two - spotted spider mites can be rusty green, greenish amber or yellow and they have eight legs. overwintering females are red or orange. these mites have two ( sometimes four ) black spots on top. they are very small, but still visible. the best way to see them is with a small magnifying glass. the eggs vary from transparent and colorless to opaque straw yellow. if spider mites infest your roses, you will begin to notice a dull appearance to the leaves. the undersides will feel “ sandy ” or rough. fine webbing will appear on the undersides of leaves and in leaf axils. leaves will begin to lose their color and become dry and lifeless. the leaves soon die and dry up. biology two - spotted spider mites are widely distributed in the united states and feed on over 180 host plants, including roses. once a plant is infested, the mites spread onto nearby crops and ornamentals. two - spotted spider mites pierce the epidermis of the host plant leaf with their sharp, slender mouthparts. when they extract the sap, the tissue of the leaf collapses in the area of the puncture. soon a spot without green color forms at each feeding site. after a heavy attack, an entire plant may become yellowed, bronzed or killed completely. the mites may spin so much webbing over the plant that it becomes entirely covered. though insects and mites are in a group called the arthropoda ( meaning jointed foot ), because jointed legs are common to both, spider mites are not actually insects. being more closely related to spiders, they derive their name from the thin web that some species spin. two - spotted spider mites overwinter as adults in the soil or on hosts such as violets and hollyhocks. in mild winter weather, two - spotted spider mites continue to feed and lay eggs, although development in the winter is much slower than in the summer. in warm weather, six - legged larvae hatch from the eggs. they develop into eight - legged nymphs, which pass through two nymphal stages. after each larval and nymphal stage, there is a resting stage. the adults mate soon after emerging from the last resting stage, and in warm weather the females soon lay eggs. each female may lay over 100 eggs in her life and up to 19 eggs per day. development is most rapid during hot, dry weather. a single generation may require as many as 20 or


stage, and in warm weather the females soon lay eggs. each female may lay over 100 eggs in her life and up to 19 eggs per day. development is most rapid during hot, dry weather. a single generation may require as many as 20 or as few as 5 days to reach adulthood and begin producing offspring. control control of spider mites depends heavily upon an understanding of the biology of the mites. the mites are usually found on the underside of leaves. thorough application of a miticide to the underside of the plant foliage is essential for good control. an alternative to chemical controls is a strong water spray applied to the undersides of the leaves every three days during hot weather. miticide applications may be needed 7 to 10 days apart to kill mites that were in the egg and resting stages during the first application. in hot weather, an eye should be kept on the plants to check for reinfestation or for the offspring of mites missed on the first application. if you choose to use a miticide, read the label carefully and apply as directed. mites easily become resistant, so never dilute the miticide — this will only ensure that future generations of mites can resist the miticides you use. some commonly used miticides are : ( the use of brand names and any mention or listing of commercial products does not imply endorsement by the american rose society, nor discrimination against similar products or services not mentioned. individuals who use chemicals are responsible for ensuring that the intended use complies with current regulations and conforms to the product label. be sure to obtain current information about usage and examine a current product label before applying any chemical. to download the pdf version of this article click here.


you can ' t teach that two parents are suing the university of california - berkeley over a web site aimed at educating teachers. understanding evolution, a collaborative project of the university of california museum of paleontology and the national center for science education, is " is a non - commercial, education website, teaching the science and history of evolutionary biology. " jeanne and larry caldwell, the couple bringing the suit against the site, claim that the site delves improperly into religion. while most debates center around whether or not intelligent design is " religion in the classroom, " the caldwells are looking to spin it the other way. the plaintiffs in the case claim that they are not proponents of intelligent design, but they do argue that it is inappropriate for a project that is partially funded by the us government to essentially engage in swaying students towards evolution. in the language of the suit, the site seeks to " to modify the beliefs of public school science students so they will be more willing to accept evolutionary theory as true. " how exactly does the website do this? for one, it provides information to teachers, who then teach. one of the aftereffects of teaching is that, ideally, students learn. in the context of a science classroom, this could mean that students are taught evolution, and then they may understand it better. this is the fundament of pedagogy. but that ' s not all. the real gist of the suit, from my own reading, stems from the fact that the site in question makes observations about the religious world around us. for example, the site notes that most forms of christianity and judaism have no fundamental conflict with evolution, and it even links to collected statements from a variety of movements that do not challenge evolution. many scholars have argued that it is important to note that this debate is not " science versus christianity " or anything of the sort. rather, they note, creationists and religiously - oriented intelligent design proponents are but a subset of religious people in general. to the caldwell ' s however, pointing out this reality is akin to the government endorsing certain forms of religion over others, namely those that do not have a problem with evolution. to date, courts across the country have rejected the idea that teaching evolution, which is a peer - reviewed scientific theory that as of yet has had little challenge in the way of peer - reviewed academic research, is tantamount to teaching religion. " the courts in many cases have said evolution is a scientific idea and there is no prohibition on the government


reviewed scientific theory that as of yet has had little challenge in the way of peer - reviewed academic research, is tantamount to teaching religion. " the courts in many cases have said evolution is a scientific idea and there is no prohibition on the government teaching a scientific idea even if it conflicts ' ' with some people ' s religious beliefs, said university counsel christopher patti. larry caldwell, however, disagrees. his view is that by not teaching students about supposed problems with the fossil record, problems that are dismissed by most specialists in the field, teachers are misleading them. still, caldwell doesn ' t want to see evolution removed from the classroom, but he does believe that alternative views, including those that attribute serious problems to the theory, should also be presented to students. this returns us to the crux of the debate, however, which is whether or not any worthwhile challenges to evolution have been made. yeah, well you can ' t teach that! the university of california finds itself in another controversy over religion, as well. a suit filed federal court in los angeles accuses the university system of discriminating against christians. the association of christian schools international, the calvary chapel christian school in murrieta, calif., and six calvary chapel students have joined forces to seek a legal remedy to what they term " viewpoint discrimination, " which is a terse way of saying that they object to the fact that the uc system considered parts of their christian education to be below admittance standards. at issue in the lawsuit are academic standards for admission to the university, specifically uc ' s process for assessing high - school courses to verify that they meet the system ' s college - preparatory course requirements ( known as the a - g requirements ). for a new or substantially revised course to be approved for the a - g list, a high school must submit a request, listing the course curriculum, textbook information, and supplemental materials, to uc for approval. staff at ucop review such applications to make sure that courses meet uc academic standards established by boars. the uc system has approved 43 courses from the school in question, but a select number of courses have not received approval, including science courses that use overtly christian theology books as textbooks. for example, as the ny times has noted, the books spouts peculiar takes on historical figures. thomas jefferson, for instance, is outed as a non - believer, and by scriptural proof, an antichrist. american believers can appreciate jefferson ' s rich contribution to the development of their nation


allen, frederick lewis. only yesterday : an informal history of the nineteen - twenties. american heritage new illustrated history of the united states. volumes 13, 14 and 15. bateson, charles. the war with japan. barnhart, michael a. " japan prepares for total war. " boghosian, sam. " on a fine sunday morning. " brinkley, david. washington goes to war. butow, robert. tojo and the coming of the war. cacutt, len, ed. decisive battles : the turning points of world war ii. chihaya, masataka. japanese historical perspective. choate, pat. agents of influence : how japan ' s lobbyists in the united states manipulate america ' s political and economic system. costello, john. the pacific war 1941 - 1945. daedalus. journal of the american academy of arts and sciences. showa : the japan of hirohito. dower, john w. war without mercy : race and power in the pacific war. fermi, laura. atoms in the family : my life with enrico fermi. friedman, george, and meredith lebard. the coming war with japan. fuchida, mitsuo. i led the air attack against pearl harbor. fussell, paul. wartime. genda, minoru, higeki shinjuwan kogeki, and kaigun kokutai. shimatsu. halberstam, david. the reckoning. hall, john whitney. japan from prehistory to modern times. halsey, fleet adm. william f. admiral halsey ' s story. honan, william h., visions of infamy, the untold story of how journalist hector c. bywater devised the plans that led to pearl harbor. jackson, charles l. on to pearl harbor - - and beyond. james, d. clayton. triumph & disaster 1945 - 1964, the years of macarthur, vol. iii. johnson, chalmers, miti and the japanese miracle. johnson, sheila k. the japanese through american eyes. kahn, david. foreign affairs magazine. " the intelligence failure of pearl harbor. " keegan, john. the second world war. ketchum, richard m. the borrowed years 1938 - 1941 : america on the way to war. klingaman, william k. 1941 : our lives in a world on the edge. layton, edwin t. ( rear admiral, u. s. n. ret. ). " and


