, but we do not want to own two homes at the same time. Can you tell us the best way to go about doing this? Do we put a contingent offer on the new one before ours sells??

I really appreciate this question because everyone wants to know where they are going to go once their home sells. But what I?ve learned over the years is that it is far more challenging to sell a home than it is to find one to buy. So you want to put the majority of your focus into selling your property first.

Once you get your home on the market, wait until you start getting good feedback; that you?re in the top 3 choices of homes.?? I refer to this as being a ?bridesmaid.?? Once you?re a bridesmaid, you know you?re going to be a bride, so listen to that feedback.? At that point, go out and start looking at homes with the intention of finding your top three choices. Do not fall in love, just date.? Once you find your top three you are ready for that contract; once your home sells you will be in control.

Jennifer from Nashville asked?

?Two months ago we accepted an offer from a couple in Indiana to purchase our home. We knew their home would have to sell first before they could close on ours.? Our agent assured us that we could take other offers from other buyers as our home would remain active on the market. Since accepting that contingent offer our home has not been shown at all; can you tell us why? We really need to sell. Please help.?

Unfortunately Jennifer is finding herself in a situation where she has literally put all of her eggs into someone else?s basket. What happens is this: it?s an MLS requirement that once a home is under contract for any reason, a realtor has to highlight that property in yellow. And, once it is highlighted in yellow, when it comes up in the search criteria for that type of home, because there are so many homes to pick from, agents immediately start eliminating them. As realtors we don?t show homes that we are not sure that our buyers can buy.

So in this situation, the sellers have put all their eggs into the buyer?s basket and we don?t even know what kind of housing market there is in Indiana right now. And we certainly don?t know if they have their home priced right. So that is why the home showings have stopped ? because nobody wants to show a home that they?re not sure their buyer can buy.

Before we get to the last real estate question of the day, there are some new homes on the market in the Thompson?s Station? and I thought they were worth pointing out to you today.

Stephanie wants to have a Home For Sale in Franklin and she asked?

?We?re ready to put our home on the market but before we do I want to go find our next home. My husband says we need to sell ours first, but I?m afraid we will sell ours and not have anywhere to live. Please advise.?

Well I hate to take sides between a husband and wife, but in this case Stephanie?s husband is correct. You really need to focus on selling because here?s what happens:

If you go out and put a contingent offer on another home as a buyer, you?re not a real buyer, you?re a wannabe buyer. And since you?re not a real buyer, you?re not going to negotiate the best deal because the seller isn?t going to come down to their lowest price for a wannabe buyer.? Then, when you go back and try to sell your home, if it doesn?t sell after a while, someone may make a lowball offer that you?ll be more likely to accept because you?re afraid of losing the other one.

Ultimately what happens is you end up paying too much on the buying end, and you take too little on the selling end because of that fear of loss. Remember, the fear of loss is always a greater motivator than the hope of gain. So my opinion is to never put an offer on a home without selling yours first.

Here are some great examples of Happy Customers who followed my instructions when selling their home:

B.J. and Kara in Brentwood were concerned about where they would be moving to, but we waited until we go that positive feedback and once we did, they went out and found some properties that they liked a lot. Once we got that contract they were ready to take action and they bought their dream home.

Alan and Bridget in Nashville sold their home in 45 days. Alan was a little conservative and did something different; he sold his home but he couldn?t find something he wanted to buy right out of the box so he moved into temporary housing. Then when they found their next home, they got a $40,000 discount on the property because they came from a position of strength; not one of hoping to sell their home first.

Brent and Sharon in Lebanon sold their home in 47 days and decided to downsize.? They too were concerned about where they would go once their home sold, but I explained the ?rules of the road? to them and they followed my instructions. They went out and found their top 3 choices and then in 47 days when they got the contract on their home, we were able to take action and we got a great deal on their purchase.

