D Chip Combines Computing, Information Storage

Address bar or box (noun) – the slender, rectangular box on the topmost a part of a browser window the place you may type in an online deal with. A peripheral enter machine which senses some variable within the system atmosphere, comparable to temperature, and converts it to an electrical signal which can be further transformed to a digital signal for processing by the pc. Default values Values which can be assumed or provided mechanically (for example, by a computer system) if a value is not specified. Log-on or Signal-in (verb) – to achieve entry to a pc system or a page on an internet site by entering a password or consumer ID.

Enter a number of search terms and click Go. Objects within the History folder will probably be deleted after 90 days. The computer virus, which researchers are calling GoldenEye or Petya, began computer mouse wireless its unfold on Tuesday in Ukraine and affected companies in dozens of countries. Gopher — an early distributed doc search and retrieval community protocol on the Internet.

Accuracy of a computer is constantly excessive and the diploma of accuracy of a specific computer will depend on the instructions and the kind of processor. A moving place-indicator displayed on a computer monitor that reveals a computer operator where the next motion or operation will take place. Mitz Pantic has written a prime selling Laptop Fundamentals Book that features a free laptop terms dictionary as a bonus.

A tv-like screen that shows textual content, graphics, and other features carried out by the computer. Additionally there’s a server-based mostly distant access service accessible at all times from wherever, corresponding to personal laptop computer at house or via networked computers in college computer rooms. A relationship between terms or ideas that is everlasting and based on a recognized definition.

The execution of a virus program compromises a computer system by performing undesirable or unintended functions which may be damaging. A hardware or software program downside that causes info to be lost or the computer to malfunction. The Nationwide Information Requirements Organization MetaSearch Initiative defines metasearch as search and retrieval to span multiple databases, sources, platforms, protocols, and distributors at once.” Metasearch enables customers to enter search criteria once and entry a number of engines like google concurrently.

Utility programming interface (API) A set of standardized requests defined by one computer program that enables one other program to make requests and obtain responses. The pace of pc is calculated in MHz, that is one million directions per second. The aims of general controls are to make sure the right improvement and implementation of functions, the integrity of program and knowledge information and of pc operations.

Use the Charges, funding and scholarship search to search out out which scholarships you might be eligible for and if they require an additional application, full particulars of which are offered. Although an unsophisticated user tends to denounce any type of unreadable images that appear on his display screen as rubbish, the true definition of garbage is meaningless, pointless data the computer places within the RAM.

When you have an older pc or still use dial-up internet, you possible have an inside modem. Megahertz (MHz): one million cycles per second, the unit used to measure the pace of the internal clock of a computer. To interpret a computer instruction and perform the operations specified in the instruction. Detects errors within the input portion of knowledge that’s sent to the computer for processing.

There’s a growing variety of tablets that include integrated physical keyboards, like the Microsoft Floor RT and the ASUS VivoTab Smart The quilt that protects your pill can be a keyboard, so you can dock your tablet in class and start typing away. These terminals sometimes provide a excessive stage of computer entry and ought to be properly secured. Hardware – Describes the physical parts of your laptop which you can bodily touch or see equivalent to your monitor, case, disk drives, microprocessor and other physical elements.


Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Request a Gluten-free Recipe!

What kind of recipe would you like to have in gluten-free form?

Last spring I took a poll on my Facebook page asking what kind of GF recipes people wanted to see on my blog.  I had some really intense challenges set before me, things that were highly technical and required a steep learning curve.  You know, the kinds of challenges that I love to take on.  Nine batches of croissants later at 22 hours per batch, and I had my first recipe challenge completed.  That was only the beginning.  I quickly realized that a whole new flour formula would be needed.  Croissants, technically, are a bread, not a pastry, and the ultimate request came from my mom, who wanted Danishes.  Who can deny their mom cheese Danishes?

My gluten-free challenges last year made for some really prolific recipe invention.  I made a bread flour blend, learned how to make laminated pastries, and made the best-looking, fluffiest, hole-i-est gluten-free baguettes you've ever seen.

Here was the list of gluten-free recipes requested last spring:

I got six out of eight of those checked off the list.  The remaining two get moved to my new list, which is growing.

Recipe Request List:

Cinnamon Rolls
Easy crescent rolls
Soft Pretzels
Pain au Chocolat

What would you like to add to my to-do list?  Or, is there something you think I should work on first?  Leave it in the comments!

As an added bonus, I'll promise to post a requested recipe next Wednesday - or at least a humorous status report on my failure to produce instant results.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Traditional Round Loaf (Boule) Bread Recipe

Here's a recipe that uses traditional methods for a traditional round loaf (or boule) with a crisp crust and a chewy center.  I have a bunch of quick and easy bread recipes on this site.  Now it's time for a more traditional take on making bread.  The beauty of my bread flour mix is that the dough can be handled a lot like traditional bread dough; it can be handled, kneaded, and shaped.

You will get better, more consistent results with this recipe if you weigh everything - including the water.  However, I have given you volume measurements just in case you haven't yet bought a digital kitchen scale.

Traditional Round Loaf Recipe

makes one 1-pound loaf

Mix in the bowl of your stand mixer or whisk together by hand:

225g (about 1 cup) warm water, 110-120 degrees
15g whole psyllium husk (or 10g ground psyllium husk)
2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Add to the bowl:

225g GF Bread Flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp yeast (about half a packet)

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until everything is completely combined and a sticky dough forms.

Remove the dough to a banneton or other lightly floured basket or bowl.  Cover, and let rise 1/2 hour in a warm place.  After it has risen, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.  Gently knead the dough with lightly floured hands until you can form a ball with it.  Place the dough seam-side up back in your rising basket.  Let rise 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, or until a finger dent doesn't fill in quickly, but only comes halfway back.

When it's done rising, place a dutch oven or a pizza stone and an oven-safe pan in the oven and turn it on to pre-heat to 450 degrees F.  While the oven is heating gently shape your dough, trying not to deflate it.  Place the dough seam-side down on your lightly floured work surface.  Lightly flour your hands.  Gently run your hands along the sides of the dough, tucking the sides under and turning the loaf around as you go to get all edges tucked under.   The top will be more rounded than before and stretched a bit more tightly.    Brush the top with a little water.  Place the dough on parchment paper, cover the dough and let rest for 15-20 minutes while the oven heats.

When the oven is ready and the dough has completed its bench rest, score the top with a sharp blade about 1/4 inch deep in whatever pattern you want.

Carefully place the bread in the hot dutch oven or on the hot pizza stone and cover.  Cook for 15 minutes, then uncovered on the rack until the crust has a hollow sound when tapped on top, usually another 25 minutes.  Remove to a cooling rack, or for a crisper crust turn off the flame and cool in the oven with the door propped open.  Let the bread cool completely before slicing.

Enjoy some traditional gluten-free bread!

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

How to Make Your Own Gluten-free Bread Flour Blend

My last post on the Best Gluten-free Sandwich Bread Ever generated a flurry of interest and responses. All of them were about wanting to try the recipe.  Most of them, however, were from people who couldn't.  They really, really wanted to.  However, they can't get the unique Gluten-free Gourmand No. 7 Bread Flour.  It's not their fault!  It's just that due to things like food regulations and exorbitant shipping prices I only ship my specialty baking mixes within the United States.  What's a gluten-free baker to do if she lives in Australia (or Canada, or New Zealand)?

Now, I'm all about promoting my beautiful, artisan flours that are lovingly tested in small batches to make sure they have fewer than 10 ppm gluten.  I'm also very dedicated to bringing my customers more recipes to enjoy.  However, my blog didn't start out to sell flour.  I started blogging to share what I know about gluten-free baking, about how rewarding it can be to make something really good from scratch that's perfectly gluten-free.  Something that tastes just how you want it to taste, and feels just how you want it to feel.

It took me years to build up the courage to tackle gluten-free bread.  Then it took another year to perfect my own recipe with my own blend of flours.  That was the Teff Sandwich Bread Recipe which has gotten a lot of good feedback.  I learned so much about bread making while creating that recipe.  One thing I learned was that teff is not very readily available in many places.  I'll get to why I chose teff as my main flour in a minute, but first I want to show you who reads my blog.

Here is a screen shot of my Google Analytics.  I tried to get as close to 1,000 people in this statistic as possible to have a good sample.

Click on the image to see it larger.

I'm continually surprised that only 67% of my readers are in the United States!  Almost 12% of my readers are in Canada, and over 7% are in either Australia or New Zealand.  I can blame my Gluten-free Friand Recipe for that!  And it's no wonder that I have some readers in the UK, considering how obsessed I am with Traditional English Scones.

But enough with the statistics.  The point is that a website is international.  It can't be contained.  I'm really excited to have such a wide readership, and I want everyone to be able to make bread and scones.  That's why for almost every recipe that I have on this website that uses my artisan baking mixes, I also have a recipe that shows you how to blend your own gluten-free flours.

