text:
The Obama administration announced Friday it is eliminating a $100 limit on the value of Cuban rum and cigars that American travelers can bring back from the island.
The administration is also lifting limits on cargo ship travel between the U.S. and Cuba and easing U.S. and Cuban researchers' ability to conduct joint medical research. The measures are contained in a package of relatively small-scale regulatory changes meant to ease U.S. trade with Cuba.
Cuban rum and cigars will now be subject to the same duties as alcohol and tobacco from other countries, meaning most travelers will be able to bring back as many as 100 cigars and several bottles of rum.
Because high-end Cuban cigars can sell for more than $100 apiece outside Cuba, every U.S. traveler can now legally bring back many thousands of dollars of Cuban products, potentially generating hundreds of millions of dollars in new annual revenue for the Cuban state.
The previous limit restricted travelers to a combined value of $100 in rum and cigars, although enforcement of the limit notably declined after President Barack Obama declared detente with Cuba in December 2014.
"Challenges remain - and very real differences between our governments persist on issues of democracy and human rights - but I believe that engagement is the best way to address those differences and make progress on behalf of our interests and values," Obama said in a statement announcing the changes.
Rum and cigar production is entirely government-run under Cuba's centrally planned communist economy.
However, these sweeping changes are getting some mixed reactions in Miami.
Gomez, an author and expert on Cuba, shared his thoughts on new amendments to Cuba sanction regulations.
"We have diplomatic relations and that's good, but the reconciliation, I don't see it happening any time soon," Gomez said. "No matter what we do, politically they're not going to change and I think we realize that and we begin then to define the Cuban government in one pocket and the Cuban people in the other."
Politicians opposing the thawing of relations continue to come out against the President and his plans.
"After two years of President Obama's Cuba policy, the Castro regime has made out like bandits and received numerous concessions from the U.S. without lifting a finger to return the fugitives it is harboring from American justice, pay Americans for their stolen property, or allow the Cuban people to exercise their God-given freedoms," Senator Marco Rubio from Florida said in a statement. "Today's announcement reaffirms the fact that President Obama's Cuba policy puts the Castro regime's interests first, profits ahead of America's national security, and the Cuban people's rights and dignity dead last."
"This reconciliation process is gonna take years," said Andy Gomez.
More than 160,000 American travelers visited Cuba last year and that figure is expected to double this year. Hundreds of thousands of Cuban-Americans visit family on the island each year and will also be able to take advantage of the new measure, which comes a month and a half before the restart of commercial flights to Havana after more than 50 years.
The first commercial flight between the United States and Cuba landed in the central city of Santa Clara on Aug. 31 after departing from Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport.
The package of regulatory changes announced Friday also allows cargo ships to visit U.S. ports directly after docking in Cuba. They had been barred from U.S. ports for 180 days after visiting Cuba. Cuba blamed that measure for harming its ability to import and export and dampening hopes that a new military-run port in the city of Mariel could serve as a major link in the regional cargo shipping system.
The new rules also will allow for more partnerships in the world of pharmaceuticals between the two nations.
As a reminder, the embargo is still in effect and only congress can lift it. These new changes will begin on October 17 of this year.
Courtesy of our news partner at NBC Miami


text:
The historic Gold Rush era town of Downieville on Highway 49 offers a perfect opportunity for a weekend get-away with the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour at the Yuba Theatre in Downieville April 5-7, 2013.
Buy tickets for Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour 2013
Complete 2013 Banff Program Now On Line »
View the complete program for the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour 2013 at the Yuba Theatre.
This charming mountain village situated in a rugged canyon at the confluence of the Downie and North Yuba Rivers, and the comfortable Yuba Theatre itself, provide a memorable setting to see the highest quality films from the prestigious Banff Mountain Film Festival held each fall in Banff, Alberta, Canada.
National Geographic and The North Face and are among the sponsors of the tour – now celebrating its 37th year – that is an exciting opportunity to experience world travel and thrilling mountain adventure in the comfortable environment of the 184-seat Yuba Theatre. Transformed into a performing arts venue by the Sierra County Arts Council in 1996, the 1940 era Yuba Theatre has been a favorite venue (as well as its smallest) on the World Tour for 14 consecutive years. In 2002, the Banff Centre featured the Yuba Theatre in its Banff Mountain Festivals Magazine.
The Friday, April 5 and Saturday, April 6 shows begin at 7 p.m. and the Sunday, April 7 show begins at 2 p.m. Each screening will feature different programs of the best independent and documentary films available. Expect approximately 2 hours of films at each screening, as well as an intermission with refreshments. The traditional door prize drawings for an array of items add to the festivities.
Because the theater is so small, viewers are strongly advised to purchase tickets in advance from Brown Paper Tickets (phone orders (800) 838-3006, mention event code 316740) or in person, tickets will be available from mid-February at the Downieville Day Spa in Downieville or the Sierra Country Store in Sierra City. Subject to availability, tickets will be available at the door as well.
Local restaurants will be open all weekend!!
For more information: Contact the Sierra County Arts Council by calling (530) 289-9822 or email firstname.lastname@example.com. For area services and accommodations visit the Sierra County Chamber of Commerce website. And visit The Banff Centre, a globally respected arts, cultural, and education institution that promotes understanding and appreciation of the world's mountain places.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
@wfpman Hello @unsuckdcmetro #wmata major #fail sys wide delays and dupont circle no up escalators. People shouting. http://yfrog.us/jkdclz
Monday, July 12, 2010
Near Riot Conditions at Dupont
@wfpman Hello @unsuckdcmetro #wmata major #fail sys wide delays and dupont circle no up escalators. People shouting. http://yfrog.us/jkdclz
54 comments:
- Anonymous said...
god Metro sucks so much on so many levels. How the hell can they not keep those escalators running? I mean seriously. I'm starting to think it's the manufacturer's fault, not Metro's.
- July 12, 2010 at 10:15 AM
- Anonymous said...
Clearly, this is a mistake. According to this article, WMATA has been successfully modernizing its escalators for years. They are all running perfectly! (Warning: WMATA groupthink)
- July 12, 2010 at 10:35 AM
- Anonymous said...
It's always Metro's fault. NEVER FORGET THAT.
- July 12, 2010 at 10:35 AM
- J said...
Out of curiosity, how come no one is using the staircase?
I had to deal with Orange Line suck this morning. A horse of a different color..
- July 12, 2010 at 10:42 AM
- J said...
Out of curiosity, how come no one is using the staircase?
I had to deal with the Orange line this morning, which was a different kind of suck, thankfully.
- July 12, 2010 at 10:42 AM
- Meh. said...
That's not very riot-y.
It is full of suck, but not riot.
- July 12, 2010 at 10:43 AM
- Anonymous said...
Escalators at BOTH Dupont and Q street exits were not working. Perhaps the most ridiculous part? There was one set of down escalators running at Q street. WTF?!
- July 12, 2010 at 10:51 AM
- Anonymous said...
Weren't those "fixed" recently?
- July 12, 2010 at 10:52 AM
- saber_saw25 said...
At least the station manager was out there trying to do something. I have seen to many situations (Foggy Bottom can be a train wreck) where they just don't do anything.
- July 12, 2010 at 10:52 AM
- Kara said...
@10:42 there are no staircases at DuPont
Do you mean the middle escalator? Since a metro person was there he must have designated it as down ... although we see people walking down at least one of the other escalators too.
I have hiked those things when they are down. Not fun at all as most people can not go up them without taking a break. Fortunately one was going up when I went through about 7:30 this morning (did not look at the others) as is like russian roulette sometimes.
- July 12, 2010 at 11:04 AM
- Kara said...
Yes, there was a week where we actually saw escapeeps all over the western red line .... then they disappeared again. I am guessing their bosses stopped looking at them.
- July 12, 2010 at 11:08 AM
- Anonymous said...
There is no staircase at either entrance of Dupont Circle. The middle staircase is probably being "fixed" which is why no one is able to take it. "Fixed" meaning a yellow sign saying "men at work" or something close to that.
I think if the Metro was fully operational, it would be the final sign that we are heading toward the end of the world.
- July 12, 2010 at 11:12 AM
- Anonymous said...
I was there. The station manager did little to communicate what was going on besides occasionally yell at people to stop/start walking up/down. There didn't appear to be anyone at the top of the escalator helping to stop people from trying to come down. Overall, a nasty scene. Once the manager turned the right hand escalator one, the women who was muttering about fare increases snapped, "Thanks for nothing!" and marched up.
- July 12, 2010 at 11:25 AM
- GrapesOfRough said...
Oh god the thought of walking up the escalators at Dupont makes the fat in my ass cry.
- July 12, 2010 at 11:35 AM
- Anonymous said...
The middle escalator was actually being worked on. I'm not sure if people moved the barricade themselves or if the station manager did, but people who had walked all the way to the top had to go back down and then go up one of the others because the last 5-8 feet of escalator had been removed, thus leaving a gaping hole! Some people were climbing over the railing to get to the other escalator. It was insane, but a classic failure by Metro. Pay more, get less service!
This just sparked an idea for a new fee they could charge- a fee for using the escalator! They'd fix the budget problems off of Dupont and Rosslyn alone!
- July 12, 2010 at 11:41 AM
- Liz @ Dogs and Wine said...
Literally LOL'd. <3
- July 12, 2010 at 11:41 AM
- Anonymous said...
Everyday on my commute from Union Station to Rosslyn the escalators are not working. Either at Union Station or Rosslyn.
- July 12, 2010 at 11:45 AM
- Anonymous said...
To 11:25 Anoymous: And what did you say during this incident? Nothing? Perhaps if you would speak up instead of just standing back and letting other people complain on your behalf the escalators would be maintained and working. It takes guts to stand up in the face of a crowd and voice dissatisfaction, what did your presence at the station this morning accomplish? How about your comment here, what did it accomplish except to describe the woman who did speak up as muttering and snapping? Did you appreciate that the escalators were eventually turned back on, I suspect because of the uproar? Probably not, but I'm sure you gladly rode it once it was on.