If you?re looking to use any of my resources, please go to my website Nashville Real Estate Adviser and there you?ll find an explanation of my ?We Sell Homes For Free? program where I bring my 25 years of experience to the table for absolutely FREE, if you promise to buy your next home from me. People are saving thousands of dollars. I?ve already saved people over $60,000 in commissions this year.

Don?t get me wrong, I?d love to have those commissions ? I never dreamed that at this point in my career I?d be doing it for free ? but in today?s world we?ve got to think outside the box. I?m trying to lower the expenses of having a Home For Sale in Franklin so people can compete with the distressed properties that are on the market, and it?s actually working!

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Rimac Concept_One EV now a reality: cash in those stock options (video)

Rimac Concept_One EV now a reality: cash in those stock options (video)

If you don't have a sonorous v-something under the hood guzzling gas, do you still have a supercar? Judging by the nearly one million large needed to buy its Concept_One high performance EV, Rimac clearly thinks so. Since our last dalliance with the sinuous eco-powerhouse, the Croatian maker has announced that it's producing 88 units priced at $980K each -- with its carbon fibre body, 1088 HP, 190 mph top speed, and 2.8 second 0-62 mph time all still intact. Sure, there's no Lamborghini rumble, but at those speeds you'll be gone so quickly no one would appreciate it anyway. Watch it cruise sedately in the video after the break.

Continue reading Rimac Concept_One EV now a reality: cash in those stock options (video)

Rimac Concept_One EV now a reality: cash in those stock options (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 01 May 2012 22:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tim Elhajj about Writing and Publishing His Memoir | Memory ...

by Jerry Waxler

This is the third and final part of my interview with Tim Elhajj, author of the memoir Dopefiend. In the first part of the interview, we discuss shame, self-acceptance, and anonymity. In the third part, we will talk about writing and publishing. In Part Two, we take a fresh look at writing about the Twelve Steps. In this part of the interview, Elhajj talks about writing the book and publishing it.

Jerry Waxler:? You published the book through a publisher. These days, the whole writing community is buzzing about the potential for self-publishing. Help me understand your decision. Why did you choose to go with a publisher? How long and hard was the journey to find an agent or editor?

Tim Elhajj: I wasn?t sure I wanted to self-publish my first book. I created a proposal that included a chapter-by-chapter synopsis and the first three chapters and then sent it around to a short list of publishers and agents. I targeted publishers and agents that had worked with stories similar to mine within the previous year. I?m glad I did it the way I did, but I wouldn?t be so averse to self-publishing for my next project. It?s really not that hard, especially if you have a background as a writer and are comfortable with the technical requirements of pulling the manuscript together.

Jerry Waxler:? Over my years of researching the publishing industry, I have developed various fantasies and fears. In one fantasy, a team of expert editors would transform my raw manuscript into a world class work of literature. In a second version of this fantasy, the publisher doesn?t edit it at all, leaving all my mistakes exposed to the world. In a third scenario, the editor seizes control over voice and pacing and completely distorts my message. So how does your actual experience fit these extreme examples?

Tim Elhajj: The publishing industry has some odd conventions. I had to learn to stand up for myself with what I wanted for the story. I had to do the job I imagine a good agent would do for a writer. Really had to advocate for myself, for what I wanted from my story. I feel like I did a pretty good job for a first time author with no agent. I got 99% of what I wanted. But I?ll tell you this-I wouldn?t work with a publisher again without an agent. I?d rather write, then deal with that end of the business. It?s exhausting work.

Jerry Waxler: You did a great job of telling an excellent story. How did you prepare for this task? I note that you are a technical writer and that you went to a liberal arts college, Hunter. With this diverse writing background, what was your learning curve like when you attempted to turn your life into a story? Was it hard to learn the memoir writing voice?

Tim Elhajj: My blog was a huge help finding a voice that I am comfortable with. I have a very modest readership, but it?s not about the hits or raw numbers. It?s about finding a way to get comfortable with the work, a way to put it out there.

