Consumer Reports Rates Best Coffeemakers
(KDKA)
Every coffeemaker promises a pleasing cup of joe, but not every machine delivers. And Consumer Reports figures that by brewing coffee at home instead of buying it to go you can save nearly $350 a year. The experts with Consumer Reports devised tests to measure brewing temperature. And to get a good cup of coffee, researchers say brewing temperature should be between 195 and 205 degrees.
Bob Karpel, the lead tester at Consumer Reports, found that not all coffeemakers get hot enough to extract the best from the beans and avoid a weak or bitter brew. "We found, during our new brewing tests, that many coffee makers - even some costing more than $100 - didn't perform nearly as well in these brew tests as others costing half that price," said Karpel. In all, Consumer Reports tested 34 coffeemakers and found one of the most convenient models that reaches an excellent brew temperature is the programmable Michael Graves 12-Cup Coffeemaker. It's rated a Consumer Reports Best Buy and is available at Target for $40. "The programmable feature is a really nice feature," says Karpel. "It allows the coffeemaker to start up in the morning before you wake up, so that you have coffee when you get up."
Also, testers say single-serving pod machines let you simply drop in a sealed packet of coffee with no grinding, no scooping and no mess. However, Consumer Reports found the coffee to be pricey at 25 to 50 cents per pod, that's four times as much per cup as drip-coffee using supermarket brands. Instead, they say to look at the Melitta Take2, which costs just $25 and brewed a superb cup of coffee quickly. Consumer Reports also says consider trading the usual paper filter for a permanent metal one, which typically costs between $5 and $10 and can pay for itself in as little as a year.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
News Source: http://kdka.com/consumerreports/best.coffeemakers.Consumer.2.926771.html
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
15 ways to get rid of your gut now!
“The Belly Off Diet!” by Jeff Csatari and the editors of Men's Health takes a look at portion size as one of the leading causes of Americans' gargantuan guts. They also provide tips to help get you on the road to losing that pooch. An excerpt.
How did we get so heavy?
We eat too much food In 1960 the average American man weighed 166 pounds. The average woman weighed 140. Today, the average man weighs 191 pounds, and the average woman checks in at nearly what that dude wearing the skinny tie and horn-rimmed glasses used to weigh — 164. Amazing, no? But those are just averages. The scariest statistics can be found at the top of the scale: The number of Americans who are considered obese, essentially 30 or more pounds overweight, has almost doubled to around 40 million.
All this corresponds nicely with the increase in the amount of food Americans consumed since the Summer of Love. Back in the 1970s, the average man swallowed about 2,450 calories a day, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Now that figure is over 2,700 — an increase of nearly 10 percent!
Are you part of that national trend? A simple at-home exercise will paint a clear picture of both how much you eat and exactly what you’re putting in your mouth. Keep a food diary for 3 days.
Diary? Okay, now before you say, “I don’t do diaries,” consider this: Keeping a food diary is one of the most effective ways to lose your gut. The simple act of writing down what you eat each day can double the amount of weight you lose, according to one of the largest and longest-running weight-loss maintenance studies ever conducted. When doctors at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon, compared the different approaches to maintaining weight loss of 1,685 overweight or obese adults over 20 months, they found that people who kept track of their meals lost twice as much weight as those who didn’t.
Try it even for just one day. I guarantee it will be just as much of an eye-opener for you as it was for me. Your diary doesn’t have to be a formal chart. Scribble it on a calendar. Write it on a napkin as I did. It’s the process of reflecting on what we eat that helps us become aware of our habits and hopefully change our behavior, says Keith Bachman, M.D., a researcher at the Weight Management Initiative.
Our portions are enormous Have you gone to an Italian restaurant lately? (Hey, I’m not picking on Italians — someone in my kitchen would throw a cannoli at me.) Just think about what you see on your plate after you’ve noshed on that basket of garlic bread and the antipasti, and your server finally brings the spaghetti. A mound of pasta — easily three or more servings on that plate — with meatballs the size of oranges on top. There could be a Mount Vesuvius of 2,400 calories sitting there — and that’s before you get to the tiramisu. If you’re like me, you’ll eat it all. Thanks to Mom and Dad, who grew up during the Great Depression when food was scarce and taught us to clean our plates. Sop up gravy with another slice of Wonder Bread. There are children starving in Africa, you know.
Mom and Dad shouldn’t feel guilty for laying guilt on us. Blame the savvy marketers who created the enormous portions and the extra-value meals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has documented this unhealthy growth in food portion size:
In 1957, a serving of popcorn at the drive-in was 3 cups. Today a medium-size popcorn at the multiplex is 16 cups.
In 1957, 1 ounce of cooked ground beef made up your typical hamburger. Today the average hamburger is 6 ounces.
Muffins were tiny in 1957, about 1 1/2 ounces. Now they typically weigh in at 8 ounces and pack 400 calories.
A large soda in 1957 measured 8 fluid ounces compared with 32 ounces in 1997, or often 64 ounces today.
More from Men's Health
Lose weight with Belly Off! Regular guys’ success storiesDownload a workout Buy the book
Thanks to the big plates we’re getting when we eat out, we’ve become a culture of “more is better” where “super-size me” is our mantra when we order. And this has confused our sense of a proper serving size. Studies show that when people are asked to describe how much they eat, they invariably underestimate. Big time. Then there is the buffet phenomenon. When we are faced with an abundance of food and food choices, we tend to serve ourselves more than we need. One Rutgers University study measured the amount of food people served themselves from a breakfast buffet. Then they compared the results to a similar study conducted 19 years earlier. The recent study participants served themselves 16 percent more toast with jelly, 43 percent more orange juice, 28 percent more milk for their cereal, and 19 percent more cornflakes than the similar group did nearly two decades earlier.
Even diet experts who should know better mess up portion sizes. In a recent Cornell University study, nutritionists who were asked to serve themselves ice cream at a party using large bowls and spoons dished out about 31 percent more than those who were given smaller bowls and spoons. Cookies ’n’ Cream and Moosetracks have a miraculous way of tricking us into seeing our bowls as half empty.
Taking control of your portion sizes is one of the most effective ways to drastically cut out calories. And the best part about it is that on The Belly Off! Diet you don’t have to give up all of your favorite foods to do that.
Excerpted from “The Belly Off! Diet” by Jeff Csatari and the editors of Men's Health. Copyright (c) 2009 by Rodale Inc. Reprinted with permission from Rodale Inc. For more information on “The Belly Off! Diet,” click here.
News Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28937761/
How did we get so heavy?
