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felix Ex-president disregarded constitution Andy Sykes Editor-in-chief The previous President of the Union, Sameena Misbahuddin, may have “flagrantly disregarded” the Union’s constitution, claimed Jon Matthews (Deputy President, Finance & Services) at a meeting of the Executive Committee on Tuesday. Mr Matthews’ comments were made while introducing a paper submitted to the Committee, which accuses Miss Misbahuddin of breaching the consitution during her handling of the sabbatical elections last year. The allegations centre around the post of Deputy President (Graduate Students), a post currently occupied by Shama Rahman. Ms Rahman apparently put forwards a proposal to the Executive Committee, via Miss Misbahuddin, that suggested she take up her position in September, rather than in July with the other sabbs. This was to allow Miss Rahman to work on completing her MSc during July and August; refusal of the proposal may have meant Miss Rahman would have to step down. Miss Rahman claims to have spoken to Miss Misbahuddin about the proposal while she was deliberating over whether to stand for the position. However, the first paper put before Exec by Miss Misbahuddin was only a day before the final candidates’ meeting that would allow the votes to be counted. As such, only 24 hours were allowed for discussion of the paper, which was done by “electronic meeting”, something that is neither allowed nor forbidden by the Union’s constitution. The proposal was rejected by 6 votes to 5, and shortly afterwards another proposal was circulated after the final candidates’ meeting with a very short deadline. Again, the paper was discussed electronically, with most of the votes arriving after the deadline. The proposal was passed 6 to 5, but some Exec members were unhappy with the short deadlines, lack of discussion and apparently forcefulness of Miss Misbahuddin and leaked the closed session emails. On learning of the leak, Miss Misbahuddin told Exec that she “no longer trusted them” with closed session business, and that she would decide on such business by herself, without consulting the committee, which is unconstitutional. The two proposals led to confusion as the new sabbs arrived this year, with the team being presented with the first, rejected proposal rather than the second, accepted proposal. The former said that the DPGS would be absent for the whole of August, when in fact she would be absent for the last three weeks of August, and work two days a week during July and the first week of August. This reporter was unable to contact Miss Misbahuddin, but spoke to the previous incumbent of the post of Deputy President (Clubs & Societies), Simon Matthews. Mr Matthews said that he only knew about Miss Rahman’s proposal 24 hours before the candidates’ meeting, when it was brought to Exec, and added that he felt “it [the decision] was definitely rushed”. Com- menting on the threat to conduct closed session Exec business without consulting the committee, Mr Matthews said: “I’m not 100% sure that anything was decided outside of Exec that should have been discussed.” He also hinted that he was being kept in the dark about Miss Misbahuddin’s decisions: “I’m aware of a few things (I’m not going to be specific) that I wasn’t told at the time but would have expected to have been.” However, he said that he felt the threat of unilateral action was more of a “threat/loss of temper” than a serious move. He was supportive of Miss Misbahuddin’s attempts to get the proposal approved, calling it “wellintentioned”. However, he was critical of the handling of the second proposal: “Exec certainly had no time to consider it properly, and there was a significant amount of pressure brought to bear to accept it. With hindsight... they should have stuck to their original decision.” The reasons for the current sabb team bringing up this matter have been questioned by a number of hacks. Ostensibly, the paper was brought to try to amend the constitution to clarify the situation with electronic meetings, and to reconsider the role of the DPGS. The paper included several options for a future Graduate Students representative, such as changing the start date, making it part-time sabbatical position akin to a Faculty Union President, and renaming the position to GSA Chair. These considerations will be investigated over the next few weeks by the sabb team. Lord Robert Winston, took part in a special lecture entitled ‘Playing God?’ on Tuesday evening inside the Great Hall. The IC Professor of Fertility Studies spoke to a packed house about the connections between faith, religion and science. There was one especially amusing anecdote about the scientist who discovered sperm cells, only to be afraid of his own small wriggling gametes, thinking he had some strange disease. 2 Friday 3 November 2006 felix NEWS news.felix@imperial.ac.uk Turnstiles to come? College closes reception desks around South Kensington campus College has unveiled plans to change the access to the campus, with reception desks within buildings being phased out in favour of swipe card turnstiles. Through the summer, the College has been consulting with staff around the campus in order to decide how best to “restructure reception services”. The initial plans, which were the subject of discussion amongst College Security and receptionists, involved the closure of twelve out of the fifteen reception desks around campus, with two more being converted into ‘concierge positions’. In the buildings where reception desks were to be removed, turnstiles activated by swipe cards were to be installed, similar to the ones in the newly completed Chemistry entrance. This meant that visitors to one of the buildings with turnstiles would be directed to a central desk in the Sherfield Building where a member of staff from the desk or the destination department would take the visitor to the correct building and give them access. The revised plans are somewhat similar, with seven desks remaining: the College Main Entrance, the Chemistry & Biochemistry building, the Blackett Lab (Physics entrance), the Faculty Building, the Huxley Building, the Skempton Building and the Sir Alexander Fleming Building. The external facing entrances will be swipe card access only; these are the Royal School of Mines entrance, the Huxley entrance at 180 Queens Gate, and the Aeronautical Engineering entrance. These entrances will only be accessible to students who study in these departments, apart from the Aero entrance, which will permit any student with a swipe card. The loss of reception desks means that extra staff are likely to be taken on to deal with the extra mail. Whereas post was previously left in the reception areas of buildings by postal staff, it will now be delivered directly to the department itself, resulting in “an improved postal serv- The magnetic strip turnstiles in the new Chemistry entrance ice”. Couriers will also be directed to new drop-off points, varying with department. Felix has learned that plans to install more of the swipe card access turnstiles in buildings are under consideration. The turnstiles are monitored with CCTV, and only allow access to students and staff who work inside that particular building. Jumping the gates should trigger alarms, and Security can locate the jumper by viewing the CCTV footage. Turnstiles are likely to be added to the Queen’s Gate and Prince Consort Road entrances by January. When the plans were proposed during the summer, they were met with criticism from some inhabitants of the campus. Some suggested that they would make collaboration across departments difficult, as freedom of movement from building to building would be restricted. Ceri Davis, Head of Security, has said that the final decision on who would be allowed access to the building would depend on what the managers of the building wanted, and that despite the buildings being on swipe-controlled access 24 hours a day, College Security has no problem allowing all students and staff access to all the buildings. Though Mr Davis has promised proximity readers for turnstiles, the ones in the Chemistry Entrance are magnetic strip only, and have proved somewhat problematic, being slow to reset on occassion. However, the concierge position allows congestion to be bypassed by opening the glass gates. The overall aim of the plans is to improve the security of South Kensington campus, and to centralise visitor access. However, the promised closure of Imperial College Road, and turnstile placement at all entrances of the campus are probably a fair way off since both Westminster and the Royal Borough Councils must agree, and may also depend on the long-term plan of pedestrainising Exhibition Road. Elections complete This year’s Council elections are complete, with results being announced at Thursday lunchtime, but not without the usual share of silliness, farce, and mistakes. Despite being announced as “the most successful Council Elections turn-out ever”, the average turnout was only 7.2%. This is likely attributable to the lack of campaigning of most candidates, as most of them were standing unopposed by anyone but Re-Open Nominations (RON). The highest turn-out was in the Faculty of Medicine, with 12.3% of undergraduates coming out to vote for their counsellors. Notable victors from the elections were: Ashley Brown, the editor of Live! (CGCU online newspaper, live.cgcu.net), who was elected as Postgraduate Engineering Counsellor; Alex Guite, the leader of the NUS Yes campaign, who was elected as Postgraduate Natural Science counsellor; and Andy Sykes, the Fe- lix editor, who was elected as NonFaculty Counsellor, a rather odd position that represents less than 100 students in the College, including those in the Tanaka Business School and the sabbs themselves. Despite heavy email campaigning by John Collins, the Union President, some positions remain unfilled, and will have to be elected at the next Council meeting. An ‘administrative error’ lead to the Welfare Campaigns Officer not being included on the website form for voting or standing, leaving prospective officers confused. This position will also by elected at Council. As reported two weeks ago, hustings in the JCR proved as farcical as usual, with most students only paying attention when RON (Stephen Brown) took to the stage. Nonetheless, any increase in voter turn-out for what is often seen as the “hacks’ elections” is to be commended. Student’s death in Beit Hall Beit Hall, where the student was found dead in his room An undergraduate maths student was found dead in his room in Beit Hall on Tuesday. The alarm was raised by the student’s mother, who had not been able to contact her son. The wardening staff acted immediately and gained access to his room, then called paramedics and the police. The cause of death is being investigated by the police. The student had previously suffered from epilepsy however. The student’s parents have been informed of the tragedy, and a College tutor is currently supporting them, along with the Warden of Beit Quad. Ben Harris, Deputy President (Education & Welfare), said: “At this sad time the thoughts of all those involved in the Union are with the student’s friends and family.” felix 1,362 Friday 03.11.06 Da Vinci exhibition Going surfing “The collection manifests itself as a fascinating and beautifully arranged collection of sketches and thoughts of the prolific genius that was Leonardo.” PAGE 5 & 16 “To many who don’t know, windsurfing is probably the greatest hangover cure you can dream of.” PAGE 28 Coffee Break returns Trouts and radicals “David Hasselhoff left a void in Felix that many have always thought could not be filled (due to the size of the Hoff’s monstrous loins). Luckily for all of you I’m far better! Hear me roar! So stand straight when I’m talking to you!” PAGE 32 “A friend asked me if I wanted to go and see a blues guitarist called Walter Trout. Intrigued by the name I agreed, despite having only a passing interest in blues music, and boy was I impressed with the result.” PAGE 14 Fabric’s seventh “By 3am we left happy that we’d spent a great night out, although not relishing the prospects of trying to drive home.” PAGE 15 Rotten Peaches “She’s yet to come to the crushing realisation that she an invisible speck in the universe and no-one cares that she DJs.” PAGE 21 Sport does exist “Five weeks of having a non-existent sports page and my article getting published under “hockey” instead of “football” last week was enough to piss me off completely.” PAGE 35 & 36 Borat moviefilm out everyplace today in London! Is it essential viewing? PAGE 17 Friday 3 November 2006 felix NEWS 3 news.felix@imperial.ac.uk Students’ uncapped top-up anger Students march to Trafalgar Square in national protest over government plans to lift the cap on top-up fees David Ellis News Editor 7,500 students marched through London on Sunday to protest against top up fees. The march began in Bloomsbury, passed Downing Street and ended up in Trafalgar Square where 3,000 balloons were released, one for every pound each new student owes to the government under the new Top-Up fees scheme. The protest was aimed at forcing the government to drop plans to remove the £3,000 cap on top up fees. Many students want the entire scheme scrapped, although the government pushed the Higher Education Act through parliament, which set up the current scheme, in 2004. There were fierce protests at the time, and now plans to lift the cap on fees have rekindled the touch paper. Top up fees are an attempt to reform the way undergraduate students pay for university courses. Until 1997 students would pay nothing for their university education. After 1997 students had to pay up to £1,250 per year for their degrees, the exact amount was set by ‘means-testing’ which looks at the income of a student’s parents. Students could then apply for a means-tested student loan from the Student Loans Company, a government owned organisation. The loans were charged such that interest is in line with inflation. In ‘real’ terms this meant the loans were interest free. After graduation the student pays back the loan at a rate of 9% gross income on all earnings above £15,000. The introduction of these fees was controversial, seeing the average student debt rise from £2,212 in 1992 to £13,501 in 2005. Under the new scheme, which came into effect this year, universities can charge up to £3,000 per year for undergraduate studies, provided they meet certain equality standards as far as induction is concerned. The Student Loans Company pays the fees instead of the student and the loans system remains unchanged. The student loans and the university fees are then paid back to the Student Loans Company after graduation under the same terms as before. The changes mean that the average student debt is predicted to reach £20,000 for students enrolling in 2006. The scheme that applies to this years freshers is only the beginning of the government’s plan though. There are suggestions for the £3,000 cap on top up fees that cur- rently applies to be lifted; this has sparked the recent protest. If the £3,000 cap is lifted then students could be exposed to even more financial pressure. Predictions show that average graduate debt could rise to £44,000 by 2023. The main concern is that students from low to middle income backgrounds will be deterred from further study by the burden of debt. Gemma Tumelty, the NUS president, said: “We really believe that debt will be a huge deterrent on students entering education. “This year there were 15,000 fewer students - that’s a huge concern to us, particularly when Government is trying to widen participation.” Although new students will not have to pay their fees until they start working, Ms Tumelty said the prospect of debt after graduation was “still there like a mill-stone round someone’s neck”. Just 10 Imperial students as opposed to 40 LSE students attended the protest. The low turn out certainly does not reflect the Union’s position with Union President, John Collins throwing his support behind the march. John Collins also noted in an article for Live!: “Around a dozen students from Imperial were spotted on the march which compares favourably to larger London Unions such as UCL, which has a smaller turnout.” The union didn’t receive help from ULU due to illness, and heard the details of the protest late because Imperial is not a member of NUS. But these factors did not stop a concerted publicity drive by the union which included a poster campaign, publicity at the JCR and the front page of the union website being given over to the protest. The main reason for a low turn out appeared to be a sense of apathy amongst Imperial students. Ben Harris, Deputy President for Education and Welfare, said that the main reason people were not interested was because the cap would not be removed whilst they were at university. The drawn out approach the government has adopted on the introduction of top up fees seems to have taken the edge off the campaign as far as Imperial students are concerned. Compared to last year’s larger march, there were 20 fewer Imperial students attending this time round. This low turn out amount would appear to be part of a national trend. Speaking to Felix, Ben Harris said: “I believe the low turnout from Imperial mirrors a national trend. This is partly due to the fact Students gathered to hear speeches from prominent campaigners in Trafalgar Square last Sunday that any attempt to lift the cap, although a very real danger, is still three years away.” The impetus for reform came from the universities themselves. The Russell Group, the British equivalent of the Ivy League, has been particularly supportive of the new measures. In the US the undergraduates pay large amounts to study. The university loans the student the fees until after graduation. An undergraduate course at Harvard, for example, cost $39,880 for the 2004/5 academic year, that’s approximately £21,000. The price contains board and lodging, tuition fees and health care cover. Students can claim $28,500 in aid from the university. The rest must be paid up front. By contrast, an Imperial student living in Beit hall in the same academic year would have expected to pay around £6,000 for a similar service. With the stark difference in the amount students pay gives the US universities access to far greater resources than the British ones. The Russell Group, and other universities claim that this causes US institutions to be far more competitive in attracting research grants, the main source of income for universities. There is then a snowballing effect as top academic talents chose to work in the US, attracting more research grants. The British universities are together in the view that something must be done. The solution proffered by the government is the so called top up fee. But the scheme is a contradiction to a fundamental principle that Britain aspires to. Namely, that no citizen should be held back from success for lack of opportunity. We have the NHS; every citizen is entitled to healthcare, state education; every citizen is entitled to an education. Top up fees are seen by many as depriving those from less affluent backgrounds from the opportunity of higher education. The effect is to drive a wedge into society, widening the rich poor divide. Last week Felix reported on the case of Geraint Banks-Wilkinson, a student who took his own life because he was unable to cope with the financial pressure of studying at university. The message is getting through to school pupils. ‘Sexy Maths’ was an outreach program at Imperial College last year. Students went to local schools and give a presentation aimed at advertising the advantages of studying at university and, in particular, the advantages of studying Mathematics at university. The program was very successful, leading to the more appropriately titled ‘Maths Matters’ program, although one of the main questions school pupils asked at the events was: “Why should I study at university, don’t you end up with a lot of debt?” This is precisely the question the government doesn’t want school pupils asking, they claim to be dedicated to increasing the number of graduates. With this in mind, they currently offer a system of grants for disadvantaged students that can total £3,000 per year. They don’t, however, tackle the problem of students being disaffected with the burden of debt resulting in the 3.7% fall in the number of student applicants, that’s equivalent to the entire population of Coventry University. Top-Up Fees Information • Families earning less than £17,501 can apply for grant of £2,700 a year, which reduces to nothing for families on £37,425 • Universities charging maximum fees will have to fund bursaries of at least £300 for the poorest students • Students can still pay up-front if they want to • Unpaid fees are repayable by graduates once their annual income passes £15,000 • Payments must be at least 9% of gross income above £15,000 3000 balloons released in Trafalgar Square, one for every pound new students owe to the government for each year of their degree 4 Friday 3 November 2006 felix BUSINESS business.felix@imperial.ac.uk City explained: hedging with swaps Jayraj Choksi Business Correspondent Options and futures allow the opportunity to hedge price risks, swaps allow the opportunity to hedge risk against cash flows. At their most simple, swaps do exactly what they say: they swap the cash flow of, say, company A with those of company B. Inherently, they are not traded on exchanges and are classified as over the counter (OTC) derivatives, contracts which are structured specifically for their primary market, by investment banks. As such, they cannot be bought or sold on the open market and represent flows which are of course very specific to the counterparties involved in the transactions. There are three main types of swaps: interest-rate, currency, and equity swaps. In an interest-rate swap (IRS), there is a transfer of the interest rate paid on borrowings and loans by company A and company B. Why would companies want to swap interest rates? Just like options and futures help eliminate price risks, interest-rate swaps help eliminate risk to interest rates. Typically, in an IRS, a company will exchange the floating interest rate (i.e. variable market rate), usually LIBOR plus 50 basis Currency swaps play an increasing role in hedging all kinds of risk points, to a fixed interest rate. LIBOR is short for London Interbank Offered Rate, a rate that banks offer each other on borrowings on the London interbank money market. The British Bankers Association publishes different rates with different maturities; for example, there exists a daily LIBOR, three-month, six-month, one-year, five-year – any period up to 50 years. Basis points simply mean 0.01% (1bps = 0.01%). It is worth noting that the principal borrowing, the money on which the interest rate is being paid, is not the focus of the swap, only the interest rates themselves. As with cash settled options and futures, a swap is Get on the property ladder settled in net. So for example if A owes B 1.5% and B owes A 3%, B simply pays A 1.5%. Currency swaps employ a similar structure; however, they relate to the conversion of one currency to another. In effect, currency swaps allow companies to borrow debt in one country, where it may be cheaper, and then swap it into the currency they need it in. This can be a dangerous game as the company has debt obligations in the currency it has initially borrowed in, and if there are no revenue streams in that currency to cover for the repayments, the company would then have to convert money, exposing it to foreign exchange rates. A landmark currency swap occurred in 1981 between IBM and the World Bank, arranged by Salomon Brothers (now a part of Citigroup). IBM had raised debt principal in Deutsche Marks (DEM) and Swiss Francs (CHF), and swapped them into dollars (USD) to finance their various corporate ventures. The problem for IBM was that to repay its DEM and CHF loans it would rack up considerable transaction costs when buying the DEM and CHF to repay their loans, pay a call premium (i.e. pay more than market price), issue bonds in USD then convert the money to DEM/ CHF and pay capital gains taxes if they made any money in the process. At the same time, the World Bank wanted to borrow DEM and CHF to lend to its customers, and doing so on the open market would involve issuing DEM and CHF bonds, which would have had large issuing costs. Under the swap, the World Bank assumed IBM’s DEM and CHF obligations and borrowed in USD to pay off IBM’s loan. Actually, it delivered the money straight to IBM. In the meanwhile, IBM paid off the World Bank’s USD loan. The currency rates swung in IBM’s favour, and Salomon Brothers made a lot of money. Finally, equity swaps. These are actually a subset of a broader type of swaps called total return swaps. In this type of swap, party A holds certain assets, say shares, and pays any returns those assets make to party B, who in return pay A interest. In essence, party B has gained exposure to the price risk without actually holding the asset, but any capital gain made from the assets must also be given up by A to B. Any losses are paid by B to A. In short, swaps allow companies to hedge their operational risks and allow them to cut many of the costs associated with raising debt. Analysis: oil cartels The average couple borrows more than £28,000 from parents Paul Estruch Business Correspondent Renting a property is expensive and difficult, but getting your foot on the property ladder is even harder. As of October 2006, according to rightmove.co.uk, the average asking price for a property was nearly £220,000 and this is even higher in Greater London, at over £300,000. These prices are amplified in some areas; for example, in September in Kensington and Chelsea, the average asking price jumped 10% to just short of £1 Million. The main cause of this is a lack of houses of the right quality in the right areas. For first-time buyers these prices are proving just too high. First-time buyers are now borrowing 3.27 times their income on a mortgage. Imperial College Graduates, who earn the most of all graduates, last year averaged starting salaries of £25,780, which even with borrowing over 3 times would leave them with a house well below the national average. All this is not to say it is impossible to get yourself on to the property ladder once you graduate. The The average property in the UK is now worth in excess of £200,000 government has recently raised the threshold on stamp duty, in an attempt to make it easier to buy cheaper houses for which first-time buyers demand. The government has also just introduced a scheme called Open Market HomeBuy designed at providing an additional 25% of the value of homes in interest-free loans for key workers. Many people rely on their parents to give them a little boost. With the average couple needing £29,000 for deposit and stamp duty on a house, people spend years saving up just so they can take out a mortgage. This is where mum and dad join in, helping towards the deposit, or even contributing to mortgage repayments. Most parents get this money from the big increase in value of their house, completing the property circle. Increasingly another way of gaining a mortgage is becoming popular. Getting a house and sharing the mortgage with another person often allows someone to get a share of their first property. However this has many pitfalls. Finding someone to share a mortgage with requires a lot of trust. It is very difficult to get out of the mortgage if you cannot stand to live with each other: you are liable for any of their shortcomings in payments, and you both have to agree what to do with the house further down the line. Whilst it can be tough to get on the property ladder it is definitely possible. Once you do get yourself a nice little place, you can sit back and reap the benefits of increasing house prices whilst others are trying to get themselves their first house. OPEC is the oil cartel responsible for half the world’s oil output When you first think of cartels, it conjures the image of an illegal drug empire in the deepest jungle of South America with tight ranks and extreme rules, such as the Medellin Cartel. Whilst a cartel in business is unlikely to result in deaths, it can involve the exchanging of brown envelopes and secret meetings. A cartel is a group of independent businesses whose goals are to jointly raise prices and income, limit supply, or eliminate competition, usually in a market where there are only a few sellers, for their advantage. Such cartels are illegal in most countries; however, they continue to exist, particularly internationally, where nations have immunity under public international law. In the UK, the Office of Fair Trading enforces European Community (EC) and UK competition laws in particular the Cartel and Competition Act 1998. Perhaps the most renowned and most commonly used example of a cartel is that of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). It is has 11 member state, and was founded by Libya, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela. Its members are very important to the production of oil, accounting for about 60% of the worlds known oil reserves and 41.7% of the oil production in 2005. Its main aim is to protect the interests of its nations by controlling the amount of oil its members output. Whilst this might sound all bad and mean high prices for us, OPEC also tries to keep the oil market steady by altering its output and can even increase output to try and absorb a sudden market increase in the price of oil. Closer to home, earlier this year, many airlines, including British Airways, had their offices raided by the EC and the Department of Justice and are still under investigation. This was to look into possible price fixing of fuel surcharges and other costs related to cargo. With the EC imposing a maximum fine of up to 10% of annual sales, and with the negative publicity, this could be costly to the airlines involved. Typically cartels have a very short life. It is very easy for one member to break production limits and produce more in attempt to make more money for itself. As soon as this happens, the cartel will become ineffective, and normal market forces will begin to take over. Friday 3 November 2006 felix SCIENCE 5 science.felix@imperial.ac.uk Science through the looking glass Felix examines the new field of neuroesthetics, and decides that it is time to start uniting science and art Nell Barrie For me, the choice between art and science first came at the end of GCSEs. I was hit with the stark realisation that I might need chemistry and maths A-level to go with the biology that I loved. But if I’d kept my options open at A-level, tthen I certainly would have had to pick sides when I decided on a degree. But why is there this polarity, never ‘science and art’ but only ‘either or’? The idea of the “two cultures” of science and art is an old one. Science is thought of as being all about reality, while art allows you to put your own interpretation on life, the universe and everything. But are they really so different? A scientific theory can be thought of as a representation of reality – it’s never completely accurate, but it’s supposed to help you understand the world a little better. But isn’t a painting just another representation of reality? Doesn’t religion help believers to understand their world? Does science really have a monopoly on truth? Even the smallest introduction to philosophy of science will quickly illustrate that scientists don’t have all the answers. More and more scientists are turning to art either as a way to communicate their work, or as an interesting new subject for study. A recent event at the Science Museum’s Dana Centre is just such an example. “Art of the Brain” was presented by Dr Lizzie Burns, a science-based artist, whose aim was to inspire the audience about neuroscience by using art. Dr Burns presented her own art inspired by neurons and the brain, and the audience got messy with paints, pens and even coloured air dough, making their own brain art and learning about the brain at the same time. I asked Dr Burns why she thinks art and science can work together. “I genuinely have always loved both art and science,” she told me. “I really got into art properly after ‘discovering’ Dali… he saw science as holding the secrets for some kind of divine truth. I use art as a tool for communicating science – I seem fairly unique in having the science background but also being an artist… but I see the combination as a way of being able to help people find their own way into seeing how beautiful and inspiring science is.” She certainly succeeds in inspiring participants in her events. And she’s not alone in combining “the two cultures”. Scientists around the world are becoming interested in the new field of “neuroesthetics”. The idea behind this new discipline is that art, as a human activity, can be understood by looking at the laws of the brain. For example, new brain imaging techniques are beginning to allow neuroscientists to study the neural basis of visual art. The Institute for Neuroesthetics was recently founded in Berkeley, California, and is attached to the Wellcome Laboratory of Neurobiology at University College London. The institute pursues the idea of consilience – the integration of knowledge from different fields (such as art and science). Neuroesthetics is interesting in the way it assumes that art and science are not really so different. Scientists with an interest in where art and science meet are now engaged in research projects like identifying the molecular basis of the brain’s emotional response to art, and looking at neurological conditions like synaesthesia, in which the senses become intertwined so that sounds One of the products of “Art of the Brain”. sponspored by the Medical Research Council and EDAB can be coloured and colours can have their own sounds. It’s a young field, but with big players like the Wellcome Trust becoming more engaged with art through their Sciart programme (funding art based around the biomedical sciences) it looks like art and science are set to become better friends than ever before. So while the new spin on “the two cultures” aims to bring science and art together, it’s becoming clear that the two have never really been separate. Prehistoric art was a window on the artists’ world, just as sci- ence and art are for us today. Each inspires the other, and we need both to appreciate and understand the universe. “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.” And no, it wasn’t Dali who said that. It was Einstein. Da Vinci decoded: a beautiful mind Tamara Nicolson Da Vinci’s intricate observations Mention the words ‘da Vinci’ and most people will automatically think of Dan Brown’s over-rated potboiler, or perhaps of the legendary Mona Lisa. If, like me, you have dutifully trouped off to the Louvre in order to see that ‘enigmatic’ smile from 100 feet away, behind hordes of like-minded tourists, you might have felt the selfsame disappointment as me. However, the da Vinci Exhibition currently on show at the V&A provides no such disappointment. The collection manifests itself as a fascinating and beautifully arranged collection of sketches and thoughts of the prolific genius that was Leonardo. It provides the viewer with some insight into the thoughts of arguably the greatest artistic and scientific mind the world has ever seen. The underlying and continuous theme running through the exhibition is of the great man’s fascination with how the world works – of how everything (including the human body) is mirrored in the whole of nature: the smaller merely reflecting the whole. Thus, we are privileged to witness Leonardo’s interest in the workings of the human body via sketches and scribblings. In one display, he draws the arteries of an old man (Leonardo himself skilfully dissected the old man after death). At once, the observations of the human arterial system seem to have triggered a parallel fascination and flurry of intellectual output associated with rivers and aqueducts (not least architectural ideas involving aquaducts, valves, pumps and irrigation systems). The ‘body of the world’, ‘veins of water’ and the ‘tree of blood vessels’ as he himself described them, were the inspiration for these new ideas. That is, the workings of the human system (ie. nature), such as the heart valve and the manner in which the body pumps blood, provided the inspiration for these new architectural ideas. There is little doubt however, that despite being appreciated mainly for his artistic side (at least in our day and age), this exhibition celebrates Leonardo the Scientist – one who utilised drawing as a primary tool of analysis. For example, the iconic image of a man drawn within a circle and a square with out- stretched arms and legs was, for Leonardo, the product of a study in human proportion. Other sketches of parts of the human anatomy and buildings are also studies of proportion, or innovatory ways of shaping space (such as the depiction of an extraordinarily ‘plastic’ spiral staircase – the technical feat of a very skilled draughtsman). Of course, these drawings are no less beautiful for the fact they are first and foremost scientific studies. Here we see that science and art are interchangeable; though whether Leonardo himself made the distinction is debatable. Certainly his oil painting of the Mona Lisa residing in the Louvre, is one in which beauty rather than science seems to be a primary aim; however, even in this work, the background mountains are studies of proportion and space, the face of the Mona Lisa draws from his fascination and subsequent mathematical studies of light reflecting off the human face (drawings which we see in this exhibition). Furthermore, the figure of the Mona Lisa herself is also more than partially the result of da Vinci’s fascination with human pro- portion. Perhaps most startlingly of all, da Vinci manages to render that most irrational thing – beauty – into something highly rational and scientific. Thus, the ‘Experience, Experiment and Design’ exhibition at the V&A showcases Leonardo’s application of the rational, his struggle for new knowledge and his attempts to uncover laws of the universe. It is during this process that he also simultaneously uncovered great beauty. Here we witness the workings of a breathtakingly original mind, yet we also see how the application of science to his art helped him to come up with a massive array of new ideas. Indeed his ability to combine all these aspects have provided the inspiration for some of the greatest inventions and works of art known to mankind. Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment, Design. V&A, Exhibition Road. Exhibition open until January 7th. £7 students/£10 adults. Telephone the booking line on 0870 906 3883. Audio tour highly recommended. £3 students/£3.50 adults. 6 Friday 3 November 2006 felix SCIENCE science.felix@imperial.ac.uk Brian May: BSc, CBE, PhD? Bang! Colin Barras chats to the Queen legend about his new book, Jimi Hendrix jamming in the Great Hall and his return to Imperial to finish the most overdue thesis ever Brian May returns to the studio to work on new album? That’s not especially newsworthy. But Brian May returns to Imperial to work on PhD? Now, there’s a scoop! Tape recorder in hand, I phoned Brian for a chat. Long before Queen, Brian had developed a great passion for astronomy. He chats to me about zodiacal light; “A beautiful light you can see just after sunset if you’re lucky and you live in the tropics.” This, then, was the subject of his PhD. “Most people think it’s due to dust in the solar system that’s scattering the light. People were wondering where the dust came from and there was the inkling of the idea that it might be something to do with the way that the solar system was formed. It was an object of great interest at the time.” The time in question, the late 1960s; Brian, a recent graduate from the Physics department, was deeply involved in postgraduate academic life at Imperial. What was life like for an Imperial student in those halcyon days? “Well, a lot of hard work,” Brian admits. Some things never change. But this was the world of Swinging London, and Imperial saw its fair share of action. “It was a fantastic time to be around musically,” he recalls, “I was on the entertainments committee and we booked a lot of great groups: Spooky Tooth, for instance.” I maintain a polite silence. But a Wikipedia search later reveals this group to be noteworthy for its Cumbrian origins, greatly increasing the rock credentials of my home county. Back to the 1960s Imperial music scene, Brian is soon on more familiar ground. “Well, Jimi Hendrix… that was a great coup. He was playing in the Great Hall. We sold 1000 tickets!” Brian’s own music career took off at around this time. One of his early groups, 1984, supported Jimi’s Imperial gig, “If you could call it supporting!” says Brian, bashfully. Later, an early ancestor of Queen was to have its first rehearsal in a room somewhere behind the Great Hall. “In those days it was called the Jazz Club Room. I rented it for a couple of days and that’s where Roger and I first played.” This being Queen drummer Roger Taylor, then a student at London Hospital Medical College. “So, Roger turned up and set up his drum kit and started tuning them and I was quite amazed. I’d never seen anyone tuning drums before,” recalls Brian, used to the hit-it-and-hope approach of most rock drummers. “He tuned them in the most amazing way so they all started to blend together. I was absolutely stunned.” Brian and Roger, with their friend Tim Staffell, played under the name Smile. But within a short space of time the band line-up had changed to include Freddie Mercury on piano and vocals, and John Deacon on bass. Queen was born and Brian began to drift away from his astronomy research. I wonder if he ever considered quitting the band for academia? “I think I was slightly discouraged with academic life because my supervisor was raising so many issues about the thesis, saying ‘write a bit more, write a bit more’. I got to the point where I thought: I can’t do this any more!” This is probably a familiar story for many going through the PhD process. Brian decided to give up the research entirely, and soon Queen had released their first album. The rest, as Brian jokingly agrees with me, is rock and roll history. But, while you can take the student out of academia, you can’t take academia out of the student. Brian continued to be fascinated with things astronomical and ultimately developed a close friendship with Patrick Moore, astronomer and populariser of science. Patrick is one of Brian’s co-authors on Bang! The Complete History of the Universe, published earlier this month. The book claims to be a readable account of astronomy. Is this a direct reference to the work of Stephen Hawking, famously an author whose books are bought but seldom read? “We have boundless respect for Stephen Hawking,” Brian says, “but I personally found A Brief History of Time a difficult book. A lot of people who are deep into their disciplines don’t realise how simple things have to be before a normal person can understand them.” The science communicator’s job is a tough one, as Brian concedes, “There’s this fine line you walk. You don’t want to sacrifice major concepts but you don’t want to get deep into problems that people can’t follow.” He has in mind one area of understanding that remains baffling to the non-scientist. “I think very often it’s the maths that puts people off. I personally love maths, but a lot of people get an instant block when they see an integral sign.” But Brian’s interest in science communication goes beyond this. “In many disciplines you’re wrestling with a problem in one small area and the problem could already have been solved in another area and you wouldn’t know about it.” To help the spread of scientific knowledge even within the science community, the authors of Bang! have set up a website, www.banguniverse.com. “I encourage everyone to visit. We’re hoping it will develop over the next few months as an organ of interaction.” This newly re-kindled passion for astronomy has encouraged Brian to finish that PhD he began almost 40 years ago. Surely this is one of the longest running PhDs ever? “I know! It’s going to be a record!” he jokes. “I’ve been in touch with Professor Rowan Robinson, who’s the head of astrophysics, and he’s very kindly offered me a desk and computer.” Brian has already been down to “re-recce” Imperial. I ask him if much has changed. “The big surprise was trees in Beit Quad! There was nothing there when I was a student. You guys have done a good job making it into an area that can be used and enjoyed. And with tables where you can sit and have a beer!” He may be older and wiser, but Brian is beginning to think like a student again. Isn’t it wonderful? Bang! The Complete History of the Universe Brian May, Patrick Moore and Chris Lintott £20, Carlton Books, London 2006. This is a beautiful coffee-table size book, filled with gorgeous photographs of the universe and elegant explanations of the state of our knowledge about the cosmos, its origins and its future. Divided into seven chapters, it tells the biography of the universe, sidling through the beginning of light, the universe’s evolution, the formation of stars and planets and the emergence of life. The final chapters look into the future and to the anticipated end of the universe. The text is accessible and engaging without coming across as dumbed down. It is aimed at a non-scientific audience and includes as asides (in ‘grey areas’) explanations of the Kelvin temperature scale and other concepts that might be unfamiliar to a nonImperial student. Like bonus tracks on a CD, after chapter 7 we come to more fascinating information. Tips for getting into practical astronomy and guides to the night sky help you go further; biographies of sixteen astronomers and physicists, whose research has led to our current understanding of the universe. What is unlear is who wrote what parts of the book. An entire section is dedicated to the biographies and achievements of astrophysicists - it would have been nice to know each of the author’s own contributions.There’s a Bang! website www.banguniverse.com you can look at. Joanna Carpenter Win Bang! Felix has 10 copies of Bang! to give away. To win, answer the following question: What musical Instrument did Brian May play in the band Queen? a) The kazoo b) The guitar c) The cello Email to the answer to: science.felix@imperial.ac.uk Friday 3 November 2006 felix SCIENCE 7 science.felix@imperial.ac.uk Brian May’s cosmic background Felix looks back in time at the Imperial alumnus’ poor student days and the formation of rock icons Queen Give me a title!(brian bio) Colin Barras Brian May’s (far left) writing partners for Bang! The Complete History of the Universe including Patrick Moore (left) and Chris Lintott (right) Colin Barras There are many roads to rock stardom, but few are as unlikely as the one travelled by Brian Harold May. He was born in Middlesex in July 1947 and his first ambition was to become a surgeon rather than a musician claims his mother. Indeed, his music career had inauspicious beginnings with much-hated compulsory piano lessons from the age of five. His father, an accomplished ukulele player, was undaunted by this apparent lack of interest in all things musical. He introduced Brian to the ukulele the following year and Brian quickly showed an aptitude for the instrument. On his seventh birthday, after persistent nagging, Brian was given his first guitar. The seven-year-old Brian was developing in other directions too; his love of astronomy and photography date to this time. Academically gifted, Brian won a scholarship to Hampton Grammar School at the age of 11. He maintained his interest in music during his teenage years, famously working with his father, Harold, to build an electric guitar from the wood of a nineteenth century fireplace. The unique sound of this guitar, the “Red Special”, was later to become as recognizable to legions of Queen fans as Freddie Mercury’s vocals. But, ever the realist, Brian still recognized music as a mere hobby. Encouraged by his parents, he continued his education at Imperial College in 1965, reading physics and infrared astronomy. During his time at Imperial, he continued making music, initially through a band formed during his school days (called 1984) and later through the short-lived group Smile. It was through Smile that Brian met future Queen drummer Roger Taylor. In due course Brian graduated with a BSc Honours degree in Physics and Mathematics, and embarked on a PhD, also at Imperial. He studied zodiacal light, the sunlight reflected off interplanetary dust particles. The research went well, and Brian published in both Nature and the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. An academic career seemed assured. But then the financial reality of student life hit. Brian’s doctoral research dragged on into a fourth year, and the grant to support his living expenses dried up. Brian resorted to teaching in a comprehensive school in Brixton to make ends meet. Meanwhile, his evenings were devoted to music. By now, Smile was no more; in 1970 the lead singer, Tim Staffell, had left the band to pursue new musical horizons elsewhere. Tim’s roommate, Freddie Bulsara (later Mercury) persuaded Brian and Roger to continue performing, and together formed Queen. In 1971 John Deacon joined the band on bass. Short of both the time and money necessary to complete his PhD, Brian chose to discontinue his academic work. The decision proved to be a wise one; Queen recorded their eponymous first album in 1973 and debuted in the UK singles charts with Seven Seas of Rhye in 1974. The band was incredibly prolific, releasing a further fourteen studio albums and three greatest hits packages between 1974 and 1999. This was a band of musical equals; all four band members contributed memorable songs to the Queen canon. Brian was responsible for rock anthems We Will Rock You and Now I’m Here. Following the untimely death of Freddie in late 1991, Brian coped by throwing himself into his solo music career. The Brian May Band was formed in 1992 and toured the world and elsewhere on the back of a successful album. Brian continued to explore new musical directions; Queen had become the first rock band to become involved in film scoring, for Flash Gordon in 1980 and Highlander in 1986. Brian penned the score for the French art film Furia in 1999. Elsewhere, he was involved in the successful translation of Queen’s music to the stage; The Queen musical We Will Rock You is now well into its fifth successful year at the Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Road. Brian continues to make the music headlines in the new millennium. One of the abiding images of the 2002 celebration of Queen Elizabeth’s Golden Jubilee is Brian’s rendition of God Save the Queen from the roof of Buckingham Palace. In 2005, Roger Taylor and Paul Rodgers, lead singer with 1970s band Free, joined Brian on the first tour by Queen in twenty years. Later in the year, Brian received a CBE at Buckingham Palace. But Brian has not forgotten his early interest in astronomy and photography. He has been a regular guest on The Sky at Night, the BBC’s long-running television show devoted to astronomy, and is reportedly working on a biography of nineteenth century photographer T R Williams. He was awarded the honourary degree of Doctor of Science by the University of Hertfordshire in 2002. Recently, Brian has decided he will finally return to his academic studies to finish the PhD he began in the late 1960s. 8 O pinion & felix Friday 3 November 2006 Comment A waste of time, effort, and money Their ideals may seem attractive on the surface, but if you have ever been unfortunate enough to be closely involved with the NUS you will know the reality is a whole world away from what they lead us to believe I Tom Page “I thoroughly believe that Imperial should vote in the upcoming referendum to stay out of NUS” thoroughly believe that Imperial should vote in the upcoming referendum to stay out of the NUS. Why? I write as someone who has experience of NUS from being President of Durham Students’ Union (DSU). I have only just started at Imperial, but I can speak as someone who was very heavily involved in DSU and had precious few good experiences with the National Union. There are three core problems with the NUS. It doesn’t know what it’s for, it has no forum to decide what it should do, and it is incapable of acting when it makes policy decisions. Beyond this, there is a fourth issue that is not so much about the theoretical institution, but the people who are involved: it is highly self-serving, and frequently more concerned with its own internal politics than issues facing students across the UK. I went to three NUS National conferences – 2003, 2004, and 2005 – such are the pleasures of student union presidency. There will be those who will say that Imperial needs a national voice and NUS is where it can achieve it. One visit to NUS National Conference (NC) illustrates how false this is. My first visit to NUS NC was comparatively better than everyone had told me it would be – sure you had rigged elections, voting cards that you could buy from political factions in return for your support, people on the balcony instructing their faction how to vote, stage occupations, endless procedural motions, votes taking longer than an hour, dismal attendance by the NEC (National Executive Committee – NUS’s top officers), but in comparison to what I was promised this seemed like above par for the course. Go three times and you realise how entrenched these failings are. Political factions dominate NUS. People grouping together because of a shared goal of opinions is no bad thing, but at NC all that matters to swathes of the delegates is which faction wins each issue, not the issue/election itself. Because of the power of the factions, and the amount of noise a small group of students can make, NUS is impotent to represent the “average” (I don’t use this term pejoratively) student. Near riots, screams of “Intimidation!”, and farcical votes of no confidence will be brought up at the first mention of the Israel/Palestine occupation, but barely anyone will listen during a student housing debate, and the resolution eventually passed will be so very mundane and anodyne you’ll wonder why you even bothered to vote. This polarisation extends to the NUS’s campaigns. The only highereducation funding line the NUS will even listen to is the total abolition of fees. This is an attractive argument, but go and speak to MPs and it ruins any chance of a debate – it made discussion almost impossible when at the Higher Education Act 2004 votes Durham was trying to argue that top-up fees weren’t the way to fund education and we should look at other options, but all the NUS hacks could argue was the same inflexible line – it must be totally free with no payment. In the three years I was involved the NEC were a supercilious, selfinterested group. They would turn up at Durham once in a blue moon, although you will no doubt get the chance to meet many of them in the next few weeks – if there’s one thing you can be sure they’ll turn up for it’s a disaffiliation/affiliation referendum. After this initial flurry, Imperial would see very little input from the NEC, yet we’d be paying them tens of thousands of pounds a year. In fact finances have been a major problem in NUS with many (most?) affiliated institutions underpaying, leaving NUS with a massive deficit (the truly incompetent spending of money by the NEC also does little to ameliorate this issue). Even the NUS Treasurer 2004/05 (Martin Ings, an uncharacteristically honest and hard working NEC member) would often look despairing as he read out the latest batch of NUS expenditure. Surely, though, as I’m sure the pro-NUS camp will rightly say, Imperial needs national representation: as the relationship with the University of London draws to a close, it’s vital that we can speak up and be counted. I couldn’t agree more, but NUS isn’t capable of being that forum. We should look at working with comparable institutions – strong independent unions working together, co-ordinating campaigns and lobbying. We’re ideally situated to meet regularly with relevant MPs – at the mass lobbies of Parliament that NUS organises the turnout is often embarrassing. We will be more effective acting without the cumbersome monolith. The pro-NUS camp will idealistically talk about the voice NUS will offer us, the solidarity we’ll develop, the resources for union officers and the benefits for every student. We are only able, however, to join one version of NUS – the real-world version, and that couldn’t be further from the ideals that it should espouse. NUS has much to gain from Imperial joining, yet we have little to tempt us bar the chance of 10% off at Topshop. Let’s save our cash, our time, and the trips to Blackpool, and instead plough that resource into working actively with other unions and improving services right here. Everybody needs a good neighbours’ liaison officer E Brian Falzon “I have amassed a comprehensive list of all the creative ways in which students manage to get themselves into trouble” very warden at Imperial has an added remit related to the role of liaison. For example, one warden is the liaison for issues regarding the Health Centre, another with Registry for disciplinary hearings etc. I am the Neighbours liaison. I’m not entirely sure how this was actually assigned. It could be because I am ‘battle-hardened’ – having dealt diplomatically with a hurl of abuse from one particular neighbour on more than one occasion before such roles were officially assigned. Or, hailing from Australia, someone thought it amusing to assign me the role of liaison with the namesake of that atrocious Aussie soap opera! Being in my penultimate year as warden of Fisher Hall in Evelyn Gardens (appointments are made for a fixed period) I have amassed a comprehensive list of all the creative ways in which students manage to get themselves into trouble. For the most part, getting up to some mischief is all good fun but the funny side is not always appreciated by private residents who live in the neighbourhood or indeed by the wardening team who often have to deal with the consequences. And a particular neighbourhood it is indeed, where the cost of an average two-bedroom flat is comparable to the GDP of a small country and the standard vehicle of choice is either a Porsche, Maserati, or a Chelsea tractor. A few years ago I had to discipline one of my student residents to make him understand that it was not acceptable behaviour to urinate on one of these possessions, parked outside Fisher, while his mate took photos. Neither was it acceptable for one student to be lowered, on a rope, by a friend, from a 3rd-storey window to a 2nd-storey one, to be let back into his room. Noise is a particular problem. It only takes a few individuals in a high density accommodation environment to generate a level of noise which can quickly annoy neighbours. Noise curfews are in place at all halls of residents at Evelyn Gardens but these rules are, regrettably, sometimes flouted. So, on a number of occasions my wardening team has had to diplomatically handle calls from very irate neighbours: “… yes sir … of course sir ... we will look into it straight away … yes … no sir, they’re not all ani- mals actually …” Over the years I have attended Kensington and Chelsea Police Community Panel and Neighbourhood Watch meetings where I was able to meet neighbours and police officers and discuss issues which were of relevance to halls of residence. Most neighbours are quite happy to have students around them but it is the intolerant few which we, as the wardening team, need to placate. This task is made easier when students respect the fact that liv- “It could be because I am ‘battlehardened’” ing in an area which was recently referred to as the most expensive real estate in the world brings with it certain added responsibilities. Considering the concentration of students that we have at Evelyn Gardens, the number of incidents are comparatively low. There are also certain advantages: local businesses love the extra commerce that the students bring and some offer substantial discounts. The restaurant Tampopo, for example, gives a 20% discount with a student card. A number of other outlets regularly give us free items to use as raffle prizes. The fact that students don’t bring cars down to London also means that parking congestion is less than it would be if Evelyn Gardens was all residents. And I wonder how many burglars have been scared off by the nocturnal habits of some of our students. Got anything you would like to share with our readers? Please send all contributions to comment.felix@ imperial.ac.uk Friday 3 November 2006 felix COMMENT & OPINION Wielding the mighty organ comment.felix@imperial.ac.uk Reasons for voting ‘yes’ Why I don’t want ICU to be the most isolated union in London Andy Sykes Editor-in-chief John Collins F I ear not, dear reader, for I have returned from my editorial hiatus, and I’d like to get a few things straight. Firstly, I didn’t put myself on the front page. I was graduating at the time, and my deputy editors were in charge. When I returned on Thursday, my face had become the front page picture story, and they weren’t really happy about removing it. Secondly, my response to Rupert’s letter has generated a lot of complaints, and I’ve tried to reply to all those that took the time to write in individually. If you feel something is missing from Felix, or that I’m doing a terrible job and should be replaced with an educated chimp and a typewriter, then you should tell me. I will reply personally to any email sent to me that’s obviously a “Dear Editor” letter. I am only capable of generally directing Felix in a particular direction, not generating the content personally – that’s down to you, the readers. A few of you that approached me while I was distributing the papers seemed upset about the loss of Page3-which-was-never-on-page-3. “Where are the titties?” they asked. One young lady wondered if she’d ever get see the rugby team sans shirts again. Well, fear not, for Felix has a very talented photographer, and a willing list of people to get naked (no, not you again, Luke Taylor). Your gratitious nudity will return next term. Though you’re probably sick to the back teeth of it, next week’s Felix will be a NUS referendum special, with both the Yes and No campaigns doing their best to convince you that their cause is the right one. You can be assured that Felix as a whole is neutral, though the team have their own opinions on NUS affiliation. I would relate an anecdote in this space, but this week the staff have chained me to a Mac so I can’t escape to the bar. If anyone is reading this, please help. A retraction Stephen Brown Comment Editor Last week I was inadvertently very naughty, mainly due to my copying and pasting frames from previous issues. I expressed opinions on the upcoming referendum in my editorial, which referendum regulations say I should not have done in my capacity as a sub-editor of Felix since the newspaper has no opinion on such matters. I would just like readers to know that my opinions were written in a personal capacity and that Felix is unbiased in this debate and apologise if my editorial implied otherwise. mperial has been outside the National Union of Students (NUS) for nearly thirty years and in two weeks time we will be faced with that age old question once again: should Imperial College Union affiliate to the NUS? All Union Presidents get asked this question pretty regularly and now that I have been officially relieved of my duties as Returning Officer for this referendum I finally have the freedom to share my personal views with you on this subject. Of course, these views are mine alone and do not represent the position of ICU or any of its committees or constituent parts. But they are shared by many prominent leaders within the Union, including some of my predecessors and colleagues. Unlike most London student unions, ICU has been affiliated to the University of London Union (ULU) but not to the NUS since the 1970s. We presently pay around £79,000 each year to ULU and they use this money to run bars at Malet Street that our students rarely visit and manage clubs and societies that (with a handful of exceptions) directly compete with our own. The only real benefits we get from being part of ULU are that we get access to ULU sports leagues, access to other student union officers and support for our campaigns. Sadly, from 2007 we will no longer be allowed to be part of ULU as our dear Rector is leading Imperial College out of its parent institution, the University of London, and into new territory of independence. Our withdrawal from ULU will result in two significant consequences: firstly, we will ultimately be £79,000 per annum richer. Secondly, we will have no means of promoting any welfare or political issue that falls outside the jurisdiction of Imperial College. Now we could spend our newly acquired £79,000 p.a. on beer, but I suggest that this is not the most mature or inclusive way of allocating ICU’s resources. We could spend it on our clubs, and we do plan to spend some of it on compensation for those clubs that will be adversely affected by our withdrawal from ULU. However, with all this spare money floating about, should we not be looking at the bigger picture? When we leave ULU next year we will undoubtedly become the most isolated student union in London. We will have minimal influence on any debate that takes place outside our campuses, reducing our capacity to represent the views of our members. Should ICU wish to campaign on top-up fees, student debt, Council tax, tenancy law, the Oyster Card, the Congestion Charge, the Charity Bill, or anything else that our Rector has no control over, then frankly speaking, we would be powerless to influence these debates. “The NUS provides support services to affiliate unions” Imagine if you were a cabinet minister or an editor of a national newspaper and you were approached by two student leaders who both wanted to raise an issue with you that their constituents felt strongly about. Now imagine if one of them spoke for 12,000 students and the other for 5 million. Who would you listen to? Whether you like it or not, there is only one body in the United Kingdom that speaks for UK students on a national level and that is the NUS. Do not come under any illusion that the media remotely cares about what we, as Imperial students, think about national issues – we simply have no voice. We may be the third best university in the country, but the rest of the top 10 universities’ student unions are all affiliates of the NUS; we’re really not that important. Not only are the likes of Ox- ford, Cambridge, the LSE, UCL, Warwick, Kings, Manchester, Bristol, and Edinburgh members of NUS, but they are also leading players within it. The NUS provides support services to affiliate unions. I strongly doubt that ICU would be able to employ a strong team of professional lawyers, researchers, lobbyists, regional liaison officers, campaigns support staff, and officer development staff with just £52,000. Many of the benefits of these services may not be immediately obvious to our students, but they are nonetheless important. For example, presently we rely heavily on the College for legal support, which is helpful when ICU is being threatened with legal action from an external source; but what do we do if the College themselves are using lawyers against us (as has happened in the past)? The NUS can mobilise its resources to achieve things that individual unions simply cannot manage on their own. I am currently working through the process of closing down a small section of the Prince Consort Road for our Centenary Ball – a time consuming and complex task. Last Sunday the NUS closed down two miles of streets in Central London (and Trafalgar Square) for a national demonstration against top-up fees. No other student led organisation can do that! Of course the most obvious benefit of being in the NUS is that all Imperial students would be able to obtain official NUS discount cards, which are widely recognised outside the South Kensington area and throughout the rest of the UK. I fully accept that the NUS has its faults and I believe that there is much that we can do to improve it; but I also believe that we have absolutely no chance of changing the NUS whilst we stay out. Even though Edinburgh only affiliated last year, they have already established themselves as the leaders of a growing movement for reform within the NUS and I expect that if we affiliate this autumn then we would fully support and strengthen their cause. So when I come to vote on November 14th, I will say “yes” to a national voice, “yes” to professional support for our officers, “yes” to reform, and “yes” to discount cards. BST is not for me, says Hugh Stickley-Mansfield Last Sunday marked the end of British Summer Time for another year, bringing with it the twice-annual irritation of adjusting all the clocks to hand, a task made even more arduous by the inclusion of clocks in pretty much every electronic device littered around the average home. What is doubly galling about this is that most of these are damn-near impossible to adjust, meaning that for the next six months many people will be constantly lied to by their microwaves or setting the wrong things to record with their set-top boxes, and so on. This year sees the ninetieth anniversary of the introduction of this less-than-marvellous innovation which has been with us (on and off, of course) since 1916, following the Defence of the Real Act of 1914, one of a number of wartime measures such as banning kite-flying, feeding bread to wild animals, or buying alcohol on public transport, and various powers of censorship and requisition on the part of the government. Fortunately for the kite-flyers of Britain, most of DORA’s provisions have since been removed, but BST still remains. The reasons for BST are sensible enough – to shift the hours of sunlight to when they would be of most use in order to increase productivity and reduce accidents. However, this does not address the issue of why winter should have to revert to GMT – given the lack of sunlight at the best of times, why fiddle around with the clocks at all? In fact, from 1968 to 1971 this was indeed the case, but this was unpopular with the Scottish, amongst others, since dawn would approach noon. There is a libertarian argument against any legislation in the matter, since it should be up to individual organisations and people as to how they organise their days, rather than have government dictate sudden shifts that may be merely irritating, but also potentially unhealthy. As an insomniac, I dread the approach of BST each spring, as it often denies me an hour of my al- ready scarce sleep. This is in addition to owning considerably more clocks than is strictly neccessary (in common with George III, who was considerably more obsessive about timekeeping, and was fortunate enough not to have to contend with any such troubling notions as daylight savings), making the whole concept of BST utterly unappealing to me. Perhaps it would be different if I lived in somewhere like Brixton or World’s End, in which case I might well care more about whether or not I would be walking home in the dark than I would about wasting half an hour every six months and having my sleeping habits out of kilter for the first fortnight in April. Though worse still is forgetting about the whole thing, leading to running an hour late for much of the day or to being an hour early and losing any benefit that might come from a potential hour extra spent in bed. Or compounding the error by turning clocks forward when they should go back, or vice versa. Not that I did that this year, I assure you. 10 Friday 3 November 2006 felix LETTERS felix@imperial.ac.uk Letters to the editor The first batch of complaints have hit our inbox, driven mainly by the ex-editor’s letter and the slightly snappy response Dear Editor, I was a bit disappointed to read your reply to Rupert Neate’s letter in the last Felix. Okay, his letter was rather confrontational, and indeed some lesser editors would probably not have had the balls to publish it, but I take issue with your comment that your editorial was “backed up by the opinion of the general College population”. In fact, pretty much everyone I know in College thinks that this year’s Felix has by and large been less interesting and enjoyable to read than last year’s. Possibly this is due to us only having seen the first few issues, but there is an almost universal opinion amongst Felix-readers that whilst this year’s may on the whole be better written, with fewer spelling mistakes and grammatical errors, it is simply less interesting and entertaining than last year’s Felix. The news doesn’t seem very pressing, possibly because there’s not much about, but more importantly the rest of the newspaper just takes itself too seriously and does not really have any light-hearted, ‘enjoyable’ stuff in, perhaps forgetting that it is a student newspaper and not the Financial Times. My opinion is that you can only aim as high, culturally, as the quality of your writing can allow and unfortunately, due to the nature of our university, writers of quality content are in short supply, so aiming too high culturally can easily result in ending up being plain boring. Regards, Chris Thomas PS I won’t be too surprised if you don’t publish any of this letter, but I hope you take the opinion on board. PhD Comics Dear Editor, I feel compelled to write to you about your response to Rupert Neate’s letter (Page 8, Felix 1361). The comment that your previous editorial about last year’s Felix “backed up the feelings of the general population of the college” seems completely at odds with my own experiences. As a fourth year student, I can say that Felix under Mr Neate was a far more entertaining read than it had been previously. Furthermore, I have yet to speak to anyone who disagrees with this sentiment. In contrast, I am somewhat unimpressed this year with front page stories about your own graduation. I’m sure it’s too early in the year to judge your own editorial skills, but it would be a good idea to learn from your predecessors success rather than to belittle it. Regards, John Lyle Andy Sykes, Editor, writes: Dear Chris and John, Of course I’d print your letter, Chris; it is not in my interest to censor bad feeling about the newspaper. As all the letters about my response were negative, I will admit that my viewpoint seems to be in the minority. I, of course, saw things from a different angle, working for the newspaper and having been involved in Felix for many years. I admire Rupert’s courage in taking on both the College and the Union, but I believe on several occasions he far overstepped the mark. Many students did not know what happened behind the scenes, such the dissatisfaction within the editorial team about the editor’s management style. You do go on to make a counterstatement that is as broadly sweeping as my own. In my defence, I’ve had a number of people approach me and say they’re enjoying the paper more now than previously, and a number approach me and say the exact opposite. I think and hope that we’re slowly improving; I was still recruiting team members until recently. To deal with your second point about entertaining content - I unfortunately lost the beloved Hoff this year, as he has graduated, and his replacement hasn’t been able to work due to excessive commitments. I’m working hard to restore something on a par with the Hoff, even if it isn’t outwardly visible. As the new staff grow more confident, so their sections become more interesting. As to the graduation photo story, well, I didn’t do it. I was, obviously, graduating as the paper was coming out, so I handed over what I could to my deputy editors. When I finished the front page on Wednesday, it was the Tibetan protest outside the hotel in Kensington High Street. When I returned on Thursday, it had changed to a photo of myself looking like a complete moron. The news in College and the Union has been somewhat slow of late, as I’m sure you’ve noticed; there’s not much I can do about that, I’m afraid. What really riles me, and what Chris has pointed out, is that I am not responsible for the content of the newspaper even though I am generally held to account for it. My entire life is spent in the office, more or less, but I cannot write everything. The bottom line is: you provide the content. If you’re not happy with something, come and speak to me. I’m always ready to hear new ideas. As for the comment about learning from my predecessors - that is exactly what I’ve done. I’ve been involved long enough, and seen four editors come and go, to pick up knowledge and skills. I hope you find this issue more enjoyable. Do you have an opinion about Felix in general, or do you have a grievience that you wish to air? Write to us: felix@imperial.ac.uk We print all letters received. Honest. Daylight Savings Time SYNDICATED FROM WWW.PHDCOMICS.COM We liked the old Felix better unionpage Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark GSA Health & Safety Advice Update Recently, in the Union we have been informed of some quite concerning incidents regarding the personal safety of students in and around the South Kensington area. It is important especially at this time of year when the clocks have gone back and the dark nights are drawing in that students are aware of their surroundings. The Information and Advice Centre can help if you have any concerns regarding personal safety. We can give out free personal attack alarms as well as give free booklets to students which can give you common sense advice when walking the streets at night. Below are a few quick tips for you to take on board: • If you are going out make sure you know where you are going and have a planned route. It is good practice to tell people where you are going if you travelling on your own. • When walking around look conﬁdent, be purposeful and be alert to your surroundings. People who look conﬁdent are less likely to be attacked. • Try to avoid taking shortcuts through dark alleywas or parks, as this will increase the amount of risk you will be in as it will often be hard to see what is around you. • Try not to draw attention to your valuables especially at night, keep things like mobile phones and iPods well hidden from people. • Avoid walking past parked cars with their engines running and people sitting in them. has quite a big problem with unlicensed mini-cabs. • If you are stranded somewhere and need to take a taxi, ensure that you use a licensed mini cab or licensed black taxi. • It is always better to book a taxi in advance rather than trying to hail one late at night. Nigel Cooke Student Adviser advice@imperial.ac.uk • If you can, try to share a cab home with friends. • Conﬁrm the details of the cab driver before entering the car to ensure it actually is your cab. • Make sure you sit in the back if you are on your own and ensure that you leave all doors unlocked. These are just a few quick tips to bear in mind when you are going about your daily life. If you have concerns regarding personal safety then please do not hesitate to contact the Information and Advice Centre, other people that can help include College Security or the local police. The main thing to remember is to always be aware of your surroundings and donʼt take risks that you donʼt need to. • If you are travelling by bus try to sit near the driver, or if by train try to sit in a busy carriage. Donʼt let your concern turn into a crisis make The Information and Advice Centre your one stop shop for all your welfare needs. It is also important to be aware, when you are trying to get home late at night, of the transport you are getting into, London Tel: 020 7594 8067 E-mail: advice @imperial.ac.uk panache\| Now that the term is under way the Graduate Studentsʼ Association has started the ball rolling with our ﬁrst meeting which took place last week. We had lots of enthusiastic ideas and the wine was ﬂowing…no, not the last part alas. Ideas included comedy nights, weekend trips to other Deputy President cities (within England and abroad!), fashion shows and (Graduate Students) quite interestingly, a sports tournament between the dpgs@imperial.ac.uk Graduate Schools in as many number of sports as there is interest in (kickball, anyone? Itʼs a cross between dodgeball and baseball in fancy dress). Most urgently though, we discussed the GSA Christmas Ball on Monday 11th of December. This is looking set to be a fantastic event with comedians, break-dancers, mulled wine (non-alcoholic as well) and a 3-course meal. There are also rumours of jugglers, casino and vodka/fruit punch “luges” with an ice bar and all of this for £25. Tickets will be on sale very shortly. Shama Rahman In the very near future though, I would like to announce a landmark event between the Royal College of Music, the Royal College of Art and Imperial for a postgraduate night on Thursday the 9th of November. It promises to be a night of eclectic music and people. A chance to meet the neighbours! Hope to see you there! Shama the fashion fusion noël imperial collection THE IMPERIAL COLLEGE CHARITY FASHION SHOW FRIDAY 3RD NOVEMBER 06 \| 7:30pm GREAT HALL, SHERFIELD BUILDING, SOUTH KENSINGTON, Website Success Update on imperialcollegeunion.org The Union website imperialcollegeunion.org has been going from strength to strength since the beginning of term. Last Month (October) the site served nearly half a million pages and 7.5 million requests. The busiest day was the 4th October, the day after Freshersʼ Fair, with over 28,000 pages served. A big thanks to all of you who have visited the site and used its services. Keep checking the site for the latest Union news and Club & Society Information. Albums new and not so new This week Felix goes over some albums recently released to a summertime record Deftones Saturday Night Wrist (Maverick) ★★★★✩ As soon as the drums kick into the opener of Deftones’ fifth studio effort, Hole in the Earth, you know they are onto a winner. Immediately the hairs on the back of your neck stand up as the huge drums and driving guitars throw you into the opening vocals delivered so effortlessly by frontman Chino Moreno. It is the perfect opener to the Sacramento quintet’s Saturday Night Wrist, and what follows is a mixture of brutal riffs and ambient melodies reminiscent of the heavily acclaimed White Pony and to some extent 2003’s Deftones. Beware is a crushingly heavy, slow tempo, bass-driven song which leads the listener into the brilliantly-sung chorus. There are some beautifully melodic moments on Saturday Night Wrist; from the haunting opening atmosphere of Cherry Wave to the vocal performance by Moreno on the first half of the final track, Riviere. However that’s not to say this album doesn’t rock, the opening samples of Combat lead into aggressive vocals of Moreno screaming, “Whose side are you on?”