- July 12, 2010 at 12:43 PM
- saber_saw25 said...
@ 12:43
I think you are missing the point, it should have never come to that point. It is not our jobs as riders of Metro to do the job we are paying money for other people to do. If the cooks at McDonalds make my hamburger wrong I don't run back there to make it myself.
- July 12, 2010 at 12:56 PM
- Unknown said...
I think this site should set up a REAL survey of how many escalators are broken in this system. WMATA came out with some BOGUS study that said 11 percent are not functioning. We all know that is complete and utter BS and it would be good to have a counter study to their nonsense.
- July 12, 2010 at 12:59 PM
- Lynette Ray said...
I was there. At the head of the line up the far right escalator, with a woman on crutches a few steps above me. What WERE they THINKING! How could they POSSIBLY turn the escalators off at rush hour - or at any time? Metro clearly has no mind to lose. Metro is begging for a metro rage incident - and I hope I am not a victim of whoever goes off his head!
- July 12, 2010 at 1:04 PM
- Ben Schumin said...
I actually received a response back from WMATA customer service today regarding one of the platform escalators, and I think it actually shines some light on what's going on with Dupont's chronic escalator issues:
Dear Mr. Schumin:
Thank you for contacting us regarding escalators at Dupont Circle station. We apologize for the delinquent response to your concern. We have been inundated with rail correspondence. We recommend contacting us via telephone when urgent information is shared or needed.
We regret the inconvenience of the escalator outages to you and other customers. We recognize that the performance of our escalators is a major source of frustration for our customers. Escalator performance has a high level of organizational attention, and we have allotted multiple resources to resolve our escalator concerns. The challenge Metro faces in maintaining these escalators is that the units at Dupont Circle were built by a British manufacturer that is no longer in existence. Unfortunately, due to this fact, it is very difficult to provide maintenance support and parts for these units. No matter the nature of the repair, Metro faces difficulty locating a repair company as well as a parts manufacturer for the units. To remedy the escalator problems at Dupont Circle, as budget constraints allow, the units are being scheduled for a complete renovation. We are working hard to have the escalators at Dupont repaired as quickly as possible, but the units cannot be turned on or returned to service until we deem them safe to operate.
At Metro, it is our intent to provide safe and reliable service to our customers and we recognize that accountability stretches across all levels of staff for the safety of customers and employees. Thank you for your patience and for sharing your comments with us.
[trim out bit about calling customer service]
Jeannie Greene-Barr
Rail Customer Service
Case # 563474
So in other words, don't expect the Dupont situation to get better any time soon, I'm afraid.
- July 12, 2010 at 1:16 PM
- Unknown said...
Also I think we need to really start going after the guy who is charge of the escalators throughout the whole metro system. He is an incompetent POS who refuses to talk to the press.
- July 12, 2010 at 1:16 PM
- Telecomedian said...
it probably would be faster to get off at Farragut and walk the streets. What a mess - never thought I'd be grateful to only have to fight the tourists at Smithsonian.
- July 12, 2010 at 1:23 PM
- Anonymous said...
When I was in South Africa, commuters became fed up with poor rail service.....so they burned down the train station in Pretoria (their capital city). We might do the same if our stations weren't made of concrete. (Maybe WMATA is smarter than I think)
- July 12, 2010 at 1:28 PM
- Anonymous said...
And once again you have the post an hour before the Washington Post (and the same video), yet they do not credit your site....
- July 12, 2010 at 1:36 PM
- Anonymous said...
@Ben Schumin:
I think they're recycling the same thing they've been using for years, because I remember reading the same excuse (British company out of business) about 10 years ago when there were major problems with the escalators.
Dupont's escalators have been problematic since I moved here a dozen years ago, so why isn't the complete renovation of them a higher priority for such a busy station with such long escalators? I think Metro is just providing their usual BS to cover the fact that they couldn't run a toy railroad competently.
- July 12, 2010 at 1:49 PM
- Kara said...
If a real survey were done it should be weighted by station use. To use WMATA's numbers 10% of escalators are down ... but it makes a big difference if that 10% are the busiest stations or ones relatively few people use.
For bonus points, weight even more if multiple escalators in the station are down.
- July 12, 2010 at 2:17 PM
- Anonymous said...
Are you ****ing serious, people?! WALK up the damned stairs. Yes, I know there's a lot of them. Do your part to fight to obesity epidemic. Don't just stand there like a bunch of fattened cattle waiting to be lifted onto the slaughter truck.
In Chicago most of the stations don't even HAVE escalators. So far as I know, no one has died from taking the stairs.
- July 12, 2010 at 3:15 PM
- DMC in DC said...
"with a woman on crutches a few steps above me."
People with injuries or disabilities, or the elderly will have problems going up the length of those stairs. This is the problem when escalators are turned off. I have had two knee surgeries, and while I can work the knees a little, going up those stairs is no easy process for me and I would have to take it extremely slow, thus delaying every single person behind me. :( That is likely what causes such a bottle neck.
Every time I see a metro escalator down and an old person with a cane struggling, or someone with a physical handicap... it makes me want to pound all those at Metro who make these asinine decisions.
- July 12, 2010 at 3:17 PM
- Anonymous said...
I was there. The station manager wouldn't let people up since he was trying to restart the escalators but couldn't while people were on it. Some people did start walking up one while he worked on another one. People kept walking down from street level on the one he was trying to s tart so that made it even a longer wait... there should have been someone at the street level and then the station manager wouldn't have had to yell.
- July 12, 2010 at 3:19 PM
- Anonymous said...
seriously 3:15? the last time this happened I watched a woman pass out and had to be carried up and shortly after a man had a heart attack at the top of the stairs. Several years ago, a man did die on those stairs and metro was sued. Why don't you go back to chicago you pig!
- July 12, 2010 at 3:21 PM
- DMC in DC said...
"So far as I know, no one has died from taking the stairs."
Did you even read the comment about the woman on crutches. Probably not, and after all, it is so much easier just to be callous and ignorant.
- July 12, 2010 at 3:24 PM
- Anonymous said...
Fatties need to porkify themselves up the stairs. Also WMATA should have its special-ed-manager waddle themselves on over to the station and give piggy back rides to the most enfeebled.
- July 12, 2010 at 3:25 PM
- Anonymous said...
The elderly, infirm, and unhealthy have had it too good for too long. Not only should they walk up the escalators, but they should do so carrying Anonymous 3:15's shoulder chip on their backs all the way up. If you can't walk up some of the longest escalators in the western hemisphere, you shouldn't use the metro at all.
- July 12, 2010 at 3:30 PM
- Unknown said...
@Anonymous 3:25, the issue is that people are going up and down the same escalator, and it becomes chaotic.
- July 12, 2010 at 3:31 PM
- Anonymous said...
Are any of the stairs in Chicago almost 200 feet long?
We're not talking 15 or 20 steps. These escalators are several stories high, with no landings. It's not reasonable to expect people to climb them.
- July 12, 2010 at 3:35 PM
- Anonymous said...
I was actually there this morning when this video would've been filmed (I saw the woman who was yelling when I was in the station). To make matters worse, the train operator for red line to SG closed the doors before people were off the train leaving my girlfriend and at least 8 other people in one of the cars at the back of the train. There was even a WMATA employee who got stuck on the train because he closed the doors early!
- July 12, 2010 at 3:35 PM
- Anonymous said...
I'm in pretty good shape, and I've walked up the length of these escalators while they're working. Let me tell you, you're more than a little winded when you get to the top.
- July 12, 2010 at 3:36 PM
- Kara said...
Now this afternoon it is Van Ness .... which has longer escalators than Dupont's south exit.
- July 12, 2010 at 3:58 PM
- Anonymous said...
I have walk up the Dupont Circle escalators every day for the last three years (I consider it a morning wake-up). I've walked up it many times when it's been broken, too. It is a haul. I do not recommend it for anyone who isn't in decent shape. The middle escalator in this video was closed off with several steps removed, as someone noted. The issue for me this morning was the lack of communication and the borderline-dangerous crowding of people as more trains came into the station, and, frankly, no way to get people out of the station if there had been an emergency.
To think we are in the nation's capitol without a way to get hundreds/thousands of people out of the metro system in case of fire or a terrorist attack is a freaking joke. I am considering taking a job in MD and this is a major factor in my decision-making process. Not to mention the fare hikes!
- July 12, 2010 at 5:25 PM
- Anonymous said...
Wow. That's quite a riot there. I'd fear for my life if I found myself among all those people standing and walking slowly and occasionally raising their voices a little.
- July 12, 2010 at 5:58 PM
- Anonymous said...
This is absurd. I once arrived from Union Station with a big suitcase to this same situation and I actually had to haul it up the stairs. Taking the train to another station and cabbing it was the only other option - and that would have required waiting 20 minutes or more for another train on a sunday night. Really, what a disgrace the Metro is.
- July 12, 2010 at 5:58 PM
- Anonymous said...
UNBELIEVABLE. I was there tonight. This video you see is after the Metro/police/fire put gates at the TOP AND BOTTOM of the middle escalator, BLOCKING THOSE OF US WHO WERE ON THE MIDDLE escalators and preventing us from going up or down or exiting.. we couldn't even move.
Literally it was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen. There was an absolute standstill on the middle stairs because we couldn't go down and we couldnt go up after the f*cking blocked us in. After 30 min on the middle escalators, when we finally got to the top, we had to jump over the handrails to get to the right staircase to get out of the metro station. This included all the elderly people, women in skirts and anyone with disabilities (but who could still take the stairs). Evenmore unbelievable, Firefighters and Police officers were just watching all of us STUCK on the middle staircase. At the top was a firefighter who was not even helping people jump over the railing onto the next staircase. I had to help a woman who was in a skirt and twice my size (I am a thin young woman) because she was too short and no one (Like the firefighters!!) were helping her jump over the damn railing.
