text stringlengths 0 100k |
|---|
Humphrey Bogart (above) delivered the most famous portrayal of Philip Marlowe in "The Big Sleep," but George Montgomery played the part of Raymond Chandler's ace detective in 1947's "The Brasher Doubloon." (AP Photo/Warner Brothers) Raymond Chandler produced a string of novels and short stories, many featuring legendary private detective Philip Marlowe. Chandler wrote fiction, but one of his works offers a brief glimpse into a real, but bygone era of baseball. The hard-boiled hardball history lesson appears in Chandler's novel The High Window. Marlowe is after a rare coin known as the Brasher Doubloon. The plot does more twisting than Chubby Checker. When Marlowe pays a visit to another detective, he notices a Dodgers game is on the radio in the apartment across the hall. Marlowe describes the scene: I knocked, got no answer and knocked louder. Behind my back three Dodgers struck out against a welter of synthetic crowd noise. Hang on. “Synthetic crowd noise” sounds fishy. Plus, the book is set in Pasadena and Los Angeles. The High Window was published in 1942. That’s 16 years before the Brooklyn Dodgers migrated west to California. Yet, Chandler chose to mention them. He gives us a clue as to why when he mentions that the broadcast is a “recreated ball game.” Not a replay, but a recreation. Ronald Reagan at the mic in 1932. The future president recreated Chicago Cubs games for an Iowa radio station. (AP) From the 1920s well into the 1950s, radio stations started recreating games for same-day, delayed broadcasts. In the 1930s, Ronald Reagan worked as a radio sportscaster. The future actor, governor and president recreated Chicago Cubs games for WHO in Des Moines, Iowa. Jim Williams worked on dozens minor league baseball recreations for KVVC in Ventura, Calif. in 1951 and ‘52. “It was very expensive to rent telephone lines for several hundred miles. And to also send sportscasters from, say, Ventura to Modesto,” Williams told Only A Game. Ventura had a team in the California League. Williams, now 81, was just beginning a long radio career when he served as the sound engineer for recreated road games. “We had a telegrapher from the Western Union office who we hired who came to the radio station in Ventura," Willams said. "His counterpart would be at the stadium in Modesto, and then he would type out a few dots and dashes and send a brief message to our telegrapher.” One half inning at a time, the telegrapher would type up the action, and there weren't too many details. Williams gave an example: Modesto at bat. Smith strike one low. Ball two. Hit to centerfield. Caught by Sam Jones. The announcer in Ventura would then call the game, adding color with statistics and other details. Williams would play sound effects records to round out the production: “Booing, crowds cheering, people running around selling popcorn," he said. "‘Get your fresh popcorn here! Get your red hots here! Get your Coke here!’” And there was a wooden bat hanging near the announcer’s microphone. “If there was a hit, he would simply take his wooden ruler and hit the baseball bat extending from the ceiling," Williams said. For pitches that made it to the catcher, the sportscaster also had a baseball and a glove. Gordon McLendon, President of the Liberty Broadcasting system, in 1952.(AP) The master of the art form was Gordon McLendon. From 1947 to 1952, McLendon and his Liberty Broadcasting System delivered elaborate major league recreations from his studio in Dallas. At its peak, Liberty had nearly 500 affiliate stations, mainly in the West and South where there were no big-league teams. Most stations acknowledged the broadcasts were recreations in announcements before and after the games. The biggest concern was a broken telegraph or human error at the ballpark. Williams still remembers the worst breakdown during his work on recreations for KVVC. “Modesto came to bat. They had an inning, and they had four outs, and they went down. Then they came right back up to bat again. That does not happen in a ballgame,” said Williams, who is now an author and wrote an article about the incident. The announcer in Ventura started to fill time and eventually announced a fake storm and rain delay while the telegrapher phoned the press box in Modesto. “Well, when the telegrapher came on the horn, on the telephone, he was drunk,” Williams said. The staff in Ventura got a newspaper reporter at the stadium to give them a summary over the phone after each half inning. “Our sportscaster came on and said, ‘Well, the storm is now over. Let’s get back to the game.’ That was a hair-pulling time. It never happened again. And I would assume that the telegrapher in Modesto got fired, too,” Willams said, laughing. The 1947 film adaptation of The High Window was called “The Brasher Doubloon” and starred George Montgomery as Marlowe. The Dodgers recreation is not in the movie, but the book offers one more historically accurate sports tidbit. After Marlowe finds the other private eye dead, a neighbor ties his alibi to the length of the baseball broadcast. And Chandler got it right: his estimate would put a game at about two and half hours – pretty much in line for the era – and significantly shorter than today’s nearly three-hour average. So, that’s the story of what Raymond Chandler can teach us about baseball history. And I better wrap this up before it turns into a long goodbye. |
What are the similarities and differences between Bill Maher‘s Religulous and Ben Stein‘s Expelled? I haven’t seen either one yet (hopefully seeing Religulous soon), but the Orlando Sentinel‘s Roger Moore compares the two films. First, the similarities: Both use mockery, sometimes droll, sometimes nakedly hostile, to ridicule their foes. Both travel far and wide to find interview subjects, sometimes apparently hiding their purpose from those they’re chatting with. Both mix in some pretty comical straw-men for their stars to humiliate in interviews. Both use editing to create mocking laughs at the expense of the folks they’re interviewing. The differences, however, are huge and striking: I hated Expelled, found it sneaky, dishonest and cynical. You can question evolution, test it, make fun of what you see as holes in it. But you can’t question it as a “belief.” It isn’t a belief. It is time-tested and evolving science. Expelled seems blatantly pro-ignorance. I honestly wonder if Ben Stein, star of it, actually believes the drivel he’s trying to sell here. Bill Maher of Religulous, which I really enjoyed, never claims persecution, that his “freedom” is being infringed upon, as the disingenuous Ben Stein does in Expelled. … Unlike Stein, Maher is in the room doing all his own interviews. He may have couched his approach to the religious folks of various stripes as a movie about “doubt” and questioning religion to get them to talk. But virtually none of them back down when he comes straight out and questions their faith. … And unlike Stein, Maher freely showed his movie to critics, not hiding it from potentially angry reaction, fact-vetting and protest. His movie is anti-religion, anti-“irrationalists,” his name for people make decisions on belief rather than fact. Also, — and I know this will make you think twice about seeing it — Christianity Today didn’t like Religulous: … Maher’s biggest problem with this movie is not that it is reckless or condescending (which it is), but that it espouses a point of view that, quite simply, is not shared by many people in the world. Maher’s ideology has no room for the miraculous or supernatural. Such things are all hocus pocus to him and cannot be believed by anyone with a brain. Faith of any kind (i.e., believing in something that can’t be proved) “makes a virtue out of not thinking,” according to Maher. Right there he loses about 98 percent of the world’s population. Maher could have spent the movie looking at the inside of a megachurch and Christianity Today would be embarrassed all the same. There’s little difference between the religious kooks and the religious liberals in Maher’s eyes, and many Christians have a nasty habit of dismissing everyone who isn’t part of their own brand of faith. And who would have “an ounce of nuance of theological rigor”? What arguments would CT like to have seen made? They don’t elaborate. They never say exactly what is wrong with the “weird” practitioners of their faith — I imagine that’s because you can’t dismiss them without dismissing so many others who act the same way. CT says the movie suffers because it “espouses a point of view that, quite simply, is not shared by many people in the world” — it’s true that atheism is a minority belief, but that’s precisely why Maher made the film. That number needs to increase. (Thanks to Ken for the link!) |
Ottawa has stripped a Lebanese family of their Canadian citizenships — and handed them a $63,000 bill — after they were caught blatantly lying about living in Canada, part of a government crackdown on bogus citizens that could extend to thousands of cases. The family — a father, mother and their two daughters — signed citizenship forms claiming they lived in Canada for almost all of the previous four years when they really lived in the United Arab Emirates, a fact even posted online in the daughters’ public résumés on LinkedIn. The bold nature of the fabrications — that successfully won them citizenship in 2008 and 2009 — and their attempts to fight Ottawa’s decision brought rebuke from both the government and the Federal Court of Canada: not only have their citizenships been revoked, but they have been ordered to pay all of the government’s $63,442 in legal bills. It is a punishment historically associated with only the most egregious cases, usually accused Nazi war criminals who hid their involvement in atrocities when fleeing to Canada after the Second World War. This case is only the beginning. The RCMP has targeted about 11,000 people from more than 100 countries suspected of fraud by misrepresenting their residency in Canada. RCMP identified more than 3,000 citizens and 5,000 permanent residents under suspicion in ongoing large-scale fraud investigations. Most are residency claims like in this case. After questions from officials, nearly 2,000 other people have withdrawn their applications, said Nancy Caron, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. “Canadian citizenship is not for sale. The government of Canada is taking steps to revoke citizenship from those who have obtained it fraudulently by misrepresenting their residence in Canada while continuing to live abroad most, or all, of the time,” said Ms. Caron. “There is no statute of limitation on the revocation of citizenship.” The crackdown was announced by then minister Jason Kenney in 2012 and reiterated this year by current minister, Chris Alexander. “My understanding is that the government didn’t, in the past, go after cases like this in this way and now they are,” said Robert Rastorp, a Toronto lawyer who represented the family in court. “I think there is a strong political direction coming, ultimately from the minister’s office, to pursue these cases very aggressively. “I don’t think this is the last case like this we are going to see.” ‘The government of Canada is taking steps to revoke citizenship from those who have obtained it fraudulently’ A spokesman for the Minister’s office declined to comment on the case. A spokeswoman for the citizenship ministry confirmed the case stemmed from the 2012 crackdown that has been moving through the system. The family arrived in Canada on Aug. 16, 2004. In 2008, each of the family members successfully applied for Canadian citizenship. Boutros Naim Houchaime, the father, said he had lived in Canada every day for the four years prior to his application for citizenship, except for 15 trips totalling 307 days outside Canada. Canada, however, after granting the family citizenship, revisited the case and made a diplomatic request to the United Arab Emirates for travel records on the family. (The UAE maintains strict entry and exit controls over residents who are non-citizens, court heard.) “Mr. Houchaime was, in fact, spending the vast majority of his time living in Dubai during the relevant period, leaving the UAE only periodically for short trips abroad,” Justice Anne Mactavish ruled. Jacqueline El-Ksayer, the mother, claimed she was outside Canada only seven times for a total 133 days, during the past four years when, in fact, she left Canada a month after arriving in 2004, returning to Dubai where she remained almost exclusively except for a few short trips. “Ms. El-Ksayer’s travel history bears no relationship to the Canadian residence declared in her citizenship application,” said Judge Mactavish. Jennifer Hochaime, one of their daughters, claimed she left Canada only three times for a total of 134 days in four years. According to UAE records, however, she actually returned to Dubai a month after coming to Canada in 2004. She left Dubai for a couple of weeks each summer — consistent with someone attending school in Dubai. In fact, she was attending the Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management from 2004 to 2008, and for most of 2007 she was in Switzerland on an exchange program, court found. The schools confirmed she was physically present at each institution during periods she claimed to be living in Canada. ‘I think there is a strong political direction coming … I don’t think this is the last case like this we are going to see’ Lynn Hochaime, another daughter, claimed to be away from Canada for only 87 days during the four year period when, like her mother and sister, she returned to Dubai on Sept. 7, 2004, and remained in Dubai for most of the next four years, with short trips out of the country, mostly in the summer. She actually was attending high school at Al Mawakeb School in Dubai until her graduation in 2007 and, contrary to her claim she enrolled at McMaster University in Hamilton in 2006, she did not start at McMaster until 2008, court heard. Even her online LinkedIn profile showed that. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration sought a declaration from the Federal Court that the family obtained their Canadian citizenship by false representations or fraud. In making that declaration Judge Mactavish declared their applications contained “patently false information.” “Canadian citizenship is a valuable privilege,” she said when ruling that the government was entitled to be paid its legal costs from the proceedings. The extent of the costs were accepted by the court this month. The ruling and cost award is causing surprise in the legal community, said Sergio Karas, an immigration lawyer and analyst who is a former chair of the Ontario Bar Association’s immigration section. “I’ve never seen an award of costs like this in connection with a citizenship case. The court is trying to send a message to people who abuse the citizenship program,” he said. At the same time, the government is paying more attention to bogus claims after several scandals, he said. “People should really pay attention to this case and heed the warning it provides,” said Mr. Karas. The Federal Court does not actually strip citizenship, but assesses evidence and makes a finding on each case brought before it. The Governor in Council makes decisions on actual revocations. National Post • Email: ahumphreys@nationalpost.com | Twitter: AD_Humphreys |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The BBC's Rupert Wingfield-Hayes explains the background to the tension Six Chinese surveillance ships briefly entered waters around islands claimed by both Japan and China, amid a bitter territorial dispute. China said the ships were carrying out "law enforcement" to show jurisdiction over the islands, called Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan. Three vessels left after a short time and the other three have now also left, the Japanese coast guard said. The move came after Japan sealed a deal to buy three of the islands. Japan controls the uninhabited but resource-rich East China Sea islands, which are also claimed by Taiwan. Three were in the hands of a private Japanese owner but the Japanese government bought them earlier this week. 'No force' The Japanese Coast Guard said the first two Chinese boats entered Japan's territorial waters at 06:18 local time (21:18 GMT Thursday), followed by another fleet of four other ships just after 07:00. Japan-China disputed islands The archipelago consists of five islands and three reefs Japan, China and Taiwan claim them; they are controlled by Japan and form part of Okinawa prefecture The Japanese government signed a deal in September 2012 to purchase three islands from Japanese businessman Kunioki Kurihara, who used to rent them out to the Japanese state The islands were the focus of a major diplomatic row between Japan and China in 2010 Q&A: China-Japan islands row Three ships moved away from the islands about 90 minutes later, amid warnings from the Japanese coast guard, followed hours later by the other three, NHK reported. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda established a task force to address the issue, local reports said, and the government also summoned the Chinese ambassador to lodge a protest. "We understand that the dispatch of six ships is surely an unprecedented case, considering past incidents," Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said. He added that Japan asked China to "secure the safety" of its nationals after a report from its Shanghai consulate that a Japanese group was "assaulted by Chinese" at a restaurant. The Chinese Foreign Ministry confirmed early on Friday that its ships were there. "These law enforcement and patrol activities are aimed to demonstrate China's jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Islands and its affiliated islets and ensure the country's maritime interests," a statement said. Trade fears The US has called for ''cooler heads to prevail'' as tension intensifies between China and Japan over the islands, which lie south of Okinawa and north of Taiwan. US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is due to visit both Japan and China from this weekend as part of a tour of the region. The dispute has seriously marred diplomatic relations between China and Japan and threatens to damage the strong trading relationship, says the BBC's John Sudworth in Beijing. The row has also generated strong nationalist sentiment on both sides that observers say now makes it very difficult to be seen to be backing down, says our correspondent. The Japanese government says it is buying the islands to promote their stable and peaceful management. Its move followed a bid by right-wing Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara to buy the islands using public donations - an action that would likely have provoked China even more. China, on the other hand, says the islands have historically been its territory and fishing grounds. Meanwhile Japan's newly-appointed ambassador to China, Shinichi Nishimiya, remains in hospital in Tokyo after he was found unconscious near his home in Tokyo on Thursday. No details have been given on his condition. He was appointed on Tuesday to replace Uichiro Niwa, who has been criticised for his handling of one of the worse diplomatic rows between Japan and China in recent years. |
In Japan, 'Sliced-Up Actors' Are A Dying Breed toggle caption Toei Kyoto Studio Park Japan is home to Asia's oldest and largest motion-picture industry, with its own unique genres and traditions. While every film industry has stuntmen, only Japan has a class of actors whose main job is to be sliced and diced by samurai sword-wielding protagonists. But the decline of period dramas means that this class of actors is literally a dying breed. At the Toei Company's film studios in Japan's cultural capital, Kyoto, fight choreographers rehearse for an upcoming stage show. Kirareyaku, or so-called "chopped up actors," are staging the show in hopes of reviving audience interest in period dramas. Veteran fight choreographer Mitsuhiko Seike directs the actors as they slash and parry with wooden swords and daggers inside the studio's own dojo, or training hall. The most senior actor on stage is Seizo Fukumoto, to whom Seike respectfully refers to as his sensei or teacher. "As a fight choreographer, I always turn to Fukumoto to act in crucial scenes," Seike confides during a break in the rehearsal. "It's not just his technique, but his expressiveness. He always adds value to my choreography." toggle caption Toei Company Fukumoto's career spans a half century, originating in the postwar heyday of Japanese cinema. Since then, he has gushed forth rivers of fake blood and been cut to ribbons that would stretch for miles. He has been killed on screen more than 50,000 times — more than once in some films. In the postwar era, period dramas, including samurai films, were an important form of thinly veiled criticism of modern society and institutions. But such obliqueness is no longer necessary. Now 69, Fukumoto recalls landing his first job in the movies as a stuntman and extra with Toei studios in 1959. "When I was younger, our studio had some 400 stuntmen and extras," he remembers. "I wanted to stand out. I wanted to be on screen. The best way to do that was to become a 'chopped-up actor' and to fight with the stars." Fukumoto's art is known in Japanese as tate, a stylized sort of stage combat that combines elements of martial arts, dance and kabuki theater. Its use in Japanese film has influenced foreign cinematic styles from "spaghetti Westerns" to Hong Kong kung fu flicks. But few Japanese actors practice it today. In a trademark move, Fukumoto is dealt a fatal blow, then bends over backward, seemingly suspended in midair for a moment of final agony before crumpling to the ground. He says his movements have an awkward grotesqueness to them; it's called buzama in Japanese. "Whenever we die, we have to do it in a way that is unsightly or clumsy, not graceful," Fukumoto explains. "In this buzama, we find beauty. To die in an uncool way is the coolest." He's never been the leading man, but Fukumoto has still managed to attract a large and loyal international following. But despite his fame, his career as professional sword fodder is almost by definition self-effacing. Enlarge this image toggle caption Toei Kyoto Studio Park Toei Kyoto Studio Park "I'm not a great traditional artist or craftsman," he insists modestly. "It's just that I've been doing this for 50 years, and I want to pass on something of my chanbara technique to the younger generation." The Japanese word chanbara mimics the clash and clang of swords, and refers to the sword-fighting movie genre. Fukumoto says that the nastier his simulated death, the brighter the leading actor shines. Capping a long and gory career, Fukumoto guards over Tom Cruise in the 2003 film The Last Samurai. In the film, Cruise plays a post-Civil War U.S. Army captain who travels to Japan, where he learns to wield a samurai sword — rather well, in Fukumoto's opinion. Cruise joins a band of samurai in their last charge against Japanese imperial soldiers equipped with modern firearms. You can imagine how that ends. Although his art seems to be facing a similar fate in the Internet age, Fukumoto seems content with what he has achieved in his obscure profession — and with the prospect of always being remembered for being dismembered. |
Last weekend’s MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference included a number of Evolution of Sport presentations. Among the best was a study of BABIP factors titled “Hitting ‘Em Where They Are,” by Dan Rosenheck. He is the sports editor of The Economist and a writer for The New York Times’s Keeping Score column on sports statistics, and he gave an overview of his study prior to presenting it on Day Two of the conference. —— Dan Rosenheck: “It was a great surprise to find out that one of the distinguished presenters on the Baseball Analytics panel was Voros McCracken. His discovery, in 1999, was that BABIP allowed by starting pitchers is, at the very least, extremely noisy and hard to predict from year to year. It was a revolution in sabermetrics and opened the door to a vast amount of research. It changed the way many of us understand the game. “The BABIP question has been the Great White Whale of the sabermetric enterprise. It is the mystery that, 14 years later, has continued to defy the best efforts of quantitative analysts using public available data. Tom Tango’s FIP assumes that all pitchers have exactly league-average BABIP ability. Even a small increase in predictive ability of that question leads to a huge increase in the accuracy with which you can predict how valuable players will be. “I studied a bunch of variables I thought might have something to do with hit suppression on balls in play. I came up with two — both FanGraphs stats — that seem to have significant predictive power. The first is pop up rate. The second is z-contact, which is when batters swing at a strike — balls in the strike zone — thrown by a pitcher. What percent of those times does the batter make contact? It turns out that, just like inducing pop ups, it reduces BABIP and correlates consistently year to year. Getting batters to swing and miss at your strikes has strong predictive power on hit suppression. “I came up with a simple model with two curved fits, using data from 2005-2011, with an R-squared of .15. It accounted for 15 percent of the variance in BABIP for starting pitchers relative to rest of that team’s starting rotation. That factors out for defense and ballpark. “Fifteen percent might not sound like a lot, and the data is noisy, but it’s a lot relative to zero, which is what FIP will tell you. This little equation correctly identifies every single major BABIP outlier of the last decade. If you look at its leader boards, the guys who most often appear as being projected to have the lowest BABIPs relative to their team, using only data from prior seasons — no cheating — it is Tim Wakefield, Ted Lilly, Barry Zito, Johan Santana, Matt Cain. It is the famous exceptions, one right after the other, after the other. “The second thing is that it works out of sample. I calculated this equation in March 2012 on data from 2005-2011, and when I applied it to the 2012 season, the R-squared actually went up. It predicted the out-of-sample data even better than the in-sample data. There’s no over-fitting, no cheating or spurious relationships. This is real. “The third thing that works well is you could have a 15 percent R-squared with a very narrow range of predictions. Let’s say you have the best guy at five points below his teammates and the worst at five points above. That might marginally improve your forecast, but it’s not game changing. This equation gets the magnitudes right. It can forecast very big outliers. The guys who have the lowest BABIPs — Chris Young when he was with the Padres, Jered Weaver now, some of the Ted Lilly seasons — it’s projecting these guys for 30, 40 points of BABIP below their teammates. Huge magnitudes, far and above what you would see in any of the standard projection systems like ZIPS, Steamer or PECOTA. I don’t think any of them are projecting anything close to 40 points of differential. And it’s getting them right. “The reason the R-squared went up last year is that it made a very bold prediction that Jered Weaver was going to have a BABIP over 40 points lower than his teammates. It got it right to .001 of accuracy. That’s lucky, and just one great prediction, but overall it’s not just improving your accuracy at the margins. It’s identifying big outliers to a big degree. “I will post my data online, so if anyone wants to poke holes in it, all the better for our understanding of this troublesome phenomenon. I think the best avenue for future research is looking at this equation — at basically the favorite and least favorite pitchers — and asking, ‘What do they have in common?’ The guys who have high pop up rates and low z-contact rates are the guys projected to be good hit suppressors, so what do they throw? How hard do they throw? Are they deceptive? And vice versa for the pitchers the equation doesn’t like. “I had two hypotheses. I thought tall pitchers, like Young and Weaver, might be good at this. I also thought guys who throw a lot of changeups might be good at this. Cole Hamels and Johan Santana come up very high and they’re great changeup artists. But, in fact, the height and changeup percentage in my high and low BABIP samples were identical. “I don’t have any piercing insights as to what the guys who are good at this are doing to be good at this. Fortunately, the data is available to everybody and the internet has plenty of smart people who can move our understanding of this issue even farther forward.” |