Jerry Waxler: I love the sparseness of your writing style. With simple anecdotes and scenes, you are able to develop a complex, complete story. Out of all the twists and turns of your life, how did you manage to select just the scenes that worked?

Tim Elhajj: Most of the anecdotes in the book were ones that I tell in AA meetings or around the dinner table to entertain my kids. Telling a story doesn?t always work the same way as writing a story. You have to make certain adjustments for the page. The audience is potentially different and some things may need more explanation, or transitions to get it to all make sense, but it all came out of that one big insight that I discussed earlier, about my relationship to my son and the program. That was the key to the rest of the book.

Jerry Waxler: You introduce a walk-on character who is not really there. He is like an apparition, or hallucination of one of your old drug buddies, and serves as a grim reminder of the life you could have been stuck in. The technique added dramatic power. However, it created a slight disturbance in my reading mind. I murmured to myself, not in a bad way, ?Wait, what is that? Is it a literary device? A hallucination??

Using this visionary element opens the door to the memoir author?s fantasy world, which I think could provide additional rich material for a memoir. (William Manchester uses a similar device in his memoir ?Goodbye Darkness? in which he is haunted by the demons of his past.)? What can you tell about your decision to use that particular character in the story?

Tim Elhajj: You?re speaking of Chopper Cassidy. I changed the name, but this character is modeled from the first young man I knew who had died of a drug overdose. I must have been about fifteen or sixteen at the time.

I wanted to give the reader a sense for the weight of my past indiscretions and poor choices. Most writers of recovery memoirs can just show what their active addiction was like, but I had a very specific structure in mind for the book, so I needed to do something different. I wanted something tangible and big. I had read and admired Shalom Auslander?s Foreskin?s Lament and he does something similar to give the reader a sense for the weight of his religious upbringing by Orthodox Jewish parents.

This is one of the parts of the book that I had to fight with the publisher to keep. I am so glad you liked it, and that you understood what I was trying to achieve. It is a little disconcerting to see something like this in memoir, but I feel like it?s okay to push boundaries. Take risks. Experiment.

Jerry Waxler: I first met you in an online critique group. You were submitting pieces of the memoir to the group. Apparently it helped you polish your work. Please tell us more about the value of the critiquing process in your development as a writer, and in the development of this particular book.

Tim Elhajj: I?ve really fallen into a comfortable groove with my writing group. What?s most beneficial to me is that act of looking at others work. I have to learned to quickly identify the one or two things that I think will most improve the work, so that I can respond to the group and keep my membership active. This has allowed me to develop a finer sense for evaluating and revising my own work. And, of course, I also benefit from the feedback I get from the others. I have the good fortune to have many fine writers-like yourself, Jerry!-looking and commenting on my work.

Jerry Waxler:? One problem with critique groups is that they generally only give feedback about short sections at a time. It?s harder to find readers who will review the whole book. How did you overcome that challenge? Did you have many readers? Were you part of a group? Anything else you can share about reviewing the book while you were writing it?

Tim Elhajj: I have my wife who reads my longer manuscripts and offers incredibly helpful reviews. Sometimes you really do need someone to look at the work in the context its meant to have as a final manuscript. But it?s also helpful to get buy in on scenes, synopsis, and big ideas. When a book goes from idea to actual chapters-when the writing takes off and starts to move to its own cadence-then I like to narrow my feedback to one or two people who have a sense for what I?m trying to achieve.

Jerry Waxler:? When I write or edit my memoir, my creative attention forces me to integrate forgotten or discarded parts, and so on. Over time, this introspective work has made me more confident about my life. How would you describe the impact that memoir writing has had on you? [an anecdote would be awesome]

Tim Elhajj: I would say my writing keeps me in my office until all hours of the night. It?s hard work, but I love it. Wouldn?t have it any other way. I am sort of a loner anyhow. If I weren?t writing, I might just be staring out the window, thinking. Much better to write it all down. Try to make an entertaining story. My writing helps me to connect with people-readers. It?s an important outlet that I wouldn?t have without the writing. I?d like to think I?d still be a thoughtful person, but my life would be a little poorer without the potential for readers.

