Big-Mouth Bob's Bugjuice Dispensary & Movie Reviews
Movie Reviews by Indiana native Bob Hammerle.
Commentary on the Value of Books
As much as I love films, there are times when it is hard to justify sitting in a dark movie theater. Yes, the Avengers sequel has been a big hit, but so what? Our growing family of heroes once again unite as a new villain tries to destroy mankind, so I've largely put myself on hold until Pitch Perfect 2 and the new Mad Max starts after my deadline.
"Five Came Back" by Mark Harris
On the other hand, that is a good reason to visit several great books relating to the movie industry that are both madly informative and wildly entertaining. Let's start with one of the best books I have read in a while, "Five Came Back" by Mark Harris. It is an extraordinary tale of five memorable Hollywood movie directors who enlisted in World War II as they put their careers on hold.
To begin with, these were not ordinary guys, as we're talking about Frank Capra, John Ford, John Huston, William Wyler and George Stevens. By the time the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, they had already directed a variety of films that are remembered to this day.
Mr. Harris gives a wonderful account of how our boys enlisted in order to find a way to make films that inspired both soldiers and U.S. citizens. While Mr. Capra served as the organizational leader working out of Washington for the length of the war, the others ventured overseas where they put their lives on the line.
Mr. Ford, who won his record-setting fourth directing Oscar for The Quiet Man in 1952, remains a legendary figure in the movie industry. Though he disliked John Wayne because the latter found convenient excuses to remain ineligible to serve in World War II, he ended up directing Wayne in a series of classic westerns that remain relevant to this very day. If you haven't seen The Searchers (1956), Fort Apache (1948) or She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) then please do so.
Shortly after Pearl Harbor, Ford volunteered to be a part of a crew who were sent on a dangerous mission in the Pacific. He ended up on Midway in the middle of 1942 where he was wounded while filming the battle that actually turned the war against the Japanese. Sure, no one admired Ford more than himself, but few directors rivaled his accomplishments.
George Stevens was never the same after the war. Before, he largely directed comedies such as the critically praised film with Katherine Hepburn called Woman of the Year (1942). Unfortunately, he followed the Allied troops through the D-Day invasion, and was accidentally a member of the group that liberated Dachau. He filmed it, and the horror remained a part of his life.
After the war, Mr. Stevens made some tremendous films like Shane (1953) and Giant (1956), but Mr. Harris reminds us that Stevens's films of Dachau were played during the Nuremberg trials that followed the end of World War II. Mr. Stevens is a man to be remembered.
And then there is John Huston, a rogue and womanizer who also happened to be a fabulous Director. Largely unknown before the War, he went on to win an Oscar in 1947 for his direction of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. He followed with acclaimed films like The African Queen (1951), but his attempts to document the mental illnesses of many returning veterans was regrettably shelved by the War Department.
And then there was William Wyler, a movie director who deserves a place in your heart. Before the war broke out, he directed the extraordinary Mrs. Miniver (1942), for which he won an Oscar while serving overseas. His wife accepted his award in his absence.
What can't be forgotten was his role in the war where he actually flew on combat missions over occupied France as well as Germany. He filmed everything during his five flights which resulted in the memorable release, The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress (1944).
In addition, Mr. Wyler returned to Hollywood at the end of the war to release the classic The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) which won him another Oscar. It reflected the war's toll on American soldiers, and helped you to understand why he was able to also direct a dozen more movies, including Ben Hur (1959), which won him his third Academy Award.
Ironically, Mr. Harris focuses his book on the incredible reality that Frank Capra's cherished post-war film, It's a Wonderful Life (1946), was viewed as a disaster at the time. It was a box office failure, and reviewers dismissed it as a film representing an age that was no longer relevant. Isn't it funny how nearly all of us watch it every year during the Christmas season?
"The French and Indian War" by Walter R. Borneman
Having majored in history in college, I have always been fascinated by the war that consumed North America a decade before the Revolution. However, my purpose in including Mr. Borneman's book is to point out its significance in two films that rank among my favorites. The first is Northwest Passage (1940), where Spencer Tracy plays Robert Rogers, who leads a group of rangers in a desperate attack to eliminate the Abenakis, a native American tribe that had been haunting upstate New York. I'll never forget the emotionally crushing closing scene where Tracy says goodbye to his college educated friend (Robert Young) as he led a new group of rangers back into the wilderness, "See you at sundown, Harvard."
The book also pays great attention to the massacre that followed the British surrender of Ft. William Henry Harrison in March, 1757. While the French allowed the British to surrender with honors, they were soon besieged by French Native American allies who were seeking a pound of flesh. That was the centerpiece of Daniel Day-Lewis's great film The Last of the Mohicans (1992), and Hawkeye's accomplished adversary, Magua (Wes Studi), became one of the most terrifying villains to appear on the silver screen.
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A three-phase free boundary problem with melting ice and dissolving gas
@article{Ceseri2013ATF,
title={A three-phase free boundary problem with melting ice and dissolving gas},
author={Maurizio Ceseri and John M. Stockie},
journal={European Journal of Applied Mathematics},
pages={449 - 480}
M. Ceseri, J. Stockie
European Journal of Applied Mathematics
We develop a mathematical model for a three-phase free boundary problem in one dimension that involves interactions between gas, water and ice. The dynamics are driven by melting of the ice layer, while the pressurized gas also dissolves within the meltwater. The model incorporates the Stefan condition at the water–ice interface along with Henry's law for dissolution of gas at the gas–water interface. We employ a quasi-steady approximation for the phase temperatures and then derive a series…
View on Cambridge Press
Numerical modeling of three‐phase dissolution of underground cavities using a diffuse interface model
H. Luo, F. Laouafa, J. Guo, M. Quintard
Natural evaporite dissolution in the subsurface can lead to cavities having critical dimensions in the sense of mechanical stability. Geomechanical effects may be significant for people and…
Melting and dripping of a heated material with temperature-dependent viscosity in a thin vertical tube
Benjamin M. Sloman, C. Please, R. V. Van Gorder
Abstract We consider the flow of a thermoviscous fluid within a vertical tube which is heated from below, modelling a scenario where a fluid melts, flows and eventually drips due to a…
Multiscale model of a freeze–thaw process for tree sap exudation
Isabell Graf, M. Ceseri, J. Stockie
Journal of The Royal Society Interface
A multiscale model consisting of a nonlinear system of differential equations governing phase change and transport within wood cells, coupled to a suitably homogenized equation for temperature on the macroscale is derived, providing convincing evidence that a purely physical mechanism is capable of capturing exudation.
Deep learning and American options via free boundary framework
Chinonso Nwankwo, Nneka Umeorah, Tony Ware, W. Dai
The proposed deep learning method presents an efficient and alternative way of pricing options with early exercise features and establishes equations that approximate the early exercise boundary and its derivative directly from the DNN output based on some linear relationships at the left boundary.
Mathematics For Industry: A Personal Perspective
J. Stockie
"I am an industrial mathematician." When asked to identify my profession or academic field of study, this is the most concise answer I can provide. However, this seemingly straightforward statement…
A Mathematical Model for Maple Sap Exudation
Isabell Graf, J. Stockie, S. Fraser
Sap exudation refers to the process whereby sugar maple trees (Acer saccharum) are capable of generating significant stem pressure in a leafless state, something that occurs to a lesser extent in…
Mathematical Models of Gas Hydrates Dissociation in Porous Media
G. Tsypkin
Abstract: In strata hydrates may exist in different forms: as hydrates alone, hydrates in conjunction with free gas, or with gas and water in state of thermodynamic equilibrium, hydrates with excess…
A three-dimensional multiphase flow model for assesing NAPL contamination in porous and fractured media, 1. Formulation
P. Huyakorn, S. Panday, Yu-Shu Wu
Journal of Contaminant Hydrology
Asymptotic results for the Stefan problem with kinetic undercooling
J. Evans, J. King
We study the behaviour of the one-phase Stefan problem with kinetic undercooling; moving boundary problems governed by the same formulation also arise in the modelling of silicon oxidation and of…
Solutions for the two-phase Stefan problem with the Gibbs–Thomson Law for the melting temperature
S. Luckhaus
The coupling of the Stefan equation for the heat flow with the Gibbs–Thomson law relating the melting temperature to the mean curvature of the phase interface is considered. Solutions, global in…
Free boundary problems in science and technology
A. Friedman
854 NOTICES OF THE AMS VOLUME 47, NUMBER 8 F ree boundary problems deal with solving partial differential equations (PDEs) in a domain, a part of whose boundary is unknown in advance; that portion of…
Modeling dynamic marine gas hydrate systems
Wenyue Xu
Abstract Dynamically changing marine gas hydrate systems are the subject of this study. The changes may result from varying pressure or temperature at the seafloor, exploration and exploitation…
Finite-difference methods with increased accuracy and correct initialization for one-dimensional Stefan problems
S. Mitchell, M. Vynnycky
Appl. Math. Comput.
