Posts tagged "User"

Ryan Braun doesn’t fit the steroid user stereotype

CHRIS JENKINS
Globe and Mail Update
Published Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 6:36PM EST
Last updated Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 9:01PM EST

Ryan Braun can still tell you the high school class in which he got a B: Advanced Placement Chemistry. Otherwise, Braun said this summer, on the bench before a game in Milwaukee, he got straight As. He attended the University of Miami on a partial academic scholarship and has tried to apply the lessons he learned in the classroom, branching out from baseball to business.

More related to this story

Braun has interests in a restaurant, a T-shirt line and an energy drink. This season, his likeness covered an AirTran billboard on Interstate-94, just outside downtown Milwaukee. He understands the value of his good name.

“I realize all these things are a result of me having success on the baseball field, carrying myself the right way, and staying out of trouble off the field,” Braun said. “If I wasn’t able to do those three things, I wouldn’t have an opportunity to be involved in these other things.”

Braun was on his way to a dream season, leading the league in all-star votes, winning the National League most valuable player award and carrying the Brewers to their first division title in 29 years. Now he vows to wage a vigorous defence of a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs. Without a successful appeal, Braun faces a 50-game suspension and a stain on the legacy he was carefully starting to build.

“I am completely innocent,” Braun told The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in a text message Sunday, and if you love baseball, you hope that is true.

Braun is part of a handful of young, single-team stars to emerge in what we have called, perhaps too hopefully, the post-steroids era. Who else’s fall could do so much to undermine public confidence in the integrity of the sport? Robinson Cano, Matt Kemp, Evan Longoria, Troy Tulowitzki and Justin Verlander come to mind. Braun is there with them.

The Brewers believed so much in Braun last April that they extended his contract through 2020, even though he was already signed through 2015. The new deal – five years, $105-million (U.S.) – effectively made Braun a partner with the Brewers’ owner, Mark Attanasio.

“I think the biggest thing is clearly he believes in who I am as a person,” Braun said in September. “If the team didn’t believe in my work ethic and my character and my commitment to this game or to this team, there’s no chance that they sign somebody to a deal like that. That means the world to me. He’s said that to me many times, and I truly appreciate it.”

Attanasio did not respond to a message Saturday, after ESPN’s Outside the Lines broke the news of Braun’s positive test. In a statement issued after 1 a.m. (Eastern) Sunday, Attanasio called Braun “a person of character and integrity” and warned against a rush to judgment. He added that he supports baseball’s testing program.

New York Times News Service

View full post on ryan braun – Yahoo! News Search Results

Why Brewers’ Ryan Braun doesn’t fit the steroid user stereotype

CHRIS JENKINS
Milwaukee — The Associated Press
Published Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 6:36PM EST
Last updated Sunday, Dec. 11, 2011 6:38PM EST

Ryan Braun certainly doesn’t fit the image fans conjure up when they hear that a baseball slugger has been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Since he joined the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007, Braun has belted big home runs not with cartoonishly large muscles, but with a sweet swing and an ultra-quick bat. Last season, he helped drive the Brewers to the playoffs and was voted the NL’s Most Valuable Player.

More related to this story

Now Braun finds himself fighting a 50-game suspension after news leaked that he has tested positive for a banned substance. He steadfastly maintains his innocence.

A spokesman for Braun said in a statement issued to ESPN and The Associated Press that there are “highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan’s complete innocence.”

ESPN cited two sources Saturday in first reporting the result, saying Braun tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, adding that a later test by the World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Montreal determined the testosterone was synthetic. Braun is appealing, according to people familiar with the case.

And fans may be inclined to believe Braun, given his clean-cut image and that he hasn’t tested positive or even been suspected of using banned substances in the past. And, perhaps above all, the fact that he doesn’t look like a human science experiment.

But there is a long history of athletes accused of taking banned drugs insisting they did so to recover from injuries. Sports medicine experts acknowledge the drugs may help, raising the possibility Braun might have been doing just that.

Norman Fost, a professor of pediatrics and director of the bioethics program at the University of Wisconsin, said vigorous exercise breaks down microscopic muscle fibers.