- 1941 : america on the way to war. klingaman, william k. 1941 : our lives in a world on the edge. layton, edwin t. ( rear admiral, u. s. n. ret. ). " and i was there " : pearl harbor and midway - - breaking the secrets. lincoln, edward j. japan ' s unequal trade. lord, walter. day of infamy. writing " day of infamy. " manchester, william. american caesar, douglas macarthur. the glory and the dream : a narrative history of america. macdonald, fred j. don ' t touch that dial! : radio programming in american life. millis, walter. new york times magazine. " two hours that changed history. " morison, samuel eliot. the rising sun in the pacific. the two - ocean war. potter, e. b. and chester w. nimitz, eds. the great sea war. prange, gordon. at dawn we slept : the untold story of pearl harbor. quarterly journal of military history. hill, douglas, " countdown to disaster. " kahn, david, " why weren ' t we warned. " warner, denis and peggy. " the doctrine of surprise. " young, stephen bower. " trapped! " reischauer, edwin o. japan : the story of a nation. sansom, g. h. the western world and japan. schaller, michael. the american occupation of japan. spector, ronald h. the eagle against the sun : the american war with japan. stetson conn, rose engelman & byron fairchild. guarding the u. s. & its outposts. stillwell, paul. u. s. naval institute. " admiral husband e. kimmel : scapegoat. " terkel, studs. the good war : an oral history of world war two. this fabulous century. new york : time - life. volume 2 : 1910 - 1920. volume 3 : 1920 - 1930. volume 4 : 1930 - 1940. toland, john. the rising sun, the decline and fall of the japanese empire, 1936 - 1945. trumbull, robert. new york times magazine. " a sunday that seems like yesterday. " u. s. strategic bombing survey : the campaigns of the pacific war. wallin, homer n. pearl harbor : why, how, fleet salvage and final appraisal. weintraub, stanley. long day ' s journey


some wonder whether vitamins nutrition supplements are truly necessary? vitamins nutrition supplements are nutritional substances that provide key health benefits. preferably, the supplements benefits are backed up by clinical study results. [ read more ] [ read less ] what we eat daily is important, thus it is key to eat a balanced diet. even if you do regularly eat a balanced diet, there is still the problem of the nutrient value of food declining due to soil depletion over the past few decades. the usda food pyramid recommends women eat 2. 5 cups of veggies a day and men eat 3 cups. however, most adults do not even eat the minimum and thus where high - quality vitamins nutrition supplements come in as a way to make up for poor diet in order to have optimum health. good nutrition supplements do not just contain vitamins and minerals. this is because both men and women need more than just vitamins and minerals. thus good anti - aging natural supplements also contain amino acids, antioxidants, bioflavanoids, neuronutrients, l - carnosine, alpha lipoic acid, acetyl l - carnitine. studies have shown the vitamins nutrition supplements products can effectively support heart, eyes, brain, immune system, and joint health. these days the average life span is longer. the extra years are ideally are active healthy ones filled with energy. the main aspects to having good health include following a balanced diet with vitamins nutrition supplements, getting enough quality sleep, exercising moderately on a regular basis, and managing weight. high - quality nutrition supplements are a good way to help fill the nutrition gaps in a diet. they can help the body get the essential nutrients it needs. vitamins and minerals are just part of what they need. the other nutrients in high - quality supplements provide anti - aging benefits that help improve energy and health to prevent disease. one - a - day type vitamins nutrition supplements are not the ideal way of getting the nutrients our body ’ s need. this is because one single tablet cannot possibly have all the nutrients our bodies need the right quantities. if one tablet did, it would be too big to swallow. thus these types of supplements are a waste of money and there are studies to back up their ineffectiveness. however, the extreme of taking a dozen or more individual supplements is also not ideal, as it can be inconvenient as well as expensive. it is also important to know that women and men need different combinations of vitamins. vitamins nutrition


december 7, 1941 - - a day that lives in infamy to past generation, december 7, 1941, is a day that will live in infamy, as president franklin delano roosevelt told radio audiences. more than 2400 americans were killed that day. the attack on pearl harbor ( called hawaii operation by the japanese imperial general headquarters ) was, of course, a surprise military strike conducted by the imperial japanese navy against the united states naval base at pearl harbor, hawaii, on the morning of december 7, 1941 ( december 8 in japan ). the attack was intended as a preventive action in order to keep the u. s. pacific fleet from interfering with military actions the empire of japan was planning in southeast asia against overseas territories of the united kingdom, the netherlands and the united states. the base was attacked by 353 japanese fighters, bombers and torpedo planes in two waves, launched from six aircraft carriers. all eight u. s. navy battleships were damaged, with four being sunk. of these eight damaged, two were raised, and with four repaired, six battleships returned to service later in the war. the japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, an anti - aircraft training ship and one minelayer. 188 u. s. aircraft were destroyed ; 2, 402 americans were killed and 1, 282 wounded. important base installations such as the power station, shipyard, maintenance and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building ( also home of the intelligence section ) were not attacked. japanese losses were light : 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. one japanese sailor was captured. the attack led directly to the american entry into world war ii in both the pacific and european theaters. the following day ( december 8 ), the united states declared war on japan. domestic support for non - interventionism, which had been strong, disappeared. subsequent operations by the u. s. prompted germany and italy to declare war on the u. s. on december 11, which was reciprocated by the u. s. the same day. there were numerous historical precedents for unannounced military action by japan. however, the lack of any formal warning, particularly while negotiations were still apparently ongoing, led president franklin d. roosevelt to proclaim december 7, 1941, " a date which will live in infamy. " on december 8, 1941 ( the day after the japanese attack on pearl harbor ), alan lomax, then " assistant in


president franklin d. roosevelt to proclaim december 7, 1941, " a date which will live in infamy. " on december 8, 1941 ( the day after the japanese attack on pearl harbor ), alan lomax, then " assistant in charge " of the archive of american folk song ( now the archive of folk culture, american folklife center ), sent a telegram to fieldworkers in ten different localities across the united states, asking them to collect " man - on - the - street " reactions of ordinary americans to the bombing of pearl harbor and the subsequent declaration of war by the united states. the result, the library of congress ' after the day of infamy : " man - on - the - street " interviews following the attack on pearl harbor presents approximately twelve hours of opinions recorded in the days and months following the bombing of pearl harbor from more than two hundred individuals in cities and towns across the united states. a second series of interviews, called " dear mr. president, " was recorded in january and february 1942. both collections are included in this presentation. they feature a wide diversity of opinion concerning the war and other social and political issues of the day, such as racial prejudice and labor disputes. the result is a portrait of everyday life in america as the united states entered world war ii. this online presentation of after the day of infamy : " man - on - the - street " interviews following the attack on pearl harbor also includes an essay on preseving the recordings, " making and maintaining the original recordings, " as well as biographies of the fieldworkers who conducted and arranged the interviews, complete transcripts of the interviews, related manuscripts and original disc sleeves. the presentation was made possible with the support of the franklin and eleanor roosevelt institute and the new deal network. in addition, the veterans history project ( vhp ) of the library of congress american folklife center is an oral history program that collects first - person accounts of military service in world war i, world war ii, the wars in korea, vietnam, and the persian gulf, and the conflicts in afghanistan and iraq. vhp also collects stories of civilians who supported their efforts, including men and women who worked in defense - related industries, and as uso entertainers and red cross workers. vhp relies on volunteers, both individuals and organizations, throughout the nation to contribute veterans ’ stories to vhp. in addition to audio - and video - recorded interviews, vhp accepts memoirs, collections of original photographs and letters, diaries, maps,


vhp relies on volunteers, both individuals and organizations, throughout the nation to contribute veterans ’ stories to vhp. in addition to audio - and video - recorded interviews, vhp accepts memoirs, collections of original photographs and letters, diaries, maps, and other historical documents from world war i through current conflicts. the united states congress created the veterans history project in 2000. in april 2007, the library of congress and public broadcasting service ( pbs ) announced a joint community engagement initiative in conjunction with the broadcast of ken burns ’ film, the war, which reiterated the library of congress ’ message to the american people to help build the historic record by interviewing a veteran in your family or community. a participant in the project may be a veteran, an interviewer, or person donating a veteran ’ s collection ). students in the 10th grade and above may also participate and there are special resources for educators and students. the veterans history project is ongoing, and there is no deadline. to participate, visit this website : http : / / www. loc. gov / vets / “ the war / veterans history project field guide to conducting and preserving interviews ” ( pdf ) includes information on how to send your collection to veterans history project, including a list of what vhp can and cannot accept and the necessary forms for submitting content. also included are tips on conducting an interview and doing research at the national archives. national wwii memorial registry of remembrance is “ an individual listing of americans who contributed to the war effort. ” it is maintained by the american battle monument commission as a part of the national world war ii memorial located on the national mall in washington, d. c. 1. article illustration : the u. s. navy battleship uss nevada ( bb - 36 ) beached and burning at 0925 hrs on 7 december 1941 after being hit forward by japanese bombs and torpedoes. 2. pearl harbor attack, 7 december 1941. damage to the forecastle deck of uss nevada ( bb - 36 ), caused by the explosion of a japanese bomb below decks. 3. pearl harbor, hawaii, ( dec. 7, 2002 ) - - pearl harbor attack survivor manual h. magdaleno arrives at the uss arizona memorial to attend the annual dec. 7th commemoration ceremony. sign up for our bi - monthly newsletter accidents happen : protecting & saving family treasures with nancy kraft preserving your personal digital memories with bill lefurgy


animal species : killer whale the killer whale, orcinus orca, is the largest member of the dolphin family. the killer whale is a strikingly marked animal characterised by a body pattern of dramatically contrasting areas of intense black and white. the rounded head, indistinct beak, large pointed teeth and prominent upright dorsal fin complete what is considered one of the oceans most impressive mammals. 9 m, 5 tonnes the killer whale is found in all oceans and seas of the world usually in family groups. they occur in most habitat types from coastal areas to the deep ocean waters, from the tropics to polar regions. feeding and diet these animals are serious meat eaters and one of the most efficient large predators of the ocean. a cooperative hunter, they often work in packs, and will take a broad range of vertebrates including whales, seals, penguins, fish, sea otters, and turtles. killer whales have marked territorial behaviour and home ranges. their prey is determined by what is available in their home ange but they also seek out areas of seasonal abundance such as seal pupping sites. killer whales are a highly social species whose group size and composition is based on the dominance of a female line. the gestation period is thought to be about 15 months after which a single young is born. group cooperation extends to care of the young, which will continue to suckle from the mother for an extended period of up to two years. the breeding season is variable, as is the interval between births. this latter period can be as little as three years or as long as eight. the killer whale has never been the target of serious commercial hunting so the species worldwide is secure. there is some concern about depletion of individual populations and disruption to social structure from captures for the oceanarium trade and limited hunting in some parts of asia, northern europe and the west indies. - baker, a. n. 1999. whales and dolphins of australia and new zealand : an identification guide. allen & unwin, st leonards, australia. - bryden, m., marsh, h. and shaughnessy, p. 1998. dugongs, whales, dolphins and seals. a guide to the sea mammals of australasia. allen & unwin, st leonards, australia. - menkhorst, p. 2001. a field guide to mammals of australia. oxford university press, melbourne, australia. - reeves, r. r., stewart, b. s., clapham, p. j.


