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Randy Pausch is a 47 year-old Professor of Computer Science, Human-Computer Interaction, and Design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In September 2006, he was diagnosed with metastatic pancreatic cancer. He pursued a very aggressive cancer treatment that included major surgery and experimental chemotherapy; however in August of 2007 he was told that the cancer had metastasized to his liver and spleen. He then started palliative chemotherapy intended to extend his life as long as possible, which was then estimated to be three to six months. He remains vigorous and active six months later (February 2008.)

It comes but once every four years and this 29 February some workers are being given the extra day as holiday. Employers won't like the idea, but we tend to look at additional time as a gift.
Imagine that to adjust our timekeeping, 10 minutes had to be added to one day each year. You would expect them to be 10 minutes of free time, yours to spend as you will. You'd be miffed if they were added to one of your working hours, getting 10 minutes more work out of you for no extra money.
But is this what leap year does to us? If you're on an annual salary, you will get the same pay as normal this year, while working one extra day. Is 29 February just another working Friday, or a sneaky bonus for your employer? Who does 29 February belong to?
If you're starting to feel like a holiday today, you might be interested to hear that the National Trust has granted its whole workforce the day off. Calling it the Great Green Leap Day, they are asking staff to use it for the environment. "We're giving them this opportunity to look at steps to green their own lives at home," explains Mike Holland of the Trust. "Anything from converting to greener energy to starting a compost heap."
Just how many will be converting, composting and otherwise greening and how many will be shopping is hard to say, but Holland hopes most of the workforce have caught the vision. He says it would be good to see other workplaces catch it, so if you can just wait till 2012 there might be one for you too.
The National Trust does not want anyone to feel short-changed by their own employer. Every fourth year is a leap year, unless it is divisible by 100 and not by 400
So 2000 was a leap year, as was, for those who can't remember it, 1600
1700, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years. The next such non-leap year is 2100
Perhaps, he agrees, employers may be getting an extra unpaid day out of us. "But then in a sense," he adds, "they own us already. We give half our waking hours to them, voluntarily, and our time is our lives - we're literally giving ourselves away." A thought which makes you want to hold on to any disputed days tighter than ever.

Where did this extra day come from in the first place? We need the leap day because of the deplorable untidiness of our solar system. One of our earth years (a complete orbit around the sun) does not take an exact number of whole days (one complete spin of the earth on its axis). In fact, it takes 365.2422 days, give or take.
The leap year was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46BC, to make the calendar tidier. The extra day every fourth year made the average year 365.25 days long.
This was still about 12 minutes longer than the solar year, which you can get away with on the short term, but in 1267 a monk called Roger Bacon noticed that the calendar had slipped nine days in the 13 intervening centuries.
It then took the church until 1582 to accept that it was celebrating Easter on the wrong week. That year Pope Gregory XIII adjusted the calendar, introducing the system we go by today: every fourth year is a leap year, unless it is divisible by 100 and not by 400. This makes the year 365.2425 days, which is still a little under 26 seconds too long, but nothing to fret about.
As a one off, Gregory's reform also skipped the 10 days they had gained since Caesar's time, jumping from 4 to 15 October 1582. It is said that this provoked demonstrations from people demanding their stolen days back.
So how about demos today, to reclaim the working day pinched from employees by their employers? Go for it, brothers and sisters, but the TUC will not be organising it.
A spokesperson says: "Salaried workers usually receive their annual salary in twelve monthly payments and know when they accept a job that some months are longer than others and that leap years come round once every so often. Indeed, leap years have been with us 1582, so the UK workforce has had a while to get used to the idea of an extra day every four years."

OK, off you go then, back to work ...

The thoughts in my head are:

Keeper:
Marcus, distribution is not good, but his general keeping is keeping us in games at the moment, so brining in Fed to me is an added risk we can't afford at the moment.

Back Four:
Murty for me is ok until about the last 25 mins or even put Rosenier in and use Murts as a super-sub, when he looks knackered and this is compounded by the fact we're always chasing the game leaving him exposed, so I would have Rosenior on the bench to cover this. Bikey was quality for Cameroon so confidence should be high and Sonko, who couldn't get in the Senegal team, looks completely shot away to me. Cisse also makes rash decisions, so I'd plump for the steadiness of Inga or Doobs to partner Bikey. Shorey, well, we have no other option and we need his dead ball skills.