Photos via Twitter, Facebook This article originally appeared at VICE Canada. We hear dozens of bullshit political buzzwords in the media every day. Boots on the ground, wedge, unify, patriot, extremism, grassroots. Politicians and pundits use them so often it's easy to not even notice just how often we hear them. "Elites," is a recent favourite of populist candidates. On the right, Donald Trump used it, Rob Ford used it, Brexit leader Nigel Farage used it, and on the left, Bernie Sanders used it. Now Kellie Leitch, the alleged frontrunner for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada, seems to use it more than almost any other word. When two prominent Conservatives withdrew their endorsements of her citing their concerns about her controversial immigration policies, she wrote them off as "party elites." It's been pointed out that Leitch—and most politicians who use the war on the elites as a campaign strategy—isn't exactly disenfranchised. Leitch was a paediatric surgeon (translation: rich person) at Toronto's SickKids Hospital before she became a Member of Parliament for Simcoe-Grey in the Muskoka region of Ontario. She had more explaining to do when a Postmedia report revealed there was a $500-a-plate campaign fundraiser for her set up by downtown lawyers in Toronto. When she was questioned on CTV's Question Period about having such an expensive event while campaigning against elites, she said working hard and having "an elite education," doesn't necessarily make someone part of the "elite" she refers to. So who exactly is an "elite" these days? VICE spoke with some experts to find out. Those Already in Power While Leitch herself has repeatedly tried to distance the meaning of "elites" from those who make a lot of money, it's difficult to completely extract wealth from the word's definition. "It's kind of a way of saying, people who somehow are in a privileged position or getting something that average people should be getting too but they aren't getting for some reason," said Chris Waddell, a journalism and communications professor at Carleton University. He calls the use of the term by populists like Trump and Farage—who were photographed together in a golden elevator at Trump Tower last week—"completely disingenuous." Stanley Hartt, the right-leaning commentator and Toronto lawyer behind the controversial, expensive fundraiser for Leitch's campaign, disagrees. "It kind of means everybody in the establishment who wants to keep doing stuff the way they always have," he said. "Anybody who thinks that the people who are angry at the current state of affairs in public policy and government are 'deplorable,'" he told VICE. "The elites are the people who think: we mustn't say that, we shouldn't go there, that isn't something that will gain you votes." The Out of Touch While Hartt explained that he doesn't agree it's disingenuous for a financially privileged person to rally against the so-called elite, he still doesn't like the term. He pointed to a phrase former Progressive Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney often used—'The chattering classes, meaning the people who get together for symposiums and you see them on CPAC all the time," he said. "They sit and they listen to each other spout nostrums about the general direction in which the economy is going to go and this policy and that policy and how the election south of the border will make a difference and they talk to each other in terms that are intellectual and respectful and they basically recycle the same ideas," he added. According to Waddell, this perception that politicians, academics, reporters, and pundits, are all living in some kind of detached reality from the concerns of the average person gives politicians an easy campaign strategy. "You need to vote for me because I understand your issues and I understand your concerns and I can represent them and be sure that something is going to happen to benefit you," he said. Whoever You Want Elites to Be While the politicians using the term can throw these definitions around, ultimately the term is used so often because it can have so many definitions and can mean whatever the voter wants it to mean. "It's a game being played by politicians to try to make the suggestion to voters ... that somehow they're with them rather than the people who have been in charge of the system," Waddell said. "It also plays to an idea of there being conspiracies and conspiracy theories which really most conspiracy theories are not really worth very much." That game can have particularly damaging consequences when it stokes fears of some lurking other, a boogeyman threatening your safety and livelihood. Exit polls after the US election showed it wasn't just working class economic anxiety that drove people to vote for Donald Trump as many initially assumed; It was whiteness and the promise of protecting white supremacy that fuelled the upset win. If a candidate can find a single scapegoat for all of the electorate's problems and say they'll eliminate that using language they understand, voters will listen no matter how poisonous the language is. They soon realise, of course, the world is much more complicated than that. While this kind of rhetoric may help a politician more popular during election season, Waddell says it's likely they'll be set up for failure by the time they actually reach office. Realistically if you promise some kind of sweeping systemic overhaul and are given a mandate for only four years, there's little you'll actually be able to accomplish. Both Waddell and Hartt point to Trump's successful election win followed by very quick backpedalling on key campaign promises and appointing Washington insiders to influential roles after promising to "drain the swamp." A similar scenario is playing out in Britain, where politicians are finding the Brexit will likely be much more complicated than the quick snip from Europe they promised it would be in their campaigning. While Brexit and the US election were stoking xenophobic disquiet, Canadians boast of a popular left-of-centre prime minister and government. And yet the morning of Nov. 9, Leitch shared a memo calling Donald Trump's message of rallying against elites "exciting." Us vs. "them" politics has worked all too well over the past half-decade—Rob Ford, Brexit, Trump—and Hartt says there's little reason to think it can't work on the federal level in Canada either. Follow Cassie Aylward on Twitter. |
Americans aged 18 to 34 are least likely to believe they will ever see benefits PRINCETON, NJ -- Six in 10 Americans who have not yet retired believe they will get no Social Security benefits when they retire, more pessimistic than at any time since Gallup began asking this question in 1989. Similarly, retired Americans are now significantly more likely than they were five years ago to believe their existing Social Security benefits will eventually be cut. Social Security issues have been a relatively low priority this year as the Obama administration and Congress have focused on healthcare, financial reform, energy legislation, jobs, and, in recent months, the Gulf oil spill. Still, with the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Social Security system approaching on Aug. 14, policymakers are likely to refocus soon on the future of the program, increasingly important as the leading edge of the huge baby boom generation begins to reach retirement age. Nonretirees' confidence in the Social Security system has been relatively low over the last 21 years; 49% said they would receive benefits when Gallup first used the current question wording in 1989, ticking up to a high of 52% in March 2001. The 36% who in the current July 8-11 USA Today/Gallup poll say they expect to receive benefits marks a significant downturn in the last five years. Gallup research earlier this year found that nonretirees have become slightly more likely since 2007 to project Social Security as a major income source in their retirement, concomitant with a drop in projected reliance on pensions, 401(k) plans, and other investments. Americans thus appear to be in a bind, perceiving an increased need for Social Security while at the same being less sure it will be there when they need it. Americans aged 18 to 34 are least likely to believe they will receive Social Security benefits when they retire. By contrast, a substantial majority of nonretired Americans 55 and older are confident they will receive benefits, perhaps because much of the discussion about changing Social Security has suggested that older Americans would be exempted from changes in the program. Gallup has asked retired Americans only twice in recent years if they expect an eventual cut in benefits. The pessimism seen in 2010 marks a flip in attitudes from 2005, when the majority of retirees thought the system would continue without such cuts. Gallup's update on retirees' actual sources of income earlier this year underscored the potential impact of any cut in benefits; 54% of retirees said Social Security was a major source of income, more than any other source tested. A quarter of Americans believe the Social Security system is in a state of crisis, the highest in Gallup's 12-year history of asking this question. Most Americans who do not think Social Security is in a state of crisis believe it has major problems. Americans 65 and older, most of whom are retired and presumably receiving Social Security benefits, are the least likely to say the system is in a state of crisis. Bottom Line Americans who are not yet retired have become increasingly pessimistic about receiving Social Security benefits when they retire. This comes even as Gallup research shows Americans are more likely to project that Social Security will be a major income source in their retirement. Younger Americans are most pessimistic, which could suggest somewhat paradoxically that if policymakers reduce Social Security benefits in the long run, Americans will not be as angry as might be thought, given their low expectations. Social Security is presumably more politically potent among currently retired Americans, the majority of whom depend on it as a major income source. Still, more than half of these retirees expect to see a cut in benefits; whether that could actually become reality from a political viewpoint remains to be seen. |
Last week, the Indian aviation community was abuzz with the news that the government had finally permitted operations of the Airbus A380 in to India. In its announcement, the ministry mentioned Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, and Emirates as potential candidates in operating the aircraft to India, but there are seven other present operators of the giant, all of whom, with the exception of Qantas Airways, operate to India. Three of the Five near future A380 operators, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways and Asiana also operate to India. The question for many aviation enthusiasts is which airline will fly in world’s largest passenger airliner, into one of the world’s most exciting aviation markets, India? Airline wise A380 cabin configurations Before we proceed, it is important to realise the sheer size of the A380. The aircraft is classified as a VLA (very large aircraft) which includes the venerable Boeing 747 jumbo-jet. While Airbus shows the typical seating of A380 at 555 seats in a three-class configuration, most airlines have configured their aircraft from a low 407 seats at Korean Air to a maximum of 526 at Lufthansa. The info-graphic on the right shows the various cabin configurations of the A380 operators. The size of the aircraft makes it a challenge for any airline to fill. Potential A380 airports in India In its order, the ministry of civil aviation allowed the operations of the super-jumbo at the four major Indian gateway airports capable of handling the A380 – New Delhi, the busiest, Mumbai, the second busiest, Bangalore, the third busiest domestic and fourth internationally, and Hyderabad, the sixth. Chennai and Kolkata are excluded since they lack the airside capability to land this huge plane. Hyderabad. For the foreseeable future (about 36 months), we believe Hyderabad lacks an adequate catchment especially in the premium classes to allow an airline to profitably operate the A380 consistently. Bangalore. On the face of it, Bangalore is in a similar situation as Hyderabad, but the IT city is very different from the rest of India, driven by business traffic, it has a high business class demand with virtually negligible first class demand. This same business and IT profile drives demand to extreme volumes on weekends with low weekday loads. The hi-tech nature of Bangalore’s economy also ensures it has the highest percentage of air cargo of India, which airlines carry as belly-hold for additional revenues. Both British Airways and Lufthansa operate the Boeing 747 to the IT city. Given the flexibility of the large A380 fleet, there is a small possibility that Emirates may operate an A380 during the high traffic winter months and during the weekends. New Delhi and Mumbai. In its global market forecast (GMF), Airbus rated New Delhi and Mumbai in the list of top 20 VLA (very large aircraft) airports by 2030. These two biggest airports in India have the traffic volumes in all the three classes to sustain regular A380 operations. The issue will be which airlines will choose between these two cities. Potential airlines to operate the A380 to India There are currently ten operators of the A380. Air France, British Airways, China Southern, Emirates, Korean Air, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Qantas, Singapore Airlines, and Thai Airways. Five more operators, Qatar Airways, Etihad Airways, Air Austral, Skymark Airlines and Asiana will join the A380 family soon. Of these 15, Air Austral, Qantas, and Skymark don’t operate to India, and we will exclude them for now. We next eliminate those airlines that we are reasonably sure will not operate an A380, at least in the foreseeable future to Indian airports. Air France, focuses its bigger aircraft on north American and far east routes. It only operates its mid-sized A330s to India. Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways focus their A380s in slot constrained high volume airports like London Heathrow, Paris Charles De Gaulle, and Frankfurt. China Southern, Korean Air, and Asiana have insufficient traffic rights to India and focus their VLAs on north American and European destinations. Qatar and Etihad are remote possibilities for the near future as they too will initially deploy their A380s to slot congested London, Paris, Frankfurt and possibly New York. Rumours about Etihad giving one of their A380’s to their Indian partner, Jet Airways, appear to be just that for now, rumours. This leaves us with four possible candidates. British Airways (BA) is the most understated, yet most exciting prospect of bringing A380 to India. The whole universe conspires to make the mechanics work on the routes for BA. The stage lengths of about eight to ten hours are just right. India is an important destination for the airline, and it is demonstrating this by flying its latest aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner to Hyderabad starting March. London is one of the most visited cities by Indians, not to mention the large Indian origin diaspora living in the United Kingdom, and Heathrow is the A380 capital of the world with virtually every airline flying its A380 to it. Despite a short-sighted transit immigrant visa requirement and ridiculous air passenger fees, Heathrow is a major transit point for passengers between India and North America. While Mumbai gets the newer 777-300ER featuring the airline’s updated cabin product, New Delhi lags behind having to make do with older 747-400s and 777-200s. The intelligent fleet deployment of British Airways must be noted. During the summers, BA deploys its larger aircraft across the Atlantic catering to massive Trans-Atlantic tourist traffic, while winters sees these aircraft in traditional “home coming” destinations in South Asia, China, and ASEAN. Despite the airline officially saying “We welcome the decision of the Indian government to allow A380s to operate in India. Our customers can already enjoy the comfort and luxury of our A380s on flights to Los Angeles and Hong Kong and we will be starting A380 services to Johannesburg in February and Washington in September. “We currently have four A380s and another four will join our fleet this year. We are assessing a range of routes for the aircraft but at this stage it is too early to speculate which cities we will add to its network.” we are fairly confident of seeing a Union Jack liveried A380 at New Delhi in 2015, if not in the winter schedule. Emirates (EK) is the world’s largest operator of the A380, and is also the biggest foreign airline operating in India, with some calling it the unofficial national airline of India. The airline operates four daily flights to New Delhi and five dailies to Mumbai, almost all of them using the 777s. Though on the surface, the short distances from Mumbai and Delhi to Dubai may not justify the A380 which is primarily designed for longer distances, Emirates has been using its A380 ingeniously on shorter routes and we feel, will be able to make Dubai to Mumbai and Delhi work. Emirates has suffered an image of inconsistent cabin product on its India flights, and the A380 will allow the airline to repair this perception. With over 44 A380s already in its fleet it is all but certain, the airline will commence an A380 service to both Mumbai and New Delhi. However, since the existing bi-lateral air services agreement (ASA) cap being long exhausted, Emirates will have to consolidate its flights to accommodate the large behemoth. We expect EK to steal the thunder and be the first to operate an A380 to India. Lufthansa (LH) has always declared its intentions to operate the A380 to India. It was forced to bring its other VLA, the Boeing 747-8i, to New Delhi when the government held firm in its short-sighted denial of A380 operations. This past week saw Lufthansa become the first airline to publicly declare their intentions of bringing Airbus A380 to “major Indian markets”, and most likely from the winter schedule which starts in end October. The carrier operates an A330-300 featuring its new business class product (which is not on its A380) to both Mumbai and Delhi, with Chennai starting in March 2014. The 747-8i to Delhi also has the new business class and the new first class product (which is also on their A380), while the 747-400 to Mumbai is two generations behind, which as per few trip reports on Flyer Talk, does not even have personal IFE screens in Economy, is a sure shot recipe for customer dissatisfaction, especially on Intercontinental routes. We expect Lufthansa to operate one A380 to India. It may upgrade Delhi to an A380 and move the 747-8i to replace the 747-400 at Mumbai, or it might directly upgrade Mumbai to an A380. The Indo-German bi-lateral ASA has to be amended to include the A380. It’s an interesting possibility, one that the industry, especially Lufthansa’s MEB3 friends will be watching closely. Singapore Airlines (SIA) was the launch customer of the A380, has 19 aircraft in their fleet, and they have just ordered another five. SIA is also in partnership with the Tatas to commence a full service airline in India. The airline has a strategy of offering its best products to the political and commercial capitals of Asian countries. Following this, SIA has been aggressively expanding at Mumbai where it offers triple daily flights to Singapore, while Delhi is at 19 weekly flights currently and will become triple-daily from the summer schedule, all on Boeing 777s. At both cities, the pattern is a morning flight on a smaller 777-200 with two night/mid-night flights being scheduled within three hours of each other. Delhi though still does not receive the airline’s 777-300ER flagship which features their newest cabin product, so it is very likely the airline will choose to club the two night/mid-night flights and offer Delhi the airline’s best cabin product which includes the SQ Suites. No on-board frolicking please, the airline’s rules clearly prohibit joining the ‘mile high club’. The dilemma the airline faces is that its current A380 fleet is fully deployed. The additional five orders are relatively recent and delivery is not expected any time soon. The airline will have to sacrifice one flight from another destination to service India in the short-term, or may choose to deploy A380s later. This piece originally appeared on Bangalore Aviation, and was co-authored with Devesh Agarwal Related Post: A380 finally flies into New Delhi T3 If you liked this post, why don’t you join many other amazing readers who have followed this blog to receive blog posts via email. No spamming guaranteed Advertisements |
In the face of continued division over its technical roadmap, the price of bitcoin has responded by creeping closer to all-time highs. Following positive sessions over the weekend, the price of bitcoin hit a high of $1,219 to start Monday’s session, reaching a total the market hadn’t seen since late March. At press time, the price of bitcoin was trading at $1,216, slightly below that figure. The three-week high observed is the highest figure since 16th March, when bitcoin hit a high of $1,260 amid a period of heavy volatility. (The day’s low was $1,132, a differential of more than $100 for that day’s trading). Yet, indicators suggest it’s not yet clear exactly which direction the bitcoin price is heading. On Friday, for example, bitcoin faced heavy resistance at the $1,200 level and struggled to move upward. This was despite 80% of the market entering buy orders at 20:00 UTC, according to data from BFXdata, a service that tracks trading activity on Bitfinex. Today, that indecision seems apparent once again, as 24-hour trades favored buy orders 61% to 39%, while 1-hour order book activity favored sellers 56% to 44%. The price increase further comes amid a decline in exchange-traded bitcoin volume from peaks observed in the wake of a US regulator’s decision to reject a retail investment product focused on the technology in mid-March. Roughly 100,000 bitcoins have been traded in the last 24 hours, with Bitfinex, OKCoin and Kraken observing the most activity during this span. Measuring tape image via Shutterstock |
Uncollected garbage in Naples, 2010. The Naples waste management crisis is a series of events surrounding the lack of waste collection in the vicinity of Naples, Campania, Italy, that took place from 1994 to 2012.[1] Background [ edit ] Since the mid-1990s, Naples and the Campania region have suffered from the dumping of municipal solid waste into overfilled landfills. Another problem was that Pianura's garbage dump in Naples was filled by North Italy's industries and garbage from other Italian regions.[2][3] In 1994, a state of emergency was declared in Campania by Prime Minister Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, and created the Committee for the Waste Emergency in Campania (Commissariato di Governo per l'emergenza rifiuti in Campania).[4] Beginning on 21 December 2007, the municipal workers refused to pick up any further material; as a result, the waste had begun to appear as regular fixtures on the streets of Naples, posing grave health risks to the metropolitan population. On 31 December, the government closed one of two major dumps near the city at the request of the city's residents. Reports during the summer of 2008 stated that the problem was caused at least in part by the Camorra, a powerful local mafia based in Campania, who had created a lucrative business in the municipal waste disposal business. Heavy metals, industrial waste, and chemicals and household waste are frequently mixed together, then dumped near roads and burned to avoid detection, leading to severe soil and air pollution.[5] The situation worsened during this period as the camorra diversified their illegal waste disposal strategy: 1) transporting and dumping hazardous waste in the countryside by truck; 2) dumping waste in illegal caves or holes; 3) mixing toxic waste with textiles to avoid explosions and then burning it; and 4) mixing toxic with urban waste for disposal in landfills and incinerators.[4] Government dumping plans [ edit ] Since the 1990s, Governor of Naples Antonio Bassolino turned the city into a political stronghold for his campaigns. His inability and failings to address the waste in the city highlighted by the media destroyed the image of his administration.[6] In January 2008 Romano Prodi’s government announced plans for the solution of the crisis, including the building of three new incinerators. Prodi appointed a former national police chief as waste commissioner and the army was called in to bulldoze the waste from the streets of Caserta, while protesters clashed with police in central Naples. But no real progress had been made by May of that year, when Prodi's government was defeated in the general election. At that time over 200,000 tonnes of waste still remained on the streets. Crisis management [ edit ] The newly elected Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi took immediate action, and held his first cabinet meeting in Naples.[7] He then appointed a new waste commissioner, Guido Bertolaso (then the head of the Civil Protection Department). Bertolaso faced similar protests from the residents of Naples, but during June and July 2008 he dealt with the problem by force opening landfills. In addition he sent 700 tons of rubbish a day to incinerators in Hamburg, Germany, while new incinerators were built locally.[8] By July 17, 2008, Berlusconi declared that the emergency had ended.[9][4] By September the rubbish had been removed from the streets of Naples,[10] In 2009, the Acerra incineration facility was completed at a cost of over €350 million. The incinerator burns 600,000 tons of waste per year. The energy produced from the facility is enough to power 200,000 households per year.[11] In March 2009, waste commissioner Bertolaso was transferred to Rome, to deal with a new high-profile problem[citation needed] even though great amounts of garbage were still stocked in temporary sites awaiting to be disposed of. Likewise, in many municipalities on Naples' periphery, there is still a garbage problem. Though Berlusconi's actions have cleaned up the city of Naples, one account states that, as of September 2009, "the highways and byways of the rural south remain festering dumping grounds."[12] Newsweek reported that in October 2010, riots near Terzigno halted garbage collection again in Naples, leading to "overflowing bins and renewed international attention", and "new calls for [Berlusconi's] resignation and allegations that his government is in bed with the mob". The riots occurred after the government announced another 3-million-metric-ton landfill would be constructed within Vesuvius National Park; residents, already upset by toxic waste levels at a nearby landfill, were said to believe that much of the garbage going into the new landfill would be "illegally imported by the Camorra" and would be similarly uncontrolled.[13] The newly elected mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris, a former antimafia magistrate, faced the waste management issue from the early days of his mandate. As a result of his efforts, in the period between June and November 2011, the quantity of uncollected garbage in the streets declined from 2500 tons to zero. A plan of differentiated waste collection was implemented, and reached levels of 70% over the 300,000 inhabitants involved. When the bid for the construction of an incinerator facility was abandoned, this approach was also discarded, together with the construction of new landfills, and garbage transfer to the Netherlands by boat was preferred.[14] According to this strategy, a contract was signed with the Dutch company AVR, which manages the Rotterdam incinerator, to transfer Naples garbage to the Netherlands at the rate of one ship-load per week. The initial operations have been allocated to the ship Nordstern, which in early January 2012, started the transfer.[15][16] See also [ edit ] Biùtiful cauntri , a 2007 documentary film about the environmental problems relating to the waste dumping , a 2007 documentary film about the environmental problems relating to the waste dumping Triangle of death (Italy) References [ edit ] |
Image copyright SPL Image caption Oranges are a good source of vitamin C Vitamin C can kill multidrug-resistant TB in the lab, scientists have found. The surprise discovery may point to a new way of tackling this increasingly hard-to-treat infection, the US study authors from Yeshiva University say in Nature Communications. An estimated 650,000 people worldwide have multidrug-resistant TB. Studies are now needed to see if a treatment that works using the same action as vitamin C would be useful as a TB drug in humans. Early work While the findings of this study appear promising, further research to confirm the observations would be essential before Vitamin C can be used to supplement TB treatment Dr Ibrahim Abubakar, , Head of TB at Public Health England In the laboratory studies, vitamin C appeared to be acting as a "reducing agent" - something that triggers the production of of reactive oxygen species called free radicals. These free radicals killed off the TB, even drug resistant forms that are untreatable with conventional antibiotics such as isoniazid. Lead investigator Dr William Jacobs, professor of microbiology and immunology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine at Yeshiva University, said: "We have only been able to demonstrate this in a test tube, and we don't know if it will work in humans and in animals. "This would be a great study to consider because we have strains of tuberculosis that we don't have drugs for, and I know that in the laboratory we can kill those strains with vitamin C. "It also helps that we know vitamin C is inexpensive, widely available and very safe to use. At the very least, this work shows us a new mechanism that we can exploit to attack TB." Potential treatment It might be that vitamin C could be used alongside TB drugs. Alternatively, scientists could create new TB drugs that work by generating a big burst of free radicals. Drug-resistant TB TB is caused by infection with the bacterium M. tuberculosis Increasingly, doctors are discovering that the drugs they normally use to treat the infection no longer work because TB has developed resistance Drug resistance arises due to improper use of antibiotics - for example, when patients do not finish the full course of their medicine Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, has many important functions in the body, including protecting cells and keeping them healthy. Good natural sources of the vitamin include oranges, blackcurrants and broccoli and most people get all they need from their diet. Dr Ibrahim Abubakar, head of TB at Public Health England, said: "We welcome any new research which will widen our understanding of how to treat TB. While the findings of this study appear promising, further research to confirm the observations would be essential before Vitamin C can be used to supplement TB treatment." |
“Boardwalk Empire” and “Entourage” producers Mark Wahlberg and Stephen Levinson have picked up the graphic novel series “The Amory Wars,” from Claudio Sanchez and Evil Ink Comics, to develop into a live action feature. The sci-fi saga, published by Boom! Studios, an epic fantasy set in a futuristic alternate universe. The series chronicles the rise of superhuman dictator Wilhelm Ryan, and the one family that could hold the key to liberating the world from his tyrannical reign. Announcement was made at Comic-Con in San Diego on Saturday morning. Sanchez is the lead singer of progressive rock band Coheed and Cambria. He originally created “The Amory Wars” story to serve as inspiration for the group’s albums. He later expanded the mythology to other mediums, including comicbooks and graphic novels. Idea was turned into the novel, “Year of the Black Rainbow,” penned by Peter David (“The Incredible Hulk,” “Aquaman”), which told the origin story of the series, and was released with the band’s album of the same name in 2010. Coheed and Cambria are set to release a new studio album this fall. Their North American tour with Iron Maiden begins July 24th. The “Amory Wars” project was brought into Leverage by Michael Garnett and Dave Ganin. Levinson also produced the actioner “Contraband,” with Wahlberg. Coheed and Cambria is managed by Blaze James (Velvet Hammer), who serves as a principal of Evil Ink Comics along with Chondra Echert. Leverage is repped by WME. |
A student has told the High Court his privacy rights are being interfered with on a daily basis as a result of the mass transfer, via the Irish arm of social network giant Facebook, of personal data to US intelligence services. The matter is “very serious” because it involves the content of communications, the export of which must be illegal under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, counsel for Max Schrems said. If the court believed Mr Schrems’s case depended on the interpretation of European law, it should refer issues for determination to the European Court of Justice, Paul O’Shea BL added. He was making closing arguments in the action by Mr Schrems alleging Data Protection Commissioner Billy Hawkes wrongly refused to investigate his complaint that Facebook Ireland could not lawfully permit mass transfer of personal data to US intelligence services. The judicial review challenge by Mr Schrems, an Austrian law student behind a data privacy campaign group called Europe v Facebook, concluded yesterday before Mr Justice Gerard Hogan, who said he hoped to rule on the matter on June 18th. The complaint arose out of an article in the Guardian newspaper concerning revelations by whistleblower Edward Snowden that the US National Security Agency is involved in mass surveillance of European citizens though the “Prism” programme. Under Prism, Facebook in Ireland and other EU countries transfers large amounts of data to Facebook Inc in the US, where the authorities can access it. Mr Schrems claims transfers are subject to the 2000 Safe Harbour data sharing arrangement between the US and the EU. He contends this arrangement is subject to certain exceptions, including an adequate level of protection of privacy of third parties. While Facebook denied it co-operated with the US authorities, it was not offering users the option of informed consent, he claims. He alleges Mr Hawkes wrongly interpreted and applied the law governing the mass transfer of personal data of Facebook users to the NSA when he refused to investigate Mr Schrems’s complaint. Mr Schrems wants orders quashing that refusal and directing Mr Hawkes to reconsider the complaint. The commissioner, who found Facebook acted within the terms of the Safe Harbour arrangement, had found Facebook had no case to answer and was complying with the relevant regulations. Paul Anthony McDermott BL, for the commissioner, submitted the real complaint was about the validity of the Safe Harbour arrangement, which was not a matter for the commissioner but an issue to be addressed at a political level. The Data Protection Commissioner in Luxembourg had also said he could not “go around” Safe Harbour, counsel said. |
