The Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. said on Tuesday that it will stop its publishing of printed editions of its encyclopedias for the first time since they were first published more than 200 years ago in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1768. Although they won't be avaible after the current ones run out, the Chicago company will still offer ditigal versions. Apparently the end of the printed 32 volume-set has been on the minds of many officals for a long time now.
"This has nothing to do with Wikipedia or Google," Encyclopaedia Britannica Inc. President Jorge Cauz said. "This has to do with the fact that now Britannica sells its digital products to a large number of people."The top year for the printed encyclopedia was 1990, when 120,000 sets were sold, Cauz said. That number fell to 40,000 just six years later in 1996, he said. The company started exploring digital publishing the 1970s. The first CD-ROM version was published in 1989 and a version went online in 1994.The final hardcover encyclopedia set is available for sale at Britannica's website for $1,395.The company will make the contents of its website for free for one week starting Tuesday. The online versions have more than 100 million vistiors around the world.
"A printed encyclopedia is obsolete the minute that you print it," Cauz said. "Whereas our online edition is updated continuously."You can read more here.
Britannica has thousands of experts contributors from around the world, including Nobel laureates and world leaders such as former President Bill Clinton and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It also has a staff of more than 100 editors.
Tallest Man finally stops growing.
| Obviously, the really tall guy. |
Kosen's condition is known as acromegaly, or in layman's terms, gigantism, caused when a pituitary tumor causes release of excessive growth hormone. Unusual height in itself does not translate to an automatic link with acromegaly. Heredity also is a factor. None of the famous tall basketball players has been linked to gigantism...Excessive size in the past has led to premature death. Robert Wadlow of Alton, Ill., regarded as the tallest man in recorded history at 8 feet, 11 inches, was 22 years old when he died in 1940.Kosen walks with the aid of crutches because his condition places a lot of stress on his knees. In 2009 he was able to tour the world thanks to Guinness Book of World Records and appeared on NBC's "Today Show". Although he had a diffictult childhood, his new medical assistance has given him a better positive outlook. You can read more here.
Band ends up doing more harm than good.
In Dunkerton, Iowa, high schools students got a anti-gay and anti-abortion rant from the Christian rap/hard rock band "Junkyard Prophet" instead of a anti-bullying message. According to one news source, after the band played they seperated the girls, boys, and teachers into three groups.
"They told my daughter, the girls, that they were going to have mud on their wedding dresses if they weren't virgins," said Jennifer Littlefield, whose 16-year-old daughter, Alivia called her in tears after the event. Reportedly, one of the band members led the girls in a chant pledging purity and encouraged them to be submissive to their husbands after marriage.
The boys were shown images of musicians who died of drug overdoses. A video of the event shows a band member criticizing Elton John and Lady Gaga for encouraging "sexual deviancy" and supporting laws outlawing homosexuality."They told these kids that anyone who was gay was going to die at the age of 42," Littlefield adds. "It just blows me away that no one stopped this." According to student witnesses, kids who walked out were shouted at and ridiculed.Although the Superintendent, Jim Stanton, addressed the students about the band's "anti-violence, anti-drug, anti-alcohol" message, he also expressed that what the band told the students does not line up with the beliefs of the Dunkerton Community Schools. A day afterwards, the students signed a petition asking that Junkyard Prophet be banned from making such presentations in the future. Although the band wanted to come back and explain their message, no one is letting them.
For me, even though I am anti-abortion (although I agree that it is ultimately the mother's choice, I also think that abortions should only be done in the case where it threatens the mother's life) I do not agree with many of the things this band reportedly said. As a Christian I am horrified of some of the things they said. The thing about mud on dresses if you're not a virgin when you're married is ridiclous. Although I strongly promote abstience, that statement is just stupid. And the chant whatever-it-was about being submissive to your husband is just also plain stupid. While we should respect and obey our husbands (as the Bible clearly states), the Bible also says that husbands should in turn be respectful and stuff to their wives.
And if you're gay, that does not mean you're going to die when you're 42. Where in the world (or the Bible) did they get that? Jeez. Although the Bible says that homosexuality is wrong, no where does it say that! I support Christian bands, but I support ones that get their faith from the Bible and the ones that speak the saving message of the Gospel. Obviously, this band doesn't get their beliefs straight from the Bible. They sound more like a extremist Christian band or something.
You can read the whole thing here.
Coach goes overboard and bites ear off fellow coach.
An assistant coach of a Massachusetts middle school basketball team attacked the coach of the opposite team when they beat his team.
According to Springfield, Mass., news network WWLP, 34-year-old Timothy Forbes was charged with mayhem, assault and battery, and disorderly conduct on Monday in Springfield District Court after turning himself in to police. The charges follow Forbes' attack on an unnamed fellow middle school basketball coach at Springfield (Mass.) Holy Name School following his Springfield Heat's loss to the Sprinfield Migs in the Springfield Catholic Youth Organization middle school basketball finals.
According to multiple sources, the enraged coach started a fight with the other coach. In the middle of that fight, Forbes bit the coach's ear and removed part of it. The 34-year-old Springfield resident was taken to the Baystate Medical Center and had his ear reattached.
While Forbes was named as a coach in the Heat organization by Springfield police, Heat officials themselves denied that the man was a coach for the team and argued that he was not on the organization's roster.
All I can say is this: ITS JUST A GAME. And that its a middle school game. Those kids should be more concerned with having fun rather then winning. And where in the world did good sportmanship go? I understand being mad, but this? This is insane! Why would you even try to bite someone's ear off? That's weird and gross! You can read the whole thing here.
Sincerely,
Sareh
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