latine loqui disce sine molestia! learn to speak latin with ease! ¡ aprende a hablar latin sin esfuerzo! apprenez a parler latin sans peine! impara a parlare latino senza sforzo! lernen sie latein zu sprechen ohne muhe! you will need to have the following font installed on your system : maybe this font can be downloaded for free from the internet. the alphabet used by the romans of the classical period consisted of the following letters : a b c d e f g h i k l m n o p q r s t v x y z it is basically the same alphabet as is still used today by a majority of languages in the world. the ancient romans already observed a functional difference between the standard i and a more elongated alternative, which would later became j, but didnt conceive of a meaningful distinction between v and u, as was later established, nor did they use other variants like c, n or w. the romans of the classical period had several styles to write the above letters, greatly depending on the materials used to write. as is true for most scripts, nevertheless, these styles can be grouped into two distinct ones. there is a formal one, that we now call capitalis, that was used on monuments, legal documents, public announcements, books for sale, jewelery, and in general whenever the text was meant to endure and might even have some sort of ornamental value. we can see it below used on stone, bronze, plastered walls, papyrus or, later on, parchment, and on many other surfaces and objects. there was a second style, the informal one, that we now call cursiva, that was used for everyday transactions with no ornamental value. this is less well known to most people, because of the precarious nature of the materials on which it was used and the lesser artistic value of the objects where we find it ; but it was in fact the main style most romans would have used in their practical lives. we can see it below on waxen or wooden tablets, wall graffiti or bone, and was used on many similar surfaces. in time there developed a third style, the uncialis, which is just a smaller version of the capitalis with some strong influence of the cursiva. the shapes of the letters of the capitalis style are practically identical with our present capitals, whereas the cursiva may have influenced the evolution of the


which is just a smaller version of the capitalis with some strong influence of the cursiva. the shapes of the letters of the capitalis style are practically identical with our present capitals, whereas the cursiva may have influenced the evolution of the former into the uncialis, a smaller version which is in turn the predecessor of our lower case characters ; but it is important to understand that, in roman times, the difference between the capitalis and the cursiva, or even the later uncialis, was not at all comparable to the difference we now make between capitals and lower case when we use capitals at the beginning of some words, or for titles, in texts otherwise written in lower case. they were just different styles to write the same single case of letters, and were equivalent rather to the duality that exists between our printing and our handwritten letters. they would of course not have been mixed in any one piece of writing, as we would not type some letters and write others by hand within the same text, let alone the same word. just like the arabs or the japanese, therefore, in spite of a variety of writing styles, the romans didnt either have an equivalent to our meaningful alternation between capitals and lower case within the same piece of writing in any of them, nor did they write any differently the first letter of a sentence or proper name and the rest. the romans, in order to save space, given the high cost of most of the materials they wrote on, used the so called ligaturæ, i. e. groupings of letters written as a cluster by sharing a common stroke. there were many of them : ae could be found as æ, and similarly an, tr, vm and many others could appear fused together in groups of two, three and even more letters. the romans had only two diacritics, and they didnt use any of the two with any regularity. the romans would often write without even separating the words with spaces, as we have seen above in several instances. moreover, they certainly never distinguished sentences or phrases using commas, semicolons, colons or stops, neither did they know of question or exclamation marks, brackets, inverted commas or any other diacritic we are used to. in fact, the only sign they used, and only in the more elegant writings, like monumental ones, was a dot they used not as final stop, but to separate single words. we have also seen this on the inscriptions above.


used to. in fact, the only sign they used, and only in the more elegant writings, like monumental ones, was a dot they used not as final stop, but to separate single words. we have also seen this on the inscriptions above. this dot could sometimes take more sophisticated shapes, as a little ivy leaf, for instance, as below. the romans of the most sophisticated period of classical culture used, as much in monumental writing as in more domestic texts, a sign called apex, identical to what we nowadays know as acute accent ( ´ ). this sign, nevertheless, was not used to indicate the accent or stress in the word as in a minute number of modern vernaculars, but to mark long vowels ( see the file on pronunciation ), as is still done today in languages like icelandic, hungarian, czech and many others. latin spelling nowadays it is obvious that the writing practices of the romans of the classical period were rather primitive in comparison with present ones. some people believe for that reason that our spelling habits are vernacular, and therefore somehow spurious and artificially imposed on latin subsequently. they forget that most of our spelling customs are the natural development of roman practices and were organically furthered throughout history by people who spoke and wrote in latin, in order to achieve greater clarity and distinction when reading and writing latin itself, not the vernacular languages ; and these usages passed on from latin to the vernaculars, and not the other way around. the ancient difference in shape between a shorter and a more elongated i ( i / j ), the latter of which, already in antiquity, was frequently used in the cursiva in word - initial position, often corresponding to the consonantal sound, as can be seen in the illustrations above, was formalised in later periods for this useful function specifically, thus allowing for complete transparency as regards the difference in pronunciation between the first sound in janua and in iambus, or in meaning between forms like perjerat and perierat. the previously meaningless difference between the pointed v of the capitalis and the rounded u of some forms of cursiva or of the uncialis was equally put to the service of a more transparent spelling. it was thus finally possible duly to distinguish vowels from consonants. other variants that could be allocated no distinctive phonetic value, like a taller or shorter t or a more or less stretched s, were either kept for merely aesthetic purposes or eventually dropped as functionally improductive. some ligatures like æ or were likewise preserved to help distinguish the corresponding


distinctive phonetic value, like a taller or shorter t or a more or less stretched s, were either kept for merely aesthetic purposes or eventually dropped as functionally improductive. some ligatures like æ or were likewise preserved to help distinguish the corresponding diphthongs from the hiatuses ae and oe, whereas many others were abandoned. the separation of words by means of spaces was found to be such a useful device that few contemporaries would be able to read without it ; and the rich variety of signs of punctuation introduced also in later stages of the history of latin helped reading with the necessary pauses, and allowed us to distinguish the component parts of sentences, or to determine beyond doubt whether we are confronted with a statement, an exclamation or a question. finally, the distinction between capitals and lower case brought in not only a certain elegance, but also some further clarity to grammar ( highlighting proper names ) and to discourse structure ( marking the beginnings of sentences ). there has most unfortunately arisen, nevertheless, and for all the wrong reasons, a fashion of spelling fundamentalism that, abandoning a more than reasonable tradition of centuries of latin writing, purports to go back to the writing usages of the ancient romans. this is as absurd as wanting to give up the use of paper or the modern book, and claiming that something is not classical latin unless its written on papyrus rolls. it should be obvious to anyone that we can be completely respectful of ancient culture and cultivate the purest form of classical latinity while using more developed methods of writing than our ancestors had at their disposal and which are moreover the result of centuries of latin tradition. of course, since fundamentalists rarely guide themselves by reason, the return to the old usages doesnt follow any further criteria than their own arbitrary whim, and they sometimes are purists and sometimes not, as they please. thus, some have set about eliminating the distinction between i and j as non - roman, but they are only too happy against all logic to keep that between v and u. others consider that the use of capitals should be eliminated, and they do use lower case letters at the beginning of sentences, but they then arbitrarily keep capitals for proper names or even adjectives. of course, none of those purists has dared to admit the fact that a return to ancient usage would imply writing everything rather in capitals than in lower case, and that they would in fact have to stop using any punctuation at all. the saddest


of those purists has dared to admit the fact that a return to ancient usage would imply writing everything rather in capitals than in lower case, and that they would in fact have to stop using any punctuation at all. the saddest aspect of the modern spelling mess is that it has nothing to do with latin. it originates in attempts at spelling reforms that seemed to make perfect sense in a vernacular like italian, but which some people felt the need to force also upon latin, with deplorable consequences. while most european languages, including latin, felt very comfortable with the century - old usage of i and j, and v and u, as all those letters represented clearly different sounds or appeared in clearly different syllabic contexts, in italian the use of i and j had become so complicated by conflicting and arbitrary uses without too much relation with any phonetic reality that people struggled to determine when a word had to be written with i and when with j. italian being a language with otherwise very straightforward spelling principles, a pressure arose therefore to drop the use of j. now, this absolutely sensible measure for italian was unnecessarily applied also to latin by people who were persuaded that latin must be spelt as modern italian. obviously, they could never have convinced the international latin using community on such grounds, so they started to contrive specious justifications : that the sound of the vowel and the semivowel were similar enough ( even though it is exactly the same difference that i and j have in german and many other languages that have never considered dropping the spelling distinction ), that it brought latin spelling closer to ancient practices ( although, as we have explained, the distinction between i and j has in fact a much more ancient history than that of u and v ), etc. of course, they never mentioned that every single one of those reasons applies with exactly equal force to the latin pair i / j ( where [ i ] differs from [ j ] ) and to the pair u / v ( where [ u ] differs from either [ w ] or [ v ], however we care to pronounce it ), which the italians had no intention to simplify because in italian it made sense to continue to use both letters in the latter case. as the international community began to drop the use of j in a quest for ancient purity, it became more and more obvious to everyone who hadnt given up the human capacity to reason, that it made absolutely no sense in latin to drop the j without dropping also the v