I've been hearing from my Australian and New Zealand readers over the last couple of days.  They really want to try my bread recipes.  They can get the psyllium husk and other binders, but it's difficult to get teff flour.  That makes sense.  It's a specialty flour that's native to Africa.  We happen to have a few farms here in the US that grow it in dedicated gluten-free fields.  Australia may not have such a farm.  So what to do?  Figure out your own flour blend, that's what!  Everyone who has written to me seems eager to experiment, so I'm eager to share what I know.

How to Find the Best Bread Flours

First of all, I want to share my thought process regarding the creation of my first bread recipe.  I wanted to find flours that had these properties:

  • strength
  • flexibility
  • ability to ferment well
  • Has been used in traditional breads
That's how I came up with Teff for my main flour in my first sandwich bread recipe: it's one of the few gluten-free flours that has been used traditionally to make a yeasted bread, called injera.  It's a sourdough flat bread that has been made for centuries in Africa.  Injera is very flexible and spongy, and it's traditionally made with 100% teff flour so I knew the grain would have great properties for making bread.  When you go to create your own blend with flours that are available in your area, think about them in the same terms.

What I quickly verified upon starting to experiment, though I always suspected it from the first bite of gluten-free bread I ever ate, was:

Rice flour is not a good flour for making bread

There, I said it.  Rice flour is typically very stiff, folks.  It's heavy.  It hates to rise.  I love it in quick breads, but not for yeasted breads.  If you live in a place that just doesn't have much else, try to find sweet rice flour, glutinous rice flour, or something with a very fine grind and do some experimenting.

After I decided on these parameters, I decided to make a list of non-rice flours that I thought might make for good bread:

potato starch
corn starch
tapioca starch
arrowroot (I've actually never tried this, but some bloggers swear by it)
bean/soy flours (if you like the flavor)

How to Blend Gluten-free Flours for Bread Recipes

Blending gluten-free flours may be an art form, but you need some science to measure your progress.  I didn't start to get anywhere in blending my own flours until I got a scale and started doing it by weight. There's just no way to measure flour accurately by volume.  Trust me, every time you scoop out a cup of sorghum flour, it's going to be a different amount of flour.  I know, because I've done it and I weighed the results!  It's impossible to be accurate or consistent.  Go by weight.  Take very detailed notes on what each blend contained, your method, and the results.

How you combine your flours is, in part, up to you.  For the lightest, fluffiest bread you will need a relatively high proportion of starch.  For a denser, more whole-grain taste you will want more dark whole grains.  Here are a few suggestions on how to get started.  Keep in mind that my percentages are by weight, not volume.

Light-textured bread with a "white wheat flour" feel:

50% starch, 50% lighter whole grains (grains that are lighter in color tend to have a milder flavor)

Dense, whole-grain bread with deeper flavor, try:

30% starch 70% whole grains

Happy medium:

40% starch 60% mixed whole grains

Mix it Up

Try using at least two starches and two whole grains in your blend to start.  If you can get them, I recommend using an equal portion of potato starch and tapioca starch.  Potato starch seems to absorb too much water while tapioca flour doesn't absorb enough.  Exactly equal portions seems to be the best blend for these two flours; they compliment each other well at this ratio.  If you can get your hands on some sorghum flour, use lots of that.  It may seem like it's going to be heavy and sticky, but it rises well, gives your loaf strength, and has a beautiful, sweet flavor.

Here's a suggestion on how to blend flours for a recipe that calls for 450g flour:

200g sorghum flour
100g whole-grain flour of choice
75g potato starch
75g tapioca starch

Take notes about what you like in each loaf, and what you don't.  Make sure you measure the liquids in the recipe very carefully each time.  Did the bread take forever to cook?  You may have too much liquid.  Did the bread fail to rise much?  The dough may be too dry, or you have too much whole grain or heavy flours in your blend.  Adjust the blend the next time you experiment.

I wrote a whole post on the different kinds of binders you can use here.  I wrote a post on chia, flax, and psyllium husk here.  I've gotten a lot of questions regarding the amount of psyllium husk I use in my bread recipes.  The answer for those who blend their own flours is, it depends.  If you use more whole grains, you may need less binder.  If you use more starches, you may need more binder.  If you're mixing the psyllium with other binders, reduce the amount of psyllium.  The range of psyllium husk you might use for a bread recipe that calls for 450 grams of flour is about 20-50 grams.  Unlike with gums, it's difficult to use too much psyllium husk. Start on the high side and reduce the amount by a little bit every time you try your flour blend to see what gives you the best texture.

What kinds of gluten-free flours can you find in your part of the world?  What kinds of blends have you tried, and what has worked for you?  What has failed?

Sunday, February 17, 2013

The Best Gluten-free Sandwich Bread Recipe

Whenever I see that a recipe has been made vegan, I'm immediately suspect that it has been made to be flavorless.  This is not the case with vegan bread.  After all, a traditional french baguette is only water, flour, yeast, and salt.  Bread is supposed to be made vegan.  Once you get the gluten-free part down, the vegan part should be easy, right?

Well... it did take me several tries to get this.  For my baguettes and small round loaves I can get it to rise just fine without the eggs.  However, sandwich loaves have more volume and need a little something extra for the vertical lift I was looking for.  Fortunately, by the time I got done with it I'd crafted the best gluten-free sandwich bread I'd ever made.

To make it egg-free, this recipe calls for just a little bit of flax seed to give the dough some extra structure so it can rise well.  It also gives the bread great flexibility, so your sandwiches can stay together.  I ended up liking the flax better than the eggs.  Go figure.

I've been doing all my gluten-free sandwich loaves in a Pullman Pan.  It gives you a much taller loaf than a traditional pan.  It's 4x4x9 inches and often comes with a cover.

The Best Gluten-free Sandwich Bread

Makes 1 loaf

Prep time: 10 min
Rise time: 1 1/4 - 2 hours for two rises
Bake time: 45-55 min

Mix in the bowl of your stand mixer:

350g (about 1.5 cups) warm water 100-120 degrees
30g whole psyllium husk - or - 20g ground psyllium husk
4 tsp apple cider vinegar

When the wet mixture thickens to form a gel, add:

36 g (3 Tbsp) sugar
1 package (7g or 2 1/4 tsp) Red Star Quick-rise Instant Dry Yeast (or similar)
1 Tbsp ground flax seed
4 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/4 tsp salt
450g Bread Flour

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients for several minutes until well-combined.  Turn the dough out into a lightly-oiled bowl to rise for 30 minutes in a warm place.  Gently turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured working surface and shape it into a rough rectangle, deflating the dough gently as you go.

Fold the dough like a letter.

Then fold the dough again to make an even tighter, smaller dough package.

Tuck the ends under and place the formed dough in a loaf pan to rise.

Let it rise for 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hour, or until the dough no longer springs all the way back when dented with a finger.

Bake the bread in a 450 degree oven for 25 minutes, then turn the oven down to 375 and cook until done, another 20-30 minutes.  The loaf is done when the internal temperature reaches 200 degrees or the loaf sounds hollow when tapped on the bottom.

You can slice the bread as soon as it cools.  The bread stays fresh in a plastic bag on the counter for at least four days.  After that you can choose to slice and freeze it or store it in the fridge for a few more days.

Enjoy being gluten-free!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

How to Make Heart-shaped Scones - Without a Cookie Cutter!

I'm not one for buying a million different cookie cutters.  I like to think of myself as way more DIY than that.  I can cut my own heart-shaped scones!  And I'll waste less precious scone dough with my method, too.  I decided that this Valentine's day is going to bring some beautiful heart-shaped scones to my plate, and they should be topped with a raspberry glaze.

To make heart-shaped scones, you can use a traditional scone recipe, my vegan recipe, or the recipe below, a quick and easy egg-free recipe which is another old traditional recipe I love called Cream Scones.  You can even use my Scone Mix.  If you're not into raspberries, you can use any kind of jam to top these or just brush them with cream and serve them plain.  I also have a recipe for a kumquat glaze which is really pretty.

To shape the scones, first cut them out as usual.  Form the dough into a circle, then cut the circle into eight triangles.

Carefully place the triangles onto a cookie sheet.  Cut the edges off the wide side of the triangles, then cut a v-notch in the middle of the scone like this:

With your thumb, make a depression in the center of the scones.  Brush the scones with cream.  Top the scones with your glaze or jam.

Bake as directed.

Raspberry Glaze:

In a small sauce pan, heat:

1/4 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp sugar

Boil for 5 minutes, then carefully taste and adjust the flavors as needed.  Simmer the mixture while you're preparing your scones.  Don't let it cool or you won't be able to pour it.

