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Google Summer of Code 2011
Posted by Nick.Barnes | Filed under Uncategorized
[Cross-posted from the Foundation blog]
Google have announced their Summer of Code, and we intend to be a mentoring organisation. If you're a student, this is an opportunity to work on our open source code and earn a bit of money doing so (Google give a stipend of USD 5000 qualifying students, and an honorarium of USD 500 to the mentoring organisation).
The Climate Code Foundation has an ideas page, most of which revolves around the Clear Climate Code ccc-gistemp project. Ideas range from improving ccc-gistemp in various ways, through novel reconstructions, to clear implementations of other climate codes. If you have ideas of your own, we'd like to hear about those too.
If you are interested in participating as a student, then please get in touch.
We have not been a Summer of Code mentor before, but we bring many years (decades even!) of experience to the table: experience in computer science, software engineering, project management, and so on. We hope to help students make a success of their projects!
Gavin's bug
Posted by drj | Filed under Uncategorized
(I call it Gavin's bug because he found it, not because he created it).
Gavin's bug concerns Step 3, and in particular the part where for each cell a list of stations within 1200 km is created. Creating this list of "nearby" stations means potentially consulting all the stations. All the stations could be quite a lot. So for each of the 80 boxes (see overview.txt), the code restricts the search list to an extended box. Here's a typical box (in white) and the extended box (in green):
In principle it's faster to first cull the entire station list by rejecting those stations outside of an enclosing rectangle based on latitude and longitude, because we can do that quickly without needing to do the trigonometry for the proper "within 1200 km" test.
The bug is that the rectangle chosen for the culling is not large enough. Here's the code from revision 665 of step3.py:
# Extend box, by half a box east and west and by arc north # and south. extent = [box[0] - arcdeg, box[1] + arcdeg, box[2] - 0.5 * (box[3] - box[2]), box[3] + 0.5 * (box[3] - box[2])] if box[0] <= -90 or box[1] >= 90: # polar extent[2] = -180.0 extent[3] = +180.0
Note that the comment says that the box is extended by half a width east and west. The polar boxes (there are 4 for the North Pole, and they all meet at the pole) have to be special-cased because otherwise stations close to the pole would be missed.
The bug concerns the boxes that span latitudes 44 to 64 (there are 8 of these in each hemisphere, see overview.txt. The extended box isn't quite wide enough:
But wait… that circle (above) is centred on the northwest corner of the box. When it comes to cells, it's the centre of the cell that used to select the stations within 1200 km, and the northwest cell is set inside the box a little bit. Is it enough?
The white circle is 1200 km around the centre of the northwest cell. It just fits. Phew!
So even though there are point within 1200km of the box that are not inside the extended box, no stations are missed, because the cells inside the box are too large to be close enough to the edge.
Perhaps at one time computers were slow enough for this "optimisation" to make a difference, but it's been irrelevant for probably at least 20 years. Whilst the code seems to be correct, it's not clearly correct.
It would be simpler and clearer without it. So it's gone.
It does change the results by a tiny tiny bit. The, essentially bogus, reasons for which I may writeup in another post.
Analysis of Canada data
Posted by drj | Filed under Uncategorized
In an earlier post I describe the trials and tribulations of tracking down some station data from Environment Canada's website.
The obvious question to ask is, how does this affect the ccc-gistemp analysis?
For starters, how much extra data do we get, once we've merged all the duplicates and rejected short records and so on? Here's the station count by year for the GHCN stations (dark lines), and the extra Environment Canada stations (lighter lines):
This count is made after ccc-gistemp Step 2 processing, so duplicate records for the same station have been merged, short records have been discarded, and urban stations that could not be adjusted have been dropped (the log tells me there are 18 such stations). New Environment Canada stations (recall that some of the Environment Canada data is for stations that are not in GHCN) do not get any brightness information in the v2.inv file; it so happens that in ccc-gistemp this means they get marked as rural, more by accident by design. I should probably fix this (by calculating brightnesses for the new stations, and rejecting stations with no brightness data), but this will certainly do for a preliminary analysis.
The 1990s still don't reach the dizzying peaks of the 1960s (in terms of station count), but the Environment Canada data is certainly a welcome contribution. More than doubling the number of stations for recent decades.
The effect of this on the analysis? Here's the arctic zone:
The first thing to note if you haven't seen one of these before, is the scale. The swings in this zone are much larger than the global average (this zone is 5% of the Earth's surface); the recent warming in this zone is over 5 °C per century! The remaining points of note are the slight differences here and there in the very recent period. That large dip in the 2000s is 2004, and the new analysis has the anomaly some 0.16 °C colder (+0.57 versus +0.73). A warm spike is 1995 is 0.09 °C warmer. The same blips are also just about visibly different on the Northern Hemisphere analysis, but the differences smaller.
The additional Environment Canada is welcome, and does affect the result just enough to be visible, but the trends and any conclusion one could derive are not affected at all.
The data are available here, but you don't need to download that if you're using ccc-gistemp. Run «python tool/cascrape.py» to download the data, and then run «python tool/camatch.py» to generate a mapping table. «python tool/run.py -d 'data_sources=ghcn ushcn scar hohenpeissenberg ca.v2'» will then run the analysis.
Posted by drj | Filed under Uncategorized
It's easy to note that GHCN is a bit lacking when it comes to recent temperature data for Canada:
Canada is of course just a particular aspect of the global case, which is well known and discussed in the literature ([Jones and Moberg 2003] for example).
Note in particular the drop off at around 1990, shortly before GHCN v2 was compiled in 1997. Canada is of some interest because: it has many relatively high latitude stations; and, it's an industrialised nation that ought to have a good weather station network. The recent periods of GHCN are updated via CLIMAT messages. Who knows why Canada's data doesn't make it into GHCN, perhaps they prohibit NOAA from republishing the data, perhaps their BUFR format isn't quote what NOAA expect.