. Rapture is full of driving riffs and uptempo drum beats, and the breakdown in Rat!Rats!Rats! is just plain brutal! This song alone would satisfy any pre-White Pony fan. That’s not to say this album doesn’t have its faults, in fact this is the album which almost broke the band. Guitarist Stef Carpenter admitted on several occasions that they almost “threw Chino out”, due to him leaving the recording of his vocals to tour with his side project, Team Sleep. Indeed, as with the song Lucky you on its predecessor, there is an obvious Team Sleep moment on Saturday Night Wrist. Pink Cellphone features the vocals of Giant Drags’ Anne Hardy, and seems out of place on the album. Not so much a classic Deftones song, but more of an electronic beat over which Hardy delivers weird spoken-word lyrics, at times cringingly explicit for no real reason. There is also a guest appearance from System of a Down’s Serj Tankian on the track Mei, which again seems pointless and out of place on a Deftones album and I feel they could have used bassist Chi Cheng’s guttural vocals on the heavier songs. Overall, Saturday Night Wrist manages to perfectly balance the elements of the bands past to create an original sounding record in a time when many of their contemporaries are content to re-package established, and often outdated, trends. Whether Saturday Night Wrist receives as much praise as 2000’s White Pony will remain to be seen when it is released. In my opinion this album deserves to be ranked within the top 3 of their back catalogue. Christian Maine neyed politically-correct moralising that makes me want to reach for a bucket. Because inevitably and here’s the crunch, Trivium suck – There’s just no way round it. Trivium really do give Mr. Dyson something to worry about; no matter how hard they try not to (and there’s certainly been a smidgen of effort here), and definitely no matter how technically they can play, it still ends up as an ultimately forgettable album. To start with, Trivium need to learn the definition of irony (noone really knows the definition – Ed), as the name itself suggests either much sarcasm or an inferiority complex, something that this band seems to eke the complete opposite of. On the plus side at least, I give it to them for having the cheek to try and make another Master of Puppets, even if The Crusade is nothing more than Garbage Inc. Alex McKitrick Trivium The Crusade (Roadrunner) ★✩✩✩✩ This being the Kerrang darlings’ sophomore album, a term that resonates pretty well with a band that was once described as playing like a bunch of fifteen year-olds. I doubt their fans could tell the difference though, since most of them are fifteen (chronologically or otherwise). Despite this, you can’t accuse them of having no ambition; and perhaps a little too much at that! Now then, this album certainly isn’t the first in that general shift by mainstream metal from the hugely irritating screamo craze back towards retrotastic hair metal, even if this album is admittedly most evocative of the thrash classics by the likes of Metallica and Megadeth. The band can even turn out copycat Kerry King solos and work in some interesting time signatures at times. It just makes you wonder what they could have achieved without such an annoying front-man! Unashamedly my main problem here is with Matt Heafy. Now he may have been helped into the saddle by the fact that his dad runs a record company, and I don’t really hold a grudge against him for that. I don’t even get that irate at the fact he plays the late ‘Dimebag’ Darrell’s old guitar. But I can’t forgive him for consistently falling into awful cheese-laden ballads in virtually every song, or for that matter, the entire length of This World Can’t Tear Us Apart. BLEURGH! Here is where it goes horribly, horribly wrong: For tonight Matthew, Heafy is going to be performing as James Hetfield – a premise that is neither original nor anywhere near the original; thus we end up with some of the worst, wincing, tonedeaf drawling I have ever heard. The lyrics on this record, now (unfortunately) clearly audible, clearly consist of the kind of hack- Cherish Unappreciated (Parlophone) ★★★✩✩ This self-named album from the four Atlanta sisters leaves nothing to the imagination. It is an un-encouraging Jazzy Pha production. This album has very little party feel to it. It’s all about boys. Don't women have anything else to sing about other than boys? We have the very crunk track Do It To It, which basically tells you to get into the ATL style of dancing and which sounds like a female and less aggressive version of Lil’ Jon’s Do it To It track. The next track Chevy throws about slangs non-Atlanta residents would not understand. Unappreciated is selfexplanatory and Moment in Time, the sister do show us a bit of their vocal ability. My favourites are Stop Calling – not because I would love to play this track to all bugaboos but it actually shows that the girls take time to sing about the odd things women experience – and OOOH because it raises a lot of issues young teenagers and women go through in today’s society. This does sound like a standard girl-group album; trying hard to cover all the basics about relationships and recording it, or four girls who have always dreamt of being stars. At the end of the day this album is not great but one would definitely find something to relate to. Folake Adegbohun Matty Hoban Music Editor Tapes’n’Tapes The Loon (XL Records) ★★★★✩ Hailing from Minnesota, USA, Tapes’n’Tapes offer up a quirky slice of indie-pop for our listening pleasures in the form of this, their debut album. The music itself is simple enough, just guitars, drums, bass and vocals. In fact the opener of the album is called Just Drums and is easily the best opening track to an album I’ve heard in a while. It kicks into life with an infectious beat and a catchy riff, and when it breaks down in the bridge to – you guessed it – just the drums, then bringing the rest of the band back in it shows the band at their very best. It’s so intense and brilliant when it all comes together that I usually can’t help but rewind it and listen to it again. The album never quite manages to reach this high again, and indeed some of the album is quite boring and a couple of songs miss the mark and just get annoying after a few listens. This hit-and-miss approach does pay off in places though, because the hits are just that. Tracks like Cowbell and lead single Insistor really grab your attention with their foot-tapping beats and curiously hum-able melodies. This isn’t to say that Tapes’n’Tapes are a one-trick pony though, and they demonstrate their versatility with some slower, delicate, (whisper it) ballads. Songs like Omaha and 10 Gallon Ascots are slowburning anthems which provide beautiful counterpoints to the fastpaced singles and give the album a good balance. Not all of the album works, and songs like The Iliad seem more like b-sides than the more albumworthy material. The singer’s voice can also be grating at times, and his high-pitched, almost whiny style could put some people of the band altogether. Overall this album probably won’t change your life, and it isn’t really anything incredibly original either, but it is a very well crafted set of songs which are fun to both listen and dance to as well. Hopefully the band can take the best from what we have seen on offer here, leaving behind the rest, and create a superior second album which would surely be a classic in the waiting. Until then though – get this, enjoy most of it and just forget about the rest. Toby Prudden O h my sweet Jesus of Nazareth – the film version – do we have a lot of reviews for you this week. Sorry about the anaemic state of last week’s music section, I had little time as I was at a (brilliant) gig and was feeling under the weather. Also, I apologise for the focus on guitar bands, I was trying to add a bit of a theme to tame the excellent yet random nature of this section. This week we have some albums ranging from the new Deftones album released this week to an album from the summer getting some overdue attention. In these album reviews we cover alt-rock, metal, indie-rock and R’n’B. Variety I believe is the spice of life (along with a pinch of nutmeg) so if you feel you can add more variety then whip over some reviews to us and we’ll put them in and keep you informed about our reviewing possibilities. We’ve also got a singles roundup, and a live review of blues great, Walter Trout. I hope this meaty selection is whetting your appetite for the bonanza of content that will be November’s FeMM or Felix Music Monthly. Yes, we are staying true to our word and putting one out every month. Next week will be when you can happily pull it out and study it in front of everyone, and you can pick up FeMM out of Felix as well. For next week we hope to have more columns, reviews, features and listings. We are going to dissect music in hideously beautiful ways for your reading pleasure. You’ll be baying for more by then end, and we might give it to you, you dirty people. In other news, we have another Kids Will Be Skeletons gig night in the union on Sunday November 5th. If you are stuck for ways to celebrate the murder of trecherous Catholics, then come on down. We want to celebrate revolution as opposed to repression on this day. So we have two bands from France, the original country of revolution, coming over to play. Entry is £3 for students and £2.50 for alternative music and jazz and rock society members. Again the reason for the door price is to cover the transport for the French bands. Expect a riotous night in the spirit of revolution 14 Friday 3 November 2006 felix MUSIC music.felix@imperial.ac.uk So many fish puns, so little time live review Walter Trout and The Radicals Mean Fiddler To most Imperial students the name Walter Trout probably sounds like little more than a crap name for a fish. However, for fans of contemporary blues-rock, this guy and his band, The Radicals, are one of the most exciting blues outfits around, with a highly enviable live reputation. All of this was totally unknown to me when a couple of weeks ago a friend asked me if I wanted to go and see a blues guitarist called Walter Trout. Intrigued by the name I agreed, despite having only a passing interest in blues music, and boy was I impressed with the result. Put simply, the gig was awesome. The guy clearly has a large set of very devoted fans and the reception afforded to him before, during and after his performance was probably the warmest I’ve seen at the Mean Fiddler, and not without merit. From the first minute, the Trout stormed through a selection of blues and rock songs, with a hefty dose of some very entertaining and exciting improvisation thrown in. A technical fault with the band’s keyboard equipment meant the keyboard player was redundant for the duration of the gig, so the band performed as a power trio, something the Trout declared he hadn’t done since he was 18 years old, an age which judging by his appearance was probably a few decades ago. The result of this was a gig played louder, faster and heavier than normal, with both audience and band quite clearly loving it. The set-list included some classic Trout songs from his first albums as well as a few from his latest album Full Circle. Highlights included the song Walking in the Rain, and some blazing improvisations, with the Trout declaring, “For 20 seconds in that song I was hallucinating. I thought I was Jimmy Page”. Indeed his guitar playing was top class all night, and at times reaching the kind of speed that no shred guitarist would be ashamed of, but always in his own blues-rock style. On the down side, whilst the lack of keyboard perhaps made for a more ‘fun’ gig, the music did at times seem slightly bare without them, and it was a shame the band weren’t able to perform as they had planned. Overall though it was a great gig with a lot of memorable moments, and which was a lot more fun than I had expected. I would strongly advise anyone with even a passing interest in blues or blues-rock to go and see Walter Trout if he comes to London again – I know I will. Christopher Thomas RICHARD BOYLES He plays much better than he looks, but then that can’t be hard Now for our weekly singles round-up single reviews Justin Timberlake My Love (Sony BMG) ★★★✩✩ While the futuristic-funk of SexyBack was a little too reminiscent of Nelly Furtado's first two 2006 singles (Man-eater and Promiscuous both also produced by Timbo), My Love tears a page out of the book of 2003’s mega-hit Cry Me A River. Even the anti-JT music lovers have to admit that when he hooked up with Timbaland in 2003 magic was made. The Britney-bashing Cry Me a River helped blur the line between ballad and club record and enabled Justin to excel on a slow song despite his weak falsetto. The emotion and skill which was lacking in the vocal performance was just poured into the lush production and the international hit was born. My Love is a close relative but not so close as to dis- miss it as lacking in originality. From the manic laughter that goes on in the background during the chorus to the rap verse, courtesy of the Rubberband Man himself, T.I. all tricks available are used to sell this song and truth be told it all works very well. My Love is destined to hang about at the top of the charts for a while. Fans that are able to forgive the cheesy come-ons, see past the little boy who cried to his mommy on Punk'd and left Janet to take the blame for the infamous ‘Superboob’ stunt might actually take him seriously in the role of lover man. In Justin’s best interest we’ll just pretend the awful Let Me Talk To You (Interlude) rap didn’t happen. Jemil Salami Sohodolls No Regrets (Filthy Pretty) ★★★★✩ Musically, this is pretty standard, but very well done, electro-fare. Carefully considered vintage synths layer a sparse aural landscape while just-so guitar lines jump in to vie for attention. Right at the start of the fairly perambulatory verse, singer Maya von Doll sets the tone, delivering with a sultry drawl: "Hotter than your average bitch, flick on, flick on my switch". No messing about here, what she lacks in creative rhyming she makes up for with brazen sexual allure, playing on male fantasies of the confident sex-kitten they would like to meet in that sweaty indie-disco of a saturday night. The electrotrash sentiment con- tinues into the chorus, as she chants "Take me, I want a test. Take me, I'll have no regrets" over an annoyingly wonderful synth chord pattern. The music is clean, sparse and Kraftwerkian in it's clinicalness, but the lyrics are seductive filth. The whole thing is very selfconciously cool and comes over a bit gittishly trendy-scenester so I found myself disliking the single on principle, which is wrong because it's really rather good. Plus they're a bit like Goldfrapp, but sluttier – which can only be good. Adrian Nightingale The Good, The Bad & The Queen Herculean (Parlophone) ★★★★★ I have never been much of a fan of Blur. Most of their supposed classics leave me rather underwhelmed, although some are pleasant enough. Gorillaz, also, do nothing for me, despite my usual appreciation of Danger Mouse's work. As such, I have never understood why so many people consider Damon Albarn to be some sort of musical genius, and I certainly wasn't expecting much from his unnamed new band. However, on the strength of this first single from their forthcoming concept album about London; The Good, The Bad & The Queen, I have to admit to being very pleasantly surprised. Herculean is a whimsical, hopeful song with an almost ethereal quality to it; there is a simple, almost stark quality to the melody, and the harmonies are equally understated. The lyrics speak of canals, gasworks and the welfare state and in a few brief stanzas succeed in evoking a strong sense of place. As such, lyrically, it might not appeal so strongly to those not as enamoured of the Capital, but it is at heart an astounding piece of music. Hugh Stickley Mansfield Various Artists Janie Jones (Strummerville) (B-Unique) ★★★★✩ The 30th October will see the release of single Janie Jones originally performed by the Clash, now re-recorded by a number of artists for charity. Babyshambles, Carl Barat, The Rakes, We Are Scientists and The Kooks are just a few of the artists who appear on the single. On the b-side is a solo version of the track by Pete Doherty which we happened to get hold of. Now I personally love the Libertines, but never really latched onto Babyshambles. However, given what the guys pulling himself out of, I was impressed. He sounds back on form and I thoroughly enjoyed the track. Obviously the song itself is a piece of songwriting genius by The Clash and only they can perform it to perfection, but I feel he does it justice. All proceeds from the release will go to Strummerville (Joe Strummer’s foundation for new music) Sam Lombard FeMM November Next week we will be having our second Felix Music Monthly. Hopefully we will have the following in it: More opinion columns and reviews Interviews with The Cooper Temple Clause and Battle Features on the independent media and Little Bird Project A possible gig listing section Friday 3 November 2006 felix NIGHTLIFE nightlife.felix@imperial.ac.uk Adventures in Farringdon Fabric’s seventh birthday celebrations fail to deliver promised root vegetables Adventures In The Beetroot Field Fabric HHHHI Being the totally dedicated reviewer that I am, I decided to take this club review from a different angle: a sober one. Yes indeed, I did not drink a single beverage during our evening at Fabric, mainly for the somewhat stupid reason that I decided to drive there, although for the sake of this review, I’ll say that it was so I could fully appreciate the wonder of the many acts I was planning to see, who did indeed turn out to be quite wondrous, and perfect for the final night of the Fabric 7th birthday celebrations. By the time we had worked out how the hell to drive to Farringdon from South Kensington, it was about 11pm, so the place was fairly busy when we arrived. Although not so full as to make it uncomfortable, the atmosphere was very friendly and, as expected, it was not full of obnoxiously drunk wankers (probably due to the fairly high drinks prices) and in fact everyone was rather smartly dressed, giving the place a feel of what Trash might be Simian Mobile Disco like if one thousand people could fit in The End on a Monday night. It was also somewhat refreshing to go to a club with this kind of music with mainly middle-class, trendy clientele and not have to queue up waiting for 15 arseholes charging up on nose-candy to finish with the cubicles in the toilets. Anyway, enough with the bitching about pointless stuff – I went here to listen to music, not to rate everyone’s outfits and hairstyles (although I did that too – 7/10). So, on with the review. Unfortunately, possibly due to the very confusing layout of Fabric, and me not noticing that they had set lists up on the wall near the bar until about 1am, I missed most of the bands I wanted to see, but the first full act I did see was the Futureheads DJ set which consisted of a hilariously varied selection of party tracks, albeit with somewhat dubious mixing skills, but managing to pretty much pack out Room 1 for the duration of their set. Bored with dancing to the sounds of the 80s, we ventured over to Room 3 to catch the middle of the Sebastian and Kavinsky set, churning out some banging electro beats and mixing it up to an ultra-packed room of extremely sweaty, wideeyed electronic junkies. Basically, they were pretty damn good, possibly nearly as good as their countrymen, Justice (who I recently saw DJing at Trash), perhaps because their sets sounded pretty much identical. Who cares though? I don’t want to hear all this new-fangled rubbish, I was there to listen to some awesome-asaurus tracks played by a funny looking little French dude and some other guy I most probably would have recognised as Kavinsky if I had known what he looks like. Room 3 was definitely the place to be tonight if you had the energy to It was a good omen to the start of the evening when I barely had to walk to the bus stop and hop on the 360 bus straight to Elephant and Castle, home of Ministry of Sound. As one of London’s more famous clubs, I was looking forward to experiencing it for the first time as well as experiencing my first trance night Gatecrasher Classics. Expecting a large queue given its size (2000 capacity), I was surprised to find the outside empty. I was also somewhat surprised at the unimpressive outside, not dissimilar to airport customs with its metal detectors. However this is a sharp contrast to the interior of the club. Entry was £15 (£12 in advance), good value for a club of M.O.S’s standard and for a full six hours inside. Slightly empty at 11.30pm, I felt the night might not turn out to what it could have been, especially as the only clientele there were the slightly over dressed half heartedly ‘bopping’ away to the electro/funky house playing. Unperturbed, we made our way to the V.I.P. lounge for a drink to wait for the Trance to come on: the reason we had come. The lounge itself is very attractive, spacious with plenty of seating and with a balcony overlooking the main room, The Box (at this point still deserted). One slight drawback was the price of the drinks, with our first round alone costing well over £20! I think it’s the only club I have been to where the Red Bull and bottled water are the same price. Luckily for us, our drinks soon kicked in along with the trance and so we made our way over to the ever-filling dance floor. Gatecrasher Classics had Signum, M.I.K.E. and Rank 1 belting out the trance classics we had all come for; the second room, The Bar had Matt Hardwick, Tylor Leigh and more giving us some electro as well as trance later on in the night. Back in the main room Signum played the greatly anticipated classic, What You Got For Me, while throughout the night the crowd were lucky Party time again! Alex Baldwin Nightlife Editor More people were present on the night, I imagine dance, and alas, if only I had more energy and maybe something a little stronger than my glass of water with extra ice to drink, I’d have stayed here ‘til closing. However, giving into my weak body after only one hour of simultaneously being compressed against 15 sweaty people whilst trying to stay standing up I decided to vacate Room 3 to check out Metronomy in Room 1. I seemed to remember Alex telling me Metronomy were maybe quite good and possibly not horrendously rubbish, and indeed, he was correct. They started off with pretty simple guitar/synth/dance tracks but eventually turned the room into a gyrating mass of fans with their new-rave, funky electro sounds. They even had cool lights on their T-shirts, so what more could you want? If they didn’t please the crowd, Filthy Dukes certainly did. Playing a similar set to Sebastian in the other room, but with perhaps less of a house vibe to it, almost eve- Entranced by Gatecrasher Gatecrasher Classics Ministry of Sound HHHII 15 enough to have Silence-Delirium played three times! By 1am the dance floor was heaving but come 3am it had emptied just enough to give us all that little bit more room to dance in. The clientele was pretty mixed – ranging from regular trance fans to those not so familiar with the scene and from the casually attired to those who really put a lot of effort into their evening attire. All in all it didn’t detract from the fact that everyone was thoroughly enjoying themselves and getting into the music. The great thing about Ministry is for a large club one never feels like they could get lost in yet or that it is over run with people, yet it still manages to pack a decent sized crowd in. All in all Gatecrasher Classics is a fantastic night for those seeking something a little different from London’s mainstream clubs and also for those used to music of a harder nature. A perfect introduction to one of London’s more pleasant venues. Caz Knight ryone in the club moved to Room 1 for them, and the final act Simian Mobile Disco who ended the night on a perfect high. By 3am most of the people were starting to leave and we followed suit, happy that we’d spent a great night out, although not relishing the prospects of trying to drive all the way home (and a warning – the police hang out in unmarked cars outside the club, pulling people over who drive). All in all, this place reminded me of what Our Disco used to be like before it vanished, and I would definitely recommend it if there is ever a similar line-up. Speaking of Our Disco, the line-up at Fabric on 3rd and 4th November is mind-blowingly amazing. Soulwax’s Nite Versions live, 2ManyDJs, Vitalic live, Uffie live, Our Disco DJs, Headman and more will invade the club for the entire weekend. I’ll be there, and you should be too. Uffiesaurus Preview: Radio Soulwax Weekender This weekend, the legendary 2ManyDJs land on Fabric in both their DJ guise and as the live act Soulwax performing their album Nite Versions. They will be joined by a host of the most exciting electro acts around at the moment, including Vitalic (live), Headman, Uffie (live), MUSTAPHA 3000 and many others. Soulwax will be headlining on Friday and Saturday, so you have no excuse for missing it! H ello once again my fellow nocturnal beings. Still no Neighbours omnibus, but the first anniversary special of Deal Or No Deal has sated my desire for trashy television (at least I’m told that the programme’s trashy, but Noel Edmonds could hardly be much more classy). So, Halloween has come and gone (actually, at the time of writing, it has yet to happen, so disregard all of what follows) and knees were probably up all round. This year I didn’t buy a pumpkin. since it’s such a colossal waste of money and I’m no fool. In hindsight however, I do regret not bowing under the barrage of spooky marketing that has beset the nation, since a hollowed out pumpkin would have been the perfect housing for my poor, neglected strobe light (as well as a perfect weapon against epileptic trick-or-treaters). To continue on from the theme of last week, briefly, I will warn you that a few strobe lights bought off eBay and a handful of glow-sticks do not a perfect club-night make. For a start, your house is probably not a club and, as such, if you do not invite people they simply will not come. In fact, if you do decide to go down the treacherous path into the world of home-clubbing, without a bucketload of hallucinogenic drugs you are likely to notice that you’re actually just a loner sat in your living room pissing off the neighbours. Really, you’d just be better off swallowing your pride and switching Neighbours back on. As for the page this week, you’ll see that we have two reviews and a teensy little preview to entertain you for as long as it takes for you to read them. Hopefully the reviews prove to be as enlightening and fascinating to you as they are to me. Finally, a recommendation for this weekend. On Sunday 5th get your callipygian behinds over to the union for another Alternative Music Society run Kids Will Be Skeletons gig-night, with lots of tasty (and French) bands employing myriad styles to tantalise and delight your senses. I hope to see all of you there! Until next week, enjoy all your nights out and maybe even send us a review or two. 16 Friday 3 November 2006 felix ARTS arts.felix@imperial.ac.uk Artist, inventor, Renaissance man Can yet another da Vinci exhibition really bring us any closer to understanding the man behind the genius? Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment and Design Victoria and Albert Musuem Until January 7th 2007 £5 Students Leonardo da Vinci: painter, sculptor, architect, engineer, inventor, and the iconic Renaissance man. A fascinating exhibition currently showing at the Victoria & Albert Museum, “Leonardo da Vinci: Experience, Experiment and Design”, explores the artistic roots of da Vinci’s creativity. It also claims to explain how he managed to be so inventive. In short, it argues that he used drawing as a form of brainstorming. The exhibition brings together more than sixty of Leonardo’s finest drawings, manuscripts, and notebooks from a variety of collections. These documents are ample testament to the amazing breadth of his interests. At the same time, they clearly illustrate the important links he made between diverse topics that once seemed unconnected. For Leonardo, the world, and everything in it, was governed by laws of nature. He believed that it was possible to work out the causes of natural phenomena by observing them. Once understood, such causes could be applied by analogy to other parts of creation. Nowhere was this better demonstrated than in his studies of the human body. The body was the world in microcosm: smaller in scale, yet equivalent in complexity, and operating under the same natural laws. So, Leonardo was able to liken the twisted channel of an aged blood vessel to the tortuous course of a silted riverbed. He could even deduce the vortex flow of blood in the heart from observing the turbulent motion of water. Many other aspects of the great man’s work are represented in this exhibition, such as explorations of three-dimensional geometry, nature in motion, military engineering, architectural visions, and various devices of entertainment. As well as seeing them in Leonardo’s own hand, you can see them come to life as animated versions projected onto the walls, high above the exhibits themselves. Unfortunately, true 3D representations of Leonardo’s ingenious designs are somewhat lacking. The reconstructions that have been made available are few in number and are displayed unsympathetically at some distance from the main exhibition. In contrast, a previous Science Museum exhibition called The Art of Innovation successfully made a feature of specially created models. Horses in action, studies of expression horses, lion and man, an architectural groundplan. c.1505 Anything to do with da Vinci always attracts plenty of visitors. So, viewing all the exhibits in the relatively cramped display gallery was a slow and frustrating experience. Luckily, I took advantage of the excellent audio guide narrated by the show’s curator, Martin Kemp, Professor of the History of Art at Oxford. This certainly enhanced my appreciation and kept my impatience in check. In the end, though, I felt that £5 for entry plus £3 for the audio guide was on the steep side for this intriguing but limited exhibi- tion. If you are interested, I would certainly encourage you to go, but do spend some time to look around the V&A’s extensive galleries. You can do this for free and it will make whatever you fork out seem all the more reasonable. Edward Wawrzynczak The morality of arms dealing Major Barbara Orange Tree Theatre Until December 9th £10 Students George Bernard Shaw is 150 this year. You’d think that the NT would be marking the occasion, that there’d be celebratory adaptations of his works on the BBC and that everyone would be dusting off their copy of My Fair Lady. No, the celebrations seem to be confined to one theatre in Richmond, the Orange Tree. But don’t let that put you off; their new production of Shaw’s Major Barbara is a fittingly explosive tribute to this underrated playwright. The play revolves around the struggle of morals between Andrew Undershaft (Robert Austin), an arms manufacturer, and his estranged daughter Barbara, a Salvation Army Major. To save her father’s soul, Barbara persuades him to visit her barracks, but in return she agrees to visit his arms factory and listen to his side. Throughout the first two acts, Octavia Walter’s Barbara is deliciously evangelical, preserving her holier-than-though expressions with annoying precision. But when her father’s money becomes the only way of saving the barracks, Barbara’s moral high-ground starts to look uneven. Only her images of a hellish factory can keep her idealism alive, but she soon discovers how well her father’s workers live. Undershaft’s key speech, pleading that poverty is the greatest crime, is immensely persuasive, and Austin’s performance is amplified by the intense atmosphere of the theatre in ROBERT DAY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED! Why not get active in the community whilst you’re at Imperial College London? It doesn’t matter if you work or study in Imperial - volunteering will have always something to offer you! We have over 250 volunteering opportunities in our database, so there should be a project for you. The easiest way to get regular updates about volunteering is by signing up to our mailing list. You will receive all the latest opportunities on a weekly basis, directly to your email inbox. Simply send us an email, clearly stating that you want to receive the weekly news bulletin and we will do the rest! Imperial Volunteer Centre Linking Opportunities Robert Austin stars as Andrew Undershaft in Major Barbara the round. But Barbara’s ultimate decision would shake any idealist to the core, exposing the uncomfortable humanity inside us all. I defy you to sit through this play and not question your own morality. Emily Lines random New-Yorkers in the street. They are not amused. The plot develops with hilarious consequences with Borat bizzarely obsessing over marrying Pamela Anderson (even seeing that video dissuades him only momentarily). This results in our protagonist attempting to wed the Baywatch icon in traditional Kazakh-style when he attends her book signing. I do though, fully understand her refusal. After all, he does try to put a marriage sack, embroidered with their names, over her head and make off with the actress. The denouement is that our two heroes return to Kazakhstan after learning many lessons, not least about how uptight and socially inept some Americans are (at least in this production). Borat even parades a new spouse around the village after his old wife not-so-sadly passes away – high five! We all tried to applaud at the film’s finale but continuous laughter had sapped our energy and we could only manage a breathless, “Nice!” Although Borat is the acme of comedy (no subtlety or pretensions here folks), it was in fact surpassed easily in humour by the post-showing press conference, where Borat appeared in person. After waiting around in the resplendent Dorchester Hotel, with many irate journalists who hailed from all around Europe, for what seemed like one whole hour (reporters have no patience), the film’s star entered with Azamat, amid much joyful cheek kissing and hand waving. Borat then proceeded to refer to the dulcet-toned Charlotte Church as a ‘Welsh prostitute’. He refused to respond to questions from fe- Sacha Baron Cohen starring in Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan male reporters; these had to be relayed through a male ‘interpreter.’ He did address one young lady as she arose to ask her question. However, it was only to say, “Nice! How much? You stay behind after!” When quizzed by the sole (and unlucky) Israeli journo attendee, he replied in terrified tones, “Keep your claws where I can see them!” And later, addressing the same gen- tleman, amid our riotous guffaws, stated, “I will crush you!” Although the questions were thoroughly prescreened, they did assure raucous humour during Borat’s speech. I did not take up the generous offer to stay with him in his Kazakh home with free use of his sister and much “dog-shooting.” I will, however, go to see this movie again and again and so should you. A young white rather than a ripened red Russell Crowe immediately phones his agent upon realising he’s stepped onto the set of Jurassic Park 4 Alex Casey Ridley and Russell reunited! Great! Historical epics never were the same after Gladiator. But what’s this? No swords, no grandiose battles and not a Roman in sight. Instead we get a ‘light comedy’ that is as great a change of direction for both of these Hollywood A-listers as any of us could imagine. And do they mess it up? Of course not. But it won’t make your top 10 either. A Good Year isn’t a film for delivering surprises. The story focuses on Crowe’s character, Max, a London investment banker who inher- its from his uncle a French chateau and vineyard in Provence where he used to holiday as a child. As he tries to offload it onto the first buyer, he reconnects with the countryside and when his professional career back in London goes under investigation, the fate of his inheritance becomes uncertain. Chuck in the couple of mandatory foils into his plan to sell, namely a feisty waitress, Fanny, who captures his heart and the arrival of a girl who claims to be the illegitimate daughter of Max’s uncle, and the thin storyline is in place. Twists and turns at every corner? Not unless your sense of foresight is seriously dented. For fans of Russell Crowe, this film might confuse. It doesn’t rely on his fantastic acting ability (as did A Beautiful Mind) or his fervent masculinity (that which propelled Gladiator and Cinderella Man) and so seems more like an excuse to hang out with old mate Ridley again. Scott himself has also departed from his usual line of work; a strong statement considering his diverse filmography to date. This doesn’t have the drama of Blade Runner, horror of Alien, grandeur of Gladiator or hand-claspingdesert-driving girl power of Thelma and Louise. Despite this, both turn in fine work with Scott presenting Provence as paradise with some incredible lighting and Crowe suitably convincing the audience he’s not the same man who throws phones at hotel receptionists. The supporting cast also shine with Marion Cotillard as the delicious French sex bomb who catches Crowe’s eye and Abbie Cornish as the alleged heir whose American idealism provides a strong contrast to Crowe’s cynicism. The ensemble work well together, interacting as smoothly with each other as they do with such gorgeous scenery. The constant references to wine throughout bring to mind the recent hit Sideways but the mediocre story here will not garner the same praise of that film. The comedy is lighter, the tale forgettable and despite the underlying message of “life is meant to be savoured”, the excitement of the Max’s financial killing at the start is never matched by the scenes in France. The idea here was never to make an entry into film history however. Its place is more suited to a quiet Sunday afternoon, sitting, sans hangover, in a comfy armchair, savouring each drop like a fine wine. This may not gain classic status, but A Good Year does provide a pleasant two hours. Battle against the franchise Technology pushes forward year on year, but is real game design a thing of the past? DeadPixel Michael Cook Games Editor G reetings, welcome and hello to what can only be adequately described as “Felix Games: Beta Version”. This week, we relaunch a section not seen for some time in these hallowed pages. The last time Felix Games graced this paper, a Playstation 2 would set you back £170, CounterStrike 1.5 was enjoying 30,000 servers worldwide and Wii games were childish things that teenage boys did in the Gents. Life was simple. How times change. CounterStrike has now seen several fully-published releases, you can pick up a PS2 for a fraction of the cost and size of days gone by, and gaming is almost – almost, mind you – cool. Not only that, but everyone is gaming now. And as the prize pot grows bigger, companies are looking to get as many people as possible on their side – girl gamers, grrl gamers, young gamers, old gamers, casual gamers, hardcore gamers, and – yes - those people that think that Rainbow Six is engaging and fun. If you’ve got a wallet, then they’ve got a game for you. But as we discuss this week, it’s not just your money that the Industry needs. As the markets grow wider and the demands more complex, it’s hard to keep innovative without fresh ideas and sharp new minds flowing in. We take a look at Neverwinter Nights 2 and Microsoft’s XNA and ask whether bedroom coding is a thing of the past. And hey, the industry needs journalists, too (or so we like to think, at least)! Without writers, this section can’t survive, so if you’ve got the experience and the writing know-how, Felix Games wants to hear from you – the email address is at the bottom of this column. Aside from our themed weekly features, we’ll also be taking a look back at milestones and undiscovered gems from platforms past in our Retro column. And we’ll also be looking to the future in Where Next, which focuses on the technologies, games and theory behind tomorrow’s industry. Over the coming weeks and more, the layout of Felix Games is likely to change many times. But we can’t do it at all without you! So if you’ve got a comment on the section, or would like to be a part of our writing team, please get in touch. The details are below. Enjoy. Michael Cook Games Editor games.felix@imperial.ac.uk Game development is big business, a very big business. With development studios comprising hundreds of developers, and budgets reaching far into the tens of millions of pounds, we’ve come a long way since lone programmers tinkered with machine code in their basements … or have we? Of course, today’s blockbuster games provide audio and visual experiences on a whole different scale to games of the past. How can a pixelated two-frame character animation possibly compare with 3-D models containing millions of polygons and advanced pixel-shader technology? Given the option, it’s obvious which someone would choose. These amazing visuals come at a high price, however. Back in the world of Pong and Pacman, development times were measured in weeks or months. Today, they are measured in years. The time, effort, and money needed to create the graphics players have come to expect from modern games are vast. But in terms of the “fun” they add to a game … is it all really worth it? The human mind is very good at ignoring unnecessary details. Amazing visual effects do a good job of creating that “wow” factor when a gamer looks at the back of the box in their high-street shop. But in the long run, all these next-generation graphics serve to do is present the player with the gameplay experience in as pleasant a way as possible. Just like a movie with great effects is poor if it’s backed up by a weak plot, a game with weak gameplay won’t hold the attention of the Unreal Tournament 07’s weapons boast more pixels than entire levels did in the original. Is it more fun? player, no matter how many pretty explosions it has. For today’s smaller developers, the situation can look pretty bleak. Without the vast resources available to the big studios, they will often fall flat on their face while trying to match the visual quality of the latest blockbuster. The big development companies would have you believe it’s impossible to make a hit game without a team of hundreds and millions of pounds at your disposal … and they may well be correct. Does this mean there isn’t a place for the small independent developer in a market full of movie licenses and 2006/7/8 sports managers? Not necessarily. Things are starting to change in how games reach their audience. Traditionally, a developer would produce a game, and then start it down the long and treacherous journey of publishers, distributors, and resellers. If all goes well, the game will end up on a shelf in a high street shop, where it’s critically compared by unforgiving customers against the rest of the market based on how much “wow” they can squeeze on the back of a 7” by 10” box – a pretty harsh environment for a small and unestablished developer. But with the advent of online distribution, games can be delivered directly to customers who are able to make much more informed choices. This new market pits small developers with new ideas on a lev- el playing field against the big companies. Over the next few years, it’s possible that this new delivery system could lead to a divide in game development. There will always be money to be made in pumping out sequel upon sequel of a tried and testing concept by companies who really can’t afford to take risks. This could leave the market’s need for innovative and original games to be met by the smaller companies who perhaps don’t have as much to lose. For now at least there is a glimmer of hope for the gamers who’ve become disillusioned by the unanswered call for new and unique games - small developers with big ideas have just found a new voice. A gamer’s favourite bedroom pastime Neverwinter Nights veteran Bryn Davies talks about mods, modules and fame Michael Cook When Neverwinter Nights was released back in 2002, it had a profound impact both on the average multiplayer gamer, as well as the aspiring coder. The Aurora toolset enabled both teams and individuals to create their own worlds, sharing work between a strong online community. With the release of Neverwinter Nights 2 this week, it’s possible that there’s another revolution on the horizon. Felix Games talks to Bryn Davies, the creator of the module True Colors of a Hero, about how the tools and the people have enabled him to create a world. Is TCOAH the first modification you’ve ever made for a game? Far from it, though its definitely the largest project I’ve ever undertaken. I started modding back when the Quake II editor was released. From there I moved on to Unreal, then through the series all the way up to Unreal Tournament 2004. Mainly I just coded weapons, skinned characters and designed levels. I’m no 3d artist (I could never make anything that didn’t just look like a bundle of cubes) so modelling was out of the question. NWN1 was odd actually. I left it a while and saw it with the first expansion in a cheap bundle. That’s where it all started. What do you find helpful from using Neverwinter Nights? The ease at which you can knock together a module. Most modules now use such sophisticated scripting and custom content, but to be honest it’s not strictly needed. If you’re already able to create a working adventure, with unlimited scope for its length and the many pathways to its end without even touching a single string of code, then all you’re left with is the level design and the story (from which your gameplay should follow). The community is fantastic. 4 years after its initial release you’re still getting people releasing free content for it. For mod developers, particularly who aren’t able or confident in producing custom content for their modules, its fantastic. Do you think there’s still the ‘bedroom coding’ ethic? In some ways the bedroom coding ethic is more prevalent than ever. The games industry has entered a very strange time. The graphics on games now are just stunning. The detail on objects and characters just blows you away. But gameplay hasn’t moved on that much. We’re stuck in the same formulas. Bryn Davies’ customisations to NWN include an emote system However, I don’t think the solution is to break out of the defined game genres with every title. I just think that the elements of gameplay, which have become pretty rigid within most genres, should be expanded. I want to be interested by a game from the word go, and I want to easily be able to identify why I should buy it over another. There’s no use comparing two FPS titles when its just going to be a choice between graphics styling and “storyline”. This is where bedroom developers can and indeed have aided the professionals. You can take a look at any PC title that’s had a big net community follow it and I’ll guarantee you that some of those modders have been snapped up by the initial games developers. In the case of NWN1, just look at DLA. Many of their members left to work for Bioware. It’s always possible, you’ve just gotta work hard to get recognition. For more information about TCOAH point your web browser to: http://snipurl.com/10vpd Friday 3 November 2006 felix GAMES games.felix@imperial.ac.uk Retro review - 42 All-Time Classics Out now You call that retro? Jesse Garman provides some recommended background gaming Not many people would deliberately buy an all-in-one games compilation for the Nintendo DS, so that’s why we’ve done it for you. Nintendo’s 42 All-Time Classics is a collection of famous and not-sofamous games from Chess to Old Maid, Chinese Checkers to Koi Koi, and Darts to Soda Shake, where players take it in turns to shake a virtual soda bottle and the one shaking it when the top flies off, loses. It’s important to point out at this stage that 42 All-time Classics is a strictly multiplayer affair. The single-player portion is so lifeless and staid that to endeavour your way through will simply force you to play games you wouldn’t normally have tried and maybe find some hidden gems, as well as unlocking new games for your choices in multiplayer. The main single player game, Stamp, runs through each game one-by-one giving three stamps for a top performance and one for a poor performance. Each game requires three stamps to continue and, handily, if you happen to get more than three on a particular game, then they do carry over. It shows that even if you come last that you get a stamp that Nin- 19 tendo don’t want you to linger on a game you don’t like for too long, but that’s part of the problem. I despise “Cheat” and to be forced to play it with the computer for 3 games in a row is my idea of hell. The option to skip a particular game would’ve been nice, perhaps one skip per level could’ve been allowed but it was The Hearts card game - playable not to be. The other single-player game, called “Mission”, is a far more flexible idea, which has an element of Crazy Taxi’s mini-games about it. Each game is given a goal, which can be forgivingly easy or horrifically hard, for example, Hearts requires you to Shoot The Moon, whereas Dots & Boxes requires you to capture all boxes, a fiendish task in comparison. This mode is much more welcoming but still has the main flaw that it is intolerably dull. You’d be better off honing your poker skills in real life. Your reward for completing these tasks is a new icon, which you can use to represent yourself over a network. This brings me on to the multiplayer… The multiplayer is where the game shines and for this I give it 8/10. The interface is easily navigable and there is something for every mood from hyperactivity (such as Spit) to relaxed sedation (Checkers). Up to eight friends can play on one cartridge with little lag and means that although many variations are more fun when played with the actual board or playing cards, you’d be hard-pressed to find them all together in such an acces- An old maid - not playable sible package, assuming you have at least one other friend with a DS. The other feature is internet-connectivity. If you have a compatible wireless router in your house (any AOSS works), you can connect and find other games that are being played on the Internet with absolutely no extra components or software. Unfortunately, I was unable to test this as ours was not compatible but I would primarily use this game to play friends I could see and hear, the Internet play would most likely be of side interest. Neverwinter Nights finally returns to game shelves this week with it’s sequel, looking to bring the technologies firmly up to date, providing the average player with an engaging single-player experience as well as opening up the toolset for more natural, customisable module creation. NWN2 is almost certain to be one of Christmas’ biggest releases for the PC. And speaking of dependable franchises, this week also sees the return of Sam Fisher to PC and in limited edition form on the Xbox 360. Splinter Cell: Double Agent is the fourth in the stealthy franchise, and the series certainly seems to have stopped dragging its heels after a pretty samey third incarnation. Double Agent is darker, slicker and seems more streamlined than it’s previous outings. An interesting change of pace for Tom Clancy’s finest. Splinter Cell 4 - green is still in Choo! Choo! Choo! Full steam ahead! Is Valve’s Steam platform the future of digital distribution? Should we be concerned? Half-Life 2’s G-Man. A metaphor for corporate heartlessness, or merely a warning to wearers of bad ties? “Wake up, Mr Freeman.” Victor Faion Steam is an online games distribution network developed by Valve, makers of the Half-Life series. Before Steam was created, Valve relied on WON (World Opponent Network) to run its multiplayer games and distribute patches. In 2001 Valve acquired WON and began building Steam. The first version of Steam was available for download in 2002 during the beta test of Counter- Strike 1.4. With the release of Counter-Strike 1.5 users of Steam and WON could play together on the same servers. Once enough testing was done, Valve shut down the last WON servers in 2004 and Steam took over. When Valve announced that they would distribute their sequel, HalfLife 2, through Steam, many were doubtful that it could work because of the amount of bandwidth needed to send an entire game over the Internet. However Valve had created a strong network which used peerto-peer technology and the online release of Half-Life 2 was mostly successful. This was the beginning of online games distribution. Independent developers Introversion were able to reach millions of gamers around the world by selling their games Darwinia and more recently Defcon through Steam. This has allowed the bedroom coders to save money on distribution and to sell their games at a lower price by cutting out the middle man. Online distribution provides a more level playing field for developers and allows even small studios to become successful. Big game publishers are also using Steam. Recently, 2K Games and Activision have signed contracts with Valve to distribute their games through Steam. This makes the Civilization and Call of Duty series available on Steam. Other publishers are likely to follow and Steam’s control of the games distribution market will increase. Steam has begun influencing game design as well. Valve have begun releasing small episodes of games such as their own Half-Life 2 Episodes and the SiN Episodes by Ritual. The episode system allows you to buy a part of the game for less money than the whole game and then if you enjoy it, you can buy the next part. This will probably happen more often in the future as games companies find it increasingly harder to come up with new ideas for games. As Steam continues to grow security becomes an issue. When HalfLife 2 was released on Steam there were several hacks which could cir- cumvent Steam and allow users to download the games for free. Since then Valve has rewritten Steam’s authentication system and claims that users cannot play a game on Steam if they did not legitimately buy it. However the authentication servers go down sometimes. Another problem faced by Steam is users who steal account information. Valve needs to make Steam more secure if it wants to attract more publishers to use it. Currently Steam only accepts credit cards to purchase games and this limits who can buy games. However they are working on allowing PayPal and wire transfer as alternate methods of payment. This introduces the problem of age verification. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are creating similar distribution systems for their PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii consoles respectively. Sony has launched the Electronic Distribution Initiative to offer games on the PS3. Microsoft is expanding its Xbox Live services to offer more content. Nintendo is creating the Wii Compact Software line of games which can be downloaded through the Wii. Valve is working on the third version of its Steam client which will manage connections better and feature an improved Friends chat client. Clearly online distribution is the future of the games industry and traditional retailers will have to adapt. “Run, you pigeons! It’s Robert Frost!” Or maybe you’re feeling a bit different this week? Desperate Housewives gets a much-needed gaming conversion. Felix Games only has this advice to offer you – it’s been released near a holiday involving fires for a reason. Things have been quiet on the Grand Theft Auto front for most gamers, but PSP owners can pick up a second dose of vehicular thievery this week with the release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. If you weren’t enthused by the previous PSP title, Liberty City Stories, then don’t expect to be blown away here, but the series has been updated with features like empire building. Most gamers may just wish to wait for the next-gen GTA. ETP: Sports - being lazy is out If you’re feeling sporty, and wouldn’t mind burning off a few calories, then Eyetoy Play: Sports comes out this week too. With each edition of the Play series, SCE London learn more about their ingenious toy. If you can’t wait for the Wii to get some crazy peripheral action, Sports is worth a look. If you’re feeling like something less strenuous, however, then you might prefer to take a look at FIFA Manager 07. Even with the controversy surrounding the breaking up of the Champ Man franchise, you may find that FIFA is the weaker of the two. Next week: Call of Duty 3, Medieval 2: Total War and Pro Evo 6. – Manny, Grim Fandango at the union nov 3rd - 16th Wednesday 8th & 15th Thursday 9th 8th November - Bar Games & Beer 15th November - RAG Miss World Every Wednesday At The Union! A brief history of Chanel Coco Chanel's founding of a boundary-breaking fashion brand by Sarah Skeete The iconic Coco Chanel Chanel wasn't just a fashion designer; she was a style revolutionary of her time. Chanel challenged the traditional fashions of the day, rejecting the restrictive impractical styles for practical but elegant clothing. Her innovations became basics in the wardrobes of generations of women: jersey suits and dresses, the chemise, pleated skirts, the cardigan suit, the blazer, the little black dress, the sling pump, strapless dresses, the trench coat. Much like Comme De Garcons is to Rei Kawakubo, Chanel was an expression of Coco’s personal style; a mix of the vocabulary of both male and female clothes. Coco was associated with the most creative artists of the day: Diaghilev, Picasso, Stravinsky and Cocteau. She liked to express herself through the fashion she created and once said, “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” Of other designers, Chanel said, “Fashion has become a joke. The designers have forgotten that there are women inside the dresses.” Chanel believed that women should dress simply and comfortable, she made only clothes that she herself would wear. In a way Chanel was a feminist in the clothes she de- "Fashion has become a joke. The designers have forgotten that there are women inside the dresses." – Coco Chanel signed, built to work with women rather than restrict them. The name Coco was adopted by Chanel when, after a brief stint as a seamstress, she started working as a cabaret singer at La Rotonde. At the Café La Rotonde she met Etienne Balsan, a millionaire cavalry officer and textile heir, who financed her move to Paris. Through Balsan, Coco was introduced to high society where she acquired the habits and tastes of the wealthy. She became a hat designer in 1908, providing an alternative to the ostrich boa hats women in high society wore, which she herself found distasteful. Using the resources of Balsan and another patron, she 21 opened her first millinery shop in Deuville 1912. Through her contacts with high society, her shop soon became a success. From hats, Chanel added clothes to the collection, with her romantic affairs with the artist Paul Iribe, the Duke of Westminster, Grand Duke Dmitri of Russia, and British sportsman Arthur Capel having a considerable influence on her often male-inspired fashions. Capel’s lavish gifts of jewels served as the keystones of Coco's astonishing collection of costume jewellery. Costume jewellery had previously been unfashionable, but Coco popularised it, using fake jewels in lavish ropes of imitation pearls to enhance her simple understated clothes. It was also Capel’s blazer, lent to Coco on a chilly day at the polo grounds, that inspired her famous box jacket. Chanel was arguably the most innovative designer of her time. She was first designer to use wool jersey in women’s wear, using it to make soft clingy dresses. Wool jersey had previously been used solely for men’s underwear. Her original use of jersey fabric attracted the attention of influential wealthy women, because it freed them from the prevalent corseted style of dresses. Her nonconformist designs revolutionized the textile industry. Her designs were also credited with the development of American mass production. Her designs were simple and used standard fabrics, making them easy to copy. Thousands of knock-offs of her designs were made, sometimes costing more than an original Chanel. In contrast with most designers Chanel was not perturbed by this, saying, “I want my dresses to go out on the street.” Coco, controversially, popularised women's trousers with her design of bell-bottom trousers, which she had designed to enable her to climb more easily in and out of gondolas in Venice. She also, if accidentally, kicked off the COOL Pop Magazine Sure the first 20 pages are adverts, but at least the adverts are pretty. A younger more fashion focused version of i-D. Marie Antoinette Sure it doesn't have much of a plot, and has Kirsten Dunst's annoying face in it. But the costumes are beautiful. Holy Moly Popbitch's more accurate cousin. To be fair, I don't really care if the shocking celebrity exploits are made up, as long as they're entertaining. feminist trend of bobbed hair when after singeing her hair she decided to cut it all off. Tanning was another accidental trend started by Chanel, after she accidentally became sunburned during a cruise to Cannes. Chanel loved to quote the poet Paul Valery, saying, “a badly perfumed woman has no future.” In 1922 Chanel introduced the fragrance that insured her fame, Chanel No. 5, named after Coco’s lucky number. The first to be sold worldwide, it stood out with its Art Deco bottle and minimalist packaging. It contrasted with the other flamboyant perfume bottles of the time, in the same way that her relaxed fashions were in sharp contrast to the corset fashions popular in the previous decades. Chanel No. 5 remains an indelible symbol of Chanel and is still popular today. As Chanel's Senior VP of Marketing and Sales Jean Zimmerman says, “The success of No5 is due to the fragrance itself and the very creative advertising behind it." In 1923 Chanel launched the signature Chanel suit; a knee-length skirt and trim, boxy jacket, traditionally made of woven wool with black trim and gold buttons and worn with large costume-pearl necklaces. Chanel retired in 1938 but returned in 1954 to introduce a new suit design; a collarless, braidtrimmed cardigan jacket with a graceful skirt. At first this was not very popular with Europeans, especially the press, perhaps as a result of the tarnishing of her reputation during the war. During her retirement she had an affair with a Nazi officer, diminishing her popularity. She moved to Switzerland, returning to reopen her Paris shop only to boost lagging perfume sales. However unpopular at first in Europe, her new suit was a massive success in America, and worn by the likes of Jackie Kennedy. By the 1960s much of what Coco was doing was refining the classic Chanel look. However, despite now being part of the fashion establishment she once hated, she still liked to rebel against established trends, creating boyish flapper creations to contrast with the Belle Époque millinery fashionable at that time. She also worked for various Hollywood studios, dressing the likes of Audrey Hepburn, Liz Taylor and Anne Baxter. By the time of Chanel’s death, her fashion empire made over $160m a year and counted among its clients Princess Grace, Queen Fabiola, Marlene Dietrich and Ingrid Bergman. As a Time article published on January 25th, 1972, a week after her death said: "Just her name was enough to define a pair of shoes, a hat, a pocketbook, a suit, perfume, jewellery—an entire look. It conveyed prestige, quality, impeccable taste and unmistakable style. By her death last week at 87, the French couturière had long since established herself as the 20th century's single most important arbiter of fashion." <Red> Save the world with rampant consumerism. Using a <Red> credit card doesn't really cut down to the real issues causing poverty. What it does do is make Bono look unbearably smug. Peaches Geldof Has yet to come to the crushing realisation that she an invisible speck in the universe and no-one cares that she DJs. Anyone who has ears can DJ. Surely she's overdue for a visit to the Priory. Madonna Went on various talk shows to counter media accusations and promoted her new book, and also left the baby with a nanny the first night back in England. This makes it seem less like she wants to publicise Malawi's difficulties, and more like she's an attention-seeking media-whore. Peter Dominiczak reports on the sights and delights of Vilnius, capital of Lithuania. Pictured above: Gedimino Street leading to the cathedral and Gediminas Tower Peter Dominiczak One of the beautiful views across a sprawling Vilnius The absinthe sits on the alcoholsputtered bar, flaming menacingly, acrid scent clawing at the backs of our mouths. Jim Morrison sits to my right, the tassels from his maroon poncho coiled on the bar, his eyes dull from too much wheat beer. On the left is the huge, bulk of a man called Gorgon, bearded with flowing, tangled hair, swaying on the bar stool, mumbling to himself in an odd Lithuanian-English hybrid. We are all flanked on both sides by unknown beauties, like the exquisite seraphs in a Rubens masterpiece. We wonder to ourselves where they possibly could have come from, how they are genetically possible, how we can get to know them? Suddenly The Gorgon lets out a wail not dissimilar to that made popular by Chewbacca in Star Wars, downs a still flaming absinthe, wails once more and then collapses in a heap on the floor, soundless now. ‘Is he ok?’ I ask Jim Morrison. Jim turns his head with all the nonchalance of a 1960s West-Coast rock star. ‘Gorgon,’ he hisses, ‘Gorgon!’ Nothing. Jim turns back to me and in his affected American accent, peppered with Baltic vowels and the guttural sounds of his true home nation, he says simply: ‘Don’t worry, man. He does this sometimes.’ We turn back to our absinthes, forgetting The Gorgon, prostrate on the mucky floor, probably wailing in his drunken dreams. The above is no hallucination. It only took six days in Vilnius for an unconscious giant to become an axiomatic part of our evenings out, but more of that later. Getting to Vilnius is an event best left to lovers of fear. It begins in the arse-end of Gatwick airport, the end reserved for drug-smuggler’s cavity searchers and the huge vaults containing those pointless chewable toothbrushes which make you long for times past when miserable halitosis was perfectly acceptable. It takes eight hours to get there and you need a Sherpa to guide you on the last ascent through beige, piss-smelling corridors covered in the detritus of discarded chewable toothbrushes. Gatwick does not like Lithuanians. When the gate is finally reached, when you lumber over to the stained window to take one last look at grey old England, the metal tube about to take you miles into the air at speed comes into view. At this moment you feel an almost brotherly understanding with those about to go over the top in Flanders’s Fields back in 1917. FlyLal planes look similar to something Neil Buchanan might have whipped up in fifteen minutes on Art Attack. In fact, I think I would have had more confidence if that Scouse monstrosity had had a hand in the aerospace engineering of FlyLal’s fleet. The plane is cracked and wizened, garish colours painted over holes and indents, looking all the while like some seaside funfair attraction, inspiring no confidence in its ability to move, let alone fly. The interior (brave enough to venture inside, you see) rests in an epoch where safety was of concern to no-one, when jutting metal was a design feature and seats which didn’t spontaneously collapse were the feature on that Friday’s ‘Tomorrow’s World.’ Three hours of creaking, sputtering, high-decibel bangs and warm beer, however, we land in an airport more closely resembling a farm than an E.U destination. Welcome to Vilnius. Armed with Lonely Planet guile we already know the taxi driver’s game. Famous for cheating the foreigners, don’t accept anything more than 20 Litas to the centre. We are prepared for haggling, for financial dancing akin to Rocky and Apollo going at it in Rocky II. Within two minutes our ‘know-how’ had precipitated a fight between a group of colossal taxi drivers and our bags had been launched at us at high velocity. Don’t listen to people from Lonely Planet. They are the kind of folk that end up dismembered in a bin in Guatemala. Just pay for things. With the exchange rate in Lithuania, an estate to rival Abramovich’s best only costs about four quid anyway. Now before I take you through the baroque majesty of Old Vilnius, the castles, courtyards and most individual of culinary ideals, allow me a section reserved solely for bile and spewed anger. When you arrive in Friday 3 November 2006 felix TRAVEL 23 felix@imperial.ac.uk Lithuania, at 11pm, during a hefty storm you don’t entirely expect the booking you had so carefully made on Lastminute.com (confirmed of course, with an ‘enjoy your trip’ and everything) to have the status of a mythical creature. ‘Minute Lastas?’ shrugs the blonde hotel secretary. ‘No, sorry. I no know dis.’ And with that she shrugs with all the equanimity of someone in London who can’t tell you how to change from the Piccadilly line to the Bakerloo line; not someone about to chuck you out on your arse in deepest Lithuania, bait for Russian gangsters or circus troops looking for replacements for their now outlawed dancing bears. It is besides the point that after three days of threats it was resolved and we were upgraded to a new hotel (three stars: get in!). In those three days we were told that our only option was to sleep on the floor of some cupboard in the corner of the hotel with no locks and only a rapist named Vlad for company. I spent hours on the phone to some bored idiot in Slough who was desperate for a cigarette break and didn’t care in the least if I ended up strung up with no pants on. Lastminute.com have made my list and will remain there until the next time I can’t be bothered looking anywhere else and, victim of advertising that I am, book with them yet again. Vilnius has been annexed a great deal. Every time some superpower found themselves with little to do, they annexed Vilnius for a Sunday lark. As a result, it is a truly European cultural blend, and all the better for it. The Old Town is one of the biggest in Europe and exists as one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture one can see. It was however, built over a few centuries so amongst the Baroque rests the austere splendour of the Renaissance and the intricate madness that those crazed Gothic architects dreamt up. In the 3.6 square kilometres of the Old Town, 46 Churches litter the skyline: there are the gaudy crowns atop Orthodox Churches, the great white domes of Catholic Churches and the more subtle yet on inspection, equally magnificent synagogues, all resting in what now appears as harmony, but one imagines the friction of old, electrifying the city to its core. For the discerning Religious viewer the two most necessary attractions are St. Anne’s Church – with a façade of such Gothic pomp that a sprightly Napoleon, on his way to freeze in Russia, wished to carry it to Paris ‘in the palm of his hand.’ Then there is the Church of Saint’s Peter and Paul: a Baroque interior which took decades to carve out of pure white stone, so intricate and delicate, taking the breath from your lungs on entry, it exists as a kind of architectural extreme sport, vacating your lungs of air on entry, not giving it back until you wander back into the sunlight outside. Baroque parachuting, perhaps. But the greatness of Vilnius is not its landmarks; the castles, the Cathedral all have something to offer, but the lustre of the place is gained from a holistic view. Just wander. Curved streets with coloured, detailed facades litter the place. Courtyards in unexpected places; climbing ivy and grand trees framing crumbling stone buildings, history emanating from every fissure. Stroll across a bridge with hundreds of padlocks left by newly married couples covering the railings; enter the esoteric world of the Uzupis district, whose people (artists obviously) decided to declare independence from the rest of Vilnius. Read their constitution, engraved in metal, hung on the wall of an insignificant alley: ‘A cat has the right to be a cat,’ and other quaint inanities. The atmosphere of the place, unlike any other I have experienced, is to be imbibed everywhere you go, around every corner, at the foot of FlyLal planes look similar to something from Art Attack every holy structure and in front of every crazed market seller. Do, however, avoid the boiled pig’s ear. Vilnius has managed to cultivate a drinking culture that is beyond the grasp of dear old Blighty. The idea of spending time in a pub, drinking slowly whilst eating an (often) excellent meal is a welcome change from the unexplainable compulsion London creates of inhaling 8 pints in 2 hours, inhaling 2 kebabs in 8 minutes and stomping off to find a corner to fulfil the duel purpose of vomit receptacle and bed for the night. The pubs in Vilnius are a glory indeed. Vast caves, dark halls, wooden and atmospheric, trees growing up from the basement are all far superior to a Wetherspoons, whose main ascetic feature is the crumpled hooker in the corner. Food is served by Baltic beauties and is everything you could want to accompany a 2-litre jug of beer: Zeppelins are a deepfried potato oval, filled with cream, meat, cheese and bacon, topped with cream, meat cheese and bacon. Fried bread sticks with a creamy, cheese concoction make beer taste like Athena’s breast milk (possibly) and meat comes bloody and softer than the clouds above. But there are pitfalls: platters of ear, fried or boiled, stumps which were once the foot of a pink porker, sheep’s stomachs – which, when bitten into, occasionally crack, revealing putrid green juices and black stones of undigested food. One must learn to take the rough with the smooth when eating in Vilnius. Vilnius is, apparently, the new Prague, along with about 5 other capitals in Eastern Europe. Largely because of its size, Vilnius probably does have the potential to become a seething mass of tourism though, so go now before the stampede of shaven-headed English men arrive, holding aloft the stag, ‘la la la-ing’ into the night and perpetuating the stereotype in yet another innocent nation. In one pub, I saw the first wave, standing in a circle, pints clasped close to their Burberry shirts, looking around, tongues out, searching for birds and fights. The English thug is an unfortunate creature. They should be cleansed, by nail-gun if necessary. I’ll do it, vigilante style, if legislation does not arrive soon to rid us of this plague. So, what of The Gorgon and Jim Morrison? Well, Jim had somehow managed to get to San Francisco for a month and had come back firmly believing he was in fact, The Lizard King. Either nobody had the heart to tell him he was not a look-a-like, or they just blindly accepted him as a grim product of Westernisation. The Gorgon was in fact called Gorga (as if it makes a difference) and was the most entertaining encounter of my young life so far. A mass of uncontrollable nonsense, he prowled the bar, swigging people’s drinks, caterwauling all the while, and then returning to explain the subtleties of Lithuanian culture to me (in bellowed Lithuanian, of course), before going to sleep on the floor. The point is that in this haven of beauty and history, there was a kind of hospitality like no other, a welcoming, inclusive atmosphere that begs to be experienced. Go there, and if you find your own Gorgon, or maybe even the legend himself, embrace him, for you will miss him when he’s gone. Matthew Wallace France, a country loved by some, not so much by others. Its most redeeming feature in any rock climber’s eyes is the huge variety and quantity of climbing it offers, all within low-cost airline fares. It was for this reason, despite some people’s misgivings, that I bought a plane ticket to Marseille and set off with the Mountaineering Club to the Verdon Gorge for this year’s summer tour. The Verdon is a river running through the Alpes-des-Haute-Provence in South-Eastern France. It has cut over thousands of years a three hundred metre deep gorge, creating seemingly endless limestone walls that provide some of the world’s most spectacular multipitch sport climbing. To explain the jargon, ‘sport’ is a type of climbing where you clip into small bolts as you ascend which are already drilled and cemented into the rock. This allows safe, rapid climbs and is used widely in Europe, but is rare in the UK where a traditional ethos dictates that all protection should be carried with you. This is in the form of various shaped bits of metal called ‘gear’ which can be jammed into cracks on the way up and removed afterwards so as not to damage the rock. Multi-pitch refers to the length of the climb. When the route is longer than your rope, you stop, anchor yourself to a ledge and bring up your climbing partner before setting off again. We arrived eager to test our mul- felix ti-pitch skills (and nerves) only to discover the necessary guidebook was out of print! Luckily for us the owner of the local climbing shop, Sabine, was able to step in and act as a human route guide. As far as we could tell she has climbed pretty much every route in the area, knew everywhere off by heart, often even better than the book itself. Needless to say, due to the personalised route descriptions, presents and bags of sweets she gave us, more than one of us fell for the eccentric old lady in the climbing shop. Something even Sabine could not reassure us of was how to escape the gorge in the event of things not going to plan. The river valley is only accessible at ground level from the lake, about a ten mile hike and swim from the climbs themselves! The only easy way to the bottom of the climbs was from the top of the gorge. To reach them you have to abseil down, taking your rope – the only escape – with you. If you can’t climb out, it is a very long walk along and up the gorge to safety. Add to this the risk of the dam sluice gates being opened without warning, made the bottom of the gorge a fairly inhospitable place! Curious to discover this for ourselves, we rented canoes and set off up the river. A few miles upstream the narrowing of the channel resulted in tempting white water. Obviously we had to test our rafting skills, but predictably these weren’t quite up to scratch and the canoe was upside down, with Henry’s shirt floating fast downstream (or so he says). Nevertheless, in his topless, soaked state he managed to hitchhike back home (being picked up in record time). As a female friend recently informed me “wet muscles are irresistible”. This trip was certainly one to remember, but Verdon has not been our only excursion of the year; club members have climbed in Yosemite, the Alps, Italy, Lofoten, Sardinia, Fontainebleau, Utah, Kazahkstan, Frankenjura, Croatia, and the Red Rocks. Even in England the sun is known to shine occasionally, and throughout the year we have fortnightly trips to locations all over the UK. These are not only a chance to practice climbing skills, but an excuse to escape London for the weekend. We have just returned from this year’s fantastic Freshers’ Trip to the Peak District, for which we took over thirty members! Above all, our club is about encouraging newcomers and teaching them to climb. For a taster, meet us in the union quad at 1pm on any Wednesday and we will take you to the Westway Centre, one of the UK’s largest indoor climbing walls. There we will teach you the basics of climbing and rope work before you join us on one of our outdoor trips, where you will inevitably get hooked on climbing for life. For more information, email matthew.wallace@imperial. ac.uk, or check out our website at: www.union.ic.ac. uk/rcc/mountaineering/ 27 Live music in dB’s Matty Hoban In my first year, I was amazed that university venues like King’s College were putting on brilliant gigs such as the first UK show with The Arcade Fire performing. What amazed me was that our union barely had any live music in comparison. There was little variety for someone like me who likes music that is a bit different. People who shared my opinion didn’t feel proud of their union, or maybe not pride but people were passionless. When people aren’t passionate about something, a sense of community is not there since there is no purpose for one to exist. Taking into account both of these things, I took over the esteemed position of President of the Alternative Music Society last academic year (I took over from the god amongst men that is James Millen). One of my aims was to create a community at Imperial of people who appreciated music and I needed a focal point for this. Thus, I created Kids Will Be Skeletons, our regular gig night where we charge the minimum entry possible. I started off with little experience of promoting and took quite an amateur approach. Our first night was chaotic but inevitably fun. It was brilliant that people were actually being bothered about the union and actually wanted to go there to see some underground music. Imperial is notorious for its apathy and naturally some nights not many people have turned up. This can be disheartening but we go on nevertheless because we want to constantly provide a live music outlet at Imperial. Our 21st October night with a band from San Francisco, Citizens Here and Abroad was our most popular night ever. It was great and we hope to continue our success with our next night on November 5th in dBs at 7:30pm. We have two bands from France called Gatechien and Le Singe Blanc and a band from London called Man Aubergine. We are charging £3 for students, not to make money but so that we can pay the bands’ transport from France. We don’t stand to make money but because our society does not have that much money so we have to charge entry. We will be running free nights when we can. Please come down for a drink and some great music so we can create a great atmosphere. 28 Friday 3 November 2006 felix CLUBS & SOCIETIES clubsandsocs.felix@imperial.ac.uk Aussie kiss: like a French kiss, but down under From the 20th to the 22nd of October the Imperial Windsurfing Massive spent a quite epic weekend at the biggest windsurfing festival in Europe. Aussie Kiss 5 in Bude was the destination for over 600 windsurfing students from across the country, including about 20 or so excited Imperialites. On Friday afternoon around 4pm the club met around stores in double quick time to load up the union minibus and get going on our 6hr journey, which was not helped by a certain Chris M delaying our club president and chauffeur Ben R. Arriving around 11pm and only having nicked a few of the Ron’s cans of beer there was a predictable rush for the bar as 600+ people indulged in the other side of a windsurfing weekend, getting tanked. After finding one of the many caravans available to us at Bude Holiday Park and stealing a few hours sleep, it was up for breakfast and then pile in the minibus to Roadford Lake for some serious windsurfing. Force 4 winds allowed everyone to get on the water from beginners who had never stepped on a board to the more advanced surfers, such as our own Alex P, laying down some freestyle whilst wearing two wetsuits. Beginners received expert tuition from qualified coaches including our very own president Jess, all whilst enjoying maximum time on the water in the fantastic conditions. Intermediate sailors were treated to some on land tuition and guidance from professional windsurfer Jim Collis, helping everyone improve their beach starts and quick tacks (turning for the un-initiated). Advanced sailors had Jem Hall to help them with their tricks and everyone was able to grab some quality time out on the water before packing up for the day, and heading back to the caravans to get ready for the party. Everyone was buzzing in anticipation for the Caribbean themed fancy dress party on Saturday night, 600+ people dressed as Rastafarians, Pirates, Crocodiles, human sized Malibu bottles and many, many scantily clad windsurfers descended on the bar to drink copious amounts of rum, cider, lager and anything they could throw down the numerous funnels being passed around the room. When resident band I.D.Ology took to the stage to lay down a blinding set of covers the room exploded into life and the new hobby of crowd surfing took over. After many hours of letting loose, everyone drifted off to caravans that may or may not have been theirs (not in the case of Jake, returning defeated at 7am) and grabbed a few hours before Sunday morning arrived. To many who don’t know, windsurfing is probably the greatest hangover cure you can dream of, and another windy day and some shiny demo kit provided the perfect incentive to get out of bed. After Jem Hall and Jim Collis delivered a fantastic self-promotional speech on their various clinics around the IC Windsurfing member using the boat’s wake to pull a flip. That’s probably not the technical term world, it was time to get on the water again for a good few hours before packing up and getting ready for the prize giving via an epic mudsliding contest from many of the Cardiff boys. Come the prize giving Imperial dominated with Alex P deservedly getting the award Lights, camera, and action! FilmSoc presents the first IC Short Film Festival: this is your chance to get your submission viewed by the world Priya Garg & Jamie Lewis Recently I went to see Miami Vice. Drug smugglers in an East-Asian country, a Chinese slut, helicopters and dead bodies, more ridiculous acronyms than a medics handbook and lots of pointless sex… Wow, what can I say? I’d seen this film a hundred times under many different titles, but never as badly made as this and I haven’t even mentioned Colin Farrell’s over-zealous hairstylist. I was bored stiff. To pass the time I resorted to playing ‘Snake’ on my phone till even that got boring and I ended up joining the mass exodus out of the cinema desperately searching for that hour that I had lost of my life and would never get back. Suddenly, it occurred to me. I didn’t have to sit through all these dire cinematic train wrecks. I could make my own film. I could show it to people. I could enter it into the first ever IC FilmSoc Short Film Festival taking place on 10th December. It would be projected onto a big screen, hundreds would see it and it would definitely be better than Michael Mann’s pathetic excuse for a film. All I’d have to do is grab a blank DVD, get my camera and start rolling. So I ask you – fancy yourself as the next Hitchcock or Tarantino? Think you could do better than me? (Probably not but try anyway.) FilmSoc is giving a full month until 1st December for you to script, direct and edit your film into DVD format. Remember, it has to be yours and it has to be less than thirty minutes long. That’s it! Whatever your stand- ard of film, give it a shot. If you’re camera-less then STOIC will even provide the equipment if you join up, so there’s no excuse. It costs just £5 to enter a film and you gain free entry into the festival as an esteemed film auteur in your own right. I’m just sorry for you that my film has already been made, so mine will be the first DVD that will be posted into the festival postbox in the SAF, which is that large, glass building that all the medics eat in. The deadline to submit your masterpiece is 1 December, so get busy with your Super-8 or fancy digital cameras. For more information, contact Victoria Sanderson: victoria.sanderson@imperial.ac.uk. for the advanced division and Jess and Niall getting awards for beginner and intermediate instruction respectively. After loading up the minibus once more, everyone set sail for home rounding off another fantastic weekend for the IC Windsurf club. If you are interested in joining our club we meet most Thursdays in the union for some social merriment. For any information or to get going on our beginners’ tuition days email: committee@ imperialwindsurf.co.uk Friday 3 November 2006 felix CLUBS & SOCIETIES 29 clubsandsocs.felix@imperial.ac.uk Oranges and lemons, say the bells Peter Jasper If you were in college on Wednesday, 25th October, you may well have heard bells ringing out in celebration of the college’s Undergraduate Graduation Ceremony. The bells at the top of the Queen’s Tower are the 7th heaviest set of 10 bells in the world with the heaviest bell weighing nearly 2 tons. The bells were given as a present by an Australian millionaire to Queen Victoria in 1892 and because of this, they are unusual in the way they remain the personal property of the Queen. Bells are found the world over, but the style of ringing that you hear in English churches (and of course the Queen’s Tower) is unique to this country. Bellringing started in the sixteenth century and has continued to this day, with ringers using the same techniques and music as was developed all those years ago. Today there are thousands of people of all ages ringing in churches throughout the country, including student societies at many British universities. The University of London Society of Change Ringers (ULSCR) is one of the oldest student ringing societies, having existed continuously for over sixty years and remains very active to this day. There are regular practices and ringing trips which are always followed by a pint or two (or three) in a nearby pub. Bellringers do not have to be very strong or musically minded and ringing with a university society is a fantastic way to meet people and to get out and about in places all over the country. In the last year alone there have been trips to Lundy Island, Dorset and Birmingham. Also, the annual inter-university competition (and piss up!) takes place this year in Cambridge and the ULSCR are the current reigning champions. However, ringing within the ULSCR is not just limited to church bells, The huge, very loud bells in the roof space of the Queen’s Tower handbells are also an important part of the life of the society. Just before Christmas, handbells are used in the ULSCR concert when carols are rung around the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square to entertain the masses doing their Christmas shopping. However, bellringing is only part of the story when it comes to ULSCR activities. Whether it is a trip to RSM wages war Eleanor Jay On the 22nd October 21 intrepid RSM students (11 from Materials and 10 from Geology (ish!), missioned it out to a warehouse in Canary Wharf, Greenwich. There, inside the heavy steel doors, we were faced with a monstrous tirade of inflatables, ditches, strong holds, netting, tankers, sand bags, bunkers … and bodies. This was war..of a paintballing nature! After a safety briefing that consisted mainly of, “ please don’t shoot the roof or the marshals, but you can shoot anything else!”, we donned our all in ones, found Darth Vaderlike masks and we were away! First we had a few games of capture the flag, just enough time to test out our semi-automatic rifles, it appears the geologists may have gained an upper hand on these games… but no one is really sure! Then we moved on to different field protecting our strong houses from invasions by both sides. After some pretty chilling battle cries from Burg, Steve, Tom and others (difficult to tell with masks on!!), the Materials crew managed to annihilate the geologists and stormed their castle, winning the game. Credit must be giv- en to all those who “drew” fire by running around the battle field and then “re-charging” their lives, it is hard to say how much paintballs really hurt, especially on the neck and hands. After a few more games involving bombs, flags and diving into sand, we moved on to the final field which was the most challenging, and most realistic… those trenches really smelt; years of built up paint!! The geologist one the first round of save the package.. by sneakily grabbing it and then holding their own extremely well. Also the game of save the president was entertaining.. which the materials group nearly own, only to be stopped by a vivacious Satan, who prevented entry to the safe bunker! (That REALLY hurt guys!!). The last round was a one on one round, so every one was an enemy, this caused multiple casualties, and even more bruises! After all the games had finished (I am reliably informed) that the materials group won 5-3, all players put up a damn good fight, and have the battle scars (bruises) to prove it! We all had an awesome time, and here’s to many a re-match in the near future.. maybe we can challenge CGCU nest time instead.. after all we all know who will win! a West End show, a treasure hunt around the city or a “hit the dancefloor” clubbing event, there is something for everybody. This term alone there are plans for a Freshers’ reception where anybody new to the society gets free food and drink all night, a bonfire night trip, a Christmas party and the annual dinner and disco. Perhaps then, if you heard the Queen’s Tower bells being rung on Commemoration Day or will listen again when they are rung for Prince Charles’s birthday on the 14th and again for the Queen’s Wedding Anniversary on the 20th November, you will spare a thought for the ringers who are keeping this ancient tradition alive. If you are a ringer, or interested in just learning more about bellringing the ULSCR is contactable via email at secretary@ulscr.org.uk or on the website www.ulscr.org.uk. Alternatively, come along to a practice night on Thursday evenings from 7pm at St Olave’s church, Hart Street (near Tower Hill tube station) and you will receive a warm welcome, whether you have never touched a bell rope before, or can conduct peals of London Surprise Maximus! 30 Friday 3 November 2006 felix CLUBS & SOCIETIES clubsandsocs.felix@imperial.ac.uk Positively Red! Medsin AIDS Week Fenella Benyon P ositively Red! is celebrating it’s third birthday this year (in style, of course) from 26th November to 1st December (World AIDS day). In keeping with its predecessors, this year’s Positively Red! (Imperial-medsin’s AIDS awareness week) will have a whole host of events and activities to keep you interested and entertained: from dodgeball to debating; exhibition to exciting party! AIDS awareness week began off the back of the rapidly growing global AIDS pandemic which, since the 1980s, has claimed 25 million lives and seen another 40 million people infected. In the UK, there are around 58,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, and new diagnoses per year have doubled since 2000. Yet awareness of HIV has actually decreased in the UK over this time. Positively Red! is aiming to raise money (as much as possible), awareness and debate over the week. It will kick off with the final of the fundraising dodgeball tournament on the 26th November at Ethos (get your teams together now!); then move swiftly on to the opening of the exhibition ‘around the world’ on the 27th; create a heated debate on the 29th: “This house believes that HIV status should be public knowledge” + perspectives on stigma from the UK and South Africa; all will be rounded off with an amazing party in the Union with sub-red on the Friday night! All the money we raise will be split between three charities: children with AIDS charity (www.cwac. org); Friends of the Treatment Action Campaign (www.fotac.org); and kidzpositive family fund (www. kidzpositive.org) Dodgeball: the rules THE TEAM The game shall be played between two teams of 6 players. Other people will be available as substitutes. Substitutes may enter the game only during timeouts or in the case of injury. THE COURT The game will be played indoors in the Wolfson Sports Hall and the Ethos Sports Hall. The playing field shall be a rectangle at least 50 ft long and at least 30 ft wide, divided into two (2) equal sections by a center-line and attack-lines 3m from, and parallel to the centerline. THE EQUIPMENT The official ball used in tournament will be a rubber-coated foam ball. Participants must wear trainers. If you’d like to get involved, submit a dodgeball team, enter some artwork or just want some more info, email Fenella Benyon: fjb03@ic.ac.uk THE GAME The object of the game is to eliminate all opposing players by getting them “OUT”. This may be done by: 1. Hitting an opposing player with a LIVE thrown ball below the shoulders. 2. Catching a LIVE ball thrown by your opponent before it touches the ground. Definition of LIVE: A ball that has been thrown and has not touched anything, including the floor/ground, another ball, another player, official or other item outside of the playing field (wall, ceiling, etc) BOUNDARIES During play, all players must remain within the boundary lines. Players may leave the boundaries through their end-line only to retrieve stray balls. They must also return through their end-line. THE OPENING RUSH Game begins by placing the dodgeballs along the center line – three (3) on one side of the center hash and three (3) on the other. Players then take a position behind their end line. Following a signal by the official, teams may approach the centerline to retrieve the balls. This signal officially starts the contest. Teams may only retrieve the three (3) balls to their right of the center hash. Once a ball is retrieved it must be taken behind the attack-line before it can be legally thrown. TIMING AND WINNING A GAME The first team to legally eliminate all opposing players will be declared the winner. A 10-minute time limit has been established for each contest. If neither team has been eliminated at the end of the 10 minutes, the team with the greater number of players remaining will be declared the winner. In the case of an equal number of players remaining after regulation, a 1-minute sudden-death overtime period will be played. TIMEOUTS AND SUBSTITUTIONS Each team will be allowed one (1) 30 second timeout per game. At this time a team may substitute players into the game. FIVE-SECOND VIOLATION In order to reduce stalling, a violation will be called if a team in the lead controls all six (6) balls on their side of the court for more than 5 seconds. RULE ENFORCEMENT Players will be expected to rule whether or not a hit was legal or whether they were legally eliminated. All contests will be supervised by a referee. The referee’s responsibility will be to rule on any situation in which teams cannot agree. The referee’s decision is final, with absolutely no exceptions. CODE OF CONDUCT 1. Understand, appreciate and abide by the rules of the game. 2. Respect the integrity and judgment of game officials 3. Respect your opponent and congratulate them in a courteous manner following each match whether in victory or defeat. 4. Be responsible for your actions and maintain self-control. 5. Do not taunt or bait opponents and refrain from using foul or abusive language. Anyone in violation of this code of conduct as declared by the tournament personnel will be disqualified from the tournament without refund and will leave the premises immediately. Friday 3 November 2006 felix CLUBS & SOCIETIES 31 clubsandsocs.felix@imperial.ac.uk IC Radio bring us the noise IC Radio has the gear and the talent to provide you with a DJ and some banging tunes Sebastian Kaminski Head of Discos ICRadio discos can answer so many of your problems. Perhaps your club or society is organising a disco? Perhaps you want to host the party to end all parties? Do you need a sound system so magnificent that the bass blows everyone in attendance away? Perhaps you need to hire a DJ? Are you a DJ who wants to play at a disco? Well then IC Radio is the club for you. We have a dedicated disco team that hire out our impressive sound system to clubs and societies for their parties, socials and other non-descript gatherings of boozehounds. For those of you who are technical-minded, it includes two Technics 1210 turntables, a Behringer 2500 Amp, some impressively large speakers, a Denon dual CD mixer and a four channel Denon mixer. We’ve also got monitor speakers, microphones and other essential equipment. All of which adds up to tremendous aural pleasure for all of those in attendance. In essence, ICRadio can provide your club, society or just your group of friends with all the equipment you will need and a DJ who cuts all the mustard in sight. All of which comes at a very reasonable price. We’ve already helped organise four discos this term, like the Civ- Soc Christmas Party and the Erasmus party, and have more lined up. One happy customer said, “A live DJ really improved the atmosphere and provided a focus for the party”, and “the sound system and music were excellent.” Another said, “That was the best disco I went to that night!” Perhaps you are an experienced DJ, or want to become an experienced DJ, who plays at all the topnotch events that ICRadio entertain? Whether you’re a professional or just another amateur who’s never played before you could be DJing at one of these discos. ICRadio is often called up by societies looking for DJs to play at their events. DJing for ICRadio is not only great fun, but for one night’s work you can earn yourself enough cash to pay for your next night out with your friends (as long as you go to Cheapskates). Most of our work is cheesy oldschool hits, modern pop and hiphop, but we do get the occasional call up for alternative or house music. The more people we have for each genre the more often we get invited to perform at events. If your society needs a sound system, or if you’re up for some DJing, send an email to sebastian.kaminski@ic.ac.uk. Mike Higgins Station Manager Lisa and Seb DJing at one of many wild CivSoc boat parties Moon Unit: IC’s favourite rock show SuperDan and Essex Boi Under the guise of our superhero alter egos, SuperDan and Essex Boi, we aim to bring you the greatest in guitar sounds. Well, sort of. The music on Moon Unit is nothing other than our taste, much like most shows on ICRadio. It is an amalgamation of the majority of what the media calls ‘alternative’. We call it mainstream rock, but we enjoy a dash of metal, a pinch of punk and a dollop of electro all added into the witch’s cauldron for added fun, craic and wonder. You may have seen us at the Freshers’ Fair. We did a live set on the ICRadio stand from two until three. If you do not remember us, we were the two guys with appalling haircuts playing out the likes of The Rapture, The Clash and The Killers whilst drinking some pints and shaking our jelly. We hope this encouraged you to sign up to follow in our footsteps. Moon Unit is now in its third year of operation and since its inception has managed to become Imperial College’s most listened to rock show. However, none of our listeners ever want to tell us about the show. So, before we start telling you why you too should become a Moon Uniter, I ask anyone who listens to get in contact and start requesting tracks and generally telling us why we are so much better than everyone else. Not that we are immodest, we just state the facts. Though only the facts that make us look good. On a normal Moon Unit hour we each take over the show for a thirtyminute section, playing exclusively our own musical choice. SuperDan normally sticks to the modern day taking Moon Unit down a road filled with the delights of 90s’ Brit pop, some mellow tunes and some turnof-the-century metal. On the other end of the Unit, Essex Boi tends to stick to the older sounds. The 80s’ post-punk era, 70s’ hard/psychedelic rock and 60s’ guitar pop seem to be the usual choice. The best in Moon Unit music comes in the crossover regions. The mainstream area in which we both like to delve out musical tastes is filled with pleasures unknown. When one of us manages to find a song that we both like the show tends to hit fifth gear. Within this limited category exists the likes of Björk, Bloc Party and anything but modern R’n’B. Basically, your staple diet of indie dance floor tracks and ‘experimental’ music will be catered for within our weekly hour of fun and games. Alongside the music there exists the infamous Moon Unit banter. It is the repartee between the two of us that repeatedly brings our listeners back, begging for more. In shows gone by we have discussed everything from the merits of modern day R’n’B in the vein of those Beyoncé types (we concluded that there are none) to the always appropriate subject of coprophilia (I suggest you Google that word if you do not know it, but be warned, do not do an image search). We like to include a few regular features in the show. We have had weekly interviews with pop and TV superstars Alvin and the Chipmunks, followed by their rendition of a famous song. Another piece SuperDan and Essex Boi: Their parents were fire and brimstone that often rears its ugly head is Not On My Moon Unit. This is a little ditty where Essex Boi normally plays out a classic piece of hip-hop, reggae or Motown that is actually good, unlike most of the rubbish from the mainstream ‘urban’ scene. Finally Dan’s Shit Past involves SuperDan playing something that he liked when he was about thirteen (Blink 182 etc). We also regularly run Moon Unit Specials. This week saw a Halloween themed show that included songs of a scary nature. Only songs that contained lyrics of doom and despair made the cut (except for Essex Boi’s closing track). This spookfest included some of The Jesus and Mary Chain, Nine Inch Nails and Korn, for all your gothic metal needs. Next week, though, will see a return to our usual programming selection, what that includes even we do not know. Frankly we do not take ourselves seriously, but somehow have quite a decent following and we enjoy ourselves. Over the past years we found that when it comes to making good shows professionalism is secondary to making the listeners laugh. So go and download our last show, it is very good. Trust us. You are rather lucky to go to Imperial, I can tell you this. But not for any of the reasons you have heard before. You are lucky because Imperial College Radio is probably the best student radio station around. “But I hear it is just another student radio station” you cry. Now that is just wrong. I have been told that we broadcast more hours of original programming per year than most, if not all, of our competitors in the capital. One of the best features on the ICRadio website is our listen again service. We keep every show presented in the last four years and they are all available for you to download. So if you visit us at the award-winning www.icradio.com you can hear all the shows you have missed over the years. The main aspect is for us to create and broadcast radio shows. A lot of people tell me that they could never do a radio show because they would feel too self-conscious, but even when the shyest of my friends guest on my show, they become animated chatterboxes the moment I flip the On Air switch. Are you still not convinced that you should be a part of ICRadio? I have more reasons. ICRadio is mostly filled with music lovers, me included. But, and this is a big but, the main difference between ICRadio and other music related clubs and societies is the distinct lack of music fascism. Any music sits perfectly with any other type, anywhere on ICRadio and we intend to keep it like that. ICRadio has the likes of cheesypoptastic School Daze (with resident schoolmasters Lisa Bunclark and Seb Kaminski) sat right alongside the metal monster that is Iron Thursday, the brainchild of Flangernon Lacy and Jurgen Grundleburger. Alex Baldwin (him from the Nightlife section) and his buddy Matt Long come in and play all kinds of odd sounds that I often find surprisingly pleasant on the interestingly titled Lazer Tiger vs. The Acid Tripping Swamp Monkeys. Shows are not our only output. Seb Kaminski is in charge of running the numerous events we are hired to do by Imperial’s other clubs and societies. Folake Adegbohun runs a music review team that take all of the twenty to fifty CDs we are sent every week. Our members also get access to our professional recording studio. Where some minor sucessful songs have been recorded. On top of all of this our resident house junkie, James Yearsley, teaches the finer points of turntablism to those who are interested. Hopefully you are convinced that ICRadio is the best thing on Earth and that you want to join our noble cause. If you are suitably impressed email manager@ icradio.com and I can get you rocking the airwaves within the week. 32 Friday 3 November 2006 felix COFFEE BREAK coffee.felix@imperial.ac.uk Coffee Break is back with the Sarge Reintroducing the world’s best quiz: the Felix University/College-Wide Invitational Tournament (FUCWIT) Sergeant Hartman Right, as I’m sure you’re all aware, David Hasselhoff (otherwise known around these parts as the Hoff) has suddenly departed from hallowed Imperial ground without a trace at the end of last year, and hasn’t returned to do his regular page in Felix this year. Coffee Break can exclusively reveal that he has buggered off onto I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here due to the sizeable pay-packet he would be receiving from it, and therefore he has left a void in Felix that many have always thought could not be filled (due to the size of the Hoff ’s monstrous loins). Luckily for all of you, however, that’s false, as I’ve decided to hop over from writing the common sense column (or what the Comments Editor called satire) to doing Coffee Break. I have to say that although he has left a legacy behind, he really didn’t have much substance, and his loins weren’t as big as mine. Think of it this way – we voted him back for another year with Felix (only just, fending off Optimus Prime) and he just buggered off without saying goodbye. Basically, I’m far better. Hear me roar. So stand straight when I’m talking to you! Anyhow, onto business, so listen up – I was looking forward (somewhat) to returning to Imperial for another year of soaking up knowledge from friendly professors and getting ever closer to obtaining my degree (or not, pending alcohol consumption). After a long and gruelling battle with several estate agents, a landlord or two, and several bed and breakfasts (don’t ask!), I managed to get a nice little place just a stone’s throw away from College. I was ready to attempt to do some sort of work – but before all those dreams were duly shattered as I walked onto campus, I was blinded as I walked onto Upper Dalby Court, where bright blues and the new addition of greens and pinks of the building opposite absolutely wreaked havoc on my retinas. After dropping to the ground and quickly donning some Ray-Bans, I decided that it was probably something to do with the BioMedical Engineering department’s “Restore sight to the blind” campaign or similar – Stevie Wonder could see those colours, for Christ’s sake. A little digging revealed the archi- The rules of the game Welcome back to this year’s Felix University/College-Wide Invitational Tournament, or FUCWIT. The format of this year’s competition is going to be a little spiced up, because I know for a fact that too many things given to you all last year were so easily searchable on the internet. The Hoff got more than a little suspicious. Anyway, here’s how it works: You need a team name. Think of one. Every week, make sure you include your team name when you email in the answers to coffee.felix@imperial.ac.uk You get 2 marks for each question. I’ll give one mark for what I deem to be partially correct answers, or for particularly clever wrong answers. tect responsible for this interesting new addition to college was a bloke called Sheppard Robson. This is all well and good, frankly because when I run out of red and blue in my colouring pencil set and want to doodle in lectures, I would also naturally reach for the Barbie pink and Lime-on-acid. However, what I can’t figure out is why somebody has budgeted £5.7m for the project, This year there may be, but not always, secret bonus marks on one or more of the questions based on the quality of your answer, again to make things interesting. We’ll always give the maximum number of obtainable points each round, to keep you guessing as to how many you can get. This week, we’re going to give you nine different photos of places around Imperial College. Your job is to give us the name of the building (i.e. not the name of the department(s) that use it). If you can’t find the name, you may get one mark for other relevant information so give it a shot. So, how well do you know really Imperial? which was due to be finished in April 2006, although it’s been closed off on a few weekends and work (including the lovely pink thing that sits on top of the building) seems to be ongoing periodically. I’m not sure if this surpasses the little civil engineering mishap of forgetting to factor in the weight of water in the swimming pool in the old leisure centre (whoops), forc- ing the pool to be built in the basement instead of its original location on the first floor, but the new one definitely looks the part. Sitting opposite ‘the blue cube’, the pink and green seems to fit in. It’s also attached to the Royal School of Mines, and I can assure everyone reading this that the RSM had nothing to do with what happened next door. This naturally prompted me to take a look around College and examine the architecture present in a little more detail. Given what I’ve already seen, the results weren’t that surprising – it looks like a hundred years’ worth of buildings, past and present, were dumped on a block behind the Science Museum and left there as Imperial College. In a way, I’m thankful that not everything looks the same, but at the same time we not only possess the cure-the-blind architecture, oh no, we also have in our inventory a couple of buildings – physicists look away now – that look, from the outside, so dreary and uninspiring that I could swear the architect was the same guy who designed the office for Dilbert, minus the cat, dog, and the guy with his hair on fire. This, incidently, also gave me inspiration for this year’s first FUCWIT competition. How well do you know your way around Imperial College and what each department looks like? It’s time to find out this week. Answers: 1 2 1 Let’s start off easy because I don’t want anyone to have no points after the first round. That would just make you sad and pathetic. 2 Possibly the centrepiece of the Imperial campus. Mainly there to annoy the rest of us with constant chiming on special occasions. 3 Welcome to Nerd Central a.k.a Cram-City a.k.a the answer! The stench of curry from last year’s cram season still fills the air. 3 4 5 4 5 The Sarge pauses to take a look at the building that whistles on a windy day (it really does). What’s this place called? Plenty of Imperial students have many stories to tell about this place, but currently the entrance is blocked off. 6 Sarge pauses to take a look at the home of its slightly more drunken, lower class citizens. He makes a hasty getaway. 6 7 8 7 Welcome to the Biomedical Engineer’s project for restoring sight to the blind. You can be excused for not wanting to know this. 8 The only place at Imperial College you’ll ever see a naked lady. Where is the Sarge currently jerking off? 9 One final extra hard bonus question. What is the name of the building, and what lies beyond these double doors? 9 Friday 3 November 2006 felix PUZZLES 33 sudoku.felix@imperial.ac.uk Sudoku 1,362 This Week’s Horoscopes Complete the grid so that every row, every column and every 3x3 square contains the digits 1 to 9. Email your solution to sudoku. felix@imperial.ac.uk by Tuesday 9am. We will randomly select a winner to receive either a 128MB USB stick or a crate of beer. You must claim your prize within a week. Scorpio (23 Oct – 21 Nov) Pisces (19 Feb – 20 Mar) Cancer (22 Jun – 22 Jul) If you can read this, you’re too fucking close. That girl there you’ve been eyeing for the last half hour over your lunch doesn’t like you. In fact, she and her friends are discussing whether your penis is small, or really fucking small. You suck; your penis is tiny. Aliens invade today, and force the most intelligent to pair off and mate non-stop. Unfortunately, it appears that physical beauty and intelligence are inversely proportional to one another, and you end up getting knob chafe off a minger. Hahahaha. You’re really irritating. In fact, your mere presence makes me want to barf up my large intestine. You have the fetid body odour of a whale carcass, and your small-minded, viciously racist political ideals make nuns cry. In short, I hate you. Sagittarius (22 Nov – 21 Dec) Aries (21 Mar – 20 Apr) Leo (23 Jul – 22 Aug) Everybody welcome Chris Hemmens to the arena! That ker-ray-zee mofo has contributed to Gemini this week. An initiation ceremony of child abuse and anal beads awaits you, Chris! Now assume the position and let the pop-pop-popping commence! You’re offended by the horoscopes, and believe that flaming, fusing balls of hydrogen thousands of millions of miles away can influence your day to day life. Congratulations! You have the intellectual capacity of a gnat, and the good looks of rabid goat. Critics describe your next week as ‘stunning’, ‘a breathtaking tour de force’ and ‘the best thriller since The Ipcress File’. You receive three academy award nominations, while your stuntman receives two. In the end, you both only win one. You are both pleased. Capricorn (22 Dec – 19 Jan) Taurus (21 Apr – 21 May) Virgo (23 Aug – 22 Sept) What are you doing in my house? Get your feet out of my slippers, prick. Is that a pipe? You’ve got ash all over the carpet! Get out, I’m calling the police. GET OUT. Now. You are about to go on a long journey in a whole world of hurt. In a big white ambulance. You wouldn’t believe how hard it is (for me the intruder) to come up with twelve funny things to say. I haven’t even managed one, and I’m over halfway down the page already. Having said that, it’s still funnier than the Felix comics. But then, so is amoebic dysentery. A man walks into a bar and sees two pieces of meat nailed to the ceiling. The barman tells him he can win a lot of money if he pays a tenner and can get them down. He responds: “Forget it, the steaks are too high”. I think we can all learn from this parable. The entire staff of Windsor Castle will be camping on your doorstep tomorrow. It became clear poor recycling figures for the UK was your fucking fault. You protest their protest by burning an urban fox you captured a week ago. They cheer and crown you king. The masked psychopath aims his assault rifle at your head. To kick his legs out from beneath him, turn to page 18. To break his face, turn to page 71. To run like a pathetic coward, turn to drugs in an attempt to assuage the guilt of leaving everyone to die. 6 8 9 1 4 6 2 3 5 4 8 2 9 7 9 1 3 6 4 5 4 7 8 2 3 1 2 9 5 9 Jotting pad Solution to 1,361 8 9 4 5 6 2 1 7 3 5 2 3 1 7 8 9 4 6 1 7 6 4 3 9 8 5 2 6 1 9 3 4 7 5 2 8 2 3 5 8 9 6 7 1 4 4 8 7 2 5 1 6 3 9 7 5 8 6 2 3 4 9 1 3 4 1 9 8 5 2 6 7 9 6 2 7 1 4 3 8 5 Thanks to everyone who entered. Remi Williams: a winner is you. Keep those entries coming in! Send your answers to sudoku.felix@imperial.ac.uk or bring this page down to the Felix office in the West Wing of Beit Quad by Tuesday 9am. Each week, we’ll choose a winner, who will receive both kudos and £10. Last week’s winner is Paul Kirk. Well done, Paul. You must claim your prize within a week. Everyone who provides us with a correct solution will get an entry into our prize draw at the end of the year. Greetings, crossword fans! This week’s crossword has a lot of Cs in it. I tried to keep them out, but they sneaked in through the window while I wasn’t looking. I was also in a bit of a continental mood while writing the clues. By this I mean, of course, that I couldn’t think of any English words so I used French ones instead. I knew that AS level would come in handy at some point. The good news is that there are absolutely no philosophers, misspelled or otherwise. Poor Friedrich. Rawden Yes, I mis-spelt Nietzsche. Sorry. Scarecrow Solution to Crossword 1,361 N S G B F P S P E C U L A T E A beautiful performance If only the match were up to the standard of the warm up! Women’s Hockey IC 2nd XI 2 - 0 UCL 3rd XI The IC girls arrived at Harlington in a confident mood, following a 120 victory in their previous game. Attempting intimidation tactics through dynamic stretching prowess is a popular theme of the 2nd’s matches, UCL were treated to a special display incorporating goalie-worship routines. The game began with a solid, if rather conservative, defence for IC, lead by Izzy playing a great game as sweeper and Fi showing us what she can do if we let her up in the midfield for a match! As the game progressed, IC became more attacking, with numerous opportunities in the ‘D’ finally resulting in a somewhat scrappy goal from Dasha. The next goal showed rather more flair, with Dasha planting an awesome cross for Melissa to finish before UCL knew what hit them. UCL rarely had a chance to threaten the IC goal; when they did, good clearing from short corners and some excellent hitting from Bella quickly saw IC back in attack. Trish and Melissa worked hard on the left side; covering more ground than I did in the whole of last season! Unfortunately most of IC’s IC Ladies demonstrate elegance in an unorthodox warm-up routine breaks failed to reach the stick of a striker; with a little more organisation the score line may have reflected the dominance of IC’s play. Girl of the game was a difficult decision and came down to a boat race between Bella, Fi and Izzy; Bella won in style to claim the title, for services to hitting the ball very hard yet with surprising accuracy. Twat of the match was an easier decision, and was claimed by Izzy for a very elegant fall on her backside! Special mentions go to Mary for standing in as goalie despite being unable to move most of her limbs, to Roxy for letting us have her, and Dasha for hitting with her stick, not her head. Post-match celebrations saw our captain in a rather delicate state; I am assured this was wholly the responsibility of Bella and most definately not Fi herself. Alice Rowlands Sport Editor IC men play with each other The 1st XV were in high spirits after an impressive performance against Royal Holloway, last year’s ULU Cup winners who beat the 1st XV in the final. Today’s opponents were another side promoted due to BUSA restructuring, and were keen to stamp their authority. The game started poorly for IC; the Royal Free forwards were fired up and were a lot more physical up front, and after some sustained pressure they managed to drive the scrum from five metres out over the IC try line to get the first points of the day. This pressure continued in the scrums and in tight play, but some poor tackling by the forwards let the centre over the try line for Royal Free’s second try. Only then did IC wake up and starting playing their own game; with mouvement général occurring in full flow all over the park, Royal Free were unable to control the apparent chaos that was unfolding in front of them. However, poor finishing meant that IC never crossed the line and Royal Free took the advantage again by scoring the third try of the half with a run through the centres. Men’s Football IC 4ths 1 - 0 IC St George 2nds Imperial footballers in shirt and ties? It could only be Christmas a nice run along the by-line was matched by a cool finish. Oops. 2-0 down. This never happened to Muhammed Ali. Sometimes, however, football is about more than skill. A dogged 5th team managed to reach half time without conceding further, and captain Gui’s passion-charged halftime team talk stirred something within the hearts and loins of the 5ths. A changed 5th team started to win some challenges in midfield and finally managed to start to pass the ball about. Early in the second half, 5th team pressure saw a seemingly fair goal ruled out for a marginal offside after excessive 4th team whinging. This only served to delay the inevitable as James Long sped through the heart of the 4th team defence to bury a great shot past poor Mike Pursey. Barely seconds later and the 5ths had equalised as Scott finished off a rampaging run with a neat finish. Within the space of 10 minutes the game had completely turned on its head, as now it was the 4th teams turn to hang on. They couldn’t quite manage however, and 5ths captain Gui completed a magnificent comeback with what turned out to be the winning goal, rounding the keeper and rolling the ball over the line, before succumbing to a bout of cramp during his celebration. Ten nervous minutes remained, but the 5th team hardcore defending meant 3-2 was the way the match ended. Frenzied scenes of celebration met the final whistle as the 5ths gloated and rubbed their victory in the faces of the gutted 4th teamers. A great game from both teams: here’s looking forward to a great season. Sam Styles Losing 17 – 0 at half time, IC were getting fired up for the second half which saw big tackles occurring all over the field. Nathan made sure Royal Free would not try and run through the centres again by flattening their centre and knocking him out. Up front, man of the match Ben Moorhouse was a machine, tackling everything in sight and making sure their forwards couldn’t get through the side of the ruck and mauls. Again, IC’s movement and play was sensational, particularly from the backs, but poor finishing and the forwards were in set play without a proper hooker stopped them from scoring. The last five minutes saw extremely fast play; Royal Free scored their fourth try, and IC finally decided to wake up and play rugby! Up front, the forwards ran at the opposition with persistent pressure, paying off with Bo driving over the line for IC’s first try, which was quickly followed by quick hands from the kick off to find Mike, on the wing, who simply glided through the oppositions backs to score. Although a disappointing result, the team can take some brilliant moments of play and take it into next weeks game against GKT. Jovan Nedic Imperial men’s football 4ths dominate St George 2nds Men’s Football IC 4ths 2 - 3 IC 5ths It has been eight long, exercisefree months since the end of last year’s football season. On Saturday however, with trials completed and a new batch of freshers initiated into (unofficially) IC’s greatest club and/or society, the veterans of IC football were finally able to squeeze back into their footy kits ready for the battle to begin. The highlight of the opening round of fixtures thrown up by the ULU Supercomputer was the most intense of rivalries – an inter-IC derby. A 3-0 pre-season friendly victory for the 5ths in this same fixture, four days earlier, meant that the game was sure to be a cracker. The 4th team aching for revenge and the 5th’s desperatation to prove the friendly win was no fluke. Even the new boys could tell how much pride was at stake in this one. The 5th team entered the game with the same rope-a-dope strategy that served them so well in the earlier encounter – let the 4ths come at them all guns blazing, roll with the punches and then bang! Hit them on the counter. Sure enough the 4ths shot out of the blocks; unfortunately for the 5th team master plan, this time they managed to score. Twice. The first goal, from a great cross by Sam Rickards, was somehow poked in at the back stick by a wellmarked Tariq. The second 4ths goal followed shortly afterwards as Chris was picked out unmarked from a half-cleared corner and 35 IC faced St George’s in their first home game of a slow starting season. The game was almost won before kick off; the reputation of “Fortress Harlington” striking fear into medics nationwide. IC adopted the 4-1-3-2 system, used by England to secure the 1966 World cup final (a match, coincidently, also played against a load of pricks). St George’s were so sure of defeat they turned up forfeiting the game to avoid humiliation. Captain Skeen was having none of it, and the Medic annihilation began. From the outset IC played with tremendous flair and skill. Nutmegs, Cruff turns and Ronaldostyle step-overs were being served up in abundance. IC were so confident that Alex “Nuts!” Rybka allowed St George’s to nutmeg him; the sign of a truly confident footballer. Even the keeper Frank “hawk eye” O’Neil (known for his ability to spot a penalty from the other end of the pitch) wanted aboard the now fully loaded showboat. Having received the ball from a pass back, he played it off an advancing attacker and picked it up again, a move now known as “The O’Neil”. IC dominated the midfield with Jeremy “The Erotic” Lovett and Sam Rickett, feeding countless through-balls to Max “I swear it’s my real name” Steel and Luca Laraia to chase, testing the soonto-be-exhausted St George keeper. Wide mids Alex “I will only score stylish goals” Avila and Alex Rybka gave IC depth of attack, which St George could barely understandlet alone deal with. With so much pressure, something was bound to give and right before half time that turned out to be Max’s anklean horrific tackle from a rubbish medic hacked it of. Frank politely explained what happened to the referee, in a language which may only be described as “Irish”, and was duly awarded a penalty. James “The Shadow” Skeen placed the ball in the boggy, cut up, marsh of a penalty area as the air grew tense. The unthinkable happened as the 7-foot keeper, with hands the size of the goal, saved the perfectly struck shot, leaving the score at 0-0 at half time. In the second half, near gale force winds allowed St George’s a few shots, against the run of play. The combination of Mike “The Butcher” Allen and Scott “Razor” McKenzie at centre back ensured chances were kept to a minimum. The introduction of Tariq “The Stealth” Melham at half time and the attacking nature of Paul “not the shark” Szczesiak gave IC increased width in midfield; splitting the St George’s defence wider than a “Master-full” mother of ill repute. With the time running out, Luca “The Assistant” Laraia put Sam “The Scorer” Rickets through on goal, he finished with Thierry Henry style. The game was one of the most convincing 1-0 victories ever, and the start of the IC 4ths 100% home record. James Skeen
Get Email Updates From Becky Control of Federal Lands The Utah House continues to lead out with a unified strategy over state control of our federal lands. We have been working with consistency in our efforts to build public support and trust for the effort. This year there is a package of bills being brought forward. Utah's enabling Act contains language that is like other states in the East who exercise control over their lands. The economic repercussions of not having control of our lands is significant. Representative Keven Stratton estimates the value of Federal lands within the state at $161 trillion. There is a commitment that we want to be wise stewards. However the return on having state control of federal land is the only solution with large enough potential to provide funding for Utah schools and programs for the long-term. Education Renaissance We need nothing less than an education renaissance in Utah, a modernization that embraces the best of our traditional approach and expedites a break with the outdated ways of the past. Let’s engage the tools of today and intersect with the technology that students are using to learn everything in the world right now. Let’s ensure that every K-12 student has access — and the understanding — of the technological devices to ensure their success int he economy of tomorrow. This year in the House we are are looking to expand opportunity in education through innovation. We need to make sure the infrastructure is there and make sure that teacher development occurs with it. This will be the most ambitious education modernization yet for the state of Utah. Ethics and the Public Trust The decision for the House to launch an investigation on Attorney General John Swallow was some of the most important work that we could do for the State of Utah. We cannot put a price-tag on the public trust for our citizens. The work by the House committee assigned to oversee the investigation was invaluable. It was the House's constitutional responsibility to investigate. They were able to find critical evidence of wrong-doing that is now leading to a number of bills that will stop "dark money" from coming into Utah's election process. We want to be more vigilant in making sure it doesn't happen again. Several members of the House and Senate have proposed legislation to be heard during the 2014 Legislative session aimed at creating substantive changes to improve the system.
San Francisco Giants sign three arbitration-eligible players, but not Brandon Belt SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants agreed to terms with three of their five arbitration-eligible players on Friday, but have yet to come to an agreement with the biggest name on the list. First baseman Brandon Belt, in his first year of eligibility, remains in the arbitration process, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Joaquin Arias is in the same boat, but the Giants agreed to one-year deals with Gregor Blanco, Tony Abreu and Yusmeiro Petit. Both Belt and Arias are under club control and the Giants have traditionally avoided arbitration hearings, which can be messy. MLBTradeRumors.com predicts that Belt will get a significant raise to about $2.4 million in his first go-around with the arbitration process. The 25-year-old had a .841 OPS last season and hit a career-high 17 homers. Arias, a reserve infielder, is projected to receive about $1.2 million. San Francisco Giants' Brandon Belt (9) high-fives San Francisco Giants' Brandon Crawford (35) after Belt scored the Giants only run of the game against the Milwaukee Brewers in the seventh inning at AT&T Park in San Francisco, Calif. on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group) ( Nhat V. Meyer ) According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, Blanco will receive $2.525 million and Abreu will get $745,000. Petit, likely the long reliever in the bullpen, will get $845,000, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com. On Twitter, Blanco said he was thankful that the Giants kept him around for another year and wrote "hope (it is) not the last."
