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This is a strong grouping here in Hamburg with Argentina, Ivory Coast, The Netherlands, and Serbia-Montenegro. In fact, it’s arguably one of the more difficult ones, in the World Cup. Argentina came into the tournament having won twice, last time in 1986 with the legendary Diego Maradona, but this is a very young team that is on its way up.
This was a very well-played match with Argentina coming out on top, thanks to goals from Hernan Crespo and Javier Soviola in the first half of the matchup. Didier Drogba scored the lone goal for the Ivory Coast in the 82nd minute of the game, but by then, it was too late. | <urn:uuid:018aa2b9-11b4-4e1a-8e14-90a204290cd1> | 2013-05-24T02:05:42Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Patent protection of pharmaceutical products is recognized as a necessary mechanism to prevent competitor copycat products. Sheer population alone makes China and India attractive markets for sale of products.
When intending to market a pharmaceutical product in these countries, a company typically files a patent application with the intent to secure granted patent claims to the product. There are, however, several considerations a patent practitioner should be aware of when advising a company whether to file in India or China and when preparing patent applications for filing in the countries. These considerations are addressed in this article. First, patent rules in the U.S. and Europe are provided to give context to the considerations in India and China.
Like most countries, China and India follow a patent “examination system”, whereby a patent application is examined by a patent examiner at the national patent office to ascertain whether the claims presented in the application satisfy the country’s legal standards for patentability. The patent examiner will issue a written report outlining any basis found for a lack of patentability.
The patent applicant has an opportunity to respond to the written report, which may include amending the claims in a way that is supported in the application as originally filed. The written exchanges between the examiner and the patent applicant can continue multiple rounds, typically until claims are found to be patentable (allowable) or the examiner issues a final rejection, which can be appealed by the applicant.
In the U.S., claims recognized as eligible for patent protection are to:
- a new drug compound,
- a new composition or formulation comprising a new drug or a known drug,
- methods of treatment using the compound or composition, and
- a new dosage regimen.
Typically a company with a pharmaceutical product will seek all types of claims, unless, of course, the product is based on a known drug, in which case claims to the drug compound are not sought.
In Europe, claims to a new drug compound, to a new composition with a new or a known drug, and to a dosage regimen are permitted. For policy reasons, Europe does not permit claims to methods of treatment, although claims to a “use” of a compound or composition (such as for making a medicine) are permissible. These “use” type of claims are termed first medical use and second medical use or “Swiss” claims.
India, however, under its law, does not permit claims to a method of medical treatment nor claims presented in first or second medical-use format. Moreover, claims to a modified drug compound, such as an ester of a known compound, are prohibited from patentability unless the modified compound significantly improves the medicine’s efficacy.
Claims to a pharmaceutical composition containing two or more active components may be permitted, provided all the active components and their concentrations are set forth in the claim, with support for an unexpected synergistic effect or with comparative in vivo assay data provided to corroborate an enhanced efficacy of the claimed composition in comparison to known compositions.
When determining whether to seek patent protection in India for a pharmaceutical product, an important consideration is whether the product is a new use of a known drug or composition, i.e., the invention is a new method of treatment based on a known drug; without a significant improvement or synergism, seeking patent protection in India would not be a fruitful endeavor and a waste of a company’s money.
For patent applications in India claiming a compound or composition, data supporting improved efficacy or synergistic effect are necessary to ensure patentability, and a company should be aware of this requirement and attempt to secure the supporting data prior to the deadline for filing in India.
Whether to seek patent protection for a pharmaceutical product in China presents a different set of considerations. China permits claims to compounds, compositions, and methods of treatment. One challenge in securing patent protection for any of these types of claims in China lies in proper drafting of the patent application.
Because it is common in China for the patent examiner to reject the claims on the grounds of undue breadth, and to insist that the scope of the claims be limited to the scope of the working examples, the examples set forth in the application as filed become critically important to the breadth of allowable claim scope. A patent practitioner should, at the time of drafting the patent application, carefully consider how best to present the data in support of the invention in various working examples.
Determining whether to file for patent protection in India and China for a pharmaceutical product presents considerations different from those in other countries, like the U.S. and Europe. A patent practitioner should be aware of the limitations on permissible types of claims and on the requirements posed under national laws for an examiner to find the claims allowable prior to actually incurring the costs of filing in a given country. | <urn:uuid:a1282da3-2937-4d41-bcb3-cc1dbece621b> | 2013-05-24T02:08:50Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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"WELL, a parish in the eastern division of the wapentake of HANG, North riding of the county of YORK, comprising the townships of Snape and Well, and containing 1059 inhabitants, of which number, 370 are in the township of Well, 4 miles S. from Bedale. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Richmond and diocese of Chester, rated in the king's books at £8. 13. 7., endowed with £400 private benefaction, £200 royal bounty, and £1100 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of Charles Chaplin, Esq. The church, dedicated to St James, contains several monuments of the lords of Snape. This place derived its name from a celebrated well, dedicated to St. Michael, which, at all times of the year, is supplied with water by a spring issuing from a rock. An hospital, in honour of St. Michael the Archangel, for a master, two priests, and twenty-four poor brethren and sisters, was founded here, in 1342, by Sir Ralph de Neville, Lord of Middleham, which at the dissolution had a revenue of £42.12. 3. Thomas, Earl of Exeter, in 1605, established a charity, called Neville's workhouse, for the maintenance of a master and mistress and twelve poor girls, the latter of whom are also educated. A school for boys, and another for girls, were founded here, and two others at Snape, in 1788, and are supported from these funds, which amount to about £100 per annum."
"SNAPE, a township in the parish of WELL, eastern division of the wapentake of HANG, North riding of the county of YORK, 8 miles S. fromBedale, containing 689 inhabitants, who are principally employed in wool-combing for the worsted-spinners in this part of the county. There is a place of worship for Wesleyan Methodists. An almshouse for eight aged persons, and free schools for children of each sex, have been founded and liberally endowed by the Nevilles." | <urn:uuid:fc8e545f-cc59-4beb-8d9c-41f04e1c77e3> | 2013-05-24T01:45:29Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Born within 40 years of Martin Luther's death, Heinrich Schütz (1585-1672) conferred musical greatness on Protestant church music in the German language. He left behind around 500 works – almost exclusively settings of texts from the Luther Bible.
Schütz was born in Köstritz and is remembered there with events and exhibitions at the Heinrich Schütz House – his birthplace, a former inn.
Schütz was a choirboy aged 13 when he was discovered by the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, who paid for his tuition including under Gabrieli in Venice. It was later with reluctance that he allowed his protégé to move to Dresden.
In Dresden, Schütz held the post of court kapellmeister to the Elector of Saxony for 55 years. They were difficult times because the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) was raging in Germany. Schütz's legacy is commemorated in Dresden's Church of Our Lady, by a stele near the Zwinger Palace and at the Heinrich Schütz House on Frauengasse.
In 1651 Schütz purchased a house to which to retire in Weissenfels, where he had spent his youth. It was there that he wrote his Swan Song, an eleven motet setting of Psalm 119 for two choirs. The Heinrich Schütz House in Weissenfels is largely preserved in its original state. | <urn:uuid:574cc9ec-979d-4d22-bd04-e11e3ec4f186> | 2013-05-24T01:37:45Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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There wouldn't be, because you got the knowledge even the number system through muslims.
The decimal positional system, which al-Khwarizmi popularized was actually Indian in origin and was in use almost 200 years before his time. This isn't meant to take away from any of his other contributions in the field of mathematics, which were interesting and important. Only to point out that the particular number system is irrelevant and unimportant. Summerians, for example, centuries before Islam first showed up on earth, quite happily used sexagesimal numbering systems and the fundamental mathematics remain the same whether you use base 1 or base 2, 10 or 174 and whether you represent the number three with the glyph 3, ༜ or |||.
Can we state with certainly that the Rennaisance could not have happened without Muslims? No, we can't. It would certainly have been different, but we don't know how. You can speculate and make guesses, but your guesses and speculation are... well... guesses and speculation and mean little in this context.
You had nothing, you didn't even know how to wash yourself.
You keep upping the ante with more and more ridiculous assertions. You realize that ruins in Crete and Olynthus, built and destroyed centuries before Muhammad came along and dreamed up of Islam, had indoor plumbing such as flushing toilets, tiled bathrooms, self-draining tubs and hot-water delivery systems, right? You realize that Rome was notorious for its hot water baths, right? | <urn:uuid:4c3a70ca-c3ee-48f9-b0e8-4fb8d637a393> | 2013-05-24T01:45:02Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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The 2012 series began shooting on Sunday in New York, with Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban joining Mariah Carey and Randy Jackson on the new panel. Rumours from the shoot suggested Carey angered Minaj by talking over her comments to the singers auditioning for the show.
Carey has now denied these rumours, and says that talks of a fall-out are a little premature.
"How are we gonna feud in two days? A feud takes a little longer to spread out," says Mariah Carey to MTV news. "It's fun, it's music, it's singing, it's laughter."
It was previously reported that Mariah Carey was furious with producers when Minaj was approached for a judging role on the show in August. She later denied any feud between the two as she told photographers "Tension? What tension?".
Below: who earns the most? Reality TV show wages revealed | <urn:uuid:472532b9-e846-41a6-8372-d9a5666079cc> | 2013-05-24T01:30:37Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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This file was encoded by the Zend Encoder / Zend SafeGuard Suite
In order to run it, please install the freely available Zend Optimizer, version 2.1.0 or later.
The Zend Optimizer is one of the most popular PHP plugins for performance-improvent, and has been freely available since the early days of PHP 4. It improves performance by taking PHP's intermediate code through multiple Optimization Passes, which replace inefficient code patterns with efficient code blocks. The replacement code blocks perform exactly the same operations as the original code, only faster.
In addition to performance-improvement, the Zend Optimizer also enables PHP to transparently load files encoded by the Zend Encoder or Zend SafeGuard Suite.
The Zend Optimizer is a freely-available product from Zend Technologies. Zend Technologies is the company that develops the scripting engine of PHP, also known as the Zend Engine. | <urn:uuid:6dd40a5e-b625-4fd3-8347-5c0d8569d885> | 2013-05-24T02:06:44Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Looks like a Hadeland, Norway, piece to me. My only reservation is that the base seems to taper in, which the Hadeland piece wouldn't do. Or is that only the angle of the shot? Hadeland pieces aren't always signed. I think it's a wonderful piece, btw. | <urn:uuid:a0501f07-2215-475f-8da0-7af4f4c5d55a> | 2013-05-24T02:07:12Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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An abbrev is a word that has been defined to expand into a specified expansion. When you insert a word-separator character following the abbrev, that expands the abbrev—replacing the abbrev with its expansion. For example, if ‘foo’ is defined as an abbrev expanding to ‘find outer otter’, then typing f o o . will insert ‘find outer otter.’.
Abbrevs expand only when Abbrev mode, a buffer-local minor mode, is enabled. Disabling Abbrev mode does not cause abbrev definitions to be forgotten, but they do not expand until Abbrev mode is enabled again. The command M-x abbrev-mode toggles Abbrev mode; with a numeric argument, it turns Abbrev mode on if the argument is positive, off otherwise. See Minor Modes.
Abbrevs can have mode-specific definitions, active only in one major mode. Abbrevs can also have global definitions that are active in all major modes. The same abbrev can have a global definition and various mode-specific definitions for different major modes. A mode-specific definition for the current major mode overrides a global definition.
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Archaeological Places in Lima
From immemorial times different pre-Inca cultures that appeared in the history inhabited the Rímac valley and territories around Lima. In its origins an old fishermen town was located here, with great religious tradition. In later period the pre-Inca cultures of Maranga and Aramburú were developed, then followed the Collas, Huachos and the Huallas cultures, and finally they were conquered by the Incas.
The Incas respected the religions of the conquered people and they added their gods, reason for which many pre-Inca religious centers stayed until the arrival of the Spaniards.
All these towns and cultures left archaeological remains, some of them, at the moment well conserved and others restored, outstanding among those:
(UNESCO World Heritage Site) The Sacred City of Caral 5000-year-old and 626-hectare is an archaeological site situated on a dry desert terrace overlooking the green valley of the Supe river, 184 Km. north of Lima city. It dates back to the Late Archaic Period of the Central Andes and is the oldest centre of civilization in the Americas.
Located 31 Km (19 miles) from Lima on the Pan-American Highway South (45 minutes by car), in the valley of Lurín. It was the most important pre-Inca ceremonial center on the Peruvian coast. Main pre-Inca adoration and ceremonial center of the inhabitants' of the valley of Rímac in which the God Pachacámac was venerated. The investigations presume that this place was inhabited since the year 200 up to 1533.
Pre-Inca and Inca archaeological construction. From the pre-Inca constructions stand out the "Templo Pintado" (colored temple) and the "Templo Viejo" (old temple), built with small adobes and pyramids with ramps. After the Inca conquest (1440-1533) they built next to them the "Templo del Inti" (Temple of sun) and an "acllahuasi" (house prepared for the chosen girls). The Temple of Inti has a flight of stairs made of stones and passages that go along the edge of the main structure, built with adobes. On him a great terrace exists with view to the sea, and is related with the islands in front of this group with an old legend.
Pachacámac was the God creator of life and of the universe and it was not personified. The state of conservation of this location and its restoration offer a great show of cultural historical interest.
Site Museum: Daily attention from 09:00 to 17:00, exhibition of archaeological remains found in this complex, ceramic, textile, idols, etc.
Located in the intersection of Avenida El Rosario and Avenida Nicolás de Rivera, San Isidro district. Visiting hours: Tue. – Sun. 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M.. Pre-Inca adoration place, pyramidal huaca built with adobes (bricks made with mud), it is restored. Site museum houses pieces found during the excavations of the area.
Located in General Borgoño street, block 8 (Near Avenida Angamos Oeste, block 4 and Avenida Arequipa, block 45) in Miraflores. Visiting hours: Wed. – Mon. 9:00 A.M. – 5:00 P.M. A ceremonial center dating from earliest stages of the Lima culture. Huaca with a pyramidal shape, pre-Inca adoration site dedicated to the God Pachacámac. Sometimes, events or musical shows take place there. You can also find a site museum that exhibits pieces found in the excavations.
Puruchuco (Quechua voice: Hat of feathers)
Located Kilometer marker 4,5. Carretera Central east of Lima. Visiting hours: Mon. – Sun. and holidays – 8:30 A.M. – 4:30 P.M. Inca archaeological site, the Inca buildings (1440 A.D. – 1533 A.D.) are made of mud and adobe. Palace in which "caciques" (political chief of the city) or important people exercised domain over the valley of Rímac. The space is distributed along geometric lines and divided into three sectors, the most interesting being the area of patios and lookouts. During the excavation process, several mummies were recovered, characterized by being placed in a fetal position and accompanied by everyday objects. You will find an interesting site Museum.
Located at Kilometer Marker 10 Carretera Central, take the turnoff on the right hand side of the Rimac River and drive 5 Km (3 miles) lower part of the Jicamarca gorge, east of Lima, in the denominated place Huachipa. Inca archaeological complex, citadel with walled square, numerous barns or food deposits. It was built during the sixth and seventh centuries A.D., the period corresponding to the Lima culture. Its 167 hectares of mud buildings are considered the second largest among the pre-Hispanic Andean mud cities (after Chan Chan in La Libertad).
San Juan de Pariache
Located at 9.94 miles (16 Km) to the east of Lima. Inca archaeological location, of very similar construction to the archaeological center of Puruchuco. | <urn:uuid:d6098e9d-4564-4c9e-95e8-5c7c76318191> | 2013-05-24T01:50:08Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Question about British federation
I have a question perhaps to our British posters. In football aka soccer, England, Scotland and Wales all have their separate teams playing. However, in figure skating, it's "British" team. How does it get determined which sports get a "British" team and which get English, Scottish and Welsh? Also, since it's "Great Britain" as opposed to "United Kingdom" - does it mean that Northern Ireland does/ could have its own federation?
Last edited by dorispulaski; 06-16-2010 at 09:51 AM.
Northern Ireland does indeed compete as a separate nation in football just as Scotland and Wales do.
Originally Posted by Ptichka
I once asked an English friend about this and he looked at me like i was crazy. But the only answer he gave was that it was tradition.
I am pretty sure that it is the same in rugby but don't know if/why it is different in skating.
Last edited by janetfan; 06-16-2010 at 09:48 AM.
Oh, I know N. Ireland has its own football team. It's just that N. Ireland is a part of United Kingdom, but not a part of Great Britain (correct me if I'm wrong here). So, given that figure skating team represents "Great Britain", it would stand to reason that N. Ireland would have its own.
Interesting question. The official name of the association, listed as GBR in ISU membership lists, is "National Ice Skating Association of UK LTD" (abbreviated NISA). According to their web site
they have 6 regional centers, each supported by several local skating clubs. These are all in England (including one in Cornwall) -- none in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland.
The Kerrs, however, list their home club as Murrayfield in Edinburgh (I think they are training in the U.S. now?)
By the way, Ireland was just admitted this year as a member of the ISU.
Hmmm....do the Kerr's represent Scotland, or England, the UK, etc?
Originally Posted by Mathman
I never thought about it before......
OK, just found this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_3166 - that explains that it's standard for "GBR" to refer to the whole of UK.
Oh, man, this question really takes me back. When I first went to the U.K. for grad school, I used the word "English" and was nearly lynched. (I was in Wales at the time.) Now I almost never use the word "English" except to refer to the language.
I had never thought of that question, Ptichka, but it's so intriguing: skating doesn't break the separate entities apart, but football (soccer) does. I also didn't realize that Northern Ireland had its own football team. I'm learning a lot more sports literacy on this forum!
By the way, when I was there, Scotland was allowed to coin its own money. I don't know how it is now, but you might get a pound note with "Bank of Scotland" on it. (It was legal tender all over the U.K., I think, but one didn't see it that much down in Sassenach territory--that's what the Scots called the English.) I don't think Wales or Northern Ireland had that privilege. Don't know how it is now that Wales and Scotland both have their own parliaments as well as having members in the overall British government. On the other hand, though Scots Gaelic wasn't spoken all that commonly, Welsh was spoken widely enough that they had--and I hope still have--their own television station.
I don't know where Stephen Cousins hails from--I've read that he's Irish--but his accent always sounds Welsh to me. Of the major British skaters who preceded him, Torvill and Dean, Curry, and Robin Cousins all came from England proper, and I can't think of any from the other sections of the U.K., except for the Kerrs as Janetfan mentioned. (I believe the Kerrs represent the U.K.; I don't remember a Scottish delegation at Vancouver, and at Worlds I think I've heard them described as British. I could be wrong.)
Last edited by Olympia; 06-16-2010 at 02:41 PM.
Cousins is Welsh (good call on the accent). His parents still have a house there, though they also spend half a year in Canada. I believe he splits his time now between Canada and Russia where Berezhnaya lives with their two children - Trysten (note the Welsh spelling!) and Sophia.
Figure Skating it's definitely "British" federation (meaning UK actually as it includes N. Ireland). Though you bring up an interesting point - at Olympics it's the "British" team whereas for football/soccer it's individual constituent countries.
Jenna McCorkell is originally from Northern Ireland.
The only idea I had about this interesting situation is that, compared to Football, Figure Skating is largely an "Olympics" sport, while Football is more of a professional sport ala American Football. Because of that, Figure Skating and their federation may more closely follow their IOC, so would remain GBR, just as it is in the Olympics. But, again, that's just a thought. Haha.
I am not so sure.....
Originally Posted by pista04
Is Olympic qualifying different for various sports in the UK?
Here is an article about Scotland's refusal to take part in the 2012 Olympic football competition if it means giving up their Natl identity as an independent footballing nation.
What about other sports?
Let the fun begin!
I don't suppose the Scots could work out some sort of "unified team" arrangement with Britain? Even the two Koreas managed to federate, so to speak, for a few Olympic cycles.
If they don't, their flag is going to be cute: they'll march in under the Saltire, or St. Andrew's Cross. It's one of the X's, the white one, from the Union Jack, on a blue field. They'll arrive in the stadium somewhere ahead of Slovakia and Slovenia. Well, I'll cheer for them. I have a soft spot for Celtic lands.
The image of Ian Charleson playing Eric Liddell, the Flying Scot, in Chariots of Fire suddenly comes to mind...maybe the Scottish Olympic team can use the theme from that film as their marching song.
Oh, my personal favorite is the Welsh flag, of course The only one that rivals it is the Bhutan one.
I'm with you, Ptichka! I actually have a little Welsh flag in my room. Didn't Bhutan once have a flag with points on it instead of a squared-off shape? I loved that one, too. Canada's flag, with the maple leaf, is another favorite of mine.
Originally Posted by Ptichka
Scotland also has a flag with a lion on it, but that's not an official national flag apparently. Too bad. It's some kind of royal flag, for use only "by officers who represent the Sovereign," such as the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland.
Personally, I think that if Scotland fields its own Olympic team, the Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland should march in the opening ceremonies so that the delegation could carry the flag with the lion on it. A lion rampant, gules (red), on a field of gold.
Maybe then the Kerrs would come out of retirement and compete at Sochi.
^supposed to look like a blade!
Yeah we have our own money here (Northern Ireland). We have quite a few banks all with there own notes. You'll see Northern Bank, Ulster Bank, Bank of Ireland, First Trust etc. It's legal tender but you do get funny looks if you try to use it in England sometimes.
Originally Posted by Olympia
The Kerrs are both British and Scotish but not English!
Jenna McCorkell is Northern Irish. So are Neill Wilson and Matthew Davies- the mens champions of a few years back. | <urn:uuid:0e196e70-4346-4b20-ad53-72add53ed1e4> | 2013-05-24T01:40:01Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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US 6283856 B1
A method for determining the total amount bet by individual players participating in multiple spins of a roulette game at a gaming table that has a chipper machine and an intelligent table terminal. The method involves interfacing the chipper sorting machine with the table terminal, allocating a chip to a patron at the terminal, counting the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color, and associating the number of color chips sorted by the machine per color with the patron. The total amount bet by that patron is then determined by mathematically linking the chip value of the color chip of the patron with the number of chips of the individual color sorted by the chipper machine in the time period in which the color chip is associated with that patron.
1. A method for determining the total amount bet by individual patrons participating in a plurality of spins of a roulette game at a gaming table fitted with a chipper machine and an intelligent table terminal, the method comprising the steps of:
interfacing the chipper sorting machine to the table terminal
allocating a patron a chip color at the table terminal
counting the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color
associating the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color with the patron
and determining the total amount bet by that patron by mathematically linking the chip value of the color chip of the patron with the number of chips of the individual color sorted by the chipper machine in the time period in which the color chip is associated with that patron.
2. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the step of entering the chip value at the table terminal if the color chip is not played with the default table minimum value.
3. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the step of allocating a patron not using color chips an individual value chip.
4. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the step of compensating for chips sorted but not played by reducing the number of sorted chips by a percentage.
5. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the step of storing information relating to the number of chips sorted per color and spin in a data processing system and associating time signals with any such storage information.
6. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the step of displaying the color chips on a display board indicating the value of color chips allocated to patrons on the display board.
7. A method in accordance with claim 6 including the step of offering a win calculator at the table terminal on which the number of winning chips per chance for an individual chip color or chip value are entered, and calculating the numbers of chips won and a payout based on the number of winning chips per chance, the number of chips won per chance and the chip value of the color chip using the chip value of the color chip known to the system.
8. A method in accordance with claim 7 including the step of showing some or all of the number of winning chip per chance, the number of chips won per chance, the total number of chips won, and/or the total value of chips won.
9. A method in accordance with claim 8 including the step of proposing the said payout in the form of a number of color chips and a balance in an amount of value chips, taking into account the limited number of color chips available on the table.
10. A method in accordance with claim 1 including the further step of determining the performance of the croupier from information stored in the data processing system at the start of the croupier gaming and during the croupier gaming at the table during the playing of a plurality of spins, e.g. by determining the average duration of a spin, the number of patrons, the number of color chips played or sorted.
11. A method for determining the total amount bet by individual patrons participating in a plurality of spins of a roulette game at a gaming table, in which said individual patrons play using chips having different colors, a respective color being associated with each said individual patron, there being a chipper machine for receiving chips collected by a croupier during the game of roulette and for arranging the chips according to their coloring in respective columns, from which the coupier can take stacks of a predetermined number of chips of a respective color, each chip of a particular color having an associated monetary value, the method comprising the steps of counting the total number of chips of each color passing through the chipper machine during the period each individual patron is present at said gaming table, and establishing the total monetary value of the chips of each color passing through the chipper machine.
12. A method in accordance with claim 11 and including the further step of estimating from said number of chips or from said total monetary value the total amount bet by an individual patron playing with chips of the said color.
13. A method in accordance with claim 12, wherein the step of estimating comprises the step of subtracting from the total number of chips of each color passing through the chipper machine, or from said monetary value a percentage reflecting the house rules on the breaking of stacks.
14. A method, in particular in accordance with claim 11, of determining the total win or loss by a patron participating in a game of roulette, the method comprising the steps of determining the total amount of all pay-ins made during the game by capturing at a table terminal a piece of information identifying the player, and each buy-in or drop amount irrespective of the method of payment, determining the walk amount at the end of the patron's game in the form of value chips and/or cancelled markers, and establishing the difference between the total amount of all pay-ins and the walk amount.
15. A method in accordance with claim 14, wherein pay-ins in the form of value chips are detected automatically by the change in value of a chip tray associated with the roulette table.
16. A method in accordance with claim 11 and comprising the further steps of determining when a new croupier arrives at the gaming table, summing the total amounts bet by all patrons playing at the gaming table during the period in which the new croupier is working at the gaming table with reference to the chips of all colors sorted by the chipper machine during this period, and electronically associating the sum of the total amounts bet to the croupier.
17. A method in accordance with claim 16, wherein a statistical correction is added to said sum of the total amounts bet to reflect the numbers of chips returned to the chipper machine due to the breaking of chip stacks when paying winnings to individual patrons.
18. A method in accordance with claim 16, comprising recording the sum of the total amount bet during each working period of a particular croupier for a plurality of working periods of that croupier and forming a total sum of the amounts bet over a plurality of working periods of said croupier.
In the past, an approximate determination of the individual patrons participating in a game of roulette has been effected by the pit supervisors/floor persons. These are employees of the casino who attempt to estimate the average bet of each patron, the number of games per hour and also the time each patron plays at the table, and thus the turnover, profit or loss of the individual casino visitors, through the observation of the progress of the gaming. Disadvantages of this method are the high costs of personnel and the inaccuracy of the determination of the turnover, profit or loss of patrons, the possibility of floor persons favoring one or more patrons but paying no attention to other patrons.
It is the object of the invention to avoid the disadvantages of the known systems and to set forth a method and an apparatus with which the determination of the turnover of individual patrons is possible in a reliable manner.
It is a further object of the invention to determine the win or loss of individual patrons.
It is a further object of the invention to enable the croupier performance to be assessed.
It is a yet further object of the invention to acquire the data required for assessing the patrons turnover and the croupier performance in a relatively simple and reliable manner which does not place an extreme burden on the croupier, but rather helps the croupier with complex win calculations.
Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description.
Patron Bet and Number of Games
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of estimating the total amount bet and the number of games played by an individual patron participating in a game of roulette and playing with chips of a specific nature, for example of a specific coloring or size or shape or pattern, comprising the step of counting the number of chips of that specific nature, which pass through a chipper machine associated with the game of roulette while the patron is playing.
In a preferred method of this kind for determining the total amount bet by the individual patrons participating in a plurality of spins of a roulette game at a gaming table fitted with a chipper machine and an intelligent table terminal capable of interpreting data from the chipper machine, from an electronic chip tray and from a roulette number reader, the method comprises the steps of
interfacing the chipper machine to the table terminal
allocating a patron a chip color at the table terminal
counting the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color
associating the number of color chips sorted by the chipper machine per color with the patron
and determining the total amount bet by that patron by mathematically linking the chip value of the color chip of the patron with the number of chips of the individual color sorted by the chipper machine in the time period in which the color chip is associated with that patron
The invention is based on the realization that the number of chips of any particular color sorted by the chipper machine, although not actually a precise measurement of the total amount bet by the patron using that color, is nevertheless closely related to the total amount bet and can thus be used as a reliable indication of the total amount bet. The inaccuracy results from the practice of breaking stacks of chips when paying patrons their winnings, with the non-used chips being returned to the chipper machine. Since the number of chips returned in this way is statistically related to the roulette game, as will be explained later in more detail, it is readily possible to make a statistical correction to the total number of chips of any one color passing through the chipper machine in order to arrive at a total value which is a close approximation to the total amount bet by the individual patron playing with that color of chip.
Since it is possible to assess the total amount bet by each patron playing at the gaming table in this way, it is also possible to sum the total amounts bet by all patrons playing at the gaming table during the period in which a particular croupier is working at the gaming table, and thus it is possible to assess the total turnover achieved by the croupier during each working period.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of estimating the win and loss of an individual patron during his playing period on a gaming table. The concept for the win and loss capture is to capture all value movements between the patron and the table. Every buy in (drop) with bank bills or markers at the table is entered by the croupier at the table terminal and allocated to the playing position. The same applies to a partial or total pay back of a marker by a patron. The movement of value chips can be estimated by the concept of distinguishing between “play chips” and “pay chips” at the gaming-table. At roulette tables play chips are normally color chips, value chips are used as pay chips.
Whenever value chips are used as play chips for placing bets, the croupier will not handle these chips in and out of the chip tray but rather store them in stacks of twenty like he does with color chips and will handle them the same way as color chips so that they do not hit the chip tray with every spin, i.e. do not change the value of the chips in the chip tray.
Whenever a pay (value-) chip movement is detected by the chip tray, which is equipped with a system for detecting the instantaneous value of the chips on the chip tray, and thus also the change in value of the chip tray for any pay in or pay out, the table terminal prompts a screen asking to croupier to enter the playing position to which the pay chip movement belongs. The monitoring of movements of pay chips into and out of the chip tray together with the capture of all buy ins (drops) and the repayment of markers thus allows the capture of the win/loss per patron. The win loss is the patrons net buy in (drop minus repayment of markers) plus the balance of the pay chips spent and received.
According to a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of estimating the performance of a croupier at a roulette table, comprising the steps of summing, for each period the croupier is working at the roulette table, the various figures captured during each working period.
The performance figures per virtue are combined into a croupier score with a breakdown of individual scores per segment. Data are captured from every dealer work period of in average 45 minutes a dealer works at a table between breaks.
Croupier financial result—win/loss, turnover, win percentage, drop
Croupier working speed—number of spins corrected for active player positions and chips placed by patrons
Croupier attracting patrons—number of positions active: average, increasing/decreasing during work period
Croupier encouraging play—average bet (relative to table minimum): average, increasing/decreasing during work period
In order to compensate for the influence of the time of the day the performance indicators “croupier attracting patrons” and “croupier encouraging play” are relative to all other croupiers on tables at the same time.
The financial result is derived from the total amount bet by each of the patrons participating in the game of roulette during each working period, or during a fraction of that period, wherein the individual patrons play using chips having different colors, the respective colors being associated with each said individual patron, and wherein a chipper machine is provided for receiving chips collected by a croupier during the game of roulette and for arranging the chips according to their color in respective columns, from which the croupier can take stacks of a predetermined number of chips of a respective color, each chip of a particular color having an associated monetary value, the method comprising the steps of counting the total number of chips of each color passing through the chipper machine during the period each individual patron is present at said gaming table, and establishing the total monetary value of the chips of each color passing through the chipper machine.
The above information is of great interest to a casino. For example “Frequent Player Programs” are based on the theoretical casino advantage derived from the patron's bet. Alternatively, if a patron has suffered a significant loss, then the casino is interested in retaining the patron as a customer and may choose to give him a gratuity in some form as a consolation prize.
On the hand, should a patron consistently make substantial wins at a roulette table, then there is always the suspicion that the patron is participating in an unfair practice and the casino is alerted to observe a particular patron carefully.
The casino is also interested in monitoring the performance of the croupier. For example, the number of spins of the roulette wheel per working period and/or the total numbers of chips sorted by the chipper machine during each working period of a croupier is one useful indication of a croupier's performance.
The ability to determine the amount of win or loss achieved by a croupier in each working period is of significant importance to a casino to determine if the croupier is within the statistical pay-out percentage limits over a period of time.
It is known from a statistical analysis of the game of roulette, that there is a built-in house advantage which amounts to 2.7% in the case of French roulette, or 5.4% in the case of American roulette. That is to say, the average win of the casino is 2.7% of the total turnover in the case of French roulette and 5.4% in the case of American roulette. Thus a good croupier can be expected to achieve a net profit for the casino close to 2.7% for French roulette, or close to 5.4% for American roulette. If a croupier consistently achieves a lower return for the casino then there is always the suspicion that he is either not up to the job or is involved in some unfair practice, such as paying incorrect amounts to the patrons when the patrons have won, or so-called section spinning in which the croupier is able to preferentially place the roulette ball in a certain segment of numbers and pockets and thus to benefit patrons to whose attention he has directed this possibility.
The present invention provides the key to monitoring both the total turnover of the croupier and also the win or loss of the croupier and thus, the average percentage win achieved by the croupier.
However, it is not a simple matter to determine precisely the win or loss achieved by the croupier. While this might theoretically be possible by observing every spin of the wheel correctly and by full assessment of every move on the gaming table, the complications that arise would in practice at least slow down the game to such an extent that it would be less profitable, and probably also less interesting for the players. By way of example it is usual for croupiers to work for a working period of 45 minutes and to then take a 15 minute break. Whenever a croupier goes for a break another croupier will take over the running of the table. It would be highly unlikely that the amount of money on the table, i.e. the chips held by the individual patrons, is the same when the croupier starts work as at the end of his working period. Thus, the number of chips held by the patrons represents an imponderable value which prevents an accurate assessment of the win or loss achieved by the croupier during each working period. Nevertheless, the present invention recognizes that a good approximation to the total win or loss achieved by a croupier in each working period can be achieved by forming the sum of the total pay-ins by the patrons during that working period and by the change in value of the chip tray. By observing this win or loss over a fair number of working periods, for example a month, it is possible to obtain a statistically reliable assessment of the average win or loss achieved by the croupier as will later be explained in more detail.
As mentioned above, one unfair practice sometimes encountered is for a croupier to be practicing section spinning. The present invention also makes it possible to determine whether a croupier is practicing section spinning by measuring, for a plurality of spins of a roulette wheel, one or more of the following parameters and finding out if these parameters have the normal variance of the average croupier or if this croupier is spinning the wheel and ball in an over consistent pattern:
the initial speed of the ball in the rim of the roulette wheel,
the speed of rotation of the moving roulette wheel when the ball is initially launched into it, and
the relative position of the roulette wheel to the ball and to the segment of the casing in which the ball falls and by mathematically determining whether the estimation of values of the measured parameter corresponds to an expected statistical distinction or shows that a suspicious correlation exists between these values.
Furthermore, the casino management is also able, from the statistics made available by use of the present invention, to determine whether, during a period of high correlation of the said values with one croupier, one or more patrons at the gaming table enjoys with that croupier wins which are significantly higher statistically than the casino advantage for the roulette game being played.
Accordingly, it can be seen from the foregoing that the present invention provides the casino management with a variety of tools for assessing the performance of a croupier and the progress of the game of roulette at a gaming table despite the inability to precisely measure each of the factors of interest.
Further advantages and benefits of the invention will be apparent from the further claims. Moreover, the apparatus claims describe preferred apparatus for carrying out the methods described above.
The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to a preferred embodiment and to the accompanying drawings in which are shown:
FIG. 1 a schematic plan view of a gaming table equipped for the game of roulette,
FIG. 2 a schematic diagram illustrating the interfacing of the various items of the roulette table of FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 a possible screen drawing for the selection of color chips for each of the patrons,
FIG. 4 a possible screen drawing illustrating the so-called drop amount,
FIG. 5 a possible screen drawing for the association of the chip value with the color chip,
FIG. 6 a preferred screen layout of the win calculator on the table terminal,
FIG. 7 a representation of the chip value and payout display, and
FIG. 8 a table illustrating a croupier's performance measured over a period of twenty-eight working days.
FIG. 1 shows a roulette table 10 equipped with a variety of electronic modules for the collection and assessment of data concerning the patrons and the croupier.
The roulette table 10 is equipped in the usual way with a roulette wheel generally indicated at 12, a chip sorting machine 14 for sorting color chips (and value chips with newer chipping machine versions), hereinafter referred to as a chipper machine, a chip tray 16 for storing so-called value chips, and a bet placement field 18 where patrons can place their individual bets. In this example the bet placement field is configured for American roulette in as much as it has two zeros (identified in FIG. 1 as 0 and 00, in contrast to French and English roulette which has only a single 0. The roulette wheel 12 is also configured in this case for American roulette which means that the number ring will have the numbers 0 and 00 in addition to the numbers 1 through 36 as shown.
During the game of roulette, the croupier will normally occupy the position identified by 20 and the patrons or players will be arranged around the table as indicated by the reference numerals 22.
In order to practice the present invention in all its ramifications the roulette table is equipped with further items, namely a table terminal 24, a roulette number display 26, an automatic number detection system 28, a chip value and payout display 30, a drop slot 32, and optionally player stations 34. The automatic number detection system 28 can be designed in the manner described in international patent application PCT/EP95/00933 as published in the international patent publication no. WO 95/28996.
The automatic number detection system makes it possible to detect which pocket the roulette ball has dropped into and this is displayed on the roulette number display 26. The automatic number detection system 28 also has other functions which will be explained later in further detail.
The chip tray 16 is designed in the same way as the chip tray described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,618 and is thus designed to provide an electronic output of the total value of chips stored in the chip tray and to automatically register any changes in the value of the chip tray. In addition the chip tray 16 is coupled to the chip value and payout display 30 via the table terminal 24 which will be described later in further detail with reference to FIG. 7, particularly since this is an optional unit.
The table terminal 24 is configured in the preferred embodiment as a graphical screen with touch-sensitive data entry at the screen. Such screens are known per se, for example in connection with automatic cash dispensing machines. Associated with the table terminal is a card swipe 36, which permits the croupier 20 to draw or swipe an identification card of a player through the card swipe. This enables information on the card, for example relating to the identity of the player, to be entered into the central data processing unit (computer) 64 associated with the gaming table, as will later be explained with reference to FIG. 2. Should the table be equipped with the optional player stations 34 comprising a patron card reader, a display and some optional entry buttons, then these can also be used for the player to enter a card and register himself at the table. That is to say, the player stations 34, if provided, are also coupled to the computer 64 via the table terminal 24.
Finally, FIG. 1 shows a plurality of stacks 38 of color chips arrayed in front of the croupier 20 around part of the periphery of the roulette wheel 12.
Although well known to those skilled in the art, a brief description will now be given of the usual method of playing the game of roulette, in order to facilitate an understanding of the present invention.
For the sake of simplicity, we assume the casino has just opened for play, the croupier 20 is present at his position, and various players 22 have arranged themselves around the roulette table. It is usual for each player to play the game of roulette with a different color chip uniquely associated with him, so that winning and losing bets can easily be identified.
It is also usual for a minimum bet to be associated with a roulette table, i.e. the minimum amount which can be bet, which may, for example, start with $5 or more. That is to say, the minimum value which each chip can have is, say, $5. However, certain players may wish to play with higher stakes. Provision is thus made for higher values to be associated with the color chips of those players 22 wishing to play for higher stakes. In order to make sure that all players are aware of the value of each chip on the table, a sample chip of each color is normally hung on a rack, with the monetary value of the chip being associated with a value indicator in the rack.
When the game first starts, it is first necessary for each player 22 to acquire a supply of chips for use during the progress of the game. There are several ways that this can be done. First of all, it is possible for the player to pass money to the croupier, who then places the money in the drop slot 32 and passes the corresponding number of color chips to the player. For this purpose the croupier would normally take a number of stacks from those arrayed in front of him, in each case in the color associated with the respective player. It is a convention that each of the stacks 38 contain 20 chips.
Another possibility is for the individual players 22 to approach the table with value chips, normally of higher denominations. These are chips issued by the casino, which can be used at a variety of gaming tables in the casino and are handed to the player, for example in exchange for smaller denomination value chips he has accumulated at a table. Such value chips are placed by the croupier in the chip tray. Again the player will be given color chips to the value of the value chips passed by him to the croupier, or he will be given value chips of the denomination of his choice.
Another possibility is for the player to request a so-called marker at the table. A marker is effectively a casino check for a certain sum of money. Again, the marker will be entered at the table terminal and the croupier will give the player chips to the value of the marker.
Another possibility is for the player to play with value chips. In times of heavy play, some casinos allow multiple players to use the same denominations, in which case the identification of the player by the type of value chip, is lost which can lead to disputes.
Finally, some jurisdictions such as Nevada permit players to play with normal money—money play. A patron may place a bet by placing bank bill(s). The dealer will indicate this fact to the supervisor by saying “money play”. In case the patron wins the dealer will place the win in the form of value chips and the patron will take the bills and the value chips or he will leave part of the chips at the table as the next bet, if the bet is lost the dealer will drop the money and enter the amount as “money play drop” into the table terminal and should the patron have signed onto a box already the amount will be assigned to that position.
