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Director-General denounces killing of Syrian TV journalist Suhail Mahmoud Al-Ali
The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, today expressed grave concern over the continued killing of journalists in Syria following the death of reporter Suhail Mahmoud Al-Ali on 4 January.
“I condemn the killing of Suhail Mahmoud Al-Ali,” the Director-General said, recalling that more journalists were killed in Syria in 2012 than anywhere else. “I am appalled by the death toll of Syrian journalists and call on all parties to recognize reporters’ duty to continue informing the public even in the midst of strife. Once again, I call on all sides to respect journalists’ civilian status and let them benefit from their basic right to speak freely, in keeping with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), Suhail Mahmoud Al-Ali died from injuries while covering fighting in the city of Aleppo.
Forty-one professional and citizen journalists died in Syria in 2012. They are remembered in the dedicated UNESCO site, UNESCO Condemns the Killing of Journalists.
Media contact: Sylvie Coudray, s.coudray(at)unesco.org, +33 (0)1 45 68 42 12
UNESCO is the United Nations agency with a mandate to defend freedom of expression and press freedom. Article 1 of its Constitution requires the Organization to “further universal respect for justice, for the rule of law and for the human rights and fundamental freedoms which are affirmed for the peoples of the world, without distinction of race, sex, language or religion, by the Charter of the United Nations.” To realize this the Organization is requested to “collaborate in the work of advancing the mutual knowledge and understanding of peoples, through all means of mass communication and to that end recommend such international agreements as may be necessary to promote the free flow of ideas by word and image…” | <urn:uuid:a400865a-aef8-448b-a254-3bbdcedfe30c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/about-us/who-we-are/director-general/singleview-dg/news/director_general_denounces_killing_of_syrian_tv_journalist_suhail_mahmoud_al_ali/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921197 | 406 | 1.5625 | 2 |
The Illusion of Free Will
A belief in free will touches nearly everything that human beings value. It is difficult to think about law, politics, religion, public policy, intimate relationships, morality – as well as feelings of remorse or personal achievement – without first imagining that every person is the true source of his or her thoughts and actions. And yet the facts tell us that free will is an illusion.
Sam Harris argues that this truth about the human mind does not undermine morality or diminish the importance of social and political freedom, but it can and should change the way we think about some of the most important questions in life.
Sam Harris is the author of the New Work Times bestsellers, The Moral Landscape, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation. His new book, Free Will is short, to the point, and will change the way we all view free will. | <urn:uuid:4c96ea46-9ba2-40ee-bc5c-b58660e94102> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://keentalks.com/illusion-free-will/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939766 | 180 | 2.5 | 2 |
Date of this Version
Because of the wide deployment of 802.11 equipments in the past decade, current applications are not limited anymore to only single Access Points (AP) deployments for indoor usage, but have been extended to multi-hop networks to fulfill the need of high speed connectivity in mobile environments, where the analysis of multi-hop networks is extremely complicated. The behavior of an AP is dependent not only on its neighbors’ behavior, but also on the behavior of other hidden nodes. In this paper, we provide an accurate and verified multi-hop wireless backhaul analysis for performance of IEEE 802.11 DCF in terms of the channel throughput using a static channel error rate. The model is based on analysis of a single hop communications for evaluating the multi-hop wireless backhaul networks. We utilized our existing 3.5-mile Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) test bed on the BNSF railroad track in Nebraska to validate the model. Our field measurements and simulation results show that our proposed model is accurate. | <urn:uuid:4263da78-f4c9-4ef7-ba4c-cfaf27a68577> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/computerelectronicfacpub/12/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923223 | 206 | 1.804688 | 2 |
How Marketing Research Helps Build Your Brand Personality
"Every kiss begins with…"
"He went to…"
If you answered Kay and Jared, you’re a great student of store slogans – or you’ve been in the market for a piece of jewelry recently. These two jewelry chains have been running very successful national branding campaigns for years – each of them very different, and each aimed at a different market segment. Both companies have been doing exceptionally well in a market that’s lost a lot to the current recession – jewelry sales in general took a big hit as consumer spending dropped across the board. But Kay and Jared both increased their market share against competition from their closest competitors, Tiffany & Co. and Zales.
In fact, both Kay Jewelers and Jared Galleria of Jewelry are owned by Signet, and together they command over 9% of the jewelry market in the U.S. in comparison to Tiffany and Zales, with 5% and 4% respectively. Even more importantly, as other jewelry firms saw their sales stagnate or fall between 2007 and 2011, the two Signet stores increased sales year upon year. What’s made the difference for these two stores?
The answer would have to be marketing research. Early on, Signet identified the concerns and needs of its customers and made adjustments to its marketing, pricing and advertising strategies to take advantage of them. In 2008-2009, the company shifted its advertising focus to Kay Jewelers, its lower end mall stores, and the company lowered average prices to reflect decreasing consumer demand. At the same time, Kay advertising ramped up with ads featuring young couples at early stages in their relationship, soft focus and romantic “stories” – they’re sweet, feel-good ads that leave viewers going “awwww” and convince buyers that $300 is totally worth it to see that look in her eyes.
Meanwhile, Signet didn’t neglect Jared – instead, it doubled down on the significance of giving a piece of jewelry from Jared Galleria of Jewelry with its “He went to Jared” campaign. Jared targets households with incomes of $50,000 to $150,000 – the market segment that accounts for 45% of all jewelry purchases in the U.S. Its advertising focuses on things that are important to that market. Unlike the Kay commercials, which focus on the story told from the buyer’s point of view, Jared ads are seen through the eyes of an observer who approves of the choice to go to Jared. Why? Because “he went to Jared” means that he’s serious about getting the best.
Marketing research can make or break sales and product launches. The information gleaned from customer surveys and product research, along with overall market research, is a key factor in helping determine the direction and focus of your advertising and how to align it with the brand image you want to project and the market you want to reach.
With the holidays just around the corner and the economy still picking it's self off, what brands have marketed itself to the price conscious consumer? I can already think of a couple... | <urn:uuid:01db4c34-2baf-400a-b2fb-c75fcefeb204> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.polarismr.com/POV/bid/79446/How-Marketing-Research-Helps-Build-Your-Brand-Personality | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97125 | 647 | 1.632813 | 2 |
by Adam S. Posen, Peterson Institute for International Economics
Op-ed in Welt am Sonntag
March 16, 2008
English version © Peterson Institute
Another anniversary has rolled around for the previous Red-Green government's package of labor reforms and with it another long-unseen low in Germany's number of unemployed. Precisely one year ago, I explained in this space why "Hartz IV Worked—As Far As It Went," and recent developments in the German economy have continued to demonstrate the validity of that assessment. Changed labor supply incentives have meant that more unemployed people took real jobs when the current upswing provided them with the opportunity than did during previous German recoveries.
Nevertheless, the Hartz IV and prior labor reforms are being partly blamed for the recent rise of Die Linke's (the Left's) electoral fortunes in Hamburg and Hesse and the more general backlash against further liberalization in Germany today. Why is such a successful set of economic policies so lacking in support among the public? Why are many leading Social Democrats repudiating a reform they should be taking credit for? The additional year allows us a closer look at the reforms' impact and thus a clearer understanding of why the politicians have run away from, and in some cases even run against, a successful policy.
The largest effect of the labor reforms was to reduce the enormous incentives older male skilled workers had under the previous system to glide into retirement starting in their fifties. This targeted impact was by design, for the gap between Arbeitslosengeld and Arbeitshilfsgeld was widely recognized by economists as the most distortionary labor disincentive in the German economy. The temporary freezing and relative decline of retirement benefits also played a role in changing the relative attractiveness of working versus staying unemployed for those same workers who already had high retirement benefits as a function of their previous wages.
And thus changing the incentives had the desired and forecasted effect: These privileged workers were less willing to accept layoffs or stay unemployed when the German economy expanded strongly in 2006–07 than their counterparts had been during previous recoveries. One can see this in the fact that while overall German unemployment has declined by more than 25 percent since its peak in mid-2005, unemployment for those older males has declined by 35 percent in the same period. For women of the same age and for younger workers, the decline in unemployment during this cycle has been significantly less. This makes sense because women and younger people in Germany were likely to receive little more than the basic unemployment benefit upon losing a job and had to wait longer to get lower retirement benefits, so they were not going to be as affected by the change in incentives than the older males were.
For those groups, their lower contribution to labor supply (seen in higher unemployment rates than those for older males) has less to do with being too comfortable when unemployed than with their being ill-matched with and little rewarded by the work available to them. Their problems thus run deeper and are partly due to social exclusion. That is why the Ich AGs, mini-jobs, and related initiatives, while constructive, have not had much impact to date. Progress on this problem would require not only more active labor market policies, perhaps on the Danish model, but also a reduction in the marginal tax rates on female labor and a true expansion of the service economy—two areas where Germany still lags far behind most of Europe.
The persistence of this insider-outsider division in German labor markets, including among the unemployed, is ultimately the source of the political backlash against the successful labor reforms of the Schröder government. Criticism is not due to sympathy for the poorer and lower-skilled people in Germany being treated more cruelly after the reforms than they were before, as some have claimed, for they are not—their situation has been largely unchanged, or in a few instances been improved by the creation of the mini-jobs sector. In contrast, after the US welfare reform of the mid-1990s, to which the German labor reforms are sometimes compared, the decline in unemployment during the following recovery was largest among young women, particularly those of color and single-mothers. It may be that the burden of adjustment and forced work was put upon those unskilled women in the United States rather harshly, but it also was they who got the jobs that resulted from the reforms.
In Germany today, most of the adjustment and associated pains caused by labor reform, as well as most of the jobs that resulted, went disproportionately to those middle-aged and older males who were already relatively privileged. Of course, many of them feel that they were made worse off by the reforms, since before they could receive much of their previous salary for years without working. Of course, this is also the demographic group most strongly over-represented in the German union movement and in the SPD membership. And, of course, these older males are the workers least likely to be satisfied by taking a new job in a sector in which they did not work before, say in health care instead of manufacturing, as opposed to those whose options were more limited to begin with.
So the success of Hartz IV and other labor reforms was predictable and has been borne out in the recent recovery. But the political opposition to the reforms' very mechanisms of success also is predictable and is borne out by recent state elections and the SPD's apparent pandering to the left. This is an important reminder for us all that economic reform is not just a matter of trading off pain today for benefit tomorrow, that is, not just persuading voters of the right thing for the country as a whole. Economic reform also often requires reducing the privileges and protections of incumbent interest groups and thus fighting for the right thing over opposition.
Op-ed: Five Myths about the Euro Crisis September 7, 2012
Congressional Testimony: Challenges of Europe's Fourfold Union August 1, 2012
Policy Brief 12-18: The Coming Resolution of the European Crisis: An Update June 2012
Policy Brief 12-20: Why a Breakup of the Euro Area Must Be Avoided: Lessons from Previous Breakups August 2012
Article: Taking the German Recovery Less Seriously July 7, 2007
Policy Brief 10-27: How Europe Can Muddle Through Its Crisis December 2010
Op-ed: Four Questions for the Future Chancellor August 2005
Policy Brief 06-1: The United States Needs German Economic Leadership January 2006
Op-ed: Just a Recovery Is Not Enough August 29, 2005
Working Paper 06-6: Has EMU Had Any Impact on the Degree of Wage Restraint? August 2006
Op-ed: Exportweltmeister, na und? February 8, 2007 | <urn:uuid:a27efaa2-d8d6-40c1-bbbe-1135f1ed07b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iie.com/publications/opeds/oped.cfm?ResearchID=910 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978275 | 1,363 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Dear Dr. Alasko: "D" and I are planning our wedding next year, but we have a problem: "D" makes a lot of critical comments about things I do or say. She insists she doesn't intend to be critical, or she'll explain she's giving me important feedback about issues I have to correct. But her criticism upsets me and I shut down. Then she wonders why I won't talk. A few times I've exploded into a nasty fight. How can I get her to understand that what she's doing is pushing me away.
Dear Reader: You can start by showing your fiancee the email you sent me --- and arrange for a quiet time to discuss your problem. She must know exactly why her behavior is pushing you away. She must learn that using blame always has the same consequence: It destroys trust and ruins relationships.
But wait! Don't we need blame to assign responsibility, to get people (as "D" believes) to change a behavior? Definitely not. In fact, blame does the opposite because blame is really made up of four highly destructive behaviors: criticism, accusation, punishment and/or humiliation. A few synonyms for these behaviors are disapproval, censure, condemnation, reprimand, shame, dishonor. Being on the receiving end of these behaviors never feels good.
A non-blaming statement that does not criticize is far more effective because it avoids these highly negative emotions.
Here's an example. Suppose you're with D and you yawn without covering your mouth. A blame statement (criticism) would be (said
In contrast, a nonblaming comment would be (said softly), "Honey, please cover your mouth." This statement does not provoke an instant reaction of anger or humiliation. It's basically neutral and gets the message across.
Another example of blame. If you interrupt when I'm speaking and I frown and say, "Why can't you let me finish?" that's criticism because my stern facial expression and harsh words imply that you're really rude and stupid.
Instead, suppose I say in a calm voice, "Please allow me to finish," that's neither criticism or accusation. It's a calm, quiet request with little or no negative impact.
Most people defend the use of blame because we mistakenly believe that only by being harsh, accusatory and punitive can we effectively get people to change. Asking politely doesn't work. That belief is flat wrong. (Refer to my book, "Beyond Blame," Tarcher/Penguin, 2011, for a detailed explanation of this topic and what to do about it.)
Your task is to educate D. about how blame destroys love and trust. She must know that her "feedback" is not merely telling you to correct a behavior. If it was, you wouldn't be so deeply upset.
Even though blame has deeply penetrated into our culture and daily use, it's toxic effects can be reversed. | <urn:uuid:4c3dfdff-5a82-4f39-b54d-71d252a7d6f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.montereyherald.com/carlalasko/ci_21240416/carl-alasko-blame-pushes-people-away | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968818 | 604 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Last year they celebrated the street music of Napoli, this year the programme was a short "opera" using the life of the extraordinary Don Raimondo de'Sangro, the 18th century Napoletano nobleman, inventor, alchemist, philosopher and polymath as its inspiration. Morini (right) created music to Beasley's libretto that reflected the 1700s but did not ignore modern sonics. Ranging from the liturgical to the lyrical Morini called on period instruments, Bearsley's emotive tenor and dancer/singer Vincenzo Capezzuto to pay tribute to a man often thought to be in league with the devil, thence the title La Tentazione del Male (The Temptations of Evil.) De'Sangro's writing were used as part of the text and as where musings on the works of art he had created for his family chapel - including the miraculous Veiled Christ picture below.
Giuseppe Sanmartino's Veiled Christ was created in 1753 for di Sangro's family chapel in Napoli. The delicacy and power is a miracle of the sculptor's art. One of the wonderful things to be seen in Napoli.
This was the premiere of the work and though there was much to enjoy I would like to have heard it in another venue before passing further judgment. Beasley comes more alive when freed from the constraints of a music stand and the design of the Mozarteum Grand Hall meant that much of Capezzuto's choreography was lost to anyone sitting on the ground level. But several sections stand out as exceptional - the lyrical call to the moon, the dance elegy to the Veiled Christ and two of the tarantella inspired pieces. And every piece was imbued with the two creators obvious admiration for their fellow Napoletano.
Frankly I thought it rather daring of Accordone to premiere this work here as the Salzburg audience can be very conservative but they are audience favorites at the Festival and the almost full house gave them a warm response and demanded three encores. I've already mentioned the final one but the second was a moment of pure inspiration. Beasley announced a lovely serenata La Bella Noeva as the encore, Capezzuto appeared and began dancing. Then he circled the small orchestra and took the hand of cellist Elisabetta De Mircovich and led her over to Beasley. He placed her hand in his and after a moment her voice joined his and gazing at each other they sang of love and the joys of life. It was pure musical magic. And if that wasn't enough to make the eyesight a little blurred then as I said the next encore did the trick.
Members of Accordone, Marco Beasley and Vincenzo Capezzuto respond to the applause of last night's audience at the premiere of La Tentazione del Male.
This was the third appearance for Accordone at the Whitsun Festival, sadly they won't be back next year and I can only hope to get to see them again in Italy in the near future. They have added a dimension to the Festival theme of Napoli, a City of Memories, showing that it is very much a city that is alive and treasures its memories and traditions.
Photos of Beasley and Morini from the Accordone website.
31 maggio - Pentecoste | <urn:uuid:921d4642-6d22-4e82-b0df-545223b1bb10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://willyorwonthe.blogspot.com/2009_05_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976255 | 703 | 1.640625 | 2 |
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (CBSDC/AP) — Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport has joined more than 130 airports nationwide that have full body-scanning technology.
The Transportation Security Administration installed the new security equipment at the airport about two weeks ago.
TSA spokesman Kawika Riley tells media outlets that the technology will improve security and the flow of passengers through checkpoints. “It also has the latest software for privacy protection, known as ATR or automated target recognition,” said Riley, reports WAVY. “There would be a generic outline of the human body. An icon that’s identical for every passenger. And the icon would say exactly where the potential threat is.”
Riley says the scanning booth generates only a generic body image and doesn’t show any details. Passengers can choose to undergo other screening methods.
Airport spokeswoman Jessica Wharton says passengers haven’t voiced any concerns over the new equipment.
(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) | <urn:uuid:a5e25627-784d-40be-8e8e-3d98c656abd1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/02/07/newport-news-airport-installs-full-body-scanning-technology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914449 | 260 | 1.617188 | 2 |
* If You Haven't Signed the Colorado Personhood Petition: Virtually everyone at the RMCF meeting signed Colorado's Brady Amendment personhood petition! Why are creationists are pro-life? Because they know that we haven't evolved from animals, but we're made in God's image! If you haven't yet signed please call Colorado RTL at 303-753-9394 to get a petition mailed to you. And if you're out of state, PLEASE call CRTL or go to their ColoradoRTL.org site and click on donate to give for the petition drive! Thanks.-Bob Enyart
University of California Prof. of Ophthalmology on RSR
Download: Dialup / Broadband Stream: Dialup / Broadband Comment: at TheologyOnline
* RSR Interviews a UC San Francisco Professor of Ophthalmology: Real Science Radio co-host Bob Enyart debates clinical professor of ophthalmology Dr. Gary Aguilar on the evolution of the eye. Six months ago Gary recommended that Bob read a 2012 book by Dr. Schwab, a colleague of Aguilar's at UC Irvine, about which Russell Fernald says that Evolution's Witness is "likely to be consulted by everyone interested in evolution and eyes." Hear that 40-minute debate about the eye by clicking any of our standard audio links above, or click here for an 83-minute wide-ranging discussion that also addresses many non-science issues.
* Ivan Schwab's Evolution's Witness -- How Eyes Evolved: Within minutes of the mailman delivering this book, on March 31, 2012, Bob wrote on the title page, with a number of folks around him signing as witnesses: "Prediction: Very little of this book will be about how eyes evolve." Dr. Aguilar described this textbook as a "tour de force" showing clearly how eyes evolved. During today's interview, Bob asserts that his prediction was valid, and that 99% of this book has nothing to do with how eyes evolve. It's a great anatomy book though!
* The Opsin Missing Chapter: Opsin is the protein in photoreceptor cells that can detect a single photon and then signal that a photon has struck it. One might expect from a book on the eye's evolution, that after a book's introduction, the author might include a chapter on an explanation, conceptually, of how opsin might evolve. In vertebrates and invertebrates, opsin requires a chain of 150 to 250 amino acids, which then must be folded correctly into a very specialized nano-machine which can pass along an output signal whenever the protein gets hit with a single photon. But, as creationists would expect, no such chapter exists in the book. And actually, all the difficult problems that one would have to address if he were actually writing a book on "How eyes evolved," do not appear in the book.
* The Vision Challenge Missing Chapter: Bob Enyart brought up this vision challenge to Gary Aguilar, but, like most atheists and evolutionists we've discussed this with, Gary was unresponsive. It appears that atheists and evolutionists do not even know how to think about this problem, let alone can they offer any conceivable notion about how it could even theoretically be solved. See this vision challenge presented in full from our debate with TheologyOnline.com's resident atheist Zakath. Bob had predicted that even a state-of-the-art "tour de force" textbook by an ophthalmology professor would not even begin to describe how vision might evolve, and also, that this interview with an ophthalmologist professor would demonstrate their basic inability to substantively think through something that they routinely oversell to the public as a done deal. "We know 'how eyes evolved,' only an ignorant person would doubt our claims." At 2:33 into an interview on The Evolution of the Eye, Richard Dawkins illustrates the RSR "APPtitude test," aka, the Atheist Popularity Postulate, that the evolutionists who become the most popular are the ones who say the most absurd things with the straightest face. Imagine his evolving, curling, sheet of light-sensitive paper sending a static-like data stream to an unwitting brain that must then interpret the predator's shadow or direction of light (from the data represented by the screen above, on the left).
* Evolution Misled Eye Expert About the Eye: Gary Aguilar repeatedly claimed that the plica semilunaris (in the corner of your eye) is a functionless leftover of evolution. For example, at 3:15 into our interview, he said, "There are aspects of the human eye, for example, the nictitating membrane [which in some creatures is an additional, transparent eyelid] in lower animals is present in the plica semilunaris which has no function in humans; none whatsoever." Then to Bob's question, "Dr. Aguilar, can you repeat that, what is it that has no function whatsoever?" Gary answered, "The plica p-l-i-c-a semilunaris." However, according to the authoritative Duane's Foundations of Clinical Ophthalmology (Vol. 2, Ch. 2: Plica Semilunaris), the plica functions during movement of the eye, to help maintain tear drainage, and to permit greater rotation of the eyeball, for without the plica, the membrane called the conjunctiva would attach directly to the eyeball, restricting movement. Gary here illustrated something we describe about evolutionists, that rather than being informed with the latest knowledge from his own area of expertise, Aguilar claimed decades out of date "evidence", in his case, on the anatomy of both the wiring of the retina, and on the plica, claiming it is a functionless leftover. Rather than researching his Darwinian claims in the most relevant scientific literature, Aguilar, following Dawkins, ultimately got his outdated claims from a 150-year old book by Charles Darwin. Aguilar also repeats Dawkins' long-refuted claim, based on scientific ignorance and evolutionary bias, that the human eye is wired backward. For an explanation of why our eye is wired the reverse of an octopus, and optimally for human vision, listen to the Enyart-Aguilar-Eye-Excerpts, and see Dr. Carl Wieland's article, and a paper by Peter Gurney, a fellow of the Royal Colleges of Ophthalmologists in a peer-reviewed creation journal, as well as Gurney's popular article that deals with both the plica and the wiring. And read and hear Dr. Jerry Bergman explain that the function of the plica semilunaris has been documented since the 1930s. 2013 UPDATE: Dr. Aguilar wrote to Bob Enyart, "...let me acknowledge that the plica semilunaris is considered to have some function..." though he denied the plica aids in globe movement, thereby apparently disagreeing with the statement in Duane's Ophthalmology that, "if the conjunctiva were to directly join the eyelids to the globe, the globe and eyelids would both be restricted in movement." Perhaps Gary could share his disagreement with DO's Darlene Dartt and help everyone get to the bottom of that one particular detail.
* The Missing Trochlea Challenge Chapter: Ivan Schwab doesn't include a chapter on how simple mechanics of the eye would have evolved, as illustrated in this trochlea challenge which has been circulating on the web in evolution circles from well before Schwab's book was published. Back on April 18th, we sent to Gary our PZ Myers Trochlea Challenge. It's this simple sketch of the human eye, with a single question in its caption. PZ has responded to us, admitting that he cannot answer this challenge, and we appreciate that truthfulness.
* For More About PZ and this Trochlea Challenge: See realscienceradio.com/PZ for PZ's response. And for a full presentation of this challenge, please see our debate on Entropy and Evolution that was prompted by an American Journal of Physics paper by Prof. Dan Styer (in which Styer himself joined in). Bob Enyart presented the trochlea challenge in detail explaining why evolution could not bring about something even as conceptually simple as the trochlea. And of course, if evolutionists can't explain how the trochlea would form, they certainly cannot explain, and therefore take by faith, that stationary eyes somehow evolved into eyeballs that could move up and down and from side to side.
* The Richard Dawkins Dichromatic Challenge: Consider an organism which can see in black and white, and then estimate the necessary steps required to modify it to encorporate color also, sufficiently well to give it a survival advantage. Of course, until the dichromatic vision confers a survival advantage, natural selection cannot guide the development of dichromatic vision. Gary Aguilar never got around to acknowledging this problem, let alone, like his colleague Schwab, attempting an answer. In the foreward to Schwab's book, Dr. Fernald echoes Dawkins' "Climbing Mount Improbable" (one of Dawkins' many books which he later admitted provide no evidence for evolution), affirming that for eyes to evolve, they would have had to proceed from the accumulation of many tiny steps. Fernald writes that a "complex eye could be formed by natural selection," quoting Charles Darwin, only by "numerous gradations" in which "the eye does vary ever so slightly..." If, however, there are no logical or physiological small steps that are even theoretically possible, between a black-and-white type monochromatic system, as compared to a color vision system, then that would present a hurdle that neo-Darwinism could not cross. For the obvious survival advantage that would come from seeing in both black and white and in dichromatic color requires:
- the detection of black and white (monochromatic) along with a range of color light waves
- the transmission to the brain over an optic nerve of a dichromatic, rather than only a monochromatic, data stream (similar to the problem of trying to watch in real time a broadband HD video over an old-fashioned dial-up 2400 baud modem)
- an integration of the ever-changing monochromatic image with the color image, a non-trivial data processing feat.
Of course, and this is virtually a tautology that cannot be rationally rejected, if there is no logical or physiological step between seeing in "black and white" and in adding an additional channel of red, green or blue hues, then this challenge alone refutes Darwinism. RSR asserts that this is, in fact, the case, and that this observation falsifies evolution.
* In Contrast to Serious Discussion, Look at Dawkins Describe Eye Evolution: Watch about one minute, beginning at 2:08 in to this friendly interview of Richard Dawkins on the evolution of the eye. His encapsulation of wild required complexity into absurd superficiality is common among evolutionists. And consulting Fernald, Aguilar, and Schwab makes it clear that Dawkins is being superficial, not because he's pressed for time in a popular interview, for Schwab takes 300 pages in a college-level "tour de force" textbook allegedly dealing with "how eyes evolved," and never gets beyond Dawkins' cupping-of-a-sheet type superficiality.
* Carbon 14 in Diamonds and Dinosaur Bones: Early in the program Gary Aguilar could not understand how short-lived Carbon 14 might even theoretically be able to be used to falsify a claim that a particular specimen might be a million years old. Then at about 36 minutes in he challenged Bob: I want you to find me a credible scientist who says that because of Carbon 14 in diamonds, that they are therefore less than 7,000 years old. Because of the work of physicist Russell Humphreys, Bob was able to answer, "How about a scientist at Sandia National Labs, who has published on this?" See more at realscienceradio.com/14c. And as to Gary saying that Bob didn't answer his question about Mary Schweitzer, see our DinosaurSoftTissue.com. When Gary asked, "Why can't you convince Mary (that extant dinosaur blood vessels, osteocytes, blood cells, etc., indicate that dinosaurs lived only thousands of years ago)?" Bob tried to explain that one human being cannot convince another of anything against their will (of course). And Bob thought that Gary would get his point when he said that paleontologists like Mary have ignored that short-lived Carbon 14 is everywhere it shouldn't be, including in diamonds and dinosaur bones.
Today’s Resource: Get the fabulous Carl Werner DVD Living Fossils and his great prequel, Evolution: The Grand Experiment! And have you browsed through our Science Department in the KGOV Store? Check out especially Walt Brown’s In the Beginning! Also, you can consider our BEL Science Pack; Bob Enyart’s Age of the Earth Debate; Bob's debate about Junk DNA with famous evolutionist Dr. Eugenie Scott; and to give as a Christmas or birthday gift, the superb kids' radio programming, Jonathan Park: The Adventure Begins!
* Bob Too Slowly Replied to Gary's Moon Crater Question: Gary Aguilar was correct that Bob took too long to get around to answering his claim that all the craters on the moon are themselves proof of the passage of millions of years. Bob answered that because the near side of the moon has far more maria, or ""seas," which are the result of massive impactors, than does the far side, that this should help people realize that there is something wrong with the old-earth explanation of how those craters got there. Further, Bob never got around to explaining how NASA has learned, from inspection of a moon of Jupiter, that second-hand craters, that is, craters formed by debris thrown up by the impact of other craters, accounts for 95% of small craters and a significant percent of medium-sized craters. So, if the leading Big Bang cosmologists were committed to the data, or even to their theories, they would agree that therefore, the crater evidence on the moon suggests that it is significantly younger than they had previously claimed. For more, see our favorite astronomy DVD: What You Aren't Being Told About Astronomy! However, the ultimate commitment of the prevailing Darwinist and old-earth science communities is NOT the Big Bang, or descent with modification, etc., but atheistic materialism.
* Hear the Full Version: The Gary Aguilar interview lasted three times longer than a typical RSR program so we provide here the 83 minute rambling version. Bob enjoys an informal conversational approach with both parties casually interrupting each other, whereas in a temper tantrum Gary insisted that Bob remain silent until Gary ceased talking. And even though Gary received more than half the air time, he repeatedly complained that he wasn't getting equal time. Gary's boorish behavior made for boring radio, but we provide this audio regardless in part so that parents can hear what their children will find at a typical state university. We assume that Dr. Aguilar is an accomplished surgeon, but with his inability to think clearly, his advocacy of pot, his bad behavior, and his rage against Christians, his patients might want to consider seeing a more professionally behaved surgeon.
* Gary's "Good Christians": Dr. Aguilar recognizes that there are many Christians who believe like he does on many topics, including legalizing cocaine, belief in Darwinism, and holding an anti-Israel foreign policy. So, when he says, "good Christian," as he does often, one might think that he was referring to these Christians whom he agrees with. However, Gary never does that. He only uses the phrase "good Christian" when he refers to someone called a Christian who murdered, plundered, raped, etc. Then at about 52 minutes in, Gary, upset at Bob for opposing the decriminalization of heroin, crack, etc., said of Bob and of people like him, "You need to be set aside."
About 52:30 into the show, Bob asks Gary if it is possible that his anger toward Christians causes him to be biased to automatically agree with Darwinists about evolution. He emphatically denied this: "I give no thought whatsoever to evolution or Darwinism." So, if Gary doesn't think about evolution, yet believes in it unequivocally, even to defending its strongly refuted arguments (like the backwardly-wired eye), there must be something that is biasing him in that direction. It just seems that his intense anger toward "Good Christians" might be the source of his bias.
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BEL Video Library | <urn:uuid:458a2d81-3ea8-4878-a321-891c108fe21c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kgov.com/eye-evolution-debate-with-UC-prof-of-ophthalmology-on-ivan-schwab-evolutions-witness-how-eyes-evolved | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953526 | 3,547 | 1.585938 | 2 |
A chance encounter with a rare original source took a professor and his students on a captivating journey through Vietnam. In a colloquium at UCLA, Bucknell U's David Del Testa and Los Angeles educators discuss how to share a 19-year-old woman's personal story with K-12 students.
It was 1999 in the Aix-en-Provence's Colonial Archives in France, and David Del Testa was looking for information about railroads. He was working on his doctoral dissertation about labor and nationalism in French Indochina in the first half of the twentieth century.
As he and fellow researchers were scanning through a box, they stumbled across a document, a misplaced typewritten transcription of a young French woman's 1943 vacation diary. Del Testa was captivated.
"Any time you find a diary, you just sort of know," Del Testa recalls. "There are so few original sources like that."
But the diary was just the beginning of original sources Del Testa would find about life in colonized Vietnam. The transcription was created in 1990 by Claudie Beaucarnot, the author of the diary. Within one year, Del Testa found Beaucarnot herself, living in Dijon, France. In 2002 he spent four days in her home, interviewing her about her life in Vietnam. Meeting Claudie Beaucarnot turned out to be a transformative experience: "I have a lot of respect for her and the world she lived in and the values she had," Del Testa says.
After creating a 50-page transcription and 100-page annotated translation of the diary with the help of some undergraduate students, Del Testa considered creating an edited volume of papers around the diaries. In the end, however, he decided to use the resource in a more dynamic way. In the 2003-04 academic year, Del Testa created a seven-student course for undergraduates at California Lutheran University to learn about Vietnamese history through the lens of the Beaucarnot diary. At the end of the year-long course, the students applied for and won a Freeman Foundation AsiaNetwork Faculty-Student Undergraduate Field Research Grant to travel to Vietnam and retrace Beaucarnot's steps.
After a delay because of the outbreak of SARS, Del Testa and three undergraduates headed east in May 2004. By this time, Del Testa had moved to his current position as a professor of history at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.
When the group returned, Del Testa began working on a website, Adieu Saigon, Au Revoir Hanoi: The 1943 Vacation Diary of Claudie Beaucarnot. The online work-in-progress features the transcription and translation of the diary, as well as photos from the students' travels in Vietnam and from Beaucarnot's family albums.
Beaucarnot wrote the diary at age 19 while on a family roadtrip down the Chemin des Ecoliers, more commonly known as the Mandarin Road, that runs from Hanoi to Saigon along the coast of Vietnam. But the diary is not just the simple thoughts of a teenager. "The beauty of the diary is that it is so frank," Del Testa explains. "There's a lot to fill in, a lot to talk about," not the least of which stem from the fact that Beaucarnot's maternal grandmother was a landed Vietnamese woman who had a five-year marriage contract with her maternal grandfather, a French math teacher.
On April 10, 2006, Del Testa presented the site and solicited feedback from a group of Los Angeles-area teachers and scholars at an event put on at UCLA by the Center for European and Eurasian Studies and the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, where Del Testa had briefly served as assistant director in 2001. "Claudie Beaucarnot agreed to allow this to be put up only because I said it will be useful for students," says Del Testa. He is committed to the site's growth as a compelling learning tool and resource. Teachers, from the elementary to high school level, were interested in the prospect of creating lessons from the material and personalizing history for their students. One suggested a lesson plan for comparing Claudie Beaucarnot's racially mixed community to those in the United States today. Another gave ideas for using the material in French language instruction.
The Beaucarnots were both typical and atypical of the French elite of Indochina. Claudie Beaucarnot's mother married Claude Beaucarnot, the director of a tile factory and an adventurous man who circulated in the high society of Hanoi. Claudie (left, in photo at right) went to Lycée Albert Sarraut for high school and spent summers in the hill stations with her family. But "they are quite distinctly a 'mixed family' in colonial society," says Del Testa. Claudie's mother and father had two children—Claudie and her younger sister Nicole—and adopted two children from the Association of Abandoned Métisse Orphans; métisse means of French and Vietnamese background.
The Beaucarnots were part of an emerging community of Vietnamese and mixed families, a community Del Testa says is often misrepresented in current literature. The family socialized with Vietnamese and Chettiars, South Indians who also lived in Indochina. In the preface to her diary transcription, Beaucarnot writes: "I could not have believed that two years after this simple account of our world—of the French of Indochina—would collapse on 9 March 1945."
From that day, when the Japanese took control of Indochina, to the defeat of French forces by the Viet Minh in 1954, nationalistic sentiment and the value placed on racial purity increased. The métisse were being hunted, and the Beaucarnots' community was in danger. One hundred thousand racially mixed people fled the country, Del Testa says. Claudie's mother passed away in 1946, and her father returned to France in 1951. In 1949, Claudie married a French military doctor, and the couple moved to France ten years later. The couple had four children. Claudie Beaucarnot turned 80 this year.
Published: Friday, April 28, 2006
© 2013. The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:8481215f-f15a-49ef-a939-1940a792c45e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.international.ucla.edu/print.asp?parentid=44428 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963661 | 1,312 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Food foraging flourishes with chefs and foodies
LONDON, Ont. — The foods of forest, meadow and stream that sustained Canada’s native population centuries ago are now being featured in some of the finest restaurants in the country.
Some might be expected, such as nuts, berries, wild mushrooms, fiddleheads and ramps (wild leeks), but others are usually considered weeds, like Queen Anne’s lace (wild carrot), milkweed pods, burdock roots and cattail hearts.
When Jonathan Forbes of Forbes Wild Foods in Toronto first approached chefs with foods foraged in rural Ontario, some showed immediate interest, he says. Others turned him away, saying his products were “too exotic.” He laughs at the irony.
As a child, Forbes gathered wild raspberries and mushrooms with his mother. His interest was rekindled as an adult when he told a story about picking chokecherries for his parents’ chokecherry wine and his listeners had never heard of them.
“I thought, ‘This is really serious when people don’t know what their natural environment is,’ especially things like chokecherries because they’re everywhere.”
He started his company in 1998 and now has people who forage for him “from Haida Gwaii (the Queen Charlotte Islands of British Columbia) to Labrador” and into the far north. He gets some fresh, some dried and some frozen and sells to restaurants around the world and to consumers online and at Toronto-area farmers markets.
Since he began, interest in foraged foods has grown a lot, he says. It started “mainly with chefs and foodies” when the move to slow food expanded to regional and then to indigenous food. Now that more foraged foods are readily available, interest among the public is growing too.
“When I first brought puffballs (basketball-sized mushrooms) to market 10 years ago, people looked at them and wondered whether you could really eat that thing,” Forbes says. “Now they line up for them.”
There are also numerous books about foraging and an increasing number of cookbooks devoted to wild foods.
High-profile Canadian chef Brad Long regularly includes foraged items on his menu at Cafe Belong at Evergreen Brick Works in Toronto. For example, he uses little bits of Queen Anne’s lace flowers in salads — “very intense” — or boiled with sugar to make a hard candy, wild nuts and ricotta cheese to make ravioli, cooked greens and roots as vegetables or birch syrup or black walnut syrup as sweeteners. Maple syrup is also considered a foraged food.
“There’s a lot of food here that most people have no concept even exists,” Long says.
He went foraging with Forbes one day for ramps and fiddleheads (the furled fronds of a young fern) but also ended up with an armful of marsh marigolds, trout lilies (whose tubers can be eaten raw or cooked) and a type of mushroom that grows like a knob on elm trees.
Foraging is hard work and there’s “also a lot of danger in it,” Long says. Many types of wild mushrooms are poisonous, as are many other plants or parts of plants. The leaves of marsh marigolds, for example, cannot be eaten until they have been boiled in several changes of water to remove the toxins. Unripe elderberries and all other parts of the plant except the flowers contain toxins that metabolize into cyanide.
Probably the safest way for consumers to access foraged food is to buy it. But Long and Forbes say for those wanting to try it, it is absolutely essential to first educate themselves about plants, what is edible, what is not and how to prepare them to make them safe to eat.
Finding places to forage can also be a challenge, Forbes says. He does not recommend urban foraging because of the pollution and because in the past, now-banned chemicals such as lindane and DDT were spread over wide areas and continue to exist in the soil. Some parks are built on landfill sites, making things that grow there unsuitable to eat. Many conservation areas do not allow foraging and others require permits. Some county forests, however, allow mushroom-picking.
Even in the countryside, many areas “lost” their wild foods when they were cleared for agriculture or due to grazing cattle. But Forbes lives in a less developed area of the Niagara Escarpment in central Ontario and says there is no shortage of sites there to forage. But you have to get permission from the landowners.
Sustainability of the products is a major issue, say Forbes and Long.
“I think I’d be horrified if everyone started foraging,” Long says. “That’s not sustainable. Understand that what you’re doing is fun, but it’s also part of a preservation system. If you want to perpetuate it, you also have to be part of the protection of it.”
Forbes says, “If you’re only supposed to take five per cent (of a given patch of a certain food) that’s fine if you’re the only person digging. But some things (such as wild ginger and some other root crops) are susceptible to over-harvesting.”
It’s not a problem with most berries, he says, but wild leeks, for example, grow in a seven-year cycle and reproduce very slowly.
Nevertheless, Forbes and Long say there’s great satisfaction in gathering and cooking foraged items.
“Wild food is pretty pure. It’s more organic than organic,” Forbes says.
“There’s a special feeling when you cook a meal for friends or family,” Long says. “It becomes exponential when you forage for food to cook the meal. It’s just that much more intense, that much more connected to the land around you.” | <urn:uuid:1eef1239-79c7-4e77-8829-3ad396974159> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theprovince.com/life/food/invite/Dining+wild+side/8098368/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96748 | 1,287 | 2.265625 | 2 |
KISS turn 40 in 2013. They played their first show in January 1973 in Queens, New York. Since then KISS have become adored and derided in equal measure, but their influence on a generation of guitar rockers has been huge, and they have proved themselves time and time again to be masters of marketing and self-mythology.
1. Before changing their name to KISS, the quartet were called Wicked Lester. As Wicked Lester, they even recorded an album’s worth of demos for Epic Records in 1971-‘72 that never got released. Some of these songs would show up on later KISS albums. Drummer Peter Criss joined around April 1972 and Ace Frehley followed in January ’73. Two weeks later, they debuted as KISS.
