Should you wear a hazmat suit when you operate an elevator

In their quest to culture every object on planet Earth, researchers have found that hospital elevator buttons are more contaminated with bacteria than restroom surfaces.

Of 120 randomly cultured elevator buttons, 73 (61%) grew bacteria. Washroom surfaces were cultured 96 times with 41 (43%) showing microbial growth.

As is customary with papers like this, the media sensationalized the findings with headlines like "Why you should never ever touch that hospital elevator button."

Most stories eventually mentioned the fact that the authors said the majority of bacteria found ”had low pathogenicity," but some, including Vox.com, mrsaidblog.com, newsok.com, and mynews13.com, did not. In fact, the MRSAID blog also confused the benign streptococcus found in this paper with the pathogen that causes strep throat.

Ive written several posts about the culturing of various inanimate objects and pointed out that disease transmission has not been documented for almost all surfaces on which bacteria are found. If you click on the "Infection" label to your right, you can read as many as you wish.

Like most papers in this genre, this one has some flaws. You can read the full text here.

It was published in an open-access journal called "Open Medicine." It is not among the top 40 internal medicine journals listed by impact factor. It has no discernible impact factor at all and is not listed PubMed.

The title of the paper "Elevator buttons as unrecognized sources of bacterial colonization in hospitals" overstates the case a bit.

This table shows the types of bacteria found on both the elevator buttons and surfaces in the restrooms.

You can see that pathogens were few. Multiple organisms were found in several instances accounting for some of the numerical discrepancies. I could not figure out how the percentages were calculated. In neither column did the percentages add up to 100%.

Samples of restrooms surfaces were taken "a few months" after the elevator buttons were cultured. The authors conceded that this may have confounded the results.

Washroom sample swabs were taken from the exterior and interior entry-door handles, the privacy latch, and the toilet flusher. They did not swab toilet seats, which previous studies have shown are the gold standard to which all inanimate surfaces should be compared.

It may surprise you to learn that most of the bacteria found on elevator buttons and restroom surfaces can also normally be found ON YOUR HANDS!

Read More..

Interview Kevin Porter

Actor Kevin Porter has won the geek world over with his portrayal of Batman in the fan films Seeds of Arkham and Batman: City of Scars. He has been hailed by fans as one of the best actors to ever wear the cape and cowl. Kevin took some time to talk to the Confessions of a Cosplay Girl Blog about how he got involved with Bat in the Sun productions, preparing for the role of the Caped Crusader, his thoughts on Ben Affleck and much more!



Victoria: How long have you been acting and are you trained in the arts?

 Kevin: I’ve been acting since college. I went to Newberry College in South Carolina on a football scholarship and was approached my freshman year to audition for the Robert Bolt play ‘A Man for all Seasons’. I fell in love with acting and theater at that point and it’s been a part of my life ever since.

 Victoria: How did you get involved with Bat in the Sun studios?

 Kevin: I first met Aaron and Sean Schoenke at the San Diego Comic Con in 2003. I was there making a Batman appearance for DC and Mattel. Aaron had a Bat in the Sun t-shirt on, and I was familiar with their first film “Batman Beyond: Year One”. I commented to them about it while on set, that’s actually caught on tape as Sean was filming all of this. They later reached out through a mutual connection and offered me the role of Batman in their next project.

Victoria: Are you a comic book fan?

Kevin: Always. I am a huge fan of the source material as that’s where the truth of the characters lies, in the intent of the writers. I have been an avid collector all of my life.

Victoria: How long does it take to complete a Bat in the Sun film?

Kevin: Well, for me, its pretty quick. I get the call from the guys and a specific date. That gives me lead time to get to where I need to be physically. City of Scars was an anomaly as it took well over a year and countless nights but mostly, with these mini-shorts as I call them that they are doing now, they are shot in a day or maybe two. But the true work comes after the shoot when Aaron pours over the footage and assembles the amazing edits that he does time and again. People don’t recognize Aaron’s genius editing as much. They all know what a great director he is, but the Schoenkes are the total package and have no weak spots. 

Victoria: What are your thoughts on Ben Affleck being cast as Batman in the Man of Steel sequel?

 Kevin: I think that he will do well. Hes older, wiser and the suit will do most of the work. I trust Zack Snyder.

 Victoria: How did you prepare to play the role of Batman?