Cream Scone Recipe:
makes 8 scones

Pre-heat oven to 425 F.

Mix in a medium bowl:

1/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder (make sure it's GF)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp xanthan gum (not necessary if your gluten-free flour mix already has it, or if you are using wheat flour)
2 tsp lemon zest

Add all at once, and combine in a few quick strokes:

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

Turn the dough out onto your cookie sheet and pat it into a circle.  It may seem like it's not sticking together - you can gently pat it and/or let it rest until it becomes cohesive.  Cut the circle into 8 equal pieces.  Follow the pictorial instructions above for heart-shaped scones.  Top with a glaze before cooking or you can also put the glaze on after baking.  Bake at 425 F for about 12 minutes, or until starting to brown.

Enjoy your heart-shaped scones!

Check out the blog Gluten-free Homemaker on Wednesday for more Valentine's day ideas!

Friday, February 8, 2013

Easy Sugar Cookies

With Valentine's day coming up, you might be looking for a treat you can make for yourself - or your loved one, if he likes cookies.  But mostly yourself, right?  Most sugar cookie recipes make an ungodly number of cookies, but I for one never need 3 dozen of these guys.  This recipe is pretty easy and makes about a dozen cookies, so you can still fit into your Valentine's day outfit, sort of.

Are you a gluten eater, or do you have a different GF flour on your shelf?  Just sub out cup-for-cup the flour that you have for my blend.  This recipe is very forgiving!

Easy Sugar Cookies
makes 1 dozen cookies

With an electric beater or in a stand mixer, cream:

1/4 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/2 cup sugar

Cream these together for several minutes.  The blend should lighten and look fluffy.  Add:

1 egg
1/4 tsp vanilla

Beat until creamy.  Add:

1 1/4 cup Deluxe Pastry Flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Slowly beat the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until everything is well-combined.  Roll the dough out between two pieces of parchment paper and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour, or up to several days.

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.  Take the dough out of the refrigerator and peel the back portion of the parchment paper off, then replace it.  Peel the front piece of parchment paper off and discard it.  (This makes it easier to remove the cookies from the paper after they are cut out.)  Set the rolled-out dough parchment paper side down on a clean work surface and cut out as many cookies as you can.  With a thin spatula transfer the cookies to a baking sheet.  If you aren't icing the cookies you can put a little sugar on top.  You can use the scraps to make more cookies but you may have to refrigerate the rolled-out dough again if it gets too warm to handle.

Bake the cookies for 6-10 minutes, keeping a close eye on them to make sure they don't get overdone.  They are ready when the edges are just slightly brown.

Cool the cookies on a rack and ice them or serve them plain.

Need more Valentine's Day treat ideas?  Visit the Gluten-free Homemaker.  She's hosting a blog carnival with a V-day theme!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Quick, Easy Gluten-free Naan Recipe

I had never made naan before last week.  The only reason?  I had no idea how easy it is!  It's really one of the fastest breads you can make.  I can start making naan when my boyfriend calls in the take-out order and have it ready when he comes back with the food.  You don't really need to let it rise - the bread is leavened with baking soda as well as yeast.  The yeast adds flavor, the baking soda adds fluffiness.  The result is a very chewy, flexible flatbread.  Now you no longer have to be jealous if your boyfriend gets bread with his Indian food.  In fact, he'll probably want some of your naan hot off the grill.

Gluten-free Naan Recipe
makes 4 large naan

In a large bowl, whisk together:

250g - about 1 Cup - warm kefir or yogurt
15g whole psyllium husk (or 10g ground psyllium husk)
2 tsp apple cider vinegar

When the mixture has thickened, add to the bowl:

225 g GF Bread Flour Blend
12 g sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp yeast

Mix everything until it starts to come together, then knead or use the paddle attachment of your stand mixer to combine everything thoroughly.  Let rest for 5 minutes.  Divide the dough into four parts and roll out on floured parchment paper.

At this point you can let the dough rise for 30 minutes or you can cook it right away.

Place a dutch oven or large cast-iron skillet on the stove.

Turn the heat to medium-high and heat the dutch oven until it starts smoking.  Be careful - you are working with extremely hot temperatures.  Put in the pan and swirl around to coat the bottom:

high-heat oil or ghee

When the oil is hot, peel the parchment paper off the naan and flip it onto the bottom of the dutch oven. Cook for one minute, covered.  Brush the uncooked side with oil and flip the bread over with a metal spatula.  Cook the other side one minute, covered.  Remove to a plate and cook the rest of the naan in the same manner.

Enjoy your naan with some delicious Indian food!


As Reported By The RESCENT Assertions, The Actual Fact In The Climate Change IS GROUNDLESS. What Are The Research PROOFS TO These kinds of CLAIMS

From your meteorological viewpoint, climate change refers to the continuing increase in ordinary universal temperature conditions coming generally from man’s routines and industrialization. These sort of hobbies include deforestation, using of carbon dioxide energizes and aerosols. Different scientists in various grounds are positive of global warming while having given basic facts that indeed climatic change is true, nonetheless a handful of those people always harbour questions. Proofs to this kind of issues are simplified in such a essay.

The earth’s local weather may be experienced to switch drastically all through track record.answers to math word problems Within 650,000 many years, there has been 8 different cycles of glacial alteration and progression together with the sudden side on the excess an ice pack age around 7,000 years ago which signified the daybreak of your modern day local climate age and industrialization. However the shifts have already been observed to always be very small-scale in the short term and also on a smaller scale, we do not want to become unaware with the much larger image for a worldwide size. These alterations were identified being human caused and are cumulative and vital ultimately. With the help of Earth-orbiting satellites and also the more recent growth in solutions, experts have been equipped to assess conditions for a worldwide size. From this kind of data files, notable scientific evidences on global warming were identified. These range from the adhering to.

Sea thresholds are already seen to rise notably. These levels were observed to go up by about 6.7 ins within the last century by itself! Additionally, it has been mentioned that within the last few few years, there are practically tripled that relating to the prior century. This is definitely as outlined by the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, state. An example of a republic which was impacted immediately by these sea springs up are the Republic of Maldives. Second of all, heating oceans stands as information to climate change. The oceans, despite having getting 100 % natural reserves of heat as well as happen to be observed to absorb ever more of this raising worldwide warm up, with best tiers (about 2,300 legs) rising their temperature to an average of .303 Qualifications Fahrenheit given that 1969. Such information are an indicator within the improving universal temperatures as a result climate change.

Diminishing ice linens stands still as a further evidence of global warming. Earth’s glaciers have continued to lower day-to-day. As an example, the Antarctic and Greenland ice cubes bedding happen to be famous to downturn significantly in muscle size over a duration of 4 years. As outlined by NASA’s Gravity Restorative healing and Weather Test data, Greenland has sacrificed 150-250 km3 of ice cubes each year relating to the years 2002-2006. Nevertheless, Antarctica has missing just about 152km3 of ice-cubes regarding the years and years 2002-2005. Further evidences of those encompass improved stream passes caused by like glaciers particularly in Greenland. Decreasing Arctic sea an ice pack is yet another point indicating the truth of global warming. By way of satellite images, your provide and size belonging to the Arctic seas has long been experienced to quickly drop over the past number of years. This is actually caused by the improving universal temps which be responsible for melting of those glaciers. An alternative spectacular proof of climatic change is the improved ocean acidification. Seas acidification signifies the on going improvement in level of acidity within the water waters and also major decline in its ph. This happens when the water seas digest carbon dioxide via the atmosphere. This has been recognized that, as the starting of the industrial period, the level of acidity varieties of ocean waters, in particular top waters, has increased by about 30%! The rise for these level of acidity owes its foundation to boosting atmospheric Fractional co2 which is caused by the boosting human pastime and industrialization. Fractional co2 to be a garden greenhouse natural gas, expanded Co2 suggests elevated warm ingestion therefore increased world-wide temperature ranges.

Lastly, circumstances of extraordinary incidents are one more evidence of climate change. Extraordinary occurrences feature occurrences which have changed anonymously from the envisioned result in viewing on the given component. Examples include heat level and rain fall. It really has been noticed in the united states that excessive heat functions have already been improving during the close beyond despite the fact that minimal temps events document has actually been diminishing considering that Ahead of time 50s. Furthermore, america also witnesses a well known increase in the number of intensive rainfall gatherings. This is exactly in accordance with, Hareld Franzen. “More evidence on global warming.” Research American Mass media, Mar 15, 2001. Global warming is real. We need not look forward to even more truth to accept precisely what is presently in this article around. Using a particular point of view, am not up against industrialization but on the other hand I am not too blind to notice its demerits, climatic change remaining its greatest. A classic proverb declares, Electrical energy can make meals a man’s meals, or prepare a meal the person!