American gun owners, preoccupied with self-defense, are inadvertently arming the very criminals they fear. Hundreds of thousands of firearms stolen from the homes and vehicles of legal owners are flowing each year into underground markets, and the numbers are rising. Those weapons often end up in the hands of people prohibited from possessing guns. Many are later used to injure and kill. A yearlong investigation by The Trace and more than a dozen NBC TV stations identified more than 23,000 stolen firearms recovered by police between 2010 and 2016 — the vast majority connected with crimes. That tally, based on an analysis of police records from hundreds of jurisdictions, includes more than 1,500 carjackings and kidnappings, armed robberies at stores and banks, sexual assaults and murders, and other violent acts committed in cities from coast to coast. “The impact of gun theft is quite clear,” said Frank Occhipinti, deputy chief of the firearms operations division for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “It is devastating our communities.” Thefts from gun stores have commanded much of the media and legislative attention in recent years, spurred by stories about burglars ramming cars through storefronts and carting away duffel bags full of rifles and handguns. But the great majority of guns stolen each year in the United States are taken from everyday owners. Thieves stole guns from people’s closets and off their coffee tables, police records show. They crawled into unlocked cars and lifted them off seats and out of center consoles. They snatched some right out of the hands of their owners. In Pensacola, Florida, a group of teenagers breaking into unlocked cars at an apartment complex stole a .22-caliber Ruger handgun from the glovebox of a Ford Fusion, then played a videogame to determine who got to keep it. One month later, the winner, an 18-year-old man with an outstanding warrant for his arrest, fatally shot a 75-year-old woman in the back of the head who had paid him to do odd jobs around her house. She had accused the gunman of stealing her credit cards. In Gilbert, Arizona, a couple left four shotguns out in their bedroom and two handguns stuffed in their dresser drawers even though they had a large gun safe in the garage. They returned home to find their sliding backdoor pried open and all six of the weapons missing. Police recovered one of the shotguns eight months later on the floor of a getaway car occupied by three robbers who held up a gas station and led officers on a harrowing chase in the nearby city of Chandler. In Atlanta, a thief broke through a front window of a house and stole an AK-47-style rifle from underneath a mattress. The following year, a convicted felon used the weapon to unleash a hail of bullets on a car as it was leaving a Chevron gas station, sending two men to the hospital. Two months later, the felon used the rifle to fatally shoot his girlfriend’s 29-year-old neighbor. A 7-year-old girl who witnessed the killing told police the crack of the gunfire hurt her ears. She ran home crying to her mother. After the Las Vegas and Sutherland Springs mass shootings, attention fell on exotic gun accessories and gaps in record keeping. Last week, a new measure intended to shore up the federal background check system was introduced by eight U.S. senators. But many criminals are armed with perfectly lethal weapons funneled into an underground market where background checks would never apply. In most cases reviewed in detail by The Trace and NBC, the person caught with the weapon was a felon, a juvenile, or was otherwise prohibited under federal or state laws from possessing firearms. More than 238,000 guns were reported stolen in the United States in 2016, according to previously unreported numbers supplied by the National Crime Information Center, a database maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that helps law enforcement track stolen property. That represents a 73 percent increase from 2005. (When asked if the increase could be partially attributed to a growing number of law enforcement agencies reporting stolen guns, an NCIC spokesperson said only that “participation varies.”) All told, NCIC records show that nearly two million weapons have been reported stolen over the last decade. The government’s tally, however, likely represents a significant undercount. A report by the Center for American Progress, a left-leaning public policy group, found that a significant percentage of gun thefts are never reported to police. In addition, many gun owners who report thefts do not know the serial numbers on their firearms, data required to input weapons into the NCIC. Studies based on surveys of gun owners estimate that the actual number of firearms stolen each year surpasses 350,000, or more than 3.5 million over a 10-year period. “There are more guns stolen every year than there are violent crimes committed with firearms,” said Larry Keane, senior vice president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade group that represents firearms manufacturers. “Gun owners should be aware of the issue.” On a local level, gun theft is a public safety threat that police chiefs and sheriffs are struggling to contain. The Trace requested statistics on stolen weapons from the nation’s largest police departments in an effort to understand ground-level trends. Of the 80 police departments that provided at least five years of data, 61 percent recorded per-capita increases in 2015 compared to 2010. The rate of gun thefts more than doubled in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Madison, Wisconsin; and Pasadena, California, our analysis found. More than two-thirds of cities experienced growth in the raw number of stolen-gun reports, not accounting for population change. There were 843 firearms reported stolen in St. Louis in 2015 — a 27 percent increase in reports over 2010. “We have a society that has become so gun-centric that the guns people buy for themselves get stolen, go into circulation, and make them less safe,” said Sam Dotson, a former St. Louis police chief. As The Trace has previously reported, gun thieves in many cities have learned to target cars and trucks, finding them a reliable supply of unsecured firearms. The per-capita increase in gun thefts from vehicles was 62 percent, in cities that provided complete data. Reported Gun Theft in 80 American Cities, 2010–15 View by: Thefts per 100,000 population Average yearly thefts Show: All thefts Car thefts only Source: Police data obtained by The Trace Thefts are surging as gun sales have hit record highs in recent years, a trend driven by owners who surveys show are increasingly buying weapons for the purpose of self-defense, and who have been given legal authority to take their weapons into more and more public places. In some instances, thieves stole firearms even after gun owners took precautions, like locking their weapons in a safe. But in most cases reviewed by The Trace and its partners, guns were taken from people who left their weapons in unlocked homes and cars, and in other places where they were easy to grab. A woman in St. Louis told police she drove around with three guns in a plastic bag because she was worried about crime in her neighborhood. One morning in 2011, she found that a thief had ransacked her car and had run off with the weapons. She couldn’t remember if she had locked her doors. One of the guns, a Hi-Point pistol, surfaced the following year at a murder scene. A good Samaritan stopped his car on the northern end of the city to help two men who said they were out of gas. The men robbed him and then shot him in the chest. “It comes down to basic human responsibility,” Occhipinti, the ATF official, said. “If a gun owner doesn’t do what he’s supposed to be doing, that obviously makes our job a lot harder.” Identifying the precise nexus between stolen firearms and other forms of crime is a question that has flummoxed researchers and journalists for years, in part because of strict legal limits on the public’s access to national data. The ATF is barred under a rider to a Department of Justice appropriations bill from sharing detailed crime gun data, which could include information about whether a weapon was stolen, with anyone outside of law enforcement. The Trace and NBC sidestepped federal restrictions by obtaining more than 800,000 records of both stolen and recovered firearms directly from more than 1,000 local and state law enforcement agencies in 36 states. Matching the serial numbers of guns contained in the two sets of records enabled our reporters to identify crimes involving a weapon that had been reported stolen. The trend is unambiguous: Gun theft is on the rise in many American cities, and many of those stolen weapons are later used to hurt and kill people. More guns carried in public, more opportunities for thieves In 1995, Jerry Patterson, a state senator representing the Houston area, authored a bill to give Texans the right to carry concealed weapons in public. Patterson, a self described “gun guy,” said his constituents were clamoring for the ability to protect themselves. It was the mid-’90s, and crime was on the rise. Just four years earlier, Texas experienced what was then the worst mass shooting in its history, when a gunman drove his truck through the front window of a Luby’s restaurant in the town of Killeen, then shot and killed 23 people. Patterson’s bill was aided by testimony from Suzanna Hupp, one of the survivors of the massacre. “She stood up and simulated, with her thumb and forefinger, a totally in-control shooter by pointing at various members of the Senate,” Patterson recalled. “It got your attention.” Since that bill became law, Texas has legalized carrying handguns openly in public, enacted a law allowing guns on college campuses, and made it possible for residents to legally carry firearms in cars without permits. “You can unequivocally and clearly say there are no safe spaces anywhere,” Patterson said. “And the least-safe space is the place known as a gun-free zone.” A 2015 survey by researchers at Harvard and Northeastern universities describes a fearful American gun owner increasingly concerned about his or her safety even as the national crime rate has fallen sharply over the past 25 years. Two out of three gun owners said that self-defense is a primary motivation for owning a firearm. Those same gun owners acquired roughly 70 million firearms in the past two decades, swelling the civilian gun stock to an estimated 265 million weapons. The buying binge has been propelled by a series of high-profile mass shootings and a concerted push by the gun lobby to encourage gun carrying in public as a defense against dangers real and perceived. A research paper published this year, using responses from the Harvard and Northeastern survey, estimated that three million Americans carry loaded handguns in public every day. About nine million people carried a handgun at some point during the month before the survey was conducted, researchers found. Six percent of respondents who said they carried a gun had been threatened with a firearm in the previous five years. It is easier for these gun owners to legally carry in more public places in more states than ever before. In the past two decades, dozens of states have passed legislation easing restrictions against carrying in public. Some, like Georgia, have made it possible to legally carry a concealed weapon in restaurants and churches. At least a dozen, including Missouri, Arizona, and West Virginia, have done away with all training or licensing requirements, meaning anyone legally allowed to own a gun can carry it concealed in public. Researchers have found that the same behaviors sharply increase the odds that a gun will slip into the hands of a thief. People who owned guns for protection or carried a gun in the previous month were more than three times as likely to have experienced a theft in the previous five years, according to a study published this year that was based on the Harvard and Northeastern survey results. People who owned six or more guns and stored their guns loaded or unlocked — or kept guns in their vehicles — were more than twice as likely to have had their firearms stolen. In Texas, gun owners have reported thousands of thefts. Austin alone tallied more than 4,600 reports of lost or stolen guns between 2010 and 2015, more than 1,600 of which were swiped from cars, The Trace and NBC found. Over that same period in Austin, lost and stolen guns were recovered in connection to at least 600 criminal offenses, including more than 60 robberies, assaults, and murders. Many gun-rights advocates, including Patterson, believe that owners have a responsibility to guard their weapons from theft. “You’re negligent if you don’t exercise good judgment,” he said. “There’s too many guns in the hands of dumbasses that don’t know how to use it, don’t know how to store it.” In Houston about a decade ago, someone broke into Patterson’s truck, making off with a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver. “Now I don’t leave handguns in the car,” he said. Instead, Patterson now keeps a shotgun under the back seat. “It’s harder to steal a long gun discreetly,” he said. Gun theft from vehicles has become especially problematic outside stadiums and other public spaces where firearms are banned. Thieves have so avidly prowled for guns left by fans in unlocked cars in the parking lot of Busch Stadium in St. Louis that a local entrepreneur proposed charging Cardinals fans a fee to lock their guns in a giant truck outside the ballpark. The city rebuffed the idea, urging gun owners to leave their weapons at home. Law enforcement officials have sought to combat the theft of firearms from vehicles by posting online videos about safe gun storage. One Texas police department bought billboard ads alongside the highway. But several officials said in interviews that their efforts are being stymied by a general carelessness among gun owners. The International Association of Chiefs of Police recently tasked a team of top of law enforcement officials to develop a program that police officers and sheriff’s deputies can use to press gun owners into safeguarding their weapons. At the organization’s annual conference in Philadelphia in October, the team premiered a public service announcement that showed a burglar stealing a gun from an unlocked car and then embarking on a robbery spree. “We leave our cell phones in our cars, and we go crazy. But you leave your firearm and it’s like we forget,” said Armando Guzman, a chief of police from Florida who was one of the principal architects of the prevention effort. “Look at the consequences.” In Akron, Ohio, a woman left a purse containing a .380-caliber Kimber pistol inside her unlocked Jeep Cherokee. When she returned, the purse was lying across the street with everything still inside — except the pistol. Three days later, a group of teenagers were playing with the gun when it went off, killing a 17-year-old boy. Most states don’t require gun owners who leave weapons in a car or truck to secure them against theft. Kentucky’s law specifically says that owners may keep firearms in a glove compartment, center console, seat pocket, or any other storage space or compartment regardless of whether it is “locked, unlocked, or does not have a locking mechanism.” Cities in states that rolled back restrictions on carrying weapons in public or storing them in cars over the last decade often saw sharp jumps in firearms being stolen from vehicles in the years afterward. Stay Informed Subscribe to receive The Trace’s newsletters on important gun news and analysis. Email address The Canon Sent every Saturday. Our guide to the week's most revealing, must-read reporting on gun issues. The Daily Bulletin Sent weekday mornings. Get up to speed with The Trace’s latest articles and other important news of the day. Leave this field empty if you're human: In 2014, Governor Sam Brownback of Kansas signed into law a blanket prohibition on municipalities regulating the transportation of firearms. The following year, he approved a bill eliminating licensing requirements for carrying concealed guns. By the end of 2015, the number of guns stolen from cars in Wichita topped 200 for the first time in at least a decade, police reports show. The analysis by The Trace and NBC shows that stolen firearms were involved in at least 570 criminal offenses in Wichita between 2010 and 2016. That count includes nearly 60 assaults and robberies and at least nine killings. A hundred cases involved individuals suspected of dealing or possessing drugs, and 77 involved felons in possession of firearms. Homes are generally a more secure place to store firearms, but even indoors, guns can be a magnet for thieves. Researchers at Duke University and The Brookings Institution found in 2002 that thieves were more likely to break into homes in areas where gun ownership rates were high. The researchers concluded that instead of being a deterrent to crime, guns enticed thieves looking for a lucrative score. In a large share of the burglaries in which a gun was stolen, it appeared that was the only item taken, suggesting that the thief knew the house had a gun in it and went after it, said Philip Cook, a professor at Duke who co-authored the study. “That’s why people who put up signs that say, ‘This house is protected by Smith & Wesson,’ are taking a chance, just like people who put NRA stickers on their cars are taking a chance,” Cook said. “It signals that this might be worth breaking into.” In 2012, Justin Johnson took a job working as a doorman at a 24-hour diner in Charlotte, North Carolina. Many nights, drunken brawls broke out in the parking lot, so he bought a 9mm Ruger SR9c pistol. “People just go crazy for no reason,” Johnson said. “You don’t feel safe.” In 2015, Johnson left home to pick up his son from football practice. He tucked the pistol behind a photograph on his living room bookshelf, and locked the doors to his house. While he was gone, a thief sneaked in through an open window, snatched his gun and ran off. Two months later, Charlotte police found the Ruger in the possession of a convicted felon. According to a police report, he had assaulted two police officers. Johnson didn’t know that his firearm had been recovered until a reporter for The Trace called him this month. He was alarmed that his gun was in the hands of a criminal. “That’s the last thing I ever wanted,” he said. “I got it to use against somebody like that.” Stolen guns sell fast, but danger is lasting Guns are easy for thieves to find — and easy to sell. P. Kentris, a gang member in Colorado who asked that his full first name not be published, pleaded guilty to burglary in 2012 after he and a group of friends broke into a house. They made off with a guitar, jewelry, video games, and five guns. Unloading his haul was straightforward. “I just told people I had guns for sale,” he said. Kentris said he sold four of the weapons — three handguns and one rifle — for about $1,400 before he was arrested. Of the nearly 150,000 records of stolen weapons analyzed by The Trace and NBC in which the type of gun was listed, 77 percent were handguns. Law enforcement officials and researchers say that stolen guns are usually sold or traded for drugs. “Guns are the hottest commodity out there, except for maybe cold, hard cash,” said Kevin O’Keefe, the chief of the ATF’s intelligence division. “This is a serious issue.” Most stolen guns were recovered within the same city or state as the scene of the theft, sometimes years or even decades later, The Trace and NBC found. In 2007, a burglar smashed a window on the back door of a home in Leon County, Florida, and made off with a .25-caliber Taurus pistol. Eight years later, Emmett Reid, then 21, met a man outside an apartment complex in the same county to sell him two ounces of marijuana. After the man got into the passenger seat of Reid’s car, he shot and wounded Reid in the stomach with the stolen gun. The Trace and NBC identified more than 500 guns that were stolen and then crossed state lines, sometimes traveling hundreds or even thousands of miles, before turning up at the scene of a crime. Many of those guns followed trafficking routes that are well known to law enforcement, flowing from states with looser laws to states with stricter ones. A Smith & Wesson stolen from an unlocked pickup truck in Florida was recovered in connection to a shooting in Camden, New Jersey. A revolver stolen in Hampstead, New Hampshire, found its way to Boston, where police stopped a gunman at a high school graduation. A .380-caliber Jimenez pistol stolen from a house in Hammond, Indiana, came into the possession of an 18-year-old gang member in Chicago, who tossed it onto a front porch while he was running from police. In South Carolina, a former state trooper reported his .40-caliber Glock stolen from his unlocked pickup in 2008. The gun was recovered during a drug arrest and the former trooper got it back, only to have it stolen from his truck again in 2011. Four years later, New York Police Officer Randolph Holder, 33, was responding to reports of a shooting in East Harlem when he encountered Tyrone Howard, a 30-year-old felon who had been in and out jail since he was at least 13. Howard pulled out the stolen Glock pistol and fatally shot Holder in the head. Few states require gun owners to report theft When a gun store is burglarized, it must report any missing firearms. Under federal law, licensed firearms dealers have to maintain records — including the make, model, and serial number of each gun in their inventory — and provide them to investigators so they can attempt to recover the weapons. Everyday gun owners are not held to the same recordkeeping requirements. Only 11 states and the District of Columbia have a version of a law that requires gun owners to report the loss or theft of a firearm to police. Law enforcement officials say stolen-gun reports help them spot trends, deploy resources, and get illegal weapons off the street. Keane, the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s senior vice president, said that while gun owners should lock up their weapons when they’re not in use, he opposes penalizing gun owners who don’t report a theft. “The focus has to be on criminals,” he said. “If they’re using stolen firearms then there should be severe consequences from that.” But law enforcement experts and advocates of gun-violence prevention say that the attention should be on preventing thefts from happening in the first place. Massachusetts is the only state where gun owners must always store firearms under lock and key, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. California, Connecticut, and New York require guns to be locked in a safe or with a locking device in certain situations, including when the owner lives with a convicted felon or domestic abuser. All four states experience theft rates well below the national average, according to NCIC data. “There ought to be some obligation in the law for gun owners to responsibly secure their firearms,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. “Congress should not only be looking at this issue, they ought to be acting on this issue.” In Colorado, surging thefts, and a stalled gun-storage law In 2012, a gunman walked into a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, and fatally shot 12 moviegoers and wounded another 70. Advocates for gun-violence prevention and the Democrat-controlled state Legislature moved swiftly to introduce legislation to expand background checks to private sales and cap the ammunition capacity of magazines at 15 rounds. The lawmakers who authored the bills received a flood of angry emails and death threats. “It was pretty intimidating,” said Beth McCann, then a Democratic state representative who helped shepherd the legislative package. The bills were ultimately adopted, but Colorado still allows gun owners to travel with weapons in their vehicles without a permit, basically under any circumstance. The state does not require owners to report guns when they go missing. And it is one of more than 40 states with a preemption law that prevents local municipalities from adopting their own gun restrictions. Colorado also does not have a safe-storage law. Gun-violence prevention groups wanted the post-Aurora package to include a provision requiring that owners lock up their weapons when not in use, but the idea fizzled. Lawmakers behind the bills feared losing support from their colleagues whose more rural constituencies wanted to be able to access their guns quickly during an emergency. “The legislation had to be rural friendly and urban friendly, but finding the right balance was difficult to strike,” said Rhonda Fields, a Democratic state senator from Aurora who spearheaded the legislative drive. “Locking up guns was on there, it’s just that we took the lower-hanging fruit.” In the three years after the movie theater shooting, at least 2,150 guns were reported stolen to police in Aurora and nearby Denver, according to police records. Stolen firearms were involved in nearly 200 crimes in the two cities between 2013 and 2015, The Trace and NBC found, including an ambush-style attack on police officers and the murder of a 34-year-old construction worker. Some of the purloined guns were practically handed to criminals. In 2015, Ricky Lee Denny’s .380-caliber Kel-Tec pistol was stolen, along with his Jeep Grand Cherokee, when he left the vehicle running in front of his Denver home to retrieve a cake for a family Thanksgiving dinner. A few days later, Phillip Munoz, a fugitive wanted for assault and kidnapping, was killed by police after he led officers on a chase and then threatened them with Denny’s stolen weapon. “It was a hard lesson: Don’t leave it in there,” Denny said. “Take your guns inside when you park your car.” Other firearms were taken from places that were more secure — but still vulnerable to theft. In June 2013, Brandon Moore’s family moved into a new home in Douglas County, about a 30-minute drive outside Denver. That day, his wife stashed his .40-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol behind her husband’s cowboy hat on the top shelf of a closet. When Moore went to look for his pistol later, it was gone, along with a loaded 13-round magazine. Moore suspected the movers. Sheriff’s deputies investigated, but the case went nowhere, Moore said. Two years went by with no sign of Moore’s gun. Then, late on September 16, 2015, it resurfaced in a shooting that left two families devastated. A stolen gun takes a father’s life and a teen athlete’s legs Bobby Brown, 34, lived with his wife and four children in a brick apartment complex in the Montbello section of Denver. Brown worked in construction and moving jobs, but his true passion was music. On that late summer night, he fell into an argument with a drunken neighbor. Brown headed down to fetch cigarettes from his baby-blue Cadillac. His oldest daughter, Shanice, then 13, was in bed, unable to sleep because of the quarrelling. Worried about getting up for school the next day, she went to tell her father to keep it down. As Shanice stepped outside, gunfire erupted from the parking lot. Brown turned to run away, but bullets struck his back and neck. Shanice watched as her father crumpled to the pavement. Across a courtyard, Aysia Quinn, a 17-year-old high school basketball player, saw bullets sparking across the pavement. She turned to run back up the stairs, but only a little way up, her legs gave out. She had been struck by two errant rounds. One hit her underneath her arm; the other lodged in her lower spine. Brown was pronounced dead at the hospital that night. Quinn was rushed into surgery and woke up the next day strapped to the bed; she had tried to pull the tubes out of her throat in her sleep. She went to stand up, but still couldn’t feel her legs. She was paralyzed from the waist down. “I didn’t deserve this,” she said in an interview. “It ruined what I wanted to do.” The gunman was Jesse Oliver, then 32, a suspected gang member whose criminal history included crimes like weapons possession and child prostitution. He could not have passed a background check to acquire a gun legally. On the night of the shooting, an officer who happened to be nearby heard the shots. He spotted Oliver running and stopped him. Oliver had already tossed the Smith & Wesson that had been stolen from Brandon Moore two years earlier, but two eyewitnesses later picked him out of a photo lineup as the shooter. A month later, a man helping his parents clean their backyard found the gun lying on a pile of firewood. Ballistics confirmed it was the firearm used in the homicide and assault. Oliver was sentenced to life in prison. Prosecutors believe Bobby Brown was the intended target but never determined a motive. Witnesses told police that Oliver might have been looking for rival gang members to shoot, but there was no evidence indicating that Brown belonged to a gang. “Our understanding was that Bobby was walking away, he wasn’t armed, he didn’t appear to be a threat,” said Phil Reinert, a deputy district attorney who prosecuted Oliver. “By all accounts, he was a good man, caused no problems. He was just trying to watch out for his kids.” Quinn said she struggled with pain and rehabilitation after the shooting. At one point, she begged in vain for doctors to amputate her legs. Quinn is 19 now, and her outlook is brighter. She’s recovered enough feeling in one of her legs to lift it off the ground. But some days are still tough. She’s nervous about being around large groups of people and shudders at any loud popping sounds. She cries and prays over her legs and hopes she can play basketball again. “My goal is by 21 to be walking again,” she said. “I don’t want to settle for less.” Brown’s family has also struggled. On Sundays, he and his aunt Renay Brown used to like to sit and sip Miller High Life beer while arguing over football. Renay was a Dallas Cowboys fan; Bobby loved the Denver Broncos. Renay still says good morning to a framed photograph of her nephew on the bookshelf by her front door. She still watches football with her Miller High Life. She wishes Bobby could be there, even if he did bash her Cowboys. The family, she said, has hasn’t found a way to explain Bobby’s death to his youngest child. The girl can’t seem to grasp why the closest she can get to her father is the box holding his ashes. “She tells us to go get him out that box,” Renay said, her cheeks stained with tears. “What do you tell her?” Renay didn’t know that the gun used to kill her nephew was stolen until she was told by a reporter. At first she seemed surprised, but then said it is easy to find a gun on the street. “It’s like you and me getting up and going down to the nearest 7-Eleven to get a Slurpee,” she said. Moore, who legally purchased the murder weapon, was one of several gun owners contacted by The Trace who didn’t know that his stolen firearm had been used in a crime. “Are you serious?” he said, when told it was used to shoot two people. “That’s exactly why I reported it stolen, because I was afraid something like that was going to happen.” He then asked how he could get the gun back. Data analysis and visualization Daniel Nass Additional data analysis Ron Campbell Valeria Ramírez Siller Kenny Jacoby Reporting contributed by Max Siegelbaum, Miles Kohrman, and Mike Spies for The Trace Stephen Stock and Michael Bott of NBC Bay Area Lynn Walsh and David Summers of NBC San Diego Matthew Glasser of NBC4 News Southern California Jodie Fleischer, Rick Yarborough and Tolleah Price of NBC4 Washington Katie Wilcox and Chris Vanderveen of 9News Denver Ally Donnelly, Karen Hensel, and Douglas Moser of NBC Boston Katy Smyser and Katie Kim of NBC Chicago Andy Pierrotti of WXIA-TV Atlanta Jim O’Donnell and George Spencer of NBC 10 Philadelphia Tony Pipitone and Dawn Clapperton of NBC 6 South Florida Anderson Alcock of KSHB-TV in Kansas City, Missouri Read about the partnership here. This article has been updated with new calculations on the increase in stolen guns as reflected in data provided by NCIC.
1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an excitation device for an ultra-high frequency corrugated or grooved source of revolution, operating in two remote frequency bands. These remote band corrugated sources, for example X and KU or KA with central frequencies 1, 17 and 35 GHz, are used in a particularly interesting way in dual band radar systems in which the narrow beam of the high band radiation pattern is used for tracking low elevation targets. 2. Description of the Prior Art After a brief reminder about corrugated sources and the construction and the operation thereof, their presently known excitation devices will be described along with the disadvantages thereof. By a grooved or corrugated source is meant a wave-guide having generally a constant or increasing circular section, which has transverse grooves formed therein the grooves are of a given depth and are spaced apart from one another by a distance d.sub.O, also called the period of the corrugated source. There also exist so-called bi-periodic corrugated sources having two types of alternating grooves. So as to better understand the operation of a corrugated guide, the notion of mode will be recalled according to which the electromagnetic energy is propagated, that is to say of electric field E and magnetic field H configuration in the guide. It is on this configuration that the radiation of the guide depends. In a guide of revolution with a smooth internal wall, the modes existing are of the well known transverse electric TE or transverse magnetic TM type. In a guide of revolution whose internal wall comprises grooves, the modes which are propagated are of the hybrid type, that is to say they are linear combinations of the two modes TE and TM, of the same phase speed. Before going further into the details, let us first of all be quite clear about the notion of hybrid balance. An operating point of a guide, defined by a frequency f and a propagation constant B, is called a hybrid balance point when, for any cross section of this guide, it presents the following characteristics: the electromagnetic field is cancelled out at the inner edges of the corrugated source; PA1 the field is scalar, described by a real parameter; PA1 it is of revolution; PA1 the ratio between the electric field .vertline.E.vertline. and the magnetic field .vertline.H.vertline. is constant at any point of a cross section of the corrugated guide and equal to the impedance of the wave being propagated in the vacuum, (characteristic impedance .eta. of the propagation of the wave in free space): .vertline.E.vertline.=.eta..vertline.H.vertline.. For these hybrid balance points, the radiation patterns of the corrugated sources have the same properties, presenting more particularly the advantage of having weak lateral lobes since the electromagnetic field is cancelled out at the edges of the sources and an equality of patterns in the E and H planes. Another very interesting advantage is that there is no cross polarization in the radiation patterns. Now, these hybrid balance points are very particular operating points of a corrugated guide, the whole of all the operating points forming the dispersion curves of the guide, which curves represent the different hybrid propagation modes. These hybrid modes already defined above comply, so as to exist in a guide, with certain conditions at the limits, i.e. at the level of the internal wall of the guide, more particularly with this one condition: the electric E.phi. and magnetic H.phi. components situated in a cross section of the guide and perpendicular to the radius thereof, are equal to zero. Now, in a wave guide it is precisely the non zero component H.phi. which induces longitudinal currents along the internal wall. This is why, so as to fulfil the condition H.phi.=0, these currents must be eliminated by placing obstacles in the internal wall of the guide, grooves for example which prevent any current flow. FIG. 1 is an example of dispersion curves of a simple corrugation source, only comprising a single type of groove. These dispersion curves represent the propagation constant B of the wave which is propagated in the corrugated guide as a function of the propagation constant k of the wave in a vacuum or in free space. Curve C.sub.1 represents the hybrid mode EH.sub.11, curve C.sub.2 the hybrid mode HE.sub.11 which each present a hybrid balance point, referenced respectively P.sub.1 and P.sub.2. About a hybrid balance point, the operating passband is less than an octave. The periodicity of the curves is (2.pi./d), d being the period of the grooves in the guide. FIG. 2 shows the dispersion curves of a bi-periodic corrugation source, operating in two different frequency bands, remote from one anothe (X and KU). The alternation of the two series of grooves allow the two modes of the simple corrugated sources to be coupled together. This alternation promotes the appearance of hybrid balances. It can be seen that the dispersion curves C.sub.3, C.sub.4 and C.sub.5 corresponding to the lowest operating band has a period (2.pi./d') about twice as small as that of the dispersion curves C.sub.1 and C.sub.2 corresponding to the same operating band for a simple corrugated guide, whose repetion period d of the corrugations is twice as small as the d' of the bi-periodic source. New hybrid balance points P.sub.3, P.sub.4 and P.sub.5 appear, on the one hand, in the lowest band, thus resulting in a better stability and, on the other hand, in the highest band (P.sub.6 and P.sub.7). The excitation devices known at present for these corrugated sources are formed by a smooth circular guide opening directly into the mouth of these sources. The dimensions of such an excitation guide must be sufficiently small for only the fundamental mode TE.sub.11 to be propagated, whose electric field lines, in a cross section of the guide, shown in FIG. 3b, are the closest to those of the hybrid mode propagating in a corrugated source, the hybrid mode HE.sub.11 for example shown in FIG. 3a. It can be seen that these lines are almost rectilinear and parallel to each other in the center of the guide, but curved towards the edges. This curvature of the field lines shows that the matching between the smooth excitation guide and the corrugated guide is not perfect. To improve this matching, the first grooves of the corrugated guides are given more or less empirically different values from those assigned by the theory of corrugated structures. For the corrugated sources operating in a single frequency band, this device for exciting by means of a smooth guide only excites the hybrid mode HE.sub.11, all the other possible modes being evanescent at the nominal frequency. For corrugated sources operating in two remote frequency bands, several parasite hybrid modes are excited at the same time as the useful hybrid mode. When the two frequency bands are sufficiently close to each other, the ratio between the central frequencies being 1.5 or 1.6, these parasite modes are evanescent in these two bands and do not disturb the normal operation of the source. But in so far as the sources are concerned operating in remote bands (X and KU or KA), that is to say whose central frequency ratio is greater than or equal to two, several propagative parasite modes may coexist with the desired useful mode and are even generated in the presence of the single fundamental mode TE.sub.11 in the smooth excitation guide. In fact, the incident mode TE.sub.11 is broken down into an infinite series of modes in the corrugated source, the first two or three of which modes are propagative in the high band. In addition to this electrical disadavantage, there is the disadvantage presented by the successive mounting of the two smooth excitation guides, each attributed to one of the two operating bands. On the other hand, when a source is to operate simultaneously in two remote frequency bands with hybrid modes, the construction achieved, shown for example in FIG. 4, is very space-consuming. Such a source is formed from two monoband corrugated sources 40, 41, each excited in accordance with a knon procedure, by a smooth guide for example 42 and 43. Source 40 radiating in the lowest frequency band has larger dimensions than the source 41. They are placed so that their respective propagation axes A.sub.0 and A.sub.1 are perpendicular. A frequency spatial filter 44 is disposed at the the output of the two sources, at 45.degree. to the two axes A.sub.0 and A.sub.1. This filter 44 lets the low band wave pass and reflects the high band wave at 90.degree.. Such a dual band source is space consuming and costly.
Q: Relevant Prior Art for "Time domain reflectometer touch screen sensor"? Resolved - patent examiner independently struck down claims - see comment below. Does anybody know of any prior art related to US20110128257 ? The patent US20110128257 claims a provisional application date of Nov 29 2009. A: It seems that there is prior art at least for claims 1 and 2: Huang, C.F. Precise Location of Touch Panel by Employing the Time-Domain Reflectometry. SID Symposium Digest of Technical Papers, 40(1), June 2009, pp. 1291-1293. and possibly Collins, Ryan V. Methods and apparatus for receiving user input via time domain reflectometry. US-Patent 2004/0239616 A1 Furthermore, the general principle of touch sensing using TDR has already been described in 1964: "In exposed circuits one can touch the line to produce an added echo. Then, by running the point of contact along the line till this added echo coincides with the system echoes, one can literally put his fingers on the troubles. In a coaxial cable, one can produce a reflection by squeezing the cable." Oliver, B. M. Time Domain Reflectometry, HP Journal 15(6), 1964. Edit: According to the Public PAIR, the patent examiner struck down claims 1-5 as being already described by Kozik et al. (US 5149918). The patent only refers to optical TDR now.
NDP leader John Horgan says the party won't be as easy on the Liberals as in 2013 and will "convince as many people as possible to support change in B.C." VICTORIA — The official start to British Columbia’s election campaign is set to launch Tuesday, but the buses are already rolling and the attack ads and name-calling are shifting into high gear. While Premier Christy Clark is expected to visit Government House to start the 29-day campaign, the parties have been in election mode since mid-March when the legislature adjourned, allowing politicians to return to their ridings. Clark’s Liberals are looking to win a fifth consecutive mandate, while the New Democrats are promising a toe-to-toe battle to convince voters to give them a shot at government after 16 years in opposition. The Greens, who hold one seat in the legislature, are mounting a full slate of candidates and are boldly predicting a political breakthrough that shakes up B.C.’s two-party tradition. The Liberals enter the campaign with a strong economic record, which includes the lowest jobless rate in Canada, a top-performing economy and consecutive surplus budgets. The party also has a hefty bank account to use during the campaign. Recent figures released by ElectionsBC show the party raked in more than $13.1 million in political donations last year. The New Democrats took in less that half that total at $6.2 million. Both parties have been dogged by controversy over political donations, something that is expected to be an election issue. A special prosecutor was appointed days before the start of the campaign to help the RCMP in its investigation of possible Election Act violations over political donations to both major parties. The Liberal government is also dragging baggage over sky-high housing costs, the long-running feud over funding public education, and unfulfilled liquefied natural gas promises. Clark campaigned in 2013 on promises of a debt-free B.C. fuelled by the job-creating LNG industry. She said she believes the dream of LNG export plants is still alive even though markets have cooled development. She reacted sternly to NDP comments that LNG development has been a B.C. Liberal failure. “They should be really happy if it’s a failure because they’ve tried every step of the way to shut the whole process down, to kill LNG before it even got going,” said Clark in a recent interview. “They just want to quit. It will happen. We’ve got to be determined about it. You don’t get points for quitting.” NDP Leader John Horgan said the party will not be as friendly as in the 2013 campaign, when it focused on issues and lost after holding a 20-point lead in public opinion polls. “I do believe we need to be more positive about our politics, but that doesn’t mean you allow your opponents a free pass,” he said. “It means you should talk more boldly about the things you want to do.” Horgan said he has just one job leading this campaign. “For me, I have to convince as many people as possible to support change in B.C.,” said Horgan. “That’s my task.” The NDP unveiled its bus last Tuesday and Horgan has already visited B.C.’s Interior and much of Metro Vancouver. The New Democrats recently launched TV ads attacking the Liberals on housing and rising fees and rates that increase costs for families. Its ads also remind viewers about the RCMP investigation into political contributions in B.C. Its message: “Christy Clark’s BC Liberals. They’re not working for you.” The Liberals have countered with an ad that depicts Horgan as a weather vane, whose positions on major issues, including the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project, shift with the direction of the wind. “Same weak leadership. Same old NDP,” the TV ad concludes. Green party leader Andrew Weaver, a noted climate scientist, said he will present the Greens as a principled, fiscally sound alternative to the Liberals and NDP. “We see too much politics being based on sound bites and too little being based on thoughtful analysis,” he said. The current standings in the legislature are: 47 Liberals, 35 New Democrats and three Independents — which, including two new seats created this election, brings the total number to 87.
Ventricular pacing threshold and refractoriness after defibrillation shocks in patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of ventricular fibrillation and a subsequent defibrillation shock on ventricular excitability and refractoriness in human beings. We studied 16 consecutive patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators undergoing follow-up studies. The pre- and post-shock pacing threshold, ventricular effective refractory period, monophasic action potential duration, and serum catecholamine levels were measured. Compared with the baseline state, immediately after ventricular fibrillation, and a successful defibrillation shock: (1) the ventricular effective refractory period decreased from 251 +/- 24 ms to 222 +/- 30 ms (p < 0.01), (2) the monophasic action potential duration decreased from 210 +/- 16 ms to 179 +/- 23 ms (P < 0.01) at 50% repolarization and from 274 +/- 24 ms to 240 +/- 26 ms (P< 0.01) at 90% repolarization, (3) the pacing threshold was not significantly altered and, (4) serum levels of epinephrine and norepinephrine were elevated. These results show that although ventricular fibrillation and subsequent defibrillation had no effect on the ventricular pacing threshold in human beings, it was associated with a decrease in post-shock monophasic action potential duration and ventricular effective refractory period, contrary to some previously reported findings.
[ { "id": 262816666, "name": "CVE-2020-11932", "full_name": "ProjectorBUg\/CVE-2020-11932", "owner": { "login": "ProjectorBUg", "id": 64981388, "avatar_url": "https:\/\/avatars3.githubusercontent.com\/u\/64981388?v=4", "html_url": "https:\/\/github.com\/ProjectorBUg" }, "html_url": "https:\/\/github.com\/ProjectorBUg\/CVE-2020-11932", "description": "Double-Free BUG in WhatsApp exploit poc.", "fork": false, "created_at": "2020-05-10T15:25:59Z", "updated_at": "2020-08-12T22:35:20Z", "pushed_at": "2020-05-10T15:32:54Z", "stargazers_count": 69, "watchers_count": 69, "forks_count": 31, "forks": 31, "watchers": 69, "score": 0 }, { "id": 263900224, "name": "CVE-2020-11932", "full_name": "Staubgeborener\/CVE-2020-11932", "owner": { "login": "Staubgeborener", "id": 28908603, "avatar_url": "https:\/\/avatars3.githubusercontent.com\/u\/28908603?v=4", "html_url": "https:\/\/github.com\/Staubgeborener" }, "html_url": "https:\/\/github.com\/Staubgeborener\/CVE-2020-11932", "description": "Check CVE-2020-11932 (ubuntu server) and test host relating to this vulnerability ", "fork": false, "created_at": "2020-05-14T11:47:52Z", "updated_at": "2020-05-20T01:43:13Z", "pushed_at": "2020-05-16T06:21:29Z", "stargazers_count": 2, "watchers_count": 2, "forks_count": 2, "forks": 2, "watchers": 2, "score": 0 } ]
Children's hospital to add 15-story tower Linking research with medical services will be the goal of a new $180?million research tower at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. Linking research with medical services will be the goal of a new $180 million research tower at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. It will give Children's the largest pediatric-research facility in the country, with 1.4 million square feet. Children's will start construction this summer on the 15-story tower on its Burnet Avenue campus. When it's completed in 2015, it will add 425,000 square feet, so Children's can hire as many as 100 more research faculty members in the next five years. "I think it will link the research that we do to the patients that we serve," said Arnold Strauss, director of the hospital's Research Foundation. Children's will try to raise about $54 million from donations, and pay for the rest from operating earnings, reserves and investment income. The project underscores the growth at Children's since its most-recent research building opened in 2007. It has added more than 2,000 employees, 4,000 patient admissions and $23 million in annual research grants. In addition to being one of three top-ranked pediatric hospitals in the country, it is among the Cincinnati area's top-five employers. Never miss a story Choose the plan that's right for you. Digital access or digital and print delivery.
We use cookies to customise content for your subscription and for analytics.If you continue to browse Lexology, we will assume that you are happy to receive all our cookies. For further information please read our Cookie Policy. This most recent judgment by Senior Commissioner Moore continues to deal with an attempt by an Applicant to regularise, or protect from enforcement, works undertaken where those works are not consistent with a development consent. The decision canvasses the hierarchy of processes established by the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979 in regulating unapproved works. Of particular importance, the decision deals with the issue of building certificates in these circumstances. This decision notably highlights the urgent need for case summaries in the Land and Environment Court. A need for case summaries? The use of case summaries by the Supreme Court and High Court improves the intelligibility of the decisions in those jurisdictions. The decision of Chami suggests that the Land and Environment Court may also benefit by adopting this practice. The Chami decision followed 12 days of hearing, and is more than 500 paragraphs long. It covers a broad range of legal issues including: res judicata estoppel the role of agents acting in the Land and Environment Court Wednesbury reasonableness and whether it is still good law in Australia the rules of evidence in appellate bodies the weight to be given to Development Control Plans the application of the State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes)2008. The decision also deals with the usual technical matters raised in planning appeals such as calculation of gross floor area, privacy, and bulk and scale. In the end, the actual findings were set out in a separate schedule to the judgment. While detailed written judgments are important to our system of justice and the development of jurisprudence, cases such as this would benefit from Court issued case summaries, particularly given the content of this appeal, which touches on how people use and develop their residences and the legal controls on unapproved works. Case summaries for long and complex judgments such as this would also sit in harmony with the government’s focus on increasing the transparency of the planning process (e.g. ePlanning), and provide better access to planning information that is simpler to understand. Building certificates The case concerned an appeal against a building certificate application by Ms Chami for the works as constructed. The Council wanted seven construction issues to be resolved before it considered whether a building certificate should be issued. At the beginning of the judgment, Senior Commissioner Moore helpfully summarises the legal framework for regularising unapproved works and the shielding effect that a building certificate has. These comments warrant reprinting: 16. Where development consent has been granted but the works were not in conformity with those approved, s 96 of the Act potentially provides (subject to the limitations in the provision) a path for retrospective approval (Windy Dropdown Pty Ltd v Warringah Council[2000] NSWLEC 240). 17. An alternative, here pursued by the applicant, is to apply for a building certificate through the process contained amongst the various matters covered by Part 8 of the Act. In this instance, as discussed later, an earlier s 96 modification application (by Mr Ross – the former owner and now agent for the present owner) was discontinued and the applicant has now made a building certificate application. The refusal of that application provides the foundation of these proceedings. 18. It is to be noted, as well as this hierarchy of approval processes, a statutory instrument under the Act, State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt and Complying Development Codes)2008 also designates a wide range of very minor works as exempt and removes them from the need for the obtaining of consent through the statutory processes. The policy designates further types of development as “complying’ and thus capable of approval through the issuing of a complying development certificate where such certificates may be issued by a private certifier. The scope of the policy and its potential relevance to this dwelling is discussed later. 19. In addition to these approval processes under the Act, the Act also provides a range of enforcement mechanisms for local councils to respond to works that are carried out where they are neither exempt nor subject to an appropriate approval for their execution. Coupled with this enforcement regime, the Act also provides a potential shielding process to protect, in appropriate circumstances, unapproved works from the enforcement mechanisms in the Act. This protective mechanism is effected through the ability of a council to issue, after assessment of the unapproved works and in appropriate circumstances, a building certificate that has the effect of shielding any unapproved works for a period of time. The details of the statutory framework for building certificates are set out in more detail later. 20. At this point, it is sufficient to note several matters with respect to the building certificate process. These are: first, if an application for a building certificate is refused (or deemed to be refused) by a council, a right of appeal against that refusal lies to this Court second, importantly, appeal proceedings concerning a building certificate application are, in no way, punitive proceedings of any disciplinary nature for the carrying out of unapproved works. 21. With respect to this latter point, it is clear that any punitive function in the Court is to be undertaken by the Court exercising its jurisdiction in a different Class of proceedings (see Ireland v Cessnock City Council [1999] NSWLEC 250; (1999) 110 LGERA 311 at [38] – referred to hereafter as Ireland No 2). 22. It is also clear that building certificate appeals, falling as they do in Class 1 of the Court’s jurisdiction, are merit appeals and are subject to the procedural informality afforded to them by the provisions of the Land and Environment Court Act 1979 (the Court Act) as discussed in more detail later. Senior Commissioner Moore then goes on to set out the three avenues available for consent authorities when dealing with building certificate applications: 62. …there are at least three different paths for the Court to consider following in determining any appeal against the refusal or deemed refusal of a building certificate application. The three options of which I am aware (although there may be others) are set out below. First, when the works are unapproved and there is no approved use to which the works could be dedicated, the appropriate course for the Court to follow is to deal with the question of the structural adequacy and building code compliance of the works and then to consider any separate development application for approval to use the works for a particular purpose. This is the approach that was taken by Bignold J in Ireland No 2. Second, when the works are unapproved additions and/or alterations to approved works and there is, expressly or necessarily implicit in the approval for the approved works, an existing approval for use for a particular purpose attached to that approval and, if the unauthorised works are regularised, approval is sought for a different use, the appropriate process is to consider the structural adequacy and building code compliance of the unapproved works before considering whether it is appropriate to approve the change of use if the unapproved works were to be regularised. This process also necessitates two separate applications, one for a building certificate to regularise the unauthorised works with a second application being necessary for approval for the change of use. These are the circumstances I addressed in Griffis and anor v Tweed Shire Council [2011] NSWLEC 1126. Third, and more complex, however, are the circumstances that arise in these proceedings – namely where there is an existing approved use (as a residence), significant departures from the current development consent for additions and alterations to the existing residence but, if a building certificate were to be granted, no separate application to establish or change a use is required as the pre-existing residential use is proposed to be maintained. The case at hand fell into this third category, and the next 500 or so paragraphs of the judgment provide the Court’s merit assessment of the application, detailing the Court’s weighing of the evidence on the matters such as the calculation of gross floor area, privacy, and bulk and scale. A novel judgment? The Court’s approach was to adopt a more intense supervisory role by initially requiring the Applicant to undertake works set out in a schedule of works and then adjourn the matter until July 2015 to permit the Applicant to give effect to that schedule. These works were held to be necessary before the Court would direct the Council to issue a building certificate. The conclusion of the judgment sets out a procedural regime to be followed to permit the finalisation of the matter at a resumed hearing, to commence at the end of July 2015. As the judgment foreshadows, this approach raises cost implications for the Applicant in not only complying with the details in the schedule, but also in attending a resumed hearing mid-way through 2015 (although the Applicant (Ms Chami) is represented by an agent (also the Applicant’s partner)). In relation to these costs, Senior Commissioner Moore stated: 555. Although the costs of giving effect to Schedule 1 will be more than trifling, those costs are ones necessarily arising as a result of addressing the unacceptable consequences of the applicant (and her predecessor in title) departing from that which had been approved in the 2008 development consent plans. 556. In saying that, as I have earlier noted, these proceedings are in no way punitive and each of the matters contained in Schedule 1 arises as a consequence of the necessity to address adverse impacts of that which has, in fact, been constructed when compared to that which had been approved in the 2008 development consent plans. 500 in 3 The decision plots the legal regime for unapproved works, and the options consent authorities have in dealing with building certificates. If other Commissioner’s follow the Senior Commissioner’s approach in Chami in respect of building certificate appeals, it could signal a more intense supervisory role of the Court. Not only does the Applicant need to file and serve certificates demonstrating compliance, but the Court has set out a list of matters to be addressed. The Court will continue its hearing of the matter in 6 months’ time, with the resumed hearing commencing on site so the Court can inspect the degree to which compliance has been achieved. Time will tell whether this serves the Court’s stated aim of “limiting any future potential litigation”, and “of bringing finalisation to disputation”.
require_relative 'boot' require 'rails/all' # Require the gems listed in Gemfile, including any gems # you've limited to :test, :development, or :production. Bundler.require(*Rails.groups) module Rails50 class Application < Rails::Application config.consider_all_requests_local = false config.rails_activesupport_breadcrumbs = true # https://github.com/getsentry/raven-ruby/issues/494 config.exceptions_app = self.routes # With this enabled 'exceptions_app' isnt executed, so instead we # set ``config.consider_all_requests_local = false`` in development. # config.action_dispatch.show_exceptions = false # Inject Sentry logger breadcrumbs require 'raven/breadcrumbs/logger' Raven.configure do \|config\| config.dsn = 'https://6bca098db7ef423ab983e26e27255fe8:650b2fcf94f942fe9093f656b809a94e@app.getsentry.com/3825' end end end
Disparate intracellular processing of human IL-12 preprotein subunits: atypical processing of the P35 signal peptide. IL-12 is a heterodimeric cytokine produced by APC that critically regulates cell-mediated immunity. Because of its crucial function during immune responses, IL-12 production is stringently regulated, in part through transcriptional control of its p35 subunit, which requires the differentiative effects of IFN-gamma for expression. To determine whether post-transcriptional aspects of IL-12 production might be regulated, we examined intracellular protein processing of each subunit. We report here that p40 and p35 subunits are processed by disparate pathways. Whereas processing of p40 conforms to the cotranslational model of signal peptide removal concomitant with translocation into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), processing of p35 does not. Translocation of the p35 preprotein into the ER was not accompanied by cleavage of the signal peptide; rather, removal of the p35 signal peptide occurred via two sequential cleavages. The first cleavage took place within the ER, and the cleavage site localized to the middle of the hydrophobic region of the signal peptide. Although the preprotein was glycosylated upon entry into the ER, its glycosylation status did not affect primary cleavage. Subsequently, the remaining portion of the p35 signal peptide was removed by a second cleavage, possibly involving a metalloprotease, concomitant with additional glycosylation and secretion. Secretion could be inhibited by mutation of the second cleavage site or by inhibition of glycosylation with tunicamycin. In contrast, p40 secretion was not affected by inhibition of glycosylation. Our findings demonstrate that IL-12 subunits are processed by disparate pathways and suggest new modalities for regulation of IL-12 production.
// +build !plugin package functions import ( "github.com/peterq/pan-light/pc/dep" "github.com/peterq/pan-light/pc/gui/bridge" ) func init() { dep.NotifyQml = NotifyQml } type syncHandler func(p map[string]interface{}) (result interface{}) type asyncHandler func(p map[string]interface{}, resolve func(interface{}), reject func(interface{}), progress func(interface{}), qmlMsg chan interface{}) func syncMap(r map[string]syncHandler) { r1 := map[string]func(map[string]interface{}) interface{}{} for p, h := range r { r1[p] = h } bridge.SyncRouteRegister(r1) } func asyncMap(r map[string]asyncHandler) { r1 := map[string]func(map[string]interface{}, func(interface{}), func(interface{}), func(interface{}), chan interface{}){} for p, h := range r { r1[p] = h } bridge.AsyncRouteRegister(r1) } func NotifyQml(event string, data map[string]interface{}) { bridge.NotifyQml(event, data) }
Atypical metaplasia and incidence of bronchogenic carcinoma. The prognostic implication of atypical squamous metaplasia of the respiratory tract has been uncertain, especially for mild atypia. The relation between degree of severity of atypical metaplasia as detected by sputum cytology and incidence of bronchogenic carcinoma was assessed among 14,414 men aged 45 years or older who smoked one or more packs of cigarettes per day. Trial participants underwent sputum cytologic evaluations every 4 months for an average of 7.4 years as part of the Cooperative Early Lung Cancer Detection Program of the National Cancer Institute and were followed for the development of lung cancer between 1971 and 1983 at three institutions: The Johns Hopkins University, the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the Mayo Clinic. Analysis with logistic regression controlling for age, race, occupational exposures to lung carcinogens, average number of cytology records per year, and smoking habits revealed that the estimate of the relative rate (RR) of developing bronchogenic carcinoma was greater among men who had mild atypia as compared with men who had negative cytology readings, but there were marked differences among institutions (RR = 1.1, 95% confidence interval (Cl) 0.8-1.5 at The Johns Hopkins University; RR = 1.6, 95% Cl 1.1-2.5 at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center; and RR = 2.5, 95% Cl 1.6-4.0 at the Mayo Clinic). Results suggest that mild atypia as detected by cytologic evaluation of sputum is an indicator of a modest elevation in risk of bronchogenic carcinoma.
In vivo study of developmental changes in carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase I in rat liver. Repression of the enzyme synthesis immediately after birth. The regulatory mechanism of the developmental increase of carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase I in fetal and neonatal rat liver was studied in vivo. The appearance and rapid increase of the enzyme in late fetal period were caused by de novo synthesis of the enzyme protein. The amount of the enzyme protein analyzed by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis was proportional to the enzyme activity throughout the period of development. No indication was observed for preexisting protein which could be converted into the active protein. A novel system for the in vivo study of carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase I synthesis was developed. Hepatocytes, mechanically dispersed by repeated passage of the tissue through a pipet, incorporated [35S]methionine into the enzyme. Taking advantage of this system, the regulation of the enzyme synthesis was studied. In vivo synthesis of the enzyme was detected at 4 days before birth and rapidly increased until 1 day before birth. However, the enzyme synthesis was markedly repressed after birth, when the amount of carmamoyl-phosphate synthetase I itself reached the adult level. This result was in a clear contrast with the constant level of the translatable mRNA (Raymond, Y. and Shore, G.C. (1981) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 656, 111-119) and suggested that post-transcriptional regulation is important in addition to the level of mRNA for the regulation of the carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase I level.
Kellogg Company is substantially less profitable, more levered, and more expensive than it seems. We believe K will reduce or miss on 2018 guidance targets and cut its dividend or lose its credit rating. Prescience Point believes Kellogg has been using accounting gimmicks and financial engineering to mask years of falling sales, poor performance and self-serving management decisions. Prescience Point’s analysis indicates Kellogg has pulled forward revenue from future reporting periods and artificially inflated margins and operating cash flow, enabling management to achieve guidance targets and boost executive compensation. By offering extended customer payment terms and switching its US Snacks business from a ‘sell-through’ to ‘sell-in’ model, Kellogg was able to offset steep early payment discounts and pull forward future-period sales, artificially inflating 2016 and 2017 revenues and profits, staving off a significant sales contraction. Kellogg effectively concealed a stuffed channel by selling and securitizing accounts receivables, thereby boosting cash flow from operations. The company faces severe operational and financial headwinds which will bring a reckoning this year. Kellogg may have to cut its dividend or risk a credit ratings downgrade.
Effects of noise and noise suppression on speech perception by cochlear implant users. The recognition of phonemes in consonant-vowel-consonant words, presented in speech-shaped random noise, was measured as a function of signal to noise ratio (S/N) in 10 normally hearing adults and 10 successful adult users of the Nucleus cochlear implant. Optimal scores (measured at a S/N of +25 dB) were 98% for the average normal subject and 42% for the average implantee. Phoneme recognition threshold was defined as the S/N at which the phoneme recognition score fell to 50% of its optimal value. This threshold was -2 dB for the average normal subject and +9 dB for the average implantee. Application of a digital noise suppression algorithm (INTEL) to the mixed speech plus noise signal had no effect on the optimal phoneme recognition score of either group or on the phoneme recognition threshold of the normal group. It did, however, improve the phoneme recognition threshold of the implant group by an average of 4 to 5 dB. These findings illustrate the noise susceptibility of Nucleus cochlear implant users and suggest that single-channel digital noise reduction techniques may offer some relief from this problem.
Sangihe Plate Sangihe Plate has recently (1990s) been postulated to be a microplate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone of eastern Indonesia. Regional tectonics The tectonic setting of the Molucca Sea region is unique. It is the only global example of an active arc-arc collision consuming an oceanic basin via subduction in two directions. The Molucca Sea Plate has been subsumed by tectonic microplates, the Halmahera Plate and the Sangihe Plate. The whole complexity is now known as the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. The existence of Sangihe as a tectonic plate separate from the Molucca Sea Plate is not yet entirely agreed upon by geologists. Some see Sangihe as a western slab of the Molucca Sea Plate, just as they regard Halmahera as an eastern slab of the Molucca Sea Plate. What is apparent to date is that Sangihe was part of the Molucca Sea slab subducted during the Neogene between 45 Ma and 25 Ma. Seismicity shows the west-dipping Sangihe reaches a depth of about . Both Sangihe and Halmahera are exposed to the surface while the Molucca Sea plate is completely subsumed below these two microplates. The southern boundary of the Molucca Sea Plate is also the boundary of the Philippine Sea Plate and the Australian Plate, and is moving northwards. Since the Sangihe Plate and the Halmahera Plate are in continuity with the Molucca Sea Plate, this implies all three slabs are moving northward in mantle with the Australian Plate. See also References Category:Tectonic plates Category:Geology of the Pacific Ocean Category:Geology of Indonesia Category:Geology of the Philippines Category:Molucca Sea
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It's getting kinda ridiculous. I just realized we're down 20% over the past year vs. the Euro. I know its great for the stock market, but something tells me there's a limit, right? More... Of course there is a limit, however no one knows that limit until the trade is broken. Right now it seems 99% are long gold and 99% are short the dollar, the trade is so played out that eventually its going to break. However I dont think this trade breaks just yet, I think the dollar takes out its 2008 low. Bernanke could care less to raise rates since he notices the weak dollar taking care of all necessary problems. The dollar carry trade is creating even more opportunity in the market, but that of course too will come to an end. Rates of course have to rise sooner or later as stimulus creates growth, but who knows when this is happening, some predict a rise in rates sometime in 2011 or even as late as 2012, by that time inflation will be way out of control. Look at our coins...the metal in the coins is starting to get worth more than the face value of the coin. That says something! A pre-1982 penny is worth 211% of its face value. A 1946-2009 nickel is worth about 93% of its face value and even a penny made today which is 97.5% zinc is worth 67% of its face value today. The dollar is like the titanic. Its got a hole in the side of the ship and its slowly sinking. Most of the people on the ship dont believe the ship can sink so they are not heading to the lifeboats. Once everyone sees that the ship is really going to sink, there will be no more lifeboats left for them. Look at our coins...the metal in the coins is starting to get worth more than the face value of the coin. That says something! A pre-1982 penny is worth 211% of its face value. A 1946-2009 nickel is worth about 93% of its face value and even a penny made today which is 97.5% zinc is worth 67% of its face value today. The dollar is like the titanic. Its got a hole in the side of the ship and its slowly sinking. Most of the people on the ship dont believe the ship can sink so they are not heading to the lifeboats. Once everyone sees that the ship is really going to sink, there will be no more lifeboats left for them. So my question is, if you can't afford a stock pile of gold or silver - or you simply want to diversify - does it make sense to try to get into a position where you can earn money in foreign currency? I guess that's what other countries do when they come here for business, right? So my question is, if you can't afford a stock pile of gold or silver - or you simply want to diversify - does it make sense to try to get into a position where you can earn money in foreign currency? I guess that's what other countries do when they come here for business, right? More... Now is hardly the time to start something new in trading. And your premise if false. Everyone can stockpile gold or silver. They just don't want to admit things could get so bad that it would be a good idea. Gold is a horrible trading tool, but an unsurpassed preserver of existing wealth, whether you buy 100 oz bars or 1-ounce silver eagles for $25 a pop. Maybe I don't follow... The main point of my question is that if our dollar is devalued due to inflation or hyperinflation - would earning a wage from another country (via the internet, etc) be a good way to gain wealth in comparison to those who are still earning dollars? I've heard that all of the Hungarian currency combined didn't equal 1000th of a US dollar when they finally settled their bout of hyperinflation. My thought is, if a Hungarian man could have earned one US dime per day, he'd be well off. Does that make sense? Why or why not?