AND this whole time, firegfighters and police were taking the left escalator down (as the left escalator was working.. going down. Seriously). It was UNBELIEVABLE.
Clearly if the Police/Firefighters and Metro can't get the riders out of an escalator jam, we are FUCKED for a real fire or Jesus forbid, a terrorist attack.
I want to reiterate that the middle escalator was broken and FILLED with people who were trying to walk up and exit and all of a sudden, the genius metro and emergency workers put up those big gates blocking at BOTH the top and bottom of our escalator so we could neither go up (to exit) or down (to get on the right escalator).
One guy even jumped to the left escalator, which again was working, going down, only with firefighters who were hanging out probably shooting the shit watching the rest of us stranded on the broken escalator, and he ran all the way up that thing (backwards) and beat the rest of us who were stranded on the middle escalator.
INCOMPETENT is how you spell Metro and the emergency crew who were there tonight.
- July 12, 2010 at 9:18 PM
- Unsuck DC Metro said...
are you talking about the afternoon fire? http://unsuckdcmetro.blogspot.com/2010/07/super-fun-happy-slide.html
- July 12, 2010 at 9:29 PM
- Anonymous said...
Yes! Sorry... I was so distracted by how many hard hats were just standing around doing nothing to help in the super slide video, that I posted on the wrong entry. My "I'm stuck on the escalator and I can't get off" rant is about the evening dupont metro escalator fire (I was there around 5:45 or so).
- July 12, 2010 at 9:40 PM
- Unsuck DC Metro said...
Mind sticking it up there?:)
- July 12, 2010 at 9:41 PM
- Anonymous said...
Yeah, I was the guy that jumped to the left escalator going down and ran up it. We complain how slow those escalators are, but wow. I was feeling that burn for a while. The whole thing was ridiculous. And those firefighters really were just shooting the shit at the top. It was kind of awkward when I popped out in the middle of them. ~Alex
- July 13, 2010 at 8:54 AM
- Scarlett said...
on Saturday - IN THE POURING RAIN WITH LUGGAGE total BS. UUUGGGHHHH
- July 13, 2010 at 11:08 AM
- Jason said...
I find it frustrating to see all the comments using language with "BS" "Stupid" and such directed at Metro and their ability to maintain the system. Yes, fine, if you can't handle the steps then be frustrated with the situation. But I lose any respect for many of the posters here with such immature behavior. I would be that no one on this post has any idea how Metro operates or the challenges of transporting 700,000 + users a day. It is a logistical nightmare only made worse by the budget crunch. Many people here could stand to grow up and behave like the professionals they present themselves to be. Very little of this criticism is constructive and is mostly just embarrassing to the poster.
As a side note, I just had knee surgery 16 weeks ago where 4 inches of bone was cut out and two screws added... I walked up the stairs and would do it again and again just to shut any of you up. If you think Metro is bad try some of the nations other rail systems.
- July 13, 2010 at 4:09 PM
- thanbo said...
They have trouble getting parts? Does the WMATA have a machine shop? Can they get the engineering drawings for the escalators? They should be able to *make* their own parts.
- July 14, 2010 at 12:19 AM
- Anonymous said...
Dupont has ALWAYS has issues with the Dupont escalators. That was when they had contractors maintaining them on a continuous effort. The problem in Dupont is the amount of traffic and wear an tear. So in an effort to save money they cancelled the contract with the contractors and decided to maintain them themselves when they couldn't handle the 10% they maintained in house before the contractor was let go. Stoopid move on their part.
- July 14, 2010 at 9:53 AM
- Anonymous said...
Unsuck DC Metro-
"Near Riot Conditions" is an irresponsible exaggeration. Careful there.
- July 14, 2010 at 6:48 PM
- Anonymous said...
To Jason: Dallas? Charlotte? LA? Minneapolis? Rail systems are MUCH nicer than DC's Metro. Let's not even bring up the ones over in Europe. Please spare us. You must be on Metro's payroll. Go away!
- July 22, 2010 at 4:31 PM


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The Internet keeps its promise in Egypt.
In the early days of the World Wide Web, HTML practitioners maintained the googly-eyed optimism of people who thought they were changing the world. Here was something finally, truly new, a civically electrifying form of communication that would obliterate time and space and the distance between people. Pouring over our Unix and HTML for Dummies texts, keystroking till the tips of our fingers bled, agonizing over maintaining our 2400 baud TCP connections and sharing strategies over regional bulletin board system, there was a brief shining moment of giddy joy in the very new and unironic enthusiasm for the very bold.
Then the retailers, marketers, and pornographers arrived. In the space of just a few months the Internet transformed from the electronic marketplace of new ideas and experiences into, well, just the same old marketplace of crud nobody really needed and ginormous byte and revenue streams of "adult entertainment." The vast wasteland had picked itself up from our living rooms and carried its oozing, all-flattening blahness over to our computer screens, crushing the electronic hopes of a new generation of cyberspace explorers.
In January in the Arab world, that early promise of revolution and real change that drove the first Internet generation of visionaries and technological wunderkids reasserted itself. It was not just that the protestors for human freedom, civil rights, economic justice, and the end of soul-crushing oligarchy in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, finally even Jordan and the Sudan used the latest social networking technologies to organize themselves and outmaneuver the entrenched authority in their respective societies. It was not just that they used the Internet to get their message out to the rest of the word and to inspire like-minded protests in other nations. It was also what they had already learned about freedom and the God-given right to self expression from the years they had already experienced "living" on the Internet because the alternative it offered was so much more life-affirming than they could anticipate in their real worlds of political oppression and economic futility.
The young people who took to the streets in Egypt and Tunisia and other repressive societies in the Middle East and North Africa were not demanding a freedom they could only imagine, they were demanding the freedom they had already experienced in their virtual lives, a freedom they wanted to translate into their actual daily lives. Because of their exposure to the cyberwolrd they had already learned what it looked and felt like to inhabit a world where opinions were welcome and thoughts could be freely expressed, a world that encouraged the limitless of imagination and the life-affirming energy of human freedom.
The Internet taught them that and it did even more. It empowered them with the information they needed to question and challenge authority in the nonvirtual societies. Wikileaks has endured white-hot criticism for its "irresponsibility" in releasing thousands of pages of U.S. classified documents and diplomatic cables that capture not only what U.S. officials really think about conditions and political characters around the world, but also reveal a little bit of the true history of the world in real time. The data dump orchestrated by Wikileaks, a quintessential modern media outlet that could only have been brought to life via the infrastructure, capability and spirit of the Internet, has been condemned as a threat to the lives of confidential sources all around the world and a threat to diplomacy as we know it.
So far, however, what it has mostly proved to be is a regime-shattering tool of information for long-suffering civil societies. Most people in Tunisia endured a begrudging awareness of the larcenous leadership of the Ben Ali regime, but something about seeing the depth of that larceny and civic indifference spelled out in a U.S. State Department cable was the electronic straw that broke the camel's back in Tunisia and propelled people into the streets.
No one knows where this new era of Internet-generated people power may ultimately lead. In chaos there is opportunity and danger; it's still quite possible that the energy for change and thirst for freedom on the streets of Tunis and Cairo today could be subverted and directed into forces that are deeply antithetical to human freedom and not least of all deeply hostile to the West. Revolutions have been coopted before; it has already happened to the Internet revolution.
But it is at least as likely that the Internet will continue to be a viaduct of energy and information that empowers and enlightens rather than degrades and distracts. It maintains its potential to be a force that makes real the spiritual connectiveness of all people. Maybe it will be a force strong enough to rouse the democratic impulses of the people in a nation which, though materially better off than many other states, maintains levels of income and resource inequity and percentages of poverty that rival anywhere in the developing world. If you're wondering what state I'm talking about, I encourage you to get on the Net and explore a little bit. See where it might take you.
This article appears in the April 2011 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 76, No. 4, page 39).
Image: AFP/Khaled Desouki


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October 12, 1946 - April 4, 2013
South Fallsburg, NY
Sheila Lynne Abbott, a former waitress and lifelong resident of the area, died Thursday, April 4, 2013 at her home in South Fallsburg, surrounded by her family. She was 66.
The daughter of the late Itha David Becker and Lorraine Anita Tyler Becker, she was born October 12, 1946 in Middletown, NY.
Sheila loved her small family and her capacity for love and generosity extended to her friends who she loved as well. She was extremely kind and generous and was always willing to share whatever she had with anyone who needed nurturing.
Sheila was loved by everyone who met her as she provided them with kindness and respect. Her love extended to her friends and her family's friends as well. She thought of all of her children's friends as her own and loved when her house was filled with happy people. Sheila was an excellent cook and loved to serve big comfortable meals where people could gather and share stories and play games of cards or board games.
Sheila loved nature and being outside with her hands in the dirt. Gardening flowers and vegetables was her favorite pastime and her ability to coax beauty and growth out of any plant was evident inside and outside of her home. She loved feeding and watching the birds around her home and was a parent to many pets. Sheila welcomed not only cats and dogs but also birds, fish, gerbils, hamsters, turtles, frogs and reptiles when her children brought them home.
Sheila loved music, of all styles, with a special place in her heart for the blues, female soul singers, Motown and classic rock. She enjoyed attending many concerts with her family and friends and had an extensive collection of music at home.
Sheila's love for her only grandchild was infinite and always told him and showed him he was loved and shared hugs and kisses over the phone when they could not be together. She never missed an opportunity to show others his picture and brag about him. The time they spent together is evident in his gentle and empathic nature.
She was generous with her love, wisdom, advice and affection and encouraged us all to share whatever good we had with others.