The composite fiber optic overhead ground wire shall be made up of buffered flexible glass optical telecommunications fibers contained in a protective central fiber optic unit surrounded by concentric-lay stranded metallic wires in single or multiple layers.

The dual purpose of the composite cable is to provide the electrical and physical characteristics of conventional overhead ground wire while providing the optical transmission properties of optical fiber.

Stranded metallic wires
a) The basic construction shall have bare concentric-lay stranded metallic wires with the outer layer having left hand lay unless otherwise specified by the purchaser.

b) The stranded wires may be of multiple layers with a combination of various metallic wires within each layer. The direction of lay shall be reversed in successive layers.

c) The wires shall be so stranded that when the complete OPGW is cut, the individual wires can be readily regrouped and then held in place by one hand.

d) The preferred length of lay of the various layers of wires is 13.5 times the outside diameter of that layer, but the length of lay shall not be less than 10 nor more than 16 times this diameter.

e) The rated breaking strength of the completed OPGW shall be taken as 90% of the sum of the rated breaking strengths of the individual wires, calculated from their nominal diameter and the appropriate specified minimum tensile strength.

f) At the manufacturer's option, the rated breaking strength may include the strength of the optical unit. In this case, the manufacturer shall notify the customer if the fiber optic unit is considered a load bearing tension member when determining the total rated breaking strength of the composite conductor.

g) The finished wires shall contain no joints or splices unless otherwise agreed upon between the manufacturer and the purchaser.

h) Hybrid designs not included in items a)-f) are not excluded from this standard.

GIL offers several advantages for high capacity power transmission, as listed below.

Low Transmission Losses
Resistive losses are low because of the large cross-section of the conductor and enclosure pipes. Typical GIL resistances are 6–8 m /km depending on the outer diameter (500 mm or 600 mm) and the wall thickness of the enclosure and conductor pipe (6 mm to 15 mm).

The transmission losses are related to the square of the transmitted current as Pv = I2 · R (I = current, R = resistance). When the current rating is high – as it is for GIL (e.g., 3000 A) – then the effect of low transmission losses is high. The losses through the insulating gas are negligibly small.

Low Capacitive Load
Electric phase-angle compensation is only needed at very long lengths, because the capacity of the GIL is low, typically 55 μF/km. Therefore, no or low compensation coils are needed under most network conditions for transmission lengths of about 100 km. This also reduces the thermal operation losses.

Power Rating Like an Overhead Line
The GIL is the ideal alternative or supplement to overhead lines. The high power transmission capability of the GIL (up to 3000 MVA per system at 550 kV rated voltage) allows it to go directly underground in series with an overhead line without power reduction.

The GIL also allows the use of protection and control systems in the same way as with overhead lines. No differential protection is needed for failure location when a GIL is combined with overhead lines. The GIL has a low capacitance and, therefore, the inrush current is low.

High Level of Personnel Safety
The outer enclosure pipe is solid grounded and no access to high-voltage parts is possible (gas-tight enclosure). Personnel safety is also guaranteed in case the GIL has to carry a short-circuit current (50, 63 or 80 kA up to 1 or 3 s). Even in case of internal failure and an arc between the enclosure and conductor pipes, tests have shown that no external impact occurs on the surroundings.

High Reliability
The only purpose of the GIL is electric power transmission. No internal switching or breaking capability is needed. Based on this, the GIL can be seen as a passive high-voltage gas-insulated system with no active moving parts (e.g., switches).

Today, more than 300 km of single-phase lengths has been in operation world-wide for more than 35 years. So far, no major failure (arc fault in the system) has been reported. This makes the GIL the most reliable power transmission system known.

No Electric Ageing
Gas insulations do not age. The best example is an overhead line with ambient air as insulating gas. The electric field strength of the insulators and the maximum temperature of the GIL are too low to start the process of electrical or thermal ageing.

This has been proven using long-term measurements in independent laboratories and also by extensive experience with the equipment in the network. The first GIL installations have been in operation since 1974, and the results are reported by the CIGRE [71, 224].

Operation Like an Overhead Line
Overhead lines in the transmission network are operated with the so-called autoreclosure function. This means that in case of a ground fault detected on the line, the circuit breaker will automatically break the lines, wait some seconds (depending on the network condition) and then switch on again.

In most cases the reason for the fault current detection will be gone and the transmission line will go back to normal operation (for example, if a tree branch gets too close to an overhead line, the branch will be burned away or if a lightning strike causes the fault current, that will also be gone after some seconds).

Electromagnetic Fields
To protect the public and the operational personnel international regulations require electromagnetic field limitations. These values vary across regions and countries depending on laws and regional regulations. A trend can be seen worldwide that limiting values are getting lower and the restrictions harder. In densely populated areas and cities these electromagnetic field requirements are defining the allowed design of transmission lines.

The GIL is operated as a solid grounded installation and the inductive loop is closed through the ground connection. The coupling factor is about 95%. This means that the superposition of the two reverse currents reduces the outside magnetic field by 95%, and only 5% of the magnetic field of the conductor current is effective outside the GIL.

Because of the induction law, the current in the conductor will induce a current in the enclosure of the same size and with 180◦ phase shift. The superposition of both electromagnetic fields is close to zero. In case of limitation of the magnetic field in the surroundings, this solid grounded GIL can fulfil even very low magnetic field requirements. With a current rating of 3000 A, within a few metres’ distance a magnetic field strength of 1 μT can be reached (as required in some countries).

The advantage of a low magnetic field is important when residential areas are close to the transmission line for airports with their sensitive instruments, hospitals with their sensitive imagining systems, or all kinds of sensitive electronic equipment in private or business use. In Italy, electromagnetic field requirements for new installations go down to magnetic flux values of only 0.2 μT. When residential areas are involved, the GIL can reach such low values over a distance of a few metres.

No Thermal Ageing
The GIL is designed for maximum operational temperatures given by the surrounding conditions – maximum 60 or 70◦C touching temperature in a tunnel, or 40 or 50◦C when directly buried. The different temperature values depend on individual countries and their applied standards and regulations.

In all cases the maximum allowed temperature of the conductor of 100 to 120◦C is not reached by far. Therefore, no practical ageing of the system can be expected under these operating conditions.


Cell Phone Craze

This school year, my site has taken a bold stance on cell phones. To limit the cyberbullying and increase student face-to-face interaction, our school has a no cell phone usage during the hours of 8am to 3pm. Cell phones are to be off and carried in the student’s backpacks at all times. Surprisingly, this policy has been working well as the incoming junior high students have obeyed it and the current junior high students have accepted it. I personally think that its success has attributed to the teacher’s individual cell phone policy as many enforce the school policy outside of the classroom. Students value their connection to social media and their friends that to lose that privilege, even for a day, would cause stress and anxiety.

I remember the beginnings of social media through the channels of myspace and AIM messenger. I recall setting up my profile, visiting various online sites, communicating to friends (or strangers), and connecting through shared interests. Online blogs were starting to become widespread and online self-expression was becoming increasingly popular. Once Facebook opened on our college campus, almost all collage students could now interact with their peers and classmates in a completely different setting. Facebook, at the time, was a place to check out and see who was in a relationship, read their interests, check their friend’s college courses, and measure their friend’s experiences by skimming through their photos. An online community was established to gripe about professors and projects and share meaningful life events. Once Facebook was open to all age groups, suddenly the posts changed and turned into news articles and commercial shopping.

With that said, I can remember a time in which I personally was drawn to social media and the device that supported its application; yet, I do not recall being so consumed that I felt panic if I didn’t check my messages, post a picture/comment, or get enough feedback from my online updates. This generation of students are interlocked with their social media/cell phones that it has become unhealthy.

Every Friday, my students watch a short three-minute video from the producers of Flocabulary. This educational website takes a the headlights of the news week and puts them into a rap. The current event segment for this week featured the discussion of Yondr. Yondr is a lockable phone case that prevents people from using their cell phones at concerts or other private performances. People put their phones in this case and they are not able to access it until the phone case has been unlocked. Upon hearing this, all of my students gasped and protested; especially after reading that Yondr has been implemented into 57 venues and 300 schools.

I asked my students why they were so upset at this idea and every class, as if it was well rehearsed, exclaimed that they needed their phones in case of an “emergency.” Students asked, “what if someone is calling with bad news and you need to know of it immediately” or “what if someone was hurt/dying and you need to call for help.” Or my absolute favorite, “what if your friends do not believe that you were at the concert?” As much as I countered their arguments with alternative viewpoints (such as emergencies from parents and friends can wait for at least another hour, performances do not take all day, concerts are filled with first respondents and have protocols for the worst, and you have terrible friends if they need proof of your presence), the students could not imagine having their phone inaccessible. Even though we have a “no phone” policy at school, students still keep their phones  “off” in their backpacks as a security to “emergency” calls.

