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The ryo adapter is an easy, cheap way to eliminate frustration and protect your technology investments. It's small, compact and adds virtually no bulk to your cables or devices. Simply attach it once and your cables can be plugged in.. BOTH ways. Jamming a cable the wrong way into your computer, gaming console or charger can do costly damage to your cables and the USB ports of your expensive devices. A licensed lightning cable can cost upwards of $30 - at ryo tech, we understand that. To use the adapter, you won't have to buy expensive new cables that may or may not be as good as the ones that came with your device. The ryo adapter will work with all your existing cables, doesn't matter if you have an Android, iPhone, iPad, Windows phone, gaming mouse or a portable hard drive - the ryo adapter will protect them all. Ryo adapters come in black and white to match your existing cables. Each pack of adapters contains two black adapters and one white adapter. We have been working super hard for the last 5 months, 4 prototypes and countless coffees later we have come to Kickstarter for help to bring our little life hack to market. These are the rewards you can get by backing us. We can't thank you enough for supporting us. We're still working on finalizing our major stretch goal and we will be releasing that next Monday, but we thought it would be cool to offer a neat little something to our backers in the meantime. EXCLUSIVE KUSHI WALLPAPER FOR OUR BACKERS PROTOTYPING AND DEVELOPMENT Using the same technology from the adapters, we have made some designer character flash drives that our Kickstarter backers can get as a reward. This is Kushi, ryo's mascot and a companion for backers of the project. Kushi is a flash drive that plugs in both ways and is cute all over. He even has different reactions on either side of his little robot face. CONCEPT DRAWING :) Every step along the development process, the ryo adapter was designed with the end user in mind. The ryo adapter sits flush with your existing cables, minimizing it's profile. Simple and elegant. You can also keep your cables neat and tidy with the ryo adapter's built-in cable keeper. No matter how you pull your cable out, the ryo adapter will always stay attached to your cable and not stuck to your laptop or wall charger. Help us by sharing the our project with your friends! Your friends get annoyed at their cables too? Your friends would absolutely adore kushi?? Share our project with them, it would really help us out! Julian is a product developer and entrepreneur in beautiful New Zealand, home to Middle Earth, while Kevin lives in the Poconos when he is not working his YouTube magic in New York. They share a love for retro video games, photography, and bizarre scientific discoveries (think Mind Blow). The two came together and bonded over their contempt for the standard USB plug among other prominent and important first world problems, and have been passionately developing this campaign since. Lori and Terry drive the backend functions of this project. Lori helps get our contracts drafted and looks after our patents and intellectual property whilst Terry does what accountants do; keeping the project on track with budgets and schedules. Social Media: Pop by to say hi and let us know how you're doing. If you have questions at any time, during or after the campaign, you can always reach us here too. Don't be shy! - Facebook Page - Twitter We will be shipping out rewards to our backers in September 2015. Julian's extensive experience in global manufacturing and logistics will ensure that none of our supporters are left wondering what has happened to their order. TIMELINE April - Campaign ends.The funds raised will be used to work with our manufacturing partners to create our custom molds. Packaging designs will be drafted and revised, we will be posting the designs in our updates to get backer input - Campaign ends.The funds raised will be used to work with our manufacturing partners to create our custom molds. Packaging designs will be drafted and revised, we will be posting the designs in our updates to get backer input May - Buffer month. Packaging designs will be finalized. Testing then calibration and (CNC) adjustments made to molds; the fine tuning is why molds can take up to 60 days to be fully production ready - Buffer month. Packaging designs will be finalized. Testing then calibration and (CNC) adjustments made to molds; the fine tuning is why molds can take up to 60 days to be fully production ready June - Our first production run of adapters and the internal memory units for Kushi will commence as soon as molds are finalized - Our first production run of adapters and the internal memory units for Kushi will commence as soon as molds are finalized July - Products will be sampled and tested as they are being manufactured and final QC will be done to the fully completed order - Products will be sampled and tested as they are being manufactured and final QC will be done to the fully completed order August - Sorting and packaging - Sorting and packaging September - Shipping time! You - our backers will be the first in the world to receive their ryo adapters! We don't make promises we can't keep. We have given ourselves plenty of time to deal with any unexpected hiccups along the way and will comfortably be ready for shipping comes September. We might deliver early if things go to plan, but we certainly won't deliver late. MEDIA PACK For high resolution photos download our media pack via our dropbox link: Media Pack |
The Windows command prompt or line is not really something that many Windows users need to work with on a daily basis, or at all, anymore. While it can still be helpful at times, for instance to quickly look up your IP address or display open connections, it is probably fair to say that the majority of Windows users have little to no command prompt experience. That's not necessarily a bad thing depending on what the computer is used for. If you are just using it to browse the Internet and use Office, then there may never be a need to dive deeper into the inner workings of the system. I have to admit that I'm also not using the command prompt that much anymore. I do use it occasionally but not regularly anymore as I do not really need to use it for the things I'm doing. I learned a couple of tricks over the years though, for instance that you can write the output of any command to a text file by adding > textname.txt to the end of the command. There is however another possibility, and that is to write the output to the Windows Clipboard. This is done with the clip command that you add to your command that you want executed. Basic examples of how this looks like are dir | clip to write the contents of the directory to the Clipboard, or ipconfig | clip to write the ipconfig information to it instead. You can use parameters in the command as you see fit which are executed just as before. It depends on the data output if you should write the output to a file or the clipboard. If you want to paste it in an online forum, chat or other program then you may want to use the clip command to speed things up. If you need more control over it then a text file may be more appropriate. There is also an option to write text file data directly to the clipboard. This is probably only useful for batch files though as you can open the document to copy its contents as well in the Windows gui. Anyway, to copy the contents of a text document to the clipboard use the clip < textname.txt command. Advertisement |
Schedule Subject to change; all times are Central Time All Senior Junior Day One -- Wednesday, June 19th time event gndr/class round 12:00n 100m hurdles jr. women heptathlon 12:30pm 100m jr. men decathlon 1:00pm high jump jr. women heptathlon 1:30pm long jump jr. men decathlon 2:30pm shot put jr. men decathlon 4:00pm high jump jr. men decathlon 4:00pm shot put jr. women heptathlon 5:15pm 200m jr. women heptathlon 6:15pm 400m jr. men decathlon Day Two -- Thursday, June 20th time event gndr/class round 10:00am 110m hurdles jr. men decathlon 10:30am long jump jr. women heptathlon 11:00am discus throw jr. men decathlon 11:00am 110m hurdles jr. men 1st round 11:15am high jump jr. women final 11:30am 100m hurdles jr. women 1st round 11:45am triple jump jr. men final 11:50pm 100m jr. women 1st round 12:00n javelin throw jr. women heptathlon 12:10pm 100m jr. men 1st round 12:30pm 800m jr. women 1st round 12:30pm shot put jr. men final 12:50pm 800m jr. men 1st round 1:00pm triple jump jr. women final 1:10pm 3000m jr. women final 1:25pm 3000m St jr. men final 1:30pm pole vault jr. men decathlon 1:40pm 100m hurdles jr. women final 1:48pm 110m hurdles jr. men final 1:56pm 100m jr. women final 2:05pm 100m jr. men final 2:15pm discus throw jr. men final 2:15pm 800m jr. women heptathlon 2:30pm shot put jr. women final 2:35pm 100m hurdles women heptathlon 3:00pm 3000m St women 1st round 3:00pm triple jump women final 3:30pm 800m women 1st round 3:40pm javelin throw "a" jr. men decathlon 3:50pm 800m men 1st round 4:00pm high jump women heptathlon 4:10pm 400m hurdles men 1st round 4:40pm 1500m women 1st round 4:40pm javelin throw "b" jr. men decathlon 4:45pm pole vault jr. men final 5:00pm 1500m men 1st round 5:20pm 400m women 1st round 5:30pm hammer throw jr. women final 5:45pm 400m men 1st round 6:00pm triple jump men final 6:10pm 1500m jr. men decathlon 6:15pm javelin throw women final 6:15pm shot put women heptathlon 6:25pm 100m women 1st round 6:50pm 100m men 1st round 7:15pm 5000m jr. men final 7:35pm 200m women heptathlon 7:55pm 5,000m jr. women final 8:20pm 10,000m women final 9:00pm 10,000m men final 9:25pm end of day 2 Day Three -- Friday, June 21st time event gndr/class round 10:00am 100m men decathlon 11:00am long jump men decathlon 12:00n javelin throw jr. women final 12:20pm 200m jr. women 1st round 12:45pm 200m jr. men 1st round 12:45pm shot put men decathlon 1:00pm hammer throw jr. men final 1:10pm 1500m jr. women 1st round 1:10pm long jump jr. women final 1:15pm pole vault jr. women final 1:20pm long jump jr. men final 1:30pm 1500m jr. men 1st round 1:55pm 400m jr. women 1st round 2:00pm long jump women heptathlon 2:15pm 400m jr. men 1st round 2:15pm high jump men decathlon 2:40pm 3000m St jr. women final 3:00pm 400m hurdles jr. women 1st round 3:25pm 400m hurdles jr. men 1st round 3:45pm 200m jr. women final 3:55pm 200m jr. men final 4:00pm javelin throw women heptathlon 4:10pm 3000m St men 1st round 4:50pm 400m men decathlon 5:00pm hammer throw men final 5:15pm 100m hurdles women 1st round 5:15pm pole vault men final 5:45pm 400m hurdles women 1st round 6:15pm 800m women heptathlon 6:20pm high jump jr. men final 6:30pm 100m women semi's 6:30pm discus throw men final 6:45pm 100m men semi's 7:04pm 400m hurdles men semi's 7:20pm 800m jr. women final 7:28pm 800m jr. men final 7:36pm 400m women semi's 7:52pm 400m men semi's 8:08pm 800m women semi's 8:25pm 800m men semi's 8:42pm 100m women final 8:52pm 100m men final 9:00pm 10,000m jr. men final 9:35pm end of day 3 Day Four -- Saturday, June 22nd time event gndr/class round 6:30am 20,000m race walk women final 8:30am 10,000m race walk jr. men final 9:30am 110m hurdles men decathlon 10:30am discus throw men decathlon 12:00n javelin throw jr. men final 12:45pm discus throw jr. women final 1:00pm pole vault men decathlon 1:00pm shot put women final 1:00pm 200m masters women exhibition 1:10pm 800m masters men exhibition 1:30pm 400m hurdles jr. men final 1:38pm 400m hurdles jr. women final 1:46pm 400m jr. women final 1:54pm 400m jr. men final 2:02pm 1500m jr. women final 2:14pm 1500m jr. men final 2:25pm 100m hurdles women semi's 2:40pm 200m men 1st round 2:45pm high jump women final 3:00pm javelin throw "a" men decathlon 3:10pm 110m hurdles men 1st round 3:15pm long jump women final 3:30pm hammer throw women final 3:35pm 200m women 1st round 4:00pm javelin throw "b" men decathlon 4:03pm 400m hurdles women semi's 4:20pm 3000m St women final 4:36pm 400m hurdles men final 4:46pm 1500m women final 5:08pm 400m women final 5:18pm 1500m men decathlon 5:30pm 400 m men final 5:40pm 1500m men final 5:52pm 100m hurdles women final 6:00pm end of day 4 Day Five -- Sunday, June 23rd time event gndr/class round 7:00am 20,000m race walk men final 8:45am 10,000m race walk jr. women final 1:30pm pole vault women final 1:45pm high jump men final 2:00pm javelin men final 2:05pm 200m men semi's 2:10pm shot put men final 2:20pm discus throw women final 2:22pm 200m women semi's 2:30pm long jump men final 2:40pm 110m hurdles men semi's 3:04pm 800m women final 3:13pm 800m men final 3:22pm 5000m women final 3:44pm 400m hurdles women final 3:55pm 3000m St men final 4:10pm 200m men final 4:20pm 200m women final 4:30pm 5000m men final 4:52pm 110m hurdles men final 5:00pm end of day 5/meet Day One -- Thursday, June 20th time event gndr/class round 2:35pm 100m hurdles women heptathlon 3:00pm 3000m St women 1st round 3:00pm triple jump women final 3:30pm 800m women 1st round 3:50pm 800m men 1st round 4:00pm high jump women heptathlon 4:10pm 400m hurdles men 1st round 4:40pm 1500m women 1st round 5:00pm 1500m men 1st round 5:20pm 400m women 1st round 5:45pm 400m men 1st round 6:00pm triple jump men final 6:15pm javelin throw women final 6:15pm shot put women heptathlon 6:25pm 100m women 1st round 6:50pm 100m men 1st round 7:35pm 200m women heptathlon 8:20pm 10,000m women final 9:00pm 10,000m men final 9:25pm end of day 1 Day Two -- Friday, June 21st time event gndr/class round 10:00am 100m men decathlon 11:00am long jump men decathlon 12:45pm shot put men decathlon 2:00pm long jump women heptathlon 2:15pm high jump men decathlon 4:00pm javelin throw women heptathlon 4:10pm 3000m St men 1st round 4:50pm 400m men decathlon 5:00pm hammer throw men final 5:15pm 100m hurdles women 1st round 5:15pm pole vault men final 5:45pm 400m hurdles women 1st round 6:15pm 800m women heptathlon 6:30pm 100m women semi's 6:30pm discus throw men final 6:45pm 100m men semi's 7:04pm 400m hurdles men semi's 7:36pm 400m women semi's 7:52pm 400m men semi's 8:08pm 800m women semi's 8:25pm 800m men semi's 8:42pm 100m women final 8:52pm 100m men final 9:35pm end of day 2 Day Three -- Saturday, June 22nd time event gndr/class round 6:30am 20,000m race walk women final 9:30am 110m hurdles men decathlon 10:30am discus throw men decathlon 1:00pm pole vault men decathlon 1:00pm shot put women final 1:00pm 200m masters women exhibition 1:10pm 800m masters men exhibition 2:25pm 100m hurdles women semi's 2:30pm shot put women final 2:40pm 200m men 1st round 2:45pm high jump women final 3:00pm javelin throw "a" men decathlon 3:10pm 110m hurdles men 1st round 3:15pm long jump women final 3:30pm hammer throw women final 3:35pm 200m women 1st round 4:00pm javelin throw "b" men decathlon 4:03pm 400m hurdles women semi's 4:20pm 3000m St women final 4:36pm 400m hurdles men final 4:46pm 1500m women final 5:08pm 400m women final 5:18pm 1500m men decathlon 5:30pm 400 m men final 5:40pm 1500m men final 5:52pm 100m hurdles women final 6:00pm end of day 3 Day Four -- Sunday, June 23rd time event gndr/class round 7:00am 20,000m race walk men final 1:30pm pole vault women final 1:45pm high jump men final 2:00pm javelin men final 2:05pm 200m men semi's 2:10pm shot put men final 2:20pm discus throw women final 2:22pm 200m women semi's 2:30pm long jump men final 2:40pm 110m hurdles men semi's 3:04pm 800m women final 3:13pm 800m men final 3:22pm 5000m women final 3:44pm 400m hurdles women final 3:55pm 3000m St men final 4:10pm 200m men final 4:20pm 200m women final 4:30pm 5000m men final 4:52pm 110m hurdles men final 5:00pm end of day 4/meet |
Looking for news you can trust? Subscribe to our free newsletters. As he worked to rally evangelical voters a week before North Carolina’s March 15 primary, Ted Cruz gave a speech at a church in the Charlotte suburb of Kannapolis, where he was joined by a trio of prominent local social conservative supporters: Charlotte pastor and congressional candidate Mark Harris and the Benham brothers, the telegenic real estate entrepreneurs whose house-flipping show on HGTV was canceled in 2014 when their history of anti-gay activism came to light. At the event, Cruz thanked Harris for “calling the nation to revival,” and called David and Jason Benham “an extraordinary voice for the Christian faith.” For years, Harris and the Benhams have been at the forefront of every battle to oppose gay rights in North Carolina. This past February, they were at it again, this time against a nondiscrimination ordinance proposed in Charlotte that, among other things, allowed transgender people to use public restrooms based on their gender identity and protected LGBT people from discrimination by public institutions. The advocacy of these top Cruz supporters against the Charlotte ordinance eventually led the North Carolina legislature to push through one of the most sweeping anti-LGBT measures in the country, a law that has caused a national outcry and caused many companies, including PayPal, to scrap plans to invest in the state. The law, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, strikes down all existing and future LGBT nondiscrimination statutes in North Carolina and requires that transgender people use bathrooms based on their sex at birth. Harris’ and the Benhams’ state activism is significant because, if Cruz wins the presidential race, the considerable influence of these three religious activists could extend far beyond North Carolina. In February, Cruz appointed them to his campaign’s advisory council for religious liberty, along with 16 other conservative Christian leaders. The GOP candidate has promised that this group will “guide his policies to protect religious liberty”—policies that could look very much like the anti-LGBT bill in North Carolina. The group is filled with key players in the anti-LGBT world, including Tony Perkins, the head of the Family Research Council (which is classified as an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center); it has already recommended that Cruz, if elected president, should stop federal employment discrimination protections for LGBT people, direct federal agencies to change their interpretation of “sex” to exclude sexual orientation and gender identity, cancel the mandate that employers provide contraceptive coverage, and much more. Cruz has surrounded himself with this group of anti-LGBT heavyweights, and the work of Harris and the Benhams in North Carolina provides a glimpse into what this group can accomplish when it comes to rolling back LGBT protections in the name of religious freedom. Harris and the Benhams first rose to prominence in 2012, when they helped organize the movement to pass a North Carolina constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and civil unions. The Benhams—who are sons of an evangelical minister, and who had previously worked to quash local pride parades and organize anti-abortion protests—testified in favor of the measure and at one point equated the battle against marriage equality with fighting Nazis. Harris has been a well-known Baptist minister in Charlotte since 2005 and his church contributed more than $50,000 to the campaign to ban same-sex marriage. (The amendment passed but was invalidated in 2014 after a Supreme Court ruling.) “All the social-issue stuff was bottled up with no outlet. But once you had the Republican legislature, you could just go wild.” Their temporarily successful work against same-sex marriage illustrated the growing power and influence of the state’s social conservatives. Fueled by millions of campaign dollars from a few conservative megadonors, Republicans took over both chambers of the state legislature in the 2010 election, fueled by voters’ economic dissatisfaction. Once in power, legislating social issues was a logical next step for this group of newly elected conservatives, says Steven Greene, a political-science professor at North Caroline State University. By 2012, the General Assembly made one of its first moves in this direction by voting to put the ban on same-sex unions onto that year’s ballot. “Before 2010, we were largely under Democratic control,” Greene says. “All the social-issue stuff was bottled up with no outlet. But once you had the Republican legislature, you could just go wild.” In 2014, when HGTV pulled the Benhams’ show after journalists revealed their anti-gay activism, the brothers became social conservative heroes. They then wrote their first book, Whatever the Cost, about their sacrifice for their faith. Soon after, in February 2015, Charlotte introduced its anti-discrimination ordinance and Harris and the Benhams snapped into action. Faith Matters NC, a grassroots religious liberty group vice chaired by Harris, took out a radio ad on a conservative talk radio station in Charlotte. “I’d be really scared if a man shared a bathroom with my daughter,” says a woman in the ad, of the bill’s provision allowing public-restroom use based on gender identity. “This nightmare could become a reality right here in Charlotte if we don’t speak up quickly,” she continues, encouraging listeners to contact their city council members and demand that they vote down the “bathroom bill.” The Benham brothers, meanwhile, headlined a rally to promote biblical values at Charlotte City Hall. And on a conservative radio show David Benham called the bill part of “the radical gay agenda’s plan to change America.” He also penned an op-ed for the Charlotte Observer opposing the bill: “Clearly, this ordinance isn’t really about non-discrimination,” he wrote. “It’s about forcing the acceptance of behavior.” With his father, Flip, a well-known anti-gay street preacher in Charlotte, David addressed the city council on the day they voted on the ordinance. During the meeting, a transgender woman collapsed after giving her testimony. Flip Benham reportedly laughed and poked fun at her gender while she lay on the floor awaiting medical attention. He also allegedly confronted a transgender girl as she walked out of the bathroom, calling her a “pervert” and “young man.” “Clearly, this ordinance isn’t really about non-discrimination,” he wrote. “It’s about forcing the acceptance of behavior.” The bill failed in 2015 but was reintroduced the following year. Once again, Harris and the Benhams led the opposition: Harris, for instance, held meetings at his church for the “Don’t Do It Charlotte” campaign, and all three headlined a rally opposing the measure. Despite their efforts, the ordinance passed in February 2016. Several weeks later, on March 18, opponents of the measure held a press conference in front of a city government building to urge state lawmakers to override the ordinance. David Benham was the opening speaker: “We sure hope the governor and General Assembly will do what is right,” he said. Harris gave the closing speech: “Governor McCrory and the General Assembly must act now to protect women and children all across North Carolina,” he said. He urged the governor to call for a special session to undo the Charlotte ordinance. Five days later, that’s exactly what happened. In a hastily convened special session, legislators in the Republican-controlled assembly introduced, debated, and passed HB 2, the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, in less than 12 hours. Lawmakers had five minutes to read the bill, and Democratic legislators walked out of the assembly in protest. The rushed passage of HB 2 and the law’s broad scope gained national attention, in part because the bill’s language invalidates all local nondiscrimination statutes in the state, not just those tied to protecting the LGBT community. “Make no mistake: While LGBT folks were clearly the political target, everybody lost rights,” Democratic state Sen. Jeff Jackson told Charlotte TV station WCNC. The bill also prohibits a locality from setting a minimum wage standard for private employers, and it limits how citizens can file claims of discrimination based on factors like race, religion, nationality, biological sex, and more. When asked about their involvement in pushing for HB 2’s passage, the Benham brothers, in an email to Mother Jones, wrote: “Before the bill was passed we had already been notified by the Governor that legislative action was certain, so we simply encouraged our elected officials to listen to the voice of the people.” They continued, “It’s common sense not to allow men in women’s restrooms. It’s also common sense not to force business owners to participate in expressive events that are against their religious beliefs.” For Cruz, who has staked his campaign on winning over evangelical voters, Harris and the Benhams made natural allies. And as Cruz plotted his presidential bid, he sought to woo these influential social conservatives. In 2014, Cruz headlined a religious rally at Harris’ Charlotte church. That same year, Cruz reached out to the Benhams to express his support after HGTV dropped their show. Then last November, the Benhams emceed a Cruz rally for religious liberty in South Carolina, and in January 2016 they formally endorsed Cruz for president. The following month, Harris endorsed him as well. “Mark’s commitment to be a guiding light in the cultural and political arenas has impacted Christians in North Carolina and across the nation,” Cruz said in a press release trumpeting the endorsement. Supporting Cruz may bring political benefits for Harris, too. Two days after the HB 2 victory, Harris announced he would be running for Congress to protect “liberty, faith, and family.” “Mark’s commitment to be a guiding light in the cultural and political arenas has impacted Christians in North Carolina and across the nation,” Cruz wrote. Mark Knoop, the campaign’s spokesman, said that since starting his own campaign, Harris “is entirely focused on his own campaign,” and has put his role as a religious liberty adviser to Cruz “on the backburner.” The impact of the work of Harris and the Benham brothers in North Carolina has caused national backlash. As word spread of the state’s new law, more than 120 major corporations, including Apple, American Airlines, and PayPal, urged the governor to repeal the bill or to face dire business consequences. In response, the Benham brothers wrote an op-ed for conservative website World Net Daily defending the governor: “Once the media started reporting, you would’ve thought the governor had joined ISIS!” wrote the brothers. “They’ve crafted the narrative in the media that North Carolina’s HB2 is against LGBT individuals, yet nothing could be further from the truth.” (On Tuesday, the state’s Gov. Pat McCrory responded to the backlash with an executive order granting LGBT protections only to state employees.) Harris’ campaign makes a similar point. “Its not like North Carolina is persecuting the LGBT community,” says Knoop. “The whole point is that people going to a bathroom are going to the right bathroom.” When asked to elaborate on Harris’ stance on portions of HB 2 unrelated to bathroom use, including the part that invalidates the state’s LGBT nondiscrimination ordinances, Knoop declined to comment. |
Has O.J. Simpson confessed murder to Oprah? Huge TV interview planned in which convict 'will admit he killed Nicole in self-defence as she pulled a knife on him' O.J Simpson has confessed to Oprah Winfrey that he murdered his former wife, it has been reported. The talk show host made headlines recently saying that one of her regrets was never having got the shamed former sportsman to confess to the killing. And it appears her wish may well have come true with reports Simpson has already told one of her producers in an interview from jail that he knifed ex-wife Nicole in self-defence - a confession he will now repeat to the talk show queen during a spectacular televised sit down interview. Revealing all? Oprah is said to be lining up an historic interview with Simpson The chat, which would be held in prison, would be a huge coup for Oprah, whose network, OWN, has suffered a massive hit in ratings recently. Simpson is currently serving a nine-year sentence at Nevada’s Lovelock Correctional Centre, after he was convicted of robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas in October 2008 after a botched heist to retrieve his memorabilia he said was stolen by dealers. Coup: Will Oprah finally get the confession from O.J. Simpson that she is said to have been pining for? He was famously acquitted in October 1995 of the murders of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman despite huge amounts of evidence against him. According to the National Enquirer, the interview is set to be filmed after Simpson confessed he killed the pair in self-defence to a producer from inside prison. 'Oprah has been in touch with O.J. for the past year,' a source told the magazine. She contacted him in prison to explore the possibility that he might give her an interview. 'He has always been a big fan of hers, but for a long time he was reluctant to say he did the crime or give the details of how it happened.' According to the insider, Simpson recently decided to go through with the confession after he was contacted again by one of Oprah's producers. 'He told the producer: "Tell Oprah that yes, I did it. I killed Nicole, but it was in self-defence. She pulled a knife on me and I had to defend myself",' the insider was quoted as saying. He reportedly then went on to give a full account of what happened on the night of the murders on June 12 1994. Confession? O.J. Simpson and his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, when they were a couple in 1993 Murdered: Ronald Goldman was an American waiter and an aspiring model The former couple had got into an argument after Nicole was said to have snubber Simpson when he interrupted a meal she was having at a restaurant with their children. 'O.J. said he went home and kept getting angrier and angrier and worked himself into an absolute rage,' the source told the Enquirer. Family: Simpson, pictured with Nicole and their children, Sydney Brook and Justin Simpson allegedly told the producer he 'didn't like the way she treated me in front of the kids at the restaurant. I didn't like that she was routinely having guys have sex with her at her condo with the kids there. 'I went over there to give her a piece of my mind,' he was quoted as saying. When he arrived and no one answered at the house, he started pounding the door and shouting, according to the report. The door allegedly then swung open and Nicole was standing there with a kitchen knife in her hand. 'O.J. told the producer, "she was yelling go away! Go away! And waving the knife around at me. At one point she was lunging at me with the knife and I was just trying to talk to her. Nicole stepped out of the apartment - slashing the knife in the air. '"I was in such a rage that something just snapped. I couldn't take her constant taunting of me with other men or her using drugs and drinking while my kids were living with her. I went beserk. '"Before I knew what I was doing I took the knife away from Nicole and started slashing at her. I cut her over and over again until she was lifeless. I was shocked at my own anger - I had killed the woman I had loved for so long.."' Evidence: A glove that was found at Simpson's home - originally said to have been the pair to another which was bloodied from the violent murders Weapon: A German-made 15-inch knife similar to one originally said to have been sold to Simpson five weeks before the murders He allegedly went on to tell the producer he also knifed Ron Goldman in self-defence as he tried to attack Simpson when he turned up at the home soon after and spotted Nicole's body on the floor. The shamed former sportsman was acquitted on October 3, 1995 of stabbing to death his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman after perhaps the most famous trial in modern history. After the bodies were found in a pool of blood on her driveway in Los Angeles driveway, Simpson, who has until now maintained he did not commit the murders, began a bizarre slowspeed car chase with police. Custody: Simpson's original mugshot Almost 100million people are thought to have watched the events live on television as the sports star held a gun to his head while being driven by a friend. He was allegedly headed for the Mexican border with $5,000 dollars and his passport when he was tracked by authorities. Eventually, 27 police cars trailed him until he surrendered on his mansion's driveway an hour and a half later. Despite huge amounts of evidence against Simpson, including bloodstains in his car, a glove holding DNA from the three, a sock engrained with traces of his victims' blood on his bedroom carpet and tapes of a terrified Nicole begging police for help as Simpson hit her - he was acquitted of the murders. If the confession is made to Oprah on television, Simpson will not, however, suffer legal consequences. |