She is survived by her husband and companion: Edward R. Abbott, at home; a daughter: Faith Lynne Abbott-Bowden & her husband Roger of Wurtsboro; a son: Edward L. Abbott of the state of Florida; a grandson: Luke Bowden; a sister: Sheryl Lynne Kuhn of Blossburg, PA; and several nieces and nephews.
Family & friends are invited to gather on Sunday, April 7 from 2-5pm at the VanInwegen-Kenny Funeral Home, 401 Broadway in Monticello. Her funeral service will be held on Sunday afternoon at 5:00pm at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Hospice of Orange & Sullivan Counties, 800 Stony Brook Court, Newburgh, NY 12550.
Arrangements are under the direction of the VanInwegen-Kenny, Inc. Funeral Home of Monticello. For additional information or to send an online condolence, please visit www.kennyfuneralhome.com.


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Nick Jonas conquered the teen world as a member of pop ensemble the Jonas Brothers, and late last year he launched a solo career fronting Nick Jonas and The Administration. Still, the heartthrob seems to have even loftier ambitions, as he gets older.
The 17-year-old is thinking about landing another title in the future – Commander In Chief – thanks to his family nicknaming him "Mr. Prez."
"It was a joke at first," Nick told Parade magazine for their April 18 issue. "Then I thought, 'Man, it actually would be cool to run for President one day.' I've always been quite driven. I take after my father. He's a driven person. He's also a leader. He does a great job as a mentor to all of us."
For now, however, Nick is content to make big decisions with the help of his siblings – brothers Kevin and Joe.
"We make decisions together — even when we're doing things individually," he said. "Going into my first solo album, it's good to know that they were excited. There's been a good vibe from the get-go."
One thing the gents have decided collectively not to do is talk about their famed purity rings.
"We like to keep some things private," he said. "We appreciate it when people respect that. Everyone has a right to his own business."
Nick will talk though about his aspirations for his new music.
"I hope my peers in music and my friends are liking it," he said. "I hope they can see my growth in music. It's a dream of mine to win a Grammy one day.
"I'm not saying I'm Grammy-worthy," he continued. "But it would be a dream come true."
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U.S. Representatives Tom Petri (R-WI) and Mike Michaud (D-ME) released a "Dear Colleague" letter asking members of the House of Representatives to sign a letter to the leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in support of the Recreational Trails Program (RTP). The RTP is a Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)-administered program. It was first created in the 1991 transportation bill (ISTEA) and operated through state trail programs with the active involvement of diverse trail interests through mandated state trail advisory councils. The program is self-funded through taxes from fuel used in off-highway recreational vehicles.
Petri and Michaud have placed an April 14th deadline to collect signatures. Therefore, time is of the essence and the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is encouraging all AMA members, motorized recreation enthusiasts and rights activists to contact their Representative and ask them to sign on to the letter.
Since the deadline is this Thursday, April 14th, the fastest way to reach your Member of Congress is to call them. You can find contact information for your Representatives on AmericanMotorcyclist.com, click on "Rights," then "Issues & Legislation," and enter your zip code in the "Find your Officials" box. Additionally, a prewritten e-mail is available for you to send to your U.S. Representatives by following the "Take Action" option and entering your information.
All AMA members and anyone else who enjoys recreating on public trail systems are urged to contact their Representatives and ask them to sign on to the Petri/Michaud letter addressed to the leadership of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee in support of the RTP.


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Published On : Jun 20, 2011
Image Copyright : Lotus
Lotus Elan Concept 2010
Lotus Elan Concept 2010, a high performance sports car, is the beating heart of the new Lotus line-up. Elan will sprint from 0-100km/h in 3.5 seconds, have top speed of 310 km/h, have power upto 450 PS with torque of 465Nm. With performance specs like that, there's a little double that Elan is supercar. Elan is expected to go to production in summer of 2013 and will be available for purchase in fall of 2013 with pricing starting at £75,000.


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Rust: The most feared word in the restoration hobby. Most of us are somewhat mechanical and could probably rebuild an engine or at least swap in a crate engine. But when it comes time to replace the rusted-out floorboards or patch up a fender, few of us have the necessary skills and/or equipment to complete the repair. Luckily, if the rust isn't too bad, there's a non-welding solution that anyone can handle.
RestoMotive Laboratories has developed products to help the do-it-yourselfer combat minor rust-out and prevent any further rust from occurring. When it came time to repair a water leak in the rear glass area of a '70 Monte Carlo (an area notorious for rust), we ordered a POR-15 starter kit and some putty. We completed the repair in three days, which might seem like a long time, but we wanted to make sure the products had enough time to dry between steps.
We started our repair by removing the stainless window trim moldings using the required tool. This tool is a must for this job and is available at most auto part stores for a few bucks.
Here's what we found: Dirt and debris that gets trapped in the channel between the glass and header panel holds moisture that eventually rusts out the metal. You'd have a hard time finding an early A-body that didn't have some rust in this area.
Once we had the glass removed, we used a wire brush and a flat-bladed screwdriver to scrape the loose rust away. We also trimmed the vinyl top back because although we are not ready to replace it now, we didn't want the window seal to overlap it when the glass was reinstalled.
Our rust was not very bad, just a few holes that were smaller than a quarter-inch, so we should have no problem using the POR-15 starter kit and putty. It came with everything we needed to repair the small rust holes with the exception of sandpaper and steel wool pads.
We cleaned the channel with the Marine Clean degreaser/cleaner and a synthetic steel wool pad and wiped it clean with a rag.
We then applied the Metal Ready with one of the supplied brushes to the bare metal and rusted areas and let it sit for approximately 20 minutes making sure that it stayed damp. The Metal Ready will neutralize the rust and etch the metal for better paint adhesion. A water-dampened rag, followed by a clean dry rag, was then used to neutralize the Metal Ready and get the channel ready for paint.
The rusted areas were then painted with the POR-15 paint. Notice that we were repairing minimal rust holes. If you have substantial rust, you might be able to repair it with their Floor Pan and Trunk Resto Kit which includes some fiberglass sheets to cover larger holes.
We allowed the paint to dry overnight and then prepared the putty to fill the holes by cutting off two equal amounts and then thoroughly kneading them together. It's very important that the putty is mixed completely-we added a little bit of water to make it easier.
With the putty sanded smooth, we sanded the entire window channel and painted it all with a coat of the POR-15 paint to make sure that our repair would last. Once the paint dried, the repaired areas were almost undetectable and should last another 30 years.
Once the putty is mixed, it stays workable for about an hour, more than enough time to complete the repair. We simply used our fingers to push the putty into the channel paying particular attention to the areas where the rust holes where.
We let the putty sit overnight to ensure that it had dried thoroughly and then sanded it with some 80-grit sandpaper, followed by some 220-grit. Once we started sanding, the importance of smoothing out the putty while it's still pliable became very apparent. This part is tough.


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Owner of Aesthetic Skin Studio and Cidesco Diplomat, Zenith Nanavati, is featured as Fox 13's Good Day Tampa Bay's "Hometown Hero".
Read more →
3112 W Kennedy Blvd, Ste B
Tampa FL, 33609
I just began my process with Aesthetic Skin Studio and I can already see a significant difference in my skin! I've spent thousands on products and procedures in the past and had I known a few visits would make this much of a change, I would have come to Zenith from the start. - Lisa, Tampa
I have seen Zenith about seven or eight times now and I am really seeing results. The sun damage and wrinkles that were there are disappearing. She has new technology, including LED lights and oxygen infusion treatments, which is what is making the treatment become more long term and lasting. What impressed me so much was how knowledgeable and well trained Zenith is. I was surprised by the length of treatment because it was two hours instead of typical 30-45 minute facial. She is very intelligent and personable and I would recommend her to anyone.
~ Julie Moore


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by Deborah Atherton
Today is Black Friday in America, and as you can see, I am not out shopping. The truth is, I can hardly stand shopping any more, except for a few places where I know it will be quiet—and I am not sure there are any quiet places left to shop on Black Friday, which has become so frenzied in recent years it is on the verge of overtaking Thanksgiving as a national holiday.
In past years I have posted about not getting too frantic or depressed over the holidays, and not letting the memories of the past—or the ideal American holiday as presented by Hallmark—take over our minds and creative energy too entirely. (And for our readers who live in somewhat less holiday-and-sales-consumed countries, you have probably seen pictures of how crazy and sometimes violent our stores get today—and they aren't kidding.) But this year, maybe because the holiday responsibilities were taken over by other, generous relatives, I am in a more relaxed frame of mind. I really enjoyed little jaunt through Manhattan to Thanksgiving dinner, seeing the streets completely abandoned, and thinking about how compelling the holiday is for us—how everyone finds or invents a place to go and be, with family or friends, and how this one day a year extraordinary efforts are made to see that no one is alone and hungry. The television is filled with images of volunteers at homeless shelters and soup kitchens. And then today, we jump back into our consumer culture with abandon, except for those of us, of course, who seize it as an actual day off, and if not too exhausted from Thanksgiving festivities, retreat into our attics or basements or studios or closets.
One thing the holidays give us is a unique window to the future and the past—our memories of holidays tend to be sharp, as they are each different, and tend to stick in our minds as markers of a certain time of our lives. We have our memories as children—many of us have our first memories from holidays—and then from each year of our adolescence and adulthood. Perhaps we have our own children, and then begin to mark the years through their quick attainment of adulthood. And we might remember what year Macy's added a new balloon to the Thanksgiving Day Parade, or a movie came out that we enjoyed or hated, or the day we finally made it to Rockefeller Center to see the tree. These can be gateway memories, that provide us with guides to our own lives and the procession of our creative ideas—our internal time machines, a handy tool for any writer or artist.