Once all the players have acquired a supply of chips, the game may start. As is well known, the conventional roulette wheel 12 comprises an annular casing 40 containing a static, inwardly sloping rim 42, within which there is mounted a rotatable cylinder 44. This cylinder 44 has an outer ring of numbers 46 corresponding to the numbers of the bet placement area 18, and an inner ring of pockets 48, which, in the same way as the outer numbers ring, is arranged concentrically to the cylinder. Each of the individual pockets 48 is associated with one of the numbers on the numbers ring and is isolated from its neighboring pockets by vertically and radially disposed separators 50. Inside the ring of pockets 48, there is a central dome area 52.
In use, the cylinder 44 is spun in the one or other direction and then a ball is projected by the croupier to run around the rim inside the annular casing 40. The croupier will spin the ball in the opposite direction of rotation of the cylinder, The ball will gradually slow down. The centrifugal force keeping it within the rim 42 of the wheel 12 will reduce in magnitude, so that the ball gradually falls down the rim and passes over the numbers ring 46, where it may bounce off one or more of the separators 50 or off the dome before eventually landing in one of the pockets 48, which is the winning pocket, i.e. the winning number.
The players 22 are able to place their bets on the bet placement area 18 until the ball spinning in the rim 42 has slowed down so that it leaves the rim 42. For those not familiar with the game of roulette, it should be noted that it is usual for a player to use several chips, and indeed to make several bets for each spin of the roulette wheel.
If a single chip is placed on a single number, then the chance of that number becoming a winning number is 1:38. This follows from the fact that in American roulette, there are a total of 38 numbers on the number ring, namely the numbers zero and double zero and the numbers 1 to 36, and 38 pockets associated with them (one pocket for each number).
If a player places a single chip on a single number and loses, then the chip is scooped by the croupier into a chute 54 associated with the chipper machine. If, however, the number selected by the player comes up, then he is given 35 chips by the croupier in addition to recovering the one chip stake he originally played.
If the player places, say, 4 chips on the single number and the number wins, then he will be given 4×35=140, chips by the croupier.
Another possibility is for the player to place a chip so that it straddles two numbers. In this case the chance of winning is 1:17. If the player wins, on either of these numbers, he is given 17 chips by the croupier for each chip placed by him.
It is also possible for a player to place a chip so that it lies on four numbers. In this case his chance of winning is increased, but the returns if he does win are also reduced, and in fact for each chip placed in such a way he will receive eight further chips from the croupier and will also have his stake returned to him.
It is also possible for a player to place a bet on five numbers, for example on the numbers 0, 00, 1, 2 and 3. In this case his chances of winning are again increased. However, if he does win, the number of chips he receives from the croupier is reduced to six for each chip he has bet in this way.
Another possibility is for the player to place a chip on three numbers. In this case he receives 11 chips from the croupier for each chip bet. A further possibility is for him to place a bet on six numbers. In this case he receives five chips from the croupier for every one he has bet. Yet another possibility is for the player to bet on columns of twelve numbers. In this case the chance of him winning is much higher, but if he does win, his win is reduced to two chips for each chip bet in this way.
It is also possible for a bet to be placed on twelve numbers chosen other than in columns, for example on the top three by four array of the numbers 1 to 12, on the middle three by four array of the numbers 13 to 24, or on the bottom three by four array of the numbers 25 to 36. Again, the chance of winning is high, but the returns for a win are low; the croupier will only pay the player two chips for every one bet.
Another form of bet is possible referred to as a “chance simple”, and involves a bet placed on any one of the number of so-called “chances”, referred to as “rouge”, “noir”, “pair”, “impair”, “manque”, “passe”. For example “rouge” signifies that the player bets simply on the color red. In this case the chance of winning is high, but if the player wins, he only receives one chip from the croupier, in addition to the chip he originally bet.
Every bet which is not a winning bet is collected by the croupier, the color and/or value chips are placed in the entrance to the chute leading to the chipper machine 14. The chips are then sorted by the chipper machine according to their color and/or value arranged in stacks within the chipper machine, from which the croupier can take stacks of twenty chips each to replace those on the table that he has used up. At this stage it should be noted that when paying a player for a winning bet, the croupier will take a whole number of stacks present on the table, will break one of the stacks and will put the chips not owed to the player back into the chute of the chipper machine.
For example, if the player has bet two chips on a single number and won, then the croupier must pay him 70 chips of the same color. To do this, he will take four stacks of 20 chips each, totaling 80 chips, will pass three full stacks to the player and will break the fourth stack so that the player receives 10 chips. The remaining ten chips are placed in the chute associated with the chipper machine.
Further examples of this will be given later.
Having described the usual way of playing the game of roulette, a description will now be given of how the various items of equipment present at the roulette table are linked together in accordance with the present invention and what significance this has to the assessment of data.
Referring now to FIG. 2, there can be seen the same items of equipment that are shown in FIG. 1, but also the way they are interconnected electronically. The same numbers will be used in FIG. 2 to identify the same items, as are identified by them in FIG. 1.
FIG. 2 shows in addition the table communication bus 60, to which all the items of FIG. 1 having an electronic interface are connected. Thus, the interface 62 links the chipper machine 14 to the table communication bus 60. The card reader 36 is associated with the table terminal 24, which is connected to the table communication bus 60. Equally, the roulette number display 26, the electronic chip tray 16, the automatic number detection system 28, the chip value and payout display 30 and the player stations 34 are connected to the table communication bus 60 via suitable interfaces (not shown). A central data processing unit 64 is coupled to the table terminal and to the table communication bus via one or a plurality of Ethernet hubs or switches 66, which distribute the Ethernet network from the central data processing unit 64 to the table terminals 24 of a plurality of gaming tables in the casino.
FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 show sample screens, which appear on the table terminal 24 in the preferred embodiment when this table terminal is realized, in the preferred embodiment, as a graphical screen with touch sensitive data entry.
As indicated above, when a player first comes to the table, he will give the croupier either cash or value chips or request a marker and will tell the croupier of the value with which he wishes to play. He will also give the croupier his player identification card, which the croupier will draw or swipe through the card reader 36 at the table terminal 24. This action will lead to the drawing of FIG. 3 appearing on the screen of the table terminal. The croupier will select a color chip 70, or possibly a value chip 72, if color chips are not available or if the player wishes to play with value chips. If a color chip is selected, then the table terminal will next show the screen drawing of FIG. 5, which enables the croupier to touch the screen, so that the desired value is associated with the color chip. It can be seen from FIG. 3 that the third color chip of the top row has been selected. In practice this is shown by the selected color chip lighting up brightly; in the drawing the selected color chip is indicated by representing the value of the chip as an outline rather than as a solid number. It can be seen from the drawing of FIG. 5 that color chips at this table can have the value $5, $10, $20, or $50, as indicated in field 82, with the table minimum being $5, as indicated in field 84, and with the actual chip value selected in the case under discussion being $10, as indicated in field 86. The field 88 indicates the chip color as selected on the screen of FIG. 3. Once the chip color and the chip value have been fixed, the screen drawing of FIG. 4 appears, and the croupier can type in the amount of the drop by the respective player, for example the screen has a three by three matrix of fields 90 providing for drops of 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 or 5000 dollars, and the precise amount of the drop by the individual player can be recorded by touching the screen at the appropriate field. In the present example, the player has made a drop of $400, and this is achieved by pressing the field 200 twice, so that the drop amount of $400 appears in the field 92. Beneath the three by three matrix 90, there are two further fields, namely 94 and 96 respectively labeled “cancel” and “enter”. Once the croupier has dealt in the drop amount of 400 and it has appeared in the field 92, he can then press the “enter” area of the screen to enter this value of the drop into the computer system. Should he have made a mistake, then he can press the “cancel” area 94. This then cancels the sum appearing in the drop field 92 and enables the croupier to type in the new value as appropriate in the three by three matrix field 90.
If, during the course of a game, a player or patron wishes to buy further chips, then the croupier will either select the screen drawing of FIG. 3, which can, for example, be done by pressing the corresponding color chip field 70 or value chip field 72 relating to the specific color/value appropriate for that player. Alternatively, he can once again swipe the player's player card through the card reader, so that the screen drawing of FIG. 4 appears. He can then enter the drop amount there as previously described. It will be noted that the first time the player's card is swiped through the card reader, the screen of FIG. 3 appears. The next time the same card is swiped through the card reader, the screen of FIG. 4 will appear. This will also occur for any subsequent drops by the patron during the same gaming period, i.e. until the patron leaves the table and is signed off by the croupier.
Through these various actions, the computer system learns the identity of the player, from the player identity card, is able to associate the color and the value of the chip associated with the player by the entries made by the croupier using the screens of the FIGS. 3 and 5, and is able to record the amount of any drop by the player. It should be noted that the method of making the drop, be it by cash, money play or by marker, as selected by the fields 93, 95 or 97 is irrelevant. In each case the croupier simply enters the relevant amount using the screen drawing of FIG. 4.
In the case of value chips, it is possible for the croupier to add these directly to the chip tray. The change in value in the chip tray is then associated with the drop by the player through the time association of the input of the player's identity card and the change in value of the chip tray 16. In this case the table terminal will indicate the inventory change of the chip tray as default drop to the croupier. Otherwise the input is then made manually by the croupier as explained above.
Turning now to FIG. 7, there can be seen the details of a chip value and payout display 30. Arranged along the top of the display are sample color chips 101 in each of the different colors available at the table. Beneath each chip there is a rectangular field 102 containing a number which is the amount in dollars associated with the chip immediately above the respective field. Beneath the left-hand field 102 there are three further fields 104, 106, 108, which show the denominations of value chips that are used for betting. In the present case, only one value chip is being played and has the value of $10. The table minimum bet is shown in the field 110 and the row of fields 112, 114, 116, 118 and 120 show the payment indicators for winning combinations of a particular patron. Moreover, the black dot shown in each of the fields 112, 114, 116, 118 and 120 indicates where a chip must be placed by a patron in order to achieve a particular win. Thus, the field 112 shows the case of one chip on a single number, for which the croupier must pay the patron 35 chips. The field 114 shows a winning chip bridging two fields, for which the croupier has to pay the patron 17 chips. In similar fashion, the fields 116, 118 and 120 show other usual payouts which have to be made by the croupier.
The row of fields 122, 124, 126, 128, 130 positioned above the row of fields 112, 114, 116, 118 and 120 show the number of chips bet by the particular patron for each of the possibilities shown in the respectively associated field 112 to 120 or beneath it. The bottom row of fields 132, 134, 136, 138, 140 show the total number of chips won by the patron. Thus, the particular play shown in the diagram of FIG. 7 is a play of ten chips (box 122) on a single number (box 112) which is won, thus the croupier has to pay 10×35=350 chips (box 132) to the particular patron for this part of his total bet. In addition, the patron has placed one chip (box 124) on two numbers resulting in a win of 17 chips. The player has made no bets (boxes 126, 128) of the kinds shown in boxes 116 and 118. Accordingly, he has won no chips, as shown in boxes 136 and 138. However, the patron has bet five chips (box 130) in the manner shown in box 120, and thus wins a total of 5×5=25 chips (box 140) for this bet. The patron to whom this bet relates is the patron associated with the fourth color chip 101 from the left in FIG. 7, with a value of $10 per chip. This is emphasized on the display of FIG. 7 by a brighter lighting of the respective field 102.
Thus, the player associated with this chip has won a total of 392 chips, as indicated in the “total” box 142, and the chip display now makes a proposal to the croupier for the manner of payment of the player. In this case the suggestion is that the player should receive 192 chips (box 144) and a cash amount of $2000 (box 146), which may, of course, be paid by value chips or by the return of a marker or a reduction of the marker amount.
The reason for paying a win in this way is simply that there are only a limited number of color chips which can be accommodated conveniently on a roulette table, typically between 300 and 400 chips of each color.
It should be noted that the payment display of FIG. 7 is an optional feature which can readily be realized using the present invention, and which is intended to facilitate the work of the croupier in calculating the wins from complicated bets, such as those shown above. If the win is more straightforward, for example 1:2 or 1:1, then the croupier will invariably be able to handle such a bet without the aid of the “win computer” embodied in the chip value and payout display 30.
The values shown on the chip value and payout display 30 must, of course, first be entered at the table terminal. This will typically be done by the croupier calling up a win calculator screen on the table terminal 24 and typing in the corresponding values by touching the screen the appropriate number of times.
For this purpose it is most convenient if the table terminal has a touch-type graphic screen which can be called up by pressing the corresponding color chip field 70 or value chip field 72 relating to the specific color/vlue appropriate for that player, which will bring up a pop-down menu from which the croupier can select the win calculator and which corresponds to the layout of the chip value and payout display 30. FIG. 6 shows a preferred screen layout of the win calculator on the table terminal. The display makes it easy for the players to check that the croupier is behaving fairly and also enhances the atmosphere at the roulette table associated with a good win.
The chipper machine, which is known per se, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 4,157,139, has the function of sorting chips of a particular color into particular columns. For this it is provided with sensors for recognizing the different types of chip. The output signals from the sensors are used to steer gates, through which the chips are fed into the individual columns, usually using solenoid operated plungers to push the chips into the respective columns. Modern chipper machines are also able to sort value chips and, in order to avoid too many columns, will sort several denominations into one column but will still individually count the chips per denomination. Modern chipper machines provide a communication port via which the interface 62 can interrogate the internal meters of the chipper machine for the number of sorted chips. For older machines, the interface 62 requires tapping of the solenoids driving the plungers and a clock signal active for every chip sorted. The information is then sent to the computer system 64.
On first using the chipper machine, the sequence of the chips in the chipper machine is first specified in the programming/learn mode of the chipper machine. This normally takes place by throwing the chips into the chipper machine in the desired sequence, in which the chips are to be output in the columns of the chip sorting machine. This would normally be the same sequence as is shown in the display of FIG. 7.
The interface 62 (FIG. 2) transmits the sum of the sorted chips as n-position values in blocks of numbers in the sequence in which the chips are pushed out into the columns of the chipper machine. At the table terminal 24, the chips are also shown, in the diagram of FIG. 3, in the order in which they are fed into the chipper machine. In this way the action of the chipper machine, the display of the table terminal of FIG. 3 and the output display of FIG. 7 are coordinated with one another, i.e. the sequence of the color chips is the same in all of them.
Having described the various items of hardware and electronic equipment at the table, a description will now be given of the various assessments that can be made with this equipment.
A description will now be given of the various pieces of information which the apparatus and method of the invention can deliver.
a) Patron Win/Loss
As indicated above, roulette is played with color chips, with each patron receiving chips in his individually allotted color. Some casinos allow additionally the use of value chips, in which case only one patron per chip value is allowed in order for it to be possible to associate each value chip uniquely with an individual patron. Casinos do allow more than one patron per value chip denomination in which case patron can only be rated by the floor person by the classic manual method. It is mandatory for each table to have differently patterned color chips in order to avoid different values of the same color chip in a casino. Actually, the word “color” is misleading, since the chips usually have different surface decorations and a plurality of different colors in order to make it possible to distinguish readily between them.
Also as indicated above, when a patron arrives at a table, he buys color chips at the table minimum or higher value in exchange for cash, value chips or markers. Markers are casino cheques by which the patron can draw from his credit or cash deposit account with the casino. Markers are generally issued by pit clerks and signed by the patron.
Also as explained previously, the patron is identified by swiping his player identification card through a card reader. Then the screen display of FIG. 3 appears, which enables the croupier to associate a particular color chip or a particular value chip with that player with a minimum of effort. It should be noted here that the player need not necessarily have an identity card in which case an anonymous player identity is created and linked to the player position. Provision is made for the floor person to enter/retrieve information concerning the identity of the player at a pit terminal (not shown in the drawings) associated with the computer system 64. It should also be noted that the identity of the patron may be his full name and address, but may also simply be a piece of information uniquely identifying him, such as his position at the gaming table, or his room number if he is staying in a hotel associated with the casino.
Following the entry of the identity of the player, and the selection of a chip using the touch screen display of FIG. 3, the touch screen diagram of FIG. 5 appears. The croupier can enter the value of the chip which is associated with the player in question. In the example of FIG. 5 the table minimum is $5 per chip and the player has elected to play with the chip value of $10 per chip. After this entry, the computer knows that player X is playing with chips of a particular color and that each chip has a value of $10. After allotting the chip value of $10, the screen drawing of FIG. 4 automatically appears. The croupier can use the touch screen to enter the drop amount by the player X—in the example of FIG. 4, $400. Thus, the computer now knows the player's identity, the color of chip he is playing with, the value associated with each color chip and the amount he has initially paid in.
Once this has been completed, the croupier passes color chips of the selected color to the player X to the value of $400, i.e. 40 chips. He does this by taking two of the stacks 38 on the roulette table 10. The same procedure is followed for all other players at the table. Thereafter, the game commences. Each time the player loses, the color chips he has placed on the table are scooped into the inlet chute of the chipper machine 14 and are automatically sorted by the chipper machine 14. Each time he wins, he is given chips by the croupier.
Each patron may need to buy further chips in the course of the game if he wishes to continue playing at the table. If this occurs, the croupier either selects the screen drawing of FIG. 3, and then the chip of the patron on the screen, or he once again swipes the player's card through the card reader. In both cases the screen drawing of FIG. 4 automatically appears for him to enter the new drop amount. The total of the drop amounts made by a patron during a period at the gaming table is summed by the computer 64 and stored in a memory associated with the computer 64.
If the player wins, then his wins would normally be paid in color chips, provided sufficient color chips are still available on the table. If this is not the case, then the balance of a win can be paid to the player in value chips. When the patron wants to leave at this stage, the croupier will pay the win in value chips, should he use the win calculator or the table terminal he will set the amount of color chips on the screen FIG. 6 to zero so that the win can be paid in value chips and preferably done using the facility of the payout display of FIG. 7. The screen FIG. 6 allows the entry of play chips the patron may hand to the croupier at this time. If the croupier does not use the win calculator the change in the chip tray inventory will trigger the table terminal to present a screen asking for the player position the amount of value chips was paid to.
When the patron leaves the table, various situations are possible. The patron may have lost all his chips and is simply walking away. In this case, the croupier will log off the patron at the table terminal, or at the table terminal, if provided, thus freeing the color chip for another patron.
The patron may have had a superb win and will indicated that he wants all his win paid in value chips. In this case the number of value chips required is taken from the chip tray and passed to the player in the same manner that occurs when the player has to be paid with value chips during the course of a game, and thus this payment to the player, a win by the player, is recorded by the computer in the way described previously. If necessary, the win calculator function can be used to determine the amount to be paid in value chips. The patron may hand his remaining color chips to the croupier, in which case the croupier will enter the number of color chips at the table terminal as a “walk” amount.
The patron may just want to leave without a high win after a particular spin of the roulette wheel. In this case the croupier will enter the number of color chips received. Should the croupier, however, just take the value chips from the chip tray and hand them to the patron, the system will automatically determine a decrease of the chip tray inventory, will flip up the payout screen to enter the walk amount of value chips at the table terminal and alert the croupier by light and/or sound to enter information concerning the patron, and/or his position at the table, and/or color of color chip.
b) Total Amount Bet by a Patron
It will be appreciated that the total amount paid in by the patron is not the same thing as the total amount bet. During the play at the roulette table, the patron will sometimes lose and sometimes win. Thus, the number of chips he has purchased will pass to and fro between him and the croupier. The total amount bet by the player will increase accordingly.
In accordance with the present teaching, this total amount bet is detected by detecting the number of chips of the particular color sorted by the chipper machine.
As explained previously, when a player wins, the croupier will take a number of stacks of chips, pass the patron a certain number of whole stacks and a broken stack and will return the extra chips from the broken stack into the chipper machine. This actually means that the chipper machine sorts rather more chips than the player has actually bet.
In order to make this clearer, two different examples will now be given. These examples allow an estimation of the discrepancy or error in assuming that the total number of chips sorted by the chipper machine corresponds to the total amount bet by the player. The two examples will reflect different house rules of the casino.
Each of the two examples lists the most frequent winning combinations encountered when playing the game of roulette, which are also the most frequent combinations selected by the players.
Thus, in example 1 the player may place one chip on a single number. If this number wins, he will receive 35 chips from the croupier. This means the croupier will take two stacks of 20 chips each, thus totaling 40 chips, will break one of the stacks and will return five chips into the chipper machine. If the patron has played two chips on a single number, then his win is 70 chips. For this, the croupier will take four full stacks totaling 80 chips and will return 10 chips into the chipper machine. Similarly, if the player plays three chips on a single number and wins, then the croupier has to give him 105 chips. For this the croupier will take six chip stacks, will break one of them and return 15 chips to the chipper machine. Should the patron have played 4 chips on a single number, then his total win would be 140 chips, equal to 7 full stacks.
The other possible combinations can be understood in the same sense. Of interest for this example is the case when the player places three chips on a number and one chip on a split (which will also involve the same number). In this case the three chips on the one number means a win of 105 chips, and the one chip on the split means a win of 17 chips, and the sum total 105+17=122 chips.
It would be possible for the croupier to take seven stacks and return 18 to the chipper machine. However, in the case of example 1, the house rules of the casino tell the croupier that with a number such as this, he should only take six full stacks, totaling 120 chips, and extract two further chips from the chipper machine.
Another example, where the croupier, operating in accordance with the house rules of a particular casino, takes an extra chip from the chipper machine, is shown in the penultimate entry of example 1. Here the patron has bet two chips on a single number and three chips on a split, which will also involve the single number. For the two chips on the single number he will have won a total of 70 chips, and for the three chips on a split, he will have won 3×17=51 chips. The total of 121 chips (70+51=121) is paid to the patron by the croupier by taking six full stacks and one extra chip from the chipper machine.
Clearly, whenever the player loses, his chips are placed by the croupier in the chipper machine. Since full stacks are formed by the croupier from chips taken from the individual columns of the chipper machine, all the chips paid to the patron have been through the chipper machine and thus counted by the system.
Thus, if the wins are distributed equally, the total number of chips in the chip stacks summed over all these examples is 1580, of which 1456 have been paid to the patron, and 130 have been returned to the chipper machine. Since three extra chips were taken from the chipper machine, in fact a total of 127 were returned to the chipper machine. 127 represents 8.52% of 1580. Accordingly, for this particular casino, the total number of chips having passed through particular patrons through the chipper machine should be reduced by 8.52% to arrive at a value which, while still not 100% accurate, nevertheless represents a good estimate of the total amount bet by the patron sufficient for subsequent analysis.
In example 2, different house rules apply. In this case no extra chips are taken from the chipper machine, but rather a whole number of stacks is always broken, with chips being returned to the chipper machine. Thus, whereas for three chips placed on a number and one chip placed on a split, two extra chips were taken from the chipper machine in example 1. Example 2 provides for the croupier to take seven whole stacks and to break one stack and return 19 chips to the chipper machine rather than taking one extra chip from the chipper machine as in example 1.
The result in the present case is that a total of 1620 chips have been through the chipper machine, 1456 have been returned to the player and the number of chips counted by the chipper machine is higher by 164 than the total amount bet by the player. Thus, in this case, a correction factor of 11.26% can be considered as appropriate. Again, it must be noted that this is not an absolutely accurate calculation of a total amount bet by the patron, but is a statistically reasonable approach to assessing the total amount bet by the patron, based on an observation of a patron's playing behavior over a long period of time.
The assessment of the player's total turnover in this way is important for several reasons. First of all, the turnover is the win potential for the casino from this patron and the base for “Frequent Player Programs”, it enables the casino to see whether the patron is an important patron of the casino and whether special attention should be paid to him to encourage him to continue using the casino. Secondly, for such an important patron, it would be possible to build up a data base over a longer period of time showing whether the total amounts won or loss in relation to turnover are reasonable having regard to the house advantage or whether there is some element of the patron's play which is suspicious. Thirdly, the assessment of the total amount bet by each patron is the key to assessing the turnover of the croupier and to monitoring the performance of the croupier.
c) Total Turnover of the Croupier
As mentioned above, it is conventional for croupiers to work for periods of about 45 minutes and to then take a break. By requiring the croupier to sign on and sign off at the table, which can be done by drawing his card through the card reader, it is possible for the computer 64 to recognize which croupier is present at the table and for the play during the period in which a particular croupier is working at the table to be associated uniquely with that croupier.
It is not necessary for the croupier to both sign on and sign off. The signing on of one croupier can automatically be used to sign off the previous one. This is preferred because it reduces the burden on the croupier.
Through the signing on and off of the croupiers, the computer system is put in the position of being able to associate activities at the table with a particular croupier. This is necessary to detect the croupier's performance.
The total turnover achieved by a croupier in any one working period is simply the sum of the total amounts bet by the individual patrons during this period.
It was already explained above in detail under section b) how the turnover of individual patrons is assessed. By knowing the time at which a croupier arrives at the table and subsequently leaves it, it is possible to deduce from the data relating to the total amount bet by a patron, as stored by the central processing unit 64 and based on information from the chipper machine, the amount the particular patron bet during a particular working period of the croupier concerned. This also makes it possible to take account of people arriving at or leaving the table during such a working period. It will be appreciated that the computer 64 when recording pieces of information, such as the sorting of a number of color chips by the chipper machine 14, or a payout from the chip tray 16, will record a time against each such piece of data and that the different time entries can be used to associate the total amount bet by a patron within the working period, with the croupier controlling the gaming at the table during that working period.
d) Win or Loss of the Croupier
To determine the win and loss achieved by the croupier the financial status of the table at the beginning and the end of a working period is captured. The financial table status of a table is determined by the cash and marker drop and the chip tray inventory relative to the opening inventory when the table opened or the shift started. Non gaming influences on the chip tray such as chip fills and credits from and to the chip bank have to be accounted for by the computer system 64. Again, the signing on and off of the croupier results in time signals, which enable drops made by the individual patrons and the taking of winnings during the working period to be associated by the central processing unit 64 with a particular croupier. The win and loss determined in this way is not strictly speaking accurate because it does not take account of the influence of the different quantity of color chips which are in the patron's possession at the start and end of the play. However, if the croupier's performance is measured over a sufficient number of working periods, the influence of the color chips held by the patrons balances out over an adequately long period, so that a high level of confidence can be achieved that the assessment of the croupier's performance is correct.
This possibility of summing the total amount won or lost by a croupier over a longer period of time and simultaneously knowing the total turnover achieved by the croupier in that period of time provides a very powerful tool for analyzing the croupier's performance. As already mentioned, there is a known house advantage for the casino, so that statistically speaking over a longer period of time the casino should have made a win of 2.7% of the total turnover for French roulette, with a single zero, or 5.28% for American roulette with a double zero. Thus, a good croupier is one who achieves a high turnover and the house advantage based on that turnover.
On the other hand, when the turnover is high, but the net win by the croupier falls significantly short of the house advantage, this is suspicious and requires further investigation. It is natural, in a game of chance, for the croupier to have some days in which his net win is low, or in which he even makes a loss. However, on average he should be achieving the house advantage. Should statistical observation, however, show that the croupier's overall performance is significantly below the house advantage, and that the periods in which his performance is poorest correspond to a particular patron participating in the game of roulette and making a significant win, then this suggests that there may be some collusion between the croupier and the patron, for example that the croupier is indulging in so-called sector spinning and has given the patron the tip that he should place his bets on particular numbers in order to have an increased chance of winning.
As further confirmation of such a suspicion, it will be possible to analyze the statistical information from the detector 28 to see if this also correlates with particular wins by a particular patron.
This statistical assessment of a croupier's performance can, for example, take place on the following basis:
For French roulette (single zero) the mean win for a randomly placed bet of one chip is μ=0.0270 chips, with a standard deviation of σ=4.113 chips. For American roulette (double zero), it is μ=0.0528 and σ=4.068 chips.
As a rough assessment, it can be assumed that for each spin of the roulette wheel there are 60 stakes (individual bets) placed on the table, that the croupier performs 40 spins each shift and does 40 shifts a week. Based on this assumption, the following Table I reveals the number of weeks a croupier has to be observed to retrieve relevant assessment data.
Furthermore, the table shows only negative deviations from the expected win (one sided test), as a higher win than the expected win could never harm a casino.
Referring now to FIG. 7, the shaded columns in the diagram show the win a certain croupier produces for the casino. Having observed a croupier for at least 25 days, average win data is relevant. So if the win for this croupier falls under the dotted line after more than 25 days of observation, one can be sure to 90% that this croupier produces an average win which is 33% less than the average casino win.
Another factor of uncertainty in croupier rating for American Roulette is the fact that wheel checks (value chips) in player's hands cannot be registered by the electronic chip tray and thus might cause inaccuracies in chip tray measurement. Studies have shown that uncertain wheel check positions increase the observation period by only 5.5%. This corresponds to two further days maximum, if the results derived should be within a confidence level of 95%.
As further background to the present invention some statistical details will now be given with respect to the statistical background of roulette:
The means of the casino's win for the single zero and the double zero roulette and their standard deviations can approximately be calculated from the following Tables II and III:
To obtain overall estimations for the mean and the standard deviation, one would have to know the average frequencies for each bet. As a first approach, one can take the number of possibilities for each bet given in Table II and Table III, and calculate averages for mean and variance. This leads to:
As well known in statistics, the mean X of a sample of size N can be compared against the mean μ of the whole distribution by calculating
and comparing the result z, which is the normalized deviation of the sample mean X of the corresponding overall distribution mean μ, with a table of the quantiles of the Gaussian distribution. Of course, this depends on the assumption that the sample has been taken from a normally distributed entity, but from the LINDEBERG-LÉVY theorem we know that the distribution of a sample's mean is asymptotically normal, as long as both a mean and a variance exists for the distribution the sample is taken from. This means that Formula 1 can be taken as a good approximation as long as N is not too small.
From Formula 1, one can easily derive
which is an estimate for the sample size needed to detect a given deviation from the distribution's mean.
As an example for the single zero roulette, if one wants to detect a 33% deviation from the mean with a confidence coefficient of 90%, N has to be approximately 342 000. This means that the croupier has to be observed for about three and a half weeks to get the desired result.
The mean for the double zero roulette is about double the one for the double zero roulette. Therefore, the sample size necessary is much less; it has to be approximately N=88 000. Using the assumptions above, we find the time period necessary to detect the mentioned deviation to be less than one week.
Recalculating the sample sizes necessary to detect a 50% deviation at a confidence level of 95%, one obtains N=250 000, corresponding to about two and a half weeks (single zero) and N=64 000, corresponding to about five days (double zero).
As mentioned above, wheel checks (value chips held by patrons at the table) can cause problems.
The variance of the win, as shown in Tab II, Tab. III and Tab. IV, has to be increased due to the uncertainty caused by the unknown amount of wheel checks possessed by the players at the table at the time of shift change. To obtain an estimate for this influence, some assumptions must again be made, which—on an average—are fulfilled in practice:
At each time, there are five players at the table;
The croupier performs 40 spins each shift;
At each spin there are 60 stakes placed on the table;
Each stake contains 2 chips;
The amount of wheel checks lies between 0 and 100 (both included) and is evenly distributed.
In general, mean and variance of an evenly distributed, discrete random variable with consecutive integer values from the interval [a,b] can be computed as follows
In the present case (a=0, b=100) the results are μ=50 and 2σ2=850.
From the assumptions made in the section “Problem Description”, it is obvious that the distribution of the wheel checks held by all players at shift change is the sum of five independent distributions, thus having a mean of μ=5×50=250 and a variance σ2=5×850=4 250. Therefore, mean and variance for the difference between begin and end of a croupier's shift are μ=250−250=0 and σ2=4250+4250=8 500.
Following the assumptions above, a croupier has to handle 2 400 stakes with a total of 4 800 chips in one shift. The mean and standard deviation for his win can be calculated, based on the results given in Table IV. From there, μ has to be multiplied by 2 (average number of chips per stake) and by 2 400 (number of stakes), while σ2 has to multiplied by 22 and by 2 400. The results are summarized in Table V:
The above discussion shows how the variance of the croupier's win within one shift increases by approximately 5.5% for both types of roulette, due to the uncertainty caused by the wheel checks. From Formula 2, it can be seen that the sample size depends linearly on the variance of the entity the sample is taken from, and therefore increases by the same ratio.
e) Working speed of the Croupier
One factor of interest to a casino is how quickly the croupier works. The quicker he works, the more turnover is achieved within a particular period of time and the greater is the profit to the casino. One simple measure for the working speed of a croupier is to count, for example, the number of spins of the roulette wheel he achieves per hour, or an equivalent value such as the average duration of a spin of the roulette wheel 12. This information can readily be obtained by the central processing unit 64 either from the detector 28 or by analyzing the periods of activity of, for example, the chipper machine 14. The activity of the chipper machine will typically be at an increased level at the end of each spin of the roulette wheel when the croupier collects the losing bets.
Another useful measure of the croupier's performance is the total number of chips sorted by the chipper machine in a particular period. Clearly, if more players are present at the table, the duration of each spin of the roulette wheel, the collection of lost bets and the payment of winnings will take rather longer than if only one or two patrons are playing at the table.
f) Section Spinning Indication
The detector 28, which can be designed in accordance with the PCT application with the publication number WO95/28996 provides information on the speed of the ball in the upper rim of the roulette wheel, the speed and direction of the cylinder of the roulette wheel, and the relative position of the cylinder to the ball and to the segment into which the ball falls. This information may be used to detect the position of the ball in the moving roulette wheel and illuminate the display to indicate the winning number to the patrons and to collect information for statistical processing. It is stated that the latter enables the casino to check that the wheel and its croupier are operating fairly and without bias. However, no particulars of how this check is made are given.
The present teaching recognizes that the data achieved from the detector can be used to see if it is statistically significant. For example, the frequency with which a particular number occurs should be randomly distributed. Equally, a check can be made to see whether the set of parameters such as the speed of and the phase between the cylinder and the ball are randomly scattered out as with other croupiers or if the parameters indicate a rhythmic spinning by this croupier which again suggests that section spinning could be practiced.
Finally, it should be noted that not all of the electronic items recited in connection with FIG. 2 are necessary for each of the assessments mentioned above. All the comments made below assume that a central processing unit 64 or at least a computer associated with the particular gaming table or a group of gaming tables is present for data storage and analysis.
Thus, for assessing the patrons, so-called patron rating (total amount bet), it will be sufficient to provide only a chipper machine 14 with an interface 62 and a table terminal 24, into which the croupier would be expected to type in all other relevant data. However, to make the system more comfortable for the croupier to use, it is preferable to provide a chip value and payout display 30 in accordance with FIG. 7.
To determine the patron win or loss, it is necessary to have the table terminal 24 and the electronic chip tray 16 and it will help the croupier a lot to have the chip value and payout display 30.
To perform the croupier assessments, it is necessary to have the chipper machine 14 with the interface 62 and the table terminal 24. In order to determine the number of spins per unit time, it is necessary to either derive this information from the activity of the chipper machine or to provide the detector 28. To obtain information concerning the net win or loss by the croupier, it is necessary to have as a minimum the table terminal 24 and the electronic chip tray 16. In order to determine possible section spinning, the minimum requirement is the table terminal 24 and the automatic number detection system 28.
The roulette number display 30 and the automatic number detection system 28 are useful for providing customer information.
It will, of course, be appreciated that the realization of the table terminal with various graphic touch screens and the precise layouts of these touch screens and the information contained on them are matters which can be varied significantly without departing from the present teaching. The versions given here represent the best embodiment known to the inventor. | <urn:uuid:d8ea01f6-3627-401c-8fcc-679f62af5eec> | 2013-05-24T01:50:45Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Intervertebral allograft spacer
US 7300465 B2
An allogenic intervertebral implant for fusing vertebrae is disclosed. The implant is a piece of allogenic bone conforming in size and shape with a portion of an end plate of a vertebra. The implant has a wedge-shaped profile to restore disc height and the natural curvature of the spine. The top and bottom surfaces of the implant have a plurality of teeth to resist expulsion and provide initial stability. The implant according to the present invention provides initial stability need for fusion without stress shielding.
1. An intervertebral implant comprising at least one piece of allogenic bone provided with a hollow interior space, the implant having top and bottom surfaces configured and adapted in use to face endplates of adjacent vertebrae; wherein at least a portion of the top and bottom surfaces is textured to resist migration of the implant, the implant further comprising a mid-plane, and wherein the top surface is inclined in a range between about 4.2° and about 15° with respect to the mid-plane; and
wherein the implant has a length between about 8 mm and about 30 mm.
2. The implant of claim 1, wherein the length is between about 8 mm and about 18 mm.
3. The implant of claim 1, wherein the length is between about 22 mm and about 30 mm.
4. The implant of claim 1, wherein the length is between about 15 mm and about 30 mm.
5. The implant of claim 1, wherein at least one textured portion comprises a plurality of teeth.
6. The implant of claim 5, wherein the teeth are arranged in a plurality of adjacent rows.
7. The implant of claim 5, wherein the teeth have a pyramidal shape profile.
8. The implant of claim 5, wherein the teeth have a saw tooth shape.
9. The implant of claim 1, wherein the implant is made entirely of allogenic bone.
10. The implant of claim 1, wherein the implant has a height between about 4 mm and about 30 mm.
11. The implant of claim 1, wherein the implant has a width between about 6 mm and about 15 mm.
12. The implant of claim 1, wherein the implant further includes a first lateral side and a second lateral side, the first and second lateral sides having a channel formed therein, the channel being sized and configured to receive a surgical instrument.
13. The implant of claim 1, wherein the implant further comprises a threaded hole for engaging a threaded pin of a surgical instrument.
14. The implant of claim 1, wherein the implant further comprises an anterior side and a posterior side, the incline being sized and configured so that a height of the implant gradually decreases from the anterior side to the posterior side.
15. The implant of claim 14, wherein the anterior side of the implant includes a transition forming a rounded edge between the anterior side and the top surface and between the anterior side and the bottom surface to facilitate insertion of the implant.
16. The implant of claim 1, wherein the top and bottom surfaces are curved surfaces.
17. The implant of claim 16, wherein the curved top and bottom surfaces conform to the contours of the end plates.
18. The implant of claim 1, wherein the implant is formed from at least two pieces of allogenic bone joined together.
19. The implant of claim 18, wherein the implant comprises a first lateral piece joined to a second lateral piece.
20. The implant of claim 19, wherein the first and second lateral pieces are substantially C-shaped so that when joined side by side they define the hollow interior space.
21. The implant of claim 19, further comprising at least one pin for joining the first and second lateral pieces.
22. The implant of claim 18, wherein the at least two pieces of allogenic are joined together by at least one pin.
23. The implant of claim 1, wherein the hollow interior space extends from the top surface to the bottom surface.
24. An intervertebral implant comprising at least one piece of allogenic bone provided with a hollow interior space, the implant having top and bottom surfaces configured and adapted in use to face endplates of adjacent vertebrae; wherein at least a portion of the top and bottom surfaces is textured to resist migration of the implant, the implant further comprising a mid-plane, and wherein the top surface is inclined in a range between about 4.2° and about 15° with respect to the mid-plane; the implant further comprising an anterior side and a posterior side;
wherein the implant has a height between about 4 mm and about 100 mm.
25. The implant of claim 24, wherein the height is between about 10 mm and about 100 mm.
26. The implant of claim 24, wherein the height is between about 4 mm and about 30 mm.
27. The implant of claim 24, wherein the height is between about 4 mm and about 20 mm.
28. The implant of claim 24, wherein the height of the anterior side is larger than the height of the posterior side.
29. The implant of claim 24, wherein the height of the anterior side is substantially equal to the height of the posterior side.
30. The implant of claim 24, wherein at least one textured portion comprises a plurality of teeth.
31. The implant of claim 30, wherein the teeth are arranged in a plurality of adjacent rows.
32. The implant of claim 30, wherein the teeth have a pyramidal shape profile.
33. An intervertebral implant comprising at least one piece of allogenic bone provided with a hollow interior space, the implant having top and bottom surfaces configured and adapted in use to face endplates of adjacent vertebrae; wherein at least a portion of the top and bottom surfaces is textured to resist migration of the implant, the implant further comprising a mid-plane, and wherein the top surface and bottom surface are substantially parallel to the mid-plane; the implant further comprising an anterior side and a posterior side;
wherein the implant has a height between about 4 mm and about 100 mm and wherein the height of the anterior side is larger than the height of the posterior side.