Backgrounded: A Simple Wrapper for Ruby Background Tasks By Ric Roberts Like Ryan Sonnek, I've dabbled with a few different ways to run background processes in my Ruby apps, even resorting to knocking together my own (far from perfect) solution. As Ryan says on his blog, many popular libraries have complicated interfaces and don't "feel right". I tend to disagree, however, with his statement that every ruby background job solution sucks, and I'm sure he doesn't really mean it. Although his offering, Backgrounded, is refreshingly simple and concise, it's effectively just a wrapper for other solutions. With Backgrounded, if you want a certain method to always run in the background, you can specify it like this: class User backgrounded :do_stuff def do_stuff # do all your work here end end ...and then just call that method in the normal way. The actual background work can be taken care of by a handler of your choice, but delayed_job comes bundled. Ryan's meta-programming approach for declaring background tasks doubles-up as documentation, and puts the focus on the individual methods rather than requiring you to create separate classes for your jobs. Get Backgrounded as a gem or download the source from Github. |
Kell’s Original lavender in shave stick form; no surprises here folks. It’s a reasonably nice lavender scent; I’m fairly certain we’re talking a fragrance version rather than any actual essential oil, but it’s what I think is a pretty good version thereof. And it’s nice and strong; pretty much just shy of being too overpowering, without anything in the way of noticeable fading while you shave. The lather performed pretty much exactly as I expected it based upon previous experienced with Kell’s Original. Quite nicely that is. Good performance of thickness, glide, and moisturizing properties; make sure you use a fair bit of water though. Nice volume produced as well. 8/10 Scent Pleasantness 10/10 Scent Strength 8/10 Lather Quality So, all told, 8/10. A nice shave, be worth a shot if you like lavender. Gear used: Hemp blend ingredients: Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil (Grade A extra virgin), Safflower Oil, Glycerine (vegetable origin), Hemp Seed Oil (unrefined), Purified Water, Sodium Hydroxide (saponifying agent), Sorbitol (moisturizer), Sorbitan oleate (emulsifer), Soy bean protein (conditioner), Wheat Protein (conditioner). Oh and they don’t mention it in the listing for some reason, but there’s also going to be some fragrance oil in there. Advertisements |
Are you a comic fan that struggles paying the $2.99 or $3.99 monthly price point for each issue? Well, fear not! This Game&Comic article will hopefully give you the strategies you need to help you enjoy the comics you love, but not break the bank. Inquire Subscription Benefits at your LCS If you live near a local comic shop (LCS), there is a good chance the shop offers a subscription service. Subscriptions work like this: you make a list of which series you read and give it to your comic shop. When your LCS receives the weekly shipment, they will set aside the issues for the series you read. This guarantees you that week’s issue without going into the shop on every release date. Not only that, but some shops will also offer you a discount if you agree to buy your comics from them each month. This is a great way to save 15%-20% on all of your comics. “Trade Wait” The term ‘trade’ in the comic world sometimes stirs a lot of confusion. Issues are individual monthly comics that have a number (such as Batman #7 or Amazing Spider-Man #582). Issues are usually associated with first and second prints, and if a comic becomes valuable, people will be looking for a first print issue of that series. Trade Paperbacks, or ‘trades’ are a collection of about 6 of these monthly issues (for example, a Batman trade may contain issues #1-6) and are normally cheaper. The printing of a trade is usually irrelevant since trades come out much later than issues. Issues are more geared towards collecting, but purchasing trades allows a reader to catch up on a story at a cheaper cost. Trade Paperbacks are often confused with Graphic Novels, but graphic novels normally refer to a stand-alone comic book story (for example, Batman: The Killing Joke). Amazon usually has great prices on trades and graphic novels, but be sure to look out for the term ‘Knick & Dent’ on other sites. Knick & Dents usually have bent corners, a small ripped page, or some other defect. Although the book may not be perfect, you may be able to purchase it for a fraction of the cover price. Used book stores are also a great place to look for discounted books. Interlibrary Loaning Chances are, your local library has a comic book section and lends trade paperbacks. If you are lucky, your library may even be involved with interlibrary loaning. Interlibrary loaning is a coalition of libraries that agree to send books to any library in the group. If your library is involved in interlibrary loaning, then not only do you have access to the books at your local library, but you may even have access to the collections at dozens of other libraries. To top it off, interlibrary loaning is a free service. Interlibrary loaning is almost always available to college students, so be sure to take advantage of it! Go Digital If you do not mind reading on your computer, tablet, etc., then be sure to try digital comics. Many digital comic retailers offer a reduced price on older issues or will offer occasional coupons and sales. ComiXology is a great place to start for anyone looking get involved with digital comics. Marvel also offers a service called Marvel Unlimited, which is similar to a Netflix service for comic books. You pay a monthly or annual fee and get unlimited access to over 13,000 digital Marvel comics. Ask your friends! Comic books are a perfect medium for friendly discussion. If you know someone trying to get into comics, lend them some of your material so they can get a handle on what they like. If you are new to comics, then never be afraid to ask! Advertisements |
Rare Pepe Party is a Trading Card Game (TCG) in development with Role Playing Game (RPG) elements, inspired by Hearthstone and the Pokemon series. Current share tier price: $- Crowdfunding progress We need your help bringing this game to reality! You can invest buying Counterparty tokens at the Decentralized Exchange (DEX) and be part of history. All earnings from the game after release will be given out as dividends into the Counterparty platform. Investing is easy, you can buy XCP at any of these exchanges: Then you can send your XCP to your RarePepe Wallet and buy the card RAREPEPEPRTY for XCP clicking over it. Read our business proposal here. Read the booster pack sales model here. XCP Asset: RAREPEPEPRTY. We will also be selling RarePepe Avatars! These are procedurally generated, unique and non-fungible tokens that will be usable in-game. Assets come unlocked and you get full ownership, so if you find a cool avatar you can resell it to others. Some screenshots These screenshots are not representative of final product quality, they are just in-development sneak peeks! Main menu Deck builder Luscious HAIRPEPE being played FAQ Why this page is so simple? This page is just a placeholder, in the future it will get you directly into the game. When will the game be ready? Two weeks.... j/k... development is going underway to get a first alpha ending 2017. After that in 2018 we should be seeing the game get to release quality level. When will the crowdsale be closed? When we do the first release in Beta quality it will be closed. You won't be able to buy RAREPEPEPRTY tokens after that in the primary market and will have to resort to the secondary market at probably higher prices. Where can i get more information? You can go to our telegram group or to the original rarepepe traders group. I want to buy in bulk, isn't there some way easier than the Counterparty DEX to buy RAREPEPEPRTY? Drop us an email at sales@rarepepe.party for bulk orders (200 shares or more). |
Qld electricity providers trying to block solar from grid, lobby group says Updated Australia's peak solar power body fears Queensland's electricity companies are trying to put people off installing new solar systems. The Australian Solar Council has criticised moves by Ergon and Energex to encourage new customers to install smaller solar systems that do not feed electricity back into the power grid. Ergon and Energex said the changes, which included new rules about installing systems that feed in power, would help them manage the detrimental impact of solar on their power networks. "These new rules will help avoid many of the costs associated with upgrading Ergon's network to cope with increasing numbers of these systems - costs that are ultimately borne by all electricity customers," Ergon chief executive Ian McLeod said. "In some cases, customers have their applications to install PV (photovoltaic) systems on constrained sections of the network downsized, unless they are prepared to pay for an upgrade to the network. "The new standards potentially give them another option of installing a PV system of their preferred size that does not export power back into the grid." But John Grimes from the Australian Solar Council said he believed the power companies were trying to limit solar uptake. "There's a very small number of instances where there are technical issues caused by solar uptake, but they are a tiny fraction of a per cent," Mr Grimes said. "Instead of dealing with the technical issues that arise, they're using a sledgehammer to try and block solar from the grid altogether." The uptake of solar energy in Australia, particularly in Queensland, has been huge over the past five years. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said solar generation output rose by 58 per cent to 2,700 gigawatt hours (GWh), equal to about 1.3 per cent of electricity consumption, in 2012-13. Renewable energy advocates say Australia's generation capacity is now 3.4 gigawatts, of which 1.1 gigawatts is in Queensland. They also believe any moves by energy companies to limit the growth of solar will lead to so-called grid defections, where people install solar and batteries and disconnect from the network. "By trying to stop people from using solar, the unintended consequence is that people are more likely to go solar and leave the grid much quicker than they otherwise would have," Mr Grimes said. Price of solar has come down, but not batteries: installer Solar installer Brian Cooke specialises in systems that allow households to generate all their own electricity. He said poor battery technology was limiting the ability of people to go "off the grid". "The price of solar has come down dramatically but the other associated cost of batteries, which is the other major cost, is not really coming down," Mr Cooke said. However that has not stopped the growth in people looking to become self-sufficient. "We're seeing a tremendous amount of people inquiring weekly that they want to get away from utilities to live on their own systems," Mr Cooke said. "The amount of inquiries we're getting now... more and more people would be looking at doing it." The ABS said only 0.2 per cent of Australian households were not connected to mains power. One of those belongs to renewable energy advocate Doone Wyborn, who disconnected from the power grid two years ago when he and his partner moved to a rural property in northern New South Wales. "Batteries are the biggest problem but the solar panels themselves have come down so much in price over the last few years that in many cases you're better off having a solar system, even if you're living in the city," he said. "Our solar system can easily cope with all the energy requirements of a relatively efficient house, a small one, in fact we've got more than we need from the system that we have." Topics: solar-energy, alternative-energy, environment, electricity-energy-and-utilities, qld, australia First posted |
WOLLONGONG Wolves are intent on pushing ahead with an A-League expansion bid despite the region’s governing body confirming it was supporting a Sydney-based rival bid. Football South Coast, which controls senior club and junior football in the Wollongong region, has been named along with St George and Sutherland associations as backing the Les Murray and Craig Foster-led “Southern Expansion” bid. Reports of division in the region’s football threaten both bids, but Wolves CEO Chris Papakosmas says FSC has told him they will support both bids. OFFICIAL: South Sydney bid made for A-League inclusion Round 21 Visit Match Centre Visit Match Centre Visit Match Centre Visit Match Centre Visit Match Centre It is understood FSC see the south of Sydney bid as a preferred option of Football Federation Australia and want to align with the bid to bring a number of games to Wollongong’s WIN Stadium. In contrast the Wolves argue the area needs a standalone team rather than an amalgamated club. “[The South of Sydney] bid is talking about an area that covers Sutherland Shire, St George and the Illawarra – there’s not really a connection, a history or an understanding,” Wolves CEO Chris Papakosmas told foxsports.com.au. “Keep in mind a lot of the people south of Helensburgh don’t consider themselves Sydneysiders. “Four games out of WIN Stadium is nothing compared to playing all of your home games there. The whole point of our bid is that Wolves is an existing entity, we have a strong memorandum of understanding with the Illawarra Stingrays, we have pathways for boys, girls, men and women in the region and we have an existing infrastructure. “All we’re going to do is add an A-League and a W-League team above the pyramid that exists already and give the people something they can aspire to. Wollongong Wolves played Sydney FC at WIN Stadium in the FFA Cup in 2016. Source: News Corp Australia “Football South Coast had already gone on record saying they would back a bid from the Wolves and they would back a hybrid amalgamation from southern Sydney. It comes back to the fact we have a strong presence here on the South Coast and playing out of WIN Stadium. “We can engage the Illawarra, we can engage the south coast and Shoalhaven and provide a pathway for the kids all the way from Helensburgh to the Victorian border. Nothing has changed in our intentions.” The news of FSC backing a South Sydney bid comes a month after local billionaire Bruce Gordon stated he would throw his support behind a standalone Wollongong team. Owner of WIN Television, Gordon confirmed he had been in touch with former FFA chairman Frank Lowy, who was succeeded by son Steven to the helm. “We have talked to Frank Lowy and we are still talking to him,” he said. “We are very happy to support something … an A-League team. That will happen sooner or later. Probably sooner more than later.” Papakosmas says there are a host of local business people lining up to support a Wolves A-League bid. “Our only concern is putting together our bid and making sure we do the best for our region and our kids,” he said. “We’ve already got quite a few successful business people in the region jumping on board and there are a few more announcements coming up that will make a statement. “The expansion criteria has been delayed and we believe when the time is right we will be putting in a submission, it will be very, very attractive – you’re talking about a big geographical area, you’re talking about a very big growth population area and you’re talking about probably one of the best junior football nurseries in the country. “We will have a standalone presence.” |
Wireshark 2.0.0 Released November 18, 2015 Wireshark 2.0.0 has been released. Installers for Windows, OS X, and source code are now available. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 2.0.0rc3: An RTP player crash has been fixed. Flow graph issues have been fixed. Bug Bug 11710. A Follow Stream dialog crash has been fixed. Bug Bug 11711. An extcap crash has been fixed. A file merge crash has been fixed. Bug Bug 11718. A handle leak crash has been fixed. Bug Bug 11702. Several other crashes and usability issues have been fixed. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 2.0.0rc2: “File”→Merge no longer crashes on Windows. Bug Bug 11684. Icons in the main toolbar obey magnification settings on Windows. Bug Bug 11675. The Windows installer does a better job of detecting WinPcap. Bug Bug 10867. The main window no longer appears off-screen on Windows. Bug Bug 11568. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 2.0.0rc1: For new installations on UN*X, the directory for user preferences is $HOME/.config/wireshark rather than $HOME/.wireshark . If that directory is absent, preferences will still be found and stored under $HOME/.wireshark . rather than . If that directory is absent, preferences will still be found and stored under . Qt port: The SIP Statistics dialog has been added. You can now create filter expressions from the display filter toolbar. Bugs in the UAT prefererences dialog has been fixed. Several dissector and Qt UI crash bugs have been fixed. Problems with the Mac OS X application bundle have been fixed. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 1.99.9: Qt port: The LTE RLC Graph dialog has been added. The LTE MAC Statistics dialog has been added. The LTE RLC Statistics dialog has been added. The IAX2 Analysis dialog has been added. The Conversation Hash Tables dialog has been added. The Dissector Tables dialog has been added. The Supported Protocols dialog has been added. You can now zoom the I/O and TCP Stream graph X and Y axes independently. The RTP Player dialog has been added. Several memory leaks have been fixed. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 1.99.8: Qt port: The MTP3 statistics and summary dialogs have been added. The WAP-WSP statistics dialog has been added. The UDP multicast statistics dialog has been added. The WLAN statistics dialog has been added. The display filter macros dialog has been added. The capture file properties dialog now includes packet comments. Many more statistics dialogs can be opened from the command line via -z ... . Most dialogs now have a cancellable progress bar. Many packet list and packet detail context menus items have been added. Lua plugins can be reloaded from the Analyze menu. Many bug fixes and improvements. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 1.99.7: Qt port: The Enabled Protocols dialog has been added. Many statistics dialogs have been added, including Service response time, DHCP/BOOTP, and ANSI. The RTP Analysis dialog has been added. Lua dialog support has been added. You can now manually resolve addresses. The Resolved Addresses dialog has been added. The packet list scrollbar now has a minimap. The capture interfaces dialog has been updated. You can now colorize conversations. Welcome screen behavior has been improved. Plugin support has been improved. Many dialogs should now more correctly minimize and maximize. The reload button has been added back to the toolbar. The "Decode As" dialog no longer saves decoding behavior. You can now stop loading large capture files. The Bluetooth HCI Summary has been added. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 1.99.6: Qt port: The Bluetooth Devices dialog has been added. The wireless toolbar has been added. Opening files via drag and drop is now supported. The Capture Filter and Display Filter dialogs have been added. The Display Filter Expression dialog has been added. Conversation Filter menu items have been added. You can change protocol preferences by right clicking on the packet list and details. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 1.99.4 and 1.99.5: Qt port: Capture restarts are now supported. Menu items for plugins are now supported. Extcap interfaces are now supported. The Expert Information dialog has been added. Display filter completion is now supported. Several interface bugs have been fixed. Translations have been updated. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 1.99.3: Qt port: Several interface bugs have been fixed. Translations have been updated. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 1.99.2: Qt port: Several bugs have been fixed. You can now open a packet in a new window. The Bluetooth ATT Server Attributes dialog has been added. The Coloring Rules dialog has been added. Many translations have been updated. Chinese, Italian and Polish translations are complete. General user interface and usability improvements. Automatic scrolling during capture now works. The related packet indicator has been updated. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 1.99.1: Qt port: The welcome screen layout has been updated. The Preferences dialog no longer crashes on Windows. The packet list header menu has been added. Statistics tree plugins are now supported. The window icon is now displayed properly in the Windows taskbar. A packet list an byte view selection bug has been fixed (Bug 10896) The RTP Streams dialog has been added. The Protocol Hierarchy Statistics dialog has been added. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 1.99.0: Qt port: You can now show and hide toolbars and major widgets using the View menu. You can now set the time display format and precision. The byte view widget is much faster, particularly when selecting large reassembled packets. The byte view is explorable. Hovering over it highlights the corresponding field and shows a description in the status bar. An Italian translation has been added. The Summary dialog has been updated and renamed to Capture File Properties. The VoIP Calls and SIP Flows dialogs have been added. The following features are new (or have been significantly updated) since version 1.12.0: The I/O Graph in the Gtk+ UI now supports an unlimited number of data points (up from 100k). TShark now resets its state when changing files in ring-buffer mode. Expert Info severities can now be configured. Wireshark now supports external capture interfaces. External capture interfaces can be anything from a tcpdump-over-ssh pipe to a program that captures from proprietary or non-standard hardware. This functionality is not available in the Qt UI yet. Qt port: The Qt UI is now the default (program name is wireshark). A Polish translation has been added. The Interfaces dialog has been added. The interface list is now updated when interfaces appear or disappear. The Conversations and Endpoints dialogs have been added. A Japanese translation has been added. It is now possible to manage remote capture interfaces. Windows: taskbar progress support has been added. Most toolbar actions are in place and work. More command line options are now supported Official releases are available right now from the download page. |
Japan’s Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda said that he was planning sweeping staff changes at his ministry to both promote and regulate the nuclear industry. Kaieda said the reshuffle aimed to breathe new life into the ministry. He signaled that the changes would include a vice minister, and the heads of the ministry’s Agency for Natural Resources and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. Kaieda told reporters the changes in personnel at the ministry of economy, trade and industry. Kaieda also said that he himself was considering resigning soon after dismissing the top officials. The move comes as Prime Minister Naoto Kan calls for enhanced nuclear safety accountability and an overhaul of Japan’s energy policy. Japan aims to gradually reduce its dependence on nuclear power as public safety concerns mount. Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda is considering resigning Intense criticism Since the nuclear crisis, which was sparked by March 11 quake and tsunami, the ministry has come under intense criticism for its promotion of nuclear power and for seeking to manipulate public opinion by planting questions at open talks. Radioactive material is still leaking from the plant five months after the meltdown. The weight on Kaieda's shoulders became clear when he recently burst into tears during a recent grilling by opposition lawmakers. Prime Minister Kan, a former grassroots activist, has advocated a nuclear-free Japan and has repeatedly criticized the Industry Ministry, which has formed cozy ties with the Energy Industry. Power companies have given jobs to many retired government officials. The public has grown distrustful of Japan’s nuclear policy amid the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl 25 years ago. Following the Fukushima disaster, Japan has been trying to avoid power shortages that could curtail manufacturing and damage the frail economy; only 16 out of 54 reactors are currently running due to public safety concerns and other problems. The public has grown distrustful of Japan’s nuclear policy New Standards Public anger has intensified in recent weeks after media reported that the safety agency had asked power companies to mobilize their workers and contractors to plant questions in support of nuclear energy at public talks. The Nuclear Safety Agency, which regulates nuclear energy, has said it would create a third-party panel to investigate the matter. Prime Minister Kan is planning to split the watchdog agency away from the industry ministry to boost its independence and regulatory strength. The government will unveil as early as this week its plans for a new and more independent atomic safety regulator that could lead to tougher safety standards. Author: Sachin Gaur (Reuters, AFP) Editor: Sarah Berning |
Taking effect Thursday, New York’s capital city became the fourth municipality in the state to enact laws mandating guns not in use be locked up under threat of fines and jail time. The city joined Rochester, Buffalo and New York City as well as Westchester County as a whole, in adopting the safe storage requirements. Gun control advocates see the move as a big win. “We are proud to stand with Albany’s leaders to welcome this new law, which will help reduce gun thefts, keep guns away from children, and reduce gun injuries and deaths,” said New Yorkers Against Gun Violence Executive Director Leah Gunn Barrett, in a statement. Barrett was on hand Thursday for an event at Albany Police Headquarters where free gun locks were being distributed. The measure was approved in a 14-1 vote of the Albany Common Council last September. Albany Local Law A-2014 mandates all firearms, including rifles and shotguns, be secured inside a locking container or box or disabled with a lock, with penalties for non-compliance ranging to from a $250 fine and 15 days in prison for first offenses to as much as a year in jail for subsequent violations. Further, retailers selling firearms in the city must post a notice that notifies purchasers of the safe storage law and the penalties incurred if the law is violated. Any instance in which a gun deemed improperly secured is involved in a shooting is automatically eligible for the maximum penalty. Albany Police Chief Brendan Cox, advising that free gun locks are available at two APD stations, paints the new law as helping to keep firearms out of the hands of those who couldn’t ordinarily get them. “By requiring guns to be safely locked or stored, this law will help prevent one of the scourges that makes all Americans less safe– guns that are stolen and end up in the illegal market and in the hands of criminals,” said Cox. The chief subsequently explained to the Albany Times-Union that, while his officers will not be actively going into area homes to look for violations, they will use discretion on issuing citations if unsecured guns are found when called to a home for other reasons. Gun rights groups in the state argue measures such as Albany’s only penalize those gun owners who obey the law. “The city of Albany would be better served if it looked at root causes of violence, and not the tools that criminals use to carry out that violence,” said NY2A Grassroots Coalition co-founder Jake Palmateer previously. “Many residential burglaries go unsolved, so if someone has a break-in and a firearm is stolen, the victim would very likely end up the only person arrested.” While mandatory gun storage laws have been challenged all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, they have withstood scrutiny. However, some justices take exception to such laws, saying a controversial ordinance in San Francisco violates the Second Amendment as it leaves gun owners unprepared inside their home at the worst time. “The law thus burdens their right to self-defense at the times they are most vulnerable—when they are sleeping, bathing, changing clothes, or otherwise indisposed,” wrote U.S. Justice Clarence Thomas last July. Meanwhile, NYAGV is advocating for a statewide gun lock bill, Nicholas’s Law, named for 12-year-old Nicholas Naumkin, who was fatally shot while by a friend who had found his father’s unlocked and loaded handgun. “We encourage the State Legislature to follow Albany’s lead and enact Nicholas’s Law without delay to protect all New Yorkers before other lives are lost,” said Barrett. In 2015, mandatory gun lock laws came very close to passing statewide in both chambers. |