What I can gather is this…if I was their age, I would feel the same way because my phone is my only source of freedom and independence. As a junior high student, I do not have a source of income, a drivers license, or my secluded living arrangement. As an adult, I enjoy the peace and quiet as I relish the fact that I can walk away from emails, social media, and texting for the time allotted to me. As adults, I think we envy how simple life can be and want to return to the days where emails and messages do not need to be answered immediately or sent out. With that said, although I push for my students to be technology free, I understand their stance. My only hope is that they will one day see that life is so much more than worrying about what is said online or watching videos on social media, but to rather enjoy the moments that they experience and cherish the face-to-face interactions with people they enjoy.

Can People Be Racist Towards White People?

Today’s generation is encountering another Civil Rights movement in regards to equal treatment of African Americans. The “Black Lives Matter” movement is sweeping across the nation and getting world press through protests, marches, speeches, and boycotts. Not too long ago, the world watched the 2016 Superbowl in which Beyonce purposefully choreographed a dance and wore iconic outfits that symbolized the Black Panthers of the 1960s, the words of Black Nationalist pride leader Malcolm X, and the known King of Pop artist Michael Jackson. The “Queen B” received some criticism for her political expression; however, it continues to build awareness for this powerful movement.

This movement started to create waves and awareness in 2013 during the George Zimmerman case with the death of Trayvon Martin and continued to grow with the police brutality of Michael Brown and Eric Garner. The Ferguson protests continued to shed light on racial inequality and police discrimination. While the Black Lives Matter movement was circulating around the country, the social networking sites were exploding with comments. I read comments from various people criticizing the movement for they felt as if their nationality/race didn’t matter as to suggest that only Black Lives matter, not Hispanics, Asians, Middle Easterners, or Whites. In all truth, I was shocked to hear this type of rhetoric because I felt that a handful of people, especially White people, were missing the message.

Now, let me begin by stating that I am White person. My family’s background is a melting pot of European descent as I have Norwegian, German, Swedish, French, and English ancestry. That being said, I am familiar with all of the White people responses when discussing a topic featuring racism. However, in my own studies of ancient, medieval, and modern-day history, I have found that today’s Americans cannot be racist towards White people. Now, I am speaking as an American in today’s context, not the context of the past. And how I arrived at this decision was through a series of discussions, textbook readings, and self-reflections.

In the words of Webster’s dictionary, racism is defined as “a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.” Or for a more simple definition, ” the belief that some races of people are better than others.” Now, if we examine the past, particularly at America’s beginnings on the east coast, we see that many of explorers and settlers were of European decent: Spanish, English, Dutch, and French. These settlers retained their heritage and at times followed the traditions and customs of many Europeans back home, such as conquest. For these groups claiming and settling on pieces of land, they were not concerned about the other’s skin color, but mostly whether or not they were of the same race. As defined in Webster’s dictionary, race is “a family, tribe, people, or nation belonging to the same stock” or in other words, “a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics.”Race does not necessarily mean skin color but rather shared interests such as being French, Spanish, English, Germans, Swedes, or Dutch. To these explorers and settlers, if you were not from their country, you were a threat and would either be eliminated or conquered. We see this with all of these European conquerors who invaded Native American lands and claimed the land for their country. We also see the violence among other European groups. The Spanish massacring the French Protestants at Fort Caroline, FL in 1564. The Dutch colony of New Netherland (near Hudson River Valley) attacking the Swedish colony of New Sweden (near Delaware) in 1655. The English taking over the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam in 1664. Overtime, the English colonies grew in which they allowed people of other ethnicities and races to live in their conquered regions as long as they submitted to English rule, such as the Quakers, Germans, French, Dutch, Jews, Scots-Irish. In time, we see an American Identity begin to emerge in which a group known as the Patriots felt that they have a right to break with Great Britain and create their own nation.

Even after the American Revolutionary War, many Americans retained their cultural heritage; however, the sense of nationalistic pride that was festering in Europe began to trickle over into North America. We cannot deny that even with nationalistic tendencies, there were many groups that were being discriminated against because of their heritage and racial backgrounds. To many, the Irish come to mind when discussing racial prejudices against White people. The Irish flooded the United States in the 1840s and when they arrived, many were uneducated. Many Irish went to New York for work but with an ever-emerging city, the Irish were in competition to “natives” (or native-born Americans) which resulted in such hated and violence for the Irish.

Now, there is a sufficient evidence to see how racism has been prevelent throughout the United States since its very founding. We can also see how White people have been racist towards White people as race is defined by “a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics.” But I argue that the term “race” took on a new meaning after the American Civil War. We are all aware that many African-Americans were slaves in the southern states and territories. The events leading up to the Civil War were racially motivated as the Southerners wanted to keep their slaves to turn a profit and many Northerners did not want to compete for their jobs against enslaved people. Economically, socially, and politically the issue regarding slavery was racially incentivized. Once the Civil War was over many members of the South wanted to assert their racial dominance and created the KKK (Ku Klux Klan). The KKK were known to bully, harass, destroy African Americans homes, property, belongings, businesses, and even lives. Now, it is of my opinion that from this moment till today, America’s definition of race became warped and wrote out its own new meaning. The new meaning of race could be identified as having “genetic variations that create different physical appearances, such as variations in skin color.” Again, this is of my opinion in which, as we begin to see more racist incentivized behavior towards people who are not of the same skin color in timeline leading up to today. Looking at immigration charts, until the 1890s many of the immigrants came from northern and western Europe. In the 1900s, many immigrants from China, Mexico, and Eastern Europeans were coming into the United States. Perhaps, it could be understood that many White people were less concerned about racial differences among Whites but more concerned about racial differences among non-Whites.

I watched a movie recently entitled, “Dear White People” in which one of the main characters makes an argument saying, “Black people can’t be racist. Prejudice yes. But not racist. Racism describes a system of people being disadvantaged based on race. Black people can’t be racist since we don’t stand to benefit from that system.” I probably watched that scene at least three more times, taking in what the character had to say. And as I pondered this character’s thoughts and connected it to the history books, I find this quote to be true. To my understanding, racism in a economical, social, and political realm does produce a hierarchy in which society clearly sees which racial group absorbs all of the benefits. In many cases, White people have far greater benefits than any other ethnicity when looking at the workforce, educational advancement, political influence, and social mobility. I followed the Bundy brothers and their anti-government organization take over of the federal building in Oregon this past January. I read how this armed militia took over the Wildlife Refuge and held onto this area for days. In the end, people were arrested and one was killed in a shootout. This situation would have been drastically different if the Wildlife Refuge was overtaken by Black people or anyone else who was not White. In a situation like this (and many others), White people do not have much to lose in a system that White Americans have created. Yes, many White Americans can lose their jobs, position, family, and lives; however, on a larger scale they have more to benefit. In fact, I am not saying that that White people cannot be discriminated against or face injustices as clearly they can; but racism as defined by America’s current definition…no.

My boyfriend has Dominican-Republican heritage. To many on the west coast, he looks Black as many of his features have similar looks to a West African ancestry. Only when he identifies himself by his name is it apparent that he is Hispanic. We once had a conversation about traveling around the United States. As a child, my family frequently drove from state to state exploring the major cities and enjoying the sites. When discussing our next vacation, my boyfriend was quick to say where he did not want to visit and expressed a strong notion that he wouldn’t ever want to live there as well. Many of the places he expressed were located in the southern part of the United States. Before him, I had never considered parts of the United States unsafe or unwelcoming, especially since I have traveled there myself. But, hearing his stories and concerns created a more vivid, racial picture of how segregated and disadvantaged he would be in traveling to some parts of the country. With all of this said, I can see how torn and divided our country is over race and how there are major disadvantages between racial groups. As a result, my question of can people be racist towards Whites? My conclusion is that they can’t.


A state government in Australia has come up with A$45 million ($34 million) for a conservation package to protect threatened koala populations in the country's east, with plans for new reserves for the species.

New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton said Sunday that almost half of the state's "Koala Strategy" funds will go to setting aside 24,000 hectares of land as new, protected reserves for the iconic marsupials.

"In half a century we don't want children looking at books saying this is what a koala looked like," Berejiklian said at a press conference in Sydney.

Koalas live along the eastern and southeastern coast of Australia. But they are most abundant on the central and north coast of New South Wales where the population is estimated to have dropped 26 percent over the past 20 years, to roughly 36,000.

In 2012, the Australian federal government listed koala populations in Queensland, New South Wales, and the Australian Capital Territory as vulnerable, and the Australian Koala Foundation estimates numbers across the country could be as low as 80,000.

(The koala popuation in New South Wales has dropped to around 36,000.)
[Photos courtesy of Higashiyama Zoo & Botanical Gardens]

Habitat loss, vehicle strikes and diseases caused by chlamydia, a disease often sexually transmitted between koalas, are the biggest threats to populations across the country.