We eat too much food In 1960 the average American man weighed 166 pounds. The average woman weighed 140. Today, the average man weighs 191 pounds, and the average woman checks in at nearly what that dude wearing the skinny tie and horn-rimmed glasses used to weigh — 164. Amazing, no? But those are just averages. The scariest statistics can be found at the top of the scale: The number of Americans who are considered obese, essentially 30 or more pounds overweight, has almost doubled to around 40 million.
All this corresponds nicely with the increase in the amount of food Americans consumed since the Summer of Love. Back in the 1970s, the average man swallowed about 2,450 calories a day, according to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys. Now that figure is over 2,700 — an increase of nearly 10 percent!
Are you part of that national trend? A simple at-home exercise will paint a clear picture of both how much you eat and exactly what you’re putting in your mouth. Keep a food diary for 3 days.
Diary? Okay, now before you say, “I don’t do diaries,” consider this: Keeping a food diary is one of the most effective ways to lose your gut. The simple act of writing down what you eat each day can double the amount of weight you lose, according to one of the largest and longest-running weight-loss maintenance studies ever conducted. When doctors at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon, compared the different approaches to maintaining weight loss of 1,685 overweight or obese adults over 20 months, they found that people who kept track of their meals lost twice as much weight as those who didn’t.
Try it even for just one day. I guarantee it will be just as much of an eye-opener for you as it was for me. Your diary doesn’t have to be a formal chart. Scribble it on a calendar. Write it on a napkin as I did. It’s the process of reflecting on what we eat that helps us become aware of our habits and hopefully change our behavior, says Keith Bachman, M.D., a researcher at the Weight Management Initiative.
Our portions are enormous Have you gone to an Italian restaurant lately? (Hey, I’m not picking on Italians — someone in my kitchen would throw a cannoli at me.) Just think about what you see on your plate after you’ve noshed on that basket of garlic bread and the antipasti, and your server finally brings the spaghetti. A mound of pasta — easily three or more servings on that plate — with meatballs the size of oranges on top. There could be a Mount Vesuvius of 2,400 calories sitting there — and that’s before you get to the tiramisu. If you’re like me, you’ll eat it all. Thanks to Mom and Dad, who grew up during the Great Depression when food was scarce and taught us to clean our plates. Sop up gravy with another slice of Wonder Bread. There are children starving in Africa, you know.
Mom and Dad shouldn’t feel guilty for laying guilt on us. Blame the savvy marketers who created the enormous portions and the extra-value meals. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has documented this unhealthy growth in food portion size:
In 1957, a serving of popcorn at the drive-in was 3 cups. Today a medium-size popcorn at the multiplex is 16 cups.
In 1957, 1 ounce of cooked ground beef made up your typical hamburger. Today the average hamburger is 6 ounces.
Muffins were tiny in 1957, about 1 1/2 ounces. Now they typically weigh in at 8 ounces and pack 400 calories.
A large soda in 1957 measured 8 fluid ounces compared with 32 ounces in 1997, or often 64 ounces today.
More from Men's Health
Lose weight with Belly Off! Regular guys’ success storiesDownload a workout Buy the book
Thanks to the big plates we’re getting when we eat out, we’ve become a culture of “more is better” where “super-size me” is our mantra when we order. And this has confused our sense of a proper serving size. Studies show that when people are asked to describe how much they eat, they invariably underestimate. Big time. Then there is the buffet phenomenon. When we are faced with an abundance of food and food choices, we tend to serve ourselves more than we need. One Rutgers University study measured the amount of food people served themselves from a breakfast buffet. Then they compared the results to a similar study conducted 19 years earlier. The recent study participants served themselves 16 percent more toast with jelly, 43 percent more orange juice, 28 percent more milk for their cereal, and 19 percent more cornflakes than the similar group did nearly two decades earlier.
Even diet experts who should know better mess up portion sizes. In a recent Cornell University study, nutritionists who were asked to serve themselves ice cream at a party using large bowls and spoons dished out about 31 percent more than those who were given smaller bowls and spoons. Cookies ’n’ Cream and Moosetracks have a miraculous way of tricking us into seeing our bowls as half empty.
Taking control of your portion sizes is one of the most effective ways to drastically cut out calories. And the best part about it is that on The Belly Off! Diet you don’t have to give up all of your favorite foods to do that.
Excerpted from “The Belly Off! Diet” by Jeff Csatari and the editors of Men's Health. Copyright (c) 2009 by Rodale Inc. Reprinted with permission from Rodale Inc. For more information on “The Belly Off! Diet,” click here.
News Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/28937761/
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wanna Bet On Superbowl?
With Super Bowl 43 just days away, one of the questions most often asked this time of the year is where to bet on the Superbowl online. Not that there aren't any sports betting websites, God knows, there are literally hundreds of online sportsbooks to choose from no matter in which country you live. But we always put quality over quantity and have compiled a small list of places to bet online on the 2009 Super Bowl. These are top quality sportsbooks where people can bet online without worry about their winnings or personal information.
Bodog Sportsbook (official site) - we recommend the sportsbook at the online gambling website Bodog for many reasons - it's one of the most popular sportsbooks, it's honest and safe. But the main reason we have placed Bodog above the rest for betting on the Super Bowl is the fact that this bookmaker has the best depositing methods, something very important this close to the start of the 2009 Super Bowl game. If you are new to online gambling, with the Super Bowl days away, you don't have time to open ewallets or look for alternative depositing methods and with Bodog Sports you can deposit quickly and effortlessly, even using your credit card. If you are looking for a quick deposit sportsbook to bet on the Super Bowl online, this one should be your first choice. Keep in mind however that Bodog is not available to Canadian bettors.
But if you live in Canada and want to bet online on the Super Bowl, Bookmaker (official website) is the perfect option for you. Another very popular offshore sportsbook, Bookmaker have no restrictions on player's country of residence, although its depositing methods may be a little limited, compared to Bodog. This sports betting website is perfect for more seasoned gamblers, who already have the different depositing alternatives in place and are looking for a good sportsbook to bet on the Super Bowl online. We do recommend Bookmaker for its quality odds, we actually use their odds when we write our football spread and odds previews, a true testament for quality and honesty. And as a matter of fact, Bookmaker is currently the fastest paying sportsbook on the internet. Players from all over the world are welcomed at Bookmaker to bet on the Super Bowl and multiple currencies are available for use.