Notes
Click here for Tim Elhajj?s home page
Click here for Dopefiend on Amazon
Click here to read eight lessons you can learn from Dopefiend

For brief descriptions and links to all the essays on Memory Writers Network, click here.

To order my step-by-step how-to guide to write your memoir, click here.

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Braun has 1st career 3-homer game in Brewers' win

Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun connects for his third consecutive home run against the San Diego Padres during the seventh inning of a baseball game Monday, April 30, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun connects for his third consecutive home run against the San Diego Padres during the seventh inning of a baseball game Monday, April 30, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun folows the flight of his third consecutive home run against the San Diego Padres during the seventh inning of a baseball game Monday, April 30, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun connects for his second home run of the game against the San Diego Padres during the fifth inning of a baseball game Monday, April 30, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun is congratulated by Corey Hart as Brewers fans celebrate after his third home run against the San Diego Padres in the seventh inning of a baseball game Monday, April 30, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Milwaukee Brewers' Ryan Braun gets the low five from third base coach Ed Sedar as he rounds the bases with his second home run of the game against the San Diego Padres during fifth inning of a baseball game Monday, April 30, 2012 in San Diego. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

(AP) ? Petco Park caved in to Ryan Braun.

Braun had his first three-homer game and added a two-run triple to tie his career high with six RBIs, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to an 8-3 victory over the San Diego Padres on Monday night.

"It's definitely special," Braun said. "It's an extremely challenging game we play. You're going to deal with a lot of failure, a lot of adversity, and when you have a special night like that you try to enjoy it and it's that much more fun and enjoyable when your team wins the game. It was definitely a pretty cool night."

The reigning NL MVP became the first player to hit three home runs in a game at spacious Petco Park since it opened in 2004. It came several days after the Padres said they are studying bringing in the fences at the downtown ballpark to make it more fair.

"It was just one night," Braun said. "There's no doubt this is one of the more challenging if not the most challenging place to hit home runs in the league. I think for fans, you want to see offense. Offense is exciting when teams are scoring runs. It's a lot of fun for the fans to watch. So I think if they did do that, it would make it more of a neutral ballpark. As of right now it certainly favors pitchers pretty substantially."

Petco Park's deep outfield, particularly in right and right-center, swallows fly balls that would be homers in other yards, particularly on cool nights like Monday.

Not on this one, though.

Braun hit a solo homer deep into the sandy play area beyond the right-center fence ? one of the deepest parts of the park ? with one out in the fourth. That homer was in the area where the Padres are considering bringing in the fences.

He drove a two-run shot onto the balcony on the fourth level of the Western Metal Supply Co. brick warehouse in the left-field corner with one out in the fifth. Both were off rookie Joe Wieland (0-4). Rickie Weeks was aboard on a walk before Braun's second homer.

"He put some good swings on pitches. He's strong. You're talking about the MVP of the league," Padres manager Bud Black said. "He's got big power and he showed it. After the first, he really locked in after that."

Braun's third shot, to left, came on the first pitch he saw from Ernesto Frieri with two outs in the seventh.

Braun came up again with two on and two outs in the ninth and nearly equaled the major league record of four home runs in a game when he hit a triple that short-hopped the right-center fence. The slugger has seven homers and 17 RBIs.

Shortly after he won the MVP award last year, ESPN reported that Braun failed a drug test in October with a high testosterone level. But he won his appeal and avoided a 50-game suspension. Then he made his case to fans upon his arrival in spring training, saying that chain of custody issues with his urine sample cast doubt on the validity of the test.

That didn't end the controversy; baseball officials were unhappy with the arbitrator's decision, and a urine sample collector issued a statement saying he followed proper protocols and that there was no evidence of tampering. Braun also has hinted that there's more to the story than he's letting on, refusing to share those details.