 Kevin: Its just something that is within me. Its very natural to shift gears. I am not this way in my everyday life. My demeanor is much more upbeat. But there is something that is amazing about the duality. This double life and putting on this second skin that brings out some hidden dark side. You access your pain, anger, rage...Its cathartic in a way.

 Victoria: Why do you think Batman is such a popular character in comics and pop culture?

 Kevin: Batman is American mythology. Its a child’s character that also matures with us as we grow. There are various interpretations for each stage of development. It’s a human hero that endures, who is flawed but triumphs. His heart, his drive and yes that dark side that most people never admit to having. Bottom line, Batman is cool. Theres no arguing that! 

Victoria: What other film projects do you have coming up?

 Kevin: I just got word this week that I have been cast in a new film starring Jackson Rathbone. I play a biker and have a couple of great scenes with Andrew Dice Clay. It shoots in December and I couldn’t be more excited.

 Victoria: What does your convention schedule look like for 2014?


 Kevin: I’m not really sure. I have a few films lined up so my schedule may not accommodate many conventions. I would love to attend more as I love getting out and meeting people that appreciate the work. I will be at San Diego, thats certain! 

Victoria: Where can fans contact you and view a port of your work?

 Kevin: You can always reach me on the Fan page Kevin Porter Batman. You can also imdb me to find out what projects Ive done or the ones that I have coming up.

Read More..

New 2015 Trick To Make 250 An Hr Doing This By YourTBnal

New 2015 Trick To Make $250 An Hr Doing This.. By (YourTBnal)

Hello , here i am the owner of GigSeller i am here giving this ALL FREE! crazy right? , well i know but you know i always share stuff FOR FREE here ! No big deal..

What is GigSeller? , You will earn money doing DropShipping (FOR FREE)

You will make money FREE! that is crazy right?

So i show you with videos and everything on how to do so!

All you have to do is download the courses and start taking action!

This is only for my traffic that comes DAILY!

It is crazy how this blog has GROW!!! crazy....

But , enough talking,, Download the course HERE

Read More..

What is an acceptable rate of VTE prophylaxis

According to the paper “Hospital Performance for Pharmacologic Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis and Rate of Venous Thromboembolism: A Cohort Study” that appeared online in JAMA Internal Medicine last month, a rate of 70% for all eligible patients is good enough.

The retrospective study looked at rates of prophylaxis for VTE at 35 Michigan hospitals.

Of the 20,794 eligible patients included in the analysis, 1,658 either died or were transferred to higher or lower levels of care leaving 19,136 evaluable patients, 226 (1.2%) of whom suffered a VTE during either the hospitalization or the 90-day follow-up period.

Based on rates of prophylaxis administered, the hospitals were divided into three groups with 85.8% of patients receiving adequate prophylaxis in high-performance hospitals, 72.6% in moderate-performance hospitals, and 55.5% in low-performance hospitals.

From the results section of the paper: "Compared with patients at hospitals in the highest-performance tertile, the hazard of VTE in patients at hospitals in moderate-performance (hazard ratio, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.74-1.62) and low-performance (hazard ratio, 0.96, 95% CI, 0.63-1.45) tertiles did not differ after adjusting for potential confounders."

The authors concluded that "Efforts to increase rates of pharmacologic VTE prophylaxis in hospitalized medical patients may not substantively reduce this adverse outcome."

Heres the problem. They defined adequate rates as patients receiving pharmacologic prophylaxis during 80% or more of hospital-days such as "1 of 1 dose for daily regimens, 2 of 2 doses for twice daily regimens, or 2 of 3 doses for 3 times daily regimens.”

This means that patients could be classified as receiving appropriate prophylaxis but miss nearly half of their doses. For example, a patient in hospital for 5 days who got 2 of 3 doses for 4 days and missed all 3 on one day would be classified as having received appropriate prophylaxis. Why do the authors give full credit for delivering such low quality care? Why is missing any doses acceptable?

Does missing doses matter?

"Yes," at least in surgical patients, says this JAMA Surgery paper "Correlation of Missed Doses of Enoxaparin with Increased Incidence of Deep Vein Thrombosis in Trauma and General Surgery Patients."

Missing more than one dose of enoxaparin increased DVT risk significantly, and the more doses that were missed, the more DVTs occurred.

Of the 202 patients studied, 119 (58.9%) missed at least one dose of prophylactic enoxaparin. The overall incidence of DVT was 15.8%, but 23.5% of the patients who missed at least one dose developed a DVT compared to 4.8% of patients whose prophylaxis was never interrupted. Patients were aggressively screened for DVT accounting for a higher incidence than most centers report.