“One theory is that anabolic steroids hasten the repair of those muscle fibers, and allow you to work out harder,” Fost said.

Dr. Susannah Briskin, a primary care sports medicine physician with Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, says the potential injury recovery benefits associated with anabolic steroids have been tested on a limited basis but only on animals.

“This stuff will never end up being studied with humans,” Briskin said. “Any medical study must start with, `Do no harm.’ The problem is, there’s been a lot of harm proven in studying anabolic steroids.”

According to a document on the Mayo Clinic’s website, the potential injury recovery benefits of performance-enhancing drugs are part of their appeal to athletes.

“Besides making muscles bigger, anabolic steroids may help athletes recover from a hard workout more quickly by reducing the muscle damage that occurs during the session,” the document says. “This enables athletes to workout harder and more frequently without overtraining. In addition, some athletes may like the aggressive feelings they get when they take the drugs.”

Braun has dealt with nagging injuries in recent years, and other players have acknowledged they used performance enhancers to help them recover from injury.

One of the most well-known is pitcher Andy Pettitte, who said he used human growth hormone to recover from an injury, not to enhance his performance. Given the generally positive public reception to Pettitte’s admission, Fost wonders why more athletes accused of using banned substances don’t just follow his lead.

“What amazes me and mystifies me is that every athlete hasn’t figured out that’s a correct answer — and an answer that seems to be deemed acceptable,” Fost said.

And Fost doesn’t necessarily see anything wrong with athletes taking a substance that helps them recover from their injuries. He believes health concerns about steroids haven’t been sufficiently proved, and blames the media and Congress for creating an atmosphere he likens to the Salem witch trials.

“That’s the big question — why is it `cheating?“’ Fost said.

Braun did not respond to a request for comment from the AP.

“We are dealing with an incomplete set of facts and speculation,” Brewers chairman and principal owner Mark Attanasio said in a statement. “Before there is a rush to judgment, Ryan deserves the right to be heard. We are committed to supporting Ryan to get to the truth of what happened in this unfortunate situation.”

As Braun awaits his appeal, doctors continue to promote awareness of the potentially harmful effects of performance-enhancing drugs in youth and high school sports.

And despite ongoing education efforts, Briskin has suspected some of her patients were using them — especially those who have “unrealistic weight goals,” like football players whose coaches have asked them to bulk up and switch positions.

One patient actually asked her for them.

“I’m like, `Are you aware that’s an illegal substance, and I can go to jail for prescribing it, and you can go to jail for taking it?’,” she said.

Still, she says, performance-enhancing drugs remain remarkably easy to get, whether it’s through somebody at a gym or online.

“You can pretty much buy anything on the Internet,” she said.

———

AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

View full post on ryan braun – Yahoo! News Search Results

Brewers’ Braun doesn’t fit steroid user stereotype

MILWAUKEE (AP)—Ryan Braun certainly doesn’t fit the image fans conjure up when they hear that a baseball slugger has been accused of using performance-enhancing drugs.

Since he joined the Milwaukee Brewers in 2007, Braun has belted big home runs not with cartoonishly large muscles, but with a sweet swing and an ultra-quick bat. Last season, he helped drive the Brewers to the playoffs and was voted the NL’s Most Valuable Player.

Now Braun finds himself fighting a 50-game suspension after news leaked that he has tested positive for a banned substance. He steadfastly maintains his innocence.

A spokesman for Braun said in a statement issued to ESPN and The Associated Press that there are “highly unusual circumstances surrounding this case which will support Ryan’s complete innocence.”

ESPN cited two sources Saturday in first reporting the result, saying Braun tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, adding that a later test by the World Anti-Doping Agency lab in Montreal determined the testosterone was synthetic. Braun is appealing, according to people familiar with the case.

And fans may be inclined to believe Braun, given his clean-cut image and that he hasn’t tested positive or even been suspected of using banned substances in the past. And, perhaps above all, the fact that he doesn’t look like a human science experiment.