34. The implant of claim 33, wherein the height is between about 10 mm and about 100 mm.
35. The implant of claim 33, wherein the height is between about 4 mm and about 30 mm.
36. The implant of claim 33, wherein the height is between about 4 mm and about 20 mm.
37. The implant of claim 33, wherein at least one textured portion comprises a plurality of teeth.
38. The implant of claim 37, wherein the teeth are arranged in a plurality of adjacent rows.
39. The implant of claim 37, wherein the teeth have a pyramidal shape profile.
40. An intervertebral implant comprising at least one piece of allogenic bone provided with a hollow interior space, the implant having top and bottom surfaces configured and adapted in use to face endplates of adjacent vertebrae; wherein at least a portion of the top and bottom surfaces is textured to resist migration of the implant, the implant further comprising a mid-plane, and wherein the top surface is inclined in a range between about 4.2° and about 15° with respect to the mid-plane; the implant further comprising an anterior side and a posterior side;
wherein the implant has a width between about 6 mm and about 15 mm.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/828,625, filed Apr. 9, 2001, (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,986,788) which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/363,844, filed Jul. 30, 1999 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,125, and reissued as U.S. Reissue Pat. No. RE38,614), which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/219,439, filed Dec. 23, 1998 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,143,033), which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/095,425, filed Aug. 5, 1998, U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/095,209, filed Aug. 3, 1998, and U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/073,271, filed Jan. 30, 1998, the contents of all of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an allogenic implant and, more particularly, to an allogenic intervertebral implant.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A number of medical conditions such as compression of spinal cord nerve roots, degenerative disc disease, and spondylolisthesis can cause severe low back pain. Intervertebral fusion is a surgical method of alleviating low back pain. In posterior lumbar interbody fusion (“PLIF”), two adjacent vertebral bodies are fused together by removing the affected disc and inserting an implant that would allow for bone to grow between the two vertebral bodies to bridge the gap left by the disc removal.
A number of different implants and implant materials have been used in PLIF with varying success. Current implants used for PLIF include threaded titanium cages and allografts. Threaded titanium cages suffer from the disadvantage of requiring drilling and tapping of the vertebral end plates for insertion. In addition, the incidence of subsidence in long term use is not known. Due to MRI incompatibility of titanium, determining fusion is problematic. Finally, restoration of lordosis, i.e., the natural curvature of the lumbar spine is very difficult when a cylindrical titanium cage is used.
Allografts are sections of bone taken from a long bone of a donor. A cross section of the bone is taken and processed using known techniques to preserve the allograft until implantation and reduce the risk of an adverse immunological response when implanted. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,470 discloses a method for processing a bone grafting material which uses glutaraldehyde tanning to produce a non-antigenic, biocompatible material. Allografts have mechanical properties which are similar to the mechanical properties of vertebrae even after processing. This prevents stress shielding that occurs with metallic implants. They are also MRI compatible so that fusion can be more accurately ascertained and promote the formation of bone, i.e., osteoconductive. Although the osteoconductive nature of the allograft provides a biological interlocking between the allograft and the vertebrae for long term mechanical strength, initial and short term mechanical strength of the interface between the allograft and the vertebrae are lacking as evidenced by the possibility of the allograft being expelled after implantation.
Currently commercially available allografts are simply sections of bone not specifically designed for use in PLIF. As a result, the fusion of the vertebral bodies does not occur in optimal anatomical position. A surgeon may do some minimal intraoperative shaping and sizing to customize the allograft for the patient's spinal anatomy. However, significant shaping and sizing of the allograft is not possible due to the nature of the allograft. Even if extensive shaping and sizing were possible, a surgeon's ability to manually shape and size the allograft to the desired dimensions is severely limited.
Most PLIF implants, whether threaded cages or allograft, are available in different sizes and have widths that vary with the implant height. For example, the width of a cylindrical cages will be substantially equivalent to the height. Although larger heights may be clinically indicated, wider implants are generally not desirable since increased width requires removal of more of the facet, which can lead to decreases stability, and more retraction of nerve roots, which can lead to temporary or permanent nerve damage.
As the discussion above illustrates, there is a need for an improved implant for fusing vertebrae.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an allogenic intervertebral implant for use when surgical fusion of vertebral bodies is indicated. The implant comprises a piece of allogenic bone conforming in size and shape with a portion of an end plates of the vertebrae and has a wedge-shaped profile with a plurality of teeth located on top and bottom surfaces. The top and bottom surfaces can be flat planar surfaces or curved surfaces to mimic the topography of the end plates. The implant has a channel on at least one side for receiving a surgical tool. This channel runs in the anterior direction to accommodate a variety of surgical approaches. A threaded hole on the anterior, posterior, posterior-lateral, or lateral side can be provided for receiving a threaded arm of an insertion tool.
In another embodiment, the implant has an interior space for receiving an osteoconductive material to promote the formation of new bone.
In another embodiment, the implant is made of a plurality of interconnecting sections with mating sections. Preferably, the implant is made in two halves: a top portion having a top connecting surface and a bottom portion having a bottom connecting surface. The top connecting surface mates with the bottom connecting surface when the top and bottom portions are joined. The top and bottom portions have holes that align for receiving a pin to secure the top and bottom portions together. The pin can be made of allogenic bone.
In a different embodiment, the medial side of the implant has a scalloped edge such that when a first implant is implanted with a second implant with the medial sides facing each other, the scalloped edges define a cylindrical space.
The present invention also relates to a discrete spacer used in conjunction with any of the other embodiments of the implant. The spacer comprises a piece of allogenic bone conforming in size and shape with a portion of an end plates of the vertebrae and has a wedge-shaped profile with substantially smooth top and bottom surfaces. The intersecting regions between the top and bottom surfaces and at least one of the lateral sides and the intersecting regions between the anterior and posterior sides and the same lateral side are curved surfaces to facilitate implantation of the spacer. Thus, the spacer can be implanted through an opening on one side of the spinal canal and moved with a surgical instrument to the contralateral side.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a top view of a first embodiment of the implant according to the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a side view of the implant of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a back view of the implant of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a top view of a second embodiment of the implant;
FIG. 5 is a side view of the implant of FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a top view of a third embodiment of the implant;
FIG. 7 is a side view of the implant of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8A is a top view of a top connecting surface of a top portion of the implant of FIG. 6;
FIG. 8B is a top view of a bottom connecting surface of a bottom portion of the implant of FIG. 6;
FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of the implant;
FIG. 10A is a side view of one embodiment of the teeth on the implant;
FIG. 10B is a side view of a second embodiment of the teeth of the implant;
FIG. 11 is a side view of an embodiment of the implant similar to the embodiment of FIGS. 6-8;
FIG. 12 is a top view of a vertebral bone characteristic of those of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine;
FIG. 13 is a side view of sequentially aligned vertebral bones, such as are found in the cervical, thoracic, or lumbar spine;
FIG. 14 is a posterior view of a sequence of vertebrae; and
FIG. 15 is an end view of another embodiment of the implant.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
FIG. 1 shows a top view of a first embodiment of intervertebral allograft spacer or implant 10 according to the present invention. Implant 10 conforms in size and shape with a portion of end plates of the vertebrae between which implant 10 is to be implanted. Because implant 10 is an allograft, implant 10 promotes the formation of new bone to fuse the two vertebral bodies together. Although implant 10 will probably be predominantly used in the lumbar region of the spine, implant 10 can be configured for implantation in any region of the spine. Implant 10 has a plurality of teeth 12 on superior and inferior surfaces 14, 16 which provide a mechanical interlock between implant 10 and the end plates. Teeth 12 provide the mechanical interlock by penetrating the end plates. The initial mechanical stability afforded by teeth 12 minimizes the risk of post-operative expulsion of implant 10. Teeth 12 can be pyramid-shaped (FIG. 10A). Preferably, the angle formed from the tip to the base is approximately 60°. Alternatively, teeth 12 have a saw tooth shape with the saw tooth running in the anterior-posterior direction (FIG. 10B).
As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a first lateral side 18 has a channel 20 and a second lateral side 22 also has a channel 20. Channels 20 are sized to receive a surgical instrument such as an inserter for implantation of implant 10. If the inserter has a threaded arm, implant 10 can be provided with a threaded hole 24. In FIG. 2, channel 20 is shown extended only partially along first lateral side 18. Channel 20 can extend along the entire length of first lateral side 18 as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 5. In FIG. 3, channels 20 are shown on both first and second lateral sides 18, 22. It should be noted that implant 10 can also have no channels or channels on one lateral side only as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 9.
The dimensions of implant 10 can be varied to accommodate a patient's anatomy. Typically, implant 10 would have a width between 6-15 mm (in the medial-lateral direction), a length between 15-30 mm (in the anterior-posterior direction), and a height between 4-30 mm (maximum height in the superior-inferior direction). The size of implant 10 allows implant 10 to be implanted using conventional open surgical procedures or minimally invasive procedures, such as laparoscopic surgery. Additionally, because the width is kept to a restricted size range and does not necessarily increase with implant height, taller implants can be used without requiring wider implants. Thus, facet removal and retraction of nerve roots can remain minimal.
In order to restore the natural curvature of the spine after the affected disc has been removed, implant 10 has a wedge-shaped profile. As shown in FIG. 2, this wedge shape results from a gradual decrease in height from an anterior side 26 to a posterior side 28. In anatomical terms, the natural curvature of the lumbar spine is referred to as lordosis. When implant 10 is to be used in the lumbar region, the angle formed by the wedge should be approximately between 4.2° and 15° so that the wedge shape is a lordotic shape which mimics the anatomy of the lumbar spine.
In order to facilitate insertion of implant 10, anterior side 26 transitions to superior and inferior surfaces 14, 16 with rounded edges 30. Rounded edges 30 enable implant 10 to slide between the end plates while minimizing the necessary distraction of the end plates.
Although implant 10 is typically a solid piece of allogenic bone, implant 10 can be provided with a hollow interior to form an interior space. This interior space can be filled with bone chips or any other osteoconductive material to further promote the formation of new bone.
FIG. 4 shows a top view of a second embodiment of an implant 40 according to the present invention. In general, most of the structure of implant 40 is like or comparable to the structure of implant 10. Accordingly, discussion of the like components is not believed necessary. The superior and inferior surfaces 14, 16 of implant 10 are flat planar surfaces. As seen best in FIG. 5, superior and inferior surfaces 14, 16 of implant 40 are curved surfaces which still retain the wedge-shaped profile. The curved surfaces of superior and inferior surfaces 14, 16 of implant 40 are a mirror-image of the topography of the vertebral end plates. Thus, the curved surfaces conform to the contours of the end plates.
FIG. 6 shows a top view of a third embodiment of an implant 50 according to the present invention. In general, most of the structure of implant 50 is like or comparable to the structure of implants 10, 40. Accordingly, discussion of the like components is not believed necessary. As best seen in FIG. 7, implant 50 comprises a top portion 52 joined to a bottom portion 54. As it may be difficult to obtain a single section of allogenic bone from which implant 50 is to be made, fabricating implant 50 in two pieces, i.e. top and bottom portions 52, 54, allows smaller sections of allogenic bone to be used. A top connecting surface 56 and a bottom connecting surface 58 define the interface between top and bottom portions 52, 54. As shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, top and bottom surfaces 56, 58 have ridges 60 that mate with grooves 62 to interlock top and bottom portions 52, 54. Preferably, ridges 60 and grooves 62 are formed by milling top and bottom surfaces 56, 58 in a first direction and then milling a second time with top and bottom surfaces 56, 58 oriented 90° with respect to the first direction.
A pin 64 passing through aligned holes 66 in top and bottom portions 52, 54 serves to retain top and bottom portions 52, 54 together. Although pin 64 can be made of any biocompatible material, pin 64 is preferably made of allogenic bone. The number and orientation of pins 64 can be varied.
FIG. 11 shows an embodiment of an implant 80 which, like implant 50, is made in multiple pieces. In general, most of the structure of implant 80 is like or comparable to the structure of implants 10, 40, 50. Accordingly, discussion of the like components is not believed necessary. Implant 80 has a top portion 82, a middle portion 84, and a bottom portion 86. As was the case for implant 80, the surfaces between the portions are mating surfaces with interlocking surface features, such as ridges and grooves. One or more pins preferably hold top, middle, and bottom portions 82, 84, 86 together.
FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a fourth embodiment of a first implant 70 according to the present invention. A second implant 70′, which is substantially similar to first implant 70, is also shown. In general, most of the structure of first and second implants 70, 70′ is like or comparable to the structure of implants 10, 40, 50. Accordingly, discussion of the like components is not believed necessary. First lateral sides 18 of first and second implants 70, 70′ are scalloped to have a C-shape. When first and second implants 70, 70′ are placed side by side with the first lateral sides 18 facing each other, a cylindrical space 72 is formed. When first and second implants 70, 70′ are implanted together, cylindrical space 72 can be filled with osteoconductive material to help promote the formation of new bone. First and second implants 70, 70′ can be provided with locking pins 74 which engage apertures 76 to maintain the spatial relationship between first and second implants 70, 70′.
The use of the implant according to the present invention will now be described with reference to FIGS. 12-14 and using posterior lumbar interbody fusion as an example. As the implant according to the present invention conforms in size and shape to a portion of end plates 100, preoperative planning is recommended for proper sizing. Determine the appropriate implant height by measuring adjacent intervertebral discs 102 on a lateral radiograph. The implant must be seated firmly with a tight fit between end plates 100 when the segment is fully distracted. The tallest possible implant should be used to maximize segmental stability. Due to variability in degrees of magnification from radiographs, the measurements are only an estimate.
With the patient in a prone position on a lumbar frame, radiographic equipment can assist in confirming the precise intraoperative position of the implant. The surgeon incises and dissects the skin from the midline laterally and locates spinous process 104, lamina 106, dura 108, and nerve roots of the appropriate level(s). As much as facets 110 as possible should be preserved to provide stability to the intervertebral segment. The surgeon performs a laminotomy to the medial aspect of facet 110 and reflects dura 108 to expose an approximately 13 mm window to the disc space. Disc 102 is removed through the window until only anterior 112 and lateral 114 annulus remain. The superficial layers of the entire cartilaginous end plates 100 are also removed to expose bleeding bone. Excessive removal of the subchondral bone may weaken the anterior column. Furthermore, if the entire end plate is removed, this may result in subsidence and a loss of segmental stability.
Distraction can be done with either a surgical distractor or a trial spacer implant. In the first method, the distractor blades are placed into the disc space lateral to dura 108. The curve on the neck of the distractor should be oriented toward the midline. The distractor blades should be completely inserted into the disc space so that the ridges at the end of the blades rest on vertebral body 116. Fluoroscopy can assist in confirming that the distractor blades are parallel to end plates 100. Correct placement will angle the handles of the distractor cranially. particularly at L5-S1. The handle of the distractor is squeezed to distract the innerspace. The distraction is secured by tightening the speed nut on the handle.
Using the preoperatively determined size, a trial spacer is inserted in the contralateral disc space with gentle impaction. Fluoroscopy and tactile judgement can assist in confirming the fit of the trial spacer until a secure fit is achieved. Using either the slots or threader hole on the implant, the selected implant is inserted in the contralateral disc space. Alternatively, the channels on the implant allow distraction and insertion to occur on the same side. Regardless of the side the implant is inserted in, autogenous cancellous bone or a bone substitute should be placed in the anterior and medial aspect of the vertebral disc space prior to placement of the second implant. The distractor is removed and a second implant of the same height as the first implant is inserted into the space, using gentle impaction as before. Preferably, the implants are recessed 2-4 mm beyond the posterior rim of the vertebral body.
As previously noted, the implant according to the present invention can be inserted using minimally invasive procedures. In some of these procedures, only one side of the spinal cord needs to be approached. This minimizes muscle stripping, scar tissue in the canal, and nerve root retraction and handling. In clinical situations in which bilateral implant placement is required, proper implantation on the side opposite the incision can be difficult. FIG. 15 shows a beveled spacer 120 that facilitates placement on the side contralateral to the incision. In general and unless otherwise described, most of the structure of beveled spacer 120 is like or comparable to the structure of implants 10, 40, 50, and 80. Accordingly, discussion of the like components is not believed necessary. First lateral side 18 transitions to superior and inferior surfaces 14, 16 with rounded edges 30. First lateral side 18 also transitions to anterior and posterior sides 26, 28 with rounded edges 30. Additionally, spacer 120 has no teeth. The lack of teeth and rounded edges 30 enable spacer 120 to slide between the end plate and across the evacuated disc space (from one lateral annulus to the other) to the contralateral side. As first lateral side 18 is the side that must promote movement of spacer 120, the use of rounded edges 30 on second lateral side 22 is optionally. Once spacer 120 has been placed on the side contralateral to the single incision using a surgical instrument to push spacer 120, bone graft or other osteoconductive material is packed in the disc space. Finally, an implant (any of implant 10, 40, 50, 70, or 70′ can be used) is implanted in the side proximal to the incision.
While it is apparent that the illustrative embodiments of the invention herein disclosed fulfill the objectives stated above, it will be appreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art. Therefore, it will be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and embodiments which come within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
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Packet prioritization and associated bandwidth and buffer management techniques for audio over IP
US 7877500 B2
The present invention is directed to voice communication devices in which an audio stream is divided into a sequence of individual packets, each of which is routed via pathways that can vary depending on the availability of network resources. All embodiments of the invention rely on an acoustic prioritization agent that assigns a priority value to the packets. The priority value is based on factors such as whether the packet contains voice activity and the degree of acoustic similarity between this packet and adjacent packets in the sequence. A confidence level, associated with the priority value, may also be assigned. In one embodiment, network congestion is reduced by deliberately failing to transmit packets that are judged to be acoustically similar to adjacent packets; the expectation is that, under these circumstances, traditional packet loss concealment algorithms in the receiving device will construct an acceptably accurate replica of the missing packet. In another embodiment, the receiving device can reduce the number of packets stored in its jitter buffer, and therefore the latency of the speech signal, by selectively deleting one or more packets within sustained silences or non-varying speech events. In both embodiments, the ability of the system to drop appropriate packets may be enhanced by taking into account the confidence levels associated with the priority assessments.
1. A system for transmitting voice communications over a data network, comprising:
an input operable to receive a voice stream from a user, the voice stream comprising a plurality of temporally distinct segments;
a packet protocol interface operable to convert a first segment of the voice stream into at least a first packet;
an acoustic prioritization agent operable to control processing of the first segment and the first packet based on a degree of acoustic similarity between the first segment and a second segment of the voice stream, wherein the second segment temporally precedes the first segment and a third segment of the voice stream temporally follows the first segment; and
a codec operable to compare the first segment with the second segment of the voice stream to determine a first degree of acoustic similarity between the first and second segments and compare the first segment with the third segment of the voice stream to determine a second degree of acoustic similarity between the first and third segments.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein the acoustic prioritization agent is operable to assign an importance to the at least one of the first segment and the at least a first packet based on the degree of acoustic similarity.
3. The system of claim 2, wherein the importance is a value marker and the packet protocol interface is operable to incorporate the value marker into the at least a first packet.
4. The system of claim 3, further comprising:
a buffer manager operable to remove the at least a first packet from a receive buffer when the value of the value marker is one of less than and greater than a predetermined value threshold.
5. The system of claim 2, wherein the importance is a service class assigned to the at least a first packet.
6. The system of claim 2, wherein the importance is a transmission priority assigned to the at least a first packet.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein the packet protocol interface is operable to not transmit the at least a first packet when the at least one of the level of confidence and the degree of acoustic similarity is one of less than and greater than a predetermined threshold.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the predetermined threshold is varied based on at least one of jitter, latency, a number of missing packets, a number of packets received out-of-order, a processing delay, a propagation delay, and a receive buffer length.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the acoustic prioritization agent further operable to control processing of the first segment and the first packet based on a level of confidence.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein the prioritization agent controls processing of the at least one of the first segment and the at least a first packet based on at least one of the first and second degrees of acoustic similarity one of exceeding or being less than a selected similarity threshold.
11. The system of claim 1, wherein the first segment corresponds to a payload of the at least a first packet.
12. The system of claim 1, wherein the first segment corresponds to a frame of the at least a first packet.
13. The system of claim 1, wherein different classes of services are used for different segments of the voice stream.
14. The system of claim 1, wherein the packet protocol interface is operable to use different transmission priorities for different segments of the voice stream.
15. The system of claim 1, wherein the acoustic prioritization agent further operable to control processing of the first segment and the first packet based on a type of voice activity.
16. The system of claim 15, wherein the type of voice activity is a plosive.
17. A method for transmitting voice communications over a data network, comprising:
receiving a voice stream from a user, the voice stream comprising a plurality of temporally distinct segments;
converting a first segment of the voice stream into a first packet; and
processing the first segment and the first packet based on a degree of acoustic similarity between the first segment and a second segment of the voice stream wherein the second segment temporally precedes the first segment and a third segment of the voice stream temporally follows the first segment, wherein processing the first segment and the first packet includes:
comparing the first segment with the second segment of the voice stream to determine a first degree of acoustic similarity between the first and second segments and compare the first segment with the third segment of the voice stream to determine a second degree of acoustic similarity between the first and third segments.
18. The method as defined in claim 17, wherein processing of the first segment and the first packet is further based on a level of confidence or a type of voice activity.
19. A tangible, non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-executable instructions thereon, the computer-executable instructions operable to cause a computer system to execute a method for processing a voice stream, the instructions comprising:
instructions to receive a voice stream from a user, the voice stream comprising a plurality of temporally distinct segments;
instructions to convert a first segment of the voice stream into at least a first packet;
instructions to control processing of the first segment and the first packet based on a degree of acoustic similarity between the first segment and a second segment of the voice stream, wherein the second segment temporally precedes the first segment and a third segment of the voice stream temporally follows the first segment; and
instructions to compare the first segment with the second segment of the voice stream to determine a first degree of acoustic similarity between the first and second segments and compare the first segment with the third segment of the voice stream to determine a second degree of acoustic similarity between the first and third segments.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/262,621 filed on Sep. 30, 2002 and entitled “PACKET PRIORITIZATION AND ASSOCIATED BANDWIDTH AND BUFFER MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES FOR AUDIO OVER IP”, the entire disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to audio communications over distributed processing networks and specifically to voice communications over data networks.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Convergence of the telephone network and the Internet is driving the move to packet-based transmission for telecommunication networks. As will be appreciated, a “packet” is a group of consecutive bytes (e.g., a datagram in TCP/IP) sent from one computer to another over a network. In Internet Protocol or IP telephony or Voice Over IP (VoIP), a telephone call is sent via a series of data packets on a fully digital communication channel. This is effected by digitizing the voice stream, encoding the digitized stream with a codec, and dividing the digitized stream into a series of packets (typically in 20 millisecond increments). Each packet includes a header, trailer, and data payload of one to several frames of encoded speech. Integration of voice and data onto a single network offers significantly improved bandwidth efficiency for both private and public network operators.
In voice communications, high end-to-end voice quality in packet transmission depends principally on the speech codec used, the end-to-end delay across the network and variation in the delay (jitter), and packet loss across the channel. To prevent excessive voice quality degradation from transcoding, it is necessary to control whether and where transcodings occur and what combinations of codecs are used. End-to-end delays on the order of milliseconds can have a dramatic impact on voice quality. When end-to-end delay exceeds about 150 to 200 milliseconds one way, voice quality is noticeably impaired. Voice packets can take an endless number of routes to a given destination and can arrive at different times, with some arriving too late for use by the receiver. Some packets can be discarded by computational components such as routers in the network due to network congestion. When an audio packet is lost, one or more frames are lost too, with a concomitant loss in voice quality.
Conventional VoIP architectures have developed techniques to resolve network congestion and relieve the above issues. In one technique, voice activity detection (VAD) or silence suppression is employed to detect the absence of audio (or detect the presence of audio) and conserve bandwidth by preventing the transmission of “silent” packets over the network. Most conversations include about 50% silence. When only silence is detected for a specified amount of time, VAD informs the Packet Voice Protocol and prevents the encoder output from being transported across the network. VAD is, however, unreliable and the sensitivity of many VAD algorithms imperfect. To exacerbate these problems, VAD has only a binary output (namely silence or no silence) and in borderline cases must decide whether to drop or send the packet. When the “silence” threshold is set too low, VAD is rendered meaningless and when too high audio information can be erroneously classified as “silence” and lost to the listener. The loss of audio information can cause the audio to be choppy or clipped. In another technique, a receive buffer is maintained at the receiving node to provide additional time for late and out-of-order packets to arrive. Typically, the buffer has a capacity of around 150 milliseconds. Most but not all packets will arrive before the time slot for the packet to be played is reached. The receive buffer can be filled to capacity at which point packets may be dropped. In extreme cases, substantial, consecutive parts of the audio stream are lost due to the limited capacity of the receive buffer leading to severe reductions in voice quality. Although packet loss concealment algorithms at the receiver can reconstruct missing packets, packet reconstruction is based on the contents of one or more temporally adjacent packets which can be acoustically dissimilar to the missing packet(s), particularly when several consecutive packets are lost, and therefore the reconstructed packet(s) can have very little relation to the contents of the missing packet(s).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
These and other needs are addressed by the various embodiments and configurations of the present invention. The present invention is directed generally to a computational architecture for efficient management of transmission bandwidth and/or receive buffer latency.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a transmitter for a voice stream is provided that comprises:
(a) a packet protocol interface operable to convert one or more selected segments (e.g., frames) of the voice stream into a packet and
(b) an acoustic prioritization agent operable to control processing of the selected segment and/or packet based on one or more of (i) a level of confidence that the contents of the selected segment are not the product of voice activity (e.g., are silence), (ii) a type of voice activity (e.g., plosive) associated with or contained in the contents of the selected segment, and (iii) a degree of acoustic similarity between the selected segment and another segment of the voice stream.
The level of confidence permits the voice activity detector to provide a ternary output as opposed to the conventional binary output. The prioritization agent can use the level of confidence in the ternary output, possibly coupled with one or measures of the traffic patterns on the network, to determine dynamically whether or not to send the “silent” packet and, if so, use a lower transmission priority or class for the packet.
The type of voice activity permits the prioritization agent to identify extremely important parts of the voice stream and assign a higher transmission priorities and/or class to the packet(s) containing these parts of the voice stream. The use of a higher transmission priority and/or class can significantly reduce the likelihood that the packet(s) will arrive late, out of order, or not at all.
The comparison of temporally adjacent packets to yield a degree of acoustic similarity permits the prioritization agent to control bandwidth effectively. The agent can use the degree of similarity, possibly coupled with one or measures of the traffic patterns on the network, to determine dynamically whether or not to send a “similar” packet and, if so, use a lower transmission priority or class for the packet. Packet loss concealment algorithms at the receiver can be used to reconstruct the omitted packet(s) to form a voiced signal that closely matches the original signal waveform. Compared to conventional transmission devices, fewer packets can be sent over the network to realize an acceptable signal waveform.
In another embodiment of the present invention, a receiver for a voice stream is provided that comprises:
(a) a receive buffer containing a plurality of packets associated with voice communications; and
(b) a buffer manager operable to remove some of the packets from the receive buffer while leaving other packets in the receive buffer based on a level of importance associated with the packets.
In one configuration, the level of importance of the each of the packets is indicated by a corresponding value marker. The level of importance or value marker can be based on any suitable criteria, including a level of confidence that contents of the packet contain voice activity, a degree of similarity of temporally adjacent packets, the significance of the audio in the packet to receiver understanding or fidelity, and combinations thereof.
In another configuration, the buffer manager performs time compression around the removed packet(s) to prevent reconstruction of the packets by the packet loss concealment algorithm. This can be performed by, for example, resetting a packet counter indicating an ordering of the packets, such as by assigning the packet counter of the removed packet to a packet remaining in the receive buffer.
In another configuration, the buffer manager only removes packet(s) from the buffer when the buffer delay or capacity equals or exceeds a predetermined level. When the buffer is not in an overcapacity situation, it is undesirable to degrade the quality of voice communications, even if only slightly.
The various embodiments of the present invention can provide a number of advantages. First, the present invention can decrease substantially network congestion by dropping unnecessary packets, thereby providing lower end-to-end delays across the network, lower degrees of variation in the delay (jitter), and lower levels of packet loss across the channel. Second, the various embodiments of the present invention can handle effectively the bursty traffic and best-effort delivery problems commonly encountered in conventional networks while maintaining consistently and reliably high levels of voice quality reliably. Third, voice quality can be improved relative to conventional voice activity detectors by not discarding “silent” packets in borderline cases.
These and other advantages will be apparent from the disclosure of the invention(s) contained herein.
The above-described embodiments and configurations are neither complete nor exhaustive. As will be appreciated, other embodiments of the invention are possible utilizing, alone or in combination, one or more of the features set forth above or described in detail below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a simple network for a VoIP session between two endpoints according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the functional components of a transmitting voice communication device according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the functional components of a receiving voice communication device according to the first embodiment;
FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a voice activity detector according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a codec according to a third embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 6 is a flow chart of a packet prioritizing algorithm according to a second embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating time compression according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 8 is a flow chart of a buffer management algorithm according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a simplistic VoIP network architecture according to a first embodiment of the present invention. First and second voice communication devices 100 and 104 transmit and receive VoIP packets. The packets can be transmitted over one of two paths. The first and shortest path is via networks 108 and 112 and router 116. The second and longer path is via networks 108, 112, and 120 and routers 124 and 128. Depending upon the path followed, the packets can arrive at either of the communication devices at different times. As will be appreciated, network architectures suitable for the present invention can include any number of networks and routers and other intermediate nodes, such as transcoding gateways, servers, switches, base transceiver stations, base station controllers, modems, router, and multiplexers and employ any suitable packet-switching protocols, whether using connection oriented or connectionless services, including without limitation Internet Protocol or IP, Ethernet, and Asynchronous Transfer Mode or ATM.
As will be further appreciated, the first and second voice communication devices 100 and 104 can be any communication devices configured to transmit and/or receive packets over a data network, such as the Internet. For example, the voice communication devices 100 and 104 can be a personal computer, a laptop computer, a wired analog or digital telephone, a wireless analog or digital telephone, intercom, and radio or video broadcast studio equipment.
FIG. 2 depicts an embodiment of a transmitting voice communication device. The device 200 includes, from left to right, a first user interface 204 for outputting signals inputted by the first user (not shown) and an outgoing voice stream 206 received from the first user, an analog-to-digital converter 208, a Pulse Code Modulation or PMC interface 212, an echo canceller 216, a Voice Activity Detector or VAD 10, a voice codec 14, a packet protocol interface 18 and an acoustic prioritizing agent 232.
The first user interface 204 is conventional and be configured in many different forms depending upon the particular implementation. For example, the user interface 204 can be configured as an analog telephone or as a PC.
The analog-to-digital converter 208 converts, by known techniques, the analog outgoing voice stream 206 received from the first user interface 204 into an outgoing digital voice stream 210.
The PCM interface 212, inter alia, forwards the outgoing digital voice stream 210 to appropriate downstream processing modules for processing.
The echo canceller 216 performs echo cancellation on the digital stream 214, which is commonly a sampled, full-duplex voice port signal. Echo cancellation is preferably G.165 compliant.
The VAD 10 monitors packet structures in the incoming digital voice stream 216 received from the echo canceller 216 for voice activity. When no voice activity is detected for a configurable period of time, the VAD 10 informs the acoustic prioritizing agent 232 of the corresponding packet structure(s) in which no voice activity was detected and provides a level of confidence that the corresponding packet structure(s) contains no meaningful voice activity. This output is typically provided on a packet structure-by-packet structure basis. These operations of the VAD are discussed below with reference to FIG. 4.
VAD 10 can also measure the idle noise characteristics of the first user interface 204 and report this information to the packet protocol interface 18 in order to relay this information to the other voice communication device for comfort noise generation (discussed below) when no voice activity is detected.
The voice codec 14 encodes the voice data in the packet structures for transmission over the data network and compares the acoustic information (each frame of which includes spectral information such as sound or audio amplitude as a function of frequency) in temporally adjacent packet structures and assigns to each packet an indicator of the difference between the acoustic information in adjacent packet structures. These operations are discussed below with reference to FIG. 5. As shown in box 22, the voice codec typically include, in memory, numerous voice codecs capable of different compression ratios. Although only codecs G.711, G,723.1, G.726, G.728, and G.78 are shown, it is to be understood that any voice codec whether known currently or developed in the future could be in memory. Voice codecs encode and/or compress the voice data in the packet structures. For example, a compression of 8:1 is achievable with the G.78 voice codec (thus the normal 64 Kbps PCM signal is transmitted in only 8 Kbps). The encoding functions of codecs are further described in Michaelis, Speech Digitization and Compression, in the International Encyclopedia of Ergonomics and Human Factors, edited by Warkowski, 2001; ITU-T Recommendation G.78 General Aspects of Digital Transmission Systems, Coding of Speech at 8 kbit/s using Conjugate-Structure Algebraic-Code-Excited Linear-Prediction, March 1996; and Mahfuz, Packet Loss Concealment for Voice Transmission Over IP Networks, September 2001, each of which is incorporated herein by this reference.
The prioritization agent 232 efficiently manages the transmission bandwidth and the receive buffer latency. The prioritization agent (a) determines for each packet structure, based on the corresponding difference in acoustic information between the selected packet structure and a temporally adjacent packet structure (received from the codec), a relative importance of the acoustic information contained in the selected packet structure to maintaining an acceptable level of voice quality and/or (b) determines for each packet structure containing acoustic information classified by the VAD 10 as being “silent” a relative importance based on the level of confidence (output by the VAD for that packet structure) that the acoustic information corresponds to no voice activity. The acoustic prioritization agent, based on the differing levels of importance, causes the communication device to process differently the packets corresponding to the packet structures. The packet processing is discussed in detail below with reference to FIG. 6.
The packet protocol interface 18 assembles into packets and sequences the outgoing encoded voice stream and configures the packet headers for the various protocols and/or layers required for transmission to the second voice communication device 300 (FIG. 3). Typically, voice packetization protocols use a sequence number field in the transmit packet stream to maintain temporal integrity of voice during playout. Under this approach, the transmitter inserts a packet counter, such as the contents of a free-running, modulo-16 packet counter, into each transmitted packet, allowing the receiver to detect lost packets and properly reproduce silence intervals during playout at the receiving communication device. In one configuration, the importance assigned by the acoustic prioritizing agent can be used to configure the fields in the header to provide higher or lower transmission priorities. This option is discussed in detail below in connection with FIG. 6.
The packetization parameters, namely the packet size and the beginning and ending points of the packet are communicated by the packet protocol interface 18 to the VAD 10 and codec 14 via the acoustic prioritization agent 232. The packet structure represents the portion of the voice stream that will be included within a corresponding packet's payload. In other words, a one-to-one correspondence exists between each packet structure and each packet. As will be appreciated, it is important that packetization parameter synchronization be maintained between these components to maintain the integrity of the output of the acoustic prioritization agent.
FIG. 3 depicts an embodiment of a receiving (or second) voice communication device 300. The device 300 includes, from right to left, the packet protocol interface 18 to remove the header information from the packet payload, the voice codec 14 for decoding and/or decompressing the received packet payloads to form an incoming digital voice stream 302, an adaptive playout unit 304 to process the received packet payloads, the echo canceller 216 for performing echo cancellation on the incoming digital voice stream 306, the PCM interface 212 for performing continuous phase resampling of the incoming digital voice stream 316 to avoid sample slips and forwarding the echo cancelled incoming voice stream 316 to a digital-to-analog converter 308 that converts the echo cancelled incoming voice stream 320 into an analog voice stream 324, and second user interface 312 for outputting to the second user the analog voice stream 324.
The adaptive playout unit 304 includes a packet loss concealment agent 328, a receive buffer 32, and a receive buffer manager 332. The adaptive playout unit 304 can further include a continuous-phase resampler (not shown) that removes timing frequency offset without causing packet slips or loss of data for voice or voiceband modem signals and a timing jitter measurement module (not shown) that allows adaptive control of FIFO delay.
The packet loss concealment agent 328 reconstructs missing packets based on the contents of temporally adjacent received packets. As will be appreciated, the packet loss concealment agent can perform packet reconstruction in a multiplicity of ways, such as replaying the last packet in place of the lost packet and generating synthetic speech using a circular history buffer to cover the missing packet. Preferred packet loss concealment algorithms preserve the spectral characteristics of the speaker's voice and maintain a smooth transition between the estimated signal and the surrounding original. In one configuration, packet loss concealment is performed by the codec.
The receive buffer 32 alleviates the effects of late packet arrival by buffering received voice packets. In most applications the receive buffer 32 is a First-In-First-Out or FIFO buffer that stores voice codewords before playout and removes timing jitter from the incoming packet sequence. As will be appreciated, the buffer 32 can dynamically increase and decrease in size as required to deal with late packets when the network is uncongested while avoiding unnecessary delays when network traffic is congested.
The buffer manager 332 efficiently manages the increase in latency (or end-to-end delay) introduced by the receive buffer 32 by dropping (low importance) enqueued packets as set forth in detail below in connection with FIGS. 7 and 8.
In addition to packet payload decryption and/or decompression, the voice codec 18 can also include a comfort noise generator (not shown) that, during periods of transmit silence when no packets are sent, generates a local noise signal that is presented to the listener. The generated noise attempts to match the true background noise. Without comfort noise, the listener can conclude that the line has gone dead.
Analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters 208 and 308, the pulse code modulation interface 212, the echo canceller 216 a and b, packet loss concealment agent 328, and receive buffer 32 are conventional.
Although FIGS. 2 and 3 depict voice communication devices in simplex configurations, it is to be understood that each of the voice communication devices 200 and 300 can act both as a transmitter and receiver in a duplexed configuration.
The operation of the VAD 10 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4.
In the first step 60, the VAD 10 gets packet structurej from the echo canceled digital voice stream 218. Packet structure counter i is initially set to one. In step 64, the VAD 10 analyzes the acoustic information in packet structurej to identify by known techniques whether or not the acoustic information qualifies as “silence” or “no silence” and determine a level of confidence that the acoustic information does not contain meaningful or valuable acoustic information. The level of confidence can be determined by known statistical techniques, such as energy level measurement, least mean square adaptive filter (Widrow and Hoff 1959), and other Stochastic Gradient Algorithms. In one configuration, the acoustic threshold(s) used to categorize frames or packets as “silence” versus “nonsilence” vary dynamically, depending upon the traffic congestion of the network. The congestion of the network can be quantified by known techniques, such as by jitter determined by the timing measurement module (not shown) in the adaptive playout unit of the sending or receiving communication device, which would be forwarded to the VAD 10. Other selected parameters include latency or end-to-end delay, number of lost or dropped packets, number of packets received out-of-order, processing delay, propagation delay, and receive buffer delay/length. When the selected parameter(s) reach or fall below selected levels, the threshold can be reset to predetermined levels.
In step 68, the VAD 10 next determines whether or not packet structurej is categorized as “silent” or “nonsilent”. When packet structurej is categorized as being “silent”, the VAD 10, in step 412, notifies the acoustic prioritization agent 232 of the packet structurej beginning and/or endpoint(s), packet length, the “silent” categorization of packet structure, and the level of confidence associated with the “silent” categorization of packet structure. When packet structurej is categorized as “nonsilent” or after step 412, the VAD 10 in step 416 sets counter j equal to j+1 and in step 420 determines whether there is a next packet structurej. If so, VAD 10 returns to and repeats step 60. If not, VAD 10 terminates operation until a new series of packet structures is received.
The operation of the codec 14 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5. In steps 500, 504 and 512, respectively, the codec 14 gets packet structure, packet structurej−1, and packet structurej+1. Packet structure counter j is, of course, initially set to one.
In steps 508 and 516, respectively, the codec 14 compares packet structurej with packet structurej−1, and packet structurej with packet structurej+1. As will be appreciated, the comparison can be done by any suitable technique, either currently or in the future known by those skilled in the art. For example, the amplitude and/or frequency waveforms (spectral information) formed by the collective frames in each packet can be mathematically compared and the difference(s) quantified by one or more selected measures or simply by a binary output such as “similar” or “dissimilar”. Acoustic comparison techniques are discussed in Michaelis, et a., A Human Factors Engineer's Introduction to Speech Synthesizers, in Directions in Human-Computer Interaction, edited by Badre, et al., 1982, which is incorporated herein by this reference. If a binary output is employed, the threshold selected for the distinction between “similar” and “dissimilar” can vary dynamically based on one or more selected measures or parameters of network congestion. Suitable measures or parameters include those set forth previously. When the measures increase or decrease to selected levels the threshold is varied in a predetermined fashion.
In step 520, the codec 14 outputs the packet structure similarities/nonsimilarities determined in steps 508 and 516 to the acoustic prioritization agent 232. Although not required, the codec 14 can further provide a level of confidence regarding the binary output. The level of confidence can be determined by any suitable statistical techniques, including those set forth previously. Next in step 524, the codec encodes packet structurej. As will be appreciated, the comparison steps 508 and 516 and encoding step 524 can be conducted in any order, including in parallel. The counter is incremented in step 528, and in step 532, the codec determines whether or not there is a next packet structurej.
The operation of the acoustic prioritization agent 232 will now be discussed with reference to with FIGS. 2 and 6.
In step 600, the acoustic prioritizing agent 232 gets packetj (which corresponds to packet structurej). In step 604, the agent 232 determines whether VAD 10 categorized packet structurej as “silence”. When the corresponding packet structurej has been categorized as “silence”, the agent 232, in step 608, processes packetj based on the level of confidence reported by the VAD 10 for packet structurej.