Environment Canada publish (some of) their monthly temperature data on the web. Using ScraperWiki I wrote a scraper to collect it, and another program to format it into GHCN v2 format so that it could be used as an input for ccc-gistemp. Whilst there are far fewer stations in the scraped data, there is more data in the 2 most recent decades (note different y-axis scale compared to above):
GHCN is bumping along with record counts in the 30s and 40s for the last 2 decades, Environment Canada has 100 or more records for most of those years. Until 2007 in fact (change of government?).
Quite a few of the stations in the scraped data have fewer than 20 years. I exclude those because they're unlikely to be of use in the ccc-gistemp analysis (in principle they could be combined in Step 1 with existing GHCN duplicates even when they're short, but meh). It turns out this also avoids some thorny and potentially embarrassing data cleansing war stories (such as why are the reported locations for WMO station 71826 13 degrees apart?)
There are 106 stations from the scraped data with 20 or more years of monthly data.
So, the first question is how do we merge this dataset with GHCN? I suppose I could simply add all the scraped data alongside the GHCN data, but that would be wrong. The scraped data has some stations which are in GHCN, and those would be "double counted". We ought to try and identify which stations are the same in the two sources; so how do we do that? Most of the scraped stations are WMO stations (87 out of 106) and they come with WMO identifiers. So it's easy to match those against a possible counterpart in GHCN (WMO stations in GHCN have their 11-digit identifier ending with "000"). Both GHCN and the scraped data come with location information, so we can try matching on that as well. In the case of the matched WMO stations (67), 5 have locations that were more than 0.015 degrees apart, but they're all within 0.03 degrees.
Sometimes a scraped WMO station will not match a GHCN station by WMO identifier, but will have a location match. This is probably a station in GHCN that should be marked as a WMO station, but by mistake isn't.
WMO station 71808 represents a good win. The existing GHCN data (station 40371808000) runs from 1967 to 1982. The scraped data (Environment Canada identifier 7040813) runs from 1982 to 2010. In fact there is no overlap at all, GHCN finishes in 1982-07 and Environment Canada starts in 2010-08. Curious.
We need a rule of thumb to decide whether to add the scraped data as a new station or as a duplicate of an existing GHCN station. Scraped WMO stations that match a WMO station in GHCN will always be added as a duplicate. For each remaining scraped station I select the nearest GHCN station as a comparison (this is in Canada in all but one case). An overlap and q score is computed for each GHCN duplicate, and the "best" duplicate is picked. If there are duplicates with "long" overlaps (meaing >= 120 months) then the one with lowest q score is chosen for "best", otherwise (all the overlaps must be short) the duplicate with longest overlap is chosen. q is sqrt(sum(d[i]**2)/n) where d[i] is the difference between the two series at time i; the sum is over the common period; n is the number of elements (months) in the common period.
So for the non WMO stations (some of these will be WMO stations, just without an identified WMO counterpart in GHCN) the rule of thumb is: if s+q < 1, then the scraped data is added as a duplicate, otherwise it is added as a new station. s is the separation between the scraped station and the "best" station in degrees; q is the q score of the "best" duplicate.
The added value of this dataset, compared to GHCN, is recent data for high latitude stations. Alert is a classic case, North of 80:
The scraped data brings almost 20 years of recent data to the table.
So what does this all add up to when we incorporate this new data into the GISTEMP analysis? Well, I've done that, but I'll have to leave the results for another post.
[Jones and Moberg 2003] Jones, P. D., A. Moberg, 2003: Hemispheric and Large-Scale Surface Air Temperature Variations: An Extensive Revision and an Update to 2001. J. Climate, 16, 206–223.
ccc-gistemp release 0.6.0
Posted by drj | Filed under announcement
[ed: 2010-10-29: This was an announcement for release 0.6.0, but that has a bug (see comments). Please use release 0.6.1 instead. I've edited the article to update the links]
I'm pleased to announce ccc-gistemp release 0.6.1 (making the previous buggy 0.6.0 obsolete). ccc-gistemp is our project to reimplement the NASA GISS GISTEMP algorithm in clearer code (in Python). This release is the first release made under the aegis of the Climate Code Foundation.
Many of the significant changes in this release have already been previewd in earlier blog posts:
- There is a new major version of GHCN (version 3, in beta), and ccc-gistemp can now use GHCN v3;
- ccc-gistemp can make use of a land mask;
- More flexibility in mixing and matching input datasets, which means I can run ccc-gistemp without using any US temperatures (amongst other things).
Further details are available in the release notes.
We intend to carry on our work on ccc-gistemp, and we urge you to download our code, try it, and read it. We welcome contributions.
The work for release 0.6.0 was carried out by David Jones and Nick Barnes, and the work for release 0.6.1 was carried out by David Jones.
Posted by drj | Filed under Uncategorized
Why bother with words when abbreviations are so much more cryptic? As pd points out, there is a new version of Global Historical Climate Network, version 3. There isn't an official announcement yet, but others have noticed.
GHCN-M is the monthly datasets. Version 3 is still in beta, so we're all still learning.
The file format is different. More like USHCNv2. And like USHCN each datum has a set of flags that indicate quality checks (isolated value, inconsistent with climatology, month has missing days, and so on). One of the flags is a source flag, each monthly datum is tagged with its source: UK Met Office, CLIMAT report, MCDW, and so on.
Unlike GHCN v2 there is only one record for each station in GHCN v3. There are no "duplicates". This makes one job (the job of Step 0) easier, we don't have to decide how to select or combine multiple records for the same station: that's been done for us. On the other hand, we may have wanted to combine records in a different way.