Background ========== The mainstay of the conservative treatment still remains the orthosis, which was demonstrated to provide a reduction of curve progression, possibly a decrease in the need for surgery, and sometimes a correction of the existing deformity. The effectiveness of the SpineCor orthosis compared with the natural history of the disease has already been shown for milder and moderate curves\[[@B1]\]. Aim === To provide confirmation on the demonstrated effectiveness of the Dynamic SpineCor orthosis for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, following the standardized criteria proposed by the SRS Committee on Bracing and Nonoperative Management\[[@B2]\], and to confirm the stability of the results two years after the end of the treatment. Method ====== From 1993 to 2011, 390 patients treated using the SpineCor orthosis respected the criteria for inclusion recommended by the SRS committee. 198 have a definitive outcome, and 175 have at least 2 years of follow-up. Assessment of brace effectiveness included; 1) percentage of patients who have 5 degree or less curve progression, and the percentage of patients who have 6 degree or more progression at skeletal maturity, 2) percentage of patients who have had surgery recommended/undergone before skeletal maturity, 3) percentage of patients with curves exceeding 45 degree at maturity (end of treatment) and 4) 2-years follow-up beyond maturity to determine the percentage of patients who subsequently underwent surgery. Results ======= At two years post skeletal maturity, successful treatment (correction \>5 degree or stabilization ±5 degree) was achieved in 100 patients of the 175 patients (57.2%) from the time of the fitting of the SpineCor orthosis to the 2 years follow-up point. 41 immature patients (23.4 %) required surgical fusion.(34 while receiving treatment and 5 in the follow-up period). Conclusions =========== The SpineCor orthosis is effective for the treatment of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Positive outcomes are maintained after the weaning of the orthosis, since 86.1% of the patients stabilized or corrected their Cobb angle. Moreover, out of the 86.1%, 11.7 % of the patients still had correction of their Cobb angle 2 years after the end of the treatment.
Formerly the non-partisan watchdog of the 2010 US Census, and currently an opinion blog that covers all things political, media, foreign policy, globalization, and culture…but sometimes returning to its census/demographics roots. Popular Posts Posts Tagged ‘San Jose’ We at MyTwoCensus wish a hearty Mazel Tov to the residents of San Jose, California, now a city of 1 million people. Unfortunately, this highly subjective number has already been overshadowed by another Bay Area institution, Apple, which just sold its 1 billionth I-Phone app. Oh well San Jose, you had your 15 seconds of fame. Here’s an excerpt from the article: San Jose has hit another major population milestone — becoming the first West Coast city north of Los Angeles to notch its one millionth resident. Actually, it’s 1,006,892 residents, according to figures released Thursday by the California Department of Finance that had city leaders pleased. “Size does matter,” said a proud Mayor Chuck Reed. While not the only important thing, the mayor explained, “it does matter when I’m in Washington or Sacramento trying to get state or national policy changed on a Silicon Valley issue. I don’t know if the absolute number counts, but being the 10th largest city in the country and over a million puts us in a category that people will pay attention to, even though they’ve never been to San Jose.” San Jose has hit another major population milestone — becoming the first West Coast city north of Los Angeles to notch its one millionth resident. Actually, it’s 1,006,892 residents, according to figures released Thursday by the California Department of Finance that had city leaders pleased. “Size does matter,” said a proud Mayor Chuck Reed. While not the only important thing, the mayor explained, “it does matter when I’m in Washington or Sacramento trying to get state or national policy changed on a Silicon Valley issue. I don’t know if the absolute number counts, but being the 10th largest city in the country and over a million puts us in a category that people will pay attention to, even though they’ve never been to San Jose.”
Q: Best pratice to design this: enum in c# or separate database table i am creating records in a table and one column is called TYPE. I am programmatically looping through an enum in c# and creating this rows. The enum contains types of things for example car plane boat ... An Important thing is, that this types are bound to a logic. One my question: Should i put these types in the enum as described above or would it be better to put these in a separate table to have a normalize form. What would you prefer? A: Depends on two things: Are values unstable?1 Do you need to attach additional information?2 If the answer to any of the above questions is "yes", then using a dedicated lookup table is probably a good idea. Otherwise, constant enum values3 that are well-known and well-documented throughout the system are OK. The point is: don't use lookup tables blindly, as is sometimes suggested. They certainly have their place, but there are also cases where they should not be used. 1 Existing value can change or be deleted, or new values can be added. 2 Such as human-readable (and potentially localizable) name or description, or some way to drive the logic from the contents of the database as opposed to hard-coding. 3 Usually simple integers. If you find yourself needing to use strings, that probably means you should have answered "yes" to question (2).
Countries across Africa are ramping up measures to prevent an outbreak of a new coronavirus that has killed more than 250 in China and spread to several Asian countries, and as far afield as the United States, Europe and Australia. As scientists race to find a vaccine, the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday declared a public health emergency of international concern amid rising fears the virus could reach countries with weak healthcare systems. More: In Africa, where past viral outbreaks have stretched already-strained healthcare systems in a number of countries, there have been no confirmed cases to date - but several countries have reported suspected cases of the rapidly spreading disease that originated in the central Chinese city of Wuhan late last year. Amid the mounting concerns, medical experts appear certain that the deadly virus will also infect people on the continent, pointing to the deepening trade and travel ties between China and Africa that has seen many countries on the continent become popular tourist, business and investment destinations for the Chinese. "We can be very certain that coronavirus will be exported to Africa," said Ngozi Erondu, associate fellow of the Global Health Programme at Chatham House. "There is a large amount of travel between China and Africa; hubs such as Addis Ababa, Cairo and Nairobi are at particular risks due to the large amount of Chinese travellers that pass through these airports." Measures taken Speaking at the African Union headquarters on Tuesday, John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), said the institution was working closely with their Chinese counterparts, adding that, "We in Africa are watching the situation and also preparing ourselves to deal with any outbreak or cases." 200131232932230 Three days later, the WHO announced it would be scaling up preparedness in Africa, particularly in 13 top priority countries: Algeria, Angola, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. Authorities in most of these countries have set up active screening at airports, it said, calling on governments to "step up their readiness". "The quicker countries can detect cases, the faster they will be able to contain an outbreak and ensure the novel coronavirus does not overwhelm health systems," said Matshidiso Moeti, WHO regional director for Africa. Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria, is among the countries that have issued a travel advisory telling citizens to delay travel to China unless "extremely essential". Chikwe Ihekweazu, director general of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), said lessons had been learned from the Ebola outbreak that swept through Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea in 2014-16, killing about 11,300 people in West Africa. "Over the last three years, we have invested resources in improving infectious disease surveillance and response capacity. Our National Reference Laboratory has the capacity for molecular diagnosis of pathogens and we are receiving guidance from WHO on the primers and reagents that will be used to test suspected coronavirus cases." 200125070959786 Elsewhere, Ugandan physician Sabrina Kitaka also cited the Ebola response as an example of how the country has successfully managed previous infectious and said authorities were taking all precautions at border entries to deal with the new coronavirus, officially known as "2019-nCoV". "This is a new virus with very scanty information on the virulence and transmission dynamics," said Kyeng Mercy Tetuh, a Cameroonian public health expert and epidemiologist. In the case of Cameroon, Tetuh said while health authorities have stressed the country's preparedness, this may not be the case in areas affected by insecurity such as the Anglophone regions. "A challenge in containing Ebola in the DRC has been insecurity," she said, referring to an ongoing outbreak of the deadly disease that has seen medical teams came under attack from armed militias in eastern DRC. For its part, Mauritius announced that all passengers coming from Wuhan are being quarantined, while others from China would be monitored by healthcare workers. Mozambique said it was suspending visas for visitors from China and blocking travel to the country, while in neighbouring South Africa, Minister of Health Zweli Mkhize said temperature screenings using non-invasive thermometers would be conducted at 12 port of entries and health officials would go on board international aircraft to determine any sick travellers. Ivory Coast, where the continent's first suspected case was reported, has also installed thermal imaging cameras at airports. Passengers arriving on a China Southern Airlines flight from Changsha are screened for the new type of coronavirus upon their arrival at the Jomo Kenyatta international airport in Nairobi [ Patrick Ngugi/ AP Photo] Major challenges Yet, Tanzanian clinician Joachim Mabula said airport screenings may not be sufficient. "The screening process involves looking for symptoms; people can have a disease yet not show symptoms," he said. He added that many African countries do not have the required laboratory capacity to respond to an infectious disease like the new coronavirus, an issue also highlighted by Erondu. "Unfortunately, many disease surveillance systems throughout African countries are weak and most of the continent lack diagnostic capability, for example, laboratory capacity, so identifying cases and controlling the outbreak could be difficult, especially in resource-constrained countries," Erondu said, even as she pointed out that the continent is home today to "stronger" and "more experienced" institutions such as Africa CDC, the NCDC and the Ethiopian Public Health Institute. In Mabula's opinion, African countries should cancel flights to and from China - so far, African carriers that have taken such a step include RwandAir, Kenya Airways, Royal Air Maroc, EgyptAir, Air Madagascar and Air Mauritius, while Air Tanzania has postponed its maiden flight to China. An official at the DRC's Ministry of Health, who chose to remain anonymous, supported such a move: "In the DRC, Ebola and measles have claimed thousands of lives; an outbreak of coronavirus is the last thing we need, thus cancelling flights is sensible." The official added, "Screening and healthcare systems vary in strength from country to country, therefore if the virus reaches one African country from China, it may be difficult to stop it spreading to others." In the official's opinion, another concern is the spreading of fake news: "This leads to mass panic. African governments need to be transparent with all information." Suzana da Lomba, a teacher based in Angola's capital, Luanda, said fake news was already having an impact. "The hysteria and lack of information globally means friends are warning each other to not go to Chinese-owned shops and restaurants."
Retrieving the previous page in history instead of the PostBack page An article on retrieving the actual previous page instead of the post back page using JavaScript and ASP.NET. Introduction We all are quite familiar with the Back and Forward buttons of a web browser. They work exactly as they should, but when dealing with server-side pages that take advantage of post-backs, such as ASP.NET pages, the Back and Forward buttons work a little too well. For instance, if you were to interact with a drop down list on a page or any type of control that automatically displays results to the same page, then the previous state before the change took place will be added into the browser's memory. So in this case, what happens when you click the Back button? That's right, you get the previous state of that page and not the actual page that you browsed from or were sent from. The Solution Oh, it's simple. Just write your own backward and forward JavaScript functions and track the number of times the page commits an action or post-back. There are three easy steps to accomplish this. Before we get started, note that templating is popular with server-side pages (especially with ASP.NET). Templating can cause the actual ID of a web-control to change after the page is rendered, so we will take advantage of the ClientID property found in all ASP.NET web-controls since it knows what the rendered ID will be. Step 1 Insert the following JavaScript functions in a referenced (.js) file or within script tags: Comments and Discussions I am working on a page in .net 1.1, where post data is used at the beginning to retrieve the ID from the database using a dropdownlist. One of the .net server controls on the page is to link to another page using asp:linkbutton and the other control is to link back to the original page using asp:hyperlink with javascript: history.go(-1). The message, "The page cannot be refreshed without resending the information, Click Retry to send the information again, or click Cancel to return to the page that you were trying to view." is received when I clicked on the hyperlink back to the previous page. There is another page on the same site. It has almost the same functionalities. It has no problem to go back to the previous page. I checked all possible causes in both html page and code behind. I couldn't find any difference between these two pages.
Q: How to clear the screen and how to run the code after the levelOne loop Full code and files: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gqke6hfooz7mbnr/Qm8NMlyNqc Can't seem to find the an solution to this dilemma. Basicly I press space to go to the next loop (levelTwo) and it just stops, nothing new appears on the screen even though I have code to do that. I'd really appreciate the help. Part of the code with probably the dilemma but not sure: if len(rabbits) == 0: rabbitCounter = 0 windowSurface.blit (textLevelOne, (100, 104)) levelOne = False windowSurface.fill((0,0,0)) #Ritar fönstret pygame.display.update() mainClock.tick(60) #LEVEL TWO ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ startSoundLevelTwo = True while levelOne == False: levelTwo = True if startSoundLevelTwo == True: rabbitSound.play() foxSound.play() pygame.mixer.music.play() startSoundLevelTwo = False pigSpawn = True boarSpawn = True A: Level 2 lacks the pygame.display.update() call. Personally, I like to structure pygame code with one main loop, like this: level = 1 while True: for event in pygame.event.get(): if event.type == QUIT: pygame.quit() sys.exit() # Process event, update game state: if level == 1: # Update level 1 state elif level == 2: # Update level 1 state # Clear screen: windowSurface.fill((0,0,0)) # Draw current state to screen: if level == 1: # Play level 2 music # Draw level 1 state to screen elif level == 2: # Play level 2 music # Draw level 2 state to screen ... # Update screen and control FPS pygame.display.update() mainClock.tick(60) You can use functions for each level, so you keep the main loop simple.
WKU Volleyball: Lady Tops break into Top-25 rankings at No. 24 LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After four weeks of receiving votes, WKU Volleyball has finally cracked the American Volleyball Coaches’ Association’s Top-25 rankings, debuting at No. 24. The Lady Topper program has now received votes each of the last 10 seasons and has been ranked in the top 25 eight of the last nine campaigns. Head coach Travis Hudson and company have continuously crossed milestones off as they roll through their 2019 slate. The squad’s most recent feat included securing the best start in program history with a 19-1 record. Fellow Conference USA member, Rice, is in the top-25 rankings as well, moving up to No. 19 this week. The Owls own a 16-1 record on the season and remain as the other team sitting at 5-0 in league play with the Lady Toppers. WKU will visit Houston on Sunday, Nov. 10 for the regular-season meeting with Rice before returning less than two weeks later for the Conference USA Tournament from Nov. 22-24. Following the seventh week of play, WKU Volleyball leads the nation in numerous categories both as a team and individually. The Red and White’s 19 wins and 13 sweeps are both an NCAA best while the team’s 15-match win streak is also tied for the best in the country. Individually, WKU senior Sophia Cerino leads the NCAA in service aces and aces per set with 53 on the season. Lauren Matthews’ hitting percentage of .451 ranks fifth across the nation while Nadia Dieudonne sits in seventh for total assists with 753 to date. The last time WKU Volleyball was ranked was during the 2017 campaign. The Lady Toppers broke into the top 25 at least once every season from 2011-17 and after just receiving votes last season is back in the ranks.
With an eye on the Punjab elections slated to be held in 2017, the AAP government has readied a plan to disburse a compensation of Rs130 crore out of its own kitty to the families of the 1984 anti-sikh riot victims. According to sources, the enhanced compensation amount of Rs 5 lakh every affected family will be distributed to an estimated 2,600 families affected in the riots within the first week of November, without waiting for the Centre to release financial assistance to the state. So far, only 143 riot-affected families have received the compensation amount. In October, 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led union government had decided to dole out an enhanced compensation to each of the 3,325 victims of the 1984 riots that followed then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's assassination, over and above the funds received by the families so far received from the government. Last December, union home minister Rajnath Singh had distributed enhanced compensation cheques of Rs 5 lakh each to 17 families of riot victims in west Delhi's Tilak Vihar. Another 16 cheques were released before the February 15 assembly elections. Other cheques were distributed by the deputy commissioners. Punjab being a crucial state for AAP, the party had already started a thorough groundwork to expand its base in the upcoming state assembly elections. In the 13 seats it contested in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party won four. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had recently visited the Golden Temple Amritsar to offer prayers in the wake of the violence that erupted with the desecration of the Sikh holy book.
Like this: Update September 20th: More excellent reporting on this by Leo Hohmann at World Net Daily, click here. This is pretty big news! Thanks to a tip from a friend, I checked the House website for bill statusand see that Rep. Michael McCaul has become the 10th member to sign on to HR 3314 since we posted on the co-sponsors yesterday! This is a significant addition to a bill introduced this summerby freshman Rep. Brian Babin of Texas and comes at a most critical time as Obama may dramatically increase the refugee flow of mostly Syrian Muslims to the US. McCaul, who signed on yesterday, joins the following nine other co-sponsors. Where are youReps Bob Goodlatte and Trey Gowdy? (For new readers these two members, as chairman and subcommittee chairman of the House Judiciary Committee are responsible for calling for hearings on the refugee program. So far crickets!) Like this: Gingerbread hearts on sale in Munich. OMG! This tells us all we need to know about the migration crisis Germany has brought to Europe. Invasion of Europe news….. Read this story at Yahoo Newsabout what ‘fun’ might happen as one of the biggest annual events for the Germany economy runs smack up against thousands of mostly Muslim ‘refugees’ arriving on trains with the revelers. Cookies will not fix the problem! For more on the mess Merkel has visited upon Germany, click here. Like this: As we focus on Syrians, let’s not forget the Somalis! Ho hum! We have been following the ‘careers’ of the Somali “youths,” here referred to as “children,” since 2008 (see early posts by clicking here) when we first learned about Somali refugees thumbing their noses at the good life we gave them in America and choosing a future instead of violent jihad. And, it is unbelievable to me that those promoting bringing in 65,000-100,000 mostly Muslim Syrians think that somehow this will not continue to happen. MINNEAPOLIS — A Minnesota man admitted Thursday that he planned to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State group, saying he believed joining the violent terrorist organization would help his fellow Muslims. Zacharia Yusuf Abdurahman, 20, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist group. He admitted that he and eight other men met 10 to 15 times in local mosques, parks and restaurants to talk about routes to Syria and how to finance their trip. He faces up to 15 years in prison at sentencing, which hasn’t been scheduled. Abdurahman is the third Minnesota man to plead guilty in connection with planning travel to Syria. Five others face a February trial. Authorities have described the men from Minnesota’s Somali community as friends who recruited and inspired each other. Prosecutors say the men were advised from overseas by Abdi Nur, another Minnesota man who went to Syria in May 2014. [….] He also said he watched English-language jihadist videos on YouTube, Twitter and other social media outlets, and wanted to join the Islamic State group even though he knew it carried out beheadings and burned prisoners. Just children! Ayan Abdurahman said after her son’s hearing that she was “very sad” and that he and others like him are just children. “He’s very young,” she said, speaking in broken English. “… I asking the American government they have to treat these as children. They make mistake.” How many of you agree with me? Just let the “youths” leave the country, take away their passports, and don’t let them come back. Under the present system, we taxpayers get hosed again! We will pay for this man’s prison term! Lucky us! Are we ever going to stop bringing in Somali ‘refugees’? We have been focusing on the question of how many Syrian Muslim refugees will be admitted to the US going forward, but always remember we have admitted Somali ‘refugees’ for three decades and there is no end in sight(this is even though the UN is now sending Somalis back to a more stable Somalia from its camps in Kenya). Once the pipeline is open it never ends! Go hereto a post I wrote years ago and see that we have admitted well over 100,000 Somalis to the US and they were frankly as equally unable to be screened for security as are the Syrians. But, maybe more importantly, note that the magic melting pot DID NOT WORK and the next generation is becoming the terrorists that there parents were not! Anchorage gets a mosque thanks in part to growth in Muslim refugee population. As of August 31, we have admitted another 7,642 Somalis to the US! The number, when the year ends in less than two weeks, will likely come very close to 9,000 (which is the number we brought last year). And here (below) is where they went. They went to many more states than I’ve listed here. These are the states that “welcomed” more than 100 to the state’s welfare rolls. Although not over 100, I also want to note that Alaska got 64 Somalis to add to their mosque-going population. The number in parenthesis is the number of Somalis resettled in the state in FY2015. Top five Somali states in red (these state will probably continue to lead the pack because the contractors will be bringing in their family members): Arizona (562) California (239) Colorado (165) Connecticut (105) Georgia (233) Idaho (91) Kentucky (333) Maine (181) Massachusetts (271) Minnesota (911) And, MN gets around 2,000 additional a year who move in from elsewhere in the US Missouri (258) New York (685) North Carolina (172) North Dakota (111) Ohio (422) Oregon (206) Pennsylvania (334) South Dakota (122) Tennessee (186) Texas (469) Utah (221) Washington (297) Wisconsin (162) Share this: Like this: Editor: There are so many stories coming my way from all over the country about where Syrians are being resettled that I will never be able to post them all. I do tweet as many as I can, so please follow me on twitter and see my twitter feed in the right hand column here at RRW. The International Rescue Committee in Baltimore has welcomed 26 Syrians by providing them with the tools to succeed, including a furnished apartment and even employment. [….] “When you get a safe place like Baltimore or the U.S. and you have the opportunity to rebuild your whole life,” said Chandrasekar, “how motivated do you think you would be? That’s what we see everyday when we welcome a refugee into the Baltimore area.” The Baltimore office is primarily funded through federal dollars, but a lot of donations come from the community. [….] Over the last 15 years, the IRC has resettled 12,000 refugees from all over the world here in central Maryland. About the photo: I told you here that the questionable Muslim charity—Islamic Relief USA—was helping Syrian refugees get established in Kentucky. Please go to the Clarion Project and learn about how this huge charity is linked to the Muslim Brotherhood! Is Islamic Relief USA helping fund refugee resettlement in your city or town? Like this: I had to read Daniel Horowitz to see that I didn’t miss anything when I turned off the CNN 2016 Presidential debate halfway through on Wednesday night. Honestly, I couldn’t take it anymore, and as much as I felt it was my duty to watch (for you), my novel (about the Nazi occupation of Poland) was calling me. Horowitz has been writing some great stuff on the UN/US State Department Refugee Admissions Program so he too must have expected one of the most important issues of the year (the decade, the century!)—how wide is America going to throw open our gates to Muslim ‘refugees’ from around the world especially Syrians right now—to at least be mentioned. Did CNN not want millions of viewers to know about it, and are the candidates too chicken to mention it? Or, was it both of those things! Indeed, because the CNN debate became a free-for-all, you know that if one of the candidates wanted to work in a comment about Obama’s outrageous Syrian resettlement plan, he or she could have. Last night, there was time at the Republican presidential debate to discuss vaccinations and the ten-dollar bill but not a word was uttered about one of the most pressing issues – Obama’s imminent plan to bring in thousands of Islamic refugees from Syria. Yesterday, the Obama administration announced that the plan to bring in 10,000 Syrian refugees next fiscal year is just the beginning. Overall, they plan to expand the current refugee cap of 70,000 worldwide to 100,000 over the next few years, enabling them to admit tens of thousands more from the Middle East. And that includes places like Somalia as well. Congress can and must put an end to this charade. Obama cannot bring in more refugees than the amount the annual appropriations for the resettlement program will support. It’s time they use the power of the purse to cut off the money spigot for Syrian and Somali refugees.Moreover, the originally refugee caps established by the Refugee Act of 1980 were set at 50,000. The increase of those caps was supposed to be done in consultation with Congress. It’s time for Congress to have a two-way conversation in this “consultation” and speak out for Americans. [Where are you Reps Goodlatte and Gowdy?—ed] [….] This is what the liberal westerners will never understand. They project their own hopes and aspirations on people who will never share their values. Sure, if I turned the clock back 30 years without the luxury of observing the history of Muslim immigration I would have also thought they’d appreciate our hospitality. But how many painful lessons must we learn in order to protect Americans from such threats? With the growing success of cyber-Jihad there is no way to ensure that these thousands of Syrian refugees of military age will not become radicalized and bite the hand that feeds them. In fact, undoubtedly many of them already have been radicalized. Accordingly, the more salient question is not how many of them are connected to ISIS, although that is definitely an important point to consider. It’s how many of them dislike our values?For years, America was careful to exclude those who would become a public charge. Can’t we at least exclude those who will likely hate our democratic values? For those wowed by Carly…. As for all the hoopla surrounding Carly Fiorina, this woman (me!) is not wowed. I’ve told you, right or wrong, I am a one-issue voter and Fiorina has a ‘D’ score right now on Immigration and Jobs at NumbersUSA, click here. And, until she says she was wrong, I can’t get past the ill-timed, uninformed speech she did shortly after 9/11, read about it here.
Enzyme replacement therapy in Anderson-Fabry's disease: beneficial clinical effect on vital organ function. Two recent randomized trials pointed out the beneficial effect of enzyme replacement therapy on biochemical parameters in patients with Anderson-Fabry's disease. Clinical end-points, such as amelioration or stabilization of renal function deterioration, or improvement of left ventricular hypertrophy have not been evaluated in depth. We report the case of a patient whose moderately impaired renal function was stabilized with the start of enzyme treatment. In addition, left ventricular hypertrophy tended to regress. To our knowledge this is the first observation of clinical efficacy of the enzyme replacement therapy in Anderson-Fabry's disease in patients with moderately impaired renal function.
Preventive letter: doubling the return rate after gestational diabetes mellitus. To measure the impact of a "Preventive Letter" designed to encourage the return of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) mothers to follow up visit after delivery, in the context of a worldwide concern about low return rates after delivery of these patients. Mothers with GDM require medical evaluation and an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) 6 weeks after delivery, in order to: [a] confirm remission of GDM and [b] provide advice on the prevention of type 2 diabetes. In the year 2003 we developed a "Preventive Letter", containing three aspects: [a] current treatment, [b] suggested management during labor, and [c] a stapled laboratory order for OGTT to be performed 6 weeks after delivery. The return rate after delivery was assessed in two groups of GDM mothers: [a] "Without Preventive Letter" (n = 253), and "With Preventive Letter" (n = 215). Both groups, similar with respect to age (33.0 ± 5.4 and 32.3 ± 4.9 years respectively, p = 0.166) and education time (14.9 ± 1.8 and 15.0 ± 1.8 years respectively, p = 0.494), showed a significant difference in the 1-year return rate after delivery, as assessed by the Kaplan-Meier test: 32.0 % for the group "Without Preventive Letter", and 76.0 % for the group "With Preventive Letter" (p < 0.001). The 1-year return rate after delivery of GDM mothers was 2.4 times higher in the group "With Preventive Letter" than in the group without it. We believe that this low-cost approach could be useful in other institutions caring for pregnant women with diabetes.
Comparative allozyme and microsatellite population structure in a narrow endemic plant species, Centaurea corymbosa Pourret (Asteraceae). Centaurea corymbosa Pourret (Asteraceae) is a narrow endemic species known only from six populations located in a 3-km2 area in the south of France. Earlier field experiments have suggested that pollen and seed dispersal were highly restricted within and among populations. Consistent with the field results, populations were highly differentiated for five allozyme loci and among-population variation fitted an isolation-by-distance model. In the present study, we investigated the genetic structure of C. corymbosa using six microsatellite loci. As with allozymes, microsatellites revealed no within-population structure and a large differentiation among populations. However, allozyme loci were less powerful than microsatellites in detecting the extent of gene flow assessed by assignment tests. The patterns of structuration greatly varied among loci for both types of marker; we suggest that differences in single-locus pattern could mainly be an effect of stochastic variation for allozymes and an effect of variation in mutation rate for microsatellites. In contrast to the multilocus results, the two most polymorphic microsatellite loci did not show any isolation-by-distance pattern. Our results suggest that highly variable loci might not always be the best suited markers to quantify levels of gene flow among populations.
I believe that the Mac Mini uses a notebook hard drive. If so, then the one in my MacBook Pro stays cool, and we've had over 100F temperatures in the past couple of days. So, the Mac Mini should overall operate much cooler than my MBP. I've got 2 mac mini's in my data center doing outbound mail - the ambient inlet temp is in the 71-74 degree F range and snmp reports the outlet temp is only about 90 degrees - an air temperature change of 20 degrees F seems to be the average so, with high end tolerances above 110 you could get away with 90+ degree F inlet. Ours have regular notebook harddrives and don't get too hot. Again, I'm just using them to send out mail, not a whole lot of reading going on, but S.M.A.R.T. is reporting that the drive temperature averages 86 degrees F.
Q: properties for lots of images in iOS I am creating a bus seats layout to show the available seats and user can select a seat to book the same.Since the layout is same most of the time and i do want to support all the screen sizes. I have done the following. Drag and dropped imageViews for each seat Enabled autolayout Added some lots and lots of constraints to make the seat layout look same in all the screen sizes I have 3 images in project folder. which are available seats,booked seats and for some place holders like driver seat created property for all the imageViews and whenever the view loads adding all the seats variable properties to an array for reference. Added a tap recogniser to all the imageViews The problem is a bus can have 42 seats maximum. So ended up creating 42 imageViews in a grid type. and 42 property variables. The layout may change in future so i want to avoid many properties and am afraid of crashing. Is there any other way to achieve the same? Will Apple accept that in app store because am using lots of imagesViews which may have less then 44px? Followings are the different ways till now i have tried. Dynamically added buttons to view for each seats and populating based on some condition. But i can't add auto layouts in this way because it is fully using code and not at all using storyboards. Dragged buttons into scroll view and added a button image for seats fully using storyboards. Since the size of the button is less then 44px for some place holders and seats i don't want this method as apple will reject this anyway. Targeted for all the screen sizes and from iOS 7 to latest available iOS (means as of now 8.1) A: @rdelmar suggestion worked very well. So am giving the answer for the future readers. For Seat Layout use collection view with custom cell and with default flow layout. In my case i have used for 4 seats with two on either side of the aisle. Used 2 cells per row and each cell with two seats (UIImageViews) created a NSArray of NSDicitonary to hold the details about the seat numbers and based on the array populating the collection view To give a space or align the cell to my need (In my case i need space between place holders like driver seat ,exit) i have used collection view delegate. (CGSize)collectionView:(UICollectionView )collectionView layout:(UICollectionViewLayout)collectionViewLayout sizeForItemAtIndexPath:(NSIndexPath *)indexPath; based on the indexPath.row changing my heights between the cells. Note there is lots of ways we can achieve this layout. I guess collection view with default layout is simple and very easy to implement.
Preparation of early Drosophila embryonic fillets (before cuticle deposition). This article describes the dissection of early Drosophila embryos to generate flat or fillet preparations. For the procedure, a modified chamber or well is designed using glass slides and sealant. Embryos are dissected by removing the chorionic (outer) membrane (performed outside the chamber) and then removing the vitelline (inner) membrane (performed inside the chamber and under saline).
Cigna released their U.S. Loneliness Survey this month and reported that loneliness among Americans has reached "epidemic levels." Their survey of over 20,000 Americans found that nearly half reported sometimes or always feeling alone (46 percent) or left out (47 percent). The survey used a 20-item questionnaire that assesses subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation. The potential effects of loneliness on health are well established. A 2013 study on loneliness showed elevated levels of stress hormones and inflammation, which can increase the risk of heart disease, dementia, and Type 2 diabetes and suicide attempts. Loneliness is prevalent in society. The rising numbers of single adults, the breakdown of the family and the loss of neighborhood and community have all contributed to an immense sense of loneliness in many people's lives. Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, professor of psychology at Brigham Young University reports loneliness peaks in adolescents and young adults, then again in older adults. She says, “Older adults should not be the sole focus of the effects of loneliness. We need to address this for all ages.” Tom Wolfe the great American novelist who just recently passed away wrote, "Loneliness, far from being a rare and curious phenomenon, peculiar to myself and a few solitary men, is a central and inevitable fact of human existence." If you feel lonely remember God cares for you. He knows about loneliness. Jesus experienced the greatest loneliness of all when the Father forsook him on the cross. God knows and cares. The response to loneliness may be to take up a new hobby, make more time for friends or get a pet. Loneliness is seen as something bad and we must take action to overcome it. But God can help transform it into something beneficial for us. Loneliness can cause us to seek God in a deeper way We are so busy we often leave little time for God. When we are alone God has the opportunity to speak to us and receive our undivided attention. Nine times in the gospels we are told that Jesus went away to a lonely place to be with the father. Jesus sought out solitude so he could seek the father's will for his life. Many of the early church fathers were called desert fathers because they sought out the desert as a lonely place to find God. In fact, the Hebrew word for lonely can also be translated as solitude or desert. When we are alone and seek after God we will be rewarded. He will give us increased discernment so desperately needed today. This kind of guidance and wisdom does not come without setting apart time to be with God. Sometimes God causes us to seek him by driving us to him through the loneliness we experience. We can get angry, depressed or we can see it as a gift. Loneliness is a great benefit if we have drawn closer to Christ. Loneliness can be used by God to develop our character In loneliness God reveals our weaknesses and works on changing them. God will test and even increase our patience while we wait in our loneliness. Our deficiencies, insecurities and defense mechanisms are revealed in our aloneness, which God can then use to strengthen our character. Paul knew the power of weaknesses becoming strengths when he said, "When I am weak then I am strong." When we are alone our commitment is tested and our true character shines through. Being faithful alone gives us confidence we can be faithful in community. Amy Carmichael knew about loneliness. She was a missionary to India for 55 years and twice because of accidents had to spend months alone. In her solitude she wrote many books. In one of her books, “Gold By Midnight,” there is a boy who takes a walk in the woods and in the deepest, darkest place finds a patch of lovely orchids. In that lonely place God brought forth great beauty. And God can cultivate beauty in your character through loneliness. Loneliness can inspire us to greater creativity Carl Sandburg wrote, "Shakespeare, Leonardo de Vinci, Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln never saw a movie, heard a radio or looked at a TV. They had loneliness and knew what to do with it. They were not afraid of being lonely because they knew that then the creative mood in them would work." Creative problem solvers are needed in our world. Imagine the great things God would do if we could tap into His creativity for us. I recently spent five days alone writing. I had so many insights and got so much more done alone than I could when I am around people. In "Life Together" Dietrich Bonheoffer wrote about the need for community and solitude. He said, "If you refuse to be alone you are rejecting Christ's call to you and you can have no part in the community of those who are called." He wrote such strong words because he knew the importance of time alone with God. God wants to give us dreams and visions of what can be done through us and that can come through aloneness. Your greatest achievement may be birthed out of your loneliness. Loneliness can create in us a desire to serve When we are away from people we can come to appreciate humanity more. What we learn in our loneliness can give us a heightened sensitivity to others. There is a time apart and there is also a time to be in community. True community involves our serving one another in love. Sometimes the very fact of our loneliness results from our sitting instead of serving. A boy once asked a lonely old man, "What is life's heaviest burden?" The man responded by saying, "To have nothing to carry." We are needed to do a work no one else but us can do. In our loneliness we can see what needs there are and then determine how God can use us to meet them. There is so much to be done and God may have to put us in a lonely place for a season so that we can get a greater burden to serve. God makes a home for the lonely. It is a place where he can work in us it is a place that can be very beneficial for us. It is not a place to avoid for we are never alone. God will never forsake us, but he will transform us.
Ring Binder School Kit & Pencil Case Item #18376 Clear pouch with pen, pencil, ruler, sharpener, & eraser. Zipper comes in Red, Royal Blue, White, and Yellow. Pouch, pencil, pen and ruler are imprinted Sharpener and eraser are not imprinted. Get them started on their first day at school with these essential items in one clear kit that fits in a standard binder. The clear pouch includes: Neon Buy Write Pencil, Jester Pen, Rase-A-Round Eraser, Natural Finish 6" Ruler and White Pencil Sharpener.
ASAP Rocky was arrested early Wednesday in Stockholm, Sweden, on suspicion of gross assault after a Sunday altercation that was captured in part on videos posted online, including two posted by the artist himself. The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was taken into custody around 1 a.m. Wednesday, the Swedish Prosecution Authority told The Times. He had been part of the lineup at the two-day Smash festival of hip-hop in Stockholm on Tuesday. The story broke in the United States on Tuesday when TMZ posted video showing ASAP Rocky and his entourage hammering on two men in the street, in daylight. In that video, the 30-year-old rapper, wearing shorts and a hooded sweatshirt, can be seen grabbing one of the men by his shirt or shoulders and hurling him across the street. Then others from the entourage start hitting and kicking the man. Both parties are speaking different languages, making the exchange more difficult to understand, though the men attempted some English as one complained about his headphones. However, another two videos posted by ASAP Rocky on his Instagram on Tuesday show that the two men had been bothering the entourage well before the altercation took place, with Rocky and his bodyguard trying to defuse the situation. “So a few drug addicts are not my fans, we dont know these guys and we didnt want trouble, they followed us for 4 blocks, and they were slapping girls butts who passed, give me a break,” the rapper wrote with the first video of the encounter, in which Rocky’s bodyguard attempted to talk to the men. “Hits security in face with headphones then follow us,” he wrote with the second video, which runs nearly three minutes and includes a woman’s voice accusing one of the men of slapping her and her girlfriend on the butt. It also includes the sounds of headphones crunching as one of the men clashes with Rocky’s bodyguard. Under Swedish law, a prosecutor has up to three days after a person is arrested to file a charge, but in this case more information is expected on Thursday, the Prosecution Authority spokeswoman said. ASAP Rocky is scheduled for a show with Cardi B in London on Friday. A rep for his label did not respond immediately to a request for comment Wednesday. cdz@latimes.com @theCDZ on Twitter and Instagram
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President Donald Trump will award the nation's highest military honor to former Army Staff Sgt. David G. Bellavia for actions in Iraq, the White House announced Monday. Bellavia was leading a squad in support of Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah on his 29th birthday in November 2004 when his platoon was pinned down by gunfire as he went from house to house. Bellavia engaged the insurgents, providing cover that allowed members of the platoon to exit safely. He later re-entered the house and killed at least four of the insurgents, who were firing rocket-propelled grenades. "That remarkable day, then-Staff Sergeant Bellavia rescued an entire squad, cleared an insurgent strongpoint, and saved many members of his platoon from imminent threat," the White House announcement said. Trump will present the Medal of Honor to Bellavia on June 25. "Your head just spins," Bellavia, a radio host for WBEN in Buffalo, New York, told the station in an interview published Friday. "You go right back to 15 years ago. Ever since I got this news, we're right back there and now I'm talking to all the guys and the families of those we lost." Bellavia was released from the Army in August 2005 after serving for six years and has been awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star and the New York State Conspicuous Service Cross. He wrote about the battle in a 2007 book, "House to House: An Epic Memoir of War ." He has been active in Republican politics, saying at a 2017 pro-Trump rally in Buffalo that he believes Trump "can be the greatest president this country has ever known." Bellavia ran for Congress in 2012, losing to Rep. Chris Collins in the Republican primary, and was talked about as a potential successor to Collins when Collins temporarily suspended his re-election campaign last summer after being indicted on insider trading charges. Bellavia's name is in play again as Collins, whose trial is pending, mulls whether to run in 2020. He called the experience of being chosen for the Medal of Honor "very uncomfortable and awkward," but said he wants to represent Iraq war veterans, who have not had a living Medal of Honor recipient. "When you go to basic training, you clean your weapons and you read the citations of these recipients and it's like they're superheroes," Bellavia said. "They're not real. ... I can't get my head around it. I still can't."
Saturday, August 4, 2007 Here's a set of Comic-con promo postcards I designed for Wall•e, the upcoming Pixar flick. Notice the similarities between these and the Incredibles posters from an ealier post? For inspiration, the guys at Pixar once again pointed me in the direction of those Disneyland attraction posters. They are in LOVE with those posters, which is fine cuz I am too. Just to differenciate these from the Incredibles, I added a 50's advertisement twist. Writer/director extraordinaire, Andrew Stanton was kind enough to send me an autographed set. To see HUGE scans of these, visit Kung Fu Rodeo. These are beautiful, as is all your work... I'm not sure how I didn't make the connection to you and your other art when I saw these. I guess I was too excited about wall•e to put two and two together. nike tnEnter the necessary languagetranslation, up to 200 bytes winter, moves frequently in Chinanike chaussures showing that the deep strategy of the Chinese market. Harvard Business School, tn chaussures according to the relevant survey data show that in recent years the Chinese market three brands, Adidas, Li Ning market share at 21 percent, respectively, north face jackets,north face jacket. Here is a black The North Face Women's mountain jacket . 4) Women's Sky Blue The North Face Original Twinset Parka/Jacket This is a style of sky blue The Women's North Face outdoor and mountaineering apparel .The North Face offers advanced fabrics and technologies for all-weather performance and protection during demanding outdoor action. The design adds darts at the elbow, allowing for easier arm movement and a full range of motion. The internal wind skirt effectively keeps snow and wind out.100% Omni-Tech!100% SATISFIDE YOU!
Wikileaks, best known for its ongoing leak of more than 250,000 State Department cables, is literally falling apart. Der Spiegel has reported that the careless staff has leaked cables without redacting the names of certain individuals therefore putting them in danger. Wikileaks as of late has become increasingly reckless. A WikiLeaks file containing the original leaked US State Department cables has inadvertently been released onto the Internet. The documents have not been edited to protect sources, meaning that the lives of informants could be at risk. However, maybe using the term “reckless” is too forgiving. Wikileaks has turned into a failed intel operation on all levels. Just a few weeks ago they republished a cable as “new”. The problem was that I had already covered the cable almost a year earlier and offered criticism on it. Due to the fact that their staff is nothing more than wannabe intel operatives they didnt think anyone would catch this. You can see my post on the topic here. Public intel alerted the world to the selling of black market nuclear warheads. But does Wikileaks think it is imprtant to publish the cables concerning that? No. Our cables regarding this topic were not published even though Wikileaks has them. So the open information advocates made the choice not to publish this intel. Therefore they are not about “opening governments” at all. They want to control the information just like governments they detest to serve their own agenda. My Wikileaks Contact and the Infamous Gag Order In the above linked posted I made a reference to something that only the Wikileaks staff would know. (Hint: It is contained in the last paragraph) I did this intentionally to let them know that their £12 million NDA/Gag Order was not respected by even their own staff. One staff member Daniel Domscheit-Berg has already spoken out against it. But it doesnt end there. Domscheit-Berg is not alone and nor will this be the last we hear from current and former Wikileaks staff. As I have told Wikileaks directly “No one respects your gag order”, and I meant it. This isnt the only time Wikileaks has selectively edited their cables either. See entire category of “Censorship by Wikileaks”. First they were dangerous, then they were dishonest, now they are both. Now I am just waiting for Wikileaks to hang themselves. The rope was provided and it is slowly falling apart. They will tie the noose themselves and take to the only high tree limb in the wide open and barren wasteland they chose to occupy. Mr Assange will know what it feels like to be a true superstar. His organization will finish out its existence like any rockstar worth their salt. Cobain, Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, and you can throw Amy Winehouse in for good measure. After that glorious day Wikileaks will be no more and after a week no one will remember them; even less will care that they are gone. Maybe th3j35t3r was right after all by adding them to the list of jihadi recruitment sites and making them a feasible target. Stay tuned…
There is a wide variety of known printing systems. A printing system may be self-contained or may be one that requires cooperation of two or more units, such as a computer printer that is controlled using drive software installed on a personal computer. Print material, such as ink, may be deposited upon a sheet of paper or other print medium by sequential movements of the depositing structure relative to the sheet. As one well known example, an inkjet printhead may be repeatedly scanned across a sheet of paper to apply ink in a series of swaths, until the composite image is formed. Referring to FIG. 1, an example of a printer 10 is shown. The printer includes a body 12 and a hinged cover 14. An inkjet printhead 16 is attached to a carriage 18 that moves bidirectionally along a carriage transport rail 20. A flexible cable 22 connects the components of the print carriage to a print engine, not shown. The flexible cable includes electrical power lines, clocking lines, control lines, and data lines. Nozzles of the inkjet printhead are individually activated to project droplets of ink onto a print medium delivered from a supply 24, such as a tray of paper. During each print operation, the print medium is stepped in one direction, while the inkjet printhead is moved along the transport rail in the perpendicular direction. In the design of a printing system, a number of factors are considered to be significant. These factors include cost, speed, and print quality. A concern is that there is a tradeoff among these factors, particularly when a printer is designed to provide photo-quality printing. The inks of an inkjet printer 10 are water-based and are delivered to the medium as droplets. The quality of an image is dependent upon the consistency of droplet development at the printhead, the accuracy of delivery, and the droplet cooperation at the print medium. Inkjet printing may be considered to be a droplet-on-demand (DOD) technology. Techniques for forming the droplets include thermal activation and piezoelectric pumping. Regardless, sufficient time between two activations of a single nozzle must be provided, if a sufficient volume of ink is to be accumulated for consistency in firing. Thus, a maximum “firing frequency” is enforced. For any particular nozzle of an inkjet printhead, this firing frequency limits the firing opportunities of the nozzle for a given period of time. Merely for the purpose of example, the firing frequency may be set at 12,400 activations per second. At the print medium, there are concerns with “bleeding” and other phenomena. Bleeding of one color into another color is most detectable along edges of sharp color contrast within an image. Printers use a multi-pass concept to reduce the likelihood of bleeding and to provide compensation for other phenomena that affect image quality. Using the multi-pass concept, less than all of the droplets are deposited on a single pass over a particular area of the print medium. Each area of the print medium is scanned multiple times in order to deposit all of the droplets. The portion of the droplets which are deposited on a particular pass is controlled by a predefined masking pattern. As defined herein, a “masking pattern” is associated with a single pass, although multiple passes may be necessary in order to complete the printing. This use of the term is consistent with U.S. Pat. No. 6,310,640 to Askeland. In a multi-pass process, there is a “composite masking pattern” to which the print data is applied in defining droplet deposition. The composite masking pattern provides the basis for the individual masking patterns. Typically, the composite masking pattern is determined at the design stage for a particular printer. In printing two photographs, the composite masking pattern is applied in the same manner to the image data of the two photographs, so that it is the difference in the image data (from photograph to photograph) that causes differences between the two series of masking patterns. The determination of which droplets are to be deposited on a particular pass includes a degree of randomness. In general, artifacts are more apparent when masks are more regular and uniform. While the generation of printing masks involves significant randomization, it is known to apply restrictions to such pattern generation. U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,739 to Serra describes some possible restrictions. A checkerboard pattern may be imposed on each masking pattern. Each image region is divided into distinct complementary patches. Bleeding among droplets placed in adjacent pixels of a composite image is less likely to occur, since horizontally neighboring pixels do not receive droplets in the same pass. However, bleeding may occur between diagonal pixels. Serra states that this can be overcome using the “Hickman system” in which printing in intervening lines and in intervening columns is presented in a single pass. The patent states that a concern with this system is that it forfeits the ability to print in the intervening lines and columns even with respect to printmodes in which bleeding and similar problems are absent, such as in a single-pass mode for printing black-and-white text. Serra describes bidirectional scanning printheads which discharge color-ink droplets at ultra high resolution, with each swath of printing on the paper being completed in either eight passes with four paper advances, or four passes with two paper advances, or two passes in a single paper advance.
Q: Protect static files using jwt authentication I'd like to protect static files with JWT authentication. Is it possible to achieve without cookies? As I know the most common scenario for JWT is to pass token in request body or header, making AJAX call. But when browser requests static files (JS, CSS ... ), there is no way to add body to this request. So the only way is to store jwt token in cookie? Or there are others? Update Did you have specific objections to a cookie? Im reading articles, and everyone is passing jwt token in body or Authorization header. I develop website with admin panel - SPA application, so Im wondering, should I protect html, bundle.js, css of this panel with cookie or protect only API and make these files public. Just want to know what is the common flow. And I thought, maybe it's possible somehow, to protect these files with Authorization header (like Basic Auth) but using JWT A: Most often it is unnecessary to protect static assets (e.g. .html, .css, .png, .js, etc.) files and protecting your API endpoints would suffice. However, if you retrieve the assets (e.g. HTML fragments for an SPA) using AJAX, then you can pass the JWT as a header inside your request and in the backend your web server can inspect the header and return the HTML fragment only if the current user is authorized to access it. Also you can store the JWT inside local storage and configure your AJAX library to get the token from the local storage and add it to your requests before sending them to the server.
Stalking Monsanto for an Entry We have had winning trades in Monsanto (MON) and some losing trades too. The goal, however, is to let the winners run and cut the losers short and have the winners outweigh the losers. This can be done if you define your risk in advance and if you also manage your trades when they do start to play out in your favor. With that being said, I have identified another key support decision in Monsanto that I am stalking for a possible buy entry. This is a Fibonacci price cluster setup, which is one of the three trade setups that I work on identifying via the charts every trading day. A cluster is the coincidence of at least three Fibonacci price relationships that comes together within a relatively tight range. These clusters identify key support or resistance decisions. In this case, I'm looking at a key support decision with a cluster of price relationships that come in between $94.19 and $96.71. This cluster actually includes the coincidence of nine or 10 price relationships. That does not mean that the zone will definitely hold, but it does tell me that this is a rather important decision. Some traders may approach this setup and say. "OK, I will buy some Monsanto at these levels and consider myself wrong if price breaks below this zone by a decent margin". (A decent margin to me would be a couple of bucks in Monsanto). Personally, I like to use what I call a trigger. This is essentially price action that tells me it is worth placing a bet against a key zone. Even though trades can still be stopped out when using a trigger for an entry, I like to see at least some promise with a reversal indication. Now, if price continues to hold above this general area, I see upside potential anywhere between the $102-$106 area initially. If those tests are passed, I will post targets beyond that later. Once again, I will consider myself wrong on the trade if this key price support cluster is violated by more than a couple bucks. There are also ways to refine the risk even further which are discussed in the article above. Let's see what Monsanto does against this key support zone and trade accordingly! Get an email alert each time I write an article for Real Money. Click the "+Follow" next to my byline to this article.
87 B.R. 38 (1988) In re PYRAMID BUILDING CO., Debtor. Bankruptcy No. B85-01080. United States Bankruptcy Court, N.D. Ohio, E.D. June 29, 1988. David O. Simon of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan and Aronoff, Cleveland, Ohio, for debtor. Emily M. Sweeney, Asst. U.S. Atty., Cleveland, Ohio, for claimant. MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND DECISION WILLIAM J. O'NEILL, Bankruptcy Judge. This matter is before the Court on Debtor's objection to the claim of The Department of the Treasury, Internal Revenue 39 Service (IRS). Issue respecting Debtor's standing to prosecute this objection is waived. The parties stipulated to the following facts: "1. This Court has subject matter jurisdiction to determine the validity of the claim of the Internal Revenue Service and personal jurisdiction over the parties herein; and this action is subject to the Court's venue. 2. Debtor Pyramid Building filed a voluntary petition under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code on May 6, 1985. 3. Pursuant to the Order for Meeting of Creditors, September 9, 1985, was set as the last on which creditors could file proofs of claim. 4. Debtor's Schedules list the Internal Revenue Service as a priority creditor with a claim of $15,744.06 for withholding and FICA taxes for 1984 and 1985. 5. On June 12, 1985, the Internal Revenue Service filed a proof of claim in the amount of $2,417.06 for interest and penalties on withholding and FICA taxes for the fourth quarter of 1984; the interest on that claim of $333.83 was paid in August, 1987, pursuant to the Distribution Order of this Court. 6. On January 22, 1988, the Internal Revenue Service filed a proof of claim in the amount of $28,268.99 for withholding and FICA taxes for the fourth quarter of 1984 (interest and penalty to petition date only), the first quarter of 1985, and the second quarter of 1985; and for FUTA taxes for 1985. 7. On March 2, 1988, the Internal Revenue Service filed an amended and superseding claim, which deleted the interest to petition date on the withholding and FICA taxes for the second quarter of 1985 and the FUTA taxes for 1985 and which was in the amount of $26,061.03. 8. The withholding and FICA tax return for the first quarter of 1985 was due April 30, 1985, but was not filed by the debtor until December 5, 1985. 9. The withholding and FICA tax return for the second quarter of 1985 was due July 31, 1985, but was not filed by the debtor until February 3, 1986. 10. The FUTA return for 1985 was due January 31, 1986, and was timely filed by the debtor. 11. The withholding and FICA tax for the fourth quarter of 1984 was assessed prior to the petition date, on March 25, 1985. 12. The withholding and FICA taxes for the first and second quarter of 1985 and the FUTA taxes for 1985 were assessed after the petition date, on May 19, 1986, April 7, 1986, and January 11, 1988, respectively. 13. The FUTA tax due for 1985 results from an adjustment to the amount indicated on the return, which adjustment was assessed on January 11, 1988, after receiving information from the State of Ohio that unemployment tax payments were not made for the year in question. 14. The withholding and FICA tax due for the first quarter of 1985 results from an adjustment to the amount of deposits claimed on the return, which adjustment was assessed on May 19, 1986. 15. The withholding and FICA tax due for the second quarter results from the amount shown on the return for which no deposits were made and which was assessed April 7, 1986." In addition to the stipulated facts, upon examining the claims in question the Court finds: 16. The proof of claim filed June 12, 1985 does not indicate intent to file amendments for additional taxes but does state, "Please contact our office to verify the amount of our claim prior to distribution." Bankruptcy Rule 3002(c), in effect on the relevant dates, required proofs of claim in Chapter 7 cases to be filed within 90 days after the first date set for the meeting of creditors. Upon motion filed before the time expired, the United States could seek extension of the bar date. Bankr.R. 3002(c)(1). The issue to be resolved is whether the late filed claims can be deemed amendments to the timely filed claim. Debtor's objection to the late filings is twofold. 40 First, the January 22, 1988 claim is not designated an amendment and is, therefore, an untimely new claim. Following this reasoning, the March 2, 1988 amendment is a nullity. Secondly, the amendments are untimely and inappropriate. Amendment to proofs of claim is freely permitted to cure defects in a filed claim, to describe a claim with greater particularity or to plead a new theory of recovery on the facts of the original claim. United States v. International Horizons, Inc., 751 F.2d 1213 (11th Cir.1985); First National Bank of Mobile v. Everhart (In re Commonwealth Corp.), 617 F.2d 415 (5th Cir.1980): Szatkowski v. Meade Tool and Die Co., 164 F.2d 228 (6th Cir.1947). Amendment is not permitted as a guise for filing untimely claims. International Horizons; Commonwealth. Principles of equity guide this determination to ensure that "fraud will not prevail, that substance will not give way to form, that technical considerations will not prevent substantial justice from being done." Pepper v. Litton, 308 U.S. 295, 305, 60 S.Ct. 238, 244-45, 84 L.Ed. 281 (1939). Balancing the equities is a necessary determinant of the propriety of amendment. In re Gibraltor Amusements, Ltd., 315 F.2d 210 (2nd Cir.1963); International Horizons, Inc. An equitable factor analysis is set forth in In re Miss Glamour Coat Co., 80-2 U.S.T.C. 9737 (S.D.N.Y. Oct. 8, 1980) as follows: (1) whether the debtor and creditors relied on the earlier proof of claim or had reason to know that subsequent proofs of claim would be filed pending completion of an audit; (2) whether other creditors will receive a windfall by the courts refusing to allow amendment; (3) whether the Service intentionally or negligently delayed in filing its proof of claim; (4) the justification for the Service's failure to request extension of the bar date; and (5) whether equity requires consideration of any other factors. The January 22, 1988 claim, though not designated an amendment, may be so treated if the characterization is appropriate. A contrary result would clearly elevate form over substance and violate equitable considerations controlling amendments. Debtor does not dispute the January 22, 1988 claim is for taxes of the same kind asserted in the timely filed claim, although the initial claim does not indicate subsequent filings were contemplated. Debtor's dispute is the equitable balance as it relates to assertion of this claim. Consideration of equities on the facts presented clearly precludes amendment. The amendments fail under the Miss Glamour Coat analysis. The original claim did not indicate subsequent claims would be filed. In reality, it appears to manifest intent not to amend prior to distribution. Examination of the facts reflects IRS was negligent in asserting the amendments. The January 22, 1988 claim is for 1985 taxes. Returns for a portion of these taxes were overdue prior to the claims bar date. All relevant returns were filed by February 1986, and IRS made assessments for portions of these taxes in April and May of 1986. Failure to request extension of the bar date, and filing the January 1988 claim more than twenty-two months from Debtor's filing returns and nineteen months from assessments is patently negligent. This characterization is supported by the notation on the original claim indicating IRS was aware its claim was subject to revision. IRS justifies its actions by noting Debtor's delay in filing the returns and having notice of the claims. These arguments are spurious. Debtor's failure to file returns prior to the bar date would have warranted an extension. Moreover, IRS delayed more than twenty-two months after the returns were filed to revise its claim. Further, Debtor's notice of the claim does not justify this delay. Finally, this Court's order of distribution and payment thereof on the IRS claim was prior to the proposed amendments. Considering the circumstances herein, to allow amendment of the claim after distribution would be highly inequitable. The claims filed on January 22, 1988 and March 2, 1988 are, therefore, disallowed as untimely claims. IT IS SO ORDERED.
Bitdefender has discovered a new deadlier variant of the Pushdo Trojan and deadly it is. It has infected and compromised more than 11000 computer systems across the world in just 24 hours after its release. Most of the infections have taken place in India but machines in UK, US and France have also been compromised by Pushdo Trojan. Bitdefender has identified the number of infected computers via a sinkhole domain which it believes is connected to the botnet’s control and command server. Other than India, networks from Turkey and Vietnam have also been heavily infected with this variant. In UK, Bitdefender says, that 77 machines have been infected in the past 24 hours. Traffic to these seized sinkholes came from 11,000 unique IP addresses in a period of 24 hours. These pings (packets) represent infected host botnets connecting their mother server for instructions. As said above, Asia is the top most infected and compromised region with with India, and Vietnam topping the list of compromised hosts. Asia accounts from 10 percent of the 11000 infections in 24 hours while United States accounts for another 5 percent. “We managed to successfully intercept Pushdo traffic and gain some idea of the size of this botnet,” states Catalin Cosoi, chief security strategist at Bitdefender. “The sheer scale of this criminal operation, unsophisticated as it may be, is rather troubling and there are indications that the botnet is still in a growth phase. We shall be continuing our investigation as a key priority and further updates shall be made available in the coming days.” Pushdo trojan is a deadly infection because of the payload it delivers. It is known to distribute the deadly banking malware Zeus as well SpyEye as payload on infected systems. But its primary objective is spamming. Pushdo uses components called Cutwail that are frequently installed on compromised PCs to spam the network. Pushdo has proved to be very resilient even for its own standards. Authorities have taken down four Pushdo Command and Control servers yet a new variant with a new mother C & C springs up time and again. And everytime a new variant arises, the public and private keys used to protect the communication between the bots and the C&C servers are changed to avoid detection by security firms, but the communication protocol remains the same.
Occlusive portal vein thrombosis as a new marker of decompensated cirrhosis. Natural history of liver cirrhosis is divided into compensated and decompensated stage. Traditionally, the markers of decompensated cirrhosis include ascites, variceal hemorrhage, hepatic encephalopathy and jaundice. The clinical importance of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) is increasingly recognized in patients with liver cirrhosis. The presence of PVT is not only an independent predictor of failure to control active variceal bleeding and prevent variceal rebleeding, but also significantly associated with increased mortality in patients with liver cirrhosis. Besides, it greatly influences the technical success and outcome of endovascular interventional treatment and liver transplantation for liver cirrhosis and its secondary portal hypertension. Thus, we hypothesize that PVT should be regarded as a critical marker of decompensated cirrhosis, whether clinical events such as the development of ascites, encephalopathy, and variceal bleeding occur or not. Our hypothesis adds PVT into the definition of decompensated cirrhosis and reminds clinicians and investigators that PVT plays a vital role in natural history of liver cirrhosis. Further, it is essential to construct a new system of preventing and treating liver cirrhosis in the presence of PVT.