And if you live in the UK or anywhere in Europe, we recommend the EU-facing online sportsbook Interwetten (official). You will not get as good odds as those posted at the sportsbooks above, but you will get a €111 free money to bet on the Super Bowl, which is a great offer and make the odds on the game look much better, when you add the €111 to your betting slip. Unfortunately, this betting site does not allow people from the USA to bet, but it's perfect for UK and other EU residents. So if you live in Europe and want to bet online on the Super Bowl, this should be your bookie of choice (not to mention that you can switch to the Interwetten casino and get €200 bonus).
News Source: http://www.ogpaper.com/news/news-02489.html
Bodog Sportsbook (official site) - we recommend the sportsbook at the online gambling website Bodog for many reasons - it's one of the most popular sportsbooks, it's honest and safe. But the main reason we have placed Bodog above the rest for betting on the Super Bowl is the fact that this bookmaker has the best depositing methods, something very important this close to the start of the 2009 Super Bowl game. If you are new to online gambling, with the Super Bowl days away, you don't have time to open ewallets or look for alternative depositing methods and with Bodog Sports you can deposit quickly and effortlessly, even using your credit card. If you are looking for a quick deposit sportsbook to bet on the Super Bowl online, this one should be your first choice. Keep in mind however that Bodog is not available to Canadian bettors.
But if you live in Canada and want to bet online on the Super Bowl, Bookmaker (official website) is the perfect option for you. Another very popular offshore sportsbook, Bookmaker have no restrictions on player's country of residence, although its depositing methods may be a little limited, compared to Bodog. This sports betting website is perfect for more seasoned gamblers, who already have the different depositing alternatives in place and are looking for a good sportsbook to bet on the Super Bowl online. We do recommend Bookmaker for its quality odds, we actually use their odds when we write our football spread and odds previews, a true testament for quality and honesty. And as a matter of fact, Bookmaker is currently the fastest paying sportsbook on the internet. Players from all over the world are welcomed at Bookmaker to bet on the Super Bowl and multiple currencies are available for use.
And if you live in the UK or anywhere in Europe, we recommend the EU-facing online sportsbook Interwetten (official). You will not get as good odds as those posted at the sportsbooks above, but you will get a €111 free money to bet on the Super Bowl, which is a great offer and make the odds on the game look much better, when you add the €111 to your betting slip. Unfortunately, this betting site does not allow people from the USA to bet, but it's perfect for UK and other EU residents. So if you live in Europe and want to bet online on the Super Bowl, this should be your bookie of choice (not to mention that you can switch to the Interwetten casino and get €200 bonus).
News Source: http://www.ogpaper.com/news/news-02489.html
Eat This Not That... Shake This Not That!
Erm... Oreo shake, anyone?
Eat This, Not That Authors List 2009's Worst Foods David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, the authors of Eat This, Not That, have compiled a list of foods you should not eat. The list includes categories like Worst supermarket meal (Marie Callender's Creamy Parmesan Chicken Pot Pie) and worst fast-food chicken meal (Dairy Queen 6-Piece Chicken Strip Basket). The food rated the worst food of 2009 is the Baskin Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake which has a staggering 2,600 calories.
"We didn't think anything could be worse than Baskin Robbins' 2008 bombshell, the Heath Bar Shake. After all, it had more sugar (266 grams) than 20 bowls of Froot Loops, more calories (2,310) than 11 actual Heath Bars, and more ingredients (73) than you'll find in most chemist labs. Rather than coming to their senses and removing it from the menu, they did themselves one worse and introduced this caloric catastrophe. It's soiled with more than a day's worth of calories and three days' worth of saturated fat, and, worst of all, usually takes less than 10 minutes to sip through a straw."
News Source: http://www.shoppingblog.com/cgi-bin/sblog.pl?sblog=1260920
Eat This, Not That Authors List 2009's Worst Foods David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, the authors of Eat This, Not That, have compiled a list of foods you should not eat. The list includes categories like Worst supermarket meal (Marie Callender's Creamy Parmesan Chicken Pot Pie) and worst fast-food chicken meal (Dairy Queen 6-Piece Chicken Strip Basket). The food rated the worst food of 2009 is the Baskin Robbins Large Chocolate Oreo Shake which has a staggering 2,600 calories.
"We didn't think anything could be worse than Baskin Robbins' 2008 bombshell, the Heath Bar Shake. After all, it had more sugar (266 grams) than 20 bowls of Froot Loops, more calories (2,310) than 11 actual Heath Bars, and more ingredients (73) than you'll find in most chemist labs. Rather than coming to their senses and removing it from the menu, they did themselves one worse and introduced this caloric catastrophe. It's soiled with more than a day's worth of calories and three days' worth of saturated fat, and, worst of all, usually takes less than 10 minutes to sip through a straw."
News Source: http://www.shoppingblog.com/cgi-bin/sblog.pl?sblog=1260920
Nude Lingerie Bowl VI?
Not.....
Dream on about what could have been!And here you were all set to enjoy the alternative event to the Super Bowl half-time show. How many times can you listen to Springsteen anyway?
That's why Lingerie Bowl VI was planned for you folks who are tired of what promoters say are:
..aging rockers who all have received less than favorable reviews."
Well the sponsors of the event, the folks that claim they run a full-on Lingerie Football League, couldn't obtain the correct permit to stage the spectacle in a vacant lot in Tampa. Yup, a vacant lot. Wonder if those arena leases in various cities that supposedly field teams are still valid?
But they were bailed out by the Caliente Luxury Resort, a nudist, oops, a clothing-optional resort in the city. Problems occurred when the Caliente folks refused to make clothing a required element of Sunday's event. Hell, why should they dress up for cameras?
They asked the sponsors why the participants couldn't go "uniform-optional". That question was posed to some players who flatly refused. They didn't sign up to play nude or to play in front of folks only wearing their best smiles.
According to a report published in the Toronto Star, those non-team players were dismissed for "lack of dedication".
The event has been canceled but no one has told the webmaster for the Lingerie Football League. And they even had a link to Google Maps just for you in case you couldn't find the place.
Back in October, hopes were high for the full Lingerie Football season.
News Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-426-Sports-Examiner~y2009m1d27-Lingerie-Bowl-scuttled-after-players-refuse-to-go-nude-in-Tampa
Dream on about what could have been!And here you were all set to enjoy the alternative event to the Super Bowl half-time show. How many times can you listen to Springsteen anyway?
That's why Lingerie Bowl VI was planned for you folks who are tired of what promoters say are:
..aging rockers who all have received less than favorable reviews."