Non-aqueous Phase Liquid Spills in Freezing and Thawing Soils: Critical Analysis of Pore-Scale Processes
Kamaljit Singh, R. Niven
The frequent use of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) in cold regions creates serious risks of soil and groundwater contamination. NAPL contaminants can stay in soil for long times due to their…
Existence of Solutions for One-dimensional Wave Equations with Nonlocal Conditions
Sergei A. Beilin
In this article we study an initial and boundary-value problem with a nonlocal integral condition for a one-dimensional wave equation. We prove existence and uniqueness of classical solution and nd…
Free boundary problems in controlled release pharmaceuticals. I: diffusion in glassy polymers
D. Cohen, T. Erneux
This paper formulates and studies two different problems occurring in the formation and use of pharmaceuticals via controlled release methods. These problems involve a glassy polymer and a penetrant,…


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YOU ARE HERE: Business Partners (ZA) / Media centre / Media releases / How to attract and retain quality staff
How to attract and retain quality staff
Attracting and retaining quality employees are two of the biggest stresses for many small and medium enterprises (SMEs). According to the Business Partners Limited SME Index (BPLSI), during the fourth quarter of 2015 SME owners expressed average confidence levels of only 55% that they will be able to find and retain staff with the right skillset and expertise. Human resources (HR) is a key business function that must be given adequate attention should a business want to grow and attract the best employees, says Kgomotso Ramoenyane, Executive General Manager of Human Resources at Business Partners Limited (BUSINESS/PARTNERS).
"Eventually a small business owner will have to increase their staff complement should they wish to grow their business to the next level, and if this process isn't managed properly, it can become a serious burden to the business owner. Many SME owners also underestimate the value that good HR management system can contribute towards the future growth of their business," says Ramoenyane.
Ramoenyane says that the key to effective HR and talent management for SME owners is to familiarise themselves with the Basic Conditions of Employment Act (BCEA) and Labour Relations Act, as both of these Acts clearly stipulate the dos and don'ts for employees and employers.
"Many entrepreneurs, especially those who run small businesses, often believe that they don't have the time or resources available to manage the business's HR needs, and as a result, find themselves clueless when the need arises to hire new staff or manage employees' needs," she explains.
First and foremost, business owners need to find the right talent. Ramoenyane says that while it is easier said than done, there are various measures that business owners can put in place to assist with the recruitment process. "Start with a clear job description and advertise this brief on all relevant platforms that are available to the business. When interviewing potential candidates, it is important to pose the same questions to all interviewees so that an accurate comparison can be made."
She adds that the HR process does not end once a staff member is appointed to a particular position. "Business owners need to pay attention to employees' needs on an ongoing basis. At least two formal performance reviews should take place annually – both to ascertain if the employer is happy with the level and quality of work being performed, and if the employee is satisfied with his or her working conditions, job description and role, as well as training and development opportunities."
In terms of retaining good staff, Ramoenyane says that for many employees, reasons to stay in one particular job are not only limited to the amount of Rands deposited into their bank accounts at the end of each month. "Staff need more than a monthly pay check – they need to feel valued for their contribution to their company and its bottom line." She adds that this is where small businesses have the upper hand on larger organisations. "While such organisations can perhaps offer larger salary packages, which appear more attractive, a small business can craft and implement their own unique employee value proposition, both with tangible and non-tangible aspects."
Ramoenyane further explains that typically, the tangible aspects entail monthly remuneration and bonuses. Considerations when formulating the non-tangible aspects include the so-called 'fringe benefits' such as free parking, flexi-hours, training opportunities or the occasional lunch from the business.
However, she says that the biggest advantage that small businesses have is their ability to involve staff in a wider range of responsibilities, which is necessitated by the size of the business. "In larger organisations, one finds that the ability to be exposed to a wider range of duties is limited, as work is compartmentalised. Another big selling point for small businesses is their smaller size team, which can create a welcoming environment and close knit culture."
Ramoenyane concludes that ultimately, if SMEs want to attract and retain good staff they need to fully understand what is important to the business's employees. "Methods of retention can come in many forms, from professional and personal development, time off, reward and recognition, to pay and working hours.
"Ultimately, retaining quality employees requires that periodical discussions are held, whereby the focus is on the employee's engagement levels and what is important to them."
IFC, Business Partners Limited and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Partner to Support Women-Owned Businesses in South Africa https://www.businesspartners.co.za/en-za/media-centre/media-releases/south-africa/ifc-business-partners-limited-and-goldman-sachs-10-000-women-partner-to-support-women-owned-businesses-in-south-africa IFC, Business Partners Limited and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Partner to Support Women-Owned Businesses in South Africa
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UAV (drone) forensic analysis presentation available on YouTube
November 30, 2016 Integriography	Leave a comment
Earlier this year, Greg Dominguez and I developed the second UAV (drone) forensic analysis presentation. I presented it at SANS in Austin this summer and that presentation is now available on YouTube.
https://t.co/dnrAElYJKi
It was "Next Gen" when presented but we've moved on. We're already working on a more comprehensive version for several conferences next year. Stay tuned.
DJI Phantom 3 Log Analysis Tool
October 24, 2016 Integriography	1 comment
Rowland Johnson developed an excellent tool, DatCon, for analyzing DJI Phantom 3 log files in Java. I arranged to have it ported to Python because I am far more adept with Python and wanted something that I could extend to support newer file formats and potentially other UAVs.
The result can be found here:
https://github.com/dkovar/uav-log-analysis
It is my hope that others will build on this, adding support for other DJI products as well as adding visualization capabilities.
Feedback, suggestions, etc are always welcome.
Categories: Computer forensics, UAVs
UAV Forensics – version 2
June 26, 2016 Integriography	Leave a comment
Working with Greg Dominguez and Cindy Murphy, we updated my UAV Forensics presentation from last year to address the Phantom P3, it's additional data sources, some new tools for analyzing data, and our first pass at JTAG analysis.
Greg and I gave the presentation at Techno Security in June and a PDF version is attached here: UAV Forensics -TS16-final distribution
Public Agency Operations and Part 107
After consulting with a UAV lawyer and an FAA representative, I believe that:
Public Agencies (PAs) still have to operate under a COA
PAs can also operate non-Public Agency Operations (PAOs) under Part 107.
See pages 61-68 of the Rule for details
If a PA wishes to examine the roof of the court house for hail damage, a Part 107 operator working for the PA can perform the task.
If a PA wishes to conduct a SAR mission, or fly a UAV in support of fire fighting operations, they need a COA or to contract with a 333 exempt operator with the appropriate COA.
FAA Position on Contracted UAS Operations by Public Agencies
[The following was written in my role as the Advocacy Director for the National Association of Search and Rescue. A PDF version is available here – Public Agency SUAS-final.]
This is an interpretation of information in the Advisory Circular 00-1.1A "Public Aircraft Operations" and refers to Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR); and Title 49 U.S.C. §§ 40102(a)(41) and 40125.
Public agencies and civil operators are encouraged to retain their own attorney to review this interpretation.
After consultation with a UAV lawyer and their FAA consultant, we believe that civil aircraft operators may fly UAVs in support of government entities (public agencies) if the following conditions are met:
The public agency has a COA
A contract exists between the public agency and the civil aircraft operator
A one time declaration is filed with the FAA by the public agency
The mission(s) flown are purely public service
The public agency makes a determination before each mission that the mission is public serving
If these conditions are met, any civil operator regardless of certifications may operate a UAV in support of the public entity under the requirements set forth by the public entity and its COA.
CAUTIONARY NOTE: The civil operator is not required to have a 333, or to have passed the certification described in (proposed) Part 107 in these circumstances. However, the agency can and should require a 333 or the certification described in Part 107, as a requirement of the contract with the civil operator."
It is extremely important to note that:
The public agency must have a COA.
This is transferring almost all risk, responsibility, and liability for certification, experience, training, etc. from the FAA to the public agency.
There must be a contract in place between the public agency and the civil operator (it is recommended that the contract include a requirement for the civil operator to hold a 333 or part 107)
The declaration names a specific government official and contract that covers the relationship
It is of vital importance that the public agency maintains control of the operator of the UAV and of the missions. The liability completely falls on the public agency. There is great risk if an agency enters into this relationship without a complete understanding of the risks associated with it.
This is spelled out in more detail in Advisory Circular 00-1.1A "Public Aircraft Operations" and refers to Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations (14 CFR); and Title 49 U.S.C. §§ 40102(a)(41) and 40125.
[An FAA presentation on this topic is available here – FAA Public Aircraft Presentation.]
ASTM Efforts on Small UAS
March 3, 2016 Integriography	Leave a comment
Quoting from a widely distributed email. I work on one UAS ASTM effort to type Small UAS. Here are their other efforts. Of particular interest is F2908 "Specification for Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM) for a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS)."
Small UAS Operations
ASTM International Committee F38 on Unmanned Aircraft Systems has recently approved seven new standards that cover all major facets of small unmanned aircraft systems operations, including design, construction, operation and maintenance requirements.