Braun began the night batting .263.

"You know these nights are few and far between," he said. "It's a moment you try to embrace, you try to enjoy. It's been a challenge for me and for us this year, and I think we got a couple breaks, a few things really went our way and you hope something like this turns our luck around, turns our momentum around."

Randy Wolf (2-2) got the win after allowing three runs and nine hits in five innings.

Wieland became the third Padres pitcher to start a season 0-4 in his first four starts. He allowed five runs ? three earned ? and five hits in five innings, struck out eight and walked two.

San Diego took a 1-0 lead on Yonder Alonso's RBI single with two outs in the second and was poised to add on when it got runners to second and third with no outs in the third. Wieland singled for his first big league hit and advanced on Chris Denorfia's double to center. But Wolf struck out Jesus Guzman and retired Chase Headley and Nick Hundley to end the threat.

After Braun's solo shot in the fourth, Aramis Ramirez reached on second baseman Orlando Hudson's error, Mat Gamel singled with two outs and Alex Gonzalez doubled them both in for a 3-1 lead.

Braun's second homer made it 5-2. San Diego added a run on Jason Bartlett's double-play ball in the sixth before Braun homered again.

NOTES: Black said LF Carlos Quentin is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Tucson on Tuesday. The plan is to use him as DH on Tuesday and then have him play left field on Wednesday. Quentin began the season on the disabled list after having knee surgery during spring training. ... The three-game series continues Tuesday night with Milwaukee RHP Shaun Marcum (1-1, 4.13 ERA) scheduled to pitch against San Diego RHP Edinson Volquez (0-2, 3.60). ... The Padres said Braun is the first player to hit three homers and a triple in a game since Fred Lynn did it for Boston at Detroit on June 18, 1975, according to research by the Elias Sports Bureau.

Associated Press

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Pujols finishes April with no homers for Angels

Los Angeles Angels' Albert Pujols strikes out against the Minnesota Twins during a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, April 30, 2012. Baseball's most feared slugger has suddenly lost his pop. One month into Pujols' 10-year, $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels, the three-time MVP has no homers and a miserable batting average for his struggling new team, and everybody has a theory on Pujols' profound slump. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Los Angeles Angels' Albert Pujols strikes out against the Minnesota Twins during a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, April 30, 2012. Baseball's most feared slugger has suddenly lost his pop. One month into Pujols' 10-year, $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels, the three-time MVP has no homers and a miserable batting average for his struggling new team, and everybody has a theory on Pujols' profound slump. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Los Angeles Angels' Albert Pujols strikes out against the Minnesota Twins during a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, April 30, 2012. Baseball's most feared slugger has suddenly lost his pop. One month into Pujols' 10-year, $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels, the three-time MVP has no homers and a miserable batting average for his struggling new team, and everybody has a theory on Pujols' profound slump. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Los Angeles Angels' Albert Pujols celebrates after a double against the Minnesota Twins during a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, April 30, 2012. Baseball's most feared slugger has suddenly lost his pop. One month into Pujols' 10-year, $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels, the three-time MVP has no homers and a miserable batting average for his struggling new team, and everybody has a theory on Pujols' profound slump. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Los Angeles Angels' Albert Pujols slaps his bat after striking out against the Minnesota Twins during a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, April 30, 2012. Baseball's most feared slugger has suddenly lost his pop. One month into Pujols' 10-year, $240 million contract with the Los Angeles Angels, the three-time MVP has no homers and a miserable batting average for his struggling new team, and everybody has a theory on Pujols' profound slump. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

Los Angeles Angels' Albert Pujols blows a bubble at first base against the Minnesota Twins during a baseball game in Anaheim, Calif., Monday, April 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

(AP) ? Albert Pujols ripped a long drive down the left-field line, and the Los Angeles Angels rose in the dugout along with the crowd. The ball sliced through the heavy night air, soaring into the stands ? and hooking just a few feet foul outside the yellow pole.