I've been modifying ccc-gistemp to experiment with GHCN v3. At first I thought I could use the v2.inv file supplied by GISTEMP, but the GHCN station identifiers for the contiguous US have changed (so that they're based on their USHCN station identifiers—probably a good thing). Writing code to parse the new v3 .inv file is straightforward enough.
Of course the v3 .inv file doesn't have the night-time satellite brightness that GISTEMP uses in its analysis (globally, since 2010-01-16). So I also added a parameter to use the GHCN population index (POPCLS in the documentation) globally.
This result should be considered preliminary.
When making comparisons with official GISTEMP there are several caveats:
- Only GHCN v3 data is used. No SCAR READER (and no Hohenpeissenberg correction).
- In Step 2, urban adjustment, the GHCN v3 analysis uses the POPCLS field for the rural/urban designation. The field has three values, R/S/U, for Rural/Semi-Rural/Urban. R maps to rural in the analysis, the others count as urban. The current GISTEMP analysis uses night-time satellite brightnesses.
- Each GHCN v3 station is treated as a single record. GISTEMP using v2 data combines duplicate records for the same station into one record (sometimes more than one); this record may not be the same as the GHCN v3 record. And in particular…
- (because I appended a 'G' to all the 11-digit v3 station identifiers) the "hand picked" list of deletions and adjustments is not used. The most obvious example of where this matters is St Helena, 14761901000.
I changed ccc-gistemp to use GHCN v3 and wrote this post ages ago, but when I met Jay Lawrimore at the Exeter workshop, he said I should probably hold off posting. Here's the record of my GHCN v3 changes in googlecode (made on 2010-09-04).
Surface Temperatures Workshop
Posted by Nick.Barnes | Filed under Uncategorized
David Jones and I attended the Surface Temperatures workshop at the Met Office in Exeter this week. This is the kickoff meeting for an ambitious new project to produce a far more comprehensive databank of surface temperature records than currently exists, especially at finer time resolution (daily and sub-daily) and incorporating many station records which are not currently available.
There were around 80 attendees from around the world, including climate scientists, meteorologists, computer people, statisticians, metrologists, and ourselves. This was the first outing for our new Climate Code Foundation, although many people there were aware of Clear Climate Code. This was the first time either of us had attended a climate science meeting. We were made welcome, our motivation and focus was respected, and our voices were heard. The project principles established at the meeting include a strong commitment to openness and transparency, and although some scientists don't share our conviction of the importance of code publication, the project is committed to publishing all its code.
We were not paid for our participation or for our expenses. In the final meeting we were asked to contribute to software aspects of the project, and said that this may be possible depending on resources.
A mind-boggling side-light: estimates of the volume of non-digitized or hard-copy data range in the hundreds of millions of pages; NCDC alone has a digital archive of 56 million page images, and literally thousands of boxes of unscanned hard-copy in their basement. Many national weather services, and other governmental, non-governmental, and commercial organisations also have large paper or imaged archives; the Galaxy Zoo people are working with the Met Office and the National Maritime Museum on an amazingly cool new crowd-sourced project to recover weather records from millions of imaged pages of Royal Navy log books. There was a strong emphasis at the meeting on the need to retain original data and to make any dataset fully traceable to that original data (I imagine a web interface in which one can drill down to page images of the original weather station hard-copy records). It was clear to the meeting that this traceability requirement implies software publication.
The Climate Code Foundation
Posted by Nick.Barnes | Filed under Uncategorized
We are pleased to announce the creation of the Climate Code Foundation. The Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded by David Jones, Nick Barnes, and Philippa Davey to promote public understanding of climate science. The Foundation will continue work on the Clear Climate Code project, and also related activities, encouraging climate scientists to improve and publish their software.
The Foundation intends to work with climate scientists, funding bodies, national and international organisations, and science publishers. We hope to establish climate science in the forefront of science software quality and transparency.
Members of the Foundation are attending the Surface Temperatures workshop at the UK Met Office in September 2010, to promote better and more open software practices within that project.
If you support the Foundation's goals, there are many ways to contribute to its work.
A real land mask
Posted by drj | Filed under Uncategorized
As mentioned in the previous post, I now have a real land mask from ISLSCP Initiative II.
The format of the files in refreshingly simple. 180 rows with 360 space separated numbers. It takes nothing more than a few dozen lines of Python to convert this into the 8000 cell format that ccc-gistemp uses for its step5mask.
Here's the 8000 GISTEMP cells that contain any land (according to the ISLSCP file). Drawn on a Plate Carrée projection:
Even at this blobby scale there are some suspicious features (missing). Where is Ascension or Cocos Islands? I don't think it's an artefact of my processing, because they don't appear on the ISLSCP file either; that's probably a bug. So accepting that their might be some minor issues with islands and so on, we can go on to do a run of ccc-gistemp using this land mask:
As mentioned in the previous article, restricting to land de-emphasises coastal stations which generally warm less slowly. So the restricted version of the analysis has a stronger warming trend.
Many of the partial land cells will have ocean data and will not have a nearby land station to count as a land cell in the usual GISTEMP analysis. So we find that excluding cells that have ocean data (and no nearby land station) results in an even stronger trend. The red graph is reprised from the previous article:
(pedants should note that in the above graph "cells with ocean data" means "cells with ocean data and where the nearest land station to the cell's centre is more than 100 km away")
There are countless variations one could try such as weighting cells by their coverage, or using a threshold of 50% land cover. As far as an estimate of land temperatures go, such variations amount to interpolating between those two curves on the previous chart. Roughly.