2. Before they decided on KISS, they also considered the names Albatross, Rainbow (before Ritchie Blackmore’s post-Deep Purple band of the same name), and Crimson Harpoon. Gene Simmons was once quoted as saying that he wanted to call the band F***, but he was joking. Simmons is smart enough to know that would be uncommercial.
3. In the 1970s, some anti-rock preachers suggested KISS stood for Knights in Satan’s Service – that’s not true.
4. The Rainbow connection doesn’t end there. Ken Kelly, the artist who painted both the Destroyer and Love Gun album covers also painted album covers for Blackmore’s Rainbow.
5. Former Twisted Sister guitarist Jay Jay French auditioned for lead guitarist of Kiss in late 1972/early ‘73, when they were still called Wicked Lester. But Ace got the gig. Even though Ace auditioned wearing mismatching sneakers, one red and one orange.
6. Their fervent fans are known as the KISS Army, and started in Indiana when a local radio station refused to play any KISS songs in the early ‘70s. Protesting fans marched outside of the radio station and referred to themselves as the KISS Army.
7. Original pressings of debut album KISS did not include "Kissin' Time". The album was reissued in July ‘74 to include the cover, "Kissin' Time," originally a hit for Bobby Rydell.
8. For the cover of KISS, the band wanted their debut LP to resemble Meet The Beatles. Oh, and Warner Bros. Records initially threatened to end the band’s deal if they did not remove their makeup.
9. To get the silver “Spaceman” look for his hair on the KISS artwork, Ace Frehley applied commercial spray-paint that he assumed would wash right out afterwards. Ace was wrong.
10. Ace began using blue eyeshadow in the late ‘70s – he also developed allergic reactions to his silver makeup.
11. “Dimebag” Darrell (Pantera/Damageplan) was buried in a “KISS Kasket”, as he had requested in his will. Gene Simmons said, “There were a limited number made and I sent mine to the family of ’Dimebag’ Darrell. He requested in his will to be buried in a KISS Kasket, as he sort of learned his rock’n’roll roots by listening to us for some strange reason.” For those who favor cremation, KISS urns are also available.
12. In the early 70's Peter Criss flew to England to audition for Elton John's backing band. He failed the audition.
13. Ace Frehley was once known for liking a drink, but his classic “Cold Gin” wasn’t based on his preferred adult beverage. “I didn't drink gin: didn't drink liquor of any kind very often,” he writes in his No Regrets memoir. “I was a beer man then, and not even a connoisseur. Gimme a can of whatever you had in the fridge! I was happy. I wanted to write a drinking song, and "Cold Gin" sounded like a great title.”
14. KISS were offered the part of the Future Villain Band in the 1978 movie Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The band declined, as they were afraid of damaging their image. The role was taken by Aerosmith.
15. The hand on the cover of Music From The Elder is not that of Paul Stanley, as some fans presume. It’s that of a hand model, according to ex-manager Bill Aucoin.
16. The door pictured on the cover of …The Elder is the door for a Methodist church on Park Avenue in New York City.
17. Gene Simmons is one of the world’s top fire breathers. The bassist’s fire-spitting is a KISS stunt, but Simmons is actually good at it. He’s reached 15ft. Not as good as the 2011 world record held by American Antonio Restivo of 8.05m (26 ft 5 in) but impressive nonetheless in what can only be described a “minority” pursuit.
18. Ace Frehley sings horizontally! He says, “Every time I ever record a lead vocal, I've had to do it on my back. If I stand up and try to sing, I can't hit the notes sometimes.”
19. Paul Stanley wrote a number of early Kiss songs, including "Firehouse" and "Let Me Know" while in high school.
20. Stanley was later an art major at the Bronx Community College, before devoting his time to KISS. But he still paints - see Paul Stanley paintings.
21. Kiss have never had a U.S. number one single. But "I Was Made for Lovin' You" hit Number 1 in Canada and Holland.
22. KISS’s late drummer Eric Carr’s collar on his 1980 “fox” costume was made out of real fox fur.
23. Most of the songs featured on Peter Criss's 1978 solo album were originally written in 1972 for an album by his then-band, called Lips.
24. In 1986, Paul Stanley was close to getting the producer's job for Guns N’ Roses' Appetite for Destruction album. But Stanley eventually changed his mind, and declined.
25. For his solo album of 1978, Gene Simmons wanted guest appearances by Sammy Davis Jr., Dinah Shore, Chaka Khan and Liberace. Other obligations meant they couldn’t take part. Simmons also asked Paul McCartney. “Scheduling problems” also stopped that happening.
26. According to Peter Criss, Ace Frehley played bass on a lot of early Kiss songs.
27. Early in their careers, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Peter Criss all recorded vocals on commercial jingles, including some for AMC trucks.
28. Sammy Hagar was thrown off as the opening act of a Kiss tour during the late ‘70s due to using foul language on stage.
29. The “newscast” heard at the beginning of "Detroit Rock City" on the Destroyer album was read by producer Bob Ezrin.
30. Immediately after leaving Kiss in 1982, Ace Frehley flew out to Los Angeles to produce the first demo tapes for W.A.S.P.
31. Despite Stanley being the serious art student, Ace Frehley designed the KISS logo.
32. When Eric Carr recorded his vocal for the re-recording of "Beth" in 1988, he sat on the same drum stool that Peter Criss used during the original recording of the song in 1976.
33. In his early years, Gene Simmons entered a Jewish Rabbinical school with the intention of becoming a Rabbi.
34. Ace Frehley was a drum roadie for Mitch Mitchell during Jimi Hendrix's final Band of Gypsys New York performance in 1970.
35. All instruments on the song "Little Caesar" off the Hot in the Shade album were played by Bruce Kulick (all guitars) and Eric Carr (drums and bass).
36. Immediately before joining KISS in 1982, Vinnie Vincent was a staff songwriter for the TV program Happy Days – he reportedly wrote all the songs that characters Joanie and Chachi sang on the show. (We so hope this is true!)
37. The guitar solos on the songs "All American Man" and "Exciter" were played by Rick Derringer (of "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo" fame.)
38. In 1977, Kiss became the first band since The Beatles to have four albums on the Billboard Hot 100 album chart. Alive, Destroyer, Rock and Roll Over, and The Originals were all in the Top 40 at the same time.
39. In 1983, Gene Simmons says he turned down the romantic male-lead role in the movie Flashdance, for fear of hurting his image. Apparently.
40. In the early ‘90s, Gene Simmons claimed to have written a song with Bob Dylan. It has yet to surface.
As is always the way with KISS, some of the above “facts” may be more true than others. Thanks to all the fine KISS fansites, biographies and member autobiographies for their own version of some krazy events… | <urn:uuid:05bcb97d-ea22-4ab8-8457-fdcf06a96983> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eagle969.com/40-Krazy-KISS-Facts-/11278854?pid=293656&archive=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976883 | 1,981 | 1.75 | 2 |
In the course of thinking about animal magic-users, I realized that, like their clerical counterparts, certain spells would need to be re-imagined. This in turn led me to give some more thought to the way that animals and Men interacted with one another. Thus was born the summon protector spell.
The text in the quote box below is hereby designated Open Game Content via the Open Game License.
Level: 1 (Animal Only)
Duration: See Below
Range: 1 mile per level
By casting this spell, an animal magic-user can obtain a human protector. The casting takes from 1-24 hours (referee's discretion) and uses up items of value appropriate to the caster's species (e.g. meaty bones for a dog, sparkly shards of glass for a rat, etc.) that have an equivalent value of 100 gp. The materials are consumed during the ritual. The referee decides the probability that a protector will respond to the spell and which type of protector is summoned within range. It is possible that no human will respond. This spell may only be attempted one time per year.
A protector is able to grant the caster access to its own senses and is able to understand the caster's wishes in a general, non-verbal way. In addition, a protector is loyal to the caster and will do everything in its power to aid and protect the caster, provided that doing so will not bring harm upon the protector. Protectors are more intelligent than ordinary Men (+1 Intelligence); they always possess a class and 1d4 levels (i.e. no 0 Humans). A protector grants the caster additional hit points equal to one-third of the protector's maximum hit points, when the two are within 120' of one another. However, if a protector is slain, the magic-user must subtract one-quarter of the protector's maximum hit points from his own maximum hit points, permanently.
A new protector may not be summoned for one year. If a protector is located, the referee may use the following as examples:
+1 to armor class
+1 to hit
+1 damage per die with spells
+1 saving throws
Anytime a protector is summoned, there is a 5% chance it is a special protector. The type is determined by the caster's alignment. Special protectors still have a class and level, as above, but they also have a role in human society that gives the caster a possible advantage. A potential protector is entitled to a saving throw versus spells and, if successful, the spell fails and the caster must wait 1 year before trying again. | <urn:uuid:a6a2c880-96e4-4704-bbd5-59a6f8352d5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2010/11/grognards-grimoire-summon-protector.html?showComment=1291137826287 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914885 | 533 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The Reconstruction and Restoration of John Wayne's "The Alamo"
|Read more at|
The 70mm Newsletter
|Written by: Robert A. Harris & The Digital Bits. Reprinted with permission||Date: 04.04.2009|
|70mm frame supplied by Schauburg Kino, Karlsruhe, Germany |
"THE ALAMO is the greatest picture I've ever seen. It will last forever, run forever, for all peoples, all families everywhere."
- Legendary filmmaker, John Ford, 1960.
"The Alamo" was produced as a large format 70mm (5 perf) motion picture, with an original running time of approximately 192 minutes plus Overture, Entr'acte and Exit music. It was a "special event" film distributed via Roadshow with advance ticket sales. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning for Best Sound.
Soon after its initial release in 1960, a situation arose based primarily on local transportation problems. In smaller cities, where bus service from the outlying areas was the main means of transit, the last busses were leaving before the film ended. As a result at least 30 minutes was cut from the film.
As John Wayne was shooting "Hatari!" in Africa, the actual cutting was performed by Michael Wayne (John's son) and the film's editor, Stuart Gilmore. Because the 6 track audio could only be either cut or slightly remixed, a detailed fine cut was not an option. Those involved in the cut were led to believe that the extant 70mm prints would be trimmed and resounded, and new printing matrices produced for the 35mm release in the shorter form – but that the original negative would not be harmed or modified.
That is not what occurred. The original negative and all protection elements, inclusive of the 65mm separation masters, were cut to conform to the new 161-minute length; the trims and deletions were destroyed.
For over thirty years, the original Roadshow version of the film was feared lost, until in 1991 a lone surviving 70mm print was found in remarkably good condition in a film exchange in Toronto.
|More in 70mm reading:|
"The Alamo" lost 70mm version - This letter which started it all
"The Alamo" August 9, 2001. Reprinted from Dallas Observer by permission from Robert Wilonsky.
Restoration of "Lawrence of Arabia"
Restoration of "My Fair Lady"
"Vertigo" Cast and credits
Restoration of "Spartacus"
The Digital Bits
Home Theatre Forum
The fundraising has officially begun.
The project's charitable sponsor is now accepting contribution checks and credit cards toward the restoration of the film. All contributions are tax deductible. Contribution checks should be made out payable to...
Jacob Burns Film Center, Inc.
...with the information: "f/b/o Alamo Restoration" in the memo field, normally lower left.
The mailing address is:
Jacob Burns Film Center
Att: Dominick Balletta
405 Manville Road
Pleasantville, NY 10570
|Todd-AO credit from original 70mm Main Title sequence |
For the uninitiated, something about film elements needs to be fully understood.
That print was used as the basis of what was called the Roadshow for release on laser disc. Unfortunately, it is now totally faded and suffering from vinegar syndrome, which literally turns the base of the film stock into a hard, sticky mess, rendering it unusable.
While modern Eastman elements are robust with a long life expectancy, this is simply not the case for films made before the creation of Eastman 5250 color negative stock in 1961. All Eastman color stocks created before that point fade. Some more, some less, dependent upon a number of technical and storage factors, but the absolute is – they fade.
On top of that, any film with an acetate base has a tendency to go "vinegar" as a result of Vinegar Syndrome (VS), another naturally occurring fact of safety film longevity. Magnetic tracks are extremely susceptible. And there is very little that a studio can do about it. It occurs even when elements are properly vaulted.
What the studios do to preserve their assets is to create black & white separation masters of color negative productions. These were created of the long version, but are now cut, and after almost half a century these consummate protection elements are also showing the classic signs of early VS.
The bottom line is that the condition of the original elements for this film, created in 1959-60 (the most problematic for Eastman color film stock), is a totally normal function of the dyes, chemistry and film bases involved.
|Original 65mm negative - Intermission |
The simple truth is that all of the extant elements have hit the end of their useful lives at the same time, and in order to preserve the film for future generations, it must be restored. The good news is that we finally have the digital mechanism that will allow us to properly restore the film to an extremely high quality end result.
Now that we've had a lesson on film elements, we go to the facts. The original negative is faded, missing over 90% of its yellow layer, which controls blue and contrast, therefore yielding no true blacks and Crustacean-like facial highlights. Any attempt to pump color back into a print turns the skies a muddy green, as yellow is added. The negative also has additional damage due to improperly prepared black leader used in negative cutting, which has chemically attacked the emulsion through the two outermost dye layers. The original negative is unusable to make either prints or preservation elements.
|A frame of the original 70mm print as it exists today. |
The original 65mm separation masters, which would normally have served as an ultimate backup, were improperly produced and have focus issues.
"The Alamo" audio, which had an Academy Award winning 6-track discreet mix, is not an overriding problem, although original elements have an extremely high level of vinegar syndrome. It is doubtful that the original tracks will survive through the year.
The time has come for a complete restoration and overhaul – a massive undertaking.
MGM and a number of vendors have been very supportive in the effort to save this epic film, and are making generous contributions. Still, in order to expedite a full and proper restoration we are seeking financial support from outside sources, both corporate and private, for the remaining 1.4 million dollars.
The work involved will take about 10 to 12 months. The final result will be two versions of the film – The original Roadshow and the General Release, both with Overture, Intermission, Entr'acte and Exit Music.
|70mm frame supplied by Schauburg Kino, Karlsruhe, Germany|
The most important would be the theatrical event projected fully restored in 70mm or Digital Cinema in 2K or 4K. The running time would be approximately 172 minutes, replicating the visual and aural splendor of "The Alamo" as it originally premiered in San Antonio on October 24, 1960, albeit in the General Release cut of the film. While the General Release cut would be available for DVD and Blu-ray, the Roadshow version of the film is intended solely for the DVD and Blu-ray home video audience.
The restoration via all new Eastman film materials would guarantee that the film would survive in perpetuity.
Once completed, MGM would make a restored digital cinema element or 70mm print available for special charity screenings. The print, provided in the names of major donors, with all proceeds going toward the charities involved, would include end credits containing the names of major donors, both corporate and private, which would be seen on screen and later on home video and other uses of the work, linked forever with John Wayne's "The Alamo".
Currently, there is no way to create a 70mm print of this film. The extant production elements are a fading 35mm interpositive and a dupe negative derived from that source – neither representing the heroic work that went into this film by John Wayne and his co-creators.
One of the most important ways people know of the extraordinary gift of freedom given to Texas and our nation by those who defended The Alamo is by virtue of this film. Although an imperfect representation historically, John Wayne's work brilliantly portrays that larger than life tale, capturing the hearts and creating lasting memories for all who experience this great film. We are attempting to pull this important film back from the very brink of extinction and preserve it for generations to come.
We are hopeful that once we are officially in step with the appropriate charitable organization and are able to accept contributions, that support can be found to save Mr. Wayne's epic.
Our goal is to premiere a fully restored 70mm print of the film to play in San Antonio, Dallas and other major cities on or about March 6, 2010 to benefit the continued preservation and memory of The Alamo.
|Go: back - top - back issues - news index| | <urn:uuid:4355e76d-0691-41f3-a0d2-6b041a4121a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.in70mm.com/news/2009/the_alamo/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947918 | 1,882 | 1.976563 | 2 |
In the 100-year history of the decathlon, Ashton Eaton is the finest runner ever to compete in the event. But can speed beat strength? We?ll find out this summer.
One hundred years ago, humankind set out to discover its greatest all-around athlete. We did so by creating the Olympic decathlon. To measure strength, there would be three ancient Greek throws: the shot put, discus, and javelin. To measure spring and coordination, there would be the long jump, high jump, and pole vault. To measure speed and endurance, there would be the 100 and 400 meters, the 110-meter hurdles, and the pitiless 1500 meters. This discovery would take two days until one man proved supreme.
The first such Olympic decathlon was contested in Stockholm in 1912. It was won by the great Native American athlete Jim Thorpe. Over the decades, the roster of Olympic decathlon champions has become a kind of epic poetry of its own, ringing with heroic testing and triumph. Read it aloud and dare to disagree: Bob Mathias (1948 and 1952), Rafer Johnson (1960), Bill Toomey (1968), Bruce Jenner (1976), Daley Thompson (1980 and 1984), Dan O'Brien (1996), Roman Sebrle (2004), Bryan Clay (2008).
We know precisely how great each was in his turn because the decathlon's essence is assigning points to every performance and adding them up. Its scoring tables (derived from formulae for comparing records) let us know that the world record is 9,026 points, achieved in 2001 by the Czech Republic's Sebrle.
The decathlon's centennial anniversary will be celebrated at the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, in June. All living U.S. Olympic decathlon champions have accepted their invitations to be honored. On June 22, before the first event, the 100 meters, they will be hanging over the rail, urging on their favorites among America's current crop.
Who will make the U.S. team for London? A proven stalwart is Clay, the 2008 Beijing champion; his personal record is 8,832 points. Also bending into the blocks will be the 2009 and 2011 world champion Trey Hardee, with a PR of 8,790 points.
Then a slender man in the green singlet and no-secrets black tights of the Oregon Track Club Elite will elicit a rapturous welcome from the crowd. Ashton Eaton, who grew up two hours from hallowed Hayward Field, won three NCAA championships before graduating from the University of Oregon in 2010. He was the 2011 silver medalist at last summer's World Championships. He holds the world record in the heptathlon, the decathlon's indoor stepchild. And at just 24, he's the greatest runner ever to compete on the decathlon's world stage. His times in the decathlon's four running events–the 100 meters, the 110-meter hurdles, the 400 meters, and the 1500 meters–yield enough points to make him a contender in any championship he enters.
As a runner, Eaton, unsurprisingly, does not bear the physical appearance of the typical World's Greatest Athlete prospect. If you peruse photos of past decathlon world record holders–Sebrle, O'Brien, Germany's Jurgen Hingsen–you observe a great deal of upper-body mass. One, Russ Hodge, weighed 225 pounds and was a 60-foot shot putter. Eaton, by contrast, is 6'1", 180 pounds, and all rangy grace. He is a natural sprinter taking on the field events while bulking up as little as necessary. As a result, it's not surprising that Eaton's marks in the throws often pale in comparison with other decathletes, past and present. His best scores in the shot put (47' 4 1/2"), discus (151' 5 3/4"), and javelin (184' 4 1/4") fall short of the numbers put up by Sebrle when he set the world record (a shot put of 50' 3 1/2", discus of 157' 3", javelin a towering 232' 8"). | <urn:uuid:a2407349-d901-4e26-b421-5f1f9c40f95e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.runnersworld.com/ashton-eaton | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932733 | 873 | 2.015625 | 2 |
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Thu March 24, 2011
In this morning's news...
Debate at State Capitol Over Unemployment Benefit Extension
People who file for jobless benefits next year would be eligible for fewer weeks of payments under a measure approved by the state Legislature. Laura Weber reports:
Lawmakers had to approve a jobless benefits package this week in order for the state to receive federal assistance for the program.
The debate was so contentious in the Senate that leaders ordered the doors locked to keep lawmakers in the chamber.
Democratic Senators are upset that Republicans reduced the total number of weeks that people who become unemployed in the future could receive the benefits.
The measure was approved by the Senate and House and now moves to Governor Rick Snyder’s desk.
State Jobless Rate Continues Decline
Michigan’s unemployment rate dropped to 10.4 percent in February. That’s down three-tenths of a point from what it was in January of this year. The number shows about 11,000 more people working in the state in February. Officially, there are 495,000 people in Michigan out of work and looking for a job. There’s another 430,000 people who are either part-timers wishing they had full-time work, or unemployed people who’ve simply quit looking for jobs.
Why the ‘Underwear Bomber’ Targeted Detroit
More details are being learned about why Detroit was chosen as a target in an attempt by an al-Qaida operative to blow up an airliner on Christmas Day in 2009. It appears Detroit was picked because, quite simply, it was a cheap destination. The Associated Press has learned that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab had considered attacking an airplane over Houston or Chicago but the plane tickets were too expensive so, instead, he chose Detroit. The AP explains, “the decision shows that al-Qaida's Yemen branch does not share Osama bin Laden's desire to attack symbolic targets.” | <urn:uuid:4b30b3e5-1ed7-4865-be2b-26e8894b5dbc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.michiganradio.org/post/mornings-news-85 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966507 | 483 | 1.703125 | 2 |
We provide one-on-one and small group instruction tailored to the needs of children.
Each instructional block consists of twelve hours. In the Fall and Spring children
are tutored one and a half hours per week (4:30-6:00 PM) for eight weeks. In the Summer
children are tutored four hours per week (4:00-6:00 PM, twice a week) for three weeks.
Children are assessed individually at the beginning and end of the program to determine
their reading, writing, comprehension, and motivational levels, and areas of growth.
- Instructional Intervention
Based on the results of the initial assessment, a program is designed and implemented
that is tailored to the needs of the student.
- Parents receive a detailed account of students' work.
- Classroom Technology
Children will have the opportunity to work with the latest language arts software
in our state of the art computer lab.
Parent seminars are designed to provide parents with strategies that can be used at
home to support children in their motivation to read and in their development of effective
literacy skills and strategies. These seminars are an integral part of the Reading
Center's Tutoring Program. During the time that students are being tutored, parents
are encouraged to attend the seminars. The seminars include
- Discussions and videos on ways that parents can facilitate reading development;
- Workshops on effective strategies for motivating children to read, broadening literacy
skills and strategies, and improving test-taking strategies;
- A study of the multiple ways that books can be used to address topics of interest
to home, family, community and school, offered by the Mother/Father Read Program of
the Shelby/Memphis Public Library.
We provide training for literacy providers, literacy teachers, and volunteer tutors. | <urn:uuid:5107e834-68d9-4276-808e-c794c601ddfe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.memphis.edu/cehhs/reading/programs.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920774 | 375 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Recall that in the previous posts we discussed what happens if one computes the length of a curve in a digital image as the total sum of distances between consecutive points. The conclusion was that using the length computed this way to evaluate the shapes of objects leads to disastrous results.
What do we do?
Let’s review. Computing lengths of horizontal and vertical segments produces correct results. Computing lengths of diagonal segments leads to a 40% error. To fix that, every time we have a triple of consecutive points arranged in a triangle we should replace 1+1=2 in the computation with √2. The result is that now all 45 degree segments have correct lengths! Great!
Great? Not quite. What about 22.5 degree segments? To make matters simpler consider instead segments with 2 horizontal steps followed by 1 vertical. We compute its length as 1+√2, which is about 2.41. Meanwhile the “true” length is √(2^2+1^2) = √5, which is about 2.24. The error is almost 8%!
Once again, what do we do? Very simple, we take into account this new type of segments. Now we have three types: horizontal/vertical, diagonal, and now 2-straight-then-turn. To compute the length of a curve we break it into segments of the three types and add their lengths.
You can predict what happens next. We try 22.5/2 degree – there will still be an error. And so on. There is no exact method to compute the length of a digital curve, locally.
This is the idea – as I understand it – of the paper On Local Definitions of Length of Digital Curves by Mohamed Tajine and Alain Daurat. One breaks a curve into a sequence of “small” (n steps) curves, each small curve is assigned a length (it does not have to be the distance from the beginning to the end), then the length of the original curve is the sum of those. Simple enough. The caveat was discussed previously. As the resolution approaches 0, the length computed this way should converge to the “true” length. Generally, it does not!
The paper proves that this “local” approach can’t produce the exact result no matter how large n is. Of course, you can interpolate the curve and measure the result. But that’s a can of worms that deserves a separate discussion.
The result is interesting. It’s helpful too in the sense that you don’t have to waste your time trying to find a solution to a problem that can’t be solved.
I do have a minor criticism. The curve is a sequence of “small” curves consecutively attached to each other, fine. Once you start to compute the length, however, the way they are attached is thrown out. If you don’t want to lose information, you should allow the curves to overlap, by a single pixel. My guess is that the result would still stand.
Another issue not discussed in the paper is that the error goes down as n increases. This is a good news because it allows one to produce meaningful results in shape evaluation. About that in the next post. | <urn:uuid:e4e6b255-ed7c-40a2-9af5-064271151860> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://inperc.com/blog2/2007/10/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939988 | 684 | 3.5 | 4 |
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed an instrument that puts pressure on the wafers to find which ones are too fragile to make it through the manufacturing process — and then kicks out those weak wafers before they go through their costly enhancement. NREL's Silicon Photovoltaic Wafer Screening System (SPWSS) is a cube-shaped furnace about 15 inches each side, and can be retrofitted into an assembly line.
The process looks a lot like the toasting belt that turns a cold sub sandwich into a warm one. As each wafer passes through a narrow — 15-millimeter — high-intensity illumination zone, different strips of the wafer are exposed to the heat. That way, the stress travels through the wafer.
The temperature can be calibrated precisely — most usefully by correlating it to the thickness of the wafer, because the thinner the wafer, the less stress it can withstand. Every manufacturer has different levels at which their wafers can break from stress, so the SPWSS can be calibrated precisely via computer to meet the needs of each solar cell maker.
The SPWSS is essentially a furnace shaped like a trapezoidal prism to narrow the focus of the light and increase its intensity. The ceramic sides of the furnace reflect the light to the intensity zone and ensure that almost no energy is wasted.
The lamps can be as hot as 1,800 degrees Celsius, but the hottest part of the wafer will feel about 500 degrees Celsius on its surface.
It's the rapid increase in thermal energy — made possible by the geometry of the furnace and its highly reflective surfaces — that causes the stress. While one 15-millimeter strip of the wafer is feeling 500 degrees Celsius of stress, the strip adjacent to it feels much cooler. The hot strip wants to expand, but the cool strip doesn't want any part of that. It's these competing forces that cause the stress.
The micro-cracks or breaks that occasionally develop from the thermal stress mirror the stress that will happen to weak wafers as they go through the assembly process. The difference is that the thermal testing happens first, before the expensive coatings and layers are added to the wafers.
This story is reprinted from material from NREL, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier. Link to original source. | <urn:uuid:b66ed498-75e5-48c6-9a0e-d84c99e9d75f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.materialstoday.com/view/30274/automatic-rejection-of-unusable-pv-wafers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942163 | 509 | 3.671875 | 4 |
Jonah Lehrer — the former New Yorker scribe caught inventing Bob Dylan quotes, plagiarizing press releases, and recycling his own copy — is in trouble again. Less than three weeks after Lehrer offered a flawed but seemingly sincere mea culpa at the Knight Foundation in Miami, the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has begun pulling Lehrer's 2010 book about the cognitive underpinnings of decision-making, How We Decide. According to journalist Michael C. Moynihan, whose report for Tablet in July prompted Lehrer to resign from The New Yorker, the publisher uncovered "significant" (but unspecified) issues during an internal audit of the text. Moynihan convincingly speculates, however, that Harcourt pulled Lehrer's book because in it Lehrer appears to invent an interview with a pilot, putting in his mouth words that the same pilot gave at a lecture in 1991.
It gets weirder. Moynihan reported this particular invention six months ago, in August 2012, in a note he published on Twitter. It's a bit baffling, then, why Harcourt dawdled in investigating Jonah Lehrer's work, and waited until after Lehrer declared that he was done lying about his array of journalistic sins. But apparently Lehrer believed he had done no wrong in How We Decide, even after he flayed himself at the Knight Foundation. Per Moynihan:
Even after the Dylan fiasco, after Imagine had been pulped, and after he publicly declared that the “lies were over now,” Lehrer told me via email that he had indeed interviewed Hayes—providing an email thread of their initial communication—and that the pilot had said the exact same thing, in the exact same language, to him twenty years later.
If you want to check the passage in question out for yourself, head over to The Daily Beast — or buy a copy of the book on Amazon before it gets Harcourt's memo. Right now, it seems like Lehrer could use the money. | <urn:uuid:8c0b3d6f-88fe-441a-9d78-d106b923f27b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/03/publisher-finds-even-more-jonah-lehrers-lies/62690/?.tsrc=_news | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967221 | 418 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Escaping the Constraints of Space and Time
Posted by Brian Kelly (UK Web Focus) on 20 August 2010
The Amplification of Events
When Lorcan Dempsey coined the term ‘amplified conference’ the image I initially had was of a megaphone so that people outside the conference space could hear what was being said. However after I had created the Wikipedia entry I realised this image was inappropriate as, with Twitter, for example, we are amplified the discussions within the conference as well as amplifying the discussions for an external audience.
Escaping The Constraints of Space and Time
An alternative metaphor I have used previously describes how a variety of networked technologies can be used to ‘escape the constraints of space and time‘. If you think about it the talk at a conference takes place in a non-interoperable ‘walled garden‘. Wikipedia describes a walled garden as ”a closed or exclusive set of information services provided for users“. This analogy normally refers to access which is restricted due to technical barriers. In this case, however, the restricted access to talks is due to physical constraints (not being physically present) and time constraints (not being in the right place at the right time).
“Ye Canna Break The Laws of Physics”
We don’t normally think of a talk given at a conference as being in a walled garden. This may be because, as Scotty put it “Ye canna break the laws of physics“. But although this may not have been possible in Star Trek, our very own Doctor Who famously does travel across both space and time.
If Doctor Who Arrived On Planet Earth Today
Tony’s post described Reversible, Reverse History and Side-by-Side Storytelling – an idea which I’d like to revisit. Image Doctor Who visits planet earth in the early part of the twenty-first century. His sidekick discovers the excitement shared in some circles for the, at the time, new concept of amplified events.
Sidekick: Why are the earthlings so excited about amplified events? How else would you learn?
Doctor: Up to the start of the twenty-first century the earthlings had to travel to large centres of learning called ‘universities’ (or schools for the young). A complex system called a timetable was created which ensured that the elders of the tribe met the young people in the same location at the same time. This system had been in existence for many eons – and some speculated that Stonehenge was the first timetable scheduling system.
Sidekick: But that’s crazy and inefficient! Why didn’t the elders simply record their knowledge on a multimedia device?
Doctor: They did – it was called a ‘book’ (although it only contained text and static images). Remember computers had only been around for about 50 years at this time – and this was about 20 years since the Earthlings had thought that digital watches were a pretty neat idea.
Sidekick: OK. But once the multimedia capture and playback technologies became available they must have started to use them straight away. Didn’t everyone have a mobile phone then?
Doctor: That’s the strange thing. They argued against it. “It’s rude” they said. Or “Not everyone has such devices so nobody should be allowed to use them“.
Sidekick: How strange.
Doctor: But even worse was how the mega-organisations reacted. They made money out of lots of students arriving at the same place at the same time. And they were resistant to change.
Sidekick: Ah yes, the Luddites.
Doctor: Not quite, these were called Professors.
Sidekick: What’s the difference?
Doctor: (unsure, changes the subject) …
The Interoperability of Amplified Events
We are now seeing how technology can be used to save talks from the walled garden of the place and time at which they were given. We can now take videos of talks, mash them up with the discussions which were taking place (using, for example, Martin Hawksey’s iTitle Twitter captioning service) and embed them in digital resources – for example see Chris Sexton’s talk which she gave at the University of Sheffield from 14:00-14:45 on Monday 12 July 2010.
We’re now making the physical world digital and interoperable :-) But why aren’t we doing more of this? Shouldn’t the default position be that conferences are amplified unless there are good reasons not to do this? | <urn:uuid:ceefe88f-a999-48ae-8612-cac4c6915666> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ukwebfocus.wordpress.com/2010/08/20/escaping-the-constraints-of-space-and-time/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967249 | 969 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Of love and anger
“There are plenty of good reasons for fighting but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that god Almighty himself hates with you too.”
-- Kurt Vonnegut
I am speaking today of love (and anger). The love called, “Agape,” a Latin word that means not love of self or family but love of humanity. A value not heavily utilized these days. I’ve been called an ignorant fool, an old fool, misguided and on and on and on. A young whipper–snapper Facebook-ed me today that people are living in misery because they are not putting themselves first.
Of course she has no children, but then again there are many who have children who don’t really care about them either. The “me” generation. The generation who got to mega churches to learn how to be “fabulous.” Making money has become synonymous with a life well lived. When I respond with “religion is more than going to church and praying regularly,” they look at me with a smile full of pity and more or less pat me on the head. When I say hopefully that, “perhaps you might pay some attention to the words of someone who is a lot older and a little wiser,” they give me the “look.”
“Judy,” they say, “Just because you are older does not make you wiser!” And that is a direct quote. Agape is a word that says it’s perfectly -- love that is universal. The word that comes the closest to that of a supreme being. Listen to me, I have stopped going to church years ago, and practice no organized religion. And here I stand in my bully pulpit preaching. Unless you die young, everyone grows old, and hopefully gains some knowledge along the journey.
I am still so humbled, nevertheless, by the lives of so many of my QUESTors, one in particular, or rather 2, or maybe 3 or probably even more than that stand out. The young man in the wheelchair with Spinal Bifida who used to live on Stanley Street, we used to have to carry his wheelchair downstairs so he would have full access to our programs. He grew up and has become a lawyer. Criminal law and totally self-sufficient. Makes you kind of want to weep, doesn’t it?
Mi Mah struggling through school. Working as a hotel maid, helping everyone who comes by to get a second chance at life. The young woman, who as a girl told Chrissie Ann, “Of course you can dance, I will teach you, I will teach you the salsa!” To this day Chrissie remembers both the salsa and the support.
I can go on and on, but they keep coming, a long, long line of people, “Hey Judy!” they say, “Just stopped by, just got out of jail, just had a baby, just got a job, just finished school, just finished rehab, just wanted to see you, just needed a hug, just want to help, just need to talk, just want to see you. Gosh I’m glad you’re here.” How can I quit? How can I simply walk away? And I am reminded of this:
“Paradise is at your own center
unless you find it there
There is no way to enter.”
-- Angelus Silesius
And so it goes, but I got frightened, I stay up at night and worry about money. We are slowly losing ground. One of our long-time funders, through no fault of her own, has entrusted her work as a philanthropist to someone inexperienced and we find monies that we need desperately to be very, very late in arriving. I feel sometimes as if I am holding up a house of cards, one card, only one, out of place, and everything topples, and the house becomes just a deck of cards.
We are planning a reunion of sorts, both successes and those still slowly climbing the stairs, to meet at QUEST and have a pot luck and lots of tears of remembrance and joy. And possibly even a little salsa. Maybe now is the time to try some new ideas, different paths because as Miguel De Unamung says, “To fall into habit is to cease to be.”
So here’s my plan. Folks have been telling me that the city won’t help change our part of the town because no one here votes. That money and time is being given elsewhere because people vote and organize and show up at city council meetings and push and push and do not give up. And there is a nugget of truth in that contention.
We do, however, get more than our fair share of police officers. I am making that observation, LOL, so here is my proposition, less standing around with our hands in our pockets and let’s use our muscle. We have that power and let's flex our muscles a wee bit. If we want what Steinmetz Park is getting, a real makeover, we have to earn it. The Steinmetz folk pushed and shoved for 5 years or more to have this happen.
And I give you due warning that we will also have to allow due process. But — and this is big but, we have many more citizens who can gain through our momentum. We must move as a community and push the vote -- then push the response; inaction never got anything for anyone. We could really do this right, design a flag for combined neighborhoods, make posters, have pot- lucks etc.
I am offering use of QUEST space to come together. We are centrally located, we have parking, we have a bus stop and a kitchen, and a meeting room. C’mon down, our phone number is posted on the QUEST sign right in front on the building. 826 State St.
"To say yes, you have to sweat and roll up your sleeves, and plunge both hands into life up to the elbows. It is easy to say no even if saying no means death."
-- Jean Anouilh
“For those who say we can’t do it, we’re too lazy, too stoned, don’t care, can’t work together, I add, never turn your back on reality. It surrounds you.”
-- Stanis Law J. Lec
Talk isn't cheap
Speaking of entitlements, these are the oppressive entitlements I see and it is not Social Security, Medicare and Food Stamps. It is cell phones. Designer cell phones for kids, adults, even for homeless people. And it is the most expensive way to own and use them. It’s to buy and use with a SIM card.
Explain to me why you would purchase a phone outright and then pay for minutes. Boost phones advertise on every store and bodega a phone plan which is reasonable and inexpensive and offers unlimited -- let me repeat -- unlimited talk and text, for about $30 a month. Does anyone really need the games and hoopla? Especially the 12-year-olds.
I have kids who literally, and I’m not exaggerating, are never ever a heartbeat away from their phone. If you speak to them they are concentrating so completely on texting they simply don’t register that there is a real live person speaking to them. The phone is never unplugged from their ear unless it’s plugged into a charger.
Now this is a true story: One young girl came out to the car with a phone on her shoulder talking away while her hands were constantly texting on a second device. Electronic multi-tasking. There is something truly frightening about this. And when I try to speak to them about this, they are totally bewildered, they feel that I don’t get it, that I don’t understand.
And going right along with this is the taxi cab business. I bet if an accurate study was made we would find that the majority of users of cabs are coming from the poorer sections of town. Kids use cabs to go to Rollarama, to go to the mall, either Rotterdam or Colonie Center. Definitely to go to the movies and sometimes even to go to school. One mother I know sent her daughter to school for an entire semester by cab. Daughter kept getting in fights on the bus so to fix the problem child went by cab. You can figure out yourself that the minimum amount needed was $10 a day. $50 a week and on and up. No surprise there was no car in the family. But for $200 a month you can surely buy one. There’s even a ghetto garage which rents for $100 a week -- nice shiny new cars, if you don’t pay the car stops, whereever and whenever. You would be surprised how many fools hook into that one. And a favorite idea for a big day present, birthday or otherwise, is a surprise car rented just for YOU, for three or four days. No background checks or even driving license checks here.
Cars and phones, status symbols feuded by the drug trade. C’mon over and impress the world you live in.
On the other hand, it’s Kay Shawn’s 12th birthday and his mom is taking him and a few friends to the mall to hang out and guess what? These 12-year-old boys are begging me to come along. They are even using that magic word, “PLEASE!”
“Beyond the spectrum of darkness she saw the bright stars scattered across the table of the night sky and felt as if she had never seen such things as stars before. She did not know enough numbers to count them and even if she did the stars could not be separated one from the other, the whole was so much greater than the sum of its parts. She saw the textbooks of constellations, the heroes of mythology posing on fields of ink. She could see the milkiness in everything now, the way the sky was spread over with light.”
-- Ann Patchett
“I’ve always taken ‘The Wizard of Oz’ very seriously, you know I believe in the idea of the rainbow. And, I’ve spent my entire life trying to get over it.”
-- Judy Garland | <urn:uuid:02f85886-a7e6-43ed-a7e9-95baf048889b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dailygazette.com/weblogs/atchinson/2013/feb/25/love-and-anger/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971669 | 2,198 | 1.804688 | 2 |
**USPS Clarifies E-Commerce InitiativesThe U.S. Postal Service issued a statement this week clarifying what it called inaccurate reports in The Wall Street Journal and other media outlets regarding its e-commerce initiatives, e-addressing and Mailing Online services.
The Wall Street Journal was planning to run a correction to rectify any inaccuracies in its story, said Dick Tofel, spokesman for the newspaper.
Several media outlets reported that the USPS was considering issuing e-mail addresses for all physical postal addresses, prompting speculation about the potential for increased spamming.
While the linkage of physical postal addresses and e-mail addresses is a concept that the USPS is exploring, the postal service's statement read, "There are no plans to launch anything regarding the creation of e-mail addresses in September or in the near future, for that matter."
In relation to spamming concerns, the postal service said that e-mail addresses issued by the USPS would fall under the same law that prevents the release of information pertaining to postal addresses. To ensure privacy, e-mail addresses would not be identifiable to physical addresses, and customers could create an e-mail address that would be linked to an alphanumeric e-mail address created by the postal service.
"If the USPS could figure out how to do it, the most important role that they could play in the e-mail environment is to create some sort of national change of address for e-mail," said Jay Schwedelson, corporate vice president at Worldata/WebConnect, Boca Raton, FL. "That's the type of leadership role that they need to be concentrating on."
USPS did confirm that it will launch a three-year testing period for Mailing Online, its e-mail printing and mailing service, in September. The agency has contracted with printing companies to handle the printing, addressing, stamping, sorting and transporting of the documents after they have been sent electronically to the postal service.
Pricing for the Mailing Online service has not been approved yet. The proposed price is 41 cents for a two-page document with all labor and materials included.
Private companies have been providing similar services for a while, Schwedelson said.