The collective groan in Angel Stadium was audible from the dugout to the back of the bleachers Monday, and it's getting louder every night.

One month into a lavish contract with a new team, baseball's most feared slugger has lost his pop.

"I know I can hit home runs," Pujols said. "When it's going to happen, I don't know."

Pujols didn't hit a homer for the Angels in April, shockingly going 23 games and 92 at-bats without once doing what he did 445 times over 11 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals. Dating back to late last season, the three-time NL MVP and two-time World Series champion is in the longest longball drought of his career, going 29 games and 121 at-bats without a homer.

For a gifted power hitter in the ostensible prime of his career, it's a distressing stretch of futility even in the earliest stages of his 10-year contract. For the Angels, who are paying $240 million for homers and victories from arguably the best offensive player of his generation, it's a simmering problem that's threatening to boil.

"I don't think about that, man," Pujols said. "It could be tomorrow, maybe the next day, a month from now, I don't know. My job is to get myself ready to play and take my swing. ... Home runs, when they come, they come in bunches."

They're not coming at all in Anaheim, and that's not what the Angels expected after signing Pujols away from the Cardinals for the next decade with the third-richest contract in major league history. Even worse, Pujols' new teammates have slumped along with him, and last-place Los Angeles heads into May in an 8-15 funk despite Monday's 4-3 win over majors-worst Minnesota.

Not even matching the worst start in franchise history has caused the Angels to waver from publicly backing their new first baseman. They still expect to see the sublime power of the man who hit three homers in Game 3 of the World Series last fall, matching a feat only accomplished by Babe Ruth and Reggie Jackson.

"Even though he's a leader and has been around, we've still got to lift him up, because the game will slap you in the face sometimes and humble you," said fellow veteran Torii Hunter, who shared Pujols' power drought until hitting three homers in the last four games.

Pujols has the highest batting average and slugging percentage of any active player, but he's hitting .217 with just four RBIs and eight extra-base hits ? all doubles, and just one in the last nine games.

Pujols deploys a frustrated smirk whenever he's asked about his homerless start, saying he has "been in this situation before." He insists he's "putting good swings on the ball," as evidenced by that 350-foot foul ball in the fifth inning Monday night.

"I know what I need to do, and I'm making my adjustment," Pujols said. "I've been doing it for 12 years, so I know my hitting. Only God knows my swing better than me. When you're going through things like this, you've got to be careful who you listen to, because you have so many hitting coaches."

His actual hitting coach, Mickey Hatcher, irked Pujols on Monday night after the slugger learned the coach had shared fairly innocuous details about a pregame team meeting.

"That stuff needs to be private," Pujols said. "He should have never told the media. What we talked about at the meeting, not disrespecting Mickey, but that stuff should stay behind closed doors."

If Pujols wants extra coaching, he could get it from fellow players, talk-radio callers, and even fans on the street in Anaheim and Los Angeles, where Pujols' arrival was heralded by a massive marketing campaign and a sharp spike in ticket sales for the already-popular Angels, who outdrew the Dodgers for the first time last season.

The solutions range from swing adjustments to pressure-relieving mind games to extra days off. Pujols downplays the difficulties of switching leagues and studying the innumerable idiosyncrasies of 13 new pitching staffs, but Hunter acknowledges it's tough for Pujols.

Even ex-players have theories on Pujols, including Jim Leyritz, the former Yankees and Angels catcher who now hosts an Internet radio show.

"I can tell you that coming over from New York and playing here that first year (in 1997), it was tough to get motivated because the fans weren't the same," Leyritz said. "Every at-bat wasn't the World Series, and it took me a little while to get used to the slower pace. I'm sure that's what he's going through right now is that this is a little different pace than it was in St. Louis. It's different surroundings. It's going to take some time to adjust. Once he makes that adjustment, the rest of the American League better be careful."