[Prospects of the use of modifiers in children's oncologic radiology]. Problems of radiotherapy of malignant tumors in children are discussed. The treatment included the use of different radiation modifiers with the aid of which radiosensitivity of normal and tumorous tissues may be selectively altered, thereby reducing radiation load of normal tissues and organs adjacent to the tumor. The data are given on the treatment of 45 children with soft tissue sarcomas. In these children, radiotherapy was carried out in combination with local microwave hyperthermia.
Q: Grothendieck topology on stacks/fibred category Let $p : \mathcal{S} \rightarrow \mathcal{C}$ be a stack (or fibred category, I do not know if just being a fibred category is enough) over the site $\mathcal{C}$. I have read somewhere (I forgot where but I think on "Stacks project") that the site $\mathcal{C}$ induces a Grothendieck topology on $\mathcal{S}$ (something to do with a definition of strongly Cartesian) but I forgot the link and also the proof. Can somebody explain to me the proof of this result (or the link)? A: Given an object $U$ of $\mathcal{S}$, I would declare a collection of arrows $\{f_\alpha:U_\alpha\rightarrow U\}$ in $\mathcal{S}$ to be a cover of $U$ in $\mathcal{S}$ if their image $\{p(f_\alpha):p(U_\alpha)\rightarrow p(U))\}$ is a cover for $p(U)$ in $\mathcal{C}$ in the sense of Grothendieck topology on $\mathcal{C}$. This gives a Grothendieck topology on $\mathcal{S}$.
News Release Press Operations News Release IMMEDIATE RELEASE Release No: 595-01November 20, 2001 FLAG OFFICER ASSIGNMENTS Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Vern Clark announced the following assignments: Navy Rear Adm. Harry W. Whiton is being assigned as special assistant to the chief of Naval Operations for Information Operations. Whiton is currently serving as commander, Naval Security Group Command. Navy Rear Adm. (lower half) Thomas W. Steffens is being assigned as special assistant to the commander in chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Steffens is currently serving as chief of staff, U.S Special Operation Command.
Q: different result between php -v and phpinfo() I don't understand at all why : php -v (or) php -m return : PHP 7.0 and phpinfo() says I am using PHP 5. it's strange, any idea? I'm using Ubuntu and Nginx. Below is a printscreen : A: It's not strange. php -v runs php-cli, which in turn reads a different ini file. phpinfo() is evaluated by your webserver, which reads a webserver-specific ini file. In case of Ubuntu, those are: /etc/phpX/apache2/php.ini and /etc/phpX/cli/php.ini, for nginx in your case it uses php-fpm, whose config is located in /etc/phpX/fpm/php.ini. Also, in your case PHP7 is probably either compiled or pulled from some other repo. If you want nginx to pick up PHP7, you'll need to either compile or install php7-fpm or something in those lines. YMMV depending on how you got PHP7 onto your system. To get a feeling of how this works - create a file anywhere on the filesystem inside your web folder, say, called test.php with the following content: <? phpinfo(); ?> Then try running: # php test.php and then access this file from a web browser at http://path.to.your.site.com/path/to/test.php You'll see that cli PHP will report version 7.0, whereas nginx will keep reporting PHP5.
A pilot study of cognitive behaviour therapy for panic disorder augmented by panic surfing. This pilot study reports the outcome of cognitive behaviour therapy for panic disorder augmented by panic surfing. This treatment approach encourages acceptance of feelings rather than control of symptoms and anxiety, at the same time also targeting catastrophic misinterpretations, bodily vigilance and safety-seeking behaviours. Eighteen participants completed a brief group treatment for panic disorder incorporating psychoeducation, panic surfing, interoceptive exposure, graded exposure and cognitive restructuring. Significant improvements occurred over the course of this treatment and were maintained at a 1-month follow-up. Results suggest that cognitive behaviour therapy augmented by panic surfing may be effective in the treatment of panic disorder, but there is a need for controlled studies and investigation of the relative contribution of its various components.
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A generation ago, transgender Americans were widely regarded as deviants, unfit for dignified workplaces, a disgrace for families. Those who confided in relatives were, by and large, pitied and shunned. For most, transitioning on the job was tantamount to career suicide. Medical procedures to align a person’s body with that person’s gender identity — an internal sense of being male, female or something else — were a fringe specialty, available only to a few who paid out of pocket. Coming out meant going through life as a pariah. Being transgender today remains unreasonably and unnecessarily hard. But it is far from hopeless. More Americans who have wrestled with gender identity are transitioning openly, propelling a civil rights movement that has struggled even as gays and lesbians have reached irreversible momentum in their fight for equality.
Influence of intracerebroventricular administration of histaminergic drugs on morphine state-dependent memory in the step-down passive avoidance test. The effects of histaminergic drugs on morphine state-dependent memory of a passive avoidance task were examined in mice. Pre-training administration of morphine (5 mg/kg) led to state-dependent learning with impaired memory recall on the test day which was reversed by pre-test administration of the same dose of the opioid. The pre-test intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of the H(1) blocker (pyrilamine) prevented the restoration of memory by morphine. The H(2) blocker (ranitidine) was ineffective in this regard and the H(3) blocker (clobenpropit) potentiated the effect of morphine on memory recall. The pre-test i.c.v. administration of histamine alone (5, 10, and 20 microg/mouse) not only mimicked the effect of pre-test morphine treatment, but also increased this action of the opioid. The effect of histamine on memory recall was not changed by the pre-test administration of mu-opioid receptor antagonist, naloxone. In conclusion, the improvement of memory recall by morphine treatment, on the test day, seems to be, at least in part, through the release of histamine followed by the stimulation of H(1) receptors. Histamine by itself, when administered on the test day, mimicked morphine-induced memory improvement by a mechanism independent of the mu-opioid receptors.
The Happiest Recap: 046-048 Welcome to The Happiest Recap[1],a solid gold slate of New York Mets games culled from every schedule the Mets have ever played en route to this, their fiftieth year in baseball. We’ve created a dream season consisting of the “best” 46th game in any Mets season, the “best” 47th game in any Mets season, the “best” 48th game in any Mets season…and we keep going from there until we have a completed schedule worthy of Bob Murphy coming back with the Happy Recap after this word from our sponsor on the WFAN Mets Radio Network. Managing the Mets was a tough task, but not so tough that the next guy in charge couldn’t theoretically find time to play a little baseball while holding down his presumed full-time job. Chairman of the board M. Donald Grant and GM Joe McDonald must have thought so, for they announced on a Tuesday night at Shea that the man who was about to assume the office of Mets manager would be Joe Torre — as in Joe Torre, player-manager. Unlike the seven skippers who preceded him, Torre was not long retired as a player. Time would prove that something of a trivial detail, however. Joe’s playing days weren’t completely done come the end of May 1977, but they were getting there. He’d insert himself into two games as a pinch-hitter before hanging up his spikes on June 17. More pertinently, the Mets were getting nowhere as the tenure of Joe Frazier[3] came to a skidding halt, so why not try the Brooklyn boy who grew up to become not just an All-Star all around the diamond — catcher, third base, first base — but an acknowledged clubhouse leader. Two of the Met veterans who counted the 36-year-old Torre as a friend were Tom Seaver and Dave Kingman, both embroiled in salary-driven disputes with the Met front office when Joe took his new job. Two stars looking to get out of town, on top of the 15-30 record that had landed Frazier’s Mets deep in last place, was a ton to toss on the rookie manager’s desk, but Joe took the daunting circumstances facing him in stride. “I am here to manage the team on the field,” he said before helming his first club. “Tom Seaver has made it known he wants to be traded and Dave Kingman wants to play out his option. I’d like to think they might change their minds. My office is open to them.” As for the unit he figured he’d have at his disposal, Torre predicted, “We’re going to win a lot more games than we have. We’re not as bad as we’ve been playing and should be a representative team.” The representing started right away, as Torre led his charges to a victory immediately, a 6-2 win over the same Expos who the afternoon before had swept the Mets a Memorial Day doubleheader and put the final nail in Frazier’s managerial coffin. Part of Torre’s plan was to institute a set lineup, topped by recently acquired handyman Lenny Randle at third base, batting leadoff. Randle responded to his new status by singling, doubling, walking twice and scoring two runs. There was a spark at the top of the order, and the Mets as a whole heated up under Torre’s tutelage. “It makes an awfully long year if you quit in May,” the manager said. The message was received ASAP: the Mets won seven of their first eight games with Joe as their leader. It wouldn’t last, and Torre’s relationship with his discontented stars didn’t make much difference even in the short-term, but when the man who would go on to win 2,326 regular-season games and four World Series titles enters the Hall of Fame as a manager, it will have to be recalled how it all began for Joe Torre: cleaning up Joe Frazier’s mess and attempting to set the Mets on course in what was rapidly becoming their most wayward season ever.ALSO QUITE HAPPY: On May 27, 2009[4], an uncommon run of Met luck continued in a realm where they had proved curiously invincible. Four times previously in 2009, including thrice in the four games before this Wednesday night affair at Citi Field against the Nationals, potential Met home runs became subject to Major League Baseball’s new video review rule. In every instance, the decision that followed the second look — whether it confirmed the call on the field or reversed it — went in the Mets’ favor. This one, however, was going to be a tougher sell. In the sixth inning of a 3-3 tie, with Gary Sheffield (who had benefited from a video confirmation two nights earlier) on first, Daniel Murphy stroked a fly ball to right field off Jordan Zimmermann that…what? Did it land on the warning track of its own volition? Or did it scrape the unhelpfully yellow and white Subway Sandwich ad that fronted the Pepsi Porch overhang, which would make it a home run by the reckoning of the new ballpark’s ground rules? Washington right fielder Adam Dunn played it as if it was a live ball and threw it to the infield to eventually cut down Sheffield at the plate. Sheffield, on the other hand, played it as a home run and thus wasn’t running all-out. It was initially called a home run, but television replays on SNY seemed extremely inconclusive. Three members of Larry Vanover’s umpiring crew, however, spent several minutes out of sight[5] examining all angles and decided the initial call should stand. It was a two-run homer for Murphy, allowing the Mets to take a 5-3 lead en route to a 7-4 final. You want out-of-the-box success? Then you want Dick Rusteck. No Mets starting pitcher was ever better sooner than the 24-year-old lefty from Chicago. And, judging by the relatively few households in which his name became enduringly recognizable, no Mets starting pitcher of surpassing promise ever disappeared quite so quickly. But nobody envisioned that while Rusteck was doing his thing…his one and only thing, just about. The Notre Dame graduate was having a fine year in Triple-A Jacksonville (pitching alongside first-year pro Tom Seaver) but “didn’t expect to get called up,” he told author William Ryczek. “My record was 4-0, then 5-0, then 6-0 and I wasn’t called. Then I lost one and I got hit by a batted ball [in BP, but Suns teammate Bud Harrelson] — and I couldn’t throw. I was sure they wouldn’t call me up.” Perhaps it was the Metsian way of doing things to wait until a prospect was incapacitated to give him his big break, but Rusteck was ready for the big time, as personified by the Cincinnati Reds of Tommy Harper, Pete Rose, Vada Pinson, Deron Johnson, Tony Perez and Leo Cardenas. “I wasn’t nervous,” the kid said. “I just tried to force myself to pitch the way I did at Jacksonville.” A Friday night at Shea, in front of nearly 34,000, and Rusteck treated the whole scene as if it were just another outing in the International League. He no-hit the Reds for four innings and maintained his poise after Perez broke up his bid for immortality with a leadoff single in the fifth. That would be one of only four hits the Reds would collect on the night, all of them singles. Backed by two Eddie Bressoud homers, Rusteck cruised to a complete game 5-0 shutout in his major league debut, the only Met starter to achieve that kind of instant success (Grover Powell threw a shutout for the Mets in his first big league start in 1963, but he had pitched several times in relief before that). Dick struck out four and walked only one in defeating Cincinnati ace Jim Maloney. The reviews were raves. Ralph Kiner, watching from the Mets’ broadcast booth, said, “His fastball moves. A couple of times the ball jumped more than half a foot as it came up to the plate.” Home plate ump Ed Sudol testified that Rusteck’s fastball “has a tendency to rise at the last instant. It had the batters off balance and was probably the main reason they popped up so much.” Because baseball is baseball, and baseball is rarely predictable and only occasionally fair, Dick Rusteck’s debut shutout was his last win in the majors and 1966 was his only season in the bigs. “Four days later,” he would recall for Ryczek, “I tried to pick up a ball and I could hardly lift my arm. I had a real sharp pain in my shoulder. They pleaded with me to start, because after pitching a shutout, how could you possibly not come out for your next turn?” Rusteck was bombed by St. Louis in one-plus innings of ill-advised work in that second try. One more start, in early July versus the Pirates, didn’t go much better. There’d be a trip to the Disabled List, a few games out of the bullpen and a return to Jacksonville in 1967…and 1968. Rusteck would bounce around the minors clear to 1977 when he wound down his career on the unaffiliated Salem Senators of the Northwest League. His left shoulder healed, but his left elbow went bad, as did his luck. One day in Rochester, for example, a piece of glass fell from a building and cut his non-pitching shoulder badly enough to require seventeen stitches. But for one night, at 24, Dick Rusteck had pitching successfully in the major leagues all sewn up. ALSO QUITE HAPPY: On June 4, 1985[7], the Dodger Stadium mound served as the operating table as baseball’s most skilled surgeon extricated himself and his team from a most critical jam. The matchup that attracted 49,386 to Chavez Ravine on a Tuesday night was the same one that stirred Shea Stadium ten days earlier: Fernando Valenzuela vs. Dwight Gooden. The showdown at Shea was a disappointment to Mets fans, as their beloved Doctor K fell 6-1 to L.A., dropping Gooden’s record to 6-3, but this late-night West Coast rendezvous was a different story. The phenomena emeriti (Valenzuela ’81, Gooden ’84) hooked up in a pitchers’ duel worthy of the phrase. Fernando had limited the Mets to five hits through eight innings, one of them a solo home run by Ray Knight. But he was matched on the scoreboard and outdone stylistically by Doc. Through seven, Gooden had also allowed five hits and one run (a homer by Pedro Guerrero) but had struck out nine Dodgers. Trouble, though, beckoned in the bottom of the eighth. Steve Sax singled, as did Ken Landreaux; Sax raced to third while Landreaux moved up to second on the throw in from the outfield. Davey Johnson opted to have Gooden intentionally walk Guerrero, loading the bases with nobody out. And this is where the operation gets serious: Doc strikes out Greg Brock, pops up Mike Scioscia foul to Gary Carter and strikes out Terry Whitfield. So much for the Dodgers’ bases-loaded threat. Come the top of the ninth, the other duelist dropped his weapon, as Valenzuela allowed three Met runs. Gooden, of course, came out for the ninth and finished his own gut-check masterpiece, a 4-1 eight-hitter, featuring a dozen strikeouts. There was Jackson Heights. There was Brooklyn Heights. There was Washington Heights. But nobody was scaling the heights in New York like the Mets were in the late spring of 1969. With one increasingly characteristic thrilling victory, they reached all kinds of new peaks and didn’t appear intent on stopping their climb anytime soon. It had already been a homestand like no other in Mets history. After salvaging a split of a two-game set with the expansion Padres, the Mets swept three from the Giants for the first time in their relatively young lives. Then the Dodgers came to Shea and the Mets beat them twice. On getaway night, they attempted to fully eradicate the ghosts of their other ancestral oppressor. Gil Hodges assigned this task to 26-year-old lefthanded rookie Jack DiLauro, making his first start that Wednesday night after a handful of relief stints. “Gil told me I’d be starting two or three days in advance,” the former Tiger farmhand recalled for author Stanley Cohen nearly twenty years later in A Magic Summer, “but it felt more like a month. I was really nervous, and it took me a couple of innings to calm down.” Yet DiLauro appeared every bit the serene veteran across nine innings as he fired shutout ball at Los Angeles. Jack struck out five, walked two and, aided by some slick defense, allowed only two hits. Bill Russell reached DiLauro for a first-inning double, “and I came within a couple of inches of giving up more. Buddy Harrelson saved a run with a great play at short” on a liner by Wes Parker, “and Cleon caught a drive at the wall that held up” in the second. When Jones hauled in that fly ball from Russell, DiLauro “took a deep breath; from that point on, I was all right.” Better than all right — after walking Andy Kosco with two out in the third, the rookie retired the next sixteen batters he faced, taking him through nine. DiLauro received a standing ovation after Bill Sudakis flied out to end the top of the ninth. “That was the biggest thrill of my career,” Jack told Cohen. “I had been pitching in the minors for six years, trying to make it to the big club. And now, after my first start, to get an ovation like that from a New York crowd…it’s a moment I’ll never forget.” Only problem for the Mets was Bill Singer, who would win twenty for the Dodgers that season, was just as effective, and a lot more overpowering. Singer struck out ten Mets while walking no one and giving up no hits through six innings. Harrelson became the first Met baserunner by singling to open the home seventh. A sacrifice bunt, a hit batsman and a fielder’s choice grounder landed the Mets runners on first and third with Ed Kranepool up to give the Mets a chance to take the lead. But Dodger catcher Tom Haller picked Buddy off third to end the threat. An Art Shamsky single with one out in the ninth was the only other offense the Mets generated versus Singer. The starting pitchers exited and extra innings arrived. Tug McGraw held off L.A. in the top of the tenth as fellow screwballer Jim Brewer did the same to the Mets. McGraw and Brewer would give way to teammates Ron Taylor and Al McBean, respectively, and the zeroes would continue to flow. In the top of the fifteenth, however, things got very sticky for the Mets. With pinch-runner Billy Grabarkewitz on third (after a Jim Lefebvre double) and Russell on first, Willie Davis chopped a ball up that seemed headed up the middle for a run-scoring base hit. Taylor, luckily, stood in the way. “It hit the back of my glove,” the reliever said after the game. “When it did, I thought it was by far a hit.” But the deflection altered the course of events long enough for second baseman Al Weis to lunge for the ball and make an off-balance throw to the plate. Jerry Grote took it on a short hop and tagged Grabarkewitz for the second out of the inning. “It was the greatest play I’ve ever seen on any team I’ve ever played for,” the Mets’ catcher marveled. After escaping the top of the fifteenth when Parker fouled out to third (L.A. batters had left a dozen men on base and had gone 0-for-14 with runners in scoring position), it was the Mets’ turn to make the Dodgers sweat. Walt Alston’s new pitcher, Pete Mikkelsen, made things difficult on himself immediately by walking Harrelson. A Tommie Agee grounder forced Buddy at second. Up stepped rookie third baseman Wayne Garrett, who stroked a single to center. Davis — who had three Gold Gloves in his future — charged the ball…but the ball charged right past him. As it rolled toward Shea’s center field wall, Agee came all the way around from first to score the winning run, as the Mets beat the Dodgers in fifteen innings, 1-0. It was a great win by any measure, but what made it extra special was all the ways it could be measured: • The Mets had won their seventh consecutive game, matching the franchise record previously achieved in 1966 and ending this eight-game homestand 7-1. • The Mets had engineered what Leonard Koppett referred to as “the longed-for double sweep of the Giants and Dodgers”. How longed-for? Consider that the former New York City representatives of the National League teamed to slap around the baby Metsies 58 times in 72 opportunities in 1962 and ’63 and had never been fully avenged…not until late May and early June of 1969, that is. • The Mets raised their record to 25-23, two games above .500, a modest apogee to the naked eye, but one the Mets had never seen in nearly seven and one-third seasons of playing baseball. And as they jetted to the Coast to take on the California teams on their turf, the Mets would do so as sole proprietor of second place in the National League East — another first. “It was June,” Dana Brand wrote in Mets Fan, “and my eye didn’t need to look for my team at the bottom of the list. They were in second place. And for the very first time in my eight years of looking at the standings, the two-digit number on the left was larger than the two-digit number on the right.” More than a plane took off for the West Coast after that win over the Dodgers. Hope did, too. ALSO QUITE HAPPY: On May 31, 1982[9], the Mets reached an era’s high-water mark, though that wasn’t the idea. Overall improvement was in evidence since the ’82 season had started, and achieving a record six games above .500 was supposed to be a steppingstone to maybe reaching seven…or eight…or more over the break-even mark. But being safely on the happy side of .500 was achievement enough in the judgment of Mets fans when their long-downtrodden team took a bite out of Joe Torre and the Western Division-leading Atlanta Braves. While Torre — making his first trip back to Shea since being dismissed the previous October — had been riding high in Dixie, Met partisans could be satisfied by the progress that had transpired under the guidance of new manager George Bamberger. Bambi was supposed to be a marvel with pitchers, and his starter this Memorial Day at Shea, Charlie Puleo, a 27-year-old rookie who had languished in the Blue Jay system since signing out of Seton Hall in 1978, was surely blossoming under George’s wing. The New Jersey native baffled the Braves until there were two outs in the eighth, striking out ten batters along the way. Bamberger removed Puleo with an 8-3 lead that reliever Craig Swan protected en route to a 10-4 Met victory. Charlie’s record rose to 5-2. Ellis Valentine banged out four hits, including a two-run homer. John Stearns went 3-for-5, stole a base and drove in three. The Mets were 27-21, easily their best record at any point in any season since 1976…and ultimately their best record at any point during any season in that fallow period until 1984. Article printed from Faith and Fear in Flushing: http://www.faithandfearinflushing.com
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to JAMES and his GIANT HEART! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JAMES!! This is an incredibly special birthday, considering all that he has been through!!! DIAGNOSIS – 2006 James Eilert, 34 years old, presents with a “widowmaker” [100 % blockage of the left ascending coronary artery]. His ejection fraction (EF – volume of blood his heart pumps out) was between 20 and 25 percent (55 is normal). His cardiologist told him he has about 5 years left to live. James had to leave his country and travel to Thailand in order to receive Repair Stem Cell treatment. RECOVERY * · 1 1/2 weeks after treatment – Echocardiogram revealed that his completely dead apex was beating again. * · 6 months after treatment – Sidewalls of heart beat normally. Septum went from 100% damage to 30% damage. Cardiologist confirms James’ heart is 50 percent more elastic than the year before Repair Stem Cell therapy. * · 6 – 9 months after treatment – James’ total dead heart tissue is down to about 10%. EF is up to 50%! * · 4 years later – James’ heart and health continue to improve. He continues to push himself and his limits. He runs regularly, works 7 days a week and can bike 20 miles . SUMMATION: * · James went from Class III congestive heart failure to Class I with an ejection fraction (EF) increase from ~20-25% to his current EF of 50%. His doctors have lifted all restrictions and limitations on his physical activities.
Why is Zero-Interest Loan Dangerous? When you hear about zero interest loans, your ears would perk up. Who wouldn’t want to borrow a huge amount of money without any interest? Right? Everyone who is having some financial problems would jump to that kind of deal right away. It would probably be a great help to those who have a low salary or to those that doesn’t have a stable job and just wants to start their life anew. ilmainen nettivipit.fiwithout any interest are any borrowers’ dreams in starting their own businesses without any financial drawback, except for the fact that they have to pay back the loan. What is a Zero Interest Loan? Zero-interest loans are common at car dealerships and at retail stores that sell electronics and household appliances. The loans are offered through third-party lenders, not the stores themselves, and to qualify generally requires an excellent FICO score, such as 720 or above. In most cases, the zero-interest perk only comes with shorter-term loans, such as 24 months or less at a retail store or 36 months or less at a car dealership. A zero-interest loan is exactly what it sounds like: a loan in which only the principal balance must be repaid, provided that the borrower complies with the terms of the deal. These terms typically include a rigid deadline by which the entire balance must be repaid. Exceeding this deadline not only carries a hefty penalty, but, in many cases, the lender rescinds the zero-percent clause and applies backdated interest to the loan. Disadvantages of Zero-Interest Loans Overspendingit is natural to think that because you are being loaned without interest, you would abuse it. Overspending is one drawback. You wouldn’t have any control over yourself and just loan again and again after paying for your previous loan. Sometimes ending in a huge amount of money borrowed over time. You might end up in debt if ever this happens. Impulse Buying Promotions for zero-interest loans attract many more buyers than those who actually qualify for such loans. The buyers who show up only to learn that their credit does not qualify them for the 0% rate still receive slick sales pitches designed to steer them into loans that do carry interest. Even if the terms are not favourable, it can be difficult to say no, particularly if the buyer has already drawn a mental image of driving off the lot in his new car or installing his new flat-screen TV. Penalties and Fees Like any other types of loan, you will always have fees to pay first and always be vigilant with the penalties because they could make you pay for more. If you don’t comply with the Lenders terms and conditions, they will be quick to cancel your zero-interest loan. Always be on the lookout when it comes to that and you couldn’t blame them because lenders are just protecting themselves and when it comes to money, everybody wan to be secure. Borrowers who take advantage of such deals should understand what the deadlines are as well as any fees or penalties for paying late or exceeding the loan’s stated term.
At Diamond Heaven we have a vast range of diamonds shapes for you to choose from. Whether it is a classic shape like the Round Brilliant Cut or a more modern shape like the radiant cut, we have them all. Which Diamond Shape is for me? Each Diamond has its own unique characteristics. These will decide how the diamond sparkles and appears to the naked eye. If you would like to find out further details on shape then please click the ‘Learn More’ button below. Our Gemstone Earrings will add a dash of colour into your life, with the unique design bringing out the truly radiant and colourful sparkle in your life. The option to personalise these earrings by pairing the gemstones and the diamonds to is a truly unique design and statement and will no doubt turn a few heads. Each one of our Gemstone Earrings are handcrafted by our truly passionate diamond experts with the 4Cs (Cut, Clarity, Colour & Carat) in mind, to ensure that every diamond earring highlights any look, adding colour and a personalised touch.
Fans of Hannibal feel the show was killed too soon after three gloriously dark seasons — but the cult show’s legacy will live on… in Fannibals’ homes. From 4th to 8th April, gore-loving humans can bid in an online auction of props and costumes from the series. Here are just a few of our favourites… Will Graham’s (Hugh Dancy) nightmarish hallucination of Hannibal Lecter (Mads Mikkelsen)… Hannibal’s vinyl kill suit donned so elegantly by Mads Mikkelsen Remember in season one when partially decomposed bodies were found, killed by a mushroom-obsessed serial killer? These are veneers from one of the victims who was just about still alive… One of the stage knives used during season two’s blood-soaked finale… On season one, Abigail Hobbs finds human hair stuffed inside this pillow… (sorry, there isn’t actually human hair inside this one but you can imagine that there is) Sweet dreams. And there are over 1000 more grim Hannibal mementos here at Prop Store to browse and bid on.
Want the latest from the Reporter delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our free email newsletter. Had Laquan McDonald somehow survived the volley of 16 bullets fired by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke, he would have been charged with aggravated assault of a police officer. The charges would have been based on reports from officers at the scene on the night of Oct. 20, 2014, who said McDonald raised the knife over his shoulder in “an aggressive manner,” forcing the officer to shoot the 17-year-old in self-defense. Those reports were refuted by the infamous dashcam video and three of the officers who filed them are set to go on trial next month for conspiracy, obstruction of justice and official misconduct. That trial and Van Dyke’s conviction earlier this month for second-degree murder and aggravated battery with a firearm are exceedingly rare. Much more often, it’s the person on the other end of police force that ends up arrested, charged and convicted. A Chicago Reporter investigation has found a troubling pattern of Chicago police officers charging people they’ve assaulted with aggravated battery to a police officer, aggravated assault of a police officer, or resisting arrest. Defense attorneys call these “cover charges” and say it’s a way to cover up bad behavior or justify their excessive use of force. Two out of every three times a CPD officer reported using force since 2004, they arrested the subject on one of these charges. Being arrested on these charges can have a profound impact on a person’s life, including spending days or even weeks in jail, losing a job, borrowing money to pay for legal fees, and ending up with a violent offense on your record. Cover charges are alleged in nearly one in five of the 1,112 police misconduct lawsuits paid out by the city between 2011 and 2017, making it among the most common types of misconduct leading to a settlement. This type of misconduct has cost Chicago taxpayers more than $33 million in legal settlements since 2011, according to the Reporter’s database of police misconduct payouts. That figure does not include millions of dollars more in legal defense fees and the interest that accrues when the city borrows money to cover settlement payments. Cover charges are filed in police shootings, as in the case of Alfontish “Nunu” Cockerham, a 23-year-old who was shot five times by CPD officer Anthony Babicz in South Shore in June 2015. As he lay in a hospital bed with bullets lodged in his buttocks and right thigh, a judge found probable cause for aggravated assault to a police officer with a weapon charges, based on Babicz’s account that Cockerham pointed a gun at him. He died in the hospital the next day. Video footage later showed Cockerham running away from the officer, raising doubts about the officer’s account. But more often they are filed in routine interactions between police and the public, the kind that occur on a daily basis in black and brown neighborhoods in Chicago. For example, an 18-year-old girl stopped by two officers for holding a 40-ounce bottle of King Cobra malt beer on a sidewalk in Englewood. When she didn’t give them her ID, the officers tackled her to the ground and forced her into their squad car, then arrested her for aggravated assault to a police officer and resisting arrest, along with underage drinking. The charges were later dropped. The ‘holy trinity’ of cover charges Police in Chicago also routinely arrest people for the singular charge of resisting arrest—a phenomenon experts say is concerning, and could mean the problem is far more expansive than the settlement data indicate. Chicago Police made more than 1,300 arrests between 2012 and September 2016 where the only charge was resisting arrest, according to a Reporter analysis of Cook County court data. More than half of these cases were ultimately dismissed. “What was the person resisting if there’s no underlying charge?” said Samuel Walker, a professor emeritus at the University of Nebraska and a national expert in police accountability. “That’s just a gigantic red flag that the officer probably used force and is using this resisting arrest charge to provide cover or an explanation.” Other times cover charges arise from low-level offenses—traffic stops, marijuana possession—that escalate when an officer feels disrespected, said Christy Lopez, a former U.S. Department of Justice official who helped lead the department’s investigation into CPD and wrote a paper about this kind of police misconduct. “What the police are doing is essentially being bullies,” Lopez said. “I’m going to use force against you because you made me mad.” This phenomenon is a decades-old pattern. In 1972, U.S. Rep. Ralph H. Metcalfe, who chaired a Blue Ribbon Panel on Chicago police abuse, noted that three charges—disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and battery to a police officer—were so commonly used as cover for misconduct that lawyers referred to them as the “holy trinity.” Forty-five years later, the U.S. Department of Justice found that the problem persists. “We heard from numerous advocates and individual victims of police abuse that officers who engaged in force against a civilian routinely file baseless police assault and battery charges against the victim and other witnesses to the misconduct,” DOJ officials wrote in their scathing 2017 report on CPD’s pattern of using excessive force. “Filing false charges not only constitutes an independent civil rights violation, but is a powerful discouragement to potential complainants and witnesses regarding police misconduct.” CPD is not the only department where this happens. News organizations have identified the use of cover charges in cities from Seattle to San Jose to Washington, D.C. And the Justice Department noted the problem in civil rights investigations in Los Angeles, Detroit and New Orleans. In many of the cities where the DOJ has negotiated consent decrees, it has required police to begin tracking these arrests and conducting more thorough supervisory reviews to weed out bogus arrests, though it remains to be seen if tracking these arrests is enough to discourage them. But in Chicago, nothing has been done to stem this practice or even to track it. The consent decree negotiated by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Mayor Rahm Emanuel and released last month makes no mention of these cases. The police department referred questions about cover charges to the mayor’s office. Walter Katz, the mayor’s deputy chief of staff for public safety, said the city is focused on reforms that will reduce the use of excessive force, rather than looking at what he called the “back end” issue of the charges that are filed after force is used. He pointed to reforms the city has already made, including body-worn cameras, new use of force guidelines, and a force review unit, as well as the additional force reporting that will be required by the consent decree. “From our perspective, those sets of reforms actually address that issue at the front end, to make sure the force that is used is appropriate,” he said. “Just too aggressive” Jeffrey Smith had spent the rainy day in early October 2015 like he did many days: hanging out at his grandparents’ house in North Lawndale, where he grew up. Smith, then 26 years old, was about to accompany his younger sister to the corner store around 9 p.m., when two plainclothes Chicago Police officers appeared outside the gate to the front yard and ordered him to put his hands up. Photo by Max Herman Smith was scared. But he knew he hadn’t done anything wrong, so he asked the officers for an explanation. The officers just kept repeating their commands, he said. They would later say they saw Smith’s hands near his waistband and they thought he might have drugs. In fact, he was putting on his belt. It escalated quickly. One of the officers pushed Smith, tripping him. The officers wrote in their reports that Smith was yelling and swinging his arms. They said he pushed them and elbowed one of them, but Smith denies it. The officers called for backup. “How they approached me was just too aggressive,” Smith said. “I didn’t know what they were trying to do.” Out of the corner of his eye, Smith saw a female officer approaching. The next thing he knew his body was frozen, two Taser probes sending a pulse of electric current through him. The officers tackled his incapacitated body and handcuffed him. Smith was taken to the police station and then to the hospital to have the Taser barbs removed. It wasn’t until the next morning, when he appeared in bond court, that he found out he was being charged with resisting arrest and aggravated battery to a police officer, a felony that carries three-to-seven years in prison. Of the three most common types of cover charges, aggravated battery to a police officer is the most serious. It is a class-two felony, akin to burglary, arson, or kidnapping. Chicago Police filed 2,883 aggravated battery to a police officer cases between 2011 and September 2018, a rate of more than one per day. The Reporter found that black men, like Smith, are disproportionately likely to be charged. After he was arrested, Smith spent 10 days in Cook County Jail and lost his job as a security guard at Navy Pier. He picked up odd construction jobs during the 14 months his case was pending to try to care for his 6-month-old son. “I needed to take care of him, and I could barely take care of myself,” Smith recalled. “You go from being able to take care of yourself comfortably, to not even knowing where your next dollar is gonna come from. Or when you’re gonna be able to work again. Or even if you’re gonna be locked up.” After more than a year, a jury acquitted Smith of all the charges against him. He settled a lawsuit for excessive force and false arrest with the city in August. The city agreed to pay him $75,000, adding yet again to the tab for taxpayers for this type of police misconduct. State’s attorney’s office accused of protecting cops File photo by Sebastián Hidalgo It’s not always so easy to spot the questionable charges from among the legitimate ones. Cases like Smith’s, where the person is acquitted, make up just under 3 percent of aggravated battery to a police officer cases, or about 60 cases since 2011, according to a Chicago Reporter analysis of Cook County State’s Attorney’s data. Another 100 cases were dismissed. More than 80 percent of aggravated battery to a police officer cases end in a plea deal, by far the most common outcome for cases in criminal court, though not always an indication of guilt. “Often people will plead or take a deal because they want the court case to be over, because they can’t go about their life anymore with these charges hanging over their head,” said Joey Mogul, a veteran civil rights attorney with the Chicago-based People’s Law Office. In almost half of the cases defendants pleaded guilty to aggravated battery and in more than one-third of cases they pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Civilian Office of Police Accountability Among them was Nathaniel Taylor, a 19-year-old with severe cognitive delays who was walking home from school with his younger brother in September 2015 when they walked through the yard of an off-duty police officer. He later said he was trying to find a place to urinate. The officer, Matthew Jackson, punched and kicked Taylor, and stuck his gun in Taylor’s mouth, according to a lawsuit and a complaint filed with the city’s police oversight agency. The officer claimed part of Taylor’s body had struck his torso, though he couldn’t say what part. The blows sent Taylor to the hospital and required stitches. But it was Taylor who ended up charged with aggravated battery to a police officer, while Jackson went unpunished. The aggravated battery charges against Taylor were eventually dismissed, and he pleaded guilty to trespassing, a misdemeanor. But not before he spent a week in Cook County Jail and six months on electronic monitoring, fighting the case. Richard Dvorak, who represented Taylor’s family in the lawsuit, and other civil rights attorneys said prosecutors are partly to blame for pursuing charges even when they know the evidence is flimsy. If a person pleads guilty to aggravated battery or resisting arrest, it is much harder to win a civil rights lawsuit or file a successful excessive force complaint. “The state’s attorney’s office is being used as an arm of the police department to protect the cops,” he said. Aside from narcotics cases, most felony arrests are reviewed by an assistant state’s attorney before being formally presented in court, a process called felony review. So far this year, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s office has approved close to 95 percent of aggravated battery to a police officer cases brought by CPD, according to a Reporter analysis of felony review data. By comparison, Foxx’s office has approved just under 80 percent of other felony cases. The top criminal prosecutor in Foxx’s office strongly denied claims that her prosecutors pursue charges to protect police officers from civil liability. “When we’re looking at these types of cases, we’re reviewing them based upon the evidence that we have,” said Risa Lanier, who heads the State’s Attorney’s criminal division. “It has nothing to do with any sort of contrived relationship between the State’s Attorney’s office and the Chicago Police Department. We approach every single case, no matter who the victim is, the same.” Cover charges could be red flag for aggressive officers Theric Patrick was among the tiny minority whose arrests for aggravated battery were denied felony review by the state’s attorney’s office. Patrick was sitting on his cousin’s porch on a warm morning in May 2016 playing a video game on his iPad when two officers approached from the street. One of them, Brandon Ternand, demanded to know Patrick’s name. When the 22-year-old didn’t answer quickly enough—and talked back, asking why the officers were bothering them—Ternand slapped the iPad out of his hand, according to a lawsuit filed last year. Ternand then pulled Patrick off the porch by his dreadlocks and tackled him, while other officers helped him twist Patrick’s arm behind his back to handcuff him and pushed his head into the ground. Then the officer arrested Patrick for aggravated battery, claiming in a report that Patrick punched him in the left side of his head. A detective assigned to review the case discovered a bystander video that disputed Ternand’s account. Patrick spent the night in lockup. The next morning, the state’s attorney’s office denied the felony charge and Patrick was released. Records show Ternand has not been disciplined for the incident. (The detective, meanwhile, was moved to a midnight shift and is now suing the department for retaliating against her in violation of the Illinois Whistleblower Act.) Ternand, who joined CPD in 2007, has used force more than 99.9 percent of his fellow officers, according to data compiled by the Invisible Institute. In less than nine years on the job, he amassed 47 documented uses of force. The average Chicago police officer documented less than one use of force every two years. Earlier this month, Ternand was cleared by the Chicago Police Board for fatally shooting 15-year-old Dakota Bright in 2012, one of three times he shot his service revolver in a two-year period. The Reporter reviewed data from more than 2,200 aggravated battery and aggravated assault to a police officer arrests made by CPD between January 2015 and July 2018, and found officers who made the most arrests on these charges also use force far more often than average. There are more than 12,000 sworn officers on the force, and most of them made no arrests for these charges in that three-and-a-half year period. But the Reporter was able to identify 23 officers who made five or more arrests for aggravated battery or aggravated assault to a police officer. Nearly all of them were in the top two percent of Chicago police officers for using force. On average, these officers used force more than 7.5 times as often as a typical officer. “This is not something unique to Chicago,” said Katz, the mayor’s public safety deputy who used to be the independent police auditor in San Jose, Calif. “Those two indicators do follow each other relatively closely.” Of course, policing is a perilous job that can bring officers into contact on a daily basis with people who are agitated or angry, at best, and dangerous, at worst. The fatal shooting of Commander Paul Bauer in downtown Chicago last February is a tragic, but rare, example of what can happen when officers confront armed suspects. But in more than 90 percent of battery and assault of a police officer cases, the suspect was unarmed. Brian Burg and Bryan Zydek, former partners in the Englewood District who came up in the same recruit class in 2007, are among the 23 officers with the most arrests for potential cover charges. Their arrests are emblematic of how officers escalate relatively minor situations, use force to make an arrest, then file charges that seem to justify their conduct. Together, they arrested five people for aggravated assault to a police officer and resisting arrest between June and December 2015. Zydek arrested another person for aggravated assault that December, two more people for aggravated battery to a police officer the following March, and yet another person for aggravated assault in March 2017, bringing his total number of arrests for these charges to nine in three-and-a-half years. Arrest Report (p. 1) The narrative of an arrest made by officer Brian Burg and Bryan Zydek show how a simple drinking ticket escalated into an aggravated assault of a police officer and resisting arrest charge. View entire document on DocumentCloud Three of these arrests started when the officers stopped someone for drinking on the public way, a simple municipal code violation. When the person didn’t immediately comply with the officers’ commands, Burg and Zydek moved to arrest them, escalating the situation. In two cases, the arrestees had to be taken to the hospital for injuries suffered during the arrest. In four of the cases, all of the assault and battery to a police officer charges were ultimately dropped. In the others the defendants pleaded guilty, mostly to less serious charges. Lopez, the former DOJ official, said if CPD reviewed these types of arrests, it could help the department flag officers who are using too much force too often. She said supervisors should be closely reviewing the types of arrests that are typically used as cover charges and take immediate corrective action against officers if they bring charges that aren’t backed by evidence. “I think this is actually one of the easier problems in policing to change, because it’s readily identifiable and you can easily send the message to officers that it’s not acceptable,” she said. “It will flourish where it’s tolerated, but where it’s not tolerated, you can put an end to it.” But she also knows her prescription may not sit well with officers. “Officers have to understand that some people are going to be obnoxious and are going to be big jerks to you, and part of being a police officer is taking that,” she said. “That’s something that a lot of officers have trouble with.”
i - 3i - 72. Let t be q(i). What are the prime factors of 3 + 104/(-40) - 133/t? 3 Suppose -4l - 65 = c, 0 = 2c - 3l + 122 - 14. Let h(m) = 65m2 - 46m - 45. Let j be h(-1). Let x = j + c. What are the prime factors of x? 3 Suppose 5m - 10938 = 5v - 7v, 2191 = m - 3v. Suppose 8k - m = 300. List the prime factors of k. 311 Let x(l) = 6004l + 167. What are the prime factors of x(2)? 5, 487 Suppose -r = 94 - 99. Suppose 518 = 9y + ry. List the prime factors of y. 37 Suppose -3w - 12160 = 14w - 174544. List the prime factors of w. 2, 3, 199 Suppose 4d + 44 = -36. Let s = 260 - d. List the prime factors of s. 2, 5, 7 Let f = 60 - 72. Let m be (-9)/f + (-2548)/(-16). Suppose -2r - 18 = -m. What are the prime factors of r? 71 Let h(t) = -4t2 + 312t + 255. Let j be h(79). Suppose 700 = s - 5s. Let a = j - s. List the prime factors of a. 2, 3, 19 Let m = -37 - -39. Let p(h) = -mh - h*3 + 24h*2 - 7h*2 - 9h + 12. List the prime factors of p(16). 2, 23 Let z = 14614 + -9893. What are the prime factors of z? 4721 Suppose 31j + 69j - 8360677 = -2817477. What are the prime factors of j? 2, 13, 41 List the prime factors of (-866)/((18/(-396))/((-4)/(-8))). 2, 11, 433 Let j be (-2 - -19)/(2/8). Let w = -66 + j. What are the prime factors of (-728)/13(w - 10/4)? 2, 7 Let d(w) = 3w + 91. Let t = -7 - -7. Let k be d(t). Let q = k + -34. What are the prime factors of q? 3, 19 Suppose 5u = 3a + 70370, 5u - 753a - 70370 = -748a. List the prime factors of u. 2, 31, 227 Suppose 4m = o - 7968, -39750 = -5o - 6m + 8m. List the prime factors of o. 2, 1987 Let a(d) = 2d*3 + 8d*2 - 7d + 1. Let r(c) = c*2 + 5c - 7. Let n be r(0). Let i be a(n). Let p = i + 413. List the prime factors of p. 13 Let z = 675 - 667. Suppose 0k - 5k = -f - 272, 5f = -5k + 260. Suppose -zm = -5m - k. List the prime factors of m. 2, 3 Suppose -129c + 39333 = -122c. List the prime factors of c. 3, 1873 Let c = -6306 + 86817. List the prime factors of c. 3, 47, 571 Let g(c) = 3c - 23c*3 + 36 - 40 - 5c*2 + 7c*2. What are the prime factors of g(-4)? 2, 3, 31 Let q be 321 + (0/(-6) - 3)/3. Suppose 4b - 3c + 771 = 0, 0b + c = b + 194. Let y = q + b. List the prime factors of y. 131 Suppose -a + 11 = -0a. Suppose -6t - a = 1. List the prime factors of t - (-61)/1 - -2. 61 Let w(v) = -v*3 - 7v*2 - 5v + 12. Let r be w(-6). Suppose 5i - r = 9. Suppose 0q - 33 = -iq. List the prime factors of q. 11 Suppose -95d - 575756 + 2172182 = -1296229. What are the prime factors of d? 30449 Let j = 29 - 32. Let i(l) = -3l3 + 2l*2 + 5l + 6. Let t be i(j). Suppose 3w - 27 = -3g + t, 2w + 3g - 78 = 0. What are the prime factors of w? 3, 13 Suppose 3d + 56 = -64. Let v = d + -44. Let b = 168 + v. List the prime factors of b. 2, 3, 7 Let l(v) = -4 + 322v - 40v - 216 - 21v. List the prime factors of l(4). 2, 103 Let b(a) = 45a + 16. Let o = 23 + -21. Let v be (1 - 5/o)(4 + -6). List the prime factors of b(v). 151 Let a = 47229 - -375. What are the prime factors of a? 2, 3, 3967 Suppose 2z + 4g = 1660, 17z - 21z - 5g = -3320. What are the prime factors of z? 2, 5, 83 Suppose 0 = -6o + 2317 + 2747. Let n = o + -580. What are the prime factors of n? 2, 3, 11 Let d = -68 - -78. List the prime factors of 1332/d50/30. 2, 3, 37 Suppose 3s + m = 7, -3s - 2s + 3m + 21 = 0. Let z be (-4405)/(-15) + (-2)/3. Suppose sr + 376 = 5n, 5r + z = 3n + n. List the prime factors of n. 7, 11 Let y = -9368 + 16963. What are the prime factors of y? 5, 7, 31 Suppose 5x - 19 = -5v + 1, 29 = 5x - 4v. Suppose i = -xr + 3r + 310, -3i + 471 = 3r. List the prime factors of r. 3, 17 What are the prime factors of ((-45)/21(-7)/2)/(5/14510)? 3, 5, 1451 Let n(d) = -d + 20. Let q(o) = 4 - 1 + 1 - 5. Let b(k) = n(k) + 5q(k). List the prime factors of b(10). 5 Suppose -5n - 1142 = -58r + 55r, 5r - 1854 = -4n. Let o(p) = p - 7. Let z be o(7). Suppose z = -18a + 20a - r. What are the prime factors of a? 11, 17 Let d = 104 + -102. Suppose -4h = 5b + 29, -2b - 11 = dh - 3b. List the prime factors of 2246/10 + ((-72)/(-20))/h. 2, 7 Let h(i) = 3i*3 + 15i*2 - 5i + 2. Let x(f) = -f*3. Suppose l = 4o - 9, 3o - 8o + 15 = -5l. Let y(j) = lh(j) - x(j). List the prime factors of y(-8). 2, 11 Suppose -1737 + 70013 = 7d + 5325. What are the prime factors of d? 17, 23 Let d(a) = 43a + 17. Suppose 0 = 3z + 9, 10 = 4y - 2z - 56. What are the prime factors of d(y)? 2, 331 Suppose 157o - 5h = 155o + 41689, 0 = -5o - h + 104128. List the prime factors of o. 59, 353 List the prime factors of 1194/9 + (-34)/51. 2, 3, 11 Suppose -164w + 157930 = 18w - 349304. What are the prime factors of w? 3, 929 Let m(w) = w3 - 17w*2 - 18w + 5. Let l be m(18). Suppose lp = 88 + 12. Suppose p - 87 = -r. What are the prime factors of r? 67 Let t(v) = 84v*3 - 14v*2 + 17v - 7. What are the prime factors of t(3)? 2, 1093 Let y(v) = -19 + 2 - 21 + 8v. Suppose 159 + 33 = 32f. List the prime factors of y(f). 2, 5 Let s be 33/22 - 118/(-4). Let h = -28 + s. Suppose 390 = 2q + hq. List the prime factors of q. 2, 3, 13 Let j(l) = l*3 + 5l*2 + 15l - 30. Let h be j(9). Let m = 1989 - h. List the prime factors of m. 2, 3, 5 Suppose -17d + 3953 = -6264. Let b = 972 - d. List the prime factors of b. 7, 53 Suppose 0 = -4t - 18k + k + 74971, -4t = -k - 75061. What are the prime factors of t? 2, 4691 Let r be ((-3)/(6/11))/((-10)/940). List the prime factors of 2/18(-2 - r)-6. 2, 173 Let g = -101 - -106. Suppose -11004 = -19o + go. What are the prime factors of o? 2, 3, 131 Suppose -5l + 2t + 132 = 0, -4l + 4t = l - 124. Suppose 3m - 2 = 3x + l, -2m + 5 = -5x. What are the prime factors of m? 3, 5 List the prime factors of ((-138089)/(-21))/(279/54 - 5). 2, 19727 Let l(p) = p3 - p2 - 6p - 4497. Let g be l(0). What are the prime factors of 6 + 75/(-10) - g/6? 2, 11, 17 Suppose 0 = -3j, -z + 21 + 606 = j. Let b = -396 + z. List the prime factors of b. 3, 7, 11 Let b(j) = -2j - 1 + 17 - 32j. Let i be ((-8)/(-10))/(8 + (-1464)/180). List the prime factors of b(i). 2, 5, 11 Let u(o) be the second derivative of -o*4/12 + 9o*3/2 + 15o*2/2 - o. Suppose 269s - 272s = -4y - 97, 0 = y + 7. List the prime factors of u(s). 107 Let f(q) = -3q2 + 3q + 32. Let o be f(-9). Let g = o - -1284. List the prime factors of g. 2, 523 Suppose -r - 1 = 2f, -8r - 4f - 32 = -12r. Let k be (1/1 - -1) + -10. What are the prime factors of (12/k)/(r/(-120))? 2, 3 Suppose 6m = -4m + 2190. Suppose -2361 + m = -7p. Suppose 0r - r - 3 = 0, 3d - 2r = p. List the prime factors of d. 2, 5 Let h be (6 - 60/5) + 11. Suppose hq - 64 = 306. List the prime factors of q. 2, 37 Let o be (-578)/4((-18)/(-3) + -40). Suppose -8l + o = 9l. List the prime factors of l. 17 Suppose 3x = 2d + 2x - 43, 4d + 4x - 104 = 0. Let h = d - 19. What are the prime factors of (2/h)/(7/2688)? 2, 3 Let a(p) = -117 + 210p + 28 + 51p - 29. List the prime factors of a(6). 2, 181 Suppose 3g + 15 = 18. Suppose 4s + 4l = 44, -2s + 19 = -2l + g. Suppose -sp = p - 275. List the prime factors of p. 5 Let q(y) = 12y - 63. Let h be q(15). Let i = 121 - h. List the prime factors of (146 - (-1 - i - -2)) + 3. 2, 19 Let v(a) = a*2 - 8a - 33. Let w be v(10). Let h = w - -45. Let q = 55 + h. What are the prime factors of q? 3, 29 Let r(f) = 3f + 42. Let x be r(-9). Suppose xz - 3149 + 419 = 0. List the prime factors of z. 2, 7, 13 Suppose 0 = 4n + 20, m + 6n = n - 22. Let c(t) = -t*3 - 8t*2 - 6t + 13. Let z be c(-7). Suppose m + z = -3w, -g = 2w - 215. List the prime factors of g. 13, 17 Let m(z) be the third derivative of z*7/360 - 17z6/720 - z5/20 + 16z2. Let o(j) be the third derivative of m(j). List the prime factors of o(10). 3, 41 Let a = 53798 + -21353. What are the prime factors of a? 3, 5, 7, 103 Suppose -j - 24 = -146. Suppose 2v + 2v - j = k, 5v = -3k + 144. Suppose -26m = -vm + 292. List the prime factors of m. 73 Suppose -25o + 334629 = -987946. What are the prime factors of o? 52903 Let a(b) = 270b2 - 104b + 331. List the prime factors of a(3). 31, 79 Let f(k) = -275*k - 4137. What are the prime factors of f(-45)? 2,
French startup Molotov is slowly becoming the leading platform to stream TV in France. With a single account, you can watch TV on your phone, tablet, computer and set-top box. The company is about to release a VR app that lets you watch TV using a virtual reality headset — but there’s a twist. The new service is called Molotov Together and is an interesting experience in many ways. I tried an early version of the service a couple of weeks ago. At first, I was quite reluctant about the idea of watching TV in a VR headset. I’m not a fan of VR in general, and many VR headsets already let you watch videos in in virtual reality. In many cases, you end up with a YouTube player in a web browser projected on a virtual wall in a virtual room. But Molotov is aware of that and knows that watching a video is still better on an actual TV. When Molotov co-founder and CEO Jean-David Blanc started pitching me the idea of Molotov Together, he first talked about live TV. In the era of Netflix shows and huge iTunes libraries, it’s hard to remember that watching TV used to mean watching something live, sharing a moment together. You can still experience this with football matches, election nights and other important events. And in those cases, the side conversations and jokes can be as important as the content itself. TV for long-distance besties Molotov has created a virtual reality coffee shop called Molotov Café. With Molotov Together, you can invite one or two friends to watch TV with you in the café. You all sit in comfortable virtual reality armchairs and can see each other. Each person can control the TV channel they want to watch and access all Molotov content — in that experience, you don’t share a TV, everyone has its own TV. But Molotov Together truly shines when you’re all watching the same channel. After that, you can watch the same content and talk together using voice chat. You don’t have to press any button, you can just casually sit back and watch something together. I tried Molotov Together with Jean-David Blanc and I didn’t expect it to work so well. At first, entering the virtual coffee shop is a bit odd because it’s a significant context change. But once you start chatting with the other person and comment on what you see, it feels like you’re sitting next to each other. Long-distance friends and couples sometimes watch the same movie with Skype or FaceTime running on a device. Molotov wants to perfect this concept and people in this situation will love the service. Similarly, there’s a reason why people watch reaction videos to popular TV shows. Hearing jokes and comments on your favorite show is a good way to enhance your favorite content. Mind tricks A product like Molotov Together doesn’t work well if the team behind it isn’t paying attention to small details. I tried Molotov Together with an Oculus Go but the app should eventually work with all major VR headsets. Molotov Together is a multiplayer experience. Just like a video game, you need to see the same thing at the same time. If your favorite team scores a goal and your feed is five seconds behind, it’s not going to cut it. That’s why Molotov made sure that two persons stream from the same content delivery network so that the video feeds are perfectly in sync. While you can control the volume of your virtual TV, the voices of your friends are also spatialized. Even if both of your friends have a similar sounding voice, you know who is talking without even looking. From the coffee shop to your living room Molotov Together will be released in February 2019. Any Molotov user will be able to access the service if they have a compatible VR headset. The company wants to release new features after that. In particular, Molotov will let you invite people to your own virtual living room and watch your TV. This time, the host controls the TV and can stream premium content — other people can watch premium content even if they are not subscribers. It’s going to be interesting to see the reaction of French regulators. Molotov currently has around 7 million users in France. Every day, 1.2 million users watch something on Molotov. They stream a total of 1.1 million hours of content. As you can see, those Molotov sessions can be quite long. With this new product, Molotov proves that it’s a technology company that competes with content companies. Molotov Together won’t change the face of the company. But the startup is still experimenting with new ways to watch TV. And that might be enough to give it an edge over its competitors.
Q: Preferences Support Library - SwitchPreference not working A few days ago Google introduced the Preference Support Library (Link). I've just tried to implement it in my application though it seems like it's not working with SwitchPreferences which is weird because Google states that we can use the same XML-Files as before and explicity says that SwitchPreferences are now available to all API 7+ devices. Quote (Source) [...] and add preferences using the same preference XML files (http://goo.gl/wOcIxI), while adding support for elements such as SwitchPreference (previously only available on API 14+ devices) to all API 7+ devices. [...] Error message java.lang.RuntimeException: Unable to start activity ComponentInfo{com.my.package/com.my.package.Main}: android.view.InflateException: Binary XML file line #4: Error inflating class (not found)SwitchPreference at android.app.ActivityThread.performLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2325) at android.app.ActivityThread.handleLaunchActivity(ActivityThread.java:2387) at android.app.ActivityThread.access$800(ActivityThread.java:151) at android.app.ActivityThread$H.handleMessage(ActivityThread.java:1303) at android.os.Handler.dispatchMessage(Handler.java:102) at android.os.Looper.loop(Looper.java:135) at android.app.ActivityThread.main(ActivityThread.java:5254) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Native Method) at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:372) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit$MethodAndArgsCaller.run(ZygoteInit.java:903) at com.android.internal.os.ZygoteInit.main(ZygoteInit.java:698) Relevant part is obviously Binary XML file line #4: Error inflating class (not found)SwitchPreference. Java code public class FragmentSettings extends PreferenceFragmentCompat { @Override public void onCreatePreferences(Bundle bundle, String s) { addPreferencesFromResource(R.xml.preferences); } } preferences.xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <PreferenceScreen xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"> <SwitchPreference android:key="pref_something" android:summary="Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" android:title="Lorem ipsum" /> </PreferenceScreen> So basically the question is: Am I doing something wrong or is this indeed a bug of the Preference Support Library? A: SwitchPreference added in API level 14. if you are using Preferences Support Library v7, you must use SwitchPreferenceCompat instead. <SwitchPreferenceCompat android:key="pref_something" android:summary="Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet" android:title="Lorem ipsum" />
Tanner Bushue • Pitcher/Minor Leagues •May 1 – Bushue, a South Central graduate, was reassigned to extended spring training after a rough start to his season with the Class A Lexington Legends. In six appearances (three starts), Bushue was 0-3 with an 18.82 ERA. He had allowed 27 hits and 23 earned runs in 11 innings of work, while striking out 10. The Vandalia baseball game at Litchfield has been canceled due to a school activity scheduling conflict at Litchfield. It will be made up on May 8 at 4:30 p.m. (varsity only). In addition, St. Elmo at North Clay has been canceled for Friday. CARLINVILLE – Junior Sierah Ruffner was the lone champion for Vandalia at Tuesday’s South Central Conference girls track meet, but first-year Gena Nance was left satisfied by a solid team-effort that earned the Lady Vandals sixth place. Ruffner placed first in the high jump, clearing 5 feet on her third attempt at that height. She was assured of first place after clearing 4 feet, 10 inches, however, because neither of the two individuals who tied for second place could clear that height.
