Hi All, just wanted to report that the other day the heat index in Moorehead MN was 134 degrees! I think three people spontaneously combusted. Link

Apparently the MN heat is spreading everywhere and breaking records along the way.  Link

The blistering heat wave that has brought stifling conditions to much of the United States broke 55 record highs on Wednesday, the National Weather Service said Thursday. That's more than 1% of all temperature records in the country.

And for those that are interested here is how a heat index is calculated.  Link

I know this DBD is kind of lame, but come on 134 degrees.

I dropped my iphone yesterday and cracked the front screen (btw can't they make that out of plastic).  Luckily I just happened to be in front of a World of Wireless.  I took my phone in for repair and the guy behind the counter sees the Cal flag as my background.  He asks if I went to Cal, I say I did indeed go to Cal.  As a side note I live in Minnesota so it's a little unusual to bump into people who are familiar with Cal.  He proceeds to tell me he lived in San Ramon for a while, which happens to be my hometown.  We chat for a bit and as we conclude our business he asks, what was up with those people sitting in trees at Cal?  As a practical Minnesotan he asks why someone just didn't go out with a chainsaw at night and cut the trees down.  Yes, if it only it was that easy.  Below is the ordeal we went through, which in any other state would have been taken care of by a man with a chainsaw.

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Who's ready to win big in Reno?  By that I mean gambling since we all know getting ranked means the team will lose.

Quick card counting tutorial courtesy of wikipedia

Systems

Basic card counting assigns a positive, negative, or zero value to each card value available. When a card of that value is dealt, the count is adjusted by that card's counting value. Low cards increase the count as they increase the percentage of high cards in the remaining shoe, while high cards decrease it for the opposite reason. For instance, the Hi-Lo system subtracts one for each dealt ten and Ace, and adds one for any value 2-6. Values 7-9 do not affect the count.

The High-Low system is considered a single-level or level-one count, because the count never increases or decreases by more than a single, predetermined value. A multilevel count, such as Zen Count or Wong Halves, makes finer distinctions between card values to gain greater play accuracy. Rather than all cards having a value of +1, 0, or −1, an advanced count might also include card ranks that are counted as +2 and −2, or +.5. Advanced players might additionally maintain a side count (separate count) of specific cards, such as a side count Aces, to deal with situations where the best count for betting accuracy differs from the best count for playing accuracy.

Many side count techniques exist including special-purpose counts used when attacking games with nonstandard profitable-play options such as an over/under side bet.[4]

The disadvantage of higher-level counts is that keeping track of more information can detract from the ability to play quickly and accurately. A card-counter might earn more money by playing a simple count quickly—more hands per hour played—than by playing a complex count slowly.

As Cal Alum most of us have heard of or participated in Bay to Breakers.  I've done it a few time, and I'm definitely in the non-competitive drinking while running class.

C.W. Nevius recently ran an opinion piece that the race is now out of control

Bay to Breakers spoilsports need to step aside

His final opinion...

So, it isn't making money, it's soaking the neighborhoods in urine, fewer people are bothering to run, and it is a huge headache for they city.

So what's the point? Shut it down.

Or at least get rid of the posers. If you want to get blind drunk and stagger around a neighborhood, go to North Beach on Saturday night like everybody else.

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Hi all, this is my first shot at a DBD.  CNN recently published the world's top 50 restaurants. 

Link

They look like they are all in Europe or owned by Thomas Keller.  Here is a list of the top 10...

1) Noma (Copenhagen, Denmark)

2) El Bulli (Roses, Spain)

3) The Fat Duck (Bray, England)

4) El Celler de Can Roca (Girona, Spain)

5) Mugaritz (Errenteria, Spain)

6) Osteria Francescana (Modena, Italy)

7) Alinea (Chicago, Illinois)

8) Daniel (New York)

9) Arzak (San Sebastián, Spain)

10) Per Se (New York)

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