With the runaway success of WBEZ Chicago's true crime podcast Serial, it's been a race among entertainment networks to see who can turn out a homebrewed spin on the hit audio program—and it looks like crime network Investigation Discovery (ID) is the winner. At the Television Critics Association winter press tour today, Discovery exec Henry Schleiff shared details with Adweek about the upcoming podcast, which ID is fast-tracking for a spring launch, even though nearly everything about it—including the subject and host—remains up in the air. The idea for the podcast, Schleiff admitted, was inspired by Serial's success. "I think we were all surprised by the amount of press and attention—and indeed some of the viewership, or 'soundship'—that the podcast got," explained Schleiff He said the initiative highlights a lesson he learned from the late Don Hewitt, who created 60 Minutes. "He used to say about 60 Minutes, 'If you can turn off the video and just listen to the voices, you've still got a great story.' You put that learning and you put the experience of podcasts together and we said, great, we tell stories really well, why don't we do our own version, and we'll do a multi-arc podcast," Schleiff said. Schleiff said he hadn't considered doing a podcast before Serial. "Talk about what's old is new!" he exclaimed. "I think the roots of these podcasts, in a very elementary fashion, have their historical background with the legendary Orson Welles' [War of the Worlds], when the Martians were coming." The difference, of course, being that everything in Serial actually happened. So who will be this podcast's version of Serial host Sarah Koenig? "Most likely, it will be a personality that we have worked with before," Schleiff replied. "Someone whose voice, whose presence you know. You can think of all of the usual suspects. It could be Michelle Ward, it could be Joe Kenda, so many others, all of whom have very distinct voices. [Like] Susan Lucci!" Schleiff is still deciding whether the podcast will have a television or website tie-in to drive viewers hungry for more information. He's also debating whether the podcast's title will be more serious—a la Serial—or in the pulpy vein of ID's series like Wives With Knives, Who the (Bleep) Did I Marry? and Happily Never After. "I would hope it's more in that pulpy vein," he said. Also, he said that securing advertisers for the podcast seems probable, given the buzz surrounding Serial's sponsor, MailChimp. "I think there's a real thirst and a real interest," Schleiff said. "And again, you have to appreciate the number of people who are traveling everywhere." |
Scientists have upped the estimate for the ‘singularity’ to happen in 2029 from 2040, shaving off 11 years of development time, says Shane Wall. (Twitter/Shane Wall) The ‘singularity’ event that scientists talk about in artificial intelligence (AI) — when robots would outsmart human beings in reasoning — has just been moved up, according to a top scientist at HP Inc. The progress in AI and machine learning has been so rapid that scientists have upped the estimate for the ‘singularity’ to happen in 2029 from 2040, shaving off 11 years of development time, says Shane Wall, Chief Technology Officer at HP, who also heads the HP Labs which is at the centre of innovation within the company. Wall, who was speaking at the HP Reinvent Partner Forum here, said there may be some who watch with fear for that event to happen but taken adequate precautions, this change would bring in much good for everyone — be it in manufacturing, health, innovation or elsewhere. He said AI handles huge amount of data and can discern patterns to take decisions. “Machine learning uses AI and big data to learn and it can find things that no humans can see,” Wall noted. According to him, already there are massive data farms which are crunching big numbers and there are research labs and companies where machines are taught how to use data to managing things around us. Wall, who joined HP over a decade ago, drives the company’s technology vision and its strategy and helms the innovation community within. According to him, machines have become smart enough to predict failures within a system and 3D manufacturing is a massive revolution in the making. “Already, 3D printing is handling intricate products and in the future this will bring about a disruptive change,” Wall said. Much of the manufacturing at present is done by transporting the raw materials, parts and designing to various places in the world. “When machines are able to print or manufacture whole systems, this transportation would be limited. Machines are today making their own parts and in tomorrow’s world, this would become much more refined,” the HP executive noted. In this context, he said, it was interesting to see what had happened to photography in the last 30 years. Pictures were taken on films and then sent for processing and you would get the results after a while. “Today, you cannot find film anywhere. Not in Africa. Not in India. Something similar would happen to the $12 trillion manufacturing worldwide,” Wall added. The rapid changes in AI will further accelerate, but everyone had to exercise caution on cyber security against malicious operators. In this context, he pointed to the cyber attack on Equifax, the credit reporting agency in the US which had compromised sensitive information of over 140 million people. “I have been affected by the Equifax hacking and almost half the people in this hall have been,” Wall said, adding that robust systems would have to be developed to protect data. Despite the threats, the potential for AI was so great that it would have profound impact on all sections of the society. Wall gave the example of DNA editing being done through AI which will bring about revolutionary changes in tackling diseases. “Technology can be used for all sorts of things good and bad,” he said, “but one had to focus on security and how to develop a new model of safety.” The blockchain technology, used in cyber money like bitcoins, was bringing changes which would have an impact on the political scenarios of countries. “This money is not being controlled by any person or government. Blockchain technology basically ensures the ownership of money in the cyberworld which cannot be changed or attacked,” the HP CTO stressed. At the same time, Wall said, quantum computing would make it possible to take the work which takes years to do in computers and reduce it to minutes. “This would be a fundamental challenge to cryptography and blockchain technologies,” he said. In the future, the ‘battle of bytes’ would be tackled with cyber resilience. That would include making it possible to protect, detect and recover systems from malicious attacks, Wall said. |
Physicists are pondering all manner of difficult problems and daunting challenges here at the 2007 APS April Meeting in Denver, but among the most pressing questions at the end of each day is, where do we go for dinner? There's always the hotel bevy of eateries to assuage hunger pains in a pinch, but savvy meeting attendees invariably whip out their pocket Zagat's Guide for the area to locate recommended restaurants in the nearby vicinity. (I'm more inclined to rely on the concierge, or Jen-Luc Piquant, who's a whiz at ferreting out online restaurant guides for the city du jour.) But what do you do if you're not a hungry physicist or science writer, and are, instead, a single-celled organism? Where's the handy Zagat's Guide for amoebae? Apparently, they don't need one, because they've got a built-in mechanism for an optimal food-foraging strategy. Amoeba are smarter than we think (there goes that classic schoolyard taunt). For instance, scientists have always assumed that microbes move in random patterns unless they are specifically hot on the scent of tasty nibbles, but recent research has shown otherwise. A species of amoeba called Dictyostelium seems to remember its previous "steps" and uses that remembered information to explore new ground, thereby increasing its chances of finding food. What remains unclear is how, exactly, this simple organism manages to have any kind of memory at all, even the recollection of something as short term as where it was located just a minute ago. It's not like it has a fully functioning, complex brain. Liang Li of Princeton University thinks there may be a clue in the mechanism by which the creature moves. The amoeba moves by rearranging its squishy body into a protruding shape known as a pseudopod. It's simple four-step sequence involving an initial protrusion, followed by adhesion to the surface on which the creature is moving, then a contraction/tension of the pseudopod, followed by "deadhesion" so the creature can move instead of sticking in one place. Using phase contrast microscopy, she tracked a bunch of Dictyostelium over 100 hours, charting the "runs" and "turns" they made, which formed a zigzag pattern of motion. She specifically looked at how often the creatures made a left turn followed by a right turn, and found they showed a clear bias for that kind of variation. How could this possibly have anything to do with an amoeba's hunting strategy? Li speculates that the formation of these pseudopods leaves temporary "scars" in the cell's cytoskeleton -- a bit like short-term memory, since the scars fade over time -- and this makes it far more likely that the next pseudopod the creature forms will point in a new direction. Because it changes direction and doesn't retrace its steps, it covers more ground and therefore increases its chances of successfully finding food. What about more complex, higher organisms, like zooplankton? Ricardo Garcia has something to say on the subject. He's with the Center for Neurodynamics at the University of Missouri in St. Louis, and was on hand yesterday to talk about his research on the role of specific swimming characteristics in achieving optimal food foraging strategies for zooplankton. The work was billed in the press release as "the first observation in a living animal of an inherent swimming characteristic -- the turning angle -- that optimizes the food obtained in a patch of fixed size for an organism foraging for a fixed time." Garcia and his University of Missouri colleague, Frank Moss, studied the zooplankton Daphnia, more commonly known as water fleas. They looked at the swimming movements of five different Daphnia species of varying sizes, both adults and juveniles, all of which exhibit a distinct hop-pause-turn-hop again sequence while swimming. Specifically Garcia and Moss analyzed the turning angles the creatures made after each hop in th sequence, plotting the number of times a given angle was observed in a type of chart known as a histogram. These turning angles were almost, but not quite, completely random -- they found evidence of a preferred turning angle value. What kind of evidence? Well, it all sounded very complicated as Garcia described their work, but the gist, as far as I can tell is this: they did a mathematical analysis of the underlying random processes, or "noise intensities" in the water fleas. "Noise" in this context refers to neural (brain-related) noise, or the "random electrical 'static' in the neural systems of the zooplankton." Most of us find any kind of outside noise distracting or irritating if we're trying to focus on a particular task -- even more so if dinner is involved -- never mind if it's our own brain activity wreaking havoc with our concentration. But in the case of the humble water flea, it's helpful while foraging for food. The neural noise influences the turning angle in such a way as to enable the water flea to explore the most amount of space and gather the most food within a given time frame. While Garcia and Moss were watching water fleas, their theoretical collaborators at the Laboratory for Applied Stochastic Processes at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, were developing a theory of the foraging process, complete with computer simulations. Scientists have known for many years that biological systems frequently rely on stochastic resonance (or noise) as a stimulus to the sensory systems, which in turn can affect the behavior of creatures both great and small -- usually in positive, optimizing ways that improve said creatures' chances or survival. It's a pretty counter-intuitive notion at first glance: stochastic resonance involves adding random noise to a weak signal bearing "information" -- say, the signal from a country-western radio station in the Denver area that is just beginning to be out of range. Imagine trying to get that radio station to come in clearly on your car radio while driving through downtown Denver, but instead of fine-tuning to decrease the static, you decide to increase the level of static instead. What would prove disastrous to your enjoyment of the latest Tim McGraw opus, turns out to be beneficial for living organisms. In this case, adding noise actually enhances the detectability and/or effective transmission of the information-bearing signal. Researchers like Garcia suspect that natural stochastic resonance may have a played a significant role in the evolution of sensory systems, although he is careful to emphasize that his results don't outright prove this hypothesis; they merely offer strong supporting evidence in favor of that notion. In the case of Daphnia, Garcia suspects that the water flea's distinctive swimming patterns evolved over tens to hundreds of millions of years via Darwinian natural selection. It all comes down to the intensity of the neural noise signals. Those noise intensities correlate with the width of distribution of the turning angles favored by the water fleas, and it turns out that the creatures gather the most amount of food in a single foraging session at a very specific noise intensity. Per Garcia: "A small noise intensity means that the animal obtains less than the maximum possible amount of food within its patch during its fixed feeding time. Likewise, less fod is ingested if the distribution is too broad." (Jen-Luc thinks it sounds an awful lot like Goldilocks and the Three Bears: "This noise intensity is too small." "Well, this noise intensity is too large." "But THIS noise intensity is juuuust riiiight....") The findings were consistent across all five species of Daphnia studied, regardless of size or age of the organisms. So Garcia and Moss' experimental data fits the Berlin collaborators' theory just fine, and a technical paper on their work is pending publication in Mathematical Bioscience even as I type. Which brings us to dessert. It's something I generally skip, but when I do choose to indulge, I'm partial to cookies or more elaborate concoctions like bread pudding and tiramisu. My pals MondoBob and El Finster have simpler tastes: they swear by their nightly dish of ice cream. They're not alone: according to this 2004 article from Discover on the physics of ice cream, US sales of ice cream top $20 billion, with Americans consuming as much as 20 quarts per capita. Only New Zealanders eat more ice cream. The article also contains a brief sidebar noting that some ice cream manufacturers combat the formation of unwanted ice crystals in their products by adding antifreeze or ice structuring proteins (ISPs) found in certain fish, insects, plants, fungi and bacteria. (It's all about achieving an optimally appealing mouthfeel. Nobody likes a crunchy dish of ice cream, unless it's from the addition of nuts or candies.) Yes, ISPs can prevent recrystallization. The high fat content of most ice creams serves the same purpose, but if you're watching your cholesterol, like El Finster and Mondo Bob, you're probably buying sherbets or lower-fat varieties, which do contain antifreeze proteins to step in for the missing fat. From a medical standpoint, recrystallization is undesirable because it can also cause damage to the structure of biological tissue, limiting the "shelf life" or vital organs awaiting transplant, for example. In fact, that's one of the greatest challenges in cryogenics. Cells contain a lot of water, you see, and water expands when it freezes, bursting the cell walls in the process. That's why the Pittsburgh scientists who revived the infamous "zombie dogs" a few years ago had to replace the canine's blood with a kind of "antifreeze" to prevent tissue and brain damage during the thawing out process. The ISPs accomplish this by attaching to the surface of ice crystals in such a way as to inhibit their growth. But some creatures have more effective ("hyperactive") ISPs, such as the spruce budworm. According to Ohio University's Ido Braslavsky, who reported on his latest research in this area yesterday, the hyperactive ISPs of the spruce budworm stop ice crystals from growing in particular directions. He and his collaborators fluorescently tagged the ISPs from fish and the budworms and studied them under a fluorescent microscope to see how the proteins interacted with the surfaces of ice crystals, on order to reach that conclusion. Future applications could include prevention of frostbite in crops; reducing highway damage from de-icing procedures in the winter; and the aforementioned food preservation and improved organ preservation. So clearly, when it comes to science, much depends on dinner... or dessert. We shall try to bear that in mind when we undertake yet another food-foraging mission this evening in beautiful downtown Denver. |
Dear Reader, As you can imagine, more people are reading The Jerusalem Post than ever before. Nevertheless, traditional business models are no longer sustainable and high-quality publications, like ours, are being forced to look for new ways to keep going. Unlike many other news organizations, we have not put up a paywall. We want to keep our journalism open and accessible and be able to keep providing you with news and analysis from the frontlines of Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. An activist against fascism who sued a Ukrainian municipality for naming a street for a Nazi SS officer has come under a campaign of intimidation, he said. Mikhail Voroniak, a Red Army veteran, in summer sued the western municipality of Kalush near Lviv for deciding to name a street for Dmytro Paliiv, a commander of the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS, also known as the 1st Galician. Voroniak told the Russian news site Primechaniya that he has come under “aggressive pressures and threats of murder” since he sued. A local court last month dismissed his motion against the honor to Paliiv but Voroniak appealed to the Lviv Administrative Court of Appeals, which was scheduled to review the appeal last week.The court postponed its deliberations to Oct. 30, Primechaniya reported Friday.One of the threats made against Voroniak was on Facebook, where a user wrote to him: “Be afraid of your own shadow. Death to the enemies,” the news site reported.The naming of the street for Paliiv, whose troops murdered countless Jews during the Holocaust, is part of a series of gestures honoring nationalists in Ukraine following the 2014 revolution, in which nationalists played a leading role. They brought down the government of President Viktor Yanukovuch, whose critics said was a corrupt Russian stooge.Also before the revolution, Stepan Bandera, Roman Shukhevych and other nationalists accused of complicity in the murder of Ukrainian Jews have received honors from state authorities for their fight against Russia.But the level and frequency of state-sponsored glorification of their actions has increased dramatically after the revolution, which sparked an armed conflict with Russian troops and separatists loyal to Moscow.The director of Ukraine’s Institute of National Remembrance, Vladimir Vyatrovich, who recently described Shukhevych as an “eminent personality,” in May defended public displays of the symbol of the Galician SS division, a German-led unit comprising Ukrainian volunteers.Displaying Nazi symbols is illegal in Ukraine but the Galician SS division’s symbol is “in accordance with the current legislation of Ukraine,” Vyatrovich said. Join Jerusalem Post Premium Plus now for just $5 and upgrade your experience with an ads-free website and exclusive content. Click here>> |
The Wu experiment performed at the Bureau of Standards low temperature laboratory, Washington DC, in 1956. The vertical vacuum chamber, containing the cobalt-60, detectors, and field coil, is being placed into a Dewar before being inserted into the large electromagnet in the background, which will cool the radioisotope near absolute zero by adiabatic demagnetization Chien-Shiung Wu , after whom the Wu experiment is named, designed the experiment and led the team that carried out the test of the conservation of parity. The Wu experiment was a nuclear physics experiment conducted in 1956 by the Chinese American physicist Chien-Shiung Wu in collaboration with the Low Temperature Group of the US National Bureau of Standards.[1] The experiment's purpose was to establish whether or not conservation of parity (P-conservation), which was previously established in the electromagnetic and strong interactions, also applied to weak interactions. If P-conservation were true, a mirrored version of the world (where left is right and right is left) would behave as the mirror image of the current world. If P-conservation were violated, then it would be possible to distinguish between a mirrored version of the world and the mirror image of the current world. The experiment established that conservation of parity was violated (P-violation) by the weak interaction. This result was not expected by the physics community, which had previously regarded parity as a conserved quantity. Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang, the theoretical physicists who originated the idea of parity nonconservation and proposed the experiment, received the 1957 Nobel Prize in physics for this result. Chien-Shiung Wu’s role in the discovery was mentioned in the Nobel prize acceptance speech,[2] but was not honored until 1978, when she was awarded the first Wolf Prize. History [ edit ] Top: P-symmetry: A clock built like its mirrored image will behave like the mirrored image of the original clock. Bottom: P-asymmetry: A clock built like its mirrored image will not behave like the mirrored image of the original clock. In 1927, Eugene Wigner formalized the principle of the conservation of parity (P-conservation),[3] the idea that the current world and one built like its mirror image would behave in the same way, with the only difference that left and right would be reversed (for example, a clock which spins clockwise would spin counterclockwise if you built a mirrored version of it). This principle was widely accepted by physicists, and P-conservation was experimentally verified in the electromagnetic and strong interactions. However, during the mid-1950s, certain decays involving kaons could not be explained by existing theories in which P-conservation was assumed to be true. There seemed to be two types of kaons, one which decayed into two pions, and the other which decayed into three pions. This was known as the τ–θ puzzle.[4] Theoretical physicists Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang did a literature review on the question of parity conservation in all fundamental interactions. They concluded that in the case of the weak interaction, experimental data neither confirmed nor refuted P-conservation.[5] Shortly after, they approached Chien-Shiung Wu, who was an expert on beta decay spectroscopy, with various ideas for experiments. They settled on the idea of testing the directional properties of beta decay in cobalt-60. Wu thereafter contacted Henry Boorse and Mark W. Zemansky, who had extensive experience in low-temperature physics. At the behest of Boorse and Zemansky, Wu contacted Ernest Ambler, of the National Bureau of Standards, who arranged for the experiment to be carried out in December 1956 in the NBS' low-temperature laboratories.[4] Lee and Yang, who prompted the Wu experiment, were awarded the Nobel prize in physics in 1957, shortly after the experiment was performed. Wu’s role in the discovery was mentioned in the prize acceptance speech[2],but was not honored until 1978, when she was awarded the inaugural Wolf Prize. The experiment [ edit ] Principle of the Wu experiment 1956 to detect parity violation in nuclear beta decay The experiment itself monitored the decay of cobalt-60 atoms, cooled to near absolute zero and aligned in a uniform magnetic field.[4] Cobalt-60 (60Co) is an unstable isotope of cobalt that decays by beta decay to the stable isotope nickel-60 (60Ni). During this decay, one of the neutrons in the cobalt-60 nucleus decays to a proton by emitting an electron (e−) and an electron antineutrino (ν e ). This changes the cobalt-60 nucleus into a nickel-60 nucleus. The resulting nickel nucleus, however, is in an excited state and promptly decays to its ground state by emitting two gamma rays (γ). Hence the overall nuclear equation of the reaction is: 27 60 Co → 28 60 Ni + e − + ν ¯ e + 2 γ {\displaystyle {}_{27}^{60}{\text{Co}}\rightarrow {}_{28}^{60}{\text{Ni}}+e^{-}+{\bar { u }}_{e}+2{\gamma }} Gamma rays are photons, and their release from the nickel-60 nuclei is an electromagnetic (EM) process. This is important because EM was known to respect P-conservation. Hence, the distribution of the emitted gamma rays acted as a control for the polarization of the emitted electrons via the weak interaction, as well as an indicator of the uniformity of the cobalt-60 atoms. Wu's experiment compared the distribution of gamma and electron emissions with the nuclear spins in opposite orientations. If the electrons were always found to be emitted in the same direction and in the same proportion as the gamma rays, P-conservation would be true. If there were a bias in the direction of decays, that is, if the distribution of electrons did not follow the distribution of the gamma rays, then P-violation would be established. Materials and methods [ edit ] Schematic illustration of the Wu experiment The experimental challenge in this experiment was to obtain the highest possible polarization of the 60Co nuclei. Due to the very small magnetic moments of the nuclei as compared to electrons, high magnetic fields were required at extremely low temperatures, far lower than could be achieved by liquid helium cooling alone. The low temperatures were achieved using the method of adiabatic demagnetization. Radioactive cobalt was deposited as a thin surface layer on a crystal of cerium-magnesium nitrate, a paramagnetic salt with a highly anisotropic Landé g-factor. The salt was magnetized along the axis of high g-factor, and the temperature was lowered to 1.2 K by pumping the helium to low pressure. Shutting off the horizontal magnetic field resulted in the temperature decreasing to about 0.003 K. The horizontal magnet was opened up, allowing room for a vertical solenoid to be introduced and switched on to align the cobalt nuclei either upwards or downwards. Only a negligible increase in temperature was caused by the solenoid magnetic field, since the magnetic field orientation of the solenoid was in the direction of low g-factor. This method of achieving high polarization of 60Co nuclei had been originated by Gorter[6] and Rose.[7] The production of gamma rays was monitored using equatorial and polar counters as a measure of the polarization. Gamma ray polarization was continuously monitored over the next quarter-hour as the crystal warmed up and anisotropy was lost. Likewise, beta-ray emissions were continuously monitored during this warming period.[1] Results [ edit ] In the experiment carried out by Wu, the gamma ray polarization was approximately 60%.[1] That is, approximately 60% of the gamma rays were emitted in one direction, whereas 40% were emitted in the other. If P-conservation were true in beta decay, electrons would have no preferred direction of decay relative to the nuclear spin. However, Wu observed that the electrons were emitted in a direction preferentially opposite to that of the gamma rays. That is, most of the electrons favored a very specific direction of decay, opposite to that of the nuclear spin.[1] It was later established that P-violation was in fact maximal.[4][8] The results greatly surprised the physics community.[4] Several researchers then scrambled to reproduce the results of Wu's group,[9][10] while others reacted with disbelief at the results. Wolfgang Pauli upon being informed by Georges M. Temmer, who also worked at the NBS, that P-conservation could no longer be assumed to be true in all cases, exclaimed "That's total nonsense!" Temmer assured him that the experiment's result confirmed this was the case, to which Pauli curtly replied "Then it must be repeated!"[4] By the end of 1957, further research confirmed the original results of Wu's group, and P-violation was firmly established.[4] Mechanism and consequences [ edit ] The results of the Wu experiment provide a way to operationally define the notion of left and right. This is inherent in the nature of the weak interaction. Previously, if the scientists on Earth were to communicate with a newly discovered planet’s scientist, and they had never met in person, it would not have been possible for each group to determine unambiguously the other group’s left and right. With the Wu experiment, it is possible to communicate to the other group what the words left and right mean exactly and unambiguously. The Wu experiment has finally solved the Ozma problem which is to give an unambiguous definition of left and right scientifically.[11] At the fundamental level (as depicted in the Feynman diagram on the right), Beta decay is caused by the conversion of the negatively charged (−1/3 e) down quark to the positively charged (+2/3 e) up quark by emission of a W− boson; the W− boson subsequently decays into an electron and an electron antineutrino: d → u + e − + ν e . The quark has a left part and a right part. As it walks across the spacetime, it oscillates back and forth from right part to left part and from left part to right part. From analyzing the Wu experiment’s demonstration of parity violation, it can be deduced that only the left part of down quarks decay and the weak interaction involves only the left part of quarks and leptons (or the right part of antiquarks and antileptons). The right part of the particle simply does not feel the weak interaction. If the down quark did not have mass it would not oscillate, and its right part would be quite stable by itself. Yet, because the down quark is massive, it oscillates and decays.[12] From experiments such as the Wu experiment and the Goldhaber experiment, it was determined that massless neutrinos must be left-handed, while massless antineutrinos must be right-handed. Since it is currently known that neutrinos have a small mass, it has been proposed that right-handed neutrinos and left-handed antineutrinos could exist. These neutrinos would not couple with the weak Lagrangian and would interact only gravitationally, possibly forming a portion of the dark matter in the universe.[13] See also [ edit ] References [ edit ] |