Is It Primal? – Chai, Rice Noodles, Choffy, and Other Foods Scrutinized By Mark Sisson It never ends, does it? Right when you feel like you can settle down into your way of eating, right when you’re about to draw the blanket made of plants, animals, and maybe a little dark chocolate up around your shoulders and drift off to a restful sleep in your pitch black room untainted by artificial lighting, a niggling doubt of a question worms its way into your head: is [insert food or drink that you’ve loved since childhood/wondered about since going Primal/been asked about from curious friends] Primal? And so you toss off the blanket, leap out of bed, throw open your laptop and fire away an email to me asking about the food’s place in the lifestyle. I don’t blame you, because I’m constantly doing the same kind of thing with my own question mark foods. Yes, it’s that time again, boys and girls: another edition of “Is it Primal?” This should be a fun one with wide appeal, because today we’re dealing with a variety of foods from around the world. Chai, the famous Indian tea, gets top billing, followed by rice noodles and Choffy. Then, I finish off with my take on “gluten-free” real sourdough bread and Marmite. Chai I’ve written about chai before, believe it or not, because “chai” simply means “tea.” So, when you’re ordering “chai tea” and the Indian gent behind you chuckles quietly to himself, it’s because you’ve just ordered “tea tea.” What we’re really talking about when we talk about chai is masala chai, or mixed-spice tea, the aromatic, velvety, slightly (or incredibly, depending on how you take it) sweet hot beverage. Now that we’re on the same page, let’s get something out of the way: your chai latte from Starbucks is not Primal. Your chai ice cream isn’t either, nor is the chai Belgian waffle topped with a dollop of chai whipped cream, nor is the blended iced caramel chai-atto that I just made up on the spot. But actual masala chai, absent syrupy processed sweeteners and spray can whipped cream? This is good, even great stuff. Think about what you might get in masala chai: Tea – Whether it’s black, green, white, oolong, or puer, tea is one of the richest sources of dietary antioxidants around (PDF). It’s strongly associated with a host of health benefits. Cinnamon – Besides tasting great, this spice improves insulin sensitivity, improves blood lipids, boasts a strong antioxidant supply, and has anti-carcinogenic activity. Ginger – Broadly anti-inflammatory, ginger is a potent source of antioxidants with inhibitory effects on high blood sugar, cancer, and bad blood lipids. Cardamom – Cardamom has been shown to lower blood pressure in hypertensives and have chemopreventive properties. Fennel – Fennel seed is another spice with antioxidant potential, including the ability to inhibit lipid peroxidation. Clove – Clove has one of the highest levels of antioxidant activity around and contains a large number of bioactive compounds. Not all those spices are used in every form of chai, but some of them will appear. However, traditional masala chai does include milk and some kind of sweetener, maybe coconut sugar or honey or even just white sugar – oftentimes lots of it. So, while the tea itself and the spice constituents are undoubtedly healthy and Primal, the sugar they add probably isn’t. Verdict: Primal, but you might try asking them to go easy on the sugar (or just make it yourself and control what goes into it directly). Choffy First off, what’s Choffy? It’s like coffee, only instead of roasted coffee beans being ground up and steeped in hot water, it’s roasted cacao beans being ground up and steeped in hot water to make a hot, antioxidant-rich beverage. Unlike coffee, there’s not a lot of published research about Choffy – none at all, to my knowledge – making a solid, research-backed proclamation nearly impossible. According to the makers of Choffy, though, an 8 ounce cup has an ORAC rating of 4874.4 ?mole TE. If that’s true, it has more antioxidants than “two servings of blueberries.” And that makes perfect sense. Cacao is full of polyphenols, and polyphenols come with all sorts of health benefits. If those polyphenols shine through in the brewed Choffy, I’m all for it. I don’t see why they wouldn’t, especially seeing as how the application of hot water to another type of ground up bean – the coffee bean – extracts plenty of polyphenols with plenty of health effects. What it doesn’t have is the considerable caffeine content of coffee (it’s got a tiny amount), but it does have theobromine, a methylxanthine. Caffeine is another methylxanthine. But while caffeine raises blood pressure in the short term, theobromine lowers it. Theobromine, on the other hand, lead to “decreased calmness,” while caffeine increased alertness and contentedness. Some people report having severe cases of “the jitters” after dark chocolate; others report severe cases of “the bliss” after chocolate. I’m one of the latter group, so I’d probably do well on Choffy. Oh, and that same study found that combining caffeine and theobromine gave subjects the improved mood without the increased blood pressure, which makes me wonder what good things would happen if you brewed Choffy with coffee. Verdict: Primal; after all, didn’t I tell you that you should eat and drink high-cacao chocolate? Rice Noodles One of my secret pleasures is a really good bowl of Vietnamese pho. I don’t eat it very often – usually whenever I happen to be in Orange County near Little Saigon – and I’ll more often than not leave a good number of noodles in the otherwise empty bowl when I’m done, but I find it difficult to pass up a good bowl of real bone broth, Thai basil, and odd bits of beef like tripe, tendon, and fatty brisket just because it comes with some rice noodles. I’ve gone over why I don’t think rice is particularly problematic when compared to other grains before, and that reasoning stands with rice noodles. I would urge the consumption of white rice noodles over brown rice noodles based on personal experience. Whenever I’ve had the “pleasure” of eating brown rice pasta, I feel somewhat unwell afterwards. Maybe it’s the increased bran. Maybe it’s the weird texture. Maybe it’s the added phytic acid. Also, research indicates that owing to their inherent slurpability, noodles are subject to far less mastication than whole grain rice. This disparity in mastication is inadvertent on our parts, by design on noodle makers’ parts. Noodles are basically meant to slide right down the throat, nary a gnashing tooth in sight. This makes it easier to shovel in more calories, of course, but not just because you’re eating faster. Your satiety hormones are actually regulated by how much you chew your food, and a study showed that by not chewing your food sufficiently, your ghrelin levels (which make you hungry) stay higher and you eat more food. When you chew each bite 40 times, ghrelin levels drop. Make sure your white rice noodles are made with just rice. Some places add wheat flour. Verdict: Not Primal, but if you’re eating rice, rice noodles are the same thing (and they often come with delicious bone broth). “Gluten-Free” Real Sourdough Bread Awhile back, I mentioned the legend of Bezian, the man with the sourdough bread that gluten-intolerants and celiacs alike could apparently tolerate. He operates out of LA and sells his wares at the Santa Monica farmers market, so I figured I’d pay a visit and give the stuff a shot. I’m not celiac, and I can get away with the odd bite of bread at a restaurant or the very occasional beer, but I get very distinct, very noticeable effects from eating a significant portion of wheat. Diving into an actual loaf of bread would surely elicit a few symptoms. So I got a small loaf of the “most fermented” bread he had. It was maybe five bucks and had been fermented for almost a month, according to Bezian. I got home, toasted up a slice, spread some butter on it, and had a bite. It was good bread, that was for sure, sour and chewy and dense (the butter didn’t hurt, either). I had another slice, plus a few hard boiled eggs and a small green salad, just to make a meal of it. Then, I waited. Usually, thirty minutes or so post-wheat, I’ll want to use the bathroom. I’ll sometimes feel a bit spacey, as if I’ve been drugged (not in a good way, either). This didn’t happen. Playing lab rat for the sake of this post, I proceeded to eat the rest of it over the course of a few more days with my family, and no one had anything unpleasant to report. All good then? Not quite. We know that the right fermentation conditions can produce a bread that is technically gluten-free, but those were tightly controlled lab conditions that most bakers simply don’t have. I know that actual bread makers (like Bezian) can produce bread that I don’t obviously react to and which may be tolerated by celiacs, but then again, I’m not a celiac and there’s all sorts of other damage that could be occurring underneath the hood, unbeknownst to me (many people sensitive to gluten are asymptomatic). If you “have” to eat bread, this kind of sourdough is the best you can probably get. But really? It’s the best you probably can’t get, not unless you’re willing to fly out to LA and buy it from Bezian, or maybe unless you figure out the specific strains of yeast used by the Italian authors of the fermentation study to degrade the gluten so you can make it yourself. Sure, there’s also the chance that someone else is doing bread the right way, but you have to find them, and in this day and age of real foodiesm, I don’t think someone making real bread that celiacs can eat would go unnoticed. Or, you know, you could just eat everything else that doesn’t seem to cause us problems – like plants and animals. All that said, curious Primal Angelenos could always check out Bezian’s stand themselves; I’d be interested to see their responses. Verdict: Not Primal, but it’s definitely the best bread you can do and I’d wager that it’s less harmful than regular bread. Marmite At first, I was going to write this one off. I mean, as an American I don’t know a whole lot about Marmite, but I was vaguely aware of it as a disgusting, overly processed brown paste that doubles as food. Since Marmite is pretty popular and I received a good number of questions about it and I trust my readers, I thought I’d take a closer look. Marmite is made from brewer’s yeast, which is what it sounds like (the yeast used to make beer, Saccharomyces cerevisiae), plus salt and various vegetable and spice extracts. Brewer’s yeast contains naturally occurring B-vitamins, which make Marmite a pretty nutrient-dense food, but nowadays the naturally-occurring folate (folate was actually discovered through Marmite), riboflavin, and other B-vitamins are supplemented with fortified versions. They also add B12, which does not naturally occur in brewer’s yeast. And although it’s processed, that doesn’t necessarily make it harmful. You might make an argument for the addition of fortified synthetic vitamins being an issue – Chris Kresser certainly would in regards to folic acid. If that’s the case for you, too, you could always try making your own marmite. And the UK version’s gluten-free; the Australian and New Zealand versions may not be. Verdict: Primal limbo. It doesn’t seem all that offensive, but I’m not sure what you’re gonna eat it on if not bread and the synthetic vitamins are potentially troublesome. I guess you just had to be there (in Britain/Australia/New Zealand as a kid, that is) to get it. That’s it for today, guys. Keep the questionable foods coming and I’ll keep on answering them as best I can. Thanks for reading! Grab a Copy of The Primal Blueprint 21-Day Total Body Transformation and Start Getting Primal Today! Post navigation If you'd like to add an avatar to all of your comments click here! |
The Google faithful will converge this weekthousands of themat San Francisco's Moscone Center to dive deep into the guts of the search giant's myriad services. Sprinkled throughout the two-day blockbuster event will surely be some very important announcements (watch those keynotes closely) plus product and technology introductions. Here is some of what I expect. Google TV No discussion of what Google has up its sleeves is complete without a lengthy discussion about the fate of Google's converged TV and Web technology. Logitech, Sony and others have bought into itbig time. But consumers aren't buying and it's clear that Google has yet to arrive at a winning formula. I have an Apple TV device at home and I can guarantee you that at least one key ingredient is simplicity. No external keyboard, no large, hoary box, nothing above $150 dollars. That, for the most part, does not describe the current Google TV. Apple TV also has a super-easyif you're an iTunes/AppStore memberway of purchasing new content. Google's focus on Web-based content and letting everyone handle commerce in their own way is not helping Google TV or any of its partners. I expect Google to introduce a significant update to the Google TV platform. One that will shrink the hardware, swap out components, and introduce a wholly new commerce strategy. Chrome OS I've been using the Google Chrome Cr-48 laptop for a while and it's definitely not the best representation of what this new operating system could be. Part of the problem is the hardware. The laptop is nothing to look at, has a bunch of semi-functional USB ports, and the Wi-Fi chip is sub-par. I think the operating system is promising, though it looks so much like the Chrome Web browser that even I have trouble taking it seriously. This Google I/O should mark a turning point for the nascent OS. The hardware side is going to be a bit more confusing. I've heard whispers about a Chrome OS tablet, but that makes no sense to me. Google's tablet bet is with Android and Honeycomb. Perhaps we'll see some name-brand laptops and desktops running the Chrome OS. That would be kind of exciting. It would be a victory for Google and, for those that understand what's at the heart of all this, Linux. Search Google re-named its search team "Knowledge" and it got me thinking that perhaps Google will use Google I/O as a launch platform for some important changes in its search algorithm and interface. What if the familiar Google search interface changes? Unlikely, but its search results could. They have before. Android Time for a deep dive on "Ice Cream." It supposed to be a blend of Android 2.3 and Android 3.0: the tablet-friendly "Honeycomb." I'm just hoping that it clears up the Android interface confusion between phones that look like tiny tablets and tablets that are simply larger versions of the phones. Consumers want them to work the same way and this OS update could make that possible by somehow delivering a new Android with a wholly scalable interface (which is more or less what Apple has with iOS). Commerce Google I/O has a whole track devoted to commerce and, as I see it, nothing could be more important for Google in its quest to stand toe-to-toe with Microsoft on the desktop and laptop side and Apple in the mobile space. Google will walk developers through everything from Google Checkout to in-app payments and a solution for paywalls. Again, this all speaks to Google's efforts to provide a comprehensive suite of solutions to all partnerspartners who are in this business to make money. Chrome Web Browser Looking at the Google I/O schedule, I realized the Google has a problem that it needs to solve in a hurry: helping consumers differentiate between the Chrome browser and the Chrome OS. Google may think it's a good thing that they share the same name, but I don't. Android has a defined identity and part of it is the name. Chrome OS could use some of the same clarity that would come from a new label. I suggest "G-OS." Social Google has more information about more people than any other online service in the world. Read up on Google Social Circle and you'll see what I mean. Google wants to leverage all that to make the most comprehensive social network ever, but that doesn't mean it'll introduce anything at Google I/O. Google's been burned by an overenthusiastic reaction to the muddled Wave and a general ignorance of Buzzwhich a surprisingly large number of people do use. Google's taking small steps into social like +1. Eventually it'll knit all this together into somethingbut I don't know what and I don't know when. I don't think we'll hear much of anything about it at Google I/O. Google Music Google will follow Amazon and beat Apple to market with its own cloud-based music service. Leaked images of the rumored Google Android Music are all over the Web, though no one knows for certain if they're real. The service purports to offer a mix of cloud and local music libraries and should have enough smarts to stream freely on Wi-Fi, but sip carefully on data networks, where costs for consumers could skyrocket. Launching this platform for Android devices would seem like a no-brainerand Google I/O may be the perfect stage since developers will quickly imagine other opportunities in Google's cloud-based offerings. The fly in the ointment, though, could be record companies. If they haven't already lined up to serve waves of stream-ready music to Google, Google Music may not be quite ready for its close-up this week. There'll be other highlights and sidelights, like a chat on "Cloud Robotics," which sounds oxymoronic to me, and a raft of fireside chats on key Google technologies where we may learn some of the more interesting stuff. Get on Lance Ulanoff's RSS Feed. Follow me on Twitter! http://twitter.com/LanceUlanoff More Lance Ulanoff: Will HP Ever Make a Comeback? Ebook Pricing War Wages On Microsoft Screws Up Windows 8 Stalking by Any Other Name is Still Stalking Cybersecurity and False Hope more For the top stories in tech, follow us on Twitter at @PCMag. |
Expand Groups of miners in the diamond fields in Marange in 2006. When the scramble peaked in October 2008, more than 35,000 people, including children and women, were either mining or buying diamonds in Marange. © 2006 Associated Press (Johannesburg) - The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, scheduled to meet in Swakopmund, Namibia, from November 2 to 5, 2009, should immediately suspend Zimbabwe for continuing human rights abuses and widespread smuggling in the Marange diamond fields, Human Rights Watch said today. The government of Zimbabwe has not complied with any of the recommendations put forward in July by a review mission of the group, an international body that governs the global diamond industry. Human Rights Watch researchers carried out follow-up investigations from October 12 to 23, establishing that elements of the Zimbabwean Defence Forces have consolidated their presence in the diamond fields and that they are abusing members of the local community and engaging in widespread diamond smuggling. On June 26, Human Rights Watch published "Diamonds in the Rough," a detailed report on human rights violations associated with illicit diamond mining at Marange. "Zimbabwe has had more than enough time to put a halt to the human rights abuses and smuggling at Marange," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead, it has sent more troops to the area, apparently trying to put a halt to independent access and scrutiny." In their latest investigation in Zimbabwe, Human Rights Watch researchers were able to interview 23 people directly linked to the Marange diamond fields and to confirm the following abuses, which put Zimbabwe in violation of the minimum standards required for membership in the Kimberley Process: The Zimbabwean army uses syndicates of local miners to extract diamonds, often using forced labor, including children. On September 17, a soldier shot and killed a 19-year-old member of one syndicate. The soldier stated, in the presence of witnesses, that he had shot the man for hiding a raw diamond instead of handing it over to the soldier. Local miners provided information that soldiers have begun to recruit people from outside Marange to join army-run diamond mining syndicates. Smuggling of Marange diamonds has intensified. Scores of buyers and middlemen openly trade in Marange diamonds in the small Mozambique town of Vila de Manica, 20 miles from Mutare. The ownership of the Marange diamond fields is in dispute. The mines minister, the police commissioner, and the government-owned company, Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC), have all failed to comply with a High Court order issued by Judge Charles Hungwe on September 28, to restore prospecting and diamond mining rights in the diamond fields to the previous owner, African Consolidated Resources (Private) Limited (ACR). The judge also directed ZMDC to cease prospecting and diamond-mining activities in the area that the court says belongs to ACR, a private company. Although the High Court ordered the police to cease interfering with ACR's prospecting and mining activities, both the police and the army continue to bar it from access to the diamond fields. Zimbabwe's minister of mines has appealed the High Court Order, and ZMDC continues to carry out prospecting and mining operations at Marange. On October 6, to comply with a demand by Kimberley Process members, President Robert Mugabe announced that the government had selected two new private-sector investors to take over mining in Marange. However, the process of selection has been shrouded in secrecy and the investors' identities remain unknown. The Kimberley Process rules require participants to ensure that all diamond mines are licensed and that only licensed mines extract diamonds. In its June 26 report, Human Rights Watch documented how Zimbabwe's army, which remains under the control of Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), the former ruling party, had committed horrific abuses against miners and local residents, including killings, beatings, and torture. The report also revealed the army's policy of rotating military units into the diamond fields for roughly two-month periods. This policy was designed to maintain the loyalty of senior military and other officials to ZANU-PF by giving them illicit access to Zimbabwe's mineral wealth at a time of national economic and political crisis. Human Rights Watch found new evidence of rotation of army units into Marange. At the beginning of October, the Harare-based special mechanized brigade was deployed, replacing the Kwekwe-based fifth brigade. The Kimberley Process sent a review mission to Marange in late June to assess Zimbabwe's compliance with the organization's standards, which require diamonds to be lawfully mined, documented, and exported by participant countries. On July 4, local and international media reported that the review mission had found Zimbabwe to be in violation of these standards. The media reports said that the review mission urged the government to take corrective action by July 20 or face suspension. The government of Zimbabwe has since ignored the apparent calls by the review mission to remove military units from Marange, end human rights violations and smuggling, and hold accountable those responsible for abuses. "Recommendations for Zimbabwe to withdraw from Kimberley voluntarily or for Kimberley to provide technical and other assistance without full suspension will not be effective." Gagnon said. "Zimbabwe has already reneged on a commitment to withdraw the army from Marange. Clearly it will only be moved to make changes under the full force of suspension." Human Rights Watch urges the Kimberley member states at their plenary session in Swakopmund to suspend Zimbabwe immediately from exporting diamonds and from participation in the Kimberley Process until it fully complies with the following: Immediately end all human rights abuses in the Marange diamond fields, including killings, beatings, forced labor, child labor, and torture. Remove the army from Marange district, and demilitarize and depoliticize Zimbabwe's diamond industry. Restore security responsibilities in Marange to the police, but ensure that they abide by accepted international law enforcement standards and respect the rule of law. Open an impartial and independent investigation into alleged human rights abuses linked to the illicit extraction of Marange diamonds, their smuggling, and the associated culture of official corruption. Hold accountable all civilians, soldiers and police implicated in these abuses, irrespective of seniority. Urgently resolve the outstanding legal questions of control and title to the Marange diamond fields in compliance with the relevant High Court Order. Lack of clarity around control and title has fostered an environment conducive to corruption and smuggling. Ensure that, in the event that relocation of the community around the diamond fields is found to be necessary, the relocation fully complies with national and international human rights standards. Human Rights Watch believes that the suspension of Zimbabwe and a ban on Marange diamonds are critical to the credibility of the Kimberley Process and the diamond industry. The Kimberly Process, established to end the trade of "conflict diamonds," should fulfill its commitment to consumers that the stones they purchase have not been mined in situations of grave human rights abuse. In this context, Human Rights Watch again calls on the Kimberley Process to set up a local monitoring mechanism comprising independent local civil society organizations and Marange community leaders, who could freely monitor and verify the Zimbabwe government's compliance with the Kimberley Process review mission's recommendations. Key Kimberley Process Members The final decision on the suspension of Zimbabwe rests with Kimberley Process members, who work on the basis of consensus. When consensus is impossible to reach, the chair, Namibia, is mandated to carry out consultations. To reach consensus, it is essential for the following key countries to support fully the suspension of Zimbabwe: Namibia: As current chair of the Kimberley Process, Namibia presides over all plenary proceedings and, in the event that consensus cannot be reached, is mandated to conduct consultations on the way forward. Namibia is also a major regional diamond producer, and its ruling party, SWAPO, has long had close links with Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF. India: Some of the world's largest rough diamond cutting and polishing centers are found in India. India chairs the Kimberley committee on participation, which is responsible for making recommendations regarding Zimbabwe's future participation. Human Rights Watch investigations found that raw Marange diamonds are being channeled to India for polishing. This raises the risk that Marange diamonds could taint the reputation of India's domestic industry if no action is taken. South Africa: Human Rights Watch investigations found that South Africa is one of the main destinations of Marange diamonds, and that they are also smuggled there via Mozambique. Along with the region's other main diamond producers, Botswana and Namibia, South Africa will find its market reputation undermined if it blocks Kimberley action on Zimbabwe and permits the continued entry of Marange diamonds. Belgium: Home to a huge diamond sorting and polishing industry, Belgium is another notable destination for raw Marange diamonds. Belgium's position within the organization is likely to have great influence on the rest of the European Union. Its reputation could suffer if it continues to handle tainted Zimbabwe stones. Israel: As the next chair of the Kimberley Process, taking over from Namibia in November, Israel will face scrutiny for its position on Zimbabwe's suspension at the November meeting. |
New recruits with depression must be free of them for two years prior to joining, although the Police say there may be exceptions on a case-by-case basis. Police say new recruits on anti-depressants can't join the police force, a practice the Mental Health Foundation terms discriminatory and a top psychiatrist says promotes harmful myths. Marty Fox, national manager of Wellness & Safety for police, confirmed the recruitment policy saying new recruits needed to be both medication and symptom free for a "period of two years before we will consider their medical suitability". He acknowledged this included anti-depressants. "This is on entry so does not apply to existing staff." SUPPLIED Dr Mark Lawrence says the policy perpetuates the myth people with mental illness are violent. Shaun Robinson, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said he wanted police to re-examine the policy. READ MORE: * 'NZ is too indifferent about depression' * Depression among Kiwi students a 'crisis' * Dads are prone to postnatal depression: study * How to tell if you're depressed or just feeling sad "This requirement is likely to deter anyone thinking of joining the police from asking for, and receiving medical help for, mental health issues out of fear it will jeopardise their career," Robinson said. "'That's the way it's always been done' is not a good enough reason to continue contributing to the stigma that exists around mental illness." SUPPLIED Shaun Robinson, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, wants police to re-examine the policy. Dr Mark Lawrence, chairman of Tu Te Akaaka Roa, the New Zealand body of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, said historic associations between mental illness and violence could be to blame for the policy, an association he said was unfair given that violent acts from people with mental health issues were "relatively uncommon". "If you have someone that's in a stable condition on an SSRI [anti-depressant] and they want to go into the police force, then essentially what the police are saying is that 'well, for you to enter our club you need to stop your anti-depressant'," Lawrence said. "It perpetuates the mythology that we need to be concerned and worried about people that have mental health concerns." Fox said police would consider applicants who didn't meet medical requirements on a case-by-case basis. A similar policy appears to be in place in the Queensland Police force with a requirement that recruits must show no signs of mental illness after being off medication for at least two years. One person who applied to join the New Zealand Police force claimed to have presented police with letters of support from both a psychiatrist and a GP, but was told the rule was a blanket ban. Lawrence was not aware of any clinical research that would support the two-year stand-down period, and said assessments at police college would "tease out those that aren't going to do well irrespective of whether they're on antidepressants or not". "You've got a primary GP who knows the person a lot better, you've got a specialist that's given an opinion that they don't see any particular concern. I think there should be some flexibility in the system," Lawrence said. "Having a blanket rule will discriminate against people." Lawrence acknowledged there were restrictions on commercial pilots using anti-depressants but said there was no similar requirement for gun ownership or many other high-stress occupations. "Before you can become a doctor, which is an important function and role, there's no policy that says you need to be off medication for two years." Robinson said the police did "great work" supporting people experiencing mental distress. "We would hope that they would be prioritising including people with lived experience into their workforce to ensure their work in this area continues to improve." |
Kamen Rider: Battride War Genesis first-print copies include Takeshi Hongo disguised as Shocker Combatman PlayStation 4, PS3, and PS Vita game due out in Japan on February 25. First-print copies of Kamen Rider: Battride War Genesis in Japan will include a product code to download Takeshi Hongo disguised as one of the Shocker Combatmen as a playable character, and the additional mission “Shocker Base Infiltration Operation,” Bandai Namco announced. Regular Takeshi Hongo will also be playable in the game. Over at the official website, Bandai Namco released a new gameplay video showcasing his transformation into Kamen Rider 1. Watch it here. Kamen Rider: Battride War Genesis is due out for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PS Vita in Japan on February 25. View a new set of screenshots at the gallery. Thanks, Games Talk. |
There’s an old joke that you hear in the pit lane a lot and it goes something like this: “How do you make a small fortune in racing? Well, it’s easy–you start with a large one.” Like a lot of things in life, we laugh because it's funny and we laugh because it's true. This is a country where there is a lot of easy money to be made in the so-called “FIRE” business, consisting of finance, insurance, and real estate. There isn’t any easy money to be made in racing. This is particularly true when it comes to the business of racing instruction. Yet people keep trying, because when you ask eight-year-olds what they wants to be when they grow up, “race car driver” is at the top of the list and “stockbroker” doesn’t even make the cut. The latest victim of that disconnect between romance and finance: The Skip Barber Racing School, which has filed for bankruptcy. This isn’t the first time the firm has faced major financial trouble. In 1999, the school’s founder, Skip himself, sold 80 percent of the equity to a venture capital firm. In 2002, the company went out of business and the assets were transferred to a new business entity. Things deteriorated from there and at one point there was an active lawsuit between Mr. Barber and the school that still bore his name. Editor's Note: This article was originally published on May 24, 2017, when the future of Skip Barber Racing School was uncertain. Since then, the school has reopened under new management. We sampled the new Skip Barber's beginner, intermediate, and advanced racing schools in July 2018; you can read about our experience here. According to various reports, over the course of the past few years the school has run up some serious debts to many of the racetracks at which it operates. Rumors have spread of vendors and employees that have gone long periods of time without being paid. A spate of canceled events last year led to some extremely unpleasant customer feedback and a bit of a public-relations crisis. Although the school’s bankruptcy filing is intended to permit reorganization and continued operations, one could easily be forgiven for thinking that this is, indeed, the white-flag lap for one of racing’s most iconic and venerated schools. Jack Baruth That would be a shame, because the methods and techniques used by Skip Barber still work. Last year, my wife took three courses from SBRS: The one-day school at Laguna Seca, the SCCA license school at NCM Motorsports Park, and the follow-up Advanced Racing school at the same location. I hadn’t had any interactions with the school since I took two podiums at Laguna Seca in its West Coast MX-5 series back in 2009, but from what I could see, virtually nothing had changed in the seven years between my race and my wife’s race school. In an era of professional instruction where complex in-car telemetry, paddle-shift transmissions, and Internet-centric coaching techniques are now the rule, Skip Barber’s old-school curriculum is a defiant exception. The open-wheel cars are older than most of the people who wind up sitting in them, and they are powered by the same SOHC two-liter used in the 1994 Plymouth Neon. The NC-generation Mazda MX-5s that were brand-new at my Laguna Seca race are now harlequin hobgoblins of mismatched primer-painted panels and sun-faded interiors worn through to the shiny metal beneath. The mechanics are always busy and it’s rare for all of the cars to make it through an entire day’s worth of instruction. At many of the modern racing schools, like Lucas Oil’s traveling open-wheel operation or EXR’s Vegas-based spec-racer facility, you can watch your own in-car footage and see your data traces overlaid with that of your favorite pro racer or coach. Skip Barber does things differently. After all these years, SBRS still put coaches in the corner stations to watch what you do and then call you to the pitlane for corrective behavior. There’s no video, no data. If a club racer were to fall asleep beneath a tree at Lime Rock back in 1977 and wake up in the middle of a school session today, he would think he’d only dozed through the afternoon. The whole world has changed around a program that, for reasons of poverty or stubbornness, refuses to recognize the fact. It’s no wonder the school is having trouble attracting students—there’s no glamour to the process, and we live in an era where Instagram-ready glam is now a requirement. John Lamm Yet for drivers like my wife, the SBRS program is perfect just the way it is. She didn’t want to look at a data trace for gaps; she wanted detailed personal feedback from coaches who have seen a hundred thousand laps pass before their experiences eyes. She appreciated the fact that she got immediate feedback in the pitlane and that her opportunities for improvement were presented as digestible chunks rather than as hyper-detailed observations on throttle application. She even liked the mandatory corner-station trips, standing out on the middle of a field watching her fellow students spin off, flub around, and sometimes get it just right. After she completed six days with Skip Barber, I took her to a very advanced school where they showed her complete video analysis of throttle and brake and g-level and track diagrams and whatnot. She understood what they were trying to tell her, and she progressed accordingly, but that evening at dinner she said, “I miss having Ray and the other guys just watching what I was doing and telling me what to fix right then.” When she told me about the bankruptcy news, she was frantic with concern for the instructors and staff. They’d become real people to her, not just data to be sifted. There is room for a revitalized Skip Barber that incorporates some of the modern gingerbread into the tried-and-true curriculum. It wouldn’t hurt to get some new cars, too, lest it become too obviously a vintage racing school. All of that would cost a lot of money on top of the money that is already owed to everyone. It seems unlikely. All we can do is hope. Perhaps one of the FIRE-fueled millionaires out there will take a personal interest in the school, its history, and the opportunities that still lie ahead. Perhaps there is still someone out there who can hear their inner eight-year-old. Someone who, for whatever reason, is still willing to make a small fortune in racing. Born in Brooklyn but banished to Ohio, Jack Baruth has won races on four different kinds of bicycles and in seven different kinds of cars. Everything he writes should probably come with a trigger warning. His column, Avoidable Contact, runs twice a week. |