"The USPS is following everyone's lead," he said. "In a lot of ways they're playing catch-up ball with these new initiatives." | <urn:uuid:6cb28902-18d3-4636-a749-cdc45bbaaea7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dmnews.com/usps-clarifies-e-commerce-initiatives/article/67694/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961137 | 487 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Livadia Palace – Site of the 1945 Yalta Conference:
Anyone interested in WWII history will have heard of the 1945 Yalta (or Crimean) Conference. It was here at the Livadia Palace that the Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin met to negotiate how post-war Europe was to be carved up.
Livadia is a palace that’s filled with history. The huge, stunning White Hall on the ground floor is where the Big Three and their delegation met to agree that the USSR would have the biggest influence over Eastern Europe in exchange for keeping out of the Mediterranean. Imagine the charged-up atmosphere of the place during the Conference!
In various rooms of the Palace there are lots of black and white pictures capturing the proceedings during the Yalta Conference, including the famous shot of Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin taken in the courtyard.
During the Conference, which ran over 8 days from February 4 – 11, 1945, the delegates of the allied States participating in the Conference stayed in three palaces in Southern Crimea. The U.S. delegation stayed at the Livadia Palace, the British delegation were accommodated at Aloupka Palace whilst the USSR delegation were housed at the Koreiz Palace.
The Tsar’s Summer Palace
Livadia was originally built in 1911 as a summer palace for Tsar Nikolas II. Tuberculosis was the scourge during the time and Yalta’s sunny climate was recommended as being conducive for recuperation. There is a beautiful garden at the palace and a pathway that stretches some 7 km to the Swallow’s Nest. The family’s physician recommended that going for walks in the sunshine was beneficial for the Tsar’s family.
Whilst the ground floor of Livadia is charged up with memories of war discussions, power broking and control of Europe, the rooms upstairs hold an air of sadness.
As you walk through the rooms with photos and portraits of the Tsar and his family, you can’t help but be moved by the tragedy that befell the Romanov family. A portrait of the Tsar taken before he abdicated hangs on one of the walls. His abdication did not appease the Bolsheviks who murdered the entire family in July 1918.
At the back of the Palace is the Romanov Family Chapel. Nikolas II took an oath of faithfulness to the Russian throne here and his bride, Princess Alisa von Hessen was confirmed into the Orthodox Church and given the name Alexandra Feodorovna.
During our visit, refurbishment was being carried out inside so scaffoldings, the curse of photographers, obstructed the nice view. In any case, photography is not allowed inside the Chapel, although I actually didn’t see the ‘no photography’ sign outside. If you so much as raise your camera hand, the nuns who run the place will quickly tap you on the shoulder.
Livadia Palace is certainly worth a visit as the place is steeped with history. | <urn:uuid:00014165-527e-4998-9fa9-f7e58d13d077> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.travelsignposts.com/Ukraine/sightseeing/livadia-yalta-conference | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968561 | 620 | 2.875 | 3 |
Generally speaking, the guy bugs me to no end. Total blowhard. But I agree with the above poster — any fan of the Billy West days should check out the recent interview he did with Billy on his podcast.
The Nose Touch - In essence, the nose touch gesture is a sophisticated, disguised version of the mouth guard gesture. It may consist of several light rubs below the nose or it may be one quick, almost imperceptible touch. Like the mouth guard gesture, it can be used both by the speaker to disguise his own deceit and by the listener who doubts the speaker�s words.
The Eye Rub - 'See no evil' says the wise monkey, and this gesture is the brain's attempt to block out the deceit, doubt or lie that it sees or to avoid having to look at the face of the person to whom he is telling the lie. Men usually rub their eyes vigorously and if the lie is a big one they will often look away, normally towards the floor. Women use a small, gentle rubbing motion just below the eye, either because they have been brought up to avoid making robust gestures, or to avoid smudging make-up. They also avoid a listener�s gaze by looking at the ceiling. | <urn:uuid:f2a5d053-6218-41b6-b88e-3a97ec4718be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dawgsaloon.com/showthread.php/61855-Penn-Jillette-Why-Celebrity-Apprentice-Sucks-Away-Your-Willpower?p=3725736&viewfull=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946044 | 252 | 1.53125 | 2 |
A new Internet traffic trends report released by the Canadian broadband management company Sandvine reveals that BitTorrent traffic is on the rise globally. More than half of all upstream traffic during peak hours in North America and Europe now comes from BitTorrent. The report further signals that the shutdown of LimeWire killed traffic generated by the Gnutella P2P network.
Sandvine, the company that’s best known for manufacturing the hardware that slowed down BitTorrent users on Comcast, has released their latest Internet traffic report. The company has measured the traffic consumption of Internet users in March of 2011 which allows us to highlight several emerging trends in the P2P landscape.
The overall conclusion we can draw from the data is that in Europe and North America BitTorrent traffic continues to grow spectacularly, something that may in part be attributed to the shutdown of LimeWire. The Gnutella network (used by LimeWire) on the other hand has all but disappeared.
The bandwidth usage patterns during peak hours in North America reveal that a massive 52% of all upstream traffic can be attributed to BitTorrent at these times. This is up from 34% in 2010, and since it’s a relative comparison, the absolute traffic consumed by BitTorrent has risen even more.
The BitTorrent percentage of downstream traffic in North America lies at 10% of all Internet traffic during the busiest time of the day, up from 8% last year. Netflix is the absolute king in terms of downstream traffic here, accounting of nearly 30% of all traffic during peak hours.
Traffic generated by the Gnutella protocol (used by Frostwire etc.) in North America has nearly vanished after the LimeWire shutdown. Last year it was responsible for 11% of upstream traffic and 2% of downstream traffic during peak hours. In 2011 it is no longer among the top 10 downstream applications, while the upstream traffic is stuck at little over 2%.
Top Applications in North America during peak hours. (source: Sandvine)
In common with North America, BitTorrent also remains the most used file-sharing protocol in Europe. In fact, the surge in peak hour traffic compared to 2010 is even more pronounced here.
Bandwidth usage patterns during peak hours show that nearly 60% of the upstream traffic in Europe can be attributed to BitTorrent during these times. This has doubled compared to last year when it accounted for ‘only’ 30% of the upstream traffic.
Similarly, downstream traffic during peak hours went up as well, rising from 8% last year to over 21% in March. With upstream and downstream traffic combined, BitTorrent tops the list of most used ‘applications’ leaving HTTP (including cyberlockers) in second place with 18%.
Top Applications in Europe during peak hours. (source: Sandvine)
Whether there’s a direct link between the LimeWire shutdown and the increase in BitTorrent usage has yet to be seen. This may explain the fall of Gnutella coinciding with the rise of BitTorrent in the North America. However, in Europe Gnutella was already virtually nonexistent last year, and here BitTorrent traffic has risen even more sharply.
While keeping in mind that Sandvine might benefit from overestimating the percentage of P2P traffic because they sell traffic shaping applications, the above data shows that BitTorrent is still going strong in North America and Europe. The relative share of BitTorrent traffic increased on both regions, and since the overall Internet traffic has grown as well, the absolute increase is even greater. | <urn:uuid:ec7495b1-e574-48a9-9ff1-4c76e2232744> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://torrentfreak.com/bittorrent-traffic-surges-after-limewire-shutdown-110517/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958577 | 718 | 1.796875 | 2 |
An Introduction to Alpha-Theta
This protocol guides users into a deep, trancelike state where alpha waves and theta waves, which signify deep relaxation, are elevated; frequencies found to promote a healing state that could be used to treat many things, from alcoholism to drug addiction to depression and anxiety. Clients allow a therapist's voice and sounds from a neurofeedback instrument to guide them into a deeply relaxed "alpha-theta crossover" state in the alpha (8-12 hertz) and the theta (4-8 hertz) range, right on the edge of sleep. The active ingredient of the training, many believe, is the imagery of painful, repressed memories that the client has suffered with for years, which surface and are then resolved in this state. The name comes from the behavior of the brain waves being shown on the screen. Alpha waves are usually higher in amplitude, or more powerful, than theta. When, during this therapy, the amplitude of the alpha waves drops and the theta amplitude rises to the point where it crosses over the alpha waves -which means it has become more powerful - it is called alpha-theta crossover. It is a specific state that is associated with the resolution of traumatic memories. They often initiate deep psychological experiences that can be powerful and transformative. This brain wave training allows the repressed events that have caused the PTSD to surface to consciousness and be processed out, ending the grip they once held on clients.
The alpha-theta protocol apparently takes the client to a very specific frequency portal --4 to 12 hertz - through which emotionally painful events are easily accessed. A key difference between talk therapies and the alpha-theta protocol is that in alpha-theta the subject does not have to physically relive the trauma to exorcise it. Because the client's physiology is extremely quiet during an alpha-theta session, painful memories bubble gently to the surface; rather than re-experiencing it, clients in the alpha-theta state feel as if they are watching the trauma play out in front of them as on a television or movie screen, which is called the "witness state." A re-experience in such a witness state allow the event to become part of one's historical, narrative memory, rater than remaining emotionally reactive in the present. While the exact physiological mechanism of the protocol remains undiscovered, repressed memories and unresolved traumas apparently exert a stress on the brain that interferes with normal operation. Traumatic events seem to block one's ability to generate enough alpha, sometimes referred to as an "internal anesthetic." | <urn:uuid:b051b00e-8eb4-488c-a916-528118592d9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.loralonsberry.com/text/AlphaThetaIntro.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953937 | 532 | 2.5 | 2 |
SEFE, Inc., a Colorado company that has developed and tested a revolutionary way of drawing essentially unlimited amounts of electricity directly from the earth’s atmosphere, has a video, featuring the company’s CEO, Don Johnston, which provides a good overview of SEFE’s strategy.
Although the renewable energy industry and market is growing at tremendous speed, SEFE’s revolutionary ability to draw clean electricity directly from the air has a number of advantages over other forms of renewable energy. The footprint is small, not requiring acres of windmills or solar panels. It works anywhere in the world, in any weather conditions, at any time of the day or night, unlike solar or wind power. It is highly efficient since there is no significant conversion required, and it is scalable as needed.
Mr. Johnston explains in the video how the company sees their unique technology, designed to capture high energy static electricity from the air, as key to the company’s overall value, and Johnston emphasizes SEFE’s accomplishments in protecting this intellectual property as it continues to develop. He explains in the video how the intention of SEFE is not to manufacture but to license the technology and its great potential.
Regarding the revolutionary nature of the SEFE concept, Johnston said: “Our team is trying to do something that no one else has tried, and we’re making headway each and every month.” He went on to say that “If we’re just a little bit successful, we could have a meaningful impact on not only the United States, but the world.”
The video can be viewed at http://sefe.missionir.com/sefe/video-interview.html.
For more information on the company, visit www.SEFElectric.com
MissionIR is committed to connecting the investment community with companies that have great potential and a strong dedication to building shareholder value. We know our reputation is based on the integrity of our clients and go to great lengths to ensure the companies represented adhere to sound business practices.
Sign up for “The Mission Report” at www.MissionIR.com
Please see disclaimer on the MissionIR website http://www.missionir.com/disclaimer.html | <urn:uuid:73eab00c-015d-4499-9519-f052290be7a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.feedthebull.com/article/sefe-ceo-featured-exclusive-video-interview-missionir%E2%80%99s-inside-track | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93722 | 466 | 1.703125 | 2 |
So far we have looked at how to prepare our wood, choose a blade, cast on and off a piece and cut outside curves and corners. Now it is time we do some inside cutting.
Most people associate scroll sawing with cutting fretwork. At first many people don’t understand that in order to cut fretwork pieces, you need to drill entry holes in the ‘waste area’ (or the part of the pattern that drops away when you finish your cut) and thread the blade through that drilled hole to cut out the inside piece. This is why it is so important to many scroll sawyers to have a scroll saw that uses pinless blades, or blades that have flat ends and attach to the scroll saw by a chuck or a screw squeezing the blade tight to hold it in place while you are cutting.
Many older and industrial saws used pin ended blades. . These are blades have a small pin going through the end of them and look kind of like a ‘t’.
The end of the blade rests in some sort of channel on the end of the arm of the scroll saw and the tension is then tightened to hold the blade in place. While this is an effective way to hold the blade in the saw, it is not always the most practical when doing decorative and delicate scroll saw work.
The pins at the end of the blades mean that in order to thread the blade through the wood, you would need a much wider entry hole in order to do so. This may be acceptable if you are doing larger pieces, such as fretwork brackets for shelves and trim work, but if you are doing smaller items such as ornaments and other delicate work, you will find that having to use pin ended blades will severely limit the scope of the work you can do. It is for that reason that I highly recommend using a saw that uses pinless blades. Most of the newer saws on the market today fall into this category.
I often am asked questions as to where to drill the entry holes in a project. While you can certainly drill them anywhere convenient in the waste area, there are usually some better choices that will minimize the time and effort in making a piece.
When I have a piece with lots of sharp corners, I like to start cutting fairly close a corner. For the same reasons that we started in a corner when doing an outside cut, I feel that it is also best to do so when making an inside cut. The place where we enter and exit our cuts sometimes makes a small bump, and I feel that by starting in an inconspicuous area near a corner, even if there is a small ridge where we enter and exit, it will be very difficult if not impossible to see.
For this lesson, I have prepared a practice pattern that has lots of sharp inside cuts. You can download the pattern at my Google Documents file here:
This is part of a pattern for a self-framing plaque that I designed. It is a pattern that I sell on my site, but I enlarged it a bit so that it would be a little easier for you to practice on. For this lesson, we are only going to work on the frame of the project so I only included that part on the pattern. Next time we will be working on the inside cuts and I will have that part of the pattern for you to download. (You will need to come back for that!)
Begin by preparing the piece as I showed you in previous lessons, with blue painter’s tape and then applying the pattern. (Or use your own favorite method) Cut around the perimeter of the piece so that it is a comfortable size to work with. Place a small drill bit in your drill press and drill out the holes in the waste are of the design. From the picture below you can see that I marked some suggested starting places you can drill.
Of course they don’t have to be exactly where I indicated – any thing close will do.
Drill using the smallest bit that will fit your blade through it comfortably. By ‘comfortably’ I mean that you shouldn’t have to struggle to push your blade through the hole, as this could result in bending the blade – especially if you are using a small blade. But you want to keep the entry hole as small as you can. When you are finished drilling the holes, be sure to sand the back of the plaque with some sand paper. Otherwise the bumps from the back of the drill holes will interfere with allowing your piece to sit flat on the scroll saw table.
After drilling and sanding, we are now ready to cut.
For my own piece here, I am using 1/2” (Maple) and a size 2-reverse tooth scroll saw blade. You can use anything similar and get the same results.
Begin by cutting toward the nearest sharp corner. Aim for the pointiest part of the corner. Remember to let up the pressure as you approach it so you don’t overshoot the cut. This is a common mistake that beginners make. (you can go back and review lesson #4 HERE if you want to refresh yourself about not putting too much pressure on the blade and getting not over cutting.) When you reach the end of the point – STOP:
Back up the saw blade slightly (perhaps a quarter of an inch or so) WITHOUT TURNING IT – simply pull the piece slightly back through the saw:
Now cut forward again toward the line, only this time go slightly to the LEFT of the line your just cut. Again you are going to stop as you get to your line:
When you are at the line, you should pivot your piece so that you can cut back to meet the tip of the point.
At this point, the little triangular piece should fall out (as indicated by the grey area in the illustration):
You are then going to turn your piece so that you will be cutting in a clockwise direction and following the line to the next corner. When you get to the next corner, stop again:
You will then back your blade up just as you did before (approximately 1/4 of an inch or so) without turning the piece or the blade:
Now just as we did on the first corner, we are going to cut to the left of the corner and stop at the line:
And after the small triangle falls out, turn your piece so you can continue in a clockwise direction and continue on to the next corner:
Continue in this manner until you come around to where you started. Be sure to back off the pressure you are pushing on your saw when you are approaching the end. If you push too hard, you will have a tendency to over cut into the piece past your starting point.
For very sharp angles, there is sometimes an easier way to turn the corners – especially when you are using a very small blade. In the second set of pictures, I have a shape with a very acute angle and an obtuse angle (over 90 degrees) to each side of it. In this case, I drilled my entry hole near the obtuse angle, and began cutting from the hole to the corner of it.
When I reached the line, instead of backing up the blade and cutting a small triangle out like I did in the last example, I simply turned the piece and began following the line in a clockwise direction and continued cutting:
I am able to do this because of the large angle. Depending on which size blade you are using, you should be able to turn most obtuse angles in this manner and still have a nice sharp corner. Remember when you are turning to pivot on the corner and slightly lean your piece to the back of the blade to insure that there is no forward moving while you pivot. Continue along the line until you reach the point of the acute angle.
When you reach that point, you will once again back up your piece about 1/4” and then pivot your piece (toward the waste area)
Now you will back all the way into the corner:
And from that point you will continue cutting in a clockwise direction:
I hope this gives you a clear idea of how to cut corners. Of course, if you are cutting in a counter-clockwise direction, you will just cut the little triangle out from the opposite side and continue accordingly. Once you get the hang of the process, it will be fairly easy and come second nature to you.
You will find that as most of the time with scroll sawing, the process is a matter of judgement calls. You will learn by practicing which way of turning is best for the particular area you are at. The thing we are aiming for is to have nice, sharp defined corners without ‘spin holes’ which are rounded areas made from turning the blade. Crisp and clean angles will make your piece look professional and nice.
Your homework for this week is to finish cutting all the inside cuts of the frame piece provided. This will be really
good practice for you and by the time you are finished, you should be feeling a bit more comfortable in doing the process. Next lesson we will learn how to do other types of inside cuts and later on we will learn to bevel cut the piece to make a self-framing plaque.
Below is the video that will demonstrate these three types of turns that I just explained. I think it will help clarify the steps that I showed you in the drawings above.
Of course, there are other ways that you can turn too. I am sure that others will have some good input as to other methods that work well for them too. As with most of scroll sawing, there are several correct ways to do things.
I would suggest you use a board approximately 1/2” thick and a #2 reverse tooth scroll saw blade. If you have something else available, I am sure that will work fine too. Try to use the smallest blade you can and still have control and not have to work too hard moving your piece through the saw. If you have to push hard, or if your blade is wandering too much, try going up a size. You will soon get a feel for what is right for the type of wood you have.
Feel free to ask questions if there is anything that I missed here. I will be finishing up editing the video and getting it posted here as soon as it is done, so be sure to check back later. But for now, this will get you started.
Thank you again for participating in the class. I hope you are all having fun!
-- Contributing Editor, Creative Woodworks and Crafts, Sheila Landry Designs http://www.sheilalandrydesigns.com "Knowledge is Power" | <urn:uuid:414f0e42-1040-467a-bb5a-aac36a3d005c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lumberjocks.com/scrollgirl/blog/25045 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958174 | 2,215 | 2.609375 | 3 |
And many of you who have been involved in these discussions will have found out, the question always (or often) seems to hinge on one question: “what is the definition of the word ‘church’?”
In the history of the Christian church – the 2000 or so years since the time when Christ said, “I will build my church”, the answer to that question has taken many forms. There have been literally thousands of clerics or scholars or theologians and even “church bodies” who have tried to say precisely what that means. I don’t doubt that most of them have been sincere. But huge numbers of them, too, have been quite wrong-headed about it.
I have become convinced that the Roman Catholic Church today is the largest and the most wrong-headed about the whole understanding of what “the church” is. But beyond that, its mission is defined as perpetuating its own wrong-headedness, and sucking the whole world into its vortex.
* * *
Before I get into more of Campenhausen’s account of “where apostolic succession comes from”, I want to make a clarification. One friend commented:
The word “visible” seems to me to be problematic. I would say that the Church is visible in the sense that it is made up of many local congregations which have a visible presence in the communities in which they are found. It is invisible, of course, in the sense that we cannot know in this life, ultimately and for certain, who the elect are. It is my view, however, that it was NOT Christ’s intention to found a religious/political INSTITUTION called the Church.That says some things pretty well. Of course we can “see” “the church” at various times and places. The WCF and the LCBF make these clarifying statements:
WCF — Chapter XXV: Of the Church:(I knew this comparative chart existed but I wasn’t aware until just now that it resided at James Anderson’s site .)
1. The catholic or universal Church, which is invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.
2. The visible Church, which is also catholic or universal under the gospel (not confined to one nation as before under the law), consists of all those throughout the world that profess the true religion, together with their children; and is the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ; the house and family of God, through which men are ordinarily saved and union with which is essential to their best growth and service.
LBCF — Chapter XXVI: Of the Church:
1. The catholic or universal church, which (with respect to the internal work of the Spirit and truth of grace) may be called invisible, consists of the whole number of the elect, that have been, are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ, the head thereof; and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
2. All persons throughout the world, professing the faith of the gospel, and obedience unto God by Christ according unto it, not destroying their own profession by any errors everting the foundation, or unholiness of conversation, are and may be called visible saints; and of such ought all particular congregations to be constituted.
And yes, I believe, with both of these confessions, that “the Pope of Rome cannot in any sense be head thereof” in that he “exalteth himself in the Church against Christ”. You can turn to the pope, or you can turn to Christ. I’m sure Roman Catholics would argue, “you turn to Christ through the pope” or maybe to soften that, “the pope helps you to get to Christ”. But in either case, the pope is an obstacle. We are able to get to Christ without a pope. For we Christians are promised, “we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16). If you, as a Christian may go directly to “the throne of grace”, why ever is there a reason to submit yourself to the slavish system that Rome has concocted over the centuries?
That, of course, is the big question.
* * *
And the answer that is most frequently given to that big question is, “The constant teaching of the Catholic Church is that Christ founded a visible Church with an essentially unified visible hierarchy.” In more “official” terms, that statement officially works out this way:
Christ, the one Mediator, established and continually sustains here on earth His holy Church, the community of faith, hope and charity, as an entity with visible delineation through which He communicated truth and grace to all. But, the society structured with hierarchical organs and the Mystical Body of Christ, are not to be considered as two realities, nor are the visible assembly and the spiritual community, nor the earthly Church and the Church enriched with heavenly things; rather they form one complex reality which coalesces from a divine and a human element. For this reason, by no weak analogy, it is compared to the mystery of the incarnate Word. As the assumed nature [see the definition of Chalcedon] inseparably united to Him, serves the divine Word as a living organ of salvation, so, in a similar way, does the visible social structure of the Church serve the Spirit of Christ, who vivifies it, in the building up of the body.The phrase “subsists in” is a definite change from the word “is” from earlier Roman dogmas about the church. The earlier dogmas are unequivocal:
This is the one Church of Christ which in the Creed is professed as one, holy, catholic and apostolic, which our Saviour, after His Resurrection, commissioned Peter to shepherd, and him and the other apostles to extend and direct with authority, which He erected for all ages as “the pillar and mainstay of the truth”. This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, which is governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him, although many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside of its visible structure. These elements, as gifts belonging to the Church of Christ, are forces impelling toward catholic unity.
“This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, is the [Roman] Catholic Church”The Vatican II characterization leaves some room for discussion:
“This Church constituted and organized in the world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church”As a cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger is on record as saying, essentially, “there is no difference between the two statements”. Dulles puts it this way:
Some have interpreted it as an admission that the Church of Christ is found in many denominational churches, none of which can claim to be the one true Church [though the Roman Catholic church sees itself to be the “gravitas” or the larger portion of it]. Ratzinger asserts the opposite. For him, “subsists” implies integral existence as a complete, self-contained subject. Thus the Catholic Church truly is the Church of Christ. But the term “subsists” is not exclusive; it allows for the possibility of ecclesial entities that are institutionally separate from the one Church. This dividedness, however, is not a desirable mutual complementarity of incomplete realizations but a deficiency that calls for healing.
* * *
In fact, in the Roman Catholic conception of “church”, all Protestants really are really just Roman Catholics who have become “separated” (as in “separated brethren”) – still under the visible headship of the pope and visible hierarchy [which is an integral, ontological part of the one body of Christ], yet “institutionally separate from the one Church”.
Yes, note especially that there is an ontological element implicit in this statement: For this reason, by no weak analogy, it is compared to the mystery of the incarnate Word. As the assumed nature inseparably united to Him, serves the divine Word as a living organ of salvation … governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him …. The doctrine of the papacy is wrapped up in the Roman definition of “church” and under the “successor of Peter”, we’re all just one big “living organ of salvation”.
That’s why Rome can never give up. It’s own conception of itself is just too important in the scheme of things. Rome has defined itself in as the most important element in the body of Christ. This is why I say, Rome is all about aggrandizing Rome.
* * *
This is what the Reformation is up against. This, I believe, is the greatest danger that the Reformation faces. Among all the other problems that the one church of Christ faces, this is the greatest one, even today. This is what lies “in, with, and under” every Roman Catholic overture of “peace and safety”, from every smiling Roman Catholic cleric. “We are all, after all, citizens of the Roman Empire”.
Even committed Protestants seem unaware of this dimension of, this danger from, the Roman Catholic Church. Those who look for “lines of continuity” between Roman Catholicism and Evangelicalism especially risk being swallowed up in it.
So when the pope makes a seemingly sensible and ecumenical statement, even one that sensible Protestants like Paul McCain feel compelled to pass along without comment, we must always keep in mind what’s lying behind that apparent “good will”. Even “The Gospel Coalition”, in inviting the not-quite-converted Chris Castaldo to be a part of its blogging team, seems to miss this dogmatically defined danger from Rome.
Very few modern evangelicals realize the insidious nature of the way that Vatican II Roman Catholicism has positioned itself – the devouring and all-embracing nature of what Roman Catholicism is at its very heart.
However else Protestants want to understand the word “church”, the one thing that we must not allow ourselves to do is to become swallowed up by the behemoth of Rome. We must resist it with all our hearts. This is why I do what I do. | <urn:uuid:48adec02-ccac-4c6d-82d8-05a751250ad4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://triablogue.blogspot.com/2011/10/whatever-else-definition-of-word-church.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964619 | 2,305 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2002.12.29
Guy Hedreen, Capturing Troy: The Narrative Functions of Landscape in Archaic and Early Classical Greek Art. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2001. Pp. vi, 297; figs. 50. ISBN 0-472-11163-9. $57.50.
Reviewed by Jeffrey M. Hurwit, University of Oregon (email@example.com)
Word count: 2797 words
Not very far into Guy Hedreen's ambitious but problematic study it becomes clear that, despite its subtitle, the book is not really just about the role of landscape in the Greek artist's telling of the tale of Troy, but the role of setting, and it is "setting" very broadly defined. For Hedreen (hereafter, "H.") setting encompasses not only trees and rocks and other features of the natural world but also buildings, altars, furniture, personal attributes, and moveable objects like hats or shields. So a sword may function as an element of setting and thus as a narrative device when it is held in the hand of Menelaos attempting to recover Helen (38-43). Even people (such as Chryses and Chryseis, 55) and divinities (such as Apollo, 60) can function not as actors in a drama but as props, elements of setting, or, like Athena on the Niobid Painter's volute krater in Bologna, "a part of the landscape" (51; cf. 89). One person's landscape is another's cast of characters. But if the title is misleading and the working definition of setting too broad to be of much use, H.'s admirable purpose is to show how setting facilitates the narration of the Trojan saga in the art of (primarily) the sixth and fifth centuries. He is not interested in how elements of landscape (the sandy beach on the Brygos Painter's Malibu cup, for example, or the suffering palm on the Kleophrades Painter's Vivenzio hydria) are represented per se. He is interested in how a tree or a vine or a stone block in a given scene may allude to a different narrative moment from the one depicted (in analepsis or prolepsis), or visually link two different stories, or provide "information that helps to explain why stories turn out in the ways they do" (1). His analyses of individual works are often informative and they reveal a formidable knowledge of a vast corpus of material. Difficulties lie in prose that is often labored, discussions that are often repetitive (with too many in-chapter summaries), and, above all, a theory about Achilles that strains credulity.
In his Introduction H. sets forth his general approach and also argues at some length that the iconography of Greek art is independent of the Greek literary tradition. Assuming a specialist reader for his book, I think he is speaking to the converted. The time is long past when most ancient art historians would consider a vase-painting an illustration of, say, an epic poem or worry why a given image does not exactly correspond to a description found in an extant text. It is possible that in some instances poets and artists follow the same basic story (27), but we should explicate visual images without recourse to notions of literary influence. Generally, "the relationship between narrative poetry and art in the Archaic and Early Classical periods was probably distant and indirect" (5). The argument that "Greek artists created narratives, or narrative connections, independent of the poetic tradition" (116) runs throughout the book, and it is one that many others have made, with good reason. This does not, however, stop H. from arguing on occasion that "visual artists were familiar with the [literary] tradition" after all (170). And it is perhaps ironic that in the course of the book H. spends a great many pages examining literary sources that may lie behind such images as that of Ajax and Achilles playing dice (94-95) or the Judgment of Paris (e.g. 208-211).
Chapter One proposes that the way sanctuaries of the gods are depicted helps explicate the stories of the rape of Kassandra and the recovery of Helen. In the case of Kassandra, the setting is invariably the Trojan sanctuary of Athena, and the statue of the goddess (not the goddess herself, as has sometimes been argued) is its principal feature. It is the defilement of Athena's precinct by Ajax that leads to the unhappy return of so many heroes, and so the depiction of this setting alludes to future disasters somehow known to the viewer. Nothing objectionable or surprising here. In the case of Helen, however, her recovery by Menelaos is shown variously in the sanctuaries of several different gods (Aphrodite, Apollo, Athena) or even in royal houses. The variety of settings for this episode is so great that the independence of the iconography from the poetic tradition is in this case assured (extant literature mentions only the sanctuary of Aphrodite). On the other hand, H. concludes, "the setting of the recovery of Helen does not play a critical role in the action" (61) because it did not matter where Menelaos confronted her. The different settings matter only because they explain Helen's emotional condition: upset, she flees to any sanctuary for her own protection. Paradoxically, H. argues here that the variety of settings is important because a particular setting was not important for the telling of the tale.
Chapter Two accepts that the setting of the death of Priam is "probably always" (67) the precinct of Zeus Herkeios, but perhaps its most striking conclusion is that the presence of a tripod or palm tree in such scenes (and thus in Zeus' sanctuary) alludes doubly to Apollo's role in building the walls of Troy and to his absence from Troy (and his indifference to the fate of the Trojans) on the night of its sack. Palms are not primarily indicators of a foreign or exotic setting (75), as has often been thought, but are signs of Apollo, Architect. According to the Iliad and other sources, Poseidon built the walls, too, but his contribution cannot be alluded to in art, according to H., because he has no attribute as easy to include as setting as the palm (84). Apollo's role in constructing the walls, and the walls' impregnability, are crucial to H.'s thesis as the book develops, and for him explain why the Achaeans had to resort to the ruse of the Wooden Horse: they could not breach divinely-built walls by force. And it explains why Apollo supports the Trojan's cause: he does not want to see his handiwork destroyed (87). By that logic, though, Poseidon should favor the Trojans, too, but he does not. H. makes much of the supposed inviolability of the walls of Troy, but he makes too little of Iliad 6.433-439, where Andromache specifically says the walls are in fact scalable at one point (cf. Pindar, Ol. 8.31-46). By citing these lines in a footnote (86 n. 82), H. apparently thinks he has disposed of the contradiction: to my mind, he has not. If a Trojan character specifically says the walls are not impregnable, they are not; if Hector does not contradict her, why should H.? Finally, if palms were as fixed in the iconographic tradition as symbols of Apollo's architectural efforts and thus of Troy's impregnability as H. believes, one can only wonder why we find another sort of tree altogether on the famous Leagros Group hydria in Munich (Fig. 39), where the walls of Troy are actually shown and the setting is more complex than in virtually any other representation of an episode from the war.
Chapter Three examines the relationship between the setting of the game played by Achilles and Ajax on Exekias' famous Vatican amphora (and on hundreds of later vases), the setting of the vote over the arms of Achilles, and the suicide of Ajax. H. concludes that the gaming table of the one myth is the table on which the Achaeans cast their vote in the other: the two stories are linked by the element of setting. This is, in my view, convincing. Still, there are nits to pick at in the argument. H. cites features of Exekias's scene that suggest Ajax is losing (97) but does not mention the most obvious: the words coming out of the heroes' own mouths (Achilles calls out "four" to Ajax's "three"). H. attempts to recreate a narrative (independent of any poetic tradition) that might lie behind the image, but I missed any reference to Boardman's well-known political interpretation of the scene as referring to the Peisistratid attack on Pallene.1 He also seems to want to impose a questionable consistency upon the various artistic versions of the scene: since some post-Exekian images of the dice game include palm trees, thus indicating an outdoor setting, all dice games (even Exekias', where no tree appears) must be set outdoors. H. believes in the inventive power and independence of visual artists, on the one hand, but on the other seems to restrict their inventiveness or variety, making them all have exactly the same conception of a narrative. H. also argues that the presence of a palm tree in scenes of Ajax's suicide as well as in scenes of his game with Achilles shows that both events happened at the same place (118-119). One then wonders why Exekias did not put a palm tree on his Vatican amphora when he put one on his amphora in Boulogne, especially if Exekias was (according to H.) just the sort of artist to grasp the "cause-and-effect relationships among the stories" of the game, vote, and suicide (113). H. leaves us with the possibility that Exekias did include a palm in another scene of the dice game (in Leipzig), but here as elsewhere he dwells too comfortably in the vague realm of surmise.
Chapter 4 explores the myth of Troilos and its settings, pointing out once again that the images deviate from the literary traditions in important respects, and concluding that by killing Troilos upon Apollo's altar as a kind of (unwanted) sacrifical victim, Achilles ensured the wrath of Apollo and thus his own death. The argument at times seems forced. On the François vase, for example, Troilos clearly flees on horseback toward the protection of the walls of Troy, shown at right. But for H. that reading is merely "interpretation" (140-141) and, since H. wants Troilos in every narrative to wind up on the altar of Apollo, what Kleitias has painted -- what is before our own eyes -- will not do. Apollo's presence at far left means, for H., that Troilos will die on the god's altar. He does, of course, on other vases, but not on this one, and H. errs, I think, by trying to read Kleitias' image in the light of others. If it is misguided to read images as always dependent on texts, might it not also be misguided and reductive to read all images, Archaic and Classical, as narrating the same story in exactly the same way?
In Chapter 5 H. deals with the narrative importance of setting in many representations of the Judgment of Paris, arguing that the rock on which the prince often sits (it is Mt. Ida, pars pro toto, 183) helps characterize him as a shepherd, and that as a herdsman Paris would naturally be more interested in his own sexual pleasure than in military or political success. Thus, the bucolic setting helps explain his acceptance of Aphrodite's bribe (the beautiful Helen) over Athena's and Hera's. But H. concedes (188-89) that there is no uniformity in the representation of this narrative. Many Judgments lack any setting at all, and a Classical cup in Berlin (Fig. 50) shows Paris as a dandy in a palace: his choice of Helen here requires an explanation other than the randiness conventionally associated with shepherds. Not all settings give the same explanation for the same story after all. And here as elsewhere H. strangely treats the characters of myth as if they were real people, with real choices. He wonders, for example, whether other Trojans would have made the same decision as Paris: "one imagines that Hektor. . . would have chosen Athena out of love of battle or Hera out of a sense of civic responsibility" ( 207). Well, sure. But should a critic wonder or imagine like this? Should we wonder "how many children had Lady MacBeth",2 or how the play would have turned out if Othello had not been the jealous type, or what there was about Achilles' childhood that made him so quick to anger? H. seems to assume the characters of epic or fiction have an existence independent of the works in which they appear, with latent motives or unexpressed purposes. So, H. dismisses the idea that Paris (and not Hektor or Aeneas) made the choice he did simply because that was what the plot required (205-206). But that is what the plot required: if Hektor (or even Paris) had chosen Athena or Hera, after all, the Trojan War as we know it would not have happened.
H. analyzes many more vases than he can illustrate economically. Still, his arguments would sometimes be easier to follow had there been more (and better quality) illustrations: a book on setting in Greek art (where setting is not all that common) should perhaps show the citadel (Troy?) depicted on a cup by the Euergides Painter (93). Such matters were presumably not fully within the author's control. But one can also quarrel with interpretations of individual works. For example, H.'s suggestion that the large fallen warrior on the new fragment from the shoulder of the Mykonos pithos is Achilles (180-181, fig. 15a-c) seems very unlikely: there is a logical narrative flow from the neck of the vase (where the Trojan Horse is depicted) to the body of the vase (where the Trojans are slaughtered), and the insertion of Achilles (who of course died some time before the sack) would seriously disrupt the temporal progession.
But H.'s reading here emerges from a broader theory developed in the latter chapters and the conclusion. There H. devotes a lot of space to a notion that the gods and even the Achaeans hatched a grand conspiracy to kill Achilles. On one page, we read that "one of [the purposes of the Trojan War] appears to have been the elimination of Achilles" (179); on the next we learn that "the essential requirement for the sack of Troy was the death of Achilles" (180). It is a theory that leaves landscape, setting, and accepted principles of criticism behind and enters the realm of virtually baseless speculation. Simply put, according to H., the gods want to kill Achilles because, as the child of Thetis (destined to give birth to a son mightier than the father), he is a threat to Zeus. But the threat is not there: Achilles is mightier than his father, all right, but Peleus is not Zeus. H.'s suggestion (179) that the gods still wanted Achilles dead as an insurance policy rings very hollow. The Achaeans, on the other hand, want to get Achilles out of the way because they realize that his brute force will never take Troy (its walls, thanks to Apollo, are impregnable, remember) and that only Odysseus' resourcefulness can win the day. Achilles must be eliminated because he will have no part in deceits like the Trojan Horse (though of course that stratagem was not conceived until after his death). And so Achilles is purposefully given bad advice by other Greeks (Kalchas, Odysseus, 166) so that he will kill Troilos on the altar of Apollo and so seal his own doom (173, 180): in other words, he is set up. The unsubstantiated, speculative leaps in this hypothesis are exasperating. "It is also," H. writes, "well within the realm of possibilities in the epic tradition that the gods might have countenanced a plot to destroy Achilles" (178). That sentence is not very sure of itself, but the book is full of such "possibilities" and "might haves," and there is nothing to back it all up. Would the Achilles who ambushed Troilos (not the most heroic of deeds) really have objected to, say, lying in wait outside the walls of Troy, to be let in once the ruse of the Horse had worked? Why would the Greeks want to whack their greatest warrior when, presumably, they could still have used his talents during the Ilioupersis? And why, if Achilles was such an obstacle to their plans (or a threat to Zeus' hegemony), did they all wait ten years to get rid of him? H. wants to understand "the narrative logic of the [Trojan] war" (86) but I fail to see any logic here, or any evidence for his theory, either. There is absolutely nothing in the literary or artistic record to suggest that the Achaeans wanted their greatest warrior dead. The Iliad, H. seems to forget, is largely about the Achaeans trying to get Achilles back to the field of battle. If he was such a detriment to the war effort, why did they not just let him stay in his tent or go home? H. invents a vast conspiracy where none exists and is thus engaged in myth-making himself.
1. J. Boardman, "Exekias," American Journal of Archaeology 82 (1978), 18-24.
2. The title of a famous essay by L.C. Knights, Explorations (New York 1964), 15-54, which demolishes the kind of criticism H. sometimes practices here. | <urn:uuid:390cc76c-ad75-4cfb-b401-5ddce5c1c2bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2002/2002-12-29.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962524 | 3,808 | 2.25 | 2 |
Pate-a-choux is the stuff of magic in the kitchen. Pipe a soft, sticky dough onto a baking sheet and slide it into a hot oven. In mere minutes the dough puffs up — practically exploding to double, even triple, its original size — right before your eyes. Out of the oven, pate-a-choux cools to a golden-brown shell, crisp yet delicate and lighter than air. It's downright mesmerizing.
Maybe you've never heard of pate-a-choux, but you've no doubt savored it at one time or another. Also known as cream puff dough, it's the magic behind crisp éclair shells and towering cream puff pastries, savory profiteroles and cheesy gougères.
Even better? Pate-a-choux is really simple to make. All it takes is butter, water, flour and eggs, perhaps a touch of sugar and salt, to get you started.
Combine water, butter, sugar and salt in a pot or saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add some flour. Stir the mixture quickly — this part of the recipe does require some elbow grease — to evenly combine the ingredients and hydrate the flour. Move too slowly and the flour will cook up in lumps, just like dumplings. Stir the mixture just a few minutes over low heat to cook out any extra moisture and develop the gluten needed for good structure.
As it's stirred, the mixture will come together in a single mass, and you'll notice a thin film forming on the bottom of the pan. At this point, it's time to add the eggs.
Most recipes call for adding the eggs one at a time using a mixer or stirring by hand to properly develop the dough (simple as it may sound, constant stirring can really tone an arm). But for the best volume, skip the mixer and the workout, and pull out the food processor. I learned about the trick in Rose Levy Beranbaum's classic "The Pie and Pastry Bible." It's the fastest and easiest method I've tried (all of the eggs are added at once rather than one at a time), and it increased the volume of my pate-a-choux by a third.