began to drop the use of j in a quest for ancient purity, it became more and more obvious to everyone who hadnt given up the human capacity to reason, that it made absolutely no sense in latin to drop the j without dropping also the v ; so, having genuinely assimilated the specious excuses of the italians to bring latin spelling closer to roman times, the best philologists around the world felt it absolutely necessary to do without v too, and many critical editions of classical texts are now published that way. we have thus a traditional i / j / u / v system, which was foolishly undermined and turned into just i / u / v in accordance with some vernacular spelling reforms, but in a move that has now inevitably but most unfortunately backfired ( certainly against the expectations of those who promoted the use of i / u / v ) into an ugly i / u system as the only reasonably acceptable outcome. not only that, following the same perverse train of thought, many now feel the need also to drop the use of capitals in latin texts. where this absurd nonsense will take latin spelling is difficult to foresee, but we cannot but lament that the narrow - minded whim of a nation with the most arrogant attitude towards the language of our common civilisation has managed to bring absolute chaos to an elegant, sensible, and century - long latin spelling tradition. we consider that our spelling usages were developed through millennia according to criteria of utility and clarity, which it is as absurd as it is unnecessary to renounce. even if some certainly rude spirits could consider giving up aesthetic developments like the distinction between capitals and lower case, it seems absolutely preposterous to eliminate usages that reflect better the pronunciation of the language and help reading. indeed, we should avoid as non - transparent spelling those practices which, with the specious excuse of being truer to ancient practices or following vernacular considerations, disregard centuries of legitimate latin spelling tradition and prefer to hinder learning of the latin language by failing to represent transparently its different sounds. using one and the same letter i to represent both the vowel [ i ] and the consonant [ j ] may be true to the most ancient practices, but it is as unfortunately as unnecessarily non - transparent because it doesn ' t allow to distinguish which is which in words like " iam " ( where the i represents a semivowel, pronounced as english y in yes ) and " iambus " ( where the i represents a vowel, pronounced as english i in


allow to distinguish which is which in words like " iam " ( where the i represents a semivowel, pronounced as english y in yes ) and " iambus " ( where the i represents a vowel, pronounced as english i in it ), etc. non - transparent spelling makes that more and more people nowadays fail to learn the language properly as they are preposterously kept in the dark about the sounds the words they read and write actually contain ( we ' ve heard many a professor, let alone students, pronounce " iam " rhyming with ian and " iambus " starting as yummy ). using i for the vowel and j for the semivowel is conversely a much more transparent spelling, which is justified by centuries of latin spelling tradition and which allows us to see immediately which is which by writing " jam " but " iambus ", etc. equally using the same ae combination both for the diphthong in " aereus " ( where the ae represent a diphthong, pronounced in one syllable, rather like english eye ) and the hiatus in " aerius " ( where the ae represent an hiatus, pronounced in two syllables, rather like english a in father followed by the e in error ), etc. is sadly non - transparent ( and leads to error just as many ). using æ for the diphthong and ae of the hiatus, or at least ae for the diphthong but ae for the hiatus, is a much more transparent spelling and it allows us to see immediately which is which by writing " æreus " but " aerius " ( or " aereus " but " aerius " ), etc. as inconsistent spelling we must avoid spelling practices that choose to be transparent in some cases but not in others with no legitimate phonetic or historical reason to do so in one case and not in the other whatsoever, as when some people choose to distinguish the vowel [ u ] from the semivowel [ w ] by writing the former as u and the latter as v, which is a nicely transparent practice, rather than spelling both as u, which would be non - transparent, and they don ' t care in this case not to be true to ancient practices ; but then, with no phonetic or historical reason to do so, they choose not to to distinguish the vowel [ i ] from the semivowel [ j ] by writing the former as i and the latter as j, which would be nicely transparent practice, rather than spelling both as


historical reason to do so, they choose not to to distinguish the vowel [ i ] from the semivowel [ j ] by writing the former as i and the latter as j, which would be nicely transparent practice, rather than spelling both as i, which is non - transparent. equally choosing to distinguish the diphthong æ from the hiatus ae in a usefully transparent way, rather than writing both as ae, but at the same time not distinguishing the diphthong from the hiatus oe and writing both non - transparently as oe, would be also inconsistent. finally, indicating the length of the vowels in writing was something that the ancient romans didn ' t need to do because they just knew which was which, either because they were native speakers or because they could learn to pronounce the words by listening to native speakers. the use of the apex in ancient inscriptions or manuscripts is therefore quite haphazard. for us, on the other hand, using a more thorough form of spelling, consistently marking all long vowels, is much more poignantly required if we aspire ever to learn to pronounce the words correctly. there was one case, nevertheless, when even ancient native speakers advocated that the use of the apex is actually necessary ( cf. quint. inst. 1, 7, 2s ), and that is when when a difference of length in a vowel can produce a different meaning in a word, as in " malus " and " malus " or " liber " and " liber " or " rosa " and " rosa " or " loqueris " and " loqueris ". we must certainly never omit such necessary apices. it is absolutely unnecesary to give up our spelling lore, on any grounds ; and we advocate the full reinstatement of our century - long, sensible spelling tradition, in the interests of transparency, consistency, and thoroughness.


james ford rhodes ( 18481927 ). history of the civil war, 18611865 1917. an unfriendly attitude toward the recruitment of the army, for political prisoners, for persons suspected of any disloyal practice, the privilege did not exist. it was suspended for one year, ten months and twenty - one days by executive assumption and for the rest of the period by the authorization of congress. the provocation for the use of arbitrary power was, all things considered, about equal in the confederacy and the union. in the union the disloyal secret societies were larger and more dangerous, and the public criticism of the administration more copious and bitter. there was, too, the organized political party which made a focus for the opposition and developed vallandigham, who had no counterpart at the south. but these considerations are balanced by the circumstance that in the south was the seat of war which was never but for brief periods moved north of mason and dixons line and the ohio river. civil administration is everywhere relaxed, wrote judge campbell as early as october, 1862, and has lost much of its energy, and our entire confederacy is like a city in a state of siege, cut off from all intercourse with foreign nations and invaded by a superior force at every assailable point. where armies stand in opposition disloyalty may give the enemy aid and comfort so substantial as to decide an impending battle ; far from the front it is apt to spend itself in bluster, threats and secret midnight oaths. in the confederacy there was practically no important place east of the mississippi river which was not at one time or another invaded or threatened by the invader. the courts, it is true, were open in the south, but, owing to the disorganized state of society, the interruption of trade and the passage of stay laws by the states, they tried few commercial cases but confined themselves to criminal jurisdiction


alternative processes : silver gelatin print with martha casanave for the next few days, we will feature a mini - series of posts on alternative processes in photography. today, martha casanave joins us to talk about her silver gelatin print posted above. if this interests you and you ' d like to expand your creative pallette, the f295 annual symposium might be the spot for you to do so. martha casanave series “ coastal pinholes ” - silver gelatin print - 4 x 5 pinhole camera the silver gelatin process was invented by richard leach maddox in 1871 and was considerably improved upon by charles harper bennett in 1878. the gelatin silver print was the most popular print process throughout the twentieth century and is still used widely by artists today. gelatin silver paper ( black and white paper ) has an emulsion of silver chlorides suspended in gelatin. to create a print, the paper is exposed to light ( commonly with an enlarger through a negative ), immersed in developer which reduces the silver to form the image, and fixed with sodium thiosulfate. the concept of a pinhole camera was used prior to the invention of photography for scientific purposes, however came to the photographic world with the advent of gelatin plates. a pinhole camera is a lensless camera with a single aperture ; any light - proof box can easily be converted to a pinhole camera by poking a small hole in one side of the box. light passes through the pinhole and projects the inverted image on the back wall of the box, where film or paper is exposed. casanave creates her work by placing her pinhole camera directly in the sand. referring to coastal pinholes she states, “ the wide - angle, distorting view of most pinhole cameras is utilized best from low angles. working this way also takes me back to my childhood, when i played with toys and lived closer to the ground, and further from reality. the near indefinite depth of field of pinhole cameras allows me to play with visual elements of near and far. the time dilations — long, long exposures — allow water to become cloud, person to become ghost ”. martha casanave and many other 21st century photographers will be discussing their work at the 2012 f295 symposium : continued explorations of 21st century photography


filed under : creativity — piotr @ 2 : 42 pm april 15, 2012 i have greatly enjoyed watching the very entertaining talk by john cleese on creativity. even if you ’ re in it only for the jokes, it ’ s worth 36 minutes of your life. a few main takeaways from john ’ s talk : 1. creativity is linked to the ability to play. 2. people can be described in terms of two modes : open and closed. creativity is _ not _ possible in the closed mode. 3. we mostly operate in the “ closed ” mode : filled with tention, purposeful, manic and not creative. 4. “ open ” mood is marked by : being playful, less serious, relaxed, curious, etc. 5. alexander flemming discovered penicillin in the “ open ” mode – he became curious why the bacterial culture did not grow in one of the petri dishes. 6. hitchcock often used to tell random stories to relax people around him, claiming they tried too hard. 7. we need to be in the “ open ” mode when pondering a problem. 8. once we find a solution, we must switch to the “ close ” mode – because it ’ s the best for “ exectution ” [ potr : this reminds me of key ideas on innovation and creativity from " innovators dilemma " by clayton c. - great read btw ] 9. we too often get stuck in the “ closed ” mode, attaining a tunnel vision. this is particularly prevalent among politicians. how many psychiatrist does it take to change the light bulb? only one … but the light bulb really needs to change. 10. the are conditions under which creativity can be released. to attain the “ open ” mode you require : - you need to create space for your creativity to flourish. - pick a specific start and end time to your “ creative ” time. this will help you to seal yourself off from distractions. - play is secluded and marked by limitedness. - create an oasis for yourself by setting the boundaries of space and time. become separate from everyday life just for a few moments. - it ’ s easier to do trivial things which are not important, that to do important things. therefore, clear off unimportant distractions. - it takes some time for your mind to quiet down. 30 minutes is not enough for your creative time. - cleese suggest about 1 1 / 2 hour sessions. - take a break ( e. g. for