Developmental progress and interruptions in technological status quo of any time period in the music industry are two fundamental features which allow the musical mass market to grow and change by bringing fresh products and musical styles to consumers who then purchase them for the sake of entertainment purposes. Throughout all of the history of commercial pop music, technological change has introduced various media in which people are exposed to new music including radio, television and the Internet. Regarding consumer availability of hard copy music, various forms of disc products have enjoyed the greatest longevity, spanning nearly a century of continued popularity. These include 78s, 45s, vinyl albums, CDs and the current upsurge in new music available via vinyl albums, and with few notable exceptions like cassette tapes or mp3 digital files, discs have been the standard choice for consumers and record companies alike. But for a format like the disc to enjoy success, it must first grow in popularity and during the early twentieth century, this undertaking would require the gargantuan task of overtaking the other popular format of the time, the wax cylinder, a format which consumers associated with the leading brand names Thomas A. Edison and his Phonograph. In the decade between 1903 and 1913, the disc record and the machines that play them grew in popularity to outpace the wax cylinder and Phonograph machines in sales. There are a number of ways in which the disc could have proven more popular with consumers, including a unified method of playback, expanded consumer choices for titles of smaller record companies, and more aesthetically pleasing machines. Although technologically stagnated once the disc had been standardized, talking machines had become more appealing for domestic use, including the feature that the flat disc was convenient for storage in the home. Standard 10-inch records could hold longer songs, discs contained a song per side after all, and had a potential total of eight minutes worth of music per record, compared to Edison cylinders, which held only a single song at around two minutes. But this was the extent of the technological development of disc machines and the two larger firms dealing in discs, Victor and Columbia, actively curbed development of smaller disc machine companies through the use of patent litigation. Despite the technological plateau of the disc format, one machine, the hornless Victor Victrola released by a company exclusively producing disc, would capture the consumers’ attention and consequently the market for 78rpm disc records blossomed to overtake the popularity of wax cylinder records. The rise in the disc market and consumer embrace of the Victrola had much to do with the consumer change in preferences from cylinder Phonograph to disc record. By 1904, the status of recorded music as a form of home entertainment was still in its infancy; although sales in talking machines and records were increasing during this time, domestic sales were still relatively small. Edison’s Phonograph, a machine which produced sound from a wax cylinder, had been in the public consciousness as a mass-produced form of musical entertainment for nearly fifteen years, but the Gramophone record was still relatively new to the market, with Victor established in 1901 and Columbia’s release of the disc Graphophone that same year.[1] Emile Berliner, inventor of the first disc player, the Gramophone, envisioned a machine for purely entertaining purposes only, not for business in ways that Edison thought the Phonograph would be useful, and so the invention of the disc itself was intended for mass consumer purchase for entertainment.[2] Victor’s Gramophone had won tremendous critical success even from the company’s infancy, including notable prizes in both the 1901 World’s Fair in Buffalo and the 1904 World’s Fair in St Louis.[3] As well, during the first few years of the 1900s, talking machine companies were advertising in magazines and catalogues of departments stores in order to put a machine in every household, including releasing low-cost basic machines and inexpensive molded discs and cylinders. During the early twentieth century, Columbia and Victor cross-licensed their machine components in and made the disc talking machine business more efficient by standardizing playback speed, unifying styli and repeater functions and using the lateral cut process[4] for producing records, bucking the monopolistic and litigious business climate that had preoccupied the talking machine market during the 1890s. But most of the music sales during this era were still in cylinders[5] and flat disc record only made up a quarter of record sales.[6] While a decade later the disc would become a dominant force in the music industry, in 1904, it was only a burgeoning sector of the entertainment market which had been dominated for a long time by the wax cylinder. In 1903, the major disc companies would begin to experiment with new product lines for records for costumers. With the speed of the disc standardized with a lateral recording and playback method, records became interchangeable between machines.[7] For example, a Victor Record could be played on a Columbia Graphophone and vice versa. This would lead to an ambivalence in the disc market; since consumers could purchase one machine, but then purchase another company’s records, sales of which supplemented machine companies’ profits. Record companies instead began to entice consumers with new, longer play records, including discs which contained songs on both sides in an era when records typically had been one-sided. Victor was the first to introduce its 14-inch “Deluxe Special” record in 1903 and a more expensive “Red Seal” line of classical recordings, along with exclusive recording contract with famous opera tenor Enrico Caruso, who became a megastar with Victor.[8] Larger Victor Records could hold around five minutes of music per side compared to three minutes of the standard 10-inch record or the two-minute wax cylinders issued by Columbia or Edison.[9] Such records did not require the purchase of a new machine for updated technology, which was a common occurrence of Edison machines when new cylinder technology changed.[10] Columbia reacted by issuing their own “Classical Opera” line of “serious music” records and its own larger discs. While the Red Seal and Classical Opera brands were successful in selling discs and machines for companies, the longer 14-inch records proved too fragile and both Victor and Columbia discontinued them the same year, eventually issuing 12-inch discs instead.[11] This small addition of differing length records, even if the longest records proved troublesome with fragility, would begin a decade of change in disc machines and consumers’ growing acceptance of them. While Victor and Columbia were industry leaders in both disc machines and recordings, more change would come not with the technological aspect of the industry, but rather in the expanding consumer choice in the disc market. With a standardized playback method, new and smaller record companies began recording and molding their own records, including label brands like Sun, Imperial, Grey Gull, Clear Tone, Oxford and International Records, among many other regional record labels which joined Victor and Columbia in the disc market.[12] Likewise, smaller machine companies came into existence, some of which used licensed Victor or Columbia components in their machines. The Standard Talking Machine Company of Chicago and Duplex Phonograph Company, for example, used Columbia parts in their machines direct from the manufacturer.[13] However, the 78rpm format that had become an industry standard lead to some difficulty with companies that wanted consumers to exclusively purchase their companies’ records and machines. The only conceivable way for record companies to monopolize consumer loyalty was to vary the spindle size of the machine and pair it uniquely with the hole in the record. For example, Aretino Records had a three-inch diameter hole in their records for play on exclusively Chicago Talking Machine’s line of Aretino Machines.[14] But enterprising consumers could purchase or fashion their own lugs to fit the various spindle sizes of such machines and consequently fit odd-sized records to standard machines.[15] Such a growing diversity in the disc talking machine shows that there was opportunity for smaller firms to start up businesses in the relative newness of the disc format. But for Victor and Columbia, such intrusion into the disc machine market was unwanted to say the least and their solution to curb the growing diversity in disc format from other companies included litigation in court over their patents and suing smaller firms out of existence, leading to contraction of the disc market by 1910. Patent lawsuits were common during the 1890s and helped to create the first three big three record companies of the era. But in the 1900s, such lawsuits between disc firms were used to not only protect the patents of Victor and Columbia, but also to continue their dominance in the music market. Ohio Talking Machine, producer of the Leeds Talkophone, were sued over patent infringement by Victor for its mechanical feed apparatus in 1909. While some companies like Standard Talking Machine took the safe route by purchasing their components directly from Victor and Columbia, other firms were not as diligent. The manufacturing parts firm Hawthorne and Shelbe of Chicago, which supplied parts for many smaller companies such as Busy Bee, Harmony and Aretino, were sued out of existence by Columbia in 1909, consequently the smaller firms either selected parts from Columbia, Victor or simply went out of business. Even though Duplex Phonograph outsourced mechanical parts from Columbia, Victor successfully sued in 1909 and Duplex ceased production in 1910.[16] Although disc expansion was happening by the number of smaller firms, the two larger firms used litigation to maintain the status quo of market domination and consequently stopped the growth of smaller companies and advancement of the technology of the disc player. Even though many smaller firms came into existence and the market for machines was growing, there was remarkably little change in the technology of the disc record and the machines which played it. Besides the development of the twelve-inch and double-sided records, technology in sound production had stagnated by 1906, there were no new technological developments. But talking machine companies by 1906 were taking a different approach in machine marketing, by addressing the aesthetics of the machines and how they fit within the domestic surroundings of their potential customers. Growing numbers of consumers were looking for machines which were more pleasing to the eye and an aesthetic movement in talking machines followed. Earlier in the decade, cases had become less utilitarian and talking machines and companies began to issue more decorative cases, the more expensive of which had intricate carved detailing and solid mahogany housings.[17] A marked feature of aesthetic change, not only in disc machines, but in all talking machines, was the development of the iconic large, curved Morning Glory-shaped horn, which replaced an older-style straight sided, brass horn common in the early twentieth century. Such horns were made decorative with hand painted decorations which were “the handsomest and most ornamental horns ever made for talking machines” according to one advertisement.[18] Consumers also needed storage space and companies consequently began producing albums and decorative cabinets to hold growing collection of records. Flat discs had an advantage over cylinders in storage, since records could be stored in book-form which fit neatly on shelves, while cylinders required drawers for storage. All of these features, none of which had to do much with musical play rather than the ways in which the product fit within people’s domestic lives, helped to progress the advantages of the disc format, despite the technological stagnation which had become part of the talking machines business in the mid-1900s. One machine however, the Victor Victrola, a disc-playing cabinet machine which lacked a horn, would not only combine all of a consumers needs for aesthetic tastes and storage, but also bring fresh technology and become a popular culture phenomenon by 1913. Introduced in 1906, the Victrola was initially a high-end machine that looked like nothing else on the market. It was a large cabinet whose horn was folded into the body of the all-wood machine and featured large amounts of storage space for up to ten albums.[19] The sound came out of an internal horn rather that the decorative Morning Glory horns which had gained popularity that year. When closed, the Victrola looked like any other wood piece of utilitarian furniture, but when opened, it featured a hidden space from which sound escaped. While the immediate impact was quite small, after all, when it debuted, the Victrola had the price of $200 in 1906;[20] eventually, consumers had become enchanted with the idea of a machine which did not have a horn and the Victrola brand become popular. After all, a large decorative horn required regular dusting and its removal after the machine’s use could result in damage or even misplacement. When famous ballroom dancers Vernon and Irene Castle signed with Victor to advertise the Victrola by dancing in front of one in a promotional film,[21] talking machine companies consequently hurried to produce new, hornless machines including Columbia’s Grafanola and Edison’s Amberola.[22] Consumers had been delighted and confused about hornless machines and the Victrola brand, equating the brand named with any other machine companies’ products. Some consumers had inquired about the Victrola by contacting Edison, who had grown continually irritated with the confusion.[23] The Victrola line of products became the highest selling machines in the 1910s, and thereafter, sales in disc records consequently dramatically increased.[24] But there was one big problem with the Victrola and other hornless formats, and generally among other disc format machines; they reproduced music quite poorly compared with the cylinder format. And yet, the hornless machines had consumer appeal, attention and enjoyed sales growth. Consumers of disc products were essentially purchasing products which had inferior reproduction of sound comparatively speaking. There are a number of interpretations and opinions about the reasons for the popularity of the Victrola, despite the poorer sound quality. Greg Milner argues that a bank crisis in 1907 and 1908 depressed the talking machine market across all formats alike and that the public chose the fashionable Victrola, models of which had come down in price after the crisis had passed.[25] David Morton argues that the disc format, not accurately at reproducing sound and inexpensive machine and media was suited for popular music rather than “serious music” since popular music was “not artistic in nature and therefore not necessarily as demanding of technical excellence.”[26] But for whatever reason, consumer sentiment was with the disc and the machines which played them, even if this meant that customers were not getting the most authentic musical experience from their machines and records. Even though there was market constriction and technological stagnation during the 1900s, the disc format enjoyed growing success with machines like the Victrola even though offered much to be desired in the actual reproduction of sound and music. But by 1920, the disc format had taken over the music market. Columbia had abandoned its wax cylinder Graphophone in 1912, and Edison Phonograph, which was still marketing cylinders to rural consumers, had thrown all of their production and marketing resources into their own new disc format, the Edison Diamond Disc as late as 1915. But other companies were coming into prominence as well including Brunswick and Okeh records, both of which had come to challenge the market hegemony of Victor and Columbia in the later 1910s. Disc format continued success and growth during the 1920s, in fact the first million selling record, Vernon Dalhart’s “The Prisoner’s Song” from 1924, was recorded on Victor Records.[27] Other companies came about, throughout the 1920s, all of which preferred discs, leaving Edison as, not a leviathan monopoly in cylinders, but completely alone in changing times by 1920.[28] References Aldridge, B.L. The Victor Talking Machine Company. Camden, NJ: RCA Sales Corporation. 1964. The David Sarnoff Library. http://www.davidsarnoff.org/vtm.html. Fabrizio, Timothy C and George F. Paul. The Talking Machine: An Illustrated Compendium, 1877-1929. Atglen, PA. 1997. Klinger, Bill. “Cylinder Records: Significance, Production and Survival.” Association for Recorded Sound Collections, Library of Congress. 08 March 2007. http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/pdf/klinger.pdf. Milner, Greg. Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music. New York: Faber and Faber, Inc. 2009. Morton, David. Off the Record: the Technology and Culture of Sound Recording in America. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000. Morton Jr, David L. Sound Recording: The Story of a Technology. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press. 2004. Reiss, Eric L. The Compleat Talking Machine: A Collector’s Guide to Antique Phonographs. Chandler, AZ: Sonoran Publishing. 2007. Stross, Randall. The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World. New York: Crown Publishing Group. 2007. Taintor, Callie. “The Way the Music Died, Chronology: Technology and the Music Industry.” PBS, Frontline. Posted 27 May 2004, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/inside/cron.html. 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catalogue No 117: A Treasured Replica from the Archives of History. Ed. Joseph J. Schroeder Jr. Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1971. [1] B.L. Aldridge, The Victor Talking Machine Company, (Camden, NJ: RCA Sales Corporation, 1964), The David Sarnoff Library, http://www.davidsarnoff.org/vtm-chapter5.html. [2] David Morton, Off the Record: the Technology and Culture of Sound Recording in America, (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2000), 19. [3] David Morton, Sound Recording: The Story of a Technology, (Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004),39. [4] Lateral cut refers to the direction of the needle during recording and playback, which was from side to side. This differs from Edison’s vertical cut method, which imprinted sound on a cylinder using a hill and dale form of musical production. [5] Morton, Off the Record, 80. [6] Bill Klinger, “Cylinder Records: Significance, Production and Survival,” Association for Recorded Sound Collections, Library of Congress, 08 March 2007, http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/pdf/klinger.pdf (accessed 7 May 2014). [7] Randall Stross, The Wizard of Menlo Park: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World, (New York: Crown Publishers, 2007), 220. [8] Greg Milner, Perfecting Sound Forever: An Aural History of Recorded Music, (New York: Faber and Faber, 2009), 37. [9] ibid. [10] Timothy C. Fabrizio and George F. Paul, The Talking Machine: An Illustrated Compendium, 1877-1929, (Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing Co, 1997), 150. [11] Ibid, 81-82. [12] Fabrizio and Paul, 125 [13] Ibid, 126 [14] Eric L. Reiss, The Compleat Talking Machine: A Collector’s Guide to Antique Phonographs, (Chandler, AZ: Sonoran Publishing, 2007), 188. [15] Fabrizio and Paul, 133. [16] For a more detailed overview of the disc talking machine series of patent infringement lawsuits, see Fabrizio and Paul, 126. [17] B.L. Aldridge, The Victor Talking Machine Company, (Camden, NJ: RCA Sales Corporation, 1964), The David Sarnoff Library, http://www.davidsarnoff.org/vtm-chapter6.html. [18] 1908 Sears, Roebuck Catalogue No 117: A Treasured Replica from the Archives of History, ed. Joseph J. Schroeder Jr, (Northfield, IL: DBI Books, 1971), 201. [19] Fabrizio and Paul, 162. [20] Ibid, 156. [21] Stross, 226. [22] Fabrizio and Paul, 176 [23] Stross, 225. [24] Callie Taintor, “The Way the Music Died, Chronology: Technology and the Music Industry,” found on PBS, Frontline, posted 27 May 2004, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/music/inside/cron.html (accessed 7 May 2014). [25] Milner, 38. [26] Morton, Off the Record, 23-24. [27] Stross, 223. [28] Morton, Off the Record, 23. Advertisements |
As we did roughly a year ago (and as we will probably do every year around this time), we can add another data point to a set of reasonably standard model-data comparisons that have proven interesting over the years. First, here is the update of the graph showing the annual mean anomalies from the IPCC AR4 models plotted against the surface temperature records from the HadCRUT3v, NCDC and GISTEMP products (it really doesn’t matter which). Everything has been baselined to 1980-1999 (as in the 2007 IPCC report) and the envelope in grey encloses 95% of the model runs. The El Niño event that started off 2010 definitely gave last year a boost, despite the emerging La Niña towards the end of the year. An almost-record summer melt in the Arctic was also important (and probably key in explaining the difference between GISTEMP and the others). Checking up on our predictions from last year, we forecast that 2010 would be warmer than 2009 (because of the ENSO phase last January). Consistent with that, I predict that 2011 will not be quite as warm as 2010, but it will still rank easily amongst the top ten warmest years of the historical record. The comments on last year’s post (and responses) are worth reading before commenting on this post, and there are a number of points that shouldn’t need to be repeated again: Short term (15 years or less) trends in global temperature are not usefully predictable as a function of current forcings. This means you can’t use such short periods to ‘prove’ that global warming has or hasn’t stopped, or that we are really cooling despite this being the warmest decade in centuries. The AR4 model simulations are an ‘ensemble of opportunity’ and vary substantially among themselves with the forcings imposed, the magnitude of the internal variability and of course, the sensitivity. Thus while they do span a large range of possible situations, the average of these simulations is not ‘truth’. The model simulations use observed forcings up until 2000 (or 2003 in a couple of cases) and use a business-as-usual scenario subsequently (A1B). The models are not tuned to temperature trends pre-2000. Differences between the temperature anomaly products is related to: different selections of input data, different methods for assessing urban heating effects, and (most important) different methodologies for estimating temperatures in data-poor regions like the Arctic. GISTEMP assumes that the Arctic is warming as fast as the stations around the Arctic, while HadCRUT and NCDC assume the Arctic is warming as fast as the global mean. The former assumption is more in line with the sea ice results and independent measures from buoys and the reanalysis products. There is one upcoming development that is worth flagging. Long in development, the new Hadley Centre analysis of sea surface temperatures (HadISST3) will soon become available. This will contain additional newly-digitised data, better corrections for artifacts in the record (such as highlighted by Thompson et al. 2007), and corrections to more recent parts of the record because of better calibrations of some SST measuring devices. Once it is published, the historical HadCRUT global temperature anomalies will also be updated. GISTEMP uses HadISST for the pre-satellite era, and so long-term trends may be affected there too (though not the more recent changes shown above). The next figure is the comparison of the ocean heat content (OHC) changes in the models compared to the latest data from NODC. As before, I don’t have the post-2003 model output, but the comparison between the 3-monthly data (to the end of Sep) and annual data versus the model output is still useful. To include the data from the Lyman et al (2010) paper, I am baselining all curves to the period 1975-1989, and using the 1993-2003 period to match the observational data sources a little more consistently. I have linearly extended the ensemble mean model values for the post 2003 period (using a regression from 1993-2002) to get a rough sense of where those runs might have gone. Update (May 2010): The figure has been corrected for an error in the model data scaling. The original image can still be seen here. As can be seen the long term trends in the models match those in the data, but the short-term fluctuations are both noisy and imprecise. Looking now to the Arctic, here’s a 2010 update (courtesy of Marika Holland) showing the ongoing decrease in September sea ice extent compared to a selection of the AR4 models, again using the A1B scenario (following Stroeve et al, 2007): In this case, the match is not very good, and possibly getting worse, but unfortunately it appears that the models are not sensitive enough. Finally, we update the Hansen et al (1988) comparisons. As stated last year, the Scenario B in that paper is running a little high compared with the actual forcings growth (by about 10%) (and high compared to A1B), and the old GISS model had a climate sensitivity that was a little higher (4.2ºC for a doubling of CO2) than the best estimate (~3ºC). The trends for the period 1984 to 2010 (the 1984 date chosen because that is when these projections started), scenario B has a trend of 0.27+/-0.05ºC/dec (95% uncertainties, no correction for auto-correlation). For the GISTEMP and HadCRUT3, the trends are 0.19+/-0.05 and 0.18+/-0.04ºC/dec (note that the GISTEMP met-station index has 0.23+/-0.06ºC/dec and has 2010 as a clear record high). As before, it seems that the Hansen et al ‘B’ projection is likely running a little warm compared to the real world. Repeating the calculation from last year, assuming (again, a little recklessly) that the 27 yr trend scales linearly with the sensitivity and the forcing, we could use this mismatch to estimate a sensitivity for the real world. That would give us 4.2/(0.27*0.9) * 0.19=~ 3.3 ºC. And again, it’s interesting to note that the best estimate sensitivity deduced from this projection, is very close to what we think in any case. For reference, the trends in the AR4 models for the same period have a range 0.21+/-0.16 ºC/dec (95%). So to conclude, global warming continues. Did you really think it wouldn’t? |
CLOSE Mary Jo Pine, suicide prevention coordinator for the St. Cloud VA, talks about warning signs that someone might be experiencing a mental health crisis. Buy Photo Officials from the St. Cloud VA and their union counterparts will resume mediation sessions in March. (Photo: Times file photo)Buy Photo Twenty-two a day. Twenty a day. Even though the national statistics vary, far too many U.S. veterans are dying by suicide. Preventing those tragedies has taken on a new importance at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, along with improving access to mental health care services for veterans and their families. At a community mental health summit on Tuesday sponsored by the St. Cloud VA Health Care System, officials outlined how the VA is working to get veterans care they need as promptly as possible. But some advocates complained that too many veterans still face obstacles, from not meeting eligibility requirements to being saddled with medical bills from local hospitals. The St. Cloud VA provides mental health care in a variety of ways, from residential treatment for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress, substance abuse and other disorders, to outpatient visits. The St. Cloud VA has treated 9,500 individual mental health patients so far this fiscal year and might hit 10,000, said Dr. Sherrie Herendeen, director of mental health. Dr. Sherrie Herendeen (Photo: Courtesy of St. Cloud VA Health Care System) The St. Cloud VA is one of the best in the nation at providing residential mental health treatment, and is expanding its 148-bed residential unit by 20 beds. The average wait for a non-urgent mental health appointment is 3.6 days, less than the 4.6-day national average. However, there also are some "missed opportunities," said Atlas Anagnos, the St. Cloud VA's group practice manager, a new position being added at VAs across the country to help improve veterans' access to care. One he cited: St. Cloud has a higher percentage of no-show mental health and substance abuse appointments than the national average. A new federal initiative called "My VA Access" aims to guarantee that veterans receive same-day access to primary health care by the end of 2016. One of the key aims is to provide immediate care for any veteran who is suicidal or has an urgent mental health need. Veterans Crisis Line (Photo: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs) Community veteran advocates had tough questions for the VA officials Tuesday, arguing that "any veteran" isn't accurate because not all veterans are eligible for care at the VA. And getting a veteran into mental health treatment at the VA isn't always a smooth process, they said. "If they're having a mental health crisis or they're having a medical issue, we get them to the nearest local hospital, sometimes by ambulance, sometimes a family member will take them," said Melony Butler, founder of Eagle's Healing Nest, a residential home in Sauk Centre for veterans. "But getting them transitioned and transported to the local VA is very difficult." VA officials said they have been working to improve access, and any veteran in crisis can get a quick screening and eligibility determination any time of the day or night. The VA's push to reduce suicides started in 2007, and appears to be having some success. New data from the Department of Veterans Affairs released earlier this month found that roughly 20 veterans a day die by suicide nationwide, fewer than the commonly quoted figure of 22 a day. That previous number was based on a 2010 study of 3 million veteran records in 20 states, Herendeen said. The latest data is pulled from 55 million veteran records from 1979-2014. Still, the data show veteran suicide remains a persistent problem. In 2014, more than 7,400 veterans took their own lives, making up 18 percent of all suicides in the United States. "There's just a lot of attention and focus on this issue," Herendeen said. "We as a VA that no suicide is an OK suicide, so we are shooting for zero. We're not there yet." The VA has rolled out some new initiatives to combat suicide, including a public awareness campaign called "Be There" that stresses the ability of friends and family, not just professionals, to help troubled veterans. Mary Jo Pine, the St. Cloud VA's suicide prevention coordinator, noted that anyone can call the Veterans Crisis Line at 1-800-273-8255 even if they aren't enrolled in VA health care. If veterans push 1 when prompted, they will never been put on hold, Pine said. They also can send a text to 838255. The VA also gives away free gun locks for veterans, no questions asked. Fifty percent of suicides involve a gun, and veterans are more likely than the general population to use a firearm in suicide, Pine said. Pine urges people to know the five signs of a mental health crisis and risk of suicide: not feeling like yourself, feeling agitated, feeling withdrawn, not caring for yourself and feeling hopeless. If you see any of those signs in a family member or loved one, she advises staying with the person, talking to them and offering to get them help. "You don't have to a be professional," Pine said. "You just need to be there for that person, and just walk through that with them and help them get through." Follow Kirsti Marohn on Twitter, Facebook or contact her by phone at 320-255-8746. Read or Share this story: http://www.sctimes.com/story/news/local/2016/07/19/va-reduce-suicide-improving-access-mental-health/87290882/ |