Missing 2-4 doses increased the odds ratio of suffering a DVT to 8.49, missing 5 to 8 doses raised it to 10.13, and the odds ratio rose to 14.73 if 9-17 doses were missed.

Among all 35 hospitals in the internal medicine paper, the rate of DVT prophylaxis for eligible patients was only 70%. The authors of that paper seem to think that is not worth improving. Wouldnt 100% compliance be a better goal?

What do you think?

Read More..

An Email Processing Biz by Marc Charles

9:45 AM

Good morning all.......

A friend of mine launched a new email processing service, and program.

Take a look....post your thoughts.

http://thesimpleprofitsys.wix.com/junior-penn

Your humble host -

Marc

Read More..

An Open Letter to the Wizard World Philadelphia Organization

There was a lot of controversy surrounding the 2013 Wizard World Philadelphia Comic-Con and for good reason. Complaints were made regarding the ticket prices, guest list and lack of comic talent, among other things. Before you brush this off as just an angry geek girl rant, Id like to point out that I have been attending the Wizard World Philadelphia show for the past 10 years. It was my very first convention and takes place in my home town. I attended it long before I was a cosplayer, Blogger or a professional model. I have many fond memories but in the last 5 years, the show has been decreasing in quality. I am speaking my mind and writing this open letter to the organization based on my 10 year experience and observation. I am expressing my opinion as a fan (a title that is probably best described as "former fan" these days). I certainly am not one of those cosplayers who think I know how to run a multi-million dollar organization simply because I cosplay. There is no ego here. Just an opinion based on my experience at this show and attending other shows such as the San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic-Con, Dragoncon, The Baltimore Comic-Con and Megacon. Below are 6 major problems with the show.

Problem #1: Over Priced Tickets

The Baltimore Comic-Con 2 day weekend pass is on sale for $40.00 on their website. New York Comic-Con is charging $65 for a 3 day pass ($85 for a 4 day). The Megacon Convention is charging $60.00 for a 3 day online pass. A one day Wizard World Philadelphia was a whopping $50, $85-$95 for a three and a half day pass. The ticket price is absurd.


Problem #2: Lack of Comic Talent

While other shows feature such guests as George Perez, Gail Simone, J. Scott Campbell, Adam Hughes and many others, Wizard would rather focus on booking actors who charge for photos and autographs. Im not saying that actors should not be permitted. I like seeing Hollywood celebrities and if you have the extra cash to "meet" them, go for it. But it appears that Wizard has lost its roots. Its not about comics anymore. Its about Hollywood. At this years show, Stan Lee was the big comic draw and.....thats it.


Problem #3: Missing Publishers

It appears that even the publishing gods have abandoned Wizard. Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Top Cow, Aspen and other major publishers stopped attending the show roughly 5 years ago.


Problem #4: Zero Exclusives

There was a time where you could purchase exclusive statues, comics and toys at the Philadelphia Show. Hunting and buying exclusives makes any show more enjoyable. Now the vendors consist of items easily purchased at Toys R Us and Target for double price.


Problem #5: Denying the Press Access

This year Wizard denied press passes to Bloggers and photographers. Photographers were only allowed in if they were union. I know of 3 Bloggers, myself included, who had a good business relationship with Wizard and covered the event for several years thus giving the organization press and exposure. This year our press passes were denied. I would not have minded purchasing a full pass; if it didnt cost nearly $100 each. As a result, my photographer and I only attended Friday.


Problem #6: The Guest List Flub

Im not sure who was in charge of the online guest list but I was completely shocked to discover that two of the biggest names in cosplay were attending the show and not listed on the site. Spencer Doe and Nicole Marie have both gone viral with their Batman and Lady Bane costumes. They had a table at the show where they met fans, posed for photos and sold prints. I would not have known they were at the show if it wasnt for Facebook. How someone missed posting that two of the biggest names in cosplay, who are easily headliners,  is mind boggling.


I have to report that it was nice to see that gift bags had returned. Among other things it featured a free issue of the Walking Dead comic. The seating area had also been expanded and Artist Alley featured a large variety of local talent. Although these are steps in the right direction, it is too little, too late. There are still many things wrong with the show as seen in my list and these problems have been ongoing for the past 5 years. I have traveled and attended many shows around the country and Wizard is easily the most poorly organized national show. Unless some major changes are made for 2014, you can consider this show to be our last.