Masking GISTEMP
Posted by drj | Filed under Uncategorized
[update: 2010-08-26: the "no arctic" masks were wrong, fixed now]
I added a land mask feature to ccc-gistemp. The land mask is used In Step 5, where land and ocean series are combined into zonal averages. For each cell, ocean data is used unless: there is very little ocean data (fewer than 240 months); or, there is a land station within 100 km. With the new land mask feature an external file (input/step5mask which is the same format as the newly output work/step5mask) specifies whether to use land or ocean data for each cell.
This enables me to do something new: a run of ccc-gistemp using only land-data but restricted to locations where there is no ocean data:
I don't actually have a true land mask to hand (a list of cells that cover the Earth's land surface), but I can do a normal run of ccc-gistemp that uses both land and ocean data and use the generated mask. That mask tells me which cells have no ocean data (and therefore land data is used, if there is any).
That's the mask I use above. This reduces the effects of the 1200 km smoothing radius, by preventing land series from being interpolated over the ocean (unless there is no ocean data). This mask has 3077 cells (8000 in total), so clearly some ocean cells are still using land data. It looks like this:
Note that black is not land, but it is where land data is used if there is any. Note the arctic ocean has no ocean data so land data (generally interpolated) is used. Also some of southern ocean will pick up land data.
The fact that the land series when restricted to exclude cells with ocean data shows greater warming can be explained by considering coastal stations. In the usual ccc-gistemp land-only analysis every station has an influence that extends out to a disc of radius 1200 km. Coastal stations will have a disc of influence that extends into the ocean. When excluding cells that have ocean data that means that a coastal station has its disc chopped in half (roughly), and an island station is almost entirely excluded. The overall effect is to weight stations in the continental interior more strongly. And warming is greater in the continent interior.
[edit: Chad also shows a version of the same effect (scroll down the very long post until you reach the red and black graphs): de-emphasising coastal stations increases trend]
We can show the effect of excluding Arctic and Antarctic zones (everything north of 60N and south of 60S is excluded):
Only a small effect. The broken mask version had an even smaller effect, but I'm still a little surprised by how small this difference is.
Again we can exclude cells with ocean data, and again this shows increased warming. This more than cancels out the cooling by excluding the high latitude zones:
Anyone got a real land mask? [edit: Yes, Steven Mosher pointed me at one; so expect a post using a real land mask soon]


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subset: commoncrawl


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The United States Postal Service (USPS) is still in the process of divesting itself of the 464,000-square-foot, three-story former United States Postal Service Processing and Distribution Center at 2535 Midway Drive in Loma Portal, said Ken Boyd, USPS facilities and customer relations manager.
"It's listed for sale for a period closing sometime in February," said Boyd. "Any offers we get will be evaluated and we'll move from there."
Melanie Nickel, chairwoman of the Midway Community Planning Advisory Group (MCPAG), said the group has discussed the Midway postal facility several times previously, knowing the property has been offered for sale by the federal government.
"We heard two or three presentations by prospective buyers, none of whom actually wound up purchasing the place," Nickel said, adding there are several community concerns about the property's ultimate disposition.
"We are very concerned about the traffic impacts of development," Nickel said. "Any large development would make the already awful traffic situation at Midway [Drive] and Rosecrans [Street] even worse. Some kind of street infrastructure improvements will definitely be needed and will, hopefully, be one of the things the city requires from the developer."
"We suspect that re-using the existing building will not be part of the plans of most developers, although it does have the advantage that it is more than 30 feet in height," said Nickel. "Any replacement buildings will have to adhere to the city height limit in the area."
There is one thing the Midway neighborhood appears certain about when it comes to Midway postal site redevelopment.
"We do not want to see a big-box retail store surrounded by an asphalt parking lot there," said Nickel. "The Midway area already has more than enough of that kind of project. And besides, the traffic impact of something like that would be unsustainable."
The MCPAG has discussed the possibility of a mixed-use development (smaller retail combined with housing), or some sort of office park on the Midway postal site, according to Nickel.
"We heard a suggestion for senior housing at the site and we are very supportive of that idea, if it is feasible," Nickel said.
Nickel said any future redevelopment "should include some public space, possibly a historic plaza or historic park recognizing the site as Dutch Flats, where Lindbergh first tested his plane, the Spirit of Saint Louis."
"It would be nice to see the property become a park or other public facility, but let's be realistic," said Nickel. "The federal government is selling the property, not giving it away. They want the full appraised value for it."
Once the central mail-processing facility for all of San Diego County, Boyd said the Midway facility, built in 1979, had become too small for that purpose by the early 1990s. Mail processing was then moved 20 miles north to the Margaret L. Sellers Processing Center on Rancho Carmel Drive, which opened in 1993. Mail for the 15 ZIP codes served by the Midway Post Office has since been returned from Rancho Carmel, pre-sorted for carriers to pick up and deliver.
Prime real estate located just minutes from Interstates 8 and 5 and San Diego International Airport, the Midway facility is near the landmark Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
The Midway postal facility itself is in the middle of a historic area known as Dutch Flats. Dutch Flats was the name of a small dirt airstrip in the early 1900s used by Ryan Aeronautical Company near what is now Midway Drive and Barnett Street.
Dutch Flats became famous when Ryan built a specially designed aircraft for Charles A. Lindbergh, who tested it there before flying it solo across the Atlantic in 1927. Several existing historic plaques inside Midway Post Office commemorate Dutch Flats and Lindbergh. Nickel said the Midway Community Planning Advisory Group believes the Dutch Flats/Lindbergh plaques should be retained in any redevelopment of the Midway Postal site.
This isn't the first time the USPS has tried to sell its Midway site. In 2010, the USPS teamed up with CB Ellis Real Estate to sell the property, then estimated to be worth about $62.5 million.
Amikas, a local nonprofit group, came forward with a bid to use the land as a self-sustained homeless center, a proposal which never bore fruit. The site was also rumored to have been considered for a Costco store, but that never came to pass and the property was taken off the market.