The following seven new ASTM standards, written for all sUAS that are permitted to operate over a defined area and in airspace defined by a nation's governing aviation authority, have now been approved by F38:
F2908, Specification for Aircraft Flight Manual (AFM) for a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS). F2908 defines minimum requirements for the aircraft flight manual, which provides guidance to owners, mechanics, pilots, crew members, airports, regulatory officials and aircraft and component manufacturers who perform or provide oversight of sUAS flight operations.
F2909, Practice for Maintenance and Continued Airworthiness of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS). F2909 establishes a practice for the maintenance and continued airworthiness of sUAS. Requirements for continued airworthiness, inspections, maintenance and repairs/alterations are included.
F2910, Specification for Design and Construction of a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS). F2910 defines the design, construction and test requirements for sUAS. In addition to general requirements, F2910 covers requirements for structure, propulsion, propellers, fuel and oil systems, cooling, documentation and other key areas.
F2911, Practice for Production Acceptance of Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS). F2911 defines production acceptance requirements for sUAS. Requirements covered include several aspects of production, system level production acceptance, quality assurance and documentation.
F3002, Specification for Design of the Command and Control System for Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS). F3002 provides a consensus standard in support of an application to a nation's governing aviation authority to operate an sUAS for commercial or public use. The standard focuses on command and control (C2) links, including a diagram of a C2 system and general requirements for C2 system components.
F3003, Specification for Quality Assurance of a Small Unmanned Aircraft System (sUAS). F3003 defines quality assurance requirements for design, manufacture and production of small unmanned aircraft systems. Guidance is given to sUAS manufacturers for the development of a quality assurance program.
F3005, Specification for Batteries for Use in Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (sUAS). F3005 defines requirements for battery cells used in sUAS. Mechanical design and safety, and electrical design battery maintenance are primary battery-related areas that are covered.
"The introduction of these standards developed by F38 will help to provide a safe and appropriate path for near-term routine sUAS operations in airspace systems of the United States and other countries," says Theodore Wierzbanowski, chairman F38.
Committee F38 encourages participation in its standards developing activities. "The user community for these standards is vast," says Wierzbanowski. "Feedback on what works and what doesn't during these early stages of sUAS operation is critical."
F2908 is under the jurisdiction of F38.03 on Personnel Training, Qualification and Certification, and F2909 was developed by F38.02 on Flight Operations. The other five new standards are under the jurisdiction of F38.01 on Airworthiness.
To purchase ASTM standards, visit www.astm.org and search by the standard designation, or contact ASTM Customer Relations (phone: 877-909-ASTM; sales@astm.org).
CONTACT Technical Information: Theodore J. Wierzbanowski • Punta Gorda, Fla. • Phone: 626-429-8864 | ASTM Staff: Stephen Mawn • Phone: 610-832-9726
Position Papers – UAS Operations in Support of Search and Rescue
December 22, 2015 Integriography	Leave a comment
UAS, unmanned aerial systems, can play a significant role in search and rescue (SAR) operations. There are a number of hurdles to deploying these assets successfully. In my role as advocacy director for the National Association of Search and Rescue (NASAR) I've written position papers to address two of the hurdles:
UAS deployment in support of SAR (and other disaster response incidents) requires professional UAS operators. At the present time, that means that all UAS operations must be performed under a valid COA either by public agencies or by Section 333 exempt operators. I wrote a paper for NASAR explaining this position and how public agencies and SAR volunteers can fly in support of SAR missions while complying with FAA policy/rules/guidelines.Here is the NASAR announcement which includes a link to the paper.
Current FAA policy places three significant restrictions on UAS operations that make deployments extremely difficult and very ineffective:
The operator must issue a NOTAM 72 hours before flying. (SAR is an emergency. UAS assets are extremely helpful in the early stages. Search is an emergency.)
The operator must fly at or below 200 feet. (Imaging wide swaths of the area, operating in hilly or mountainous terrain, or establishing a communications relay with wide area coverage, requires higher altitudes.)
The operator must not fly any closer than 500 feet to non-participating individuals or property. (Search subjects do not go missing in areas with zero population and no structures.)
To address these issues, Jason Kamdar and I wrote a proposal for a "First Responder COA (FRCOA)" to submit to the FAA. The document can be found here and the NASAR announcement about the paper and other related activity is here.
Categories: SAR, UAVs, Uncategorized
A Falling DJI Phantom Might, or Might Not, Crush Your Skull
August 24, 2015 Integriography	1 comment
The title is intentionally provoking. Too many public comments are similar to "A falling drone will give you a bump on the head". In fact, there is a reasonable chance it will kill you. Which of these is actually true? We simply do not know and some formal experiments are required before claims are made either way. So my point is not really that they may kill you, rather it is that we need good data.
I'd like to thank the members of a particular Facebook group for engaging in a spirited discussion that helped me refine this post. It was far too provocative in the early draft and I am certain that it still is for some.
The theoretical analysis follows, and it ignores a lot of variables. These calculations are a starting point and represent the "worst case scenario". With a lot of additional work, we could add other constraints and end up with a probability estimate of damage from a direct impact.
Weight of a DJI Phantom – 1242g (2.73 lbs)
Altitude at time of failure – 61m (200 feet)
Force required to crush a human skull – 2,300N (Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics)
Let's plug those numbers into a calculator:
7173N of force. Almost three times the force required to crush a human skull.
Even from half that height, 100 feet, a falling Phantom would generate 3527N, still enough to crush your skull. At 65 feet you might survive the impact as the force is down to 2351N.
There are a lot of variables that I did not account for – drag, impact angle, elasticity in the body and the drone…. Real experiments need to be performed.
UAVs in SAR – Deployment and Effectiveness
August 23, 2015 Integriography	6 comments
In an earlier post I wrote: "I think the search & rescue community should do a lot more work on designing and performing experiments with UAVs. Vendors and sales outlets keep touting their UAVs as being "good for search & rescue" without providing any data to support this claim, and often without really understanding SAR, SAR missions, and the challenges we face. (More on this in my upcoming presentation for NAASIC in Reno in September.)"
This is even more important when we consider what are appropriate missions for UAVs and how to deploy them.
I conducted two very quick experiments to illustrate two of the challenges we face. I intend to develop more formal experiments and welcome others who are interested in assisting with this effort.
I wanted to answer two questions:
How effective is a UAV when searching an area with trees?
How effective is a UAV when searching for clues in a soybean field?
Both of these are simple examples of SAR problems you can adapt to your own operational area.
tl;dr – You need to be down very low when searching near trees and finding an unresponsive subject in a soybean field with an optical sensor is very tough.
Searching Near Trees:
If this was your search area, and if you were searching for an uncooperative or unresponsive subject (someone who isn't going to come investigate the noise of the UAV), how would you plan your mission? How would you execute it? How long would it take? How effective would you be? (This was taken at 200 feet by a Phantom Vision 2+. The subject is currently in the frame.)
Ok, if the subject were standing under a tree in this small area, what would you be able to see? (There are a lot of variables here – height of branches, folliage on or off, distance from subject, subject's distance from the trunk, …. This is just an example.)
Distance from the UAV to the subject was less than 50 feet in all images.
At the subject's altitude:
At about a 30 degree angle:
50 degrees. The subject's legs are barely visible due to the contrast between his blue jeans and the green background. (And, if you were looking at this on a mobile device, what would you really be able to see?)
70 degrees or so. The subject is not visible.
Conclusion – you need to get under the level of the tree branches to search around trees for an unresponsive subject. This will increase your time required to search while diminishing your ability to control the UAV at long ranges.
I live, and search, in Illinois. Lots of corn, lots of soybeans. Searching for anyone in a corn field when the corn is above your head is tough. We'll come back to that one later. Soybeans get to a few feet tall. Walking through soybean fields is … annoying … but you can certainly see a lot more. If the subject is standing up you can just walk to the edge of the field and say "Hey, there they are!" But, what if they are unresponsive and down?
Again, 50 feet up with a DJI Phantom Vision 2+. The subject dropped their high visibility orange shirt, a clue! We can see it easily on the edge of the field.
But, what if they dropped it in the field? Since you know it is in the frame, and since it is right next to the pilot, you can probably see it. If you were looking at images from 100 acres of soybeans how confident are you that you'd see this clue, particularly on a small screen?
If you are using a normal consumer UAV to search for an unresponsive subject in an area with significant vegetation your probability of detection may be rather low.
Categories: SAR, UAVs Tags: SAR, UAV
What Can a Drone Actually "See"?
I think the UAV industry in general and the search & rescue community in specific should do a lot more work on designing and performing experiments with UAVs. Vendors and sales outlets keep touting their UAVs as being "good for search & rescue" without providing any data to support this claim, and often without really understanding SAR, SAR missions, and the challenges we face. (More on this in my upcoming presentation for NAASIC in Reno in September.) On the privacy side, people claim "he couldn't see anything at 200 feet with that drone." or the opposite position without sharing any data to support these claims.
Since I am an engineer, I like to gather data to support conclusions. And, for similar reasons, I usually form a hypothesis prior to conducting an experiment. Full disclosure – the data did not support my hypothesis. I'll explain at the end of this post.