                                                       Official Facebook

Read More..

Externships or observerships Can they help an IMG get a surgical residency slot

A woman writes [some non-essential details have been changed to preserve anonymity. Permission to post this was obtained.]:

I am a non-US citizen medical graduate from The University of The West Indies in Trinidad and am currently an intern in a Caribbean nation. Although UWI has produced great students, you may not be familiar with it.

I would like to become a surgical resident in the US. I have no US clinical experience, but my USMLE Step 1 score was >235.

What do you think about my doing a post-intern year externship (hands on clinical) as opposed to an observership (just observing) in the US? I know that an externship carries more weight as far as applications go, and the only reason I would want to do either of these would be to get recommendation letters from surgeons in the US.

However, since I have already graduated from medical school, getting into an externship will be more difficult because this will no longer be a medical school rotation. I believe that observerships will be easier to get into but are they worth it?

Do you know of any IMG-friendly programs that facilitate this? Do you think that this is a good idea? Do you feel that I will be able to get an externship?

Other than this idea for externship/observership, I am blank for ways to improve my chances of matching to a US program in surgery. Do you have any suggestions?

Thank you for writing and for reading my blog.

Your USMLE Step 1 score is excellent, but as you stated, the lack of any clinical experience in the US might be a problem.

Im afraid your plan to do externships may not work out. I do not know of any hospital in this country that supports externships for people who have already finished medical school. The issue is that once you graduate from medical school, you no longer have status as a student. There are medicolegal, educational, and funding considerations that I do not think can be overcome.

I am not sure about the availability or value of observerships. My opinion, which may not be shared by others, is that I see no value in observing. How could anyone write a meaningful letter for you if all you did was watch other people take care of patients?

I am also unable to tell you what a letter from a surgeon who works at a hospital nobody knows is worth.

I hope my readers will have some thoughts for you.

Read More..

An intraoperative leak test should not be done or should it

Here is an abstract recently published ahead of print in the American Journal of Surgery. Please read it because a one-question test follows.

Introduction: Staple line leak after sleeve gastrectomy (SG) is a rare but dreaded complication with a reported incidence of 0-8%. Many surgeons routinely test the staple line with an intraoperative leak test, but there is little evidence to validate this practice. In fact, there is a theoretical concern that the leak test may weaken the staple line and increase the risk of a postop leak.

Methods: Retrospective review of all SG performed over a 7-year period. Cases were grouped by whether an intraoperative leak test (IOLT) was performed, and compared for the incidence of postop staple line leaks. The ability of the IOLT for identifying a staple line defect and for predicting a postoperative leak was analyzed.

Results: 542 SG were performed between 2007-2014. 13 patients (2.4%) developed a postop staple line leak. The majority of patients (N=494, 91%) received an IOLT, including all 13 patients (100%) who developed a subsequent clinical leak. There were no (0%) positive IOLTs and no additional interventions were performed based on the IOLT. The IOLT sensitivity and positive predictive value were both 0%. There was a trend, although not significant, to increased leak rates when a routine IOLT was performed versus no routine IOLT (2.6% vs. 0%, p=0.6).

Conclusions: The performance of routine IOLT after sleeve gastrectomy provided no actionable information, and was negative in all patients who developed a postoperative leak. The routine use of an IOLT did not reduce the incidence of postop leak, and in fact was associated with a higher leak rate after SG.

Do you agree with the authors that the routine use of the IOLT was associated with a higher leak rate after sleeve gastrectomy?

I dont, and heres why.

As I tend to do whenever I criticize a paper, I begin with a confession that I have written a lot of marginal papers in my time. Its one of the reasons I maintain my anonymity.

A "trend" has no scientific validity. A comparison is either statistically significant or it is not. Many scientists and statisticians have rightfully criticized our blind faith in p values, but they remain a standard way of comparing research results. That discussion is for another time. Let’s face it—p values will be around for a long time.

The claim that there was a trend toward an increased leak rate with IOLT was based on a difference of 2.6% among 542 subjects. Even if one believed in trends, the p value of 0.6 clearly indicates that there is no difference between the two percentages. Many authors get away with stating that trends exist when p values are 0.051 or 0.06. Thats still debatable, but at least close to the magic p of < 0.05.