wrong ” or “ i don ’ t like that ”. always be positive. and build on what ’ s been said. “ would it be even better if …? ” “ i don ’ t quite understand that … can you just explain it again? ” try to establish as free an atmosphere as possible. 13. japanese creativity – unstructured, lack of pressure, first people to give their views are the most junior - they can speak freely without contradicting what ’ s already been said by those more important. 14. creativity is like humour … in a joke, the laugh comes at a moment when you connect two frames of reference. 15. having a new idea is connecting to separate ideas that creates a new meaning. 16. new connections are significant if they generate a new meaning. 17. when you play, you can try randomly invent new juxtapositions. then use your intuition to sense which are significant or meaningful. 18. deliberately crazy connections can be called “ intermediate impossibles ”. however stupid or wrong or absurd they seem, they are the stepping stones to an idea that is right. if you really don ’ t know how to start or you get stuck, start generating random connections that may lead to some new ideas. 19. finally : how to stop your subordinates from being creative. filed under : technology — piotr @ 8 : 19 pm april 11, 2012 jesper richter - reichhelm of wooga ( facebook games maker ) shares the lessons he learned in scaling their game platforms to handle millions of users. wooga ’ s game, called monster world, is currently heading for 2 million daily users. veeery impressive! i aplaude their choice of ruby language for running the backend logic and interfacing with flash front - end and mysql database ( s ). i was also happy to learn how they ’ d overcome mysql scaling issues. hint : they used a ( now hugely ) popular in - memory key - value store called redis. redis is an awesome piece of technology, and in hindsight, seems like a perfect fit for a high - throughput / mega - popular facebook game like monster world. sounds interesting to you??? the full video is here for your pleasure. where did we come from? i find the explanation that we were made in stars to be deep, elegant, and beautiful. this explanation says that every atom in each of our bodies was built up out of smaller particles produced in the furnaces of long


ray kurzweil : well if we talk about what is it that we should train children and adults ' cause i think we need lifelong education to do. it ' s not rote learning, which unfortunately it ' s still the model of education throughout much of the world. i think actually the united states is better than a lot of other areas interms of having more flexible approaches to what it is we ' re trying toget children to do. many areas of the world are really still have a model of education of rote learning, which is obsolete because we carry all that information on our belts. we don ' t need to remember it all. but we do need to be able to solve actual problems with knowledge. we need to find the right knowledge ; yes, we have search engines to help us and the search engines will get better, but really need the right strategies to find the right information. we need to be able to create new knowledge. knowledge is doubling every 13 months by some measures. and knowledge isn ' t just a database. knowledge is a symphony or a jazz band or a poem or a novel or a new scientific insight or an invention. these are also examples of knowledge. my philosophy ofeducation is learn by doing. singularity university, which i co - founded with peter diamandis and i ' m chancellor of – has that philosophy with the core curriculum is the students self - organizing into small teams and they take on a grand challenge like to solve the water problem of the world and maybe they will actually succeed indoing that – the goal is to actually do – solve major challenges inten years. or maybe they ' ll solve a piece of it, or maybe they won ' tsolve it at all, but they ' ll still learn something. if i think about what i ' ve learned in my career, it ' s from my own projects and whether they succeed or fail, that ' s really the best way to learn. and there ' s versions of that we can bring into every level. we certainly see many college kids started major revolutions, including political revolutions but also technological revolutions, with no equipment other than their notebook computer or their phone. directed and produced by : jonathan fowler & elizabeth rodd


virginia and kentucky resolutions ( 1798 ) these resolutions argued that the federal government had no authority to exercise power not specifically delegated to it in the constitution. they were passed by the legislatures of kentucky and virginia in response to the alien and sedition acts of 1798 and were authored by thomas jefferson and james madison, respectively. in an analysis of the principle of federalism, the resolutions made the case that the states had the power to nullify unconstitutional federal laws. the kentucky resolution declared in part, “ [ t ] he several states who formed that instrument [ the constitution ], being sovereign and independent, have the unquestionable right to judge of its infraction ; and that a nullification, by those [ states ], of all unauthorized acts …. is the rightful remedy. ” the virginia resolution said that by enacting the alien and sedition acts, congress was exercising “ a power not delegated by the constitution, but on the contrary, expressly and positively forbidden by one of the amendments thereto ; a power, which more than any other, ought to produce universal alarm, because it is levelled against that right of freely examining public characters and measures, and of free communication among the people thereon, which has ever been justly deemed, the only effectual guardian of every other right. ” the ideas in the virginia and kentucky resolutions became a precursor to john c. calhoun ’ s arguments about the power of states to nullify federal laws. however, during the 1830s nullification controversy, madison rejected the legitimacy of nullification, and maintained that it was not part of the virginia position in 1798.


this is another image i found on google + all lines are absolutely straight, parallel and perpendicular but why does it appear to have a curvature? related : how does this illusion work? like these questions : ) many of these illusions come from prof. akiyoshi kitaoka, a japanese psychologist and expert for gestalt psychology. on his website you ' ll find some more fascinating illusions and questions to ask here ; ) the illusion above is named cafe wall illusion and the newest model to explain those illusions is the contrast - polarity model. short explanation from his webpage : the paper explained it better to me : this explains why you perceive a tilt. if you position the smaller squares now in distinct edges of the big squares, you can achieve 2 - and 3 - dimenional illusions. here you see a increasing of the tilt due to more smaller squares : here you can see that the positioning of the smaller squares is critical to achieve the 3d effect of the orignial bulge effect in your question : notice that gestalt psychology is a non - reductionistic theory approach and investigates mainly the phenomenology and underlying gestalt laws of visual perception. how these gestalt laws developed on a deeper level is a question of neurobiological evolution similar to, " why have some species of apes color - vision and some not ". the ellipses in the explaining picture above show you, that our cognitive visual machine somehow tries to group divided objects ( square and line of same contrast / brightness ) in one line and we see a tilt. i ' m guessing here, but this is probably due to cognitive brain algorithm that saves things and objects we see and perceive mainly by countor and shapes, rather than pixel by pixel like a computer and digital camera do it, which of course don ' t perceive any tilt or 3d illusion in any of those trick images : ) read the papers for more explanations and examples, not behind a paywall :


for many americans and almost all new yorkers, one of the staples of thanksgiving day is waking up at a semi - reasonable hour to watch the macy ’ s thanksgiving day parade, an annual event wherein people gather to march down the streets of new york city from central park west to herald square accompanied by massive balloons, elaborately decorated floats, and the deafening sounds of holiday camaraderie. started by immigrants in the 1920s who wanted to celebrate their newfound american heritage and emulate the festive gatherings of their ancestors in europe, the parade has become an annual tradition, complete with a live television broadcast, musical acts, performances by broadway players, and millions of new yorkers and out - of - towners celebrating the season. the history of the macy ’ s thanksgiving day parade is a long and storied one, and numerous changes have been implemented since its inception almost a century ago. did you know that it was originally called the macy ’ s christmas parade and is just one of many thanksgiving day parades that take place around the country? or how about that live animals were used for the first few years before the balloons were introduced? the parade would continue to grow and develop over the years until its current incarnation. despite these many, many changes, every year since the first parade jolly old saint nick awaits at the end, presumably to usher in another season of mass consumerism. take a look at the infographic below to learn a number of interesting, bizarre, and downright hilarious facts about this time honored thanksgiving day tradition. click to enlarge


i ’ m delighted to be working with state folklorist maggie holtzberg in lowell this summer. on the summer solstice, maggie and i went to visit jonas stundzia at his home in lawrence to learn about rasos svente, the dew festival, and the ways lithuanians celebrate the longest day of the year. he will be demonstrating how to make floral head garlands at this year ’ s lowell folk festival. garlands, or wreaths, are an important part of this solstice festival, also known as the festival of saint john. jonas is a wealth of folklore. when we got to his house, he welcomed us with a traditional lithuanian greeting. from a decorative ceramic pitcher, he poured water over our hands, and held out a woven lithuanian cloth to dry them. he then offered us cucumbers dipped in honey and small cups of samagonas ( rye moonshine ). he said that cucumbers dipped in honey are eaten as a summer treat only in the northeast area of lithuania. jonas showed us his garden blooming with plants native to lithuania, including wild sorrel, used in making soup ; ruta ( rue ), the national flower ; wild onions ; and lavender. his garden also had winter rye, used for christmas decorations ; parsley ; mint ; wild straw ; and wild dahlia. he showed us a large oak garland he had made. oak is considered a male tree and oak garlands are usually reserved for men. we tried it on anyway, and it was heavy! in lithuania, garlands made of wild flowers, healing herbs, and grasses are used in the solstice festival to adorn the head, decorate the homestead, float candles on the water, and burn in the bonfire. jonas had made another large circular garland with linden and yellow flowers which symbolize the sun. lithuanians consider linden a female plant ; this wreath could be worn by a woman, or decorated with lit candles to be floated on the water on the evening of the rasos svente festival. the points of light guide the sun back home to earth. wreaths symbolize the circle of life. circles and wheels are important in lithuanian mythology. in one pre - bronze age myth the sun travels across the sky pulled by a goat. jonas told us that lithuanian rituals and language go back to proto indo - european times. they still survive today because lithuania was geographically isolated far up north on swampy land that nobody else wanted. lithuanian is an ancient language, but still living, unlike sanskrit or