For the tl;dr folk – you cannot see much detail in a stock Phantom 2 Vision+ image when taken more than 50 feet above the subject.
Experiment:
This experiment was conducted with a stock DJI Phantom 2 Vision+. The lens specifications, according to DJI, are:
Sensor Size – 1/2.3″
Effective Pixels – 14 Megapixels
Resolution – 4384×3288
Recording FOV -110° / 85°
I had the camera set to use the "large" photo size and thus the full resolution.
The items in the frame are:
A black Pelican case
A human male wearing blue jeans and a reddish t-shirt
A high visibility orange long sleeve thermal shirt
A light blue t-shirt
A white board with black writing on it
The sky was overcast and the winds were between 5 and 15mph out of the south east. I took the Phantom up to 25, 50, 100, 150, 200, 250, and 300 feet, +/- 3 feet as reported by DJI's Vision app. At each altitude I took a single photograph. After landing, I used Photoshop to zoom in to approximately the same area in each image.
In the raw images viewed natively without any zoom:
It is hard to find any identifying details of a human in the image above 50 feet.
At 200 feet it would be hard to identify the human if you did not know what you are looking at.
Using the zoom tool in Photoshop:
Detail is hard to discern at 100 feet and very difficult past 100 feet
Given the subject's pose you can determine that there is a human in the frame up to 300 feet.
If you thought a drone would be invading your privacy when flown at 200 feet do you still feel this way after looking at these images?
If you want to use a drone to search for missing people, do these images help you determine your mission parameters and effectiveness?
Closing:
And my hypothesis? I thought more detail would be available further up. Glad I'm conducting experiments.
Image analysis is not my forte. If you have additional observations, please comment or share them with me directly and I'll get them included.
Categories: SAR, UAVs Tags: SAR, sUAS
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Make love, not war
Written by Magda Pervy on 05 September 2017 . Posted in News
"Make love, not war" asked English students in the summer of 1968 and maybe it's time that we follow their advice even 40 years later. What would you choose between a possible nuclear war US-North Korea which could end up involving even neighboring states like Japan, China and Russia (with the risk of making it happen the prophecy indicating 2017 as the year in which the Third World War will break out) and some pleasant moments with your partner?
Ramos makes more sensation than Kim Jong-un?
Yet in these weeks it seems to make more sensation the story of Laura Ramos, 31-year-old married special education teacher at Central High School in Bridgeport, Connecticut, rather than the repeated provocations of Kim Jong-un, who did run an underground atomic test so powerfull to cause a 6.3 magnitude earthquake shock, followed by a second earthquake shock of 4.6 magnitude (to better understand: the earthquake chock which made some houses collapsed in Casamicciola, on Ischia island in Italy, was a 4 magnitude shock).
Theacher hungry for sex
What did Ramos do to end up under the spotlight of the world press? She was charged of second-degree sexual assault (if you wanna know what this means, follow this link: https://apps.rainn.org/policy/compare/crimes.cfm) for having sexual relations with some of her studs. In essence the professor, mother of a young child, is believed to having had sex with at least four students, though she has only been formally charged in connection to two, because her "man" or "guy" did not want "to have sex or do anything with her anymore".
Sex with four students
Her students conforted the woman btw: Ramos and a 18-year-old student were surprised at a parking lot by an institute official while they were having sex in the car of the teacher), but according to what is emerging from the trial Ramos in the previous months would have "weaned" at least three other students.
Better make love than the WW III
While it is certainly a priority to protect the proper development of sexuality in our boys and girls and their defense against any sexual predators, who have never had a crush on his/her own teacher or ever dreamed of having a sexual relationship with some particularly nice substitute? Certainly more than any who have dreamed of playing to Dr. Strangore and trigger a nuclear war. Hopefully even Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un will be of the same opinion and they will prefer to continue to make love rather than war.
Tags: World War lll
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Turin Art Cats Numismatics Crop circles Conspiracy theory space Florence Medicine Catholic Church Royal weddings Animals Mars segreti history creepypasta Donald Trump (EN) Solar System World War lll Extraterrestrial life
Royal weddings, find out differences!


How to Get Data From your CRM System that is Actionable
As it turns out, after 20+ years of CRM Solutions, the data we all thought was supposed to be easy and accurate to extract from the CRM software turns out to be less than advertised. In the inaugural program for CRMRadioToday Bonnie Crater of Full Circle tells us why accurate reliable data isn't always easy from your CRM System. The host is Jim Obermayer.
About Bonnie Crater
Prior to joining Full Circle Insights, Bonnie Crater was a five-time vice president of marketing and executive at many software companies in Silicon Valley. She held vice president and senior vice president roles at Genesys, Netscape, Network Computer Inc., salesforce.com, Stratify, Realization, and VoiceObjects (now Voxeo). A ten-year veteran of Oracle Corporation and its various subsidiaries, Bonnie was vice president, Compaq Products Division and vice president, Workgroup Products Division. In 2013, Bonnie was named one of the "100 Most Influential Women" by the Silicon Valley Business Journal and in 2015 the Sales Lead Management Association named her one of the "20 Women to Watch" in sales lead management. Bonnie holds a B.A. in biology from Princeton University.
About Full Circle Insights
At Full Circle Insights, we believe you shouldn't need a PhD in statistics to understand what's happening with your marketing campaigns. In fact it should be easy for you to get the answers you need to plan with confidence and grow revenue for your company. That's why our team of former Salesforce executives, product managers, and marketing automation specialists designed and built our products to deliver reliable marketing data inside Salesforce and be compatible with the leading marketing automation solutions.So join our customers in a marketing data revolution and get the information you need to succeed. See how your campaigns influence pipeline and revenue, get complete funnel metrics across sales and marketing, and ensure your marketing data is rock solid today.


Vanessa of Cairo 2020
Cairo Nights in Seattle Workshop with Stefanya & Jayna
Music by Dr. Samy Farag
10:00-3:00 PM - 1hr break
10 AM-12:00 PM Double Veils Choreography by Jayna
The circular veils Jayna works with were created by her mother, Marta Schill who was inspired by the Flamenco dancer's Monton they use that wrap around their bodies in a beautiful spiral-like motion when they dance with it. Using DOUBLE circular veils steps it up a notch because the audience gets quite a surprise when the performer executes a quick spin and magically separates the two, creating a magical, flower-like whirlwind that surrounds the dancer like a frame in motion.
Please bring your own veils if possible but there will be some to borrow/purchase at the workshop.
1:00 - 3:00 PM Balady Choreography by Stefanya
Students will learn a choreography that utilizes the passionate and grounded nature of the Balady rhythm that they can reuse in group or solo performances. This class will begin with a simple warmup, moveing into bellydance isolation and drill. A full length choreography will be taught. This passionate and strong choreography will allow the dancer to work on a different dynamic of his or her dancing. Focus will be on the rhythm of the balady and how to use the accents. Students will be given the time to perform the Choreography for Stefanya and she will be available to provide feedback for the dancers.
Dr. Samy Farag's music from Cairo Nights Volume 4 will be used in both workshops.
Space is LIMITED. Register EARLY. NO refund.
Contact Roxy if you'd like to pay by CHECK or CASH.
THANK FOR JOINING US!
STEFANYA's BIO:
Positively unique, Stefanya is an exotic flower, blooming with every beat in rhythm. Her passionate and
inclusive artistry utilizes dance as communication of her hearts deepest blessings to all the world. Acclaimed choreographer, award winning performer and sought after instructor, Stefanya is currently teaching and performing across the globe. She is a co-owner of the Los Angeles Bellydance Academy, a principal cast
member of the world famous Bellydance Superstars, and at one time dance director of the Adam Basma
Dance Company. She can be seen on screen in numerous national and international commercial campaigns,
television shows, and films, appearing live on stage with fellow artist such as Tom Delong, super-model Heidi Klum, and talk show star Kelly Rippa. Taking dance to new heights, Stefanya made headlines as a featured stilt dancer in the world premiere of "Stilt World" and in the Bellydance Superstars' stage production "Raqs Carnival". Performing internationally as an ensemble member and solo artist, Stefanya has graced the stage in more then twenty five countries throughout the in some of the world's most prestigious venues.
Stefanya has dedicated herself to the fundamentals of her art, with extensive training in contemporary forms of dance as well as ancient disciplines. Using a strong foundation in classical styles she merges dances from multiple world traditions and western techniques to create a refined, energetic oriental dance.
JAYNA's BIO:
As a second generation Bellydance artist, Jayna Manoushe has been immersed in Middle Eastern music and dance her whole life.
Her mother, Marta Schill, not only dances but also is well accomplished in playing a variety of rhythms on the Doumbek while father, Jono Kouzouyan, sings and plays a variety of instruments including oud, ney and saz. Growing up in such a musically rich environment has made Jayna very comfortable with the rhythms and melodies of the Middle East.
As a professional performer, Jayna has had the pleasure of touring the world with the Bellydance Superstars and working with - as well as being influenced by - incredibly innovative and inspirational artists such as Jillina, Kami Liddle, Bozenka, Ansuya and many more.