Obama's campaign for health care reform by this fall, once considered highly likely to succeed, suddenly appears in real jeopardy. | AP photo composite by POLITICO How Obama could lose health fight President Obama's campaign for health care reform by this fall, once considered highly likely to succeed, suddenly appears in real jeopardy. Top White House advisers, especially chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, are still privately predicting massive changes to the health care system in 2009. But for the first time, Democrats on Capitol Hill and in the administration are expressing frank worries about stronger-than-expected opposition from moderate Democrats and worse-than-expected estimates for how much the plan could cost. Story Continued Below Business groups, which had embraced the idea of reform and have been meeting quietly with Democrats for months in an effort to shape the legislation, now talk of spending millions of dollars to oppose the latest proposals out of Capitol Hill. And Democrats themselves are not united, with leading party figures making contradictory declarations about how far they should go to overhaul the system when deficits are soaring and prospects for an economic recovery remain cloudy. And top Democratic officials tell POLITICO they are increasingly pessimistic about getting any more Republican votes than they did on the stimulus package, with some aides referring to the idea of a bipartisan bill as "fool's gold" — an unattainable waste of time. “This was always going to be messy,” said a senior administration strategist. “It got messy faster and earlier than people thought. But none of it is anything that’s going to stop it.” Emanuel is anxious for the president to sign the new law by October so that Democrats have a year to campaign on it ahead of congressional midterms, aides say. Administration officials concede the new kinks in the schedule make that harder. It has been conventional wisdom Obama would overcome a sluggish start by congressional Democrats to win approval of his plan this fall — perhaps even backed by a notable number of Republicans. But there is a growing list of reasons this conventional wisdom could be wrong: Money troubles Public anxiety about red ink — muted during this winter’s debate over an economic stimulus package — has come roaring back, with a Gallup Poll showing deficits and spending as the only issues where more people disapprove of Obama’s performance than approve of it. Republicans think the “borrow and spend” issue may be the biggest single vulnerability for Obama and the Democrats in the midterm congressional elections of 2010 and the presidential year of 2012. The president’s own advisers privately agree. That’s one of the reasons Obama is emphasizing what he calls “savings” — otherwise known as cuts — that would help pay for his plans. That is why Democrats admit that it was a public relations disaster this week when the Congressional Budget Office issued a report this week concluding, from a partial draft of a Senate health committee bill, that the plan would cost $1 trillion over 10 years but only provide coverage for 16 million of the estimated 50 million Americans who are uninsured. The Politico 44 Story Widget Requires Adobe Flash Player Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), a member of the health committee, said on Fox News Thursday that he considers the CBO finding “a devastating blow to the administration’s plan.” Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) now says Democrats will need to come up with a bill that costs less than $1 trillion — but many liberals say it would be meaningless to do something that small and leave so many people still uninsured. A crowded stage Everyone has big ideas for changing the health care system — and many lawmakers have waited years, in some cases their entire careers — to put their stamp on it. That’s why you have clashing Democratic ideas from Obama, Sen. Ted Kennedy (Mass.), Baucus, Rep. Henry Waxman (Calif.) and many others. |
Hillary Clinton has made her first video statement since President Donald Trump‘s inauguration and the Women’s March. In footage presented at the 2017 MAKERS conference, the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee spoke about the state of women’s rights. “Despite all the challenges we face, I remain convinced that yes, the future is female,” Clinton, 69, said in the video. “We need strong women to step up and speak out. We need you to dare greatly and lead boldly,” the former Secretary of State continued. “So please, set an example for every woman and girl out there who’s worried about what the future holds and wonders whether our rights, opportunities and values will endure.” Get push notifications with news, features and more. To conclude, Clinton had a poignant message to all women and girls. “And remember, you are the heroes and history makers, the glass ceiling breakers of the future. As I’ve said before, I’ll say again, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world,” she emphasized. In January, Clinton spoke in support for the millions of “awe-inspiring” women and men who marched in Washington, D.C. and in cities around the world, one day after attending her former opponent’s inauguration. “We watched women and men across this country and the globe stand up, speak out, and peacefully march for those values with one voice,” Clinton told PEOPLE. “It was awe-inspiring. We have to keep up the momentum. I will never stop believing in this country and our collective future. We are still, and will always be, stronger together.” Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together. — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 21, 2017 Following her defeat to Trump, Clinton has regained her footing in the national debate by speaking out more and more. On Sunday, the former First Lady applauded Lady Gaga’s politically-charged halftime show, tweeting: “I’m one of 100 million #SuperBowl fans that just went #Gaga for the Lady, & her message to all of us.” I'm one of 100 million #SuperBowl fans that just went #Gaga for the Lady, & her message to all of us. https://t.co/8AoNqjwr1b — Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 6, 2017 And Clinton may have more to share about Trump and women’s rights in her forthcoming book of essays. MAKERS is a storytelling platform for the trailblazing women of today and tomorrow. For more information and to tune in to the live conference visit www.makers.com. |
EVERY YEAR at NATURAL PRODUCTS EXPO WEST and NATURAL PRODUCTS EXPO EAST , editors and trend researchers from New Hope Natural Media and Sterling-Rice Group scour the show floor to find the products and brands they predict will shape the future of the natural products industry. The best of the best receive NEXTY nominations, which recognize the companies that embody not only the most innovative edge of the natural products industry, but also its deeply held social and environmental values. From these nominations, we choose two types of winners in each category after each Expo. The first are the Editors’ Choice winners, who are selected by New Hope and SRG’s team of NEXT Forecast researchers. The second winners are selected by YOU, through our community voting process. Read about them HERE and then vote for the one nominee in each category that you think most deserves the coveted NEXTY Award. Voting begins at 4:00pm MT on Monday, October 19th and ends at 11:59am MT on Tuesday, November 17th. The popular vote winners will be announced soon after voting ends. In addition to the popular vote, our research team will choose one company from each category to receive an Editors’ Choice award. These awards are independent from the popular vote. The Editors’ Choice winners will be announced in December and all NEXTY winners will be featured on newhope360.com and in an awards ceremony at Natural Products Expo West 2016. Contact us HERE with any questions or concerns. Congratulations to all of the 2016 nominees and good luck!!" Each vote will be only counted once, and the voting is secured with both Captcha protection as well as valid email confirmation. Any votes using Yopmail or any other disposable email service will be removed and not counted. Your vote will not be counted or visible until you have verified by email. Please note entry email addresses are not being collected or stored for future use. |
by Brett Stevens on January 31, 2013 The flip turn is a technique used by swimmers where they somersault in the water to turn away from the wall as they swim laps. It is faster than the conventional method of turning, touching, pivoting and launching off in a new direction. Conservatives are at a point where a turnabout is not only necessary, but puts us back in our correct role as those who improve the way of life of people in our society. That is what we do; we pay attention to consequences, and uphold those that create the timeless and permanent things in life, like truth, beauty and goodness. Our society has ventured so far into the plastic, disposable, relativistic and pluralistic that it no longer has any standards or memory. People do what is convenient for them, and only later (slowly) realize that this means that they lack support from society at large. There is no context or nurturing growth medium for them. When all you have is a job and an apartment, this outlook is fine. But as life goes on, and you want a stable place to raise kids, their future to be guaranteed by lack of political and social instability, and even the ability to meet like-minded people and live in places that are not mostly rotted, suddenly context matters. The unfortunate part of this is that it requires many years of experience. The good part is that once you see it, it’s impossible to return to a state of its denial without in effect corrupting your own soul. This is why it is feared: it is a confrontation with the essence of life itself, much like maturation, death, combat and other big decisions. Liberals fear this decision. They fear maturation. They fear anything other than the individual and what it wants, desires, emotes or judges right now. If kings were the thing liberals feared most, we should fear liberals, as they make each individual as abusive as a bad king by disconnecting them from context. Context is what we rely on to thrive. When civilization has not yet formed, it is what people desire. When people take civilization for granted, they discard context and withdraw into themselves. Out of this anti-social impulse they form a social movement based on the idea that no individual should be compelled to do anything he/she doesn’t want to do. At first, there are exceptions based on the logical need to collaborate. Over time, these too are mostly erased, leaving only those things that contravene the principle of individualism, such as rape, robbery or murder. Everything else is OK, and soon you have not one society but as many societies as you have individuals. With this loss of context, life becomes chaotic and uncertain. People cling to power, and to control, as a vain hope of staving it off. They will even resort to appeasement, chucking bales of cash out of hovering helicopters in the form of entitlements. These delay, but do not stop, the decline. As conservatives, we know the only resurrection is through a restoration of context. However, that cannot happen until it is well and truly dead, and so civilization needs to be re-formed from within. Unfortunately, by that point most people are either (a) addicted to denial that civilization is failing or (b) have given up hope. Don’t give up hope. Here’s why: two things will happen at once, like tectonic plates moving in opposite directions. First, a society-within-a-society will arise which is dedicated to civilization. Second, and simultaneously, liberal policies will turn out badly for both individuals and society at large. In fact, now is the best time to restore hope. We are finally seeing how liberalism fails. People are turning toward our side, if we don’t push them away. It’s time to re-take politics from the professionals, who failed to avert this crisis, and re-organize the political machine to get what we want. What do we want? I propose this; see if you agree. I want Mayberry: a traditional society of towns and small cities, unified by a values system and a heritage, in which people are advanced by being competent and morally good, not by popularity and/or hoop-jumping certifications and/or political allegiance. Maybe you want something similar. A society based on positive values, not the negative habit of looking for victims to use as its next great crusade. A society that rejects the French Revolution and its notion of radical, pathological questing for “equality.” A society devoted to normal lives and improving ourselves, not celebrating ourselves. Liberal societies all face the same doom that the French Revolution did. Unstable, they murder their best citizens and install tyrants. Incompetent, they collapse from within. They return as crass marketplaces. Eventually there is money; at that point, their citizens become fully neurotic and most importantly, sabotage their children by treating them like toys or bragging rights. The result is successive generations of neurotic people in a state of misery. On the social level, this creates incompetent politics, corruption and a breakdown of infrastructure as there are no clear-minded people left. The next stop is the third world levels of hygiene, corruption, disorder and lawlessness that characterize dying societies. We are already at this point. There is no reconciling conservatism and liberalism: we are going in different ways. They want degeneration, we want regeneration. Liberalism is a path to doom because it makes people neurotic. Conservatism makes people realistic and hopeful, and is a path to success. At this point, the only question for our fellow citizens is what kind of society they want. They won’t figure this out at first, since they’re befuddled by television and shopping. But we can win the smarter among them over to us, by showing them the choice they have, and the others will follow as they always do. Which direction leads to our future? 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Hello, American media! Guess what? Russia's had quite enough of your griping and complaining, and now it's fighting back with the most vicious weapon of all: unnecessary charges on your hotel bill. The above message is courtesy of Canadian journalist Bruce Arthur. In both Russian and English, it reads, Scroll to continue with content Ad Dear guest! Please do not put your personal belongings on the second bed. Otherwise we will have to give you a bill for the use of the second bed and Bedding. Signed, Hotel Administration. [Photos: Best of #SochiProblems] Goodness. That seems a little excessive. But then we're the kind of people who'll drink a couple $15 beers out of the minibar and then try to replace them with cheapies from the local minimart. On a larger scale, though, Arthur notes that this is simply a small, unnecessary bump in the road: "Again: I’m not complaining, really. I’m not whining, whatsoever. I’m laughing, just like almost all of us have laughed from the start at the little absurdities, which are not products of the Russian people but its system, its strangeness, its differences. Differences are always a wonderful or confounding or fascinating part of any Olympics, and part of what makes it so great to cover. Again: We are starting to really like parts of you, Sochi. Thank your people for that." So there you go. Great people, ridiculous system. We're not so different after all. More Winter Olympics coverage on Yahoo Sports: ____ Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter. |
Tiger Woods announced Tuesday that he has undergone a successful microdiscectomy for a pinched nerve that has been hurting him for several months. The surgery was performed Monday in Park City, Utah, by neurosurgeon Dr. Charles Rich. The procedure was successful, but Woods will be unable to play in the Masters Tournament, instead requiring rest and rehabilitation for the next several weeks. “After attempting to get ready for the Masters, and failing to make the necessary progress, I decided, in consultation with my doctors, to have this procedure done,” Woods said. “I’d like to express my disappointment to the Augusta National membership, staff, volunteers and patrons that I will not be at the Masters,” Tiger added. “It’s a week that’s very special to me. It also looks like I’ll be forced to miss several upcoming tournaments to focus on my rehabilitation and getting healthy. “I’d also like to thank the fans for their support and concern. It’s very kind and greatly appreciated. This is frustrating, but it’s something my doctors advised me to do for my immediate and long-term health.” Woods will begin intensive rehabilitation and soft-tissue treatment within a week. Healing and recovery times differ for each individual based on many physiological factors, but Woods could begin chipping and putting, after assessment by his doctors, in three weeks. The goal is for Tiger to resume playing sometime this summer. The repetitive motion from golf can cause this injury, and Woods could have sustained further damage if he had continued to play. There should be no long-lasting effects from the surgery, and it should not impact the longevity of his career. “It’s tough right now, but I’m absolutely optimistic about the future,” Woods said. “There are a couple [of] records by two outstanding individuals and players that I hope one day to break. As I’ve said many times, Sam and Jack reached their milestones over an entire career. I plan to have a lot of years left in mine.” For additional information, contact Mark Steinberg, Excel Sports Management, 646-454-5900, mark@excelsm.com. |
Think of fall’s turning leaves, and Texas may not be the first state to come to mind. But Austinites have seen their fair share of autumnal red and gold this year – thanks in large part to recent rains. Jerry Brand, a molecular bioscience professor at the University of Texas, says the color changes in the leaves are due to a specific molecule called a carotenoid. “These color molecules called carotenoids can come in several different colors depending on the plant, depending on the light intensity they’ve been exposed to, and other environmental factors,” Brand says. “So that’s why some leaves look more yellow in color, some look brilliant red in color and some look more orange in color,” he continues. “It’s because there’s more categories of these carotenoids, and which ones are dominant depends on the plant species – and that also depends on the environmental conditions they’ve been exposed to.” One environmental condition defined Texas lately: drought. In a drought, leaves conserve water and fall off early to avoid too much evaporation. That’s why recent years haven’t featured much fall foliage. But Central Texas’ glut of rainfall in the last two months has improved the health of many of trees in Central Texas – and that’s led to a more colorful fall. “Plants can respond very quickly to changes in the environmental condition,” Brand says. “If the drought disappears, then the molecules start building their leaves stronger and making them function better in a matter of weeks, or even less.” The drought is far from over: portions of Travis County are still in moderate drought. You can see statewide drought conditions here. But in Austin, drought stricken trees have had time to rebuild their color molecules making their leaves brighter and more vibrant. Brand says fall foliage in Texas peaks about a month later than northeastern and northwestern parts of the country. Trees with the most lively colors are Sumacs, revealing a bright red pigment, and Native Elm Trees, exposing a vivid yellow. Texas Parks and Wildlife says one great park for fall foliage is just a day trip away: the Lost Maples Natural Area in the Hill Country. |
Most of the attention in the South China Sea has focused on China’s military activities. But the impending natural disaster there is also cause for concern. As a recent report makes clear there’s been significant coral loss due to sea water warming. But apart from ocean warming, the Chinese government, through over-fishing and reef destruction, is contributing to the devastation. The Arbitral Tribunal’s award at The Hague in July 2016, in The Philippines v China, found that Beijing’s construction of artificial islands at seven features in the Spratly Islands violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea obligations to protect the marine environment. As James Borton reminds us, the Spratly Islands’ immense biodiversity can’t be overlooked. Beijing suggests that its island building efforts are a ‘Green Project’. The Chinese government claims its techniques simulate the natural processes of weather as sea storms blow away and move biological scraps which gradually evolve into an oasis on the sea. John McManus, from the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School, has highlighted the impact of island expansion on Scarborough Atoll, Pratas Atoll, the Paracel Islands, and the Spratly Islands corals to a point beyond which they will be unable to recover. Damaged coral reefs wont be able to keep up with rising sea levels. Last year McManus concluded that 40 square miles (104 square km) of some of the most biodiverse coral reefs on Earth have been destroyed in the South China Sea thanks to giant-clam poachers. Combined with China’s building artificial islands around disputed rocks and reefs, it has paved over another 22 square miles of coral. When the two activities are taken together, McManus says, about 10% of the reefs in the vast Spratly archipelago to the south of Hainan, and 8% of those in the Paracel islands, between Hainan and Vietnam, have been destroyed. The biologist Alan Freidlander, from the University of Hawaii, notes that dredging and building on coral reefs in the South China Sea is causing irreparable damage to one of the most diverse ecosystems on earth. Damage to coral by humans during construction includes compaction or digging, which breaks the coral apart. The coral can also be buried under sand and concrete, from which it can’t recover. In pursuing its reclamation activities China should look to UNCLOS, to which it’s a party. Article 206 of UNCLOS states: ‘When States have reasonable grounds for believing that planned activities under their jurisdiction or control may cause substantial pollution of or significant and harmful changes to the marine environment, they shall, as far as practicable, assess the potential effects of such activities on the marine environment and shall communicate reports of the results of such assessments in the manner provided in article 205.’ There’s also a requirement under customary international law to undertake an environmental impact assessment—although the exact scope and content isn’t clear—where there’s a risk that the proposed activity may have a significant adverse impact across a boundary. It’s now time to get greater connection and cooperation between the traditional security and environmental communities on the South China Sea. We need people with a greater understanding of both military and environmental affairs. It’s worth noting that the US is now making some useful contributions to improve fisheries management capacity in Southeast Asia. Fisheries management is also being linked with maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. There’s also scope to cooperate with environmental groups but to date been there’s been a deafening silence from the environment movement when it comes to condemning coral reef reclamation. Maybe it’s because advocating on this issue might be seen as a bit too boutique compared with clean energy, where such groups want China to reduce its use of coal. Perhaps it’s a concern that cooperation with the US on this issue would open them up to the charge that they’re being used as proxies. Or maybe it’s because there aren’t images of polar bears stranded on melting ice, birds covered in oil, elephants with their tusks removed or turtles caught in fishing nets. Whatever the reason, the impending natural disaster in the South China Sea should be considered just as disturbing as Chinese military activities. It warrants greater military-environmental coordination. This in turn requires improved dialogue between experts in both fields, even if it does risk China perceiving environmental issues as politicised or even hostile. |
This week the Los Angeles Department of City Planning released a revised version of the Mobility Plan 2035, an aspirational, wide-ranging blueprint for getting around Los Angeles in the next 20 years. The 180-page plan touches on virtually every aspect of mobility in Los Angeles, from walking and bikes to buses and trains, in an attempt to integrate them all into something resembling a cohesive vision. Major goals of the plan include establishing a network of "Complete Streets" that are accessible for both people and cars, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and solving the ever-vexing "first-mile/last-mile" issue for getting people to and from all those transit stops already here and on the way. The agency takes pains to explain that not all objectives will be accomplished —the plan is "a working guide and a reference document"— but it's fun to see the dream. Biking is a big part of the plan. Paths, lanes, and protected lanes are all to be sewn together into the Bicycle Enhanced Network, which will allow Angelenos to commute by bike comfortably, without having to dodge cars to the left and open doors to the right. Major streets will be reclassified into two levels of boulevards and three levels of avenues, with the hope that it will "result in streets that better serve all users and needs." Reliability of public transit is also of concern; the plan aims to establish off-peak 5 minute bus frequency on a quarter of the transit network, and 15 minute frequency on all of it. Other notable programs include: · Industrial Street Infrastructure: "Provide adequate street infrastructure in established industrial areas; revise geometric design standards for intersections in/around industrial areas with high truck volumes." (Try riding a bike down Alameda between Seventh and Olympic to see how necessary this is.) · Grade Crossing Elimination: "Work with Southern California Regional Railroad Association (Metrolink) as well as with freight rail operators to eliminate rail/street at-grade crossings on regional passenger rail and freight lines." (No more of this) · Congestion and Cordon Pricing: "Evaluate potential revenues and performance improvements in congestion relief from the implementation of congestion or cordon pricing. Identify the boundaries of, and access points in and out of cordon pricing districts on which to implement congestion pricing." (London does it, why not LA? We already have a version in the ExpressLanes toll lanes on some of our freeways, which charge drivers varying amounts depending on how bad traffic is.) · City Fleet: "Develop, fund, and implement an actionable strategic plan with accompanying timeline for converting the City's, including proprietary departments, fleets into low and zero-emission vehicles, and include alternative transport such as transit passes and a City bicycle fleet." (Tesla bus?) · Meter Pricing: "Establish demand based meter pricing to maximize efficient use of on-street meters." (Either you'll find an open meter, or it'll cost so much you'll leave it open for someone else; it's already been very successful in Downtown.) · Bus Bike Racks: "Work with transit providers to provide solutions for additional bike storage, such as bike rack systems to accommodate at least three bicycles on-board the bus, or permitting bicyclists to board with their bicycles at the rear of the bus." (Try getting from Westwood to Van Nuys with a bike today.) · Trash Facilities: "Increase the number of trash cans on sidewalks. Work with local business and community organizations to develop an adopt-a-trash can program." (Amen.) The public comment period on this draft report lasts until April 6. The City Planning Commission will be presented with the final environmental impact report on May 14. —Ian Grant · Mobility Plan 2035 [LADCP] · ExpressLanes [Curbed LA] · Experimental Downtown Parking Program Lowering Rates, Filling Spaces, Spreading to Westwood [Curbed LA] |
The Nevada Department of Taxation declared a “statement of emergency” Friday, as the state’s supply of marijuana was in danger of running out less than two weeks after dispensaries began selling the drug for recreational use. Republican governor Brian Sandoval approved the emergency declaration to allow state officials at the Department of Taxation to reexamine how many marijuana distribution licenses it awards, according to the Reno Gazette-Journal. Nevada dispensaries began selling marijuana for recreational use on July 1, with local outlets reporting extremely high demand and long lines at dispensaries across the state. A court order issued in June by a Carson City judge awarded the state’s alcohol wholesalers with exclusive rights to distribute marijuana between growers and retailers for the first 18 months. However, the Gazette-Journal reports that state officials have not yet distributed any licenses to alcohol wholesalers to supply marijuana, due to zoning and other issues. Just seven applications by alcohol wholesalers had reportedly been submitted to the state since November. That has left the roughly 50 dispensaries licensed to sell marijuana recreationally in Nevada without a way to re-stock on supplies. Last November, voters in neighboring California approved a ballot initiative to legalize recreational marijuana in the state. Follow Daniel Nussbaum on Twitter: @dznussbaum |