told us that lithuanian rituals and language go back to proto indo - european times. they still survive today because lithuania was geographically isolated far up north on swampy land that nobody else wanted. lithuanian is an ancient language, but still living, unlike sanskrit or latin. on the summer solstice, lithuanians give kupole staffs to friends and neighbors to protect and bless their homes. jonas showed us a kupole staff he had made with healing herbs : nettle ( good for healing arthritis and a relaxation ) ; wormwood ( good for the nerves ) ; southern wort ( a nerve relaxant used to make absinthe liquor ) ; mountain ash ( considered a male plant, used in the celebration of st. john ) ; and belladonna ( a medicinal nightshade ). next, he showed us decorative iron saule, which means “ sun. ” one had a circle, which represents the sun ; branches which represent the tree of life ; jagged thunderbolts ; curved snakes ; and roots representing the earth. in lithuania, snakes are symbols of life. gyvate means snake ; gyvas means life. the first animals to appear from mother earth in the spring are the toad and the snake. thunderbolts allude to the god of thunder who creates rain, and therefore gives life. other saule he showed us had christian crosses. he said that roman catholics had adopted and reinterpreted the form of the saule and used them in cemeteries to decorate gravestones. in the same way, the pre - christian kupole staff transformed into a similar, but smaller and more compact staff used on palm sunday. the rituals of the rasos svente festival also were adopted into saint john ’ s day celebrations. we look forward to hearing more of his stories at his demonstration tent at the folk festival in july. all photos by maggie holtzberg.


ta - da! look at that wonderful floor puzzle your child just completed!! it ’ s big, and beautiful, and … finished? not necessarily! floor puzzles are a wonderful educational activity on their own, but did you know there are some additional ways you can use these large projects to sneak - in some extra learning? here are three tips for each level of floor puzzle : beginner, intermediate ( 24 - 50 piece ) and advanced ( 100 piece ). these puzzles typically have fewer, and larger, puzzle pieces – which is great for younger puzzlers. after your child is finished, work together to : - identify and name all the colors used in the puzzle - count how many objects ( animals, symbols, people ) are in the puzzle - group similar objects together ( animals, people, big things, little things ) intermediate floor puzzles puzzles with up to 50 pieces can be a wonderful accomplishment for your child. but, once complete, there are many ways you can encourage further learning. try : - seeking patterns in the puzzle : are there objects or colors that repeat? - creating a story about the puzzle : use storytelling paper to write down what ’ s happening in the puzzle. ( for example, for the solar system puzzle below, write a story about what it would be like to visit each planet! ) - identify and compare sizes of objects in the puzzle : what is the biggest? what is the smallest? advanced floor puzzles massive puzzles are so much fun to accomplish, and after you ’ ve spent all that time putting it together, it would be a shame to take it apart! here are ways to keep enjoying your 100 piece floor puzzle. - measure the puzzle and talk about inches versus feet ( how many feet long is the puzzle? how many inches? ) - stare at the puzzle for a certain period of time, then look away and try to recreate the puzzle on a piece of paper from memory. - grab your encyclopedia, and do some research on the images or objects that appear in the puzzle. for example, if it ’ s the underwater floor puzzle above, look up different species of fish, or find out what plants live in the ocean and what purposes they serve. what are your favorite ways to play, and learn, with floor puzzles? share your ideas in the comments below, or join the conversation on melissa & doug ’ s facebook page!


highways of the future ( may, 1938 ) highways of the future by e. w. murtfeldt picture a 15, 000 - mile network of twelve - lane motor speedways spanning the nationa€ ” three of them linking the atlantic and pacific coasts, six more crisscrossing the country north and south a€ ” and you will have an idea of the vastness of a spectacular highway plan proposed by senator robert j. bulkley of ohio. requiring twenty - five years for completion, the mammoth gridiron of superhighways would change long - distance driving from a motorist ’ s nightmare of snarled traffic into a reality of fast, safe transportation. it would represent an impressive start toward an era of scientifically constructed speedways, and crashproof cars of radical new design to run upon them, foreseen by leading experts for the not - too - distant future. what will transcontinental touring be like, say, fifty years from now? recently dr. miller mcclintock, director of the harvard university bureau for street traffic researcha€ ” the man who is recognized as the nation ’ s foremost authority on traffic problemsa€ ” gave a startling preview of the momentous changes he sees ahead. rear - end collisions, he foresees, will be made impossible by a new expedient. pushing down the brake pedal on a car of the future will operate a stop light that emits infra - red rays. these invisible light rays, picked up and distinguished from ordinary light by a photo - electric cell on the front of a following car, will energize an electric circuit and apply its brakes automatically. electric cables, buried beneath the pavements of superhighways, will govern the movement of cars. one set of electromagnetic impulses will control the car ’ s speed. another set will lock its steering gear against any attempt to make a dangerous turn from one lane to another. eventually, the cable system may even be adapted to take over steering altogethera€ ” allowing the driver to release the wheel, sit back, and make himself comfortable until he chooses to switch back again to manual control. at night, the superhighways will light up of their own accord, section by section, as a car travels over them. “ electric eyes ” spaced along the road will turn on the glareless illumination whenever a car passes, shutting it off at other times to conserve electricity. imagine a typical section of this superhighway of the future. straight as a shaft of light,


electric eyes ” spaced along the road will turn on the glareless illumination whenever a car passes, shutting it off at other times to conserve electricity. imagine a typical section of this superhighway of the future. straight as a shaft of light, ten or more broad lanes of concrete stretch across the countryside, passing around cities and towns, bridging railroads, canals, and crossroads. streamline busses roar along a center strip that splits the speedway, separating streams of private cars traveling in both directions. for cars moving at different speeds, each one - way pavement is divided into separate safety, accelerating, cruising, and express lanes. hop into a 1988 - model car and take an imaginary spin down one of these amazing foolproof roads. perhaps you arrived at the transcontinental artery by plane, swooping down on one of the concrete flight strips lining the boulevard, or settling to an automatic, radio - controlled landing on a spacious airport built close to a major highway intersection. driving up the clover - leaf approach onto the elevated highway, you glide first into the slow - speed safety lane, edge over into the accelerating strip, and turn the steering wheel to swing into the cruising lane. but nothing happens. your car refuses to respond to the wheel, and suddenly you learn why as another automobile whips by on your left at sixty miles an hour. suspended in service tunnels below the pavement, cables operating on an electromagnetic principle control a mechanism attached to the steering gear to prevent the car from turning left until the adjacent cruising lane is free from traffic for a safe distance. you try the wheel again. this time the car swings over into the cruising lane and immediately picks up speed. you haven ’ t stepped on the gas, but the speedometer needle creeps steadily upward and freezes on the sixty mark. a second set of buried electromagnetic cables is taking over control of your speed, since cars in the cruising lane must go no more and no less than sixty miles an hour. but other automobiles are still flying past you on the express lane to your left. now you swing the wheel over, confident that the car will respond only if turning is safe. in the express lane, your speed automatically steps up to the 100 - mile - an - hour limit. fifty yards of special nonskid pavement flies by underneath your car every second. unless you switch back to a slower lane, you can maintain that pace hour after hour, for you ’ ll never see a traffic light, a railroad crossing, a street intersection, or even a curve sharp enough


flies by underneath your car every second. unless you switch back to a slower lane, you can maintain that pace hour after hour, for you ’ ll never see a traffic light, a railroad crossing, a street intersection, or even a curve sharp enough to slow you down. at twilight, overhead lamps will bathe the road in light. sleet cannot form on the chemically coated windshield of the car. if you run into fog, chemical vapor escaping from tiny jets in the roadway will clear a lane of visibility. so your top speed of 100 miles an hour is also your average speeda€ ” fast enough to let you have breakfast in new york, lunch in ohio, dinner in iowa, and a midnight snack not far from the colorado state line. as your car eats up the miles in the express lane, you notice on your left a steel barrier that divides you from the broad two - way center lane reserved for express bus traffic. built into the middle of this bus roadway at the outskirts of cities and towns, and at railroad and route junctions, are station platforms, served by moving stairways from waiting rooms below. here passengers change from interstate busses to local lines to be whisked into cities and towns adjacent to the main highway. still farther to the left, traffic is speeding along at a controlled pace in the duplicate one - way road section for cars traveling in the opposite direction. but as you marvel at the efficient handling, safety, and speed of this 1988 traffic, it suddenly dawns on you that this superhighway has no roadside markers, no painted warnings on the pavement, not even a signpost to direct you along the route. you search in vain for any of the familiar signs that in 1938 were almost as much a part of the highway as the pavinga€ ” “ sharp curve, ” “ winding road, ” “ steep hill ” a€ ” these signs, and the necessity for them, have disappeared from main routes years ago. “ but how do i find my way around? ” you ask your guide. “ how do i know where to turn off for middletown or cen - terville? is every motorist a mind reader these days? ” your guide smiles and suggests that you swing off the traveled lanes and nose into one of the parking bays that line the shoulder of the road. “ take a look at that dashboard, ” he advises as you pull up to a stop out of the stream of traffic. at first glance you spot a few of the familiar dials and instrumentsa€ ”