I was never a big fan of intraoperative leak testing and agree with the authors finding that postoperative leaks can occur when the IOLT was negative. As they mention in their discussion, leaks often present long after the date of the operation and may be caused by ischemia, cautery injury, or other factors not readily identifiable by an IOLT.

Because the authors didnt find a single leak by doing the IOLT in 494 cases, they suggest that an IOLT is not necessary. But what if they had found one leak and fixed it. Would that have changed their conclusion?

I wonder if everyone at their institution has stopped doing IOLTs.

PS: Don’t just read the abstract; read the whole paper.

Read More..

So Many Scams So Little Time! by Marc Charles

So Many Scams -- So Little Time!

12:04 PM
Owls Head Maine

 

Question from a subscriber: 

Im frustrated.  Ive spent a small fortune on every conceivable home business opportunity and online money making deal. 90% of them are a joke! Most Internet marketers are nothing more than shills and hucksters. I value your opinion and insight...and every time youve recommended something its been valuable. Is anything legitimate these days?


Dear Friend:


Wow.....I enjoyed your email! If you apply this attitude to business youll make a fortune!

But first I need to defend my fellow hucksters and business opportunity salesmen.

Im serious.

Yes......there are cons, shills, crooks and everything in between in the world today. I could devote a dozen books to all of the crooks Ive met in my life and in business.

Ironically, it was one such con artist where I had the most fun in business. I was young entrepreneur but I couldnt believe how resourceful this guy was. In one business venture this guy started offering handguns as premiums! And it worked! The stupid phone rang off the hook for two weeks straight.

Anyway, the problem is not finding legitimate business opportunities or money making ventures.

You could STOP ordering books, courses, tapes, DVDs, special reports, newsletters, conferences, eBooks, webinars and everything in between today, and you would have all of the information you need to run a profitable business and make money.

Im not kidding.

You need to stop looking for "the secret" formula. The "secret" formula does not exist. There is NOTHING new under the sun.

What you need to acquire is wisdom and understanding.

95% of what you buy from someone else will not impart wisdom and understanding. This is a BIG lesson to learn.

I encourage people to look for the "essence" of a business opportunity or money making venture.

The "essence" is what you really need to make a business go.

And ironically...."essence" is the one thing which is not available when you buy or start a business.

Now...this doesnt mean people cant or wont help you.

This blog is a good example. Im not charging a nickel for this wisdom. Im also willing to help almost anyone who has PROVEN they have a passion to learn.

But when you order information products, books, courses and the rest......look for the "essence".

When you understand the "essence" of a business or money making formula, and YOU APPLY this understanding...you will gain wisdom.

Its a big deal.....and this is 100% true and accurate.

I hope that helps!!

I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Marc Charles
Fellow Huckster

Read More..

A medical riddle Where do incident reports go

Incident reports are frequently submitted by hospital personnel. Did you ever wonder what happens to them? I have.

Over the years, I estimate that I’ve heard of hundreds of such reports being filed, but rarely have I heard of a problem being solved or for that matter, any action being taken at all.

In fact, I don’t even know where they went or who dealt with them. When I was a department chairman, I sat on quality assurance and risk management committees. Yet we never discussed individual incident reports.

The original intent of incident reports was to identify patient harms and increase patient safety.

According to a 2009 post by patient safety expert Dr. Bob Wachter, hospital incident reports are a spinoff from the Aviation Safety Reporting System which had successfully used them for identifying potential safety issues such as near misses.

At Dr. Wachters hospital, San Francisco General, about 20,000 incident reports were filed every year. That is about half of what the Aviation Safety Reporting System receives per year, and San Francisco General Is only one of about 6000 hospitals in the United States.

Dr. Wachter feels that analyzing incident reports is not worth it. He estimates that each incident report creates about 80 minutes of work times 20,000 reports, which equals about 26,600 hours of wasted time. He also estimated that about one fourth of US hospitals do nothing with incident reports. That saves time but renders the reports useless.

He says an even bigger problem is that incident reports in his hospital fail to capture most events that harm patients.

That has also been my experience. I think most incident reports were filed by people wanting to "cover their asses" and most of the reported incidents were minor. A reference in Wachters article states that most incident reports are submitted by nurses with only about 2% by doctors.

Incident reports can backfire too. From a 2002 Medscape article: "In some states, under certain conditions, the incident report is considered confidential and cannot be used against the nurse practitioner in a lawsuit. However, if copies are made or the chart reflects that an incident report was completed, the incident report can then be subpoenaed by the patient and used against the defendants in court."