But there is a long history of athletes accused of taking banned drugs insisting they did so to recover from injuries. Sports medicine experts acknowledge the drugs may help, raising the possibility Braun might have been doing just that.

Norman Fost, a professor of pediatrics and director of the bioethics program at the University of Wisconsin, said vigorous exercise breaks down microscopic muscle fibers.

“One theory is that anabolic steroids hasten the repair of those muscle fibers, and allow you to work out harder,” Fost said.

Dr. Susannah Briskin, a primary care sports medicine physician with Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland, says the potential injury recovery benefits associated with anabolic steroids have been tested on a limited basis but only on animals.

“This stuff will never end up being studied with humans,” Briskin said. “Any medical study must start with, `Do no harm.’ The problem is, there’s been a lot of harm proven in studying anabolic steroids.”

According to a document on the Mayo Clinic’s website, the potential injury recovery benefits of performance-enhancing drugs are part of their appeal to athletes.

“Besides making muscles bigger, anabolic steroids may help athletes recover from a hard workout more quickly by reducing the muscle damage that occurs during the session,” the document says. “This enables athletes to workout harder and more frequently without overtraining. In addition, some athletes may like the aggressive feelings they get when they take the drugs.”

Braun has dealt with nagging injuries in recent years, and other players have acknowledged they used performance enhancers to help them recover from injury.

One of the most well-known is pitcher Andy Pettitte, who said he used human growth hormone to recover from an injury, not to enhance his performance. Given the generally positive public reception to Pettitte’s admission, Fost wonders why more athletes accused of using banned substances don’t just follow his lead.

View full post on ryan braun – Yahoo! News Search Results

SOPA: Facebook, Google, Twitter Oppose Bill Amid User Backlash

The online outrage sparked by congresses new effort to “Stop Online Piracy” has reached new heights, this time stretching beyond users to the companies themselves. Facebook, Google, Twitter, AOL are all among SOPA’s opponents.

On Wednesday the House of Representatives met to discuss a potential ” Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA)–a bill that aims to curb illegal distribution of music, movies and software through federal legislation.

A group of Internet companies including Facebook, Mozilla, EBay, Twitter and Google have written to the Committee Of The Judiciary to voice their concerns about SOPA.

“We support the bills’ stated goals-providing initial enforcement tools to combat foreign “rogue” websites that are dedicated to copyright infringement or counterfeiting,” they wrote. “Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities, private rights of action, and technology mandates that would require monitoring of web sites.”

In the letter the companies highlighted their fear that such measures would pose risks to the industries continued track record of innovation and job creation, as well as the nation’s cyber security. “We cannot support these bills as written and ask that you consider more targeted ways to combat foreign “Rogue” Websites.

Google’s Executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, has called the proposal ” Draconian.”

 ”There’s a bill that would require ISPs [Internet service providers] to remove URLs from the Web, which is also known as censorship last time I checked,” Schmidt said in a statement on Tuesday.

Tumblr has also taken a bold stand against SOPA. When users log onto their Dashboard they will find their content has been replaced by censorship blocks. A link on the top of the page prompts them to ” Stop The Law That Will Censor The Internet,” allowing users to enter their phone number and street address so Tumblr can give their users directions on how to call their local House Representative. Tumbler tweeted that their users are averaging 3.6 calls per second.

“Clear, simple and well executed. Black lines speak louder than words! Such a clever move by Tumblr – let’s hope it gets the desired result,” said Facebook user Sheli Rodney in a status update.

“Tumblr did a mind-blowingly good job of getting their point across. Amazing execution, just brilliant, super effective. Lots to learn from, from a product & marketing standpoint. It got me to actually call my representative, voice my opposition to the bill, and feel great about it. I was so impressed I even sent an email and tweet to the Votizen guys to make sure they took notice, it would be cool to have a consumer platform to do what Tumblr did,” another Facebook user Francis Pedraza wrote on his wall.

Internet users from all over the nation have flocked to social media sites to also voice their concerns about the new bill, saying it is a form of censorship.