The processing of “silent” packets can take differing forms. In one configuration, a packet having a corresponding level of confidence less than a selected silence threshold Y is dropped. In other words, the agent requests the packet protocol interface 18 to prevent packetj from being transported across the network. A “silence” packet having a corresponding level of confidence more than the selected threshold is sent. The priority of the packet can be set at a lower level than the priorities of “nonsilence” packets. “Priority” can take many forms depending on the particular protocols and network topology in use. For example, priority can refer to a service class or type (for protocols such as Differentiated Services and Internet Integrated Services), and priority level (for protocols such as Ethernet). For example, “silent” packets can be sent via the assured forwarding class while “nonsilence” packets are sent via the expedited forwarding (code point) class. This can be done, for example, by suitably marking, in the Type of Service or Traffic Class fields, as appropriate. In yet another configuration, a value marker indicative of the importance of the packet to voice quality is placed in the header and/or payload of the packet. The value marker can be used by intermediate nodes, such as routers, and/or by the buffer manager 332 (FIG. 3) to discard packets in appropriate applications. For example, when traffic congestion is found to exist using any of the parameters set forth above, value markers having values less than a predetermined level can be dropped during transit or after reception. This configuration is discussed in detail with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8. Multiple “silence” packet thresholds can be employed for differing types of packet processing, depending on the application. As will be appreciated, the various thresholds can vary dynamically depending on the degree of network congestion as set forth previously.
When the corresponding packet structurej has been categorized as “nonsilence”, the agent 232, in step 618, determines whether the degree of similarity between the corresponding packet structurej and packet structurej−1 (as determined by the codec 14) is greater than or equal to a selected similarity threshold X. If so, the agent 232 proceeds to step 628 (discussed below). If not, the agent 232 proceeds to step 624. In step 624, the agent determines whether the degree of similarity between the corresponding packet structurej and packet structurej+1 (as determined by the codec 14) is greater than or equal to the selected similarity threshold X. If so, the agent 232 proceeds to step 628.
In step 628, the agent 232 processes packetj based on the magnitude of the degree of similarity and/or on the treatment of the temporally adjacent packetj−1. As in the case of “silent” packets, the processing of similar packets can take differing forms. In one configuration, a packet having a degree of similarity more than the selected similarity threshold X is dropped. In other words, the agent requests the packet protocol interface 18 to prevent packetj from being transported across the network. The packet loss concealment agent 328 (FIG. 3) in the second communication device 300 will reconstruct the dropped packet. In that event, the magnitude of X is determined by the packet reconstruction efficiency and accuracy of the packet loss concealment algorithm. If the preceding packetj−1 were dropped, packetj may be forwarded, as the dropping of too many consecutive packets can have a detrimental impact on the efficiency and accuracy of the packet loss concealment agent 328. In another configuration, multiple transmission priorities are used depending on the degree of similarity. For example, a packet having a degree of similarity more than the selected threshold is sent with a lower priority. The priority of the packet is set at a lower level than the priorities of dissimilar packets. As noted above, “priority” can take many forms depending on the particular protocols and network topology in use. In yet another configuration, the value marker indicative of the importance of the packet to voice quality is placed in the header and/or payload of the packet. The value marker can be used as set forth previously and below to cause the dropping of packets having value markers below one or more selected marker value thresholds. Multiple priority levels can be employed for multiple similarity thresholds, depending on the application. As will be appreciated, the various similarity and marker value thresholds can vary dynamically depending on the degree of network congestion as set forth previously.
After steps 608 and 628 and in the event in step 624 that the similarity between the corresponding packet structurej and packet structurej+1 (as determined by the codec 14) is less than the selected similarity threshold X, the agent 232 proceeds to step 612. In step 612, the counter j is incremented by one. In step 616, the agent 232 determines whether there is a next packetj. When there is a next packetj, the agent 232 proceeds to and repeats step 600. When there is no next packets, the agent 232 proceeds to step 632 and terminates operation until more packet structures are received for packetization.
The operation of the buffer manager 332 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 7-8. In step 800, the buffer manager 332 determines whether the buffer delay (or length) is greater than or equal to a buffer threshold Y. If not, the buffer manager 332 repeats step 800. If so, the buffer manager 332 in step 804 gets packetk from the receive buffer 32. Initially, of course the counter k is set to 1 to denote the packet in the first position in the receive buffer (or at the head of the buffer). Alternatively, the manager 332 can retrieve the last packet in the receive buffer (or at the tail of the buffer).
In step 808, the manager 332 determines if the packet is expendable; that is, whether the value of the value marker is less than (or greater depending on the configuration) a selected value threshold. When the value of the value marker is less than the selected value threshold, the packetk in step 812 is discarded or removed from the buffer and in step 816 the surrounding enqueued packets are time compressed around the slot previously occupied by packetk.
Time compression is demonstrated with reference to FIG. 7. The buffer 32 is shown as having various packets 700 a-e, each packet payload representing a corresponding time interval of the voice stream. If the manager determines that packet 700 b (which corresponds to the time interval t2 to t3) is expendable, the manager 332 first removes the packet 700 b from the queue 32 a and then moves packets 700 c-e ahead in the queue. To perform time compression, the packet counters for packets 700 c-e are decremented such that packet 700 c now occupies the time slot t2 to t3, packet 700 d time slot t2 to t3, and packet 700 d time slot t3 to t4. In this manner, the packet loss concealment agent 328 will be unaware that packet 700 b has been discarded and will not attempt to reconstruct the packet. In contrast, if a packet is omitted from an ordering of packets, the packet loss concealment agent 328 will recognize the omission by the break in the packet counter sequence. The agent 328 will then attempt to reconstruct the packet.
Returning again to FIG. 8, the manager 332 in step 820 increments the counter k and repeats step 800 for the next packet.
A number of variations and modifications of the invention can be used. It would be possible to provide for some features of the invention without providing others.
For example in one alternative embodiment, the prioritizing agent's priority assignment based on the type of “silence” detected can be performed by the VAD 200.
In another alternative embodiment though FIG. 2 is suitable for use with a VoIP architecture using Embedded Communication Objects interworking with a telephone system and packet network, it is to be understood that the configuration of the VAD 10, codec 14, prioritizing agent 232 and/or buffer manager 332 of the present invention can vary significantly depending upon the application and the protocols employed. For example, the prioritizing agent 232 can be included in an alternate location in the embodiment of FIG. 2, and the buffer manager in an alternate location in the embodiment of FIG. 3. The prioritizing agent and/or buffer manager can interface with different components than those shown in FIG. 2 for other types of user interfaces, such as a PC, wireless telephone, and laptop. The prioritizing agent and/or buffer manager can be included in an intermediate node between communication devices, such as in a switch, transcoding device, translating device, router, gateway, etc.
In another embodiment, the packet comparison operation of the codec is performed by another component. For example, the VAD and/or acoustic prioritization agent performs these functions.
In another embodiment, the level of confidence determination of the VAD is performed by another component. For example, the codec and/or acoustic prioritization agent performs these functions.
In yet a further embodiment, the codec and/or VAD, during packet structure processing attempt to identify acoustic events of great importance, such as plosives. When such acoustic events are identified (e.g., when the difference identified by the codec exceeds a predetermined threshold), the acoustic prioritizing agent 232 can cause the packets corresponding to the packet structures to have extremely high priorities and/or be marked with value markers indicating that the packet is not to be dropped under any circumstances. The loss of a packet containing such important acoustic events often cannot be reconstructed accurately by the packet loss concealment agent 328.
In yet a further embodiment, the analyses performed by the codec, VAD, and acoustic prioritizing agent are performed on a frame level rather than a packet level. “Silent” frames and/or acoustically similar frames are omitted from the packet payloads. The procedural mechanisms for these embodiments are similar to that for packets in FIGS. 4 and 5. In fact, the replacement of “frame” for “packet structure” and “packet” in FIGS. 4 and 5 provides a configuration of this embodiment.
In yet another embodiment, the algorithms of FIGS. 6 and 8 are state driven. In other words, the algorithms are not triggered until network congestion exceeds a predetermined amount. The trigger for the state to be entered can be based on any of the performance parameters set forth above increasing above or decreasing below predetermined thresholds.
In yet a further embodiment, the dropping of packets based on the value of the value marker is performed by an intermediate node, such as a router. This embodiment is particularly useful in a network employing any of the Multi Protocol Labeling Switching, ATM, and Integrated Services Controlled Load and Differentiate Services.
In yet a further embodiment, the positions of the codec and adaptive playout unit in FIG. 3 are reversed. Thus, the receive buffer 32 contains encoded packets rather than decoded packets.
In yet a further embodiment, the acoustic prioritization agent 232 processes packet structures before and/or after encryption.
In yet a further embodiment, a value marker is not employed and the buffer manager itself performs the packet/frame comparison to identify acoustically similar packets that can be expended in the event that buffer length/delay reaches undesired levels.
In other embodiments, the VAD 10, codec 14, acoustic prioritization agent 232, and/or buffer manager 332 are implemented as software and/or hardware, such as a logic circuit, e.g, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit or ASIC.
The present invention, in various embodiments, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/or apparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, including various embodiments, subcombinations, and subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art will understand how to make and use the present invention after understanding the present disclosure. The present invention, in various embodiments, includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items not depicted and/or described herein or in various embodiments hereof, including in the absence of such items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g., for improving performance, achieving ease and/or reducing cost of implementation.
The foregoing discussion of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. The foregoing is not intended to limit the invention to the form or forms disclosed herein. Although the description of the invention has included description of one or more embodiments and certain variations and modifications, other variations and modifications are within the scope of the invention, e.g., as may be within the skill and knowledge of those in the art, after understanding the present disclosure. It is intended to obtain rights which include alternative embodiments to the extent permitted, including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or not such alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publicly dedicate any patentable subject matter.
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|86||Wroclawski, "The use of RSVP with IETF Integrated Services", RFC 2210, Sep. 1997, 31 pages.| | <urn:uuid:645c26ec-5d52-4c78-a648-8768a0758bd6> | 2013-05-24T01:58:00Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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M/I Homes, Inc. is a builder of single-family homes. The Company is engaged in the construction and sale of single-family residential property in Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio; Indianapolis, Indiana; Chicago, Illinois; Tampa and Orlando, Florida; Houston and San Antonio, Texas; Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina, and the Virginia and Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C. The Company has two operations and segments: homebuilding and financial services. The Company�s homebuilding operations are divided into three reporting segments: the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Southern regions. Its financial services operations support its homebuilding operations by providing mortgage loans and title services to the customers of its homebuilding operations. In April 2011, the Company acquired the assets of TriStone Homes, a privately-held homebuilder based in San Antonio, Texas. | <urn:uuid:3320c4a6-1f48-49bc-9e48-e62de7d1a004> | 2013-05-24T02:01:01Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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AdCare Health Systems, Inc. (AdCare), through its subsidiaries, owns and operates retirement communities, skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities in the states of Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, and Oklahoma. The Company's facilities provide a range of health care services to patients and residents, including, but not limited to, skilled nursing and assisted living services, social services, various therapy services, and other rehabilitative and healthcare services. The Company operates in three segments: skilled nursing facilities (SNF), assisted living facilities (ALF), and corporate & other. As of December 31, 2011, AdCare owned, leased and managed 42 facilities, consisted of 33 skilled nursing facilities, eight assisted living facilities and one independent living/senior housing facility, which total approximately 3,700 units. In January 2013, the Company acquired three skilled nursing facilities. | <urn:uuid:2fd5a094-5c29-4371-b7b5-35af3d0e1256> | 2013-05-24T01:52:25Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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US 7879126 B2
An improved particulate filtration system has an inlet, for the fluid to be filtered, connected to a housing containing a filter medium such that the fluid passes through the filter medium, and an outlet for the filtered fluid to exit. The filtration system's improvement is the filter medium being comprised of a porous ceramic of fused platelet grains. In a particular embodiment, the porous ceramic is a celsian porous ceramic, where the celsian grains have a hexagonal morphology and display a continuous volume thermal expansion coefficient from 100° C. to 1000° C.
1. An improved particulate filtration system comprised of a housing having a filter medium therein and an inlet and outlet to flow the fluid to be filtered through the filter medium, wherein the filter medium is comprised of a porous ceramic comprised of fused platelet celsian grains having a continuous thermal expansion coefficient from 100° C. to 1000° C., the platelet celsian grains having a crystalline structure that is hexaganol celsian.
2. The filtration system of
3. The filtration system of
4. The filtration system of
5. The filtration system of
6. The filtration system of
7. The filtration system of
8. The filtration system of
9. A method of forming a filter comprised of fused ceramic platelet grains that are comprised of hexagonal celsian grains formed by a method comprising,
(a) mixing precursors of celsian to form an admixture,
(b) heating the admixture under an atmosphere containing silicon tetrafluoride to form an intermediate containing fluorine, wherein the silicon tetrafluoride is provided as a separate gas, and
(c) subsequently heating the fluorine containing intermediate in an atmosphere devoid of fluorine to form the hexaganol celsian ceramic, wherein the hexaganol celsian is in the form of platelet grains that have a continuous thermal expansion coefficient from 100° C. to 1000° C.
10. The filtration system of
11. A porous celsian ceramic comprised of fused hexagonal celsian ceramic grains wherein the celsian ceramic has a thermal expansion coefficient that is continuous between 100° C. to 1000° C.
12. The porous celsian ceramic of
13. The porous celsian ceramic of
14. The porous celsian ceramic of
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/832,740, filed Jul. 21, 2006.
The invention relates to particulate filters, such as diesel particulate filters.
As air quality standards become more stringent, considerable efforts have focused on minimizing the particulate matter emitted in diesel engine exhaust. A potential solution is a particulate trap inserted in the exhaust system of a diesel engine.
A honeycomb ceramic wall-flow through filter, such as described by U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,276,071; 4,329,162 and 4,857,089; and 5,098,455, has become the preferred type of particulate trap. These honeycomb filters are made by extruding a paste comprised of water, binder and ceramic powders (for example, clay, talc, mullite, silica, silicon carbide and alumina) that form, for example, cordierite upon firing. Generally, the materials of choice for Diesel particulate filters have been cordierite, silicon carbide and mullite. Each of these, however, suffers from one or more problems.
In making ceramic honeycombs, clays, water soluble binders or combinations thereof are generally used to make the paste sufficiently plastic to form extruded useable honeycombs. After the paste is extruded, the honeycomb is dried, debindered and sintered to form a honeycomb. The honeycomb is heated to sinter or fused together the ceramic particulates or grains.
Even though cordierite has excellent thermal shock resistance due to its low thermal expansion coefficient, it suffers from a low use temperature, which may be exceeded when removing soot by combustion during the operation of a Diesel engine. In addition, cordierite because it is a result of a sintering process has tortuous porosity that leads to high pressure drops and as such limits the loading that can occur.
Silicon carbide, on the other hand, has good strength and high temperature resistance, but also suffers from high pressure drops due to similar porosity as cordierite. Silicon carbide also requires for it to have the good high temperature properties to be made without clay binders and as such are difficult to make into large parts requiring smaller extruded parts to be segmented and then assembled into larger filters. Lastly, silicon carbide even though it has reasonably good thermal shock resistance when the rate of temperature change is not too great due to its good thermal conductivity, still is prone to failure under rapid temperature changes due to its higher thermal expansion coefficient.
Mullite even though it has demonstrated good high temperature resistance, low pressure drops, high soot capture efficiency, it too has a high thermal expansion coefficient, which may be problematic in certain applications.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method for making wall-flow traps, for example, that avoids one or more of the problems of the prior art, such as one of those described above.
A first invention is an improved particulate filtration system comprised of a housing having a filter medium therein and an inlet and outlet to flow the fluid to be filtered through the filter medium, wherein the filter medium is comprised of a porous ceramic comprised of fused platelet ceramic grains. The invention is particularly useful for removal of soot particles from internal combustion engine exhaust streams (e.g., Diesel).
A second aspect of the invention is a method, which is particularly useful to make a preferred filter medium comprised of fused hexagonal celsian grains for use in the first aspect of the invention, the method comprising,
(a) mixing precursors of celsian to form an admixture
(b) heating the admixture for a time during the heating under an atmosphere containing silicon tetrafluoride to form a fluorine containing intermediate
(c) heating the fluorine containing intermediate in an atmosphere substantially devoid of fluorine to form the filtration medium comprised of fused hexagonal celsian grains. Surprisingly, the celsian made by the method of the second aspect of the invention is able to produce an asymmetric grained celsian ceramic that does not display a discontinuous change in volume around 300° C. due to a low temperature phase change associated with the low temperature stable monoclinic phase of celsian changing to the higher temperature stable hexagonal phase.
A third aspect of the invention is an improved celsian ceramic comprised of fused celsian ceramic grains wherein the celsian ceramic has a thermal expansion coefficient that is continuous between 100° C. to 1000° C. Continuous means that there is not a sudden volume change due to a phase change of the celsian grains. It is believed that such continuous expansion may be due to the celsian grains having a heretofor unknown defect structure that impedes the phase change that normally occurs around 300° C.
With regard to the first aspect of the invention, the filtration system may have any suitable inlet, housing, and outlet such as those known in the art such as described for filtration of Diesel exhaust described in U.S. Pat. Appl. 2004/0116276; 2004/0001782 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,828,807; 4,902,487 and GB Pat. No. 1,014,498.
The filter medium of the filtration system is comprised of a porous ceramic of fused platelet grains. The ceramic grains of the porous ceramic are fused with each other to form the filter medium. “Fused” means that the grains are bonded together by ceramic bonds for example by sintering. For example, the grain boundary between grains is comprised of a ceramic such as a glass.
The filter medium is porous (i.e., a porous ceramic). Because of the unique structure of the platelet ceramic grains, the porous filter medium may have a strength suitable for catalytic diesel soot filtration, while having a porosity of at least about 40 percent by volume. Preferably, the porosity is at least about 50 percent, more preferably at least about 60 percent and most preferably at least about 65 percent, to, generally, at most about 85 percent by volume of the filter medium.
It is also preferred for the porosity to be substantially all open porosity. Open porosity is porosity that is accessible to a liquid or gas (i.e., can be penetrated by a liquid or gas). In other words, the open porosity is not closed or entrapped. Preferably, this open porosity is continually interconnected throughout the support, which generally occurs when the platelet grains are randomly oriented. “Substantially all,” in this context, means that the catalyst support contains at most about 5 percent closed porosity out of the total amount of porosity of the catalyst support. Preferably, the amount of closed porosity is at most about a trace amount. Preferably, most of the closed porosity is comprised of pores within individual grains (i.e., not pores defined by the surfaces of more than one grain). The open and closed porosity may be measured by a suitable technique, such as those known in the art.
For applications involving thermal cycling such as Diesel exhaust filtration, the porous ceramic desirably has a low volume thermal expansion coefficient of at most 8 ppm/° C. at the temperature used such as from 0-1000° C. (ppm=parts per million). Preferably the maximum volume thermal expansion coefficient is at most 6 ppm/° C., more preferably at most 4 ppm/° C. and most preferably at most 3 ppm/° C.
Likewise, the volume thermal coefficient of expansion is preferably continuous at the use temperatures of the application. Illustratively, a Diesel particulate filter desirably has a continuous volume thermal expansion coefficient from 100° C.-1000° C. To reiterate, continuous means that the expansion coefficient does not undergo a step change (discontinuity) for example due to a change in crystal structure.
Platelet grain means a grain that has a maximum (e.g., length) dimension, a dimension (e.g., width) orthogonal to the maximum dimension that is within at least 0.7 times the size of the maximum dimension and a minimal (e.g., thickness) dimension that is at most 0.2 times the maximum dimension. Illustratively, a hexagonal platelet (symmetric hexagonal face with a thin thickness) grain has a maximum (length) dimension from point to point of the hexagonal face of D, a width dimension orthogonal to the length dimension on the face (width) that is 0.866 D and a thickness (dimension orthogonal to length and width that is at most about 0.2 times the maximum dimension (length). Preferably, the thickness is at most about 0.15 times the length and most preferably at most about 0.1 times the length. The face (area lying in the plane of the length and width) of the platelet grain may have any shape irregular or regular, symmetric or asymmetric so long as it is a platelet grain as described above. Preferably, the face shape is hexagonal in nature.
The platelet ceramic grain's length dimension is generally, at least about 1 micrometer to at most about 2 millimeters. Preferably, the length is at least about 10 micrometers, more preferably at least about 20 micrometers and most preferably at least about 100 micrometers, to preferably at most about 1.5 millimeters, more preferably at most about 1 mm, and most preferably at most about 500 micrometers.
The ceramic grains may be of any useful ceramic composition. Generally, the ceramic grains are oxides. Preferably, the ceramic is an aluminosilicate. A particularly preferred aluminosilicate is celsian, which is a barium containing aluminosilicate having the general formula BaO.Al2O3.2SiO2. It is understood that the porous ceramic may be composed of ceramic grains that have differing chemical composition and crystalline phases. For example, the porous ceramic may have celsian grains and other grains such as aluminates. Most preferably, the ceramic grains are substantially celsian grains. Substantially means that at least about 50% by volume of the ceramic grains are of a celsian composition. Preferably the amount of celsian grains in the filter medium is at least about 75%, more preferably at least about 90% and most preferably at least about 95% by volume. In a most preferred embodiment, essentially all of the grains are celsian grains. The type of grains may be determined by any suitable technique or techniques, such as electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction and energy dispersive spectroscopy.
The filter medium may have a catalyst to mitigate gaseous pollutants or aid in the combustion of captured particulates to regenerate the filter medium such as is typical in a Diesel exhaust. The catalyst may be any useful for a particular application, for example, such as those known in the art for internal combustion exhaust catalysis. Examples of catalysis that may be useful are described in the following paragraphs.
A first exemplary catalyst is directly a bound-metal catalyst, such as noble metals, base metals and combinations thereof. Examples of noble metal catalysts include platinum, rhodium, palladium, ruthenium, rhenium, silver and alloys thereof. Examples of base metal catalysts include copper, chromium, iron, cobalt, nickel, zinc, manganese, vanadium, titanium, scandium and combinations thereof. The metal catalyst, preferably, is in the form of a metal, but may be present as an inorganic compound, such as an oxide, nitride and carbide, or as a defect structure within the ceramic grains of the porous catalyst support. The metal may be applied by any suitable technique, such as those known in the art. For example, the metal catalyst may be applied by chemical vapor deposition.
A second exemplary catalyst is one that is incorporated into the lattice structure of the ceramic grains of the aforementioned catalyst honeycomb. For example, an element may be Ce, Zr, La, Mg, Ca, a metal element described in the previous paragraph or combinations thereof. These elements may be incorporated in any suitable manner, such as those known in the art.
A third exemplary catalyst is a combination of ceramic particles having metal deposited thereon. These are typically referred to as wash-coats. Generally, wash-coats consist of micrometer-sized ceramic particles, such as zeolite, aluminosilicate, silica, ceria, zirconia, barium oxide, barium carbonate and alumina particles that have metal deposited thereon. The metal may be any previously described for directly deposited metal. A particularly preferred wash-coat catalyst coating is one comprised of alumina particles having a noble metal thereon. It is understood that the wash-coat may be comprised of more than one metal oxide, such as alumina, having oxides of at least one of zirconium, barium, lanthanum, magnesium and cerium.
A fourth exemplary catalyst is a perovskite-type catalyst comprising a metal oxide composition, such as those described by Golden in U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,354.
A fifth exemplary catalyst is one that is formed by and deposited on the catalyst support by calcining at a temperature of from 300° C. to 3000° C., a composition that comprises (a) an aqueous salt solution containing at least one metal salt and (b) an amphiphilic ethylene oxide containing copolymer, wherein the copolymer has an average molecular weight of greater than 400, an ethylene oxide content of 5 to 90 percent and an HLB of between −15 and 15, as described by Gruenbauer, et al., PCT Patent Application No. WO99/18809. In addition, the catalyst may also be one as described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,483 and PCT Patent Application No. WO99/03627.
To reiterate, a preferred embodiment of the invention is when the porous ceramic is celsian wherein the celsian ceramic has a volume thermal expansion coefficient that is continuous between 100° C. to 1000° C. Such a celsian has been discovered to be possible by making celsian by a method comprising,
(a) mixing precursors of celsian to form an admixture,
(b) heating, to form an intermediate containing fluorine, the admixture for a time during the heating under an atmosphere containing silicon tetrafluoride, and
(c) subsequently heating the fluorine containing intermediate in an atmosphere substantially devoid of fluorine to form the hexagonal celsian ceramic.
The precursor may be any combination of metals or metal compounds in the proper proportion to make celsian such as oxides, carbonates, acetates, fluorides, and silcates. Preferably, the precursors are metal oxides, carbonates or combinations thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the precursors are barium carbonate, silica and alumina.
The mixing may be any suitable method to form the admixture, such as those known in the art.
The admixture may be, if desired, shaped into a porous shape by any suitable method, using for example, known methods and additives to do so. Examples include injection molding, extrusion, isostatic pressing, slip casting, roll compaction and tape casting. Each of these is described in more detail in Introduction to the Principles of Ceramic Processing, J. Reed, Chapters 20 and 21, Wiley Interscience, 1988.
The admixture may be heated to a temperature for a time sufficient to convert the precursor compounds in the admixture to the fluorine containing intermediate (intermediate heating) and then cooled and subsequently heated (final heating) to form the hexagonal celsian ceramic. Preferably, the intermediate heating is followed by the final heating without cooling in the same furnace. The process of heating may also be cycled between the intermediate and final heating. Typically, the intermediate phases are alumina, celsian and variety of Ba—Al—F phases which on subsequent heating typically transform into more celsian, BaAl2O4 and BaAl12O19 and residual alumina. There may also be, depending on starting composition and process conditions, monoclinic celsian present in an amount of up to 10% by volume, but the presence of monoclinic celsian is not preferred.
Generally, the intermediate heating is to a temperature from 500° C. to 1100° C. Preferably the intermediate heating temperature is at least 550° C., more preferably at least 650° C. and most preferably at least 725° C. to preferably at most 1100° C., more preferably at most 1000° C. and most preferably at most 950° C. The time at temperature may be any amount of time sufficient to form the intermediate. Generally, the time at temperature is from 2 minutes to 4 days. In increasing preference, the time at temperature is at least 5, 10, 20, 30, 45 minutes and 60 minutes. In increasing preference, the time at temperature is at most about 2 days, 1 day, 12 hours, 6 hours, 4, hours and 3 hours.
The gas pressure during the intermediate heating may be any suitable, but, generally, for practical reasons is less than 10 atmospheres of pressure, preferably less than 2 atmosphere to generally at least about 50 Torr, preferably at least about 100 Torr, more preferably at least about 200 Torr and most preferably at least about 400 Torr.
The silicon tetrafluoride may be provided during the intermediate heating by flowing a gas into the furnace or may occur from the decomposition of precursor compounds containing fluorine such as AlF3 that subsequently react with Si containing precursor compounds (e.g., SiO2) in a similar manner as described by U.S. Pat. No. 4,910,172. Preferably, the silicon tetrafluoride is provided as a separate gas. The silicon tetrafluoride may be provided solely or in combination with other gases that do not affect the formation of the intermediate. Suitable other gases include noble gases, oxygen and nitrogen. It is preferred that the silicon tetrafluoride is provided as a flowing gas as opposed to a static overpressure of gas.
During the intermediate heating, the atmosphere may be inert to start (for example, nitrogen) or a vacuum until at least 500° C., which is when the fluorine containing gas is preferably introduced. During heating to the intermediate temperature, organic compounds and water, which may have been used to shape the admixture, may be removed. These may also be removed in a separate heating step common in the art described in Introduction to the Principles of Ceramic Processing, J. Reed, Wiley Interscience, 1988.
The final heating temperature may be any temperature suitable depending, for example, on variables such as the precursors used and intermediate heating conditions. Generally, the final heating temperature is at least 1000° C. to at most 1700° C. Preferably the final temperature is at least 1050° C., more preferably at least 1075° C. and most preferably at least 1100° C. to preferably at most 1600° C., more preferably at most 1550° C., and most preferably at most 1500° C.
The atmosphere is devoid of fluorine to the extent necessary so that fluorine is removed to form the celsian ceramic during the final heating. In other words, devoid of fluorine does not mean that there is absolutely no fluorine present, because there will naturally be some present as the fluorine containing intermediate forms the celsian ceramic, but that the atmosphere that is provided does not intentionally contain fluorine. Without constraining to an absolute amount, generally the amount of fluorine in the provided gas is at most about 1000 ppm. In ascending preference the amount of fluorine in the gas is at most about 500 ppm, 250 ppm, 100 ppm, 50 ppm, 25 ppm, 10 ppm and most preferably an undetectable amount of fluorine (i.e., zero for all practical purposes). The atmosphere may be a vacuum, dry or humid air, nitrogen or an inert gas such as a noble gas. Preferably, the atmosphere is ambient or humid air. The atmosphere is also preferably a flowing gas or one that is cycled from vacuum and then backfilled with gas.
The time at the final heating temperature may be any as described for the intermediate heating.
The celsian porous ceramic in addition to be useful for the filter medium of the filtration system of the present invention, may also be used in other applications where porous ceramics are used such as substrates for infiltrating metals or plastic to make composites, liquid filtration, insulation, and the like.
Sixty parts by weight of kappa alumina 6-15 micron powder (Selecto Scientific, Georgia) was mixed with 40 parts by weight of barium carbonate 99.8%, 1 micron powder (Alpha Aesar, Ward Hill, Mass.), pressed into pellets and heated under 600/500 torr SiF4 pressure in a quartz reactor for about 4 hours. The (intermediate) phases present after the heating under SiF4 were celsian, alumina and Ba—Al—F phases. Next, the samples were heat-treated in air at 1400° C. for two hours. The resulting composition consisted of 65.8% hexagonal celsian, 3.4% Al2O3, 4.9% BaAl2O4 and 25.9% BaAl12O19 by weight. No monoclinic celsian was detected. The microstructure was almost entirely plate-like which suggest that both main phases—celsian and barium aluminate were in the form of platelets. These platelets were typically 30-50 microns in diameter and 1-5 microns in thickness. The final hexagonal celsian ceramic was comprised of fused platelet grains as shown in
Kappa Al2O3, barium carbonate, silica 99.5%, 2 micron powder, (Alpha Aeser) were mixed together to form a mixture. In the mixture, the ratio of Al/Si was 3:1. The amount of barium carbonate was 30% by weight of the total mixture. The mixture was pressed into pellets and reacted under 500/600 torr SiF4 pressure for about 4 hours and then heat-treated in air at 1400° C. for 2 hours. The fused platelet ceramic (63% porosity) had about 70% hexagonal celsian and 30% unreacted alpha alumina by weight. The body displayed a thermal expansion that lacked a discontinuity at 300° C. The coefficient of thermal expansion was 4.2 (at 200° C.), 4.5 (at 500° C.) and 5.5 (at 1000° C.)×10−6 ppm/° C.
Kappa Al2O3, barium carbonate and silica were mixed together to form a mixture. In the mixture, the ratio of Al/Si was 3:1. The amount of barium carbonate was 40% by weight of the total mixture. The mix was processed as described in Example 2. After completion, the porosity was about 60-62%, strength was about 17 MPa (4-point bend test ASTM C1421-99) and modulus was about 23 GPa (ASTM C1259-94). The body consisted of 27% Al2O3, 69% hexagonal celsian and 3% of BaAl12O19 by weight.
Thermal cycling was conducted to determine this Example's resistance to thermal shock. Four-point bend bars of this Example's composition were subjected to 10 heating and cooling cycles from 200° C. to 500° C. and back again at a heating and cooling rate of 10° C. per minute. Breaking these bars after 10 cycles showed no statistically significant strength reduction or change in modulus compared to bars not subject to the heating and cooling cycles.
The following Claims, even though they may not explicitly depend from one another, any combination of the embodiments of any one claim combined with any one or more claims is contemplated by the invention.
Citas de patentes | <urn:uuid:b5fd0282-f1b6-4163-afb1-ad44d836137f> | 2013-05-24T01:40:15Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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I hope this is a joke. Do you know anything about a separated shoulder injury? Do a little research. He was still healing from his week 1 injury. Munch said he wasn't close to 100% against the Chargers. I find his game against the Lions that much more amazing. | <urn:uuid:7de77835-101e-4d21-ab25-ef4057fe7cc3> | 2013-05-24T01:31:03Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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- GRAMMY Live
GRAMMY Winner Jerry Leiber Dies
GRAMMY-winning songwriter/producer and Recording Academy Trustees Award recipient Jerry Leiber died today of cardiopulmonary failure. He was 78. Considered one of the most important songwriters in the history of rock and roll, Leiber, together with Mike Stoller, crafted hits such as the Coasters' "Yakety Yak" and "Young Blood," Ben E. King's "Stand By Me," and Elvis Presley's "Hound Dog" and "Jailhouse Rock," among many others. In 1995 the duo's catalog of hits was turned into a Broadway musical with "Smokey Joe's Cafe — The Songs Of Leiber & Stoller," which that same year garnered Leiber a GRAMMY Award for Best Musical Show Album. "With a career that spanned musicals to R&B and rock and roll, Leiber's lyrical talent along with Stoller's composing skill helped shape the music of the '50s and '60s," said Recording Academy President/CEO Neil Portnow. "Together, they were an extraordinary team that generated a rich and diverse musical catalog that leaves an indelible imprint on our cultural history." (8/22)
Bronfman, Cooper Switch Roles At WMG
Edgar Bronfman Jr. is stepping down from his role as CEO of Warner Music Group and will move into the position of chairman, replacing Stephen Cooper, who will assume CEO responsibilities, according to Billboard.biz. As a new result, Lyor Cohen, chairman and CEO of WMG's recorded music division, and Cameron Strang, chairman and CEO of Warner/Chappell Music, will report directly to Cooper. In related news, Thomas H. Lee, chairman and CEO of Thomas H. Lee Capital Management LLC, has been elected as a new director to the WMG board. (8/22)
RIM To Launch BlackBerry Music Service?
Research in Motion is in discussions with record labels to launch a BlackBerry music service, according to multiple sources reported by Billboard.biz. The music service would run on the smart phone's instant messaging service, BlackBerry Messenger, and would offer subscribers approximately 50 songs at a time, which they could access on their phones and share with other subscribers through the messaging service. According to the report, Research in Motion is in at least late-stage negotiations with all four major labels, and may have already signed on at least one of them. (8/22) | <urn:uuid:2cb57502-2d8f-4211-b3fa-4259a12d3650> | 2013-05-24T02:01:56Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Dr. Sefidpour attended San Jose State University from 1978 through 1985, where he received a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Mechanical Engineering. He then attended the University of California-San Francisco School of Dentistry, where he was awarded the degree of Doctor of Dental Surgery. After receiving his DDS, Dr. Sefidpour completed a two-year residency at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry in San Francisco, where he received a certificate and a Master of Science degree in Orthodontics.
Dr. Sefidpour is a member of the American Association of Orthodontists, the American Dental Association and the Sacramento Dental Society. He also serves as an adjunct professor of orthodontics at the University of the Pacific School of Dentistry. | <urn:uuid:53bec3ce-78c8-4f28-b331-3948e7c7e793> | 2013-05-24T01:50:38Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Our 5 favorite fifth grade writing worksheets
These handy worksheets will help your fifth grader perfect her prose.
By GreatSchools Staff
W.A. Spooner invented this type of mixed-up phrase, now called a "spoonerism." In this writing worksheet, your child gets practice decoding and editing spoonerisms and then writing the phrases correctly.
Skills your fifth grader will work on: letter sounds (phonemes), fluency, building vocabulary, recognizing common phrases, editing, and writing practice. | <urn:uuid:adc3fd4b-cc34-468c-9933-26b382ecb5aa> | 2013-05-24T01:37:38Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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The big mover in the first two years is wind. Small amounts of photovoltaic solar, geothermal and biomass are also added, helping to back-up the new wind power.
The combination of wind's massive growth, assisted by other technologies and immediate efficiency gains allows the first polluting coal plants to be retired. The capacity of other coal plants, including Hazelwood and Munmorah, is halved.
Several new technologies pick up pace, including concentrating solar power (CSP).
Australia's dirtiest power station, Hazelwood, closes in early 2013 after 42 years' operation. In NSW, wind and CSP combine to replace coal plants at Liddell and Munmorah. Other plants close down or reduce output in Queensland and WA.
Renewables are now making major headway in Australia's power sector. Ocean energy makes its first appearance supplying electricity to Victoria, while geothermal and solar continue to expand faster.
South Australia becomes the first state to phase out coal-fired electricity, as geothermal and wind power combine to replace Northern power station.
Ocean energy expands in Victoria, and begins supplying significant power needs for Tasmania, WA and SA.
Large-scale solar projects in SA and north-western Victoria help build the region's energy hub that geothermal power initiated.
Continued closures and phase-outs of coal plants, including Eraring in NSW.
The widespread deployment of CSP is the main source of around-the-clock electricity that replaces the remaining 10 coal plants.
By the end of 2020, Australia has replaced all of its coal-fired power stations with renewable energy. | <urn:uuid:c3d8fd8a-232c-40fa-bab2-a4f93d39822c> | 2013-05-24T01:57:51Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Does this test have other names?
What is this test?
This test measures the level of iron in your blood.
Iron is an essential trace element in your blood. It helps your body make healthy red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen throughout your bloodstream.
Having too little or too much iron can lead to health problems. Too little iron in your body can cause a condition called anemia. When this happens, your blood doesn't have enough iron to make the number of red blood cells needed to provide the amount of oxygen your body needs.
Iron-deficiency anemia is most often caused by blood loss, such as after an injury or surgery, or because of heavy menstrual bleeding.
Too much iron can be caused by hemochromatosis. This is a genetic condition that causes your blood to absorb too much iron.
Why do I need this test?
You may need this test if your doctor suspects that you have too much or too little iron in your blood. Common symptoms of anemia include:
Less common symptoms of anemia are brittle nails, restless leg syndrome, and a sore tongue.
Signs and symptoms of too much iron include liver problems, weakness, fatigue, darkening of the skin, and joint pain.
What other tests might I have along with this test?
Your doctor may also order a total iron binding capacity test to measure the level of transferrin in your blood. Transferrin is a protein that carries iron from your digestive system to the cells in your body that need it.
Your doctor may also measure your level of ferritin, another protein that helps store iron in your body. He or she may also order a complete blood count, or CBC, to get the full picture of the parts of your blood.
What do my test results mean?
Many things may affect your lab test results. These include the method each lab uses to do the test. Even if your test results are different from the normal value, you may not have a problem. To learn what the results mean for you, talk with your health care provider.
Results are given in micrograms per deciliter (mcg/dL). Normal ranges of iron in the blood are 60 to 170 mcg/dL.
If your results are lower, it means you may have iron-deficiency anemia. Your doctor will confirm this with other tests.
If your results are higher, it means you may have hemochromatosis.
Too much iron in the blood can also be from taking too many iron supplements or iron-enriched multivitamins.
How is this test done?
The test requires a blood sample, which is drawn through a needle from a vein in your arm.
Does this test pose any risks?
Taking a blood sample with a needle carries risks that include bleeding, infection, bruising, or feeling dizzy. When the needle pricks your arm, you may feel a slight stinging sensation or pain. Afterward, the site may be slightly sore.
What might affect my test results?
Other factors aren't likely to affect your results.
How do I get ready for this test?
You don't need to prepare for this test. | <urn:uuid:e4b08c01-cd2e-4fb8-b5ed-2ede4e730ad8> | 2013-05-24T01:40:33Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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He was named one of Variety's 10 most promising screenwriters in 2006, but since then it has all gone rather quiet on the film front for Nick Cave. This could change after a report by The Wrap that the Australian musician is penning a forthcoming remake of The Crow, the cult comic-book adaptation from 1994.
The new version is being directed by Blade's Stephen Norrington, who appears to be back on the Hollywood rollercoaster after declaring a few years ago that he would never direct again. That statement was said to be a result of his experience working on the poorly received The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen with a difficult Sean Connery.
Norrington wrote the screenplay for the remake of The Crow, but Cave is apparently revising it. The new version is said to be closer in spirit to James O'Barr's comic books than the original film, which is famous for the death of its star Brandon Lee following an on-set accident. "Whereas Alex Proyas's original was gloriously gothic and stylised, the new movie will be realistic, hard-edged and mysterious, almost documentary-style," Norrington said two years ago.
Although Cave has only had one screenplay turned into a film – 2005's The Proposition – he has worked on several others over the past few years. At the request of Russell Crowe, he wrote a script for a proposed sequel to Gladiator, which was rejected by the studio, and has also completed the script for a new film, The Death of a Ladies Man. Named after the Leonard Cohen song, the movie is about a philandering salesman who takes his young son on the road after his wife commits suicide.
Finally, Cave has reportedly written the screenplay to The Promised Land, an adaptation of Matt Bondurant's bootlegging novel The Wettest County in the World, which is set to be directed by The Proposition's John Hillcoat. | <urn:uuid:70930308-9e60-410e-bf36-f707354b3bf3> | 2013-05-24T01:31:49Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Despite the fact that the giant shadow of his father, the legendary movie mogul Darryl F Zanuck, loomed large over him for most of his life, Richard Zanuck, who has died of a heart attack aged 77, triumphantly overcame inferences of nepotism and wisecracks such as "the son also rises", to become one of the most successful Hollywood producers in the last 50 years. His reputation was due initially to Jaws (1975), among the highest grossing movies up to that time, and he was a key figure in launching the career of its director, Steven Spielberg. Zanuck was Oscar-nominated for Jaws and won the Academy Award for best picture with Driving Miss Daisy (1989).