What hit me most strongly yesterday, though, as I was watching the Thanksgiving Parade on TV, was how quaint it was all going to seem in 100 years. As the announcers were extolling the virtues of the sponsors of each balloon or float, I realized that although some of the characters would survive (I would put money on Mickey Mouse still being a household name in the next century, although I am unlikely to be here to collect) the products would not. In some ways the parade I was watching was very different than the one my father and grandmother saw earlier in the 20th century. And one of my esteemed relatives brought this up during the football game later in the day—"most of these products weren't around to be advertised fifty years ago."
So we are fortunate that our memories give us a time machine to a past that seems immediate and not quaint, that is in color and not in black and white, and that those memories are often sharpened and deepened by the holidays. If we have a moment to pause and reflect (before or after shopping and eating) they might offer us a little creative energy to fly—or at least float in a dignified manner—all the way into the New Year.
Photo of the Mickey Mouse Balloon from Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, 1934. Courtesy of Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Follow me on Twitter @DatherToo.


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Survival was the fourth and final serial of season 26 of Doctor Who.
As the final broadcast story of the series' classic era, following the airing of its last episode, the series would enter a period of wilderness years devoid of new televised adventures until an attempt was made to revive it in 1996. As a TV show, Doctor Who would not see any regular airings for 16 years. While the show was officially discontinued, there were attempts to revive it and the BBC officially classified the wilderness years as a hiatus during and after its occurrence. The next story in the show to be part of a regularly airing programme would be Rose, broadcast in 2005.
It marks the final appearance of Sophie Aldred as Ace in a regular television serial; although she would reappear for the special 1993 Children in Need special Dimensions in Time. It was also the last time that Anthony Ainley appeared as the Master in a regular televised story; he appeared one more time in the video game Destiny of the Doctors. Ainley's final portrayal of the Master in the original series is considerably different — subtle and darker than the often bombastic and forceful impression he had been told to deliver since Logopolis; Ainley had always intended to portray the Master with this calmer characterisation.
Lisa Bowerman would ironically make her debut in Doctor Who during its final classic episode, as Karra. However, she would later become more widely recognisable for her portrayal as Bernice Summerfield, a character introduced in and adapted from the Virgin New Adventures novels which continued the series and the adventures of the Seventh Doctor in printed format.
Despite making his final full appearance in Survival, Sylvester McCoy would return as the Doctor in the 1996 television film, marking his final outing as the Doctor both chronologically and from a production standpoint. Since the film focused mainly on his immediate successor, McCoy was brought in to mark his own departure, with the Seventh Doctor regenerating into the Eighth shortly into the film.
Additionally, Survival is the last televised adventure to feature Tom Yardley-Jones's TARDIS prop commissioned by John Nathan-Turner, which debuted in The Leisure Hive and remained in use for the whole of his time as producer. It saw one more brief use in the Search Out Space special.
The final story to be recorded on analogue tape, it was also the final story to be broadcast from a videotape master.
Synopsis Edit
The Doctor brings Ace back to her hometown of Perivale. Her old friends are being kidnapped by a race of alien hunters called the Cheetah People, who were shown the way to Earth by the Doctor's old enemy the Master.
Plot Edit
Part one Edit
The Seventh Doctor brings Ace back to her hometown of Perivale in the suburbs of North West London. A mysterious black cat is wandering around and humans are hunted down and made to disappear to another world. Ace grows worried; most of her old friends seem to have disappeared, but the Doctor is preoccupied with the behaviour of the strange cat. It becomes apparent it is controlled by a strange being in the other world, viewing Perivale through its eyes and choosing which humans to chase and transport. An unhappy young man, Stuart, is his next victim. Ace follows soon afterwards, hunted down by a Cheetah Person on horseback, with a hunting affinity with the curious cat. The Doctor and a keep-fit instructor called Paterson are chosen and teleported to another world, bathed in a blood-red sky, where the Doctor finds his nemesis the Master greeting him.
Part two Edit
The Master is evidently unwell. His eyes and mouth show feline characteristics and he uses the black cat, a kitling, to create a dimensional bridge for the Cheetah People to hunt prey on Earth. His reasons are unclear; he seems keen to keep the Cheetah People occupied. He tells the Doctor the planet is alive and has a bewitching influence. The indigenes bred the kitlings and had a great civilisation, then regressed into animals. The Master is beginning to show changes and needs the Doctor's help to escape.
Ace has seen some of her friends, Shreela and Midge, hiding in woods with a young man called Derek. The planet is clearly dangerous. Ace and her friends find the Doctor and Paterson. The Time Lord deduces they are on an ancient, dying planet. A Cheetah Person hunts and kills a terrified milkman, prompting a Cheetah pack to attack the Doctor, Ace and friends. During the fight, Midge kills one Cheetah person and Ace injures another, called Karra. Ace forms an attachment to Karra and tends her injuries. Karra is intrigued by Captain Sorin's shiny cap insignia which Ace has on her jacket, (TV: The Curse of Fenric) and gently paws at it. This worries the Doctor. He says that the only way they can return to Earth is if one of them turns into a Cheetah and then brings his prey home. That happens with Midge and the Master uses him to return to Earth. Karra appears again and Ace's eyes change and she begins to transform into a Cheetah herself.
Part three Edit
Ace abandons the Doctor to go hunting with Karra but he eventually wins her around. Midge has fallen to the power of the planet and is turning into a beast. The Master seizes on this and has Midge teleport back to Earth, away from the dying world. He possesses Midge and goes with him to the youth club, using his hypnotic powers to enslave Paterson's students. The Doctor persuades Ace to help him return to Perivale, also letting Paterson, Derek and Shreela flee the planet. Paterson insists nothing is amiss, falling back on his "survival of the fittest" mantras and self-defence classes. The Doctor and Ace roam Perivale in search of Midge and the Master. They find them at the youth club. They have killed Paterson for sport; Midge, too, is killed in the Master's machinations. Karra's arrival brings comfort to Ace, whose transformation continues, but the Master kills Karra too. As she dies, she transforms into a human woman, her metamorphosis having been reversed by death. With her final breath, Karra praises the hunt before another Cheetah Person teleports her dead body away.
Meanwhile, the Doctor catches up to the Master and finds him trying to pick the lock to the TARDIS. The Master gloats that he is capable of controlling the raw power given to him by the planet and declares that he will use it to destroy the Doctor, before grabbing him and taking him back to the Cheetah Planet for a final confrontation. In the ensuing struggle, the Master starts out having the upper hand, but the Doctor, drawing from the planet's power, manages to turn the tables on him, and soon has him at his mercy, and raises a skull to bash him with. But in a moment of clarity, the Doctor realises what he is doing is wrong and manages to resist the planet's pull, turning away from violence. The Master demands that they finish their fight, but the Doctor tries to convince him to let go of the violence too, pointing out that they will destroy both the planet and themselves if they keep fighting. The Master, however, rejects this and, grabbing the Doctor in a stranglehold, he spitefully tells him that he should have killed him while he had the chance. The Doctor screams out "If we fight like animals, we'll die like animals!", as the Master raises a club over his head to hit him with. But before the Master can strike him, the Doctor is teleported away. The Master is left for dead as the planet begins to break up.
The Doctor has gone back to the TARDIS and Earth, where he finds Ace. Her metamorphosis has reversed. He tells her she will have grown through the experience; the element of the Cheetah Planet, however, will remain within her forever. Ace is glad; it gave her a wonderful feeling. She then asks what happened to the Master. "Who knows?" answers the Doctor with a hint of sadness, before he asks Ace where they should go to now. "Home," answers Ace with a smile, "The TARDIS." The two walk off into the distance arm in arm, as the Doctor talks of adventures that await. As they walk, the Seventh Doctor ponders "There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, the seas sleep, and the rivers dream; people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere, there's danger; somewhere, there's injustice; and somewhere else, the tea's getting cold!" Knowing his place in the world, the Doctor assures Ace "We've got work to do."
Cast Edit
- The Doctor - Sylvester McCoy
- Ace - Sophie Aldred
- The Master - Anthony Ainley
- Paterson - Julian Holloway
- Karra - Lisa Bowerman
- Harvey - Norman Pace
- Len - Gareth Hale
- Midge - William Barton
- Shreela - Sakuntala Ramanee
- Derek - David John
- Stuart - Sean Oliver
- Ange - Kate Eaton
- Woman - Kathleen Bidmead
- Squeak - Adele Silva
- Neighbour - Michelle Martin
Uncredited cast Edit
- Dave - Damon Jeffrey (DWMS Summer 1994)
- Milkman - Jack Talbot (DWMS Summer 1994)
- Woman at telephone - Jean Channon (DWMS Summer 1994)
- Cheetah People - Leslie Meadows, Damon Jeffrey (DWMS Summer 1994)
Crew Edit
- Assistant Floor Managers - Stephen Garwood, Leigh Poole
- Costume Designer - Ken Trew
- Designer - Nick Somerville
- Engineering Manager - Brian Jones
- Graphic Designer - Oliver Elmes
- Incidental Music - Dominic Glynn
- O.B. Lighting - Ian Dow
- Make-Up Designer - Joan Stribling
- OB Cameramen - Paul Harding, Alan Jessop
- Production Assistant - Valerie Whiston
- Production Associate - June Collins
- Production Manager - Gary Downie
- Properties Buyer - Nick Barnett
- Script Editor - Andrew Cartmel
- Sound - Les Mowbray, Scott Talbott
- Special Sounds - Dick Mills
- Stunt Arranger - Paul Heasman, Tip Tipping
- Theme Arrangement - Keff McCulloch
- Title Music - Ron Grainer
- Video Effects - Dave Chapman
- Videotape Editor - Hugh Parson
- Vision Mixer - Susan Brincat
- Visual Effects Designer - Malcolm James
References Edit
- The Doctor exhibits the ability to juggle and ride a horse and motorcycle. He also has a calculator/scanner fob watch and regards Earth and/or the TARDIS as his home.
- The Doctor has heard of the Cheetah People, but knows nothing about them.
- The Doctor buys (with Ace's money) cat food to tempt the kitlings.