Well the sponsors of the event, the folks that claim they run a full-on Lingerie Football League, couldn't obtain the correct permit to stage the spectacle in a vacant lot in Tampa. Yup, a vacant lot. Wonder if those arena leases in various cities that supposedly field teams are still valid?
But they were bailed out by the Caliente Luxury Resort, a nudist, oops, a clothing-optional resort in the city. Problems occurred when the Caliente folks refused to make clothing a required element of Sunday's event. Hell, why should they dress up for cameras?
They asked the sponsors why the participants couldn't go "uniform-optional". That question was posed to some players who flatly refused. They didn't sign up to play nude or to play in front of folks only wearing their best smiles.
According to a report published in the Toronto Star, those non-team players were dismissed for "lack of dedication".
The event has been canceled but no one has told the webmaster for the Lingerie Football League. And they even had a link to Google Maps just for you in case you couldn't find the place.
Back in October, hopes were high for the full Lingerie Football season.
News Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-426-Sports-Examiner~y2009m1d27-Lingerie-Bowl-scuttled-after-players-refuse-to-go-nude-in-Tampa
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Skate 2 - Xbox 360 Review
Reviewed by: Justin CalvertReviewed on 1/20/09 Updated on: 1/20/09 Release date: 1/21/09
When Skate was released in 2007, it took a fresh new approach with a control scheme that made tricks feel more realistic and satisfying than in any previous game. Skate 2 refines this system somewhat and, impressively, adds a wealth of new features and tricks to its predecessor's already sizable repertoire. Some needlessly frustrating challenges and annoying AI, as well as a couple of strange design choices (physics-enabled litter, anyone?) prevent this from being the great sequel that it should have been, but Skate 2 is still a lot of fun and bodes well for the future of series.
Take the time to explore the city and you'll inevitably find new spots to skate.
Like the first game, Skate 2 has something resembling a story in Career mode, though that story takes a backseat after the first hour or two. Returning to New San Vanelona after a stint in prison, you discover that the fictional city, which was largely destroyed by some kind of natural disaster while you were inside, is barely recognizable from the first game. The facelift comes courtesy of the Mongocorp company, an organization with a penchant for structures that incorporate quarter pipes, ramps, and rails, and with a seemingly endless supply of anti-skater caps and clips (you learn how to remove these early on) with which to adorn them. Mongocorp's security guards are quick to deal with any skaters who stray too close to the company's private property, but the city isn't anything like the police state that Skate 2's intro movie would have you believe it is.
Where the narrative is concerned, your goal in Skate 2 is to rebuild your career and to reclaim New San Vanelona for skaters in the process. Making a name for yourself as a skater involves entering races and trick competitions, going head-to-head with pros who have devised challenges for you, and doing photo shoots for magazines. Skate 2 is at its best when it affords you the freedom to perform whichever tricks you want to in pursuit of a high score or, as is the case in photo shoots, to adhere to fairly loose guidelines. Unfortunately, there are still a number of challenges in which you're told exactly which tricks you must perform to succeed, the most common of which are games of S.K.A.T.E. against the numerous pro skaters who appear in the game. Given that none of the tricks in Skate 2 require complex controls to perform, the problem isn't that performing specific tricks is difficult; it's just that so many tricks are executed in very similar ways. The analog-stick controls aren't precise enough for you to nail specific tricks every time, so you end up having to retry these challenges not because you bailed, but because you landed the wrong trick.
The retry button also gets some use during photo shoots when, on rare occasions, you might be told that you've failed a challenge when clearly you've fulfilled all of its criteria. The opposite is also true, and being told that you've passed a photo shoot when all you did was fall off of the end of a ramp or skate idly past the photographer can make for some particularly mundane magazine shots. It's conceivable that you'll make it through the entire game without encountering this particular bug, but it happened to us on more than one occasion.
Skitching is a great way to get around the city if you're in a hurry.
Challenges are scattered around the city, and you can reach them either by warping to them instantly via a menu screen or by skating around the city with an annotated map to help you. The former is a useful option if you're in a hurry to unlock pro skaters and licensed merchandise for use online, but the latter is definitely the better way to play because you inevitably find cool spots to skate as you explore, many with their own optional challenges. Being able to get off of your board means that you can reach areas such as the roofs of buildings that would otherwise be inaccessible, and although the on-foot controls feel clumsy, the ability to walk is nevertheless a welcome addition given the prevalence of flights of steps, curbs, and the like.
Stepping off of your board isn't good only for exploring and for negotiating steps; it's also the only way to take advantage of one of Skate 2's other new features: the ability to move objects around to create your own skate spots. This feature is used only rarely in challenges, which is just as well because though it's a great idea in theory, it doesn't add a lot to the game in practice. Moving large objects around is surprisingly easy; you stand next to the item that you want to move, hold down a shoulder button, and use the analogs to reposition and rotate it. The problem is that dumpsters, ramps, and grind rails that are light enough to be pulled and pushed around by a single skater are also light enough to be moved when skaters accidentally bump into them. After you take the time to perfectly align ramps and other items, it's irritating that they get moved around so easily. There's an option to reset them to their intended positions if you remembered to mark them, but an option to simply glue them in place so they don't move at all would have been welcome.
Skate 2 Review of Skate 2 (Xbox 360)
Skate 2 is grounded in realism, but isn't afraid to ditch it in favor of good gameplay. This is great when it comes to activities such as repositioning large objects or performing insane tricks while leaping from the tops of buildings. Sometimes, though, the game's realism can get in the way of you having a good time. For example, having pedestrians and traffic cross a line that you have to take to complete a challenge can get frustrating after repeated attempts. Furthermore, when the pedestrians start dropping physics-enabled litter, things can get so bad that you have to resort to picking up a quarter pipe and using it to sweep apples, bottles, and handbags out of the way.
New tricks in your repertoire include a number of handplants.
Other skaters can also be a problem, especially when you're taking part in a challenge that requires a number of you to skate simultaneously in a relatively small space. For instance, at the start of a three-on-three contest in the Career mode, there's a good chance that your two teammates will crash into one another at the start of every run. AI skaters are seemingly unaware of each other's existence, and they certainly don't pay any attention to what you're doing. Collisions are avoidable if you keep an eye out for other skaters, but the camera is occasionally too busy showing you how good you look to show you where you're headed.
Collisions aren't always enabled when you play online, but they're also not a huge problem anyway because other players are a lot smarter than the AI guys.