Angels manager Mike Scioscia has tried numerous changes to his lineup, which ranks 13th out of 14 AL teams with just 80 runs in the Angels' first 23 games. Scioscia insists Pujols will find his own way out of the slump, even while it deepens.

"He's got a routine that's worked for him, he's committed to it, and there's nobody working harder to get out of this than Albert," Scioscia said. "Anyone who plays this game accepts the fact that there are going to be tough times during the season and during a career. But his talent is real, and he's going to grind it out until he gets to where he needs to be."

But 247 players have homered this season before Pujols, who led the NL in homers in 2009 and 2010. He hasn't even had many narrow misses, among them that foul ball and a drive off the top of the left-field fence against Oakland during the Angels' previous homestand.

Scioscia has no intention of moving Pujols from his No. 3 spot in the lineup. The Angels still have five months left in a season of enormous expectations, and they're confident Pujols has plenty of time to help fulfill them.

"Pujols, he's always going to get the nastiest of everything," Hunter said. "He's going to get the hardest pitches. The ball is going to move the most. ... I know, and everybody else knows, this guy is going to hit. Once he gets that big home run to win a game, it's over."

Associated Press

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A 100-gigabit highway for science: Researchers take a 'test drive' on ANI testbed

ScienceDaily (Apr. 30, 2012) ? Climate researchers are producing some of the fastest growing datasets in science. Five years ago, the amount of information generated for the Nobel Prize-winning United Nations International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report was 35 terabytes -- equivalent to the amount of text in 35 million books, occupying a bookshelf 248 miles (399 km) long. By 2014, when the next IPCC report is published, experts predict that 2 petabytes of data will have been generated for it -- that's a 580 percent increase in data production.

Because thousands of researchers around the world contribute to the generation and analysis of this data, a reliable, high-speed network is needed to transport the torrent of information. Fortunately, the Department of Energy's (DOE) ESnet (Energy Sciences Network) has laid the foundation for such a network -- not just for climate research, but for all data-intensive science.

"There is a data revolution occurring in science," says Greg Bell, acting director of ESnet, which is managed by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. "Over the last decade, the amount of scientific data transferred over our network has increased at a rate of about 72 percent per year, and we see that trend potentially accelerating."

In an effort to spur U.S. scientific competitiveness, as well as accelerate development and widespread deployment of 100-gigabit technology, the Advanced Networking Initiative (ANI) was created with $62 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and implemented by ESnet. ANI was established to build a 100 Gbps national prototype network and a wide-area network testbed.

To cost-effectively deploy ANI, ESnet partnered with Internet2 -- a consortium that provides high-performance network connections to universities across America -- which also received a stimulus grant from the Department of Commerce's Broadband Technologies Opportunities Program.

Researchers Take a "Test Drive" on ANI

So far more than 25 groups have taken advantage of ESnet's wide-area testbed, which is open to researchers from government agencies and private industry to test new, potentially disruptive technologies without interfering with production science network traffic. The testbed currently connects three unclassified DOE supercomputing facilities: the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) in Oakland, Calif., the Argonne Leadership Computing Facility (ALCF) in Argonne, Ill., and the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility (OLCF) in Oak Ridge, Tenn.

"No other networking organization has a 100-gigabit network testbed that is available to researchers in this way," says Brian Tierney, who heads ESnet's Advanced Networking Technologies Group. "Our 100G testbed has been about 80 percent booked since it became available in January, which just goes to show that there are a lot of researchers hungry for a resource like this."

Climate 100

To ensure that researchers will use future 100-gigabit effectively, another ARRA-funded project called Climate 100 brought together middleware and network engineers to develop tools and techniques for moving unprecedentedly massive amounts of climate data.

"Increasing network bandwidth is an important step toward tackling ever-growing scientific datasets, but it is not sufficient by itself; next-generation high-bandwidth networks need to be evaluated carefully from the applications perspective as well," says Mehmet Balman of Berkeley Lab's Scientific Data Management group, a member of the Climate 100 collaboration.