Federal and individual approaches [ edit ] A memorial in the State of Michigan to person who died a in motorcycle accident The United States is exceptional in the way it approaches transportation safety. While aviation is considered at a federal level with the FAA, road safety lacks a strong, federally led approach.[16] Road safety is considered by each of the states of the USA. American attitudes regarding government surveillance and privacy, constitutionally guaranteed rights to confront one's accuser in criminal prosecutions, and skepticism towards government power might also have a role in concerns about transportation safety in the United States.[16] Four basic traits identified by Tocqueville in the 1830s have some influence on transportation safety in the United States:[16] Individualism (personal and private initiative); Anti-statism (skepticism of government authority); Populism (wisdom and power of the common person); and Egalitarianism (equality of opportunity). Automated camera technology might be used as in other nations to enforce traffic violations, but some argues that it violates the Constitution's Sixth Amendment, which provides that in “all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right … to be confronted with the witnesses against him.”.[16] Some people in government[who?] want to say that safety is priority number one, but when the federal government provides some guidances for safety measure which would reduce death by 37%, such as alcohol in 1998 or motorcycle helmet in 1967, around ten years are necessary for such measures be implemented by a number of local governments.[16] Federal organizations [ edit ] Several federal organizations deal with transportation safety in the United States:[17] Local organizations [ edit ] New York City started a program, Vision Zero, that aims to lower vehicular fatalities by 50% between 2014 and 2025.[18] United States compared to other nations [ edit ] A Dodge Ram 3500 rams into a Taco Bell in autumn 2010 The fatality rate in the United States is high relative to most other high-income nations. The 2013 U.S. rate of 7.1 road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km is about double the 2013 rate in Sweden, which was 3.5 road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km. (See: List of countries by traffic-related death rate.) This differences might be linked to a difference of approach in driving safety culture, for instance in the balance between liberty and mandatory or forbidden dangerous or unsafe behavior.[19] To some extent this is due to geography and driver training, but more rigorous impaired driving enforcement and severe penalties in Sweden for driving under the influence may also explain the difference. While it might be argued that highways and vehicles in Sweden are different from those in the United States, the U.S. fatality rate is also about double the rate in the Canadian province of Ontario, which experienced 3.6 road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km according to preliminary 2014 data.[20] Ontario, which is a vast province of more than 1 million square kilometers, has a similar mix of highway types including congested urban and rural highways. Ontario also has a similar mix of large transport trucks essentially identical to U.S. transport trucks, full-sized pickup trucks, SUVs and passenger cars, although there may be more small cars driven in Ontario compared to the United States. This suggests that differences in fatality rates are due to non-physical factors such as driver behavior. Comparing motorways (controlled-access, divided highways) in Europe and the United States, according to 2012 data, Denmark had the safest motorways with a rate of 0.72 road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km, while the United States had 3.38 road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km on its Interstate-type highways, often called freeways.[21] In Germany, where significant sections to the Autobahn network do not have mandatory speed limits, the death rate on such highways was 1.74 road fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km, about half the U.S. rate for Interstate-type highways. (For chart, see: Safety: international comparison), when according to the German Road Safety Council (DVR) the number of deaths per kilometer of motorway is 30% lower when motorways have speed limit.[22] Another difference between the USA and Europe is that people in Europe believe higher speed limit have an adverse impact on safety: according to the Guardian an ETSC report from 2008 consider that «empirical evidence indicates that all instances' of introduced speed limits on German motorways have caused very large casualty reductions.».[23] The ETSC takes into account the fact that if German motorways have same fatalities per kilometer indifferently of speed limit, traffic volumes on different sections are not the same.[23] Road safety compared to other nations [ edit ] UE: Source UE [24] United-States: Source OCDE/ITF [25] for 1990, 2000 and 2010-2015 period (killed after 30 days) for 1990, 2000 and 2010-2015 period (killed after 30 days) EU28, ETSC [26] · [27] . . IIHS 2016 series [28] . . IIHS 2017 series[29]. Safety compared to other nations by traveled distance [ edit ] Traffic safety compared to other nations by traveled distance [ edit ] killed per miles, 2008 Killed by billion trav km and per year (1990-2014) * Source: caranddriver, US Department Of Transport[15] * source OCDE.[30] Train safety compared to other nations by traveled distance [ edit ] Source: OECD, 2001-2006[31] Source European Union Agency for Railways[32] Source of data: USA: Annual report FRA; Canada: Transport Safety Board; South Korea: KMMI; Australia: Annual report. In case of South Korea and Australia, the reference period is fiscal year, not calendar year. Passenger kilometres data for Canada and Japan taken from the oECD transport database Road safety [ edit ] Car accidents are very common in the United States and the majority of these road crashes are caused by human error. The target for the United States is to reduce fatalities rate at 1.02 fatalities per 100 million vehicles miles traveled in 2014.[33] Fatality rates by state [ edit ] The death rate per 100 million miles traveled in 2015 ranged from 0.52 in Massachusetts to 1.89 in South Carolina.[34] (The Massachusetts rate translates to about 3.25 fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km. The South Carolina rate translates to about 11.8 fatalities per 1 billion vehicle-km.) In South Carolina, North Dakota and Texas, more than 40% of road fatalities were attributed to driving under the influence (DUI).[35] A plot of vehicle-miles traveled per capita vs fatalities per 100,000 population shows Montana, South Carolina and West Virginia as outliers with higher than expected fatalities.[36] Enforcement and compliance with seat belt laws varies by state. (Massachusetts, which had the lowest death rate per 100 million miles traveled in 2015, was among the states with the lowest use of seat belts.) Some states require motorcycle helmets while others do not. Speed limits, traffic density, topography, climate and many other factors affect the divergent accident rates by state. Speed limits in Texas, Utah, and Rhode Island are prima facie rather than absolute. This allows motorists in those states to defend against a speeding charge if it can be proven that the speed was reasonable and prudent. In good driving conditions, many drivers in prima facie states presume (usually correctly) that police will allow some tolerance in enforcement. Even in states with absolute speed limits, enforcement and penalties vary from one state to another. For these and other reasons, state-to-state comparisons are difficult. There are many studies examining increases in Interstate speed limits from 55 mph to 65, 70 and 75 mph. Some found that fatality rates increased significantly on Interstate highways where speed limits were raised.[37] One study that examined the change from 55 to 65 mph found higher Interstate speed limits improved overall highway safety by drawing traffic from less safe secondary highways to safer Interstate highways.[38] Since the changes to 80 mph speed limits in some states (and 85 mph on one section of a toll highway in Texas) are relatively recent, robust analysis is not yet available. Anecdotal evidence suggests actual vehicle speeds did not increase as much as speed limits did. Also, police may be enforcing the new higher limits more strictly than they enforced the prior limits. In some states, police have reallocated resources to focus more on impaired and distracted driving.[39] The higher speed limits are predominantly in rural states, which tend to be Republican states. To many Republican voters, speed limits (and seat belt laws) are seen as intrusions on personal liberty.[citation needed] According to transportation historian Owen Gutfreund, state governments may raise speed limits because raising the speed limit “sounds like such an easy regulatory win.” It's a simple way to “get government out of your face.”[39] On the other hand, according to iihs, Farmer performed a new study comparing deaths per billion miles traveled by state and roadway type — between 1993 and 2013 — on rural roads (the study does not cover the urban roads) concluded that each 5 mph (8 km/h) increase in the maximum speed limit is related to a 4 percent fatalities increase on some roads and an 8 percent increase on interstates and freeways.[40] Anyway such effect and safer cars mitigate together.[41] By class of road users [ edit ] Class of road user involved in crash death vary from state to state. Anyway, in 2016, amongst many US states, Wyoming has a higher percentage of deaths involving occupants of SUVs and pickups, Massachusetts has highest proportions of car occupant deaths, District of Columbia has the highest percentage of motorcyclist deaths. The District of Columbia and New York have the highest percentage of pedestrian deaths.[42] Motor vehicle crash deaths by road user type, 2016 Motor vehicle crash deaths by road user type, 2016 Source IIHS.[42] Although the number of motorcyclist death is lower than car's one, it is greater by traveled distance (miles or kilometers).[43] Pedestrians and cyclists [ edit ] Dedicated cycling facility in New York City As cars have become safer for occupants (due to airbags, structural crashworthiness and other improvements) the percent of pedestrian fatalities as a percent of total motor vehicle fatalities steadily increased from 11% in 2004[45] to 15% in 2014 according to NHTSA data.[46] Bicyclists accounted for 2 percent of all traffic deaths in 2014.[47] Pedestrians killed (Piéton tués) (2014) Pedestrians killed in 2014, in %, by light level Source GHSA (based on Analysis Reporting System (FARS) as published by the National Highway Traffic Safety )[48] Killed US pedestrian per million Source GHSA.[48] Rates per driver's license [ edit ] One can also calculate auto fatalities per driver's license. From 1990 to 2009, this number has also been improving: from 1 death per 3,745 driver's licenses in 1990 to 1 per 6,200 driver's licenses in 2009.[49] Crowded, traffic-choked Northeastern cities including Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Boston, Providence, Philadelphia, Newark, Hartford, New Haven, Springfield and Worcester, Massachusetts, were most likely to have car accidents.[50] The NHTSA through its Fatality Analysis Reporting System stated that auto fatalities continue to be the leading cause of death for young adults.[51] Risk factors [ edit ] A. a. gigas) crossing a road in Alaska Moose () crossing a road in Alaska Rural non-Interstate highways are particularly risky. Most are two-lane non-divided highways built to lower standards than Interstate highways. Drivers are more likely to be drunk or not wearing seat belts. Speeding is common. Deer, elk and moose crossing the highway add to the risk compared to urban highways. In the event of an accident in a remote area, injured victims may not receive emergency medical care in time to save their lives.[52] Many accidents when driving personal vehicles are caused by distracted driving. According to the American Automobile Association (AAA), distraction plays a factor in 60% of moderate to serious teen car crashes. Specifically, passenger and cell phone interaction accounted for 27% of crashes, the leading cause. Drivers looking away from the target (roadway) also accounted for 19%.[53] Non-use of seat belts is a significant risk factor. According to Col. Tom Butler, chief of the Montana Highway Patrol, preliminary 2015 data indicated that 178 of the 224 vehicle occupant fatalities were of individuals not wearing seat belts.[54] The fine in Montana for not wearing a seat belt in 2015 was $20. Although speed limits increased from 75 mph to 80 mph on rural interstates that year, the biggest statewide increase in both crashes and deaths occurred on secondary roads. Forty-three people died on Montana two-lane roads outside of towns that are neither U.S. or state highways.[54] Average trip duration may be greater in rural states, which may mean driver fatigue is a more salient risk factor in rural states than in more densely populated states. Most data on the number of hours driven in a day and accident rates is for commercial drivers who are required to keep driving logs. (See next section.) Human factor is one of the more significant in various factors leading to fatalities.[55] Crash Contributing Factors in Florida (1998-2000) Primary and Secondary Crash Contributing Factors Human factor Source FDOT[55] According to FDOT: «When speeding is compared to fault, drivers traveling at any speed over 4 MPH over the posted limit were highly overrepresented in fault. As the amount of speeding increases, the degree of overrepresentation increases; however, even at 5-9 miles over the limit, drivers were overrepresented in fault by a factor of over 2.0. ». «drinking drivers were between 3.5 and 18 times as likely to be at fault in the crash, depending on the amount of alcohol ingested. » Alcohol and Speed Over representation on faults in Florida (1998-2000) Alcohol influence Speed influence ORF for Over representation factor compares the rate of fault for a specific characteristic against the rate of fault for those without this characteristic. ORF greater than 1 means the risk is greater. ORF equal to one means the risk is not changed. When few data is available confidence interval is not accurate. For instance, a speed excess between 5 and 9 mph multiply the risk of fault by two. Source FDOT[55] Cause [ edit ] Several causes are involved:[56] Distracted driving Drunk driving Speeding Reckless driving Rain Running red lights (traffic light) Night driving Design defects Tailgating Wrong-way driving or improper turns Teenage drivers Drugs Potholes Tire blowouts Animal crossings (deer–vehicle collisions) Construction sites Distracted driving, a chief concern with mobile phone usage. single usage Éthylotest 2016 Honda Fit striking a wall head-on at 56 km/h. Driving in the rain Roadkilled deer on the Okatie Highway, South Carolina, USA A car after colliding with a white-tailed deer in Wisconsin A traffic light in Westbrook, Maine. Notice the red arrow to the left of the two green straight lights. By night. Top: human; bottom: wider view Tire pressure gauge VMT [ edit ] It is sometimes understood that fatalities increase with the increase of VMT, but this is not systematic as fatalities might remain quite stable while the VMT change. USA Minnesota Between 1994 and 2007, VMT increased by 28% while fatalities remains stable (6%) variation Between 2007 and 2009, VMT decreased by 2% while fatalities decreased by 20% Since 2009 (to 2015), VMT increased by 4%, while fatalities increased by 3%, Between 1961 and 1968, VMT increased by 32%, while fatalities increased by 45%, Between 1968 and 1982, VMT increased by 50%, while fatalities decreased by 50%, Between 1982 and 2003, VMT increased by 100%, while fatalities increased by 14%, Between 2003 and 2015, VMT increased by 2%, while fatalities decreased by 46%, * Source NHTSA.[57] * Source Minnesota[58] Modal comparison [ edit ] Driving versus flying [ edit ] The number of deaths per passenger-mile on commercial airlines in the United States between 2000 and 2010 was about 0.2 deaths per 10 billion passenger-miles,[59][60] while for driving, the rate was 1.5 per 100 million vehicle-miles for 2000, which is 150 deaths per 10 billion miles for comparison with the air travel rate.[11][61][62][63] The greatest risk in flying is in takeoff and landing, meaning that longer aircraft trips are safer per mile. Commuter planes used on shorter flights have higher risk than larger jet aircraft. Driving on U.S. Interstate highways, which are almost always controlled-access divided highways, is safer than driving on most other roads and highways. Unlike the large U.S. air carriers and commuter airlines, which on average have less than 20 fatalities annually, each year general aviation fatalities number in the hundreds. Most general aviation accidents involve single-engine, piston-powered airplanes used in recreational aviation.[64] Aviation vs rail [ edit ] train wreck 1993 Big Bayou Cannot Rail and bus [ edit ] Rail and bus (motorcoach) accidents also account for fatalities, although public transportation is far less dangerous than driving a personal vehicle.[citation needed] From 2014 to 2016, fatal rail fatalities were 227, 234 and 231;[68] with trespassers, fatalities are 749 for 2016.[69] Transportation jobs: Commercial drivers and air pilots [ edit ] Driver fatigue is a concern, particularly for commercial drivers. Hours of service regulations are issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and govern the working hours of anyone operating a commercial motor vehicle (CMV) in the United States. The relationship between number of hours driven and the percent of commercial truck crashes related to driver fatigue is an exponential relationship. (See graph.) Although the accident rate per 100 million miles for professional truckers is low, the high number of miles driven by a truck driver makes truck driving a risky occupation. Trucking transportation occupations accounted for one quarter of all work-related fatalities in 2015, more than any other U.S. job, according to the U.S. Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics' annual workplace fatality report.[71] The fatal injury rate in 2015 was 14.7 per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers in transportation and material moving occupations (which includes both truckers and air transportation workers.)[72] This was a significantly lower rate than for workers in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations, but high compared to most other occupation categories. The report did not break out the fatal injury rate per 100,000 full-time equivalent workers among aircraft pilots and flight engineers but did note that they had a high fatal injury rate compared to all workers. There were 57 fatalities among aircraft pilots and flight engineers in 2015.[73] Safety by state [ edit ] US mortality by state per million inhabitant in 2013 source citylab:[74] Between 2006 and 2015, number of killed people changed from 42642 to 35092 (−17%). During this period, around half of the states reduced the number of death by more than 20%, for instance: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming. In the same time, some states have killed more people, for instance North Dakota and Texas. Road safety states trends [ edit ] US fatalities by state North Dakota: Source 1994-2006: North Dakota University [75] Source 2006–2015: North Dakota Department of transportation [76] Texas & California: Source: Texas annual report 2015,[77] NHTSA,[78] COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FATAL CRASHES IN TEXAS VS. CALIFORNIA AND IMPLICATIONS FOR TRAFFIC SAFETY IN TEXAS[79] Texas alternate count: Source Texas. [80] Source for 2015: IIHS[81] See also [ edit ] Notes [ edit ] |
Creativity and innovation seems to flow from dedication to a particular type of work, but productivity and ideas blog the 99u noticed a trend: the best stuff seems to come from generalists, or people who know about a wide variety of topics. You can't know about just one thing. Not only does that make you an often boring conversationalist, but it prevents you from connecting with others through your work as well. Thinking of things without any connection, without multiple perspectives, leads to work that's often un-relatable. Being more of a generalist makes it possible to take something personal and share it with others in a way they not only understand but can appreciate: At the same time, creativity often requires drawing analogies between one body of knowledge and another. Pablo Picasso merged Western art techniques with elements of African art. He was struck by the way African artists combined multiple perspectives into a single work, and that helped lead to the development of cubism. Similarly, great scientists often draw parallels between different areas to create new ideas. In the history of science, Johannes Kepler struggled to understand how the planets could move around the sun, and drew on his knowledge of light and magnetism to try to understand the force that moved the planets. Advertisement So don't feel you have to be incredible at one single thing. Often the best work comes from those who attempt to understand everything they can. Picasso, Kepler, and the Benefits of Being an Expert Generalist | The 99u |
Photo by Juan P Martinez Photography Chicago British cosmetics business Lush is known for its approach to ethics and its fair trade initiatives. Now a former employee is suing the company over allegations of racial discrimination and victimization. Mercedez Gonzalez, a 27-year-old Mexican-American massage therapist, is taking Lush to court this week. She is seeking compensation for loss of earnings and damages for injury to feelings. Gonzalez claims that Lush failed to provide her with the same level of training, support, and opportunities as her white colleagues, resulting in her dismissal from the company in September 2016. Her case will be heard over the next three days at the Central Employment Tribunal in London. Before moving to the UK, Gonzalez had worked as a massage therapist in Chicago for eight years. In July 2016, she was offered a position as a spa therapist at the Lush flagship store on Oxford Street in London. As part of the job offer, Gonzalez was sent on a training program in Poole, Dorset, where Lush's headquarters are based. "I was super excited because I love Lush products and the idea of self-care," she says. "I thought, This would be an environment that will appreciate me and my skills. Lush paints a picture that they're really accepting and accommodating." According to Gonzalez, she was one of only two women of color on the seven-week course; six out of the eight new recruits were white. When one white trainee struggled to remember the complex massage techniques, she says, "a new trainer was brought in to support her, give her one-on-one help, extra support and talk her through the treatments." Read more: How Freelancers Are Forced to Fend for Themselves Against Sexual Harassment In her second week of training, Gonzalez says she was asked to perform one of Lush's signature treatments on a trainer. "They have these detailed, intricate, almost theatrical massages," she says. According to Gonzalez, she was told she'd receive her feedback the following day. She wasn't hugely worried. "I hadn't been told I was at risk of being sent home or that I would need extra support," she says. "I thought that while I had some things to work on, I was no worse than anyone else in the group." The Australian Model Calling Out Fashion's Size Hierarchy The next day, Gonzalez claims, she was taken into a room with another trainee—the only other woman of color on the course—and told their training in Poole was over. "They told us that we weren't progressing quickly enough, and that we would work closely with the spa team and maybe eventually come back to Poole when we were ready," she says. Although distraught to be sent to London with no prior warning—especially as she had moved to Poole for the course and had nowhere to stay in London—Gonzalez tried to remain positive. "I was crying and asked if I could do anything differently—like, what had I done wrong?" she remembers. "I tried to remain professional and optimistic, even though I was scared shitless." Gonzalez later found out that Olivia Lee, a white therapist she had lived with in Poole, was allowed to continue on the course despite receiving bad feedback. "She told me that in her feedback meeting they said she was a concern, she was way behind, she didn't know the material, she wasn't taking it seriously," Gonzalez says. "But she told me that they said to her, 'We're going to get you there.'" When Gonzalez began working at Lush's Oxford Street store in London, she was still on her probation period. According to her, she was also told that her training hours as a massage therapist would be cut from 40 hours a week to 32 hours. Instead, she was assigned to work on the shop floor of the store. After returning to London, Gonzalez raised concerns with Lush management that she'd been pushed off the Poole training program because of her ethnicity and body shape. "I feel like I was unfairly cheated out of the full training experience," she wrote in an email seen by Broadly. "I could have been back in London working my other job and saving money. Now I have to pay for transportation, housing and my weekly food, not because I deserved to be sent home, but because [the trainer] picked her favorites based on…. maybe race, body size or appearance? "It is clear this is not normal procedure and that we were unfairly sent home." Mercedez at work. Photo by Juan P Martinez, Photography Chicago, courtesy of subject According to court documents, Gonzalez was asked to take a practice examination four days later to determine if she had passed the probation period. Her lack of training, Gonzalez says, meant that failed the massage exam on August 30 and was subsequently dismissed on September 2. In emails seen by Broadly, Gonzalez was told she had not passed her probation because she failed "to meet our expected standards of performance despite comprehensive training and feedback." Gonzalez is now facing Lush in a central London employment tribunal on Wednesday. Lee's testimony is central to Gonzalez's case. Both Gonzalez and her lawyer expect that Lee will testify that she failed multiple exams without getting fired and was allowed to skip the exam Gonzalez was made to take—and subsequently failed—in London. For More Stories Like This, Sign Up for Our Newsletter "Discrimination cases are hard to prove in this country," says Gonzalez's lawyer Musthak Ahmed. "It's all about finding that silver bullet that shows discrimination has taken place. There's an inherent risk in taking these claims to a tribunal." A similar claim—brought by the other woman of color that Gonzalez worked alongside in Poole, alleging victimization and direct racial discrimination—was unsuccessful. However, Gonzalez is cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the case. "White colleagues got plenty of other support and the opportunity to succeed. But I wasn't given the same support or opportunities," she says. "But you never know if you'll get justice from the court." Lush declined to comment on Gonzalez's case. |
San Francisco has always been the sort of place where people come to reinvent themselves in a big way. The trend goes back to Joshua Norton, the eccentric wheeler-dealer who declared himself emperor of the United States in 1859. Bay Curious is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, NPR One or your favorite podcast platform. When San Francisco drag queen and political activist José Sarria declared himself the "Empress José I, The Widow Norton," in 1965, he wasn't just having fun with Norton's legacy. As the founder of The Imperial Court, Sarria launched and presided over an entire movement that would not only support LGBTQ causes in a profound way over the more than five decades of its existence to date, but would also do it with lashings of bejeweled and sequined flair. Learn about The Imperial Court in this episode of Bay Curious. |
OAKLAND — The city has a message for anyone interested in transporting coal and other fossil fuels through Oakland — not in our backyard. The City Council will have a public hearing Sept. 21 to discuss the health ramifications of bringing coal through the city after Utah approved a $50 million investment in a West Oakland shipping terminal being built at the former Army Base. Councilman Dan Kalb on Thursday proposed the fact-finding hearing after the council returns from summer break. But the city already has the facts they need to vehemently oppose coal being exported in Oakland. Kalb said powerful developer Phil Tagami, who heads the California Capital and Investment Group, assured him that coal wouldn’t be shipped through Oakland terminals when he was awarded the development rights to the city-owned land in 2012. “He said it to my face,” Kalb said. “He said, ‘Dan, climate change is the premiere issue of the day. I care very much about my children and I would never let coal go through any of my property or terminal.’ And he was very passionate about that. “And we just want to hold him to it, that’s all,” Kalb added. Kalb said fossil fuels transported by closed-car rail cars need to be ventilated, which causes dangerous dust. And so-called “cleaner coal,” is still a pollutant, he said. “It’s a typical industry ploy to scare and placate us into thinking it’s really OK,” Kalb said. Kalb isn’t alone, either. Mayor Libby Schaaf commanded Tagami in an email to stop mentioning coal as a possibility in Oakland. “Stop it immediately. You have been awarded the opportunity of a lifetime to develop this unique piece of land. You must respect the owner and public’s decree that we will not have coal shipped through our city,” Schaaf wrote in June. Tagami, who did not respond to a late call Thursday, has maintained he has the necessary agreements from the city to export coal at the site. Kalb, however, said the city has the final say about a public health threat. He advised Tagami to find a different commodity to export. Jess Dervin-Ackerman, conservation manager for the San Francisco Bay Chapter of the Sierra Club, applauded the city’s efforts. “California doesn’t use any coal for electricity,” she said. “This is a coal-free state, and exporting coal in Oakland would take us backward from that for sure.” Mike Blasky covers Oakland City Hall. Contact him at 510-208-6429. Follow him at Twitter.com/blasky. |