The Midway postal site consists of 15.6 acres of land with two existing buildings and about 350 parking spaces. The two buildings include the old mail processing facility, a three-story, 436,000-square-foot building; and a former vehicle maintenance facility, a 22,000-square-foot single-story building.
Onsite zoning accommodates a range of industrial and manufacturing activities to promote a balanced land use and economy, and to encourage employment growth, according to USPS officials. The industrial zones are intended to provide flexibility in the design of new and redeveloped industrial projects while assuring high-quality development, and to protect land for industrial uses and limit non-industrial uses.
The site could be also redeveloped to provide space for a science and business park.
"The property development standards of this zone are intended to create a campus-like environment characterized by comprehensive site design and substantial landscaping, allowing a mix of light industrial and office uses," according to the sales listing on the website www.uspspropertiesforsale.com.
San Diego's main post office and mail-processing facility wasn't always located on Midway Drive and has had many homes throughout the city's history.
• 1850: The first post office is established in San Diego at the northeast corner of the Old Town Plaza at Mason and Calhoun streets. San Diego has a population of 650 at this time.
• April 9, 1850: Richard Rust is appointed the first postmaster of San Diego. All citizens pick up their mail at the post office.
• April 6, 1869: Dr. Jacob Allen becomes postmaster of the "New Town" Post Office, located in a drug store on the southwest corner of Fifth Avenue and F Street.
• Dec. 23, 1869: Freeman Gates became postmaster of San Diego and opens the post office in the Dunham Building on F Street between F and G streets. San Diego has a population of 2,300 at this time.
• 1876: Space in the San Diego Union Building at Sixth Avenue and F Street is used as the main post office.
• 1885: The first transcontinental train arrives in San Diego, bringing mail from the East Coast. San Diego's population is now 35,000.
• Oct. 3, 1887: The letter-carrier system of free delivery is inaugurated in San Diego. Four of the first carriers were Joseph E. Coulthrust, Charles E. Lamb, B.E. Hinman and Jerome V. Scofield.
• Oct. 18, 1887: San Diego letter carriers receive uniforms.
• 1888: The Brewster Hotel, located at the southeast corner of Fourth Avenue and C Street, rents space to the post office.
• 1890: San Diego post office moves to a new five-story St. James Hotel on the northwest corner of Seventh Avenue and F Street.
• 1913: The first facility built for the sole purpose of being a post office in San Diego is finished and located at 325 West F St.
• 1938: The main post office moves to Sixth Avenue and E Street in downtown San Diego.
• Aug. 19, 1972: The Midway Processing and Distribution Center opens at 2535 Midway Drive as San Diego's main post office.
• 1993: The Carmel Mountain Ranch processing facility opens at 1251 Rancho Carmel Drive.
• 2006: The USPS experiences a significant drop in mail volume. The change is attributed to a faltering economy and increased use of technology for bill paying and communication.
• 2010: The USPS lists the Midway Post Office for sale and then takes it off the market when no viable buyer comes forward.
• Dec. 5, 2011: The USPS announces it needs to consolidate operations by 2015 to save $20 billion. The Midway Post Office is among 252 facilities nationwide eyed for closure.
• 2011: San Diego's population is 1.3 million.
— Source: U.S. Postal Service


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If you're looking for a little something more than the usual bed and pub crawl, we've got you covered. Queensland's hostels across the state are ripe for backpacker picking! Whether packing the party pants for a holiday to remember at Surfers Paradise or getting lost in the middle of the Daintree (oldest rainforest in the world), these options will have you backpacking across the state in no time.
Getting paid to explore paradise? Yes please! If you're into discovering untouched wilderness or soaking up year-round sun, Queensland is just the place for a gap year or working holiday. From the iconic backpacker mecca, Airlie Beach to fruit picking in Bundaberg, we've assembled everything you need on where to stay and have the most fun… and reward. Find out more information about backpacking and working holidays around Queensland here.


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Smartphones and tablets have become part of our lives, they are hovering and glitches often take users from ravnovesiya.Segodnya you know for what reason Wiko U Feel Fab does not turn on, turned off, or hangs.
In the article there is a list of recommendations, the implementation of which will help you to return your mobile device to the old life.
Wiko U Feel Fab does not turn on, turned off, or hangs. There are solutions.
The reasons can be many:
- The battery is discharged below a predetermined level – regularly discharge the battery to almost 0 and charge completely, eksplatiruyte device at a temperature below -10, so it last longer
- Charger connector is damaged device – try to charge the battery of another charger if the charging is successful, it means that the first charger connector is damaged;
- Failure in the software (a rarity for Unix systems, which include the Android, but failure could provoke an application) – do a hard reset Hard Reset / Wipe Data;
- Telephone floated in the water, place it for a minute in 100% alcohol, then remove and dry the dryer. Alcohol evaporates instantly, in contrast to the water;
- Strikes the wall, the floor, trying to open a beer bottle phone – take your phone to a service center or buy a new one.
From what can not be switched on and hang your phone. Video.
What to do if Wiko U Feel Fab blinking and does not turn on?
If your phone blinking and does not turn, it is possible that the power button is defective, try to take the unit to a service center.
Written material: Koshelev Leonid.


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I'm currently working on a better version of the 'Defence Force Floppy Builder', which will become a standard part of the OSDK and will provide an easy way to create floppy based games. It is already possible to make these using Tap2DSK, but it is not very efficient for games or demos because it uses the normal operating system to load data, which means that 1) you do not have access to the overlay ram anymore and 2) a lot of disk space is wasted because the OS is present.
The current version of the Floppy Builder has been used since 2002, VIP4, Barbitoric, Quintessential, Born in 1983, ... all have been built with this tool.