According to Balman, climate simulation data consists of a mix of relatively small and large files with irregular file size distribution in each dataset. This requires advanced middleware tools to move data efficiently on long-distance high-bandwidth networks.

"The ANI testbed essentially allowed us to 'test drive' on a 100-gigabit network to determine what kind of middleware tools we needed to build to transport climate data," says Balman. "Once the development was done, we used the testbed to optimize and tune."

At the 2011 Supercomputing Conference in Seattle, Wash., the Climate 100 team used their tool and the ANI testbed to transport 35 terabytes of climate data from NERSC's data storage to compute nodes at ALCF and OLCF.

"It took us approximately 30 minutes to move 35 terabytes of climate data over a wide-area 100 Gbps network. This is a great accomplishment," says Balman. "On a 10 Gbps network, it would have taken five hours to move this much data across the country."

Space Exploration

In 2024, the most powerful radio telescope ever constructed will go online. Comprising 3,000 satellite dishes spread over 250 acres, this instrument will generate more data in a single day than the entire Internet carries today. Optical fibers will connect each of these 15-meter-wide (50 ft.) satellite dishes to a central high performance computing system, which will combine all of the signals to create a detailed "big picture."

"Given the immense sensor payload, optical fiber interconnects are critical both at the central site and from remote stations to a single correlation facility," says William Ivancic, a senior research engineer at NASA's Glenn Research Center. "Future radio astronomy networks need to incorporate next generation network technologies like 100 Gbps long-range Ethernet links, or better, into their designs."

In anticipation of these future networks, Ivancic and his colleagues are utilizing a popular high-speed transfer protocol, called Saratoga, to effectively carry data over 100-gigabit long-range Ethernet links. But because it was cost-prohibitive to upgrade their local network with 100-gigabit hardware, the team could not determine how their software would perform in a real-world scenario -- that is, until they got access to the ANI testbed.

"Quite frankly, we would not be doing these speed tests without the ANI testbed," says David Stewart, an engineer at Verizon Federal Systems and Ivancic's colleague. "We are currently in the development and debugging phase, and have several implementations of our code. With the ANI testbed, we were able to optimize and scale our basic PERL implementation to far higher speeds than our NASA testbed."

End-to-End Delivery

Meanwhile, Dantong Yu, who leads the Computer Science Group at Brookhaven National Laboratory, used the ANI testbed to design an ultra-high-speed, end-to-end file transfer protocol tool to move science data at 100 gigabits per second across a national network.

"A network like ANI may be able to move data at 100 Gbps, but at each end of that connection there is a host server that either uploads or downloads data from the network," says Yu. "While the host servers may be capable of feeding data into the network and downloading it at 100 Gbps, the current software running on these systems is a bottleneck."

According to Yu, the bottlenecks are primarily caused by the number of times the current software forces the computer to make copies of the data before uploading it to the network.

"Initially I was testing this protocol at a very local lab level. In this scenario transfers happen in a split-second, which is far from reality," says Yu. "ANI allowed me to see how long it really takes to move data across the country, from East-to West Coast, with my software, which in turn helped me optimize the code."

The Next Steps

Within the next few months, the official ANI project will be coming to an end, but the community will continue to benefit for decades to come from its investments. The 100-gigabit prototype network will be converted into ESnet's fifth-generation production infrastructure, one that will be scale to 44 times its current. ESnet will also seek new sources of funding for the 100-gigabit testbed to ensure that it will be available to network researchers on a sustained basis.

"Since its inception, ESnet has delivered the advanced capabilities required by DOE science. Many of these capabilities are cost-prohibitive, or simply unavailable, on the commercial market," says Bell. "Because our network is optimized for the needs of DOE science, we're always looking for efficient ways to manage our large science flows. ESnet's new 100-Gigabit network will allow us to do that more flexibly and morecost-effectively than ever."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

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