Because Jayna's dance history includes ballet, jazz and gymnastics, she is very comfortable with the art of choreography and has had the pleasure of creating and performing dynamic pieces to the beautiful music of accomplished artists such as Dr. Samy Farag of Egypt and Pavlo of Greece.
Her joy and passion of Middle Eastern dance are evident through each performance. Jayna looks forward to sharing some of this love with YOU!
Workshop location:
The Hilton Garden Inn
Seattle/Bothell, WA
Phone: (650) 898-ROXY
EARLY BIRD by May 30th, 2015
© 2019 Oriental Bliss Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Want Roxy to sponsor your future workshops in Seattle? Contact ROXY NOW with your proposal for
2021 and beyond!


Home » Byzantine Treasures » Constantine Xeros, Sebastos
Constantine Xeros, Sebastos
Seals Late Byzantine
Constantine Xeros, Sebastos. Period: Late Byzantine, 12th.c. second half. Translation: May you, all-holy Virgin, be the keeper and seal of the correspondence of the sebastos Constantine Xeros. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Constantine Xeros, sebastos (twelfth century, second half).jpg 2 years ago
Constantine Xeros, sebastos (twelfth century, second half)-2.jpg 2 years ago
Byzantine Pectoral Cross
Byzantine Pectoral Cross (front and back), Period: Late Byzantine circa: 1200–1400 A.D. , Benaki Museum, Athens. Museum Description: "Gold pectoral in the form of a Resurrection cross with double horizontal arms set with lapis lazuli. The owner's name, Georgios Varagkopoulos, is inscribed on the back together with his title Sevastos (Augustus), which reflects his high social standing and explains the luxurious quality of the materials and the fine workmanship. "
The Benaki Museum of Greek Culture is housed in one of the most beautiful neoclassical-style buildings in Athens, near the National Garden and the Hellenic Parliament. It was converted into a museum in order to shelter the collections of Antonis Benakis and was donated to the Greek nation by himself and his three sisters, Alexandra, Penelope and Argine. Following its most recent refurbishment (1989–2000), the building houses a unique exhibition on Greek culture arranged diachronically from prehistory to the 20th century.
Gold Signet Ring, Late Byzantine
Gold Signet Ring, Period: Late Byzantine circa: 14thc. Made in: Constantinople. Diameter: 28 millimetres Weight: 375 grains. British Museum is closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January, but is open every other day of the year. Fast facts about the British Museum: Founded: 1753, Collection size: 8 million objects, Oldest object in the collection: Stone chopping tool (nearly 2 million years old).
Relief plaque icon, depicting the Crucifixion with full-length figures of the Virgin on the left and St John on the right, Late Byzantine (13 thc). Materials: Steatite – Gold.
Copper Alloy Counterpoise Coin Balance
Late Byzantine Copper
Copper alloy counterpoise coin balance; in the form of a rectangular beam with transverse bar, Late Byzantine (13-14 thc.)
Relief icon; Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 14-15th c. carved white steatite in the shape of half an oval; St George and the dragon with name inscribed. Length: 2 centimetres Width: 1.6 centimetres. British Museum is closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January, but is open every other day of the year. Fast facts about the British Museum: Founded: 1753, Collection size: 8 million objects, Oldest object in the collection: Stone chopping tool (nearly 2 million years old).
Cameo; opaque red; Period: Late Byzantine circa: 13 thc. Materials: glass. Made in: Venice. The Crucifixion with St John and St Mary and inscription, in relief. British Museum is closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January, but is open every other day of the year. Fast facts about the British Museum: Founded: 1753, Collection size: 8 million objects, Oldest object in the collection: Stone chopping tool (nearly 2 million years old).
Seal, Theodore Kastamonites, Sebastos
Seal, Theodore Kastamonites, Sebastos. The two Saints Theodore standing with their hands upraised towards the manus Dei above. Between them are their spears and a shield embossed with a patriarchal cross. This remarkable seal may well have belonged to Theodore Kastamonites, the maternal uncle of the emperor Isaac II Angelos (1185–1195, 1203–1204), who tended to the internal affairs of the empire during his nephew's first reign. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Seal, John Tarchaneiotes
Seal, John Tarchaneiotes, Period: Late Byzantine, 13 th. century. (second half). St. John the Baptist standing, holding a staff cross over his left shoulder. The museum is open to the public Tuesday through Sunday, 11:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., except for federal holidays.
Fragment of an Icon of the Crucifixion with Mary Magdalen and the Virgin Mary
Stone Late Byzantine
Fragment of an Icon of the Crucifixion with Mary Magdalen and the Virgin Mary. Material: Steatite. Period: 14th century, Late Byzantine. The Cleveland Art Museum Hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. Closed Mondays.
Benediction Cross, Late Byzantine
Precious Stones Silver Late Byzantine
Benediction Cross, Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 1200s-1400s. Materials: black schist, gold, silver. The Cleveland Art Museum Hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays 10:00 a.m.–9:00 p.m. Closed Mondays.
Cameo, Red Glass
Cameo; red glass; quadrangular; Period: 13thC, Late Byzantine. Figure of St John the Baptist in relief with inscription. Made in: Venice. British Museum is closed 24, 25 and 26 December and 1 January, but is open every other day of the year.
Head of a Female Saint
Icons Late Byzantine
Head of a Female Saint, Fresco transferred to panel, Period: Late Byzantine circa: 12th-14th centuries. The MFA is open 7 days a week. Monday and Tuesday 10 am–5 pm, Wednesday–Friday 10 am–10 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am–5 pm.
Manuscripts Late Byzantine
Saint Luke, Byzantine Manuscript, cutting from a Greek Bible. Period: Late Byzantine circa: 1200–25. The MFA is open 7 days a week. Monday and Tuesday 10 am–5 pm, Wednesday–Friday 10 am–10 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am–5 pm.
Cross with Pearls
Cross with Pearls, Period: Late Byzantine, circa: 1200–1400. Materials: Gold and pearls. On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 303. The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York) is one of the world's largest and finest art museums. Its collection includes more than two million works of art spanning five thousand years of world culture, from prehistory to the present and from every part of the globe. Public Hours: 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Open seven days a week.


Thursday, 23rd April 2009. 5.30pm for 6pm Rugby Club, Rugby Place, Circular Quay
Phil Blevin
Igneous Rocks of New South Wales and their Relationship to Mineral Deposits
Phil Blevin (NSWDPI) will showcase studies being undertaken at the Geological Survey on the igneous rocks of NSW, their relationship to mineral deposits, and their potential for new technology metals (e.g. indium), geothermal energy and even manufactured sand. Isotopic and rare earth studies of zircon from the Ordovician Cu-Au porphyries will define these systems in terms of source, temperature and oxidation state and help identify the primary controls on their metallogenic fertility. Collaborative studies with universities are developing new methodologies to age date and fingerprint ore minerals such as cassiterite and molybdenite. Age dating is also leading to a better understanding of the state's mineral systems in time and space. Studies at Ardlethan and in New England for example have challenged preconceptions regarding the age and genetic associations of Sn (-W, Ag, In) systems across the state. The applied outputs from these new frontiers of economic geology and petrology will include district to regional mineral system studies, maps of metallogenic potential, and new exploration concepts that will enhance prospectivity and exploration investment opportunities in NSW.


Assassin's Creed Is Skipping 2019
Aug 23, 2018, 7:00am
The next big Assassin's Creed game won't arrive until 2020, Ubisoft has said, confirming that the once-annualized series is annualized no more.
"We are not going to have a full-fledged Assassin's next year," Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot told Gamespot at Gamescom in Germany this week. "It's just because the teams were working separately, so we have two games now, one year after the other. But next year you're not going to have a fully fledged one."
Instead, Guillemot said, the company plans to support this fall's Assassin's Creed Odyssey throughout 2019, treating it with the "games as a service" model that has proven lucrative for many of Ubisoft's other franchises.
Ubisoft will add free updates and expansions to Odyssey, which is set in ancient Greece, rather than moving on to the next big game right away. (Last year's Assassin's Creed Origins experimented with this same model, but its post-launch support only lasted five months, ending in March of this year.)
Guillemot didn't specifically say that Assassin's Creed will return in 2020, but that timing makes sense, perhaps as a cross-gen launch title for the next generation of consoles?
The gap year has been effective for Assassin's Creed. Following the disastrous launch of Assassin's Creed Unity (2014) and the soft sales of Assassin's Creed Syndicate (2015), Ubisoft gave the franchise a year off in 2016. This led to one of the best entries yet, Assassin's Creed Origins (2017). The next game, Assassin's Creed Odyssey, will be out this October.
optimusprimal @optimusprimal
"We are not going to have a full-fledged Assassin's next year,"
Nit-picking perhaps, but the words suggests there may still be something/spin-off if not a main title?
I think it's a good idea - the year off made a big difference to Origins so let's hope it can do the same for the next game - just hope to goodness they work on the quests/repetition as it's been an issue since the very first game & still mars (feel i've said this a few times now!) what was a great return to form in Origins otherwise.