And where most pate-a-choux recipes call for adding whole eggs, Beranbaum also mentions substituting some egg whites, something I've seen in a few other recipes, which helps to increase the overall structure and crispness of the baked pastry.
Use the pastries in a day or so, or freeze until you need them (they keep well frozen; simply refresh them in a warm oven). Fill them with pastry cream and top with chocolate glaze for eclairs, or stuff them full of chicken salad or a mousse for profiteroles. Adding grated cheese to the dough will give you classic gougères, or be creative and fold other spices, even herbs or citrus zest, into the dough for other savory or sweet notes.
In the summertime, my favorite is a classic cream puff. Halve the puffs (I like mine on the generous side) and fill with freshly whipped cream. Spoon over fresh fruit — cherries, berries, figs, perhaps thinly sliced nectarine ribbons macerated with a little sugar and liqueur — and serve. It makes for a dramatic presentation — magical even. | <urn:uuid:c0ce1065-afe6-4a91-8903-14d329c6817f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aberdeennews.com/lifestyle/food/la-fo-pate-a-choux-20120728,0,232288.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932817 | 708 | 1.554688 | 2 |
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Inbound filtering for CableONE customers is done via the CableONE.Net Spam Patrol. This site utilizes a third party vendor (Postini) and captures over 90% of the spam sent to CableONE.Net customers. This vendor will block email from any source that exceeds its thresholds for email that is sent using identified spam methods. This includes but is not limited to numbers of recipients, number of rejected users and certain header information. These thresholds are dynamic and more data cannot be given without compromising the integrity of our filtering methods.
Generally emails sent from a source that has exceeded the aforementioned thresholds are quarantined in the customers MySpam. In certain cases these messages will be blocked via an automatic filter and returned to the sender as undeliverable. These filters normally clear within a couple of hours once the email that tripped the filter ceases. There is no manual method to removing these blocks, they are automated and self clear.
Unfortunately, Spam filtering technology cannot catch 100% of all spam sent and CableONE.Net only has the ability to stop spam coming from a CableONE.net IP (Internet Protocol) address. While we are always updating the filters, spammers are constantly changing the format used to get past filters. It continues to get more difficult to distinguish between Spam and valid Email. In an attempt to make sure our customers get as much of their desired Email as possible, we do inadvertently allow some Spam through as well.
More information on Spam can be found on the CableONE.Net Help Page: http://help.cableone.net/HSD/mycableone/SpamPatrol/SpamInfo.aspx
When security measures are employed, they may affect performance characteristics of service or the ability to access certain websites, but such measures are employed in a manner designed to have non-discriminatory impact on all similarly-situated customers. The Company engages in network security measures such as those outlined above to enhance the online experience of its customers. However, no such measures are infallible and we cannot guarantee against security problems.
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Company provides what is known as a “fixed broadband” Internet access service that is designed to provide the capability to transmit data to and receive data from all or substantially all Internet end points. Company offers multiple packages (or “tiers”) of Internet access service for residential or commercial use with varying speeds, features and bandwidth usage limitations that may affect the suitability of such service for real-time applications. The features, pricing and other commercial terms of our service offerings are modified from time to time, and not all packages are available in all areas. Each package is priced to reflect the particular speed, features and bandwidth usage limitations of that package. Full descriptions of currently available packages and pricing can be found on the Company’s website at www.cableone.net or by contacting our customer service center at 877-692-2253.
The FCC requires that we disclose information regarding the expected and actual speed and latency of our Internet access service offerings. Our advertised speeds are estimates (i.e., “up to” the specified speed) and the actual speed a subscriber experiences may vary based on a number of factors including, but not limited to (i) variances in network usage; (ii) the capabilities and capacities of the customer’s computer and/or local area network (LAN) devices such as wireless routers; (iii) latency (i.e., the time delay in transmitting or receiving packets as impacted in significant part by the distance between points of transmission); (iv) the performance of the content and application providers the consumer is accessing, such as a search engine or video streaming site; and (v) performance characteristics of transmissions over portions of the Internet that are not subject to Company’s control. Our Internet access service is provided on a best efforts basis and speeds or other performance characteristics cannot be guaranteed.
The following chart shows Company’s average advertised downstream and upstream speeds (measured on a weighted average basis across all our broadband service offerings) as compared to Company’s actual downstream and upload streams January through June 2012. The results are compiled from the speed tests conducted by our subscribers using the Cable One Speed Test, provided by Ookla, Inc. http://www.netindex.com/source-data/.
||Average Advertised: 25.4 Mbps
Average Actual: 25.0 Mbps
||Average Advertised: 1.9 Mbps
Average Actual: 1.85 Mbps
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Impact of Specialized Services
The FCC’s “open Internet” rules distinguish between our mass market retail broadband Internet access services and “specialized services” that share capacity with our broadband Internet access service over our last-mile facilities. Examples of such “specialized services” may include Company’s voice over IP phone (“VoIP”) service which shares bandwidth with our Internet access service and because of its nature sometimes receives network priority. Because of this, it is possible that increased use of our phone service may temporarily impact our broadband Internet access service at particular times. Company routinely monitors how all its services use bandwidth to minimize any impact on our broadband Internet access service.
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As noted above, Company offers multiple tiers of broadband Internet access service. The current pricing and other terms and conditions of these tiers (including information regarding fees for early termination or additional network services) can be found at http://help.cableone.net/billing/basics_faq.aspx
, www.cableone.net or obtained by calling our customer service center at 877-692-2253. The pricing and other commercial terms of our broadband Internet access services are subject to change and the information provided in this disclosure statement is not intended to supersede or modify any of the terms and conditions of service as applicable to a particular customer.
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For immediate assistance with issues or complaints involving your broadband Internet access service, please contact our customer service centers at 877-692-2253. We have agents available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Customers can also email us at http://www.cableone.net/CS/Pages/talktous.aspx
. Written complaints can also be sent via U.S. mail to: Emerson Yearwood, Esq. Cable One, Inc. 1314 N. 3rd St. Phoenix, Arizona, 85004. The FCC has established procedures for addressing informal and formal complaints relating to its “Open Internet” rules. For information concerning these formal and informal complaint procedures, please refer to the FCC’s website at http://www.fcc.gov/guides/getting-broadband
BACK TO TOP | <urn:uuid:6e40636b-388f-4449-a38f-5f56d1c0b963> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kymphotog@cableone.net/Pages/networkmanagementdisclosure.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921288 | 2,491 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Oxnard is located in California.
Oxnard, California has a population of
family-centric than the surrounding county with
38.63% of the households
containing married families with children.
The county average for households married with children is 36.08%.
The median household income in Oxnard, California is
The median household income for the surrounding county is $71,677
compared to the national median of $50,935.
The median age of people living in Oxnard is
The average high temperature in July is 74
degrees, with an average low temperature in January of 44.3 degrees.
The average rainfall is approximately 14.8 inches
per year, with 0.1 inches of snow per year. | <urn:uuid:b2fc5aa9-0abf-4b99-b704-89c51f2a50ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.realliving.com/dilbeck-realtors/CA/Oxnard | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964354 | 154 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Artists Carry On Legacy Of Legendary Broadway Caricaturist
Updated: 01/04/2013 03:07 PM
By: Frank DiLella
January 20 marks the 10-year anniversary of the death of legendary Broadway caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, but his influence on art is still felt along the Great White Way. NY1's Frank DiLella sits down with two Broadway artists whose work is inspired by the master himself.
Consider them true theater artists, following a mission that includes preserving the New York entertainment community and its creatures, one sketch at time.
Inspired by the work of Broadway's most famous caricaturist, the late Al Hirschfeld, Ken Fallin has been capturing the New York Theater in black and white for almost three decades. His process, which he calls "old fashioned," includes sketching in pencil and finishing up in quill pen.
Fallin credits the creator of the off-Broadway show "Forbidden Broadway" for giving him a start in the performing arts.
"In 1983, Gerard Alessandrini contacted me," Fallin says. "He was looking for something different for the posters, and he knew that I could draw like Hirschfeld."
Fallin's theater art, which regularly appears on Playbill.com, has featured Broadway's biggest names, like Patti LuPone and Liza Minnelli, to newcomers, like Jeremy Jordan and Tracie Bennett. While he says performers generally applaud his art, he adds that there have been exceptions, like LuPone.
"Two years ago, I did a fall preview drawing for Playbill and I drew Patti, and it was not the most flattering drawing, I have to admit," he said. "But I got a very, well, heated note from her press agent, saying 'I would appreciate if you would not draw my client anymore,'" Fallin says.
Similar to Fallin, Justin "Squigs" Robertson transformed his passion for the stage on to the page.
"I'm also an actor, and so these were closing night gifts for fellow cast members starting way back in the early '90s," Robertson says.
Squigs is now the in-house artist for Broadway.com, and most recently created the cover for the new Actors' Equity book "Performance of the Century", where he sketched the likes of Ethel Merman, Zero Mostel, Carol Channing and more.
Like Fallin, Squigs says he feels he's carrying Hirschfeld's torch. Hirschfeld's widow, Louise, seems to agree.
"It’s wonderful that the style is continued and that people still appreciate the art of caricature," she says.
To see the theater art of Squigs, log on to broadway.com. For Ken Fallin, go to playbill.com.
Back to list | <urn:uuid:dc9fea29-48eb-4717-9e34-e52d66a4c9d1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ny1.com/text/?ArID=174972&SecID=1000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965073 | 592 | 1.796875 | 2 |
A look at the pros and cons of home associations
Mr. and Mrs. Binder do not want to renew their homeowners’ association dues, but they will be legally forced to if they do not pay up. Mr. and Mrs. Washington on the other hand are not going to renew their homeowners’ association dues this year, but nothing will happen to them. Why the difference?
The Binders live in a development in which the developer mandated a homeowners’ association through covenants, which clearly set out the rules and regulations of the association and also stated that if a homeowner does not pay dues then a lien can be placed on the property in the name of the homeowners’ association.
The covenants, which the developer placed on file at the county clerk’s office when the development was legally created, state that each lot or unit in the development has one vote at the homeowners’ association meeting, and that the association is governed by a board of directors that has broad power when it comes to making and enforcing rules and regulations regarding the development. Consequently, the developer has control of the association until over 50 percent of the lots or units are sold.
This is not necessarily a bad thing because the development was marketed as having certain amenities and features. The so-called character of the development is important not only to the developer, but also to the buyers who want not only a nice place to live, but also a property that will maintain or increase in value. The downside of the arrangement is that the development is overly dependent on the developer to enforce and maintain those rules and regulations. For example, if there is a beautiful greenspace in the middle of the development, and the rules state that the space must be maintained by the homeowners’ association then it is the responsibility of the developer to see that it is maintained. If weeds begin growing and grass is not cut it is the homeowners’ association that is left to get it done. But what can the homeowners’ association really do if the developer has a controlling number of votes and offers a motion to suspend enforcement of the rules until further notice? The result is a development of unhappy and maybe even rebellious homeowners. In short, real estate developments that start out with homeowners’ associations are typically as good or bad as the developer.
Such homeowners’ associations are not uncommon. According to an Associated Press article more than 80 percent of newly built homes belong to association communities, and 24.4 million homes, or 20 percent in America, are represented by homeowners’ associations.
On the other hand, one thing to keep in mind is that, in general, the real estate developments with the highest property values tend to be the ones with the most restrictions on use of the real estate, one of those restrictions being the mandatory homeowners’ association.
The Washingtons live in a neighborhood with a different kind of homeowners’ association. Their association is strictly voluntary, and some would argue that it is a homeowners’ association in name only. There is a board of directors, but it has no power over any property or property owners.
The association was formed in response to a growing crime problem in the neighborhood. Several concerned residents got together to discuss ways to deal with the crime problem. They also were concerned that property values were being affected because there were more houses on the market than normal. They discovered that some neighborhoods had formed crime watch organizations, but the only evidence of true success of that effort was an annual “night out” neighborhood watch and some street signs proclaiming, “Burglar Beware.” The most extreme alternative was to have a gated neighborhood, but that was not feasible due to the high number of entrances to the neighborhood. The chosen alternative was to hire a security patrol.
The board took bids from several private security companies, and then surveyed the neighbors about their desire to hire such a patrol and how much the neighbors would be willing to pay. After several neighborhood meetings enough property owners, including the Washingtons, signed up and agreed to pay annual dues to the association.
Things went fairly well for two years. Property crimes went down, neighbors were reassured by the presence of security patrols and the association even had as annual picnic. However, the original board grew wearier of being the only ones involved in collecting dues, managing the association and hearing from disgruntled neighbors about everything from loud music to potholes. The second generation of board members decided that neighborhood security was the reason the association was formed, so the only thing it did was collect dues and pay the security patrol. The association membership declined.
When the Washingtons received their latest statement they noticed that the association dues had increased by 30 percent. After discussion, they realized that they did not know whether or not the security patrol was effective because the only communication they had received from the association board in the past year was a billing statement. They decided not to renew their membership in the association.
One thing common to them and to all homeowners’ associations is that communication with members is critical to effective homeowners’ association management and operation.
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- In wake of bond issue failure, golf course fights to stay playable | <urn:uuid:ccadd0d9-b60c-4524-824b-0ae7fec161f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://msbusiness.com/blog/2011/08/21/a-look-at-the-pros-and-cons-of-home-associations/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975666 | 1,187 | 1.757813 | 2 |
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand and Representative Grace Meng, joined by advocates and survivors of domestic violence, today called on House Speaker John Boehner to pass the bipartisan, Senate-passed version of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) without any further delay. VAWA was first signed into law in 1994, and expired in October 2011 for the very first time in its 17 year history. Until last year, reauthorizing the program was non-controversial and bipartisan under the Republican controlled House of Representatives, in 2000 and 2005. It has now been over 400 days since the House of Representatives has acted on passing the Senate bill to reauthorize VAWA, which was first passed on a bipartisan basis on April 26, 2012.
Earlier this week, with a bipartisan vote of 78-22, the Senate voted for a second time to reauthorize this critical program. Although many of the programs established under VAWA have continued to receive funding through a series of continuing resolutions, a full reauthorization is needed to ensure that local communities and law enforcement agencies receive the full resources they need to combat domestic violence. Without passage of this legislation, funding and grants for law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable and for local advocacy groups to provide assistance to victims are at-risk. Seventeen Republican House colleagues have already called on House Speaker Boehner to immediately pass the VAWA bill.
In 2011, New York City police responded to nearly 258,000 domestic violence incidents, with more than 73,000 home visits by the NYPD's Domestic Violence Unit, according to the Mayor's Office to Combat Domestic Violence. Each day 600 women are raped or sexually assaulted, approximately 24 Americans every minute, while 3 women are murdered by a husband, boyfriend, or partner. Every year, more than 1,000 women are killed by domestic abusers. Since VAWA expired, more than 16 million Americans have been victimized. The law is effective. In the two decades since it was enacted, the law has helped millions of women escape their attackers and seek justice.
"There is simply no room for partisan gamesmanship when we're talking about the safety of our families," said Senator Gillibrand. "For millions of women and families, VAWA serves as a lifeline to keep them safe. Congress must finally provide victims of domestic and sexual violence with the protections and treatment they deserve."
"Reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act is vital to providing and expanding crucial protections against domestic violence, sexual assault, dating violence and stalking," said Representative Meng, a cosponsor of the legislation. "The Senate did the right thing for women by passing this critical measure. Now, the House must step up to the plate and follow suit."
"Congress has a moral responsibility to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, which has substantially reduced domestic violence, sexual assault, and dating violence since its enactment by a bipartisan supermajority in 1994," said Representative Yvette D. Clarke. "Attempts by Republicans in the House of Representatives to eliminate protections for women who are immigrants, Native American, or members of the LGBT community are unconscionable. We cannot wait another day, month, or year to act on this measure which would protect the lives of millions across the U.S."
Senator Gillibrand wrote in a letter to Speaker Boehner, "I urge you to give an up-or-down vote to the Senate's bipartisan VAWA Reauthorization Act without any more delay Seventeen of your Republican House colleagues have already asked you for such action by urging you to immediately reauthorize a bipartisan VAWA bill, and I strongly encourage you to heed their call Anyone who is guilty of domestic abuse -- should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Any victim of abuse -- should be empowered to speak out, and have access to help and support. Reauthorization of VAWA sends a clear message that violence against women will not be tolerated."
Earlier this week, the U.S. Senate passed the reauthorization of VAWA, which aims to expand protections for victims of violence and sexual abuse. Legislation provides law enforcement agencies and court personnel with tools to help prosecute crimes of domestic and sexual violence and equips service providers with resources on the ground to effectively advocate, counsel, and support victims of domestic violence.
Gillibrand noted that the Senate version of the bill expands VAWA, including:
New protections from discrimination and abuse for LGBT community, immigrants, and Native American women. Legislation ensures that LGBT, immigrant and Native American communities have equal access to the bill's anti-violence programs. VAWA expands services for underserved communities to assist those who have had trouble getting help in the past, ensuring that grant funds can be used to make services available for all victims regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Reducing backlog in processing rape kits. There is currently a rape kit backlog estimated at 400,000, with evidence that could link an assailant to a sexual crime. The bill would dedicate more funding to test rape kits and speed up the analysis of DNA evidence in rape cases.
Training law enforcement and judicial officers specifically on dating violence and stalking, in addition to areas of domestic violence and sexual assault, through Services, Training, Officers, and Prosecutors (STOP) grants. STOP grants have assisted law enforcement and prosecutors in tracking down perpetrators and bringing them to justice, saving countless lives and provided needed services to victims of these violent acts.
Requiring 20 percent of STOP grants be allocated for sexual assault-related programs. Currently, a smaller percentage of grant funding has gone to programs that address sexual violence. This measure ensures an increased focus on sexual assault prevention and enforcement.
The Senate version of the bill now awaits a vote in the House of Representatives. Unless Congress renews it, critical federal anti-violence grants are at-risk. Since VAWA first became law in 1994, annual incidence of domestic violence has dropped by more than 50 percent.
Full text of Senator Gillibrand's letter is below:
Dear Speaker Boehner:
Keeping women and families safe is a basic, commonsense principle. Since being enacted in 1994, the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) has been a common sense bill that has always been an issue where we have been able to build consensus around -- both Democrats and Republicans alike. VAWA significantly strengthens the ability of the Federal Government, states, law enforcement and service providers to combat domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking. In keeping with that rich tradition of bipartisanship on a common sense measure to combat domestic violence and sexual assault, I urge you to give an up-or-down vote to the Senate's bipartisan VAWA Reauthorization Act without any more delay. This bill expired in October of 2011, that is more than a year and a half ago, over 400 days. The Senate, in April of 2012 passed this overwhelmingly bipartisan bill. Just this week, the Senate was forced to act again. Seventeen of your Republican House colleagues have already asked you for such action by urging you to immediately reauthorize a bipartisan VAWA bill, and I strongly encourage you to heed their call.
Every day, an average of three women are murdered by an intimate partner. Every day, 600 women are raped or sexually assaulted. Millions of women and families rely on the help and support that the Violence Against Women Act provides to keep them safe. The Senate's bipartisan VAWA Reauthorization Act responds to the realities and needs reported by those who work with victims every day to make VAWA work better for all victims.
The Senate VAWA Reauthorization continues to follow the example of previous VAWA reauthorizations by increasing protections for vulnerable and underserved groups, including LGBT and immigrant victims of domestic abuse and sexual assault. It ensures protection for the children of victims and strengthens protections for women brought into the country by marriage brokers, among other important improvements. The act places a greater emphasis on training for law enforcement and ensures that no victim can be denied services based on race, color, religion, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.
The VAWA Reauthorization passed by the Senate strengthens existing programs to address the ongoing crisis of violence against women in tribal communities by narrowly expanding concurrent tribal criminal jurisdiction over those who assault Indian spouses and dating partners in Indian country, clarifying jurisdiction for civil protection orders, and strengthening Federal assault statutes. Combating violence against Native women has always been a core principle of VAWA as women in tribal communities face rates of domestic violence and sexual assault much higher than those faced by the general population.
Additionally, the Senate bill incorporates the SAFER Act, which was introduced by Senator Cornyn. This Act helps states and local governments to conduct audits of rape kits in their possession and also provides assistance to law enforcement to take key steps to reduce backlogs of rape kits under their control.
Finally, the Senate VAWA Reauthorization strengthens and streamlines crucial existing programs. The bill included authorization of appropriations for Fiscal Year 2014 to 2017 for the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. This Act will enhance measures to combat human trafficking by supporting international efforts to prevent cross border trafficking and improving domestic programs to identify victims and alert law enforcement, providing victims and their families with essential services, and promoting accountability to ensure that federal funds are used for their intended purposes.
The bill also incorporates new accountability provisions, patterned after those Senator Grassley added to the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act and other bills, but tailored to fit VAWA programs. They include strict new audit requirements, enforcement mechanisms for grantees that fail to fix problems found in the audits, restrictions on grantees' executive compensation and investments and their administrative costs -- all aimed to ensure that VAWA funds are used wisely and efficiently.
Anyone who is guilty of domestic abuse -- should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Any victim of abuse -- should be empowered to speak out, and have access to help and support. Reauthorization of VAWA sends a clear message that violence against women will not be tolerated. I urge you to honor the strong bipartisan tradition and history of this bill and pass the Senate's bipartisan reauthorization without any further delay. To do so, is a disservice to the families so deeply affected by domestic violence every day.
- QUOTES -
"Safe Horizon extends our deepest thanks to Senator Gillibrand and her colleagues in the Senate for passing an inclusive, comprehensive version of the Violence Against Women Act last week," said Ariel Zwang, CEO of Safe Horizon. "This is one of the most important issues facing Congress this year, and it is simply unimaginable that a law that for decades has prevented domestic violence and sexual assault and provided effective and immediate services to victims could be subject to partisan politics. On behalf of the 250,000 New Yorkers we help each year who have been impacted by violence, we again thank Senator Gillibrand for her leadership, and stand ready to help move this effort forward in the House of Representatives."
"Sanctuary for Families thanks Senator Gillibrand for her strong leadership on the VAWA Reauthorization Act. VAWA has played a vital role in our organization's ability to provide safety and services to more than 10,500 victims of domestic violence and sex trafficking and their children each year," said Laurel Eisner, Executive Director of Sanctuary for Families. "We urge Speaker Boehner and the House of Representatives to act quickly and vote with their Senate colleagues. This bill will save lives, rebuild families, protect children and teens, conserve taxpayer resources and prevent future crimes."
"100,000 Asian women will suffer from domestic violence in their lifetime," said Larry Lee, New York Asian Women's Center Executive Director. "VAWA funds are urgently needed to reach and assist these women to overcome the abuse, gain self-sufficiency and thrive."
"We need to let everyone know that domestic violence is not acceptable," said Katty Ng, former New York Asian Women's Center client and domestic violence survivor. "I urge House lawmakers to pass VAWA to protect all women and their children. Without this legislation and New York Asian Women's Center's critical resources, I would not be here today."
"Hope's Door applauds the Senate for their bi-partisan vote in support of VAWA and calls upon the House of Representatives to do the same, said CarlLa Horton, Executive Director of Hope's Door. "45% of the women that Hope's Door served last year had been strangled by their abusive partners, while an equal number had been sexually assaulted or coerced. There were 944 children in the families we served last year who lived with abuse on a daily basis. Across the country, 1,000 women every year die from domestic violence. The House must stand up for the safety of women and children in their own homes, end the political posturing that puts the lives of women and children at risk, and expand efforts to stop the violence and end the intergenerational cycle of abuse."
"According to the CDC, LGBT people experience violence at the same or higher rates as heterosexual people; yet 94% of services providers reported that they did not have services for LGBT survivors of violence," said Sharon Stapel, Executive Director of New York City Anti-Violence Project. "VAWA is our nation's response to domestic and sexual violence and must include all victims. By explicitly including LGBT people, we can tell those who are experiencing this violence every day that if they reach out for help, someone will be there to help them. We cannot pick and choose which victims deserve help -- VAWA must protect all. We urge the House to take up the strong, inclusive, bipartisan S. 47 and pass it immediately." | <urn:uuid:89ac846c-1843-4936-900b-000d8750bdf8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://votesmart.org/public-statement/766129/gillibrand-meng-survivors-of-domestic-violence-to-speaker | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95703 | 2,810 | 2.03125 | 2 |
July 1, 2011. (Romereports.com)
Benedict XVI met with the leaders of the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization called FAO. JosÚ Graziano da Silva of Brazil was recently elected as the director general of FAO on June 26th. The pope sent Graziano da Silva his best wishes, telling him the work of FAO was vital in the fight against hunger. Benedict XVI“I offer my most sincere wishes for the success of your future work, with the hope that FAO will better meet the expectations of its member States and give concrete solutions to those who suffer from hunger and malnutrition.”
When speaking on the importance of feeding the hungry throughout the world, the pope lamented the fact that food has become a commodity.
He noted that people's ability to receive food is often tied to making money. And without proper oversight, the act of feeding the hungry has become dependent on the ups and downs of financial markets. Benedict XVI“How can we ignore the fact that food has become the subject of speculation, or is related to a financial market trends that, without clear rules and lacking in moral principles, is pegged to the single objective of profit?”
Benedict XVI spoke to the audience in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace. He highlighted the fact that organizations like FAO have the ability to help development in parts of the world that have little outside influence. Benedict XVI“Your work has given policies and strategies that can contribute to the important revival of agriculture, food and production levels of more general development of rural areas.”
Graziano da Silva is FAO's eighth director general since the founding of the organization in 1945. Previously he was an assistant director of this UN agency. He will officially take over in 2012. | <urn:uuid:356c6670-9212-4f38-94f3-d703a6d1b254> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.romereports.com/palio/pope-says-food-is-a-right-for-everyone-english-4449.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966198 | 367 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Week Six: The Home stretch!
Congratulations on making it through to week 6 healthy bees! Now is the time to make your new healthier lifestyle permanent. This week you need to go that bit harder to progress your fitness to the next level to continue your fitness journey and make everything you have gone through a permanent behavioral change.
Look at your goals, track how you are traveling against them for your last week and anything you want to nail this week! Write some lifestyle strategy and exercise goals as your exist strategy from the Sweet Shape Up 6 week program to continue your new sweet lifestyle…maybe there’s a longer fun run in a few months time you want to enter or a bushwalk or cycling track of a higher level you want to complete. Find like minded buddies or family members to continue your adventure with you and motivate each other.
If you have children, get them to write their own goals down, then help them develop a plan as to how they are going to achieve them and what you are going to do together. Prompt them to suggest some ideas first then steer them in the right direction with positive guidance, helping them decide what is realistic, teach them about SMART Goals. Reassure them that you are in it together. As parents actions and positive examples shape your children’s attitude towards balance, nutrition and exercise for the future
Remember:The tragedy of life does not lie in not reaching our goals, the tragedy of life is not having goals to reach for.
Aerobic Walk/ Jog Stride
Warm up for 10 minutes at warm up heart rate. Walk/jog for 20 minutes at aerobic endurance pace over a flat to undulating terrain. At the end of this period complete 4 X 150 metre down-hills jogs, recover by walking back up the hill before completing your next down-hill jogging effort. Cool down as per warm up.
Choose 2 of your favourite exercises from the Core Strength Video, and do each exercise 3 times for 1 minute with a 40 second- 1 minute rest after each 1 minute block of exercise, you can even try adding some weights- eg. if you are doing a sit up, hold a 1kg weight in each hand cross arms over body and continue with crunch. Make sure you stretch after the session.
Huff & Puff Time
Be sure to have your exercise buddy or two at this Huff & Puff session to really motivate each other! Warm up for 5 minutes, at the end of this period complete 6 X 100 metre down hill jogs. Then jog 10 X 45 seconds at huff and puff heart rate. Rest (stand still) for 10 seconds then complete the next 45 second effort. Cool down as per warm up.
Have a recovery smoothie!
If dinner time is still a couple of hours away, tie yourself over with a nutritious and filling Honey Fruit Smoothie.
Walk or Ride
Why not try a different type of bike to what you have been using? Maybe borrow a friends or try going retro with less gears! Warm up for 5 minutes then increase the pace to aerobic endurance intensity for 20 minutes if walking or 30 minutes if cycling over a flat to undulating natural terrain . Cool down as per warm up.
Strength Building Ride
Warm up for 5 minutes. Increase the intensity up to huff and puff pace for 6 minutes, then, increase the resistance on your exercise bike complete 4 X 60 second “uphill efforts” (disregard heart rate response) grinding away on the “hill”. Drop the resistance way down for 30 seconds to recover and then go again. Cool down as per warm up.
Easy Recovery Walk
Make sure you choose somewhere refreshing and inspirational for you Week Six Recovery Walk! Walk for 30 minutes at warm up/cool down intensity.
Upper Body Work Out
Try incorporating more weight such as dumbbells or increasing any weight you have been using. Choose 2 of your favourite exercises from the Upper Body Video, and do each exercise 3 times for 1 minute with a 40 second- 1 minute rest after each 1 minute block of exercise. Make sure you stretch after the session.
Rest & Reward!
Reward yourself with a movie and a healthy dessert! Bruce the Bee recommends Lemon Honey Baked Ricotta, with natural honey and berries as the sweetener, as well as healthy Greek yoghurt and ricotta.
Long Easy Walk or Ride
Warm up for 5 minutes then increase the pace to aerobic endurance intensity for 40 minutes if walking or 60 minutes if cycling over a flat to undulating natural terrain. Cool down as per warm up. | <urn:uuid:76d7f705-523d-4183-9e0b-149381fd549b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://capilano.com.au/sweet-shape-up/week-six/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91617 | 944 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Parent Page: Characters
|Goals||Free the Bahrag queens and unleash the swarms again|
|Status||Inactive; four destroyed, one orbiting Spherus Magna, one inactive|
|Allies||Bahrag Queens, Bohrok Swarms, Bohrok Va|
|Enemies||The Toa Nuva|
In the early years of the Matoran Universe, the Bohrok-Kal were created by the twin queens of the Bohrok swarms, Cahdok and Gahdok. The Bahrag exposed six Bohrok, one from each swarm, to a mutagenic substance. These Bohrok acquired new Elemental Powers, replacing their previous powers, and were piloted by Krana-Kal, advanced versions of the Krana worn by regular members of the swarm. They also gained the ability to communicate telepathically and speak the Matoran language. The Bohrok-Kal were fitted with silver armor and given special reptilian markings to distinguish them from other members of the swarms. They were then hidden in a special chamber far from the Bohrok Nests, and remained in hibernation for nearly 100,000 years.
After the Toa Mata used their elemental powers to trap the Bahrag in a Toa Seal and were subsequently transformed into Toa Nuva by means of Energized Protodermis, the Bahrag sent a telepathic signal for the Bohrok-Kal to awaken. The queens ordered the Bohrok-Kal to steal the Nuva Symbols from each village, bring them to the cave where they were imprisoned, and place them onto the Nuva Cube. The Bohrok-Kal completed the first step of their task with success, and the Toa Nuva were left powerless.
The Bohrok-Kal battled the Toa Nuva several times throughout their journey to the caves. Every time, the Toa Nuva were defeated. Even when three Toa Nuva transformed into a Toa Nuva Kaita Wairuha, three Bohrok-Kal formed a Bohrok-Kal Kaita, Bohrok-Kal Kaita Ja, and quickly defeated him. Soon the Bohrok swarms, who had been helping with the reconstruction of the Koro, began returning to their nests. Observing this, the Toa Nuva realized that the Bohrok-Kal had discovered the location of the Bahrag and were close to achieving their mission.
The Toa Nuva united and followed the trails of the Bohrok-Kal until they arrived at a tunnel entrance made by Pahrak-Kal. It led into a cave where the Toa Nuva found a hole, which in turn led to the Bahrag's lair. Feeling that the edges of the hole were still hot, they were careful and sent Lewa down it to survey activity below. Inside the lair, Lewa witnessed the Exo-Toa attempting to defend the Nuva Cube from the Bohrok-Kal. However, the Bohrok-Kal overpowered the machines and prepared to awaken the Bahrag. By the time that the Toa Nuva entered the chamber, the Bohrok-Kal had already touched the Protodermis cage with their Krana-Kal.
In desperation, Tahu called upon the power of the Kanohi Vahi, which he had received from Turaga Vakama. Slowing down time around the Bohrok-Kal, he ordered the Toa Nuva to retrieve the symbols, but the Bohrok-Kal's Krana-Kal turned silver and it created a shield blocking them from outside threats. Gali then conceived a plan to defeat the Bohrok-Kal. Reaching out to their Nuva Symbols, the Toa Nuva channeled their Elemental Powers through the Bohrok-Kal. This was too much power for the Bohrok-Kal to control and one by one, they fell to their own power. The Bahrag remained confined in their prison, and although the Krana-Kal managed to escape the destruction of the exo-shells, these were later captured by the Turaga.
Abilities and Traits
The Bohrok-Kal were immensely powerful and effective in the use of their Shields to exert Elemental Powers. They were powered by Krana-Kal and could telepathically communicate in the Matoran Language.
The Bohrok-Kal also shared many of the physical characteristics of their regular cousins. They possessed the head-snapping attack for launching Krana-Kal, the ability to fold up into ball for mobility and hibernation, and the ability to transform into Kaita.
The Bohrok-Kal were also very arrogant and boastful. They were completely dedicated to their mission and considered anything that interfered with them as an obstacle.
Six different Kal were created:
- Tahnok-Kal, Bohrok-Kal of Electricity
- Gahlok-Kal, Bohrok-Kal of Magnetism
- Lehvak-Kal, Bohrok-Kal of Vacuum
- Pahrak-Kal, Bohrok-Kal of Plasma
- Nuhvok-Kal, Bohrok-Kal of Gravity
- Kohrak-Kal, Bohrok-Kal of Sonics
The Bohrok-Kal were released in early 2003 as canister sets, with each containing forty pieces. They were the normal Bohrok sets with silver pieces and a new head plate with a design in their respective elemental colors. When a lever on the back of the Bohrok-Kal was pressed, its head would shoot forward, and snap back when the lever was released. They were also each released with a random, rubbery Krana-Kal. Some sets were randomly packaged with Bohrok-Kal Mini Promo CDs, containing information about the respective Bohrok-Kal and one of the Toa Nuva.
- BIONICLE Chronicles 3: Makuta's Revenge
- Wall of History (BIONICLE.com) (Mentioned Only)
- Bohrok-Kal Promo Comic
- Comic 9: Divided We Fall
- Comic 10: Powerless!
- Comic 11: A Matter of Time...
- Comic 12: Absolute Power
- BIONICLE Chronicles 4: Tales of the Masks
- The Legend Continues (Mentioned Only)
- BIONICLE Legends 5: Inferno (In an illusion)
- BIONICLE: Collector's Sticker Book
- BIONICLE: The Official Guide to BIONICLE
- BIONICLE: Encyclopedia (Mentioned Only)
- BIONICLE: Encyclopedia Updated (Mentioned Only)
- BIONICLE: Makuta's Guide to the Universe
- Bohrok-Kal Online Animations
- Bohrok-Kal Promo Animations
- Bohrok-Kal Mini Promo CDs
- Mata Nui Online Game II: The Final Chronicle (Mentioned Only)
- BIONICLE: The Game (Non-Canonical Appearance)
|Types||Standard||Tahnok | Gahlok | Lehvak | Pahrak | Nuhvok | Kohrak|
|Bohrok Va||Tahnok Va | Gahlok Va | Lehvak Va | Pahrak Va | Nuhvok Va | Kohrak Va|
|Bohrok-Kal||Tahnok-Kal | Gahlok-Kal | Lehvak-Kal | Pahrak-Kal | Nuhvok-Kal | Kohrak-Kal|
|Other||Bahrag | Krana (Krana-Kal) | Av-Matoran|
|Characters | Sapient Species | Locations | Flora | Fauna | Objects | Powers | Vehicles | Society | Events|
LEGO | TECHNIC | BIONICLE | Hero Factory | BS01 Wiki | Policies | Sources | Saga Guides | Timeline | Media | <urn:uuid:a5b339f4-2a49-4679-9845-4813655199ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://biosector01.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bohrok-Kal | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940416 | 1,672 | 1.8125 | 2 |
- Closing your eyes does improve recall of information. And trust your memory: double checking makes you trust your memory less and reduces how vivid your memories are.
- Bet on your ability to remember things. (This makes it fun too.)
- Pictures of car accidents! Looking at emotional photos after taking in information led to greater recall.
- Be curious. It helps you retain the things you learn. (If you read this blog, you probably have this one covered.)
- When trying to recall stuff, match the body position and emotional expression you had when you learned it.
- Say things out loud as you learn them. Yes, talking to yourself like a crazy person can improve your life.
- Still forgetful? Here are ten more tricks.
Join 25K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. | <urn:uuid:d01d7b31-ff93-4b36-bc07-ff91c1b816a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/06/10-quick-tricks-for-improving-your-memory/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924318 | 171 | 3.125 | 3 |
- Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building - http://inhabitat.com -
Solar Prices Expected to Rise as US Places Huge Tariffs On Chinese-Produced PV Cells
Posted By Timon Singh On May 22, 2012 @ 4:20 pm In News,Renewable Energy | 2 Comments
With China becoming the world’s leader of solar cells and panels , it was hoped that their mass production would help bring down global prices. However, in order to aid domestic manufacturing, the US has hampered such progress by imposing tariffs of as much as 250 percent on Chinese-made solar cells. While the decision was made to protect US solar production against foreign competition, it is expected that it will ultimately raise PV cell prices and hurt the domestic renewable energy industry.
The decision came after the US Commerce Department ruled Chinese companies were benefiting too much from government subsidies that allowed them to sell solar products below cost. As a result, the US announced preliminary antidumping duties ranging from 31 percent to 250 percent, depending on the manufacturer. China is of course furious at the action, saying the US is not only hurting itself, but also cooperation between the world’s two largest economies.
In the past year, the US solar industry has been crippled by foreign competition from China and Germany, with four companies filing for bankruptcy. While the new tariffs are designed to “level the playing field”, experts think that they will only result in driving up prices in US solar projects.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Shyam Mehta, an analyst with GTM Research in Boston said: “China-based manufacturers would certainly have to raise U.S. prices to turn a profit. This is likely to lead to module price increases in the U.S., which would serve to dampen demand and installation growth.”
US solar companies, such as SolarWorld have welcomed the tariffs saying they “give rise to the possibility that domestic solar manufacturing , environmentally sustainable solar production and robust global competition might one day soon return, boosting U.S. manufacturing jobs.”
China has said they are “highly concerned” by the action , and that the US is not only damaging relations between the two countries, but also the field of clean energy. Shen Danyang, a spokesman for China’s Commerce Ministry, said the nation is “strongly dissatisfied” with the “unfair” U.S. judgment, which shows America’s inclination toward protectionism.
China is urging the U.S. Commerce Department to correct the action.
Where do you stand? Is it important that solar cells are cheap enough for everyone to enjoy? Should the US subsidise domestic companies like the Chinese do rather than simply implementing tariffs? Is the US’ protectionism clouding the bigger environmental picture?
Article printed from Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building: http://inhabitat.com
URL to article: http://inhabitat.com/solar-prices-expected-to-rise-as-us-places-huge-tariffs-on-chinese-produced-pv-cells/
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Email: mailto:?subject=http://inhabitat.com/solar-prices-expected-to-rise-as-us-places-huge-tariffs-on-chinese-produced-pv-cells/
China becoming the world’s leader of solar cells and panels: http://inhabitat.com/china-doubles-2020-solar-power-target-to-50-gw/
imposing tariffs of as much as 250 percent: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-17/u-s-solar-tariffs-on-chinese-cells-may-boost-prices.html
US Commerce Department : http://www.commerce.gov/news
domestic solar manufacturing: http://inhabitat.com/china-says-it-will-double-its-solar-power-output-by-2015/
“highly concerned” by the action: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/17/us-tariffs-chinese-solar-panels
Dave Dugdale: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davedugdale/
Abi Skipp: http://www.flickr.com/photos/9557815@N05/
Copyright © 2011 Inhabitat Local - New York. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:d47c833e-b367-4624-ba4b-7fcc60468b1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://inhabitat.com/solar-prices-expected-to-rise-as-us-places-huge-tariffs-on-chinese-produced-pv-cells/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928199 | 1,006 | 1.75 | 2 |
A death-row killer who could become the first person since 1999 to be executed in Pennsylvania lost a bid for clemency Monday before Pennsylvania's Pardons Board.
Terrance “Terry” Williams now says he was sexually abused for years by the middle-aged man he beat to death in 1984 at the age of 18.
A unanimous vote was needed to recommend that Gov. Tom Corbett commute Williams' sentence to life imprisonment, but two of the five board members voted no.
None of the board members, who include state Attorney General Linda Kelly and Lt. Gov. Jim Cawley, commented following the vote. Kelly favored clemency and Cawley opposed it.