Midfield:
God knows what to pick really, but it's time for a drastic change as it's not working, so Cisse and Marek in the middle, Hunt wide left and Kebe wide right.

Upfront:
Lita, much as I dislike his attitude this year, has to start now, but I can't see him working upfront on his own. Doyle could start wide right and I think Coppell will do this, as he doesn't want to drop him and it's the easy way out, but personally I think he needs time on the bench, which might kick him up the back side.

Forget strengthening the squad, forget playing a striker that actually has a clue where the back of the net is and you can even forget actually having a defence because the secret to avoiding relegation is simple according to the Reading Evening Post-wear blue and white and buy their paper on Friday....
Its so obvious I can't believe I didn't notice it earlier, the reason we have been struggling this season is not anything to do with the players, its all my fault. After pumping endless amounts of money into the club for years on end I must accept the blame for the shocking run of form we are on. Well at least thats what I am told my Graeme Murty, that smug twat Nigel Howe and now the Reading evening post's Keepy Uppy campaign.
If you didn't waste 30p of your hard earned on this rag today then let me enlighten you to their wonderful plan. If we all wear blue and white at the game against Villa on Sunday then we will stay up, simply really isn't it?! Maybe they should take a look around on a match day because vast numbers already come kitted out in the latest megastore crap (thankfully I don't include myself in that) and we are still struggling!
And its never like RFC to miss out making a bit of money, at the end of the article it lets you know that those kind people in the megastore have knocked three quid off the price of a flag and scarf if you buy them before Friday. How kind.
Quite frankly I am sick of being told how to behave at a football match and I am sure I have a better idea than half of these tossers who insist on telling us how it should be done.
Thanks Reading evening post and Madejski, Howe, Murty and all but I will continue to dress as I please when I come to a game and I am confident that I know how to behave in a relegation battle as I have been involved in a few in my time as a Royals fan unlike half the bloody stadium these days that know of nothing but success. When the going gets tough you get behind your team not wave a reduced priced scarf around your head. (taken from off at Eleven)

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Panelists discuss whether stringent new suicide-vest laws would make sure only responsible people blow themselves up.


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They did play better saturday, however i am startled to read the comments on the OS, you'd have thought we won 3-0!! They all sound really pleased with themselves....We lost 1-0 gents. Howard didn't have to make a save in 90minutes.
Defensively we were 100 times better. All 5 of them. Cisse really is atrocious in the air, however he copes admirably. It's quite weird. He never goes to head anything, but has the composure and pace to deal with the bouncing ball. Sonko I was hugely critical of (rightly so i think) but bar 2 or 3 moments where he was hesitant i thought he too did well.
But in the main area of the pitch (final 3rd) we were terrible. Even worse than normal. At Villa (the only other away i've been to this season) we were hopeless at the back but at least we had a threat about us. We've gone full circle.
Oster is absolutely woeful, always has been always will be. How on earth he is contracted to a Premiership club i don't know. There are better players on the English Riveira.
Hunt too was crap, bar his little scuffle in the 1st half he was anonymous. His crossing really is ABYSMAL. Corners straight out of play, I don't think a single cross from Oster, Hunt or Shorey beat the 1st man all day. Awful.
Kitson got continually frustrated and when the upteenth ball was delivered no where near him, he threw his arms around in an understanded strop...he was replaced minutes later. Long again looked lively when he came on, but that's his limit. Proven throughout the season. Impact player for 20mins tops. Any longer and he's crap.
Doyle I'm losing all confidence in. He's lost a yard of pace, he still chases lost causes (you've got to in this team) but he didn't have a meaningful effort on goal all day. Yet we've got no one else banging on the door. LOL @ coppell considering his strikers as his strongest position, Kitson apart the other 3 haven't been remotely good enough. If that's our strongest area it's no surprise we are 18th.
Finally Kebe looked like Bas Savage when he came on, first touch it rolled under his foot out of play, his first cross went out of play (he'll fit in well here) and then he nicked it around the full back, with good pace he bombed into the box and his left foot shot was blocked...where did that come from? I'd start him against Villa, in fact I'd bring back Michael Meaker before starting Oster again.
Everton were there for the taking saturday, it was of no surprise that our end product made it impossible.
We do need a bit of luck agreed, or a bit of inspiration. Look at last season, bad run, 0-1 to Spurs and Shorey thumps one in from 25 yards and lifts everyone. That's what we need now, someone to step up and smack one in from miles out. Doyle is a good player, one of Reading's best players, he needs a tap in or something to go for him.
2 of the last 4 performances have shown we can play relatively well, we have also (Bolton apart) defended well in 3 of the last 4 matches. Tha'ts a positive, a HUGE positive.
What we need is more inspiration from the forwards and wingers. Matejovsky has improved the middle of the park, Harper was better saturday. We need better crosses and better quality in the final 3rd. We also need Kitson back to how he was playing a month ago.
I said before about a month ago (Kitson, Doyle, Lita, Hunt) are the 4 players that will determine which division we are in next season, at the minute they aren't performing and that's why we are struggling.