Online options in Skate 2 include a number of different competitive modes such as races, trick events, and contests to see who can hurt themselves the most when bailing. More interesting than any of those, though, are the Burnout Paradise-style co-op challenges that require everyone to work together toward a common goal. Some of these challenges, such as accumulating a high score within a time limit by adding all six players' scores together, are quite easy because skilled players can carry anyone who's struggling. Other challenges, such as having six players grind a rail simultaneously or accumulating a high score in a situation in which any one of them bailing or skating too slowly resets the counter to zero, can be tough even in talented company. There's plenty of fun stuff to do while playing online, and the only drawback is that you're confined to relatively small areas of the city rather than given the freedom to explore the whole map with your friends.
Skate 2's offline multiplayer offering is limited to a Party Play mode that supports up to four players on a single console. The Spot Battle (trick scores), Hall of Meat (nasty wipeout scores), and S.K.A.T.E. (copy each other's tricks) games here are all turn-based, so four of you can even compete using the same controller. The lack of split-screen support might be disappointing for some, but simultaneous play would undoubtedly detract from rather than enhance the included Party Play games in any case. If you feel like taking a break from skating to flex your creative muscles, Skate 2 has got you covered. Not only can you create custom logos and graphics for your clothing and deck on the game's official Web site and instantly export them to your game, but there's also a decent video-editing tool that you can use to customize replays. It's a shame that said replays are limited to around 30 seconds in length, but that's plenty long enough to make some great-looking shorts to share online using the included gameplay, tripod, and "follow" camera options. Additional camera options and storage space for replays will purportedly be made available for download at a later date, which probably explains why there are no cool filters to play around with out of the box this time around.
The co-operative online play liberally borrows ideas from Burnout Paradise.
Skate 2 is a great-looking game. There are some low-res textures here and there, but the attention to detail throughout New San Vanelona is impressive, and the skaters animate incredibly well--at least until they step off of their boards. The audio is similarly impressive, with believable sound effects that seemingly take into account every conceivable wheel movement and different skating surface. An eclectic soundtrack of more than 50 songs occasionally offers a welcome distraction from the noises of cars honking and pedestrians yelling at you, with contributions from such bands as Black Sabbath, ELO, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Public Enemy, The Clash, and Wu-Tang Clan.
Even if you've played a lot of Skate, there are definitely enough new features and improvements in Skate 2 to make it worth a look. The presentation is slick, the controls are great, and at times you really do feel like you're skateboarding. It's unfortunate that things get dragged down by the occasionally frustrating and buggy challenges; that walking on foot isn't handled better; and that the game's physics and artificial intelligence aren't consistent and sometimes get in the way of the gameplay; because Skate 2 has so much to offer. Oh, and the bone-breaking bails that would kill you in real life are just another way to earn money here, so Skate 2 is not only a fun alternative to taking to the streets, it's a safe one.
Basic Specs
Product Basic Spec: Platform: Xbox 360 ESRB rating: Teen - Mild Violence,Language,Alcohol Reference,Suggestive Themes Genre: Sports Number of players: 1-4 Players Connectivity: Scoreboards Customization: Downloadable Content Offline modes: Competitive Online modes: Cooperative,Competitive Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Resolution: 1080i,Widescreen
News Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/xbox-360-games/skate-2-xbox-360/4514-11457_7-32857098.html?part=cnet&subj=Skate+2+(Xbox+360)
When Skate was released in 2007, it took a fresh new approach with a control scheme that made tricks feel more realistic and satisfying than in any previous game. Skate 2 refines this system somewhat and, impressively, adds a wealth of new features and tricks to its predecessor's already sizable repertoire. Some needlessly frustrating challenges and annoying AI, as well as a couple of strange design choices (physics-enabled litter, anyone?) prevent this from being the great sequel that it should have been, but Skate 2 is still a lot of fun and bodes well for the future of series.
Take the time to explore the city and you'll inevitably find new spots to skate.
Like the first game, Skate 2 has something resembling a story in Career mode, though that story takes a backseat after the first hour or two. Returning to New San Vanelona after a stint in prison, you discover that the fictional city, which was largely destroyed by some kind of natural disaster while you were inside, is barely recognizable from the first game. The facelift comes courtesy of the Mongocorp company, an organization with a penchant for structures that incorporate quarter pipes, ramps, and rails, and with a seemingly endless supply of anti-skater caps and clips (you learn how to remove these early on) with which to adorn them. Mongocorp's security guards are quick to deal with any skaters who stray too close to the company's private property, but the city isn't anything like the police state that Skate 2's intro movie would have you believe it is.
Where the narrative is concerned, your goal in Skate 2 is to rebuild your career and to reclaim New San Vanelona for skaters in the process. Making a name for yourself as a skater involves entering races and trick competitions, going head-to-head with pros who have devised challenges for you, and doing photo shoots for magazines. Skate 2 is at its best when it affords you the freedom to perform whichever tricks you want to in pursuit of a high score or, as is the case in photo shoots, to adhere to fairly loose guidelines. Unfortunately, there are still a number of challenges in which you're told exactly which tricks you must perform to succeed, the most common of which are games of S.K.A.T.E. against the numerous pro skaters who appear in the game. Given that none of the tricks in Skate 2 require complex controls to perform, the problem isn't that performing specific tricks is difficult; it's just that so many tricks are executed in very similar ways. The analog-stick controls aren't precise enough for you to nail specific tricks every time, so you end up having to retry these challenges not because you bailed, but because you landed the wrong trick.
The retry button also gets some use during photo shoots when, on rare occasions, you might be told that you've failed a challenge when clearly you've fulfilled all of its criteria. The opposite is also true, and being told that you've passed a photo shoot when all you did was fall off of the end of a ramp or skate idly past the photographer can make for some particularly mundane magazine shots. It's conceivable that you'll make it through the entire game without encountering this particular bug, but it happened to us on more than one occasion.
Skitching is a great way to get around the city if you're in a hurry.
Challenges are scattered around the city, and you can reach them either by warping to them instantly via a menu screen or by skating around the city with an annotated map to help you. The former is a useful option if you're in a hurry to unlock pro skaters and licensed merchandise for use online, but the latter is definitely the better way to play because you inevitably find cool spots to skate as you explore, many with their own optional challenges. Being able to get off of your board means that you can reach areas such as the roofs of buildings that would otherwise be inaccessible, and although the on-foot controls feel clumsy, the ability to walk is nevertheless a welcome addition given the prevalence of flights of steps, curbs, and the like.