- Derek wears a David Bowie t-shirt.
- Ace gets the money (as mentioned above) by breaking into a fruit machine.
- Ace learns from Ange that their mutual friend Flo married a "brain-dead plumber" whom they had nicknamed "Darth Vader".
- Ace had friends named Jay and Stevie.
- The Doctor looks at a poster for Cats.
Story notes Edit
- Working titles for this story included Cat-Flap, Blood Hunt and The Survival.
- Survival was one of only three Doctor Who serials to be recorded completely on BBC Outside Broadcast video, instead of the mix of on-location and studio video that was more usual since 1964's The Reign of Terror, and/or the mix of film and video that was utilised from the aforementioned serial to 1985's Revelation of the Daleks. This was probably possible because Ghost Light, the next story in production, was filmed completely in the studio. The only other stories filmed on OB video were The Sontaran Experiment and The Curse of Fenric.
- Furthermore, this story was one of the only five to be filmed entirely on location, the others being Spearhead from Space, The Sontaran Experiment, The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, and The Curse of Fenric.
- The first part of this serial features guest appearances by comedians Gareth Hale and Norman Pace, collectively known as "Hale and Pace" and actress Adele Silva (as an eight-year-old, in her first television role). Hale and Pace swapped roles soon before recording; Hale was originally going to have played Harvey, while Pace was originally going to have played Len.
- Stunt legend Eddie Kidd doubles for William Barton in a motorcycle crash scene in part three. This led to the series' regular stunt arranger Tip Tipping walking off the production, as Kidd was apparently not a member of the actors' union Equity. Doctor Who was not, however, in violation of union regulations; Margaret Thatcher's government had abolished the requirement of performers to be Equity members earlier in 1988.
- The Radio Times programme listing for part one was accompanied by a black and white full-length cartoon illustration by Christian Adams depicting the Doctor and Ace with seven different ray-gun muzzles pointed at them, along with a single tentacle, with the accompanying caption "All-round trouble: the Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) find that nostalgia ain't what it used to be / Doctor Who, 7.35 p.m. BBC1".
- This was the last story until 2012 to feature the face of the current Doctor in the title sequence, a tradition dating back to The Macra Terror in 1967. The TV Movie that followed this and the first six and a half series of the 2005 revival had title sequences featuring a "time tunnel" effect with the TARDIS, but without the Doctor's face. The TV movie did include an extreme close-up of the Master's cat's eyes in the opening sequence, harkening back to this story. The Doctor's face would not be seen in the title sequence again until The Snowmen, approximately 23 years later. Survival is also the last Doctor Who story in which the lead actors are not credited at the opening, a practice used in the TV movie (in accordance with American production standards) and later in the 2005 revival.
- The tradition of crediting the lead role as "The Doctor" did not immediately follow into the revived series, nor was there any such credit in the TV movie. The first series of the revived series credited the lead as "Doctor Who", though the credit reverted to "The Doctor" at the request of David Tennant in TV: The Christmas Invasion, and has continued as of 2020.
Cancellation Edit
Having surmised that part three of Survival was likely to be the last episode of Doctor Who for some time and possibly the last ever, producer John Nathan-Turner decided close to airing that a more suitable conclusion should be given to the final episode. Script editor Andrew Cartmel wrote a short, melancholic closing monologue for the Doctor, which Sylvester McCoy recorded on 23 November 1989 — by coincidence, the show's twenty-sixth anniversary.
"There are worlds out there where the sky is burning, where the sea's asleep and the rivers dream, people made of smoke and cities made of song. Somewhere there's danger, somewhere there's injustice, and somewhere else the tea's getting cold! Come on, Ace — we've got work to do!"
The quote above was dubbed over the closing scene as the Doctor and Ace walked off into the distance, heading for further, unseen adventures. The Doctor Who production office at the BBC finally closed down, for the first time since 1963, in August 1990.
Although Survival was the last Doctor Who serial of the original series to be transmitted, it was not the last to be produced; that was Ghost Light, which had been broadcast some weeks earlier.
This story is the last to feature Anthony Ainley as the Master. He was not asked to return as the Master for the 1996 Doctor Who television movie. Instead, Gordon Tipple was cast as the Master for the prologue, and Eric Roberts played the Master (possessing another character's body, a-la Ainley) for the rest of the film. Ainley reprised the role of the Master for the 1997 computer game Destiny of the Doctors, which marked his final appearance as the character until his death. He continued to be active in Doctor Who, attending conventions and recording a commentary track for the DVD release of the 1981 serial The Keeper of Traken. Ainley died on 3 May 2004 after a lengthy period of ill-health, aged seventy-one. A sound-clip of his laugh was later used alongside excerpts of Roger Delgado's performance in The Dæmons for the 2007 episode Utopia.
This story was also the last to entirely feature Sylvester McCoy as the Doctor. McCoy returned briefly to the role in 1996 at the start of the American television movie continuation of the series, Doctor Who, to regenerate into the Eighth Doctor.
Finally, this story was the last to feature Sophie Aldred as Ace. Aldred would have continued in her role had the series been renewed for Season 27; however, her contract was set to expire at the middle part of that season. The character of Ace was set to be written out of the series in an Ice Warrior story called Ice Time by Marc Platt, with her character joining the Prydonian Academy on Gallifrey to become a human Time Lord. According to interviews with the production team, the new companion would have been a female safecracker named Raine Cunningham, whom the Doctor would have taken under his wing, with her gangster father as a recurring character.
Doctor Who eventually returned to production as a BBC television series in 2004, produced by BBC Wales. Rose, the first episode of the new series, aired on 26 March 2005. As the new series is produced as 45-minute episodes, this makes Survival the final serial in the series proper to date to be produced in 25-minute instalments, which had been the standard for the series since 1963 (except for a one-season experiment with forty-five-minute episodes in 1985). A spinoff series, The Sarah Jane Adventures, which debuted in 2007, returned to the 25-minute, serialised episode format.
Ratings Edit
- Part one - 5.0 million viewers
- Part two - 4.8 million viewers
- Part three - 5.0 million viewers
Filming locations Edit
- The battle at the climax of the story was recorded and is set on the site of the ancient hill fort at Horsenden Hill, Perivale. The majority of location recording was done in and around Perivale, with small sections shot at nearby Ealing, outside and near The Drayton Court pub.
- Medway Drive, Perivale, London
- Medway Parade, Perivale, London
- Medway Estate, Perivale, London
- Bleasdale Avenue, Perivale, London
- Colwyn Avenue, Perivale, London
- Alley (between Colwyn Avenue and Woodhouse Avenue), Perivale, London
- Horsenden Hill, Horsenden Lane North, Perivale, Middlesex
- The Avenue, West Ealing, London
- Ealing Central Sports Ground, Horsenden Lane South, Perivale, London
- Woodhouse Avenue, Perivale, London
- EYJ Martial Arts Centre (now known as David Lloyd Centre (creche)), Greenford, Middlesex
- Warmwell Quarry, Warmwell, Dorset
Production errors Edit
- The production team's efforts to use an early audio-animatronic cat was unconvincing; there is an extremely obvious variance between shots that use a real black cat and ones that use the 'robot double'.
- In part two (on the VHS release), there is an obvious Power of Kroll-esque juddering between the special effects alien pink sky of the planet and the quarry location, which occurs in the long shot as the Doctor and Paterson ride away from the Cheetah camp prior to the characters' conversation regarding "worm stew". (This has been digitally stabilised for the DVD release.)
Continuity Edit
- The gap between Survival and the Doctor Who television movie was filled by British publisher Virgin Publishing, who from 1991 onwards produced the Virgin New Adventures range of novels, carrying on the adventures of the Doctor and Ace following the end of Survival.
- The Master rids himself of the Cheetah virus and gains a new body in PROSE: First Frontier; a Kitling also appears in that story.
- However, at the start of the 1996 TV movie, the Master is shown still sporting cat's eyes (and apparently in the same body). Yet because these yellow eyes are only explicitly seen when the Master possesses Bruce's body, they may just serve as a visual indication of the latter's possession (while also harking back to Survival).
- The Doctor also meets cat-like aliens in PROSE: Invasion of the Cat-People, TV: New Earth and Gridlock.
- Shreela Govindia (one of Ace's friends) appears in PROSE: Cat's Cradle: Warhead.
- There is a (very brief) explanation of the mattress the Doctor lands on (and how it got there) in COMIC: Emperor of the Daleks!.
- Ace previously met the Master during his previous incarnation in an alternative timeline. However, they both lost all memory of these events after the proper timeline was restored. (AUDIO: The Light at the End)
DVD, video, and audio releases Edit
DVD releases Edit
- This story was released as Doctor Who: Survival (2 discs).
- It was released:
- Contents:
- Commentary by Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred and Andrew Cartmel
- Fan Commentary by the winners of a recent Doctor Who Magazine competition (Part 3 only).
- Cat-Flap - A two-part documentary covering the making of Survival.
- Out-takes
- Continuities
- Photo Gallery
- Isolated Score
- Radio Times Listings
- Subtitle Production Notes
- Endgame - A documentary delving into why Doctor Who was cancelled at the end of Season 26 and what might have been in store for the Doctor and Ace if the series had continued into Season 27.
- Search Out Science - A schools programme featuring the Doctor and Ace, with Stephen Johnson and K9.
- Little Girl Lost - A retrospective look at the development of Sophie Aldred's character, Ace.
- Destiny of the Doctors - Anthony Ainley's last appearance as the Master, in these links from the 1997 computer game.
- Notes:
- Restoration and remastering for the DVD release (including an optional Dolby Digital 5.1 mix) was completed by the Doctor Who Restoration Team.
VHS releases Edit
- This story was released as Doctor Who: Survival.