The main issue, is that this tool is not able to create floppies, all it knows is how to patch them to insert data and make them bootable, which means that you have to provide a DSK file at the correct format at the source. It also means that any extra information that was present on the original disk is still present on the new one, which is not very tidy
The modifications I'm doing are based on informations gathered from Fabrice's tools, Twilighte's old messages, Sedoric A Nu, WDC datasheets, etc... and will hopefully allow me to make a version that can generate clean floppies with whatever parameter you want (16, 17 or even 18 sectors).
Right now my problem is the boot sector.
What I have is a bunch of 23 undocumented bytes, followed by 233 bytes of actual executable code:
The only information I have, is that the final 00 indicates it is a Master floppy, if it had been 01 it would have been a Slave floppy.00 00 FF 00 D0 9F D0 9F 02 B9 01 00 FF 00 00 B9 E4 B9 00 00 E6 12 00
Does anyone know what the 22 previous bytes are used for? Do they have the same meaning for an Atmos with a Microdisc or for a Telestrat? Will the floppy still boot if I write other values?
Thanks for any helpful answer
As far as I figured out, only the 3 first sectors or the first track are required by the Microdisc boot sequence, which means I'm pretty much free to use the rest as I want.


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Events Calendar
La Loteria
Try your luck during a fun game of La Loteria, Hispanic Bingo!
Date: November 1, 2019 - November 1, 2019
Time: 6 p.m.
Location: COP Conference Room, Campus Center
Hosted by LSU
Celebrate Dia de los Muertos with LSU. Play La Loteria and win big prizes! For more information, email LSU President Luisa Rodriguez at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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If you are flying into Sea-Tac airport, the major airport for the city of Seattle and its surrounding cities of Tacoma and Federal Way, take note that all car rental services have been moved to the new rental car facility at 3150 S. 160th St.
SeaTac, WA 98188.
This new car rental hub is served from the ground transportation terminal services via shuttle buses allowing you an effortless method of getting to the car rental facilities. Once at the car rental lots you have the full range of rental options to ensure the perfect transportation for your visit to the Pacific Northwest. Simply grab your bags at the baggage carousel and make your way to any of the shuttle stops found between carousels #1 to #15, behind the sliding glass doors.
When returning the rental vehicle to the Sea-Tac airport facility, take SR518 then follow the signs and directions pointing you to the car rental areas. Nothing could be easier to make a trip to the city effortless and enjoyable.
Travelers need to be aware that in this day and age of debit cards and online pay services, most car rental agencies still require a credit card, not a debit card, to rent the vehicle needed.
Enjoy your trip to the Seattle area, drive safe and be prepared for heavy rush hour traffic on the 5 between 7am to 8am and between 4:30pm to around 6pm.
Identification Codes:
Distance from SEA to:
Nearest Major Airports:
Seattle Time Zone:
Hotels near SEA:
Facts about SEA:
Car Rental at Seattle Airport:
Taxi Service:
Daily Parking:
Hourly Parking
Long-Term Parking
Monthly Parking
*Prices, information and exchange rates are as of June 18, 2009


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The 8th Karachi Literary Festival saw an increased footfall and as ever became the most happening event in the city by the sea
- inShare
Over three days, everyone who is anyone flocked to the Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) 2017. Crisp starched saris, Kolhapuri chappals, white hair and white chooridars, pure leather-bound notebooks, endless rounds of tea serving as the fuel for animated conversations about existentialism, philosophy, politics, the arts, and the role literature plays for all of these. The 8th KLF saw an increased footfall and as ever became the most happening event in the city by the sea.
"The KLF has busted many myths that existed about Karachi and its people. This festival has now successfully added 'literary tradition' to the list of things Karachi is known for. The literary tradition that is the legacy of our elders has been rekindled in our youth and we at the Oxford University Press (OUP) Pakistan are extremely proud to be the flag bearers of literary festivals in Pakistan," says Saadia Mirza, Rights Manager at OUP.
The KLF was launched in March 2010, and is directed by Ameena Saiyid, founded by Ameena Saiyid and Asif Farrukhi, and produced by OUP. It is open to all and the entry is free. It features debates, discussions, talks, English poetry readings and Urdu mushaira, a book fair, book launches, readings, signings, satire, theatre, film screenings, music, and dance.
KLF has grown — from an attendance of roughly 5,000 in 2010 to 175,000 in 2016. In 2010 it had 34 sessions with 58 speakers/performers. This year, the 8th KLF featured close to 200 speakers and performers in around 76 sessions.
This year, a recurrent theme that surfaced in many talks was Pakistan's economic challenges, and how they are affecting society and culture as a whole.
The important issue of gender was brought up in many a panel. Feminist activists and writers like Fahmida Riaz, Sheema Kirmani, Zehra Nigah and Sania Saeed were seen prominently participating. One unique book that was launched was Interpreting Islam, Modernity and Women's Rights in Pakistan by Dr Anita Weiss, Professor at the University of Oregon. It was her second time at the KLF.
"The first time was in 2012. I've seen a few important changes. First, there is a lot more emphasis on books now. Previously there were a lot of talks, but not necessarily connected to explicit things people had written. Second, the audience now seems even more diverse than in 2012, with people coming from all walks of life," says Dr Weiss.
However, the diversity she sees as positive is seen by some as a recession in the exclusivity of the KLF. The elite ownership and intellectual regality seems to be diluting. Some see this as a positive; others don't. Many visitors were overheard commenting that the standard of the KLF is going down, referring to the fact that it is becoming more awaami which is resulting in a deconstruction of some of the carefully constructed social silos.