During two hours of often-emotional arguments and testimony in the state Supreme Court chamber at the Capitol, witnesses drew comparisons to Jerry Sandusky's victims in the Penn State child sex scandal to explain Williams' reluctance to publicly disclose the abuse.
“Going forward with this execution would be morally wrong,” defense attorney Shawn Nolan told the pardons board.
Philadelphia prosecutors described Williams as a violent, calculating criminal who committed two robberies and another murder in a short period before he killed 56-year-old Amos Norwood with a tire iron, the crime for which he received the death penalty.
Tom Dolgenos, chief of federal litigation for the Philadelphia district attorney's office, said Williams initially sought to pin the murder on others and did not raise the issue of sexual abuse until 1998.
“The seriousness of the situation runs both ways,” Dolgenos said.
Williams' co-defendant, Marc Draper, came forward with more information about the sexual abuse in January, Nolan said. Draper, who cooperated with authorities and received a life sentence, alleged that police and prosecutors told him not to mention the sexual abuse when he testified against Williams and to focus instead on the alleged robbery motive.
Although Williams has exhausted his appeals, he could win a reprieve if his lawyers can prove that prosecutors at his 1986 trial withheld evidence or interfered with his defense. A Philadelphia judge has scheduled a Thursday hearing to hear testimony from Draper and the prosecutor at Williams' trial.
Williams is scheduled to be executed Oct. 3.
Pennsylvania has executed only three men since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, and all of them chose to end their appeals. There are 200 people on death row in the state. | <urn:uuid:3ce8673b-2c05-4d3f-81da-eeac244dd61a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Board-Denies-Clemency-Request-From-Condemned-Killer--170078216.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972294 | 494 | 1.523438 | 2 |
St. Joseph Regional Health Network will utilize $726,000 over the next two years to establish its Creating a Healthier Community initiative:
• $560,000 to create a Centering Diabetes program, in which patients receive health checks and learn in groups about diabetes management. Hospital officials say the approach will increase the time patients receive for education and treatment.
• $151,000 to create a Centering Pregnancy program offering prenatal care to underserved women. Classes will be at St. Joseph's downtown Reading campus and are to expand to Opportunity House. Funding for this initiative comes from the Penn National Gaming Foundation.
• $15,000 to assist Girls on the Run Berks County, a program that uses running and fitness as a way to teach girls about self-esteem and other life lessons. | <urn:uuid:ed5fcbfc-43f4-470b-b95f-f5501e39f94d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=451732 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920849 | 162 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Do You Need a Pool to Stay Cool? Tell Us How You Beat the Heat
Burning up outside, but don't want to waste a a gorgeous day inside? Without an outdoor public swimming pool in the area, what are the alternatives to air-conditioning? Share your ideas on how you cool off during the hot months.
With all of the parks, Breidert Green and all those miles of Old Plank Road Trail, Frankfort is filled with some great outdoor areas where you can enjoy a beautiful summer day.
But when the heat gets to be too much, options start to dwindle if you're looking for a place to cool down and still be able to stay outside. Commissioner's Park, run by the Frankfort Park District, and Frankfort Square Park District's Community Centers have designated Splash Parks, where residents can find some relief by running through their water sprays.
After that, what's left? A lawn sprinkler? A shady tree? Where can you retreat from the heat?
Growing up, the community swimming pool was one of the signature experiences of summer. That's why I've always found it unusual that Frankfort—and the Lincoln-Way area, for that matter—doesn't have an outdoor public pool. Initially, I thought the lack of a public pool was because so many residents had their own private above- and below-ground pools. But that didn't seem like a powerful enough reason to keep Frankfort pool-less.
I found that Frankfort Township used to operate a public pool near the administration building on U.S. Route 30, according to Village Administrator Jerry Ducay. However, it closed about six years ago after the township found it too costly to run, he said, adding that during its time, the pool had a strong following.
"When you operate a pool, you have to operate it at full strength every day," Ducay said, explaining why pools can be such a financial drain. "You can't call in more people once you see that you've got a big crowd. You have to be at full staff all the time."
Since then, a public pool hasn't been something high on the priority list of the Frankfort community. In 2005 Frankfort Park District survey, residents said they didn't want to pay for a pool, said park district public relations and marketing coordinator Stacy Connelly. There's been no indication that that sentiment has changed, and Connelly said the park district doesn't have any plans when it comes to building a pool in Frankfort.
Which brings us back to the first question: What are your pool alternatives?
Share your suggestions in the comments section and take our poll that asks if you would be OK spending money on a community pool.
Two Ways to Stay Connected to Frankfort Patch:
- Subscribe to our newsletters for headlines and breaking news delivered to your inbox daily.
- "Like" the Frankfort Patch Facebook page for updates throughout the day. | <urn:uuid:75cc81c4-b220-42b1-a194-a12a46ffb92a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frankfort.patch.com/articles/do-you-need-a-pool-to-stay-cool-tell-us-how-you-beat-the-heat | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971261 | 606 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Out to Lunch
Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium, just might be a higher form of life.
Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the world’s most technologically advanced space theater—the Hayden Planetarium, at the American Museum of Natural History, in New York—is the man People magazine voted “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive.” It’s an unusual claim to fame, for he could not have had too much competition in his field. Then again, in 2007, Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
This provocative and amusing man is among a rare breed nowadays—a public intellectual popularizing science. With his frequent appearances on The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, as well as his books—the latest one, Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier, published this month by W. W. Norton—the 53-year-old, Harvard-educated Dr. Tyson is consciously building even more bridges between high and popular culture than Carl Sagan did.
“Many academicians don’t even own a television, much less watch one,” he mentioned over lunch in his cluttered office, which looked so disorganized it might have belonged to an unworldly college grad.
I put his knowledge of TV to a little test. “Have you seen Jersey Shore?” I asked.
“Yes, though not as a devoted follower,” he replied.
“Nevertheless, you realize that Snooki is an extraterrestrial?”
“Well, that I did not know! It’s an interesting notion. But I would ask what evidence supports this, other than her testimony.”
The Snooki paradigm is the identical, strictly objective test Dr. Tyson uses for people who claim to have seen flying saucers. “Bring me the physical evidence! Show me a piece of a flying saucer!”
“I got lemonade too,” he said, carrying our lunch trays into his office from the museum cafeteria. “Who doesn’t like lemonade?” There was pea soup and a grilled-cheese sandwich for him, sushi and salad for me.
“When flying saucers land on Earth in sci-fi movies,” I asked, “why do the aliens always exit down a ramp?”
“The flying saucers are handicapped-accessible,” he replied with a straight face.
Dr. Tyson is a paradox of persuasive rationalist and romantic Space Age dreamer. The mystery and ultimate wonder of the universe has awed him since he was a child, raised in the Bronx and obsessed with studying astronomy. No one has ever seen an alien, he agreed, yet he remains confident that intelligent extraterrestrial life exists.
“The universe is almost 14 billion years old,” he explained, “and, wow! Life had no problem starting here on Earth! I think it would be inexcusably egocentric of us to suggest that we’re alone in the universe.”
Stephen Hawking imagines aliens will be malevolent, while Carl Sagan thought they would be friendly, like E.T. “Which is it to be?” I asked.
“I have a third view. The alien is neither evil or kind. What if he’s just much smarter than us? The closest animal to us is of course the chimp. There’s a trifling difference in our DNA of less than 2 percent. The urge is to say what a difference that makes. But take a different tack: We know that the smartest chimps are able to accomplish what our toddlers can do. So imagine there’s another life-form on Earth, or aliens, that are 2 percent beyond us in intelligence. It would mean their alien toddlers can do what the smartest of us can do. They would see the Hubble telescope as a quaint little exercise they do in their shop class in first grade!”
“If they’re so clever, why don’t they invade Earth and conquer us?”
“In this scenario, they could enslave us and we wouldn’t even know it. But I wonder whether we’re simply uninteresting to them—as uninteresting as a colony of worms you walk past on the street.”
“What if we were able to communicate with them?”
“If we can’t have a meaningful conversation with a chimp that has 98 percent identical DNA, the audacity of us to assert that we could have a meaningful conversation with another life-form that’s smarter than us!”
I was beginning to think of Dr. Tyson himself as the alien he had in mind, quite friendly though he was. Then I asked about his hunch that an asteroid could wipe us all out one fine, beautiful day.
“It’s almost certain,” he replied as if forecasting rain. “But we don’t know when it will happen. The catalogue of all the asteroids we’re at risk of being hit by is incomplete right now.”
“Great,” I said.
“No, no, the space program can deflect the asteroid,” he reassured me. “We know enough about the laws of gravity and trajectories of space objects to deflect it. There’s an asteroid the size of the Rose Bowl that’s going to give us a buzz cut in 2029 on April 13. Which is a Friday, by the way. It will come close, but it won’t hit us.”
“You’re certain about this?”
“The laws of physics enable us to predict the future—an eclipse, what time the sun will rise, or what time darkness descends. I don’t wield special knowledge. Physics is the only profession in which prophecy is not only accurate but routine.”
I was meeting Dr. Tyson shortly after the Space Shuttle program had been stopped—the end of the boundless frontier, I argued, and with it the re-invigorated possibility of the American imagination.
“The problem isn’t the end of the shuttle era,” he said. “It’s the absence of another spacecraft on an adjacent launchpad ready to fly.”
But where’s the political will to make that happen? He suggested that a space war with China to build a military station on Mars, for example, would surely seal the deal.
“During the Cold War with Russia, in the 1960s America of Cape Canaveral, the Zeitgeist of the nation changed,” Dr. Tyson added on a passionate note. “We embraced curiosity and discovery. I submit that in the 21st century the leading nations of the world will be those who embrace active investments in science and technology. If our own economic health is a priority, we need to fully fund NASA’s missions to the frontiers of space. The very phrase ‘Space Age’ means future. It doesn’t mean the past.” | <urn:uuid:93799e5e-194a-45cb-bc92-ad3f24fd32f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2012/05/neil-degrasse-tyson-snooki-jersey-shore.print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95619 | 1,519 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Google Maps’ Street View feature just got a whole lot bigger, with updates to 250,000 miles of roads around the world, and double the number of special collections, which give users 360-degree views of international landmarks, parks, and other attractions. The “biggest Street View update ever” comes just after Google added Street View functionality to the iOS Web app.
Countries whose roads are now far more exposed to the world include Macau, Singapore, Sweden, the U.S., Thailand, Taiwan, Italy, Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, and Canada. New special collections are now available for South Africa, Japan, Spain, France, Brazil, Mexico, and others. Google points users to new updated locations, “like Catherine Palace and Ferapontov monastery in Russia, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taiwan, or Stanley Park in Vancouver.”
To view the full gallery of Street View Collections, click here.
While nothing can replace physical travel, Street View is one of the prime examples of how the Web is making the world a smaller place. Now, those of us with little chance of ever visiting the Western Wall in Jerusalem, or the Amazon rain forest in Brazil, can at least know what these destinations look like, in all their Street View cam glory.
Of course, it’s impossible to mention anything maps related without a peek under the band-aid at the still-festering wound that is Apple’s Maps app. The company continues to promise that things are getting better — though it’s going to be quite a while before we’re able to call this problem fixed. In the mean time, we just have to wait and hope that Google is putting as much effort into building a version of Google Maps for iOS 6 as it is trolling the streets of Macau. | <urn:uuid:f5b5b295-9787-41d0-9dd9-3b21f5d06e39> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/google-maps-street-view-gets-biggest-update-ever/?flagcomment=469549 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918623 | 381 | 2 | 2 |
“The only way this war is going to end is if the American people truly understand what we have done in their name.” - Kelly Dougherty, executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War
In spring 2008, inspired by the Vietnam-era Winter Soldier hearings, Iraq Veterans Against the War gathered veterans to expose war crimes in Afghanistan and Iraq. Here are the powerful words, images, and documents of this historic gathering, which show the reality of life in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Iraq Veterans Against the War argues that well-publicized incidents of American brutality like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and the massacre of an entire family of Iraqis in the town of Haditha are not the isolated incidents perpetrated by “a few bad apples,” as many politicians and military leaders have claimed. They are part of a pattern, the group says, of “an increasingly bloody occupation.”
"Here is the war as it should be reported, seeing the pain, refusing to sanitize an unprovoked attack that has killed over one million people. All over America are victims who have returned from this conflict with hideous wounds - wounds that turn the lives of the entire family upside down.
And the American people are not seeing this. Until now.
©2008 Iraq Veterans Against the War and Aaron Glantz (P)2012 Audible, Inc.
"Winter Soldier, an enormously important project of Iraq Veterans Against the War, cuts this debacle to the bone, exposing details hard to come by and even harder to believe. This is must reading for patriots who have already begun the effort to insure that this never happens again." (Phil Donahue)
"Winter Soldier makes us feel the pain and despair endured by those who serve in a military stretched to the breaking point by stop-loss policies, multiple combat tours, and a war where the goals and the enemies keep shifting ... [and] also make[s] us admire the unbreakable idealism and hope of those men and women who still believe that by speaking out they can make things better both for themselves and for those who come after them." (San Francisco Chronicle)
I'm Audible's first Editor-at-Large, the host of In Bed with Susie Bright -- and a longtime author, editor, journo, and bookworm. I listen to audio when I'm cooking, playing cards, knitting, going to bed, waking up, driving, and putting other people's kids to bed! My favorite audiobooks, ever, are: "True Grit" and "The Dog of the South."
You will NEVER hear these stories on the front page of the family newspaper— they're certainly not on the broadcast TV news.
These important, often tragic stories from the front tell not only of the war crimes and tresspasses in the combat zones, but of the institutionalized military culture that changes every outcome, often at great personal expense.
In matter-of-fact, un-sensationalized voices, we get the view from the Front and from within.
The studio team at Audible did a terrific job casting this audiobook— it comes alive with multiple voices that sound like the amazing diversity of the book: every region of America, every race and class, men and women, young and old.
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If you find this review inappropriate and think it should be removed from our site, let us know. This report will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action. | <urn:uuid:8acbb9f2-8837-4cd7-bffd-918acedfcc66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.audible.com/pd/ref=cat_7?asin=B00ATQ6FTA | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954863 | 720 | 1.75 | 2 |
The fine Israeli writer Yehoshua (Open Heart, 1996, etc.) makes a lengthy journey into the year 999, the end of the first millennium. Indeed, it is the idea of a great journey that is the heart of the story here. Ben Attar, a Moroccan Jewish merchant has come a long distance to France to seek out his nephew and former partner Abulafia. Ben Attar, the nephew, and a third partner, the Muslim Abu Lutfi, had once done a lucrative business importing spices and treasures from the Atlas Mountains to eager buyers in medieval Europe. But now their partnership has been threatened by a complex series of events, with Abulafia married to a pious Jewish widow who objects vehemently to Ben Attar’s two wives. Accompanied by a Spanish rabbi, whose cleverness is belied by his seeming ineffectualness; the rabbi’s young son, Abu Lutfi; the two wives; a timorous black slave boy, and a crew of Arab sailors, the merchant has come to Europe to fight for his former partnership. The battle takes place in two makeshift courtrooms in the isolated Jewish communities of the French countryside, in scenes depicted with extraordinary vividness. Yehoshua tells this complex, densely layered story of love, sexuality, betrayal and “the twilight days, [when] faiths [are] sharpened in the join between one millennium and the next” in a richly allusive, languorous prose, full of lengthy, packed sentences, with clauses tumbling one after another. De Lange’s translation is sensitively nuanced and elegant, catching the strangely hypnotic rhythms of Yehoshua’s style. As the story draws toward its tragic conclusion—but not the one you might expect—the effect is moving, subtle, at once both cerebral and emotional. One of Yehoshua’s most fully realized works: a masterpiece. | <urn:uuid:a50f31fd-1596-4d71-9dcc-b0a88c037475> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ab-yehoshua/a-journey-to-the-end-of-the-millennium/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951863 | 397 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Herpes simplex virus 2 (HSV-2) is a common sexually transmitted disease that generally establishes a lifelong latent infection with periods of reactivation, often with genital ulcers. Previous work by VIDI scientists found a small group of people who had been exposed to HSV-2, but managed to stave off infection. These people, dubbed “immune seronegative” by the researchers, had immune responses to HSV-2 in the absence of detectable virus or clinical symptoms of genital herpes.
To better understand how this group managed to resist HSV-2 infection, VIDI staff scientist Dr. Christine Posavad and colleagues took a closer look at their cellular immune responses to the virus as compared to the responses in HSV-2 infected people. The researchers looked at 22 immune seronegative people who were in relationships with HSV-2 positive people. Using blood samples from the participants, the scientists looked at T cell responses to different HSV-2 proteins. They found that the immune seronegative people tended to respond to different proteins than HSV-2 positive people. Specifically, immune seronegative people made responses to HSV-2 proteins produced at early stages of viral infection, but not to virus proteins present during later stages of infection, suggesting that this HSV-2 resistant population may be able to block the virus from progressing past early infection.
Detailed characterization of T cell responses to herpes simplex virus-2 in immune seronegative persons. Posavad CM, Remington M, Mueller DE, Zhao L, Magaret AS, Wald A, Corey L. J Immunol. 2010 Mar 15;184(6):3250-9. | <urn:uuid:7794729e-0fd1-43c7-9e35-ae803e8a7aff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fhcrc.org/en/labs/vaccine-and-infectious-disease/news/publication-spotlight/the-immune-response-of-hsv-resistance.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954803 | 349 | 3.171875 | 3 |
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Contrary to traditional opinion, trainers say most animals can learn new behaviors and activities at almost any age—if they have the right encouragement and patient instruction. Cesar Milan, star of National Geographic Channel’s “The Dog Whisperer,” uses his “Power of the Pack” method to train dog owners to understand their pets’ innate pack mentality and so get along much better with them.
Personally, this is excellent news because I and other writers and editors are having to learn a bunch of new skills and technologies to deliver useful information to our audiences. For example, Control is now reproducing its online columns as audio podcasts. This meant I had to practice my speaking voice and annunciate more clearly, and learn to use a digital recorder and its supporting software. At first, the Snickers-sized recorder reminded me so much of a candy bar that I had to catch myself a couple of times before reflexively biting it in half. No lie. However, as soon as I gained a little competence on the recorder, we immediately switched to an online recording service that I still haven’t had time to learn.
Not be outdone, our sister magazine, Control Design, has been shooting, editing and posting videos of machine builders talking about their devices. Besides getting a haircut and a new jacket, I had to learn to look natural on camera; i.e., not freeze up, pass out or swallow my tongue. All valuable skills, but these take some work as well.
Technological changes seem to come so fast these days that there’s barely time to be introduced to them, let alone become adept, before the next upheaval begins. I’m comforted only by the fact that most of the technical professionals I cover seem to be facing even more difficult challenges. Increasingly powerful software and ever smaller PCs have been overrunning traditional control and automation disciplines for many years and blowing up formerly separate technological silos. Fieldbuses, Ethernet and wireless are only the latest waves in this process. Everyone knows this, but handling it often remains a partially-met challenge.
Maybe this is why I was so surprised when I began researching this month’s feature on asset management. With all the big-ticket process applications and end products out there, I’d thought everyone already had plant-wide asset management systems, or at least the good players did and the bad ones wouldn’t care anyway. What I found was that many of the best asset management efforts I could find remain incomplete. Sure, there’s lots of cutting-edge software and communications, but everyone I talked to says asset management’s biggest problem is still getting people to integrate these improved methods into their daily workflows. You can buy a million-dollar solution, but it’s not a success until your staff uses it to save some labor and time. This isn’t easy because many technical/organizational separations and internal rivalries remain as persistent as ever.
So what’s to be done? I recommend doing what I do when covering an unfamiliar topic, complex new technology. Take a deep breath. Find out as much as you can about this new environment. Try to keep an open mind. See what parts of your expertise may help in these new situations. Oh, and make sure you have plenty of aspirin and antacids on hand. I sprinkle them like blueberries into muffin batter before baking.
Of these techniques, keeping an open mind is the most difficult. I think this is because, as I shuffle onward towards 50 years old, my previous knowledge has piled up to the point where it can be hard to see new events and perspectives when they appear, and too tempting to reject them when they arrive.
So, I try to shove my voluminous knowledge aside just a bit, get out of my own way, and get a better look at who and what’s new coming down the pike. I’ll take liver snacks, but I prefer bacon. Woof, woof!
ControlGlobal.com is exclusively dedicated to the global process automation market. We report on developing industry trends, illustrate successful industry applications, and update the basic skills and knowledge base that provide the profession's foundation. | <urn:uuid:8255a532-7a14-4c29-a25c-d4e9626205db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.controlglobal.com/articles/2008/077.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958503 | 932 | 2.03125 | 2 |
The hands-down winner of Buzzword of the Year for 2002 is Web services. Software manufacturers, from giants such as IBM, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems on down to the smallest boutiques, are putting out announcements that their products are "Web services-compliant."
But before the term drowns in its own hype, let's consider what Web services are, and what they can and cannot do for the banking industry.
A Web service, first and foremost, is a service: an action done by something on behalf of another. In a software context, a service is a program, or set of programs, that performs some real function, such as calculating the interest on a loan. Originally, software services existed as monolithic blocks of code residing on a mainframe. The legacy systems which constitute the core IT asset for most companies have multiple blocks of code embedded within them.
Later, it made economic sense to split up applications into discrete components, or objects, and disperse them throughout a network, where they could be invoked when needed. Because networks were proprietary, however, these components had to communicate via network-specific protocols, limiting their practical application. The Internet changed that, giving birth to the concept of Web services.
Today, programs can communicate over the Web using standard communications protocols, enabling components to be freely distributed throughout an enterprise or throughout the globe.
"Except for the firewall and some security issues, I may be indifferent whether I'm invoking a service across the room or across the nation," said Tom Richards, analyst at Meridien Research.
Web services promise to deliver big benefits to the banking industry. By modularizing the software development process, they can lop off between 8 and 12 percent of an organization's IT budget, according to Meridien. Armed with a set of loosely-coupled software components, banks are free to mix-and-match them to create automated business processes that can be used in various business lines. "It is now possible to assemble workflow-the sequencing of business logic-dynamically," Richards wrote in a report, Web Services: Emergence of a CRM Architecture. "Business process can be assembled without the need for IT intervention."
Sixty to seventy percent of large banks are experimenting with Web services, said Richards. "The take-up has been phenomenal."
Web services have ramifications for CRM, where banks have struggled to reconcile disparate delivery channels.
"You should be able to compose process out of parts and pieces," said Richards. "And you should have consistent process across channels, which has always been one of the bugaboos about financial services."
He continued, "We add more and more channels, but we do things that are tailored to that channel. We do things differently on the Web than in the branch. The consequence is you can't start a process, pick it up in another and finish it in yet a third."
Web services stand to not only stem integration costs, but to eliminate them altogether through the outsourcing of business processes to third-party developers. Traditionally, banks have had to either build business processes from scratch or use development toolkits to "expose," or isolate, business processes hidden in legacy systems. Web services provide a third, cheaper alternative.
"An institution either doesn't have to build multiple processes unique to channels, or could get that process from a third party," said Richards. "Companies are producing reusable components that institutions can stitch together to create business processes."
Credit scoring and identification screening are two examples of services that could be outsourced to firms such as Inside Out Technologies (a subsidiary of American Management Systems), which provides a network utility for consumer loan underwriting.
The rapid evolution of Web services has produced a stampede toward new e-commerce partnerships. For example, The Credit Network (a Framingham, Mass.-based software company that automates the process of requesting mortgage credit reports) and RealEC Technologies (owner of RealEC Exchange, a routing process for closing and managing real estate transactions online) have teamed up to allow originators to access The Credit Network's credit reports via RealEC Exchange.
In another example, Bluebook, an Orange County, Calif.-based publisher of cost estimates for property-casualty insurers, has partnered with Cotelligent, an Irvine, Calif.-based enterprise integration software firm, to automate the handling of insurance claims using Microsoft's .NET and Web services technologies. Their solution, due for release in October, will address longstanding multiline insurance issues, including redundant handling of claims, lengthy processing times and overpayment.
Still, Web services are in their infancy. The biggest obstacle is security. "Because Web services employ standard Internet protocols-TCP/IP and HTTP-they freely traverse the firewalls in most organizations," Richards wrote. "This means Web services may be exposed to unauthorized users or worse." For this reason, he said, Web services should be placed behind the firewall at first. | <urn:uuid:033b243d-a900-4d47-ab24-e33ddf5a9e88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.banktech.com/core-systems/web-services-whats-all-the-buzz-about/14701292 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947632 | 1,010 | 2.1875 | 2 |
A new space milestone has just occurred, or occurred around August 2012. The Voyager 1 space probe that was launched on September 5, 1977 has finally left the solar system. Thirty five years after its launch the audacious probe enters a new stage in its mission, exploring the region of space outside of the Sun’s influence.
The Sun’s influence in space extends way beyond the orbit of Neptune. We know that beyond the inner planets lies the Kuiper Belt which is home to Pluto and many, many other dwarf planets. Finally at about 18 billion kilometers from the Sun and four times the distance between the Sun and Neptune, is a region known as the heliopause. The heliopause is the region where the solar wind from the Sun collides with the interstellar medium, a collection of particles which is the collection of gas, dust, and cosmic rays. The solar particles are so dilute once it reaches the interstellar medium that the heliopause is considered the end of the Sun’s influence (although its gravity extends well beyond the heliopause to the Oort Cloud).
A new paper that has been published confirms the conclusions that were drawn about the solar wind particles back in December. Data from the probe showed that the number of subatomic particles coming from the Sun dropped dramatically sometime around August 2012 while the number of cosmic rays from the interstellar medium spiked. While it’s not exactly new news, it still is exciting to think about. There is now a man-made object outside of the solar system and is still able to communicate with us 18 billion kilometers away.
Eventually the plutonium inside of Voyager will stop producing electricity and communications will cease. At that point, the probe will continue to sail in the direction of the galactic center. There is an estimated 10-15 years of power left on the probe so we need to enjoy it while it lasts. It will be a long time before human travelers can journey this far from our home, but we’ll do it one day.
When we look back, 2013 may be remembered as the Year of the Comets. As I’m sure you may have heard already we have two potentially immensely wonderful comets heading our direction this year; the first of which will be its closest to the Sun on March 10th. The more you learn about comets the more you appreciate how amazing the solar system is! When you consider what comets are, how they get here, and what on Earth makes them shine so beautifully then fade into oblivion for thousands of years you are left with a sense of awe because the answer to all of these questions is…the Sun.
Thanks to Nicolas Copernicus we know that the Sun is the center of our solar system and that everything in the solar system orbits the Sun on regular and predictable paths. You have the 8 major planets, the asteroids in the asteroid belt, the minor, or dwarf, planets of a region called the Kuiper belt, of which Pluto is a member, then far, far away from the Sun at a distance of almost one light year you is the region known as the Oort Cloud. The Oort cloud is a massive region of space mostly by tiny chunks of ice and rock left over from the formation of the solar system. These chunks of ice and rock are so far away from the Sun that they are approximately one-quarter the distance to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri. The Sun is barely more than a pin point of light out here and its gravity is just strong enough to keep these tiny chunks of ice loosely in orbit. However, the gravity is so weak that objects in the Oort Cloud are influenced by passing stars and the Milky Way itself. All it takes is the slightest gravitational nudge from another star to dislodge an ice chunk from its happy orbit and send it drifting slowly towards the inner solar system.
This is how we believe most long period comets are born. Long period comets are comets with highly eccentric (or lopsided) orbits that span between 200 and thousands, or even millions of years. Comet McNaught that passed through the solar system back in 2007 is a long period comet with an orbit of about 92,600 years. It’s safe to say that we won’t see that bad boy again in our lifetimes!
Once the ice chunk is dislodged from its orbit in the Oort Cloud it begins its long, slow journey towards the Sun. The Sun’s gravity begins to pull it in towards itself on an epic tour of the solar system that spans almost an entire light year (one light year is 6 trillion miles). Comets are typically no bigger than a hundred or so meters across but the Sun causes something to happen on their surface that makes them spectacular sights in the night sky. Out in the Oort Cloud it is mind-bogglingly cold. Before they turn into comets the chunks rocks and dust mixed with chunks of frozen water, ammonia, carbon dioxide or methane that are so cold they’re as hard as steel. But once they get close enough to the Sun they begin to heat up.
Once the comet arrives in the inner solar system the Sun’s heat begins to melt the ice and it begins to evaporate and glow brightly which is caused by solar ionization. The glowing cloud of evaporating gas is called the coma. Once the coma is formed the tell-tale…well, tail of the comet begins to form as the solar wind from the Sun blows against the comet. The comet, tail, and coma steadily brighten as the comet gets closer and closer to the Sun. They also begin to pick up more speed the closer they get. By the time a comet is visible on Earth it already has a dazzling coma and tail that can be as bright as the stars and perhaps even the planets!
It is once the comet is within the orbit of Mercury that the fate of the comet is determined. Most comets slingshot around the Sun at a safe distance that they make it around without a problem and begin their lonely journey back out of the solar system into oblivion. Other comets called sun grazers get so close to the Sun that they actually pass through the Sun’s upper atmosphere, the photosphere, or even the solar corona where the temperature is millions of degrees Fahrenheit. Some sun grazers make it out intact while others break apart and disintegrate, much like a frozen coffee mug when boiling water is poured in it. Others still are known as sun divers which literally plunge right into the Sun and are never heard from again.
Once the point of perihelion, or the comets closest approach to the Sun is reached the comet begins it’s journey back to where it came from. Depending upon the positioning of the planets on its return journey, some comets stay in orbit around the Sun and will eventually return. If a planet’s gravity nudges the comet on the way out it could end up being ejected from the solar system entirely and be doomed to roam the void of interstellar space forever. Whatever the fate of the comet we get to observe the magnificent effects of the Sun on them from the Earth, both visually and scientifically.
This year we have two potentially dazzling and memorable comets heading our way! The first of which is named comet C/2011 L4 PANSTARRS, or PANSTARRS for short. With a perihelion of March 10, 2013 it promises to put on a nice show throughout the months of March and April. Observers in the northern hemisphere won’t be able to see the comet until after its perihelion though. So be sure to get outside during clear nights in March and April to see this orbiting rocky ice clump. Currently, PANSTARRS is projected to get as bright as the planet Venus if everything goes according to plan with its passage around the Sun. PANSTARRS will be bright and low in the sky about 30 minutes after sunset in mid-March.
If you miss PANSTARRS or couldn’t get enough comet viewing action for one year you’re in luck! Even brighter and more spectacular than PANSTARRS will be comet ISON in the fall months. ISON is currently close to Jupiter on its voyage towards the Sun but will begin to be visible in binoculars in the beginning of October. By November 1st ISON will be within the orbit of Earth and should be a spectacular -6 magnitude! Astronomers measure brightness by magnitude with the lower the number being a brighter object. The planet Saturn is +1 magnitude and the brightest star in the sky, Sirius, is -1.46. By the time it reaches its perihelion on November 28th it is expected to reach a -12.6 magnitude which is as bright as the full moon! That means that as it passes next to the Sun it will be visible during the daytime if you use your hand to cover the Sun! ISON should put on a show of a lifetime during November and December and will truly be something to tell your kids and grandchildren about because ISON will likely never return. If you own a telescope or a pair of binoculars make time to get out with your friends and observe this marvelous comet. This one has the potential to be the brightest comet in recent history, brighter even than the famous Halley’s comet.
It never ceases to amaze me that all the wonderful things we love about comets, their beautiful tails and diamond-like sparkle is all due to the power of the Sun. We live in an active solar system that is constantly moving and it is all thanks to the Sun’s influence.
The sky is always stunning to look at no matter what day it is, but this week promises some pretty cool activity for stargazers. The emphasis this week is on the solar system. To begin with, the pairing of Jupiter and Venus in the west has been stunning for several days now and is approaching the two planets are approaching their closest distance. Tonight (Monday) they will be 3.1° apart (roughly two finger widths at arm’s length, your clenched fist is about 10°). The two planets will be just 3.0° apart on Tuesday night as Venus and Jupiter begin to switch orientations. This conjunction promises a stellar view for binocular viewers and some telescope viewers at lower power.
Next up is Saturn which rises just before 10pm (EDT). Always a stunning sight no matter what time of year, but Saturn’s rings are tilted just about at the optimal angle for viewing from Earth. Over the next couple months the rings will start to flatten out until they will be seen edge-on. Also, Saturn, the moon, and the star Spica will dazzle in the sky around midnight tonight and Tuesday.
Mars is currently trekking its way through the constellation Leo this month. Each day it is getting closer to Regulus, the brightest star in Leo and the foot of the lion. Mars is just past its closest distance from Earth and is quite a pleasing sight in a larger telescope at its highest point from 11pm to 1am.
Since the moon is rising late this week we have another chance to view comet Garradd as it zooms through the inner solar system. Garradd is still at magnitude 6.0-7.0 so you likely still need to drive away from the city lights a bit to see it with a telescope. The comet is currently hanging out near the bowl of Ursa Minor and λ Draconis on Friday night.
So since I’m new to the whole astronomy gig I figured I must do what every new amateur astronomer must do and start mapping out the night sky on your own! I have no idea how I’m going to do it just yet but hey, it can’t be that hard! The ancient Egyptians figured it out 5000 years ago so I should be able to do it completely with my iPhone in one week, right? But seriously, I think it would be really cool to make a record of the movements of the stars and planets on my own. I’ll start with the planets to keep it simple for now. Jupiter, Venus, and Mars are all fairly visible at night right now. The moon should be pretty easy also. As long as there’s no complex math involved in the process I’ll be OK. I have a compass on my phone and I know all about angles of declination and the parallax angle and all that fun stuff but if you have suggestions feel free to comment away!
As I’m writing this I’m regretting not thinking of this sooner so I could have started on the first of the year But such is my life. For now I’m waiting here drinking some Jack Frost tea waiting for the clouds to break so I can log Jupiter and the moon for tonight. That is all for now. Good night planet Earth!
I’m home from work sick today and I’m watching a show called “The Planets” on the Science Channel about the gas giants and I have to say that it is fascinating! I didn’t know that NASA’s 1977 Voyager mission to the outer solar system was executed to coordinate with a perfect planetary alignment that happens only once every 175 years. Although we don’t know for sure how the outer planets formed you sure do learn something new everyday on the Science Channel! | <urn:uuid:47870865-259b-42c6-afcb-163dcb51922e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://acrosstheuniverseinnotime.com/tag/solar-system/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946723 | 2,768 | 3.671875 | 4 |
You may be asking yourself, "What's a widget?" Or, "Why would I want a widget?"
A widget is a self-contained piece of HTML code that you can embed into your site to add a cool new feature. All you have to do is paste the code into your website. Patch's first widget offering is a News feed, but there are all sorts of widgets out there, including clock widgets, countdown widgets, and lots of other fun features.
Depending on what it does, a widget can add awesome functionality or content to your site, with you barely lifting a finger to get it. For example, our first Patch widget is a cool local news feed. So if you have a local business, government or school website, or maybe a local blog, the Patch News Widget can be an easy source of awesome local content for your site!
You can put a widget on your personal website or blog, if you have one.
No, you can't embed the Patch widget on your Facebook page for now.
Follow the instructions to copy the widget code, and paste it directly into the HTML for your website. Pretty soon we'll offer a quick and easy way to install it onto various types of websites and blogs, but for now, try the old school copy and paste!
No, you'll need your own website or blog to use the widget. We hope to offer other ways for you to use widgets in the future, but for now, you'll need your own website.
That's a huge can of worms you want us to open! For now, Patch doesn't offer that service.
Definitely! Stay tuned!
Right now, we don't have a way for you to change the color of the widget. But we hope to add a widget color changing feature soon!
Probably not. :)
The widget HTML has been saved to your clipboard. Now put your cursor in your web page wherever you want the widget to appear and hit "paste". Voila: Patch is on your site!
Copy the HTML below and paste it into your web page. | <urn:uuid:d40ae2cf-5536-4c89-8cd7-09fe22155a44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://westendalexandria.patch.com/widgets/articles/quicklist?logout=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92697 | 428 | 1.664063 | 2 |
By Jennifer Waters, MarketWatch
From mandatory-arbitration clauses that waive jury trials to fees on empty envelopes and cash deposits, your bank is keeping disclosures tied to your checking accounts heavily cloaked in fine print and sometimes not in any print at all.
“No one actually reads 65 pages of disclosures,” says Susan Weinstock, director of the Pew Charitable Trust’s Safe Checking in the Electronic Age Project. “Fees get buried in there and people don’t know about them.”
The banking industry is fee-happy, with checking accounts alone subject to some 48 potential charges. Disclosures are rampant with what Ms. Weinstock calls a hodgepodge of wording and definitions that have left consumers confused, even bored by the fine print, some of which is in 6-point type.
Pew’s mission is to convince all banks to include for all checking accounts disclosure boxes similar, yet considerably longer, to those now found on credit-card bills. But through its annual Safe Checking study it has uncovered a number of items and fees—don’t forget to let the bank know when you’ve moved—that most consumers wouldn’t have a clue about until they got hit with them. (Yes, you can be charged a fee if the bank gets mail it sent to you returned.)
“These things need to be transparent so consumers know and can compare the fees and terms and conditions of the account that best meet their needs,” Ms. Weinstock says.
Not every bank, of course, is hiding fees, but you often won’t know what the entire fee schedule is until you’re about to open the account, says Alex Matjanec, co-founder of personal-finance site MyBankTracker.com.
Have Banks Finally Put the Crisis Behind Them?
Wells Fargo's profit jumps but American Express is cutting over 5,000 jobs. Ahead of several banks reporting earnings next week, David Benoit joins Markets Hub to discuss the health of the banking sector. Photo: AP.
“And even then, some banks won’t give you a schedule of fees but make you call customer service to find out about a fee because they’re changing all the time,” he says. “And then they charge you for talking to customer service.”
Even if you do read through the reams of disclosures, most banks reserve the right to change the terms at any time. “You would hope that your bank would notify you when fees do change, but they don’t all do that,” Mr. Matjanec says.
Here’s a rundown of what to look for:
Mandatory-arbitration clause: This is a divide-and-conquer provision that prohibits customers from legally ganging up on banks, particularly through class-action lawsuits. Any disputes must be settled through an arbitration process in which the go-between is chosen by the industry.
Posting order: Banks vary in how they order your debits and deposits. Some will do it based on the time posted; others on the amounts of the debits. Some choose to deduct larger debits first, which can make a huge difference in the number of overdrafts you might receive if your account is short.
Early account closure fee: This didn’t pop up at many banks until the Bank Transfer Day in 2011 when masses of consumers revolted and dumped their banks in favor of smaller banks, credit unions or no bank at all. Now, a handful of banks slap $25 fees on accounts that are closed within 90 to 180 days after opening.
Check-cashing fee for interlopers: Try to cash a check at a bank that you’re not a customer of and you could get charged. Like a currency exchange, some banks will charge $5 for check cashing if you’re an outsidereven if the check you’re cashing is from that bank’s customer.
Empty-envelope fee: This is a crime-deterrent charge for those who put empty envelopes in an ATM as a deposit and then withdraw the “deposit” amount for quick cash. Banks don’t usually catch the “mistake” until the envelope is opened. They’ll charge you upward of $35 per event, even if it really was a slipup.
Return-deposit fee: A check you deposited has been returned because of insufficient funds in the other account, so you get charged handling fees of $25 to $35 by your bank.
Return-mail fee: Don’t forget to include your bank in the pile of new-address forms you send when you move. Banks will charge $3 to $15 if mail to you is returned to them.
Inactivity fee: Many banks will charge you anywhere from $5 to $15 if your account has sat dormant for six to 12 months.
Coin-counting fee: Banks have counting machines that you pour your jars of accumulated loose change into for a tally that you can then deposit or take home in dollars. Now many are expecting you to ante up $3 to $5 or more to run those coins through.
Big-deposits fee: This falls under the bite-your-nose-off-to-spite-your-face variety. Deposit too much money and some banks will charge you to hold it, an expense that began hitting the very rich and corporations that were stockpiling cash during the depths of the recession. | <urn:uuid:ffe8f10a-4d37-4dca-b5f8-7a8db8fc83b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marketwatch.com/story/banks-bury-fees-in-the-fine-print-2013-01-14?siteid=bigcharts&dist=bigcharts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94871 | 1,166 | 1.570313 | 2 |
One of the biggest tasks associated with remotely administering a computer is to perform maintenance.
Our article about Panther Maintenance should give you an idea of what should be performed and when. Some of the maintenance steps that can be performed through the command line are already covered in detail, so I won't repeat them here.
However, in order to do the rest, you can rely on another nifty remote management tool that has been recently introduced by Apple: "diskutil," the CLI equivalent of the good old "Disk Utility." As a general rule, everything that can be done through the latter can be done through the former -- and more.