that line the shoulder of the road. “ take a look at that dashboard, ” he advises as you pull up to a stop out of the stream of traffic. at first glance you spot a few of the familiar dials and instrumentsa€ ” speedometer, fuel gauge, ammeter. after a little study you figure out a few of the othersa€ ” tachometer, tire - pressure gauge, engine - temperature meter. but what is that row of colored lights, and what is that white screen just over the windshield? “ since the old days when all cars had gear - shifts and burned gasoline for fuel, ” he explains, “ science has stripped the welter of directional and warning signs off the highway and put the essential ones right on the dashboard of each car. at 100 miles an hour, roadside markers would be no more legible than hen tracks, anyway. the law now requires every automobile to be equipped with standard, pretuned, ul - trashort - wave radio and television units. on small four - lane side roads, traffic signals are indicated by the colored lights here on the panel. “ miles before you reach any superhighway junction, ” your guide continues, “ your television set picks up the junction transmitter. all you have to do is glance at the viewing screen to find out where the crossroads will take you and how far it is to the next turn - off. and in case you get confused somehow, it ’ s simply a matter of throwing that switch lever to put you in two - way radio communication with highway - patrol headquarters. they ’ ll tell you where you are, how far it is in hours and minutes to your destination, and where to make the correct turn off the highway. ” in congested areas, you find out, i highways are built on elevated structures over railroad lines. the top deck is reserved for private cars, while busses run on a lower level, and streamline trains race along on the tracks beneath. train passengers transfer at metropolitan terminals to bus platforms for transportation to local stations in city suburbs and villages. traffic experts realize that a superhighway similar to the one just described must eventually be constructed a€ ” not only to handle an ever - increasing volume of vehicular traffic, but also to end the highway slaughter that in the last fifteen years has taken almost twice as many lives as the total lost in all the wars the united states has fought since the founding of the republic. accident statistics show that in many cases the driver is at fault, but


the highway slaughter that in the last fifteen years has taken almost twice as many lives as the total lost in all the wars the united states has fought since the founding of the republic. accident statistics show that in many cases the driver is at fault, but the great majority of crashes can be traced ultimately to the roads over which we drive. better, safer highways are a vital necessity, and extensive road - development programs, now being pushed by state as well as federal authorities, may lead toward the highspeed superhighways of the future. already the state of pennsylvania is pointing the way by authorizing the construction of what has been called the greatest road engineering project ever undertaken in the united statesa€ ” a 164 - mile, $ 80, 000, 000 toll boulevard stretching through the allegheny mountains from harrisburg to pittsburgh. the proposed route will follow a $ 10, - 000, 000 railroad right of way, hacked out of the forests in the 1880 ′ s, and on which not one length of track has ever been laid. built during a bitter feud between rival railroad interests, and abandoned after they concluded a truce, the unused roadbed runs through nine rock tunnels along its route for a total tunnel length of more than seven miles. engineers ’ reports indicate the startling advantages the toll road will have over present traffic routes through the mountains and suggest some of the features that may be expected in future superhighways. from harrisburg west to pittsburgh, cars now have to climb nine - percent grades for a total of 13, 880 feet. over the new boulevard, cars will ascend a total of only 3, 940 feet up grades that never exceed three percent. the route will eliminate four railroad and twenty - six highway grade crossings. three quarters of its length will be entirely free from curves. on one straightaway, motorists will drive for forty miles without meeting a single bend in the road. ultimately, the pennsylvania toll road may serve as one link in the transcontinental chain of highways proposed by senator bulkley and now being studied by a committee. this whole federal network would also operate under a toll system, scaled to the rate of about one tenth of a cent a passenger mile, in addition to a flat fee of twenty - five cents for each car entering the highway. thus you would pay a quarter to get on the boulevard at new york and ninety cents to drive the 900 miles to chicago, if you were alone in the car. federal police would man the toll gates and patrol the road. since every car would be required to stop at


with various dangers lurking in corners and cabinets, our kitchen and backyards can be a minefield of poisons for our pets, especially with the easter season ( plants ) and planned egg hunts just around the corner. the aspca animal poison control center handles thousands of cases every year involving pets exposed to toxic substances, many of which involve everyday household products. don ’ t leave it up to fido or fluffy to keep themselves safe from the easter festivities and consider keeping them away from your annual easter egg hunt... those plastic eggs filled with chocolate are an accident waiting to happen! while fruits are a healthy choice for adults, it is not necessarily true for the four legged members of our families, depending upon the fruit. according to recent studies, grapes and raisins top the list of the ten most common plants that poison pets. the top ten list includes : 1. grapes and raisins 3. marijuana (... you don ' t say? ) 4. lily (.. mind those easter lilies! ) 7. sage palm 8. macadamia nuts 10. hydrangea ( another popular easter plant ) for more information on keeping your pet safe from harmful foods, plants and the surprising danger of common household substances, visit the american society for the prevention of cruelty to animals if your resident fido or fluffy absolutely must sink their teeth into a fruit or vegetable, may we suggest a muttropolis squeaky carrot patch pal ( above ) for their enjoyment.....


ant trails, airborne chemicals, wood vibrations — scientists have a long history of borrowing clever communication techniques from the animal kingdom. inspired by the odd social habits of a cave - dwelling cricket, scientists have now taught robots to communicate by firing rings of pressurized air at each other. the cricket in question is the african cave cricket ( phaeophilacris spectrum ), which rapidly flicks its wings to launch donut - shaped air rings, a type of vortex, to both potential mates and enemies. reduced to two kinds of messages, its “ language ” is pretty simple : it sends isolated vortices to threaten its rival, and a rapid sequence of vortices to woo would - be lovers. when andy russell, an engineer at monash university in australia, learned about the cricket, he thought this technique would improve robots ’ ability to communicate in noisy environments — but that wasn ’ t the only benefit. “ like the cave crickets, there may be times when a robot does not want its communications intercepted, ” russell told new scientist. researchers speculate that the cricket uses vortices to communicate undetected by predators — so why not robots? chris melhuish, a researcher at the bristol robotics laboratory in the uk said, “ this could be a useful addition to the communication armoury of future robotic systems. ” the science of vortices reaches back to 1858, when william rogers first described vortex rings, and scientists have been dazzled ever since by how far these rings can travel. they form when a slug of air or liquid is shot out of a small nozzle into a region of still air or liquid : as the slug travels out of the nozzle, the low - pressure build - up on the outside of the slug causes the edge to curl, eventually forming a donut shape that can then propagate quite a distance. ( dolphins are natural masters of the art ; humans aren ’ t bad ourselves, and we can use toys to make big rings. ) russell co - opted cricket communications with the science of vortices by equipping a squat, roughly 6 - inch tall, cylinder - shaped robot with eight air disturbance sensors, sending binary messages via a separate vortex generator, which isn ’ t quite as high - tech as it sounds : it ’ s pretty much like a loudspeaker cone, sending pulses of air outward through a less than one - inch aperture. because it ’ s difficult to track an pulse of air — it is invisible, after all — the engineers burned incense to see


s pretty much like a loudspeaker cone, sending pulses of air outward through a less than one - inch aperture. because it ’ s difficult to track an pulse of air — it is invisible, after all — the engineers burned incense to see the air disturbances in progress. by themselves, these air pulses don ’ t say much — but when sent in a series of binary coded pulses, they can be used to communicate with other robots. in this study, for example, the scientists sent a sequence of 1, 000 vortices to relay the binary coded word for “ vortex ” over a distance of nearly 12 inches. in addition to sending messages through varied pulses, the sensors could detect both the direction and range of the sender : the message direction was gathered by sensing which of the eight sensors were triggered, while the robot calculated distance by analyzing the lag between the fast - and slow - moving vortices. sensing air disturbances is all fine and dandy, but what happens when you ’ re in a breezy environment? the scientists equipped the robot with a plastic film attached at only one end to take care of that : when hooked up to an optical sensor, the robot can detect the difference between laminar ( typical of breezes ) and turbulent flow ( typical of the vortices ). but despite their valiant efforts, the common error was still missed vortices : as the rings of air traveled, breezes from the room ’ s ventilation system would sometimes trigger a phantom vortex, sending unintentional messages. while not perfect, the scientists nevertheless demonstrated that such robot - to - robot communication is possible. in addition to fixing the errors, the researchers want to construct a smaller vortex generator — one closer to the size of its inspiration, the wing - flick of the cave cricket. discover : when robots live among us discoblog : how to speak a language that your robot will understand discoblog : japan wants to send a tweeting companion - bot to the space station discover : evolving a conscious machine image : wikimedia commons / traitor


libraries, supermarkets, classrooms … the world is full of places that look very similar, and yet our brains always seem to keep track of where we are. in a new study published in the journal of neuroscience, researchers at princeton university and ohio state university have uncovered one way in which the brain does this. similar - looking places can be distinguished from each other because of differences in what we experience when navigating to them. as we head toward a destination, our brains catalogue details such as other nearby buildings, the look of the doorway, even the people nearby. the researchers discovered that the parahippocampal cortex, a part of the visual system that analyzes the current scene in front of us, also incorporates the details leading up to the scene, or its “ temporal context. ” as a result, even when two scenes look identical, we create different memory traces for them when their temporal contexts are different. ultimately, this can help our brains to keep track of where we are in the world. learn more about nicholas turk - browne ’ s research at princeton university. journal citation : turk - browne nb, simon mg, sederberg pb. scene representations in parahippocampal cortex depend on temporal context. j neurosci. 2012 may 23 ; 32 ( 21 ) : 7202 – 7.