Q: How can I import the images of the configurable product in simple product? I need to send my products for Amazon but I created simple products through configurable products. So simple products are no images. How can I assign the images of configurable products to simple products to send them the Amazon? A: First, backup your database in case I'm wrong. Let's say that $configurableProductId is the configurable product id. Now you can run this script for a configurable product. //load the configurable product - not a very fast way to do it, but you need a load to fetch all the images $confProduct = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->load($configurableProductId); //get the images $gallery = $product->getData('media_gallery'); //get the instance for the media_gallery attribute $mediaGalleryAttribute = Mage::getModel('eav/config')->getAttribute('catalog_product', 'media_gallery'); //get access to a model that handles the image association to products $resource = Mage::getResourceSingleton('catalog/product_attribute_backend_media'); if (isset($gallery['images'])) { //get all simple child products ids $simpleProductIds = $conProduct->getTypeInstance()->getUsedProductIds(); //for each simple product foreach ($simpleProductIds as $productId) { //for eahc image from the main product foreach ($gallery['images'] as $image) { //build an array with imag settings $data = array(); $data['entity_id'] = $parentId; $data['attribute_id'] = $mediaGalleryAttribute->getId(); $data['value'] = $image['file']; //save the image and get the id $lastId = $resource->insertGallery($data); //set the label and position for the new images $data = array(); $data['value_id'] = $lastId; $data['label'] = $image['label']; $data['position'] = (int) $image['position']; $data['disabled'] = (int) $image['disabled']; $data['store_id'] = (int) $product->getStoreId(); //finish the job $resource->insertGalleryValueInStore($data); } } } If you need to get all the configurable products ids you can do this: $productsIds = Mage::getModel('catalog/product')->getCollection() ->addAttributeToFilter('type_id', 'configurable') ->getAllIds();
Can corporations and labor unions hide how much money they spend on campaign-related ads by funneling money through other corporations that don’t have to disclose the identities of the original donors? That question is at the heart of a lawsuit brought by Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who is challenging a Federal Elections Commission regulation that fatally weakened the donor disclosure requirement mandated by the Bipartisan Campaign Finance Reform Act (BCRA). The case is scheduled for argument on January 11th, 2012, before a D.C. federal district court. Until 2007, federal law prohibited corporations (including non-profits and labor unions) from spending money on “electioneering communications” — ads regarding a clearly identified federal candidate aired in the immediate run up to an election via broadcast, cable, or satellite communications. Federal law did not restrict the ability of private individuals to buy air time, but did require that an individual’s identity be disclosed if $1,000 or more was spent. The Supreme Court opened the door to corporate electioneering communications in 2007 in FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, as long as corporations stick to issue ads and don’t expressly call for the election or defeat of a particular candidate. After the Court’s decision, the FEC revised its regulations. How would existing law about disclosure of donations apply to corporations making electioneering communications? The FEC decided to split the baby, requiring corporations and labor unions to disclose donations, but only when they were “made for the purpose of furthering electioneering communications.” While reasonable-sounding, this regulation in effect has been a disaster for disclosure and undermined BCRA. Why not require corporations who make these expenditures to report all donors? (The law permits corporations to set up a special “segregated” fund from which funds can be drawn so they don’t have to disclose all donations to the general treasury.) How can you tell what a corporation’s “purpose” is? The FEC’s swiss-cheese standard leaves plenty of room to circumvent Congress’s intent. According to the Van Hollen complaint, evasion is rampant. “Persons making ‘electioneering communications’ disclosed the sources of less than 10% of their $79.9 million in ‘electioneering communication’ spending.” For example, the Chamber of Commerce spent $32.9 million in electioneering communications in 2010, but did not disclose a single contributor. A cottage industry has sprung up of corporations establishing nice-sounding non-profits through which they funnel money while anonymizing corporate campaign activity. The amount of dark money can only increase. The court has an opportunity to address this problem, but ultimately Congress needs to look at strengthening disclosure requirements across the board.
Q: How do I provide JVM arguments to VisualVM? I'm using VisualVM from JDK 1.6.0_26 to profile a Java webapp running under Tomcat, but VisualVM often tells me that it doesn't have enough memory to take a snapshot, and to use the -Xmx switch to provide more memory to Netbeans. The problem is, I'm running VisualVM outside of Netbeans, so how can I provide JVM arguments to jvisualvm.exe? A: Should be able to modify the memory settings in %JDK_HOME%\lib\visualvm\etc\visualvm.conf Xms and Xmx are in the default_options line. A: or I think this works too: jvisualvm.exe -J-Xmx512m (or whatever amount you need) -J on the .exe command line for onetime settings, or the .conf file noted in the other answer for changing defaults A: I started with jvisualvm -J-Xms1024m -J-Xmx2048m and it worked.
This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. Please enable Javascript to watch this video (CNN) - An outspoken and provocative conservative who emerged from Saturday’s Republican Party of Virginia Convention as the party’s nominee for lieutenant governor once compared Planned Parenthood to the Ku Klux Klan and blasted African-Americans for their “slavish devotion” to the Democratic Party. E.W. Jackson, an African-American pastor and attorney from Chesapeake, made the comments in a self-produced “message to black Christians” posted on YouTube last year. “The Democrat Party has created an unholy alliance between certain so-called civil rights leaders and Planned Parenthood, which has killed unborn black babies by the tens of millions. Planned Parenthood has been far more lethal to black lives than the KKK ever was,” he said in the video. “And the Democrat Party and the black civil rights allies are partners in this genocide.” Sensing an opportunity to tie Jackson to the rest of the Republican ticket in Virginia, especially conservative gubernatorial nominee Ken Cuccinelli, Democrats have already started highlighting those remarks and others in emails to reporters. Cuccinelli, the state Attorney General, will face Democrat Terry McAuliffe, the former Democratic National Committee chairman, in the November election. Cuccinelli and Jackson were nominated at Saturday’s GOP convention in Richmond, where Jackson beat out six other candidates for the number two spot on the ticket. Party activists tapped Mark Obenshain to be their nominee for attorney general. Jackson, the founder of a nondenominational church, is a former Marine and graduate of Harvard Law School. But he is rapidly becoming known for a raft of controversial statements that have bubbled up online in the wake of his surprise victory on Saturday. He has publicly questioned President Barack Obama’s faith and has been spearheading efforts to recruit black Democrats to the GOP since last year, when he unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Virginia. “Shame on us for allowing ourselves to be sold to the highest bidder. We belong to God,” he said in the video. “Our ancestors were sold against their will centuries ago, but we’re going through the slave market voluntarily today.” As lieutenant governor, Jackson would hold the tie-breaking vote in what is currently an evenly divided state Senate. Republicans currently hold the lieutenant governorship and control of the 40-seat body. But with the unpolished Jackson as the GOP nominee, Democrats are now a safe bet to pick up the lieutenant governor’s office and control of the senate. Democrats will decide their nominee in a June 11 primary. To the frustration of establishment Republicans, GOP activists in the state chose to nominate their candidates at a convention instead of in a primary, a move that gave a relatively small group of conservative activists control over the nomination process. A purple state, Virginia currently has a Republican governor, Bob McDonnell, and but voted for President Barack Obama in the last two presidential elections. Poll numbers so far show neither party with a sizable lead in the race, less than six months before Election Day. Because Virginia voters elect the governor and lieutenant governor separately, it’s possible that the winners could be from different parties.
Acca Kappa 1869 Eau de Cologne 3.3 fl oz Regular price $74.00 Sale Title Elegant, masculine and seductive fragrance for him An elegant and distinctly masculine fragrance characterized by the warm notes of a leather accord. A heady cocktail of Cardamom and Geranium brings freshness to the fragrance and complements the dynamic notes of Iris and Violet. Amber and Vanilla reflects a man's warmth and sensuality. Acca Kappa 1869's collection is a loving gesture. Each item tells its own tale of craftsmanship and noble materials and comes into contact with the most precious treasure we have: our own bodies. The materials that dominates the collection is Wenge, a dark striated wood from East Africa.
It was already known that genes inherited from ancient retroviruses[1] are essential to the placenta in mammals, a finding to which scientists in the Laboratoire Physiologie et Pathologie Moléculaires des Rétrovirus Endogènes et Infectieux (CNRS/Université Paris-Sud) contributed. Today, the same scientists[2] have revealed a new chapter in this astonishing story: these genes of viral origin may also be responsible for the more developed muscle mass seen in males! Their findings are published on 2 September 2016 in PLOS Genetics. Retroviruses carry proteins on their surface that are able to mediate fusion of their envelope with the membrane of a target cell. Once released inside that cell, their genetic material becomes integrated in the host's chromosomes. In the rare cases where the infected cell is involved in reproduction, the viral genes may be transmitted to progeny. Thus nearly 8% of the mammalian genome is made up of vestiges of retroviruses, or "endogenous" retroviruses. Most of them are inactive, but some remain capable of producing proteins: this is the case of syncytins, proteins that are present in all mammals and encoded by genes inherited from retroviruses "captured" by their ancestors. A little more than five years ago, and thanks to inactivation of these genes in mice, the team led by Thierry Heidmann demonstrated that syncytins contribute to formation of the placenta. Because of their ancestral ability to mediate cell-cell fusion they give rise to the syncytiotrophoblast[3], a tissue formed by the fusion of a large number of cells derived from the embryo, at the fetomaternal interface. Using the same mice, the team has revealed a "collateral" and unexpected effect of these proteins: they endow males with more muscle mass than females! Like the syncytiotrophoblast, muscle mass develops from fused stem cells. In the genetically-modified male mice, these fibers were 20% smaller and displayed 20% fewer nuclei than in standard males; they were then similar to those seen in females, as was their total muscle mass. It therefore appears that the inactivation of syncytins leads to a fusion deficit during muscle growth, but only in males. The scientists observed the same phenomenon in the case of muscle regeneration following a lesion: the male mice incapable of producing syncytins experienced less effective regeneration than the other males, but it was comparable to that seen in females. Furthermore, the regenerating muscle fibers produced syncytin -- once again, only in males. If this discovery were to be confirmed in other mammals, it might account for the muscle dimorphism observed between males and females, a difference that is not seen so systematically in egg laying animals. By cultivating muscle stem cells from different mammalian species (mouse, sheep, dog, human), the scientists have advanced some way along the path: they indeed showed that syncytins contributed to the formation of muscle fibers in all the species tested. It is now necessary to demonstrate whether, in these species as well, the action of syncytins is also male-specific. [1] The particular feature of retroviruses is that they possess an enzyme that permits transcription of their RNA genome in a "complementary" DNA molecule which is able to integrate in the DNA of the host cell. The AIDS virus (HIV) is the best known example of a retrovirus. [2] In collaboration with colleagues working on muscles: the teams led by Julie Dumonceaux at the Centre de Recherche en Myologie (CNRS/UPMC/Inserm) and Laurent Tiret at the École Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort and the Institut Mondor de Recherche Biomédicale (Inserm/UPEC). [3] The syncytiotrophoblast is part of the placenta that permits implantation in the uterus and then constitutes the interface between the maternal bloodstream and that of the embryo, where the exchanges of gases and nutrients necessary for the latter's development occur.
If you're looking for dog friendly holiday accommodation ...... you've come to the right place! A directory of pet friendly accommodation and dog friendly hotels, self catering, cottages, b&b, pubs, places to eat, attractions and holiday parks in the Royal Forest of Dean, Herefordshire and Monmouthshire regions of the UK. A One Stop Shop to help you gather information for successful holidays and days out with your canine best friend. Dogs can sleep in bedrooms not on beds. sep accomm available, have access to all public areas at discretion of other guests, exercise area 13acres adjoining. pet food available. resident pet dogs 2 Spaniel Collie cross.
Glocal assessment of integrated wastewater treatment and recovery concepts using partial nitritation/Anammox and microalgae for environmental impacts. This study explored the feasibility and estimated the environmental impacts of two novel wastewater treatment configurations. Both include combined bioflocculation and anaerobic digestion but apply different nutrient removal technologies, i.e. partial nitritation/Anammox or microalgae treatment. The feasibility of such configurations was investigated for 16 locations worldwide with respect to environmental impacts, such as net energy yield, nutrient recovery and effluent quality, CO2 emission, and area requirements. The results quantitatively support the applicability of partial nitritation/Anammox in tropical regions and some locations in temperate regions, whereas microalgae treatment is only applicable the whole year round in tropical regions that are close to the equator line. Microalgae treatment has an advantage over the configuration with partial nitritation/Anammox with respect to aeration energy and nutrient recovery, but not with area requirements. Differential sensitivity analysis points out the dominant influence of microalgal biomass yield and wastewater nutrient concentrations on area requirements and effluent quality. This study provides initial selection criteria for worldwide feasibility and corresponding environmental impacts of these novel municipal wastewater treatment plant configurations.
This is how ‘allies’ get treated. But it points out how much of Black Lives Matter is actually just white leftists using black people as just another ’cause’ to push for the revolution. Via NY Post: Nothing is off-limits for Leslie Jones’ stand-up routine. “If I see another 45-year-old white woman from Williamsburg saying ‘black lives matter,’ I’m going to punch you in the mouth,” the “Saturday Night Live” star said during her recent four-night stint at New York comedy club, Carolines on Broadway. “Stop doing that.” In what the New York Times dubbed “a raucous, high-volume” set, the 49-year-old’s politically focused act tackled the Black Lives Matter movement and other protests that have followed Donald Trump‘s presidency. “Not one black woman out there,” she said of the marches. “Black woman at home watching ‘Housewives of Atlanta.’” Keep reading….
What Can We Learn from Mothers of the Bible? The word “mother” is mentioned over 300 times in the Bible. Mothers were very important. Let’s look at a few of them and see what timeless lessons they have for us. Eve, Mother of the Human Race With such an important responsibility, we might think Eve would have been the perfect mother. However, she got off to a rocky start. Eve sinned. There were consequences. She and Adam had to leave the Garden of Eden. She would have pain in childbirth. THE TRUTH: Sin often has consequences that cannot be changed. However, God’s Grace covers all sins for which we ask and receive God’s Forgiveness. God has a Plan for our lives. No matter how many bumpy spots we have, He will work out that Plan. God had a Plan for Eve. He did not turn her back into one of Adam’s ribs and start over. He allowed Eve to be the first mother, just as He had planned. However, satan was not left behind in the garden. He was not walking or dancing anymore … but he slithered into the world outside the garden and he stayed active. After a new beginning, Eve had children. However, satan was still active in the first family. Her first two sons got into conflict. Cain slew Abel. We don’t know the full picture of how Eve raised her sons … or what she thought when one murdered the other. However, we can do a little psychological post mortem and see how satan might have crept into this family. Cain’s sacrifice was not pleasing to God. His brother’s was. Instead of examining himself to see what he should do to offer an acceptable sacrifice, Cain immediately went to the feeling of: God has not given me all He could have. He has not fully accepted me. I’ll take matters into my own hands and resolve this now. Is it possible Cain had absorbed the feelings of Eve, his mother? Those appeared to have been her thoughts in the Garden. With all the Gifts of God in the garden, Eve may have thought I’m not as smart as I could be. God has not given me all He could have. He has not fully accepted me. I’ll take matters into my own hands now. THE TRUTH: While we may not actively encourage our children to sin, they may pick up attitudes from us. When there are problems, do we encourage our children to seek God and to wait on His Answer, or do we imply they should be handling things now? What can we learn from Eve? We can ask God to show us any areas in our life that are not healed, so the pain does not get passed on to our children. We can stop listening to any holdovers from our mother’s past and embrace the Plans God has for us and our children now and in our future. We can communicate God’s Message to our children: God has a wonderful Plan for your Life, it’s a Good Plan and He will work it out in His Time. Don’t run ahead and try to take matters into your own hands. Rebecca, Mother of Jacob and Esau Let’s look at another Bible mother. Sometimes sin is not just a subtle seed that grows up into a sin. Sometimes mothers and fathers act out the sins that their children see first hand. And sometimes parents actively encourage their children to sin. Poor Isaac had enough of a traumatic experience in his youth to last him a lifetime. After Abraham’s almost sacrificing Isaac to his death, Isaac went on to have what he felt was a true blessing in God providing Rebekah as his wife. After their children were born, Isaac must have felt fulfilled and prepared to be part of the line of father to many nations that his father had been promised. However, in his old age, something horrible happened. His wife, Rebekah, deceived him. And it gets worse … she did it, using his own son. Isaac loved Esau. Rebekah loved Jacob. Esau, as the first born, was due to get the favored blessing of the first son. Rebekah intervened and gave her favored son, Jacob, specific instructions on how to cheat his way into getting the nod from his father. Rebekah’s sin had disastrous results for her and her family. All of them were caught in a web of deceit she orchestrated. And her beloved son ended up on the run, far from her. Satan got a slam dunk. A husband who could not trust his wife. One son completely rejected by his mother. One son led into a treacherous lie followed by the terror that his brother would kill him. Rebekah carried forth the lie of: You’re not good enough. You need more. Take things into your own hands. Don’t wait for God. Sort of sounds like satan uses the same tactics all the time, doesn’t it. Those lies were the same ones that tripped up Eve, the first mother. THE TRUTH: Parents have an awesome responsibility. Their influence during the formative years of childhood can last a lifetime, even into generations to come. Hear the chilling Words of Jesus in relation to that influence. If anyone causes one of these little ones — those who believe in Me — to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea! Matthew 18:6 Bathsheba, Mother of David’s Child Let’s look at a beautiful mother of the Bible. This mother was so beautiful that she turned the head of the king. And while her husband was off fighting for the king, she went to bed with the king. Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah. One day King David was walking around on the roof and he saw her bathing. He wanted her. He took steps to have her brought to him. There is no evidence that he wanted her as his wife. It appears he just wanted to relieve his lust. As a result of their sexual act, Bathsheba became pregnant. David had a problem. You can read more about how he tried to solve things (another example of taking matters into his own hands), but not successfully. Bathsheba’s husband ended up dead, David did marry Bathsheba, but there were consequences. The son born to David and Bathsheba became ill and died. David was told by the prophet, Nathan, to expect this, as it was God’s Judgement against him. So what do you make of this mother’s plight? I believe we may safely assume that the child was mercifully returned to God. However, God taught His Lesson in part by the removal of the child. Important Note: We cannot stretch this into thinking any child who dies is removed as a result of the parents’ sin. This is not true! Each life and death is individual. THE TRUTH: The only thing we know for sure is that nothing can separate us or our children from the Love of God. We can come to Him in our grief and He will meet us there. And we have the blessed hope of seeing our children again in heaven. David said, “I will go to him, but he will not return to me.” (2nd Samuel 12:23) David grieved the earthly loss, but looked forward to the heavenly reunion! Innocent Children of Innocent Mothers What about the mothers of the innocent children who were killed by Herod’s men in his frantic search for Jesus? It is said the mothers of those children felt such grief, they refused to be comforted. How can we explain what seems to us to be senseless deaths of children? I cannot explain it. THE TRUTH: God, our Father and Creator, has the unquestionable Right to do as He wills, and that includes moving the eternal lives of His Creation into whatever setting in heaven or earth. Whether God designed the circumstances or permitted them, He is God Almighty and every circumstance is within His Power. He comforts when we trust Him enough to allow Him to comfort us. Mothers Who Do Not Want to be Mothers Bathsheba and the mothers of the babies slain by Herod’s men wanted to be mothers. But what about mothers who do not want to be mothers? Is a mother a mother if she chooses not to be? There are many mothers and fathers who chose not to receive God’s Gift of Life. They chose abortion. Many regretted their choice. Many of these parents have suffered for years, silenced by guilt and satan’s accusations that they are not really parents. Especially on Mother’s Day, let’s take a moment of mercy to remember those who realized too late they had given up a precious Gift of God. And let’s pray for mothers (and fathers) who are even now, contemplating returning God’s Gift. THE TRUTH: Not every moral choice is right. Not every circumstance is convenient. Not every pregnancy is planned by humans. But there are no unplanned pregnancies in God’s World. God alone creates Life. Pray that every mother and father recognize the wonder of the Life God has created and protect it from all harm. Pray that other spiritual mothers and fathers will reach out in the Love, Mercy and Grace of Jesus to help raise children in the nurture of the Lord. Stay tuned for the next post in which we will look at what we can learn from Elizabeth, the Mother of John the Baptist. What do you do when your child doesn’t turn out quite the way you envisioned? John sounded like a real wild child! And we will conclude by looking at Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Mary was a young teenager, who risked public shame to bring the Son of God into the world. Mary bore many hardships to bring Jesus up in the nurture of the Lord. Mary loved God enough to surrender her Son to His Will. Mary walked with her Son to the cross and lovingly relinquished Him to reveal the full Light of God’s Glory!
Armed neighborhood watch member keeping an eye on Fort Wayne North Side High School students’ safety Kevin Kilbane Kkilbane@news-sentinel.com Mark Cowan, who presented a card for the Bloomingdale Neighborhood Watch, wanted to keep an eye Friday afternoon on students at the school, 475 E. State Blvd. , to keep them safe. (Photo by Dan Vance of News-Sentinel.com) A man armed with a handgun who’s standing outside North Side High School boundaries was keeping watch over students Friday, nine days after a mass shooting left 17 people dead at a Florida high school. Mark Cowan stood Friday afternoon outside the school, 475 E. State Blvd., on Eade Avenue north of State Boulevard. North Side administrators were aware of Cowan, who had been out there all day, said Krista Stockman, Fort Wayne Community Schools public information officer. Stockman wasn’t sure what, if anything, North Side students had been told about the man, who still was standing guard when school ended for the day at 4:10 p.m. FWCS officials understand Cowan can be on public sidewalks and streets bordering the North Side High School campus, but not on sidewalks and drives on the campus, she said. “We don’t think it adds to security at the building,” said Stockman, who noted FWCS already has a few Fort Wayne Police officers on duty in the building each school day. The sight of a man outside the school with a weapon likely increases anxiety among students, she added. Cowan, who has been a member of the Oath Keepers group, identified himself to a News-Sentinel.com reporter as a member of the Bloomingdale Neighborhood Association crime watch and patrol. Bloomingdale neighborhood is located south of State Boulevard and west of Clinton Street, about 1/2 mile from North Side High School. Oath Keepers identifies itself as “a non-partisan association of current and formerly serving military, police and first-responders, who pledge to fulfill the oath all military and police take to ‘defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic,'” it said on the group’s website, https://www.oathkeepers.org.
I’ve been curious about visiting Transnistria for a while, and I know that some other more intrepid travellers are interested in this unusual destination too, so I decided to write this short guide about my experiences there, and what you can expect if you decide to brave the journey too. For those who aren’t familiar with this tiny ‘nation’ – Transnistria (also known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic) is a partially-recognised, Soviet-leaning state located in between Moldova and Ukraine. Officially part of Moldova, its major city Tiraspol is classed as Moldova’s second city, but it considers itself an independent state and you have to cross a national border to enter. Politically, it doesn’t seem to have realised that the Soviet Union no longer exists – as you will quickly notice from the statues of Lenin and the hammer and sickle on the flag, and they have their own wing of the KGB. A strange but interesting place. So, how do you get there, and what should you expect when you arrive? Well, there are multiple ways to travel to Transnistria and its capital Tiraspol. The main routes being either from nearby Odessa, Ukraine, or from Chisinau, Moldova. In our case we drove through Transnistria en route from Chisinau to Odessa, so it was definitely the most convenient time to visit. What’s it like getting in to Transnistria? When you approach this ‘country’ en route from Moldova, you start off by going through a couple of road blocks / ‘customs’ checks. We were stopped twice on the Moldova side by Moldovan authorities who mainly wanted to check our passports and car documents (keep them handy, they’ll be checked about ten times!) and have a quick look in the car. Nothing too scary. They also ask where you’re going (in our case Odessa), and they’re probably less authoritarian with you if they think you’re passing through rather than staying. Then, 5-10 minutes later you hit the real border, which looks just like a regular land border. You stop, they come and look at passports, car documents and in your boot for illegal substances, and then they wave you on to the really fun part. I recommend you factor in around an hour for the overall border experience. By the road here there are two cabin-style offices. In office one, if you’re driving like us, you’ll have to register your vehicle. This means they hand you a pair of identical forms to fill in twice. Don’t be an idiot like me and write the passenger’s name – they just want two copies of the driver’s details. You’ll have to fill in every possible detail of the car (you can write in English if necessary, although no one at the border really speaks English), then hand the forms back and wait 10+ minutes for them to finally stamp them and hand you the ‘Deklaratia’ to allow you in. They claim this process is for ‘insurance’ for the car, which will cost you ~400 Moldovan Leu (18 euro). Be sure to have Moldovan cash on you, as you will soon learn that cards are not your friend in Transnistria. I strongly recommend you have around 1,000 Moldovan Leu on you in cash for a short visit to Transnistria. Trust me on this, and thank me later. So, once you finally pay for your spurious ‘insurance’ and fill in all the forms, it’s time for office two. Thankfully this one doesn’t take too long, and they just look at passports again and ask a few questions, before handing you a second paper that entitles you to precisely 10 hours in their country (with a time on it to say when you have to leave again!). You might not think this is a very generous time limit, but I don’t reckon you’ll think that later on when you leave 😉 Then, finally, you can drive on into Transnistria. Be sure to keep all the documents and passports stashed safely. The first place you hit if you come this way is the little city of Bender. We got confused and thought we’d reached Tiraspol, but it was not so. I don’t think there’s much to see here. TomTom seems to have no idea that Transnistria even exists, so a real map or a pre-downloaded Google Map is a great idea. It takes around another 10 minutes to reach Tiraspol. Then you’d better head to the main street ‘Strada 25 Octombrie’, where 90% of the sights are. When you arrive The currency of Transnistria is Transnistrian rubles. They DO NOT accept any other currency anywhere that I went. They also DO NOT accept cards of any kind. Oh, and the ATMs don’t accept foreign cards (none that I tried, at least). So, the moral of the story is, if you want to do anything in Tiraspol, especially eat or drink, be sure to bring at least 20 euro in cash (any major currency), and exchange it at the обмен валют. What to see and do in Tiraspol? Well, as I mentioned, almost all the ‘tourist’ sights in Tiraspol are located on this huge street, 25 Octombrie. Park up, and budget yourself maybe two hours to walk around. Essentially, if you’re sad you didn’t get to see the Soviet Union, you can make up for it here. A giant statue of Lenin towers above everything, guarding the Supreme Soviet Parliament Building – although beware, you’re not allowed to take photos of this building. There’s also a large park, and a small beach beside the Dnistr river, where locals chill out in the summer. You can buy a cold Kvas from the stand there. Essentially, check out all the monuments and buildings along the main street, the park and the beach, and you’ll probably feel like you’ve had enough. If you get hungry and want to stop to eat or drink, as I said there are a few kiosks for drinks and so on. If you want to drop in and eat at a sit-down place, unless you’re super adventurous and great at Russian, your best bet is the Moldovan chain Andy’s Pizza. There is a big one right on the main street, where you can choose from pizza, Italian and Moldovan-style foods with pictures of everything on the menu. It’s a bit more expensive than in Moldova, but not too bad. For more recommendations see the Wikitravel page. By this point we were more than happy to get on out of Transnistria and head on to Odessa. However I wouldn’t be a very reliable blogger if I didn’t tell you the end of our Tiraspol story. Just as we were leaving we stopped the car for two minutes to spend our last rubles on a drink, and were cornered by the police claiming we’d violated a traffic law. In fairness, we did pull in next to a sign that said not to turn right, but most probably anywhere else no one would have noticed. However we ended up being fined a made-up amount (we eventually paid 10 euro as it was all we had) and finally they let us go. Apparently these kind of bribery incidents and spurious ‘fines’ for foreigners used to be much more common and have been stamped out lately, but I can tell you for sure it does still happen, so be careful not to draw attention to the fact you’re foreign, or to do anything that could be construed as a misdemeanour that they can invent a fine for. In any case, keep a bit of hard cash stowed away in euro/dollar/leu, so that you can wriggle your way out just in case. Then, it was definitely time to get the hell out of there. It’s another 15 minutes or so to the border with Ukraine, then freedom! The border to Ukraine is a standard border and takes ~30 minutes depending on the queue. They generally search cars quite thoroughly there, so be prepared for that. In our case they found a few bottles of wine (perfectly legit…!), although one was working its way open so we donated it to the border officer, and we hope he enjoyed it later on with his compatriots. One final note: there is NO entry or exit stamp to Transnistria, as it’s not a recognised country. However, you won’t get an exit stamp for Moldova if you exit this way. Instead, they apparently recognise your Ukraine entry stamp as a Moldovan exit stamp. — Would you consider visiting Tiraspol!? Let me know below! *** Please note, the pictures in this post are copyrighted. If you’d like to use them, please just drop me an email and ask.
import { expect } from 'chai'; import sinon from 'sinon'; import { mockFetch, resetFetch, setFetchJSONFailure as setFetchFailure, setFetchJSONResponse as setFetchResponse, } from 'platform/testing/unit/helpers.js'; import * as actions from '../../actions'; describe('loadConnectedAccounts', () => { beforeEach(() => mockFetch()); it('should receive loaded and success actions', done => { const payload = { data: [ { id: 'test-id', type: 'connected-accounts', attributes: { title: 'App', }, }, ], }; const dispatch = sinon.spy(); setFetchResponse(global.fetch.onFirstCall(), payload); actions.loadConnectedAccounts()(dispatch); expect( dispatch.firstCall.calledWith({ type: actions.LOADING_CONNECTED_ACCOUNTS, }), ).to.be.true; setTimeout(() => { expect( dispatch.secondCall.calledWith({ type: actions.FINISHED_CONNECTED_ACCOUNTS, data: payload.data, }), ).to.be.true; done(); }, 0); }); it('should receive loaded and error actions', done => { const payload = { errors: [{ status: 404 }] }; setFetchFailure(global.fetch.onFirstCall(), payload); const dispatch = sinon.spy(); actions.loadConnectedAccounts()(dispatch); expect( dispatch.firstCall.calledWith({ type: actions.LOADING_CONNECTED_ACCOUNTS, }), ).to.be.true; setTimeout(() => { expect( dispatch.secondCall.calledWith({ type: actions.ERROR_CONNECTED_ACCOUNTS, errors: payload.errors, }), ).to.be.true; done(); }, 0); }); afterEach(() => resetFetch()); }); describe('deleteConnectedAccount', () => { beforeEach(() => mockFetch()); it('should dispatch loading and success', done => { const dispatch = sinon.spy(); setFetchResponse(global.fetch.onFirstCall()); actions.deleteConnectedAccount('fake-id')(dispatch); expect( dispatch.firstCall.calledWith({ type: actions.DELETING_CONNECTED_ACCOUNT, accountId: 'fake-id', }), ).to.be.true; setTimeout(() => { expect( dispatch.secondCall.calledWith({ type: actions.FINISHED_DELETING_CONNECTED_ACCOUNT, accountId: 'fake-id', }), ).to.be.true; done(); }, 0); }); it('should receive loaded and error actions', done => { const payload = { errors: [{ status: 404 }] }; setFetchFailure(global.fetch.onFirstCall(), payload); const dispatch = sinon.spy(); actions.deleteConnectedAccount('fake-id')(dispatch); expect( dispatch.firstCall.calledWith({ type: actions.DELETING_CONNECTED_ACCOUNT, accountId: 'fake-id', }), ).to.be.true; setTimeout(() => { expect( dispatch.secondCall.calledWith({ type: actions.ERROR_DELETING_CONNECTED_ACCOUNT, accountId: 'fake-id', errors: payload.errors, }), ).to.be.true; done(); }, 0); }); afterEach(() => resetFetch()); });
Q: Implementation of derivatives of Jacobi theta function I am looking for an implementation of the derivative of the Jacobi theta functions for python. I found this http://mpmath.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/doc/build/functions/elliptic.html#jtheta However, the derivative is computed with respect to the wrong argument. I want the derivative with respect to q, and not z. Does anyone know the best way to obtain this? Just taking the derivative numerically with a finite difference does not work very well (the ODE solver which I use crashes when I do this). (Actually I only want it also for the special case z=0, if that is possible. Same question for the E4 Eisenstein series would also suffice) Thanks! A: This relation should help you: http://functions.wolfram.com/EllipticFunctions/EllipticTheta2/13/01/0002/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theta_function#A_solution_to_heat_equation def jtheta_dq(n, z, q): # cf. http://functions.wolfram.com/EllipticFunctions/EllipticTheta2/13/01/0002/ return -mpmath.jtheta(n, z, q, 2)/(4*q)
First Edition: September 9, 2013 Today's headlines include reports about how Time Warner and IBM are planning to move retirees to private health insurance exchanges to cut costs. Kaiser Health News: Shopping For Coverage: Health Marketplaces Are Open To Nearly Everyone In this daily video series, Kaiser Health News consumer columnist Michelle Andrews explains specific parts of how new health exchanges will function, including how – even though they are open to nearly all -- individuals who already have insurance through work, Medicare or Medicaid don’t need to shop there (9/9). Watch the video. Kaiser Health News: Nurse Practitioners Try New Tack To Expand Foothold In Primary Care Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby, working in collaboration with The Philadelphia Inquirer, reports: "Nurse practitioners say efforts to expand primary care to millions of Americans under the health law are hampered by insurance industry practices that limit or exclude their participation. Despite laws in 17 states and the District of Columbia allowing them to practice independently, nurses with advanced degrees say some insurers still don’t accept them into their credentialed networks as primary care providers, while others restrict them mainly to rural areas" (Appleby, 9/8). Read the story. Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Colorado Exchange Watchdog Likes What It Sees; Minnesota Says Its Marketplace Rates Are Nation’s Lowest So Far Now on Kaiser Health News’ blog, Colorado Public Radio’s Eric Whitney, working in partnership with KHN and NPR, reports on oversight of Colorado’s health exchange: "Colorado is one of 16 states and the District of Columbia that chose to set up its own exchange, via a bipartisan bill the state passed in 2011. Republicans agreed to vote for it only if it included a special legislative oversight committee that would allow a majority to block exchange funding requests. That hasn’t happened yet, but oversight committee hearings have been testy in the past. Not so last Thursday, the final hearing before the exchange’s opening day October 1. It was remarkable for the praise members from both parties heaped upon exchange leadership" (Whitney 9/9). Also on the blog, Minnesota Public Radio’s Elizabeth Stawicki, also working in partnership with KHN and NPR, reports on Minnesota’s rates: "Minnesota consumers will be able to buy a health plan for as little as $90.59 per month on MNsure, the new state health insurance marketplace, state Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman said Friday. Rothman said Minnesota has the lowest average rates for individuals and families compared to the other states that have revealed the costs of their plans thus far (that includes 13 states and the District of Columbia, according to a Kaiser Health News running tally). Data released Friday offered a first look at the new health insurance plans and rates that will be sold on MNsure" (Stawicki, 9/6). Check out what else is on the blog. Politico: House GOP To Advance Stopgap Spending Bill Final details have not yet been released, but Republicans have stepped up their activity in anticipation of bringing a bill to the floor next week to keep the government funded into mid-December. The GOP leadership is still debating how to handle the pressure from conservatives for a vote on the CR to cut off all funding for health care reform. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which plays a major role in implementing the president’s initiative, is a prime example of the squeeze on Obama. The president had requested $4.82 billion last year for the CMS "program management" account but then settled for $3.8 billion last spring. … But the CR now would put Obama back at square one and at least $1.4 billion below his request for 2014 (Rogers and Bresnahan, 9/6). The Washington Post: The Inside Story Of How Obama And Boehner Negotiate Health-care spending was the big issue. Obama was talking about $400 billion in health-care cuts, while Boehner wanted $600 billion. "Can we split the difference here?" Boehner asked. "Can we land at $500 billion?" "I have to look at not just the numbers on a piece of paper," Obama said, "but what’s behind the numbers." The impact on elderly Medicare beneficiaries could be dramatic if they went too far. “Four hundred billion is it. I just can’t see how we go any further on that.” In a 2:30 phone call that afternoon, Boehner agreed to take increasing the Medicare eligibility age off the table. Obama said he appreciated the offer: "I’m going to give you a counter that gets us closer, so close that it would be silly for us not to get an agreement.” He called back just before 4 p.m. with $120 billion in other concessions. But Boehner realized that the extreme conservatives and tea party element among House Republicans would not go along with any of this (Woodward, 9/6). Politico: With Obamacare Near, What’s In Store For Workers With all the hullabaloo over Obamacare, you might think a radical transformation of your health insurance is imminent. But the noisy claims from both sides notwithstanding, the reality is that the changes next year are likely to be pretty subtle for the vast majority of the 170 million who get insurance through the workplace (Norman, 9/9). Politico: Health Insurance Tax Faces Challenge The health insurance industry and business allies are stepping up their campaign to repeal another new Obamacare tax this fall — one that they argue will hit consumers smack in the health care part of their wallet. As Congress returns from recess, expect to hear more about the health insurance tax, or HIT, as it’s known, a levy in the health care law to raise $116 billion through 2023. That money, in turn, is supposed to help finance expanded coverage (Norman, 9/9). The Washington Post’s Wonk Blog: Left Behind: Stories From Obamacare’s 31 Million Uninsured The Affordable Care Act, the most sweeping health care program created in a half century, is expected to extend coverage to 25 million Americans over the next decade, according to the most recent government estimates. But that will still leave a projected 31 million people without insurance by 2023. Those left out include undocumented workers and poor people living in the 21 states, such as Virginia, that have so far declined to expand Medicaid under the statute, commonly called Obamacare (Kliff and Sun, 9/8). The Washington Post: Yes, We Know Premium Prices Under Obamacare. No, We Don’t Know If People Will Think They’re Affordable. Premium subsidies may be one of the most complicated parts of the Affordable Care Act to understand, and that says something when you’re talking about a 2,000-page law that overhauls the American health-care system. They’re also crucially important to the health care law, the factors that determines how much health insurance will cost under Obamacare and whether Americans will decide that price tag is affordable. So, today, we’re going to use a brand new report from the Kaiser Family Foundation to explain how the subsidies work (Kliff, 9/6). Los Angeles Times: As Healthcare Law Rolls Out, Its Effects Will Depend On Your State Americans who live in states backing the Affordable Care Act will receive substantial protections and assistance unavailable to residents in states still fighting the 2010 law. That could mean confusion and higher insurance premiums for millions of consumers in states resisting the law. Leaders in these resistant states have not set up consumer hot lines. Several state insurance regulators are refusing to make sure health plans offer new protections required by the law, such as guaranteed coverage for people who are ill (Levey, 9/6). Politico: In Hawaii, Firms Like Longtime Employer Mandate Obamacare’s requirement that large companies offer health insurance may be polarizing for much of the nation — but it had Hawaiians at Aloha. Unlike its 49 counterparts, Hawaii has been living with a strict employer mandate for nearly 40 years. And as businesses nationwide celebrate a one-year delay in the similar Obamacare requirement that they cover workers, supporters of Hawaii’s law say theirs is proof that the rest of the country could adjust — and even learn to like it (Cheney, 9/9). The New York Times: Insurance Rolls To Rise In State Fighting Plan In her State of the State speech in January, Gov. Nikki R. Haley, a Republican, said, “South Carolina will not implement the public policy disaster that is Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.” ... The reality, however, is more complex. South Carolina officials say they welcome the prospect that more than a half-million state residents — out of a population of 4.7 million — could soon gain access to affordable coverage, even without the expansion of Medicaid eligibility. And they are working to remake Medicaid so that it does not just pay claims but produces measurable improvements in the health of poor people (Pear, 9/6). The Associated Press/Washington Post: Nonprofit Groups Rush To Hire, Train ‘Obamacare’ Experts With Just Three Weeks To Go With the program known as “Obamacare” only weeks away from its key launch date, hectic preparations are in motion in communities across the country to deal with one of its major practical challenges: hiring and training a small army of instant experts who can explain the intricacies of health insurance to people who’ve never had it. More than 100 nonprofits and related organizations, which specialize in everything from running soup kitchens to organizing farm workers, have been recruited by the federal government to sign up “navigators” to help the 30 million uninsured people who can now gain coverage (9/9). The Associated Press/Washington Post: WVa Nonprofit Declined Federal Grant After AG Asks Questions, Va Group Accepts Funding A West Virginia nonprofit has turned down a federal grant it received to help residents navigate new health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act after it received an inquiry from Attorney General Patrick Morrisey about how it would protect consumer information (9/8). The Wall Street Journal: Don't Confuse Medicare With Obamacare The annual Medicare open-enrollment period, which runs from Oct. 15 through Dec. 7, overlaps this year with the initial registration for the Health Insurance Marketplace, a cornerstone of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare). But don't confuse the two. They serve different populations. If you're already covered by Medicare, you needn't give the Marketplace another thought (Waters, 9/7). The Associated Press/Wall Street Journal: Rochester, NY, Cited For Lowest Medicare Spending A new study finds that the Rochester area has the lowest overall Medicare spending rate in the nation, a feat health officials attribute to aggressive regional planning that keeps a lid on unneeded hospital expansions and technology upgrades that insurers ultimately pay for (9/8). The Associated Press: How To Invest In Your Health Care You already can invest your retirement money and your kid's college savings on Wall Street. Next on the list: your health care. A growing number of employees are required by companies to set up special savings accounts to cover part of their medical bills. Over time, they are also encouraged to invest a portion of it in stocks, bonds or a mutual fund, just like they do with a 401(k) or IRA. Americans now have $18 billion in Health Savings Accounts. … That's up more than 40 percent from a year ago (Sweet, 9/6). The Associated Press: IBM Moving Some Retirees Off Its Health Plan IBM plans to move many retired workers off its health plan and give them money to buy coverage on a health-insurance exchange. The move is part of a corporate trend away from providing traditional retiree health benefits as costs rise. The company says it acted after projections showed that costs under its current plan for Medicare-eligible retirees will triple by 2020 and that the increases would be paid by retirees through premiums and out-of-pocket costs (Koenig, 9/7). The Wall Street Journal: IBM To Move Retirees Off Health Plan IBM's shift is an indication that health-insurance marketplaces, similar to the public exchanges proposed under President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul, will play a bigger role as companies move coverage down the path taken by many pensions, paying employees and retirees a fixed sum to manage their own care. In notices signed by Chief Health Director Kyu Rhee, IBM has told retirees in recent weeks that to keep receiving coverage, they will need to pick a plan offered through Extend Health, a large private Medicare exchange run by New York-based Towers Watson & Co. (Ante, 9/7). The Associated Press/Washington Post: Time Warner Joins IBM In Moving Retirees To Private Health Insurance Exchanges To Cut Costs Media and entertainment company Time Warner Inc. plans to move its retired workers off its health plan and provide money to them to purchase coverage on private exchanges at the beginning of next year (9/8). The Wall Street Journal: Time Warner Joins IBM In Health Shift For Retirees Insurance exchanges are the health-care experiment du jour. Retirees are the test case. The latest indication: Media-company Time Warner Inc. plans to move its U.S. retirees from company-administered health plans to private exchanges, according to a person familiar with the matter. The company will allocate funds in special accounts that retirees can use to go shop for coverage, the person said (Ante, 9/8). The New York Times: Debating A Fix For Hospitals In Dire Straits Of all the issues in the Democratic primary for mayor, one of the few that most candidates seem to agree on is that struggling New York City hospitals need to be saved. ... Despite the discourse, it is the state that regulates hospitals and gives the grants and loans needed to keep them from failing. And Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo is not throwing the hospitals a lifeline (Hartocollis, 9/6). Check out all of Kaiser Health News' e-mail options including First Edition and Breaking News alerts on our Subscriptions page. This is part of the KHN Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
Q: Sharing Object Between OSGi Bundles I have two OSGi bundles deployed in Apache Karaf. A and B. My A OSGi bundle works as basic authentication handler. I have set up my security handler it works fine: <bean id="securityHandler" class="org.eclipse.jetty.security.ConstraintSecurityHandler"> <property name="authenticator"> <bean class="org.eclipse.jetty.security.authentication.BasicAuthenticator"/> </property> <property name="constraintMappings"> <list> <ref bean="constraintMapping"/> </list> </property> <property name="loginService" ref="loginService"/> <property name="strict" value="false"/> <property name="identityService" ref="identityService"/> </bean> This handler is in bundle A. What I need to do is to make this handler as an OSGi service to be used by other bundles, in this case, by bundle B. I can not implement any interface to ConstraintSecurityHandler class because it is from org.eclipse.jetty.security package. I have tried to create my own Handler class then extend ConstraintSecurityHandler and implement my interface. So OSGi service looked like this: <osgi:service ref="securityHandler" interface="my.company.MyInterface" /> This does not work, I get the exception: org.apache.camel.RuntimeCamelException: org.apache.camel.FailedToCreateRouteException: Failed to create route route1: Route[[From[jetty:http://0.0.0.0:8019/TARGETjobs/Indeed?hand... because of Failed to resolve endpoint: jetty://http://0.0.0.0:8019/TARGETjobs/Indeed?handlers=securityHandler&matchOnUriPrefix=true due to: null So the question is how can I make this securityHandler bean as an OSGi service available to other OSGi bundles? A: I have found the solution my self. I the A bundle I have created: public class BasicAuthSecurityHandler implements Handler { private ConstraintSecurityHandler securityHandler; @Override public ConstraintSecurityHandler getSecurityHandler() { return securityHandler; } public void setSecurityHandler(ConstraintSecurityHandler securityHandler) { this.securityHandler = securityHandler; } } And an interface: public interface Handler { ConstraintSecurityHandler getSecurityHandler(); } In my A bundle Spring context I set the security handler to this bean and made OSGi service from this bean: <bean id="basicAuthSecurityHandler" class="com.groupgti.handler.authentication.basic.BasicAuthSecurityHandler"> <property name="securityHandler" ref="securityHandler"/> </bean> <osgi:service ref="basicAuthSecurityHandler" interface="com.groupgti.handler.authentication.basic.Handler"/> Now in my bundle B I can easily retrieve my security handler like this: <osgi:reference id="basicAuthSecurityHandler" interface="com.groupgti.handler.authentication.basic.Handler"/> <bean id="securityHandler" factory-bean="basicAuthSecurityHandler" factory-method="getSecurityHandler"/> And everything works fine.
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Options Education Day is held four times a year, twice trading Toronto and once in Vancouver and Montreal. Options Trading Simulation Montreal ‒ Beedie School of Similar risk controls have been introduced by CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange to help market participants avoid violating the prohibition on wash trading. In the case of Montreal Exchange, the new functionality will be introduced in July. Options Trading Simulation Montreal : Haskayne students The Options Trading Simulation and the Canadian Derivatives Exchange Scholars Program were launched in February 2012 as part of MX's financial education initiatives. These programs were created to enable university finance students to pursue a deeper understanding of derivatives products and markets as well as to enhance the profile of options HOME - Option Matters Montreal Option Trading Simulation \| Organization Profile 2011/06/23 · This excel options trading simulator is not designed to get you better at reading markets or reading the tape, but instead it is designed to improve your knowledge of options and how they behave. It allows you to track your trades and see how the greeks change with a change in the underlying, implied volatility and time. Forex Kaupankäynti Aukiolo ― Mitä Valuuttakaupalla What is the best stock trading simulator? - Quora • SPAN is a market simulation based Value At Risk system which has • SPAN uses parameters set by the exchange or clearing organization to evaluate a portfolio with the following two step analysis: to offsetting option positions. Sophie-Miyuki Delvallet - Investment Banking Analyst The interactive graph below is a crude simulation of our real-time Probability Lab application that is available to our customers. Similarly, the "best trades" are displayed for illustrative purposes only. There is a substantial risk of loss in foreign exchange trading. The settlement date of foreign exchange trades can vary due to time Foreign Exchange Trading \| Interactive Brokers The Options Trading Simulation and the Canadian Derivatives Exchange Scholars Program were launched in February 2012 as part of MX's financial education initiatives. These programs were created to support university finance students interested in learning about derivatives products, as well as to reinforce MX's position as the centre of University Programs - Finance Montréal Options Trading Simulation Montreal ‒ Options Trading A price axis money must be third to montreal exchange options trading simulation cover all legal concept simulation at all options. Violence double up if a tmx sees a protection options looks like a pay-out doen, it is individual to montreal exchange options trading simulation use the short-term simplicity to double the binary type from that Futures contract - Wikipedia You'll find lots of Canadian equity and index montreal trading at the MX. If you have an options trading stock with a decent Canadian broker, you should have access to trade options at the MX. This primer on Canadian option eligibility shows how exchange. By clicking "Post Your Answer", you simulation that you have read our updated terms of FOREX.com - Official Site Hedging Cash Flow With Currency Options - YouTube Day Trading, studied Trading at HEC Montréal (2016) Answered Apr 24, 2018 I suggest ToroChallenge at Proprietary Trading (trader2b) you can trade in simulation and pass the challenge and get funded account to day trade U.S stock markets.
diff --git a/CMake/ParaViewOptions.cmake b/CMake/ParaViewOptions.cmake index 0ecb928e9..5b5459a37 100644 --- a/CMake/ParaViewOptions.cmake +++ b/CMake/ParaViewOptions.cmake @@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ option(PARAVIEW_ENABLE_RAYTRACING "Build ParaView with OSPray and/or OptiX ray-t set(paraview_web_default ON) if (PARAVIEW_USE_PYTHON AND WIN32) - include("${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/VTK/CMake/FindPythonModules.cmake") + include(FindPythonModules) find_python_module(win32api have_pywin32) set(paraview_web_default "${have_pywin32}") endif ()
UPDATE: New Tecumseth Fire Deemed Not Suspicious Post navigation Cause and Damage Estimate To Be Determined Feb. 15th – Nottawasaga OPP say the fire has been deemed not suspicious after all, and no charges will be laid. Feb. 13th – A fire in New Tecumseth is being considered suspicious. Firefighters arrived to an Atkinson Crescent home just before 7:00 Sunday night, to find a detached two-storey home engulfed in flame. The Ontario Fire Marshall has since taken over the investigation into the cause of the fire, looking for a cause and a damage estimate. No injuries were reported following the fire.
Diminish Food Waste by Rescuing Excess for Hungry Summary Rescuing Leftover Cuisine (RLC) has a mission of reducing wasted food across the United States, helping to preserve the environment and feed those in need. With volunteers as the backbone, RLC rescues fresh, unsold food from restaurants, catering companies, and cafes and transports it to organizations for donation. Challenge 40% of the food produced in the U.S. is wasted while 1 in 7 Americans are food insecure. Food waste is one of the largest components of landfills, and contributes to methane gases, which are more harmful to the environment than CO2. All of the natural resources used to create wasted food, tax dollars used to subsidize food products, and energy expended to transport the food to our tables is wasted. Also, 46 mil Americans are hungry and more than half of the food pantries run out of food daily. Solution RLC engages community members to bring excess food from restaurants and other institutions to people who need it in their own local communities. Led by dedicated group volunteer leaders called Lead Rescuers and Core Rescuers, volunteers take unsold product at the end of the day that food vendors would otherwise throw out, and we walk it over to local soup kitchens. RLC engages people in the community as volunteers to help deliver the food, making people become more connected to the two issues. Long-Term Impact Hunger can be eliminated, because rescuing just 30% of wasted food is enough to feed all food insecure people in America, and we as a nation currently only recovers about 3%. RLC provides a structure where anyone can help out and bring excess food to the hungry. Our volunteer events are an average of 30 minutes, so anyone along their way home can make a difference. The shelters we help provide food to can not only feed more people, they can also use their resources on other essential services. WARNING: Javascript is currently disabled or is not available in your browser. GlobalGiving makes extensive use of Javascript and will not function properly with Javascript disabled. Please enable Javascript and refresh this page.
I'm a C# developer having worked with .Net since it was in beta. Before that I mainly worked in C and C++. I have been developing commercial software for more than 20 years. I also mess around with microprocessors, but that's just for fun. I live near Cambridge, England and work from home in my 'silicon shed'. Blogroll I was recently doing a bit of reading up on the Rust programming language, but a stray comment somewhere about the Nim programming language sent me off on a bit of a tangent. The thing that really got me interested in Nim was that it compiles to C, and I noticed that this brings quite some options for portability. One of the reasons why I like programming in C is that you can run the code on all kinds of machines, from tiny embedded devices to supercomputers. But that does come at a cost, because it takes longer and you often have lots more typing to do because of all that boilerpate stuff. But it looks like Nim would allow you to be quite productive, whilst the resulting executables should still be efficient and fast. To get some ideas, I went off to Rosetta Code and found the Nim code for a simple webserver which looks like this: Being able to create a webserver with just a few lines of code, and with the potential for the code to be portable and run on all kinds of devices seemed very tempting! By this point, I'd forgotten about Rust and wanted to explore Nim a bit further. So whilst Nim has not reached v1.0 yet, it certainly looked very compelling. The compiler documentation made it look like cross-compilation was not that difficult, so I decided to try and cross-compile some code for a router running OpenWrt. Before going off and spendng a lot of time learning a new language, I wanted to see that I really can write portable code. I was very happy to see that in just a few minutes I had the example webserver code running on my TP-Link WR740N, as shown here: To my amazement and joy, this really wasn't that hard. After installing Nim, I had to edit Nim/config/nim.cfg to point to my cross-compile toolchain, so I ended up with these lines: Then, after doing that I simply needed to pass the correct parameters to the Nim compiler, like this: nim c --cpu:mips --os:linux webserver.nim Which cross-compiled the example webserver ready for it to run on my TP-Link WR740N. That actually seems pretty awesome. I think that I need to learn more, perhaps I'll even go and buy the Nim in Action book. All this stuff worked perfectly without any trouble, which is pretty rare, so I am left feeling very impressed so far. Since I wrote this blog post, I have been looking for a better demo program to show what I can do with my H2D2 programming language. I needed something more interesting than "hello world" ... and which didn't involve drawing the Mandelbrot set. I started trawling through the Rosetta Code website for inspiration and came across this sphere drawing program in C. I guess it's a simple ray tracing algorithm really. It seemed like a reasonable candidate. So I set about porting it from C to H2D2, which was an interesting experience. Interesting because H2D2 is not very forgiving when you make mistakes - since I have not (yet) made the compiler error messages very user friendly. So it makes you reason things out very carefully in your head, rather than rely on the compiler to spot problems with your code. I have managed to get it to work though, and the resulting H2D2 example program shows a few of the language features (like a function call and arrays for example). However, it also highlights a few things I should work on, like creating a syntactic shortcut for assigning values to an array. Anyway, I can now create output like this: Although these programs are very trivial, it shows that I can now do H2D2 programming from my browser. It's the server part which compiles the source into bytecode and then executes the program in timeslices. So the actual code is running inside the server and we're just seeing the output in the browser (alongside the source code of course). Since I recorded this in a coffee shop before work this morning, the H2D2 server was running locally inside Xcode on my Mac, for convenience. But I would be able to do the same thing even if the server was running elsewhere, like on my TP-Link router. Considering that the whole H2D2 language is written in C, I think that's pretty good going. It seems reasonably fast and I don't even think I have the compiler optimisations turned on. Obviously there is a little bit of JavaScript doing the HTTP posts between the browser and the server. But I really do need to write some better code examples, which should be things that don't involve the Mandelbrot set for a change... UPDATE: one of the "better code examples" I mention above can now be seen here. Since my H2D2 project has quite a lot of code in it now, I've been using .Net interop as a quick way to write some unit tests for the H2D2 programming language. I have written a C# unit test project in Visual Studio which tests much of the existing H2D2 language syntax. This means that I can add new features and quickly check that I've not broken any of the existing code. So I can very easily make sure that programs which used to run continue to work as expected. Recently, I've been making H2D2 support function calls, and so it's been handy to write tests for various different types of function call (passing parameters, reading return values, allowing functions that don't return a value, etc). The unit tests have made it much easier to ensure that everything works after I've made changes. Since I've written more unit tests in C# than anything else, I thought it would be the quickest way to get my tests up and running. And because I had already compiled H2D2 into a windows dll (the unmanaged kind), it is not very hard to run H2D2 programs from .Net - even easier because I had already written some basic wrapper code for all the interop stuff. It's not much harder than putting some H2D2 source code into a string and calling a Run() method. Obviously all this has been done 'just for fun', since it's only one of my hobbyist projects anyway. But when I mentioned to one of my colleagues that I had spent some of my free time writing unit tests for fun he said that I was clearly stark raving mad. There's a possibility he's correct. However, when I think of how I'd feel if I broke some of my existing H2D2 code and had to go back and unpick where I went wrong, I reckon that these unit tests are really less about having fun and more about preventing a severe loss of fun if I ended up scratching my head and trying to figure out what I'd done to make something break. So I hope that's a suitable explanation for why I've been writing unit tests in my free time. It's the best excuse I've got. Although ultimately, I may end up looking for a unit testing framework for C so that I only need one IDE loaded to run my tests... The .Net interop solution may just be a stepping stone. So one of my goals in developing DALIS/H2D2 was to make it possible to run a single instance of a program on multiple platforms. Since the H2D2 virtual machine can run code for a timeslice and then persist the entire state of the running program, it should be possible to put an executing H2D2 program into hibernation, move it to a different platform (ie a machine with an entirely different type of OS or processor) and then carry on running the same program. No matter what point the program was frozen at, the code should be able to carry on where it left off. Well I've now gotten to the point where I can test that theory. The first experiment is to run a program on Windows for a few milliseconds and then complete the execution on Linux. To make this work I needed to make sure that all my data was persisted in sizes that are the same on different platforms, so I need to use int32_t instead of int, that type of thing. Since I've written my code in a cross-platform way and since I'm using data sizes that will be the same on different platforms everything should just work. So here we go, I'm running my mandelbrot program on Windows for 200ms: ...so that outputs a file called 'demo.hby' which is the H2D2 bytecode including its persisted state (all the program instructions, the call and data stacks and the values of all variables). Now I need to move that file to my Linux box and run the code from where it stopped. On the Linux machine I have already compiled the H2D2 virtual machine from source using GCC of course. Here goes: Awesome! It works! I guess it's not much more than a neat trick at the moment, but I think it's an achievement of sorts. If you had some kind of long running process, it might be handy to be able to wake it, run it on whatever machine was available, and then put it back into hibernation. Okay, you can't start re-writing all your business logic in H2D2 just yet... but it's early days. This is why I always imagined DALIS / H2D2 to be a cloud based language, where you don't care what type of platform or processor is being used from one moment to the next. So the next obvious experiment is to do the same thing, but on the Raspberry Pi... maybe I'll do it in reverse, by starting the program on the Raspberry Pi and then finishing it on Windows. Since I've been writing the parser for H2D2 - the continuation of my work on DALIS, I thought that it might be useful to see the syntax trees that are being generated. So I found a nifty tool called phpSyntaxTree which is a website that will draw a graphical version of a tree from bracketed notation. So I added some code to H2D2 which will output the syntax tree created by the parser in bracketed notation, and now I can paste the resulting text into phpSyntaxTree and see what the results look like. Whilst the H2D2 language doesn't have much of a syntax yet, I have been able to parse things like this example code: That program tests the majority of things that I have written so far, simple things like branching, expression parsing and assigning numeric variables. This is how that program comes out: You can see the difference between the two expressions, one with brackets and the other without, and when I run the program, the first result is 7 and the second result is 9, so it seems to be working fine. When H2D2 programs are executed I'm using a non-recursive algorithm, which means that the code can be frozen at any point and then resumed - even if the code was part way through evaluating an expression there's no problem in carrying on exactly where the code was paused. So far I've only tested all this in Pelles C on Windows, but I will put a quick makefile together soon so that I can compile it with GCC (on linux), I want to keep the C code for H2D2 as portable as I can. The next thing that I'm going to try and build is a loop, which is kinda important. Recently I've been working on adding arrays and functions to my DALIS programming language. To test this stuff out I decided to write a very simple Artificial Neural Network. I've hard-coded the weights between a 5 neuron feed-forward 3 layer network. It's a classic XOR example with 2 inputs and one output. The output should be 1 if the two inputs are different, otherwise the output will be zero. This is the output from the program: I mentioned to a friend of mine that I wanted to slap together a quick load balancer to demonstrate that DALIS programs can bounce between different servers without the need for any shared state. Being able to do that was my original aim for writing a cloud based language, and a demo showing DALIS in action would be nice to have. Of course, I had intended to simply extend my C# webserver example and make a simple load-balancer out of that. But my friend happened to say “why don’t you write the load balancer in DALIS?”. Damn him, putting ideas in my head like that. Still I got my own back when I showed him the Esoteric Programming Languages site and he spent way too much time reading it :-) So ... here is my (very simple) load balancer written in DALIS: I had to add a few new things to the language to make this work (it is great when you’re the boss of the programming language and you can add whatever you like): RANDOM – generate a pseudo random number between 0.0 and 1.0 RAWCONTENT – allows your program to access the data in the raw http request TRANSPARENT – tells DALIS that you don’t want it to add anything to the output WEBPOST – does an http POST with the data you specify REPLACE – replace a value in some text with some new value Anyway, this seems to work a treat, it means that you can run 3 separate DALIS servers (called DALIS, DALIS1 and DALIS2 in this example), one being the load-balancer, along with two others. You can then run a DALIS program via the load-balancer and it will route it randomly to one of the other two DALIS servers. Using the TRANSPARENT keyword in the load-balancer code is critical, since it allows stuff to simply pass through without any interference. The trouble is, I’m actually starting to enjoy programming in DALIS now. What have I done?