Before using it directly, though, you need to get the UNIX identifiers for the various disks on your Mac, which would be the equivalent of reading the list of drives printed on the left of the Disk Utility window. In order to do so, enter "diskutil list" and enter return. This will give you a very comprehensive list of all that's inside of or connected to your Mac, drive-wise. As you can see, there are many "hidden" partitions on your drives, used to store drivers or various catalog-related files.
What we are looking for, however, are simply the lines that aren't indented and begin with "/dev/..." Indeed, they give the identifiers for every disk, which we will then use to tell
diskutil on which drive we want to act. Would you want to act on a partition, look for the identifier on the right-hand side column, conveniently labeled "identifier."
On my Mac, for example, the "Panther" volume (a partition of my internal drive) has identifier disk0s3 and my internal drive is /dev/disk0.
Without a doubt, the most commonly performed task while maintaining a Mac is repairing the permissions. In order to repair them through the command line, use "diskutil repairPermissions disk0s3" (replace disk0s3 by the identifier of your boot drive or partition). You will then see the usual messages appear on your Terminal window ( "Determining correct file permissions.", "Owner and group corrected"...). Unlike the graphical version of Disk Utility, the Terminal won't provide you with a progress bar, so you should keep in mind that the process can last a good while.
Repairing a Drive
Repairing a drive usually requires you to boot from an external volume -- a CD, another partition, or even a FireWire drive. Even when you administer it remotely, the Mac is booted from its internal drive, so you still won't be able to repair this one. Nevertheless, being able to verify and repair a drive through the command line can be useful, especially if one of your non-boot partitions or peripherals is acting weird.
In order to use this function, simply type "diskutil repairDisk /dev/disk0s5". Of course, replace disk0s5 by the identifier of the non-boot partition you wish to repair. You will then see the usual messages and, hopefully "The volume appears to be OK."
Lots of Other Options
Disk Utility has many tricks up its sleeve, including the ability to format drives, mount, unmount, and eject them all through the command line. In order to learn to use it -- its syntax is extremely simple -- just check the man pages. Keep in mind however that you could easily make a mistake while working remotely -- once you eject a drive, you may need to manually reconnect it or flip a switch on it to mount it again, for example. This is therefore reserved for more advanced users.
The most difficult and important part when using this command-line tool is to pick the right identifier. It should, however, be quite easy if you already make the distinction between "volumes" and "drives." For example, the two partitions on my built-in hard drive are two "volumes" on the "boot drive." When taking this into account, the identifiers make a lot of sense: disk0s1, disk0s3, and disk0s5 are obviously segments of the drive disk0.
FileVault users should keep in mind that their Home Folder is an encrypted disk image and will therefore appear as a volume of its own. Please, don't play with this volume unless you really know what you are doing, since it really is at the heart of your account.
Taking Screen Captures
Taking screen captures of a remote computer is at the same time a good and a bad idea. Indeed, it can allow you to easily troubleshoot an issue that a user cannot describe. On the other hand, it can be an intrusion on someone's privacy that, in some countries, can easily lead to prosecution, so make sure you don't capture anything without warning users first.
The easiest way to take a screen capture is to use the "screencapture" command-line tool. In order to capture a screen, enter the following command:
sudo screencapture -x /capture.pdf
The "x" will mute capture sounds to avoid frightening an unsuspecting user -- who should really not be unsuspecting if you follow our advice. The "/capture.pdf" specifies where the resulting PDF file should be placed. In our example, it is at the root of the hard drive. "sudo" is required when taking a capture through Terminal if you are not logged in locally as your SSH user. This is a security measure that will prevent people from spying on a user too easily -- remember that administrators are trusted users in the computing world.
You can then download the file through scp onto your Mac to view it. Do not open the file by using the "open" command. It will open the file on the remote computer, not on yours!
In order to download the file to your desktop, terminate your SSH session and simply enter:
scp user@ddnsdomainname:/capture.pdf Desktop/capture.pdf
Using the System Profiler
Very often, when a user experiences an issue, you ask for detailed hardware information. A good way to make sure it is accurate is to ask the user to open the "System Profiler" utility and read its contents. Unfortunately, System Profiler is a GUI application, meaning that you cannot use it through Terminal, right?
Well, not really. Indeed, Apple thought of including a "system_profiler" command-line tool that prints the information you want to the Terminal.
Its usage is extremely simple. In order to get a report, enter "system_profiler -detaillevel", followed by a number between "-2" and "1" -- the higher the number, the longer the report.
For example, you could type
"system_profiler -detailLevel -2" to get a nice overview of what is happening on the machine you are working on. This is also a great way to make sure that updates have been installed as they should. | <urn:uuid:dacf2b67-1ea0-4f50-ac5e-779601720691> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2004/08/06/inside_ssh_pt4.html?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936573 | 1,440 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Figure. No caption available.
Will the brain benefit if President Obama reverses the Bush administration's restrictions on embryonic stem cell research? That depends. In the meantime, the Bush ban has had one positive side effect: researchers have begun investigating the therapeutic potential of other types of human cells.
Scientists have ideas on how to use stem cells to alleviate a variety of neurological conditions-Parkinson's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, and brain damage caused by stroke or trauma-as well as vision and hearing loss. They've been constrained from fully exploring those ideas, however, because President Bush cut off federal funding for embryonic stem cell research except for a few pre-existing cell lines.
Removing the restrictions will encourage the development of new treatments for these disorders, but only if funding increases at the same time.
What's holding us back is money, says Lorraine Iacovitti, Ph.D., interim director of the Farber Institute for Neurosciences and professor of neurology at Thomas Jefferson University Medical College in Philadelphia, PA. Reversing the Bush ban on stem cell lines will mean greater availability, but without more money that won't mean much. Funding at the National Institutes of Health is lower than it's been in my 25-year career.
Dr. Iacovitti has been exploring ways to use stem cells to produce dopamine, a neurotransmitter that people with Parkinson's disease lack. When President Bush limited federal funding on stem cells, Dr. Iacovitti turned to a technique that involves transforming a patient's own cells into a type of stem cell.
We hoped we could avoid controversy about embryonic cells, she says. In my lab we were very excited about taking standard adult stem cells from bone marrow and trying to make those cells into dopamine-producing neurons.
This approach is difficult because stimulating a cell taken from an adult to produce dopamine requires complex manipulation of the cell's genetic machinery. On the other hand, a patient's own cells pose no danger of rejection, which can be a life-long threat for people who receive stem cells derived from an embryo.
I believe the embryonic stem cell lines are the gold standard because they're the only stem cells that reliably become dopamine neurons after they're transplanted into the brain, says Dr. Iacovitti. But the ultimate goal is to make adult-derived tissue behave like embryonic stem cells. That will be the wave of the future because it will allow patients to provide their own replacement tissue. We can't go back and get your embryonic stem cells, but we can take a skin cell from a Parkinson's patient and reprogram the nucleus to produce dopamine. And those cells will be seen as self-they won't be rejected.
Researchers at Harvard and Columbia universities have used a similar technique to coax skin cells from an 82-year-old woman with ALS into a pluripotent state, which enables them to turn into any one of a variety of cells. The cells produced motor neurons in the lab. The scientists hope that someday they will be able to use such cells to regenerate motor neurons in people with ALS.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are taking a different approach. From bone marrow, they are developing stem cells that will protect existing motor neurons in patients with ALS. The bone marrow cells are genetically engineered to produce glial cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), according to Masatoshi Suzuki, D.V.M., Ph.D., an associate scientist at the University's Waisman Center. While this technique would not cure ALS, it would slow its progression, Dr. Suzuki believes. How GDNF does this remains unknown, but many studies have shown that GDNF protects motor neurons from degeneration, Dr. Suzuki says. In our approach, GDNF may contribute to the protection of neuromuscular connections.
Stem cells also could be used to restore vision, according to Beatrix Kovacs, Ph.D., a researcher in the Laboratory for Retinal and Neural Developmental Biology and Genetics at Rush University in Chicago.
In experiments with mice she has implanted retinal progenitor cells taken from newborn mouse eyes. While not as versatile as embryonic stem cells, which can turn into any type of cell in the body, progenitor cells have advantages. These progenitor cells, which are more differentiated than stem cells, are still capable of turning into a variety of retinal cell types.
Stem cells can become any type of cell, that's true, Dr. Kovacs says, but you have to tell them what to become. Retinal progenitor cells, on the other hand, are already committed to their retinal fate. They can migrate and integrate into the host tissue, and take up residence in the region where photoreceptors are found and become photoreceptor cells identical to those seen in the normal eye.
Being able to replace photoreceptors would help people suffering from retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disorder that causes blindness, as well as from age-related macular degeneration and other types of vision loss.
In retinitis pigmentosa, Dr. Kovacs says, the basic neural circuitry except for photoreceptors remains relatively intact. So if you could make photoreceptor cells, you could restore vision.
Dr. Shunbin Xu, Ph.D., the director of the Rush University lab where Dr. Kovacs works, believes the new technology of induced pluripotent stem cells, so-called iPS cells, may be the way to go in treating diseases that cause retinal degeneration. Even if the federal restrictions on stem cell research are reversed, he would continue research into induced pluripotent stem cells because they are showing great promise. But that does not diminish the importance of embryonic stem cells at all, he says.
Ping Wu, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, is working on a way to use neural stem cells taken from human fetuses to replace damaged spinal cord motor neurons, thereby enabling paralyzed people to walk again.
The fetal cells are already committed to becoming nerve tissue, which means they need less time to become motor neurons. That could be crucial when treating someone with a rapidly degenerating illness such as ALS.
Sometimes you want cells right away because you want to treat the patient as soon as possible, Dr. Wu explains.
Embryonic stem cells may take several weeks to become motor neurons, but the fetal cells may be ready for transplant in a week.
Transplants of fetal cells into animal spinal cords have been successful, according to Dr. Wu. When grafted around the area of injury, they become motor neurons, but the survival rate of the cells is very low, she notes.
Recently they have started injecting the cells into the ventricles of the brain, which are filled with spinal fluid. From there the cells migrate through spinal fluid to the injury site. The damaged area attracts the grafted cells, Dr. Wu says.
How soon will humans start to benefit from stem cell therapies? That depends on how soon researchers find ways to control the damage caused by neurological diseases. Transplanting new motor neurons in people with ALS would be a great advance, but would not produce much benefit if the disease process immediately destroyed them.
We have made progress, but we're still far away (from human trials), Dr. Wu says. Especially for diseases like ALS, we need to control the disease environment. Even a spinal cord injury produces a toxic environment, so controlling that is very important.
Embryonic stem cells come from human eggs that have been fertilized in the laboratory and allowed to divide into a hollow ball of 50 to 150 cells known as a blastocyst. The cells lining the inside of the blastocyst are pluripotent, which means they have the potential to develop into any cell in the human body.
Adult stem cells, also known as somatic stem cells, cannot become any type of cell in the body, but they retain the potential to develop into the types of cell found in the organ where they originated. For example, stem cells produced in the hippocampus of the adult brain have the potential to become one of the three common cells found in the brain: astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, or neurons.
Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are ordinary adult cells, such as skin cells, that have been returned to the pluripotent state of an embryonic stem cell by allowing a virus to enter the DNA and insert certain genes. | <urn:uuid:ab03c3b7-7de4-430b-b66c-5ee1ca19af08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://patients.aan.com/resources/neurologynow/index.cfm?event=home.showArticle&id=ovid.com%3A%2Fbib%2Fovftdb%2F01222928-200905010-00018 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947492 | 1,771 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Natural Resource Leadership Institute To Kick Off Fifth Year Of
May 25, 2004 --
A successful program to help Virginia’s leaders
address difficult environmental and community issues will kick
off its fifth yearlong program this fall.
Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute trains people
from industry, businesses,
local and state government, and the environmental community.
VNRLI is a partnership between the University of Virginia’s
Institute for Environmental Negotiation, Virginia Tech’s
Center for Economic Education and the Virginia Department
of the Institute give the program rave reviews. Ed Daley,
city manager and a 2001 fellow, said the program offers “powerful tools” to
those seeking to improve their effectiveness as a participant and mediator
of community conflict. "[I left] the program with an expanded toolbox
of dispute-resolution and leadership skills and a broader understanding of
the environmental issues
confronting us at the community and global levels."
in October, the Institute will launch its fifth series of
six seminar workshops, held
throughout the year in various locations across the state.
Participants accepted into the program attend all six workshops, which
generally run from
Wednesday through Friday.
Virginia Natural Resources Leadership Institute is encouraging
applicants from business and industry; state,
local and federal government; American
Indian tribes; environmental and civic organizations; African-American
communities; as well as individuals who are involved in some capacity
with natural resource
issues and are catalysts in their communities.
new class is limited to 30 people.
will gain personal skills in leadership and collaborative
with a goal of being better
able to both convene and
engage in collaborative
problem solving and consensus building. Each session offers interactive
exercises that focus on a topic such as conflict resolution, facilitation,
building, interest-based negotiation, mediation, environmental justice
and special group
addition, participants will gain deeper understanding of
key environmental issues in Virginia and discover opportunities
for dialogue and collaborative
problem solving. The overall focus for the 2005 program is land
and each session will offer panel discussions and field trips associated
such as open space conservation, smart growth, environmental justice,
Superfund site cleanup and redevelopment, and sustainable agriculture
many workshops that may have short-lived effects, the Institute
appears to have long-term impacts. One year
after graduating, a
2001 fellow noted
that the Institute “sharpened my negotiating skills and
mediating skills. [It] provided me greater insight into how people
that sometimes become
the basis of personal missions [and] increased my awareness of
tactics used to sway public opinion.”
others, the Institute has also been life-changing. Gavin
Sanderlin, a watershed protection
specialist and organic farm
me the courage to take on projects that I could not predict
the outcome of, but doing so while living by my ethics. [It]
me to tools that I can use to
move through conflict, not only with other individuals or at
the group level, but also within myself.”
Virginia Department of Forestry is eager to see the Institute
demands and pressures on our resources are becoming greater
every day” said
Mike Foreman of the Department of Forestry. “We need
to develop new, innovative approaches to doing business.
One way to do that is to build an understanding
of each other and of the issues.”
Ellerbrock, director of the Virginia Tech Center for Economic
Education, one of
the program’s co-sponsors, said one goal is to bring
people together who normally don't have the opportunity
to interact on an informal, friendly
basis. “The Institute does not try to convince anyone
of any particular solution or outcome, but it does aim
to help people gain insight into different
perspectives about the same issue.”
for the yearlong course is $1,600, excluding travel, lodging
and some meals.
deadline for applications is June 1, and those accepted will
be notified by June 25.
pleased to be able to offer scholarships to the next class,” said
Tanya Denckla Cobb, senior associate with U.Va.’s
Institute for Environmental Negotiation. “We
want to make it possible for people to participate
without a cost barrier.” She urges people to
apply even if they’re not sure
they can afford the entire registration fee.
an application, contact Tanya Denckla Cobb or program
manager Caroline Wilkinson at (434) 924-6569
firstname.lastname@example.org. The application
is also available
on the Institute’s Web site: http://www.virginia.edu/ien/VNRLI_home.html.
leadership program is supported in part by the
U.S. Forest Service’s
Urban and Community Forestry Grant Program.
Katherine Thompson Jackson, (434) 924-3629 | <urn:uuid:eed868a9-f3df-4b59-9e7d-48b94a49372b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/releases2004/vnrl-may-25-2004.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91792 | 1,072 | 2 | 2 |
A recent post on “Techdirt” opens an interesting discussion. The article reminds us yet again that internet is challenging the way copyright operates. There can be a struggle dealing with literary works contained in a static medium such as a newspaper when that same material is available online — and this can be at odds with capitalising on the power of the internet when disseminating and retaining information.
The techdirt article uses the example of a page on The Guardian website where under the title of a historical item the following words appear:
“this article has been removed as our copyright has expired.”
The beauty of the web is that unlike a traditional medium you don’t have to rely only on today’s headline to bring in readers. The archives can receive traffic as easily as the day’s headline. And its bad form to post something, circulate the link and then remove that content. This can lead future recipients of the link to find the content no longer exists.
As content providers we need to be sure of what we have before posting. In a public sector environment such as ours we are encouraged to share and make all materials available to all. Whilst law suits are an unlikely for us there are other responsibilities to consider, such as confidentiality, attribution, timing or simply common courtesy. Far better to double check an author is happy for their work to be shared, than to post without permission and risk causing offence – whatever the copyright situation. WARNING: Bad IP practice can lead to bad public relations!
(Thanks to Guat Hong Teh for her input to this post) | <urn:uuid:7a5cd25b-a8d6-4d61-8f95-068bf5b8225a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://casipblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/05/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955906 | 327 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Last Name: Mitchell
First Name : Katherine
Middle Name: Mary
Subject's City: Tuscaloosa
Subject's State: AL
Subject's County: Tuscaloosa Co.
Subject's Country: United States
Comments: Katherine Mary Mitchell (Nee: Mitchell) | Tuscaloosa AL United States | 1851-1900 | Comments: Katherine Mary Mitchell (daughter of Dempsey Griffin Mitchell and Pomelia Frances Roycroft) was born 23 Apr 1886 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and died 08 Apr 1961 in State Hospital, Wichita Falls, Texas. She married Edward Roy Chandler on date unknown in Texas, son of Jackson Wilkins Chandler and Mary Alice Webb.
*I'm trying to obtain info on my grandmother Katherine Mary Mitchell ( Kate ). On the death certificate & my fathers birth certificate said's her name Katherine was spell with a C. She was born April 23, 1887 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. She is the Daughter of Demsey and Amelia Frances Roycroft, Katherine Mary had old timers and her mind went back in to time when they fought the Indians. she worry that they was coming back to kill her and her children. Katherine Mary was put in to a mental hospital because the Docter thought she mite hurt her self or others. She died April 8, 1961 in Wichita Fall, Texas. she is buried in Eastland, Texas. Katherine Mary & her family moved to Texas unknown city.
Siblings Demsey and or Permelia Mitchell, are Dollie ( Mitchell ) Crowell, Sue ( Mitchell ) Claxton, Frank Mitchell, Authur Mitchell, Virgil Mitchell, Katherine Mary (Mitchell) Chandler. Katherine married Edward Roy Chandler date Unknown In Texas. All other info is unknown. If any one has Info on her or her family it would be appreciate Thank you Glenda Chandler. Burial: 10 Apr 1961, Eastland Texas, Section E5C, Lot 200, Space W, at the Eastland Cemetery. Nickname: Kate.
Digital Image Only? NO
Everyone Listed In This Photo: | <urn:uuid:27a105b9-2023-4651-8a7f-12f0dddd66ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.deadfred.com/surnamePersR_05.php?ID=53483&dfpage=3&sLastName=Mitchell&refpage=/surnameIndR_05.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927816 | 424 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Tallahassee, Florida- July 4, 2012
Thousands of people visited Tom Brown Park for the 4th of July celebration called Celebrate America. This year was the 25th year it has been held in Tallahassee.
There were 16 vendors, live music, games and families of all ages. There was also various international visitors that were celebrating 4th of July for the first time.
Early summer showers led many to believe this Celebrate America event might have a smaller turnout. As the day went on and the rain stopped the sun came out and the crowds started to show up.
The fireworks went on around 10 pm and families of all ages enjoyed the festivities. | <urn:uuid:ccc95648-641a-4433-affe-863dd0f1d995> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wctv.tv/wswg/home/headlines/Thousands_Come_Out_for_Celebrate_America_on_July_4th_161395425.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990352 | 139 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Natural resources are often associated with high levels of corruption. Nigeria and Bolivia are perhaps the most cited examples of this association. Figure 1 plots log resource rent as a measure of natural resources in 1990 against the Political Risk Service's corruption index in 1990, demonstrating that more corrupt (lower index value) countries tend to have more natural resources.
Figure 1. Corruption and natural resources
In the past, economists have studied this issue both empirically and theoretically. One main argument put forward was that resource rents and rents induced by a lack of product market competition foster bureaucratic corruption (Ades and Di Tella, 1999). Others have argued that resource extraction itself is a rent-seeking activity that encourages rent seeking in other sectors of the economy and limits growth (Leite and Weidman, 2002). Empirically several studies have shown that the proportion of exports of fuel, minerals, plantation crops, and metals increases corruption (Treisman, 2000; Isham et al., 2005; and Aslaksen, 2007). However, it still remains a puzzle why some resource-rich countries (for example Australia, Canada, Norway) have very low levels of corruption. The answer to the key question of how natural resources affect corruption also remains uncertain.
In this column, we make an attempt to provide an answer to this puzzle. We argue that strong democratic institutions help to moderate the effect of natural resources on corruption. A brief look at the data already provides some support for this prediction. In Figures 2 and 3, we split the sample into democratic and non-democratic countries.1 These suggest that the negative relationship between natural resources and the corruption index prevails in the sample of non-democratic countries but not in the sample of democratic countries.
Figure 2. Corruption and natural resources, democracies
Figure 3. Corruption and natural resources, non-democracies
In a forthcoming paper (Bhattacharyya and Hodler, 2009), we provide more systematic and rigorous empirical test of this prediction using a reduced-form model and panel data covering the period 1980 to 2004 and 124 countries. The estimates confirm that the relationship between natural resource rent and corruption depends on the quality of the democratic institutions. In particular, we find that resource rents are positively associated with corruption in countries for which the net democracy score POLITY2 is 8.5 or less. In 2004, the resource-rich countries Bolivia and Mexico had a POLITY2 score of 8, and resource-rich Botswana a POLITY2 score of 9. Our estimates predict that if resource rents in Angola (a resource-rich country with POLITY2 score of -3) declined from approximately $1.5 million to zero, its corruption would fall by 1.5 points of the Political Risk Services’ corruption scale. That is equivalent to one sample standard deviation in our 124-country sample, and the decline would be even greater if Angola’s democratic institutions matched the quality of Botswana’s. These results hold when we control for the effects of income, time-varying common shocks, regional fixed effects, and various additional covariates. It is also robust to various alternative measures of natural resources, corruption, and the quality of the democratic institutions, as well as across different samples.
How does democracy mediate resource rents?
The key question is how to explain this evidence. In our paper, we present a political economy model to illustrate how democracy might affect the relationship between resource rents and corruption. We construct a game between politicians and the people. We assume that there are some “good” politicians who act in the people’s best interest and possibly many more “bad” politicians who primarily care about the revenues they can generate by corrupt activities. The mass prefers to have a good politician as their president. This provides an incentive for a bad incumbent president to mimic a good president and not to engage in corruption in order to maximise his chances of remaining in power. In equilibrium, a bad incumbent mimics a good incumbent if and only if the democratic institutions are sufficiently sound, i.e., if and only if popular support significantly improves his probability of staying in office. If this difference is small, a bad incumbent engages in corrupt activities. The level of corruption in this case increases with natural resources, as resource rents are less sensitive to corruption than other sectors of the economy. Therefore, resource abundance increases corruption in countries with poor democratic institutions but not in countries with comparatively better democratic institutions.
These findings imply that resource-rich countries have a tendency to be corrupt, because resource windfalls encourage their governments to engage in rent seeking. However, history shows that countries discovering natural resources after they have established well-functioning democratic institutions tend to handle the scourge of corruption much better. Australia, Canada and Norway are good examples of this trend. The converse is not difficult to find, of course.
The evidence here suggests that this tendency can be checked by sound democratic institutions that keep governments accountable. Such institutional changes would include both electoral and judicial reforms. Promoting citizens’ right to information through legislation, increasing community participation, and social auditing of bureaucrats can also be important tools towards building a more accountable government. Even though far from conclusive, some country studies are already showing corruption-reducing effects of such policy changes (Bhattacharyya and Jha, 2009; Olken, 2007).
Ades, A., and R. Di Tella. (1999). “Rents, Competition, and Corruption,” American Economic Review, 89(4), 982-993.
Aslaksen, S. (2007). “Corruption and Oil: Evidence from Panel Data,” mimeograph.
Bhattacharyya, S., and R. Hodler (2009). “Natural Resources, Democracy and Corruption,” European Economic Review, forthcoming.
Bhattacharyya, S., and R. Jha (2009). “Economic Growth, Law and Corruption: Evidence from India,” Unpublished Manuscript.
Isham, J., L. Pritchett, M. Woolcock, and G. Busby. (2005). “The Varieties of Resource Experience: Natural Resource Export Structures and the Political Economy of Economic Growth,” World Bank Economic Review, 19, 141-174.
Leite, C., and J. Weidmann. (1999). “Does Mother Nature Corrupt? Natural Resources, Corruption and Economic Growth,” IMF Working Paper No. WP/99/85.
Olken, B. (2007). “Monitoring Corruption: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Indonesia,” Journal of Political Economy, 115(2), 200-249.
Treisman, D. (2000). “The Causes of Corruption: A Cross-National Study,” Journal of Public Economics, 76, 399 – 457. | <urn:uuid:77ec4e52-0c2b-4826-b6c5-adae59fc8e53> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voxeu.com/article/must-natural-resources-be-curse | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92043 | 1,409 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Auckland university researchers have written software which enables a computer to recognise rat footprints from those of other wildlife, and tell the difference between species of rats.
"By identifying rat species we can understand patterns of invasion on predator-free islands, or detect new species entering New Zealand," biologist James Russell said.
The software can be used to read cards left on either side of an inkpad that pests walk over in tunnels placed in vulnerable sites such as predator-free islands or cargo crates.
Footprint cards are a cheap method of identifying animals, particularly ones present in low numbers, or difficult for human observers to find.
The Department of Conservation uses footprint cards but analyses them manually, and it is difficult for even experts to differentiate between species with similar-looking footprints.
Automating the footprint identification speeds up the tracking of invasive animals, and technique can be easily adapted to monitor other animals.
By developing an automated method to identify species, and extending it to any animal that leaves tracks - including reptiles and insects - researchers can help track species living in an area, said Dr Russell, who now teaches at the University of California's Berkeley campus.
Tracking tunnels will be used on Auckland's Rangitoto and Motutapu islands, where eradication programmes have started against all introduced animals. | <urn:uuid:1d5d7f10-930b-4d9e-a8f8-42567640b17c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10581700 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914326 | 263 | 3.125 | 3 |
8-13-04 - TAMPA, Fla. (AP) Hurricane Charley is spinning ever closer to Florida, with top sustained winds of 110 miles per hour. The entire west coast of the state is under a hurricane warning. MacDill Air Force Base, the nerve center of the war in Iraq, is in the path of the storm.
Florida officials are now urging about two million people to evacuate as Hurricane Charley steams toward land.
A spokeswoman at the state emergency management center says the evacuation order extends from the Florida Keys all the way up the west coast. She says many people will likely stay in their homes, but up to a million and a half will likely seek shelter from the storm.
Governor Jeb Bush says it's "a scary, scary thing." The emergency management chief in Pinellas County is just as blunt. He says people who don't heed the evacuation orders and find themselves trapped during the storm will be on their own. He says rescuers won't do what he calls "suicide missions."
The category three storm is expected to hit Tampa Bay later on Friday. | <urn:uuid:1371734a-e21b-4bd9-b41b-d06ce10fb026> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kxii.com/news/headlines/924107.html?site=mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970493 | 227 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Some fonts do not scale well when zooming the form, which may cause text to appear cut off in some fields. This problem is most noticeable in fields that are either very small or very large. It is important to have fonts scale properly so forms are accessible to users who may have vision disabilities. Test your form thoroughly using various zoom levels. If you notice any problems with text or fields, either use a different font or instruct your users to view the form at 100% zoom level.
No example provided.
Exceptions to this practice
There are no exceptions to this practice. | <urn:uuid:90e9b426-bedc-419a-8dd0-371f8081cdde> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lfwiki.nsf/dx/test-forms-at-various-zoom-levels | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915487 | 118 | 1.71875 | 2 |
By Mahsa Maleki, Syria Country Specialist
Since protests demanding reform began on March 15 in Syria, hundreds have been detained or injured and more than 450 protesters killed by Syrian security forces.
Members of the army and paramilitaries have shot into crowds of protesters and mourners using live ammunition, while snipers have shot and killed people in the streets and their homes and targeted medical workers and those helping the wounded.
Although the Syrian government and the Syrian state news agency have attributed many killings to members of “terrorist” and “fundamentalist” armed groups, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the evidence clearly indicates that security forces of the Syrian government are responsible.
Amnesty International has asked the Syrian authorities for permission to enter the country to investigate alleged human rights violations first hand. | <urn:uuid:ac1b8711-98f4-486c-a409-c72d345af106> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.amnestyusa.org/tag/sana/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958039 | 162 | 1.921875 | 2 |
More than 125 women, many there to learn how to become hunters, spent the weekend in the Squam Lakes Area, learning about the outdoors.
Marie Davis, 32, of West Wareham, Mass., was participating Friday in an "Introduction to Dressing Large Field Game" class. It was one of 38 classes women could choose from during a weekend event called "Becoming an Outdoors Woman," sponsored by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
Davis said her husband is an avid outdoorsman and she wants to be able to share the experience.
Having already gone on a few hunting trips with him, Davis said wanted to learn how to do more on her own.
"I want to be competent when I'm out in the woods," Davis said. "I also like the idea of being self-sufficient — knowing that if something happened, I'd be able to provide for myself."
Wareham is part of a growing number of women interested in hunting, a sport that overall is on the wane. While the total number of hunters continues to be on the decline nationwide, more women are taking up the sport.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in 2006 (the latest year for which statistics are available) the number of hunters nationwide was 12.5 million, down from 19.1 million in 1975. The Service predicts that by 2025, the number will have dropped to 9.1 million.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which issues hunting statistics every five years, in 2006 Women made up about 9 percent (or 1.2 million) of the 12.5 million hunters in the U.S., showing a slight increase over 2001.
The report also noted that 304,000 girls ages 6 to 15 hunted from 2001 through 2006, a 50-percent increase over the period 1991 through 1996.
The National Sporting Goods Association noted in 2009 that there has been a significant increase in female hunters across the country. In 2009, the association reports, there was a 5.4 percent rise in female hunters, adding some 160,000 women hunters to an estimated 1.2 million already hunting.
The growing number of women interested in hunting is evidenced by the popularity of such programs as Becoming an Outdoor Woman, sponsored by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department.
Tina Davenport, coordinator, said it's one of the department's most popular.
"We have been filled to capacity for the past 16 years," she said, noting that during the last few years, they have had to expand their women's programming.
In particular, more women are showing interest in bow hunting and shooting classes, Davenport said.
"But the biggest growth I've seen in the past three years has been in programs like field dressing courses for small and large game," she said, adding that the number of women participating in such classes has doubled.
Trapping courses have also grown significantly in participation.
This weekend, the Becoming an Outdoor Woman Fall event at Rocky Wall Deep Haven Camp in Holderness gives women the opportunity to choose four classes out of 38, including one class Friday, two on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Classes include introductory courses on camping, fishing, hiking, shooting, kayaking and game dressing. Some classes are being held at the Owlbrook Hunter Education Center, also located in Holderness.
This year, 127 women have registered for the weekend. Last year 126 women registered and 123 attended.
In New Hampshire and Maine, the number of overall hunters, determined by the sale of hunting licenses, has remained relatively stable or declined slightly over the last several years.
According to the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department, in 2008, the latest year for which statistics are available, there were 59,154 hunting licenses sold. In 2004, the number of hunting licenses sold was 62,587.
In Maine, the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife reports that their hunting licenses sales have remained essentially level over the last five years, totaling 205,387 in 2009 and 208,915 om 2005.
Laura Ryder, hunter education administrator for New Hampshire Fish and Game, said that except for a little uptick in fiscal year 2009, the number of people taking the state certification test for hunting has remained relatively stable over the last several years.
Ryder said the state certifies about 3,900 hunters a year, which includes firearms, bow and trapper education programs.
In Holderness, Tom Flynn, the facilities and program manager, said the number of women and children taking hunter education and other outdoor courses has been steadily increasing over the more than 10 years the center has been open.
In all, the center serves nearly 1,400 people taking courses each year.
The Belknap County Sportsmen Association, which has a lodge in Gilford, has seen a jump in membership, said Scott Mooney, vice president, although he added that the growth is mostly due to the opening of a shooting range.
"We've had more women taking our hunter education course," Mooney said.
Greg Lawson, spokesman for the Ohio-based U.S. Sportsman Alliance, said the overall number of hunters in the United States has declined significantly since the 1980s, though it has leveled off in recent years.
He said the number of hunters in the U.S., 12.5 million, estimated during the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2006 survey, has probably declined slightly since. A new survey will take place soon he said.
Before the 1980s, Lawson said, there were some 19 million hunters in the country.
Lawson said there are a number of factors that have caused the decline, with one of the biggest being urbanization and suburbanization, especially during the housing boom of the 1980s.
"Development has crowded out some of the places that traditionally hunters had easy access to," Lawson said.
He added there also has been a demographic and ideological shift that doesn't value hunting.
In terms of demographics, with families shrinking in size and moving away from relatives, there are fewer chances for older people to teach younger people — such as a grandfather teaching a grandson or granddaughter — how to hunt.
More children are also spending less time outdoors and more time inside.
"Children play video games, watch television and quite frankly don't go outside as much for any activity, including hunting," Lawson said.
Another factor has been the anti-hunting efforts of animal rights groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Lawson said.
"It was all these things coming together" that caused the significant drop in hunters between the 1980s and 2000, Lawson said.
He attributed the leveling out to a concerted effort from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and its state counterparts, as well as private organizations, working to educate the public about the benefits of hunting and to provide more opportunities for people to learn how to hunt.
"We want to focus especially on youth, so that they will pass their skills on to the next generation," Lawson said.
Lawson said the recent uptick of female hunters is also a positive sign that hunting may no longer be on the wane.
"More women across the country are getting involved in hunting and in shooting sports in general, which is interesting because these activities have not traditionally been sought out by women," Lawson said. "I think women are looking for different activities and to expand their outdoor recreation opportunities."
For more information on hunting, visit wildlife.state.nh.us/Hunting/hunting.htm or maine.gov/ifw/hunting_trapping/index.htm.
Owlbrook Hunter Education Center Program Manager Tom Flynn ensures Tonya Hening's weapon is resting correctly on her shoulder during an Intro to Rifles course at the shooting range facility Friday. Hening, who is from Whitefield, was one of more than 125 women participating in the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department's "Becoming an Outdoor Woman" weekend event.
Daryl Carlson/Citizen photo | <urn:uuid:07744d21-2830-45b0-a531-c59d1a61cdcc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100912/GJNEWS_01/709129939/0/FRONTPAGE&CSProduct=fosters | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974663 | 1,650 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Minimal Perl for Unix and Linux People: Part 2
Perl as a (Better) Find Command: Part 2
By: Tim Maher
6.4 Processing Filename Arguments
Have you ever run the grep command, only to find yourself suddenly staring at a screen full of blinking graphics characters? Most Unix users should witness this phenomenon sooner or later, because it's not only the closest approximation to the Aurora Borealis you'll ever see on a computer terminal, it's also a rite of passage for Unix newbies.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, feast your eyes on figure 6.1, which shows what happened when a hapless user attempted to search all files under
$HOME for lines containing the letter e, using POSIX grep.
Unfortunately for that user, grep doesn't treat
$HOME as some kind of magical reference to all the files within the director
y it names, as many are prone to assume. Instead, it's taken as the name of the specific file that's to be opened and examined for matches! As luck would have it, this directory file did contain some occurrences of the letter
e, so grep dutifully sent the associated "lines" to the screen.
But the terminal interpreted something in that data stream as a request to switch character sets, which is why it's difficult to decipher the output of the
ls-l commands that came next.
By the way, if you're thinking, "I'm too smart too fall into that trap," consider the related commands shown here, which are just as dangerous in cases where "
*" finds a subdirectory it can match:
It's scary to contemplate, but I know from my decades in Unix IT circles that many users issue commands like these all the time; they're just lucky to rarely find matches in the binary files they're inadvertently searching.
Okay, now you understand the problem, and you've seen that it's an easy trap to fall into. So you're probably asking yourself, "Is there any hope of defending the hordes of accident-prone Unix users from these grepological calamities? And what does this have to do with Perl?"
Of course there's hope; and, as usual, our salvation is achieved by Perl coming to the rescue. | <urn:uuid:3d6f94e3-ff38-4d3d-bcf5-18cc31d3f173> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.webreference.com/programming/perl/minimal_perl2/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961308 | 469 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Secretary Steven Chu visited Kapolei, Hawaii, to check on the process of an integrated biorefinery project awarded $25 million through the Recovery Act to construct the facility. | Image courtesy of the Energy Department.
Earlier this month, Secretary Steven Chu visited Kapolei, Hawaii, to check in on the progress of an integrated biorefinery project that promises to help increase the domestic production of advanced biofuels. Once complete, the pilot-scale facility will convert cellulosic biomass, like wood waste and algae, into clean, renewable gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
Honeywell UOP, the company leading the project, was awarded $25 million through the Recovery Act to construct the facility—part of the Department’s efforts to bolster America’s advanced biofuels industry and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.
The project leverages two commercially proven core technologies into an integrated platform: pyrolysis of biomass from Ensyn Corporation and hydroconversion from UOP. The pyrolysis process rapidly heats the biomass to form a vapor that is then rapidly cooled, creating a liquid bio-oil. The hydroconversion process cleans and stabilizes the bio-oil to make it suitable for storage and processing into finished transportation fuels. The integrated biorefinery will demonstrate the technology’s viability, test the fuels produced, and evaluate the fuels and the processing technology’s environmental footprint.
Once the technology has been successfully demonstrated at this scale, UOP intends to make the technology available to license at the commercial scale. Each commercial application would produce as much as 50 million gallons of drop-in green transportation fuels per year and create up to 1,000 permanent jobs. Initial production at UOP’s Hawaii facility is scheduled to begin in 2012. The facility is expected to be fully operational by 2014.
To learn more about the Department’s support of research and development of biofuels, bioenergy and bioproducts, visit the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s biomass page. | <urn:uuid:548c7b2d-a22b-4f32-8f92-966714614a73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ymp.gov/articles/secretary-chu-checks-biomass-pilot-scale-facility | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917007 | 424 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Calling on Christie to Fight Fracking
Volunteers took to downtown Red Bank Thursday to encourage residents to support anti-fracking measures currently before Gov. Chris Christie.
It might be all up to Gov. Chris Christie now, but Food and Water Watch is hoping New Jersey residents can help steer him in the right direction when it comes to anti-fracking legislation currently sitting on his desk waiting for a signature.
Volunteers from the environmental organization took to downtown Red Bank Thursday to ask for signatures and to encourage residents to call Christie and tell him that they don’t want fracking wastewater – the carcinogen-laden remnants left over from hydraulic fracturing – treated in New Jersey.
In June, the State Senate and Assembly easily passed two bills bipartisan support would ban fracking wastewater disposal or storage in New Jersey. The bills have yet to be signed by Christie, who has stated publicly that he’d like to do a bit of his own research into fracking and fracking wastewater disposal before making a final decision.
“Our water treatment plants are not designed to treat the waste,” Watch volunteer Lauren Petrie said, holding a clipboard and handing out flyers to passersby on Broad Street. “It’s hazardous. It contains known carcinogens and some of it is radioactive.”
Hydraulic fracturing is the process of extracting natural gas from underground by pumping fracking fluid – a combination of water and chemicals, not all of which are known – into shale a mile below the surface. The fracking causes, in essence, small earthquakes, which results in the release of natural gas.
Though New Jersey isn’t believed to have much in the way of natural gas beneath its surface, making fracking on state soil unlikely, nearby states like Pennsylvania and Ohio have embraced the process. When it comes to treating the toxic wastewater that’s left behind, however, New Jersey is fair game.
The bills banning fracking waste from being treated in New Jersey were passed by the Assembly 56-19-1-4 and the Senate 30-5-5, respectively. Locally, State Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-11, voted to approve the fracking wastewater ban. She was joined by Assembly Representatives Declan O’Scanlon, R-13, and Caroline Casagrande, R-11.
Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini, R-11, voted against the ban.
There are many environmental concerns related to fracking. At the worst, the process, some believe, could result in significant, and deadly, earthquakes. At the very least, the process of fracking involves pumping dangerous chemicals deep into ground where drinking water could be impacted. Though proponents of the practice contend that fracking poses no risk to drinking water because it’s done so far under ground, studies have shown elevated levels of contaminants in the drinking water of those near the gas drilling operations.
There have been talks about fracking near the Delaware River Basin, which provides drinking water to some 15 million people in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York, though no approvals have been granted. Fracking has even spread to areas of New York State.
“That’s all New York has. It’s got the best drinking water in the country and this could single handily destroy that,” Holmdel resident and petition signer Carolyn Stanyek said. “It’s sick. This is important. I’m serious. This is important for our kids and their kids.”
To learn more about the dangers of fracking, visit www.foodandwaterwatch.org. To reach the governor about signing the bills into law, call (866)846-4075. | <urn:uuid:f77ef674-8157-468f-b132-3d1390671870> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pointpleasant.patch.com/articles/calling-on-christie-to-fight-fracking | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947868 | 758 | 2.359375 | 2 |
View Full Version : question on html or xhtml or whatever
9th December 2005, 06:10 PM
ok i keep reading about xhtml 1.0 and xhtml 2.0 and xhtml 4.0 and xhtml 4.01. my question is are these programms you need to download to make a serious website like koc, or earthlink, or google or any big websites. please send me a pm or just post. but this is a really confusing issue i would like your help on.