- UK Release: October 1995 / US Release: September 1996
- PAL - BBC Video BBCV5687
- NTSC - Warner Video E1335
- UK Release: October 1995 / US Release: September 1996
External links Edit
- Survival at the BBC's official site
- Survival at RadioTimes
- Survival at the Doctor Who Reference Guide
- A Brief History of Time (Travel): Survival
- The Locations Guide to Doctor Who - Survival


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Since the mid sixties the United States has had its own share of government officials and other criminals who have successfully rubbed our noses in diversity. There's no reason to suspect it has all been something akin to happen stance, or some kind of nebulous cultural shift. Based on a little research and multiple news reports I can only conclude Washington DC has not merely "failed" to control immigration effectively. I say their plot is to deliberately with malice aforethought maintain mass migration from the Third World in order to behead European American identity its culture and people; to replace white America with something else for the sake of political expediency.
Higher taxes to supplement a burgeoning Third World welfare class, the funding of all kinds of non-white pressure groups, mostly Mexican, civil rights tribunals, protected status based on race, political correctness buttressed by harsh legal penalties–all of these and more have been rammed down the throats of European Americans with impunity.
Indeed the drastic social political and demographic upheavals we've seen over the course of so many years has been executed on purpose and the proof is everywhere–such as the recent mass demonstrations taking place this weekend by tens of millions of illegal (AND legal) mestizos, 1 May 2010.
Therefore we can only wish Arizona's tepid little immigration law was explicitly written to target ALL Mexicans and others like them in terms of race. Why? Well who else has been video taped jumping the fence and swimming the Rio Grande from Mexico into the US? Who else is smuggling drugs and humans across the Mexican border? Who else is draining the welfare sysytem, the legal system, the healthcare system and so forth in greater numbers on a percentage basis than anyone else? And if legal swarthy looking immigrants happen to be stopped, who cares? No harm no foul. Fix your own damn country of origin, whose flag is affixed on your car or living room wall, whose language you speak fluently or not at all, if you don't like being profiled.
While the AZ law gently insists the police are not to target anyone just because they are brown-skinned, that they can only be stopped if they are suspected of another crime or infraction the fact remains that it ought to be explicitly racial — simply because thats who's here illegally in greater numbers than legal ones. Its not rocket science.
If Ireland was located where Mexico is located, who should the police be looking for? If Norway was located where Mexico is located, who the hell do you think the police ought to be looking for? In fact, who are authorities looking for in the so-called war on terror, Norwegians or Irishmen? No, they're looking for swarthy, black-eyed Middle Eastern Semites who hate our guts and want to kill us. Of course, Johnny Law won't come right out and say so because he's scared to death of being targeted as "racist" by a number of groups his own taxes support: anti-white / non-white Semitic pressure groups who hold court in Washington DC, just like the Mexicans.
As far as liberals and open border bedwetters are concerned: they want all Third World parasites to break the laws of Arizona and the United States because that's what drives them in their ideological quest to ultimately overwhelm and marginalize European Americans, the descendants of the founding race of this nation. Simple as that. They've said as much in countless hate-filled screeds and presentations.
Thankfully however, the stipulation that police are not supposed to racially profile anyone is a moot point. The cops aren't stupid. They know who the target demographic "just happens" to be. Trust me, they won't be looking for Europeans, (or Orientals and Africans) of any stripe. It is therefore my hope the police and other immigration enforcement agents who are on the ground will cover their tracks sufficiently as they explictly, deliberately and purposely target Mexicans and other swarthy skinned invaders from the southern hemisphere. That's what makes sense and that's what works.


text:
If you're in the mood for a populist message about the value of hard work and loyalty featuring three unsympathetic characters, have we got a movie for you.
A generation ago there lived in this country
people men who started in the mail room or some such hellhole and toiled their way to a corner office, stock options and 401(k)s and never dreamed of moving to another employer. But somewhere along the way things changed and companies realized that they were paying lots of inflated salaries to older men whose skill set lagged behind the times. "The Company Men" is their story.
It's difficult to tell just how badly we're supposed to feel for a guy who has to sell his Porsche, cancel his golf club membership and unload his house with the underwater mortgage. Maybe it would've been easier to root for Bobby Walker (Ben Affleck) if he'd stopped being a jerk about 45 minutes earlier. Instead, by the time he goes hat in hand to get a job, you're just relieved he's got something to do other than whine.
It's somehow fitting that hanging in Bobby's home office is a Nomar Garciaparra jersey, a relic from another 30-something Bostonian who had an out-sized opinion of his own worth. You might think it was intentional, but the shirt hangs next to a New Jersey Devils jersey, which makes zero sense for Bobby's character. Maybe it's an inside joke, but it's insanely incongruous.
When Bobby does finally get to work, doing menial labor far below his image of himself, we are treated to the strains of the Marshall Tucker Band's classic "Can't You See," in which the singer considers jumping off a cliff, hiding in a hole or running away because of "what that woman, she been doin'" to him. What woman did anything bad to Bobby?
Most of the struggles Bobby suffers are exactly what happens to a guy who tells his wife, "We don't need a cushion." It's amusing, too, that when Bobby's old Boss, Gene McLary (Tommy Lee Jones) finally gets himself a fresh start, part of his plan is to "renegotiate with the unions." Um, isn't this the sort of greedy management crap that's already left so many homeless and hungry? But now it's a tool for rebirth and redemption?
Listening to Phil Woodward, Bobby's and Gene's fellow redundancy talk about how he used to hang upside-down from a mile up to weld the inside of who-knows-what, one can't help but think, "Right, and you were paid for that 30 years ago."
The irony is that the sense of entitlement our heroes suffer is not that far removed from the sense of entitlement that drove their boss to lay them all off. In the end, their fates play out as though director-writer John Wells played F/M/K halfway through crafting his story.
"The Company Men" wants us see a way out of the economic mess and back to being a proud nation that builds things, which is all well and good, but there is no way Bobby, Gene, and Phil are gonna show us the way.


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Most of my friends know that I do not revel in trying new Microsoft products and in fact avoid most of them when I can. I don't find them pleasant to work with for the things I like to do and I tend to work with them only grudgingly. True, I have written and published papers (even through Microsoft!) on Linux-Windows interoperability. True I used to work for Microsoft. But to me their products are relatively irrelevant. Additionally I tend to shy away from politics on this blog because technical issues and politics require different sorts of discourse.
Yet last week a controversy erupted that shows the limits of these limitations. Microsoft released an ad that was widely attacked for suggesting that Microsoft products are good for planning weddings. As much as it pains me, I find myself having to defend the software giant here.
Sometimes technology is political, and sometimes it is important to stand up for another side of the issue than makes the press.
This is a contribution to what I hope will be a general industry-wide (and better-yet society-wide) conversation on gender and the economy, particularly in the technology fields. All of what you find here is my own opinion and although I am male I grew up around the issue as you will see. I don't expect that I speak for many. The views here are contrarian and may be controversial (probably should be, since controversy may inspire thought).
The Ad
I decided not to directly link to the attacks on the ad first, figuring that those who have not seen it may want to see it with fresh eyes rather than after reading the attacks. The ad is currently found on Youtube and so I linked there. I searched on Microsoft's site and couldn't find it. I don't know if they removed it due to the controversy.
The ad portrays a young woman who talks about why she picked a Windows all in one tablet over a mac, and the reasons had to do with the way in which the tablet made her social life easier while planning her wedding. Perfectly good and valid reasons for choosing one product over another. In no way is anyone portrayed as trivializing the use of technology or as incapable. It's a decent ad targetted at a certain subset of the population. I don't see anything wrong with it per se.
I am not saying that women are well enough represented in the ad campaign. If that was the argument I might say 'sure, there's a valid point there' but that isn't the argument. The only thing to see here is that Microsoft, in putting together a perfectly legitimate advertisement, managed to offend a bunch of people.
The Response
The two primary articles attacking this ad were published in Slate and Think Progress. The arguments basically have three components and are more similar than they are different.
Both responses accuse Microsoft of trivializing how women use technology for wedding planning and for things related to pregnancy. They accuse Microsoft of playing into stereotypes, and of thus sending a message that women are less capable than men in the use of technology.
A Personal Detour
Ordinarily I'd just figure this is an issue for women to sort out and leave it at that. Unfortunately, that is a little harder to do working in open source software development. The concerns is basically that there aren't enough women in tech, and I work in a corner of tech where women are nearly absenct. While on average in the software development industry, men outnumber women 2:1, in open source software, the ratio is closer to 50:1.
Personally I wonder why we are so obsessed with the fact that women are making certain career and lifestyle choices differently than men. While the reason isn't hard to find (see below), I do think that such obsession ultimately robs women in particular of agency, that idea that they and they alone are best prepared to make the decisions that involve navigation of one's life. Why do we think there aren't enough women in a given industry? What would be enough? Why? To some extent I think this obsession delegitimizes both the decisions of those women who choose to go into software and those who don't, and I have heard more than one woman complain about being asked about this issue frequently.
The obsession doesn't help anybody. Women may be as capable of programming computers as men are (and given the dominance of women in the early years of programming it seems hard to argue the contrary with any force of history behind such an argument).
Personally too, the first person who ever showed me a computer for work was my grandmother. It was a large machine, probably as big as my dining room table, with a small crt screen and a punchcard reader. What did my grandmother use it for? She wrote nuclear physics simulations. Was she typical of her generation? No. She worked with nobel-prize-wining physicists and was quite renowned in her field. Such people are never typical of any group. She was also the first person I knew who complained about efforts to bring more women into STEM fields because she found it undermined her credibility.
But is everyone able to program a computer? No. Nor, perhaps beyond a very basic level, is that a skill everyone needs to know.
What's this Argument About, Anyway?
I don't think the argument is only about women in software development. Running through both criticisms of the ad is an effort to trivialize getting married and having kids.