And from the Louisiana State University School of Law: "The nonjudgmental nature of an incident report is very important because in most cases the incident report will be discoverable in litigation. An accusatory remark in an incident report may gain unintended weight in a legal proceeding."

Since incident reports generate a massive amount of wasted time, fail to identify most events that harm patients, are frequently ignored, and can possibly have a negative effect on lawsuits, why are they still being filled out by the thousands?

Read More..

MicroGig Riches is for REAL by Marc Charles

7:29 AM

Hi Gang:

Ive developed a new money making program called MicroGig Riches.

Its published by Great Escape Publishing and Agora.

The reviews and testimonials are humbling :)

Check it out.

Marc

---------

A new, fun (and some say crazy)
way to cover your household bills
AND fund your travel account …
in 10 minutes a day or less …

Fast Company … U.S. News … all agree. This is an innovative way to make spare cash.

MicroGig Riches 2015

Read More! 

Read More..

Featured in Latina Magazine! Win an autographed copy!

Back in May I traveled to the Big Apple to shoot the "Real Women" feature for Latina magazines September 2011 issue. The issue was recently released and I can be seen on page 66, modeling a skirt appropriate for a petite frame. I am beyond thrilled; this is my first feature in a national fashion magazine and a big step in my modeling career! Whats even better is how proud my family is for appearing in a magazine dedicated to our culture. The best response was from my two nieces; they squealed when we picked up the issues and asked me to autograph their copies! That made my heart soar seeing their excitement and knowing that they are proud of their Aunt Vicki.




I love how things in life seem to work out. The universe works in mysterious ways. I was offered to appear in a magazine earlier in the year but you had to PAY for your "space" in the issue and I would have to pay additional prices to take photos for the theme they wanted. I would literally be spending hundreds of dollars to be in a magazine I never heard of. Wheres the accomplishment in that (paying your way into a publication)?  Id be embarassed to tell people I had to buy my way in. I passed and instead worked hard to earn an even better opprotunity. Looks like I made the right descion.

So to celebrate, Im holding a contest where the winner will receive an autographed copy of the September issue of Latina (with the stunning Zoe Saldana on the cover). All you have to do is show your fan appreciation for the cosplay girl; whether you submit artwork, create a You Tube video slide show, make a cosplay girl Barbie or action figure, create a t-shirt, comic strip, whatever you want! Just keep it clean and be creative! LOL Contest begins Tuesday, August 23rd and ends Friday September 23rd. You can email submissions to: cosplay.girl@yahoo.com

This is my fun way of saying thank you for your love and support throughout the years. Good luck!

Read More..

Basketball is still an awful sport to watch

From the current issue of Sports Illustrated:

So why do I care about this?

Four years ago, I said the same thing in a blog post called "Basketball is an awful sport. Heres why." If you dont want to read the whole thing, I will summarize.

Basketball is the only sport I can think of where a team can be rewarded for breaking the rules. Specifically, by deliberately fouling and opponents weaker free-throw shooters, a team that is losing can catch up when the weak free-throw shooter misses and the team that is losing gets the rebound.

All of the fouls and free throws plus the seemingly unlimited number of timeouts that each team has result in the last two minutes of the game taking 20 or more minutes.

To me, its unwatchable.

Pertinent to Van Gundys comments is that Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond, who will play in the All-Star game, set an NBA record by missing 23 free throws in a single game on January 20.

This was part of a deliberate strategy by the Houston Rockets who were losing the game by nine points at the start of the third quarter. Houstons K.J. McDaniels fouled Drummond five times within nine seconds and the team fouled Drummond on seven straight Piston possessions. During that stretch, Drummond made 5 of his 16 free-throw attempts.

It must have been quite an exciting couple of minutes of play.

The All-Star Drummond had to be taken out of the game in the fourth quarter so that Detroit could hold on and win the game.

Yahoo Sports reporter Eric Freeman said: "While its a little inexact to say that sending a player to the line over and over again isnt basketball given that the rules allow it, its downright enervating to watch and not an ideal product for a league that ultimately sells entertainment above all else. Intentional fouling is also increasingly common, with seemingly each team having at least one player who gets sent to the line in opportune moments."

He suggested that NBA commissioner Adam Silver is going to have to do something about the issue.

Heres what Ive done about it. For the last few years, I havent watched basketball.

Read More..