how do you engage children in ways that help them verbalise their thinking and help them learn? the children organise their own day and always make time for their ‘ own time ’ or free inquiry. this provides me with so much evidence of learning. during these sessions i observe the children to see : where their passion [... ] molly is in england and we all miss her very much. the good news is we can stay in touch and continue learning together. the children decided the best way to share their maths with molly was to make her a video. they decided what they wanted to share. here it is. the children decided [... ] there were some spring balances being given away. i took some and put them out. the video is a condensed version of 45 minutes of sustained inquiry into measuring and weighing. be aware of : the mathematical language being used the thinking skills being developed the problem solving the cooperation children make their own video of how to do a number boggle. click on the title to learn more. this is an explanation of the process children go through as they learn. the focus is on mathematics, but the process applies to all curriculum areas. please click on the title to find out more if you write a letter you will need … integrating language arts and mathematics. this simple task turned into a big inquiry.


giant marble harvests energy from sun and moon it looks like a giant, glass marble. but this globe is no game. it ’ s a sun - tracking, solar energy concentrator created by barcelona - based architects rawlemon and, according to the designers, is able to collect not just sunlight but moonlight as well. the weatherproof sphere is designed to rotate and follow the sun across the sky. it ’ s so sensitive to light that at night, it can even harvest moonlight and convert it into electricity. andre rawlemon, the architect and designer, says his spherical, sun - tracking glass globe is able to concentrate sunlight and moonlight up to 10, 000 times and that the system is 35 percent more efficient than photovoltaic designs that track the sun. one of rawlemon ’ s idea is to build these globes into the exterior walls of buildings and use them to generate electricity. other products to invest in when this technology reaches full commercialization potential : bounty and windex. seriously though, the ability alone to convert moonlight to electricity could be a game changer for the manufacturers of photovoltaic cells where typical solar panels offer a range of 8 to 12 hours of usable daylight for the generation of electricity. coupled with products that offer greater efficiency and other simple behavioral aspects like turning off computers and monitors ( or at least put in stand - by ) when they ’ re not being used could add up to significant savings and longer - term environmental benefits.


bycatch refers to the unwanted sea life people catch when they ’ re fishing for something else. bycatch wastes 7 million metric tonnes of sea life every year. the vast majority of bycatch — already dead when it hits the deck — is just discarded. killing hundreds of thousands of juvenile fish not big enough for legal take can undermine the entire fishery. bycatch is heavy when boats use destructive fishing gear such as massive trawl nets that scrape the bottom of the ocean and capture virtually everything in their path. the 1. 4 billion baited hooks set in longline fisheries every year kill a great deal of non - target animals including sea turtles, sharks, birds, and marine mammals. blue ocean institute ’ s seafood choices guide ’ s methodology for assessing wild - caught seafood uses bycatch as one of its five core criteria. and for years blue ocean has worked with scientists, regulators, fishing industry leaders, and conservationists to reduce the unintended catch of marine life. we promote effective, practical solutions for the benefit and balance of ocean ecosystems. new fishing methods or low - cost equipment changes can help animal populations recover. bycatch is a serious challenge to healthy fisheries worldwide but by choosing fish from low - bycatch fisheries, consumers can be part of the solution. 3 things you can do to fight bycatch : 1. eat sustainably caught seafood 2. support the use of fishing gear that avoids bycatch 3. know the issues other ways to you can make a difference. links & videos discards in the world ’ s marine fisheries, fao fisheries what is bycatch?, noaa fisheries service global assessment of fisheries bycatch and discards, fao fisheries eye of the albatross, carl safina noaa releases first national bycatch report, noaa impacts of bottom trawling on fisheries, tourism, and the marine environment, oceana millions of sea turtles killed due to bycatch, discovery millions of already endangered turtles are accidentally killed each year as a result of global fisheries. the truth about bycatch, greenpeace many sea creatures are the helpless victims of bycatch. they are caught in fishery operations and are usually tossed overboard either already dead or severely injured. bycatch management and discard reduction a film by the global environment facility funded, un development programme implemented, food and agricultural organization of the united nations executed project,


so many competent new zealand climbers came out of otago, and it is interesting to look back at the origins of mountaineering in otago, and wider afield so see why? the n. z. alpine club, formed in 1891, was the first organised mountain club in new zealand. several more were formed early last century, particularly after the first world war - - the tararua tramping club in 1919, the otago tramping & mountaineering club in 1923 and the auckland tramping club in 1925. in canterbury, a christchurch tramping & mountaineering club was formed in 1925. later its male members formed the canterbury mountaineering club. with the southern alps well traversed regularly by maori in search of greenstone, food and for the general draw of what lays over the ridge, early new zealand mountaineers and trampers generally ignored a lot of information available in maori records and folklore. here is an extract from my article on maori mountaineers of south westland. http : / / bobmckerrow. blogspot. com / 2008 / 03 / maori - mountaineers - of - south - westland. html the mana and beauty of the pounamu was an added attraction to cross the divide again and again, all the while gathering further alpine experience. their pre - european glossary of snow and ice, whilst not as comprehensive as the inuit ( eskimo ), certainly proved that they had rubbed their paraerae ( sandals ) on the high mountain passes. whenuahuka described the permanent snow on the high peaks and hukapapa was the name for the huge snowfields. the snow slides from the high peaks were hukamania, and as they grew and took on avalanche proportions, they became hukahoro. the glaciers that drained the snowfields were called hukapo, the glacial sediment waiparahoaka and the snow - fed water, waihuka. kipakanui, or ice, was seen in the shady valleys in winter, and the thick ice which never saw the sun was named waiuka, meaning solid water. one hundred and thirty years later, southland mountaineer stan mulvaney wrote of how this was a very difficult task. more on james mckerrow so with this background of rugged maori travellers, surveyors, runholders, goldminers and explorers, the spirit of the hills started a new era with malcolm ross of dunedin heading for mt earnslaw in 1885 on an expedition which was characteristic of the ' pluck and daring ', colonial ingenuity and


new club immediately started with a flourish, and forthwith set out to walk. there was an immediate rush of new members, and at the end of the first year the roll was 157. the first tramp was planned for saturday afternoon, september 1. about 50 members assembled at ross creek reservoir and set off up the pineapple track to flagstaff - a clear sunny day, with a cold south - westerly wind, the kind we know so well. the following saturday some 60 persons gathered at the gardens corner for a climb of signal hill and down the other side to burkes ; and this was followed the next day by a trip to whare flat, where various parties converged on a pleasant river - bank below mcquilkan ' s ( long since washed out by floods and ruined by the invading gorse ). ben rudd at his hut with otago tramping club visitors 1923. a fortnight later while one group climbed mt. cargill, two others set off for whare flat - one of which made the journey successfully, but the other was stopped and warned off by ben rudd, the old hermit whose property was long afterwards purchased by the club. scott gilkinson was one of those cut - off and still remembers the feelings of alarm as they encountered the stocky, bearded little man with the shot - gun. as a result of this, the club arranged with ben rudd that he would cut a track through the manuka scrub, thus providing a route to whare flat while keeping members well away from ben ' s property. for this he was paid the princely sum of £5, and the track was under very by 1930 then, the club was well established as a force in the community. whereas previously trampers had been looked on almost as cranks, or at best as rare curiosities, their activities were now accepted as rational and respectable. the ' thirties, and the onset of the depression, saw the club ready to play its part. at 4350 feet ( 1325 m ) above sea level big hut. in 1946 the otago ski club opened this spacious 70 - bunk ski lodge near the summit of the rock and pillar range. the otago university tramping club, then the otago tramping and mountaineering club, took over the hut in the 1980s and did repairs that kept the elements out. on the local scene there was extensive development of active interest in the mountains. for seven years the otago tramping club had been building up its activities. the otago university tramping club was functioning — very actively


and did repairs that kept the elements out. on the local scene there was extensive development of active interest in the mountains. for seven years the otago tramping club had been building up its activities. the otago university tramping club was functioning — very actively in some years, more modestly in others. under the influence of ellis, miller, boddy, aitken and others, otago men had been taking an active interest in the higher mountains in north - west otago. at the end of 1930 the otago section of the n. z. alpine club was formed in dunedin, this being the start of a long period of friendly co - operation between trampers and mountaineers. in 1932, as a result of five weeks of continuous ski - able snow on flagstaff, the otago ski club was formed ; the tramping club " learned with interest of its formation and extended to it its good wishes for a successful future ". the three clubs operating in their respective fields worked in well together, with some members common to all, and with members of one of the clubs not infrequently becoming interested in the others. 4 x2s on the frame, huts were built. on christmas trips 90 lb packs were not uncommon. photo : bob mckerrow interest in organised christmas trips reached a peak in 1947 when no less than three expeditions were planned rockburn - olivine, hopkins and ahuriri, with 50 to 60 members involved. gordon mclaren and murray douglas climbed mt ward ( third ascent ) - the first major ascent to be made by the climbing enthusiasts. a high standard of safety was maintained on all these trips and no incident of any sort occurred, despite the numbers in the field. christmas 1948 saw another club camp in the wilkin valley. pack horses took half a ton of stores to jumboland base camp and their owner charged £97 for the privilege. every part of the wilkin and its tributaries were visited, and several good climbs made, including the first ascent of the inaccessible pickelhaube in the south wilkin. jack hoskins and scott gilkison made a first crossing from the west coast via the waiatoto, pearson saddle and south wilkin. the rees, dart, matukituki, rockburn, hollyford and ahuriri were also visited by other parties. aspiring was climbed by gordon mclaren and party, and murray douglas climbed mt cook - the club ' s first major post - war ascents. john armstrong carried on the tradition of capable and innovative presidents with