Things haven't been going very well for us Royals recently, so I thought it was time for a reality check and a look at the future.
After two fantastic seasons, finally Reading seem to be running out of steam. It has been pretty smooth sailing for Reading and us fans in recent years.
After a record breaking promotion run, followed by an excellent first campaign in the top flight, as a Reading fan you'd be forgiven for thinking that the Royals were practically untouchable.
Unfortunately this season has been a big reality check, for the manager, the players, the fans and hopefully the chairman, although I wouldn't count on it, but that's a story for another day.
Reading now find themselves just one point off the relegation zone, and are seemingly in free fall after a run of six defeats in a row. The last time Royals won in fact was the incredible 3-1 win over Liverpool back in December. Many will point to the dreaded second season syndrome to explain Reading's dreadful form this season, unfortunately the problems stem much deeper than that.
A lack of ambition, or perhaps a certain amount of naivety, has sadly left the Royals with a considerably weaker side than the team that was promoted two years ago.
Steve Sidwell's move to Chelsea is a blow that Reading have never recovered from. With Coppell himself admitting that he believed Sidwell was not going to sign a new contract, it is astonishing that a like-for-like replacement was never lined up.
Instead, the Royals boss kept faith with Brynjar Gunnarsson, a 32 year-old fringe player. Although Bryn has always been a good, solid servant to the Royals, every man and his blind dog could see that he was not going to be able to fill the boots of Steve Sidwell.
The lack of ambition shown by the club has led to two years of positivity and hard work, perhaps completely going to waste.
We waited 135 years to play in the top flight, and last season when they were given that chance, they grasped the opportunity with both hands.
The loss of Sidwell, combined with winger Glen Little being sidelined with a long term injury, has left Reading looking disorganised and shapeless.
The no fear, die hard approach, has been replaced by a nervousness, with an air of inevitability, as the players and fans alike count down the minutes before the opposition get on the score sheet.
The enjoyment, the ambition, and perhaps most importantly the belief has gone from Reading's game. After two seasons of having it their own way, the Royals find themselves with an entirely new type of challenge.
It's easy to play well when things are going your way, but now they need to play well when it matters. The next few months will be pivotal in the future of Reading Football Club. Survival, and a chance to show just how ambitious this club is, and a serious opportunity to try and reach the next level.
With thirteen games still to play, Reading are by no means doomed, but it is up to the management and perhaps even the fans, to bring back the belief and give the players a much needed confidence boost.
Between now and May, it is going to be a long, hard, relegation battle and it's time for the fans, the management, the chairman, and more importantly the players, to stand up and be counted. So Back the Boys and make some noise........

For all of those that missed the season premier of Lost and haven’t had the opportunity to watch it below is a recap of the major points that went down. If you dont want to know what happend then stop reading now!



Apparently Jack and Kate arent the only ones who make it off the island. There were 6 people that made it off and they are referred to as the Oceanic 6. The 3rd person revealed to have made it off the island is Hurley. Episode 1 opens up with Hurley driving recklessly with cops chasing him. He eventually crashes and is taken into custody. Once taken in, he is in a questioning room where a man is asking what he was running from and shows him a surveillance camera of Hurley seeing something and running out of the store.... (more here)

In the office we had an interesting theory about these people trying to find the island with Naomi. Perhaps they are in fact Dharma people trying to find the island.
Ben killed everyone. But they pretend that Dharma is still alive on the Island, so they still get those drop shipments from the mainland and other communications.
But somehow Dharma finds out that the Others now have control so Ben shuts off communications from the outside world via the Looking Glass and now Dharma can’t find the Island. So the people on the boat could be the Dharma initiative trying to get back.
Yet without the communications, perhaps they can’t find the Island? We already know it’s difficult to find, so maybe there is no way unless you can communicate with it?