Just finishing off the second dlc for Origins now - if it's been a while & you fancy more AC I can recommend, if you've played recently i'd suggest waiting - it's more of the same only a little worse with more of the irritating enemy types and mounted archers who can see/hit you from half the map away.
matt1234 @matt1234
Probably just a mobile game, or a remaster.
Aug 23, 2018, 10:33am
Maybe scratch the recommendation for the dlc after all - it's better than the first and has a few nice touches, it also has some of the most excruciatingly dull, tedious, potentially cheap & drawn out boss fights too. Playing to finish it now, the fun ended a while ago & it's sadly now souring my opinion of what - for the most part - has been a great game.
rowan @rowan
So you reckon just play the vanilla game with no dlc?
If you've not played the base game then yep, that should be more than enough (the game is huge!) i reckon...?
I got the dlc's because they were on sale last week against my better judgment. The best bit (for me personally) is that they up the level cap buuuut;
The Hidden Ones;
The additional story is completely throwaway (and can be seen very quickly on youtube)
Hard crashed about 5-6 times plus had a few other quest bugs - never crashed in the base game (played on xbox x)
Missions are just rinse/repeat of the main game & the area isn't particularly exciting.
Enemy areas have a lot more soldiers in them now which would be cool if you hadn't already killed 750k previously to get to that part (hence why if you played the base game a while back it'd be fresh again)
Curse of the Pharaohs
Great setting & premise - far more compelling than the hidden ones.
Even more so than the first dlc, so many missions, fetch quests, backtracking - you'll have done it all 20k times previously.
Main issue with them both i guess is that because i did so much of the main game i had all top level weapons etc, so there's no loot gain in the dlc - any specific weapon drops are much of a muchness (that i've seen). If you ignore a lot of the base game you may get more mileage from them, but i'm just so burnt out on doing the same thing ad nauseam that it feels massively grindy.
Hope it doesn't put you off because i had lots of fun for majority of the base game - the predator bow is just insanely good fun & finally makes stealth viable despite the typically clunky AC controls!
Thanks man. Awesome response. I picked up the base game a few weeks ago for $20. I might stick with it alone. Like, I loved Witcher 3 but I sunk 130hrs into that bad boy, I don't know how much stamina I have for these huge world games anymore. Like, I got shit to do in REAL life you know?
So i'll stick to vanilla. Thanks again!
Big difference with the witcher 3 is that - at least for the most part - the sidequests were/are pretty compelling storywise, same can't really be said for a lot of Origins. Gameplay/general sandbox mitigate that for a good while, but because it's so big the novelty wears off before the end, at least for me - agree completely with your last point, getting so fed up with games padding to make them artificially longer, sometimes less is more...
cinamyn @cinamyn
There is always something new for Assassin's Creed every year. Whether thats a movie/re-master/spin-off
I'm glad they are slowing down with the main games because those games deserve the best quality.
excelneko @excelneko
That is what they said about AC:Origins - and that only lasted a year
Then they re-skinned it for then next (this) year
chinesefood @chinesefood
Smart.
rammo123 @rammo123
The next big Assassin's Creed game won't arrive until 2020
Oh cool they're going to keep staggering the releases better to ensure they have adequate development tim...
...treating it with the "games as a service" model
Sorry nevermind. GAAS cancer it is.
arnna @arnna
Yay everyone can skip a year of banality and fetch quests with blurry graphics
Aron Guest
AC Origins is one of the sharpest looking games I've ever seen. On Xbox One X its definitely sharper than any other open world game I've seen, except maybe Far Cry 5.


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The production of electric cars is still a major concern – Find out why!
By Ahmad Shehryar	 On Nov 29, 2019
Electric vehicles are gradually taking over the auto sector as they are rightly considered as an environmentally friendly alternative to combustion engine vehicles, but are they actually as friendly as they seem? Probably, No! The presence of electric cars on the roads undoubtedly emits no carbon gases in the atmosphere, but there is a key area that still needs attention, i.e. the production of electric vehicles.
According to a study, the production of electric cars creates a lot more greenhouse gas emissions as compared to making an equivalent conventional engine vehicle. The aim to save our environment from the carbon footprint fails partially when it comes to producing an electric car and studies in the world's top auto markets, i.e. the US, China, and Europe have proved it true. It's an area of concern for all the major auto manufacturers around the globe, and a more refined process needs to be figured out for the production of electric cars. But what creates these harmful gases during their production is the question that might be raising many eyebrows. Let's find out!
The environmental-friendly component itself has adverse effects:
It's much clear that the electric vehicles entirely depend on its battery instead of the conventional combustion engines that make it an apparently environment-friendly vehicle. However, according to the Automotive Science Group, this particular component of the vehicle is also responsible for the emission of these greenhouse gases during its production. The batteries used in electric cars and engine-based cars are not the same. Electric cars use lithium-ion batteries, which are used in cellphones, laptops, and other electronic equipment. In terms of size, these lithium-ion batteries are much larger than those used in gasoline engines. The conventional vehicles use lead-acid batteries, which are comparatively much smaller in size. Moreover, the chemistry of both types of these batteries is also quite different. For instance, lithium-ion batteries require a lot more energy in their production as compared to lead-acid batteries. The extraction and refinement of metals used in it, i.e. lithium, cobalt, and nickel, also require more energy. The recycling process of these batteries is also comparatively harder. The Union of Concerned Scientists also believes that the CO₂ emissions created from manufacturing an electric vehicle's battery are higher than that saved by not making the engine and transmission of a vehicle.
The emissions gap can extend up to 68%:
The Union also carried out a study back in 2015, which revealed that producing a larger electric vehicle with a larger battery may produce 68% more CO₂ emissions than those produced from the manufacturing of a gasoline engine vehicle. A mid-sized electric vehicle with a comparatively smaller battery would produce 15% more emissions than producing a similar engine-based vehicle. Another non-profit organization, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) has concluded with a similar sort of results in its research. According to it, the difference in the emissions created between the productions of two different types of vehicles could be attributed to the electricity used in the production of batteries. The use of a cleaner source of energy could create a major impact in reducing carbon emissions during the production of batteries.
Role of major automakers in reducing these emissions:
Around the globe, several major auto manufacturers have already started producing extra-ordinarily efficient electric cars. These automakers include Tesla, BMW, Volkswagen, etc. Volkswagen, among them, has already announced its heavy investment plans for producing electric cars over the next decade. The company has partnered with a battery manufacturer LG Chem, and it aims to use only environmental-friendly sources of electricity in the production of batteries for its electric cars by 2050.
Similarly, the US-based top electric car manufacturer Tesla is also ambitious to eventually run its battery manufacturing plant on a renewable source of energy. BMW, on the other hand, also intends to involve itself in the battery recycling processes to reduce the emissions and aims to use only environmental-friendly sources for electricity when it starts making vehicles from 2020 onwards.
According to an estimate made by the ICCT, battery recycling, decarbonization of electric grids, and increasing the battery energy density could result in reducing the emissions produced during the process of battery manufacturing by a significant margin of 49%. The same is the case with other auto giants around the world, as all of them intend to use only renewable sources of energy in the production of their vehicles. However, none of them have yet set any deadlines for the completion of the transition process.
Electric cars still produce fewer emissions:
The CO₂ emissions produced during the production of electric cars is still far less than that emitted by the combustion engine vehicles during their lifespan. It means that electric cars, at this point in time, still contribute less to polluting our atmosphere as compared to conventional engine cars. It was proved by a study carried out by the Union of Concerned Scientists in 2015 that concluded with the result that gasoline vehicles produce emissions by nearly two times as compared to electric vehicles. Also, the emissions produced by electric cars during their production stage can be made up in just six to eighteen months' span of a combustion engine vehicle, depending on the size of the vehicle and its battery.
Furthermore, ICCT concluded with another finding in 2018, which states that a standard electric vehicle in Europe produces half the overall greenhouse gas emissions in its lifespan as compared to those produced by a similar combustion engine vehicle in just two to three years on the road.
Automakers must shift to cleaner sources of energy for electricity in the future:
For achieving higher efficiency and reducing emissions produced during the manufacturing phase of batteries, the automakers need to shift to cleaner and renewable sources of energy in the future. The global auto giants are already contributing largely to saving the atmosphere from pollution and global warming caused by carbon footprint. Following the footsteps of other developed countries, Pakistan has also finally decided to shift to electric mobility. The first-ever electric vehicle (EV) policy has already been approved by the cabinet, and the government now aims to convert the motorbikes and three-wheelers into electric in the initial phase. In the long run, the government wants to shift 30% of vehicles in the country to electric by the year 2030.
Drop your valuable suggestions regarding electric vehicles in the feedback section below. Stay connected with PakWheels for more updates related to the automobile industry.
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Ahmad Shehryar
Apart from being an Electrical Engineer by profession, he is an automotive content writer at PakWheels, a web designer and a photographer.