Heather Hunter • November 14, 2016 GOES-R: A GOES Primer GOES-R is scheduled launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida atop an Atlas V rocket on November 19, 2016. The current GOES-East and GOES-West have been faithfully providing continuous imagery and data on atmospheric conditions, Earth weather, and space weather, and even aiding in search and rescue missions for almost a decade. So, with the launch of the first of the next generation of GOES satellites, GOES-R, what is NOAA trying to accomplish? NOAA Artist's rendering of GOES-R The GOES fleet Since 1975, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has operated the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES). At any given time, there are two of them in operation: GOES-East, which covers the Eastern Hemisphere at 75° W longitude, and GOES-West, which covers the Western Hemisphere at 135°W longitude. In case of trouble, a third satellite is usually in orbit, too, standing by until some anomaly occurs. NOAA The GOES fleet Schematic of the spatial coverage and longitudinal positions of the current GOES fleet. Schematic of the spatial coverage and longitudinal positions of the current GOES fleet. These satellites sit in geostationary orbit, which is 35,786 kilometers above Earth's equator. At this altitude, their orbital period is equal to Earth’s rotational period, so the satellite appears to hover in a fixed position over Earth’s surface. When GOES-R arrives in orbit, it will sit at a fixed location of 89.5°W while it undergoes further in-orbit testing. Once operational, its environmental data products will support short-term weather forecasts, hazardous weather announcements, maritime forecasts, seasonal forecasts, drought forecasts, hurricane and storm intensity and tracking forecasts, and space weather predictions. In total it will provide 34 atmospheric, land, ocean, solar, and space weather data products for the scientific community! Better, faster, stronger The current GOES-East and GOES-West satellites were launched in 2006 and 2010, respectively. While they carry useful instruments and provide world-class data, the technology upon which they were built is now at least 2 decades old. GOES-R represents the first major technological advancement since then. Most GOES satellites carry a large suite of instruments. The most important ones are the sounder, the imager, and the solar x-ray imager. GOES-R will introduce a massive new 16-channel imager called the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI), a Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM), and a Solar UV Imager (SUVI) as a step up from previous GOES instruments. NASA Artist’s rendition of GOES-R ABI is unique because it will scan 5 times faster with 4 times the spatial resolution of the current GOES. This means ABI can scan an entire hemisphere every 5 minutes, or as fast as every 30 seconds in subregions where there is severe weather. Previous iterations of GOES could only provide hemispherical data every 30 minutes, and hazardous weather data every 5 minutes. In addition, ABI has 3 times the number of spectral channels from which weather data can be derived. For reference, here’s a list of all of ABI’s spectral channels, the part of the electromagnetic spectrum each covers, and what those data can be used to study. Band Center Wavelength (μm) Portion of Spectrum Observed Environmental Parameters 1 0.47 Visible Aerosols 2 0.64 Visible Fog, solar insolation, cloud behavior, snow/ice cover, severe weather detection, low-level cloud-drift winds, smoke, volcanic ash, hurricanes, winter storm 3 0.86 Near Infrared Clouds, fog, aerosols, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) 4 1.37 Near Infrared Thin cirrus clouds 5 1.6 Near Infrared Cloud, snow, ice, total cloud cover estimation, smoke detection from fires with low burn rates 6 2.2 Near Infrared Particle-size estimation of clouds and aerosols 7 3.9 Infrared Fog/low cloud identification, fire/hot-spot identification, volcanic eruption, ash detection, snow/ice detection, urban heat islands 8 6.2 Infrared Water vapor, jet stream, hurricane track forecasting, storm forecasting, severe weather analysis, atmospheric motion vectors 9 6.9 Infrared Water vapor, jet stream, hurricane track forecasting, storm forecasting, severe weather analysis, atmospheric motion vectors 10 7.3 Infrared Water vapor, mid-level atmospheric flow, jet streaks 11 8.4 Infrared Cloud-top phase (in combination with Bands 14 and 15) 12 9.6 Infrared Tropopause behavior, total ozone 13 10.3 Infrared Less sensitive to water vapor - used for atmospheric moisture corrections, cloud particle size estimation, and surface property characterization in derived products 14 11.2 Infrared Weather forecasting, analysis, precipitation estimates, cloud-drift winds, hurricane intensity, cloud-top heights, volcanic ash, fog 15 12.3 Infrared Low-level moisture, volcanic ash, airborne dust/sand, sea surface temperature, cloud particle size 16 13.3 Infrared Tropospheric air temperature estimation, cloud products GLM will detect both cloud-to-ground and cloud-to-cloud lightning from geostationary orbit. Research has uncovered a relationship between lightning activity and intensification of storms. Data from GLM will help to identify changes in lightning activity in tropical cyclones, and forecasters may then be able to determine whether a storm will have bad wind, hail, or rain. SUVI will keep a watchful eye on the environment around Earth in the extreme ultraviolet portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Despite being in space, space weather directly impacts life on Earth. The sun periodically releases strong bursts of charged particles that interact with Earth’s magnetic field and can disrupt satellite operations, GPS, and telecommunications. SUVI’s job is to observe solar flares and coronal mass ejections, providing early warnings to forecasters of possible impacts to the Earth-space environment, and, subsequently, on the ground. Looking for data? Meanwhile, if you’re a scientist or citizen scientist looking for GOES-13 (East) or GOES-15 (West) data or imagery, here are the resources you’ll want to check out. Note that you may have to write your own data readers using some kind of scientific software like MATLAB, IDL, or Fortran, if you’re not looking for pre-processed imagery. NOAA’s data guides are also available at these websites: |
Image copyright Reuters Image caption International Trade Secretary Liam Fox is one of the 11 secretaries of state on the committee Prime Minister Theresa May has chaired the first meeting of a new cabinet committee focused on building an economy "that works for everyone". Its will look at developing a "strong" industrial strategy, encouraging innovation, boosting productivity and creating opportunities for the young. Mrs May said that to take advantage of "opportunities" presented by Brexit "we need to have our whole economy firing". The committee is made up of almost half of Mrs May's cabinet. It includes Chancellor Philip Hammond, Business and Energy Secretary Greg Clark, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green. Those not attending include Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit secretary David Davis, as well as the secretaries of state for the Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and the Home Office. 'More opportunities' The newly-created Economy and Industrial Strategy Committee will look at addressing long-term productivity growth, encouraging innovation and focusing on the industries and technologies that could give the UK a competitive advantage. Speaking ahead of the meeting in Downing Street, Mrs May said she wanted her government to "build an economy that works for everyone, not just the privileged few" - a pledge she made in her first speech as prime minister. Image copyright Reuters Image caption Chancellor Philip Hammond arriving for the meeting Image copyright Reuters Image caption Education Secretary Justine Greening arriving She added: "That is why we need a proper industrial strategy that focuses on improving productivity, rewarding hardworking people with higher wages and creating more opportunities for young people so that, whatever their background, they go as far as their talents will take them. "We also need a plan to drive growth up and down the country - from rural areas to our great cities." Hinkley delay The meeting comes after the government unexpectedly postponed plans to build the first new UK nuclear plant in 20 years so the situation could be reviewed. Contracts were to be signed last Friday after French firm EDF, which is financing most of the £18bn Hinkley Point project in Somerset, approved the funding at a board meeting. China is expected to fund one third of the project. But Business Secretary Greg Clark has said the government will "consider carefully" before backing it. Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The government ordered a last-minute delay to finalising plans to build the Hinkley Point nuclear power plant project Reports suggest Mrs May has national security concerns about China's role in the project, prompting China to say it will not tolerate "unwanted accusations" about its investments in the UK. Former Foreign Secretary Lord Hague has defended Mrs May's right to look afresh at the project. "While greater trade and investment with China is clearly beneficial for both countries and is to be encouraged, Theresa May is quite right to take the time necessary to evaluate the Chinese role in our nuclear power," he wrote in the Daily Telegraph. And former Conservative deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine said Mrs May's decision to review Hinkley Point did not mean she was "anti-infrastructure". "She as home secretary has not been that deeply involved in the detail. Now as prime minister she has a very different and much wider responsibility. "She's fully entitled to ask those basic questions; that is not anti-infrastructure, it is pro-national security," he told BBC Radio 4's World at One. The full list of attendees at Tuesday's committee included: |
Welcome to Curdling¶ Curdling is a command line tool for managing Python packages. It was designed to find, build and cache all the dependencies your application needs to start up and run smoothly. A solid concurrency model allows curdling to execute tasks asynchronously, resulting in a considerable improve in speed over pip and easy_install. The content of this website is divided into two main parts. The Usage teaches you how to use with curdling to manage your packages. The Design and Implementation section shows in depth how curdling works. See it rolling¶ Click the terminal to play (also available at asciinema) Noticeable Features¶ Robust Concurrent model: it’s FAST ! ! Really good Error Handling and Report; Conflict resolution for repeated requirements; Distributed Cache System that includes a built-in cache server; Simple command line interface; Usage of bleeding edge technology available in the Python community; Concurrent and Parallel, but Ctrl - C still works; Why writing curdling instead of using pip?¶ Pip is awesome! I’ve been using it for managing my Python packages for a while now. However, its code base is just too complex, which makes it hard to iterate fast on its development and implement exciting new features in a reasonable time. Curdling was initially developed to decrease the time taken by dependency installation in the Continuous Integration Server that tests software at Yipit. We managed to decrease the build time ~70% by replacing pip with Curdling. The improvements were so noticeable because, among the 167 libraries we depend to build our software we have lxml , numpy , pygmagic , pycrypto , gevent etc. Curdling is faster than pip because it caches the binary packages compiled when the setup.py script is ran. Curdling also provides a Distributed Cache, so you can share your compiled packages with other environments. So, when we add a new dependency to our requirements.txt file, curdling will just try to retrieve the new package from the cache. If the package is not cached in the first run, curdling will build it on the CI and upload to the cache and the package will be cached and we’ll just use the cached version the next time we need to install it. |
Start-ups, telecommunications giants, supermarkets and postal services are all getting into banking, but they concede they are not really disrupting big lenders or dominant card networks because most have to rely on banks or Visa and MasterCard to provide financial services. Post Office UK launched Post Money in January. Nick Kennett, the head of financial services, said his division, which includes mortgages, foreign exchange and credit cards, accounts for a quarter of Post Office's revenue. But all its banking services come from the Bank of Ireland. "[Post Office] doesn't now have a balance sheet to support a bank," he told the RFi Payments Innovation Forum in Sydney on Tuesday. Post Office used to own Girobank, but it was sold to Alliance & Leicester Building Society in 1990. "What we're now doing is we're selling services and, hopefully getting some value on the way through from those customer services." But while banks have been closing branches, Post has to have a branch within three miles of 99 per cent of the United Kingdom's population by law. So, it has 11,500 branches and has been refurbishing many to offer private rooms to discuss customers' financial needs. Other financial services companies also use Post UK's branches. Coles head of payments Shane Harris said the main reason the supermarket giant had installed contactless terminals and launched a mobile wallet for contactless payments – tap and go payments now make up 80 per cent of all credit card payments in its stores – was to get rid of cash because it is a big cost. "For us [contactless] was around disrupting cash," he said. "Cash is now about 54 per cent of all of our transactions and declining at 11 per cent compound in the last three years." |
A look at the top 25 most popular mobile apps in the US, as measured by comScore, leads to several observations. 1. As the US smartphone market matures, the mobile-app leaders aren’t changing. Some 21 of the top 25 apps, as ranked by comScore, were the same in June 2015 as a year ago, when we first published this list. Eight of the top 10 were the same. Those were: Facebook, YouTube, Google Search, Google Play, Google Maps, Pandora Radio, Gmail, and Instagram. The main new top-10 entrant was Facebook Messenger, which was ranked no. 3 in June 2015, up from no. 12 a year ago. Its massive success highlights two things: The importance of messaging as a primary mobile activity, and Facebook’s ability to split itself into two apps and successfully drive adoption of Messenger. 2. Google and Facebook continue to dominate. Three of the top 10 apps are owned by Facebook, including the main Facebook app, which is the only app in the US that reaches more than 100 million people a month, according to comScore. (Some 126 million, or about two-thirds of the total US app-using market.) Five are owned by Google, which has the benefit of controlling Android, the dominant (for now) US mobile operating system. 3. Pinterest, no. 15, is the most popular app that is not owned by a public company. Pinterest—a private company valued at $11 billion—has gained ground, up from no. 20 a year ago. And its app audience has increased by two-thirds since then, to more than 40 million, according to comScore. 4. There are, again, no games in the top 25. As comScore’s Andrew Lipsman explains, while gaming is a huge category—representing 11% of time spent on mobile devices—it tends to be more fragmented among many successful games, which include Words With Friends, Trivia Crack, and Clash of Clans. 5. Netflix is still the most popular app that requires a subscription. Its 33 million unique mobile-app visitors, as estimated by comScore, represents almost 80% of the 42 million US streaming members it reported at the end of June. 6. YouTube has a lot of ground on Snapchat and other mobile video rivals. Except, of course, Facebook, which is planning a lot of its future around mobile video. 7. Apple Maps is big. With 49 million estimated unique visitors in June, that’s almost 60% reach among the roughly 84 million iPhone subscribers in the US. 8. Microsoft is absent. Skype, which made the list last year, has fallen off. And Microsoft’s struggles in mobile are well-documented. A note on methodology: comScore measures app audience size by “unique visitors,” a term that is different than the “monthly active users” that many app-makers self-report. This is measured by a combination of techniques, including a panel of users, and input from publishers. The idea is to report the number of actual people using each app or service, not the number of devices. As with any third-party measurement, it’s imperfect. For example, the rankings include “iTunes Radio/iCloud,” two of Apple’s cloud services, at no. 10. ComScore says it can’t fully distinguish between the two on the back end, so it combines them. This is not ideal, but, we think, worth sharing. And, for context, here’s last year’s list: |
By MICHELLE FAUL, Associated Press LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — First the police targeted the gay men, then tortured them into naming dozens of others who now are being hunted down, human rights activists said Tuesday, warning that such persecution will rise under a new Nigerian law. The men's alleged crime? Belonging to a gay organization. The punishment? Up to 10 years in jail under the Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act, which has elicited international condemnation for criminalizing gay marriage, gay organizations and anyone working with or promoting them. There were varying accounts of how many arrests were made in Nigeria's Bauchi state, and a local law enforcement official denied that anyone was tortured. Nevertheless, the aggressive police action shows that Africa's most populous country is attempting to enforce anti-gay measures that are becoming increasingly common throughout the continent. In this instance, authorities responded to an unfounded rumor that the United States had paid gay activists $20 million to promote same-sex marriage in this highly religious and conservative nation, according to an AIDS counselor, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear that he would be arrested. An officer pretending to be a gay man then joined a group being counseled on AIDS, according to Dorothy Aken'Ova, executive director of Nigeria's International Center for Reproductive Health and Sexual Rights. Aken'Ova said police detained four gay men over the Christmas holidays and tortured them until they named others allegedly belonging to a gay organization. She gave no details of what she called torture, but the AIDS counselor said the four men were brutally beaten until they gave up names. The police have now arrested 38 men and are looking for 168 others, according to Aken'Ova, whose organization is helping provide legal services to the men. The AIDS counselor said he has helped secure bail for some of the 38 detainees. They both said dozens of homosexuals have fled Bauchi in recent days. Chairman Mustapha Baba Ilela of Bauchi state Shariah Commission, which oversees regulation of Islamic law, said that 11 gay men have been arrested over the past two weeks. He said community members helped "fish out" the suspects and that "we are on the hunt for others." Bauchi state has both a Western-style penal code and Shariah, or Islamic law, which is implemented to different degrees in nine of Nigeria's 36 states. About half of the country's more than 175 million people are Muslims, the other half Christians. Ilela said all 11 arrested — 10 Muslims and a non-Muslim — signed confessions that they belonged to a gay organization, but that some of them retracted the statements in court. He denied any force was involved. "They have never been tortured, they have never been beaten, they have never been intimidated," he said. Nigerian law enforcers are notorious for torturing suspects to extract confessions. They also are known for extorting money from victims to allow them to get out of jail cells. Shawn Gaylord of Human Rights First, a Washington-based organization, said he was alarmed by the reports of torture and arrests. "When discriminatory bills like this are passed, we are always concerned that they set the stage for violence and ill-treatment in society even when they are not enforced," Gaylord said in a statement. "But the fact that this law is being enforced so quickly and forcefully demonstrates the full extent of Nigeria's human rights crisis." Olumide Makanjuola said lawyers for his Initiative For Equality in Nigeria are backing lawsuits of several homosexuals arrested by police without cause. He said police regularly and illegally inspect the cell phones of gay suspects, then send text messages to lure others. Then the men or women are told they will be charged and their sexual preferences exposed unless they pay bribes. "Some pay 5,000, some 10,000 naira ($30 to $60). Even though they have done nothing wrong, people are scared, people are afraid that even worse things will happen," Makanjuola said in a recent Associated Press interview. The new law was passed by the Nigerian Parliament last year but not signed by the president, Goodluck Jonathan, until last week — when he did so quietly and without fanfare. Jonathan's office confirmed Monday that the Nigerian leader had signed it. The United States, Britain and Canada condemned the new law, with Secretary of State John Kerry saying Monday that it "dangerously restricts freedom" of expression and association of all Nigerians. While harsh, Nigeria's law is not as draconian as a bill passed last month by legislators in Uganda that is awaiting President Yoweri Museveni's signature. It provides penalties including life imprisonment for "aggravated" homosexual sex. Initially, legislators had been demanding the death sentence for gays. The Nigerian law provides penalties of up to 14 years in jail for a gay marriage and up to 10 years' imprisonment for membership or encouragement of gay clubs, societies and organizations. That could include even groups formed to combat AIDS among gays, activists said. The U.N. agency fighting AIDS and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria expressed "deep concern that access to HIV services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people will be severely affected" and that the law could harm Jonathan's own presidential initiative to fight AIDS, started a year ago. It said Nigeria has the second-largest HIV epidemic globally with an estimated 3.4 million people living with the virus. Jonathan has not publicly expressed his views on homosexuality. But his spokesman, Reuben Abati, told the AP on Monday night, "This is a law that is in line with the people's cultural and religious inclination. So it is a law that is a reflection of the beliefs and orientation of Nigerian people. ... Nigerians are pleased with it." Many have asked why such a law is needed in a country where sodomy already was outlawed, and could get you killed under Shariah. Ilela said sodomy carries the death sentence in Bauchi state, with a judge deciding whether it should be done by a public stoning or by lethal injection. No gay person has been subjected to such punishment. ___ Associated Press writer Shehu Saulawa contributed to this report from Bauchi, Nigeria. |
The "Kettle Bell" or Russian Kettle is a traditional training instrument developed in Russia and made famous by Pavel Tsatsouline and Valery Fedorenko. Basically it's a big, iron ball with a handle that you swing around, lift and juggle. Kettle Bell workouts are fantastic exercise and are especially good for MMA training. (For more information on Kettle Bells and what exactly you do with them, I recommend Crossfit.com and good old Wikipedia.) Kettle Bells come in several sizes, but are generally measured in poods (1 pood = approximately 36 lbs). A 1 pood kettlebell will run you easily 50-60 dollars. The one in the photo is about 30 lbs, which is plenty to get you started, but you can feel free to add some more weight as you see fit. It cost me about 10 dollars to make (though some materials and tools were free, so prices may vary) So why not just use a dumbbell? Why does it have to be round? Essentially, the centered/raised position of the handle allows the main pay-load to swing, which means that you have to use your grip strength much more to control it, and it becomes harder to use natural mechanical advantage to lift the weight. Example: doing curls with a dumbbell, there is a point towards the top of the motion where your forearm is pretty much all the way underneath the weight, and you no longer need to engage certain muscles to finish the motion. With a kettle bell, the weight is very difficult to really get "under," so it will make many exercises more difficult and therefore more productive. Caution! This Instructable involves welding, bending and shaping metal at high temperatures and working with concrete. PLEASE follow all safety guidelines, know what you're doing and wear appropriate protection when working with fire, welding gear and metal working tools. Also, exercise with kettlebells can be strenuous. Please consult a physician before using this training aid. A homemade kettlebell is no substitute for a cast-iron one and it is possible for concrete to break off, etc. while using one. Please be aware of these dangers if you choose to proceed. I take no responsibility for misuse of the information provided in this tutorial. |
ATLANTA — Freddie Freeman’s offensive onslaught is now on hold. The Atlanta Braves’ superstar first baseman sat in the interview room at SunTrust Park on Thursday afternoon wearing a green cast — his mom’s favorite color — after suffering a non-displaced left wrist fracture after being hit by a pitch on Wednesday night against the Toronto Blue Jays. Freeman is expected to miss approximately 10 weeks, a projected recovery timeline sidelining him until late July or early August. “Obviously this is quite disappointing,” Freeman said. ” … It’s obviously a tough blow but I’m going to do every thing I can to get back as soon as I can.” Freeman suffered the injury on a high-and-tight fastball running 94 miles per hour from Blue Jays left-hander Aaron Loup that ricocheted off the heel of his left hand, letting out an audible scream on contact and slowly walking out of the batter’s box toward the Braves dugout. He did not even attempt to grip the bat in the aftermath. As Braves manager Brian Snitker said of his star’s immediate exit, “He couldn’t swing the bat.” Freeman quietly set his batting helmet down and walked into the tunnel with trainer Jim Lovell. Freeman said he had an idea of the severity when he couldn’t squeeze Lovell’s hand when prompted. X-rays were initially inconclusive, though looming concerns were palpable from the beginning. On Thursday, MRI and CT scans confirmed Freeman had suffered the second significant wrist injury of his young career. “I kind of knew after my whole hand started to ache and I couldn’t do any squeezing of the hand. I kind of had a feeling, but I was hoping for good news and that didn’t come.” Freeman broke his bone in seven places, but said orthopedic hand surgeon Dr. Gary Lourie told him of the eight bones in the wrist, he had broken the “best possible one.” There is a ligament that helps it heal together, hence the injury will not requiring surgery. He will wear a cast for four weeks and it will be removed every week for X-rays. Freeman will undergo another CT scan in two weeks and is hopeful that after four weeks he can lose the cast and begin the process of regaining strength in the wrist. “It’s not the news I wanted when I got all the scans and saw Dr. Lourie,” said Freeman, who was placed on the 10-day disabled list. “Right now I’ve just got to sit, let it heal and we’ll take it from there.” “You can’t replace Freddie. I can’t go out and do what he does. That’s impossible.” Jace Peterson on filling void at 1B for #Braves pic.twitter.com/5CYIYFfwbX — FOX Sports: Braves (@FOXSportsBraves) May 18, 2017 Third base prospect Rio Ruiz, 23, took his spot on the active roster. And just like that, one of the sport’s top players exits stage right for, at best, two-plus months. But as much as this is a blow to his MVP-level start, Freeman said he was more disappointed in the setback after the Braves had won five of their last six games, including three straight against Toronto. “The more disappointing fact is that we started playing good baseball as a team,” Freeman said. “I’ve never played this game for myself. I just come in here every day and play and try and help this team win and get back to the playoffs, because it’s been four years. When you win seven of the last nine games and put together the last five, six games that we did, this is a more devastating blow to me. I couldn’t care less about personal statistics at this point.” There are no contingency plans for losing superstars in their primes. Atlanta entered the 2017 season with one irreplaceable asset, a player that no internal spare part could replicate. The Braves were equipped to handle the loss of pitchers, catchers, other infielders and, to a lesser extent, outfielders without the threat of a significant decline from preseason expectations. Freeman, on the other hand, stood alone. The 27-year-old first baseman left Wednesday’s game as baseball’s most productive hitter since the 2016 trade deadline. Over the past calendar year, only Mike Trout, the sport’s undisputed king for six years running, has posted better offensive numbers. Thirty-seven games does not write an MVP resume in ink, but the best start of Freeman’s career — coupled with his ascendant reputation around the league — positioned him for the first legitimate run of his career. The two-time All-Star is hitting .341/.461/.748 with 14 home runs and 2.6 wins above replacement this season — a rate that more than doubled the league average and buoyed the hopes of a rebuilding franchise currently sitting in second place in the National League East. Depending on the accuracy of Freeman’s recovery timeline, all of that could be thrown out the window. Since the start of the 2014 season, Freeman has missed 47 total games. The Braves have averaged just 3.1 runs per game with a 20-27 overall record in his absence. He will be sorely missed. Atlanta’s farm system is structured around Freeman’s availability. There are no top prospects pushing for MLB playing time. Not a single first baseman landed on the organization’s top prospect lists this past offseason. The team’s most productive minor-leaguers at first base — considering the likes of Austin Riley, Brett Cumberland or Braxton Davidson have yet to make the potential position change — are lower-ceiling players stationed at Double-A or lower. Four players have played first base for Triple-A Gwinnett this season, including recently released Ryan Howard, and each hit 25 percent below the International League average or worse. (The wrist injury doubles down on how much versatile free-agent signing Sean Rodriguez is missed this season in Atlanta. The veteran utility option, who will more than likely miss the entire 2017 season after suffering multiple injuries in an offseason car accident, is better than any option the organization is likely to find in its system or on the open market.) “Sean Rodriguez is a guy we did sign in the winter realizing he was a guy that could pick up for Freddie,” president of baseball operations John Hart said. ” … He’s done, and if you look at, internally, how we set it up in the winter, that’s one that definitely affects us.” The Braves have some internal options in Ruiz, Nick Markakis (six career starts at first base), Jace Peterson, who got the start at Freeman’s spot Thursday, (presently injured) Adonis Garcia or Johan Camargo. Ruiz and Camargo were getting pregame work with infield coach Ron Washington ahead of Thursday’s game. The organization also immediately added another option in free agent James Loney, per a report from Jon Heyman. The 33-year-old Loney hit .265/.307/.397 with the Mets last season and participated in spring training with the Rangers before playing in the Tigers’ minor league system. He had been released by both franchises. The 11-year veteran had two defensive runs saved in 784 innings for New York at first last season, but is six years removed from his best defensive season in 2011 when he had 11 DRS for the Dodgers. After signing a minor-league deal, it is expected that he’ll spend time with Triple-A Gwinnett before potentially joining the Braves. Part of the problem facing the Braves is one that plagued them during the winter. Freeman’s consistent durability — he’s played in fewer than 147 games just once since 2010 — limited the caliber of player the Braves could attract as his backup or currently as a stop-gap until his return. “It’s hard for us when … six-year free agent first basemen don’t want to sign here because Freddie plays 160 games a year,” said general manager John Coppolella. The fact that Freeman returns to the disabled list with another wrist injury only adds to the frustration. Freeman missed 44 games and took two trips to the disabled list during the summer of 2015 with right wrist complications. Wrist injuries, which can affect grip strength, tend to linger. Freeman underwent multiple cortisone injections in his wrist and hand in 2015 and the subsequent offseason, even entering Atlanta’s 2016 spring training on a limited hitting regimen. How Freeman’s wrist responds to treatment this time around remains to be seen. Until then, one of baseball’s brightest stars will be sidelined for the foreseeable future. “We can’t find anybody that’s going to do what Freddie did,” Coppolella said. “He was arguably the best player in the whole league.” |