Cosplay Survey

Recently a Cosplay Survey has been circling around on Facebook. The questions seemed interesting and rather than fill it out and tag people on my personal account, I decided to instead share it on my Blog.


1 . Your first cosplay?
Aerith Gainsborough from the video game Final Fantasy VII.

 2. How many costumes have you done?
 Thirteen.


3. Your most recent cosplay?
Japanese Vocaloid Hatsune Miku.

 4. Your favorite cosplay?
Its always hard to choose just one but I would have to say Catwoman. Ive loved her all my life and have been with her throughout her many incarnations. The costume is comfortable and sexy. My Catwoman cosplay is featured in a cosplay calendar with proceeds going to the American Red Cross: http://angryweb.net/2012/01/10/angry-girls-2012-calendar-now-on-sale/  I also love Selinas heated affair with The Batman and her dangerous lifestyle.

 5. The character you have cosplayed that is most similar to you (if none that you have cosplayed, then one that you will cosplay)?
Oh geeze, I dont know! Obviously Im not from Krypton and Im not an enslaved princess on Tatooine! All of the characters Ive cosplayed are strong characters and a little fun so Id like to think Im a little like all of them.

6. Your cosplay plans for the rest of the year (if you have no more for this year, then do next year!)
Im doing something a bit different and am cosplaying non super powered characters such as Lois Lane and Pepper Potts. Ill be doing joint shoots with a Superman and Tony Stark cosplayer. Ill be debuting Monster High character Cleo. I would love to squeeze in Slave Princess Jasmine but we will see if I have the time.

 7. The dream cosplay that might just happen?
Huntress!

 8. The dream cosplay that will never happen?
Never say never! Anything is possible. I dont limit myself.

 9. Something cosplay-related that you will never do (eg. crossplay, cosplay from a certain series).
Im personally not into crossplay but am not against it. However you wont see me doing it.

 10. Your cosplay idol?
"Idol" is a bit of an odd term. I can tell you who I love, respect and admire; Iggy Cosplay, Han Pan, Lucid Cosplay, Danny Kelley, Jonathan Carroll and Margie Cox.

 11. Your cosplay specialty (ie. something that seems to apply to a large amount of your cosplays, it could be a specific series, or a common feature in their appearance, such as glasses).
DC Comics characters. Its pretty obvious Im a big fan of the DCU.

12. Your cosplay-making habits (eg. singing while working on cosplay):
I need peace and quite when Im working on something.

 13. Your least favourite thing about cosplay?
The phonies who dont know anything about the character their dressed as and only do this for attention. Stalkers are annoying too.

 14. Do you belong to any cosplay groups?
My girlfriends and I made a splash at the 2010 Philadelphia Comic Con aka Wizard World Philly as the Gotham City Sirens. I was also asked to be Catwoman for another Gotham City Sirens group for an upcoming show.

 15. What events have you cosplayed to? Future event plans?
Ive been to the San Diego Comic Con, New York Comic Con,
Wizard World Philly, Baltimore Comic Con, Zenkaikon and Monster Mania. As for future shows...wait and see!



16. What is your best cosplay memory?
Being offered a job as an official Slave Leia model.

 17. What is your worst cosplay memory?
Some guy kept calling me "Supergirl" when I was dressed as Wonder Woman. I felt embarassed  not for me, but for HIM and had to correct him! Also I had to tell a very rude individual off when he got angry I wouldnt grant his photo request (because I was on the phone).

 18. Have you won any cosplay awards?
Ive received titles. The Modern Tokyo Times and Axiom Magazine named me the "Queen of Cosplay". 

19. Your best cosplay derp photo?
When I was Black Canary my choker fell off. Does that count? Probably not...


20. Have you worn cosplay in a regular situation?
I sometimes take certain items and wear them out like my Black Canary or Zatanna jacket. Ive also worn my Wonder Woman and Belle wig out.

 21. Your most expensive cosplay?
Slave Leia and Wonder Woman. Each costume is worth over $300!

 22. Your most comfortable cosplay and most uncomfortable cosplay?
My most comfortable would be Catwoman. Most uncomfortable is Hatsume Miku. The wig and boots are heavy.

23. The cosplay you put the most effort into?
Hatsune Miku. Between the wig, makeup and costume it takes me over an hour to get everything on!


24. Any unfinished costumes? Will you ever finish them?
I currently have an Alice: Madness Returns cosplaying lying around. I really need to get the ball rolling and do a pro shoot with it!