Born in Los Angeles, Zanuck seemed destined to enter show business. He was the third child and only son of the co-founder and head of 20th Century Fox, and the silent-film star Virginia Fox, best known for co-starring with Buster Keaton in several shorts.
While Zanuck was studying at Stanford University, his father got him a job in the story department at Fox. In 1956, he was appointed vice-president, in charge of the US operations, of Darryl F Zanuck Productions, his father's newly formed independent production company. The following year, he assisted his father on two costly, starry, shot-on-location vehicles, The Sun Also Rises and Island in the Sun.
Then, in 1959, the elder Zanuck allowed the younger off the leash to produce Compulsion, a modest, black-and-white picture, directed by Richard Fleischer. Based on the notorious 1924 murder case of the thrill-killers Leopold and Loeb, this stylish and tense courtroom drama, with a flamboyant extended cameo by Orson Welles, proved that Zanuck could bring a film in within budget and on time, as well as gaining it critical and public approval. Unfortunately, his second production, Sanctuary (1961), adapted from two potboiler novels by William Faulkner, was a turgid southern melodrama to which Zanuck unaccountably assigned Englishman Tony Richardson as director.
In 1962, when Darryl was having troubles with Fox on Cleopatra and The Longest Day, he offered The Chapman Report to Warner Bros with his son as sole producer and George Cukor as director. However, Warners insisted that Darryl co-produce the movie, which turned out to be a rather silly and sleazy examination of the psychosexual problems of four women in Los Angeles. Nevertheless, it made money.
Richard was appointed vice-president in charge of production and later president of Fox. Huge hits including The Sound of Music (1965) were made under his watch, but he also greenlighted expensive flops such as Doctor Dolittle (1967) and Star! (1968). In 1970, he was sacked by his father, who was still an executive and main shareholder at Fox. "It was hard to see my father go through that," he remarked. "I recovered from being fired, I don't think he ever did." In fact, it enabled Zanuck to finally become a producer in his own right.
In 1972, Zanuck linked up with David Brown to form Zanuck/Brown Productions, which released films through Universal Pictures. It was Zanuck and Brown who decided to give the 26-year-old Spielberg the chance to direct his first feature only on the evidence of his TV movies. The Sugarland Express (1974), a pleasing combination of character-driven true-life tale and screwball chase, was a modest success.
Even before its release, The Sugarland Express convinced Zanuck and Brown that Spielberg could be entrusted with Jaws. They had first come across Peter Benchley's novel after Brown's wife, Helen Gurley Brown, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine, came across a note from the magazine's books editor that it "might make a good movie". Zanuck and Brown read the book in a single night and immediately agreed that it was the most exciting thing they had ever read and that they wanted to produce a movie version. The rights were then bought for $175,000 (£112,350), and the film was given an estimated budget of $3.5m. (It rose to $9m.) The editor Verna Fields, who was awarded one of the film's three Oscars, was advised by Zanuck to rework some of the material in post-production. According to Zanuck: "She actually came in and reconstructed some scenes that Steven had constructed for comedy and made them terrifying, and some scenes he shot to be terrifying and made them comedy scenes."
Jaws was a hard act to follow, but Zanuck and Brown had hits with MacArthur (1977), a biopic of the rebel second world war general, played by Gregory Peck; The Verdict (1982), Sidney Lumet's intelligent study of an alcoholic lawyer (Paul Newman); and the blockbuster Cocoon (1985), which was co-produced by Zanuck's third wife, Lili Fini, whom he married in 1978.
Together, Zanuck and his wife produced Driving Miss Daisy, which won four Academy Awards, including best picture, a prize which tradition demands is always handed to the producer, who may or may not have contributed to the quality of the film. In this case, Zanuck had been instrumental in the selection of Bruce Beresford as director, although the Oscars host Billy Crystal referred to Driving Miss Daisy as the movie that "directed itself" – alluding to Beresford's absence from the list of nominated directors. In a sense, the film did direct itself because all the right ingredients were there from the start. This tender picture, dealing with friendship and race relations, played by Jessica Tandy and Morgan Freeman with charm, humour and authority, transcended the rather old-fashioned concept of a mistress and a dignified black servant respectable enough to know his place.
Zanuck later co-produced six of Tim Burton's films, from Planet of the Apes (2001) to Dark Shadows (2012).
With his first wife, Lili Gentle, Zanuck had two daughters, Virginia and Janet. He had two sons, Harrison and Dean, with his second wife, Linda Harrison. Both of those marriages ended in divorce. He is survived by Lili Fini and his children.
• Richard Darryl Zanuck, film producer, born 13 December 1934; died 13 July 2012 | <urn:uuid:eab49c98-ad55-49f5-8bce-99fa696ca540> | 2013-05-24T01:46:31Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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The Optimum series is designed to be more free-blowing and responsive with accurate articulation and total control at all dynamic ranges and precise intonation. Incredibly versatile.
Vandoren mouthpieces are known for their high, uniform quality--among the best of the mass produced. The Vandoren line is extensive. It covers all woodwinds and offers designs suited to a variety of playing and musical styles. | <urn:uuid:a28647ae-5673-4530-8d25-9a236b66935a> | 2013-05-24T01:50:46Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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http://www.frets.com/.) I'll use a violin makers knife to score some lines into the wood. This will allow me to lift some of the wood fibers up and better integrate our filler material.
Cleaning out the fret slots by using a Dremel tool as a router.
After plenty of prep work,including cutting the tang so the fret can hang over the binding,we're ready to put some frets in. | <urn:uuid:a9543714-e689-4186-bcbf-6cbc7e7f8833> | 2013-05-24T01:30:43Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Little and Big Eskimos
A big eskimo and a little eskimo go to a convent and they knock on the door
and a nun answers, and the big eskimo nudges the little one in the side and says "Ask her the question!"
So the little eskimo says, "Are there any midget nuns here?"
The nun answered "noo...no I dont think so why?"
The big eskimo nudges him again and says "Ask her the other question!"
So the little eskimo goes, "Are there an midget nuns in Alaska at all?"
And the nun thinks for a minute then looks at him and says, "No I dont think so...no."
The big eskimo falls on the ground laughing hysterically and the little one looks at him and the big eskimo goes "I TOLD YOU YOU FUCKED A PENGUIN!!!" | <urn:uuid:2e41e275-f1ca-42fa-b3fe-021df6ed766b> | 2013-05-24T01:59:17Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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FBI: U.S. couple kidnapped Israeli to force him to grant his wife Jewish divorce
David and Judy Wax allegedly kidnapped the man after he visited their home in October 2010; unclear what connection is between the couple and the man's wife, who wanted the divorce.
A New Jersey couple surrendered themselves to the FBI on Monday, and were subsequently charged with abducting an Israeli man last year.
The FBI says the couple abducted the man, beat him and threatened to bury him alive if he didn't grant his wife a religious divorce.
Federal authorities say the victim had refused to give his wife a ‘get,’ or a divorce sanctioned by the Rabbinical Court, preventing her from remarrying. The man also fought for custody of the children, and moved from Israel to New York.
In October 2010, the Israeli man was invited to visit the couple in their home, allegedly for business reasons. Authorities say David and Judy Wax kidnapped him, robbed him and forced him to say he would grant the divorce.
David Wax is also accused of threatening to have the victim's father killed if he didn't pay the wife $100,000.
It is unclear what the connection is between David and Judy Wax, and the Israeli man’s wife, who remained in Israel.
Defense attorney Steven Secare says Judy Wax will plead not guilty Monday in federal court. It isn't clear if David Wax has an attorney. | <urn:uuid:19a9cc6b-cece-4af3-9870-d22aec65c181> | 2013-05-24T01:34:54Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Niagara Falls Events Schedule
Niagara Falls Illumination Schedule
Each night, 365 days a year Niagara Falls are bathed in a rainbow of colours. During summer months the Falls are lit up from 9pm to midnight. Start time varies throughout the year, but begin at nightfall.
Fireworks over the Falls
Witness as spectacular firework displays light up the night sky over Niagara Falls! Enjoy the show every Friday, and Sunday from May 15 to October 9 at 10pm!
Special Holiday displays:
- May 18, 25
- July 1, 4
- August 3
New this summer, experience the excitement three times a week! Fridays, Sundays and Wednesdays in July and August at 10pm!
- July 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, 12, 15, 17, 19, 22, 24, 26, 29, 31
- August 2, 5, 7, 9, 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23, 28, 30
All Firework display times and dates are subject to change and dependent on weather and wind conditions.
Niagara Falls Facts
- The word "Niagara" was derived from the Iroquois Indian word "Onguiaahra" meaning "the strait"
- Niagara Falls is 12, 000 years old
- Niagara Falls are the second largest falls in the world next to Victoria Falls in South Africa. What makes Niagara Falls spectacular is the combination of volume and height.
- 2800 cubic meters of water flows over the edge of the Falls per second during the summer peak, and falls at a speed of 65 km/hr.
- The sound of the Falls has been described as thunder, and is caused by air bubbles breaking as they are slammed up and out of the water.
- The plunge pool beneath the falls is 35m(100 feet) deep.
- It is estimated that Niagara Falls erodes at the rate of 1foot per year.
- The Niagara generating stations supply one quarter of all power used in New York State and Ontario.
- All the water flows from 4 Great Lakes (Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie) north through the Niagara River into Lake Ontario and through the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic Ocean.
- As one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Niagara Falls attracts more than 12 million visitors a year.
Effective June 1, 2009 all citizens of Canada, United States and Mexico will require a passport or approved document including an enhanced driver's licence or enhanced Identification Card to travel through North America by land or air. Children 15 years of age and under must present a valid passport for air travel however are only required to present proof of citizenship when entering the country by land or water.
This change in the required documents is the result of the 9/11 commission recommendations under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI).
For more information, please visit www.travel.state.gov, http://www.getyouhome.gov/ or cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/media/release-communique/2007/0212toronto-eng.html.
The Government of Canada has announced the intention of eliminating the Goods and Service Tax Rebate, and announced the introduction of the Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive program.
As of March 31, 2007 visitors to Canada who purchase goods and export them, will no longer be entitled to a rebate of the GST paid.
The Foreign Convention and Tour Incentive program offers rebate to certain property and services used in the course of holding a foreign convention in Canada.
For more information on the Visitor Rebate Program or Foreign Convention/Tour, visit www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tax/nonresidents/visitors/menu-e.html.
You can also phone:
- From within Canada, call toll-free at 1 800 668-4748
- From outside Canada, call (902) 432-5608 (long distance charges will apply).
While the hotels will accept both Canadian and American currency, the best method of payment when using US dollars is by credit card as the exchange is handled by the credit card company and based on the exchange rate of the day.
Please be aware that exchange rates may vary within the Tourist district when paying by cash with American currency.
The Legal age for gambling and drinking in Ontario is 19 years old. | <urn:uuid:e570b681-b6b1-4660-9e9d-3d8fdef2980b> | 2013-05-24T01:57:29Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Haskell Quiz/Credit Cards/Solution Dolio
This solution does nothing particularly special. The constraints on each type of card are expressed as guards in some MonadPlus, which allows the results of those functions to be summed to get a result. The Luhn algorithm is fairly straight forward list processing.
The program expects command line arguments consisting only of the credit card number. The arguments are concatenated into a single string, so one can use as many or as few spaces to break it up as they wish.
import Control.Monad import Data.Char import Data.List import Data.Maybe import System.Environment luhn :: [Int] -> Bool luhn = (==0) . (`mod` 10) . sum . foldr split . zipWith ($) (cycle [id, (*2)]) . reverse split n l | n > 9 = split d (m:l) | otherwise = n:l where (d, m) = divMod n 10 amex l@(x:y:_) = do guard $ length l == 15 guard $ x == 3 guard $ y `elem` [4, 7] return "AMEX" discover l = do guard $ length l == 16 guard $ [6,0,1,1] `isPrefixOf` l return "Discover" visa l@(x:_) = do guard $ length l `elem` [13, 16] guard $ x == 4 return "Visa" mastercard l@(x:y:_) = do guard $ length l == 16 guard $ x == 5 guard $ y `elem` [1..5] return "Mastercard" unknown l = return "Unknown" cardType l = fromJust . msum . map ($ l) $ [amex, discover, visa, mastercard, unknown] main = putStrLn . unwords . (\l -> [if luhn l then "Valid" else "Invalid", cardType l, "card"]) . map (digitToInt) . concat =<< getArgs | <urn:uuid:302949ae-1211-409f-acee-5c083cc5d552> | 2013-05-24T01:38:07Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Ирвинг против Липштадт
Holocaust Denial on Trial, Trial Judgment: Electronic Edition, by Charles GrayTable of Contents
6.60 Whilst it would not be right to say that there is no issue between the parties in relation to the existence of a policy of deporting Jews eastwards, the differences in the parties' respective case appear to me to be comparatively unimportant. The topic can therefore be taken quite shortly.
6.61 According to Longerich, the Nazi policy towards the Jews evolved over the years. In the 1920s and 30s various legal and economic sanctions were applied to Jews in Germany with a view to compelling them to emigrate. Longerich draws attention to various statements made by Hilter at this time which foreshadow a more radical solution to the Jewish question. Towards the end of the 1930s pressure for the emigration and even expulsion of the Jews intensified. The term Endlosung (final solution) came into use, carrying with it the implication that all Jews would be removed from Nazi Germany.
6.62 Hitler's attitude at this time is reflected in an entry in Goebbels's diary for 24 August 1938:
"We discuss the Jewish question. The Fuhrer approves my procedures in Berlin. What the foreign press writes is insignificant. The main thing is that the Jews be pushed out. In 10 years they must be removed from Germany. But in the interim we still want to keep the Jews here as pawns".
6.63 From the outbreak of war in September 1939 the policy towards the European Jews in those countries invaded by the Nazis was to find for them a "territorial solution", that is, to find an area at the periphery of the Nazi empire to which the Jews might be deported and where they might very well perish. At this stage, Longerich agrees, the policy was not a homicidal one, although he adds the rider that there already existed what he called the "perspective" of mass murder. His argument is that this is discernible from the comments made at the time which suggest that it was recognised that it was unlikely that the Jews would survive for long after their deportastion. They would perish through disease or starvation.
6.64 It is the Defendants' case, largely although not entirely accepted by Irving, that the hard-line policy towards the Jews manifested itself when the Nazis invaded and conquered Poland in September 1939. There were two aspects: the first was the establishment of a reservation in Poland between the Vistula and the Bug into which all Jews under Nazi domination would be deported. The second was a programme to execute selected Jews in Poland as a means among others of rendering the country leaderless and destroying it a nation. According to Longerich, the first aspect commenced with the deportation from about the autumn of 1941 of Jews from the Central Europe into the ghettoes in Eastern Europe. The intention was to deport them further east later, probably in the spring of 1942, when they would perish.
6.65 On 18 September Himmler wrote to the Gauleiter in Warthegau, Greiser, informing him:Himmler forewarned Greiser of the arrival of Jewish transports from the Reich. Hitler appears therefore to have initiated the programme of deportation some time before mid-September 1941.
"The Fuhrer wishes that the Old Reich and the Protectorate be emptied and freed of Jews from west to east as quickly as possible. I am therefore striving to transport the Jews of the Altreich and the Protektorat in the Eastern territories that became part of the Reich two years ago. It is desirable that this be accomplished by the end of this year, as a first and initial step in deporting them even further to the East next spring.
I intend to remove a full 60,000 Jews of the Altreich and the Protektorat to the Litzmannstadt ghetto for the winter. This has, I have heard, the space to accommodate them".
6.66 The deportations, which were initially to ghettoes in Lodz, Rikga and Misk, began in early to mid-October 1941. Although six trainloads of Jews were summarily executed on their arrival at Kovno and in Riga, Longerich agreed that the policy at this time in relation to European Jews was to deport them and not to kill them or at least not to kill them on the spot. The Defendants say that vast numbers of Jews were deported from the Altreich, the Protektorat, Austria, France, Slovakia, Croatia and Romania to the East. Many of these European Jews may have been led to believe that they were going to a new life in the East. That explains why they travelled with food and in some cases with the tools of their trade (although Longerich points out that the food was provided by the Jewish Commission and not by the Nazis). Irving put it to Browning (and Browning accepted) that the extant records relating to deportations, consisting mainly of transport documents, are incomplete. In consequence, suggested Irving, the estimates of the numbers deported vary enormously. Irving maintains that the scale of the intended deportation was nowhere near as comprehensive as the Defendants maintain. In France for example estimates of the number of deportees range from 25,000 to 200,000. (Browning asserted that the consensus now is 75,000 French Jews were deported).
6.67 Irving recognised the emergence of a policy of wholesale deportation of European Jews. He accepted that Hitler was an advocate of this policy. Indeed Irving's case is that the deportation of the Jews continued to be Hitler's preferred solution to the Jewish question until 1942. The so-called "Magagascar plan", whereby the Jews were to be deported from the Reich to the island off the east coast of Africa, was not abandoned until then. Thereafter it is Irving's case that Hitler wanted the entire Jewish question put off until after the end of the war (see section V(ix) above under the heading "The Schlegelberger note"). Whether or not Irving is right about that, he firmly rejected the contention for the Defendants that the evidence shows that there was to the knowledge of Hitler a genocidal implication underlying the policy of deportation. | <urn:uuid:95527f3a-49de-4b29-b0f3-57c29636ce37> | 2013-05-24T01:59:47Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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That's actually a pretty wicked idea. I hope we do see these fun characters included in the MOTUC line. Adding legs and such is a great way to update them into even better characters, IMO.
Also, this is the first I've eever seen of Terror Tread, and I have to say: He's pretty cool. I'll take a Classicversion of him as well, thank you very much! | <urn:uuid:f7520fe9-5ade-410e-a469-dfb881eb8d92> | 2013-05-24T01:32:04Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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English qualifier Olivier Pett continued his giant-killing run in the Santiago Open in Spain when he upset second seed Stephen Coppinger to reach the semi-finals of the PSA World Tour International 25 event at Shopping Center Area Central in Santiago de Compostela.
It was 24 hours earlier - on his 23rd birthday - that Pett made his breakthrough by beating higher-ranked fellow countryman Adrian Waller to secure a surprise place in the quarter-finals
But the world No87 from Sussex secured one of the biggest scalps of his career when he recovered from a game down to beat South African number one Coppinger, ranked more than 50 places higher, 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 18-16.
Pett (pictured in Santiago action against Coppinger) now faces local hero Borja Golan, the top-ranked Spaniard from Santiago de Compostela who downed club-mate Carlos Cornes Ribadas, the event's wildcard, 11-5, 11-4, 11-1.
There will also be English interest in the other semi-final where top seed Adrian Grant takes on Frenchman Gregoire Marche. Londoner Grant, the defending champion looking to make the final for the third year in a row, twice had to fight back from behind to see off New Zealander Campbell Grayson 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9.
Unseeded Marche maintained his impressive Santiago run by following his first round upset over fourth seed Chris Simpson with a 10-12, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 victory over higher-ranked Czech number one Jan Koukal.
Adrian Grant (ENG) bt Campbell Grayson (NZL) 9-11, 11-7, 8-11, 11-6, 11-9 (77m)
Gregoire Marche (FRA) bt Jan Koukal (CZE) 10-12, 11-3, 11-8, 11-7 (49m)
Borja Golan (ESP) bt Carlos Cornes Ribadas (ESP) 11-5, 11-4, 11-1 (24m)
[Q] Olivier Pett (ENG) bt Stephen Coppinger (RSA) 8-11, 11-4, 11-5, 18-16 (57m)
Adrian Grant (ENG) v Gregoire Marche (FRA)
[Q] Olivier Pett (ENG) v Borja Golan (ESP) | <urn:uuid:f497933a-793b-4635-a7c2-2472c881d4ec> | 2013-05-24T01:45:30Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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I'm not sure about Killer Clowns - sounds like the story was influenced by Stephen King's novel: IT, and Pennywise the killer demonic clown.
There was also the infamous story of the popular clown paintings of the 1970's, which showed a clown's face with a single tear drop staring out from the frame. It turned out that the artist was in fact a serial killer whose paintings were in fact, the manifestation of a fantasy/self perception in his own mind.
Clowns' are scary, as far as I'm concerned.
I've heard of an UE, who became trapped in the mud at the bottom of a derelict barge he was exploring and photographing in New York. Through a rusted hole to the outside and visibly rising tide, children's party balloons appeared on the surface of the water, and anyone who is familiar with the novel: IT, will no doubt understand the humerous connection and slight feeling of trepidation he had.
He managed to finally escape, but lost his mobile phone, and it serves as a reminder of how dangerous UE can be. | <urn:uuid:7d1a9128-454b-4a1b-8c9a-4ffd5b81f05f> | 2013-05-24T01:38:31Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Ramesh Sippy, the man behind cult film "Sholay", has been named for the Padma Shri award on the eve of 64th Republic Day.
Son of veteran film producer GP Sippy, the 66-year-old made his directorial debut with 1971 romantic-drama "Andaz", after working as assistant director for seven years. The film starring Shammi Kapoor and Hema Malini as the lead and Rajesh Khanna in the guest role, went on to become a super hit.
However, it was his 1975 film "Sholay" that catapulted him into the big league. The Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra starrer not only was a blockbuster, the golden jubliee film ran for more than five years in a theatre in Mumbai.
Sippy's body of work as a director also includes "Saagar", "Shakti", "Shaan" and "Seeta Aur Geeta".
He also directed super hit television series, "Buniyaad", that showed the ups and downs of an Indian family in pre and post partition India.
His son Rohan Sippy is quite active in films as a director and made films like "Bluffmaster". | <urn:uuid:05781063-2905-4c1b-84d6-f71e16b62e82> | 2013-05-24T01:52:25Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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The union agriculture minister said at a function in Pune on Sunday night, "It is true that we had raised certain issues regarding the post of Prime Minister. However, it is the greatness of Sonia Gandhi that she did not accept the post. She will go down in history for turning down the prime ministerial post. We have accepted her greatness.''
Pawar's praise is being read in political circles as a clear indication that his party will align with the Congress in the coming Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Maharashtra.
"The candid admission by Pawar indicates that he will not antagonise or destabilise the coalition and is keen on continuing this alliance in 2014,'' said political analyst Surendra Jondhale.
The statement is also a signal to his nephew and deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and other senior NCP leaders that going solo in Maharashtra is not an option.
Sharad Pawar who had in 1999 rebelled against the Congress and floated his own party, NCP, on the grounds of Gandhi's foreign origin, decided to align with the Congress in Maharashtra and at the Centre after assembly polls in the state the same year. | <urn:uuid:168b81a2-bc45-4327-84ff-50898c701a90> | 2013-05-24T01:31:44Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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On this day in 1944, French General Jacques Leclerc enters the free French capital triumphantly. Pockets of German intransigence remained, but Paris was free from German control.
Two days earlier, a French armored division had begun advancing on the capital. Members of the Resistance, now called the French Forces of the Interior, proceeded to free all French civilian prisoners in Paris. The Germans were still counterattacking, setting fire to the Grand Palais, which had been taken over by the Resistance, and killing small groups of Resistance fighters as they encountered them in the city. On August 24, another French armored division entered Paris from the south, receiving an effusion of gratitude from French civilians who poured into the streets to greet their heroes—but still, the Germans continued to fire on French fighters from behind barricades, often catching civilians in the crossfire.
But on August 25, after Gen. Dwight Eisenhower was assured by Gen. Charles de Gaulle, leader of the French Resistant forces, that Allied troops could now virtually sweep into Paris unopposed, Ike ordered Gen. Jacques Philippe Leclerc (a pseudonym he assumed to protect his family while under German occupation; his given name was Philippe-Marie, Vicomte De Hauteclocque) to enter the capital with his 2nd Armored Division. The remnants of German snipers were rendered impotent, and many German soldiers were led off as captives. In fact, the animus toward the Germans was so great that even those who had surrendered were attacked, some even machine-gunned, as they were being led off to captivity.
More than 500 Resistance fighters died in the struggle for Paris, as well as 127 civilians. Once the city was free from German rule, French collaborators were often killed upon capture, without trial. | <urn:uuid:dfbf4599-75cc-44aa-9820-6a8a333e2c3d> | 2013-05-24T01:57:53Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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The Lions did just that...
The ugliest game of football I've ever seen in my life. ****ing terrible. Tarvaris Jackson looked so overmatched today, it was painful to watch.
The defense looked good - but the ****ing offense was beyond pathetic.
And, then, to fumble the QB-center exchange in OT!?? | <urn:uuid:b627fa74-8490-4213-8006-a76e1920680f> | 2013-05-24T01:39:56Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Paramedics moved Brittany from the bathroom to the master bedroom, where they found a slew of prescription drugs -- "A check of the nightstands revealed large amounts of prescription medication in the decedent's name. Also noted were numerous empty prescription medication bottles in the decedent's husband's name, the decedent's mother's name and unidentified third party names."
According to the notes, the medications included Topamax (anti-seizure meds also to prevent migraines), Methylprednisolone (anti-inflammatory), Fluoxetine (depression med), Klonopin (anxiety med), Carbamazepine (treats Diabetic symptoms and is also a bipolar med), Ativan (anxiety med), Vicoprofen (pain reliever), Propranolol (hypertension, used to prevent heart attacks), Biaxin (antibiotic), Hydrocodone (pain med) and miscellaneous vitamins.
The notes say, "No alcohol containers, paraphernalia or illegal drugs were discovered."
According to the notes, "The night prior to her death, the decedent had consumed some noodles, leftover Thai food, Gatorade, water and tea with lemon."
Brittany Murphy was very ill in the hours before she went into cardiac arrest and died, sources tell TMZ.
We're told Murphy was taking prescription meds for flu-like symptoms she had been experiencing for several days. We're told Murphy began vomiting early Sunday morning and told family members she was feeling very ill.
Sources say various prescriptions were found in the home -- written for Brittany Murphy, husband Simon Monjack, and Brittany's mom. One source says, "There were a lot ... a lot of prescriptions in the house."
Law enforcement sources tell us Murphy collapsed in the bathroom and somehow ended up in the shower ... there was, we're told, a significant amount of vomit in the immediate area.
We're also told authorities did not find illegal drugs in the house, but Murphy was definitely taking various prescription meds.
Sources say her condition and the meds could have triggered a heart attack, but it's too early to know. An autopsy will be performed Monday or Tuesday. We reported earlier Monjack did not want an autopsy but ultimately it's the Coroner's call.
As we first reported, Brittany Murphy's mother told paramedics her daughter suffered from diabetes. We're told it was type 2 diabetes and people involved in the case doubt her condition caused her death. (TMZ)
Her mother apparently found Brittany unconscious in the shower and dialed 911................... Why doesn't her husband want an autopsy performed????
One of Brittany's last red carpet appearances at the Across the Hall premiere in Los Angeles, California on December 1, 2009.
Apega / Wenn
Through Brittany's rep, the family released this statement: "The sudden loss of our beloved Brittany is a terrible tragedy. She was our daughter, our wife, our love and a shining star. We ask you to respect our privacy at this time."
Murphy's dad Angelo Bertolotti is struggling to come to terms with his sudden loss.
He tells UsMagazine.com, "There is nothing I can say. I can't believe this is happening. She was a young 32. She wasn't supposed to die like this.
"I don't understand how she died. This doesn't make sense to me."
But Bertolotti, who had reportedly served time in prison for his ties to the mafia, confesses he had not seen the star since 2006, blaming her marriage to husband Simon Monjack for pushing them apart.
He adds, "Ever since she married that Simon, I lost contact with her. But I always kept track of her to make sure she was OK in case she needed me. She married him and everything changed. After that, we weren't so close."
Brittany Murphy died early this morning after she went into full cardiac arrest and could not be revived, multiple sources tell TMZ.
She was 32.
A 911 call was made at 8:00 AM from a home in Los Angeles that is listed as belonging to her husband, Simon Monjack, the Los Angeles City Fire Department tells TMZ.
We're told Murphy was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Murphy starred in such films as "Clueless," "8 Mile," and "Don't Say a Word."
Story developing ...
OMG. Please don't be true. This is so horrible!
The 'Sin City' actress, who is married to British writer-director Simon Monjack, has her sights set on starting a family in the near future.
Simon said: "Please God, next year we are having a family!"
Brittany added: "Yes! Yes! In about a year we plan to have children."
Simon also hit back at past rumors Brittany, 30, only married him to stop him being deported from the US.
Simon - who co-wrote 'Factory Girl' starring Sienna Miller - told People magazine: "All these ridiculous people came out and said all this nonsense when we got married, but thank God we had the substance and the history within that to say, 'Yeah, whatever!'
"We still don't understand what happened. It's made us laugh, it's made us cry, but it's made us stronger."
The couple tied the knot at their Los Angeles home in front of close family and friends last year.
(More Pics of Brit with her Man)
On the set of her latest movie, Brittany Murphy has become a total bitch to work with.
Her behavior on the LA set of "Across the Hall" has gotten increasingly bizarre, according to spies.
Murphy has made outrageous demands while acting "like a diva," said one insider.
"She's extremely difficult. When she goes to the set, it comes to a grinding halt. She's so hot and cold, you never know.
According to our sources, Murphy insists on having diagonally cut peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with the crusts removed.
"She needs one every half hour. It's painstaking- her assistant takes about a half an hour making each one," said one crew member.
Even her husband Simon Monjack is giving the set problems. He intervenes so much that producers had to call a meeting to discuss what to do with the annoying hubby.
Brittany Murphy and husband Simon Monjack leaving the afterparty for the Max Azria show at the Bowery Hotel in NYC.
Has she turned old lady overnight? Her faces are so funny.
Brittany Murphy backstage at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2008 - W Lounge (02/04/08). | <urn:uuid:0d2a6e32-61a6-4f64-980a-f429924a8ce1> | 2013-05-24T01:57:35Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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BBC Crisis: Rupert Murdoch Pushes for Government Role in Reforms
The U.K. government wants to take a hands-off approach though as a list of candidates for the top job seems to focus on former contenders and interim boss Tim Davie is set to outline his plans.
LONDON - News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch doesn't typically embrace government intervention, but late Sunday, he suggested that the U.K. government could use the crisis and leadership vacuum at the BBC to reorganize the public broadcaster.
In a couple of tweets, he argued that Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron should reform the BBC and its organization.
"BBC mess gives Cameron golden opportunity [to] properly reorganize great public broadcaster," the media mogul tweeted. "Fast inquiry to include both critics and supporters."
He added in another tweet: "BBC mess gives Cameron great opportunity to reshape and improve."
But a BBC news report and a Guardian report late Sunday suggested that the Prime Minister didn't feel that the BBC faces an existential crisis that it could not address itself after Saturday night's surprise resignation of director general George Entwistle after only 54 days in charge.
Entwistle resigned amid a deepening crisis of confidence in the public broadcaster. BBC flagship TV news show Newsnight had accused a British politician of child abuse and had to retract the report. Entwistle, who as the BBC director general was not only the top business executive, but also served as its editor-in-chief, resigned. His move came after weeks of criticism amid the sexual abuse scandal surrounding late former BBC host Jimmy Savile and the revelation that Newsnight late last year had dropped a planned report about the allegations against him.
Cameron acknowledged that the current situation was "very difficult, very serious" for the BBC, but he felt the broadcaster could reform itself and address shortcomings in editorial processes, according to the BBC report.
The BBC and Guardian reports added that Cameron trusted BBC Trust chairman Chris Patten to make the necessary changes and pick a new leader soon. Cameron felt that pushing for Patten's resignation, like an editorial in Murdoch's Times of London did on Sunday, would only further destabilize the BBC, it added.
Ed Miliband, leader of the opposition Labour Party, tweeted Sunday that the BBC needed to introduce reforms and pick a "strong" director general "to restore trust in one of our great national assets." But he also didn't immediately call for any form of political intervention.
Acting director general Tim Davie has held discussions during the day with the BBC Trust, the broadcaster's governing body, the BBC also reported Sunday. Davie is expected to outline his plans for addressing the most pressing issues and restoring public confidence in the BBC on Monday, it added. It wasn't immediately clear when those plans would be made public.
The Guardian, meanwhile, said that Patten and the BBC Trust held a late Sunday emergency meeting, suggesting that Patten may indeed focus his search for a new BBC leader on the short list of candidates who had lost out to Entwistle this summer as some observers had suggested.
That list included Caroline Thomson, the BBC's former COO, and Ed Richards, CEO of U.K. media regulator Ofcom who industry watchers have mentioned as among the likely top candidates. The paper said that Patten was expecting to speak again to the two and "one or two other" candidates.
Patten had earlier on Sunday said he was hoping to name a new director general within weeks rather than months.
- MOST SHARED
- MOST POPULAR | <urn:uuid:05c04ded-98fe-4ae4-b356-66b552477186> | 2013-05-24T01:30:22Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Captain and floor general of the "Whiz Kids" of Illinois during their glory years, Andy Phillip was considered one of the era's best playmakers. A fierce competitor, Philip played his best in the big games. Ranking among the nation's top collegiate players, Philip led Illinois to Big Ten Championships in 1942 and 1943, as well as an undefeated season in 1943. Known for his quick hands and adept passing ability, Phillip played eleven pro seasons. In 1952, he became the first player in NBA history to register more than 500 assists in a single season. In 1957, the steady playmaker helped lead the Boston Celtics to their first championship. | <urn:uuid:a233e2a2-44bd-40b5-95d3-91c26ce8c1ff> | 2013-05-24T01:52:09Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Situated in Panama City, LAS CLEMENTINAS is in the historical district and close to Panama Cathedral, Panama Old Cathedral, and Palacio de las Garzas. Also nearby are Independence Square and Museum of History Panama.
This Panama City aparthotel offers a restaurant, a coffee shop/café, and a bar/lounge. A complimentary breakfast is served each morning. Complimentary wireless Internet access is available in public areas and an Internet point is located on site. Additional amenities include a concierge desk, a terrace, and a garden. Guest parking is complimentary. The property has designated areas for smoking.
Amenities in air-conditioned guestrooms at LAS CLEMENTINAS include minibars and safes. Guests can use the in-room complimentary wireless high-speed Internet access. Rooms are equipped with plasma televisions with premium satellite channels and TV Internet access (surcharge). All accommodations provide desks and phones. Bathrooms offer hair dryers and complimentary toiletries. All units at this 3.5-star aparthotel have kitchenettes with microwaves and refrigerators. Additional amenities include irons/ironing boards and windows that open. In addition, a turndown service is offered nightly, housekeeping is available daily, and amenities available on request include wake-up calls. | <urn:uuid:c34f92c7-0700-4748-8b6f-ca9a5d97bd2f> | 2013-05-24T01:44:22Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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We are interested in remodeling our kitchen, which would involve not only new cabinetry, but the addition of a wall where the counter is currently open towards the living room. The ceiling is 8', and the wall would be roughly 8' long. I am considering using 25 ga. metal studs, (obviously 16" o/c) with 1/2" drywall.
The lower track would screw into the subfloor, which is two sandwiched layers of 1/2" plywood. The 16" o/c subfloor joists run parallel to the proposed wall, which means there's no guarantee I'll be able to screw into a floor joist.
The upper track would screw into the drywall ceiling. Once again, the attic joists (24" o/c) run parallel to the proposed wall, so once again, no guarantee I'll be able to screw into an attic joist.
Here are my questions concerning this arrangement:
- What's the best way to build a wall parallel to the attic and subfloor joists? The ceiling is textured, so I'd rather not have to cut that open.
- Snaptoggle bolts (http://www.toggler.com/products/snaptoggle/overview.php
) are quite strong. Would it be a no-no to attach the upper track to the ceiling drywall with a lot of 1/2" Snaptoggles?
- Will general-purpose deck screws be sufficient to attach the lower track to the plywood subfloor if there are no joists underneath?
- Finally, the kitchen cabinetry. The existing cabinetry is supported only from the attic joists, so I would most likely screw the new cabinetry into the attic joists as well. Once again, would it be a no-no to attach kitchen cabinets (or an range hood/microwave) to the metal-studded wall with 1/2" Snaptoggles instead of the wood screws specified in the instructions?
According to the spec sheet (http://www.toggler.com/pdf/toggle.pdf
), on 1/2" drywall with a 25 ga. stud, a 1/2" Snaptoggle pulls out at 468 lbs., which means I would want to calculate 117 lbs. each using the safety factor of 4. | <urn:uuid:d2221f64-bffb-408d-a571-36a8985168ca> | 2013-05-24T02:06:51Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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January 7, 1939
Mr. Ed Sullivan
621 North Alta Drive
Beverly Hills, California
Vivian Leigh is by no means cast as Scarlett. There are three other
possibilities. But should we decide on Miss Leigh for the role, I
think the following answers your question:
1. Scarlett O'Hara's parents were French and Irish. Identically,
Miss Leigh's parents are French and Irish.
2. A large part of the South prides itself on its English ancestry,
and an English girl might presumably, therefore, be as acceptable
in the role as a Northern girl.
3. Experts insist that the real Southern accent, as opposed to the
Hollywood conception of a Southern accent, is basically English.
There is a much closer relationship between the English accent
and the Southern accent than there is between the Southern accent
and the Northern accent, as students will tell you, and as we have
found through experience.
4. I think it would be ungrateful on the part of Americans,
particularly Americans in the film and theatrical worlds, to feel
bad about such a selection in view of the English public's warm
reception of American actor's portayals of the most important and
best-loved characters in English history and fiction, ranging all
the way from Wallace Beery in "Treasure Island", to Fredric March
as Browning in "The Barretts", to Gary Cooper in "Bengal Lancer".
5. And, finally, let me call your attention to the most successful
performances in the American theatre in many, many years -- those,
respectively, of the American Helen Hayes as "Queen Victoria" and
the British Raymond Massey as "Abraham Lincoln".
I feel that these are the days when we should all do everything within our
power to help cement British-American relationships and mutual sympathies,
rather than to indulge in thoughtless, half baked and silly criticisms.
As I have said, Miss Leigh is not set for the role, but if she gets it | <urn:uuid:06c753fd-43ef-4934-8820-0e90841cbc38> | 2013-05-24T02:05:31Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' Video Featuring Beyonce Is Beyond, NSFW
Lady Gaga's 'Telephone' with Beyonce is out and it is wilder than their last collaboration.
The nine-minute video starts with Gaga being escorted into a prison cell and stripped of her clothing by two female guards.
"I told you she didn't have a dick." says one of them.
"Too bad," the other replies, and Gaga leaps against the bars of her cell, exposing a blurred out view of her genitals. (She already proved she is not a hermaphrodite with her skimpy Grammys costume.)
Gaga goes on to don sunglasses made of smoldering cigarettes, nothing but yellow security tape and an array of bodysuits and lingerie. As usual there is murder, masturbation, product placement, Tarantino referencing and lots of impractical headwear. | <urn:uuid:861887c6-f805-49ab-8cfe-d52254e6e36a> | 2013-05-24T01:46:24Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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James Franco is embracing his love of pop music.
First, the actor shared a clip of him singing along to his "Spring Breakers" co-star Selena Gomez's hit song, "Love You Like a Love Song," and now he's showing off his lip-synching skills with a Rihanna tune.
The 33-year-old actor looks as if he's having a blast as he mouths the words to "You Da One," while dancing and running his hands through his frizzy hair. The actor had been sporting cornrows for his role as a rapping drug dealer named Alien (inspired by rapper Riff Raff,) and it looks as if he just freed his hair of the tiny braids.
Franco uploaded the spirited video to his WhoSay account on Monday and dubbed himself the "worst lip syncher ever." Franco might want to take a lesson or two from Gomez, who has mastered the art of playfully lip-synching in a viral video.
James Franco and Selena Gomez wore beachwear throughout the filming of "Spring Breakers," and here are more stars hitting the beach: | <urn:uuid:d3f09c87-216e-4b43-a582-7a9db8a63444> | 2013-05-24T02:07:54Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Before I wrote my book, "The Irritable Male Syndrome," I thought I might call it "The Jekyll and Hyde Syndrome," since men often seem to change rapidly from "Mr. Nice" to "Mr. Mean."
In "The Irritable Male Syndrome: Understanding and Managing the 4 Key Causes of Aggression and Depression," I describe a number of key symptoms of IMS, including hypersensitivity. The women who live with these men say things like the following:
I feel like I have to walk on eggshells when I'm around him.
I never know when I'm going to say something that will set him off.
He's like a time bomb ready to explode but I never know when.
Nothing I do pleases him.
The men don't often recognize their own hypersensitivity; their perception is that they are fine but everyone else is going out of their way to irritate them. The guys say things like:
Quit bothering me.
Leave me alone.
No, nothing's wrong. I'm fine.
Or they don't say anything. They increasingly withdraw into a numbing silence.
One concept I have found helpful is the notion that many of us are "emotionally sunburned," but our partners don't know it. We might think of a man who is extremely sunburned and gets a loving hug from his wife. He cries out in anger and pain. He assumes she knows he's sunburned so if she "grabs" him she must be trying to hurt him. She has no idea he is sunburned and can't understand why he reacts angrily to her loving touch. You can see how this can lead a couple down a road of escalating confusion.
Why Do Men Suddenly Become Hypersensitive And Irritable? Could It Be We Don't Feel Attached?