probaddie True Bro You're triggering my intelligence Posts: 11,040 True Bro Ripper Weapon Statistics qupie likes this Quote Select Post Select Post Deselect Post Deselect Post Link to Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Member Back to Top Post by probaddie on Here are the weapon statistics for the Ripper in no particular order. (There will be some "obvious" ones here, sorry for the redundancy): SMG (Default) Mode ADS FoV: 55* ADS in, out: 0.25s, 0.25s Magazine size: 32 Fire Time: 0.062s (968 RPM theoretical, 900 RPM at 60 fps) CenterSpeed (ADS, Hip): 1500, 1600 First Raise Time: 1.8s Penetration: Low Starting Ammo: 96 rounds Maximum Ammo: 192 rounds Damage (Max, Min): 34, 24 Damage Multiplier (Head): 1.5 Range (Min, Max): 384u, 768u Melee Damage: 135 Melee Delay: 0.08s Melee Time, Charge: 0.8s, 1.16s Reload Time, Empty, Add: 3.1s, 3.33s, 1.767s Drop, Raise Time: 0.433s, 1.0s Quick Drop, Raise Time: 0.25s, 0.766s Empty Raise, Drop Time: 0.9s, 0.5s Sprint in, loop, out: 0.23s, 0.58s, 0.25s Movement Speed, ADS: 100%, 80% Hipspread (Stand Min, Max; Crouch Min, Max; Prone Min, Max): 3.0*, 6.0*; 2.5*, 5.25*; 2.25*, 4.5* Idle Amount, Speed, Crouch, Prone: 30.0, 4.0, 0.75, 0.4 Gun Max Pitch, Yaw: 6.0, 6.0 ADS Gun Kick ReducedKickBullets: 0 ADS Gun Kick (Pitch Min, Max; Yaw Min, Max; Accel; SpeedMax; SpeedDecay; StaticDecay): -15, 0; 30, -30; 700; 2600; 35; 10 ADS View Kick (Pitch Min, Max; Yaw Max, Min; MinMagnitude): -50, 50; 50, -50; 10 ADS Spread: 0.0* Hip View Kick: (Pitch Min, Max; Yaw Max, Min; MinMagnitude): -40, 60; 50, -50; 0 Assault Rifle Mode Every statistic not mentioned here can be assumed to be the same as it is in the default mode ADS FoV: 50* Fire Time: 0.089s (674 RPM theoretical, 600 RPM at 60 fps) Range (Min, Max): 960u, 1920u Edit: Corrected ADS in/Out times as per Marvel's reply. qupie True Bro Posts: 12,376 True Bro Ripper Weapon Statistics Quote Select Post Select Post Deselect Post Deselect Post Link to Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Member Back to Top Post by qupie on egumption said: SMG: ~10.4m 3BTK ~19.2m 4BTK, inf 5BTK AR: ~26m 3BTK, ~48 4BTK, inf 5BTK The only saving grace is the recoil. Makes it an easy gun to use. Maybe that's why it got a lot of hype with the early release. Easy to use, but anyone who can control a statistically better gun (damage-wise) is going to beat you. Also, the wall penetration is still "Low" in AR form, apparently? Doesn't help. The AR form seems pretty useless. Suspicions confirmed, then...this gun's damage profile is pretty bad.SMG: ~10.4m 3BTK ~19.2m 4BTK, inf 5BTKAR: ~26m 3BTK, ~48 4BTK, inf 5BTKThe only saving grace is the recoil. Makes it an easy gun to use. Maybe that's why it got a lot of hype with the early release. Easy to use, but anyone who can control a statistically better gun (damage-wise) is going to beat you. Also, the wall penetration is still "Low" in AR form, apparently? Doesn't help. The AR form seems pretty useless. Well, it is also not as bad as you make it sound. It is not a top tier weapon, but it is actually still very usable. The 960u/1920 min max range of the AR version is actually really good for an SMG! put on rapid fire and it easily takes over the niche of the Vector with muzzle break (840/1200 min max). Especially because you can still increase the ROF by switching to SMG mode. It is not overpowered nor underpowered. They did a good job IMHO. Also in SMG mode, a RPM of 968 (900) is really good for a 3-5 hk gun. Other 20 min damage guns need RF to get to that fire rate. And while the 4HK happens pretty fast, its 5HK range is actually pretty good! By range, RoF and min damage it outclasses the Bison and CBJ in allot of ways (especially if you include that you could switch against long range targets) The real problem the gun has is the same as the vector had, its niche is being a SMG which can handle mid range and as a result: the Mtar (esp with RF) says hello. I would rate the SMG's like this right now: Mtar: 4hk min, and same RoF as most SMG's with rapid fire Vepr: sprint out time, free's up one point Ripper: It gives you the ROF of a RF mtar close up, while giving you AR mode for mid range (only if you can't handle the Mtar with RF recoil) K7: yeah I know allot think it is bad, but it has a really long 3HK range for a silencer SMG, just don't try to kill enemies on mid-long range Rest is pretty much outclassed by any (or multiple) of the above So I can't say it only saving grace is the recoil, but I am glad is is not in the first place. p.s. what would the sprint out time be of the ripper? looks like 0.25 but I have no idea what sprint in and loop mean? Well, it is also not as bad as you make it sound. It is not a top tier weapon, but it is actually still very usable. The 960u/1920 min max range of the AR version is actually really good for an SMG! put on rapid fire and it easily takes over the niche of the Vector with muzzle break (840/1200 min max). Especially because you can still increase the ROF by switching to SMG mode. It is not overpowered nor underpowered. They did a good job IMHO.Also in SMG mode, a RPM of 968 (900) is really good for a 3-5 hk gun. Other 20 min damage guns need RF to get to that fire rate. And while the 4HK happens pretty fast, its 5HK range is actually pretty good! By range, RoF and min damage it outclasses the Bison and CBJ in allot of ways (especially if you include that you could switch against long range targets)The real problem the gun has is the same as the vector had, its niche is being a SMG which can handle mid range and as a result: the Mtar (esp with RF) says hello.I would rate the SMG's like this right now:Mtar: 4hk min, and same RoF as most SMG's with rapid fireVepr: sprint out time, free's up one pointRipper: It gives you the ROF of a RF mtar close up, while giving you AR mode for mid range (only if you can't handle the Mtar with RF recoil)K7: yeah I know allot think it is bad, but it has a really long 3HK range for a silencer SMG, just don't try to kill enemies on mid-long rangeRest is pretty much outclassed by any (or multiple) of the aboveSo I can't say it only saving grace is the recoil, but I am glad is is not in the first place.p.s. what would the sprint out time be of the ripper? looks like 0.25 but I have no idea what sprint in and loop mean? thegentleman True Bro Posts: 301 True Bro Ripper Weapon Statistics banana likes this Quote Select Post Select Post Deselect Post Deselect Post Link to Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Member Back to Top Post by thegentleman on That's not even a question to me. The Bizon is basically comparable to the ripper in SMG mode, but doesn't have the ability to effectively engage targets at long ranges. For me, the AR mode might be *Slightly* statistically inferior to a lot of other ARs, but it's easier to kill a distant target than it is with many other guns in that class (namely, the CZ805, AK-12 with the new recoil values, the ARX, and the FAD if you're just having one of those days). Besides that, the three extra points it frees up by not having to use Stalker has allowed me to make some extremely versatile classes and not feel undergunned. I use it almost exclusively in AR mode with occasional switches back to SMG when indoor spaces are tight. I also just cannot hit shit with the MTAR at longer ranges, especially with Rapid Fire, so despite how great a lot of people say that gun is, I haven't gotten it to work spectacularly well for me in approximately 10 days of playtime, even using god knows how many different class and weapon setup combinations. sirknumskull Bro Posts: 19 Bro Ripper Weapon Statistics Quote Select Post Select Post Deselect Post Deselect Post Link to Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Member Back to Top Post by sirknumskull on I only had a chance to pick up a gun from some one who obviously modified the game files on PC, so no real experience, but the stats make it seem like a really viable option on PC. If you go for AR mode with RF and silencer you'll receive a Honey Badger with has slightly weaker versions of Quickdraw and Stalker built in, has a slightly better 4 HK range and a larger magazine. I use Stalker on every single AR class I have, so that would really give me more freedom to do something with the perks. TheHawkNY True Bro Posts: 2,612 True Bro Ripper Weapon Statistics Quote Select Post Select Post Deselect Post Deselect Post Link to Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Member Back to Top Post by TheHawkNY on I'm much more excited to use this in AR mode than SMG mode, which is not surprising since I barely touch the SMGs anymore. I assume it will become the default AR of choice for HC mode, given it has better handling statistics, the 1HK range is actually middle of the pack for ARs, and with rapid fire it will fire as fast as any other AR on console. Is anyone using it with Deadeye? It seems like it could potentially be useful - even though it does not drop it to a 2hk, one Deadeye hit increases the 3hk range by 50%, and makes it a 4hk at any distance. h4nn1b4lsm1th True Bro Posts: 52 True Bro Ripper Weapon Statistics Quote Select Post Select Post Deselect Post Deselect Post Link to Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Member Back to Top Post by h4nn1b4lsm1th on TheHawkNY said: I assume it will become the default AR of choice for HC mode, given it has better handling statistics, the 1HK range is actually middle of the pack for ARs, and with rapid fire it will fire as fast as any other AR on console. Is anyone using it with Deadeye? It seems like it could potentially be useful - even though it does not drop it to a 2hk, one Deadeye hit increases the 3hk range by 50%, and makes it a 4hk at any distance. I'm much more excited to use this in AR mode than SMG mode, which is not surprising since I barely touch the SMGs anymore.I assume it will become the default AR of choice for HC mode, given it has better handling statistics, the 1HK range is actually middle of the pack for ARs, and with rapid fire it will fire as fast as any other AR on console.Is anyone using it with Deadeye? It seems like it could potentially be useful - even though it does not drop it to a 2hk, one Deadeye hit increases the 3hk range by 50%, and makes it a 4hk at any distance. Agree, there are so many combinations for an AR with stalker, quickdraw, steady aim and lightweight by default. I hope it comes soon. Logically it has to be available at April 5th. Agree, there are so many combinations for an AR with stalker, quickdraw, steady aim and lightweight by default. I hope it comes soon. Logically it has to be available at April 5th. sirknumskull Bro Posts: 19 Bro Ripper Weapon Statistics Voice from the Basement banana andlike this Quote Select Post Select Post Deselect Post Deselect Post Link to Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Member Back to Top Post by sirknumskull on If they ever do that, they will lose a lot of appeal. If you separate tickrate and framerate you will get less responsiveness and higher input lag. This argument is 15 years old at this point (Q3A vs UT) and we can clearly see which engine has prevailed. The most popular FPS on PC are still based on the core of id tech 3 (Source is a development off of id tech 3 and so is the IW engine). Not convinced? The german hardware magazine PC Games Hardware did a test with a highspeed camera and modified input equipment to test actual input lag from action (mouseclick) to reaction (shots fired on screen). The result was that BF4 had not only very inconsistent response times, but also it's input lag averaged three times as high as that of a Source game (roughly 25ms to 75ms). BF3 & BF4 may be prime offenders with their horrendous 10 Hz tickrate, but even at a tickrate of 1000 Hz (which would generate massive performance problems on a consumer machine) you wont get the one to one response of a framerate induced tickrate. lol cod engine? More like lol Frostbite. Fancy graphics are not a substitute for working internals, you filthy casual! probaddie True Bro You're triggering my intelligence Posts: 11,040 True Bro Ripper Weapon Statistics Quote Select Post Select Post Deselect Post Deselect Post Link to Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Member Back to Top Post by probaddie on I Am Hollywood5 said: probaddie said: Assuming a constant 60 fps, yes, that's right. Since the theoretical firetime of the SMG mode with rapid fire (0.062s * 0.85 = 0.0527s) is above 0.05s (1200 RPM, or 3 frames) the gun will take 4 frames to fire every round, i.e., 0.066s (or 900 RPM). a constant 60 fps, yes, that's right. Since the theoretical firetime of the SMG mode with rapid fire (0.062s * 0.85 = 0.0527s) is above 0.05s (1200 RPM, or 3 frames) the gun will take 4 frames to fire every round, i.e., 0.066s (or 900 RPM). not think in frames but NOPE. lol cod engine... They could have taken the generation-transition opportunity to make the enginethink in frames but NOPE. Every game thinks in frames; firing your gun always needs a frame in which to render that event. The problem with Call of Duty (and Quake-based games generally) is that the counter that measures the time since your weapon last fired resets on the frame on which you fire. That is why (assuming a constant framerate) your weapon always takes the same number of frames to fire the next shot. The only improvement that could be made is to have a separate timer (for automatics) that runs independently and have that trigger a shot whenever the counter has exceeded a multiple of the fireTime. (I admit I am oblivious to any technical difficulties that might arise by implementing this.) For example, say you have a weapon that fires at 750 RPM and you run the game at 60 fps. The first four shots still take 5 frames to fire after the previous one (0.08s < 0.0167s * 5 frames, 0.16s < 0.0167s * 10 frames, etc.) but the fifth shot will only have to wait 4 frames (0.4s < 0.0167s * 24). This pattern would continue to repeat until the gun stops firing and still doesn't truly correlate to a "true" RPM of 750, but it is closer. Every game thinks in frames; firing your gun always needs a frame in which to render that event. The problem with(and Quake-based games generally) is that the counter that measures the time since your weapon last fired resets on the frame on which you fire. That is why (assuming a constant framerate) your weapon always takes the same number of frames to fire the next shot. The only improvement that could be made is to have a separate timer (for automatics) that runs independently and have that trigger a shot whenever the counter has exceeded a multiple of the fireTime. (I admit I am oblivious to any technical difficulties that might arise by implementing this.)For example, say you have a weapon that fires at 750 RPM and you run the game at 60 fps. The first four shots still take 5 frames to fire after the previous one (0.08s < 0.0167s * 5 frames, 0.16s < 0.0167s * 10 frames, etc.) but the fifth shot will only have to wait 4 frames (0.4s < 0.0167s * 24). This pattern would continue to repeat until the gun stops firing and still doesn't truly correlate to a "true" RPM of 750, but it is closer. |
Please enable Javascript to watch this video In six years, 3,824 guns taken off Chicago gang bangers that were used in crimes came from our next door neighbor: Indiana. It’s why WGN Investigates took undercover cameras over the border to see why. Our producer and photographer walked in to an Indianapolis gun show one recent Saturday afternoon wearing undercover camera gear. They listened as one gun dealer showed them a semi-automatic with a 30 round magazine. Asked why anyone would need that, the dealer said, “Everybody needs something.” For a $5 dollar entry fee, you can buy all sorts of stuff at the gun show – bullets, handbags with hidden pockets, and of course, guns. The law for buying a gun is different for those who live in Indiana than those who live in Illinois. It’s so easy here, the dealers joked with our producer and photographer about it. One bragging, “We deal with Illinois residents all the time and we invite them to come to Indiana.” Another dealer said, “As long as you’re an Indiana resident and you don’t have any trouble, I just write down your name and address so if they come knocking on my door, and say this gun was used in a robbery, well this is who I sold it to and then you got to explain what you did.” But it’s easy to scam. Like one now infamous guy who simply used a fake Indiana drivers license. David “Big Man” Lewisbey filled a duffle bag with 9 millimeter and 40-caliber handguns. He bought them at various gun shows then sold them to gang bangers in Chicago for big bucks. Tom Ahern, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives says, not only it is easier to buy in Indiana than Illinois, it’s cheaper too. He says the combination has meant a steady flow of guns to Chicago that are involved in crime. What Lewisbey didn’t know at the time was the feds were watching him. Said Ahern of the ATF, “There’s a large number of individuals at gun show that are selling their personal collections and they’re not holding the buyers to any kind of criminal background check or any paperwork of those transactions.” That’s the missing link - as Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy put it, the gun show loophole. He says a big reason why more than 3,000 confiscated guns from crimes have come from Indiana. McCarthy says of the loophole, you have a federal firearms licensee, a dealer, who does a quick background check at one table. Right next to him at another table is a private collector who is not, by law, forced to check a buyer’s background. That makes it awfully tough to trace when a gun is used in a crime. And that’s why this case against Lewisbey and his partners is so important. Back in 2007, Lewisbey was a Thornton Township High School football lineman who made his way to college. Like many students, he kept a “to do” list that included, the first day of school. But the rest of the list is like none other. Mid-way through on his things “to do” list is “Get guns back up.” Think about that for a moment – a college student who keeps a summer “to do” list that includes buying guns for gang bangers. Ahern says it’s clear the word is on the street that if you want a gun, cash and carry, go to Indiana, bring it to Illinois and use it or sell it for a good profit. In one 48 hour period, Lewisbey delivered 43 guns to a guy with ties to the Gangster Disciples - many purchased at gun shows. WGN’s Mark Suppelsa asked the Indianapolis gun show owner if he ever sees a buyer fill up a duffle bag, even though it’s perfectly legal. The man said, most of the criminals know not to come to his gun show because he allows law enforcement to come inside for free to deter crime. Whether this promoter is just naive or in denial, it is happening. Perhaps, he’s been more fortunate than most. But that still doesn’t impress Chicago’s top cop. Since guns continue to flow across the border he’s had to switch tactics. He’s now working harder to partner with the feds to catch guns moving state to state. When we asked if it’s working, McCarthy said we’re up against it like a screen door on a submarine. In May, Lewsiby was sentenced to 16 years and 6 months in prison for a gun running smuggling operation. His partner got nearly 11 ½ years. |
When I was about 11 a few other socially inept morally spavined twerps and I recorded fake radio shows on my primitive cassette tape machine. It was mostly fart jokes, inarticulate inside-baseball ridicule of people we didn't like, and snort-laughing. I was born too soon. Apparently these days you can make thousands of dollars a month for that sort of thing. Let me preface this with my biases: I hate everyone in this case. I hate their ethos. I hate their culture. I hate how they pollute American discourse. Based on a representative sample I hate their fans. They are the groin flop-sweat of wretched post-modernity, the web's genetic-cul-de-sac Morlocks gaping dumbly at the slimy shrill-voiced megaphones of the parties to this case. Nevertheless, the case involves significant First Amendment issues, which may be resolved in a way that impairs everybody's rights unless the defendants have competent counsel, which these days is ruinously expensive. This is how rights are trammelled: when we don't defend them because the defendants at hand are loathsome. Therefore, I respectfully request assistance. The case at hand involved "internet personality" George Ouzounian, known as "Maddox." Maddox has filed suit in New York state court, alleging a dog's breakfast of causes of action against defendants including other web personalities, their employers, web platform Patreon, one of Patreon's executives, and others. The heart of the case is a tiresome dispute amongst online "comics" who have various podcasts and publications. You can find (no doubt biased) backstories of the conflict places like here and here; they are every bit as incomprehensible and tedious as you would expect of obsessive chronicles of the drooling slap-fights of online trolls. The core of the complaint is the allegation that the defendants engaged in — or tolerated, or endorsed — a campaign of harassment against Maddox, a rival. I don't claim that every act alleged in the complaint is protected by the First Amendment — I haven't done that thorough of an analysis. However, the complaint has many of the hallmarks of vexatious and frivolous litigation calculated to chill protected speech. It seeks to hold content providers liable for the loathsome online behavior of their fans. Even if some of the defendants' speech crosses the line into defamation (and I don't know whether it does), the complaint treats online satire, ridicule, and criticism as an undifferentiated mass, and unquestionably sweeps up a substantial amount of clearly protected speech. The complaint treats boycotts and calls for boycotts as actionable. It purports to hold Patreon and one of Patreon's executives liable for failure to kick the defendants off of the platform. It names one of the defendants' employers as a party, asserting that the employer is liable for the employee's obviously non-work-related dipshittery. It demands prior restraint on speech and court-mandated apologies, both of which are patently unconstitutional. These are all elements of bad-faith censorious litigation. If they are tolerated — even against utter turds like some of the defendants — they metastasize, become precedent, and can be used more freely against you and me and people everywhere. As I often say in these Popehat Signal posts, even an utterly frivolous suit, shot through with clear indicia of bogosity, is cheap at easy to file but ruinously expensive to the vast majority of Americans to defend. That's how censorious thugs and litigation terrorists suppress speech — by leveraging a system that gives everyone, rich or poor, the right to spend tens of thousands of dollars on an adequate constitutional defense. The more they succeed, the more thugs will file suit. One of the individual defendants, though employed, has a modest salary and is burdened by medical debt and has grave difficulty affording counsel. If you are a lawyer admitted in New York, please consider helping him, because we defend the First Amendment and everybody's rights when we defend the speech of vile people and push back against litigation abuse. Last 5 posts by Ken White |
Former vice president Dick Cheney slammed the Obama administration’s handling of the September 11th, 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi as “a failure of leadership,” and claimed that during the Bush administration “on our watch, we were always ready on 9/11,” in remarks to The Daily Mail on Monday. “I mean, it’s North Africa — Libya, where they’ve already had major problems,” Cheney told The Daily Mail. “You know that al Qaeda is operating there, and you have some of the other al Qaeda-affiliated groups there like Ansar al-Sharia and others.” “When we were there, on our watch, we were always ready on 9/11, on the anniversary,” Cheney added. “We always anticipated they were coming for us, especially in that part of the world.” Cheney declined to mention that, on their watch, the Bush administration ignored repeated, urgent warnings leading up to the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 on September 11th, 2001. “I think what dominated the way they were thinking about this thing is — they wanted to be able to say, ‘We got bin Laden. Problem solved,'” the former vice president continued. “And it was shortly before the election, and you know: a big crisis with al Qaeda attacking embassies? They were hoping that they could avoid that. It was a bit of a reach.” Again, Cheney declined to mention that the Bush administration didn’t view catching Osama bin Laden to be a problem at all; instead, President Bush said in 2002, “I truly am not that concerned about him.” Ironically, Cheney made the accusatory remarks at an event celebrating the launch of former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld’s new book. Photo: Gage Skidmore via Flickr |
Sri Lanka's media brands India 'loser' following UN resolution vote 'India is a loser', the Sri Lankan media proclaimed in comments on Friday - a day after Colombo faced censure at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva - saying New Delhi had failed to carry other South Asian nations with it on the issue. 'India has failed to carry Asia, or at least South Asia with it. In other words, Sri Lanka has won against India in Asia,' the pro-government Island commented. India had on Thursday voted for the U.S.-sponsored resolution censuring Sri Lanka for alleged rights violations during the war against the LTTE. The UN flag flutters in front of the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva Most papers still saw a silver lining in the gloom as they claimed 'Might overrules the right', and said China and Russia had stood with Sri Lanka. 'The cornered badger bravely fought the mastiffs of neo-imperialism and went on fighting,' the Island said. It added that the Indian intervention had resulted in the inclusion of key words in the resolution which were more acceptable to Sri Lanka. Its editorial, captioned 'A defeat as good as victory', said: 'The U.S. and its friends should be ashamed that they could muster only 24 votes.' Commenting on India's decision to back the resolution, it said by doing so the Indian government had plunged the country into an unholy diplomatic and political mire. 'India has been a loser in Geneva, though it helped the US win," it said. It opined that the US will further embolden Tamil Nadu CM Jayalalithaa and others to adopt a more confrontational approach in dealing with the Centre. |
Just before the end of the year, Black Mirror Season 4 dropped six brand new stories full of horrifying tech and stunning twists, but only one ends with a celebrity voice cameo. Each of the new Black Mirror episodes includes its fair share of surprises, but viewers got a special treat at the end of the feature-length season-opener "USS Callister" in the form of a recognizable voice portraying a dedicated video game player. Spoilers for all of "USS Callister" ahead! Aaron Paul's Black Mirror voice cameo is definitely unexpected, but the actor has an interesting connection with one of the main cast members of "USS Callister." After the digitally cloned crew of the USS Callister manage to escape Robert Daley's virtual prison, they discover that their journey through the wormhole did not end in death. Instead, they find themselves in the cloud, free to interact with other players of the game that they had been trapped in for so long. Before they have time to get used to their new surroundings, they're already confronted with another online player — a player who happens to be voiced by Aaron Paul of Breaking Bad and Bojack Horseman fame. The faceless player is as crass and unwelcoming as one could be in an online game, threatening to blast the ship out of "his quadrant" when he discovers the USS Callister has "nothing to trade." The character is never given a name, but their attitude seems to indicate that Aaron Paul could be channeling the role that made him famous. The character's aggressive dialogue and the exhausted sigh of "king of space" that closes out the episode doesn't sound far off from Jesse Pinkman himself. Paul has played a variety of roles over his career, from Corn Pops craver to cult leader Eddie Lane in The Path, but it's hard to deny that his angry gamer character sounds more like Jesse than any Paul's other prominent roles. While there's no direct correlation between the two characters, there's an interesting connection between the two series. Both Jesse Pinkman and the cast of the USS Callister found themselves at the mercy of characters played by Jesse Plemons. That connection may have been hard to spot, since "USS Callister" never provides a full-on Breaking Bad reunion by having the two actors interact. SPOILERS FOR BREAKING BAD. In Season 5 of Breaking Bad, Jesse Plemons appears as Todd, an exterminator who proves himself handy to Walter White. However, Todd soon reveals himself to be a child-murdering white supremacist and, along with his cohorts, holds Jesse hostage. Jesse is forced to do Todd's bidding until he finds an opportunity to escape, and kills Todd for his own freedom. That way Todd's passion for control affects Jesse isn't far off from the way that Nanette and the crew of the "USS Callister" are treated, except instead of cooking meth they're forced to help Robert Daley play out his power fantasies. Paul's cameo appears doesn't just nod to Jesse Plemons' past playing a manipulative, merciless villain — the Breaking Bad connect forces viewers to notice the similarities between the two stories' treatment of the pitfalls of masculinity. Much like Breaking Bad, "USS Callister" has a great deal to say about toxic masculinity and power dynamics. Aside from being a showcase for Plemons' range as an actor, Daley's real-life and virtual-life show how even quiet men can have loud, violent urges, which happened to be a major point of Breaking Bad and the main character of Walter White. Aaron Paul's voice cameo in Black Mirror may just be a fun Easter egg on the surface, but it also contributes a few extra layers to Black Mirror's satire of male nerd culture. |