However, people like journalist and documentary filmmaker Faisal Sayani feel the opposite to be true. "The selection process seems flawed and nepotism-based, and KLF has become commercialised. But the festival is not, in essence, designed in a way that would deprive or bar masses from it. I find it to be pretty inclusive," says Sayani.
He praised how many sessions dealt with important aspects of history, and praised in particular the session of screening of the documentary of slain activist Parween Rehman. But not everyone, according to him, visits the KLF for the love of the written word. "I believe hoards of people are just there socialise and take selfies with intellectual celebs."
In a city like Karachi, a diverse crowd is but natural. "Karachi is a melting pot of so many ethnic and linguistic traditions that it is not easy to define the culture and tradition of this city — the Karachi experience is an intense experience. And that intensity is reflected in the sessions of the KLF. Any visitors will vouch for the palpable energy in the atmosphere of the KLF as writers, readers, politicians, actors, musicians, students, poets, academics and journalists all come together to celebrate the literary achievements and discuss the issues faced by Pakistan today," says Mirza.
One of the most important sessions was about the city, titled "'Karachi: Is Pakistan's Boom Town still Booming?", with a panel of people who know Karachi, especially the unparalleled Arif Hasan who knows the city better than anyone else.
"In 2015, 902 cars were registered daily in Karachi; during the last six months 800 motorbikes were registered daily. This city cannot accommodate it," says Hasan. He raised brave questions about where the money being invested into Karachi's real estate is coming from. Answering a question, he said that the main issue with Karachi is the tension that exists because it is the capital of a Sindhi-speaking province being dominated by a non-Sindhi speaking minority of the province.
The panel included stalwarts of Karachi, namely Aquila Ismail who is writer, activist and sister of Parween Rehman, Najmuddin Shaikh who is a distinguished diplomat, and Haris Gazdar who is a renowned researcher. Ismail compared Karachi to the mythical city of El Dorado, and said the gold of this city is in the hearts of its residents.
The crowd-pullers in the open air garden were more than just literary. One such popular celebrity session was the former celluloid queen Shabnam in conversation with Bushra Ansari. Shabnam brought back memories of a Pakistan before the fall of Dacca, and spoke about the best of times and the worst of times. Stand-up comedian Shafaat Ali provided the comic relief at the same venue, while the legendary Zia Mohyeddin's reading session titled "Memories and Reflections" gave the KLF what completed it.
While many visitors observed that the number of sessions in Urdu and especially vernacular languages has decreased, Dr Weiss says that the writers were very diverse. But she adds that "There should be an effort to have greater regional distribution of authors, such as some coming from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa or from Balochistan. There are important works coming out of those provinces, and effort should be made to include them."
When asked why KLF and such festivals are important, Dr Weiss summed it up. "This is a celebration of the life of the mind."
True to the KLF tradition, five literary prizes were awarded this year too at the festival.
These were awarded to the following winners:
Nasir Abbas Nayyar for Urdu Adab Ki Tashkeel-e-Jadeed· 2017 Winner of the Karachi Literature Festival Pepsi Prize
Yasmin Khan for The Raj at War· Winner of the 2017 The Italy Reads Pakistan Award
Omar S. Hamid for The Spinner's Tale
· 2017 Getz Pharma Fiction Prize Winner
Omar Shahid Hamid for The Spinner's Tale
· 2017 Karachi Literature Festival German Peace Prize Winners
Anam Zakaria for The Footprints of Partition (1st prize)
Farahnaz Ispahani for Purifying the Land of the Pure (2nd prize)
Ali Nobil Ahmad for Masculinity, Sexuality, and Illegal Migration (3rd prize)


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The Real Deal
Bolt holes. That was the main concern, the only concern, really, of one senior executive at General Motors right after the company emerged from bankruptcy.
When I started reading the just-published American Turnaround: Reinventing AT&T and GM and the Way We Do Business in the USA by Ed Whitacre (with Leslie Cauley; Business Plus), a book that should be required reading for any and all in the auto industry, as well as for the segment of the U.S. population who doesn't understand the importance of General Motors to the U.S. (importance economically, socially and culturally, domestically and internationally), something on the first page (yes, I didn't get too far)—heck, the first couple lines—caused me to wonder: "Bolt holes. That was the main concern, the only concern, really, of one senior executive at General Motors right after the company emerged from bankruptcy."
Whitacre had been appointed chairman of the company by the U.S. government, and as a man who'd spent his career in the telecommunications industry—retiring as chairman of AT&T, no less—he admittedly didn't know about the car industry, and wanted to learn more about GM's problems—remember, it just emerged from bankruptcy—by asking questions. Whitacre writes that he was somewhat flabbergasted by the bolt hole response from a senior manufacturing executive.
Since accurately located holes are fundamental to building cars and trucks and for achieving quality, I couldn't understand why Whitacre seemed so taken aback. So I sent an email to a publicist handling the book, asking if she might forward the message to Whitacre. I anticipated maybe getting an emailed response.
A few minutes ago, the phone rang, I answered it (we run pretty lean here), and the voice on the other end said, "Hi. This is Ed Whitacre." And he proceeded—after talking about taking his 10-year-old grandson to Grandparents' Day at school, and how amazed he was at how much the youngsters know—to explain the situation regarding the bolt holes.
Yes, he knows how important they are. He appreciates that. But what he couldn't understand was how, after GM was saved by the U.S. and Canadian governments and the UAW, how it was saved in the face of ultimate doom, its leadership seemed so very myopic. Remember, this was a senior executive—a smart man, Whitacre told me—who had quite nearly been out of a job along with thousands of other people, and when Whitacre asked him about his concerns, about what was going on ("It was sort of chaotic there"), he was concerned with bolt holes. "There were 10,000 other questions that had to be asked, and he was concerned about that?"