Here's a letter I received recently:
"Last month a man came home from work with my husband's face but he did not act at all like the man I married. I've known this man for 30 years, married 22 of them and have never met this guy before. Angry, nasty and cruel are just a few words to describe him. He used to be the most upbeat, happy person I knew. Now he's gone from Mr. Nice to Mr. Mean. In spite of how he treats me I still love my husband and want to save our marriage. Please, can you help me?"
Both the man and the woman are baffled. What's going on here? The answer may lie in ways in which we feel a loss of connection with our partner. We all struggle with vulnerable feelings in love whether we want to admit it or not. It's inevitable that we will hurt each other with careless words or selfish actions. While these occasions sting, the pain is often fleeting and we get over it quickly.
But according to Dr. Sue Johnson, founder of "Emotionally Focused Therapy," "countless studies on infant and adult attachment suggest that our close encounters with loved ones are where most of us attain and learn to hold on to our emotional balance." We are all sensitive to being rejected or abandoned by a loved one. And almost all of us have at least one hypersensitivity -- a raw spot in our emotional skin -- that is tender to the touch, easily rubbed and deeply painful. When this spot gets rubbed often enough, it can bleed all over our relationship.
When our need for attachment and connection is repeatedly neglected, ignored or dismissed, it results in two potential raw spots: feeling emotionally deprived or deserted/abandoned. It may not be obvious to us, but when a man becomes irritable and angry or hostile and blaming or withdrawn and cold hearted, it is often because he feels a disconnection from his partner. He feels rejected or not cared for. Of course, his hostile reaction often drives his partner farther away, which makes him even more fearful of loss. It's easy to get caught up in the blame game. He blames her and she blames him. But it doesn't have to be that way.
Both males and females are sensitive to emotional deprivation and abandonment. When women feel disconnected they often express it with sadness and hurt. When men feel disconnected they often express it as hypersensitivity and irritability. We often feel ashamed of our attachment needs, associating them with being children. But research shows that we need to feel attached to our mates just as much as we needed to feel attached to our mothers and fathers.
Follow Jed Diamond on Twitter: www.twitter.com/MenAliveNow | <urn:uuid:31782c55-7e79-4847-910f-ae9b32f6a26f> | 2013-05-24T01:51:48Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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In writing this post I bear some responsibility for keeping the "are women funny" conversation alive for another news cycle. I apologize. But I'm not writing this to argue against Carolla's opinion, rather to say once and for all, who cares? I know funny women. Funny women are friends of mine. Carolla is no funny woman. He's not even Jimmy Kimmel. | <urn:uuid:6aa76c29-80a3-49d6-a724-6ee0105369c8> | 2013-05-24T01:57:50Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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|Soper school district settles federal lawsuit relating to female athletes|
|Thursday, 06 August 2009 19:43|
SOPER - Following a federal court case alleging that Soper Schools
violated Title IX laws requiring that girls athletic programs be
funded equitably with boys' programs, Soper Independent School
District has agreed to pay attorney fees in the amount of $13,000 and
make changes to bring the schools' athletic programs into conformity
with federal Title IX regulations.
Plaintiffs in the case included several parents of female students,
including Danny and Terresa Gallant, Kenneth Phillips, Cheryl Trent,
Issac Frazier and Kolette Frazier.
The settlement agreement was ratified on June 8, 2009, after four
parents brought suit in federal court in Muskogee. In the agreement,
Soper Schools agree to:
* Comply with the general mandates of Title IX, its regulations
and its interpretive guidance.
* ... to equitably support boys and girls sports, and that the
district understands that girls and boys in school sponsored sports
are entitled to be treated equitably regardless of the source of
revenues utilized to support girls and boys athletics.
* The school district will provide male and female students
access to the district's weight room on a gender-neutral basis.
Individual coaches will be responsible for determining the level of
strength and conditioning training appropriate for athletes under
* The school district shall provide equipment and supplies to
female teams and programs that are of like quality to equipment and
supplies provided to the district's male athletes, teams and
programs. Additionally, the district shall provide uniforms on a
gender neutral basis. The district does not provide shoes to
athletes, but if it ever makes shoes available, it shall do so
without regard to gender.
* Plaintiffs agree to promptly notify an appropriate school
official if they believe school facilities are not being made
available to children on a gender-neutral basis.
* Female athletes are to be treated in the same manner as male
athletes with respect to travel privileges and travel support, and
both shall be treated in a comparable manner as to travel
arrangements, lodging and meals.
* Soper shall provide comparable athletic facilities for male
and female athletes. Facilities shall be available to student
athletes on a gender-neutral basis. Soper shall ensure that girls'
and boys' teams have equivalent dressing and locker room facilities.
The girls and boys basketball teams shall alternate use of the areas
located under the bleachers in the gym for dressing rooms. Girls
shall have use of the dressing area on the west side of the Soper gym
beginning with the 2009-2010 school year; boys shall have use of the
same area the following year, and shall alternate between boys and
girls for as long as the areas located under the bleachers remains in
use as dressing areas.
* Soper shall designate the west softball field as its girls'
field. In addition, it shall construct a metal press box for this
softball field that in all respects, with the exception of the
building materials, be equal to the press box located on the baseball
field. The press box shall be completed no later than Aug. 15, 2010.
Dugouts located on the west softball field shall be one-half cinder
block and one-half chain link, and completed by Aug. 1, 2010.
Approximately 20 bags of Turface, or a comparable material, shall be
applied to the west softball field.
* The school district shall provide for equivalent school
promotion and publication of female sports and male sports programs,
including pep assemblies or other team recognition.
* Plaintiff's attorneys shall be paid within 30 days following
the execution of this settlement agreement, $13,000. No other
amounts, whether costs, fees, or expenses, shall be payable to
Plaintiffs or their counsel in connection with this lawsuit.
The document is signed by Federal Judge, Frank A. Seay.
Signing for the Soper Board of Education were Shawn Scott, Russell
Moffatt, Athletic Director Monte Sill and Superintent Olen Jestis.
One of the parents bringing the lawsuit told the Hugo Daily News the
court action came as a result of the Soper district not demonstrating
fairness and equality to the district's female athletes.
"We had to have fund raisers to gather enough money to purchase team
items," Teresa Gallant said. "We we asked for funds from the district
so the girls could have the same uniforms as the boys, we were
Efforts to reach a spokesperson for Soper Schools were unsuccessful. | <urn:uuid:93b04546-ca10-4bfb-804e-eedede432f73> | 2013-05-24T01:54:03Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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|Area Pilot makes emergency landing on Plano, Texas golf course|
|Monday, 02 February 2009 00:00|
PLANO - A 24 year-old Arthur City man made a forced landing on a Plano, Texas golf course Thursday afternoon, when the engine on his Cessna 172 aircraft quit.
According to the Plano Star, Lance Sparks walked away without injury and no one on the Prestonwood Country Club was injured.
According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) records, Sparks' 1964 Cessna 172 aircraft, which seats four persons, is registered to Christopher Lance Sparks, whose address is listed as 1303 South F. Street in Hugo, Okla.
FAA medical records list his address as County Road #134, Arthur City, Texas.
Plano Star reporter Stephanie Flemmons quoted Sparks as saying that his aircraft started experiencing engine problems and he tried to re-start the engine without success. "You can still fly a plane without an engine," Sparks told Flemmons, "just not very far."
Sparks said the accident did not shake his confidence in flying and that he would be back in the air as soon as possible.
The FAA listed the matter as an "incident" on their official website and attributed the cause of the forced landing to engine failure. Their report indicated that Sparks was alone in the aircraft at the time of the landing.
Photos of the aircraft published by the Plano Star (http://www.planostar.com) indicate the plane suffered only minor damage to the right wingtip, and ended up nose down in a sand trap on the golf course.
A video posted on the newspaper's website indicated that surface winds were very gusty after the landing. | <urn:uuid:9d15957e-7ea9-468e-bac0-0d3e456e6ee6> | 2013-05-24T01:45:16Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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(1844, Munkács - 1900, Endenich)
He was an outstanding Hungarian realist painter of the 19th century. He started to paint during the years he spent in Arad as a joiner. With the help of partons be studied at the Viennese, Munich and Düsseldorf academies. Munkácsy painted his first major work, the outstanding "The Condemned Cell" in Düsseldorf, in 1872, together with his friend László Paál, he moved to Paris, where be lived until the end of his life.
Munkácsy painted his genres in the style of realism between 1873 and 1875: "Midnight Ramblers", "Farewell". "Churning Woman", "Woman Carryng Brushwood", and "Pawnshop" were the zenith of his career. He married the widow of Baron de Marches in 1874, and his style changed from that time on. Departing from the typical subjects of realism, be produced colourful salon paintings and still-lifes. This was the period when be also turned to ladscape painting; his growing interest is marked by such great paintings as "Dusty Road". "Corn Field", and "Walking in the Woods". The assimilation of László Paál's style is apparent in the landscapes painted during the 1880s, such as "Avenue" and "The Colpach Park". His realist portraits - e.g. of Franz Liszt and Cardinal Haynald - were also born around this time, together with his religions paintings, such as "Christ in front of Pilate", "Golgotha" and later, "Ecce homo".
Towards the end of his career he painted two monumental works: "Hungarian Conquest" for the House of Parliament and a fresco entitled "Apotheosis of Renaissance, for the ceiling Kunsthistoriches. Museum in Vienna.
|Please send your comments, sign our guestbook and send a postcard.
Created and maintained by Emil Krén and Dániel Marx; sponsored by the T-Systems Hungary Ltd. | <urn:uuid:8851a900-92f1-4d33-9380-63b7ece436de> | 2013-05-24T01:52:04Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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IAEA Concludes Peer Review of UAE's Regulatory Framework
14 December 2011
14 December 2011| A team of international nuclear safety experts today completed a 10-day International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) review of the regulatory framework for nuclear safety and radiation protection in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The Integrated Regulatory Review Service (IRRS) mission, which was conducted at the request of the UAE, noted good practices in the UAE system and also made recommendations and suggestions for the nation's nuclear regulatory authority, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR).
"The team was impressed by the speed with which the UAE developed its regulatory framework and established a new regulatory body," said IRRS Team Leader Carl-Magnus Larsson of Australia.
The mission's scope covered the UAE regulatory framework for all types of nuclear-related activities regulated by FANR. Consideration was also given to the implications of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident for the activities of FANR.
"We have been working hard to establish FANR as a world-class nuclear safety regulator," said Dr. William Travers, FANR Director General. "Inviting the IAEA's peer review service is one important way to progress. We are pleased our efforts have been recognised and we will use their insights to improve our regulatory programme."
The IRRS team highlighted several good practices of the UAE regulatory system, including, though not limited to, the following:
- The UAE has developed a nuclear policy and subsequent activities related to the introduction of nuclear power within a relatively short timeframe. In developing its nuclear law, the UAE used the opportunity to merge five pre-existing regulatory bodies into one organization;
- FANR has made extensive use of the IAEA Safety Standards to establish its regulations and guidance, and is using IAEA peer-review missions and services as a means to strengthen its nuclear safety framework; and
- FANR has made good progress in developing an integrated management system, i.e. a systematic approach to running the organization as established in IAEA Safety Standards.
The IRRS team also made recommendations to improve the UAE regulatory system, including, though not limited to, the following:
- A national policy and strategy for radioactive waste management should be concluded and implemented as soon as possible; and
- Roles and responsibilities of emergency response organizations should be clarified as soon as possible.
In additlion, the IRRS team considers sustainability and long-term development of domestic capacity for assuring safety to be an important issue for the UAE. The team also acknowledges the fact that the UAE has made a long-term commitment to sustainability in all aspects of radiation protection and nuclear safety.
In a preliminary report, the IAEA has conveyed the team's main conclusions to FANR, and a final report will be submitted to the authority in about three months. FANR has informed the team that it will make the report public. The IAEA encourages nations to invite a follow-up IRRS mission about two years after the full mission has been completed.
The mission to the UAE was conducted from 5 to 14 December mainly at FANR headquarters in Abu Dhabi and also included some site visits. The IRRS team members held extensive discussions with FANR staff to exchange information and experience between the two parties. IRRS missions are peer reviews, not inspections or audits, and are conducted at the request of host nations. For the UAE review, the IAEA assembled a team of 17 international experts from Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Republic of Korea, Morocco, Pakistan, Romania, Slovenia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, United States of America and the IAEA.
About IRRS Missions
IRRS missions are designed to strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of the national nuclear regulatory infrastructure of States, while recognizing the ultimate responsibility of each State to ensure safety in this area.
This is done through consideration of both regulatory, technical and policy issues, with comparisons against IAEA safety standards and, where appropriate, good practices elsewhere.
More information about IRRS missions is available on the IAEA Website. | <urn:uuid:ec92cd63-48ad-4c13-af35-48a8331bb89e> | 2013-05-24T01:52:28Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Two strong earthquakes struck northwest Iran Saturday, killing 87 people, injuring hundreds and scaring thousands into fleeing their homes as aftershocks continued to hit the area, state media said.
The U.S. Geological Survey measured Saturday's first quake at 6.4 magnitude and said it struck 60 km (37 miles) northeast of the city of Tabriz at a depth of 9.9 km (6.2 miles). A second quake measuring 6.3 struck 49 km (30 miles) northeast of Tabriz 11 minutes later at a similar depth.
There have been at least 18 aftershocks since then,said Iranian media, as reported by Reuters.
The second quake struck near the town of Varzaghan. "The quake was so intense that people poured into the streets through fear," Fars news agency said of the town.
- FOLLOW IBTIMES
The head of the crisis center in East Azerbaijan province said 87 people had been killed, Fars said. Some 600 had been injured, the agency added.
A local official in the area told Iranian Students' News Agency that six villages had been completely destroyed and 60 villages had been 50 to 70 percent destroyed, NBC reported.
Some 210 people in Varzaghan and Ahar have been rescued from under the rubble of collapsed buildings, the official Islamic Republic News Agency news agency said, quoting a local official.
Iran is crossed by several major fault lines and has suffered several devastating earthquakes in recent years, including a 6.6. magnitude quake in 2003 which turned the southeastern historic city of Bam into dust and killed more than 25,000 people.
Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:66ebd6ca-235e-4497-a156-f017fb668608> | 2013-05-24T01:31:31Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Whitney Houston was murdered over a £1m drug debt, a US private investigator has claimed.
Paul Huebl said that two men killed the singer in her Beverly Hills hotel room because she failed to settle mounting debts. He said the hitmen were sent by a drug lord who regularly supplied her.
According to a report in the National Enquirer, Huebl said he had video evidence to support his theory.
"I have evidence that points to Whitney being a victim of high-powered drug dealers who sent thugs to collect a huge debt she owed for drugs," the publication quoted him saying.
Houston was found dead in the bath in her room on 11 February.
The CCTV footage is said to show two thugs slipping into the room during the 45 minutes she was left alone on the day of her death.
Although the official coroner report ruled that the I Will Always Love You hitmaker accidentally drowned in a bathtub because of heart disease and chronic cocaine use, Huebl is adamant there was foul play.
He said: "Whitney's body shows classic defence wounds that would have occurred while she was battling for her life."
Huebl has passed the FBI a dossier of information and was hopeful there would be enough evidence to merit a fresh investigation into the star's death.
According to Huebl the 48-year-old Bodyguard actress received a cocaine delivery the day before her death and was overheard saying, "I'm tired of this s**t," referring to the debts she allegedly owed for the drugs. | <urn:uuid:4edec90c-41de-4938-91dd-22c82ba9301d> | 2013-05-24T01:31:39Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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A new kind of computer interface, combining advantages of a computer mouse, a touchpad and a touch screen.Introduction - current state and proposed solutionThe advantages of touch screens are commonly known and include, inter alia, simplicity and comfort of use. However, such screens are at the same time not free from defects. These include above all provoking painful fatigue of the operator’s hand, especially when the display is situated in the position close to vertical, which is common while working on a notebook PC for instance (so-called gorilla arm). Another drawback is the very limited precision of pointing caused by relatively big sizes of human fingers. Also, this type of interface results in fingering the screen of the computer device and making it opaque.The possibility of working with a hand resting on a basis / mouse and greater precision are the main merits of a computer mouse. But yet, the necessity to move the whole device as well as the pointing system’s incompatibility with the spreading prevalence of the touch technique (e.g. Windows 8) are on the minus side.By contrast, although a touchpad eliminates the necessity to move the whole device, its week point is - like in a mouse - the limited compatibility with the touch technology.Generally speaking, the touch technique is being widely implemented as the most intuitive and comfortable. On the other hand it is not fully functional in certain situations.The proposed device is supposed to eliminate these shortcomings. It introduces a new quality in non-keyboard computer handling. The interface combines the feature of a computer mouse, that makes it possible to work with a hand supported by a basis, with the feature of a touch screen, which is the possibility to point with fingers; it also brings additional benefits such as no need to move the whole hand (just the fingers) and the more accurate - than in touch display - pointing. The system of precise pointing has been named the “virtual finger”.Device description and principle of operationThe device is a kind of a “sensor” in the shape of a flat plate with applicable software. It is used for “scanning” the movements of the operator’s fingers, wireless “transmitting” of the movements to the computer system, their visualization on the screen, and for activating the right action after touching the surface of the device (called “sensory surface” hereinafter). The device recognizes and follows the movement of the fingers above the “sensory surface” starting with certain boundary distance and transmits it to the computer display in the form called “shadow” hereinafter.While bringing one or a few fingers at the sufficient distance to the device (shorter than 3 cm), a “shadow” / “shadows” of the finger / fingers appear on the screen.Bringing the fingers closer to the sensory surface diminishes the circumferences of the “shadows” and increases their intensity (concurrently the “shadows” remain translucent, so that the icons under them are still visible).At the last stage of pointing an even more distinct pointer emerges (e.g. index finger icon).When the operator finally touches the “sensory surface” of the device, it reacts as if there was a click on the mouse.The proposed name of the device: “shad-pad” (from shadow pad).
It would be nice if Alienware offered higher-gamut or IPS matte screens. Many potential customers require the GPU power of an Alienware and use their laptops outside or for professional work. Alienware's competitors offer high-quality matte screens, and such screens are already available for Dell's XPS and Precision models. Good anti-glare screens would remove the need for customers to create costly, risky modifications to replace the glossy LCD or remove the plexiglass above. Even if Alienware offered matte screens as optional upgrades to the glossy panels now available, the option would provide much additional value for Alienware laptops.
The flip design is an awesome idea. However, I would like a bigger screen. Why does a tablet have to be so small? Please make one of these with a 15" or bigger screen with more power and memory - and I will buy 3 of them: 1 for each of my student children and one for my wife and I. Beef it up! Please, please, please!
The "dot" key on all keyboards is one of the most used. Make the "dot" key white, so it will stand out, with a black dot on it for easier identification.... I do this on my keyboards with a small piece of adhesive white tape.
In past we have seen OS which runs all kind of softwares, then comes OS for mobile which limits to selected and lightwait software.Current market and products: Market is fragmented between OS that run everything (locally e.g. Windows or cloud e.g. Google book) and OS that runs on mobile.Cost and Size of machine and OS depends upon where they are for everything or for mobile. New market and product:Idea here is to have an OS which run only browser i.e. machine which run only browser. So we need to have OS and machine which is trimmed to run only browser.Benefit: Its a new market and product lineIt will bring down costLarge community which need gadget only for internetMore use cases, I will be providing based on further request.
I hope if we can share other the cinima from our laptop just by switch the screen from work resolution into cinma resolution by include the projector beside the whole of camera and it could be reflected on the wall from the laptop
A website where home gardners and small farmers can put up their crops that they are planning, planting, growing, harvesting - and see, by "locality," what others are planting in their neighbourhood. The idea is that they can then perhaps change their minds and plant something no-one else is growing, leading to greater diversity of foods available in their region. People can then either opt to buy these direct from the grower, or trade them for something that they grow themselves, and the idea is to make every region able to grow good local food. The "locality" should be an area that makes sense for local food, i.e. not much more than 20 - 50 miles, to encourage people to use less fuel transporting food around.People should be able to "pledge" either a certain percentage of a planted or harvested crop, or pledge some labour on the grower's property (sort of like community gardening) or tools and materials (wire netting, compost scraps, etc) in exchange for some of the crop. Additionally, users should be encouraged to share their experiences of what grows well locally, what needs special techniques, and so forth. Within a few years, a site such as this should be able to even out local food production, provide detailed, locality-based advice on what can be grown and how to grow it, and (if advertisers are chosen carefully and with relevance, i.e. home handyman, gardening, nursery, and so forth) be able to produce an income by presenting locally-targeted advertising to users, who can use these ads to find the best local services and materials.It would be a crowdsourced agricultural and GIS dataBASE, as well. This can be stripped of identifying data, and sold/donated to research foundations and government departments to provide detailed knowledge of soil and weather and local plants etc on an ongoing basis. The information provided would give valuable knowledge to such organisations about the health of the ecosphere and the weather systems.On the purely humane side, it would allow a much wider audience to have access to local food, thus strengthening local economies and reducing food miles and handling costs. I think an idea such as this is one of theose things where a large company has nothing to lose by devoting a few resources to it and advertising / publicising it, and then if the site doesn't take off, it's a relatively small loss. If it does take of though, it would establish the green credentials of the company and give them some very good publicity!
In any type education, it is essential the use of interactive notebooks, it would be helpful that electronic notebooks were invented or manufactured, allowing manual writing and connection with books related to the level of education without letting use different programs or applications. With the fulfilment of these conditions it would be avoided the situation of carrying both notebooks and books in a backpack
Use the same account login and password for IdeasStorm as the store.dell.com. Why have two accounts?
I have a chair and a desk combination in mind that is adjustable and ergonomic so folks using laptops can be more comfortable and we can prevent carpel tunnel syndrome. Dell can add this to their product line up. | <urn:uuid:c5de2e74-a537-4fe7-a9f4-9e588d103bd9> | 2013-05-24T01:50:38Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Posted: January 10, 2013
James Holmes is accused of opening fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., last summer, killing 12 people and wounding dozens of others. He will be formally arraigned Friday on 166 counts of murder, attempted murder and other crimes.
A judge ruled Thursday that there's enough evidence for James Holmes to stand trial on charges that he killed 12 people and injured dozens of others at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., last summer.
Here's more from the Denver Post:
"Holmes will be formally arraigned on the 166 counts of murder, attempted murder and other crimes he faces at a hearing at 9 a.m. Friday. He will have to enter a plea at that time, although his attorneys filed a motion Thursday seeking a delay."
The Associated Press is reporting that Holmes' defense attorneys filed papers Thursday, saying the accused gunman isn't ready to enter a plea.
The Denver Post adds that the judge's decision Thursday to move ahead with the trial is not unexpected. Here's more:
"It comes after a three-day preliminary hearing in which prosecutors tied Holmes to weapons found at the theater after the shooting, displayed pictures of Holmes posing with guns and body armor and detailed the intricacy of explosives found in his apartment."
Mark blogged earlier this week that some of the 911 calls made from inside the theater during the midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises were played during the preliminary hearing for Homes.
Please follow our community discussion rules when composing your comments. | <urn:uuid:b68227db-697a-4e69-9214-1e87678860ec> | 2013-05-24T01:44:06Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Saint Thomas Aquinas was a Catholic Priest in the Dominican Order and one of the most important Medieval philosophers and theologians. He was immensely influenced by scholasticism and Aristotle and known for his synthesis of the two aforementioned traditions. Although he wrote many works of philosophy and theology throughout his life, his most influential work is the Summa Theologica which consists of three parts.
The first part is on God. In it, he gives five proofs for God’s existence as well as an explication of His attributes. He argues for the actuality and incorporeality of God as the unmoved mover and describes how God moves through His thinking and willing.
The second part is on Ethics. Thomas argues for a variation of the Aristotelian Virtue Ethics. However, unlike Aristotle, he argues for a connection between the virtuous man and God by explaining how the virtuous act is one towards the blessedness of the Beatific Vision (beata visio).
The last part of the Summa is on Christ and was unfinished when Thomas died. In it, he shows how Christ not only offers salvation, but represents and protects humanity on Earth and in Heaven. This part also briefly discusses the sacraments and eschatology. The Summa remains the most influential of Thomas’s works and is mostly what will be discussed in this overview of his philosophy.
The birth-year of Thomas Aquinas is commonly given as 1227, but he was probably born early in 1225 at his father’s castle of Roccasecea (75 m. e.s.e. of Rome) in Neapolitan territory. He died at the monastery of Fossanova, one mile from Sonnino (64 m. s.e. of Rome), Mar. 7, 1274. His father was Count Landulf of an old high-born south Italian family, and his mother was Countess Theodora of Theate, of noble Norman descent. In his fifth year he was sent for his early education to the monastery of Monte Cassino, where his father’s brother Sinibald was abbot. Later he studied in Naples. By about 1243 he determined to enter the Dominican order; but on the way to Rome he was seized by his brothers and brought back to his parents at the castle of S. Giovanni, where he was held a captive for a year or two and besieged with prayers, threats, and even sensual temptation to make him relinquish his purpose. Finally the family yielded and the order sent Thomas to Cologne to study under Albertus Magnus, where he arrived probably toward the end of 1244. He accompanied Albertus to Paris in 1245, remained there with his teacher, continuing his studies for three years, and followed Albertus at the latter’s return to Cologne in 1248. For several years longer he remained with the famous philosopher of scholasticism, presumably teaching. This long association of Thomas with the great polyhistor was the most important influence in his development; it made him a comprehensive scholar and won him permanently for the Aristotelian method. Around 1252 Thomas went to Paris for the master’s degree, which he found some difficulty in attaining owing to attacks, at that time on the mendicant orders. Ultimately, however, he received the degree and entered ceremoniously upon his office of teaching in 1257; he taught in Paris for several years and there wrote certain of his works and began others. In 1259 he was present at an important chapter of his order at Valenciennes at the solicitation of Pope Urban IV. Therefore not before the latter part of 1261, he took up residence in Rome. In 1269-71 he was again active in Paris. In 1272 the provincial chapter at Florence empowered him to found a new studium generale at any place he should choose, and he selected Naples. Early in 1274 the pope directed him to attend the Council of Lyons and he undertook the journey, although he was far from well. On the way he stopped at the castle of a niece and became seriously ill. He wished to end his days in a monastery and not being able to reach a house of the Dominicans he was carried to the Cistercian Fossanova. There he died and his remains were preserved.
The writings of Thomas may be classified as: (1) exegetical, homiletical, and liturgical; (2) dogmatic, apologetic, and ethical; and (3) philosophical. Among the genuine works of the first class were: Commentaries on Job (1261-65); on Psalms, according to some a reportatum, or report of speeches furnished by his companion Raynaldus; on Isaiah; the Catena aurea, which is a running commentary on the four Gospels, constructed on numerous citations from the Fathers; probably a Commentary on Canticles, and on Jeremiah; and wholly or partly reportata, on John, on Matthew, and on the epistles of Paul; including, according to one authority, Hebrews i.-x. Thomas prepared for Urban IV: Officium de corpore Christi (1264); and the following works may be either genuine or reportata: Expositio angelicce salutationis; Tractatus de decem praeceptis; Orationis dominico expositio; Sermones pro dominicis diebus et pro sanctorum solemnitatibus; Sermones de angelis, and Sermones de quadragesima. Of his sermons only manipulated copies are extant. In the second division were: In quatitor sententiarum libros, of his first Paris sojourn; Questiones disputatce, written at Paris and Rome; Questiones quodlibetales duodecini; Summa catholicce fidei contra gentiles (1261-C,4); andthe Summa theologica. To the dogmatic works belong also certain commentaries, as follows: Expositio in librum beati Dionysii de divinis nominibits; Expositiones primoe et secundce; In Boethii libros de hebdomadibus; and Proeclare quoestiones super librum Boethii de trinitate. A large number ofopuscitla also belonged to this group. Of philosophical writings there are cataloged thirteen commentaries on Aristotle, besides numerous philosophical opuscula of which fourteen are classed as genuine.
The greatest work of Thomas was the Summa, and it is the fullest presentation of his views. He worked on it from the time of Clement IV (after 1265) until the end of his life. When he died he had reached question ninety of part III, on the subject of penance. What was lacking was afterward added from the fourth book of his commentary on the “Sentences” of Peter Lombard as a supplementum, which is not found in manuscripts of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The Summa consists of three parts. Part I treats of God, who is the “first cause, himself uncaused” (primum movens immobile) and as such existent only in act (actu), that is pure actuality without potentiality and, therefore, without corporeality. His essence is actus purus et perfectus. This follows from the fivefold proof for the existence of God; namely, there must be a first mover himself unmoved, a first cause in the chain of causes, an absolutely necessary being, an absolutely perfect being, and a rational designer. In this connection the thoughts of the unity, infinity, unchangeableness, and goodness of the highest being are deduced. The spiritual being of God is further defined as thinking and willing. His knowledge is absolutely perfect since he knows himself and all things as appointed by him. Since every knowing being strives after the thing known as end, will is implied in knowing. Inasmuch as God knows himself as the perfect good, he wills himself as end. But in that everything is willed by God, everything is brought by the divine will to himself in the relation of means to end. Therein God wills good to every being which exists, that is he loves it; and, therefore, love is the fundamental relation of God to the world. If the divine love be thought of simply as act of will, it exists for every creature in like measure: but if the good assured by love to the individual be thought of, it exists for different beings in various degrees. In so far as the loving God gives to every being what it needs in relation practical reason, affording the idea of the moral law of nature, so important in medieval ethics.
The first part of the Summa is summed up in the thought that God governs the world as the universal first cause. God sways the intellect in that he gives the power to know aid impresses the species intelligibileson the mind; and he ways the will in that he holds the good before it as aim, and creates the virtus volendi. To will is nothing else than a certain inclination toward the object of the volition which is the universal good. God works all in all, but so that things also themselves exert their proper efficiency. Here the Areopagitic ideas of the graduated effects of created things play their part in Thomas’s thought. The second part of the Summa (consisting of two parts, namely, prima secundae and secundae, secunda) follows this complex of ideas. Its theme is man’s striving after the highest end, which is the blessedness of the visio beata. Here Thomas develops his system of ethics, which has its root in Aristotle. In a chain of acts of will man strives for the highest end. They are free acts in so far as man has in himself the knowledge of their end and therein the principle of action. In that the will wills the end, it wills also the appropriate means, chooses freely and completes the consensus. Whether the act be good or evil depends on the end. The “human reason” pronounces judgment concerning the character of the end, it is, therefore, the law for action. Human acts, however, are meritorious in so far as they promote the purpose of God and his honor. By repeating a good action man acquires a moral habit or a quality which enables him to do the good gladly and easily. This is true, however, only of the intellectual and moral virtues, which Thomas treats after the mariner of Aristotle; the theological virtues are imparted by God to man as a “disposition” from which the acts here proceed, but while they strengthen, they do not form it. The “disposition” of evil is the opposite alternative. An act becomes evil through deviation from the reason and the divine moral law. Therefore, sin involves two factors: its substance or matter is lust; in form, however, it is deviation from the divine law. Sin has its origin in the will, which decides, against the reason, for a changeable good. Since, however, the will also moves the other powers of man, sin has its seat in these too. By choosing such a lower good as end, the will is misled by self-love, so that this works as cause in every sin. God is not the cause of sin, since, on the contrary, he draws all things to himself. But from another side God is the cause of all things, so he is efficacious also in sin as *-ctio but not as ens. The devil is not directly the cause of sin, but he incites by working on the imagination and the sensuous impulse of man, as men or things may also do. Sin is original. Adam’s first sin passes upon himself and all the succeeding race; because he is the head of the human race and “by virtue of procreation human nature is transmitted and along with nature its infection.” The powers of generation are, therefore, designated especially as “infected.”
In every work of God both justice and mercy are united, and his justice always presupposes his mercy since he owes no one anything and gives more bountifully than is due. As God rules in the world, the “plan of the order of things” preexists in him; i.e., his providence and the exercise of it in his government are what condition as cause everything which comes to pass in the world. Hence follows predestination: from eternity, some are destined to eternal life; while others “he permits some to fall short of that end.” Reprobation, however, is more than mere foreknowledge; it is the “will of permitting anyone to fall into sin and incur the penalty of condemnation for sin.” The effect of predestination is grace. Since God is the first cause of everything, he is the cause of even the free acts of men through predestination. Determinism is deeply grounded in the system of Thomas; things with their source of becoming in God are ordered from eternity as means for the realization of his end in himself. On moral grounds Thomas advocates freedom energetically; but, with his premises, he can have in mind only the psychological form of self-motivation. Nothing in the world is accidental or free, although it may appear so in reference to the proximate cause. From this point of view miracles become necessary in themselves and are to be considered merely as inexplicable to man. From the point of view of the first cause all is unchangeable; although from the limited point of view of the secondary cause miracles may be spoken of. In his doctrine of the Trinity, Thomas starts from the Augustinian system. Since God has only the functions of thinking and willing, only twoprocessiones can be asserted from the Father. However, these establish definite relations of the persons of the Trinity to each other. The relations must be conceived as real and not as merely ideal; for, as with creatures relations arise through certain accidents, since in God there is no accident but all is substance, it follows that “the relation really existing in God is the same as the essence according to the thing.” From another side, however, the relations as real must be really distinguished one from another. Therefore, three persons are to be affirmed in God. Man stands opposite to God; he consists of soul and body. The “intellectual soul” consists of intellect and will. Furthermore the soul is the absolutely indivisible form of man; it is immaterial substance, but not one and the same in all men (as the Averrhoists assumed). The soul’s power of knowing has two sides; a passive (the intellectus possibilis) and an active (theintellectus agens). It is the capacity to form concepts and to abstract the mind’s images (species) from the objects perceived by sense. However, since the abstractions of the intellect from individual things is a universal, the mind knows the universal primarily and directly, and knows the singular only indirectly by virtue of a certain reflection. As certain principles are immanent in the mind for its speculative activity, so also a “special disposition of works,” or the synderesis (rudiment of conscience), is inborn in the scholastics. Held to creationism, they therefore taught that the souls are created by God. Two things according to Thomas constituted man’s righteousness in paradise-the justitia originalis or the harmony of all man’s powers before they were blighted by desire, and the possession of the gratia gratum faciens(the continuous indwelling power of good). Both are lost through original sin, which in form is the “loss of original righteousness.” The consequence of this loss is the disorder and maiming of man’s nature, which shows itself in “ignorance, malice, moral weakness, and especially in concupiscentia, which is the material principle of original sin.” The course of thought here is as follows: when the first man transgressed the order of his nature appointed by nature and grace, he, and with him the human race, lost this order. This negative state is the essence of original sin. From it follow an impairment and perversion of human nature in which thenceforth lower aims rule contrary to nature and release the lower element in man. Since sin is contrary to the divine order, it is guilt, and subject to punishment. Guilt and punishment correspond to each other; and since the “apostasy from the invariable good which is infinite,” fulfilled by man, is unending, it merits everlasting punishment.
The way which leads to God is Christ: and Christ is the theme of part III. It can not be asserted that the incarnation was absolutely necessary, “since God in his omnipotent power could have repaired human nature in many other ways”: but it was the most suitable way both for the purpose of instruction and of satisfaction. The unio between the logos and the human nature is a “relation” between the divine and the human nature which comes about by both natures being brought together in the one person of the logos. An incarnation can be spoken of only in the sense that the human nature began to be in the eternal hypostasis of the divine nature. So Christ is unum since his human nature lacks the hypostasis. The person of the logos, accordingly, has assumed the impersonal human nature, and in such way that the assumption of the soul became the means for the assumption of the body. This union with the human soul is the gratia unionis which leads to the impartation of the gratia habitualis from the logos to the human nature. Thereby all human potentialities are made perfect in Jesus. Besides the perfections given by the vision of God, which Jesus enjoyed from the beginning, he receives all others by the gratia habitualis. In so far, however, as it is the limited human nature which receives these perfections, they are finite. This holds both of the knowledge and the will of Christ. The logos impresses the species intelligibiles of all created things on the soul, but the intellectus agens transforms them gradually into the impressions of sense. On another side, the soul of Christ works miracles only as instrument of the logos, since omnipotence in no way appertains to this human soul in itself. Furthermore, Christ’s human nature partook of imperfections, on the one side to make his true humanity evident, on another side because he would bear the general consequences of sin for humanity. Christ experienced suffering, but blessedness reigned in his soul, which, however, did not extend to his body. Concerning redemption, Thomas teaches that Christ is to be regarded as redeemer after his human nature but in such way that the human nature produces divine effects as organ of divinity. The one side of the work of redemption consists herein, that Christ as head of humanity imparts perfection and virtue to his members. He is the teacher and example of humanity; his whole life and suffering as well as his work after he is exalted serve this end.
This is the first course of thought. Then follows a second complex of thoughts which has the idea of satisfaction as its center. To be sure, God as the highest being could forgive sins without satisfaction; but because his justice and mercy could be best revealed through satisfaction he chose this way. As little, however, as satisfaction is necessary in itself, so little does it offer an equivalent, in a correct sense, for guilt; it is rather a “super-abundant satisfaction,” since on account of the divine subject in Christ in a certain sense his suffering and activity are infinite. With this thought the strict logical deduction of Anselm’s theory is given up. Christ’s suffering bore personal character in that it proceeded out of love and obedience. It was an offering brought to God, which as personal act had the character of merit. Thereby Christ “merited” salvation for men. As Christ still influences men, so does he still work in their behalf continually in heaven through the intercession (interpellatio). In this way Christ as head of humanity effects the forgiveness of their sins, their reconciliation with God, their immunity from punishment, deliverance from the devil, and the opening of heaven’s gate. But inasmuch as all these benefits are already offered through the inner operation of the love of Christ, Thomas has combined the theories of Anselm and Abelard by joining the one to the other.
The doctrine of the sacraments follows the Christology; for the sacraments “have efficacy from the incarnate Word himself.” The sacraments are signs which not only signify sanctification, but also effect it. That they bring spiritual gifts in sensuous form, moreover, is inevitable because of the sensuous nature of man. The res sensibles are the matter, the words of institution are the form of the sacranieits. Contrary to the Franciscan view that the sacraments are mere symbol, whose efficacy God accompanies with a directly following creative act in the soul, Thomas holds it not unfit to say with Hugo of St. Victor that “a sacrament contains grace,” or to teach of the sacraments that they “cause grace.” Thomas attempts to remove the difficulty of a sensuous thing producing a creative effect by a distinction between the causa principalis et instrumentalism. God as the principal cause works through the sensuous thing as the means ordained by him for his end. “Just as instrumental power is acquired by the instrument from this, that it is moved by the principal agent, so also the sacrament obtains spiritual power from the benediction of Christ and the application of the minister to the use of the sacrament. There is spiritual power in the sacraments in so far as they have been ordained by God for a spiritual effect.” This spiritual power remains in the sensuous thing until it has attained its purpose. Thomas distinguished the gratia sacramentalis from the gratia virtutum et donorum in that the former in general perfects the essence and the powers of the soul, and the latter in particular brings to pass necessary spiritual effects for the Christian life. Although, later this distinction was ignored.
In a single statement the effect of the sacraments is to infuse justifying grace into men. Christ’s humanity was the instrument for the operation of his divinity; the sacraments are the instruments through which this operation of Christ’s humanity passes over to men. Christ’s humanity served his divinity as instrumentum conjuncture, like the hand; the sacraments are instruments separate, like a staff; the former can use the latter, as the hand can use a staff.
Of Thomas’ eschatology, according to the commentary on the “Sentences,” only a brief account can here be given. Everlasting blessedness consists for Thomas in the vision of God; and this vision consists not in an abstraction or in a mental image supernaturally produced, but the divine substance itself is beheld. In such a manner, God himself becomes immediately the form of the beholding intellect; that is, God is the object of the vision and at the same time causes the vision. The perfection of the blessed also demands that the body be restored to the soul as something to be made perfect by it. Since blessedness consist in operation, it is made more perfect in that the soul has a definite opcralio with the body. Although, the peculiar act of blessedness (that is, the vision of God) has nothing to do with the body.
The author of this article is anonymous. The IEP is actively seeking an author who will write a replacement article
Last updated: May 6, 2009 | Originally published: May/6/2009
Article printed from Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://www.iep.utm.edu/aquinas/
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Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC)
Standards and specifications for safety and operation from the ULC that apply to a variety of products offered in Canada.
Underwriters Laboratories of Canada (ULC) develops safety and performance standards and specifications that apply to products concerning fire, life safety and security, crime prevention, energy efficiency, environmental safety and security of assets and facilities.
A sample of the products to which ULC standards apply include:
- Consumer electronics
- Fire extinguishers
- Gas appliances
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QUEBEC CITY Ė Despite losing the 2008 IIHF World Championship final to Russia, Canada grabbed first place in the 2008 IIHF World Ranking by overtaking Sweden. World Champion Russia improved from fifth to second place, while Sweden is third and Finland fourth.
The Czech Republic lost another place in the ranking, which reflects the performances at the World Championships of the last four years and the 2006 Olympics, after having missed the semis again. The Czechs are now ranked fifth. In addition, their neighbours in Slovakia are ranked worse after surprisingly having failed to make the qualifying round of the best 12 nations this year. Slovakia went from sixth to eighth place and was overtaken by the United States and Switzerland. Belarus is the ninth of the directly qualified teams for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The three remaining Olympic spots will be determined by qualification tournaments November 6-9, 2008, and February 5-8, 2009. The participating teams and the tournament venues will be announced later.