25. How many wigs do you own? Which is your favorite?
Eight wigs and one ponytail extension.I love them all! I can change my hair color whenever I want!

26. Where do you work on your cosplays and where do you store them when they’re done?
I work on them in the bedroom. The wigs are all on mannequin heads. Costumes and accressories are in a giant bin in my closet. Footwear is with my normal shoes.

 27. What is your favorite cosplay item?
My Wonder Woman bracelets.

 28. Cosplay peeves/things you are particular about?
Half assed cosplays.

 29. Something you want to improve on for future cosplays?
I would love to get over my fear of sewing machines and start making my own costumes!


30. Cosplay-related work you are most naturally talented at (ie: sewing, prop-making, wigstyling, etc)?
 Im good with getting the hairstyles right weither it be purchasing and styling a wig, using my natural hair or adding hair extensions. Ive also become pretty good with makeup.

Read More..

Make 20 In An Hour Doing This Method NOW!! Free Tutorial

Make $20 In An Hour Doing This Method NOW!! Free Tutorial 

Hello guys,  you guys are going to love me after this. I found this way to make money that it is CRAZY INSANE! yes it has to do with adfly also , so do not worry.!

First is first, the first thing you are going to need is couple things, just follow my instruction and you are good to go.! 

If you want your account to look like this. 

Then follow these steps: 

1. Create an account on SHARECASH HERE NOW!

2. Create an account on PIRATEBAY HERE!

3. Create an account on Adfly HERE!

Step by step Plan
1) Find popular game - For gaming niche, you need big game. I used online Massive Multiplayer Games, such as seafight and darkorbit. These games are played by few xx-xxx million players, there is your money and traffic.
Seaifight - 43.108.900 Players
Darkorbit - 78.919.410 Players

2) Find what gamers want - For seafight there was game money gold and pearls, of course pearls was hard to get and needed to pay money, and for darkorbit there was Uridiu, and also paid In-game value. So that is what people want, just look around they struggle to get it. so there are people who want it for free, and how ? By hacking, cheating and botting, even if 1% of all seafight community and darkorbit gamers look for it, you still get xxx Thousands. So people want this secret way to get free stuff, everyone loves it...

TIP to find popular game 
Also use : elitepvpers.com to find popular game, Tip : look for thread count in each game section. then look at google keyword tool how much people search for releated keywords. If you think its good, go ahead and use that. 

3) Set everything up - Now you game, also you know what people want, now you need to set up everything. I used youtube to promote, because games want to see these bots, hacks, anything in action, they just WANT to see proofs that there is way it works.

You need video and we have 2 ways here lazy and professional way. 
1) Lazy way - Take other people videos, little editing with call to action text Example - Click the link in description, Download link in description etc. And just reupload. I suggest to edit it little bit, it works better and you will make more money, people forget to check description 
2) professional way - Make fake bot, make proofs, make video, everything . So this might be harder. I used Visual basics to make fake bot, then i used some HTML knowledge to make "Proofs" , made video + instructions and reuploaded, took more time , but more conversions of course. It might be though to make and learn visual basic, but it isnt impossible, you will learn valuable lesson anyway  
Boost video with likes, views , favourites and comments from different sites which allows that, enhanceviews, vagex etc.

4) Landing page -I suggest to use landing page, it make it look more professional, i used blogger.com it was easy to set up, change background image, add some cool description, some proofs, and then call to action, trust me it will make you more conversions, just try to make it look real, professional and you are good, if you have money use .com domain it will boost more conversions. Quality Quality Quality and you are good and will make more money and more conversions 

5)Making money - Everything is done, now you need to make money, make .rar folder with something in it, put password on it and throw it in any pay per download sharecash make sure you make good title not like : sefight pearl hack 100% true and works legit no virus but make like : Seafight Pearl Hack 2012 v3.2 . Which sounds more legit ? 

TIP : Since i dont like fake stuff, and you probably as well, try to look at elitepvpers and get some bots or anything that will help these players, put like 5 bots or helpful tools in .rar and upload it. DONT PUT PASSWORD NOW. so they download it and see some good stuff, which might help them, so this will give them something instead of nothing. 


6 ) Take action. - Trust me this is most important, without this i doubt you make this. Dont think that 1 video will make you $50/day , which is possible, but hard, you need super niche then lol. Make 10 videos which makes you $5/Day . When you are good at this then you can work harder and upscale 

Read More..