9th December 2005, 06:42 PM
Well if you really have NO idea what xhtml is then maybe reading the Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XHTML) on the topic is a good place to start. It will give you an overview. xhtml isn't a program you download, instead it's a language that you program in.
If you are interested in a tutorial on xhtml check this link (http://www.w3schools.com/xhtml/default.asp) out.
9th December 2005, 06:58 PM
ok thanks i will look into them.
9th December 2005, 07:31 PM
You don't need to download any big programs to make a website. All you need is a text editor like notepad, a browser (Like Firefox, etc) and a tutorial to learn the html from. Learn xhtml 1.0 . XHTML 2 is still only a working draft as far as I know. If you only wanted to make basic static websites all you need to know is XHTML and CSS. But I recommend that you download a decent text editor that has helpfull features like syntax highlighting. I use a free one called PSPad for some stuff like Perl and PHP but I use an XML editor called XMLSpy for HTML stuff.
Stuff like koc and all the rest you mentioned needs a server side programming aswell though. KOC uses PHP which is quite popular these days. There's other languages are used for it too like ASP, Java, Perl, etc. I'd advise you to stay away from ASP because good cheap hosting for it isn't easy to find...and it's from microsoft.
P.S You can run PHP, Perl etc on your own computer but you'll need to download some things. You'll need a HTTP server (I recommend Apache http://httpd.apache.org/) and the interpreter programs for the language you want (php or w/e). They're all free though so it won't cost you anything.
10th December 2005, 04:08 AM
Remember it like this. html was the first proper web language. Xhtml is html remade in a stricter form. If you make mistakes your page won't work, where as with html if you mess up the chances are that your page will still load fine.
html 4.01 and xhtml 2.0 are used to make a website look nice, it puts the content on the page. It inserts pictures and text. Thats about the limit of html and xhtml.
To make a site like koc you need database programing like php and mysql/asp and sql.
After that you can learn what you want, be it php or asp. These 2 are what you really need to make a koc game. And for these i suggest you either do a short course or buy a book.
10th December 2005, 03:54 PM
ok i will think over these whith my friends and i have gone into every tutorial mention on the w3schools website and made copyies of all the data in them. so if i wanted to make a big site like koc i will need a side-server. thanks alot folks. but also notepad will do fine to get a small site up and running.
19th December 2005, 05:54 PM
W3schools is ok, but there is something not right about learning good coding from a site that uses tables for their layout. Some people you will find are opposed to serving xHTML as text/html as that was not it's purpose, but that is it's most common use. xHTML Strict in my opinion is better than HTML 4.01 Strict, but for some reason some people belive than since it was made for text/xml (not advised as IE will not render it anywhere near correctly) it cannot be used served as text/html. Don't be put off by that, make your own choices.
As far as editors go, the best ones (as ManxTT said) are basic text editors with syntax highlighting. For this I recommend Notepad 2 (http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html) and Notepad++ (http://sourceforge.net/projects/notepad-plus/). Both free effective editors. WYSIWYG editors are VERY bad for generating code. They produce a mess of code that is not worthy of a barbie fansite.
As to what you should learn, (x)HTML and CSS are the best starting points, as the markup builds the structure. If you learn HTML, then CSS is a must. Those who code HTML without CSS, you are fools, I apologise, but using tables for non-tabular information is just stupid. Positioned <div>s and other elements like <h1> etc used in a Semantic and Valid fashion is the only right way to code in my opinion.
Moving into dynamic sites I recommend PHP and MySQL, it provides an excellent preprocessing language with the excellent SQL database system. All CMSs (Content Management Systems) you come across will be in PHP or another preprocessing language. It is therefore an excellent and worthwhile thing to learn. It is also a good choice if you have any experience with C++ as it was made by the same developers and therefore uses much of the same functions and syntax.
8th March 2006, 11:55 AM
a good starting point is a book I found handy, 'HTML complete' as it cover xhtml as well, it's written by sybex, and is full of nearly all the things you need to write your own web site pages. it is also web based take a look here! (http://www.sybex.com) mind you there are so many tutorials online as well, just take it easy and if you can learn xhtml all well and good, as it does teach you to 'nest' properly, and even if you revert to html it stands you in good stead. | <urn:uuid:fab4b6a2-e076-44f9-b539-dab30415ee88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.giveupalready.com/archive/index.php/t-31044.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94475 | 1,366 | 2.5 | 2 |
LIVERPOOL (REUTERS).- John Lennon's son Julian and first wife Cynthia unveiled a monument to the late singer Saturday, the 70th anniversary of his birth, and said the time for mourning the former Beatle was over.
The presentation of a $350,000 18-foot structure, designed to promote peace, was one of several events being held around the world to celebrate one of pop music's most influential singers and songwriters who was murdered in New York in 1980 at the age of 40.
Internet search site Google paid tribute to Lennon with a hand-drawn logo and mini-video based on his hit "Imagine."
Manhattan planned a benefit concert and Lennon's widow Yoko Ono was to perform alongside their son Sean as the Plastic Ono Band in Reykjavik.
Cynthia, 71, and Julian Lennon, 47, looked on in Lennon's birthplace Liverpool as a choir performed his music. A crowd of several hundred people gathered in Chavasse Park for the event.
"I think the mourning is over for John," said Cynthia, who was married to Lennon between 1962 and 1968. "I think it's time to celebrate, which is what we're doing."
Musician Julian added: "I think most things have been said. We come here with our hearts to honor dad and to pray for peace and say thank you to each and every one of you and everyone involved in the celebrations today."
As one half of the songwriting partnership in the Beatles alongside Paul McCartney, Lennon was responsible for much of the band's catalog, including seminal hits like "She Loves You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand" and "A Hard Day's Night."
The band is widely credited as being the most successful in pop history, and Lennon went on to make his mark as a solo artist after the group split in 1970 with classic songs including "Imagine."
Ono said his influence continued to be felt, 30 years after his death.
"It's very interesting, you know, that songs like 'Gimme Some Truth' mean a lot now, and of course 'Give Peace a Chance' ... 'Imagine'," she said in Reykjavik Friday.
"All his political songs really have a lot of meaning right now for people," she said.
Lennon remains big business, and the anniversary, just months before the 30th anniversary of his death, has seen the release of a new wave of Lennon-related merchandise and music.
Ono oversaw the making of a digitally remastered Lennon catalog that includes eight studio albums and several newly compiled titles on the EMI Music label.
(Reporting and writing by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Janet Lawrence) | <urn:uuid:18342c52-0cea-43f4-8539-feb82ef82708> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=41642&int_modo=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985043 | 558 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Biofuels such as corn ethanol or rapeseed biodiesel are unsustainable, because they have a very weak energy balance and do not reduce greenhouse gas emissions much. For this reason, scientists are looking into developing 'second-generation' biofuels, made from cellulose, which is a far more abundant feedstock than the oil and sugar currently obtained from grains, canes and oil seeds. Cellulose is the most abundant biological material on earth.
Even though 'first-generation' biofuels made from tropical feedstocks, such as sugarcane or cassava already do have a strong energy balance and reduce CO2 emissions considerably, utilizing the cellulosic waste biomass obtained during their production as a feedstock for ethanol would likewise increase these balances even further and make tropical biofuels extremely energy efficient.
However, the production of biofuels from cellulose in mass quantities is still quite costly. The development of thermochemical conversion technologies - which involve gasification or pyrolysis of biomass - is making good progress, even though cost and downstream processing into useable fuels remains an obstacle. The same is true for the biochemical conversion path, which is based on the use of enzymes to break down the cell walls of plants and to release the sugars they contain that can then be fermented into alcohol.
With current technologies, this critical step of breaking down cell walls relies on microbial enzymes called "cellulases" to digest the cellulose. The microbial enzymes have a structure that makes them very efficient at binding to and digesting plant cell wall material called lignocellulose (a combination of lignin and cellulose).
But now, a new class of plant enzymes with a similar structure has been discovered, potentially offering researchers new properties for producing ethanol even more efficiently. A team working with Jocelyn Rose, Cornell assistant professor of plant biology, published its paper [*abstract] on the new class of enzymes in the April 20 issue of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Breeanna Urbanowicz, a graduate student in Rose's laboratory, was the paper's lead author.
"The bottleneck for conversion of lignocellulose into ethanol is efficient cellulose degradation. The discovery of these enzymes suggests there might be sets of new plant enzymes to improve the efficiency of cellulose degradation." - Jocelyn Rose, Cornell assistant professor of plant biologyFor an enzyme to break down cellulose, a structure called a cellulose-binding module attaches to the cellulose. Once attached, a catalyst then breaks the cell wall material into small units, which can then be turned into ethanol. While researchers have known that plants have cellulase-like enzymes, it was previously thought that they did not have a cellulose-binding module, and so could not attach to cellulose or digest it very effectively -- until now:
bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: ethanol :: cellulose :: cellulase :: enzyme :: biochemistry ::
"This is the first example of a cellulose-binding domain in a plant cell wall enzyme," said Rose. While the new enzyme was found in a tomato plant, Rose and colleagues have evidence of a set of such plant proteins in many species that potentially could be used for biofuel production. Biofuel research may also help uncover exciting new uses for these enzymes, said Rose. Researchers may, for example, breed for plants with high levels of these proteins.
Though the scientists stress that more study is needed to understand how plants use this class of enzymes, Rose speculates that they may be needed when growing tissues rapidly expand and require loosening of tightly bound strands of cellulose, called microfibrils, that make up a cell wall's structure. The binding enzymes may also be part of the process of breaking down tissues, e.g., when fruits -- such as tomatoes -- soften.
Among others, co-authors included Carmen Catalá, a research associate previously working in the Department of Plant Biology, who originally identified the gene for the tomato enzyme, and David Wilson, Cornell professor of molecular biology and genetics.
Image: This schematic diagram shows the newly discovered class of plant enzymes with a cellulose-binding module (shown in blue), sticking to a plant cell wall. The binding module of the enzyme helps the catalytic region of the enzyme (shown in more detail in gray in the pullout part of the picture) break down the crystalline cellulose. Courtesy: Daniel Ripoll and Chris Pelkie/Cornell Theory Center.
Breeanna R. Urbanowicz, Carmen Catalá, Diana Irwin, David B. Wilson, Daniel R. Ripoll, and Jocelyn K. C. Rose, "A Tomato Endo-beta-1,4-glucanase, SlCel9C1, Represents a Distinct Subclass with a New Family of Carbohydrate Binding Modules (CBM49)" [*abstract], J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 282, Issue 16, 12066-12074, April 20, 2007
Cornell University: Newly discovered plant enzymes could lead to more efficient -- and less costly -- ethanol production from cellulose - April 24, 2007. | <urn:uuid:c7044a8c-8052-4c42-a845-9dfa066da77c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.mongabay.com/bioenergy/2007_04_22_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931967 | 1,052 | 3.8125 | 4 |
Posted: August 13, 2012
Nearly one in five Medicare beneficiaries is readmitted within a month, and a new effort under the Affordable Care Act wants to change that by penalizing hospitals with high readmission rates. But hospitals say it will be counterproductive.
Medicare is cracking down on hospital readmissions in a way that is going to hurt the bottom line of facilities in most parts of the nation.
Come October, 2,211 hospitals will have their Medicare reimbursements reduced by as much as 1 percent, records show. It's part of a new effort, authorized by the Affordable Care Act, to get hospitals to pay more attention to ensuring that patients receive the care they need after they leave. Nearly 1 in 5 Medicare beneficiaries is readmitted within a month.
Among the hospitals getting penalized are many big names, including Mount Sinai Hospital and New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan, the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor and Yale-New Haven Hospital in Connecticut. (There's a bit of irony in that last one, as Yale researchers helped Medicare measure readmissions.)
Massachusetts General Hospital, just lauded as the best hospital in the country by U.S. News, will lose one half a percent of Medicare payments for each admitted patient. A total of 278 hospitals are getting the maximum penalty. You can look up your hospital here.
Unsurprisingly, the punishments are not going down well among hospitals, which view the penalties as counterproductive. "You're probably going to end up penalizing those very places that need to put resources into patients when they leave the hospital," says Atul Grover, chief public policy officer of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Doctors say the reasons many of their patients return—not filling the prescriptions they get or adhering to appropriate diets—are beyond their control. Hospitals with many low-income or black patients tend to have higher readmissions, they complain, and indeed the brunt of the readmission penalties is falling on hospitals with the poorest patient populations.
"It's our mission, it's good, it's what we want to do, but to be penalized because we care for those folks doesn't seem right," says John Lynch, chief medical officer at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, which will lose 1 percent of its reimbursements.
Plus, hospitals say, sometimes readmissions are necessary; in fact a few hospitals getting the maximum penalty, like Olympia Medical Center in Los Angeles, actually have some of the lowest mortality rates in the country.
Dr. Eric Coleman, a national expert on readmissions at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, says hospitals are starting to pay attention to readmissions, which used to be welcomed by some executives because the second admission meant more revenue. "I'm not sure penalties alone are going to move the needle," Coleman says, "but they have raised awareness and moved many hospitals to action."
Shots - Health News
Please follow our community discussion rules when composing your comments. | <urn:uuid:a2c6f56a-b763-4152-8bc1-11cca0e3dcf7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ideastream.org/news/npr/158711121 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965674 | 609 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Every minute counts when a heart attack strikes
The concept is known as “door-to-balloon,” and how quickly medical providers make it happen can mean a world of difference to a heart attack victim.
The door is the entrance to a hospital’s emergency department. The balloon refers to the angioplasty procedure performed in a cardiac catheterization laboratory to reopen a blocked artery. The recommended interval between the two is 90 minutes or less.
Interventional cardiologist Dr. Sridhar Sampath Kumar said the emphasis is on less.
“If you tell the patient we will get you there (to the cath lab) within 90 minutes and open up the artery, that doesn’t mean the heart attack is going to stop for the 90-minute period,” said Dr. Kumar, a cardiologist with Great Valley Cardiology in Scranton. “Usually, the faster the better.”
The 90-minute door-to-balloon guideline, recommended by both the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association, is one of the best practices every hospital strives to meet when presented with a patient having a heart attack.
Earlier this year, a review by Quality Insights of Pennsylvania found all three city hospitals — Community Medical Center, Mercy Hospital and Moses Taylor Hospital — beat state averages for following “appropriate care measures” for heart attack victims, among others.
For the second year in a row, the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association in July recognized CMC for its performance in treating cardiac and stroke patients in accordance with their guidelines. Mercy has made Thomson Healthcare’s list of the nation’s 100 top hospitals for cardiovascular care for four consecutive years.
A patient who arrives at Mercy’s emergency room complaining of chest discomfort typically can expect to be placed on a cardiac monitor and have an electrocardiogram performed, said Leann Zuby, emergency department nurse manager. The patient also will receive intravenous fluids and oxygen.
“Sometimes we can tell from the monitor if you’re having a heart attack, but the electrocardiogram will tell you what part of your heart is affected,” she said.
The patient and the EKG are evaluated by the ER physician and, if it’s determined the patient is having a heart attack, an interventional cardiologist is called to perform a catheterization, she said. The faster the artery is opened, the less damage there will be to the heart muscle.
Both Mercy and CMC have 24-hour cardiac catheterization laboratories, and Dr. Kumar said it is, at times, possible to have the artery open within 15 minutes after a patient comes through the doors at those hospitals.
But the 90-minute door-to-balloon guideline applies even if a patient goes first to a hospital without a cath lab, such as Mid Valley or Wayne Memorial, and then is transferred to Mercy or CMC, Dr. Kumar said. The clock starts ticking when the patient arrives at the first hospital, not the second.
Interventional cardiologist Dr. David L. Lohin, president of the medical staff at CMC, said an initiative being pushed by a colleague — cardiologist Dr. Stephen Voyce — would equip the ambulances of local emergency-service providers with EKGs for use with cardiac patients.
While the ambulance is en route to the hospital, the EKG results would be transmitted to the ER doctor, who could summon the interventional cardiologist to get a team in place before the patient arrives, Dr. Lohin said.
“It would represent a tremendous time savings, and time is muscle,” he said.
Contact the writer: firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:72819266-fb2c-4340-be10-11f9baf927f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/every-minute-counts-when-a-heart-attack-strikes-1.276055 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929021 | 783 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Don't Let Your Fear Of The Dark Control Your Life!
In most cases, children are able to overcome their fear of the darkness before they are 10 years old, utilizing either conventional methods such as installing a nightlight or due to the sense of invulnerability proprietary to the demographic. However, San Diego therapy specialists suggest that for some people, this phobia never disappears and they are forced to live with it for the rest of their lives if they do not seek treatment.
In the psychology community, the phobia is generally referred to as Nyctophobia, but other terms have also been used to describe it, including Lygophobia, Achluphobia or Scotophobia. The problem with individuals who are suffering from this condition is that it is not the idea of a threat stalking them from the shadows that mortifies them, but rather the darkness itself.
How does the fear of the dark manifest?
Because other people and even the media have a tendency of ridiculing and trivializing the idea of being scared by the dark, most patients will refuse to seek counseling and will simply modify their behavioral patterns in a manner that enables them to avoid stressful situations. In other words, they will steer clear of dark locations, they will leave all lights open at night, they will carry several light sources with them at all times, etc.
These erratic behaviors can be accompanied by a physical symptomatology, which includes panic attacks and shortness of breath when the person is distressed, an accelerated pulse and excessive sweating. The Nyctophobia patients can also begin to tremble uncontrollably or become dizzy and some reported intense chest pains.
What determines the development of Nyctophobia?
There is no specific pattern for all individuals that suffer from this phobia, but the generally accepted explanation resides in the association of a traumatic experience with the dark. As long as the trauma is not dealt with, the phobia of the dark is also perpetuated. An alternative explanation given by therapists is that the Nyctophobia is only a superficial facet of a fear that has been buried deeper into the subconscious of the patient. Individuals who are more susceptible to experience anxiety at elevated levels have a higher chance to develop Nyctophobia.
Is Nyctophobia treatable?
Fortunately yes, the medical community can help anyone get over this irrational fear of the darkness. It has been suggested that the relaxation techniques such as yoga can also be utilized successfully, but it is better to leave matters in the hands of professionals. However, if you intend to attempt treating yourself, then in addition to relaxation techniques you should also start by rationalizing your condition and convincing yourself that the threat is only in your head. It also helps to learn more about the mechanisms of phobias.
With respect to seeking professional help, the most widespread method of curing Nyctophobia at the moment is through a cognitive behavioral therapy referred to as gradual exposure. Gradual exposure is successfully utilized in the treatment of numerous other phobias and it consists in subjecting the patient to a direct confrontation with the object of his terror over the course of several sessions that increase in duration when he begins to make progress. San Diego therapy professionals can also administer medication in order to permit those with severe forms of Nyctophobia to face their fear without experiencing a powerful panic attack. | <urn:uuid:b54d65ee-fb20-4ccf-98d3-c454f8f5a6d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sagetherapycenter.com/tag/san-diego-therapy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961394 | 667 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Looking through my MA reading journal (titled 'The Incredible Shrinking Novel') I realise how often Anna gave me small gifts about the art of writing that I stored away and have fallen back on many times since. The one I remember most clearly was an epiphany about the use of precise description to reveal a sudden startling insight into character. What someone once referred to as describing the coffin not the grief. Here's what I wrote back then:
I've just read Anna's description of her father cutting her nails. She has an ambivalent relationship with him but Anna doesn’t say that, she talks about how he cut the nails – pure and simple.
She’s 19, he holds the nails tightly but still there’s a 'doddery imprecision', he has high quality Swedish nail scissors. He seems controlling, perfectionist, cold, detached. She never uses those words. It is a triumph this paragraph.
I have learnt a lot from Anna’s strange, prickly, clever essays especially her character studies. I enjoyed too an apposite quote she included from Ingmar Bergman regarding how art lost its way when it became separate from worship.
Approaching the poem, I was determined to be more honest in my writing – this came fresh off the back of Anna’s startling honesty last week in her False Starts assignment. The statement that resonated for all of us was: I want to be above reproach. This referred to how her work was viewed by the class.
It struck me then how engaging honesty is in writing, just as it is in people we meet. It has a nice way of making the reader complicit with the author: ‘look here’s a secret.’ I realise I was far more open when I was first writing years ago, but have learnt over the years to make more use of, what Bill Manhire calls, a ‘foliage of words.’ Maybe there’s more to protect as one gets older.
Regarding poetry being ‘complicated’, Anna pointed out sometimes we are sated with indirectness and implication and need something more concrete, and to explore bigger issues head on. [Later note: there is some irony in this as in a matter of days Anna will have her baby.]
Dad would stand on my right-hand side with his quality Swedish nail scissors, and hold each finger quite tightly as he cut it. He had a slightly doddery imprecision. He would purse his lips in concentration, and then run his thumb over the newly cut edge as if to feel for burrs or rough spots after each nail had been cut. The nails would drop down two storeys to the concrete below.
Anna Sanderson, Brainpark [VUP 2006] | <urn:uuid:ec86951c-0ed7-470a-b8af-dccd38b0bc02> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mary-mccallum.blogspot.com/2008_11_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977701 | 576 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Cocaine Creation Revealed
A group of biochemists have uncovered a crucial step that coca plants use to create cocaine. The scientists hope that by unlocking the drug's creation process, new anesthetic drugs can be created without addictive qualities.
"We need to have some idea how the plants are making it. If you understand the biochemistry, you might take away the bad properties and keep the anesthetic ones," said study co-author John D'Auria, a biochemist at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Germany.
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Cocaine is an illegal drug, but is chemically similar to many painkillers and anesthetics on the market today. It is derived from the coca plant, whose leaves many South Americans chew to relieve themselves of altitude sickness. South Americans, in fact, have cultivated the cocoa plant for 8,000 years.
The drug's illegal status makes it hard to study the actual plant and the process from which cocaine is created in nature. The team of researchers chose to study the group of flowering plants known as Solanaceae, which includes potatoes and nightshade.
Cocaine is a part of a group of compounds known as tropane alkaloids. Solanaceae plants also produce tropane alkaloids, but D'Auria and his team realized that they were using different enzymes.
"Another thing is that the roots of Solanaceae make tropane alkaloids. Coca does it in the leaves, which is a huge difference," D'Auria said. "That means nature has found two very different ways to make very similar compounds, which I think is extremely impressive."
By grinding up coca leaves, the team was finally able to pinpoint the genes and enzymes that allow the cocaine molecule to bind with benzoic acid, the second to last step in the entire process.
The scientists hope to finally pinpoint the last step of the cocaine creation process in coca plants and publish their findings.
They are also interested in why the coca plant creates such a complex molecule. Previous research has shown that cocaine could act as an insecticide, and D'Auria's team believes that looking at the plant's history and ancestors may reveal more about the plant and how and why cocaine came about. | <urn:uuid:2525065e-54f1-4a50-a192-4e7d7b7abe12> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/3522/20120613/cocaine-creation-revealed.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971002 | 470 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Social Welfare in Cuba: A Holistic View of Human and Environmental Sustainability
October 12 – 20, 2013
Cuban family doctor clinic where Cuban citizens enjoy universal, free and readily available health
care service. Cuba's health indices are widely acclaimed to be among the world's best.
This program will provide a close look at vital issues facing Cuba today with a focus on (1) sustainable social and environmental policy and practice and the integration of the two in Cuba; (2) clinical practice in terms of family, child and adolescent intervention and therapy; issues of gender, race and class in Cuba as they impact the practice of Social Welfare.
Participants will have the opportunity to interact with official policy makers, directors of programs, and a variety of practitioners with a range of social work and other disciplinary training. The program will include engagement with urban and rural Cuban citizens in a variety of formal and informal settings as well as a variety of cultural activities.
Through site visits, presentations and discussions, participants will be presented with Cuba's perspective on the issues and encouraged to think critically about how these perspectives relate to the US – our work as social workers, and to society in general, as well as how Cuban and US social workers can learn from each other… and of course, how we, as US citizens, can help to bridge the gaps so that we can work together for the well-being of our clients, communities, countries, world and planet.
If you have any questions on the program and/or logistics for the delegation, please email Pam Montanaro, Coordinator for Eco Cuba Network or call 510-649-1052.
CEC's: This trip is offered for 40 Continuing Education Credits (CECs) for Social Work in the State of Michigan. Social Workers from other states needing Continuing Education Credits will need to check with their State’s licensing authority to be sure that these CEC's are transferable and will pay a fee of $100 to Michigan NASW to receive these CEC's. For further information, Marjorie Ziefert, LMSW.
Spouses, partners and colleagues of Social Workers, who work in related fields are also welcome to participate.
For articles and videos on Social Welfare and Sustainability in Cuba, check out our Resources on Social Welfare in Cuba page.
For articles and videos on Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development in Cuba, check out our ECN Resources page.
Fee: $2200 land only, includes:
Double room accommodations in 4 star hotel and 2 meals per day.
Tour guide and translator for all scheduled events
Transportation to all scheduled events
Fee does not include:
Round trip Airfare Miami to Havana ($400 – 500 as of 5/13)
Cuban visa and required Cuban health insurance ($75 as of 5/13)
Bottled Water and other beverages
Optional evening cultural activities
How to Register:
Cuba travel for Eco Cuba Network tours is arranged by licensed Cuba Travel Service Provider, Global Exchange Reality Tours, a non profit TSP with over 20 years experience arranging Cuba travel for professional, educational, cultural, and "people to people" delegations to research every aspect of Cuban life.
We must receive your application and a non-refundable deposit of $500 3 months before departure. Payments by Mastercard, Visa and Discover are welcome. Full payment is due 6 – 8 weeks before departure.
The full cost for this tour will be:
- $2200 Cuba program, guide and translator, accommodations and 2 meals/day
- $474 – $524 round trip airfare Miami-Havana, Cuban visa, required Cuban health insurance**
Participants should also allow at least $50 per day for personal expenses and non-covered items, the flight to Miami and, probably, one overnight stay in Miami the night before departure for Cuba.
This trip will be as diverse as possible in terms of race, age and life experiences. In some cases, a limited number of partial scholarships are available for low-income applicants.
**This is an approximate figure as the Cuba Charter companies occasionally adjust the cost slightly in accordance with changing conditions. | <urn:uuid:f3c2a4fc-6e73-438d-a460-c8826a4213b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ecocubanetwork.net/social-welfare/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929205 | 852 | 1.835938 | 2 |
(NAPSI)—For those people looking for a better-for-you change to their eating habits, the Mediterranean Diet, frequently touted by dietitians, includes foods that can boost overall health and even help prevent some diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. Olives and olive oil, the main sources of dietary fat in the Mediterranean Diet, contain heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and polyphenols, which contain antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Incorporating these foods into your daily diet can have a positive impact on your overall health—without sacrificing flavor.
There are many small steps you can take to reap the health benefits of olives and olive oil while enjoying the flavor they bring to dishes. For instance, try replacing butter with olive oil, satisfying salt cravings with a few olives versus a bowl of chips, or choosing a side salad drizzled with an olive oil vinaigrette in lieu of French fries when dining out.
One easy, delicious recipe you can make at home is Edamame Hummus. Edamame, soybeans harvested prior to hardening, are used extensively in Asian cuisine and provide the foundation for this dip. Blend the protein- and fiber-packed edamame with olive oil, fresh kale or spinach, garlic and lemon juice and pair with pita wedges or crispy vegetables. The hummus can also be used as a better-for-you spread on sandwiches and wraps-perfect for a lazy day at the beach or an afternoon picnic.
Opting for healthier choices throughout your day will make your heart and waistline say, “thank you.” For additional olive- and olive oil−inspired recipes, and for a full report on the health benefits of olive oil and olives, visit www.addsomelife.org.
16 (2-tablespoon) servings
Total Time: 15 minutes
1 (13-ounce) bag frozen shelled edamame (soybeans)
¼ small onion, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled
½ cup firmly packed fresh kale or spinach
⅓ cup extra-virgin or plain olive oil
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Vegetable dippers or pita wedges, if desired
Combine edamame, onion and ⅓ cup water in large saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer covered 8 to 10 minutes or until all the edamame is very tender. Remove from heat.
Pulse garlic in food processor until well chopped. Add kale; pulse until chopped. Add edamame mixture, including liquid. Blend until finely chopped. With machine running, add olive oil and lemon juice. Serve with vegetable dippers or pita wedges. Also great on chicken or fish.
On the Net:North American Precis Syndicate, Inc.(NAPSI) | <urn:uuid:2f050fdd-6f5b-467e-aa02-2c887f3803b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mysuncoast.com/online_features/food_recipes_entertaining/a-better-for-you-change-to-eating-habits/article_bc1a5c78-87cd-5403-9eb6-ed7858a33ffe.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901873 | 598 | 1.960938 | 2 |
1980s: Intellivision, Sega Master System, Nintendo Entertainment System
1990s: Sega Genesis, PS1
2000 – Present: PS2, Nintendo Wii
With the acquisition or purchase of each, I can still hear my mother lamenting about what a waste of time and money video games are. Ironically, she was telling my father the same thing as he sat next to me complaining that his controller was sticking. (There was no better Burger Time player on Intellivision than Pops).
Some of my earliest and fondest memories of my father are around the bonding we did around the warming glow of a terrible tube TV and game cartridges.
Present day, my wife and I bought a Wii primarily for that same bonding experience I enjoyed as a child – but this time with much more advanced and interactive communal games such as Rock Band and Mario Kart Wii.
Without a son of my own, I figured my gaming days were behind me. That is until my daughter, soon to be 3, discovered Mario. Yes, that Mario. She is infatuated by the Wii for myriad reasons including: 1. she thinks she is the one driving in Mario Kart (sometimes she is, other times it’s just me tearing up the course); 2. we’ve created most of our extended family in the form of Mii’s; 3. according to her, Mario may or may not live on our second floor.
What’s most important is that I treasure any opportunity we get to bond and spend time together. With daughter #2 on the way next month, I make it an extra point to find commonality with her.
I just never thought it would be video games; and I never thought that video games would actually be good for us. Sorry, Mom!
Earlier this year, the Journal of Adolescent Health, printed an article titled, “Game On. . . Girls: Associations Between co-playing Video Games and Adolescent Behavioral and Family Outcomes” based on a study done by Brigham Young University’s School of Family Life.
From the article’s abstract:
Purpose: Video game use has been associated with several behavioral and health outcomes for adolescents. The aim of the current study was to assess the relationship between parental co-play of video games and behavioral and family outcomes.
Method: Participants consisted of 287 adolescents and their parents who completed a number of video game-, behavioral-, and family-related questionnaires as part of a wider study. Most constructs included child, mother, and father reports.
Results: At the bivariate level, time spent playing video games was associated with several negative outcomes, including heightened internalizing and aggressive behavior and lowered prosocial behavior. However, co-playing video games with parents was associated with decreased levels of internalizing and aggressive behaviors, and heightened prosocial behavior for girls only. Co-playing video games was also marginally related to parent–child connectedness for girls, even after controlling for age-inappropriate games played with parents.
Conclusions: This is the first study to show positive associations for co-playing video games between girls and their parents.
As the study states, “Co-playing is arguably more active than co-viewing, as parents must actively take part in the video game play.”
Guys…This is almost too easy! Your wife wants you to help with the kids. You want to get your game on. Well, game on.
Obviously, she’s not ready to hop online with a headset and a bag of Cheetos and be your wingman in Call of Duty (the study did stress age appropriateness), but who knows? Maybe in 10 years she will be.
Around that time, as another study points out, my little girl may just be designing her own games. Back in February, Science Daily published an article stating that “Girls’ Interest in Computing Science Piqued by Making Video Games.”
Armed with all this academically-proven knowledge of how I can both strengthen the bond I have with my eldest and perhaps even expand her academic horizons, I approached a friend at Nintendo about putting together a little study of our own here at 30Nothings, and lucky for us (and you), he obliged.
Along with Brandon (father of a 13-month-old girl) and our good friend Jay Busbee from Devil Ball Golf, From the Marbles and JayBusbee.com (father of a 11-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy), Nintendo armed us with the following games:
- Donkey Kong Country Returns
- Mario Sports Mix
- Mario Kart Wii
- New Super Mario Bros. Wii
- Wii Party
Each week, Brandon, Jay and I will independently spend time with one game and our daughters, and each Friday we will create a post documenting how important it is to spend time with our kids, and how Nintendo Wii games can help be a part of that.
But we want you to be a part of the fun as well!
We will be giving away a copy of New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Mario Kart Wii randomly to two of our lucky Facebook Fans – New Super Mario Bros. Wii on July 8 and Mario Kart Wii second on July 29. All you have to do is go Like us and upload a picture of you enjoying some gaming (preferably Wii) with your kid(s).
I’ll get us started… | <urn:uuid:ad0281ba-6d58-40a2-9e4a-090764e6a0f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://30nothings.com/father-daughter-and-the-mario-brothers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95961 | 1,131 | 1.976563 | 2 |
The terms alternative and complementary medicine suggest 2 contradictory possibilities. Whether
individuals use unconventional therapies as a substitute for or as an "add
on" to conventional medical treatments is uncertain.
To determine the association between use of unconventional therapies
and conventional medical care in a national sample.
Design, Setting, and Participants
The 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey was distributed to a probability
sample of the noninstitutionalized civilian US population. Of 24,676 individuals
responding (77.7% response rate), 16,068 adults 18 years or older were included
in the analysis.
Main Outcome Measures
Visits to practitioners for unconventional therapies and conventional
medical services, including number of inpatient, outpatient, and emergency
department visits and use of 8 types of preventive medical services (blood
pressure, cholesterol level, physical examination, influenza vaccination,
prostate examination, breast examination, mammography, and Papanicolaou test).
During 1996, an estimated 6.5% of the US population had visits for both
unconventional therapies and conventional medical care; 1.8% used only unconventional
services; 59.5% used only conventional care; and 32.2% used neither. Compared
with those with only conventional visits, those who used both types of care
had significantly more outpatient physician visits (7.9 vs 5.4; P<.001), and used more of all types of preventive services except
mammography. These groups did not differ significantly in inpatient care,
prescription drug use, or number of emergency department visits. Individuals
in the top quartile of number of physician visits were more than twice as
likely as those in the bottom quartile to have used unconventional therapies
in the past year (14.5% vs 6.4%; P<.001). The
association between unconventional treatments and physician visits remained
after adjusting for potential confounders and across different types of unconventional
In this sample, use of unconventional therapies was substantially lower
than has been reported in previous national surveys, but was associated with
increased use of physician services. From a health services perspective, practitioner-based
unconventional therapies appear to serve more as a complement than an alternative
to conventional medicine. | <urn:uuid:5cfa4db1-8402-4df3-b7f5-e0ccbf9c3de2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=191231 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937333 | 466 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Successful athletes are often defined by their explosive power—the ability to generate as much force in as little time as possible. That's what allows athletes like Alex Ovechkin to win a race to the puck, or Dwight Freeney to sack opposing quarterbacks.
Improving power should be a part of every athlete’s training program. Yet, too often, workouts involve exercises that are slow.
To put this in perspective, think about a sprinter like Usain Bolt. He has to train fast to get faster. If Bolt were to train slow, posting world-record times, which he routinely does, would be impossible.
Now apply the same reasoning to developing explosive power. Training a muscle slowly may improve your ability to move weight in the gym, but slow strength will leave you breathing your opponent's dust on the field.
To start improving your power-generating ability, add an explosive component to your training routine. Perform a standard Bench Press, but instead of slowly pushing the weight off your chest, explosively push it as quickly as possible. Similarly, when Squatting, explode up out of the Squat instead coming up gradually.
Other exercises that improve explosive power are Plyometrics. Incorporate Jump Squats or Frog Jumps into your lower-body routine and Plyo Push-Ups and Med Ball Tosses into your upper-body routine.
// Train like a National Guard Solider
// 100% FREE
// Click below to get started | <urn:uuid:62147439-4f8b-4fa3-8ae6-05ede78fd80b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stack.com/2010/08/13/athletic_strength/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941904 | 306 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Volunteer management in European Parks
EU-GRUNDTVIG Multilateral Project
Protected areas need their local communities and stakeholders to get more involved in their management. Volunteering is a great way to do this. This project provides an invaluable opportunity to advance existing approaches to Lifelong Learning through conservation volunteering and to find means of consolidating these as integrative parts of protected areas' volunteer management.
This GRUNDTVIG project runs from 01 November 2010 to 31st October 2013. The lead project partner EUROPARC Germany is coordinating activities of the following joining agencies: Rodna Mountains National Park Administration (RO), The Conservation Volunteers (UK), EUROPARC Atlantic Isles, The Environment Agency of Iceland, The EUROPARC Federation, FUNGOBE/ EUROPARC Spain, Nature Conservation Agency of Latvia, Federparchi- EUROPARC Italy, The Association of Lithuanian State Parks and Reserves, and EUROPARC Atlantic Isles as "silent partner"
These partners have already cooperated successfully in GRUNDTVIG Learning Partnership "European Volunteers in Parks" focusing on the transfer of new skills and experiences in volunteer management and gaining experiences in the international exchange of short-term volunteers.
Objective and results
Project partners intend to disseminate innovation and good practice in the field of volunteer management and upgrade learning opportunities in the context of volunteering.
The project will produce the following outputs:
- Trainings for volunteer coordinators (VC), who manage, supervise and teach volunteers; ongoing exchange of vm material and methods
- Innovative learning material for VCin European parks
- Exemplary combined working/learning opportunities in parks for foreign volunteers and park employers for mutual tutoring, enhancing expertise, life skills and practical skills
- Guidelines for professional volunteer management in European parks
- Awareness-raising national seminars in the “Year of Volunteering” 2011, focusing on volunteering and LL
- Report on benefits of volunteering in parks on local communities and volunteers, especially referring to LL
The project aims to further the professionalisation of volunteer management in European parks by supporting the EU Lifelong Learning of Volunteers mission. Building a vital network of skilled volunteer coordinators in parks is essential for protected area management. In addition, more awareness is raised about the value of protected areas well as about the role of volunteers contributing to their protection, maintenance and care.
Contact Project Coordinator Bettina Soethe for more information. | <urn:uuid:73878282-e2c0-4ee5-9250-590accd82ae3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.europarc.org/what-we-do/volunteer-management | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901894 | 495 | 2.078125 | 2 |
The Cancer Council Victoria and Quit have welcomed new state tobacco reforms saying they represent a huge opportunity to get smoking rates down, and curb the toll of tobacco in our community.
From Wednesday, Victorians can look forward to a ban on smoking in most enclosed workplaces, the covered areas of train stations platforms, tram shelters and bus shelters, and a ban on smoking and the promotion and sale of tobacco products at all underage music and dance events.
In addition to this Victoria will have some of the best laws controlling the marketing of tobacco with a ban on buzz marketing and non-branded tobacco advertising also being implemented.
Director of the Cancer Council of Victoria, Professor David Hill said Victorians were well and truly ready to become smokefree.
"In the last few years we have seen an huge increase in public support for tobacco control initiatives and smokefree environments, and people across the State will be pleased with these further efforts to protect them from harms caused by tobacco," said Professor Hill.
"The reform package continues efforts by the State Government in the last few years to reduce harm caused by tobacco and it is great to see such a promising investment in the quality of life of future generations."
"We only need look at the experience in places such as New York or Ireland to see that by making more public areas smokefree you can have a significant and positive impact on smoking rates, and as a result, the health of the whole community.
Executive Director of Quit, Mr Todd Harper, said the tobacco reforms, combined with the introduction of graphic health warning on cigarettes packets, opened a once-in-a-generation window of opportunity to get smoking rates down in Victoria.
"Between now and July 2007 workplaces, public transport waiting areas and licensed venues are all becoming smokefree."
"There is no reason that these initiatives cannot result in Victorian smoking rates falling to 15% or below in the years ahead, providing they are supported by long-term media campaigns that both highlight the dangers of smoking and provide smokers with encouragement to call the Quitline."
Mr Harper said the State Government understood that tobacco control is still a priority public health issue, and this was reflected in statements made around the recent Council of Australian Government's (COAG) meeting.
"In a statement just prior to the COAG meeting where State and Commonwealth leaders agreed to spend $500million to prevent lifestyle diseases, Premier Bracks cited studies that show a $50 million investment in Quit anti-smoking programs in Victoria would save $400 million in health costs over 10 years."
"The State Government has made a lot of progress in recent years in relation to tobacco control, and statements like this mean we be confident this commitment to easing the enormous burden of tobacco in our community will continue in the years ahead," said Mr Harper.
ph: (03) 9635 5400
mob: 0417 303 811 | <urn:uuid:3103f9b8-f959-4b39-86bc-0a894f5f2a8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.quit.org.au/resource-centre/media/media-centre/media-2006/february-media-201011/27_feb_2006.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956498 | 581 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Although delivered calmly, the Veterans' Day address by Hank Mayer, a retired lieutenant-colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps, minced no words as he delivered numerous jabs in several directions.