Also included in the Koala Strategy is a new koala hospital and tourism center to care for sick and injured animals, which is expected to be expanded into a network of koala hospitals in coming years.

Sunday's announcement is the largest financial commitment by any Australian state government to the survival of koalas in the wild, it says, and is the first stage in a long-term plan to stabilize and eventually increase koala numbers across New South Wales.

"It is absolutely vital that we protect land where koalas currently live -- and secure land where new koala colonies may exist in the future," said the environment minister.

According to a report released by the Australian Conservation Foundation in March, Australia is facing an "extinction crisis" with koalas included in the "1,907 species and ecological communities listed as threatened under national law."

"The sad reality is that Australia leads the world on extinction," the report said. Government data show that 27 species of mammal have been declared extinct, with iconic animals like the Tasmanian devil and various species of quoll on the endangered list while wombat and possum species are critically endangered.

"Many of these extinctions have occurred recently. Since 2009 three vertebrates, a bat, a marsupial and a skink, have all gone extinct," the conservation group's report states.


Fitness Resolutions, Are You Ready to Fail?

Are you someone who makes New Year’s resolutions? How did your resolutions work out last year? The year before? Did you know that between 73-80% of New Year’s resolutions fail by the second week of February. That’s a pretty astounding failure rate. We all believe we can change (which is good, because we can) and the new year tempts us with a fresh start, but when it comes down to it, we just can’t seem to make our goals a reality. Here’s a little bit of why you might be failing and some guidance on attaining those resolutions.

old man new year

  • Your resolutions aren’t specific. “I’m going to lose weight.” should be, “I’m going to lose 10lbs.” “I’m going to eat healthier.” needs to be, “I’m going to eat 5 serving of fruits and vegetables every day.” If you don’t make the goal specific, you won’t know what precisely to do to attain it.
  • Your resolutions aren’t timed appropriately. One of two things typically happens time-wise with your goals. Either you don’t set a time limit or you set an unrealistic one. If you don’t set a time limit (given that most of us are procrastinators) it’s just not going to happen. The other time issue is that you set your time limit too short. The time you set has to be realistic. No, losing 30lbs in two weeks is not going to happen. You’re not going to achieve that beach body in four weeks. You aren’t going to run that marathon in two months if you haven’t started training yet. Not only will not reaching the goal make you feel badly about yourself, but you may very well get injured in the process.
  • You’re out of the gate too fast. This goes along with not allowing yourself a realistic time to reach your goals. You push too hard, too fast, crash and burn mentally and/or physically. Allow yourself time to start slowly and plan a gradual increase in intensity or volume as your body and/or mind are ready.
  • You grasp at anything promising a shortcut. “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” – Beverly Sills. Success is never instant no matter what the ads say. Change takes time and sustainable change takes more time. If it sounds too good to be true, it isn’t true. (I have more platitudes, but I’ll spare you.) Stay away from the hype of quick solutions and commit to the journey.

If you want to achieve your New Year’s resolutions, don’t fall into the traps that make so many others fail. Get specific, time it right, avoid going out at an unsustainable rate, and stay away from gimmicks.

Good luck and happy new year.

The Problem With New Year Resolutions

The new year is coming up and with that come the new year resolutions that rarely get accomplished. We’ve had enough new years come and go and most of us have experienced that feeling of the unachieved promise we made for the new year. Why do you think resolutions are so hard to keep? I have a few thoughts about it that I’m going to share with you.

newyearresolutionResolutions rarely come with a plan. They are typically announced (even to ourselves) as a platitude. “This year I will… lose 40lbs, start my own business, quit smoking, spend more quality time with my family, etc.” These are well intentioned statements that, when not accompanied by a detailed plan, can put huge pressure on an individual. They are also highly unlikely to be achieved which leaves us feeling like losers.

Resolutions should also, like any goal, be set using SMART guidelines. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time Bound.

Specific is the details of the goal. If your goal is to lose weight, how much and how are you going to accomplish that. I will lose 40lbs by creating an exercise routine that consists of 30min of cardio and 30min of weight lifting three times per week. I will also track my calories using myfitnesspal app and stay within my allotted calorie range.

Measurable, is that specific goal measureable? Well, the more specific it is, the easier it is to measure. Did you workout or not? Did you track your calories or not? Having said that, it may be a better choice to not be black and white about it. Give yourself a percentage ranking for the tasks. I worked out twice this week instead of three. So, I scored 66%. Now, what can you do to get yourself to 100%?

Attainable is a reality check. Is this something you can actually achieve? We can achieve most things, but if I were to say that I wanted to play pro basketball (at age 59), it is highly unlikely that I can make that happen.

Realistic, Well, this has always bugged me a little. It’s really the same idea as Attainable. Is this goal realistic? Honestly, having been born and raised in Maine, I prefer to go with the Maine version. Mainers would pronounce smart “smat” (dropping the r sound) which works just as well as a goal setting guideline.

Time bound is simply putting a deadline on reaching your goals. Without a deadline, it becomes easy to put things off. As the  Parkinson’s law states, “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. The longer you give it, the longer it takes and with no deadline, it will unlikely get done at all.

Our resolutions should also come with a strong and detailed Why. Why is attaining this goal so important to you. Why is this goal important to you? Losing weight is not about looking better or being healthier. It might be about feeling more self confidence when you feel you look better or it may be about being healthier so that you will live long enough to see your grandchildren grow up. Write dow the real, deeper reason why your goal is important.

To top off our chances of success, we should have someone that we are accountable to. Maybe you ask a friend or family member to help keep you on task. Check in as often as you need, but set a regular schedule. Every day at 8pm, or every Monday at 7am. You could even set a time that you check in with yourself. The key is to set a time to objectively evaluate how you are doing.

So, if you want to win at the resolution game, be SMART, know your why, and be accountable for your meeting your steps toward your goal.


BEAT - Report

Performance of MFCC-GMM-based and LBP-LR-based PAD systems
Published: 2 years, 6 months ago

In MFCC-GMM-based PAD system, 19 MFCCs with deltas and delta-deltas were used as features. Two GMM models are trained: one for real data and one for spoof attacks. The score is computed as a log-likelihood between two GMMs. In LBP-LR-based PAD system, spectrogram is split in two lower and higher halves. For each half, a histogram of LBP (circular, 8 neighbors with radius=1) values is computed and used as the feature. Logsitic regression classifier is used to train and evaluate LBP-based features.

The goal of a PAD system is to distinguish between real data and presentation attacks. During training, PAD system models each of these classes, and when evaluated on the development set (for this set, the class of each audio sample is known), the resulted scores are split into two sets in such a way that False Acceptance Rate (FAR) and False Reject Rate (FRR) are equal. This equal rate is usually called Equal Error Rate (dev_err in the table below). The median value of the split scores is the EER threshold (dev_eer_threshold in the table), since this is the specific value of the system that leads to EER.

Applying the EER threshold obtained from development set to the scores of the test set leads to another pair of FAR (test_far in the table) and FRR (test_frr in the table) values, which are the measures of the system's performance in uncontrolled evaluation settings. In a perfectly consistent PAD system, FAR and FRR values on the test set would be the same as FAR and FRR values obtained for Dev set. Hence, to summarize the performance of the system in one value, a Half Total Error Rate (test_hter in the table) is computed as the mean of FAR and FRR. The HTER is then used as an overall measure of the PAD system performance.


The Third Section of the Superior Court of Justice (STJ) decided that the jurisdiction to judge the alleged practice of crime involving the trading of virtual currency known as bitcoin is the State Court.

In the case records reviewed, two people, through a company, raised money from investors, offering fixed monthly gains, and acted to speculatively in the market of bitcoin, without authorization or prior record of the competent administrative authority.

For the full board, no evidence of federal jurisdiction was observed in the case under analysis, since the negotiation of cryptocoins has not yet been subject to regulation in the legal system.

According to the rapporteur Minister, Sebastião Reis Júnior, the suspects created a legal entity to obtain gains in the purchase and sale of cryptocoins, which is not recognized, regulated, supervised or authorized by institutions such as the Central Bank or Securities and Exchange Commission.

Considering this, the Rapporteur noted, the negotiation of bitcoin couldn't be investigated on the basis of the crimes envisaged by the federal law. "In fact, I understand that the conduct investigated not conform to the crimes provided for in article 7, II, of the Act nº7.492/1986 and in article 27-E, of the Act nº 6.385/1976, particularly because the cryptocoins, until then, are not regarded as currency or security," he said.


Goals: Tips for Acceleration in 2017

One of the things that CEO, strategist and Coach Tony Jeary always inspires me to do is focus on our HLAs.

HLA means High Leverage Activity.

This one tip can literally accelerate and transform your goals this quarter.

Here’s some tips to get clarity:

#1: Identify your HLA.