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North Korea Says No To Nukes
By Richard Fernandez Jun 26, 2008 7:05 AM ET
[For another take, read Claudia Rosett @ PajamasXpress: Condi Rice Wants Us to Stop Worrying and Learn to Love Kim Jong Il]
Today, North Korea appeared closer to abandoning its nuclear weapons ambitions than it has been in twelve years. The UPI reports:
WASHINGTON, June 26 (UPI) — North Korea submitted its nuclear program declaration Thursday, a move that will lead to the lifting of some sanctions, a White House statement said. … Under an agreement reached last year between countries, North Korea agreed to denuclearization in exchange for in exchange for diplomatic and economic incentives. North Korea pledged to disable all of its nuclear facilities, the statement said, "and tomorrow (Friday) will destroy the cooling tower of the Yongbyon reactor."
The United States will lift the provisions of the Trading with the Enemy Act "as well as announcing our intent to rescind North Korea's designation as a State Sponsor of Terror in 45 days," in response to North Korea's actions.
A negotiated disarmament of North Korea appeared to be well under way with the signing of the Agreed Framework in October 1994. Under the terms agreed between the Clinton Administration and Pyongyang, the North Koreans agreed to stop the construction of two nuclear reactors capable of producing plutonium in exchange for an American funded light-water reactor and fuel oil.
But in 2002 a Bush administration diplomatic delegation accused Pyongyang of cheating, alleging that they were secretly operating a highly enriched uranium program, which provided an alternative route to the Bomb. In the acrimonious atmosphere that followed, North Korea once again withdrew from Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty, the United States declared North Korea part of the Axis of Evil and the Agreed Framework collapsed.
The proponents of the Agreed Framework accused the Bush administration of derailing a done deal. Selig Harrison, writing in Foreign Affairs in 2005, cast doubt on claims the North Koreans were really cheating, arguing that although Pyongyang was indeed acquiring centrifuges capable of enriching uranium, they were in quantities insufficient to support a serious weapons program. Although "Pyongyang clearly did violate that accord by pursuing uranium-enrichment efforts … and thus, technically, violated the 1994 Agreed Framework as well", the Bush administration had overreacted and by diplomatically confronting North Korea, risked provoking them into using their existing stock of fuel for weapons development. When Pyongyang conducted its highly publicized atomic bomb test in 2006 the Agreed Framework appeared to be in ruins.
In retrospect, one of the factors which provoked the Bush administration into treating North Korea with suspicion was Pakistan. Harrison wrote at the time:
A June 2002 CIA assessment that was leaked after the Kelly visit said that Pakistan had provided North Korea with centrifuge prototypes and blueprints, but that it was uncertain how many, if any, centrifuges North Korea had made from them. … Some intelligence suggesting this possibility did surface during the Clinton presidency. "We raised fairly generalized concerns with Pakistan about nuclear cooperation with North Korea," recalls Robert Einhorn, Clinton's assistant secretary of state for nonproliferation. "But we didn't cite chapter and verse because we didn't have chapter and verse to cite."
But although US-North Korean relations appeared to have broken down under the impact of new intelligence, a new negotiated track to disarmament was already being laid in August 2003. Called the Six Party Talks, it differed procedurally from the Agreement Framework in that it involved, as the name suggested, six parties: China, South Korea, Russia, Japan, the US and North Korea itself. Under the new approach, the disarmament of North Korea would be linked not merely to a normalization of relations between Pyongyang and Washington, but to a comprehensive settlement of tensions that had existed since World War 2 and the Korean War, adjusting Pyongyang's relationship with Seoul, Tokyo and Washington.
The talks steadily progressed through six rounds. Even North Korea's supposed nuclear weapons test could not derail it. Indeed those results were denigrated shortly afterward by CIA Director Michael Hayden, who declared, "the United States does not recognize North Korea as a nuclear weapons state … because the nuclear test last year was a failure." The door to a comprehensive agreement was still open to diplomats.
Today's dramatic announcement of the decommissioning of the Yongbon nuclear power facility and the delisting of North Korea from the rolls of terrorist states represents the results of the sixth round of negotiations and brings the process close to its final phase. The agreement of February 2007 creates a three stage end game along which we are halfway along.
In the first part of the deal, North Korea said it would shut its Yongbyon reactor within 60 days. In return, it was promised 50,000 tons of heavy fuel oil, to be supplied by the five other countries involved in the nuclear negotiations.
In the second stage — where we are now — North Korea agreed to declare and disable all its existing nuclear facilities, a process that would be supervised by experts from the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency. In return, it has been promised a further 950,000 tons of fuel. The US has also agreed to remove it from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
A third stage would deal with any nuclear weapons that North Korea may already possess.
The architecture of the endgame is obvious. The first two stages are designed to destroy the last vestiges of the North Korean capacity to produce any more fissile material. The third — and possibly more difficult — stage is to wrest from Pyongyang's grip any nuclear material that may already exist. The Times Online says that the original sticking point, the resolution of the uranium enrichment program, has been deferred to the very end.
It is unclear whether it will also include an inventory of the precise number of nuclear warheads, or whether North Korea will own up to a second programme of uranium enrichment that it has always denied, despite US accusations. If these elements are missing, the Bush Administration will be accused of compromising its principles for the sake of moving forward the Six Party Talks on North Korean nuclear disarmament, which also include Japan, Russia and South Korea as well as the host, China.
Time will tell whether the Six Party talks will succeed in denuclearizing the Korean peninsula or whether it will founder, as did the Agreed Framework before it, on some new difficulty. But two factors make the new agreement more robust than the 1994 agreement. First, the multilateral format means that any North Korean double-cross would alienate not only the United States, but South Korea, Japan, Russia and most importantly, Pyongyang's patron China. North Korea has a lot more to lose by welshing on the Six Party Talks than it did on the Agreed Framework.
Secondly, because their fissile production line will effectively be dismantled — the Yongbon cooling will be demolished — North Korea's remaining blackmail leverage consists of a mere handful of low-yield nuclear material. And with the United States positioned to watch Pakistan and Iran, the future of any clandestine program is in serious doubt. When Hayden scoffed at the yield of the North Korean nuclear weapons, he was signalling that Pyongyang did not have enough cards in hand to effectively threaten South Korea, the US and Japan. Without a working nuclear program to build more weapons, Pyongyang has nothing to gain from cheating. North Korea is like a man with a pistol surrounded by a company of infantry, and the logical thing for it to do is lay down its arms and fix its economy. While North Korea has long played the game of intimidation to get its way, this time it may be out of ammo.


Share this Story: China's coal imports have been robust, but winter crunch looms: Russell
China's coal imports have been robust, but winter crunch looms: Russell
Clyde Russell
LAUNCESTON — China's coal imports have grown strongly so far this year, but this may be about to change, assuming Beijing takes steps to ensure that growth for the whole of 2019 is more or less zero.
Total coal imports rose 8.1% in the first eight months of the year to 220.8 million tonnes, a gain of 17 million tonnes, according to official customs data.
China's coal imports have been robust, but winter crunch looms: Russell Back to video
Looking specifically at seaborne imports, which exclude overland shipments from countries such as Mongolia, the growth looks even more impressive.
Seaborne imports were 191.3 million tonnes in the January-August period, up 11.4% from 171.8 million tonnes in the same period last year, according to vessel-tracking and import data compiled by Refinitiv.
While the growth in volumes may be something of a silver lining for coal miners in major exporters Australia and Indonesia, the chances are the fourth quarter of 2019 will mirror the same period last year: Imports taper off.
Last year, the authorities in Beijing made it clear to coal importers that they didn't want imports to show any growth in 2018 from 2017. This resulted in a sharp drop-off in cargoes in the fourth quarter.
In December last year, seaborne coal imports dropped to 15 million tonnes, the lowest for any month in almost two years, while imports for the fourth quarter of last year were 53 million tonnes, down 15.7% from the third quarter.
In the end, total imports as measured by customs did rise in 2018, reaching 281.2 million tonnes, up 3.9% from the prior year. But that was down from growth of 14.7% at the end of August.
If 2019 imports were to end the year at the same level as for last year, that would leave a gap of only 60.4 million tonnes available for the last four months of the year.
To meet that target, imports would have to average around 15 million tonnes per month from September to December – a very sharp slowing from the August customs figure of 32.95 million tonnes after 32.89 million tonnes in July.
In fact, September seaborne imports for the first 23 days were 15.6 million tonnes already, according to Refinitiv data, which had been filtered to show only cargoes already unloaded.
This could mean total imports in September, including those that come by rail or road, are likely to well exceed 20 million tonnes – a number that would put further pressure on China's importers to reduce volumes in the final quarter of the year.
POLLUTION CONTROLS
While it's likely that 2019 imports will exceed last year's total, the question is by how much.
In other words, what is the tolerance of the authorities for coal imports exceeding 2018's level?
While the coming months will show how determined the authorities are to keep a lid on coal imports, early signs are that the campaign to reduce pollution over the northern winter will step up a gear this year.
China's environment ministry said on Sept. 20 that the anti-pollution campaign for this year's autumn-winter heating season will set stricter emissions targets for cities that had higher concentrations of damaging particles last time around.
This may result in stricter controls on industries that use coal, such as steel and cement, and also on residential heating, where efforts are being made to switch from coal boilers to systems that use natural gas.