More than 100 people attended the downtown ceremony on Madison St. in front of American Legion Post 43.
Mayer, of rural Decatur, a native Mississippian who served 20 years in the USMC, took on not only those around the world who violently oppose the United States, but also civilian leaders at home and anyone who is disrespectful of the U.S. flag or other national symbols.
He was commendatory of all U.S. veterans and of Decatur and Adams County for strong support of the nation's military services, especially as shown by Adams Central High School's annual Veterans' Day observance and the "huge turnout" to honor U.S. Army staff sergeant Phillip Jenkins, a Decatur native killed in Iraq in September.
Mayer pointed out that the U.S. has been at peace for fewer than 100 years in its 235 years of existence, counting everything from mobilizations for two world wars down to such incidents as U.S. attacks in Grenada, Somalia, Panama, loss of life in Lebanon, and the seizing or damaging of U.S. Navy ships named Mayaguez, Pueblo, Liberty, and Cole.
He noted that Jenkins' death "brings home the reality of war to a new generation in Adams County" and added that he and his wife, Coni, will see their son, Matt, a Marine Corps second lieutenant, enter the Afghanistan war zone in January.
Mayer said veterans who experienced combat "rarely receive the recognition they deserve. We need to recognize those veterans and thank them for the sacrifice. Only those veterans who have survived combat ever fully understand the experience. They have done their duty under the worst of conditions and it falls to the rest of us to honor their service and do everything in our power to assist those in need to recover from the physical and mental wounds of battle."
He also remembered the ten times larger number of veterans who never see combat, but are just as important because they "provide everything necessary for those actually engaged to carry the day" by fighting. "At no time in history has a military force ever been successful without the vital logistical support that sustains the fighters. Fighters get most of the pain and glory; logisticians get the blame," he said.
Widening his focus, Mayer made the point that the U.S. has not had a formally-declared war since World War II, although "our politicians have not been reluctant in sending our young men and women into harm's way" ever since.
Furthermore, he said, U.S. civilian leaders "have often imposed upon our forces rules of engagement that are very detrimental to winning a fight and often favor the enemy. The purpose of these rules is to reduce civilian casualties and collateral damage, but it results in increased U.S. casualties. This is misguided.
"Civilian casualties and collateral damage should be avoided if the commander on the scene can do so without endangering his troops or mission. Politicians and State Department officials in Washington, D.C. should not make policies that endanger our troops and diminish their abiliity to succeed on the battlefield. They do this regularly and show little inclination to stop."
Mayer spoke in favor of "total war," as was done in World War II, saying "no effort was spared to defeat the enemy and little was done to avoid civilian targets or inflicting massive casualties on enemy forces. The war ended with the 'unconditional surrender' of our enemies and we haven't heard a peep out of them since."
The Korean War, he said, is "technically not over" and "this policy grew progressively worse in Vietnam. Both of these wars would probably have resulted in military victories without the influence of incoherent policies put in place by incompetent politicians lacking the intestinal fortitude to finish what they started."
In Vietnam, Mayer stated, the U.S. won militarily, but lost politically as that war was "royally messed up by those in Washington."
He continued his theme by saying, "This same failed policy continues today in Afghanistan and Iraq. The rules of engagement endanger our troops and give advantage to the enemy. Those on active duty cannot question the civilian leadership of the military without risking their careers. I can and do question these policies that kill and injure our soldiers needlessly.
"I fully support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and would like to win them for the sake of the people living there and for our security,"
Mayer declared that one major problem is that far too few political leaders have military experience. In 1981, he said, 73 of the 100 U.S. senators and 270 of the 435 U.S. representatives were veterans; today, just 23 senators and 94 representatives are vets. He said he has heard that only nine children of the 535 people in Congress now serve in the military.
He went on to urge that many more veterans seek elected public offices so their experiences can be used to benefit the nation and its people. | <urn:uuid:c63a6b50-6f33-4f63-bb85-c73501e77ac2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.decaturdailydemocrat.com/content/mayer-offers-praise-criticism?quicktabs_2=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971559 | 1,067 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Iranian Tyranny Goes Global
Facing a growing crisis at home and abroad, leadership in Iran is cracking down on the dissident "Green Movement" as Tehran seeks to stem the growing voices of dissent against hard line Islamic rule.
In what could prove to be it's biggest test since it came to power in 1979, the Islamic regime has cracked down hard on internal dissent, and is now extending that crackdown to Iranians living abroad. Following protests over the allegedly rigged elections in June, Iran has been conducting a campaign of harassment and intimidation against Iranians around the world. Not only are high profile dissidents being targeted, but now ordinary people are finding themselves harassed and threatened by the Iran's Revolutionary Guard. The effort by Tehran includes, in part, tracking YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook activities of Iranians, and identifying them when they participate in protests abroad. Most of those interviewed reported very similar descriptions of the harassment techniques used against them.
In late November, Iran's intelligence minister Heydar Moslehi announced the training of "senior Internet lieutenants" to confront Iran's "virtual enemies online." Deputy commander of Iran's armed forces, Gen. Massoud Jazayeri, wrote that "protesters inside and outside Iran have been identified and will be dealt with at the right time."
Today's crisis echoes the events of three decades ago, when Iran's Islamic revolution first bloomed. Then, Iranians around the world pooled energy and money to help oust Iran's Shah. This time, the global community is backing a similar effort, using tools including Facebook and Twitter. YouTube videos provide with instructions for staging civil disobedience.
But now, unlike 30 years ago, Iran's leadership is striking back across national borders.
Dozens of individuals in the U.S. and Europe who criticized Iran on Facebook or Twitter said their relatives back in Iran were questioned or temporarily detained because of their postings.
Interviewees who traveled to Iran in recent months said they were forced by police at Tehran's airport to log in to their Facebook accounts. Several reported having their passports confiscated because of criticism they had posted online.
An Iranian engineer in his 30s who lives in Europe, described having his passport, cellphone and laptop confiscated when he traveled to Tehran. He said he was called in for questioning several times, blindfolded, kicked and physically abused, and asked to hand over his email and Facebook passwords. Interrogators showed him images of himself participating in protests in Europe, he said, and pressed him to identify other people in the images. "I was very scared. My knees were trembling the whole time and I kept thinking, 'How did this happen to me?'" he said recently. "I only went to a few demonstrations, and I don't even live in Iran."
He said he was told he was guilty of charges including attending antiregime protests abroad, participating in online activities on Facebook and Twitter that harmed Iran's national security and leaving comments on opposition Web sites. He said he was given a choice: Face trial in Iran, or sign a document promising to act as an informant in Europe. | <urn:uuid:e58e57d2-9bcc-4db7-9b54-c327a8c283bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nowpublic.com/world/iranian-tyranny-goes-global | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979461 | 628 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Jonah Albert wrote a splendid piece in the Observer asking why so few Asian and Black Britons visit the National Gallery. It's a question that any seeing, sentient visitor can't help but ask themselves. It's a major gallery in a major multi-cultural city. So why is the audience so "hideously white", to borrow a phrase?
Oliver Kamm, disliked the piece so much that he called for the sacking of the author. Oliver Kamm is, and here's an ad hominem attack, a prat. We'll deal with Kamm's argument after we have looked at what Albert wrote that so offended Kamm.
Figures show that 43 per cent of the British population visited a gallery or museum last year, but I know from just working in a gallery that the percentage of those from ethnic minorities was in single figures.Oliver Kamm believes this shows that Albert has no idea "what art is for" and Albert should therefore be relieved of his duties immediately. Kamm is wrong. Albert is working through reasons why people fom Britain's visible ethnic minorities do not visit major art galleries. When Albert discusses the universal message of some images
An obvious culprit hides in the nature of the National Gallery's collection: Western European painting from 1200 to the turn of 19th century was the remit it was given when it was established in the early 19th century. Other institutions would collect and display Eastern and African Art; the National Gallery was set up to focus on old master paintings.
To the minds of those who choose not to engage with the place, it's little more than the work of some dead men - well, mainly dead white men.
The paintings in the National Gallery deal with major life themes: love, loss, death, jealousy, betrayal, war, peace, power and many more ideas, all of which are just as relevant to black people as anyone else. But it's also significant that behind many of the portraits of white folk in their finery lurks the ghostly presence of an invisible black population.This gets dismissed by Kamm as showing Albert's "incomprehension" of "what the arts are for". Kamm sees the "pedagogic power of art" lies in "broadening our experience and appreciation of enduring human concerns." Nowhere in Albert's piece does he argue against that. Nowhere does Albert say he disagrees with that position. Kamm has read into Albert's essay, or should that be read into the lacunae in Albert's essay, an argument against what Kamm sees as the purpose of art.
Zoffany's painting of Mrs Oswald shows a lemon-lipped, bored-looking woman trussed in a furbelowed dress. Joshua Reynolds's image of Banastre Tarleton depicts a handsome, if somewhat camp and bouffant, soldier in full military dress. The buried story behind both Persil-white portraits tells of African enslavement, Caribbean plantations, slave factories on the West African coast, abolition and slave revolts in Florida. More history than you'd imagine on first glance.
Kamm is arguing from the position "I think art is this and this is what it's for". This person does not mention my position therefore he must be agin it.
Kamm's reading is totally against the aims of Alberts essay which is about seeking reasons why people from visible ethnic minorities do not visit major art galleries and reasons why they should visit. Albert's essay offers some reasons why people, of all ethnicities, should visit.
How can you be a curatorial fellow of one of the greatest art galleries in the world and say nothing about the enjoyment and elevation that art provides? How can you have any role connected with arts administration and not regard the love of art as a sufficient - or even a possible - reason for looking at paintings? In my view, you can't or at least shouldn't. If Jonah Albert is representative of the Arts Council's "Inspire" scheme, then the Council should put a stop to it with alacrity. (You can read more about the programme in this article from Time Out.) In any event, Mr Albert's article is more than reason enough for the Council and the National Gallery to dispense with his services.Kamm misses the point of Albert's article, which is to get people to engage with art. If you are discussing people who have yet to engage with art then "a love of art" is not going to get those people into galleries. The "love of art" comes after engagement. To be trite, you can't have a "love of art" without looking at and engaging with art. Your initial reason for entering a gallery and looking at art is not going to be "love of art". How can it be so? You have no experience of art to fall in love with.
Kamm has every right to disagree with what Albert wrote. He has every right to disagree with what Albert did not write. But, for Kamm to call for the sacking of Albert based on ideas Kamm thought, wrongly, should have been in Albert's article is morally wrong and has all the hallmarks of a lynching.
Oliver Kamm's blog is a nasty, smug self-satisfied piece arguing, to paraphrase, "I know what art is and what art is for. This Albert chappy doesn't. Therefore sack him".
What a nasty, smug, vicious, scabby piece of blogging. | <urn:uuid:8bc77163-c735-40c2-814e-a30051919124> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cloud-in-trousers.blogspot.com/2007/01/art-of-being-total-prat.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964113 | 1,124 | 2.65625 | 3 |
I shot my first deer in 1967. It was my fourth year of hunting deer, and I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever fill out a tag.
I remember a few things about that day. I remember patchy snow on the ground. I remember the swish-swish sound my corduroy pants made with every step as I found my way to the tree I planned to stand beside. I filed away a mental note never to wear corduroy pants again while hunting.
An hour or two after daylight my eyes caught movement. Three young bucks were picking their way through the woods. I anxiously waited until they got about 30 yards away, and fired my .222 at one. It dropped, and the two other bucks sprinted away. My buck shed his 5-point rack when he fell to the ground.
Steve Sorensen, 'The Everyday Hunter'
Much has changed. Back then, hardly anyone would sit up in a tree or in a ground shanty all day. While on stand, we'd often see other hunters oozing their way through the woods, and those hunters would invariably cause deer to move, guaranteeing that the stand hunters could count on seeing deer.
Most young hunters hadn't learned still hunting skills, so we'd sit on a log or stand by a tree until we got cold, bored or impatient.
If a hunter didn't see a buck to shoot, and was lucky enough to draw a doe tag, he'd have an extra day to harvest a doe. Many hunters saw a doe as a consolation prize.
When the "Everyday Hunter" isn't hunting, he's thinking about hunting, talking about hunting, dreaming about hunting, writing about hunting, or wishing he were hunting. If you want to tell him exactly where your favorite hunting spot is, contact him at EverydayHunter@gmail.com. This column and others can be accessed online at www.EverydayHunter.com.
Today, many hunters complain about reduced deer populations as though that's all that has changed. But the truth is that everything is different. Antlered and antlerless seasons run concurrently. We have new wildlife management units, and our targets are limited by antler restrictions.
Hunters compete with a high black bear population and plenty of coyotes - both of which eat most of their venison during the spring fawning season.
Hunting competes with youth sports programs, video games and heavy doses of "must-see TV" that has brought an urban mentality even to rural areas. All those television sit-coms are so very appealing to youths - they take up nearly every subject except hunting.
The family has changed. Smaller families are spread out farther around the country, and opening day is becoming a less important tradition. More broken families mean that more kids have no dad to take them hunting.
Aging hunters are dying off or their bodies are wearing out faster than youths are taking their place, so on opening day fewer hunters are in the woods.
We've succumbed to advertisements, hunting videos and magazines - most of which convince countless hunters that they can't succeed without treestands or ground blinds. Some of our favorite hunting areas have become a specialized kind of shantytown.
I'm not opposed to hunting from stands and shanties, but with so many stationary hunters it's possible for a hunter to hunt the entire opening day and not see another hunter. I've done it several times. And when hunters sit tight, so do deer.
More land is posted to keep hunters out. Some landowners want to protect their personal hunting paradise, some are nervous about having people with guns on their property, and some think they're doing deer a favor. Whatever the reasons, it's harder every year for hunters to find private property open to hunting.
Some changes have made hunting better and safer. We dress in fluorescent orange instead of red Woolrich plaid. We have hunter education classes. We have better gear, better clothing, and better guns, bows and arrows. Most of us use higher quality scopes and binoculars. We have easy access to maps and to better weather forecasts via the Internet. We find ways to control or minimize our human scent. We know more about deer habits.
I'm smart enough now not to warn deer that I'm coming with the swish-swish of my corduroy pants, but that doesn't mean deer hunting is easier.
I've barely scratched the surface, and you probably have your own thoughts about how and why deer hunting has changed. It's not just that we have fewer deer. Too many things have changed for hunting ever to return to the way it used to be. And I suppose there's good and bad in that. | <urn:uuid:e2b7d1b9-18db-450f-a919-6466a4484d0d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.timesobserver.com/page/content.detail/id/542867/THE-EVERYDAY-HUNTER--How-deer-hunting-has-changed.html?nav=5064 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974224 | 976 | 1.632813 | 2 |
March 1, 2013 10:45 am
River blindness, one of the world’s leading causes of blindness, begins when a small parasitic worm wiggles its way into human skin. Tracking down this parasite once it’s entered a human body is challenging. But now scientists have developed a novel, easy-to-perform test that uses a molecule found in urine to issue a diagnosis, ScienceNOW reports.
After a parasitic worm first makes it under a person’s skin, it grows into an adult and releases eggs. These eggs move through the host’s bloodstream, and if the larvae happen to wind up in a person’s eye—and this happens quite often—he or she will likely go blind. An estimated 500,000 people in sub-Saharan Africa have lost their sight this way, ScienceNOW writes.
A variety of medications are available to kill the parasites, some more effective than others. But most treatments rely upon multiple doses over time to make sure a person’s system is completely purged of worms. Figuring out whether or not a person truly is free from the pests is key to knowing when to bombard their system with anti-parasite medications and when to stop.
Currently, to see if someone is infected, doctors perform a “skin snip,” cutting off a small piece of the patient’s skin and checking for worms inside. It’s not the most effective method. Researchers from Imperial College London hope to improve detection with a new method they just presented in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. ScienceNow describes the finding:
They compared the amounts of hundreds of molecules found in urine samples of infected and healthy Africans and discovered one striking difference: An unknown molecule was present at levels six times higher in the urine samples of infected individuals than in samples from healthy people. The researchers identified the molecule as the remnant of a neurotransmitter that larval stages of the worm excrete and that is then broken down in the human body before being excreted in the urine.
The test could be ready in three years, the team says.
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No comments yet. | <urn:uuid:6370e95a-1174-4721-88c2-d9eb0e579e28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/03/this-simple-test-could-help-stop-river-blindness/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929049 | 471 | 3.625 | 4 |
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Developed by the SEI's CERT Program, Information Security training is focused on ensuring that software developers, internet security experts, network and system administrators, and others are able to resist, recognize, and recover from attacks on networked systems.
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Based on decades of experience architecting software-reliant systems and supported by four widely acclaimed books, the Software Architecture training equips software professionals with state-of-the-art practices, so they can efficiently design software-reliant systems that meet their intended business and quality goals.
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Using the Team Software Process (TSP), along with Personal Software Process (PSP), an organization can build self-directed teams that plan and track their work, establish goals, and own their processes and plans. TSP courses provide everyone -executives, managers, engineers- with the skills they need to be successful. | <urn:uuid:2c247049-41e9-4bf9-b917-a68f54829f77> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sei.cmu.edu/training/more-related-links.cfm?tax=,68,58?RL=training&WT.ac=RLtraining | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943419 | 440 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Summary: Much of public policy debate today consists of lies by the Right and rebuttals using simple facts, which have no effect. It’s a losing game, as an emotionally appealing Big Lie usually wins if repeated frequently to a weak and foolish people.
Today’s example, from that engine of misinformation the Zero Hedge website:
While we reserve judgment for S&P’s effectiveness at being accurate in anything they do (they are, after all a rating agency and as such they goal seek results to comply with what their paying groupthink seeking customers demand), we would like to redirect to the modest topic of CBO predictive efficiency (the organization that is at the basis of the current credibility spat between Treasury and S&P, and which, incidentally has created the baseline forecast against which the debt ceiling compromise plan is supposed to cut $2.1 trillion over the next decade), by pointing out according to the same CBO back in 2001, net US indebtedness in 2011 would be negative $2.436 trillion, the ratio of debt held by the public to GDP would be 4.8%, total budget surplus would be $889 billion, and GDP would be $16.9 trillion.
Here is the graph they show, from page 16 of “The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2002-2011“, Congressional Budget Office, January 2001
The Zero Hedge propagandists omit the core of the CBO’s analysis:
“Although there are signs that economic growth is moderating from recent robust levels, substantial budget surpluses remain on the horizon for the next decade in the absence of large changes in policy. Over the longer term, however, budgetary pressures linked to the aging and retirement of the baby boom generation threaten to produce record deficits and unsustainable levels of Federal debt.”
Rather than foolishly wrong, this was prophetic. The CBO analysts correctly anticipated the 2001 recession, which despite the effect of 9-11 was the lightest of the post-WWII era. They put these events properly in context against the larger story of the age wave. Most important are the words “in the absence of large changes in policy.” They could not know about the insanity to come.
Such as the policy changes made by President Bush Jr., which have put the US on the road to financial ruin.
- Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA)
- Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA)
- Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (a fast trillion-dollar addition to Federal liabilities)
- The long war to reshape the political fabric of the world, starting with the invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan (far larger than retaliatory strikes at al Qaeda and their allies)
These were, like the Reagan tax cuts, devastating strikes at the financial foundation of the US government — which the CBO could not foresee. That Republicans now pretend concern about the debt is no surprise; that their claims are taken serious shows mental dysfunction by the American people. That conservatives use this forecast to disparage CBO shows their mastery of the big lie through long practice.
For other posts on this topic
For the full list see the FM Reference Page Information & disinformation, the new media & the old. Here are some of special interest.
- Successful propaganda as a characteristic of 21st century America, 1 February 2010
- More propaganda: the eco-fable of Easter Island, 4 February 2010
- The hidden history of the global warming crusade, 19 February 2010
- Forensic analysis of propaganda: “Michelle Obama Keeps Socialist Books in the White House”, 19 February 2010
- About the political significance of the conservatives’ health care propaganda, 23 March 2010
- A note about practical propaganda, 22 March 2010
- The similar delusions of America’s Left and Right show our common culture – and weakness, 26 March 2010
- Programs to reshape the American mind, run by the left and right, 2 August 2010
- The easy way to rule: leading a weak people by feeding them disinformation, 13 April 2011
- Why Conservatives are winning: they use the WMD of political debate, 28 April 2011
This post originally appeared at Fabius Maximus and is reproduced here with permission.
Comments are closed. | <urn:uuid:656bbf9a-b62f-4126-ac2e-6bfbb2953466> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2011/08/we-are-ignorant-because-we-enjoy-being-lied-to-today-we-look-at-lies-about-the-us-debt/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951412 | 894 | 1.75 | 2 |
Age of technological abundance 'official' as broken mobile telephone screens 'all the rage' across the United States; adjudged 'ice-breaker'—
Asad Yawar (@Mediolana) May 24, 2013
Category Archives: Technology
Regular readers of this blog should surf to mediolana.com’s creative section where the above article on one of Europe’s most sensational musical prospects awaits!
One of the largely-unheralded casualties of the most recent property bubble in both the United Kingdom and the United States is a group whose relative lack of access to the corridors of power often sees it ignored by policymakers: young adults. With prices for housing – whether rented or purchased – long in parodic territory in metropolises such as London and New York, the lack of posited solutions for such an obvious problem is one of the genuine intellectual disappointments of the twenty-first century. Well-intended proposals such as microflats – tiny apartments that seem designed for large rodents rather than anything approaching a humanoid – have only served to highlight the lack of imagination evident in addressing this crisis; many young professionals have turned to internal or external migration as the only viable exit.
It was with this in mind that our CSO was struck by a novel form of housing being formulated at the Media Lab at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (‘MIT Media Lab’). The CityHome is an 840ft² property the main room of which – via the use of robotic walls, appliances and furniture – can transform into any number of large rooms at the flick of a switch. One minute it can be a large dining room with space for up to fourteen people; the next, a home gym; the next, a large kitchen. While the project is still very much under development and its limitations for anything other than one-person occupancy are clear, the massive corporate underwriting of the MIT Media Lab means that should the construction industry find this idea a winner, CityHomes could soon be making their way into a newly-constructed apartment block near you.
As brilliant an idea as it is, however, the CityHome does not address the ultimate question of its own perceived necessity. Would there be any need for such electronic ingenuity in the event of a simple rise in interest rates which would end subsidised money and rebalance the housing market? As red ink soaks the balance sheets of financial institutions in both the great financial centres of the last century, it seems almost churlish to ask. | <urn:uuid:28d34b24-10e8-4b4b-ab24-b03f17af865e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mediolana.wordpress.com/category/technology/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956149 | 511 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Many people think that a robot:
- Is not 'natural' / was made by man.
- Can see, hear or feel.
- Can do a job / useful work.
- Is intelligent, or can make choices.
- Can be programmed to do different things.
- Can move.
- Seems to have a life of its own, like an animate object.
- Is roughly the same shape as a human.
People have been interested in building machines to do work for us for a long time. But it takes time and money to build just one machine, so early ideas stayed ideas, or were built to make rich people laugh. Leonardo Da Vinci designed a man-shaped machine to look like a knight in 1464. It would be controlled with ropes and wheels. Other engineers and dreamers drew mechanical men. So in 1920, Karel Čapek wrote a novel about them, and he used a word from Czech that is connected with 'work': robot. But the most successful robot designs in the 1900's were not made to look like people. They were designed for their use. George Devol made the first of these, the Unimate, in 1954, and General Motors bought it in 1960. The next year, it started work in a factory in New Jersey. The engineers could program it, and reprogram it if they had to.
Modern Robots [change]
Robots now have many uses. Many factories use robots to do lots of hard work quickly and without many mistakes. These are 'industrial' robots. The military uses robots to find and get rid of bombs. If someone makes a mistake, the robot is damaged or destroyed, which is better than a person being killed. There are also robots that help at home, to vacuum or cut grass, for example. Such robots must learn about the area of work. There are two robots on Mars. Because it takes a long time to send a signal from Earth to Mars, the robots do much of their work alone, without commands from Earth. People still think of robots as having a shape like a person—two legs, two arms, and a head. ASIMO is one robot that is helping scientists learn how to design and program robots. It can walk, which is not easy to program.
Eastern and Western Views [change]
Eastern Thoughts on Robots [change]
Roughly half of all the robots in the world are in Asia, 32% in Europe, and 16% in North America, 1% in Australasia and 1% in Africa. 30% of all the robots in the world are in Japan. Japan has the most robots of any country in the world, and is the leader in the world robotics industry. Japan is actually said to be the robotic capital of the world.
In Japan and South Korea, ideas of future robots have been mainly positive. The positive reception of robots there may be partly because of the famous cartoon robot, 'Astroboy'. China expressed views on robotics that are similar to those of Japan and South Korea, but China is behind both America and Europe in robotic development. The East Asian view is that robots should be roughly equal to humans. They feel robots could care for old people, teach children, or serve as assistants. The popular opinion of East Asia is that it would be good for robots to become more popular and more advanced. This view is opposite to the popular Western view.
"This is the opening of an era in which human beings and robots can co-exist," says Japanese firm Mitsubishi about one of the many human-like robots in Japan. The South Korean Ministry of Information and Communication has predicted that every South Korean household will have a robot by between 2015 and 2020.
In this sense, people in Japan are much more likely to be affected by Technosexuality, as they are much more exposed to robots in their society. South Korea aims to put a robot in every house there by 2015-2020 in order to help catch up technologically with Japan. This will obviously have an impact on the technosexuality of South Korea. China, like South Korea, wishes to catch up with Japan, and has been developing robots very quickly. After China becomes more developed, and each person has more money to view the media, where robots could be seen, or to buy robots, as is happening in Japan and South Korea, technosexuality will probably rise there too, when considering the current opinions of the people of robots.
With a limited number of robots in the rest of the world away from Japan, and even in Japan too, movies and literature are the where most of the technosexuality will be towards. Futuristic images/descriptions or robots may encourage technosexuality. At the moment, there are not that many real human-like robots in the world. The most human-like robot in the world, 'Actroid', made by Japanese company 'Kokoro' a division of 'Sanrio', is a good example of the target for technosexuality.
Western Thoughts on Robots [change]
Western societies are more likely to be against, or even fear the development of robotics, through much media output in movies and literature that they will replace humans.
The West regards robots as a 'threat' to the future of humans, which is also muchly due to religious influence of the Abrahamic religions, in which creating machines that can think for themselves would almost be playing God. Obviously, these boundaries are not clear, but there is a significant difference between the two ideologies.
Robot Laws [change]
The writer Isaac Asimov told many stories about robots who had three robot laws to keep them safe, as well as to keep humans safe from them.
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.
These were not used in real life when he invented them. However, in today's world robots are more complicated, and one day real laws may be needed, much like Isaac Asimov's original three laws.
These laws are talked about in the Megaman video games.
Other pages [change]
Other websites [change]
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Robots|
- Research societies
- IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS) and its wiki.
- International Foundation of Robotics Research (IFRR)
- Robotics at the Open Directory Project
- http://robots.net – Daily news about robots, robotics, and AI
- A brief history of robotics
- A giant list of known robots
- NASA and robots
- NASA Robotics Division
- International Federation of Robotics
- Should we be worried by the rise of robots?
- Podcast 'Talking Robots' - interviews with high-profile professionals in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence
- French collection of toy robot
- Introduction to Robotics
- Robot World News
- Robot news, robot tutorials, robot videos and robot chatbox
- Robot news, theory of robotics
- List of robots
- Brandweek: Even Robot Suicide Is No Laughing Matter
- Robots Today and Tomorrow: IFR Presents the 2007 World Robotics Statistics Survey; World Robotics; 2007-10-29; retrieved on 2007-12-14
- Reporting by Watanabe, Hiroaki; Writing and additional reporting by Negishi, Mayumi; Editing by Norton, Jerry;Japan's robots slug it out to be world champ; Reuters; 2007-12-02; retrieved on 2007-01-01
- Lewis, Leo; The robots are running riot! Quick, bring out the red tape; TimesOnline; 2007-04-06; retrieved on 2007-01-02
- Biglione, Kirk; The Secret To Japan's Robot Dominance; Planet Tokyo; 2006-01-24; retrieved on 2007-01-02
- Domestic robot to debut in Japan ; BBC News; 2005-08-30; retrieved on 2007-01-02
- Robotic age poses ethical dilemma; BBC News; 2007-03-07; retrieved on 2007-01-02;
- Chamberlain, Ted; Photo in the News: Ultra-Lifelike Robot Debuts in Japan; National Geographic News; 2005-06-10; retrieved on 2008-01-02
- Yang, Jeff; ASIAN POP Robot Nation Why Japan, and not America, is likely to be the world's first cyborg society; SFGate; 2005-08-25; retrieved on 2007-01-02
- Spencer, Richard (2007-03-08). "S Korea devises 'robot ethics charter'". The Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1544936/S-Korea-devises-robot-ethics-charter.html. Retrieved 2013-03-27. | <urn:uuid:6f6ca1ad-49bf-450a-a1db-c5d67c6adfbe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946162 | 1,867 | 3.296875 | 3 |
|Drug delivery devices: Nebulizers|
Sometimes called a "breathing treatment," a nebulizer creates a mist out of your asthma drug, which makes it easy and pleasant to breathe the drug into the lungs. If you use a nebulizer, your doctor will prescribe the drugs in liquid form, instead of in a canister.
To use a nebulizer, you attach the nebulizer hose to an air compressor, a small machine that takes air from the environment and turns it into a high-pressure stream. The drug is placed into a small cup. Air from the compressor converts the drug into an aerosol mist that you inhale through a mouthpiece. By taking slow, deep breaths, the medicine is delivered into your lungs. Small children or others who cannot hold the mouthpiece tightly in their lips can wear a mask to maximize the effects of the medicine.
Most compressors are small and lightweight, making them easy to use at home or away, and are compatible with any nebulizer kit. However, some nebulizers don't use air compressors. These are called "ultrasonic nebulizers," which use sound vibrations to create the drug aerosol. These units are quieter but more expensive.
Unlike a metered dose inhaler, which only takes a couple of minutes or less to use, a nebulizer requires you sit down and relax for 5 - 30 minutes while you inhale the drug. Some people enjoy the experience of using a nebulizer, others don't have the patience.
Nebulizers require time and effort to keep them clean and operating properly. For most patients with asthma, a nebulizer is not necessary and other delivery methods like MDIs are appropriate.
Reviewed By: Allen J. Blaivas, DO, Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine UMDNJ-NJMS, Attending Physician in the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Department of Veteran Affairs, VA New Jersey Health Care System, East Orange, NJ. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. Previoulsy reviewed by David A. Kaufman, MD, Section Chief, Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, Bridgeport Hospital-Yale New Haven Health System, and Assistant Clinical Professor, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network. (6/1/2010) | <urn:uuid:4d425e9e-7630-4058-87a6-f1ee728e126b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sw.org/health-education?productId=28&pid=28&gid=000134 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922884 | 492 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Futurist Ray Kurzweil has a prediction about the future of solar energy. He asserts that solar technology is improving at such a rate that it will soon be able to compete with fossil fuels. It will also be able to supply 100% of the world’s energy in about 20 years.
Kurzwell has previously, and successfully, predicted that a computer would beat a human in chess by 1998, and that a worldwide communications network would emerge in the mid 1990s.
Many of Kurzweil’s predictions are based on his law of accelerating returns, which maintains that technological change is exponential rather than linear, and that information technologies grow exponentially in capacity and power. This has been observed with computer processing power, which has doubled every 2 years for almost 50 years.
Kurzweil believes this is also the case with solar technology. Solar power is doubling about every 2 years globally, and it has been doing this for the past 20 years.
Today, solar energy is more expensive than using fossil fuels, but costs are declining fast. We are only a few years away from solar being around the same cost as fossil fuels. Kurzweil maintains that after that point, solar will continue to go down in price and will become more popular.
He adds that currently solar power meets a very small percentage of the world’s energy needs, and people tend to dismiss technologies when they are only a very small fraction of the total solution.
Crucially, he points out that if solar power doubles every 2 years, 8 more times, it will meet 100 percent of the world’s energy needs. Following that math, it will take 16 years, that’s 2027.
He adds that the world will increase its energy needs during that time too, so we should add another couple of times to double on top of that. So in about 20 years, around 2031, we will be meeting at least 100 percent of the world’s energy needs just with solar energy.
On the possible political obstacles involved, he says that as the cost per watt of solar falls significantly below coal and oil, people are going to change for economic reasons alone. It will cease to be a political issue.
What do you think of this scenario? Do you think this will come to fruition? | <urn:uuid:d78942dc-21e0-46ec-95c2-b8c07b4660f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.the9billion.com/2011/02/25/100-solar-energy-in-20-yrs-no-problem-says-futurist-ray-kurzweil/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968349 | 477 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Cyber order could help shape later law
The expected cybersecurity executive order should serve as a template for action when Congress once again takes up cybersecurity legislation, according to Capitol Hill insiders speaking at 1105 Government Events’ Oct. 22 cybersecurity conference.
The order will be useful for guidance regardless of any potential post-election power shifts, they said.
(1105 Government Events is part of 1105 Media, the parent company of FCW.)
“There are a lot of moving pieces, but the ground has now been plowed. No matter who’s in leadership position, the awareness has been raised, people are on the record and we have leaders on both sides of the aisle [agreeing] something needs to be done. The rest is just details,” said Clete Johnson, counsel in the office of Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and lead staffer on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. “Whatever happens in November, I don’t think too much more time is going to pass before we do what we need to do, no matter who the leadership is."
There are limitations on what the executive order can encompass, though, which means that legislation still is critical to national security in cyberspace. An executive order cannot codify, meaning it relies on existing statutes that it cannot alter – a significant issue for information-sharing, which is crucial to cybersecurity action.
“The EO could [address] government-private sector information-sharing; the problem is the limits on what it can do for private-to-private and private-to-government,” particularly with regard to liability concerns, Johnson said. “It would require amending electronic privacy statutes, and an EO can’t do that. It’s a major problem since information-sharing is one of the two cornerstones.”
The other cornerstone is critical infrastructure, which has challenges of its own in an executive order.
“Critical infrastructure is mostly life-or-death-type systems…the difficulty with them is defining which are critical and then [addressing] the ‘ad hocracy’ or ad-hoc approach to them that our government and society bring to securing those systems,” Johnson noted.
“How do you promote best practices, leadership and accountability?” Johnson asked. “The most important thing is how do you allow private-sector market incentives and dynamics to drive a race to the top on cybersecurity, as opposed to [a government-led] top-down approach.”
Another problem is the range of policies and governance employed across the critical infrastructure sector. The patchwork nature of the regulations are presenting a hurdle for the White House, according to Trey Hodgkins, TechAmerica’s senior vice president, global public sector.
“One challenge the White House indicated they’re undertaking is going through the existing authorities for each sector,” said Hodgkins, who has met with stakeholders from the government and private sector regarding the executive order. “Since there aren’t uniformities across the sector, they are attempting to understand existing authorities and what they may or may not be able to do.”
Even after the executive order – if it does indeed become a reality – there will still be an uphill battle on the Hill, where partisan stalemates could threaten action once again.
“It’s very difficult to predict procedurally how [legislation will] go through. We hope something can happen swiftly but at same time…we have to first do no harm. We have to make sure we’re still doing what we think is the right way to move forward. We have to work quickly but smartly,” said Michael Seeds, legislative director for Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas). “This lays the groundwork for the next Congress…we’re hopeful.” | <urn:uuid:8e5a942b-a547-40e6-b530-c1073cfccf0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fcw.com/articles/2012/10/22/cybersecurity-legislation.aspx?admgarea=TC_ExecTech | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948212 | 812 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Hoag’s dedication to the community began at its inception, and as the hospital continued to expand its outreach efforts, it became clear that a structured program was necessary. Hoag’s formal commitment was initiated in 1995 when the hospital established the department of Community Health- charged with improving the health of the vulnerable population in Orange County.
The Department of Community Health, led by its Director, Gwyn Parry, MD, is responsible for the coordination of Hoag’s Community Benefit Program, and provides services to assist the low-income and underserved in the community. The program has focused on two principal strategies:
- Provide necessary healthcare-related services which are unduplicated in the community
- Provide financial support to existing community based not-for-profit organizations which already
- Provide effective healthcare and related social services to meet community health needs.
The department of Community Health provides direct services to the community through Community Case Management, Mental Health and Psychotherapy Services, and Health Ministries/Parish Nursing. In addition to these services, many other Hoag departments provide community health services including education and support groups which are free to the community.
What are Community Benefits?
Community Benefits are programs or activities that provide treatment and/or promote health and healing as a response to identified community needs. They increase access to health care and improve community health. Community Benefit activities and programs are not provided for marketing purposes. Not-for-profit health care organizations demonstrate their commitment to the community by providing
Community Benefit programs and services through:
- Free and discounted care to those unable to afford health care
- Care for the low-income and vulnerable populations
- Services designed to improve community health and increase access to health care
What qualifies as Community Benefits?
A Community Benefit must respond to an identified community need and meet at least one of the following criteria:
- Improve access to health care services
- Enhance health of the community
- Advance medical or health knowledge
- Relieve or reduce the burden of government or other community efforts
Why do we provide Community Benefits?
Hoag’s mission as a non-profit, faith-based hospital is to provide the highest quality health care services to the communities we serve. Hoag’s Community Benefit Program has focused on meeting the unique needs of Orange County residents with particular emphasis upon the disadvantaged and underserved. Hoag’s mission is to be a proactive participant in providing and partnering with other likeminded organizations to meet the ever-increasing needs of the Orange County community.
Community Benefit is also the basis of the tax-exemption of not-for-profit hospitals. The Internal Revenue Service, through its 1969 Revenue Ruling 69-545, describes the Community Benefit Standard for charitable tax-exempt hospitals as helping the community in a way that relieved a governmental burden and promoted general welfare. In addition, the 1994 California Community Benefit Legislation (SB 697) required private non-profit hospitals to assume a social obligation to provide community benefits in the public interest in exchange for their tax-exempt status. | <urn:uuid:3f4c662d-d9e5-4f96-9648-f0188b6737c1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hoag.org/WhyHOAG/Pages/Community-Health.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960826 | 626 | 1.796875 | 2 |
SFS offers end-to-end solar solutions that make sense financially, environmentally and socially.
Through a key manufacturing partner, you – the customer – are getting solar panels that come directly from our manufacturing plant. This means no middle-men and a cost-effective cost-per-watt rate. The plant has a potential 800 megawatt annual capacity which offers engineering benefits of vertical integration and the cost saving from an economy of scale. The plant operates in a fully automated manufacturing line, which reduces human contact which is the leading source of defects. Fewer defects mean higher quality, fewer headaches and lower total cost, all of which benefit our customers.
The products we offer incorporate “thin film multi-junction amorphous silicon technology“, which provide numerous benefits. The source materials are relatively inexpensive, widely available and non-toxic. It has a proven track record – with a 10 year manufacturing history.
Several new improvements have been made to this technology:
- A proprietary encapsulation seals out water.
- There is a tough polymer back coating that provides insulation, scratch resistance and UV protection.
- The panels have a monolithic interconnect (via laser scribing) – no cells to tab, solder, and assemble.
- They are frameless – nowhere for rain, snow, and dirt to snag, and less expensive to ship and install.
- Connections are aluminum in order to avoid corrosion. The end result is a panel that has half the cost and half the weight of two sheets of glass with EVA.
With a privately operated R&D campus, technologies are constantly being enhanced and designing for the next generation photo voltaic panels. | <urn:uuid:22b94276-f132-4f7f-8382-12ca0728fa75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chemicalsafety.com/solar/high-quality-solar-panels/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940383 | 345 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Video games can be deadly and we’re not talking about the action that takes place on screen in relation to the character/avatar you play.
A Taiwanese gamer, 18, died after embarking on a 40-hour Diablo III session.
The popular game is addictive, especially since repeat play is required to build a character’s strength in an attempt to conquer Diablo.
The gamer, known only by his last name Chuang, spent nearly two days playing the game in a private room at an Internet café. He collapsed, only to be discovered on a table. When he woke up, he stumbled for a few steps and collapsed again. The cause of death is not yet known, but media reports speculate that he died of cardiovascular issues.
Blizzard, the game’s manufacturer, issued a statement about the gamer’s death, expressing sympathy at the loss yet absolving itself of personal liability or responsibility, taking a “play at your own risk” stance.
The statement read as follows:
We’re saddened to hear this news, and our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time. We don’t feel it would be appropriate for us to comment further without knowing all of the circumstances involved. While we recognize that it’s ultimately up to each individual or their parent or guardian to determine playing habits, we feel that moderation is clearly important, and that a person’s day-to-day life should take precedence over any form of entertainment. | <urn:uuid:e35c4691-04f3-4801-b8e5-12754521d966> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://929jackfm.com/top_10/videogame/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956392 | 312 | 1.867188 | 2 |