Stepping off of your board isn't good only for exploring and for negotiating steps; it's also the only way to take advantage of one of Skate 2's other new features: the ability to move objects around to create your own skate spots. This feature is used only rarely in challenges, which is just as well because though it's a great idea in theory, it doesn't add a lot to the game in practice. Moving large objects around is surprisingly easy; you stand next to the item that you want to move, hold down a shoulder button, and use the analogs to reposition and rotate it. The problem is that dumpsters, ramps, and grind rails that are light enough to be pulled and pushed around by a single skater are also light enough to be moved when skaters accidentally bump into them. After you take the time to perfectly align ramps and other items, it's irritating that they get moved around so easily. There's an option to reset them to their intended positions if you remembered to mark them, but an option to simply glue them in place so they don't move at all would have been welcome.
Skate 2 Review of Skate 2 (Xbox 360)
Skate 2 is grounded in realism, but isn't afraid to ditch it in favor of good gameplay. This is great when it comes to activities such as repositioning large objects or performing insane tricks while leaping from the tops of buildings. Sometimes, though, the game's realism can get in the way of you having a good time. For example, having pedestrians and traffic cross a line that you have to take to complete a challenge can get frustrating after repeated attempts. Furthermore, when the pedestrians start dropping physics-enabled litter, things can get so bad that you have to resort to picking up a quarter pipe and using it to sweep apples, bottles, and handbags out of the way.
New tricks in your repertoire include a number of handplants.
Other skaters can also be a problem, especially when you're taking part in a challenge that requires a number of you to skate simultaneously in a relatively small space. For instance, at the start of a three-on-three contest in the Career mode, there's a good chance that your two teammates will crash into one another at the start of every run. AI skaters are seemingly unaware of each other's existence, and they certainly don't pay any attention to what you're doing. Collisions are avoidable if you keep an eye out for other skaters, but the camera is occasionally too busy showing you how good you look to show you where you're headed.
Collisions aren't always enabled when you play online, but they're also not a huge problem anyway because other players are a lot smarter than the AI guys.
Online options in Skate 2 include a number of different competitive modes such as races, trick events, and contests to see who can hurt themselves the most when bailing. More interesting than any of those, though, are the Burnout Paradise-style co-op challenges that require everyone to work together toward a common goal. Some of these challenges, such as accumulating a high score within a time limit by adding all six players' scores together, are quite easy because skilled players can carry anyone who's struggling. Other challenges, such as having six players grind a rail simultaneously or accumulating a high score in a situation in which any one of them bailing or skating too slowly resets the counter to zero, can be tough even in talented company. There's plenty of fun stuff to do while playing online, and the only drawback is that you're confined to relatively small areas of the city rather than given the freedom to explore the whole map with your friends.
Skate 2's offline multiplayer offering is limited to a Party Play mode that supports up to four players on a single console. The Spot Battle (trick scores), Hall of Meat (nasty wipeout scores), and S.K.A.T.E. (copy each other's tricks) games here are all turn-based, so four of you can even compete using the same controller. The lack of split-screen support might be disappointing for some, but simultaneous play would undoubtedly detract from rather than enhance the included Party Play games in any case. If you feel like taking a break from skating to flex your creative muscles, Skate 2 has got you covered. Not only can you create custom logos and graphics for your clothing and deck on the game's official Web site and instantly export them to your game, but there's also a decent video-editing tool that you can use to customize replays. It's a shame that said replays are limited to around 30 seconds in length, but that's plenty long enough to make some great-looking shorts to share online using the included gameplay, tripod, and "follow" camera options. Additional camera options and storage space for replays will purportedly be made available for download at a later date, which probably explains why there are no cool filters to play around with out of the box this time around.
The co-operative online play liberally borrows ideas from Burnout Paradise.
Skate 2 is a great-looking game. There are some low-res textures here and there, but the attention to detail throughout New San Vanelona is impressive, and the skaters animate incredibly well--at least until they step off of their boards. The audio is similarly impressive, with believable sound effects that seemingly take into account every conceivable wheel movement and different skating surface. An eclectic soundtrack of more than 50 songs occasionally offers a welcome distraction from the noises of cars honking and pedestrians yelling at you, with contributions from such bands as Black Sabbath, ELO, Judas Priest, Motorhead, Public Enemy, The Clash, and Wu-Tang Clan.
Even if you've played a lot of Skate, there are definitely enough new features and improvements in Skate 2 to make it worth a look. The presentation is slick, the controls are great, and at times you really do feel like you're skateboarding. It's unfortunate that things get dragged down by the occasionally frustrating and buggy challenges; that walking on foot isn't handled better; and that the game's physics and artificial intelligence aren't consistent and sometimes get in the way of the gameplay; because Skate 2 has so much to offer. Oh, and the bone-breaking bails that would kill you in real life are just another way to earn money here, so Skate 2 is not only a fun alternative to taking to the streets, it's a safe one.
Basic Specs
Product Basic Spec: Platform: Xbox 360 ESRB rating: Teen - Mild Violence,Language,Alcohol Reference,Suggestive Themes Genre: Sports Number of players: 1-4 Players Connectivity: Scoreboards Customization: Downloadable Content Offline modes: Competitive Online modes: Cooperative,Competitive Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Resolution: 1080i,Widescreen
News Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/xbox-360-games/skate-2-xbox-360/4514-11457_7-32857098.html?part=cnet&subj=Skate+2+(Xbox+360)
Monday, January 19, 2009
More Killer Peanut Butter on the loose!
The Peanut Butter recall of 2009 continues, with new products added to the list, and some cleared.
Affected (on top of Kellogs)
Little Debbie snacks is recalling two kinds of peanut butter crackers that could be contaminated with the bacteria.
H.E. Butt Grocery Co. is recalling all of its H-E-Buddy snack packs that contain peanut butter. Affected products include H-E-Buddy Celery w/Peanut Butter; H-E-Buddy Apples w/Peanut Butter and H-E-Buddy Snack Tray w/two Dips, all with expiration dates between Jan. 16 and Jan. 22
Perry’s Ice Cream sold under the Wegmans brand peanut butter have been recalled.
Peanut butter cookies sold at Walmart under the Walmart brand have been recalled.
Hy-Vee’s bakery — peanut butter cookies, monster cookies, peanut butter Reeses Pieces cookies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, lunchbox Reeses Pieces cookies and peanut butter cookies, people chow party mix and assorted truffle fudge have been recalled.
Not affected
Lance Inc, Tasty Baking Co, Hershey Co and ConAgra Foods said their products with peanut-butter or peanut-based ingredients are not impacted by the federal government’s investigation into an outbreak of salmonella food poisoning.