The groups for the Olympic menís ice hockey tournament in Vancouver, Canada, February 16-28, 2010:
Group A: Canada, United States, Switzerland, Qualifier 3.
Group B: Russia, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Qualifier 2.
Group C: Sweden, Finland, Belarus, Qualifier 1.
As well, the groups for the 2009 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland (April 24 to May 10, 2009) are determined. The games will be played in the PostFinance Arena of Berne, which will have a capacity of 10,000 spectators, and the 6,000-capacity Schluefweg in Zurich-Kloten. The organizing committee also announced that a few standing room tickets will be offered and ticket holders can use the public transportation system in the whole country for free. Unlike the 2008 Worlds, the quarterfinals will be played with cross-over between the qualification round groups thanks to the shorter distance between the venues, and the relegated teams will be determined by a round-robin relegation round, same as before this yearís World Championship.
The groups for the 2009 IIHF World Championship in Switzerland:
Group A: Canada, Slovakia, Belarus, Hungary.
Group B: Russia, Switzerland, Germany, France.
Group C: Sweden, United States, Latvia, Austria.
Group D: Finland, Czech Republic, Norway, Denmark.
Groups A and D will be played in Zurich-Kloten, Groups B and C in Berne.
Click here to see the 2008 IIHF World Ranking.
Click here to visit the 2009 IIHF World Championship website. | <urn:uuid:657e1af5-7281-4c78-a14b-df6f0853b091> | 2013-05-24T01:52:30Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Add Full Plot
After unsuccessfully attempting to recruit the Green Arrow to join the expanded League, he plays an important role with a team sent to manage a crisis in Asia.
Did You Know?
When John is recuperating from injuries, he unconsciously calls out Shayera's name. This suggests he hasn't recovered from their break-up after the events of "Starcrossed", but the closed captioning for the DVD read that he says Kara's name, so this may just as easily be a goof. See more
During Superman's speech, the positions of the group listening change, to the point where many disappear and reappear, and not always in the same location. See more
Just look around. If you see anything, don't engage.
Uh, you can just say "okay."
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Unlike drugs, which are used to treat sick people, vaccines are used in healthy people to prevent certain illnesses. Before a vaccine can be used in the United States, it must be shown to be safe and effective. To make these determinations, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) conducts a rigorous review of data regarding the vaccine’s safety and efficacy. Because healthy children are typically the recipients of vaccines, safety requirements are especially stringent.
Many federal agencies and private organizations are involved in ensuring the safety of vaccines and for promoting the health of the population:
The FDA regulates vaccines that are used in the United States, ensuring that they are shown to be safe and effective before they are approved for use. The vaccine first undergoes laboratory studies, then studies with animals, and then with humans. The results of the studies at every step in the process must show that the vaccine does what it is supposed to do, and that it does not harm people who receive it. The FDA also inspects the manufacturing plant and makes sure the vaccine is made in a safe and consistent manner.
Vaccine licensure is a lengthy process that may last up to 10 years. Vaccines must go through three phases of clinical trials in human beings before they are licensed for public use. To establish basic safety, Phase One trials are small, involving only 20-100 volunteers and lasting only a few months. To continue to gather information on efficacy and safety of each vaccine, Phase Two trials are larger (with several hundred volunteers), and last anywhere from a few months to a few years. Phase Three trials have several hundred to several thousand participants and typically last many years.
If the FDA approves the vaccine for use in humans, the manufacturer can market the vaccine. Each batch of vaccine made by the manufacturer must be tested for safety, potency, and purity before being put on the market. A sample from each lot must be sent to the FDA.
In addition, the FDA requires that doctors report reactions that occur after vaccination. More on this program may be found in the “Monitoring Vaccine Safety” section below.
After a new vaccine is approved by the FDA, committees of experts decide whether it should be recommended for use in the general population. These committees evaluate the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. They also determine how the vaccine should be used, estimate how new recommendations would affect other health care issues, and consider cost-effectiveness issues.
In addition to making recommendations on new vaccines, the committees of experts also review and update recommendations on existing vaccines. The policies for vaccines change along with the changes in the threat of disease.
The committees of experts include:
ACIP is a scientific advisory committee with 10 to 15 members. Although ACIP is federally chartered, the experts are chosen from outside of government. For each vaccine, the ACIP reviews a broad range of materials:
The ACIP considers how the use of the new vaccine might fit into existing child and adult immunization programs. The committee also considers how the vaccine is stored and administered, cost-effectiveness, how the vaccine might affect other health care delivery systems, and other factors.
Members of the COID are selected on the basis of their knowledge of infectious disease and their expertise in vaccines. In addition to the 12 core committee members, liaisons represent the FDA, CDC, and other organizations. COID works closely with these federal agencies and private organizations in an effort to avoid conflicting recommendations.
Committees of experts make recommendations on the use of vaccines in the United States, but it is the responsibility of the individual states to determine which vaccines are required by law. It is up to states to pass and enforce compulsory immunization statutes.
School immunization laws are established to prevent epidemics of certain contagious diseases, such as measles. Currently, all 50 states have school immunization laws.
All 50 states allow children to be exempted from mandated immunizations for medical reasons. Nearly all (48) states allow religious exemptions and 20 allow philosophical exemptions. If an outbreak of a vaccine-preventable disease occurs, those children who are not vaccinated may be prohibited from going to school until the outbreak is resolved.
For further information, read Indications, Recommendations and Immunization Mandates. | <urn:uuid:5a017a84-ceeb-4c5a-b3ee-24a025b9feda> | 2013-05-24T01:58:44Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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What does it take to ruin a cruise of debauchery, wine, and loose women? [Video]
It’s one of life’s primary mysteries: What does it take to ruin what started as a luxurious cruise of debauchery, wine, and loose women?
That’s the question put forward by 3rd Element Studios and their upcoming indie game Descension.
A brief, but hardly illuminating answer to the question, is: How about falling out of the sky, sitting in a bomb that may well destroy an entire civilization?
Yeah, that would probably ruin it. Big themes seem to be the root of Descension, a game 3rd Element describe as “an action/adventure game with an emphasis on puzzles and story but without forgetting the action”.
You play as the only person able to prevent the destruction of the civilisation in question, and along the way you’ll “explore the darker side of humanity” and “make difficult choices with unknown consequences”. Sounds like ordering from my local McDonalds.
A trailer for the Unreal powered game has recently been released, which you can check out right here: | <urn:uuid:cdb70d36-9741-4e27-a345-b646d7a861f5> | 2013-05-24T02:06:26Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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John Terry charged with racially abusing Anton Ferdinand
John Terry is facing up to his biggest battle yet as he attempts to clear his name of the racism charge that has been levelled against him.
The Crown Prosecution Service this afternoon confirmed that Terry will go before West London Magistrates Court on February 1, charged with a racially aggravated public order offence over comments allegedly made during Chelsea's Premier League encounter with QPR at Loftus Road on October 23.
Terry has already claimed innocence and repeated that assertion in a statement released within minutes of the CPS announcing their decision.
However, he must also be aware that if he is found guilty, it would be virtually impossible for him to remain as England captain.
"I am disappointed with the decision to charge me and hope to be given the chance to clear my name as quickly as possible," said Terry.
"I have never aimed a racist remark at anyone and count people from all races and creeds among my closest friends.
"I will fight tooth and nail to prove my innocence. I have campaigned against racism and believe there is no place for it in society."
Yet Alison Saunders, Chief Crown Prosecutor for London, has told Scotland Yard that after reviewing the evidence, including previously unseen footage that was handed in last week, there is "a realistic possibility' of securing a conviction against the 31-year-old.
"I am satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute this case," said Saunders.
"He is now summonsed with a criminal offence and has the right to a fair trial. It is extremely important that nothing should be reported which could prejudice his trial."
The Football Association have given a brief response to the latest development, which came less than 24 hours after they handed Liverpool's Luis Suarez an eight-match ban and a £40,000 fine for comments made to Manchester United's Patrice Evra seven days before the Terry incident took place.
A statement on their official website, www.thefa.com, read: "Further to the announcement by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) today [21 December] regarding the allegation against John Terry following the Queens Park Rangers v Chelsea fixture on Sunday 23 October 2011, The Football Association will not be making any comment at this time."
Terry was caught by TV cameras appearing to mouth an obscenity at Anton Ferdinand, which he said afterwards had been "taken out of context".
No stranger to controversy in his career, Terry will be aware of the potential consequences of failing to prove his innocence.
The FA stood by him during the most recent England internationals, with Fabio Capello making him skipper for the friendly win over Sweden at Wembley in November on the basis that Terry was "innocent until proven guilty".
That stance is unlikely to change now, not least because England do not have a game until February 29, when they tackle Holland.
However, having taken such a strong line with Suarez and led the condemnation over the recent comments from FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who suggested in a TV interview that arguments of a racial nature that took place on the pitch should be settled by a handshake, it would be impossible for them to endorse Terry as skipper if a guilty verdict was recorded.
The FA have worked tirelessly with anti-racism bodies for decades and are prevented from launching their own action against Terry until the criminal case has been completed.
For Chelsea however, the matter is far more immediate.
And, having continued to pick Terry since the row first exploded into the public domain, Blues manager Andre Villas-Boas sees no reason to alter that stance now.
"I will be really supportive of John Terry whatever the outcome of the situation," he said.
"He has my full support, the club's full support.
"He represents this club to a maximum level and we're very grateful to have a player of his quality in our team, in what he represents in terms of history and achievements a the club.
"We know exactly his human values and personality, so we will support him whatever happens."
And, after overcoming an injury sustained during an open training session on Monday, Villas-Boas confirmed Terry will skipper Chelsea in their Premier League encounter with Tottenham tomorrow despite the likely reaction from Spurs supporters.
"John is selected for tomorrow's game," said Villas-Boas.
"A Premier League pitch is a difficult environment but it won't be a problem for a player of John Terry's experience."
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Get the latest on The Evening Standard's campaign to get London's children reading.
Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page. | <urn:uuid:fd2bd825-05d4-4ad0-8625-963e048bd298> | 2013-05-24T02:06:55Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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US media and entertainment giant Time Warner and YouTube announced an agreement Wednesday to show clips from news reports, television shows and movies on the popular video-sharing site.
Time Warner and Google-owned YouTube said the clips from Time Warner properties Warner Bros. Entertainment and Turner Broadcasting System would feature advertising with revenue being split between them.
The agreement unveiled Wednesday does not allow YouTube to show complete episodes of television shows or movies, only excerpts, what a statement from Time Warner and YouTube described as "high-quality, short-form content."
The clips will range from CNN news coverage to Cartoon Network and Adult Swim animated shows to TNT dramas to Warner Bros. Television productions like "Gossip Girl" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," they said.
"Our agreement with YouTube helps us expand the amount of our promotional content, animation and news that we already make available online," Time Warner chairman and chief executive Jeff Bewkes said.
"Working with YouTube, we expect to improve our ability to monetize this short-form content through new and creative advertising initiatives," he said.
Time Warner's HBO television network already has a channel on YouTube to promote popular shows such as "True Blood" and "Entourage."
The deal with Time Warner is YouTube's latest move to bring more professional content to the site known mainly for its user-contributed amateur videos.
"This partnership with Time Warner will provide our community with some of the most popular video content produced," said YouTube co-founder and chief executive Chad Hurley. "We hope to build on this deal and look forward to a long and productive relationship."
"We want YouTube to be a place where you can find any kind of content you're looking for, from short-form user generated clips to full-length independent films and Hollywood movies and shows," YouTube strategic partner manager Graham Bennett said in a blog post.
"Today, we've taken another step in making YouTube a comprehensive video destination by partnering with Time Warner."
Google purchased YouTube in 2006 for 1.65 billion dollars and has been searching for ways to translate its immense popularity into a money-making venture.
Online video website Hulu.com, a fast-growing rival to YouTube, offers full-length television episodes and movies and has reached agreements with three of the four major US broadcast television networks.
What are your thoughts CLICK HERE to leave us a "Your2Cents” comment.
© Copyright 2013 A Granite Broadcasting Station. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:2e89ff90-6468-47f4-aee6-d37ad6a840be> | 2013-05-24T01:52:27Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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John Forbes KERRY
Senate Years of Service:1985-
KERRY, John Forbes, a Senator from Massachusetts; born in Fitzsimons Army Hospital (Colorado), December 11, 1943; graduated, St. Paul’s School, Concord, N.H., 1962; graduated, Yale University 1966; served in the United States Navy 1966-1970, with service in Vietnam; graduated, Boston College Law School 1976; admitted to the Massachusetts bar in 1976 and commenced practice in 1976; assistant district attorney of Middlesex County, Mass. 1977-1982; lieutenant governor of Massachusetts 1982-1984; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1984; reelected in 1990, 1996, 2002, and again in 2008 for the term ending January 3, 2015; chair, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (One Hundredth Congress), Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship (One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 3-20, 2001; June 6, 2001-January 3, 2003], One Hundred Tenth Congress), Committee on Foreign Relations (One Hundred Eleventh and One Hundred Twelfth Congresses); Democratic candidate for U.S. president, 2004.
BibliographyKerry, John. A Call to Service: My Vision for a Better America. New York: Penguin Books, 2003.
Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present | <urn:uuid:15193dbd-8c59-4ac4-897f-0e84e5315a0a> | 2013-05-24T02:06:50Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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July 1, 2012
Kenya police say gunmen attacked two churches in the eastern town of Garissa on Sunday, killing 16 and wounding at least 40.
Authorities say in both cases the attackers hurled grenades and opened fire on worshippers.
The deadliest attack took place at the African Inland Church, where at least 10 people were killed, including two police officers. The second attack took place at a Catholic church.
Police did not immediately say who was behind the violence. They have blamed similar attacks on sympathizers of the Somalia-based militant group al-Shabab.
Garissa is located about 140 kilometers west of the Somalia border. It is also about 80 kilometers southwest of the sprawling Dadaab refugee camp, which houses nearly 500,000 Somali refugees.
On Friday, several gunmen at the Dadaab camp killed one Kenyan and kidnapped four foreign aid workers.
Kenya sent troops into Somalia last year to pursue al-Shabab militants. Since then, Kenya has blamed the al-Qaida-allied group for a series of attacks and kidnappings on Kenyan soil.
Al-Shabab says it is trying to overthrow U.N.-backed transitional government and impose a strict form of Sharia law throughout Somalia.
This article first appeared on VOA News.com.
This article was posted: Sunday, July 1, 2012 at 6:00 am
Tags: foreign affairs | <urn:uuid:509190b2-a84b-4dbc-9232-8de20ff3b54b> | 2013-05-24T01:58:52Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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"Music and religion were the twin forces that shaped John Coltrane's early years. Both of his grandfathers were Methodist ministers, and each of his parents was a skilled musician.
In North Carolina during the 1930s, the church was the center of black community life. At a time when discrimination was widespread, the church offered comfort, hope, and guidance. One way it did this was through music...
Perhaps more than any other jazz musician, John Coltrane let his religious feelings guide and inspire his work. Of his recovery from drug use, he wrote, 'During the year 1957, I experienced, by the grace of God, a spiritual awakening which was to lead me to a richer, fuller, more productive life. At that time, in gratitude, I humbly asked to be given the means and privilege to make others happy through music.'
It was his commitment to sobriety for the last ten years of his life that allowed him to pursue his vision and to create some of the most enduring music in the field of jazz."
-- Excerpted from the Afterword (pg. 39)
John Coltrane (1926-1967) pioneered a new sound on the saxophone prior to passing away at an early age, but not before leaving behind a much beloved collection of innovative recordings. Sadly, his untimely demise from liver cancer was likely the result of the heroin habit he had kicked a decade before.
But is the life of a legendary jazz great with such a checkered past the appropriate subject of an illustrated children's book? Yes, argues Gary Golio, author of Spirit Seeker: John Coltrane's Musical Journey.
After all, over a million of African-American men are currently behind bars for non-violent narcotics offenses, and millions more are ostensibly dealing with drug addiction. For that reason, a biography detailing Coltrane's failings and ultimate triumph over substance might serve as a warning to kids apt to face similar temptations.
Golio relates how 'Trane's troubles started with alcohol abuse while still in his teens, in the wake of the deaths in rapid succession of his father and several other close family members. Regrettably, when the young man subsequently encountered adversity in the form of racism, relationship problems and money woes as an aspiring musician moving around the country, he gradually graduated from that gateway drug to harder substances.
In the end, we learn that he cleaned himself up with the help of a return to his religious roots, a spiritual path that undoubtedly provided considerable comfort when he was forced by an incurable affliction to prepare to meet his Maker. A warts-and-all, cautionary tale chronicling both Coltrane's personal flaws and incomparable genius.
To order a copy of Spirit Seeker, visit: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0547239947/ref%3dnosim/thslfofire-20
John Coltrane's Musical Journey
by Gary Golio
with artwork by Rudy Gutierrez
44 pages, Illustrated | <urn:uuid:c007390d-5a28-40a6-aa08-13dba1c3fee7> | 2013-05-24T02:06:19Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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What Is It?
A friction blister is a soft pocket of raised skin filled with clear fluid caused by irritation from continuous rubbing or pressure. Friction blisters usually occur on the feet, where tight or poor-fitting shoes can rub and irritate delicate toes and heels for long periods. This type of irritation causes minor damage to the skin and the tissue just beneath the skin, then fluid accumulates just beneath the outermost layer of skin. If the irritation is enough to damage small blood vessels, the blister also may contain blood, and is then called a blood blister.
A friction blister is a small pocket of puffy, raised skin containing clear fluid. It is usually painful when touched. A blister can appear anywhere.
Blisters can be diagnosed by looking at them. In short, if it looks like a blister and feels like a blister, and if it's in a place that could have been irritated by pressure or rubbing, it likely is a blister.
Friction blisters typically drain on their own within days. A new layer of skin forms beneath the blister, and eventually the blistered skin peels away.
If pressure or friction continues in the same area, the blister may last two weeks or longer. Continued friction may rub away the delicate top skin layer, and the blister may break open, ooze fluid and run the risk of becoming infected or developing into a deeper wound. If the irritation is mild, the blister may heal despite continued irritation, and eventually a callus will form.
The best way to prevent friction blisters is to wear shoes that fit your feet well, so that the shoe is not tight anywhere and does not slide up and down your heel when you walk. Wear socks with shoes to protect your feet and prevent irritation, and try to keep your feet dry. If another activity is causing blisters -- for example, if learning to play golf is causing blisters on your hands -- ask an instructor to point out other ways to perform the same activity in a nonirritating way, and take advantage of protective devices, such as gloves.
Because blisters typically get better on their own in just a few days, generally no special treatment is required other than to keep the blisters clean and dry. Because the skin provides a natural protection against infection, a blister should be left intact if possible. Do not try to drain the blister or pierce or cut away the overlying skin. Try to avoid further irritation, or protect the blister with a sterile bandage if continued irritation is unavoidable. If the blister breaks on its own, wash the area with soap and water, gently pat dry, use an antibacterial ointment and cover it with a bandage.
People with diabetes and people who cannot reach blisters easily (because of a physical disability or other ailment) may need to have their blisters evaluated by a foot specialist (podiatrist) or other health care professional. People with diabetes often have nerve or circulation problems that make it more difficult to recognize wounds, and that cause wounds to heal more slowly. In these people, a simple foot blister might go unrecognized and could become infected. People with diabetes need to care for their feet daily and examine them for sores or blisters.
When To Call a Professional
Widespread blistering, itchy blisters or blistering in a place that has not been exposed to rubbing or pressure should be evaluated by a physician. These are signs of an illness, not friction blisters.
For typical blisters, medical care is needed only if an infection develops. This is more likely to occur if the skin over the blister has been pierced, broken or popped. These types of blisters need to be watched for a few days to make sure they heal properly. See your doctor immediately if you think you have an infection, see significant redness, notice drainage that is not clear fluid or develop a fever. Also, seek professional help if the blister is so large or painful that walking or other activities become difficult.
People with diabetes who get blisters frequently or have blisters that don't seem to heal should see a health care professional.
Most blisters heal on their own in a few days. If there is continued pressure or friction to the area, it may take two weeks or longer for the blister to go away.
American Diabetes Association
ATTN: Customer Service
1701 N. Beauregard St.
Alexandria, VA 22311
American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine
4414 Ives St.
Rockville, MD 20853
American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA)
9312 Old Georgetown Road
Bethesda, MD 20814 | <urn:uuid:b7efcc1f-2d13-4270-8244-0a36fea3da4e> | 2013-05-24T02:00:38Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Linn, Amy. Illuminating News: What You Don't Know About Lightning Might
Come As Shock. Providence Sunday Journal. August 21, 1988.
Abstract: This article explains some common misconceptions about
lightning. For example, one misconception is that lightning never strikes
the same place twice. This is untrue. Once lightning discovers an easy target
it will likely strike again. The article also provides important safety
precautions. The safest place during a thunderstorm is inside a house away
from windows or inside a closed car. | <urn:uuid:2069c051-8762-4c3d-a0d3-651a55fe3924> | 2013-05-24T01:51:47Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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One of the ways we tend to keep ourselves stuck is by asking disempowering questions. Find out how the quality of your questions affects receiving intuitive guidance.
You may not realize just how much the quality of the questions you ask yourself makes a difference in hearing your intuition. The thing is that we have allowed poor questions to become our standard go-to or default response when something does not go the way we wanted or planned.
The quality of the questions you ask yourself are in direct proportion to the quality of intuitive guidance you receive. If you ask disempowering questions, you will get depressing answers.
Examples of Disempowering Questions
What type of answers do you expect to get from questions like these?
- What is wrong with me?
- Why does this always happen to me?
- Why does he/she get all the luck?
- Why does nothing good ever happen to me?
- Why am I always coming in second place?
- When is it my turn?
Your Guides give you answers to the questions you ask, so I want you realize the power of the questions you are asking. Every time you ask a question; you will receive an answer. If you ask what is wrong with you, your Guides will answer that question in a different way each time you ask.
The problem is that question does nothing to get a helpful response or helpful information. Okay, great…now you know what is wrong with you. I bet that the answer did not make you feel any better. More than likely you felt worse. Those types of questions are just a ploy by your ego to keep you stuck and playing small.
You need to begin reprogramming your standard response when something does not go the way you thought it should. I want you to consider replacing those disempowering questions with better quality questions that serve you.
Now, how to ask better questions? How do you know what to ask in such a way that it becomes helpful to you? You need to catch yourself in the act of allowing the old programming to occur, and then consciously ask a different question. Try better ways to format your questions so you receive accurate answers from your inner guidance. Here are a few examples:
- What can I do to move forward?
- What can I change about my current circumstance?
- What is the energy of this situation?
- What is the next step I need to take to get to my goal?
- What do I need to understand from this experience?
Word your question in a tight concise manner for the best possible intuitive response. By asking better questions you will receive more useful answers. You want answers that will empower you and move you forward to stop the endless cycle of negative self-talk.
I want everyone to promise themselves that you will stop asking disempowering questions like “What is wrong with me?” Okay??? I will stop too. | <urn:uuid:42faf8f9-3cac-4f0d-a0f7-19c79fcf1ab8> | 2013-05-24T02:04:06Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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The Arrow of Time
We are all aware of an intuitive "flow" of time from past to future. Not only do we feel this flow of time, but we also see it manifested in the behaviour of objects which change over time. Many objects seem to behave differently in the forward time direction when compared to the backward time direction. For example, we don't see a spilt glass of water jumping up and going back into the glass, we don't see a broken egg reforming itself. These effects all add to the impression that there is some sort of "forward direction" in the time dimension. This directionality is called the Arrow of Time.
However, this "arrow of time" is something of a mystery to physicists because, at the microscopic level, all fundamental physical processes appear to be time-reversible (we'll consider this later). Also, as shown on the Time and the Block Universe page, our universe appears to have a spacetime structure in which all of time is laid-out in a "block universe", i.e., there is no actual "flow" of time, no movement of a "now" point.
So on this page we will investigate the cause of this mysterious "Arrow of Time".
Entropy can be considered the amount of disorder in a system. For example, a car that has rusted could be said to have a greater entropy value than a new car: bits of the car may have fallen off, the paint may be flaking. Basically, the molecules of the car have become more disordered over time: entropy has increased.
As has just been just discussed, all microscopic processes appear to be time-reversible. The question of why we see an "arrow of time" in macroscopic processes has therefore presented physics with a long-standing conundrum. For this reason, much attention has focussed on the fact that the entropy of a closed system increases with time, i.e., a system will gradually become more disordered with time. Eventually the system (gas in a closed container, for example) will reach a state when all its molecules are completely randomly orientated. This state is called thermal equilibrium. The rule that entropy increases with time is called the second law of thermodynamics.
The reason for this increase in entropy can be seen from a purely probabilistic argument: a system will have many more possible disordered states than ordered states, so a system which changes state randomly will most likely move to a more disordered state. It's really just a matter of likelihood. For this reason, the second "law" of thermodynamics is not really a "law" at all, certainly not an unbreakable law on the same basis as other physical laws - it is a statistical principle. In fact, it might be possible for a room full of randomly-distributed particles to re-order itself quite by chance so that all the particles end up in one corner of the room - it would just be incredibly unlikely!
While the second "law" of thermodynamics is "just" a statistical principle, it is a mightily powerful statistical principle! This is because the basis of the second law - that "disorder will increase" - seems so obvious, and seems to appeal to a fundamental, platonic principle of mathematics. For this reason, the second law manages to appear even more fundamental and unbreakable than the other physical laws, some of which (for example, the amount of electric charge on an electron) seem rather arbitrary in comparison. This fundamental strength of the second law is described well by the astrophysicist Sir Arthur Eddington:
"If someone points out to you that your pet theory of the universe is in disagreement with Maxwell's equations - then so much the worse for Maxwell's equations. If it is found to be contradicted by observation - well, these experimentalists do bungle things sometimes. But if your theory is found to be against the second law of thermodynamics I can offer you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation."
- Sir Arthur Eddington
One of the most inexplicable features of the early universe is that it had an incredibly low value of entropy. This value of entropy was so low that even now - 13 billion years later - we still find ourselves living in a world of relatively low entropy. As a result, many of the objects we surround ourselves with have low entropy: new cars, and perfect unbroken eggs in egg cups. And these objects are basically falling apart around us as they inevitably move to higher entropy states: cars rust, eggs fall on the floor and break. Hence, the increase in entropy in our ordered world is one reason why we detect an apparent "arrow of time".
But change of entropy is fundamentally time-symmetrical!!
However, this is a good time to clear-up a very widely-held misconception about the change of entropy: that change of entropy is in some way fundamentally time-asymmetric, that entropy change behaves fundamentally differently in the forward time direction to the backward time direction. This is absolutely not the case. In the general case, entropy increases in the backward time direction in just the same way as it increases in the forward time direction: change of entropy is symmetrical with time. (However, a very small minority of physicists might still believe change of entropy is time-asymmetric - see my comments at the bottom of this discussion with the notoriously tetchy physicist Luboš Motl here).
The probabilistic basis of the second law of thermodynamics simply says that a system will have many more possible disordered states than ordered states, so a system which changes state randomly will most likely move to a more disordered state. This seems very clear and obvious - such a simple statement is never going to be the cause of something so mysterious as fundamental time-asymmetry. Indeed, this change to a more disordered state is just as applicable in the reverse time direction as in the forward time direction: it's just a change of state, independent of time.
But what about the second law of thermodynamics which states that "entropy increases with time"? This seems to imply a fundamental time-asymmetry to entropy. But we have to realise that the second law only applies to special-case systems: objects with low entropy, the sort of objects we generally encounter in everyday life (rusting cars, etc.). In fact, if we consider general-case objects (i.e., objects in thermal equilibrium), objects which have never been arranged into any sort of order, then their entropy is at a maximum already so their entropy can only decrease with time - completely at odds with the second law!
This generally-held misconception that change of entropy is fundamentally time-asymmetrical is revealed by the Loschmidt paradox. The Loschmidt paradox considers the apparently fundamental time-asymmetry of entropy implied by the second law and states that this is at odds with the known time symmetry of fundamental processes. It is only when we realise that the second law is frequently badly stated and hence contains unstated assumptions (which have been just considered) that the Loschmidt paradox is resolved. (Wikipedia describes this resolution of the paradox, showing how one of the key assumptions of Boltzmann's version of the second law of thermodynamics was flawed - see here).
But if change of entropy is time-symmetric, why do we see the entropy of the universe as only increasing? Roger Penrose considers this question in his book The Road to Reality. Penrose considers what we might expect to happen if we trace the entropy of the universe back in time from the state it is in now. If change of entropy is really time-symmetrical, then we should expect to see entropy increasing as we trace the universe into the past, just as we will see entropy increasing into the future. But we know, in fact, that the universe had a lower entropy in the past: i.e., the entropy of the universe actually reduces in the past. So where does this asymmetry come from?
As Roger Penrose goes on to reveal, the time-asymmetry of change of entropy within the universe is explained by the extraordinarily low entropy of the universe at its origin:
Basically, the low-entropy past of the universe "fixes" the experiment. If we want to get a symmetrical answer then we have to be careful to conduct a symmetrical experiment. Rather than starting with a special-case low entropy universe, we have to imagine a universe which started in thermal equilibrium and has reached its current state unaided, purely by chance:
After that low-entropy point is reached, we then see entropy starting to increase according to the second law. But the key thing is that if we trace the entropy of the universe back in time past the low-entropy point we now see that symmetry that Roger Penrose sought. Hence, change of entropy is fundamentally symmetrical.
In fact, throughout this discussion on the arrow of time we will find that the arrow of time is caused by the time-symmetric second law of thermodynamics, together with the very special, low-entropy initial conditions of the universe.
(This discussion on time-symmetric entropy change is based on an example by J. Richard Gott in his book Time Travel in Einstein's Universe in which the role of the universe is played by an ice cube - see here. The ice cube example is considered in detail in Chapter 6 of Brian Greene's book The Fabric of the Cosmos.)
We all have a very strong feeling of a directionality of time, which has a flow in a forwards direction. As Michael Lockwood says in his book The Labyrinth of Time: "We regard the forward direction in time, in stark contrast to the backward direction, as the direction in which causality is permitted to operate. Causes, we assume, can precede their effects, but cannot follow them."
But we have just seen how physical processes appear to be time-symmetrical, with no distinction between the forward and backward directions. So where does that leave causality? As Michael Lockwood again says about the passage of time: "We find no hint of this in the formalism of Newtonian physics. Not only is there no explicit reference to a passage or flow of time; there is not even any reference to cause and effect. Indeed, there is not even any directionality".
"But", you might protest, "surely causality works in only one direction: forwards in time? I kick a football - the football doesn't kick me." Well, let's consider the example immediately below of forward causality. We see a snooker cue coming in from the left, hitting the white ball, which then causes the white ball to hit the red ball:
However, if you shoot a movie of that sequence, and then play it backwards, it still makes perfect physical sense. As you can see below, we then have the red ball coming in from the right, hitting the white ball, which then causes the white ball to hit the cue backwards. So, because of the symmetry of the laws of physics, this process of causality - which we thought only applied to the forward direction of time - in fact applies equally to the backward direction of time as well:
The reason why we don't see causality happening in the backward direction is purely because of a bias in our psychological systems: something about the complexity of our psychological system (our brains!) causes our thought processes to work only in the forward direction of time (this will be considered below). The great advantage of recording the sequence on a movie and then playing the movie backwards (to reveal the time symmetry of causality) is that a movie camera works in a much more simple fashion than our brains and thus has no such psychological bias in the forward direction: it works in exactly the same way forward as backward.
So if causality is time-symmetrical, we could in fact think of our current situations are being caused by time-reversed future events as much as by past events! For example, as I sit here by my desk in work this morning, I could consider my position as being caused by me being in my apartment this evening, and driving my car from there backward in time, backward down the road the work, to put me in work this morning! It's a bit brain-bending, but it's equally valid as saying "I got up this morning, and drove forwards to work". It seems strange, but that's only because of our psychological bias. The movie of my complete day at work would tell the correct (time-reversible) story.
The Quantum Mechanical Arrow of Time
As has just been explained, almost all known physical principles (from Newtonian mechanics through to Einstein's relativity) have a completely symmetric treatment of past and future. Nowhere in any of these equations is there anything which distinguishes a forward direction of time from a backward direction of time. The exception to this rule appears to be quantum mechanics. On the page on The Quantum Casino it was explained how, when we make a measurement of a quantum observable, there is a "collapse of the wavefunction" in which a probability wave collapses to generate a single observed value from a range of possible values. This process appears to work in the forward time direction only, i.e., it is irreversible.
An explanation for this apparent "collapse of the wavefunction" is presented in detail on the page on Quantum Decoherence, so I don't want to repeat it here. Suffice to say that the coherent phase relationships of the interference terms are destroyed when a particle interacts with the environment. The dissipation of these terms into the wider environment can be interpreted in terms of increasing entropy (again, see the section on "Decoherence and Entropy" on the Quantum Decoherence page for full details). Quantum decoherence can then be understood as a thermodynamic process: after decoherence, the process is said to be thermodynamically irreversible.
So once again the underlying physical principles appear to be time symmetric, with no fundamental preference for either the forward or backward time direction. The apparent arrow of time produced by the "collapse of the wavefunction" is once again shown to be a result of increasing entropy. As Andreas Albrecht explains in his paper Cosmic Inflation and the Arrow of Time (when considering decoherence in the double-slit experiment): "A double-slit electron striking a photographic plate is only a good quantum measurement to the extent that the photographic plate is well constructed, and has a very low probability of re-emitting the electron in the coherent 'double slit' state. Good photographic plates are possible because of the thermodynamic arrow of time: the electron striking the plate puts the internal degrees of freedom of the plate into a higher entropy state, which is essentially impossible to reverse. Furthermore, different electron positions on the plate become entangled with different states of the internal degrees of freedom, so there is essentially no interference between positions of the electron. From this point of view, the quantum mechanical arrow of time is none other than the thermodynamic arrow of time."
Why can't we remember the future?
If physical processes all appear to be time-reversible at a fundamental level, we might ask the question "Why can't we remember the future?" After all, we can remember the past, and physics seems to make no distinction between past, present, and future. So why don't we already have prior knowledge of what is going to happen in the future?
In order to answer this question, we shall consider the reasoning of James Hartle which is based around the radiative arrow of time:
The Radiative Arrow of Time
In his paper The Physics of "Now", James Hartle makes the point that the reason we can't remember the future is because we have not yet received any information about future events. This thinking is based on the idea of a "light cone", the shape of which is defined by the speed of light:
At first glance, this might seem a very straightforward explanation of why we are unable to remember the future: it takes time for a light ray (photons) carrying information to reach us from a distant event. Basically, in the future we will have more information about distant events than we have at present. It is hard to imagine a situation in which light behaves differently - it would appear that light will always take time to travel from a point A to a point B:
This principle - that light will always take time, travelling forwards in time between two points - is called the radiative arrow of time (also known as the electromagnetic arrow of time). But this apparently clear-cut principle is not as clear-cut as it first appears. It turns out that the "world line" of the photon is the same for a photon travelling forwards in time from point A to B as it is for a photon travelling backward in time from point B to point A:
In fact, if we temporarily forget about the little arrows on the world lines (which indicate "cause" and "effect") then we see that the world lines of both the forward and backward photons are precisely identical:
This principle is clearly illustrated by a Feynman diagram of particle interactions which can be rotated at will, showing particle interactions work exactly the same backward in time as forward in time:
It makes no sense to talk about the entropy of a single photon (entropy is a statistical property of a large group of particles), so a single photon has no arrow of time. However, we do not receive our information about distant events in the form of single photons. Rather, it appears we receive information in the form of light rays which are composed of billions of photons (bosons are quite happy to congregate in the same state, and gather together in a cooperative fashion to create light rays). For this reason, studies of the radiative arrow of time have concentrated on studying the Maxwell electromagnetic field equations which treats light as a field with a wave nature (rather than considering the path of individual particles).
It is often quoted that Maxwell's electromagnetic field equations are time-reversible and so allow for advanced (backward-in-time) waves as well as retarded (forward-in-time) waves. However, in practice it is much easier to produce a retarded wave than an advanced wave, and this reveals the limitations of Maxwell's equations as a full description of the behaviour of light. We need to combine Maxwell's equations with something else in order to derive a radiative arrow of time.
James Hartle attempts to use Maxwell's equations to deduce the radiative arrow of time in Appendix A of his aforementioned paper The Physics of "Now" which is called The Cosmological Origin of Time's Arrow. His approach (based on principles described in H. Dieter Zeh's book The Physical Basis for the Direction of Time) combines the time-symmetric Maxwell's equations with the time-asymmetric boundary conditions of the universe as a whole (he considers the asymmetrical total amount of electromagnetic radiation). The approach suggests that because there were no free electromagnetic fields at the start of the universe, but there are fields in the future, those fields must all be caused by retarded waves that have their sources in the past. However, I don't see how the radiative arrow of time can depend on the total of electromagnetic fields in the universe in this way. There's no equivalent of the second law of thermodynamics (increasing entropy) for electromagnetic fields. The total of electromagnetic field in an isolated system does not tend to increase (as is the case with entropy). The radiative arrow of time must surely depend on the increasing sum total of entropy in the universe, not the total of electromagnetic field. Surely the radiative arrow of time must have the same cause as the thermodynamic arrow of time.
At the beginning of the last century, Walter Ritz proposed that only retarded (forward-in-time) waves were physically possible (i.e., the process was fundamentally time-asymmetric). In 1908 and 1909 he had a famous argument with Einstein over this matter, as Einstein believed the process was fundamentally symmetric and could be explained by thermodynamic arguments (see here). It turns out that it is easier to create a light ray in the forward time direction as the behaviour of the billions of photons as they are produced (by an ordered source such as a light bulb) and scattered (when they reach a target) can be understood in turns of increasing entropy: "This arrow has been reversed in carefully-worked experiments which have created convergent waves, so this arrow probably follows from the thermodynamic arrow in that meeting the conditions to produce a convergent wave requires more order than the conditions for a radiative wave. Put differently, the probability for initial conditions that produce a convergent wave is much lower than the probability for initial conditions that produce a radiative wave. In fact, normally a radiative wave increases entropy, while a convergent wave decreases it." (see the Wikipedia article on the Arrow of Time). Hence, the reason we do not see convergent, advanced waves can be explained in terms of entropy.
When I turn on an electric light, for example, the photons leave the bulb in a relatively ordered form. The photons then radiate away from the bulb, redistributing themselves around the room (i.e., a radiative wave), creating a state of greater disorder - increased entropy. As Andreas Albrecht explains in his paper Cosmic Inflation and the Arrow of Time: "The complete absence of the time-reverse of radiation absorption is understood to be one feature of the thermodynamic arrow of time in our world. A hillside absorbing an evening news broadcast is entering a higher entropy state, and the entropy would have to decrease for any of the troublesome time-reversed cases to take place. So in the end, the radiation arrow of time is none other than the thermodynamic arrow of time."
Could it be possible to remember the future?
If we consider the hypothetical situation in which we have found a way to circumvent the limitations imposed by the radiative arrow of time, it is interesting to ask if it could ever be possible to remember the future. And, if so, what would our "memories" by like?
In this respect, the Scottish philosopher Donald Mackay suggested an interesting "thought experiment". Mackay wondered if it could ever be possible to predict how someone will behave in the future, and, if so, what would be the consequences for human free will. If we had complete knowledge of the current state of a person's brain, would we be able to accurately predict a person's actions in the short-term future? Basically, if we are able to predict how a person will behave - and the decisions they will make - in the future then human free will is shown to be a fallacy, an illusion.
However, Mackay suggested that it would be impossible to predict a person's future decisions if that predicted future was made known to the person. This is because the person could then choose to act in a different way from how you have told him he will behave. This is described by John D. Barrow in his book Impossibility: "Consider a person who is asked to choose between soup or salad for lunch. If we introduce a brain scientist who not only knows the complete state of this person's brain, but that of the entire universe as well at present, we could ask whether this scientist can infallibly announce what the choice of lunch will be. The answer is 'No'. The subject can always be stubborn, and adopt a strategy that says 'If you say that I will choose soup, then I will choose salad, and vice versa'. Under these conditions it is logically impossible for the scientist to predict infallibly what the person will choose if the scientist makes his prediction known."
So if a person gains access to knowledge about his future behaviour, it would appear that it becomes impossible to predict that future. But this knowledge about future behaviour is precisely what a person will gain if he is able to remember the future. So if a person is able to remember the future, he could then choose to act in a different way to how his memory of the future tells him he will act! There would appear to be a logical inconsistency here: if a person is able to remember the future, then those memories of the future instantly become unreliable. Therefore, it would appear to be impossible to "remember the future".
As an example, here's how Dilbert might behave if he could remember the future: | <urn:uuid:3ab5fd70-76a4-4ab3-b9bf-9162bdadc8d9> | 2013-05-24T01:45:28Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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(By Balaseshan) WestAmerica Bancorporation (NASDAQ: WABC) reported a 12.2% decrease in quarterly earnings due to lower yields on loans and investment securities as well as reduced loan volumes. Despite revenue missing consensus, earnings came in line with Street's expectations.