What is that one activity that if you laser focus on it will leverage everything else you do? What is it that is most important to you in this first quarter of 2017?

#2: Block time on your calendar right now, each and every day, to focus on your HLA.

The distinction is that instead of focusing on your daily activities and meetings you are actually providing energy and fuel into this one priority.

Tony learned a lot of what he teaches from his mentors. I recall meeting Zig Ziglar and a lot of other great minds through Tony. Today he coaches some of the world’s top CEOs including the CEOs of Ford and Walmart. We have worked on several projects with his clients and his concept of gaining clarity helped me compress my time frame on writing a book.

To your legacy,

Tammy Kling

Why Not Now?

Seeing the images of beaches and smiling faces this week all over Facebook reminds me to look you in the eyes and ask you the important question.

Why not now?

Why can’t every week be just like spring break?

The truth is, it can.

Every day can be just like spring break.

Sure, there’s some people who receive this message who have already cracked the code. They have no limits, no bed time, no setting the alarm for 5 am to make a long commute they hate to work under fluorescent lights.

But for many, the daily grind continues. Stress, overworking, seeing the kids between 6 and 8pm – two hours a day with the ones they love most. Two hours a day with humans who aren’t going to be in the house for very long.

Why do people do this? I’ll never know.

Because there’s a better way.

I don’t know what your exit strategy is.

I left the corporate world 15 years ago and stepped into a whole new world. The world of freedom, of owning my own day, time, and schedule. It’s radically changed the outcome for our family.

Why not invest in yourself and your family today in order to make a significant life change?

Join us for The Conversation and we will talk about how you can ignite change. Let’s create your exit strategy. Click Here, and sign up today, to join us for 1 night in a forest – on Oct 6 in Dallas.

To your Legacy,

Tammy Kling

March Madness

I was asked recently to be in a video with Trent Shelton, who has millions of followers. He’s a spoken word artist, and his audience is diverse.

I was acting in this video,

(which isn’t really my gifting, to say the least) but I said yes to the adventure – and spent a day filming.

As I listened to Trent’s words over, and over and over and over, and over again, (And then over once more! in take after take)

I saw my little boy across the room, watching and absorbing like a sponge, and I couldn’t help but feel as if that the day was meant to be.

How can your brand and business benefit from cross pollination with others outside your industry?

In my mind, words are words.  No matter how you like them delivered – in a book or online or in this video – words are currency.

Watch it and let me know what you think!

To your legacy,

Tammy Kling

The Future: How Virtual Reality tech can help us connect

No matter who you are or what industry you’re in, technology can impact it in a positive light.

At The Conversation Event, the only large gathering that resembles a mastermind conference of business leaders that I commit to each year, Virtual Reality will make an appearance for the first time ever.

Why tech, why now, in 2017, at an event designed to ignite divergent ideas?

It’s become popular for parents to diss tech, and the perceived negative impact it has in their pre teens, yet when their children were toddlers, they plopped the iPad on the floor in front and marveled in amazement, telling friends about their child’s amazing tech savvy skills.

Tech has become something to celebrate and hate all at the same time, but I say let’s think differently – and treat tech as we do food or relationships or anything else.

It’s your choice how addictive you’d like to get.

Let’s manage it, and joyfully embrace it.

At The Conversation, a once a year once in a lifetime (if you’re lucky enough to be chosen) gathering of 100 hand picked world changers in a forest, the focus is on a face to face connection – absent of conference speakers, agendas, up sells, and fluorescent lights.

The event is so exclusive that media and pre press promotion is not allowed, celebrities are not announced in advance and autographs are discouraged. The event focuses on bold radical divergent conversations in the 4 quadrants of life and business.

You won’t see any tech there, and the forest backdrop brings everyone to the heart of who they are.

The circle around the campfire creates warmth and familiarity, like an upscale camping dinner with friends. And the conversation topic in each specific circle is like an arrow straight to the heart. The event is decidedly un – technology so why add in an element of Virtual Reality?

The Power of Tech to Connect

One new conversation circle added this year is titled: Virtual Reality

As individuals rotate to this conversation they’ll experience a high level think tank unlike any other utilizing virtual reality. The topic crosses brain mind soul action barrier – in a 4D integration of conversation on your reality, versus reality. What are your blind spots? How does virtual reality open our mind to innovation in specific industries and processes and client management and delivery?

I personally can’t wait until we have virtual reality integrated into many of the things we do. We will be adding the VR component to our client experience in 4Q 2017.

It doesn’t have to be everything, but there are so many ways I can see it adding value to our lives.

The first of which is to advance intellectual capacity and innovation. Simply put: to make us smarter.

#1: Divergent learning

When you can make learning fun, people will want to learn. If learning is fun in school and 3 and 4 dimensional versus just one human talking to a row of kids in desks, kids will want to learn.

My business is all about learning. I’m in the $11 billion self improvement industry which is centered on learning, growth, and leadership. It’s been as solid an infantry and investment as real estate has been for thousands of years, because there will always be earth, and minds. The human mind has an infinite capacity to grow.

90% of what I do is centered on legacy and leadership. We work to help entrepreneurs build their businesses, using innovation and divergent thinking.

#2: Connectivity

How can VR make businesses better?

It’s all about connection.

In the dental industry for instance, there are two obstacles that practices face. One is the fear and negativity associated with going to the dentist. In a pediatric practice, the dental office that becomes the first to incorporate virtual reality can offer virtual reality headsets in the waiting room to show a procedure to be “live” and interesting, using a well written virtual reality script.

This is a game changer.

Think about it. What does the average waiting room look like today? A waiting room.

When else in your life and day, do you sit in a space that even remotely resembles a waiting room?

I suppose a bigger question is – why would a dental office have a waiting room that looks like an area the average human never ever sits in? Is that a way to create a connection? Or an obstacle?

It’s my job to think differently.

Using Virtual reality we wouldn’t just “offer it” or “have it laying there” in the waiting room like video games. The VR would actually be incorporated into part of the on boarding process.

Words are currency, and at my company we are embarking on a path to create virtual reality partnerships, to write and develop and produce scripts that can literally transform industries, and infuse non tech industries with technology that helps people understand things better.

How could virtual reality enhance the life of an elderly patient whose joy or hobby was as a former casual skier every Christmas with family, yet is now stuck inside a bed at a facility most of the time and hasn’t seen the light of day on a ski slope or mountain views in years?

Imagine being the one assisted living facility organization in an entire industry that embraced innovation to offer millennials, and younger families (who actually have already embraced new technology anyways) a chance to give their aging parents or grandparents the ability to experience the things they can no longer do? Imagine.

If I was the CEO of an elderly care facility reading this, I think the first person I’d call is me. I’m waiting.

Currently businesses find a variety of ways to serve clients.

We send physical gifts to specific prospects and our tipping point people from time to time as a way to show them we care.

Another thing we do is create divergent books. This is a new leadership category and we are always interested in the most innovative offerings. Bringing Virtual Reality into our client book, leadership, and people development process is a new aspect of customer service that we’re about to embark on.

Virtual reality is an industry we are ready to embrace.

See you in the future. It’s already here.

New York Times Best Selling Author

Let Me Help You Tell Your Story

Let Me Help You Tell You Your Story


Preventive maintenance

Preventive maintenance or preventative maintenance (PM) has the following meanings:

  • The care and servicing by personnel for the purpose of maintaining equipment in satisfactory operating condition by providing for systematic inspection, detection, and correction of incipient failures either before they occur or before they develop into major defects.
  • The work carried out on equipment in order to avoid its breakdown or malfunction. It is a regular and routine action taken on equipment in order to prevent its breakdown.[1]
  • Maintenance, including tests, measurements, adjustments, parts replacement, and cleaning, performed specifically to prevent faults from occurring.

The main goal behind PM is for the equipment to make it from one planned service to the next planned service without any failures caused by fatigue, neglect, or normal wear (preventable items). This may be by preventing the failure before it actually occurs which Planned Maintenance and Condition Based Maintenance help to achieve. It is designed to preserve and restore equipment reliability by replacing worn components before they actually fail. Maintenance activities include partial or complete overhauls at specified periods, oil changes, lubrication, minor adjustments, and so on. In addition, workers can record equipment deterioration so they know to replace or repair worn parts before they cause system failure. The ideal machine maintenance program would prevent any unnecessary and costly repairs.

Machine maintenance for various equipment and facilities is quite nuanced. For instance, maintaining certain equipment may include a "preventive maintenance checklist" which includes small checks which can significantly extend service life. Furthermore, other considerations such as weather and equipment are taken into account; for instance, in the case of HVAC systems, maintenance is often performed before the hottest time of the year.