Lieutenant Buck from Band of Brothers HBO Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has always been associated with mental health, but new research suggests there's a physical aspect to it too - that a certain area of the brain is larger in people suffering from PTSD. That means we could improve the way we detect and treat the debilitating condition by looking at physical as well as psychological signs, giving doctors something outside the mind that they can study. The research focussed on the left and right amygdalae, those parts of the brain that control our fearfulness and how we respond to outside stimuli that could be seen as threatening or dangerous. The amygdalae also have a big role to play in the way we make decisions and process memories. "Many consider PTSD to be a psychological disorder, but our study found a key physical difference in the brains of military-trained individuals with brain injury and PTSD, specifically the size of the right amygdala," says one of the team, Joel Pieper from the University of California, San Diego. "These findings have the potential to change the way we approach PTSD diagnosis and treatment." The team scanned the brains of 89 current or former members of the military with mild traumatic brain injury, with 29 of those also diagnosed as having significant PTSD as well. When the researchers looked at those 29, they found their amygdalae were about 6 percent larger - particularly on the right side - compared with the participants who weren't affected by PTSD. No major differences in age, education, or gender were found between those with PTSD and those without. "We wonder if amygdala size could be used to screen who is most at risk to develop PTSD symptoms after a mild traumatic brain injury," says Pieper. "On the other hand, if there are environmental or psychological cues that lead to brain changes and enlargement of the amygdalae, then maybe such influences can be monitored and treated." Before we get ahead of ourselves, the researchers note that more research is needed into the relationship between PTSD and amygdala size: the research only shows association and doesn't prove that PTSD causes changes to the amygdalae. What's more, the brain injuries of most participants in this study were caused by blast injuries, so different injury types - such as those caused by sports concussions - may have different effects on the brain. Even with those limitations though, the researchers describe what they've found as an "intriguing structure-function relationship", especially considering the links between fear and memory and the amygdalae. The research follows a 2016 study that found some limited evidence of a link between PTSD and damage to brain tissue in blast victims, suggesting there might be other physical after-effects that go hand-in-hand with PTSD. Around 7.7 million people over the age of 18 are believed to suffer from PTSD in the US, and it can develop from any type of traumatic episode, from witnessing a natural disaster to serving on the front line. Let's hope scientists can figure out better treatments for the condition as the physical aspects of PTSD are more fully understood. The findings have yet to be published in a peer-reviewed journal, but have been presented at the American Academy of Neurology's Sports Concussion Conference. |
The Sum and Product Puzzle, also known as the Impossible Puzzle because it seems to lack sufficient information for a solution, is a logic puzzle. It was first published in 1969 by Hans Freudenthal,[1] and the name Impossible Puzzle was coined by Martin Gardner.[2] The puzzle is solvable, though not easily. There exist many similar versions of puzzles. Puzzle [ edit ] X and Y are two different whole numbers greater than 1. Their sum is not greater than 100, and Y is greater than X. S and P are two mathematicians (and consequently perfect logicians); S knows the sum X + Y and P knows the product X × Y. Both S and P know all the information in this paragraph. The following conversation occurs: S says "P does not know X and Y ." and ." P says "Now I know X and Y ." and ." S says "Now I also know X and Y." What are X and Y? Solution [ edit ] The solution has X and Y as 4 and 13, with P initially knowing the product is 52 and S knowing the sum is 17. Initially P does not know the solution, since 52 = 4 × 13 = 2 × 26 and S knows that P does not know the solution since all the possible sums to 17 within the constraints produce similarly ambiguous products. However, each can work out the solution by eliminating other possibilities following the other's statements and that is enough for the reader to find the solution given the constraints. Explanation [ edit ] The problem is rather easily solved once the concepts and perspectives are made clear. There are three parties involved, S, P, and O. S knows the sum X+Y, P knows the product X·Y, and the observer O, that’s us, knows nothing more than the original problem statement. All three parties keep the same information but interpret it differently. Then it becomes a game of information. Let us call the split of a number A into two terms A=B+C a 2-split. There is no need for any advanced knowledge like Goldbach’s conjecture or the fact that for the product B·C of such a 2-split to be unique (i.e. there are no other two numbers that also when multiplied yield the same result). But if you know Goldbach’s conjecture, though, your work is cut in half since you know immediately that the sum x+y cannot be even, since every even number can be written as the sum of two prime numbers. The product of those two numbers would then be immediately possible to factorise uniquely by the property of prime numbers. Step 1. S (Sue), P (Pete), and O (Otto) make tables of all products that can be formed from 2-splits of the sums in the range, i.e. from 5 to 100 (X > 1 and Y > X requires us to start at 5). For example, 11 can be 2-split into 2+9, 3+8, 4+7, and 5+6. The respective products are 18, 24, 28, and 30 and the players put a tick mark beside each of these products in their tables (Table 1). When they are done, some numbers have no tick marks, some have one, and some have more than one. Step 2. Sue now looks at her sum and all its 2-splits. She sees that all 2-splits have products that are not unique, i.e. there is at least one other multiplication of two numbers that yield the same result. She sees this from the table in Step 1 where all her products have more than one tick mark. She realises that because of this fact, Pete will be unable to uniquely determine the factors X and Y by looking at the product (that would have required at least one of the candidate products to have only one tick mark). Thus she exclaims “P cannot know X and Y”. When Pete and Otto hear this, they get the information that none of the products associated with Sue’s sum are unique. By going through the possible sums, one by one, Sue, Pete, and Otto can now each one by themselves make a list of all eligible sums (Table 2). The table contains those sums whose all 2-splits have products that are non-unique, i.e. have more than one tick mark in Table 1. In no time at all, Sue, Pete, and Otto have created the table of candidate sums (Sue of course already knows her sum but needs to trace Pete’s thinking). Step 3. Considering the new information in Table 2, Pete once again looks at his product. To his surprise, the sums of all of the possible 2-splits of his product except one have disappeared from Table 2 compared to all numbers between 5 and 100 that were considered as sums from the outset. The only one that remains must be the sum of the two hidden numbers X and Y whose product X·Y he knows. From the sum and the product, it is easy to know the individual numbers and thus he tells Sue that “Now I know X and Y”. Pete is now done and exits the game. Step 4. Sue and Otto recalculates Table 1, this time only counting products of 2-splits from sums that are in Table 2 instead of from all numbers in the range 5 to 100 as in the original Table 1. This updated table is called Table 1B. Sue looks at all the products of the 2-splits of her sum and finds that only one of them appears exactly once in Table 1B. This must then be the product Pete has, and she can infer the two numbers from their sum and product as easily as Pete did. Thus, she tells Otto (Pete is already gone) that “Now I also know X and Y”. Sue is now also done and exits the game, only Otto remains. Step 5. From the information in Step 4, Otto scans all sums in Table 2 in search for one who among its all 2-splits, only one has a single tick mark in Table 1B. The desired one can only have one tick mark, else Sue would not have been able to know X and Y with certainty. Finally, Otto arrives at the desired sum which also happens to be the only one with these properties, making the original problem solvable with a unique solution. Otto’s task is now done as well. Other solutions [ edit ] The problem can be generalized. The bound X + Y ≤ 100 is chosen rather deliberately. If the limit of X + Y is altered, the number of solutions may change. For X + Y < 62, there is no solution. This might seem counter-intuitive at first since the solution X = 4, Y = 13 fits within the boundary. But by the exclusion of products with factors that sum to numbers between these boundaries, there are no longer multiple ways of factoring all non-solutions, leading to the information yielding no solution at all to the problem. For example, if X = 2, Y = 62, X + Y = 64, X·Y=124 is not considered, then there remains only one product of 124, viz. 4·31, yielding a sum of 35. Then 35 is eliminated when S declares that P cannot know the factors of the product, which it would not have been if the sum of 64 was allowed. On the other hand, when the limit is X + Y ≤ 1685 or higher, there appears a second solution X = 4, Y = 61. Thus, from then on, the problem is not solvable in the sense that there is no longer a unique solution. Similarly, if X + Y ≤ 1970 or higher a third solution appears (X = 16, Y = 73). All of these three solutions contain one prime number. The first solution with no prime number is the fourth which appears at X + Y ≤ 2522 or higher with values X = 16 = 2·2·2·2 and Y = 111 = 3·37. If the condition Y > X > 1 is changed to Y > X > 2, there is a unique solution for thresholds X + Y ≤ t for 124 < t < 5045, after which there are multiple solutions. At 124 and below, there are no solutions. It is not surprising that the threshold for a solution has gone up. Intuitively, the problem space got "sparser" when the prime number 2 is no longer available as the factor X, creating fewer possible products X·Y from a given sum A. When there are many solutions, that is, for higher t, some solutions coincide with those for the original problem with Y > X > 1, for example X = 16, Y = 163. If the condition X + Y ≤ t for some threshold t is exchanged for X·Y ≤ u instead, the problem changes appearance. It becomes easier to solve with less calculations required. A reasonable value for u could be u = t·t/4 for the corresponding t based on the largest product of two factors whose sum are t being (t/2)·(t/2). Now the problem has a unique solution in the ranges 47 < t < 60, 71 < t < 80, 107 < t < 128, and 131 < t < 144 and no solution below that threshold. The results for the alternative formulation do not coincide with those of the original formulation, neither in number of solutions, nor in content. Discourse analysis [ edit ] The above analysis rests on mathematicians' arguments and conclusions where the statements by S and P are taken at face value. But a discourse analysis reveals other facts. Since both S and P are able mathematicians, they start to examine their sum and product respectively. Assume that they are given the problem at the same time and can communicate freely with each other. P will look to see if the product is unique, i.e. could be factorized into two factors in only one way. S will look to see if this property holds for all 2-splits of the sum. One of these 2-splits is the product that P has, but S does not know which. But it is clear that S, having to factorize all 2-splits, must do considerably much more work than P has to. Hence, if P would succeed in factorizing uniquely into only two factors, P would have announced that prior to S being able to complete its larger task. Since the dialogue does not contain a statement by P "I know the answer", one can safely assume that the product X·Y is not possible to factorize uniquely into only two factors. The silence (non-statement) by P is a message in this discourse. S will of course take advantage of this message and cancel out all 2-splits that are possible to factorize uniquely into only two factors. With those 2-splits cancelled out, S's statement that "P does not know X and Y" is now much less of a powerful discriminator. This discourse analysis leads to eight possible solutions to the original problem, of which one is the original solution and the smallest being X=4, Y=5. See also [ edit ] |
$500,000 WINGS Foundation diversification fund for Ethereum ICOs WINGS Magazine Blocked Unblock Follow Following May 1, 2017 As many of you know back in January of this year the WINGS Foundation took in close to $2 Million in a donation-based crowdfund. We paid some debts and of that amount just a bit over $350,000 worth of BTC, ETH, ETC, LTC and XRP were allocated to the marketing and communications fund which is managed by Dominik Zynis, WINGS co-founder and WINGS Foundation communications lead. While we indeed have sold off some BTC and XRP into various fiat reserves to cover expected costs over the next 12 months, due to the rapid increase primarily in the price of ETH but also XRP, LTC and ETC we now stand close to having $1 Million allocated for communications and marketing activities over the life of the foundation. Diversification strategy The philosophy during the WINGS crowdfunding was to spread out risk and not get into a situation of becoming dependent on the price of one cryptocurrency. That caused some confusion among donors, however it enabled the Foundation to benefit from money moving into cryptocurrencies over the last few months. So now that the WINGS Foundation is sitting on extra funds, it makes financial sense to diversify particularly into high value ICOs. To that extent we have already made small re-allocations into iEX.ec and Dfinity — unfortunately missing out on the Cosmos and Gnosis ICOs due to logistics. Following this strategy will allow the Foundation to lower currency vlatility risk and take advantage of opportunities to maximize funding for our communications and marketing activities over a longer period than initially anticipated. As well as reinforce the WINGS brand with strategic re-allocations of the currencies in the treasury. We ❤ ERC20 To keep things simple we plan to spread this extra $500k over 20 re-alocations ranging between $10,0oo to $100,000 primarily focusing on ERC20 coins which have high potential or show strategic importance for the WINGS platform, and in particular projects that also use WINGS forecasters for vetting and valuation. Let’s face it none of us at the WINGS Foundation are professional hedge fund managers, and we got really lucky over the last few months since the end of our crowdfunding. Therefore, ideally we would like to “eat our own dog food” and use the WINGS DAO members to help us vet ICOs and value them so we know which ones to diversify into and ensure the foundation has steady cashflow! How will we go about all this? Gnosis book building contract — Where did that ICO go? One interesting development lately, which I admit we should have taken advantage of while I was traveling to speak in Oslo last week while the Gnosis ICO was getting set up, is the book building contract which allowed one to reserve a spot in highly anticipated ICOs. Now this type of contract can be a real portfolio saver especially when some of these high-flying ICOs close in 10 minutes then immediately trade at 3X on some futures market— you can easily miss out just by getting distracted by something mundane like your cat going inside a box. So after we get a chance to play with the book building contract and have made some decision around a particular ICO we may ask the community to launch such book building contracts so that the Foundation may make use of this great concept, and also allow others in the WINGS community to make use of these types of contracts to never miss a high value ICO again. Take our money, please (and turn it into more money) Are you planning an ICO? Will it be on Ethereum? Are you open to considering using the WINGS DAO (it runs on Ethereum as a set of smart contracts) to vet it and value it before running the ICO? Then come and talk to us and make your pitch, we would love to listen and perhaps invest. Email domi@wings.ai to schedule a time, if we like what we hear we might even invite you on our upcoming weekly webcasts to do your pitch which will get emailed to over 11,000 people and shared on our twitter account (also over 12k followers). Latest Trading Data |
Econowonks are still buzzing about the new IMF World Economic Outlook, which offered grim warnings about the world economy, and also argued forcefully if discreetly that a big reason for the worsening outlook is that policy makers have gotten the basic economics wrong. Of particular interest is the discussion in Chapter 1 (pdf) on fiscal multipliers. I and others have been arguing for a while that the experience of austerity in the eurozone clearly suggests pretty big Keynesian effects. Here, for example, is what a scatterplot of fiscal consolidation (from the IMF Fiscal Monitor) and growth (including an estimate for next year, from the World Economic Outlook) looks like: Photo But, you might object, maybe the causation runs the other way; maybe countries in trouble are forced into fiscal consolidation, so it’s not the austerity what did it. But the IMF has an answer to that: it looks at forecast errors versus austerity. Part of the reason for doing this is to figure out why things are going so much worse than expected; but there’s also the fact that the forecasts already included the known problems of the economies in question, so that you’re more or less getting an estimate of the impact of austerity over and above the known problems (and the initially assumed effect of austerity, which was supposed to be small). It looks like this: Photo As it says, this indicates that the contractionary effects of fiscal consolidation are substantially bigger than policy makers were assuming. So one thing I haven’t seen pointed out is that this directly contradicts current GOP doctrine. To the extent that the GOP has a theory of recession-fighting, other than the view that the animal spirits of job creators will soar once that evil Obama is gone, it was embodied in the Joint Economic Committee manifesto Spend Less, Owe Less, Grow the Economy (pdf), which declared that In the short term, fiscal consolidation programs that rely predominately or entirely on spending reductions have expansionary “non-Keynesian” effects that may offset the contractionary Keynesian reduction in aggregate demand. – In some cases, “non-Keynesian” effects may be strong enough to make fiscal consolidation programs expansionary in the short term. Tell that to the Greeks. The reality is that everything that has happened economically since the turn away from stimulus to austerity, from interest rates to inflation to output, has refuted the doctrine the GOP is pushing. Since there has of course been no concession of error, this does not bode well for the US economy if Romney wins. |
Story highlights Study shows people get an instant mood lift when they cheat Thrill of cheating my be short-lived though, as most feel regret later Incentives to get ahead by cheating are higher than they've been before We like it when we get away with cheating — and not just in relationships. Call it cheater's high, or duping delight, but psychologists have long known about the thrill of getting away with pulling one off on others. But for the most part, they've found it in psychopaths and others who thrive off the sense of power it gives them over other people. It turns out, however, that all of us may get a little boost when we cheat, and researchers showed for the first time that, although people think they'll feel guilty after doing something dishonest or unethical, they actually enjoy a lift in mood instead. "A lot of it has to do with the cleverness that people feel," says the study's lead author Nicole Ruedy, a postdoc at the University of Washington, "The idea that they've figured out a way to cheat successfully gives them a sense of accomplishment." That contradicts previous data that suggests that dishonest actions and intentionally deceiving others makes people feel guilty and worse about themselves. "These findings struck me as surprising," says David Callahan, author of "The Cheating Culture: Why More Americans Are Doing Wrong to Get Ahead," who was not associated with the research. In his interviews, he says, cheaters say that "they often feel conflicted or not so great." Why the difference? Ruedy and her colleagues only studied the immediate effects of cheating, so it's possible that the thrill of cheating is short-lived, and that many cheaters do later feel regret. There's also the fact that socially, it's not acceptable to admit to feeling good about intentionally bending the rules to your own benefit. "There is this immediate boost," she says, "But we don't know yet what the long term emotional response would be if people were to reflect on their behavior." In the research, which was published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Ruedy and her team presented participants with opportunities to cheat on word games or puzzles claimed to be intelligence tests, in some cases offering monetary rewards for being dishonest. Quite a few of the volunteers took the bait — up to half cheated in some of the experiments — and in all but one of the set-ups, the cheaters said they felt better afterward than those who played fair. "It's the same high you would get if you were stuck in a long line and somebody comes and pulls you out and brings you to the front, saying 'You don't belong back there,'" Callahan suggests. "It's a short lived euphoria, but you've just gotten something for nothing and something for nothing is always a bit of a high." And that high can even be shared, albeit vicariously; even people who didn't cheat but were randomly assigned a partner who cheated in a way that helped both of them were thrilled by the deception. Why the rampant dishonesty? "We live in a time when the incentives to cut corners to get ahead academically, financially or professionally are higher probably than they ever have been," says Callahan. Rising social inequality has enhanced the rewards that come with taking every opportunity to benefit, even if it comes at the expense of others and requires unethical actions. The relatively painless consequences of not playing fair may also play a role. "There's lax enforcement in lot of key areas. The watchdogs are sleeping and in some cases, they've been put to sleep," says Calllahan. But Ruedy's work suggests another reason — the good mood induced by cheating — and even the good mood that comes with collaborating with someone who cheated, could prompt more cheating behavior, fueling a vicious cycle of increasing dishonesty. "You don't want to be the chump who dots his I's and crosses his T's when everyone else is cheating like crazy," says Callahan. Yet before you despair about the unethical hole into which our society is falling, it's worth noting that in the study, no one was visibly harmed by the cheating — and that could be a reason for the feel-good vibes cheaters felt. Appreciating that cheating is harming others is often critical in reining in immoral behavior. It's far easier to rationalize cheating on your taxes if you see them as funding projects you oppose than it is if you see it as taking money away from hungry children, police and firefighters, for example. To test that, Ruedy is planning to study the cheater's high in conditions where the harm that results is made explicit to see if the good feelings are affected by this knowledge. Hopefully, she'll find that the thrill is gone if it comes at a cost to others. |
A DAM proposed for the East Coast is likely to have a significant impact on endangered swift parrots, documents lodged with the Federal Government show. The Glamorgan Spring Bay Council referred plans for the dam at Buckland to the Federal Department of Environment and Energy earlier this year. The department determined the project would require full assessment and approval as a “controlled action” under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act before it could proceed. Documents lodged by the council show the dam project would include the loss of 21.65ha of pre- and early breeding season foraging habitat and potential nest hollows in the Wielangta Swift Parrot Important Breeding Area. The dam would supply Tassal’s Okehampton Bay salmon farm, along with the proposed Solis Golf Club development, TasWater and possibly farmers. The documents show there is a likelihood the project will: LEAD to a long-term decrease in the swift parrot population. REDUCE the area of occupancy of the species. ADVERSELY affect habitat critical to the survival of the species. MODIFY, destroy, remove, isolate or decrease the availability or quality of habitat to the extent that the species is likely to decline. Swift parrot researcher Dejan Stojanovic said there was only a small and declining population of swift parrots left in the wild. “The Wielangta area and surrounds are some of the most important swift parrot habitat that we know of,” Dr Stojanovic said. The migratory swift parrot is listed as endangered in Tasmania, but is critically endangered according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources Red List. The documents show the development would also result in the loss of 52 hectares of Tasmanian devil hunting and denning habitat and spotted-tail quoll foraging habitat. The council wrote the loss of that habitat was unlikely to result in the deaths of any devils, but the response of the quolls was not certain. A spokeswoman for the Department of the Environment and Energy said the dam project was under assessment. She said the council had not yet indicated when it would complete its assessment documentation, and the documentation would need to be published for public comment before a decision was made. Glamorgan Spring Bay Council general manager David Metcalf said the council was developing further information to assist in the assessment of the proposed dam which would minimise construction impacts and address “ any local swift parrot habitat and that of the other nominated species”. |
Father arrested for fitting a PADLOCK to four-year-old son's mouth to stop him screaming as he beat him to death for being 'a child of evil' in Nigeria Chris Elvis 'burned Godrich with hot iron then locked him in plastic drum' Mother called police after returning home from shopping to find dead son Beaten to death: Four-year-old Godrich suffered horrific injuries allegedly at the hands of his father who padlocked his mouth shut to stop him screaming during the attack A Nigerian father has been arrested after he allegedly padlocked his son's mouth shut to stop him screaming while he battered him to death. Chris Elvis, 30, allegedly accused four-year-old Godrich of being an 'Ogbanje' or 'child of evil' and blamed him for his bad luck in recent days. The security guard beat his son, burned him all over his body with a hot iron and then locked him in a plastic drum, according to court documents. The child's mother called police after returning from the market to find her son's horrific death. Elvis tried to act mentally ill when he was arrested, but the authorities said his condition was normal, according to International Business Times. He is being held in custody after being charged with murder. The charge sheet reads: 'That you, Chris Elvis, on February 10, 2014, about 5pm at 7, Adetola Adelaja street, Meiran Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did unlawfully kill one Godrich Elvis, aged four years by using hot pressing iron to burn him all over his body and putting him inside a plastic drum and locked the drum with padlock and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, Nigeria, 2011.' The alleged incident took place in the Meiran area of Lagos. |
Dynamo Moscow head coach, two-time Gagarin cup winner Olegs Znaroks (51) has signed a contract to become head coach of Russian National Ice Hockey team, and Znaroks long time assistant Harijs Vitolins will be joining him, meanwhile Vitolins will be leading Dynamo Moscow and Olegs Znaroks will be a unofficial assistant with the club. Olegs Znaroks was the only candidate, but just a few moments before the meeting it was said that they should carefully analyze if he is the man for the job, as Russians wanted a Russian native as head coach. (Olegs Znaroks has Russian, Latvian and German passports). The final decision was made on Monday March 24th, when Russian Hockey Federation head Vladislav Tretjak and Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko met behind closed doors to discuss the position. Later that week, on Friday, the official press conference was held and Olegs Znaroks was named head coach. Meanwhile the Russian National Ice Hockey team also got a new general manager – Andrej Safronov (the Director of Dynamo Moscow). Safronov stated that the Federation signed four-year contracts with both Znaroks and Vitolins, meaning that the position will take them through the next winter olympics in South Korea. He also mentioned that if things go wrong with Dynamo Moscow, Olegs Znaroks will be jumping in to save the day and Vitolins would be demoted to assistant coach with the club. During press conference Znaroks said that he asked for help from former Dynamo Moscow, Russian National Teams and Dinamo Riga head coach Vladimir Jurzinov and this will be the person who he will be asking advice from going forward. Znaroks said: ”Jurzinovs big experience is needed for our team. Knowing the fact that our person works in MHL (Russian Junior League) he knows everything about our rookies and we’re glad to have his help” Jurzinov said: ”Znaroks is very experienced and already highest rate coach, who has earned his things with his own powers, and of course assist from his team which always follows him. I really thought that they don’t need my help, but they insisted, so I just took their offer, if they think my experience is interesting I could give a helping hand.” Russian hockey legend and head of Russian Hockey Federation Vladislav Tretjak said that he really doesn’t think Znaroks as not a Russian coach. He was born in Chelyabinsk and he is a very good specialist. His German passport shouldn’t bring any question of his loyalty and it doesn’t make him different from other candidates. He also stated that the Federation is in need of good Russian coaches, and noted that there are 10 different nationalities of coaches in KHL right now, making it harder to find a good Russian coach there. He also pointed out that he hoped KHL clubs would hire more Russian specialists. Earlier this week Znaroks also said that he has no regrets, he shouldn’t be ashamed of Russian team no matter what happens, he stated that he needs all the support, even from media, he ever promised to be more nicer to them. (Znaroks is known as a coach who likes to ignore media, and during press conferences sometimes spits out some evil jokes). Znaroks has a great past, born in Chelyabinsk, Russia on January 2nd 1963. His hockey career started playing for Chelyabinsk Traktor (1978-1982). The majority of his career was spent with Dinamo Riga (1983-1992) and playing for the Latvian National team (1993-1999) . Znarok has given Latvian hockey a lot of happy moments, such as scoring game winning goal against Swizerland (1999) which led Latvia to the Elite Division of the IIHF. He earned his Latvian passport for the hard work he put in to help Team Latvia reach their goals. In later years of his career, Znaroks played in Germany, and decided to get his passport to be eligible for his pension. After he retired as a player he became head coach of Team Latvia in 2006, and he worked there until 2011. During that time he also coached MVD Balashika. Since 2010 he has been the head coach of Dynamo Moscow. In Russia his assistant is his former team mate Harijs Vitolins. These two coaches together went far, won two Gagarin Cups (2012,2013), and Olegs Znaroks is now the most sucessful European head coach in Russia’s KHL. Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @LWOSShakCC. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter –@LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page. Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our Hockey writing team. Visit our “Write for Us” page for very easy details in how you can get started today! |