Earnings for the fourth quarter were $19.14 million or $0.70 per share, down from $21.81 million or $0.77 per share last year.
Revenue fell 11.3% to $60.48 million, due to lower net interest income and non-interest income.
Analysts, on average, polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a profit of $0.70 on revenue of $61.01 million for the fourth quarter.
In the third quarter, the company posted earnings of $0.73 per share on revenue of $63.34 million.
Net interest income fell 13.3% to $46.28 million, due to reductions in yields on loans and investment securities, which have declined during this period of low market interest rates, as well as lower loan volumes, placing greater reliance on lower-yielding investment securities.
Net interest margin on a fully taxable equivalent basis was 4.49% for the latest quarter, compared to 4.67% for the prior quarter and 5.24% for the fourth quarter 2011.
Non-interest income declined 4.5% to $14.19 million. The provision for loan losses was $2.8 million, unchanged from the prior quarter and fourth quarter 2011.
At December 31, 2012, Westamerica Bancorp's tangible common equity-to-asset ratio was 8.6%, assets totaled $5.0 billion and loans outstanding totaled $2.1 billion.
WABC is trading down 1.21% at $44.18 on Thursday. The stock has been trading between $40.50 and $49.53 for the past 52 weeks. | <urn:uuid:5fc1316b-3b7a-41b8-aba3-bb0cbbd73108> | 2013-05-24T01:58:07Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Nottinghamshire Police have released this CCTV footage in an appeal for witnesses to a brutal robbery that happened in September, this year.
Christian Lecoutier was attacked from behind by two men. He suffered a fractured eye socket and skull before they stole his rucksack.
The CCTV shows two men, one in black and the other in white, walking behind Mr Lecoutier, shortly before the attack. Police want to speak to these two men in connection with the incident. | <urn:uuid:15dc12d2-cb22-45f1-92b4-5261d1bbe79e> | 2013-05-24T01:45:38Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Germany came from behind to beat France for the first time since 1987 with a 2-1 win in Paris.
Mathieu Valbuena provided the finishing touch to a dramatic, action-packed first half by putting Les Bleus in front, but Thomas Muller and Sami Khedira turned the tables in the second 45 minutes as Germany started the year with a win.
Although Germany's second goal should have been ruled out for offside, they had arguably done enough to celebrate victory in the French capital.
The entertainment level in the Stade de France started high and never subsided with both nations keen on attacking.
Germany's Real Madrid midfielder Mesut Ozil had the first big chance of the game in the sixth minute, but he was denied in a one-on-one situation by Hugo Lloris.
Lloris was the busier of the two goalkeepers as Germany were more incisive with their attacks, and he made a good save to push a header from Per Mertesacker behind in the 21st minute.
France lacked precision with their attacks and Valbuena missed the target in the 27th minute before Rene Adler passed his first test of the night by denying Karim Benzema.
Benzema left Adler no chance with a free-kick in the 44th minute, but the woodwork came to the Hamburg goalkeeper's rescue, although he was beaten on the rebound as Moussa Sissoko headed the ball across to Valbuena, who nodded it in from close range to give the hosts the lead just before the break.
Germany levelled early in the second half with Bayern Munich forward Muller picking his spot in the far corner after good work by Ilkay Gundogan.
Franck Ribery went within a hair's breadth of putting the French in front again in the 68th minute before he set up Benzema, whose shot was blocked by Muller in the 73rd minute.
Germany then raced up to the other end to take the lead.
Ozil slid the ball through to his Madrid team-mate Khedira, who took a touch before poking the ball into the far corner as Lloris raced off his goal to meet him.
The Germany midfielder was in an offside position when he made his run to latch onto Ozil's intelligent ball, but the linesman's flag remained down, allowing Germany to celebrate the winning goal and their first victory in a year-opening fixture since 2008.
It was also Germany's first win over France in over 25 years, although it was only sealed after the linesman's flag was correctly raised at the other end to deny France an equaliser through Olivier Giroud in the last minute. | <urn:uuid:c80f9bcd-72d9-47a4-a085-f56b8d6922f6> | 2013-05-24T02:06:52Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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today is Chuck Norris' 70th birthday. he's not really 70 years old, people just haven't figured out yet to count his age in Chuck years instead of normal human years. here are some Chuck Norris facts though that THE Chuck Norris picked out as some of his favorites:
When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he
checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them
down until he gets the information he wants.
There is no theory of evolution. Just a list of
creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.
Outer space exists because it's afraid to be on
the same planet with Chuck Norris.
Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.
Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law
and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.
Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.
Chuck Norris counted to infinity - twice.
There is no chin behind Chuck Norris’ beard.
There is only another fist.
When Chuck Norris does a pushup, he isn't lifting
himself up, he's pushing the Earth down.
Chuck Norris is so fast, he can run around the
world and punch himself in the back of the head.
Chuck Norris' hand is the only hand that can beat
a Royal Flush.
Chuck Norris can lead a horse to water AND make
Chuck Norris doesn’t wear a watch. HE decides
what time it is.
Chuck Norris can slam a revolving door.
Chuck Norris does not get frostbite. Chuck Norris
Remember the Soviet Union? They decided to quit
after watching a DeltaForce marathon on Satellite TV.
Contrary to popular belief, America is not a
democracy, it is a Chucktatorship. | <urn:uuid:27d35698-1919-4bab-b953-4b3d8332f92a> | 2013-05-24T01:30:30Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Last edited by aussiemcgr; October 15th, 2010 at 04:42 PM.
NOTE TO NEW PEOPLE LOOKING FOR HELP ON FORUM:
When asking for help, please follow these guidelines to receive better and more prompt help:
1. Put your code in Java Tags. To do this, put [highlight=java] before your code and [/highlight] after your code.
2. Give full details of errors and provide us with as much information about the situation as possible.
3. Give us an example of what the output should look like when done correctly.
Join the Airline Management Simulation Game to manage your own airline against other users in a virtual recreation of the United States Airline Industry. For more details, visit: http://airlinegame.orgfree.com/ | <urn:uuid:73053c79-31dc-4175-8b57-65f611db34cf> | 2013-05-24T02:07:26Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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I am 28 yrs old, love to chill (pretty much do nothing), read, travel, go to the beach, and hang out with friends and family. My personality is very funny, spontaneous, and relax.. I find humor in everything. I believe since life is so sweet, precious, and beautiful we should try to stay happy as much as possible. What are you passionate about? This might sound weird, but I am very passionate about my business. I started my business out of college and seeing it grow, makes me proud. | <urn:uuid:a2ccea53-b0b0-4b02-acef-66f274a8d199> | 2013-05-24T02:06:30Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Natural mint oil spray aids in the acceptance of a foster mother with orphan colts, calves, lambs, or goats. Cover foster mothers eyes and generously apply MotherUP™ directly on nose and mouth. Second, cover orphan's eyes and spray generously to the back of its head, then allow the orphan to nurse.
* Note: 1 application generally works, but application may need to be repeated in 12 hours.
Customers Ratings and Reviews
Write an online review and share your thoughts with other customers | <urn:uuid:fd346175-6066-4fc4-8ca7-d2a56ecc43ba> | 2013-05-24T01:30:01Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Mussar is a thousand-year-old Jewish system for personal growth, specifically in the realm of character improvement. Mussar provides a distinctively Jewish answer to the sorts of questions any thinking person asks about life:
This 20-part course gives an overview of the basic concepts and practices of Mussar. The course examines a variety of character traits -- truth, anger, kindness, gratitude and others -- that are the stepping stones on the journey toward spiritual greatness. Students will be guided in a practical system for how to track and measure their spiritual progress.
This course also features 8 dynamic video segments.
Are there areas of your character you want to improve? Mussar is a great way to get there.
Each class features a dynamic essay that includes stories, insights, thought questions, and spiritual exercises. These essays can be read online, or printed in a beautiful PDF format. The course also includes 8 video presentations.
Part One: Foundations
Part Two: Character Traits
Part Three: Conclusion | <urn:uuid:875b4ad4-cf78-40ec-a808-3d2b0f361b5a> | 2013-05-24T01:38:05Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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use exponent rules to simplify. Write as a single power, dont need to find the value. [ (11/20)^4 x (11/20)^-8]^5 and (11/20)^-6 you cant leave an number to the power of a negative exponent. You have to change it like this ex : 2^-3 = 1/2^3 = 1/8
-A store sells 28 ounces of peanut butter for $2.24. The store also sells 32 ounces of teh same peanut butter for $2.40. Which is a better buy?
12. The Delhi Sultanate ruler Radiyya first took power chiefly because A. she proved herself in battle. B. she wore men's clothes. C. she killed her brother. D. her father chose her as his successor. I chose c
Ok can u Atleast check if it makes sense? I wanna pass
I found it can i send a recording??
R these correct??plz help En la 11. ___________ te llamé. De la oscuridad me llamaste. Reconocí tu 12. ___________. Reconociste la mia. Vente para acá, 13. ___________. Respondiste: ¿Dónde estás, papá? No te 14...
😭 Thanks anyway:(
No I listen to the cd and fill in the blanks
For Further Reading | <urn:uuid:beec3909-35ce-41c5-bfaa-4daa1e72dbc1> | 2013-05-24T01:52:20Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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What would Jesus ask you today?
"Do you believe I can do this?" - Matthew 9:28.
Most people answer this question with a resounding "yes." They know God can do anything. The real question is whether or not they believe He will do this for them now at their point of need. Then most would respond, "I'm not sure," or a straight up, "No!" Is there any unbelief working in your life that is preventing God from doing something for you personally, right now? What can you do to activate your faith to expect God to do good things for you? Read Matthew 14:25-26 and see how the faith of those who reached out to touch Jesus' garments were healed. Then find a way to reach out and touch Him yourself. | <urn:uuid:df7f3b55-bf5d-4ed5-9506-e42a8e7b0e4a> | 2013-05-24T01:37:02Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Raja Khan formed in the Summer of 2009 by brothers Gilahd (Guitar/Vocals) and Raphael Yefet (Percussion). Soon after, long time friend Ben Bersson (Bass) joined the band with a new force, creating the unmistakable sound of Raja Khan. They soon gained a following and a great reputation as a local band, playing at various clubs across Miami and eventually creating a new movement in the Miami music scene. In August 2010, Raja Khan released their debut album, “Sons,” featuring Elijah Rigaud on the saxaphone. They are currently working on a new album which will be released in 2011. | <urn:uuid:e4e11bff-1ede-4232-82e5-8cb6948010ec> | 2013-05-24T01:44:47Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Kom Ombo is an agricultural town in Egypt famous for its temple. It was originally an Egyptian city called Nubt, meaning City of Gold (not to be confused with the city north of Naqada that was also called Nubt/Ombos). It became a Greek settlement during the Greco-Roman Period. The town's location on the Nile 50 km north of Aswan (Syene) gave it some control over trade routes from Nubia to the Nile Valley, but its main rise to prominence came with the erection of the temple in the 2nd century BC.
In antiquity the city was in the Thebaid, the capital of the Nomos Ombites, upon the east bank of the Nile. Ombos was a garrison town under every dynasty of Egypt, Pharaonic, Macedonian, and Roman, and was celebrated for the magnificence of its temples and its hereditary feud with the people of Tentyra.
Ombos was the first city below Syene at which any remarkable remains of antiquity occur. The Nile, indeed, at this portion of its course, was ill-suited to a dense population in antiquity. It runs between steep and narrow banks of sandstone, and deposits but little of its fertilizing slime upon the dreary and barren shores. There are two temples at Ombos, constructed of the stone obtained from the neighboring quarries of Hadjar-selseleh. The more magnificent of two stands upon the top of a sandy hill, and appears to have been a species of Pantheon, since, according to extant inscriptions, it was dedicated to Aroeres (Apollo) and the other deities of the Ombite nome by the soldiers quartered there. The smaller temple to the northwest was sacred to Isis. Both, indeed, are of an imposing architecture, and still retain the brilliant colors with which their builders adorned them. They are, however, of the Ptolemaic age, with the exception of a doorway of sandstone, built into a wall of brick. This was part of a temple built by Tuthmosis III in honor of the crocodile-headed god Sobek. The monarch is represented on tress, the door-jambs, holding the measuring reed and chisel, the emblems of construction, and in the act of dedicating the temple. The Ptolemaic portions of the larger temple present an exception to an almost universal rule in Egyptian architecture. It has no propylon or dromos in front of it, and the portico has an uneven number of columns, in all fifteen, arranged in a triple row. Of these columns thirteen are still erect. As there are two principal entrances, the temple would seem to be two united in one, strengthening the supposition that it was the Pantheon of the Ombite nome. On a cornice above the doorway of one of the adyta is a Greek inscription, recording the erection, or perhaps the restoration of the sekos by Ptolemy VI Philometor and his sister-wife Cleopatra II, 180-145 BC. The hill on which the Ombite temples stand has been considerably excavated at its base by the river, which here strongly inclines to the Arabian bank.
The crocodile was held in special honor by the people of Ombos, and in the adjacent catacombs are occasionally found mummies of the sacred animal. Juvenal, in his 15th satire, has given a lively description of a fight, of which he was an eye-witness, between the Ombitae and the inhabitants of Tentyra, who were hunters of the crocodile. On this occasion the men of Ombos had the worst of it, and one of their number, having stumbled in his flight, was caught and eaten by the Tentyrites. The satirist, however, has represented Ombos as nearer to Tentyra than it actually is, these towns, in fact, being nearly 100 miles from each other. The Roman coins of the Ombite nome exhibit the crocodile and the effigy of the crocodile-headed god Sobek.
In Kom Ombo there is a rare engraved image of Cleopatra VII in the walls of the main temple and also the engraving of what is though to be the first representation of medical instruments for performing surgery, including scalpels, curettes, forceps, dilator, scissors, and medicine bottles dating from the days of the Roman Egypt.
The city was a bishopric before the Muslim conquest, and Ombos was a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church, Ombi, which has been vacant since 1966. Karol Wojtyła (the future Pope John Paul II) was titular bishop of Ombi from 1958 until 1963, when he was appointed Archbishop of Kraków.
JOURNEYS trips that include Kom Ombo:
Ancient Wonders of Egypt
Egypt Desert Oases & the Nile Valley
Information based on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kom_Ombo | <urn:uuid:36b306c2-6b9a-4b00-ad69-edb54ed5af19> | 2013-05-24T01:29:34Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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In a speech published on his website Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad said the ultimate goal of world forces must be the
annihilation of Israel.
Speaking to ambassadors from Islamic
countries ahead of 'Qods Day' ('Jerusalem Day'), an annual Iranian
anti-Zionist event established in 1979 by Ayatollah Khomeini and which
falls this year on August 17, Ahmadinejad said that a "horrible Zionist
current" had been managing world affairs for "about 400 years."
traditional anti-Semitic slurs, the Iranian president accused "Zionists"
of controlling the world's media and financial systems.
It was Zionists, he said, who were “behind the scene of the world’s main powers, media, monetary and banking centers.”
are the decision makers, to the extent that the presidential election
hopefuls [of the USA] must go and kiss the feet of the Zionists to
ensure their election victory,” he added.
Ahmadinejad added that
"liberating Palestine" would solve all the world's problems, although he
did not elaborate on exactly how that might work.
“Qods Day is
not merely a strategic solution for the Palestinian problem, as it is to
be viewed as a key for solving the world problems," he said.
added: "Anyone who loves freedom and justice must strive for the
annihilation of the Zionist regime in order to pave the way for world
justice and freedom.”
The Iranian president said that Israel
reinforced "the dominance of arrogant powers in the region and across
the globe" and that Arab countries in particular - he cited Bahrain,
Yemen, Libya, Syria and Turkey - were affected by Israel's "plots."
who has called the Holocaust a myth, has previously called for Israel's
annihilation, in a 2005 speech in which he used a Persian phrase that
translates literally as "wiped off the page of time." | <urn:uuid:7e72ceed-990c-4b05-8523-a32aaba7353e> | 2013-05-24T01:32:36Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Knowledge Management for Computational Problem Solving
D. T. Lee (Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taiwan)
G. C. Lee (Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taiwan)
Y. W. Huang (Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica, Taiwan)
Abstract: Algorithmic research is an established knowledge engineering process that has allowed researchers to identify new or significant problems, to better understand existing approaches and experimental results, and to obtain new, effective and efficient solutions. While algorithmic researchers regularly contribute to this knowledge base by proposing new problems and novel solutions, the processes currently used to share this knowledge are inefficient, resulting in unproductive overhead. Most of these publication-centred processes lack explicit high-level knowledge structures to support efficient knowledge management. The authors describe a problem-centred collaborative knowledge management architecture associated with Computational Problem Solving (CPS). Specifically we articulate the structure and flow of such knowledge by making in-depth analysis of the needs of algorithmic researchers, and then extract the ontology. We also propose a knowledge flow measurement methodology to provide human-centred evaluations of research activities within the knowledge structure. This measurement enables us to highlight active research topics and to identify influential researchers. The collaborative knowledge management architecture was realized by implementing an Open Computational Problem Solving (OpenCPS) Knowledge Portal, which is an open-source project accessible at http://www.opencps.org.
Keywords: algorithmic research, collaborative knowledge management architecture, knowledge flow measurement, knowledge management, openCPS, problem-centred
Categories: H.1, H.3, H.4 | <urn:uuid:c9dd413c-6927-4efb-a3f1-ff77496eab33> | 2013-05-24T02:04:13Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Definition of a Crime Victim
The Attorney General's Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance define a victim as a person that has suffered direct physical, emotional, or pecuniary harm as a result of the commission of a federal crime. If the victim is a non governmental institution, such as a bank or corporation, this definition includes a representative of that institution. Government agencies are not considered victims for the purpose of victim services but federal government employees who are harmed in the performance of their duties are considered victims. If the victim is deceased, under 18 years of age, incompetent or incapacitated, this definition includes one of the following persons (in order of preference): a spouse, a legal guardian, a parent, a child, a sibling, another family member; or another person designated by the court.
Definition of a Witness
The Attorney General's Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance define a witness as a person who has information or evidence concerning a crime, and provides information regarding his or her knowledge to a law enforcement agency. Where the witness is a minor, the term witness includes an appropriate family member or legal guardian. The term witness does not include a person who is solely a defense witness.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office will make its best efforts to ensure your rights are protected. You may seek the advice of an attorney with respect to these rights. If you believe that an employee of the United States Attorney’s Office failed to provide you with one or more of these rights, you may file an administrative complaint, as provided under 28 CFR §45.10. Please contact the United States Attorney’s Office to obtain information about these procedures. | <urn:uuid:b4ac4900-9a11-413b-86a6-cd361d788d54> | 2013-05-24T01:31:37Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Kane area Republicans gave solid support Tuesday to Mitt Romney for President in a lackluster primary election.
Nationwide, Romney appears to be the Republican nominee to oppose incumbent Democrat incumbent President Barack Obama in the Nov. 6 general election.
Romney was heavily favored by Republicans in virtually every polling place in the Kane area.
In the borough of Kane, Romney led with 55 votes in the First Ward, 45 votes in the Third Ward and 16 votes in the Fourth Ward.
In the Second Ward, Rick Santorum edged Romney by a vote of 9-7.
âItâs pretty amazing!â
Thatâs how meteorologist Aaron Tyburski describes the Monday-Tuesday snowstorm in the Kane area.
âItâs the biggest storm of the season,â Tyburski said Tuesday. He said the storm dumped between six and eight inches of snow on the area.
The meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in State College said some areas near Kane might have received less than six inches. On the other hand, he said some areas received more than eight inches. | <urn:uuid:4b5299bb-db86-4fd4-ac53-4d7dedf58459> | 2013-05-24T01:52:45Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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People in the mountains celebrated festivities with the harvest yielded in the fields on the holy territory within the house of worship. Part of the harvested crops was used in ritual bread baking and beer brewing. The first spring works in Khevsureti started by plowing cornfield. On a Friday, the chief of the community would stand on the flat deck roof of one of the houses and announce the beginning of plowing. It was an obligatory work for all, and once the people finished plowing the area, then they would start working on their own patches of land.
It is interesting to note, that as the process of harvest served the divine deeds, it acquired a ritual character. When it was the time to reap the fields, the chief of clan would announce so and appoint the day of reaping. By this time the beer would have been brewed, the parish would get together, select the sacrificial animals and would sacrifice to the deity. The chief would open the beer cask and fill the silver chalices, light the candles nearby the offerings, and chief say prayers. Everybody would toast with beer to the glory of the house of worship. Then the chief would go out into the field with the sickle, cut some barley, and then hand the sickle to the reapers. The latter were offered the drink by people carrying the tuns with beer. Reaping was accompanied with songs. After the process was finished, one of the reapers would start chanting, "God bless the Iakhsar and the Iakhsar bless your people" (Iakhsar is one of the pagan deities of the people of Tusheti, Khevsureti, Pshavi) and the people around would start echoing and this meant that the reaping was over.
The crop harvested in the holy field was considered sacred. If the house of worship had its own barn, the harvest would be stored there. If not, then it would be taken to the cleanest attic of one of the houses, which was strictly guarded. It was such a sacred product that its theft, appropriation or wasting in any way was strictly precluded. The most of the wheat crop was used in beer brewery, which was the main ritual drink and no blessings and toasting would be possible without this drink at the feasts. | <urn:uuid:b7f52e94-5f28-457f-9633-8f3769d70b4d> | 2013-05-24T01:51:26Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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lwd wrote:I seem to recall reading that there were usually British subs stationed off Brest as well. I'm not at all convinced the LW at that range could keep the British ships off Bismarck. They likely would have inflicted some damage but not enough to prevent Bismarck receiving considerably more. The RN could have launched at least one more torpedo strike vs Bismarck as well. Whether the LW could intercept it would also be a matter of some luck.
Users browsing this forum: Google Adsense [Bot] and 4 guests | <urn:uuid:7be41605-ef2c-4241-80a6-38192b4cebde> | 2013-05-24T01:50:39Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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When in Amsterdam, do what the tourists do.
Lady Gaga kept it superloose during a concert stop in the Netherlands capital, taking a few hits off a big fat joint that was passed to the "Poker Face" singer by one of her little Monsters.
Of course, that's par for the course in Holland, where smoking marijuana is legal (and for the Dutch no big deal).
"You guys having fun?" the pop superstar asked her fans after parking herself at the front of the stage.
Gaga then pulled out a cigarette, but discarded it in favor of the spliff that spontaneously appeared from the crowd.
"Is it real?" she wondered as she took a whiff. "Oh, it's real. F--kin A."
After a few puffs, the hitmaker tossed the joint back to the fans.
"And for those of you who are wondering if I'm high right now, I am not. That is not nearly enough to get me high," Gaga giggled.
The crooner then accepted a few other pot-themed gifts from other fans—among them a drawing of Gaga over a marijuana leaf and a "Mary Jane" T-shirt.
Meanwhile Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball tour across the pond marches on, making stops in the coming week in Berlin, Paris and Zurich among other European cities. | <urn:uuid:348d4a68-5a5f-4f04-becd-8ff7a9ca4cc9> | 2013-05-24T01:30:15Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Hair transplants are another treatment for male pattern baldness. The procedure is expensive and often requires multiple surgeries. The final effect may not be an improvement and may look artificial.
Of course, some people treat hair loss with a new hairstyle, hair weave, hairpiece, wig, scarf, or hat. Others embrace the idea that "bald is beautiful." Whatever you decide, there are many ways to handle hair loss. | <urn:uuid:7f36b87a-813e-43a3-afc1-d71647c7a0b4> | 2013-05-24T01:31:25Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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One family cheered and wept with joy Friday while another family vowed to stay strong to see justice served.
At the orders of the Missouri Supreme Court, Mark Woodworth walked out of the Livingston County Jail just before noon Friday after posting a $50,000 bond.
Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster vowed to retry Woodworth. He has been convicted twice before.
Woodworth, 38, repeatedly said Friday that he was overwhelmed to be free. He thanked his friends and relatives for their support, and said his faith has carried him through the difficult moments.
"I knew there would be a day," he said about his release. "It feels great to finally be home with my family."
Woodworth has been serving a life sentence in the fatal shooting of Cathy Robertson, the wife of his father's farming partner. Husband Lyndel Robertson survived the attack, which occurred while they were asleep in bed.
Just 16 at the time of the shootings, Woodworth has maintained his innocence ever since a grand jury indicted him in 1993.
Woodworth's latest conviction was thrown out in January when the state's high court ruled state prosecutors had failed to share evidence with Woodworth that could have helped his defense.
The defense is vowing to try to prove evidence pointing to another suspect in a retrial. They also hope to get the courts to bar a third trial, saying prosecutorial and judicial misconduct justifies the charges be thrown out.
Rhonda Oesch, the victims' daughter, said Woodworth is guilty and she believes he will be convicted in a third trial. She said it makes her sick to think she has to go through a third trial, but said she would do it for her mother.
"The truth is that Mark Woodworth did it. You can't place the bullet in someone else's pocket and you can't place the gun in someone else's hands. It's in Mark Woodworth's pocket and it's in Mark Woodworth's hand," she said.
The victim's family issued a statement Thursday.
The following is the statement in its entirety:
Our family stands united in our pursuit of justice for the murder of our beloved Cathy Robertson. While we believe Mark Woodworth should spend his life behind bars for brutally murdering our mother Cathy Robertson and critically assaulting our father Lyndel Robertson in 1990 while they were sleeping in their bed, we are prepared to see a third trial through to conclusion.
The state of Missouri has twice proven, and will prove again through forensic evidence, that Mark Woodworth took his father's gun from his home and brutally shot our mother and father. The state will again prove that no other person of interest had access to the murder weapon and the bullets used in this crime. The state will again prove that Woodworth's own incriminating statements support the evidence that proves his guilt.
While the judge is contemplating Mark's bond, we have stated our opposition to his release on the record. We have also asked Judge Hull to consider requiring that Mark Woodworth have absolutely no contact, intentional or unintentional, with any member of our family or any witness that may be testifying on the State's behalf.
Since 1990, our family has lived through a nightmare caused by Mark Woodworth. If seeking justice for the murder of Cathy Robertson takes a third trial and 100 years, we will do what it takes to hold Mark Woodworth accountable for his actions.
Copyright 2013 KCTV (Meredith Corp.) All rights reserved.
Wednesday, May 22 2013 6:04 PM EDT2013-05-22 22:04:40 GMT
MISSOURI CITY, TX (KPRC/CNN) - When a pregnant teacher in Texas collapsed, her coworkers rushed to help. The woman technically died, gave birth, and then was brought back to life. Erica Nigrelli, an EnglishMore >
A pregnant woman's heart stopped, and doctors performed an emergency c-section to rescue the baby and save the woman.More >
By Michael Martinez, CNN updated 3:23 PM EDT, Wed May 22, 2013STORY HIGHLIGHTSTerimy Miller puts her three small sons in the house closet as the tornado nearsBut she gets a feeling: "I just got toMore >
Wednesday, May 22 2013 6:13 PM EDT2013-05-22 22:13:31 GMT
Residents of a southern Overland Park neighborhood had feared a vicious killer was on the loose after a jogger was found dead, but his death has been ruled a suicide.Raheel Morani, 24, slashed his ownMore >
Residents of a southern Overland Park neighborhood had feared a vicious killer was on the loose after a jogger was found dead, but his death has been ruled a suicide.More >
Thursday, May 23 2013 11:55 AM EDT2013-05-23 15:55:08 GMT
(RNN) - Dozens of Cleveland restaurants have pledged to give the man who rescued three Ohio women from captivity, free burgers for life. Charles Ramsey, the guy who famously stopped eating his Big MacMore >
More than a dozen of Cleveland restaurants have pledged to give the man who rescued three Ohio women from captivity, free burgers for life.More >
Thursday, May 23 2013 9:09 AM EDT2013-05-23 13:09:22 GMT
It has been a difficult and long road to recovery for an 11-year-old victim of a hit-and-run. The girl's mother is making another plea to that driver to turn herself in. No one needs any medical trainingMore >
It has been a difficult and long road to recovery for an 11-year-old victim of a hit-and-run. The girl's mother is making another plea to the driver responsible to turn herself in.More >
Monday, May 20 2013 7:51 PM EDT2013-05-20 23:51:52 GMT
DONIPHAN, AR (KAIT) – A search effort is underway in Southeast Missouri. The Hartland Pit Stop in Doniphan apparently sold a $1 million Powerball ticket this past weekend, but the winner has yet to comeMore >
A Southeast Missouri woman wrapped up a big week by taking home a piece of the record $600 million Powerball jackpot. More >
Thursday, May 23 2013 11:43 AM EDT2013-05-23 15:43:24 GMT
Fallen officer's daughter graduates from kindergarten
Hundreds of Phoenix police officers showed their support for a fallen colleague by attending his daughter's kindergarten graduation in Anthem on Wednesday. Officer Daryl Raetz was killed in the lineMore >
Tatum Raetz, 5, graduated from kindergarten in Anthem Wednesday and hundreds of uniformed Phoenix police officers were there to show their support for the family.More > | <urn:uuid:cc63e55f-fa6c-4655-b190-feddad2f9f1c> | 2013-05-24T01:31:41Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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North Korea said Wednesday that it had given the title of marshal of the army to its young leader, Kim Jong Un, the latest in a string of moves to reconfigure the top ranks of the military.
Kim, who is already referred to as "supreme commander" of the Korean People's Army, has been awarded the title of marshal by the reclusive regime's most powerful political and military bodies, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
The announcement follows the removal of the army chief, Ri Yong Ho, from all his government posts on Sunday, a decision KCNA said was motivated by an unspecified illness. Ri was considered one of Kim's closest aides.
A day later, North Korea promoted a little known general, Hyon Yong Chol, to the rank of vice marshal.
Analysts have speculated that the moves may show signs of a struggle within the regime between the military and civilian elites as Kim seeks to consolidate power after succeeding his father, Kim Jong Il, who died in December.
The young leader's new title is probably partially related to the recent military reshuffle and appears intended "to emphasize he's in a position of power," said Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in South Korea.
Kim Jong Il held the title of marshal when he ruled North Korea. In February, he was posthumously named "generalissimo" or grand marshal. As a result, Kim Jong Un had been widely expected to take the title of marshal.
"I recently spoke to a group of North Korean specialists and everyone was surprised the promotion had not happened yet," Lankov said. | <urn:uuid:5918f2f3-f0be-4ce3-abc4-1adbbca438d4> | 2013-05-24T01:45:02Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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Quarterback Joe Flacco agreed to contract terms with the Baltimore Ravens on Friday, according to several media reports.
Flacco and the Ravens will finalize the deal on Monday, according to the Baltimore Sun. Terms of the deal were not available.
The Sun and Fox Sports were the first to report the deal.
Flacco threw three touchdowns to lead the Ravens to a Super Bowl victory over the San Francisco 49ers last month. The 28-year-old threw 11 touchdowns and no interceptions in the playoffs.
For the season, Flacco threw for 3,817 yards with 22 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
The Ravens had until Monday to get a deal done or slap a $14.9 million franchise tag on him.
---To save almost $16 million under the salary cap, the Atlanta Falcons released running back Michael Turner, defensive end John Abraham and cornerback Dunta Robinson.
Turner was expected to be released. His base salary in 2013 was $6.9 million and his cap figure was to be $8.9 million. He rushed for 6,081 yards in five seasons with the falcons and scored 60 touchdowns.
Abraham's release saves the team $5.75 million and releasing Robinson brings a $3.795 million savings. Abraham could have left as a free agent in 2012 but re-signed last March for three years and $16.72 million.
Robinson signed a six-year, $57 million deal with the Falcons in 2010 as an unrestricted free agent from the Houston Texans but never delivered the No. 1 cornerback impact the team expected. | <urn:uuid:ab019629-2e4c-4630-98f1-65167bbf42c5> | 2013-05-24T01:38:26Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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What is an alert?
Alerts are email updates with the latest search results for a person. When kgbpeople finds a new result about you or someone you're interested in, we inform you about these new results.
Some handy uses of kgbpeople alerts are:
- monitoring your online identity
- getting updates on friends/family
- the latest news on a celebrity
Create an alert with the form on the right. | <urn:uuid:983f725d-e765-42da-9a0a-c0df70f022ef> | 2013-05-24T01:51:28Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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1 Maccabees Chapter 12 (Original 1611 KJV Bible)
This is the text and a scan of the actual, original, first printing of the 1611 King James Version, the 'HE' Bible, for 1 Maccabees Chapter 12. The KJV does not get more original or authentic than this.
View 1 Maccabees Chapter 12 as text-only.
Click to switch to the standard King James Version of 1 Maccabees Chapter 12
Why does it have strange spelling?
1 Ionathan reneweth his league with the Romanes and Lacedemonians. 28 The forces of Demetrius thinking to surprise Ionathan, flee away for feare. 35 Ionathan fortifieth the castles in Iudea, 48 and is shut vp by the fraud of Tryphon in Ptolemais.
Nowe when Ionathan saw that the time serued him, he chose certaine men and sent them to Rome, for to confirme and renew the friendship that they had with them.
He sent letters also to the Lacedemonians, and to other places, for the same purpose.
So they went vnto Rome, and entred into the Senate, and said, Ionathan the high Priest, and the people of the Iewes sent vs vnto you, to the end you should renew the friendship which you had with them, and league, as in former time.
Upon this the Romanes gaue them letters vnto the gouernours of euery place, that they should bring them into the land of Iudea peaceably.
And this is the copy of the letters which Ionathan wrote to the Lacedemonians:
Ionathan the hie Priest, and the Elders of the nation, and the Priestes and the other people of the Iewes, vnto the Lacedemonians their brethren, send greeting.
There were letters sent in times past vnto Onias the high Priest from Darius, who reigned then among you, to signifie that you are our brethren, as the copy here vnder-written doeth specifie.7
At which time Onias intreated the Embassador that was sent, honourably, and receiued the letters, wherein declaration was made of the league and friendship.8
Therefore we also, albeit we need none of these things, for that wee haue the holy bookes of Scripture in our hands to comfort vs,
Haue neuerthelesse attempted to send vnto you, for the renewing of brotherhood and friendship, lest we should become strangers vnto you altogether: for there is a long time passed since you sent vnto vs.
We therefore at all times without ceasing, both in our Feasts, and other conuenient dayes, doe remember you in the sacrifices which we offer, and in our prayers, as reason is, and as it becommeth vs to thinke vpon our brethren:
And wee are right glad of your honour.
As for our selues, wee haue had great troubles and warres on euery side, forsomuch as the kings that are round about vs haue fought against vs.
Howbeit wee would not be troublesome vnto you, nor to others of our confederates & friends in these warres:
For wee haue helpe from heauen that succoureth vs, so as we are deliuered from our enemies, and our enemies are brought vnder foote.
For this cause we chose Numenius the son of Antiochus, and Antipater the sonne of Iason, and sent them vnto the Romanes, to renew the amitie that we had with them, and the former league.
We commanded them also to goe vnto you, and to salute you, and to deliuer you our letters, concerning the renewing of our brotherhood.
Wherefore now ye shall doe well to giue vs an answere thereto.
And this is the copy of the letters which Omiares sent:19
Areus king of the Lacedemonians, to Onias the hie Priest, greeting.
It is found in writing, that the Lacedemonians and Iewes are brethren, and that they are of the stocke of Abraham:
Now therefore, since this is come to our knowledge, you shall doe well to write vnto vs of your prosperitie.22
We doe write backe againe to you, that your cattell and goods are ours, and ours are yours. We doe command therefore [our Embassadours] to make report vnto you on this wise.
Now when Ionathan heard that Demetrius princes were come to fight against him with a greater hoste then afore,
Hee remooued from Ierusalem, and met them in the land of Amathis: for he gaue them no respite to enter his countrey.25
He sent spies also vnto their tents, who came againe, and tolde him, that they were appointed to come vpon them in the night season.
Wherefore so soone as the Sunne was downe, Ionathan commaunded his men to watch, and to be in armes, that all the night long they might bee ready to fight: Also he sent foorth sentinels round about the hoste.
But when the aduersaries heard that Ionathan and his men were ready for battell, they feared, and trembled in their hearts, and they kindled fires in their campe.28
Howbeit Ionathan and his company knew it not till the morning: for they saw the lights burning.
Then Ionathan pursued after them, but ouertooke them not: for they were gone ouer the riuer Eleutherus.
Wherefore Ionathan turned to the Arabians, who were called Zabadeans, and smote them, and tooke their spoiles.31
And remouing thence, he came to Damascus, and so passed through all the countrey.
Simon also went foorth, and passed through the countrey vnto Ascalon, and the holds there adioyning, from whence he turned aside to Ioppe, and wanne it.
For he had heard that they would deliuer the hold vnto them that tooke Demetrius part, wherefore he set a garison there to keepe it.
After this came Ionathan home againe, and calling the Elders of the people together, hee consulted with them about building strong holdes in Iudea,
And making the walles of Ierusalem higher, and raising a great mount betweene the towre and the city, for to separate it from the city, that so it might be alone, that men might neither sell nor buy in it.
Upon this they came together, to build vp the citie forasmuch as [part of] the wall toward the brooke on the East side was fallen down, & they repaired that which was called Caphenatha37
Simon also set vp Adida, in Sephela, and made it strong with gates and barres.
Now Tryphon went about to get the kingdome of Asia, and to kill Antiochus the king, that hee might set the crowne vpon his owne head.
Howbeit, he was afraid that Ionathan would not suffer him, and that he would fight against him, wherefore he sought a way, howe to take Ionathan, that he might kill him. So he remoued, and came to Bethsan.
Then Ionathan went out to meet him with fourtie thousand men, chosen for the battell, and came to Bethsan.
Now when Tryphon saw that Ionathan came with so great a force, hee durst not stretch his hande against him,
But receiued him honourably, and cōmended him vnto all his friends, and gaue him gifts, and commaunded his men of warre to be as obedient vnto him, as to himselfe.
Unto Ionathan also hee said, Why hast thou put all this people to so great trouble, seeing there is no warre betwixt vs?
Therefore send them now home againe, and chuse a few men to waite on thee, and come thou with me to Ptolemais, for I will giue it thee and the rest of the strong holds and forces, and all that haue any charge: as for me, I will returne and depart: for this is the cause of my comming.
So Ionathan beleeuing him, did as he bade him, and sent away his host, who went into the land of Iudea.
And with himselfe hee retained but three thousand men, of whome he sent two thousand into Galile, and one thousand went with him.47
Now assoone as Ionathan entred into Ptolemais, they of Ptolemais shut the gates, and tooke him, and all them that came with him, they shewe with the sword.
Then sent Tryphon an hoste of footmen, and horsemen into Galile, and into the great plaine, to destroy all Ionathans company.
But when they knew that Ionathan and they that were with him were taken and slaine, they encouraged one another, and went close together, prepared to fight.
They therfore that followed vpon them, perceiuing þt they were ready to fight for their liues, turned back againe.
Whereupon they all came into the land of Iudea peaceably, and there they bewailed Ionathan & them that were with him, & they were sore afraid, wherfore all Israel made great lamentation.
Then all the heathen that were round about them, sought to destroy them. For, said they, they haue no captaine, nor any to helpe them. Now therfore let vs make war vpon them, & take away their memorial frō amongst men.
1 Maccabees Chapter 12 Sidenote References (from Original 1611 KJV Bible):
7 Anew: booke Ioseph. Ant.lib.13. cap.8.
8 Or, kinred, Ios. Aur.
19 Read out of Ios. which Areus sent to Onias.
22 Gr. peace.
25 Or, to set foote in his countrey: or, to inuade his countrey.
28 Ioseph. lib. ant.13.9. they went away.
31 Ios. gr. Nabatheans, or Zabatheans.
37 Or, according to the Romane reading, and he came neere to the wall of the brooke toward the East.
47 Gr. left two thousand in Galile.
* Courtesy of Rare Book and Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania
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Share your own thoughts or commentary here... | <urn:uuid:5f74b925-a8aa-4fe7-961f-6e43cfc90c85> | 2013-05-24T02:04:42Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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A Question of Honour?
Wellington's memorandum on the insult Crucially, all concerned realised that this was no mere private dispute but that the political circumstances lent it particular gravity and wider import. It was, in Wellington's own words:
'Scarcely…a private quarrel'
Instead, Wellington chose to interpret the event as a test of the right of any minister to change his opinion on an issue - on this occasion Catholic emancipation - without being branded a 'traitor'.
Wellington made the most of the opportunity by exploiting the duel to silence his most vocal critics and rally moderate opinion, recognising in this piece of theatre the possibility of outmanoeuvring them as comprehensively in the political arena as he had once done his enemies on the battlefield.
Indeed, the duel shows that he was often a subtler and more ingenious politician than some historians have allowed. In this one moment, then, scheduled for 21 March 1829 on Battersea Fields, the cause of reform, the direction of public policy and the history of the new King's College became inextricably linked.
In this exhibition
- Military career
- Political Career
- Wellington and King's
- The Duel
- Acknowledgements & Related Sites | <urn:uuid:8773f676-244f-4708-ba05-7f998aabe6b9> | 2013-05-24T01:29:38Z | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | [
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