Fracture-dislocation of the tarsal navicular in a soccer player. We describe an unusual injury of the mid-tarsal region in a soccer goalkeeper. The injury occurred in a training game as a result of an abduction-plantar-flexion. Radiographs showed a fracture-dislocation of the tarsal navicular. The patient was treated by closed reduction with percutaneous fixation using two Kirschner wires. The end-result was satisfactory but the patient felt pain in the mid-foot during and after sports activities and was unable to continue playing as a goalkeeper.
Bugs Bunny, the linchpin of the Looney Tunes, has been called everything from "classic" to "perennial" to "an American institution" to "one of our national heroes"--and "wascally wabbit," "long-eared galoot," and a lot of other things besides! But most of us just like to call him Bugs. Now he's starring in Space Jam, Warner Bros.' first original feature film graced by Bugs in a leading role--opposite Michael Jordan, no less! Producer Ivan Reitman and director Joe Pytka head a team of filmmakers including producers Joe Medjuck and Daniel Goldberg, executive producers Ken Ross and David Falk, and screenwriters Leo Benvenuti & Steve Rudnick and Timothy Harris & Herschel Weingrod to bring this ambitious and precedent-setting project to life. Starring with Bugs and Michael Jordan are Wayne Knight, Theresa Randle and the voice of Danny DeVito. Heading the bill in Space Jam with one of the sports world's most entertaining players is a natural opportunity for the venerable Warner Bros. character. After all, Bugs was voted the most popular in the entire short-subject field in the United States and Canada for the year 1945, and then stayed in the Number One spot for the next 16 years straight. Today, in 1996, Bugs continues to draw a crowd--in fact, a recent survey showed him to be the most popular animated character in the world! When Bugs' classic cartoons were being made and regularly released to theaters in the 1940s and 1950s, it was his stardom in short subjects that skyrocketed his studio to prominence in the animation field. Part of Bugs' great achievement had been to establish a strong personality who can exist for 7 minutes at a time, show us a facet of his personality, disappear for weeks, months, maybe years at a time, then reappear and still be recognizeable and entertaining. His possibilities were not exhausted by any single episode. The trick was not to sustain seven minutes, but to live for 50 years. And once you've sustained 56 years of amazing popularity with one generation after another all over the world, it's hardly likely you're going to have much trouble sustaining a 90 minute feature. Michael Maltese, one of Bugs' writers, remembered that in the old days, a theater's marquee had to say no more than "2 Bugs Bunny Cartoons" for people to plunk their money down--forgetting what features or other short subjects were playing, forgetting that the "2 Bugs Bunny Cartoons" would be over in 15 minutes--and, most of all, forgetting their troubles. "After a while, Bugs Bunny was so well loved by the audience that he could do no wrong," said Maltese. "They loved the rabbit, and what he stood for." Friz Freleng, one of the leading directors of Bugs' classic shorts, once remarked, "The cocky characters, for some reason, the public seems to like. They don't like those kinds of people in real life." Mel Blanc, who first provided The Rabbit's voice, believed that "Bugs Bunny appeals to the rebel in all of us. Everybody loves a winner, and Bugs Bunny always wins." There's a moment in A Hare Grows in Manhattan when Bugs dives into a manhole to escape the bulldog pursuing him, and between the time the dog leaps in the air and the time he reaches the manhole, Bugs has managed to resurface, grab the manhole cover, and pull it into place--turning the dog's face into something resembling a waffle. It's a simple enough gag, but the point is that there is a look of such total delight on Bugs' face as he performs the act, that he turns the whole business into something else altogether, a conflict of viewpoints rather than a physical conflict between two animals. Bugs is Puck reborn; he enjoys the scrapes he gets into because he knows he'll win eventually. This goes a long way toward making him the irresistible character he is: he holds out the possibility that the Battle is winnable, that we can vanquish the foe and have fun doing it, that every setback can become another challenge, another excuse for high spirits. This is possibly the critical factor of what we love about Bugs: that he will not only make us laugh but make us feel victorious and triumphant. There are heroes and there are comedians; rarely do the two meet. This made him a difficult character to write for, but it's what gave him that special spark that made him the phenomenon that he has been. From the time he first asked Elmer Fudd "What's up, Doc?" right up to the release of Space Jam, Bugs has been both sophisticated and naive, innocent and guilty, Child of Nature and Street-Tough Smart Guy, fool and hero, one of the most rounded and all-around characters in the history of film, a multi-faceted gem. A Wild Hare and Beyond The hardy hare has been delighting fans of every age, nationality, and persuasion for longer than the majority of his youthful fans probably realize. Most of the current crop of screen heroes were not even born when Bugs first rose casually from his rabbit hole, chewing on a carrot, peering down the barrel of a gun, and cracking a cool "Eh-h-h-h-What's up. Doc?" out of one corner of his mouth, in a cartoon called A Wild Hare, directed by Tex Avery and released by Warner Bros. in July of 1940. Bugs, like most characters, inspires that insistent question, "Who created him?" A simple answer is expected. But no simple answer works. The clearest family line reaches back to Tex Avery, who gave The Rabbit his famous personality. When asked how Bugs came into being, the soft-spoken Texan was laconic. "Oh," he said, "it just came out of a cartoon. We decided he was going to be a smartaleck rabbit, but casual about it, and his opening line in the very first one was `Eh, what's up, Doc?' And, gee, it floored `em! They expected the rabbit to scream, or anything but make a casual remark--here's a guy with a gun in his face! It got such a laugh that we said, `Boy, we'll do that every chance we get.' It became a series of `What's up, Docs?'." "We didn't feel that we had anything until we got it on the screen and it got quite a few laughs," Avery recalled. "When we saw that on the screen, we knew we had a hit character," Freleng remembered. "He was the most timid of animals, yet he had courage and brashness. The whole gimmick was a rabbit so cocky that he wasn't afraid of a guy with a gun who was hunting him." But the new character had no name at first. Jack Rabbit, or Jack E. Rabbit, was the personal choice of Avery himself, since he had spent so much time hunting jackrabbits and since "I thought it would please my Texas friends." But another of the Warner cartoon directors, Ben Hardaway, whose nickname was "Bugs," had already asked designer Charlie Thorsen to create a rabbit for an earlier cartoon, and when Thorsen had submitted the model sheet, he'd labeled it "Bugs' Bunny." Now, with this model sheet circulating the studio, and with a search for a good name underway, publicist Rose Horsely jumped on the label "Bugs Bunny" as "so cute!" But Horsely had the ear of Leon Schlesinger, who produced the cartoons for Warner Bros. Schlesinger thought a moment, then said, "O.K. Bugs Bunny. We'll go with it." "We were always very proud of what we were doing there," says Phil Monroe, one of the Warner animators. "We thought our pictures were funnier than anybody else's. We were all geared for humor--the animators would be asked to submit gags for pictures, and a lot of them were used." A new style was developing: most of it was Avery's doing, most of it was taking place right there at Warner Bros., and most of it was focused on The Rabbit. Finally the directors realized you couldn't look down on this character, the way you could with most cartoon clowns. You could only look up to him. It was at that point that Bugs came to life, individually, for each of the directors at Warner Bros., and, better than that, became a focal point for everything they saw as the best in themselves. Almost as soon as they started working with the character, the Bob Clampett unit, with McKimson in the lead, started giving Bugs less of an oval shape than the first model sheets called for, and his face began to look less ratlike. Then they started structuring the nose differently, and the teeth were naturally anchored to the same bone structure, in a more appealing facial design. By the time Clampett made Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid in 1942, he had arrived at what we might call the Classic Bugs Bunny. By late 1944 the same design was reaching the screen in the cartoons of the other units. Once Freleng made Stage Door Cartoon, released near the end of that year, the McKimson look was universal. "Bugs was gradually becoming a more complex character," Chuck Jones remembers. "The writers and directors were all beginning to realize that we had the potential of a brilliant and lasting star on our hands, a rambunctious, unbridled, and often balky baby Bugs that needed now to grow, to smooth out; we must find out how to harness that energy without destroying the spirit and how to guide the child without steering it. Bugs changed because he had to, not because we were brilliant." Bugs, madder than the March Hare and saner than Alice, knows he's in a cartoon. He always had a trick, and he always had the prop that was necessary to pull of that trick. Whatever it was--a sledgehammer, a stick of dynamite, an anvil, a cannon--he needed it, he got it? Where did it come from? Nobody wanted to know, they just wanted to see him pull off his fast one. Bugs was the cartoon version of the loud-mouthed but loveable Brooklynese smart-aleck who turns up in the cockpit, in the barracks, or on the battlefield in every World War II movie, as inevitable as the flag, and, apparently, just as effective in rallying the spirits of a beleaguered nation. The idea that the battle was winnable was a very popular one during World War II. "It was during those war years...that the Bugs Bunny cartoons...passed Disney and MGM for the first time to become the Number One short subject," Bob Clampett recalled. The studio received an offer from the Utah Celery Company of Salt Lake City to keep all staffers well supplied with their product if Bugs would only switch from carrots to their crunchy greens. Later the Broccoli Institute of America strongly urged The Bunny to sample their product once in a while. It never happened. Mel Blanc would have been happy to switch to any of these vegetables, since carrots made his throat muscles tighten and the words couldn't come out, but it was no go. Carrots were Bugs' trademark. The only concession they ever made was to move the carrot-crunching sounds and dialog to the last spot in the recording session. In the 1950s, with the post-war Baby Boom transforming his previous audience from rowdy kids in uniform to mature adults with responsibilities, Bugs found his new audience extended to include those "responsibilities." The nation was filling its nurseries and schools to capacity with children, and they were all becoming Bugs Bunny fans. By 1957 Bugs' perennial popularity had become as much a bewilderment as a source of pride. The theatrical short subject market had gone through a series of drastic changes, Bugs' contemporaries from the early `40s had largely faded from the scene, even Disney had phased out the one-reel cartoon, and television was posing new threats every year. The world of 1940 was becoming history.
“You got mad because you had to leave your community to find the goodness, and the goodness was here, and you destroyed it. Where is it at now?” “I remember when 46th was a dirt road, and Pecos going north was a dirt road. There were dairy farms there, in my lifetime. So I’ve watched progress. This is beyond progress — this is greed.” — Sid Quintana, lifelong Northside resident “I worry that the conversation will lead people to think that the solutions will be to stop improving minority neighborhoods, and I believe that’s racist.” — John Hayden, president of the Curtis Park Neighbors and “classic gentrifier” “I went to Stanford. I am bougie. I like having a good walking score. I like having places to eat with good, clean food. Natural Grocers just went in. Of course I like this. … It’s cool to have everything at your fingertips, and then your cousin has to leave their house, and your aunt is afraid they’re going take away her sunshine. ‘M’ija, they’re going to take away my sunshine.’ Let that sit in your chest.” — Eutimia Cruz Montoya, Five Points native, ancestral medicine practitioner “I think it’s generally positive, but if you ask some people, they would absolutely see it as a negative, and we, not just me, need to hear from them and see if there are ways to adapt.” — Paul Books, president Palisade Partners “The labor market and economic growth could be stymied if you don’t have a diverse population living in your city.” — Diana Elliott, senior research associate with the Urban Institute “The hipster guy on his bike wanting to live urban isn’t the problem. The problem is there isn’t corresponding investment in housing, in green infrastructure, in transit, in having some limitations on urban sprawl so the market isn’t just spiraling out of control. They basically have people pick up the pieces and wonder what happened. It’s the failure of the political and business establishment to invest in things that are going to have long-term social value.” — Kyle Zeppelin, developer “The family structure and the dynamics are affected. Everyone is thinking about money, and that’s not what’s most important. It’s almost like being a refugee.” — Rey G., a fourth-generation Globeville resident “As a kid who grew up north Philadelphia, in a Latino section of north Philadelphia that was not subject to change, that didn’t have amenities, basic amenities like access to grocery stores, access to jobs, to health services, that’s the downside — not having the opportunity to make investments, private and public investments, to spur change. So where we find that balancing act between making public and private investments that bring about change to neighborhoods to add amenities while preserving affordability for the residents who have been there a long time, that is the work the administration is looking to do. … So where do you find that balance? It’s not something you can turn off. You can’t stop people coming to the city.” — Erik Soliván, director of the Office of HOPE, responsible for coordinating Denver’s housing policy “My whole vision was that I was going to come home and buy a home in the Five Points. But I couldn’t. I was totally priced out. There wasn’t a job I could get that would allow me to do that. I was really salty about it. Watching the process for all my friends and family members and watching literally everyone in my family relocate, it just hurt. It was a hurt that was really deep and really unsettling.” — Asia Dorsey, Five Points native and owner of Five Points Fermentation “They want to feel that sense of community. They want to know that cashier at the Safeway. They want to know where the best pan in the ‘hood is. They invaded this, and they’re looking for it, they want it, and so they’re pushing, pushing, pushing. Meanwhile, they’re stepping over everybody. The community that you were looking for, you’re suffocating it, you’re drowning it, it’s gone.” — Ambrose Cruz, lifelong Northside resident, United Northside Neighbors When I tell Ambrose Cruz about the question I’m trying to answer — what’s so bad about gentrification? — he gives a bitter laugh, but he agrees to show me around his neighborhood. Cruz grew up, as did his parents and grandparents, in what was then the Northside and is now called Highland by many. He is an officer in United Northside Neighbors and a fixture at Denver City Council meetings when properties in the area come up for rezoning. I have some idea already of how he feels, which is why I approached him in the first place. He suggests we meet at the corner of Tejon Street and 30th Avenue, near Little Man Ice Cream, and he tells me why he’ll never eat ice cream there. “I went to my first funeral here,” he says. “I was 11 years old. My friend, he was 16. He had a heart tumor. First funeral, bunch of kids. I would never set foot in that place again.” The complex that holds Little Man Ice Cream was Olinger mortuary before being redeveloped into shops and restaurants. On summer nights, there are concerts in the courtyard and people dancing to live music. I have been there myself, waiting in a line that stretches around the block for delicious but expensive ice cream. “This was the heart right here,” Cruz says. “It was because of death. People died, and this is where we came to put them down. There was loss, but there was community. Their last memories of their family member might be there.” We’ve written a lot about gentrification here at Denverite, and there’s this underlying assumption in a lot of that writing that gentrification is bad — or at least fraught. But we also write about the latest bar and restaurant openings and fancy new ice cream and high-priced developments coming online. So when a reader submitted this question — “What’s so bad about gentrification?” — I thought it was worth taking seriously, even though it caused many of the long-time residents I interviewed to laugh, like Cruz did, or sigh with a patience that is wearing thin. In many ways, Denver is doing well. During the Great Recession, the city cut services, furloughed employees and struggled to maintain an adequate rainy day fund. But now — and for several years running — Denver is adding employees, expanding services from recycling and composting to library and rec center hours and planning for massive infrastructure investments made possible by rising property values. The city expects to end this year with more than 20 percent of its revenue unspent and maintains a 15 percent budget reserve without breaking a sweat. Unemployment is among the lowest in the country, and hundreds of people move here every month. What could be wrong with that? Displacement. That’s the one-word answer to “What’s so bad about gentrification?” People who called this city home for generations can’t afford it anymore and are decamping for Aurora and Thornton and places much further afield. But that one word doesn’t really evoke the human costs described to me in interviews with more than a dozen people. Those who remain feel like outsiders in their own communities — looked at with suspicion by people who moved in just a few years ago. There’s a loss of cultural diversity and a rending of the social fabric of these communities and the city as a whole. Asia Dorsey describes an almost idyllic childhood in Five Points. Her grandmother worked in property management and arranged it so all her aunts and cousins lived within blocks of each other. Her grandmother would send her down to Aces Grocery, a small family-owned grocery that she still dreams about. The love of food that would become her life’s work — Dorsey owns Five Points Fermentation — was planted there. There was the Black Arts Festival and Juneteenth, “beautiful, sparkly ladies throwing candy at you.” “It was a really, really beautiful upbringing,” she says. “I felt really safe and really protected. Everyone knew my grandmother, and I had a lot of freedom. I roamed all over.” There are darker memories of violence, as well, but Dorsey, now 27, was a young girl in the mid-90s when things were at their worst, not just in Denver but in large cities around the country. Her mother later moved the family out of the neighborhood because she wanted Dorsey to go to different schools but Dorsey always maintained the hope of returning to Five Points, and it remained the center of her extended family. Dorsey went away to college; she planned to become an environmental lawyer and got deeply involved in activism in New York City. Living in New York wore her down, though, and one of the few moments of joy she recalls from those years came from a class called “Agriculture in the 20th Century.” She scrapped law school and went to Australia to study permaculture and later traveled to Ghana and India and New Zealand, learning all along the way. “Fermentation showed up for me because I wanted to heal the depression I found in New York, and I did it with sauerkraut and bone broth,” she says. And from there, she decided to see if she could implement her ideals about food and economics in a successful business. “I wanted to bring probiotics to the people. I wanted to bring all my passion,” she says. “And I studied Marxism in college. I studied economics but from the other side. I never imagined I would be in business.” She actually wrangled the name Five Points Fermentation from the original owner, who wasn’t doing much with it and who had no connection to the community. She tries as much as possible to do her business in Five Points and spend time there. But she doesn’t live there and neither do any of the aunts and cousins who made her childhood so magical. Dorsey has an apartment in Sloan’s Lake because that’s where she can afford to live, while other family members are in Northeast Park Hill, Green Valley Ranch and Aurora. As much as she still loves Five Points, it’s not the same. “It’s not like you can go visit your auntie and get something to eat,” she says. Dorsey sees this wave of demographic change as different from previous changes. Cities are fluid, dynamic places, and Five Points has always been diverse. “We had so many immigrants, Jewish people, African-American people. When we had a new iteration of people, they didn’t try to erase what was there before. These communities are ecosystems, and they have rules and they have norms. You have the ecosystem model, and you have the imperialism model,” she says. The use of new names like RiNo for the section of Five Points near Brighton Boulevard are part of the new approach. It’s galling, Dorsey says, that people want “to take whole sections of what used to be the Five Points and rename it and have that cultural history not honored.” In Dorsey’s view, the newcomers are losing something, too. “It’s the Starbucksification of communities,” she says. “I don’t admire the struggle that middle-class people live, and I don’t think it’s better than the lifestyle that lower-income people live. “We were broke, and my life was beautiful.” There’s a reason certain Denver neighborhoods are vulnerable to gentrification. It goes back long before the current building boom to the lending practices codified by the federal government decades ago. Residential Security Maps, which determined where people could get mortgages, favored white areas over areas where black and brown people lived. This practice undercut the ability of people of color to buy homes and build wealth. This legacy, along with white flight, ongoing school segregation and the devastating impact of first heroin and then crack on urban neighborhoods, is what created blocks and blocks of centrally located historic homes that could be bought at rock-bottom prices. This 1934 Residential Security Map shows Five Points, Highland and my own neighborhood of Baker in red or yellow. You couldn’t get a mortgage in the red areas, while yellow and to a lesser extent blue meant lenders should be cautious. This map lines up well with the areas that have gentrified already in Denver, as well as those considered vulnerable to gentrification because their residents have lower than median income and are more likely to be burdened by the cost of housing. I will raise my hand and admit to being a gentrifier in some senses. Baker had already changed a lot by the time I moved there in 2009, but as a middle-class, college-educated white person who grew up in a small town and pursued urban living as an adult — and who could afford to do so because of decades of social and economic policy that preceded me — I am part of this demographic change transforming Denver. My neighborhood has continued to change in the eight years I have lived there. My son looks at the mid-rise apartments going up along South Broadway and laments that you used to be able to tell where you were but now everything looks the same. The landmark he’s missing is the now-demolished Gates Rubber factory, which once employed hundreds but had since become an eyesore and an environmental hazard. The historic homes that once housed struggling musicians, with their peeling paint, bare dirt yards and porches littered with cigarette butts and empties of PBR, are being returned to single-family status, with bright new paint jobs and fresh grass and glider bikes in the yard. Maybe I should be happy about this — my house is worth much more than I paid for it — but I miss the more eclectic version of the neighborhood that I moved into. And U.S. Census and American Community Survey data confirm what I suspected: Baker’s Hispanic and Latino population fell from 54 percent in 2000 to 34 percent in 2015. Nothing about Denver in 2017 makes me think that trend will reverse or even stabilize. I grew up in a small town where homogeneity produced an oppressive conformity. I didn’t move to a city so that I could raise my own kids in a world of sameness — even if I do enjoy fancy ice cream from time to time. Ambrose Cruz remembers the first white person he met in his neighborhood. This is not quite right, he clarifies. There were always white people on the Northside — Italian and Polish immigrants. His uncle, Sid Quintana, recalls his best childhood friend by the very English name of Bevington. But Matthew was the first of a new kind of white person, the kind who wears cargo shorts. He met Matthew in a bar on Tennyson and found out he’d moved into a new condo across from The Conflict Center on Tejon Street, condos that must have gone up in three days or something because Cruz had no idea anything was afoot. Twelve years later, the geography of Highland is a map of loss. Quintana and Cruz walk up Tejon Street listing the last names of the families that are gone, the addresses of the houses that are gone, the businesses and social service agencies that are gone. In 2000, Highland was 67 percent Hispanic; today, it’s 27 percent. Cranes are everywhere, and the noise of construction makes it hard to talk at times. “You know there is one spot to find menudo around here? That’s probably one of my biggest issues with the whole fucking thing,” Cruz jokes. “One spot to find menudo. You gotta go up to Sheridan now.” At one point, we pause in front of a real estate office, and Quintana taps on a picture of a gorgeously restored Victorian listed for $1.6 million. “That was my first bedroom window,” he says of a second-floor vantage point. “I was just out of high school and working as an X-ray tech at Denver General.” Quintana has suffered a slew of health problems and had several strokes. He’s recently had open heart surgery, and he walks slowly. He says he grew up in a community where people helped each other out, where you didn’t have to worry about a young child or an elderly relative wandering off because they would be found right away by someone who knew them. Now people lay on their horns because he’s not crossing the street fast enough for their tastes. Cruz doesn’t use the word gentrification, but “communicide.” “All these people moving in, I always wonder: What was wrong with your community? What was wrong with where you grew up?” Cruz says. “I don’t care if you come from Englewood, from New Jersey, from Texas, what was wrong with where you were that you had to go in and literally displace someone else? “You moved here. Remember that. I’ve been here. What was wrong with your community? Oh, I’m sorry you didn’t have a panaderia. I’m sorry you didn’t have a grocery store up the block. Maybe you should have talked to your city council and dealt with that instead of coming into our community and messing it all up and then going to our city council and complaining because you don’t like what’s here. “You got mad because you had to leave your community to find the goodness, and the goodness was here, and you destroyed it. Where is it at now?” It was the architect who first raised the possibility of working in Five Points. Palisade Partners sees itself as a development group that “looks for opportunity where others aren’t or when others aren’t.” In 2013, the architect who had worked with Palisade on apartment renovations and townhouse projects brought up the idea of doing a project at the site of the former Phyllis Wheatley YWCA, 2460 Welton St. The Wheatley is now 82 apartments, 14 townhouses and 3,800 square feet of retail. The Lydian is under construction at 2560 Welton St. and expected to bring eight stories and 129 units later this year. And Palisade recently purchased the historic Rossonian Hotel and is assembling adjacent parcels to support a larger redevelopment project. That project will preserve and repurpose the landmarked hotel, once the center of Denver’s jazz scene. Palisade does not work exclusively in Five Points, but president Paul Books has become deeply involved in the development of the neighborhood, including serving on the board of the Five Points Business District. He first became aware of the area when he took a tour as part of the University of Denver real estate program in which he was studying, and he still encounters people who are surprised he’s working in Five Points, two decades after the light rail went in and Coors Field went up. “For someone who didn’t know Five Points, when you tell people you’re doing a project in Five Points, they’re like, ‘What? The same Five Points I grew up with?’ Or whatever. There is this stigma, this nervousness about it,” he says. “We started looking at it because we knew nothing had happened for a while. We didn’t exactly know why.” In our conversation, Books uses this word “stigma” a few times to describe how some outsiders view Five Points. He doesn’t explicitly name this as racial prejudice, but it hangs in the air. There are also practical challenges to developing here. The light rail, one of the amenities that makes Five Points so appealing to newcomers, touted in every real estate listing, creates access and spacing issues for new buildings on Welton. (Dorsey describes the construction of the light rail as an event that “broke the heart of Five Points.”) Books is aware that he is working in an area with a storied history, and he wants to respect that. For the Wheatley project, he sought out the stories of now-quite-elderly women who lived in the YWCA and featured them in the lobby of the building. And he kept the name, which belongs to this nation’s first African-American female poet, a freed slave who published her first work at 14. Five Points is considered an urban renewal area, and projects are eligible for public financing to fill in the gaps that private lenders won’t cover. There’s also a cultural-historical district with design guidelines. All of this means the city and the neighborhood have more say about what development looks like along Welton, when compared to other parts of Denver. There are African-American business owners and property owners who are bullish on development, who see opportunity and revitalization, who want market-rate housing here, not more affordable housing. Books knows the community is divided, with long-time residents who are renters the most vulnerable and the most unhappy with change. He wants to be a positive force in the neighborhood. “I’m not saying we’re perfect, we continue to strive to be better, but it’s a cool blueprint with the landmark district so you end up with good design and with the TIF district so you can help end up with projects of high quality with some of these mixed-income opportunities, and then still provide those neighborhood services through the commercial spaces and activation,” he says. Books said he’s being conscientious as he considers tenants for the first floors of his buildings. He probably wouldn’t sign a “fine dining” restaurant, for example, but would hold out for a restaurant serving good quality good at a price point and in an environment that is “comfortable and inclusive.” When I ask Books if his projects may inevitably contribute to further demographic change in Five Points, he pauses for a long time before answering. “It may be too soon to totally tell. We’re definitely watching. We still have the next projects,” he says. “… Maybe I’m biased, but I do look at it as a net positive. But there is a segment that are renters or who grew up here and see it changing, that don’t like it.” Books has one more thing to say that will be hard to take for some people unhappy with change in Denver. “Gentrification, not just gentrification but growth and how it affects apartment rents in the city of Denver, I’ll say this: The solution is in the problem,” he says. “Unless you stop people from moving here, you get more people, you increase demand and supply is not keeping up. Development then creates this change that creates gentrification, but now housing is unattainable for people, but the only way to make it attainable is more supply.” There was something wrong with where John Hayden was from that he couldn’t fix by going to his city council. Hayden left Arvada for Amherst College in Massachusetts in the late 1980s and found himself surrounded by people who grew up in New York City and other large, diverse East Coast cities. “I realized very quickly they were light years ahead of me in terms of their exposure to different people,” he says. “They had benefited greatly from the fact that they had grown up in a diverse city. When I came home, I wanted to live in a diverse place. “Part of that had to do with the fact that I was gay, and in 1992, returning to the suburbs of Arvada was not a thing you wanted to do if you were gay. The city was a place that I would feel more welcomed and safe.” This decision has worked out well for Hayden. “We were the classic gentrifiers, the gay couple without kids. We didn’t care about the schools. The neighborhood was wonderful for us,” he says. “It was an urban setting with affordable housing that we could work on and build a life and build wealth from. That dynamic existed for us because the neighborhood had been weakened to the point that the existing population was leaving in droves. The housing was affordable, and the schools were terrible.” Hayden is the president of Curtis Park Neighbors and a real estate agent who helps people buy and sell houses every day, including in Five Points. He says concerns about the quality of schools are still the major reason cited by families with children who want to leave the neighborhood, and that concern extends across all racial groups. Five Points’ population fell from 32,000 in the 1950s to just 8,000 in 2000, and it’s now up above 14,000. Hayden sees the racial segregation that created these communities and then undermined them as the real enemy, and he’s deeply concerned about a narrative he sees around improvements in majority-minority communities, that better sidewalks and bike lanes and rec centers are a tool of gentrification. Poverty itself is destabilizing, and across the country, poor neighborhoods see higher rates of displacement and turnover than middle-class ones. “I think that’s missed, and it’s kind of a racist assumption that it’s just white people who want good schools and good parks,” he says. “‘Oh, the minorities will just stay and go to those schools.’ They won’t, and they don’t.” Hayden describes the process of gentrification as one that has made Denver neighborhoods more diverse, not less, as white people move into areas that were once majority black or Latino. If that was true at one point, we appear to have passed the threshold. Five Points in 2000 was 26 percent African-American and 43 percent Latino; today it’s 10 percent African-American and 21 percent Latino — making the neighborhood about as black as the city as a whole, as well as more white and less Latino. Hayden describes Five Points as “as diverse as the rest of Denver — and Denver would benefit greatly from increasing its diversity.” While market-rate housing in Five Points has become quite expensive, the neighborhood retains a large share of subsidized affordable housing. The solution, Hayden says, is not to build more affordable housing in Five Points but to build more in every neighborhood in Denver, as well as ensuring that every neighborhood has the walkability and transit access to downtown that makes Five Points so desirable. That would take some of the pressure off. The entire city will be worse off, though, if it doesn’t have children and multi-generational families. “That young families can’t afford to live in the neighborhood to a great extent is really unfortunate,” he says. “That is a sad change that has happened. I have lots and lots of clients who would like to live in Five Points who can’t. And that’s white, African-American, Latino. “That said, I do not know any homeowners who are going to put their house on the market for below-market so those people can live here.” The problem of gentrification is not just about how people feel about their communities. Or what they look like or how fancy the restaurants are. Diana Elliot has been studying the loss of housing accessible to low- and moderate-income people in cities like Denver, Miami and Austin for the Urban Institute. The high price of housing has serious implications for the economic vitality of the region, and it’s been flagged in recent economic forecasts as a drag on growth. Companies can’t attract workers because housing costs so much, and companies can’t grow because they can’t hire enough workers. “The way we’ve had these conversations in each of these cities, especially with business leaders, they are critically aware that this can create labor market problems not just now but into the future,” she says. “Look at the occupations of low- to middle-income workers. They are the support occupations that keep a city going — managers, accountants, teachers, customer service reps, registered nurses, sales people — these are all occupations that are necessary to keep a city going. You can’t just have people in your city who work in really high-income occupations.” As low- and middle-income workers move further and further out in search of affordable housing, they increasingly take jobs in those communities, rather than commute into the city center. City officials say they take all of these concerns seriously, and they’re developing policies that they believe will help. Mayor Michael Hancock has long touted the benefits of economic growth and asserted that this growth can and will benefit all residents. But in an interview after this year’s state of the city address, Hancock said the city is losing the “people who helped build a community and create a sense of community.” “You start to see the loss of historic and special places that made a neighborhood unique,” he says. “We lose the soul of our city or at least those areas of town, and when those things are threatened, you begin to lose a little bit of who you are as a city. When people make that decision to move on, that’s one thing, but when people are forced out, that’s when gentrification becomes a real challenge.” Erik Soliván, director of the Office of HOPE and the man charged with creating more effective housing policy for the city of Denver, grew up poor — just as Hancock did — and did not see reinvestment come to his part of north Philadelphia. That’s not what Denver should want, he stresses. “Balance” is a word that Soliván uses a lot. Last year, the city released a report that identified neighborhoods vulnerable to gentrification and specifically to displacement, and its new housing plan includes policies to target housing assistance in the form of eviction prevention, property tax rebates, subsidized home repairs, job training, small business support and financial literacy programs to those areas. Making Denver work for everyone isn’t just a platitude, Soliván says, but a value city officials are enacting through policy. Community activist Candi CdeBaca says city leaders have a very difficult time conceiving of true community reinvestment. What Denver really needs is community land trusts to preserve housing for long-time residents. That would create some confidence that they would get to enjoy the new sidewalks and rec centers. Millete Birhanemaskel, who owns the Whittier Cafe coffee shop on East 25th Street and strives to make it as comfortable for black activists as for newer white residents, gets frustrated that the response to gentrification and displacement so often focuses on subsidized affordable housing. What discrimination took from black and brown people was the opportunity to own property and build wealth. “What’s affordable housing?” she asks. “That’s not the same as homeownership.” Whittier was a neighborhood that her Ethiopian immigrant parents did not let her hang out in when she was a teenager, but it was also a place where African-Americans built a community in the face of discrimination. “There is a sense of people who just moved to the city being like, ‘It’s mine,'” she says. “And some of them are our customers.” Cruz, of United Northside Neighbors, has read the reports and been to the meetings, and if the city’s strategy is really to support good-paying jobs for everyone, he wonders why warehouse areas have been rezoned for luxury housing. Where were the low-interest loans for small businesses 20 years ago, when it might have changed the trajectory? “People could have had good jobs in the communities where they live and bought houses and be retiring now,” he says. Eutimia Cruz Montoya goes back and forth on whether she should stay. Montoya came back to Denver because she wanted to serve her community. She lives and runs an integrative wellness and ancestral medicine practice from the home her grandparents owned on Champa Street in the Curtis Park section of Five Points. Her aunts live nearby on Curtis Street, and when she was 9, her mother bought a home in the adjoining Cole neighborhood. Five Points has been her home her entire life. Growing up, she wasn’t allowed to hang out on street corners. There was gang activity, and she sometimes heard gunshots. Her mother traces the problems in the neighborhood to the Vietnam War and the heroin addiction and PTSD that too many young men from the area, drafted at disproportionate rates compared to their white peers, brought back from the war. It swept through the neighborhood “like wildfire” and took down entire families, setting the stage for the rise of gangs in the 1980s. “I never felt unsafe, but I was also one of the good ones whose mother was not a drug addict,” she says. “We were from, as my mother said, simple farming people, and my mother really embraced her indigeniety through the Civil Rights Movement.” While some of her peers were drinking at football games (in case it needs to be said, an activity hardly limited to low-income neighborhoods), Montoya was going to solstice celebrations with her family and had her mind focused on her studies. “There were people from among my peers who ended up not in a good way,” she says. In 2002, Montoya left for Stanford, where she studied anthropology. She returned to Denver in 2006 after the death of grandmother, then went to San Francisco. But finding herself homesick, she returned to Denver for good in 2008 and finished her education in traditional Chinese medicine in Boulder. All this time, new businesses and new people were moving into the neighborhood. “The last year or two, it’s been like a punch in the face,” she says. Montoya chooses her words carefully. The problem isn’t white people as individuals but an enforced and violent homogeneity that she believes has its roots in the persecution of traditional medicine women in Europe hundreds of years ago. “There’s a good old boy thing,” she says. “You either fit in or you don’t. You’re an engineer or a corporate person or you’re a throw-away. That feeling is very present. … This looks like not saying hi to people on the street. This looks like stopping in front of my grandmother’s house and sizing it up. ‘Oh, it can’t be more than $500,000.'” Some days she wants to dig in her heels and stay forever as a form of resistance. Other days she wonders if she should give in and sell and be done with it. It’s not that there are no positive aspects to the changes, but they come at such a high price. “People are like, oh, the walking score has improved. But for whom? Black and brown people aren’t able to live here anymore,” Montoya says. She recalls visiting Greenwich Village in New York City in 2006 and thinking, “Oh my gosh, this is so cute.” “But they were doing to that neighborhood what’s being done to this neighborhood. And they are we.” Montoya doesn’t want to come across as too angry. She says she wants to “call in” rather than “call out” white people. “We all want a better world for ourselves and our children. So, say hi to each other. We can’t change the fact that all of this is happening. This has been in the works for 30 years, ever since Coors Field went up,” she says. “Take some time to say hello and ask about the place that we’re in, and then maybe we all won’t be so angry. “I really want everyone to heal, or I wouldn’t do the work that I do.”
Estimating the support of a high-dimensional distribution. Suppose you are given some data set drawn from an underlying probability distribution P and you want to estimate a "simple" subset S of input space such that the probability that a test point drawn from P lies outside of S equals some a priori specified value between 0 and 1. We propose a method to approach this problem by trying to estimate a function f that is positive on S and negative on the complement. The functional form of f is given by a kernel expansion in terms of a potentially small subset of the training data; it is regularized by controlling the length of the weight vector in an associated feature space. The expansion coefficients are found by solving a quadratic programming problem, which we do by carrying out sequential optimization over pairs of input patterns. We also provide a theoretical analysis of the statistical performance of our algorithm. The algorithm is a natural extension of the support vector algorithm to the case of unlabeled data.
Westmont Women Complete GSAC Sweep With Tournament Title Westmont Women’s Basketball shot 62.5 percent from the three-point line and 47.8 from the field in the second half to claim a 67-58 victory over Vanguard in the championship game of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament at Hope International in Fullerton. The second-ranked Warriors were also the regular season champions. “This feels amazing,” said GSAC Player of the Year, Krissy Karr. “It is definitely a goal we had and especially after we won league, we were set on winning the GSAC tournament too.” “I am just really proud of our players,” said Westmont head coach Kirsten Moore. “We push them so hard all year for moments like this so that they are ready and prepared, and they came through when they needed to tonight.” Within the first two minutes, the Warriors went on a 9-2 run to take an early lead. After winning the tip off Aysia Shellmire drove towards the basket, drew the foul, and made the subsequent free throws. Vanguard then embarked upon their first possession of the game, but Karr stole the ball and handed it off to Shellmire, who hit a jump shot. Cora Chan followed with a layup, Vanguard’s Samantha Doucette piped in with a jump shot, and Aimee Brakken added a three-pointer. The Lions roared back with an 8-2 run to come within one (13-12). Vanguard began the second quarter with another 8-2 run to take what would be their largest lead of the game (20-24). The Warriors (29-3) responded with a ten point run to earn a lead that they would not relinquish for remainder of the game. Brakken hit a three-pointer, Morgan Haskin put up a layup and two free throws, and Karr added a three-pointer. The first half ended with the Warriors ahead by only one point (32-31). In the first half, the Warriors shot at 37.9 from the field, where as the Lions shot at 46.4. “I was struggling a bit in the first half with shooting which got to me a bit,” explained Karr, “but I knew I just needed to keep shooting. We all weren’t shooting our best in the first half, so we knew it had to be better than that so we just kept shooting confidently in the second half.” Karr had five points in the first half, and more than doubled this when she scored 13 points in the second half. She was the game’s leading scorer with a total of 18 points. Karr also had six rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. “I thought Krissy did a great job maintaining composure and just leading us out there on the floor,” noted Moore. “She made really good decisions and knocked down shots when we needed her to.” Two other Warriors scored in the double figures. Lauren McCoy had a double-double, putting up 11 points and pulling down ten rebounds. She also had two assists, one block and one steal. Shellmire had 12 points, one rebound and a block. “I thought our bench tonight was awesome,” noted Moore. “With two of our best players in foul trouble in the first half, Morgan Haskin came off the bench and was amazing and had a great presence for us. Kayla Sato was great all game and Lauren Sende’s leadership was great as well. People were ready when they needed to be and I am really proud of the composure that they all showed.” Haskin put up eight points and pulled down one rebound; Sato had four points and eight rebounds; and Sende had two rebounds. Cora Chan was also a key contributor with eight points, two rebounds, and four assists. The Warriors and Lions traded baskets for the majority of the third quarter and embarked upon the final quarter with the Warriors ahead by only three points (48-45). The Warriors improved this lead to ten, after they went on a 13-4 point run that began with the start of the fourth quarter and lasted for six minutes (61-51). Kayla Sato ignited the run with a three-pointer and Vanguard’s Claire Lamunu and Kandyce Smith answered with a jump shot each. Then Chan hit a three-pointer, McCoy followed with a layup, Karr added a three-pointer, and McCoy finished with another layup. The Lions (24-6) attempted to close the gap but fell short, as the Warriors clung on to their lead for the remainder of the game. Karr talked about how the well-rounded nature of this Warrior team makes them successful. “I think we are very balanced - if you try to double team Aysia, McCoy, or myself, then you are leaving Cora, Brakken, or Sato wide open. Teams have to decide what they are going to try and take away from us - so I just think that speaks to how well-balanced our team is and also speaks to how anyone can step up on a given night.” Support Noozhawk Today You are an important ally in our mission to deliver clear, objective, high-quality professional news reporting for Santa Barbara, Goleta and the rest of Santa Barbara County. Join the Hawks Club today to help keep Noozhawk soaring. We offer four membership levels: $5 a month, $10 a month, $25 a month or $1 a week. Payments can be made using a credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, or click here for information on recurring credit-card payments and a mailing address for checks. Thank you for your vital support. 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@MadSingleMalt I’m with you. I’m getting a bit tired of over sherried whisky. I have a cask strength Tomatin that is over the top with sherry, almost as if they just dumped a bunch of PX into the casks. Super sweet and, for me, practically undrinkable. The type of “Sherry” Cask matters too. I’m not big on lots of PX casks as I find it can easily overwhelm the whisky. A good mix of Oloroso and ex-bourbon is nice. Something like 50/50 or 60/40 (bourbon/Oloroso). And I’ll have to get back to everyone once I open my Laphroaig Fino Cask. @Nozinan Yes, not my experience either. I wasn’t specifically referring to Springbanks, which are not generally heavy on the sherry, but recently (not this month of course) I seem to be developing an aversion to heavily sherried malts such as the Tomatin I mentioned as well as a Tamdhu and a 22 year old AnCnoc. @BlueNote - I hear that. I think there's a definite difference between whiskys that have been matured traditionally in good sherry casks i.e. the Hazelburn 13 Oloroso I'm currently enjoying and those that haven't. I love a well done sherried whisky but too often they taste like someone poured syrup into the bottle - not a fan of that. @Nozinan me neither. In fact if you said to me the 12 was 70% sherry casks I would have been surprised. Doesn't taste overly sherried at all. But I think Springbank generally use good second refill sherry casks so you just get some subtle dried fruit notes from the sherry casks without it being overwhelming. As others have said I'm not a fan of all these Pedro Ximenez etc finished whiskies. I think they often do that just to try to improve a bad whisky. @cricklewood - Sounds nice! Usually pick up a bottle of rum each year and had my eye on El Dorado 12 which I've tried - nice if a little too sweet, but this is rum . . . I saw that Serge gave Wray and Nephew overproof white rum 89 points recently! I'm not a big fan of white rum, and with my partner not drinking I doubt many Mojitos will be being made. Still, he gave it a mouth watering write up and it's very cheap over here c£25. @RianC I have a bottle of Wray and Nephew white rum for Mojitos in summer. It's the strongest spirit I've ever had at 63%. I've had a couple of neat sips and that's an experience, but I don't think you'd routinely drink it neat. I could literally feel my tongue going numb. Makes for a powerful mojito though, missus didn't know what had hit her! @Wierdo here here. Me too. With exception of the rather outstanding kavalan px that I was generously offered to sample by their master distiller. That changed my prejudice against px. It's just a bit prohibitive in price... @RianC I quite enjoyed my first tastes of that rum blend, it has a good amount of complexity which is what I want for sipping neat. Some of the El Dorado' are quite nice the 15 is my favorite in terms of balance of flavors, I think it contains more pot-still, heavier distillates. As for sweetness, most rums are actually not sweet, much like in bourbon you can get the perception of sweetness from spirit and casks. The problem is that sadly there are too many companies dosing their rums it's the dirty little secret of the industry. Plantation has started writing how much they are dosing on their bottles but for the rest it's still being hidden, for example Diplomatico can have up to 40g/L of sugar and also added vanilin/glycerol, which renders it "smooth" and easy to drink. There's a lot of interesting articles about this. Wray & Nephew overproof is good distillate, probably not something you'd sip straight on a regular basis, as there is no aging to round out the edges but it's great in cocktails. I like using overproof rums as a flavor booster for cocktails, it helps the rum flavor cut through. I think the use of PX sherry in whisky is akin to the way the industry used Paxarette before it's use was outlawed by the SWA. Everyone is just going nuts with it, I think the issue is also that everyone is going for quick finishes rather than any length of maturation in PX which tends to yield a different result Sherry bombs sell well so that is why we are seeing so many over the top Sherried whiskys like the Tomatin @BlueNote mentions @cricklewood - Yeah I've heard about this with rum. Are there any rums that 'give it you straight?' Like I say, I don't mind the sweetness (and colouring) to a degree but would like to see what pure rum is all about. Couple of years back I bought my partner some Malaysian rum Don Papa as she tried a sample tasting and liked it. It wasn't bad but talk about vanilla . . . @MadSingleMalt You see, and I like a heavy oily, rich whisky, but I don’t want too much sweetness. A little is fine, but it needs to be balanced. I find many “lighter-bodied” whiskies a bit sharp at times. Now that may be because I’ve never tried any higher-end light-bodied whiskies. Most of the lighter stuff I’ve had has been of the Glenlivet Founder’s Reserve/Master Distiller’s Reserve variety. @RianC didn't see your last comment, I'll pm you for more rum recommendations but since you are in the UK you are spoiled for choice, try offerings from the IB's they arte usually cask strength and unsweetened. So stuff from compagnies de Indes, Transcontinental, Cadenhead, Velier, Duncan Taylor etc. You'll just have to pick which region or distillery. The next bottle which I want to purchase is Ben Nevis 10 yo. It seems to be sold out. I know our Canadian friends never had the opportunity to buy it all. I hope a new batch is released soon. I hope my Canadian friends will enjoy Ben Nevis too. @NamBeist Ben Nevis 10 was briefly available at the SAQ (Québec liquor stores) in 2018, it was on shelves for a few months I failed to pick up a bottle but should have when I saw it on everybody's list of good values. @NamBeist - MoM are selling a 10 cask strength version that will set you back nigh on £100! I plan to open a bottle of the standard 10 soon that I've had in the stash for a while. I dod look at picking up another if I enjoyed it but it seems as if there aren't any batches out there at the minute. Also noticed the price had started to creep up. @RianC Cheers! I also found an alternative: Ben Nevis McDonald 's Traditional. Don't know yet if I will buy this one or wait for a new batch of the 10 yo. I found one for the price of €70. It used to be €45. Maybe I should join the marines in the Netherlands. It is the whisky that they drink at special occasions
If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. Basically it centers around reuse in open source games, in a similar way to how Neverwinter Nights allowed people to build their own gaming world with the pieces provided in the game. I know you aren't planning on developming an MMO or RPG, but the idea can still be applied in some way I'm sure.
Jelly is a new electric scooter company preparing to launch at Purdue University in Indiana. Outwardly, it appears very similar to other scooter startups that have quickly spread across the country in the last 12 months. Except for one key difference: Jelly is apparently a subsidiary of Ford, one of the largest automakers in the world. Ford wanted to stay anonymous at first Of course, you wouldn’t know that by going to Jelly’s website, because there’s nothing there except the words “Coming Soon!” set against a purple background. Nor would you know it to read Purdue University’s announcement, which describes Jelly as “a campus-wide research project on best practices for using e-scooters,” but makes no mention of Ford. Purdue’s eagle-eyed students discovered the truth soon enough. Reddit user Labtec901 was the first to notice the automaker’s involvement, posting that Jelly’s rental agreement contained contact information for Ford Smart Mobility LLC, the tech-focused subsidiary that spun off from Ford Motor Company in 2016. Sameer Kapur, a student at Purdue, tweeted Labtec901’s discovery. 1/ @Ford is entering the e-scooter rental business, through a subsidiary called "Jelly". Their website is in pre-launch mode as of now: https://t.co/viYOgryshd Their iOS app is not live on the app store yet, but the website lists they are active on @LifeAtPurdue campus. — Sameer K (@thesameerk) October 23, 2018 Ford wanted to keep its name off the project for fear of skewing the results, but after screengrabs were posted to Twitter and Reddit, there was no point in keeping it under wraps, said Steven Tally, a senior strategist for Purdue’s office for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. “I don’t think it’s going to hold,” Tally said he told Ford. A spokesperson for the automakers would only say, “We are proud to support this academic research project with Purdue. We look forward to learning more about scooters as a mobility solution.” “We are proud to support this academic research project with Purdue” According to Purdue, 40 scooters will be distributed across the campus for a total of four weeks. Jelly will coordinate with city and campus officials before and during the 45-day operational pilot to ensure “a positive relationship.” A team led by Darcy Bullock, a civil engineering professor and director of the university’s Joint Transportation Research Program, will study how “the oft-maligned e-scooters can best be incorporated into an urban environment.” Tally said that Ford’s engineers would be working with university staff to pull data off the scooters to help determine uptime, fleet management, and other factors for the study. “Hopefully, the result will be to take away the stigma and negative feelings about these scooters,” Tally added. Jelly’s (or Ford’s, as it were) approach to dockless electric scooters couldn’t be more different from other so-called micromobility players like Bird and Lime, which have gained both fame and notoriety for dropping hundreds of two-wheeled devices in cities without any warning. It’s a business plan of seeking forgiveness rather than permission when they arrive in a new market. Bird already operates hundreds of scooters at Purdue, though officials haven’t been too pleased by it. West Lafayette police impounded nearly two dozen of the scooters in the first few days — mainly because they blocked sidewalks, according to the Lafayette & Journal Courier. Bird scooters impounded at Purdue Although the Jelly research results are intended to be used by civil engineering and city planners worldwide, Purdue said it will be using the information for future decisions about whether to allow scooters on campus and how they should be used. “Any city planner or engineer looking for information on e-scooters has probably only seen negative news stories about companies dumping scooters in a city and creating chaos, or a sales pitch from one of the companies,” Aaron Madrid, alternative transportation coordinator at Purdue, said in the release. “To have actual data about what does and does not work well will be invaluable.” Jelly isn’t Ford’s first foray into scooters. The company has a licensing deal with Ojo, an electric scooter startup based in California — though Ojo is only for sale, not rent. Updated October 24th 4:18pm ET: Reddit user Labtec901 was the first to notice Ford’s involvement in the scooter project. A previous version of this article did not state that correctly.
// // Generated by class-dump 3.5 (64 bit) (Debug version compiled Oct 15 2018 10:31:50). // // class-dump is Copyright (C) 1997-1998, 2000-2001, 2004-2015 by Steve Nygard. // #import <ProtocolBuffer/PBCodable.h> #import <VideoProcessing/NSCopying-Protocol.h> @class VCPProtoPoint; @interface VCPProtoLine : PBCodable <NSCopying> { VCPProtoPoint _end; VCPProtoPoint _start; } + (id)lineFromPoint:(struct CGPoint)arg1 toPoint:(struct CGPoint)arg2; - (void).cxx_destruct; @property(retain, nonatomic) VCPProtoPoint end; // @synthesize end=_end; @property(retain, nonatomic) VCPProtoPoint start; // @synthesize start=_start; - (void)mergeFrom:(id)arg1; - (unsigned long long)hash; - (BOOL)isEqual:(id)arg1; - (id)copyWithZone:(struct _NSZone *)arg1; - (void)copyTo:(id)arg1; - (void)writeTo:(id)arg1; - (BOOL)readFrom:(id)arg1; - (id)dictionaryRepresentation; - (id)description; - (struct CGPoint)endPointValue; - (struct CGPoint)startPointValue; @end
Q: Read file from a specific position in x86 Is it possible to start reading a file from a specific line or byte. Currently I use this code to read 4 bytes of a file: section .data filename db "file.txt", 0 section .bss read_data resb 4 section .text global _start _start: mov rax, SYS_OPEN mov rdi, filename mov rsi, O_RDONLY mov rdx, 0 syscall push rax mov rdi, rax mov rax, SYS_READ mov rsi, read_data mov rdx, 4 syscall mov rax, SYS_CLOSE pop rdi syscall This code always reads the first 4 bytes, but I want to start reading from other parts of the file, like the middle for example. What do I need to add or change? A: A freshly-opened file descriptor starts at position = 0. If you keep reading from the same fd in a loop, you'll get successive chunks. (Use a larger buffer like 8kiB and loop over dwords in user-space, though, using the value that read returned as an upper limit! A system call is very expensive in CPU time.) Is it possible to start reading a file from a specific line or byte. Byte: yes Line: no. In Unix/Linux, the kernel doesn't have an index of line-start byte offsets or any other line-oriented API. The line handling in stdio fgets for example is purely done in user-space. There have been some historical OSes with record-based files, but Unix files are flat arrays of bytes. (They can have holes, unwritten extents, and extended attributes... But the kernel APIs for the main file contents only operate with by byte offsets). If you want to do lines, read a big block and loop forward until you've seen some number of newlines. If you're not there yet, read another block; repeat until you find the start and end of the line number you want, or you hit EOF. x86-64 can efficiently search 16 bytes at a time with pcmpeqb / pmovmskb / popcnt (popcnt requires SSE4.2 or the specific popcnt feature bit). Or with just SSE2, or when optimizing for large blocks, with pcmpeqb / psadbw (against all-zero) to hsum bytes to qwords / paddd. Then check how many lines you went every so often with some scalar code. Or keep it simple and branch on finding the first newline in a SIMD vector. Obviously the slow and simple option is a byte-at-a-time loop that counts '\n' characters - if you know how to do strchr with SSE2 it should be straightforward to vectorize that search using the above suggestions. But if you only want some specific byte positions, you have two main options: seek with lseek(2) before read(2) (see @Nicolae Natea's answer) Use POSIX/Linux pread(2) to read from a specified offset, without moving the fd's file offset for future read calls. The Linux system call name is pread64 (__NR_pread64 equ 17 from asm/unistd_64.h) ssize_t pread(int fd, void *buf, size_t count, off_t offset); The only difference from read is the offset arg, the 4th arg thus passed in R10 (not RCX like the user-space function calling convention). off_t is a 64-bit type simply passed in a single register in 64-bit code. Other than the pread64 name in the .h, there's nothing special about the asm interface compared to the C interface, it follows the standard system-calling convention. (It exists since Linux 2.1.60 ; before that glibc's wrapper emulated it with lseek.) There are other things you can do like mmap, or a preadv system call, but pread is most exactly what you're looking for if you have a known position you want to read from. A: Before performing the read you should perform a lseek, so that the file position is updated. so something along the lines: mov rdi, rax ; fd mov rax, SYS_LSEEK mov rsi, <whatever offset you want> mov rdx, 0 ; keep 0 if the offset should be from the begining of the file syscall note: RDI will still hold the same fd value after a syscall so you don't need extra save/restore for the fd across lseek / read / close. Tip: It might be easier to write the code in c and compile it with gcc -g -S -fverbose-asm -Og -c main.c and then look at main.s. (How to remove "noise" from GCC/clang assembly output?). But that will only show the compiler making calls to libc wrapper functions, unless you use inline system call macros like MUSL libc provides.
Optimal control of a collection of parametric oscillators. The problem of effectively adiabatic control of a collection of classical harmonic oscillators sharing the same time-dependent frequency is analyzed. The phase differences between the oscillators remain fixed during the process. This fact leads us to adopt the coordinates: energy, Lagrangian, and correlation, which have proved useful in a quantum description and which have the advantage of treating both the classical and quantum problem in one unified framework. A representation theorem showing that two classical oscillators can represent an arbitrary collection of classical or quantum oscillators is proved. An invariant, the Casimir companion, consisting of a combination of our coordinates, is the key to determining the minimum reachable energy. We present a condition for two states to be connectable using one-jump controls and enumerate all possible switchings for one-jump effectively adiabatic controls connecting any initial state to any reachable final state. Examples are discussed. One important consequence is that an initially microcanonical ensemble of oscillators will be transformed into another microcanonical ensemble by effectively adiabatic control. Likewise, a canonical ensemble becomes another canonical ensemble.
/* This file is part of Textricator. Copyright 2018 Measures for Justice Institute. This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License version 3 as published by the Free Software Foundation. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Affero General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License along with this program. If not, see <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/>. */ package io.mfj.textricator.extractor open class TextExtractorOptions( var boxPrecision:Float =0f, var boxIgnoreColors:Set<String> = emptySet(), var maxRowDistance:Float = 0f, var extractor:String? = null, var pages:String? = null )

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