The two bakers of Girl Scout cookies — Virginia-based ABC Bakers and Kentucky-based Little Brownie Bakers — say all peanut butter Girl Scout cookies are safe to eat, as the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) did not supply any peanut products to either baker.
News Source: http://www.inquisitr.com/15816/peanut-butter-recall-2009-latest-more-food-pulled-some-cleared/
Affected (on top of Kellogs)
Little Debbie snacks is recalling two kinds of peanut butter crackers that could be contaminated with the bacteria.
H.E. Butt Grocery Co. is recalling all of its H-E-Buddy snack packs that contain peanut butter. Affected products include H-E-Buddy Celery w/Peanut Butter; H-E-Buddy Apples w/Peanut Butter and H-E-Buddy Snack Tray w/two Dips, all with expiration dates between Jan. 16 and Jan. 22
Perry’s Ice Cream sold under the Wegmans brand peanut butter have been recalled.
Peanut butter cookies sold at Walmart under the Walmart brand have been recalled.
Hy-Vee’s bakery — peanut butter cookies, monster cookies, peanut butter Reeses Pieces cookies, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, lunchbox Reeses Pieces cookies and peanut butter cookies, people chow party mix and assorted truffle fudge have been recalled.
Not affected
Lance Inc, Tasty Baking Co, Hershey Co and ConAgra Foods said their products with peanut-butter or peanut-based ingredients are not impacted by the federal government’s investigation into an outbreak of salmonella food poisoning.
The two bakers of Girl Scout cookies — Virginia-based ABC Bakers and Kentucky-based Little Brownie Bakers — say all peanut butter Girl Scout cookies are safe to eat, as the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) did not supply any peanut products to either baker.
News Source: http://www.inquisitr.com/15816/peanut-butter-recall-2009-latest-more-food-pulled-some-cleared/
Partial List of Killer Peanut Butter!
An initial peanut butter recall issued last week for large tubs of peanut butter potentially contaminated with Salmonella, was expanded over the weekend to include peanut paste made at the same manufacturing plant. This paste may have been used by a number of different manufacturers in products like peanut butter crackers, cookies, cakes and ice cream.
Health officials indicate that a recent salmonella food poisoning outbreak, which has surfaced over the past four months, appears to be linked to peanut butter manufactured at a Georgia processing plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America.
Product samples have tested positive for Salmonella typhimurium, which is the same strain of bacteria that has been identified in over 400 people who have been sickened in at least 43 states.
According to a peanut butter recall notice issued by Peanut Corporation of America on January 13, 2009, 21 lots of large 5 pound to 50 pound containers of peanut butter sold through distributors to schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other food service providers were recalled due to potential salmonella contamination.
At that time, the manufacturer indicated that none of the peanut butter recalled was being sold
directly to consumers through retail stores.
On January 18, 2009, the Peanut Corporation of America recall was expanded to include peanut paste manufactured at the same Georgia processing plant. The peanut paste, which is a concentrated product containing ground, roasted peanuts, was sold to manufacturers of a variety of different products that contain peanut butter.
On Sunday and Monday, a number of different manufacturers who sold products containing peanut butter which may have come from paste produced by Peanut Corporation of America issued recalls of their own. Some of the recalls include variations of:
Austin Peanut Butter Crackers
Keebler Peanut Butter Crackers
Famous Amos Peanut butter Cookies
Keebler Peanut Butter Cookies
Perry’s Peanut Butter Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt
Shurfine Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream
Wegmans Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Little Debbie Peanut Butter Crackers
South Bend Chocolate and Fudge with Peanut Butter
Food Lion Peanut Butter Cookies
Lofthouse Peanut Butter Cookies
Chuck’s Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies
Pastries Plus Gourmet Cookies
Wal-Mart Peanut Butter Cookies
Given the growing number of products being recalled and the difficulty identifying which products may contain contaminated peanut butter with salmonella, the FDA is urging consumers to avoid eating any commercially-prepared products with peanut butter or peanut butter served at hospitals, nursing homes, schools or other institutional food service locations.
Peanut butter salmonella food poisoning could result in nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever or abdominal cramps, with symptoms often appearing within 12 to 72 hours and lasting from 4 to 7 days.
While most healthy adults recover without substantial long-term complications, young children, older individuals and those with a weak immune system could be at a greater risk of serious infection, which may result in hospitalization or even death if not treated promptly.
Consumers who believe that they may have peanut butter products that were recalled can contact the manufacturer for additional information.
Food poisoning attorneys who are investigating and reviewing potential peanut butter salmonella lawsuits have recommended that any individuals who have been sickened by a peanut butter product preserve and store any uneaten portions for future testing. The products should be stored in a manner to prevent further consumption.
News Source: http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/peanut-butter-salmonella-recall-expanded-2440/
Health officials indicate that a recent salmonella food poisoning outbreak, which has surfaced over the past four months, appears to be linked to peanut butter manufactured at a Georgia processing plant owned by Peanut Corporation of America.
Product samples have tested positive for Salmonella typhimurium, which is the same strain of bacteria that has been identified in over 400 people who have been sickened in at least 43 states.
According to a peanut butter recall notice issued by Peanut Corporation of America on January 13, 2009, 21 lots of large 5 pound to 50 pound containers of peanut butter sold through distributors to schools, hospitals, nursing homes and other food service providers were recalled due to potential salmonella contamination.
At that time, the manufacturer indicated that none of the peanut butter recalled was being sold
directly to consumers through retail stores.
On January 18, 2009, the Peanut Corporation of America recall was expanded to include peanut paste manufactured at the same Georgia processing plant. The peanut paste, which is a concentrated product containing ground, roasted peanuts, was sold to manufacturers of a variety of different products that contain peanut butter.
On Sunday and Monday, a number of different manufacturers who sold products containing peanut butter which may have come from paste produced by Peanut Corporation of America issued recalls of their own. Some of the recalls include variations of:
Austin Peanut Butter Crackers
Keebler Peanut Butter Crackers
Famous Amos Peanut butter Cookies
Keebler Peanut Butter Cookies
Perry’s Peanut Butter Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt
Shurfine Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream
Wegmans Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Little Debbie Peanut Butter Crackers
South Bend Chocolate and Fudge with Peanut Butter
Food Lion Peanut Butter Cookies
Lofthouse Peanut Butter Cookies
Chuck’s Chunky Peanut Butter Cookies
Pastries Plus Gourmet Cookies
Wal-Mart Peanut Butter Cookies
Given the growing number of products being recalled and the difficulty identifying which products may contain contaminated peanut butter with salmonella, the FDA is urging consumers to avoid eating any commercially-prepared products with peanut butter or peanut butter served at hospitals, nursing homes, schools or other institutional food service locations.