Stoney T. Fonua 2018 Candidate for Utah U.S. Senate Conservative Republican Party Stone Fonua (Nic Name Stoney) was born in Houma 1957, Tonga Tapu Tonga Island. In 1964 his parents brought him to American Samoa, then to Oahu, Honolulu Hawaii, then to San Mateo California where he started at Riverside Elementary. And In 1967 his parents brought him to Salt Lake City, Utah. He started at Lafayette then Lowell Elementary. Junior High at Horace Mann then to West High, class of 1977, but Graduated from Jordan in Sandy, Utah as class of 1993. P.O.S.T. Certification in 1996 and became a Utah State Peace Officer. Back to school; ASS in General Class of 2012. AAS in Paralegal Class of 2012. ASS in Criminal Justice Class of 2012. BA in Criminal Justice Class of 2013 at Weber State University. At age 11 Stoney delivered for the Deseret News Paper and the Sunday Tribune. And in 1977 he married Jackie Ann Hayward. The daughter of Jaclyn Dent and N.D. Pete Hayward (Salt Lake County Sheriff) of Salt Lake City, Utah. They have four (4) children. They lived in Magna for 11 years while Stoney was working at Kennecott Copper Pit, The Hawaiian Resturants, and Cortell’s Bakery, from 1978 to 1984. Stoney continue working for Cortell’s, Albertson’s, and Smith’s Bakery while Jackie finished her P.A. at the University of Utah in June of 1996. Stoney wanting to start Stoney’s Family Bakery in September of 1996 and a second bakery in West Valley while being a Peace Officer at the SLCC PD and the U of U PD. In 2010 Stoney went back to School and after graduating, he became an Associate Tax Pro for H&R Block. Stoney has been a candidate for public office several times, but never got pass the primary as a Democrat, Constitution, or Independent American Party. Now, I am on the ballot as a U.S. Senate candidate of the Conservative Republican Party. Stoney is a religious and political guru, and have studied and envision the past, current, and future debts of government, history, economics and national defense and is a firm advocate of God, Gold, and Guns. Stoney is a true follower of the “PEACEMAKER”. Questions and Answers: Party’s Questions, Stoney’s Answers Q: Mr. Fonua, why are you running for office? A: To be an instrument of the Peacemaker Bill and write the words into the ACT; that would enact paying off our debt, clothes the naked, feed the hunger, shelter the homeless, help the sick and the afflicted, rid of racism, and bring peace to the Middle East without a single gunshot or a bomb. Q: Why shouldn’t I vote for the incumbent? A: If my task in following the PEACEMAKER is not for you, please say a prayer, and follow your consensus in faith and spirit. If it guide you to the incumbent, I am well please with your choice. Q: Why aren’t you running as a Independent or Democrat? A: I have been there! It’s like screaming, but no one can hear you. Sorry, it’s metaphorly speaking or politically incorrect. Q: What are your most important legislative goals? 1.) Introduce the Peacemaker Bill, which Amendment no State Income Tax, Cut the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 70%, and eliminates or sells off all unconstitutional entitlement government agencies and projects; such as: HUD, BANKRUPTCY, FUNDING OTHER COUNTRIES, ETC…, 2.) Introduce legislation that would educate individuals on how to bring about financial peace of mind. Planting the seed of peace would blossom in the future for future generation to live in peace, prosperity and harmony. Q: What is your stand on gun control? A: “Gun’s,” do not have a brain. All those that want to have a gun, should be educated, and be mentally awake to take responsibility for their actions in owning a gun and whom should use their guns and in what environments. Q: What can be done about violence in the schools, especially school shootings? A: Gun owners should take responsibility and not let children or mentally ill individuals take or remove their guns. Making excuses is a mischief and a felony. “I didn’t know she was under age in a sexual act” is not an excuses to commit a mischief. Keep matches, poisons, and guns out of reach of children and the mentally ill. Q: How are you going to pay the debt? A: In following the peacemaker, it is believed when the peacemaker died, all debts were paid in full. (Again, metaphorly and symbolically speaking) By using Term Life Insurance pledged as collateral for a note with the interest rate of 0.001% in an Estate Creation Program. Upon every individual’s death, all of their debts would be paid in full. The program is only for those who makes $0.00, $50,000, $100,000, $150,000 and $250,000. Any higher, You don’t need this program. The program have endless benefits in NO; Bankruptcy and FICO Score. Receive; healthcare, school loans, housing, transportation insurances (personal and small business), retirement, funeral cost, and many more extra benefits. An opposition to the Capitalism of the United State Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation “PMEU Inc. with PFDICC” is the Non-Profit 501c (series) Private Federal Deposit Insurance C Corporation “PFDICC Business Trust Account”. Due to entitlement rights under government benefits, a Non-Profit 501c (series) Maka Security Low Profit Company (LPC) is to influence entitlement rights to merger under the Cy-Pres Doctrine. A Merger of PMEU Inc. with Maka Security Low Profit Company (LPC) is the crossroad of conveyances, transfers, and transmitted, of legal documents and intangible values between affiliated Trusts, Estates, storage (the cloud), financial institutions, governmental financial institutions, and private or personal accounts as contributions and distributions stated thereof. A Merger of PMEU Inc. with Fonua Enterprize Inc. is a Non-Profit 501c (series) C Corporation that raises funding for Community Sports, Entertainments, Arts, and Healthy Living Environment (sickness and nutriment), for every individual as a member (similar to a Union membership) in the Estate Creation Program. Q: Where do you stand on Healthcare? A: The ACA should only be for those that have pre-existing conditions. Everyone else should pay $25 per person or each individual. Under the 501c7 Auto insurance should be $10 plus $1 for every rider(s). SR Drivers is $30 plus $1 for every rider(s). Small Business should be $60 plus $1 for every riders. Retirement is under the financial tool of 7-2; meaning your $$$ value would double every seven years. Example: $200,000 at age 30, at age 37 is $400,000; age 44, $800,000; age 51, $1.6 Million; age 58, $3.2 Million. Term Life would end at 30 years. [NOTICE: Estate Creation Program work similar to Reverse Mortgage Financial Benefits but with “Proff Of Funding” (POF)] Q: Where do you stand on Immigration? A: As of right now, we are vetting the refugees. Each States should start vetting all illegal immigrants as of right now! All illegal immigrants or those without paper documents should start at the: 1. Check-in with a Doctor’s Office or the Board of Health for immigration health status and assessment. 2. Check-in with the State Department of “Background Check Investigation” (BCI) with a birth certificate to be registered, fingerprinted and photograph. 3. Check-in with the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) for an ITIN# number (W-7 form) to be able to work legally. 4. Check-in with the Social Security Department (SS) for a turn-down letter of receiving Social Security or a number for now. 5. Check-in with the State Driver’s License Division for a State ID. 6. Check-in with the Immigration Department for a Chandler Card that is equal to a “Disembarkation / Embarkation Card”. After five (5) years, illegal immigrants can apply for “Dual U.S. Citizenship”. Q: How can you rid of racism? A: Ideology of the bible and belief in common sense knowledge in understanding the word of God. We believe that the bible is the word of God as long as it’s translated correctly. “In the beginning in the mid of darkness comes a light”. If male is the light, then the dark must be female? God will never let us know her name or what she look like, that we may use it in profanity. God will protect Mother Earth due upon where the begotten son spilled god’s blood. Due upon an over crowed world, god send category one; famine, wars, earthquake, tsunami, flood, infestation bugs to balance humanity. The second category of balance is gun violence, murder, abortion, domestic violence, terroism, auto-accidents and criminal violence act. The third category is deceases, cancer, heart-attacks, tumors, and hereditary bloodline decease. Category 4, Priest, Nuns, Gays, Lesbians’, and close bloodline marriages within the fourth generation. If God did not send these four categories, this world would be so over populated and the earth would die. So hug a Gay or a Lesbian, a Priest or a Nun and thank them for not having children so that those of us that have children may live without fear of an over crowed world for now. Q: Where do you stand on Gays and Lesbians? A: The Peacemaker was born to be on a mission. We are all born as humans to be on a mission. We all have a purpose in life to be who we are, and our fate is in God’s hands. The lord give us life. The lord taketh. Everything happens for a reason. Q: Where did black skin come from? A: Ideology of the bible and belief in common sense knowledge in understanding the word of God. When it is raining and you are on your way out, your mother said, “Put a rain coat on”. When it is cold outside, your mother says, put a warm coat on. It is true when Cain killed Able, God confined Cain to the Hot Desert geographic area beyond the Garden of Eden. And on his way out into the Hot Desert Land, Heavenly Mother put her dark coat of skin upon her son as a gift to keep him cool from the harsh Hot Desert Sun. Dark skin was a gift from our mother in heaven to his son. Dark Skin is a gift, not a Sin. A gifted child can dance, sing, run, and is a natural in most all sports and the games of life. Q: How will you bring Peace to the Middle East without a single gunshot or a bomb? A: For those of us that have been on a Plane, the words over the intercom is to put on the mask first on yourself before putting it on or helping the person next to you. This analogy should be the same as bring or taking peace tack-tic and educating the Middle East about peace. There are two rules that parents should teach their boys starting from birth. Rule number #1. DO NOT DO ANYTHING TO HURT A GIRL OR A WOMAN. And Rule number #2. DO NOT BLAME OTHERS FOR WHAT HAPPEN TO YOU. #1. If all your boys know all through their life and impress upon their mind, “Do not do anything to hurt a girl or a woman”. When they go on dates, after heavy petting and breathing pretty hard, and if the girl says no, it mean no. The boy would know nothing else but remembering what has been impress upon his mind is rule #1 throughout his whole life. #2. The #2 Rule should be impress upon every boy and girl. All choices made by them, if it’s good they would receive well, and if bad choices, it is no one elses fault but their owe choice. When impress upon children very young how to make choices. They would learn what a good choice is for themselves and what a bad choice is for themselves. In monarchy, before marriage, boys are prince, and girls are princesses. When marriage has been applied, boy becomes a man, and now he is a King. The girl becomes a woman, and now she is a Queen. And when they get married, God has authorized them to be the Gods of this world and create the Children of God upon the Altar (the Bed) of Secrets. A man’s body is built to serve and protect the woman. Just like God protecting our mother in heaven. When a King set the Queen on the Altar of creation (on the Bed). With one knee down on the floor and head bow to the Queen, the word out of his mouth is “How may I serve thee my Queen”. If this is done once a week or at least once a month. Domestic violence and divorces would be no more. There will be peace in the Kingdom always. Men should always remember, that women should always be first in all of their doing. Women are the only God of this world and men are to serve and lead. The hard core mind-setting for women is they think they need a man. A woman has the free will and choice to let the man (if rightous) join with her in her salvation and savior (the children she bared) for ever-lasting life. If you don’t believe me, then you should recheck your relationship standing or status. Q: What is your knowledge about women wanting the Power of the Priesthood? A: Ideology of the bible and belief in common sense knowledge in understanding the word of God. In the Garden of Eden, God gave Eve the first principal and the power of the Priesthood, and that is to give life and that man maybe and have everlasting life. The power of the priesthood is to heal and comfort the sick and afflicted. Women are already the doctors and the healers and comforter of the family. Women can’t be given the Power of the Priesthood, because you cannot give someone something that they already have. Men are given the power because they don’t have it. That is why men can receive the Power of the Priesthood from God in a healthmaid in spirit to the woman. In conclusion, when Adam was ask, “What is wanted?” Adam said, “I am waiting for the further enlightment and knowledge that God has promise to send me”. There will be those that would ask the mountain and the rock upon thereof, to fall on them and kill them for they did not know and have been preaching fake News & doctrine. It took forty years before god let the Israelite out of the desert. It may take forty years before the Middle East follow the Peacemaker under the Peacekeeper ACT. Until and upon that day, there will be Peace in the Middle East without a single gunshot or a bomb; 2060. Amen. Republican Party of Utah Name: Stoney Teiko Fonua Email: pmeu.estate.creation@gmail.com alternative Email: stoneyfonua@yahoo.com Class of 1993 Jordan High School in Sandy, UT Class of 1996 P.O.S.T. (Millcreek) Salt Lake Community College Class of 2012 Associate General Studies Salt Lake Community College Class of 2012 Associate Paralegal Salt Lake Community College Class of 2012 Associate Criminal Justice Salt Lake Community College Class of 2013 BA Criminal Justice Weber State University !!!YOU CAN FORWARD THIS PLAT-FORM TO ANYONE YOU LIKE!!! THIS MESSAGE WAS APPROVED BY Stoney T. Fonua |
Full Review They should have called it Jig-Snore. Believe me, I take no pleasure in trashing a bad film, but this one deserves it. And before you accuse me of being a Saw and/or torture porn hater: Bite your tongue! I’m a huge fan of the original Saw, and Saw II was a worthy sequel. At the same time, I’m objective about the fact that every sequel since has been varying degrees of total crap. So, what did I expect from Jigsaw, the 8th installment in the long-running yet recently-dormant franchise that was once a Halloween staple? After a 7-year hiatus, I expected more than this—and you should too. When franchises like A Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the 13th are begging for reboots, and Halloween 2018 already in the forefront of horror fan’s brains, there’s no excuse for giving us the worst chapter in the entire Saw franchise and dressing it up like a tasty holiday treat. Official Synopsis: Thirteen years ago, on Halloween weekend – SAW and the character of JIGSAW introduced the world to a new face of horror. For seven straight years “If it’s Halloween it must be SAW” was a holiday tradition. This October 27… Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures proudly present JIGSAW! After a series of murders bearing all the markings of the Jigsaw killer, law enforcement find themselves chasing the ghost of a man dead for over a decade and embroiled in a new game that’s only just begun. Is John Kramer back from the dead to remind the world to be grateful for the gift of life? Or is this a trap set by a killer with designs of their own? Jigsaw is directed by Michael and Peter Spierig from a script penned by Pete Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg (shame on you all!); the film stars Matt Passmore, Tobin Bell, and Callum Keith Rennie. I know that complaining about a film’s continuity is the lowest common denominator of analysis and criticism. Once you start complaining that such-and-such character couldn’t possibly have had time to lay all the groundwork for the perfect crime, you start down a slippery slope, one that suggests films must accurately represent physical reality in order to be deemed successful. In actuality, nothing could be farther from the truth: As a work of fiction, a film has every license to play fast and loose with timing in order to emphasize powerful storytelling. And ask yourself: Should characters in films take bathroom breaks at reasonable intervals, too, in the name of realism and continuity? Of course not! So, we accept that we’re being given a forced perspective (one that filters out the excess), and in the case of Jigsaw, we have to expect at least a bit of retroactive continuity, as 99% of the characters from past Saw films (including the titular killer himself) are all dead. So why am I taking Jigsaw to task? The film presents itself as a riddle and asks you to crack the mystery—but the game is rigged from the get-go. There’s an episode of Bob’s Burgers (stay with me now) where Linda Blecher holds a mystery dinner theater at the restaurant. She opens by telling the guests that everyone is a suspect—except her. It’s revealed at the end of the performance, though, that Linda was indeed the killer the whole time. When the crowd protests, she replies, “What? It’s a twist!” No, it’s a lie. And Jigsaw is guilty of perpetrating this same type of boldfaced untruth, putting us on a case but withholding vital information. And while plot-holes are another thing that must be forgiven when looking at a film in its entirety, Jigsaw’s are so big they actually imply the presence of characters who don’t exist. Don’t believe me? When watching the film, ask yourself: Who hit the dirty cop with a syringe full of drugs? If there are only 2 people in the room besides him, it must be one or the other, right? But what if the other two are unconscious? Then there must have been someone else in the room with them. But this isn’t a case of, “Oh, Jigsaw has lots of followers, so it must have been another random protégé” and those who do plunk down the dollars to see the movie will agree. After being tossed that pathetic excuse for a Deus Machina, you’ll completely forget about how impossible the Act 2 body swap must have been; in comparison, that boner is just a blip. Am I asking too much of a movie? I think not! If you go back and re-watch the first Saw, you’ll realize there were clues pointing to the fact that John Kramer (played by Tobin Bell) was the killer, even before the big reveal. Sure, it might take 10 times, but you’ll begin to see a picture that places the seemingly innocuous cancer patient dead center. What’s worse, naming the film Jigsaw is actually a disservice to John Kramer’s good (bad?) name. In Saw III, Kramer killed his most trusted and loyal protégé; her crime: Designing a trap that didn’t really offer its victim a chance for redemption. She broke a cardinal rule. And that’s what Jigsaw does: It puts us in a trap for 90 minutes, commands us to put our thinking caps on, then delivers a series of “twists” that can’t possibly be predicted and, worse, are used as cheap subterfuge for a truly dull script. In the end, our efforts to decipher (not to mention our excitement for the franchise’s return) were all for naught, and Jigsaw shreds our ribcages and spits in our faces (metaphorically, of course). Look, dropping a ton of new info regarding John Kramer’s past isn’t exciting if it only serves to explain a boring sequel that shouldn’t exist in the first place. All that does is muddy the waters of what’s already the most complex franchise of the 21st Century. Nobody’s got time for that. All Jigsaw archives is making us wonder if perhaps John Kramer has a secret, identical twin we never knew about. (Spoiler: He doesn’t). We get a few new traps, but nothing as exciting as what we’ve seen in past installments. What’s meant to be Jigsaw’s greatest accomplishment is little more than an oversized garbage disposal. And we get new characters, one of which (Eleanor Bonneville played by Hannah Emily Anderson) is legitimately compelling. But the other newbies are just the usual, recycled victims and misguided proteges. Nothing to see here, folks. Bottom Line: Jigsaw is the worst installment in the Saw franchise—and that’s really saying something. While it’s always a pleasure seeing Tobin Bell in action, and Hannah Emily Anderson is a scene-stealer who proves she deserves top billing, the movie is an affront to those of us who love the Saw films the most. It doesn’t work as a prequel, sequel, reboot, or standalone. Worst of all: It’s boring. |
No, you're not seeing things. China's newest sportswear brand, Uncle Martian, is a bold rip-off of American brand Under Armour. The brand was announced this week, and its Weibo account just set up on Friday morning. Image: mashable composite/under armour and uncle martian's social accounts The company behind Uncle Martian is a 25-year-old sports shoe manufacturer, Tingfei Long Sporting Goods Co. (廷飞龙体育用品有限公司). According to its government records, it has some 800 employees and is based in southern China's Fujian province. It appears to have been making its own off-brand sports shoes for the domestic market for years, but its Uncle Martian plans point to an aspiration to target the higher end market. Tingfei Long's general manager, Huang Canlong, gave an interview to a local paper a week before Uncle Martian's launch, in which he said the company would like a slice of the branded shoe market that U.S. firms like New Balance and Under Armour have a hold over in China. Netizens on Weibo are tweeting about the brand's likeness to Under Armour, and many are slamming Uncle Martian for its lack of creativity. Some said it should expect a copyright infringement suit from the American firm real soon. A Chinese sport uniform brand Uncle Martian lunches today at Jinjiang Fujian province, but it's looks so like some brand ..... @underarmour A photo posted by Diao Jia (@diaojia1983) on Apr 28, 2016 at 4:25am PDT Premium-priced sportswear is in vogue among China's wealthy, and is regarded as trendy in the country. This demand has spilled over into prestigious gym memberships and nutrition brands, as well. Under Armour launched in China in 2010, and had over 75 stores by end-2015, according to Bloomberg. Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments. |
Using the "hipster" phenomenon to demonstrate his theory, a Parisian mathematician has devised an equation to explain why attempts to be different often end up with people making the same decisions. (Reuters) The hipster paradox (in addition to being a pretty solid band name that I'm calling for myself) uses some pretty interesting math to explain a phenomenon anyone can observe: When people are trying not to be mainstream, they inevitably seem to end up looking just like all the other nonconformists. Our society has conformist subgenres of nonconformity — goths, hipsters and punks, just to name a few — and that seems counter-intuitive. But as mathematician Jonathan Touboul explains in the video above, this paradox can be explained with math models. [The mathematician who proved why hipsters all look alike] When Touboul first tried to create a model of how trends emerge — particularly among individuals who are trying to buck trends — he ended up with a whole lot of noise in his results. But when he tweaked the model to delay how long an individual learned about new trends (which is realistic, given that we aren't all directly plugged into every minute change the fashion and music world makes), he found that people would quickly reach a consensus of what the "not trendy" cool new thing was. And it would become a trend. [The mathematics of discovering new things] So basically, hipsters are hipsters because they're too slow to spot things that are truly out of the mainstream. By the time most nonconformists find the hot new thing no one has ever heard of, lots of other people are discovering it as well. And that's how you end up surrounded by guys with mutton chops drinking PBR and listening to the same indie record on repeat. "I think people are here just doing whatever they love to do," an anonymous young man in heavy-framed glasses told Reuters in the video above, blaming the media's need to categorize people for the existence of the "hipster" label. Ugh, hipsters. Want more science? Give these a click: Why everyone started naming their kids Madison instead of Jennifer Turns out these birds create songs with the same rules humans do Why does spaghetti break into three pieces when you snap it in half? Watching a tattoo needle in slow motion reveals the physics of getting inked |
Plitvice, a watery paradise in Croatia Wherever you look, there's a scene worth capturing on film and framing; Plitvice, the best known of Croatia's national parks, is a paradise of lakes and waterfalls. With its range of habitats and microclimates, it is also a haven for wildlife. In recent years, Croatia has changed from a relative unknown to one of the trendiest destinations in Europe. To a great extent this is due to the country's rocky littoral, which, washed by the Adriatic, is considered one of the most beautiful of the Mediterranean coastlines. Then there is the rich history and cultural heritage of medieval towns such as Dubrovnik, Split and Sibenik. But the well-deserved popularity also depends on the protected natural areas, which make up some ten per cent of the country's area. Eight areas enjoy national park status – a very high number for a relatively small country. Of these, Plitvice is the best known. It owes its fame to the 16 lakes of crystal clear water in all shades of green, grey and blue linked by nearly a hundred tumbling cascades, as well as to the dense forests of beech, fir and pines where bears and wolves roam, and which are home to a great variety of birds. Plitvice is classed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a network of trails allows visitors to roam freely and explore. If you're a lover of nature, take a look at our gallery and see if it appeals for your next getaway. Use the left and right arrow keys to view the images |
Variety’s Brian Steinberg reports on a potential bombshell in the fast-moving story of NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams and his 12 year-old stolen valor lie about his helicopter being shot down by an enemy RPG over Iraq in 2003. A source told Steinberg that sometime in the past senior NBC News executives told Williams to stop telling the story: What makes Williams’ admission worse, according to one person familiar with the situation, is that he had been counseled in the past by senior NBC News executives to stop telling the story in public. The advice, this person said, was not heeded. One person familiar with current NBC News operations disputes that information. This could mean that top-level NBC News executives knew that Williams’ oft-repeated story wasn’t exactly true and could come back to bite him and the network. Which, of course, is exactly what happened. John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC |
I like the idea of the lightning network. I think the developers behind it are very smart and it’s a very clever use of Bitcoin contracts. I’m sure that whatever comes from it will be useful to some parts of the Bitcoin ecosystem at a minimum. What I’m not for, however, is prematurely deprecating critical parts of bitcoin (zeroconf transactions and low transaction fees) when it’s not yet clear that the lightning network will be a viable replacement for them. Yet that’s what the core developers seems bent on doing. We know that lightning is at least technically feasible. We don’t know if it’s economically feasible or even a desirable alternative. Will it be a decentralized peer-to-peer payment layer or will it end up as a quasi-centralized payment network similar modern banking? We don’t know the answer to this question and probably wont know until we see it in action. Which is why it comes across as irresponsible to go “all-in” on lightning at this point. My main concern from the beginning was that, as a hub-and-spoke payment layer, there would be very few hubs and the network would be quasi-centralized and a regulatory sitting duck. It seems I wasn’t the only one with this concern as there’s been a fairly recent pivot away from the hub-and-spoke network topology to a more organic, wallet-to-wallet routing. The network is now envisioned as a more pure p2p payment layer without those large scale payment hubs. Certainly this has to be viewed as a promising development as it begins to address my primary concern. Unfortunately, I find this view of the lightning network overly optimistic. In what follows I will give a lightning network overview and some reasons why I think it’s likely the network will end up with the hub-and-spoke topology anyway. How it works At the core of the lightning network is the concept of payment channels. Using some complex bitcoin scripts, two parties can create a “channel” that, once opened, can allow them to make an unlimited number of trustless “off-chain” transactions. To open the channel, both parties jointly create a transaction in which one or both of them deposits bitcoins into the channel. This transaction gets broadcast to the bitcoin blockchain. In the above example Alice has funded the channel with 0.5 bitcoins and Bob with 0.8. To close the channel either party can broadcast a second, on-chain transaction to the bitcoin network that will payout both parties what they paid in. However, at any time while the channel is open, both parties can jointly agree to modify the payout distribution of the channel without needing to make an on-chain transaction. For example, if Alice wants to pay Bob 0.1 BTC, they could update the payout distribution such that Bob gets 0.9 BTC and Alice gets 0.4. And payments can be made back and forth like this an unlimited number of times as long as the channel remains open. A network of channels To see how this could be expanded into a payment network consider the following: Above, Alice wants to pay Bob 0.5 BTC, but she does not have a channel open with him. Fortunately, she does have a channel open with Charlie, who has a channel open with Bob. Alice can basically route her payment to Bob through Charlie using something called a hashed timelock contract (HTLC). To do this Alice sends a message to Bob saying “Hey, I want to send you a payment”. Bob responds by generating a random number (R) and sending Alice the hash of that number (H) (you can think of the hash of R as an encrypted form of that number). Alice’s wallet then contacts Charlie and says, “Hey Charlie, if you can provide me with the unencrypted value (R) that produced (H) then I will consent to updating the payout distribution of our channel so that you get 0.5 BTC more and I get 0.5 BTC less”. Charlie agrees even though he doesn’t (yet) know R. Charlie then goes to Bob and says, “Hey Bob, if you can provide me with the unencrypted value (R) that produced (H) then I will consent to updating the payout distribution of our channel so that you get 0.5 BTC more and I get 0.5 BTC less. Now Bob knows R since he’s the one who generated it, so he immediately gives R to Charlie and updates the payout distribution of the channel. Charlie then gives R to Alice and updates their channel and then boom, Alice paid Bob 0.5 BTC off chain. The original vision of the lightning network was that of a hub-and-spoke network. Your wallet would connect to a “payment hub” which would play the role of “Charlie” in the above example. By having the various payment hubs maintain channels with each other Alice, who has a channel open with hub A, could pay Bob, who has a channel open with hub B, the same way as before only with one or two extra hops in between. This network topology would be OK if there are many small payment hubs (like hundreds or thousands), but would royally suck if there are only handful of large hubs. It would be Visa, MasterCard, and Amex all over again. How many hubs? It’s impossible to forecast the exact number of hubs that would exist in the network in equilibrium, but there is at least some reason to think the number will be smaller rather than larger. While it’s true that the software will be open source and anyone will be able to run a payment hub (at least until the government decides to regulate it), the high cost of running a payment hub is likely to serve as a severe barrier to entry and create centralization pressure. What cost am I talking about? Let’s go back to the example where Charlie played the role of the “payment hub”: Recall that for Alice to send bitcoin to Bob (through Charlie), Charlie had to update the distribution of the channel he had with Bob (paying Bob more and himeself less) before he updated the distribution of his channel with Alice. In other words, Charlie had front Bob 0.5 BTC (for a very short period of time) before he was reimbursed by Alice. This implies that if Charlie wants to be a payment hub, he needs to deposit enough of his own bitcoin into a channel with each of his “customers” to facilitate these off-chain payments. If Charlie didn’t have at least 0.5 BTC ($220 at today’s price) pre-deposited in Bob’s channel, then the payment could not have been made. Now this money does not constitute a loan of any sort. Charlie would retain 100% control of it. But the money at least needs to sit there in these channels to facilitate these off-chain payments. We know that the time value of money is a thing, so there is a very real cost to operating a payment hub. Not to mention you need to come up with a lot of money up front just to get started. How much should a payment hub pre-deposit in each channel? I have no idea, but let’s just say it’s $500 worth of bitcoin. If you want to run a payment hub that serves just 100 people, you would need $50,000 capital just to start up (and more realistically will be in the millions). Some redditors I’ve run into seem to think people will be able to run payment hubs from their bedrooms. I’d like to suggest that’s not going to be the case. So at the end of the day centralization is a major cause for concern if the lightning network ends up with a hub-and-spoke topology. Wallet-to-wallet routing Can we do better than the hub-and-spoke model? Recently there’s been a lot of talk about avoiding payment hubs and trying to create a more decentralized, organic routing between wallets. How would this work? Consider an example where Alice wants to pay for a cup of coffee. Using the same technique as before her wallet would try to find a route through other nodes in the network to pay the coffee shop. If it can’t find one, the wallet will just open a new channel with the coffee shop, pay for the cup of coffee, then leave the channel open for future use. Alice’s wallet could theoretically maintain dozens of open channels. If a new channel is opened every time someone tries to pay for something but can’t find a route, eventually some organic routing paths between users will start to form. For example: What we see above is Alice left her channel with the coffee shop open. Bob did the same thing last time he went to that coffee shop. He also recently bought a new tie from a retailer and his wallet opened a channel for that payment as well. In this example, Alice should be able to not only send bitcoins off-chain to Bob, but also to the retailer using the routing paths that formed organically. Great! This looks like we’ve solved the centralization problem in the lightning network. But we have to ask is this type of routing feasible? I, for one, hope that it is because the Bitcoin Core developers have bet the house on it. But when you think about it a little more deeply it may not be in practice. I’m going to list off some reason why. Routing paths are much harder to find when values are considered. In the above example, we were able to get a route from Alice to the retailer going through the coffee shop and Bob. In reality, it will likely be difficult to find organic routing paths for the value we need. Let’s add some values into our example: Both Alice and Bob paid $5 for the cup of coffee (0.011 BTC) which is why the coffee shop has 0.011 BTC on its side of both Alice and Bob’s channels. For Alice to send any money to either Bob or to the retailer, the coffee shop needs to update the payout distribution of the channel it has with Bob, paying itself less (by the amount Alice wants to send) and paying Bob more. But notice the coffee shop only has 0.011 BTC ($5) in its channel with Bob. This means that the most Alice could send to either Bob or the retailer is just $5. If she wants to send any more than that, she will need to open a new channel. It’s likely this type of value asymmetry will happen fairly frequently as people are paying each other different amounts for various things. Finding paths from one node to another should be easy. Finding paths where every hop has the correct value will prove to be the difficult part. We could end up making more on-chain transactions. Consider how Alice had to open a new channel when her wallet couldn’t get a route to the retailer for the amount she wanted. Presumably, at any given time most, if not all, of the bitcoin in your wallet will be sitting in channels. Where would Alice’s wallet get the bitcoin to open a new channel with the retailer? Well, it will have to close one of its existing channels. So the process for making a transaction when your wallet can’t find a route is: 1) Make an on-chain transaction closing out an existing channel. 