So Questions that come up from this epsidoe:
1. Why is Christian who is suppose to be dead in Jacobs shack.
2. Who was in there with him
3. Why did only 6 people make it off the island - which ones made it and why. Didn't Desmond's vision mean that if Charlie dies and unblocks the signal, Claire gets off the island?
4. Why does Hurley change his mind and say he should have stayed with Jack
5. What changes Jacks mind about needing to go back to the island
6. Whats with all the HO’s
7. Who is Naomi’s sister

If Reading have had it good for far too long, it is perhaps almost time for pay-back. As they stumbled to a sixth successive league defeat, the rows of empty seats and barrage of insults hurled around the Madejski Stadium summed up the whole sorry story. The natives are getting restless.
Steve Coppell, the Reading manager, also. “Does it give me sleepless nights? Of course it does,” he said. “If you want to sleep, you don’t become a football manager. Your mind is always racing, thinking what you can do to help. Then you go home and can’t wait to get up so you can watch the tape and see how to put things right.
“I’m healthy, so it’s not a problem. I always think of the Bill Shankly quote, something along the lines of ‘losing is worse than death because you have to live with losing’. Yes, I heard the booing. It’s hurtful. I also heard some of the comments . . . but I’d prefer that they are made at me than the players.”
Coppell has had a smooth ride since arriving at Reading in October 2003. Now, there is a real fear of relegation. At times, against an ordinary Bolton Wanderers team, Reading appeared clueless. Marek Matejovsky, the Czech Republic midfield player, made an encouraging first start, but too many of his teammates struggled.
Even the let-off of a squandered penalty, when Marcus Hahnemann saved from Matthew Taylor, failed to inspire them. Kevin Nolan established the lead soon after and Heidar Helguson, in the second half, wrapped up Bolton’s first away win of the campaign.



Steve Coppell saw Reading lose 2-0 to Bolton - and admitted his side will end up getting relegated unless performances improve soon.The Royals' defeat to Bolton - Wanderers' first away win in the Premier League in 10 months - was confirmation that they are in real trouble and Coppell was not about to suggest otherwise.
He said: "We can't beat about the bush - avoiding relegation is our only target. With 14 games still to go, or however many it is, we have a real struggle on our hands.
"I haven't had that at Reading but what a great challenge and we have got to rise to it.
"I have felt for a long time that any three from eight or nine could go down. Now we are significantly one of the three."
It was Reading's sixth straight league loss and they were saved from dropping into the relegation places only by Derby's late equaliser at Birmingham, who are now third from bottom themselves.
Coppell added: "We had good spells and bad spells last year but our good spells carried us through. This year we haven't had a good spell of any significance. We have got to score more goals and have more clean sheets.
"If we don't have clean sheets then we don't deserve to stay up."
Coppell was particularly disappointed with Bolton's opener, which saw Kevin Nolan take advantage of Kevin Davies' header across the box after the Reading defence had failed to deal with a free-kick.
He said: "It was the ultimate sucker punch."

how do they back to the top though ?

Well after the window is now firmly shut I think we can always look at something positive from what RFC has acheived.
With a team in the relegation fight we have managed to keep hold of some of our key players and with the exception of Boro (£12million for one player!!!!) all around us do not seem to have added too much 'quality' to there squads. Indeed Boton, Fulham, Wigan or Sunderland do not really now worry me.
We have managed to keep hold of (and we don't know about how many approaches were made) Hunt (Sunderland) Shorey (West Ham) as well as players such as Doyle, Kitson, and Lita (rememeber the comments about not playing - he has been well managed I think and playing better now), who all attracted attention. We have offloaded Cox and TBH feel a little for him as not really had a chance but I suppose thats football.
We have added a Czech International, a NATURAL right winger (OK jury out but at least he plays there and has pace apparently). We have also seen Cisse move back to central defence and has been like a 'new' signing. We have pushed 2 other youngsters out on loan for experiance.
We have 7 home games that are ALL winable and we WILL win one game away this season. Boro, Wigan, Derby or even Newcastle will be a win and the others will be draws.
So 4 home wins, 2 draws and a defeat, 3 draws away and 1 win = 18 pts (minimum)which will be 40 points. and will see us stay up for our 3rd season in the Prem.
Derby, Fulham (Litmannen 36!?!?!) and Bolton (Rasiek for Anelka !?!!) will be down.

Thank you and see you all tomorrow, as Hunt as said 'The season Starts NOW!!!'