Peanut butter salmonella food poisoning could result in nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever or abdominal cramps, with symptoms often appearing within 12 to 72 hours and lasting from 4 to 7 days.
While most healthy adults recover without substantial long-term complications, young children, older individuals and those with a weak immune system could be at a greater risk of serious infection, which may result in hospitalization or even death if not treated promptly.
Consumers who believe that they may have peanut butter products that were recalled can contact the manufacturer for additional information.
Food poisoning attorneys who are investigating and reviewing potential peanut butter salmonella lawsuits have recommended that any individuals who have been sickened by a peanut butter product preserve and store any uneaten portions for future testing. The products should be stored in a manner to prevent further consumption.
News Source: http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/peanut-butter-salmonella-recall-expanded-2440/
Attack of the Killer Peanut Butter!
Six people have died and dozens more have been hospitalized after a salmonella outbreak linked to peanut butter. How do you know what is safe and what peanut butter snacks to throw out?
Karen Tambasco and her daughter Paige said they have been staying on top of the recall since they heard it on the news. Karen said her daughter takes peanut butter sandwiches to school everyday but now when it comes to peanut butter, the nine-year-old says no. Paige said, "Just to be sure because it's better to be safe than sorry."Even though theFDAsays peanut butter in the jar is safe, Karen says, "She's uncomfortable eating peanut butter from the jar. Until we get more information from the government about what this is all about.
"Dozens of peanut butter products have been recalled; most of them cookies or crackers. The recall includes products made byKeebler,Famous Amos,Little Debbie and theWal-Martbakery.Perry'sand Wegmans brand peanut butter ice cream flavors have also been taken off the shelves.The recall doesn't just affect grocery stories.Foodlinkis also in the process of checking donations, adding some more work for the volunteers but volunteer Virginia Goodwine says, "I'd rather be sorting through this making sure everything's ok than just sending it out there."
At Wegmans, people are still buying peanut butter products but for the Tambascos, "It's a little intimidating but mistakes happen and things happen so sometimes it causes consumers to take a step up and really look out for themselves."Customers should know anything you purchased at Wegmans is safe to eat; all recalled products have been pulled from the shelves.If you want more detailed information on the recall,click here.Salmonellapoisoning symptoms:- diarrhea- fever- stomach cramps are all symptoms of salmonella poisoning.*It can be deadly; call the doctor if you think you're infected*
News source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28737556/
Karen Tambasco and her daughter Paige said they have been staying on top of the recall since they heard it on the news. Karen said her daughter takes peanut butter sandwiches to school everyday but now when it comes to peanut butter, the nine-year-old says no. Paige said, "Just to be sure because it's better to be safe than sorry."Even though theFDAsays peanut butter in the jar is safe, Karen says, "She's uncomfortable eating peanut butter from the jar. Until we get more information from the government about what this is all about.
"Dozens of peanut butter products have been recalled; most of them cookies or crackers. The recall includes products made byKeebler,Famous Amos,Little Debbie and theWal-Martbakery.Perry'sand Wegmans brand peanut butter ice cream flavors have also been taken off the shelves.The recall doesn't just affect grocery stories.Foodlinkis also in the process of checking donations, adding some more work for the volunteers but volunteer Virginia Goodwine says, "I'd rather be sorting through this making sure everything's ok than just sending it out there."
At Wegmans, people are still buying peanut butter products but for the Tambascos, "It's a little intimidating but mistakes happen and things happen so sometimes it causes consumers to take a step up and really look out for themselves."Customers should know anything you purchased at Wegmans is safe to eat; all recalled products have been pulled from the shelves.If you want more detailed information on the recall,click here.Salmonellapoisoning symptoms:- diarrhea- fever- stomach cramps are all symptoms of salmonella poisoning.*It can be deadly; call the doctor if you think you're infected*
News source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28737556/
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Hell yeah, I'll sue over 207 million too..!
Co-Workers Sue Over $207M Lottery Win
By The Staff at wowOwow.com
Bad day to take a sick day.
Four city workers — who had been polling their money in the office pot for nearly five years under the verbal agreement that they’d all share the winnings — were out of the office and unavailable to contribute to the office pool for a drawing last month that resulted in a $207 million payoff.
The four planitiffs are suing 15 co-workers who are keeping the $207 million Mega Millions lottery winnings all to themselves. The plantiffs claim they joined with the other participants in a pool for the December 9 Mega Millions. They won some cash in that drawing, and some of the winnings were allegedly used to purchase tickets for the December 12 drawing, which resulted in the jackpot.
News source: http://www.wowowow.com/post/co-workers-sue-over-207m-lottery-win-167774?promo=news
By The Staff at wowOwow.com
Bad day to take a sick day.
Four city workers — who had been polling their money in the office pot for nearly five years under the verbal agreement that they’d all share the winnings — were out of the office and unavailable to contribute to the office pool for a drawing last month that resulted in a $207 million payoff.
The four planitiffs are suing 15 co-workers who are keeping the $207 million Mega Millions lottery winnings all to themselves. The plantiffs claim they joined with the other participants in a pool for the December 9 Mega Millions. They won some cash in that drawing, and some of the winnings were allegedly used to purchase tickets for the December 12 drawing, which resulted in the jackpot.
News source: http://www.wowowow.com/post/co-workers-sue-over-207m-lottery-win-167774?promo=news
Old Spaghetti Factory Throws a Party!
The Old Spaghetti Factory celebrates its fortieth birthday this year, but instead of crying about middle age, the famous chain is throwing a party.
On Tuesday, January 6, diners at all 37 locations nationwide, including the one in Denver, at 1215 18th Street, will offer full meals for around $3, or about what they were when the company first opened for business in Portland, Oregon in 1969.
Denver's location opened just four years later in the historic Denver City Cable Railway Company building and has been there ever since - making the Old Spaghetti Factory an historic landmark in its own right.
Prices on the Tuesday night menu range from $2.35 for spaghetti with tomato sauce (normally $7.99) to $3.35 for spaghetti with browned butter and cheese (normally $9.99). All dinners include salad, bread and ice cream for dessert. The deal lasts from 5 p.m. to close on dine-in meals only; the restaurant won't be taking reservations that night.
The Old Spaghetti Factory will also offer 40 percent its dinner menu on Mondays and Tuesdays for the rest of January. Go to www.osf.com for more info. -- Jonathan Shikes
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