2) Make an on-chain transaction opening a new channel with the payee. That’s two on-chain transactions just to make one payment. If a large percentage of transactions fail to find a route (and thus have to close a channel and open a new one), most of the savings could be wasted. If more than 50% of transactions fail to find a route, the lightning network will actually result in more on-chain bitcoin transactions than just paying people directly. The vast majority of users will be offline. To the extent anyone even uses a desktop wallet, they rarely keep it open 24/7. They either close it out when not using it, shut their laptop lid, turn off the computer, etc. Additionally, most people are using mobile wallets which go to sleep and do not remain online all the time. So we end up with a scenario where 99% of our expected users are not going to be able to participate in routing payments. If it seemed unlikely that organic routing was going to work well before, how less likely does it seem when 99% of users are not going to be participating? Channels cannot be created on-the-fly. Remember the magic sauce of organic routing is the ability of wallets to open new channels on-the-fly when they can’t find a route. In our original example, Alice went to pay the coffee shop, couldn’t find a route, so her wallet just opened a new channel and kept it open. This may have worked in the past, but remember the Core developers have now pushed full RBF on us (and note it won’t be “opt-in” when blocks are full. It will be mandatory else your transactions will get stuck). So you simply can’t open channels on-the-fly (at least not for retail purchases). You will only be able to make a payment once the channel has confirmed since the coins which funded the channel could be trivially double spent otherwise. So what we are left with is if you can’t find a route through existing (confirmed) channels, you cannot make a payment to a retailer. This is going to create enormous pressure to use large well-connected payment hubs because that will be the only way you can guarantee to get a route through confirmed channels. Recipients have to be online. Remember back to the original explanation of routing using hashed timelock contracts. Alice’s wallet contacted Bob’s wallet and asked for a hash of a random number (R). Well, Bob basically needs to be online to give that to her. This is in direct contrast to Bitcoin as it is currently used where the sender and recipient don’t need to be online at the same time. Of course Bob could outsource this function to a third party (which is an ugly solution IMO), but this is just going to create even more pressure to just use a payment hub rather than organic routing. So when we consider all of the above points, it seems very likely that this organic wallet-to-wallet routing isn’t going to work very well and there will be pressure to use the original hub-and-spoke model. Given all this (which has to be known to the Core development team) there’s really no way you can justify the rush to deprecate core features of bitcoin without waiting to see how the lightning network plays out. If the lightning network ends up sucking (let’s hope it doesn’t), then so will bitcoin as we will have no choice but to use it by that point. |
The patterns of plant species diversity along Swedish boreal streams are closely linked to flow of surface and sub-surface water. The linkages between vegetation and hydrology are tight, and according to Lenka Kuglerová they are threatened by poorly designed forest management. She defends her thesis at Umeå University, Sweden, on March 26. Riparian zones -- the areas around rivers and streams which are temporarily flooded -- are important components of the boreal landscape. They are species rich and important for stream water quality and quantity, and aquatic food webs. "I found strong relationships between plant species richness and position in the catchment. The position in the catchment is important because it determines how much water flows into the particular location," says ecologist Lenka Kuglerová. Lenka Kuglerová studied riparian vascular plants, mosses and liverworts along a gradient of stream sizes in northern Sweden: from small headwaters in the Krycklan catchment area to the large Vindel River. The results show that species richness of riparian vegetation increases with increasing stream size. "This is a result of increasing flood disturbance and inundation with increasing stream size, which enhances the heterogeneity of riparian habitat conditions, improves soil fertility, and increases water-dispersal success. This makes riparian zones along larger rivers favorable to more plant species," says Lenka Kuglerová. Vegetation was also largely affected by groundwater in riparian zones. In areas where groundwater -- traveling from surrounding uplands -- discharges, more vascular plant species were found. Those riparian sites were also wider and had species rich communities of vascular plants, mosses, and liverworts further away from the stream channels in comparison to adjacent areas without groundwater discharge. Groundwater discharge in riparian zones is beneficial not only for plant species richness but also for water chemistry and in turn for fish and aquatic insects. Groundwater discharge provides the environment with stable temperature and chemistry with higher pH and nitrogen availability. Lenka Kuglerová suggests that Swedish forestry should stop using uniform widths of so called riparian buffers (vegetated strips along streams and rivers spared from logging) during forest harvest. "Instead, hydrologically determined buffer widths should be applied with wider riparian buffers in groundwater discharge areas and narrower in riparian zones without groundwater. By this, we can protect biochemical and ecological hotspots, and avoid forestry machines getting stuck damaging the wet riparian soils." Lenka Kuglerová has also studied the effects of stream restoration on riparian plants. Many streams in Sweden have been channelized in the past, to facilitate timber floating. Currently, streams are being restored to resemble natural, pre-channelization conditions. The results of Lenka Kuglerová's research indicate that restoring streams has the potential to increase species richness and biomass of riparian plants due to improvement of riparian habitat. "The time for this recovery is however long and thus, the results are not as fast as we would wish for. Riparian environment became more favorable for plant growth after restoration but vegetation needs more time to recover and reach stable conditions," says Lenka Kuglerová. |
Don Peat QMI Agency Posted July 27, 2010 TORONTO – Two Air Canada passengers were pulled from their Orlando-bound flight before takeoff from Toronto’s Pearson Airport after another passenger spotted them watching video of the 9/11 terror attacks. QMI Agency columnist Joe Warmington, on his way to cover the Conrad Black story in Florida, was on the same plane when another passenger alerted the flight crew after spotting the young boy watching video on his iPod of the planes smashing into the World Trade Centre, just before the plane took off for U.S. airspace. “Other passengers and our crew became concerned,” Air Canada spokesman Peter Fitzpatrick told the Sun Wednesday. “The passengers were deplaned and following an investigation allowed to travel (Wednesday) morning. {openx:49} “It made everyone nervous,” the employee said, adding the entire incident may have been a coincidence. READ FULL ARTICLE |
Weed with your whisky and wine? Premier Kathleen Wynne says once Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government moves to legalize marijuana it should be sold in provincially owned LCBO stores. A liquor store on Queen's Quay in Toronto. The Ontario Public Service Employees Union has also weighed in on who should sell marijuana, with union president Warren (Smokey) Thomas saying the LCBO “has a solid track record of responsibly selling alcohol and would bring the same service standard to marijuana.”. ( RICK EGLINTON / TORONTO STAR ) “It makes sense to me that the liquor distribution mechanism that we have in place at LCBO is very well-suited to putting in place the social responsibility aspects that would need to be in place,” the premier said Monday at Queen’s Park. Wynne’s surprise comments came the day before she unveils the liberalized sale of beer in the province’s supermarkets. She will be at a Loblaws on Leslie St. on Tuesday morning to launch expansion of selling six-packs. The government’s Liquor Control Board of Ontario operates 651 outlets across the province, enjoying a monopoly on spirits and imported quality wines. Article Continued Below Have your say Its unionized employees are trained to keep alcohol from minors and the visibly inebriated, and work with groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving to promote safe consumption of alcohol. Emphasizing that marijuana should be controlled and regulated, the premier said she would work with Ottawa to ensure that health and safety are key priorities as legalization rolls out. “Obviously, I don’t know what the timeline is with the federal government but it seems to me that using that distribution network of the LCBO — as has been talked about in other provinces, using their provincial institutions — I think that that makes a lot of sense,” said Wynne. Her views echo those of Manitoba Premier Greg Selinger. “These are all highly addictive drugs and we want to make sure Manitobans get the best opportunity to be protected from them,” Selinger said three weeks ago. “At the retail level, we would like to do it the way we’re doing liquor in Manitoba right now, to make sure it’s safe,” he said in Winnipeg. Last month, Ontario Public Service Employees Union president Warren (Smokey) Thomas said the LCBO “has a solid track record of responsibly selling alcohol and would bring the same service standard to marijuana.” Article Continued Below “If legalization happens, marijuana must be a controlled substance, and no one has more experience retailing controlled substances than the workers at the LCBO,” said Thomas, whose union represents LCBO employees. “There needs to be a strong regulatory framework in place, including minimum age limits, a ban on marketing, and a plan to prevent cannabis-impaired driving,” he said Nov. 23. “If we let industry write the rules, we won’t make any headway in reducing the social harm from marijuana.” Thomas noted the LCBO currently conducts more than 500,000 lab tests on spirits, wine, and beer annually and has secure warehouses and a safe distribution network. “All the infrastructure is in place for a smooth transition to a safer system. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel.” In the October election campaign, Trudeau promised to “legalize, regulate, and restrict access to marijuana.” Such a move would presumably take criminals out of the business and bring money into government coffers through taxation. If alcohol and tobacco tax revenues are any indication, there are hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to be made from imposing levies on marijuana. Queen’s Park, which is saddled with a $7.5-billion deficit, collected $1.163 billion in tobacco taxes last year and $3 billion in booze taxes — including $1.8 billion from the LCBO, $565 million from beer and wine taxes, and more than $600 million in Ontario’s share of the harmonized sales tax. Progressive Conservative MPP Tim Hudak (Niagara West-Glanbrook) last month echoed the concerns of many who oppose the government taking control of marijuana sales instead of opening things up to the private sector. “Well if gov stores are going to sell pot, at least we know quality will be poor, the price high & the hours lousy #420,” he tweeted with a link to a Star story on Manitoba’s plans. South of the border, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington have effectively legalized marijuana. But the Canadian Taxpayers Federation has pointed out that cannabis may not be the panacea for cash-strapped governments, noting total national sales in the U.S. were $4.6 billion in 2012. If the provinces adopt levies similar to Colorado’s, that would generate about $628 million a year across the country. Read more about: |
U.S. wind builders are on the verge of developing the enormous wind assets off the Atlantic Coast and on the Great Lakes. A recent Oceana study suggested the Eastern Seaboard alone could see 127 gigawatts of wind capacity installed by 2030. That’s something like 25,000 huge wind turbines to be installed, serviced and maintained. New transmission will also be needed. The Oceana study foresaw 133,000 to 212,000 new jobs from the undertaking, many from expansion by established turbine manufacturers and suppliers. But there are no U.S. builders of the huge seagoing vessels that will be needed to erect and maintain those turbines. The lack of U.S.-made vessels could present a significant obstacle to offshore wind’s growth because the Jones Act, obscure legislation enacted to protect U.S. shipbuilders, prevents vessels made elsewhere from servicing domestic ports. The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has been developing and verifying standards for marine-related vessels and facilities since 1862. Recent adaptation of offshore oil and gas industry construction vessels (OCVs) for work with wind projects prompted ABS this year to establish a new chapter in its manual and officially designate a Wind IMR unit dedicated to offshore wind turbine installation, maintenance and repair. Rasmus Stute, Head of the Offshore Service Vessels Department for world-renowned German industry consultant Germanischer Lloyd (GL), said European offshore wind development experience at depths to 50 meters shows that such Wind IMRs should have unique capacities. They must be self-propelled so as to navigate between the shore and the installation. They must be jack-up vessels, capable of dropping legs to the ocean floor and raising their platforms ten to fifteen meters above the waves. Typically 160 meters long and 50 meters wide, they must have enough deck space to carry foundations of 900 to 1000 tons and enough power to pile-drive them into the seabed. The vessels must also carry 90-meter long, 100-to-200-ton towers and cranes capable of setting such towers on the foundations. The cranes must be equally capable of lifting 400-to-500-ton nacelles 110 meters in the air and positioning them atop the towers. The vessels must also have deck space for preparatory work with offshore turbines’ huge components, as well as carrying capacity for construction crews, support personnel and vessel crews. Finally, the vessels must have dynamic positioning capability so as to both hold themselves in place while the work is being done and move themselves, when necessary, a precise meter or two to facilitate construction even as waves and winds roil. Such vessels, Stute said, cost between US$150 million to $220 million and take about two years to build. This could herald a renewable energy sector business opportunity and, ironically, it might initially involve, according to Jim Lanard, President of the Offshore Wind Development Coalition, converted oil and gas industry vessels. Lanard said there is plenty of unused capacity in the Gulf of Mexico ready to be retrofitted. “There are a lot of companies out there that have been watching developments,” Mike Sano, a Senior Engineer in Corporate Energy Project Development with ABS, said. “But there are none that I know of that have committed to building an offshore wind installation vessel for the U.S. market.” ABS has, however, recently classed UK-based Seajacks International’s Seajacks Kracken and Seajacks Leviathan, self-propelled jack-up vessels intended for service both in Europe’s offshore wind and offshore oil and gas industries. Adapting techniques and equipment from offshore oil and gas work for building offshore wind is being pioneered in Scotland. Both Scotland’s study of North Sea oil exploration and development know-how and its adaptation of oil rig platform designs was described by Michael Kanellos in this space last year. GL’s Stute said using retrofitted oil and gas industry vessels will work with prototype and smaller projects in the earliest stage of U.S. offshore development but “for building a large scale wind farm to a very tight time schedule” he is dubious. “We have tried to use one of these units in Europe,” he said. “When it came to the actual installation work, these vessels showed a relatively poor performance compared to the purpose-built units.” Stute has no doubt oil industry vessels “will find their niche,” he added, perhaps in maintenance. But retrofitted vessels, he explained, cannot have the full range of capabilities needed for this application. “The combination of deck area, accommodation area, maneuvering, sailing capacity and lifting of weights to heights,” he enumerated. “All of them at the same time might be difficult.” The best offshore wind IMRs, Stute said, are being built by Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and Samsung Heavy Industries, by Poland’s Crist Shipyard and by Germany’s Sietas Shipyard. This means that the Jones Act could -- if it stands -- make it impossible for U.S. offshore wind developers to access the best vessels unless they undertake the extra financial burden of establishing domestic shipbuilding capacity. This further complicates a renewable energy policy landscape U.S. wind developers now face that may be even more difficult to endure than the harsh offshore ocean environment. “When you try to persuade your bank to give you $150 million to $220 million U.S. dollars, you need to come up with a business plan and a business model that works over 10 years to 20 years,” Stute said. “You do not touch such huge projects if your tax credits work only for two years. You can only do this if you have a long-term commitment.” |
Building a Family — CLG in 2016 Keoni Worby Blocked Unblock Follow Following Aug 27, 2016 Coming off their domestically dominant 2015 season, Counter Logic Gaming looked to create a family with aspirations to be the best in North America. Their removal of legacy player, Peter “Doublelift” Peng, and stable mid-laner Eugene “Pobelter” Park left fans concerned as CLG filled in their lineup with members of their Challenger League team, and substitute roster: Trevor “Stixxay” Hayes and Choi “HuHi” Jae-Hyun. Zaqueri “Aphromoo” Black, veteran support player, looked to take these undeveloped talents under his wing with the help of Tony “Zikzlol” Gray. Zikzlol took over the mantle of head coach after years of fulfilling analyst and strategic coaching titles for CLG. As the eyes of every competitor in the North American League Championship Series were set on them, they rebuilt their team as a strategic powerhouse in the West. This core identity of “strategy first” was already established in the prior year, but to enable the synergy and family aspect, it was important to take a bet on unproven talent, such as Stixxay and HuHi. To retain the level of dominance and success they had the year before, their rookies would have to fill the shoes of seasoned veterans they were replacing. NA LCS Spring Split They didn’t fill the shoes left in the CLG house by former members. Instead, they opted to line them up along with the other current members in the house of CLG. The acceptance of this team culture allowed for the synergy that Aphromoo and Zikzlol had vied for since CLG had finally made its return as a premier LCS team. HuHi played reckless but selfless, and Stixxay acted his part as Aphromoo’s foil. Stixxay’s inexperience and raw talent presented itself perfect for Aphromoo’s molding into a top-tier ADC in North America. On the other hand, HuHi appeared to under-perform on an individual level, especially considering his severe inconsistency from game to game. At best, he was the play-making team fighter his team needed him to be, but at worst, it looked questionable on how he even reached the LCS. Regardless, he played an important role in boosting team morale, according to Aphromoo. The first few weeks of LCS left CLG lingering towards the bottom half of teams, and yet they did not accept that their roster was limited to this much success. That their family was so limited. And so as the team practiced and grinded and grew to work more in sync, they climbed their way back up the standings. Focusing their strategic strengths, they surpassed other NA teams when it came to decision making and lane swaps. Aphromoo and Zikzlol helped build CLG into a team with actual strategical depth that actually extended passed a single dimension unlike some of their domestic counterparts. As the end of the regular season wound to an end, Counter Logic Gaming finished into a second place seeding for the playoffs. In order to get through playoffs, they had to beat both Team Liquid and TSM, both of which were done in epic 3–2 Bo5 series. Against Team Liquid, CLG secured victories around the 35 minute mark with convincing shut-outs. Stixxay managed carry performances, and HuHi played a great supportive role for Darshan “Darshan” Upadhyaha when Stixxay faltered. Their next opponent was Team Solo Mid. TSM provided the perfect contrast for CLG. They were a stacked lineup of veteran LCS players in every position, many with international experience already. All Stars among some of them even. Hell, even TSM’s ADC was the legacy player that CLG had let go, Doublelift. And yet, when TSM looked to challenge CLG for the NA LCS Championship title, CLG took the series with carry performances bolstered by the play of Aphromoo, HuHi, and Jake “Xmithie” Puchero. CLG’s family was bound for the international stage. Photo via Riot Games/Flickr Mid-Season Invitational North America is credited as a weak region on the international stage due to it’s lack of major success since 2013. CLG, just as they had been domestically, were underdogs. North America’s Counter Logic Gaming (CLG) had to stack up against: Korea’s SK Telecom (SKT) China’s Royal Never Give Up (RNG) Taiwan’s Flash Wolves (FW) Europe’s G2 Esports (G2) Turkey’s Super Massive (SUP). There are some teams that choke and/or under-perform on the international stage, some who maintain their current level, and some who thrive in this environment. This iteration of CLG managed to thrive in this situation where most NA teams had failed previously. In the initial double round robin groups stage, CLG emerged second place, having taken a game off of every member in the tournament. Admittedly, their victory versus RNG did seem like a miracle, but CLG endured. The family of underdogs who were expected to finish bottom of the group had performed miracles against the best teams in the world. Due to seeding, they were pit against FW in the knockout stage. Things kept looking up for CLG as they had already beaten FW in the tournament twice. From the start, CLG only looked forward towards victory, and grasped the first game in their usual pace. Though the second game fell to FW, they were not shaken by the loss, despite the rookie talent. CLG secured a spot to the finals after delivering the final blow to FW in a 3–1 Bo5. The same team who was critcized for the decision to let go of their star players last year was in the finals against the best team in the world. They had proven to not just North America, but to the world, that they were a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, their run was cut short by SKT’s dominating performance in the finals. CLG tried to fight back against the monolith of SKT, but did not secure a single win against SKT’s carry duo of Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok and Bae “Bang” Jun-sik. In an international tournament with top Asian teams, CLG had pulled out a second place finish for North America. Photo via lolesports NA LCS Summer Split Coming off their strong international showing, CLG was expected by fans to perform in the same manner they had during MSI. Of course, as they had lacked practice on the patch, and might have been facing minor degrees of burnout, they did not. The first weeks of the Summer Split might have been worse than the first few weeks of the Spring Split. The teams that struggled against CLG had gotten stronger: TSM replaced their support and found themselves renewed, C9 did the same, and IMT remained strong throughout the regular season. On top of this, the LCS was now playing in a Bo3 format rather than a Bo1, making matches more taxing than they had been before. By the end of the season, CLG had landed in 4th place behind TSM, IMT, and C9. Counter Logic Gaming was faltering on their basics, and it took time to properly readjust to each other as the meta shifted due to Patch 6.9. At a point, Aphromoo even said he and Xmithie had to reign in HuHi. “He wants to go help out his teammate… Xmithie and I are the ones that stop the bleeding right there. ‘Do not go for that roam, Jae!’ Just come mid, let’s get some vision here.” — Aphromoo This desire to help his friends and brothers on the team showed the team looking rejuvenated. They were undergoing rough patches throughout the season, and yet the team was still held together. They hadn’t collapsed when these signs showed like they had in years past. Between the regular season and the playoffs, Patch 6.15 was implemented. This patch looked to eliminate lane swaps in the form of outer turret buffs and “first brick gold.” The first brick gold gives the killer of the first turret in the game up to 400 gold for one person. This snowball mechanic further disabled the viability of lane swaps, and forced CLG’s hand strategically. Team Liquid was their first opponent in the playoffs again, and this time they closed out the series much cleaner and dropped only one game. Superior map movements and team fighting brought CLG victory despite the disadvantageous patch changes. Their match against TSM was not so kind for CLG as they were crushed 0–3. TSM’s revitalized self posed even more of a threat than they had in Spring for CLG as they took teamfights and picks off of CLG throughout the series. CLG fell to the 3rd/4th place match with IMT. This might have been one of the most exciting games I’ve watched between NA teams. While some of the play was sloppy, CLG and IMT played like they were hungry for success. Baron steals. Massive sprawling team fights. Four games of trading victories. And then the clock struck, and CLG spiraled in the 5th game. Whatever miracle CLG was fighting for collapsed, and IMT swiftly closed out the series. I believe CLG might have stumbled, but they stumbled together. When patches changed, they struggled together. When one of them had failings, they looked to lift each other back up. It’s the kind of positive environment CLG had been sorely missing for so long. It’s the family and support structure that only this CLG line-up could achieve. Whether they make it to the World Championship and get another chance to contend for the title or if they falter in the gauntlet, I need to say one thing: Thank you, Counter-Logic Gaming. |
The Most Advanced Scotch Tape Dispenser. In The World. It’s absolute overkill. Over a pound of 6061 aluminum, every part CNC machined and yes, it’s just a scotch tape dispenser. This is the creation of the Advanced CNC class at Laney College as taught by Bob Rice. I programmed and machined all the parts from drawings using MasterCAM, a Chevalier toolroom mill and a Haas SL lathe. All the threads were single-point cut and threaded holes rigid tapped. Every part required at least two operations, every face is machined. 1/2-13 threads 1/4-20 threads The cutter serration was created using a wedge tool I ground from a broken center-drill, plunged into the part with the spindle off and indexed to simply form the teeth. The tool was plunged .030 deep every .025. I wrote the gcode for that bit manually. |
