Laser 3000

The Laser 3000 is a racing sailing dinghy crewed by two persons with a trapeze for the crew. Launched in 1996, the 3000 was developed from the Laser 2, using the original Frank Bethwaite-designed planing hull combined with a brand new self-draining deck by Derek Clark. Clark also re-designed the rig, using spars and sails from premium proprietary sources and replacing the symmetric spinnaker of the Laser 2 by a larger asymmetric spinnaker (gennaker). The gennaker is chute-launched and retrieved using a single halyard line, and is set on a retractable bowsprit. Helm balance and handling were improved using a shorter-footed mainsail with two full-width battens giving a larger roach. A mast with conventional spreaders replaced the now-unusual diamond arrangement of the Laser 2.

The 3000 offers fast, exciting yet easy sailing, particularly for lighter sailors - couples, parent-child and teenage combinations are common at 3000 events. A modest rig size and forgiving nature means that if other classes are sailing on a windy day, any reasonably competently crewed 3000 will be able to join them and enjoy a sparkling sail.

Laser 2

The Laser 2 is a double-handed version of the popular Laser one-design class of small sailing dinghy. It is a quick, planing dinghy that differs from the Laser in that it has a jib, symmetric spinnaker and a trapeze for the crew. It was designed by New Zealander Frank Bethwaite and was first launched as a product in Australia then North America in 1979 and in Europe in 1980. The hull is made of GRP (glass reinforced plastic). The rig is a Bermudian rig sloop with spinnaker. It is designed to be a mid to high performance racer. In Britain, its most common current use is at university class in British University Sailing Association (BUSA) events. A version known as the Laser Fun was available, the same hull but featuring a reefable mainsail and a roller furling jib, and with the option of an asymmetric spinnaker (Laser Fun New Wave). As a strict one-design boat the Laser 2 was not available for amateur construction.

Frank Bethwaite's hull design for the Laser 2 was married to a new deck and rig to produce the Laser 3000 in 1996, which has since gone on to form the basis of the 3000 Class. Production was discontinued after the 2007 merger of its manufacturers Laser UK and Vanguard Sailboats into Laser Performance.

VTech Laser 200

The VTech Laser 200 was an early 8-bit home computer from 1983, also sold as the Salora Fellow (mainly in Fennoscandia, particularly Finland), the Texet TX8000 (in the United Kingdom) and the Dick Smith VZ 200 (in Australia and New Zealand).

The machine ran basic games on cassette such as "Hoppy" Frogger, "Cosmic Rescue" Scramble, "VZ Invaders" Space Invaders and Moon Patrol. The computer was discontinued in 1985 to make way for more advanced home computers.

Release

At its UK launch, Texet claimed that the £98 TX8000-branded version was the cheapest colour home microcomputer on the market. However, this was not enough to ensure its success against the dominant ZX Spectrum and similar machines already on sale. Most notably, the Spectrum-like Oric-1 was selling for £99 at this point, and offered a far higher specification than the Texet for little difference in cost.

The "Dick Smith"-badged VZ 200 was more successful in Australia, where it proved popular as a first computer.

An improved version known as the VTech Laser 310, or the Dick Smith VZ 300 featured a full travel keyboard and 8K ROM software based Floppy Disk Controller, was released in 1985 and continued until 1989.

Catch 22 Live

Live! is Catch 22's first full-length live release, although fan-recorded live tracks were bonus features on several previous albums. Roughly a third of the album is devoted to Keasbey Nights, another third to Alone in a Crowd, and the remainder to Dinosaur Sounds. A bonus DVD includes footage from the concert, as well as a variety of extras. However, former frontman Tomas Kalnoky is conspicuously absent from the footage of the band's early days.

Track listing

DVD Features

Personnel

Live (Jake Shimabukuro album)

Live is Jake Shimabukuro's 2009 solo album. It was released in April 2009, and consists of live in-concert performances from various venues around the world, including New York, Chicago, Japan, and Hawaii.

Live peaked at number 5 in Billboard's Top World Music Albums in 2009 and 2010. The album won the 2010 Na Hoku Hanohano Award for Instrumental Album of the Year, and also garnered Shimabukuro the award for Favorite Entertainer of the Year. In addition, it won the 2010 Hawaii Music Award for Best Ukulele Album.

AllMusic noted that, "Shimabukuro is a monster musician and boldly takes the ukulele where no ukulele has ever gone before, dazzling listeners with his blinding speed, melodic invention, and open-ended improvisations of remarkable virtuosity. Before Shimabukuro, the idea of spending an evening listing to a solo ukulele player was probably most people's idea of hell, but the 17 solo efforts here never bore. They show Shimabukuro's range and his humor as well."

Live (Split Lip Rayfield album)

Live or Split Lip Rayfield Live is the first live album from the bluegrass/punk band Split Lip Rayfield. It was recorded live on New Year's Eve of 2003 at The Bottleneck in Lawrence, Kansas. It contains music from their first three albums and the music is significantly faster than the studio-recorded versions.

Track listing

Personnel

Almost Human (TV series)

Almost Human is an American science fiction/crime drama that aired from November 17, 2013, through March 3, 2014, on Fox. The series was created by J. H. Wyman for Frequency Films, Bad Robot Productions and Warner Bros. Television. Wyman, Bryan Burk and J. J. Abrams are executive producers. After one season, Fox canceled the series on April 29, 2014.

Premise

In 2048, the uncontrollable evolution of science and technology has caused crime rates to rise an astounding 400%. To combat this, the overwhelmed police force has implemented a new policy: every human police officer is paired with a lifelike combat-model android.

John Kennex (Karl Urban), a troubled detective, has a reason to hate these new robot partners. Almost two years previously, Kennex and his squad were raiding the hideout of a violent gang known as InSyndicate, but ended up being ambushed and outgunned. Kennex tried to save his badly injured partner, but the accompanying logic-based android officer abandoned them both because the wounded man's chances of survival were low and it wouldn't have been "logical" to save him. An explosion then took off Kennex's leg and killed his partner.