Happening tomorrow morning: Show up for Southeast Asian American refugees. Families are being torn apart because of the Trump administration's harmful attacks. Can't be there in person? Catch the livestream at facebook.com/searac. #RefugeeResilience #StoptheRaids twitter.com/SEARAC/s… The legendary @repjohnlewis with our own @Tao_Minnis! Thank you for the work you continue to do and for inspiring us, including your support for #HR4 or #VRAA, the Voting Rights Advancement Act to #RestoreTheVote! pic.twitter.com/fXIR… RT @civilrightsorg .@repjohnlewis at the introduction of the Voting Rights Advancement Act: "We've come too far and made too much progress to go back. With this piece of legislation, we will continue to go forward." #RestoreTheVOTE pic.twitter.com/gahY… RT @adv_project In 2013, the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act. Afterwards, 19 states passed discriminatory voter suppression tactics. In GA, 53,000 registrants were purged from the voter rolls. We must #restorethevote with H.R. 4 bit.ly/2UaJ8Y6 pic.twitter.com/GLko… Happening today 1-3pm ET: Join the Tweetstorm w/@RepTerriSewell to raise awareness on the need for voting rights for all and tell Congress the time is NOW to #RestoretheVote! pic.twitter.com/x9vY… Trayvon Martin was killed 7 years ago today. He would have been 24. We must continue to find power in solidarity and fight for justice each and every day and show in our words and actions that #BlackLivesMatter. Rest in power, Trayvon. pic.twitter.com/QUgv… With more people online than ever, the need to protect users’ personal information and private data has never been greater. Read more by @NaFFAA_National on why Congress must protect our #digitalprivacy: naffaa.org/rightsop/ pic.twitter.com/rWOq… Congratulations to our 2018 Youth Leadership Summit alumnus Javan Santos on your new job in @GuamLegislature! We are proud of you and your work in your community. #YLS pic.twitter.com/OcAT… Overall, younger Chinese Americans are more likely to support race-conscious admissions policies compared to their parents' generation. Read more by @spamfriedrice and @ProfJanelleWong. #DefendDiversity insidehighered.com/a… Doing good for the community: This D.C.-based Pakistani American restaurant owner aims to serve 22,000 free meals by next year. newsum.in/news/resta… Congratulations to Elizabeth Chai Vasarhely and Jimmy Chin for Free Solo and to @bingliu89 for @MindingGapFilm for being nominated in the same category! hollywoodreporter.co… How can the faith community impact the #2020Census? Join our Monday 2/25 webinar to learn more! We're excited to hear from representatives from @FaithPublicLife @uscensusbureau and State Voices. Register now: bit.ly/2BQ7hwe pic.twitter.com/xR6R… Hate crimes and incidents are on the rise in the U.S. Smollett's hoax doesn't change that. #StandAgainstHatred vox.com/identities/2… RT @SAALTweets Solidarity with #ForBlackImmigrants because the consequences of violent immigration enforcement are felt across immigrant communities. twitter.com/UndocuBl… RT @MALDEF MALDEF & @AAAJ_AAJC are back in court for closing arguments in our MD #2020Census trial challenging addition of a #citizenquestion We're fighting to protect a full count because that's what the Constitution requires. bit.ly/2Simf3a RT @UndocuBlack Join us at 11am PT/2pm EST for the #ForBlackImmigrants Twitter town hall where we at @UndocuBlack and the other organizations that comprise the #Free21Savage coalition will raise awareness about stopping 21 Savage's deportation and undocumented and Black experiences. pic.twitter.com/tQnq… More than two-thirds of Americans say that hate incidents have intensified during the past two years, according to a new #HateMagnified report released by @CAHTweets. Read more findings here: hatemagnified.org #CommunitiesAgainstHate pic.twitter.com/lWNQ… RT @aaaj_alc We expect ICE raids on Cambodian communities to take place in the next few weeks. Call us at 415-952-0413 if you are Cambodian with a deportation order and were asked to check-in with ICE soon. For resources and information on how to prepare, go to SEAraids.org pic.twitter.com/K225… |
Since 1992, the polling firm Gallup has been asking Americans for their views on the two major parties. According to this pollster, never before have the public’s opinion of both the Democratic and Republican Parties been so sour. Since the midterm elections, when the GOP’s favorability rating spiked to a relative high of 42 percent, the public’s approval of the Republican Party has fallen by five points. Today, only 37 percent of the public views the GOP favorably. Similarly, only 39 percent of respondents view the Democratic Party favorably, up a point from the record low of 36 percent favorability recorded just after the 2014 midterm elections. Gallup revealed that this is the first time in history that both parties have received a favorability rating of less than 40 percent. 53 percent of the American public has a negative view of the GOP and 51 percent view the Democratic Party unfavorably. “For some time, numerous Gallup trends have been showing Americans largely displeased with government’s performance and leadership,” wrote Gallup analyst Lydia Saad. “Through it all, at least one political party was reviewed well, but now — perhaps because of the constant brinksmanship going on between Obama and the Republican Congress, but maybe for other reasons — both parties are floundering.” There is an opportunity here for an enterprising group of entrepreneurs interested in developing a third party nominee (note: not a third party, but an independent candidate), but no one is taking up the challenge. By this point in the 2012 election cycle, the group Americans Elect already had funding, office space in New York City and Washington D.C., a web presence, and a plan to get a third party candidate on the ballot in all 50 states. The system that Americans Elect devised was rather revolutionary and, if it had worked, might have served as a model for future candidates and campaigns. “Any registered voter can sign up online to be a delegate,” ABC News reported in 2011. “Delegates will then draft candidates and vote for their nominee in May and June.” Of course, as Dave Weigel reported, Americans Elect ended up being a $35 million boondoggle. This was never a serious enterprise designed to build up a candidate for the presidency but a vehicle for wealthy investors to promote their own political agendas. Americans Elect was a successor to Unity08, an organization that was designed to draft former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg into the presidential race. Both enterprises failed for similar reasons: An embarrassing lack of enthusiasm from the public. Having again failed to generate any significant interest in their candidate promotional vehicle for independent presidential candidates, Americans Elect suspended operations in the spring of 2012. That organization was always going to encounter difficulties while promoting a third way in an election cycle with an incumbent president seeking reelection. People often tend to inspire more favorable ratings than do the parties with which they are affiliated. But Americans Elect was smart in that it emphasized candidate over platform. In America, third party enterprises coalesce around a personality more than they do on a set of ideas. More often than not, third party movements rise and fall along with the individual around which they are organized. In a non-incumbent cycle like 2016, and particularly with the prospect of a Bush/Clinton general election reasonably strong, an Americans Elect-style movement might enjoy some more success than it did in 2012. But such a movement would have to be genuinely organic. Unlikely Americans Elect, an organization saturated with hedge fund money and dedicated to the thinly veiled mission of providing legitimacy to economically conservative Democrats, a real third-way movement might generate some interest in the electorate. |
The second Android TV device to be available directly from Google is also the second Android TV device to be sold, period: the Forge TV from gaming peripheral maker Razer. The Forge TV bundle is now on sale in the Google Store. This $149.99 USD package includes the Forge TV itself and one Serval Bluetooth controller. Oddly, the stand-alone Forge TV (which sells for $100 and requires an Android phone, since it has no remote) isn't listed on the Google Store. It's shipping to the US and Canada. The Serval controller is also available as a stand-alone purchase for a whopping $79.99. That's twice the price of the first-party ASUS controller sold alongside the Nexus Player. Like most newer Bluetooth controllers, the Serval also works with Android phones and tablets, and it comes with a MOGA-style phone clip included. The Forge TV occupies the middle ground between the Nexus Player and NVIDIA's SHIELD Android TV. Its Snapdragon 805 processor is much more powerful than Google's first-party box, but initial customer reviews have been brutal, citing buggy software and incompatibility with major apps like Netflix. The Forge TV currently has a two-star rating on Amazon, and more than half of the reviews rate it 1 out of 5. At the moment the $200 SHIELD looks like a much more appealing option. |
Advertisement Video: Ian Chant and Celia Gorman; Footage: iRobot The human hand is one of nature’s marvels—and a stupendous challenge to engineers who would replicate it. It’s an intricate assemblage with 29 flexible joints and thousands of specialized nerve endings, overseen by a control system so sensitive that it can instantly indicate how hot an object is, how smooth its surface is, and even how firmly it should be grasped. No wonder, then, that creating robot hands with even a fraction of human capabilities has proved an elusive goal. But increasingly, researchers are concluding that copying nature is not the right approach in this case. The better idea is to decide which of the hand’s critical functions are to be emulated and how this can best be accomplished with the technologies now available. Industrial robots have, of course, been manipulating objects for decades. But these generally employ simple parallel-jaw grippers that open and close on command to grasp, hold, or move a single type of object that they’ve been specifically programmed to handle. That inflexibility isn’t a problem on the assembly line, but it won’t suffice for future robots designed to interact with people in a much less structured environment. Photos: iRobot Nailed It: Thin metal fingernails let the iHY hand capture and lift tiny objects like this ball bearing. Like many robotics researchers, we envision a new generation of robots roaming around residences, nursing homes, factories, and the like. These machines will be called on to brew coffee, deliver medications, and shuttle components around a shop floor. These functions will in turn demand many smaller capabilities. For example, opening a jar will require a robot to identify the size and shape of the object, grasp it effectively on the first try, and then apply enoughpressure and torque to open it—but not enough pressure to break it. To meet those needs, robot hands will need the flexibility to adapt to a huge variety of situations on the fly, as well as a gentler touch. The quest for a versatile robot hand has produced designs that precisely mimic the human hand and others that look more like metal clamps. Two of us—Dollar at Yale and Howe at Harvard—have been working for almost a decade on a compromise between these two methods: hands that have some of the dexterity of human appendages but without their great complexity. The hands we’ve developed don’t look human, but they have proved adept at gripping and manipulating a wide variety of objects in many different settings and tasks. Photos: iRobot Starting From Scratch: To develop a robotic gripper that can handle objects large and small, researchers at Harvard, Yale, and iRobot abandoned the familiar human hand, aiming to re-create its functions with a simpler design. We got a chance to find out just how adept at a competition sponsored by the Defense Advanced ResearchProjects Agency (DARPA) not long ago—the Autonomous Robotic Manipulation program. Inspired by the success of the agency’s Grand Challenge, which helped to spur innovation in the field of self-driving cars, DARPA asked teams to develop multifingered robotic hands that could complete a variety of tasks, like picking up a telephone handset or operating a power drill. After years of work, it was a chance for us, along with our colleagues at iRobot, to see how our design approach stacked up against those of other researchers. Since the 1980s, researchers have been able to produce robotic hands with three or four fingers and an opposable thumb, replicating the structure of the human hand. These hands had a futuristic, sci-fi look, and they attracted lots of attention, but most of them weren’t very effective. Re-creating the many joints of the human hand increased the complexity and cost of anthropomorphic hands. It also introduced more chances for something to go wrong. Some examples had more than 30 motors, each of which powered a single joint and each of which could potentially fail. And having tactile sensors with limited sensitivity on every finger made it harder to coordinate a response between all the points of contact. Underactuated hands are an alternative approach to robotic manipulation. They’re called underactuated because they have fewer motors than joints. They use springs or mechanical linkages to connect rigid parts—such as the sections of a finger—and couple their motions. Careful design of these connections can allow the hand to automatically adapt to object shapes. This means the fingers can, for example, wrap themselves around an object without the need for active sensing and control. We were pleased with our previous underactuated hand designs, but we knew we had plenty of work to do before our design could meet DARPA’s specifications. And we had just 18 months to do it. The newly formed team took a fresh look at underactuated hand design with the specific challenges posed by DARPA in mind. How would we lift a thin object like a key off a tabletop? What would we need to do to turn on a flashlight? We reconsidered such fundamental aspects as the number of fingers, their placement around the base of the hand, and the grip the fingertips could provide. We settled on a design that used two fingers and an opposable thumb. Those three digits were driven by a set of five motors, so the overall number of moving parts in the hand was relatively low. We dubbed our entry the iHY (pronounced “eye-high”) hand, representing the three organizations involved in developing it: iRobot, based in Bedford, Mass., which oversaw the project as a whole, and Harvard and Yale universities, whose students and professors brought additional years of expertise in underactuated hand design. Each digit of the iHY hand consisted of two links—a proximal link that connected the finger to the base of the hand and a distal link that extended to the fingertip. Those links were connected by a heavy-duty elastic joint that made the finger unit flexible, letting it bend on contact to match the shape of an object and form a grip around it, a technique known as passive adaptation. Illustrations: James Provost Flexing to Fit: The rubber-jointed fingers of the iHY hand bend to match the shape of objects, gripping them without software controls. They also move into different configurations, depending on the size and shape of the object being held. To give that grip power, we used cable “tendons” that ran from the tip of each finger to a motor in the base of the hand. When that motor pulled the tendons tight, the fingers went from being wrapped around an object to clutching it firmly. And because the initial grip was passive, nothing had to run in reverse to loosen it—letting the tendons go slack released our hand’s grasp as its rubbery joints moved back into place on their own. Photos: iRobot To Build A Finger: The iHY hand’s flexible fingers evolved considerably during the design process. Because passive adaptation let the fingers of the iHY hand conform to the shape of the object it was grasping, we didn’t need to control how they bent in the middle. One of the hand’s three digits, though, not only had to grip objects but also manipulate them—to push the button on a flashlight, for example. To accomplish that, we needed to be able to control that digit at both joints. We decided to give the thumb two independently controllable joints. We did that by connecting both the upper and lower parts of the thumb to individual tendons, each driven by a separate motor. That way, we could manipulate the bottom part of the finger to place it above a button and then control the fingertip to make it push the button. That was a level of control not available in the two other fingers, where a single tendon was connected to a single motor, allowing the digit to apply pressure and form a tight grip around objects. While four motors drove the three digits, a final motor allowed the fingers to move quickly between two configurations for different kinds of grasping motions. For a powerful “wrap grasp,” the two fingers were set in parallel on one side of the hand with the thumb opposite them, interlacing to close the grip. This grasp, in effect, arranged all three digits into a cage around target objects before pulling tight around them. We could also perform “power grasps” by using all three fingers in a triangular formation to grip an object. This configuration enabled the iHY hand to grip large objects, like a basketball, firmly in its palm. Facing one another on either side of the hand, the two fingers closed in a “pinch grasp,” which could pick up small items. These different grasping motions helped us meet all the requirements of the DARPA competition. In its pinching configuration, the iHY hand could lift a key off a tabletop during the DARPA challenge. One of our Yale team members, Lael Odhner, developed a technique that let the hand squeeze objects into its grasp. For example, the hand put one finger behind the key, while the opposite finger moved toward it, flipping the object into its grip. To facilitate this pinch grip, we added thin metal “fingernails” to each finger, which helped the hand keep its hold on small items. The pinch grasp would have been useless for some of the challenges posed by DARPA, like using a hammer. To complete tasks like that, we used the wrap grasp, which let us lift and swing a hammer five times during the competition, taking an average of less than 15 seconds per swing. Although team members Nicholas Corson and Mark Claffee operated the hand during the DARPA challenges, it would eventually need to be controlled by an autonomous robot. That meant developing sensors that could give the robot a sense of the shape, weight, and pliability of the object it was handling. These sensors give software designers the information they need to program robots that will one day control the hand independently. We used two kinds of sensors on the iHY hand—one that detected where an object made contact with the hand and another that monitored how the fingers moved around that object. Photo: iRobot How Many Fingers? To pick up a small item like an ID card, the iHY hand uses a two-fingered “pinch grasp.” To track the motion of the fingers around their target, our Harvard colleague Leif Jentoft developed a set of fiber-optic sensors. These consisted of a loop of fiber-optic cable embedded in the rubber middle joint and a pair of photodiode receptors housed in each of the finger links. The fiber-optic cables emitted light that hit the receptors differently depending on how the joint was bent—for instance, when the joint was bent at a 60 degree angle, the fiber-optic light hit the receptors in a different place and with a different intensity than at a 75 degree angle. That data could eventually be used to map where each finger rested during a passive grasp. To complement that information, we also installed arrays of pressure detectors. Harvard’s Yaroslav Tenzer adapted these off-the-shelf sensors, originally designed for weather and GPS applications in smartphones, to act like the nerves in human skin. The sensors could tell if the hand was touching an object at the fingertip, the palm, or somewhere in between. Patterns in that information provided data about the shape of the object being grasped to the computer controlling the hand. For instance, the handle of a screwdriver would make contact with different sensors than a telephone handset would. The pressure sensors also supplied data on an object’s weight and the pliability of its surface, telling robots how tightly to grip an object. Heavy objects typically exert a lot of pressure and need a firm grasp, while those that offer less resistance require a lighter touch. Each of the fingers on the iHY hand housed 22 of these sensors, connected to printed-circuit boards and embedded in therubber finger pads of the hand. Another 48 lined the palm of the hand. Our iRobot colleagues developed the hardware and software that let us control the hand and relay information from it to a connected computer. Microcontrollers embedded in each digit collected data from the joint and touch sensors in the fingers and thumb and sent it to a controller in the palm. This controller acted as a sort of traffic cop for the whole hand, sending readings from the hand to the control computer via Ethernet and relaying commands from that computer to individual fingers. While this information wasn’t used to control the hand during the competition, we provided visualizations of the information to demonstrate its sensing capabilities. Photos: iRobot Go-To Grips: To lift a key, the iHY hand squeezes it into a pinch grasp. Gripping an object like this length of pipe requires a three-fingered wrap grasp instead. A hand is nothing without its fingers, and the iHY hand is no exception. To build the digits, we took inspiration from our Yale and Harvard colleagues, who had built robotic parts with electronic components already embedded in them for previous robotic hands. We created the individual parts using several different molds, first crafting the rubber finger joint with its embedded fiber-optic sensors. Then we placed the printed-circuit boards and pressure sensors of the fingers in a pair of molds and poured rubber over these components, creating soft pads for the fingers that housed the more fragile electronics. To strengthen the finger design, we molded rigid backing pieces that would act as the bones of the iHY fingers. We affixed these pieces to the rubber finger pads and placed them in a final mold, where the upper and lower pieces that would make up the finger were chemically bonded to the rubber joint. That result was a single, unified finger unit that housed all the electronics it needed to function. The manufacturing method let us simplify our design. From an initial finger prototype composed of 60 different parts, we ended up with one made from just 12 parts. And by connecting the parts in a mold, we eliminated the need for small screws and other fasteners that can be points of failure in a robotic hand. Crafting the fingers from rubber and polyurethane also made for fingers that were sensitive to touch but could survive severe impacts, bending on impact rather than breaking. We also used magnets to connect the finger units to the hand. This caused the fingers to separate entirely from the hand if they were in danger of becoming overloaded, instead of breaking in the middle. That way we could simply reattach the finger rather than having to replace a part. To test its durability, we brought the iHY prototype to a park and knocked a baseball out of its grip with a bat. The hand continued working after multiple strikes, demonstrating its durability and confirming its standing as the world’s most advanced baseball tee. Using common plastics and rubber to make our fingers and the molds to build them not only made them durable, it also kept costs down. That helped us stay close to DARPA’s expectation that competitors produce a versatile robotic hand for around US $5,000—a fraction of the cost of models with comparable capabilities currently on the market. On the day of the competition, in June 2012, the iHY hand outperformed all our expectations. The challenge, which took place in Arlington, Va., consisted of 19 tests—nine different objects the hand would have to grasp, nine it would have to grasp and then manipulate, and one test of the hand’s pure strength—each performed five times to demonstrate that no performance was a fluke. Grasping such items as a ball, a canteen, and a telephone handset took us just seconds. Even manipulation tasks like drilling a hole in a wood block and activating a handheld radio were accomplished with ease. Perhaps most surprising was the strength test, where the iHY hand lifted and held a 22-kilogram weight—6 kg more than it had held in previous lab tests. Though the challenges were scheduled to take all day, we finished with a couple of hours to spare. That let us show off some of the other capabilities of the hand, including ones we didn’t know it had. In one impromptu test, an iRobot staffer placed a pair of tweezers and a thin straw on the test table, challenging us to pick up the tweezers with the iHY hand—and then pick up the straw using the tweezers. This was uncharted territory for the hand and its operators, but we did it in just one try. Photo: Lockheed Martin Corp. Lending A Hand: Humanoid robotic platforms like Boston Dynamics Atlas may manipulate objects with the iHY hand and its descendants in the future. While we were happy with our performance, DARPA had invited only one team at a time to compete, so we didn’t know how we measured up against teams from SRI International (formerly known as the Stanford Research Institute) and Sandia National Laboratories. But a few weeks later, DARPA contacted us to let us know we had won the competition. Our victory meant that DARPA would continue using the iHY hand in future robotics competitions. Several teams of competitors in the DARPA Robotics Challenge, in which entrants design humanoid robots to respond to emergency situations, have used a version of the iHY hand. Attached to humanoid robot bodies like that of Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, the iHY hand has been used in that competition to open doors and handle fire hoses, suggesting crisis response as one possible application for the iHY hand and its descendants. Eventually, we hope to develop versions of the iHY hand for a variety of commercial purposes. But first, we hope that the low cost and high durability of the iHY hand will help to make hands like it a fixture in robotics research labs around the world. While there are many fine robot hands available, the expense of procuring one—and of repairing one if it is damaged during an experiment—can make researchers timid about how they use it, slowing the pace of research. The iHY hand, however, is hard to break and inexpensive to replace if you do. That should make it less frightening for researchers to push its limits in the lab. And with a strong, capable hand easily accessible, other teams can concentrate their efforts on writing new control software or making iterative improvements to the hardware, rather than building new hands from scratch. Our research has already spun off into a company, RightHand Robotics, based in Cambridge, Mass. The company has just begun to ship the beta version of the ReFlex Hand, a direct descendant of the iHY hand designed for lab research. As we develop the technology further, it’s likely that the company will offer several different models of the hand to research teams, from basic, stripped-down versions to more complex models with full sensor suites. While we learned a lot about underactuated design during the competition, the design has plenty of room for improvement. By making the technology easily accessible to other teams of researchers and engineers, we think those improvements will come more quickly, not just to the hands we’ve worked on but to the field of robotic manipulation as a whole. Considering the complexity of grasping, it’s likely this design won’t be the final word on robot hands. Just as the DARPA Robotics Challenge competitors have used hands we designed for some tasks as well as other hands—including those developed by Sandia—there is likely space for a number of hand designs, each with different capabilities and specifications. But as the field moves forward, we feel that offering our fellow researchers a simple, durable, and effective hand and inviting them to improve on it is a good place to start. This article originally appeared in print as “Robots Get a Grip.” About the Authors The head of the Harvard Biorobotics Laboratory, Robert Howe investigates how engineers can take cues from nature to build more effective robots. In general, he says, inspiration is preferable to mere imitation. “For generic manipulation, the human hand is not a great model,” Howe says. “It brings along a lot of biological baggage.” That kind of thinking led to the three-fingered iHY robotic hand, which he designed with coauthors Aaron Dollar of Yale and Mark Claffee of iRobot. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.