Presenting a bottle of wine for a table the first few times can be scary, anything unfamiliar or not yet a habit can be a little shaky. But, you’ll become a pro, I’ll see to that! There are a few steps that you must follow to make sure that you are doing everything correctly. Get these down, understand them and you on your way to living up to your bad-ass potential. Want to learn about Champagne? Want to take Champagne quiz? iamWaitress is here for you! Stand to the right of guest and show the host the bottle; read *him the vintage, the producer, the varietal and where it came from. Here is your 2007 Duckhorn Merlot from Napa Valley. The reason this step is important is to communicate with the customer so mistakes will be prevented. If you state all of these facts to your customer and they approve the wine, there will be much less room for them disagreeing with the bottle after it is opened. Example “I didn’t want the Duckhorn, I wanted the Paraduxx.” Maybe they did but they approved the Duckhorn. With that being said, it is your job to present the bottle of wine that they ordered. If they said Paraduxx and you bring them Duckhorn, you are naughty. If you ever have a chance to taste Duckhorn or Paraduxx, I suggest it; they are delicious. (In my opinion.) Remove foil, pocket it. Remove cork and present it to the person who has ordered the wine, either stain up or stain away. Put the cork on something, not just the table. By doing this you are allowing the host to inspect the cork for flaws. The cork itself witll not tell if a wine is bad but it will give possible red flags to be weary of, such as a ribbon of wine running from the bottom of the cork to the top, dryness throughout, dry at the bottom of the cork or if the producers name on the cork does not match the actual wine. How Many Bottles Of Wine Have You Opened in Your Career? Less than 10 10-100 100-500 Over 500 View Results Loading ... Loading ... Once the cork is presented you will pour about one ounce for the host to smell and taste. This is the real opportunity for the host to know if the wine is “corked” or “off”. He will be smelling the wine to make sure that there is fruit in the aroma. If it smells flat, like newspaper, vinegar or wet dog things are not looking good. He will also taste to confirm what his nose has told him. Often times, smelling the wine is all that is necessary. All About Wine Corks from iamWaitress on Vimeo. After the host has accepted the bottle you will pour the wine for all guests. Be aware of how many people you will be pouring for. That bottle of wine needs to be poured for everyone, including the host, leaving some to spare in the bottle. Make sure you go around the table in a clockwise fashion, passing the host. Start with the person of honor, regardless of their gender. If there is no person of honor, continue your clockwise loop and pour for all woman at the table. Make another clockwise trip around and pour for all of the men. Finish with the host. Make sure there is a little wine left in the bottle. The reason for this is to not give the impression that you are pressuring him to order another bottle. He will delegate where the last pour goes and then he can chose to order another bottle or not. If there are 8 or more people at a table then you do not have to pour for the woman first but you still must go clockwise and end with the host leaving a little wine to spare in the bottle. Ask permission from host to remove the cork from the table. Any unnecessary clutter on the table should be removed for basic table maintenance. If the host wants to keep the cork, then move it to a part of the table so everyone on the service team knows that the cork is to stay on the table. This prevents your fellow bad-ass servers or managers from seeing the cork on the table and asking the host if they want it there. This is just a way of communicating with your team without speaking. Opening wine for a table will become second nature to you, I promise. Every time you open a bottle, every time you pour, things will get easier. Enjoy the process. How To Open A Bottle Of Wine For A Table from iamWaitress on Vimeo. |
I was working in midtown at Bond 45 with K__ at the time Yankee Stadium was about to open for the season, and my buddy S___ told me he was hired at the Legends Suite Club. He said he was gonna make s#*! tons of money because of the high price of the tickets and the high rollers, so I thought, ‘What the hell, I’ll try and get a job there, too.’ The Yankees opened up a new stadium in 2009. According to the team, it was supposed to create 1,000 new jobs, and Tyler Hoof was going to get one of them–specifically, one of the waiter jobs in the expensive Legends Suite behind home plate. He wanted an extra job for a little extra cash. Not that working at Bond 45 in midtown was no good, but a little walking-around money would be good in the most expensive town in America. The stadium cost $1.5 billion to build, making it the most expensive sport venue built in America at the time. And it would be home to the most expensive baseball team of all time. In 2009, the Yankees were projected to spend $65 million more on player salaries than the second-most expensive team. And because the Yankees had been selling out forever, nobody blinked at the 52,000-seat capacity or the $2,625-per-game premium seats in the first couple of rows behind home plate. At least, not at first. On the day of the mass hiring, the line wrapped around the stadium, literally; it was a joke. I walked pass the entire line to the front and told the security guard I had an appointment with one of the managers. I was wearing my Burberry. He ushered me inside the gate to the front of the line where I filled out a basic questionnaire. After that I was next to be interviewed and was hired on the spot. I never made any money working there; the Legends club patrons are cheap when it comes to tipping their servers. Turns out, the timing wasn’t great on the new stadium. Remember 2009? Since 1947, only two quarters have been anywhere nearly as bad as the first quarter of 2009 was for America. The GDP shrank by almost double digits, and belts were tightening everywhere. That’s probably why Hoof had to pull some shenanigans to cut to the front of a crazy line of hopefuls. That’s also why corporations weren’t falling over themselves to shell out the high prices for seats behind the plate. Johnny Damon understood. “Yeah, we understand it’s not full. We actually understand why it’s not,” left fielder Damon said. “It’s tough for, you know, business owners to justify those seats. It’s either, have those seats or lay off people from work, and I think that during this tough time, people are going to want to put it back into their companies and put it back into people instead of spending that type of money for seats.” No wonder the ones that did show up didn’t tip Hoof well. On a scorching hot afternoon in late May, after the second inning and the clubhouse was quiet, my boss saw I wasn’t doing anything, so she told me and S_____ to give out some ice cream sandwiches to our guests. Most damning of the new stadium, perhaps, were the pictures of empty seats everywhere, especially behind home plate. Take a look at the header image above—just a night game, just like any other—and see all the missing bodies. Now take a look below at a picture from 2008, and the old stadium, thanks to Josh Greenberg. MLB.tv doesn’t go back that far, or perhaps it would be more stark. Still, you can see the area behind home plate is well-stocked. The House that Greed Built became an easy nickname for the stadium. Some blamed the Legends Suites themselves for the empty seats behind home plate. With your high-priced ticket came free food and water from the restaurant under the stands behind home plate. You didn’t have to sit in the elements if you didn’t want to, a fact that wasn’t lost on those watching on television and wondering where everyone behind home plate was. Hoof usually was serving those missing patrons in the Legends Suite Club under the stadium. In fact, with your high-priced ticket came a separate entrance through that restaurant. The very richest never had to rub elbows with the plebeians. On the other hand, after an underwhelming start to the year, things were looking better for the team. Headed into the game on May 20, the Yankees were 22-17, in third place and three and half games back of a surprising Blue Jays squad. But the Bombers were on a seven-game winning streak. Phil Hughes headed to the mound against Jeremy Guthrie and the Orioles. By the second inning, the Yankees were already up 3-0 on the Orioles thanks to a Melky Cabrera home run. An afternoon game during the week, headed towards being a laugher … it’s actually a surprise more people weren’t in the restaurant. But during a hot game, for customers that paid well for their seats, free ice cream was a pretty good idea. The Streaks: Drysdale and Hershiser in Parallel by Shane Tourtellotte Two consecutive scoreless innings pitched streaks bound two hurlers together in history. We loaded up the biggest coolers we could find and started tossing bars behind home plate and made our way towards first base. I belted out, “Ice cream! Free, ice cold ice cream”! Anybody that heard me wanted it. The people in the cheap seats were screaming for it, but we weren’t allowed to give it to them. I told them they didn’t pay enough. There’s a moat. There’s a moat between the Legends Suite seats and the rest of the stadium. Take a look at it in Gary Dunaier’s excellent picture below. It’s a moat, and it’s called The Moat by most involved. Some stadiums have similar features, but this is one of the starkest in baseball. And all the medieval connotations that come with it seem to fit. It’s large and looks like it would funnel water well, but more importantly, it separates the very richest from the rest of the crowd. And it prevents young fans from being able to come up to the railing and ask for autographs before the game starts, a ritual in most parks. But it’s not going away. Even at non-Yankee events, like the NYU commencement, The Moat has remained as a divider, and the Legends Suite seats have been off limits. Yankees’ Chief Operating Officer Lonn Trost held a press conference to talk about the seats and the division in May of 2009. He likened allowing fans free access to the Legends Suites to having strangers in your house. “If you purchased a house, would you want people in your house?” It all started when we reached first. We started wailing the bars to guests behind home plate and all along the first-base line. The guests started to catch and throw the ice cream to the people in the cheap seats, and they started throwing them. Everyone stood up and started shouting, ‘Ice cream!’ We held our hands to our ears, signaling them to shout a little louder, ‘Ice cream!’ Usually, the free stuff that ostensibly separates the two brands of fans down in the lower bowl is kept discrete. Your free water bottle is handed to you with your wristband—enjoy the all-inclusive resort—and the restaurant where Hoof usually worked is in the bowels of the park. On May 20, though, the free ice cream came out into the seats and was agonizingly alluring to those hot fans in the slightly-less-expensive seats around the Legends seats. There’s no chart needed to prove that people like free crap. So just look inwardly and ask yourself in an honest moment if you could really restrain yourself from yelling for free ice cream on a hot weekday during a game that might be headed towards laugher-ism. Considering those desserts cost close to $10 a pop in the concession stands, it’s not like people were going nuts over a cheap figurine that was stamped out of plastic for 91 cents a pop in China. This was real, cold food on a hot day. And the rich seats were throwing some back to the … almost-as-rich seats. I mean, the average price for a lower-bowl ticket close to the Legends Suites was still close to $500 a pop. But credit a few nice fans for including those around them in the fun they were having. We were throwing sandos every few seconds, melted or not. The guests loved it; I was having fun myself. First security came up to us and told us to “shut it down.” I told him my boss told us to do this, and we’re not going to stop until our boss told us so. At this point, everyone along the first-base line was standing up watching us and not watching the game. We kept wailing bars to anyone with their hands in the air. I bet at one point there were over 30 ice cream bars flying around. Only one writer covered the Great Ice Cream Riot of 2009, and Bob Raissman chose to couch it within a discussion of how mean Yankee Stadium security had been so far that year. A radio broadcaster was blocked from the team bus. Players’ wives were kept from their husbands. Chris Berman was shown preferential treatment. And when the “fan-elite started tossing ice cream sandwiches over the moat to peasants sitting in the $400 ‘cheap’ seats,” things “did not sit well with Toastie security forces, who began scolding their most prized customers.” But even someone missing the point that day managed to get around to it. The best lines from Raissman’s notebook piece: “The lecture from security prompted a guy in the rich seats to say. ‘I paid for this food; I can do with it what I want!’ Yeah, let them eat ice cream (sandwiches).” Marie Anotinette may never have said that infamous line—”Let them eat cake!”—but she’s been saddled with that unfortunate phrasing for some time now. A reference to the French Revolution fits perfectly, though. My boss appeared minutes later. I remember her face was beet red, she was so pissed. We were escorted back to the clubhouse for a lecturing and cut from the rest of our shift that afternoon. She never asked us to pass out anything ever again. — Tyler Hoof, former Legends Suite Club waiter Turns out, Hoof lost his job a week or so later, perhaps because of this incident, perhaps not. If it was because of this, it’s good that he had a better job from the get-go, or this would be a tale of tragedy: The Day That a Little Fun With Ice Cream Cost a Real-Life Person His Real-Life Job. Instead, since Hoof is fine now and was fine with losing the job, we can laugh with a wink. Sometimes, the people rise up in opposition to the systems put in place to keep us down. Sometimes, the rich agree with the poor and hold out a helping hand full of ice cream, even in front of the frowning face of authority. Sometimes, the moats put up between us collapse under the weight of flying dairy. If just for an inning on a warm day in May. |
sane-mustek.5 sane-mustek(5) SANE Scanner Access Now Easy sane-mustek(5) NAME sane-mustek - SANE backend for Mustek SCSI flatbed scanners (and some other devices) DESCRIPTION The sane-mustek library implements a SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) backend that provides access to Mustek (and some relabeled Trust and Primax) SCSI and parport flatbed scanners. At present, the following scanners are known to work more or less with this backend: Paragon MFS-6000CX Paragon MFS-12000CX Paragon MFC-600S, 600 II CD, ScanMagic 600 II SP Paragon MFC-800S, 800 II SP Paragon MFS-6000SP Paragon MFS-8000SP Paragon MFS-1200SP, MFS-12000SP ScanExpress 6000SP ScanExpress 12000SP, 12000SP Plus, Paragon 1200 III SP, Scan‐ Magic 9636S, 9636S Plus Paragon 1200 LS ScanExpress A3 SP Paragon 1200 SP Pro Paragon 1200 A3 Pro Paragon 600 II EP Paragon 600 II N Trust Imagery 1200 Trust Imagery 1200 SP Trust Imagery 4800 SP Trust SCSI Connect 19200 Primax Compact 4800 SCSI More details can be found on the Mustek SCSI backend homepage http://www.meier-geinitz.de/sane/mustek-backend/. Don't mix up MFS (Paragon), Pro and ScanExpress models! They're com‐ pletely different. Check the exact model name! Note that most of the above scanners come with a SCSI interface. The only non-SCSI scanners that have some support at this point is the 600 II N and 600 II EP scanners. The former one comes with its own parallel port adapter (i.e., it does not attach to the printer port). Both scan‐ ners use the SCSI protocol internally, too. More info on how to use these parallel port scanners can be found below in section PARALLEL PORT SCANNERS. Other parallel port scanners are not supported by this backend but you may be successful using the Mustek parallel port back‐ end mustek_pp, see sane-mustek_pp(5). USB scanners are also not sup‐ ported by this backend but the ma1509, mustek_usb, gt68xx, and plustek backends include support for some of them, see sane-ma1509(5), sane-mustek_usb(5), sane-gt68xx(5), and sane-plustek(5). Mustek scanners have no protection against exceeding the physical scan area height. That is, if a scan is attempted with a height that exceeds the height of the scan surface, the scanner begins making loud noises and the scan mechanism may be damaged. Thus, if you hear such a noise, IMMEDIATELY turn off the scanner. This shouldn't happen if your scanner is in the list of known scanners. There is more information in the /usr/local/share/doc/sane-backends/PROBLEMS file. If you own a Mustek (or Trust) scanner other than the ones listed above that works with this backend, please let us know by sending the scan‐ ner's exact model name (look at the front and back of the scanner) and a debug output to sane-devel@alioth-lists.debian.net. You can get the debug output by setting the environment variable SANE_DEBUG_MUSTEK to 5 and showing the list of available scanners with scanimage -L. Please send all of it to the mailing list. You must be subscribed to sane-devel before you can send mail to the list. See http://www.sane-project.org/mailing-lists.html for details. DEVICE NAMES This backend expects device names of the form: special Where special is either the path-name for the special device that cor‐ responds to a SCSI scanner or the port number at which the parallel port scanners can be found (see section PARALLEL PORT SCANNERS below). For SCSI scanners, the special device name must be a generic SCSI device or a symlink to such a device. The program sane-find-scanner helps to find out the correct device. Under Linux, such a device name could be /dev/sg0 or /dev/sg3, for example. See sane-scsi(5) for details. CONFIGURATION The contents of the mustek.conf file is a list of options and device names that correspond to Mustek scanners. Empty lines and lines start‐ ing with a hash mark (#) are ignored. See sane-scsi(5) on details of what constitutes a valid device name. The supported options are linedistance-fix, lineart-fix, legal-size, buffersize, blocksize, strip-height, disable-double-buffering, dis���� able-backtracking, and force-wait. Options come in two flavors: global and positional ones. Global options apply to all devices managed by the backend whereas positional options apply just to the most recently mentioned device. Note that this means that the order in which the options appear matters! Option linedistance-fix is positional and works around a problem that occurs with some SCSI controllers (notably the ncr810 controller under Linux). If color scans have horizontal stripes and/or the colors are off, then it's likely that your controller suffers from this problem. Turning on this option usually fixes the problem. Option lineart-fix is positional and works around a timing problem that seems to exist with certain MFS-12000SP scanners. The problem mani‐ fests itself in dropped lines when scanning in lineart mode. Turning on this option should fix the problem but may slow down scanning a bit. Option legal-size is positional and sets the size of the scan area to Legal format. Set this option if you own a Paragon 12000 LS. It can't be distinguished by software from a ScanExpress 12000 SP (ISO A4 for‐ mat). Option buffersize is a positional option that overrides the default value set for the size of the SCSI buffer. The buffer size is specified in kilobytes. The default value is 128. Because of double buffering the buffer actually sent to the scanner is half the size of this value. Try to increase this value to achieve higher scan speeds. Note that some ScanExpress scanners don't like buffer sizes above 64 kb (buffersize = 128). If your sg driver can't set SCSI buffer sizes at runtime you may have to change that value, too. See sane-scsi(5) for details. Option blocksize is a positional option that overrides the default value set for the maximum amount of data scanned in one block. The buf‐ fer size is specified in kilobytes. Some scanners freeze if this value is bigger than 2048. The default value is 1 GB (so effectively no limit) for most scanners. Don't change this value if you don't know exactly what you do. Option strip-height is a global option that limits the maximum height of the strip scanned with a single SCSI read command. The height is specified in inches and may contain a fractional part (e.g., 1.5). Setting the strip-height to a small value (one inch, for example) reduces the likelihood of encountering problems with SCSI driver time‐ outs and/or timeouts with other devices on the same SCSI bus. Unfortu‐ nately, it also increases scan times. With current SCSI adapters and drivers this option shouldn't be needed any more. Option disable-double-buffering is a global option. If set, the backend will only send one buffer at a time to the scanner. Try this option if you have trouble while scanning, e.g. SCSI errors, freezes, or the first few cm are repeated over and over again in your image. Option disable-backtracking is a positional option. If set, the scanner will not move back its slider after each SCSI buffer is filled (`back‐ tracking'). Setting this option will lead to faster scans but may also produce horizontal stripes. This option doesn't work with every scanner (only some of the paragon models can modify backtracking). Finally, force-wait is a global option. If set, the backend will wait until the device is ready before sending the inquiry command. Further more the backend will force the scan slider to return to its starting position (not implemented for all scanners). This option may be neces‐ sary with the 600 II N or when scanimage is used multiple times (e.g. in scripts). The default is off (not set). A sample configuration file is shown below: # limit strip height of all scanners to 1.5 inches: option strip-height 1.5 /dev/scanner # first Mustek scanner # 1 MB buffer for /dev/scanner: option buffersize 1024 /dev/sge # second Mustek scanner # turn on fixes for /dev/sge: option lineart-fix option linedistance-fix SCSI ADAPTER TIPS You need a SCSI adapter for the SCSI scanners. Even if the connector is the same as that of parallel port scanners, connecting it to the com‐ puters parallel port will NOT work. Mustek SCSI scanners are typically delivered with an ISA SCSI adapter. Unfortunately, that adapter is not worth much since it is not interrupt driven. It is (sometimes) possible to get the supplied card to work, but without interrupt line, scanning will be very slow and put so much load on the system, that it becomes almost unusable for other tasks. If you already have a working SCSI controller in your system, you should consider that Mustek scanners do not support the SCSI-2 discon‐ nect/reconnect protocol and hence tie up the SCSI bus while a scan is in progress. This means that no other SCSI device on the same bus can be accessed while a scan is in progress. Because the Mustek-supplied adapter is not worth much and because Mustek scanners do not support the SCSI-2 disconnect/reconnect proto‐ col, it is recommended to install a separate (cheap) SCSI controller for Mustek scanners. For example, ncr810 based cards are known to work fine and cost as little as fifty US dollars. For Mustek scanners, it is typically necessary to configure the low- level SCSI driver to disable synchronous transfers (sync negotiation), tagged command queuing, and target disconnects. See sane-scsi(5) for driver- and platform-specific information. The ScanExpress models have sometimes trouble with high resolution color mode. If you encounter sporadic corrupted images (parts dupli‐ cated or shifted horizontally) kill all other applications before scan‐ ning and (if sufficient memory is available) disable swapping. Details on how to get the Mustek SCSI adapters and other cards running can be found at http://www.meier-geinitz.de/sane/mustek-backend/#SCSI. PARALLEL PORT SCANNERS This backend has support for the Paragon 600 II EP and Paragon 600 II N parallel port scanners. Note that the latter scanner comes with its own ISA card that implements a funky parallel port (in other words, the scanner does not connected to the printer parallel port). These scanners can be configured by listing the port number of the adapter or the parallel port in the mustek.conf file. Valid port num‐ bers for the 600 II N are 0x26b, 0x2ab, 0x2eb, 0x22b, 0x32b, 0x36b, 0x3ab, 0x3eb. For the 600 II EP use one of these: parport0, parport1, parport2, 0x378, 0x278, 0x3bc. Pick one that doesn't conflict with the other hardware in your computer. Put only one number on a single line. Example: 0x3eb Note that for these scanners usually root privileges are required to access the I/O ports. Thus, either make frontends such as scanimage(1) and xscanimage(1) setuid root (generally not recommended for safety reasons) or, alternatively, access this backend through the network daemon saned(8). If the Mustek backend blocks while sending the inquiry command to the scanner, add the option force-wait to mustek.conf. Also note that after a while of no activity, some scanners themselves (not the SANE backend) turns off their CCFL lamps. This shutdown is not always perfect with the result that the lamp sometimes continues to glow dimly at one end. This doesn't appear to be dangerous since as soon as you use the scanner again, the lamp turns back on to the normal high brightness. However, the first image scanned after such a shutdown may have stripes and appear to be over-exposed. When this happens, just take another scan, and the image will be fine. FILES /usr/local/etc/sane.d/mustek.conf The backend configuration file (see also description of SANE_CONFIG_DIR below). /usr/local/lib/sane/libsane-mustek.a The static library implementing this backend. /usr/local/lib/sane/libsane-mustek.so The shared library implementing this backend (present on systems that support dynamic loading). ENVIRONMENT SANE_CONFIG_DIR This environment variable specifies the list of directories that may contain the configuration file. Under UNIX, the directories are separated by a colon (`:'), under OS/2, they are separated by a semi-colon (`;'). If this variable is not set, the config‐ uration file is searched in two default directories: first, the current working directory (".") and then in /usr/local/etc/sane.d. If the value of the environment variable ends with the directory separator character, then the default directories are searched after the explicitly specified directo‐ ries. For example, setting SANE_CONFIG_DIR to "/tmp/config:" would result in directories "tmp/config", ".", and "/usr/local/etc/sane.d" being searched (in this order). SANE_DEBUG_MUSTEK If the library was compiled with debug support enabled, this environment variable controls the debug level for this backend. Higher debug levels increase the verbosity of the output. Value Description 0 no output 1 print fatal errors 2 print important messages 3 print non-fatal errors and less important messages 4 print all but debugging messages 5 print everything Example: export SANE_DEBUG_MUSTEK=4 SEE ALSO AUTHOR David Mosberger, Andreas Czechanowski, Andreas Bolsch (SE extensions), Henning Meier-Geinitz, James Perry (600 II EP). BUGS Scanning with the SCSI adapters supplied by Mustek is very slow at high resolutions and wide scan areas. Some scanners (e.g. Paragon 1200 A3 + Pro, SE A3) need more testing. The gamma table supports only 256 colors, even if some scanners can do more. More detailed bug information is available at the Mustek backend home‐ page: http://www.meier-geinitz.de/sane/mustek-backend/. 13 Jul 2008 sane-mustek(5) Man(1) output converted with man2html |
There are still signs that a fervent alternative scene survives. This weekend, for instance, 50,000 people a day are expected to visit Indio, Calif., for the sixth-annual Coachella Valley Music Festival, the biggest rock event of its kind in the United States, to cheer bands like the Arcade Fire and the Secret Machines. Moreover, while alternative programmers are searching for a solution, for the moment they have the benefit of new music by a clutch of reliable stars from the genre's heyday: Nine Inch Nails, Weezer and Beck are releasing their first albums in two years or more, and songs by each rocketed to the top of Billboard magazine's modern-rock airplay chart. But many musicians in the newer bands on the alternative playlists "could be your waiter tomorrow night and you wouldn't know the difference," griped a radio promotion executive at one major label, who requested anonymity for fear of offending bands on his label. Ratings for rock radio stations have been languishing for years. The share of the 18-to-34 age group that is tuning in to alternative stations has shrunk by more than 20 percent in the last five years, according to Arbitron, while stations playing rap and R&B or Spanish-language formats have enjoyed an expanding audience. Newsletter Sign Up Continue reading the main story Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box. Invalid email address. Please re-enter. You must select a newsletter to subscribe to. Sign Up You will receive emails containing news content , updates and promotions from The New York Times. You may opt-out at any time. You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services. Thank you for subscribing. An error has occurred. Please try again later. View all New York Times newsletters. As a result, many rock programmers aren't sure what to play. "The format in the last couple of years has gone through an identity crisis," said Kevin Weatherly, program director of KROQ, a closely watched alternative powerhouse in Los Angeles. "You have stations that are too cool, that move too quickly and are only playing the coolest music, which doesn't at the end of the day attract enough of the audience. Or you have the other extreme, dumb rock, red-state rock that the cool kids just flat out aren't into." Such scrambling to strike a balance has cost many alternative programmers large chunks of audience. Some radio executives said that they made a fateful choice in the last few years to jettison the pop-rock side of their genre to concentrate on heavier-sounding bands, and now are afraid to turn back. As part of that shift, many stations also decided to eliminate women from their audience research. These stations decided to aim at men almost exclusively because of the heavier sound. "You got yourself into a corner that you can't get out of," said Tom Calderone, senior vice president for music and talent at MTV, and a former radio programmer and consultant. "When you listen to alternative stations do their 90's flashback weekends, you can hear something as meaningful as Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden to something as silly and quirky as Harvey Danger and Presidents of the United States of America. When you become 65-75 percent guys, you're leaving a huge audience on the table." At WZTA in Miami, the decision in 2003 to remove women from the equation "was definitely when we started to see Zeta's attrition," Mr. Hanson said. Days after Clear Channel took Zeta off the air, a rival company, Cox Radio, flipped the format of one of its Miami-area stations to rock. Mr. Hanson also suggested that land-based radio had been too slow to respond to satellite radio, which offers access to dozens of commercial-free music channels for a monthly subscription fee and to digital music players, like Apple Computer's iPod. He said that he balked when a supervisor suggested running an on-air contest to give away an iPod loaded with 949 songs. (Zeta's frequency was 94.9-FM.) "I was like, 'Then they don't need to listen to Zeta anymore."' Mr. Hanson wound up forgoing the contest. "The people that are leading-edge technology consumers are not being embraced by terrestrial radio," said Jim McGuinn, who was program director of WPLY in Philadelphia, known as Y100, before its corporate parent, Radio One, flipped the station to rap and R&B in February. "The outsider image disappeared," Mr. McGuinn said. Mr. McGuinn and a handful of other former WPLY employees have started an Internet radio station, y100rocks.com, to play music they say the terrestrial version had been missing, including songs by Interpol, Moby and Queens of the Stone Age. Advertisement Continue reading the main story But for now, Philadelphia has no terrestrial alternative-rock station. Some analysts fear that, when radio stations switch from alternative rock to programming aimed at older listeners, they may be making a sacrifice. "Radio has ceded the younger demographic to other media," said Fred Jacobs, president of Jacobs Media, a radio consulting company in Southfield, Mich., specializing in rock. "I just don't know how we're going to get back people who didn't get into the radio habit in their teens," he said, adding, "It really becomes problematic down the road." |
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