Here are some of the top comments on Twitter:

Link_This Link-This 

@-@ ##SOPA Won’t Stop Online Piracy, Would Censor Everyone Else 

FreeWeThePeople FreeWeThePeople.com 

You will never silence the voice of the American People – no matter how hard you try! 

chrisbmullins Chris Mullins 

The only people who want #sopa is the #riaa. Congress: Represent your electorate, not your donors, or we will send you home.

firefox Firefox 

Congress is about to censor the Internet. Help fight for a free and open Web: contact your member of Congress today:

unrevoked unrevoked dev team 

I don’t like posting political messages, but this is important: American users, please help us keep the Internet free.

TechCrunch TechCrunch 

Now a Soap Opera, Heavily-Backed SOPA Copyright Bill Gets New Bipartisan and Popular Opposition

FAKEGRIMLOCK FAKEGRIMLOCK 

//WARNING: FATAL STUPIDITY BUFFER OVERFLOW IN CONGRESS.SOPA. REMOVE ALL CORRUPTED SENATORS AND REBOOT TOO CONTINUE. #SOPA

Lockean David House 

Torturing whistleblowers, beating protestors, censoring the Internet. I’ve definitely read this book before. #SOPA

ACLU ACLU National 

Copyright protection is vital. But #SOPA sez Facebook could be shut down if 1 user uploaded 1 copyrighted video.

al3x Alex Payne 

Summary of every article about the SOPA hearings: people who have no idea how technology works legislating technology into the ground.

The Protect IP Act, a senate counterpart of SOPA, was voted out by the Senatate Judiciary Committee in September, but SOPA goes much further than the initial act.  The Protect IP Act only went after Web companies that were hosting unauthorized content where as SOPA specifically targets those that are breeching copyrights.

The bill has support from both Republicans and Democrats, including committee chairman, Representative Lamar Smith, the Washington Post reported.

“The problem of rogue Web sites is real, immediate and widespread. It harms all sectors of the economy,” said Smith, a Texas Republican, during the hearing on Wednesday.

If the bill it passed it will not only force the Websites to shut down but it would force search engines to block the sites and Visa and Paypal would have to stop processing payments.

To report problems or to leave feedback about this article, e-mail:

To contact the editor, e-mail:

View full post on sopa – Yahoo! News Search Results

Netflix Makes More Changes, More User Outrage Ensues

Today, on the Official Netflix blog, Tom Willerer from the product team wrote, “We’re removing avatars, nicknames and bios associated with reviews, as very few Netflix members use them. We’re constantly working to improve the Netflix experience, and by removing these little-used features we are simplifying the review process.”

After the user backlash over the major redesign, it was pretty much a given that users would complain again. Here’s a sampling of the comments on the blog post:

“This should go over real well ”

“The new layout is terrible, and removing the avatars and usernames from reviews is just plain dumb. Please return the site to what it was before you mucked it all up. It is becoming less and less satisfying every time a change is made.”

“Bad Idea. I count on particular users reviews, ones I find dependable to select movies to watch. I also write a lot of reviews for the same purpose for others who may share my tastes. Makes no sense.”

“Yay, MORE reduced functionality. The reviews aren’t even easily accessible, thanks to the new child and monkey-approved UI.”

“I was expecting an announcement that you were bringing back the old format. Instead you are taking more away?! Are you TRYING to make people cancel accounts?”

“I am officially canceling my account – Hello HULU!”You get the idea. When Netflix launched its major redesign, a lot of users started saying they were going to cancel their accounts. I haven’t seen any numbers on how many actually have, but it’s not been great PR either way.

It looks like the comments on the original announcement got maxed out at 5,000. It doesn’t look like the new announcement is upsetting quite as many people yet. The discussion seems to be minimal on Twitter, compared to the major overhaul. Netflix calls this one a “minor update”.

Netflix says “very few” members used the avatars, nicknames and bios. Did you use them?

About Chris Crum
Chris Crum has been a part of the WebProNews team and the iEntry Network of B2B Publications since 2003. Follow WebProNews on Facebook or Twitter. Twitter: @CCrum237

View all posts by Chris Crum →

View full post on netflix – Yahoo! News Search Results