Acid rain cause and effect essay

acid rain cause and effect essay

species can withstand the effects of acid deposition, our interconnected ecosystem means that even non-aquatic animals, such as birds are affected by acid deposition (Briney, 2014). Distilled water, once carbon dioxide is removed, has a neutral pH. The estimated 50,000 lakes that are in the United States as well as Canada are at risk because they have a below normal pH (about.3 for water). Switzerland also has at least 30 acid rain damage in their essay on why japan bombed pearl harbor forests (Briney, 2014). The general publics attention toward acid deposition increased in the 1970s when reports published by the New York Times revealed problems occurring in New Hampshires Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest (Briney, 2014). 2 H (aq) Mg2 (clay) 2H (clay) Mg2 (aq). This makes it easier for fungi and insects to attack the tree, and as a result the tree may die. Furthermore maintaining higher levels of air quality ensures Im not vulnerable to the dry form of acid rain and have to battle asthma or other breathing issues. This is great news for our environment.

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The electric and coal burning based gases that form acid rain were first introduced in large amounts into the atmosphere during the Industrial Revolution, In 1852, Robert Angus Smith, a Scottish chemist was the first to discover the relationship between the atmospheric pollution in Manchester. Cite weblastEssays firstUK urlp? The term Acid Rain was first used by Robert. Soil chemistry can be dramatically changed when base cations, such as calcium and magnesium, are leached by acid rain thereby affecting sensitive species, such as sugar maple (Acer saccharum). However, the extent to which acid rain contributes directly or indirectly via runoff from the catchments to lake and river acidity (i.e., depending on characteristics of the surrounding watershed) is variable. Vref1 titleAcid Rain Causes, History, and Effects m dateNovember 2013 accessdate locationNottingham, UK Reference Copied to Clipboard. The United States Environmental Protection Agencys (EPA) website states: Of the lakes and streams surveyed, acid rain caused acidity in 75 percent of the acidic lakes and about 50 percent of the acidic streams. However, over time, acids will accrue and then lowers the overall pH of the body. As acid rain falls on buildings (particularly buildings constructed with limestone) the acid reacts with minerals found in the stones and sometimes causes the building to wash away and disintegrate. This can be responsible for as much as 20 to 60 of total acid deposition. An indirect effect of acid rain involving humans is that the toxic metals dissolved in the water are absorbed in fruits, vegetables and in the tissues of animals.

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Daphne Taylor

Daphne Taylor uses fabric and thread to create meditative quilt drawings that embody her unique artistic expression and harmony. The stitching ranges from the intrigue of loose gestural drawings to the focus of geometric paintings. This exhibition includes whole cloth and pieced quilts as well as a group of small embroidered drawings. Inspired by her own Quaker heritage, Taylor’s work is elegant, quiet, and introspective. The aesthetic derives from Minimalism and Geometric art, but her works are lush with a rich sense of texture and a strong connection to hand craft. The dichotomy between quiet minimalist control and the comforting accessibility of traditional craft enriches her works with a bold sense of discovery and a strong, if quiet, voice.


Marlene Angel
Vital statistics
Occupation Soldier
Gender Female
Age 18
Height 165 cm (5'5")
Weight 117 lbs (53 kg)
Status Alive
Love interest Yuji Kaidou
Voice Actor Japanese: Houko Kuwashima

English: Laura Bailey

Orphaned at the age of ten because her parents were killed by the Blue, Marlene was one of the few lucky ones to make it to Second Earth. Since then, Marlene has dedicated and trained herself to defeat the Blue. Though seeming very heartless and cold in the earlier episodes, as time progresses, Yuji opens up Marlene's emotions and a bond is created. As Marlene's emotions begin to resurface, everything she was taught to believe in begins to break down. Towards the end of the series, she and Yuji conceive a child together. Voiced by: Hōko Kuwashima (Japanese), Laura Bailey (English)


NewsOne Now Audio Podcast: Mayor Kevin Johnson On Ed Reform

Why are so many African Americans against school choice when it is a viable option to educate our children who are being underserved by the education system in this country?

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson a staunch proponent for school choice called the feeder school systems highlighted by Martin as being in “crisis.”

Why Is The Media Tripping On Steph Curry Bringing His Daughter Riley To  Postgame Pressers?

The media is up in arms over NBA MVP Steph Curry bringing his two-year-old daughter Riley to postgame press conferences and acting her age. Roland Martin says all of those whining and crying about the 2-year-old enjoying herself need to “Need to shut the h*ll up.”

Talk show host Eddie Kayne, entertainment reporter Deja Perez and actor AntonioLambertis joined Roland Martin in the NewsOne Now studio to handle this week’s WTH? play-by-play commentary.


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NIH Scientists find why flu virus spreads in cold weather

Briefly, at winter temperatures, the virus's outer covering, or envelope, hardens to a rubbery gel that shields the virus as it passes from person to person. With warmer weather, however, the protective gel melts to a liquid phase. But this liquid phase, apparently, isn't tough enough to protect the virus against the elements, and so the virus loses its ability to spread from person to person.

The findings were published on line March 2 in Nature Chemical Biology. The study was collaboration between researchers at two NIH institutes, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

"The study results open new avenues of research for thwarting winter flu outbreaks," said NICHD Director Duane Alexander. "Now that we understand how the flu virus protects itself so that it can spread from person to person, we can work on ways to interfere with that protective mechanism."

Flu is caused by a group of viruses known as Influenza viruses. These are usually spread from person to person through coughs and sneezes. Infection with flu virus can cause fever, sore throat, muscle aches, severe headache, coughing, weakness and general discomfort. The virus can cause mild to severe illness, and at times can lead to death.

In October of 2007, researchers working with guinea pigs showed that animals sick with the flu were more likely to get other guinea pigs sick at colder temperatures than at warmer temperatures.

In the current study, the NIH researchers used a technique called magic angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance to create detailed images of how the virus's outer membrane responded to variations in temperature. The virus's outer membrane is composed chiefly of molecules known as lipids, explained the study's senior author Joshua Zimmerberg, Ph.D., Chief of NICHD's Laboratory Of Cellular And Molecular Biophysics. This family of molecules does not mix with water, and includes oils, fats, waxes, and cholesterol.

Dr. Zimmerberg and his colleagues found that at temperatures slightly above freezing, the virus's lipid covering solidified into a gel. When temperatures reached about 60 degrees Fahrenheit, the covering began to thaw, and the covering turned to a soupy mix.

Cooler temperatures, apparently, cause the virus to form the rubbery outer covering that can withstand travel from person to person. Once in the respiratory tract, the warm temperature in the body causes the covering to melt to its liquid form, so that the virus can infect the cells of its new host.

"Like an M&M in your mouth, the protective covering melts when it enters the respiratory tract," Dr. Zimmerberg said. "It's only in this liquid phase that the virus is capable of entering a cell to infect it.

In spring and summer, however, the temperatures are too high to allow the viral membrane to enter its gel state. The individual flu viruses apparently dry out and weaken, and the flu season wanes.

The finding opens up new possibilities for future research, Dr. Zimmerberg said. Strategies to disrupt the virus and prevent it from spreading could involve seeking ways to disrupt the virus's lipid membrane.

In cold temperatures, the hard lipid shell can be resistant to certain detergents, so one strategy could involve testing for more effective detergents and hand-washing protocols to hinder the spread of the virus.

Similarly, Dr. Zimmerberg theorizes that in areas affected by a severe form of the flu, people might better protect themselves against getting sick by remaining indoors at warmer temperatures than usual.

Source: NIH


Today’s cancer treatment methods often employ a “shotgun” approach because we lack the tools to determine the cancer’s next move.  Taking advantage of the fact that cancer cells can hijack the body’s normal wound healing processes provides us with insight into cancer cell behaviour.  By studying how cancer cells utilize the inflammatory pathway triggered by our treatments, we can predict those patients who still harbour micrometastatic disease after treatment, and at the same time provide far more effective therapies for the treatment of cancer.

Encyt was founded in 2014 and has been engaged in pioneering research that has uncovered evidence for a distinct and highly conserved inflammatory response triggered by surgical removal of a primary breast, colorectal, or prostate tumor and treatment with chemotherapy or radiation.  This response occurs within a predictable time frame after cancer treatment and can trigger accelerated regrowth of a surviving cancer cell population and induce cancer stem cell enrichment.   This inflammatory response will lead to the development of a metastatically competent, treatment-resistant cancer cell phenotype in the cancer cells that survive the treatment.

Encyt’s main focus at present is to test our novel and proprietary therapeutic approach in a human clinical trial.  However, based on our research discoveries, Encyt has also started to work in the area of liquid biopsy.  We are developing a blood test that can predict the effectiveness of a given chemotherapeutic regimen on the basis of the level of expression of several distinct cytokines.  We believe this work has enormous potential to serve as a valuable predictive tool to help guide treatment decisions made by medical oncologists.