This seems like a really weird thing to trivialize since most people get far more happiness out of family contact than they do out of slaving away in a cubical, working so that someone else gets to make some extra profit, and yet there are certain segments of feminism which repetitively seek to trivialize these things. (For those who jump to offence, please calm down and note that feminism is not an organized movement and in fact has tremendous diversity in view on this subject.)
And yet the reasons why there is an effort to trivialize these things is not hard to find. The US economy bears two fundamental characteristics that shape this debate in very deep ways. The first is that the economy is based on the notion that women and men are not merely equal but interchangeable in all ways, and hence interchangeability becomes synonymous with equality. The second is that the US economy is employer-centric, and thus the employer's needs are what are most important, not the needs of the family. For these reasons, getting married and having kids (especially) has negative career consequences. These consequences are worse the younger one is, and since women cannot delay having children as long as men can, they ultimately suffer disproportionate costs of gender neutral policies.
From this viewpoint it is easy to conclude that if only women didn't get married and have kids, inequality would be a thing of the past, but this isn't really a solution. Rather it is a case where an apparent solution on an individual level papers over and conceals a larger problem.
Another aspect of the problem is the extent to which our society has a rather distorted view of the tech industry. Technology firm founders are idolized well beyond the proportions of their contributions. Working in technology is a glamorous job. But it is also portrayed popularly as the industry of lone geniuses, and startup cultures have personal demands that are truly taxing (Marissa Mayer once bragged about 130 hour work weeks that she used to put in at Google), all for uncertain gains in what amounts to an institutionalized form of gambling with your time.
What? Women don't want to be founders of tech startups as things stand right now? Seems like they have more sense than men....
A Few Reasons the Attacks on Microsoft Here Are Wrong
The attacks on Microsoft for this ad are wrong for more reasons than I can count. There is, after all, nothing wrong with the ad. It portrays a perfectly legitimate reason that someone might choose one product over another, namely that it makes an important aspect of one's life a bit easier, and the ultimate judge of what is important really should be left to the individual, the family, and the local community. Here are, however, my top few reasons why I find the attacks on the ad misplaced.
- Not everyone is or should be a "techie." People have different views on software and different priorities in life, and that is ok. There's nothing wrong with deciding not to get married in the US (there would be in much of the rest of the world, where you are expected to retire with your kids but that is a different story). But conversely there is nothing wrong with treating your wedding as important.
- Technology exists to solve human problems, not the other way around. The argument in the response carries with it a strong subtext that women should be solving technical problems, not using technology to solve human problems, but this misunderstands the proper place of technology in life. This is, truth be told, a very common mistake and it is the primary cause of software project failures I have seen. It is also a major part of the idolization of the tech industry and the perpetual promise to totally change our lives (which never seems quite as great when it happens). Planning a wedding is a human problem and using technology for that is a fascinating use case, IMHO.
- Human Relationships are Anything but Trivial. Getting married and having kids is fundamentally about human relationships. Employers come and go. We don't really expect them to stand by their employees when it is not profitable to do so. Having people in your life you can count on is more important to having security in life than are having employers interested in your work.
Towards a More Just and Inclusive Economy
Standing up and defending Microsoft is to some extent an important first step in starting a conversation. It can't be the end though. The fact is that the critics of Microsoft want something (I hope!) that I want too, namely for women to enter the industry of software development on their own terms. This has to be the topic of a larger conversation, and one which does not loose sight of the individual or the systemic problems of the economy in this regard.
It seems hard to imagine that the systemic injustices of the current system (including an aggregate wage gap, though this may be statistically insignificant in the computer sciences) can be done away with in any way other than reducing the dependence on large employers or doing away with the myth of interchangeability (these two things are closely tied, since the idea of interchangeability is important to the development of large corporate organizations). Perhaps a return to an economic system where men and women worked together as joint principles in household businesses would be a good model. That has very little traction in the US today however.
In the end though I think it should be more obvious than it apparently is that you can't force someone to enter into an industry on his or her own terms. The efforts to solve the problem of a gender gap in terms of culture and institutions are likely to fail as long as women look at the tech industry (and in particular the most glamorous parts of it) and don't want to put in the time and effort, or make the sacrifices involved.
But still, even in a more just economy, there are going to be people for whom a computer is primarily a social tool, a way to coordinate with friends and co-workers, to communicate and to plan, and I have trouble seeing the difference between planning an event of deep personal significance and planning as a middle manager for a company, except that the former ought to be a lot more rewarding,
I remain relatively optimistic though that small household businesses based on open source consulting alone have the potential to provide an opportunity to balance flexibly and productively the demands of family and work in such a way that everyone gets pretty much everything they want. I think (and hope) that as open source software becomes more mature as an industry that this will be the way things will go.
But whatever we do, we must recognize that people decide on how to go about participating in the economy based on their own needs and desires, and that none of us have perfect knowledge. The most important thing we can stop doing is delegitimizing life choices we might decide are not for us. I the goal is to help women enter industries like software development on their own terms, I think the best thing we can do is just get out of their way.
As a man, I don't know what young women want out of the industry as they consider it as a career or business path. To be honest, it is better that I don't. The new generations of programmers, male and female, should enter the industry on their own terms, with their own aspirations and hopes, their own determination to do things their own ways, and their own dreams. And there is nobody that should tell them how to think or address these. Not me. Not the marketeers at Microsoft. Not the authors at Slate and Think Progress. That's the change that will make the industry more inclusive.


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text:
RDF::N3 reader/writer
Notation-3 reader/writer for RDF.rb .
RDF::N3 is an Notation-3 parser for Ruby using the RDF.rb library suite.
Reader inspired from TimBL predictiveParser and Python librdf implementation.
Turtle deprecated
Support for Turtle mime-types and specific format support has been deprecated from this gem, as Turtle is now implemented using RDF::Turtle.
RDF::N3 parses Notation-3, Turtle and N-Triples into statements or triples. It also serializes to Turtle.
Install with
gem install rdf-n3
- Full support of Unicode input requires Ruby version 2.0 or greater.
- Support for Variables in Formulae dependent on underlying repository. Existential variables are quantified to RDF::Node instances, Universals to RDF::Query::Variable, with the URI of the variable target used as the variable name.
- No support for N3 Reification. If there were, it would be through a :reify option to the reader.
Instantiate a reader from a local file:
RDF::N3::Reader.open("etc/foaf.n3") do |reader|
reader.each_statement do |statement|
puts statement.inspect
@base and
@prefix definitions, and use for serialization using
:base_uri an
:prefixes options
Write a graph to a file:
RDF::N3::Writer.open("etc/test.n3") do |writer|
writer << graph
N3 Formulae are introduced with the { statement-list } syntax. A given formula is assigned an RDF::Node instance, which is also used as the graph_name for RDF::Statement instances provided to RDF::N3::Reader#each_statement. For example, the following N3 generates the associated statements:
{ [ x:firstname "Ora" ] dc:wrote [ dc:title "Moby Dick" ] } a n3:falsehood .
results in
f = RDF::Node.new
s = RDF::Node.new
o = RDF::Node.new
RDF::Statement(f, rdf:type n3:falsehood)
RDF::Statement(s, x:firstname, "Ora", graph_name: f)
RDF::Statement(s, dc:wrote, o, graph_name: f)
RDF::Statement(o, dc:title, "Moby Dick", graph_name: f)
N3 Variables are introduced with @forAll, @forEach, or ?x. Variables reference URIs described in formulae, typically defined in the default vocabulary (e.g., ":x"). Existential variables are replaced with an allocated RDF::Node instance. Universal variables are replaced with a RDF::Query::Variable instance. For example, the following N3 generates the associated statements:
@forAll <#h>. @forSome <#g>. <#g> <#loves> <#h> .
results in:
h = RDF::Query::Variable.new(<#h>)
g = RDF::Node.new()
RDF::Statement(f, <#loves>, h)
Implementation Notes
The parser is driven through a rules table contained in lib/rdf/n3/reader/meta.rb. This includes branch rules to indicate productions to be taken based on a current production. Terminals are denoted through a set of regular expressions used to match each type of terminal.
The [meta.rb][file:lib/rdf/n3/reader/meta.rb] file is generated from lib/rdf/n3/reader/n3-selectors.n3 (taken from http://www.w3.org/2000/10/swap/grammar/n3-selectors.n3) which is the result of parsing http://www.w3.org/2000/10/swap/grammar/n3.n3 (along with bnf-rules.n3) using cwm using the following command sequence:
cwm n3.n3 bnf-rules.n3 --think --purge --data > n3-selectors.n3
[n3-selectors.n3][file:lib/rdf/n3/reader/n3-selectors.rb] is itself used to generate meta.rb using script/build_meta.
- Generate Formulae and solutions using BGP and SPARQL CONSTRUCT mechanisms
- Create equivalent to
--thinkto iterate on solutions.
- RDF.rb (>= 3.0)
Full documentation available on RubyDoc.info
Principle Classes
Additional vocabularies
- RDF.rb
- Distiller
- Documentation
- History
- Notation-3
- N3 Primer
- N3 Reification
- Turtle
- W3C SWAP Test suite
- W3C Turtle Test suite
- N-Triples
This repository uses Git Flow to mange development and release activity. All submissions must be on a feature branch based on the develop branch to ease staging and integration.
- Do your best to adhere to the existing coding conventions and idioms.
- Don't use hard tabs, and don't leave trailing whitespace on any line.
- Do document every method you add using YARD annotations. Read the tutorial or just look at the existing code for examples.
- Don't touch the
AUTHORSfiles. If you need to change them, do so on your private branch only.
- Do feel free to add yourself to the
CREDITSfile and the corresponding list in the the
README. Alphabetical order applies.
- Do note that in order for us to merge any non-trivial changes (as a rule of thumb, additions larger than about 15 lines of code), we need an explicit public domain dedication on record from you.
This is free and unencumbered public domain software. For more information, see http://unlicense.org/ or the accompanying UNLICENSE file.