If China does reduce coal imports for the last three months of 2019, it's likely to place downward pressure on seaborne prices, which have struggled in recent months amid good supply and limited demand growth outside of China.
The benchmark weekly thermal coal price at Australia's Newcastle port, as assessed by commodity price reporting agency Argus, stood at $62.97 a tonne for the week ending Sept. 20.
While this was up from the three-year low of $60.74 a tonne from Aug. 30, it's still little more than half the $119.74 level seen in July last year, which was a seven-year high.
The price of lower energy Indonesian coal, which is popular in China as a blending feedstock given its low sulfur content, has also struggled this year.
Indonesian coal with an energy value of 4,200 kilocalories per kilogram, as assessed by Argus, was at $32.69 a tonne in the week to Sept. 20.
This was up from $30.96 a tonne in the week to Aug. 23, but down 19% from its peak so far in 2019 of $40.32 on March 8.
Although both Australian and Indonesian thermal coal prices have lifted from recent lows, they are likely to come under pressure again if China does start to restrict coal imports for the rest of the year. (Editing by Kenneth Maxwell)


Pastor Philip T. Sica Memorial Service and Life Sketch
September 17, 2021by Phil Orenstein in Club News, Memorial Page
Pastor Philip T. Sica
September 27, 1934 – September 10, 2021
Old Westbury Seventh-day Adventist Church
Processional Pastor and Family
Opening Prayer Pastor Anthony Mazzella
Scripture Reading Pastor Steven Siciliano
Hymn 567 "Have Thine Own Way Lord"
(A favorite of Pastor Sica)
Eulogy Bradley Sica Jr.
Musical Selection "It Is Well with My Soul" Naomi J. Sica
(Played at her brother's funeral 07/01/2017) McDonald/Bliss
Message Pastor Anthony Mazzella
Sharing Memories Family and Friends
Closing Hymn 633 "When We All Get to Heaven"
Benediction Pastor Anthony Mazzella
Recessional
The Sica family wishes to express sincere gratitude to all those who have prayed and emotionally supported us during this time of loss.
Please join us for light refreshments immediately following the service, at the Whispering Pines School Gymnasium, located adjacent to the church.
Life Sketch
Philip T. Sica was born on September 27, 1934 in New York City, on 113th Street and First Avenue, to Anna Raucci and Theodore Sica. He attended St. Stephens Elementary School and was graduated from Cardinal Hayes High School at age 16. He attended Pace College and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts in 1955.
On September 11, 1955, Philip married Theresa Fogarty. They lived in Woodhaven, NY, and later moved to Little Neck, NY. They had four children: Bryan, Bradley, Lynn and Leslie. He had four grandchildren: Bradley, Andrew, Ashley and Emma.
Philip served in New York City in various capacities. He worked for the NYC Department of Hospitals, which is now called the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He was a Senior Investigator for the NYC Department of Finance; New York Housing Authority Assistant; Detective-Investigator for the Queens County District Attorney's Office; and Marshal for the City of New York, appointed by Mayor John Lindsay.
Philip was in the US Army Reserves and served for 5 ½ years with the 77th Army Infantry Division. Later on, Philip was the American Legion Queens County Chaplain and Past 10th District Chaplain; in addition, for many years he was the Committee Chairman of the County Oratorical Contest, Commander of the American Legion Post 301, and was their Chaplain until his passing.
While working as City Marshal, Philip met a literature evangelist on 34th Street across from Macy's. The literature evangelist handed him a small booklet entitled "Steps to Christ." He enrolled Philip in the Voice of Prophecy Bible Study Course. Philip said, "That was a pivotal moment of my life." He was "searching for truth." That was the beginning of his journey in knowing his Savior, Jesus Christ, with many life changes to come. He began attending the Crossroads SDA Church at 227 W. 46th Street– the address found at the back of the booklet. About six months later, he was baptized by Swedish Pastor, Arne Klingstrand. They were in touch for many years and saw each other in CA, two months before Elder Klingstrand's death at age 100.
Before he became a pastor, Philip decided to enroll in Atlantic Union College's Adult Degree Program in MA and in 1980, received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion.
In 1976, he met Naomi Jungling a week after his baptism, attending the same church. A music teacher, she studied at Teachers College, Columbia University during the summer months where she worked toward a graduate degree. She is from Lodi, CA, the daughter of immigrant parents, Germans from Russia. Six years later they were married, September 23, 1982, in Lincoln, NE. Elder Merlin Kretschmar became acquainted with Philip, and soon after, invited him to work (1980) at the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists as Trust Services Director, doing wills and estate planning. He helped develop the Morris Park Branch Sabbath School to a Company.
The Morris Park SDA Church is currently a flourishing church in the Bronx. Pastor Philip T. Sica pastored many churches in the Conference and was also the Corporation Secretary and Director of Development. He was instrumental in establishing the Oakview SDA School and the Victory SDA Church in the Bronx, as well as many other church acquisitions. He retired 09/01/1999 after a term pastoring the Livingston and Kingston SDA Churches. He continued to serve for quite some time after his retirement, with various interim pastoral assignments throughout the Conference, loving to be of help. After his retirement, he established Wise Choice Realty, Inc., which he owned and operated for several years.
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Jonas RosenquistOil painter extraordinaire
Swedish painter & designer
based in Paris
Post-Impressionism is a predominantly French art movement that developed roughly between 1886 and 1905, from the last Impressionist exhibition to the birth of Fauvism. Post-Impressionism emerged as a reaction against Impressionists' concern for the naturalistic depiction of light and colour. Due to its broad emphasis on abstract qualities or symbolic content, Post-Impressionism encompasses Les Nabis, Neo-Impressionism, Symbolism, Cloisonnism, Pont-Aven School, and Synthetism, along with some later Impressionists' work. The movement was led by Paul Cézanne (known as father of Post-impressionism), Paul Gauguin, Vincent van Gogh, and Georges Seurat.
Fauvism is the style of les Fauves (French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong color over the representational or realistic values retained by Impressionism. While Fauvism as a style began around 1904 and continued beyond 1910, the movement as such lasted only a few years, 1905–1908, and had three exhibitions. The leaders of the movement were André Derain and Henri Matisse.
Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radically for emotional effect in order to evoke moods or ideas. Expressionist artists have sought to express the meaning of emotional experience rather than physical reality.
© 2022 Jonas Sebastian Bill Rosenquist


Home	10.95	Live In Birmingham 1993Deep Purple
Live In Birmingham 1993
SKU: HNECD025D
Categories: 10.95, HNE Christmas Sale, HNE Recordings
PLEASE NOTE THIS CD IS NOT
RELEASED UNTIL THE 11TH NOVEMBER – THIS IS A PRE-ORDER & THE CD WILL NOT BE
SENT OUT UNTIL THE OFFICIAL RELEASE DATE
•	Many consider the vintage "Mk2" Deep Purple line-up of Ritchie Blackmore on guitar, lead screamer Ian Gillan, bassist Roger Glover on bass, the late, great Jon Lord on keyboards and the drumming of Ian Paice, to be the near definitive version of this classic British rock institution. It was this line-up that got back together – for a third and last time – to tour and record for their 25th Anniversary in 1993.
•	Despite playing what many consider to be some of their best ever shows in mainland Europe, especially during a lengthy 13 date German tour, Blackmore dropped the bombshell midway through the European leg that these would his last concerts with the band. True to his word, the guitarist played his final ever show with Deep Purple in Helsinki on 17th November 1993, making this CD, recorded a week earlier at Birmingham's NEC on 9th November the last gig he did with the band on British soil.
•	It was this gig that was chosen to be captured on film and tape for future release, issued the following year as the "Come Hell Or High Water" DVD and CD. Unfortunately, many consider this particular show to be the nadir of the band's career, mainly due to guitarist Ritchie's absence on a couple of numbers, refusing to take the stage until it was clear of cameramen, and making his point by soaking one of them with a cup of water when he failed to leave the stage in time.
•	Despite this, the 1993 NEC set captures many Purple favourites across its 18 tracks, including 'Highway Star', 'Black Night' and 'Woman From Tokyo', and no less than four songs from the then latest "The Battle Rages On", making this a unique memento from these legendary rockers. It should come as no surprise that the set is capped by the band's most enduring hit, 'Smoke On The Water'.
DISC ONE	DISC TWO
1. HIGHWAY STAR	1. CHILD IN TIME
2. BLACK NIGHT	2. ANYA
3. TALK ABOUT LOVE	3. THE BATTLE RAGES ON
4. A TWIST IN THE TAIL	4. LAZY/DRUM SOLO
5. PERFECT STRANGERS	5. SPACE TRUCKIN'
6. BEETHOVEN	6. WOMAN FROM TOKYO
7. JON'S KEYBOARD SOLO	7. PAINT IT BLACK
8. KNOCKIN' AT YOUR BACK DOOR	8. HUSH
9. ANYONE'S DAUGHTER	9. SMOKE ON THE WATER
Hawkwind: Road To Utopia