Arguably, this lack of understanding of what was going on in the business by top management brought GM to U.S. Bankruptcy Court on June 1, 2009. As Whitacre writes in the book: "The economy didn't get GM. Mismanagement did." He adds, "Good managers sometimes make bad decisions, no question. But good managers don't make bad decisions consistently." And what he discovered in Detroit was a cadre of managers who weren't doing their jobs, weren't seeing reality.
There has been some criticism of Whitacre as regards the significant change he drove in the management ranks at GM. Whitacre writes, "How could the same management team that stood by while GM's stock price plunged more than 90 percent, stood by while the company racked up losses of $82 billion, stood by while the cash reserves got drained down to nothing, suddenly spout wisdom and steer that company back to profitability again? The short answer: They couldn't." Whitacre found an organization mired in matrix management, an approach that is less about timely execution and more about covering one's posterior. When managers do that, they are abrogating their responsibility to the people who work for the company, and Whitacre finds that unacceptable.
A friend of mine had the opportunity to work with Whitacre at GM. And she told me of how he would walk into people's offices, sit down with them at lunch tables, go out to the Tech Center and walk around, and ask questions. And the answers he got were not about bolt holes but about the ways and means to make the company better, about the hopes and dreams of the people who were working for a company whose neighbors might turn their noses up at ("Government Motors"). "They loved Ed," she told me.
And I understand why. He's the real deal.
Related Topics
2019 Lexus ES 350 Introduced
The Lexus ES sedan is more than just an offering within the company's lineup.
COVER STORY: Engineering the 2017 Honda CR-V
It's the fifth generation of a vehicle that has been increasing in sales year after year since its introduction in 1997.
Ford Makes an Astounding Achievement
Ford has made an accomplishment that will never be bested, never even be tied.


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From July 3 to 13, 200 performers will grace the stage at the 41st Quebec City Summer Festival. The event will commemorate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Québec City.
Among the performers are Wyclef Jean, the ex-singer, guitarist and hip-hop icon of the Fugees, preceded by popular singer-songwriter Akon. This show is a further addition to the stellar line-up of concerts announced last March as part of the "Grands Événements Desjardins." Two other blockbuster acts, NOFX and Stone Temple Pilots, will set sparks flying on July 4 and 13. The first weekend will also showcase the singer Feist, the top winner at this year's Juno Awards, the major event of its kind in the Canadian music industry, as well as several masterworks of the late, legendary Frank Zappa, to be interpreted by his nimble-fingered son Dweezil. The Chicago-based five-piece known as Plain White T's, whose hit "Hey There Delilah" continues to enjoy considerable air time, will appear on July 11, while the French slammer Grand Corps Malade will bring the series to a poetic conclusion on July 13.
Furthermore, a barrage of general audience events will take place, alternating with performances by musicians from the world over, including:
Argentina: Orquesta Tipica Imperial
Benin: Angélique Kidjo, winner of a 2008 Grammy award for best world music album
Brazil: Cyro Baptista & Beat the Donkey
Canada: Genticorum, Alain-François, Bazirka, Zéphyr Artillerie, Juan Sebastian Larobina, Matching Keys, LaTourelle Orkestra, Magnolia, Ghislain Poirier, Rodéoscopique, PhoneTheMental, Romulo Larrea
Cape Verde: Mayra Andrade
Catalonia: Jaleo Real, Gertrudis
France: Bratsch, Las Ondas Marteles, René Lacaille (Réunion)
Jamaica/United States: The Wailers


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I found this cool application on a site in Vintage Village. Check it out - if it's been around forever - just let me think I've found some groovy new gadget!
Recent Posts
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Found Cool Application
Posted by Unknown
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Feature on Craft Magazine
Posted by Unknown
I am so excited!!! Rachel, a contributing writer at Craft: Magazine has blogged about my Studio Wall Redo posting on my blog. Thanks so much for the feature Rachel - I love the magazine and now I'm addicted to the blog.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Pics of My Shack
Posted by Unknown


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Nintendo Insider writes:
Despite petitions, rumours and swerving comments, Crystal Dynamics have seemingly struck the final nail in Wii U owners hopes of Tomb Raider being ported to the platform.
"I think something like the Wii U often asks you to do something unique, based on a unique interface so that's something as a gamer I love but it's something that you don't want to do half-heartedly as a developer."
That doesn't sound doubtful at all as far as being able to do it. It sounds more like they don't want to half-ass any potential gamepad functionality.
Hey Crystal Dynamics? I'm no expert but... off-TV play? It certainly wouldn't hurt the game.
port the game and use the Pro Controller...that's all they have to do. Its not required to use the Gamepad, so if its that hard to come up with something innovative.....then don't!
If it isn't Tomb Raider, then I wonder what Straight Right are already porting for Square Enix>
I'm seriously tired of this!
Developers don't have to do something special. they could design it around the pro controller. If you don't have one, then the could just hanger a blank screen and allow for off tv play.


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African Ancestry in Connecticut
The State of Connecticut has a long history, and one that is varied within the African-American community. African-American settlements and communities existed in Hartford, New Haven, and many other areas of the state.
Slave graves have been found in the Northeastern area of Connecticut, including Haddam, Putnam and other small communities. New London, CT has an extensive African-American community to this day, and has some of the oldest homes built and owned by African-Americans (the Hempstead Houses).
The trial of the Amistad captives, recently told in a major film release, was told primarily in Connecticut. The re-created Amistad ship is now operating as part of OpSail 2000 CT, and was built at Mystic Seaport in Mystic, Connecticut.
Norwich, Connecticut has
had importance to the African-American community of the state as well.
The Jail Hill community (see below article) included entrepreneurs, ministers
and many other prominent members of the community. Several homes within
Norwich have significant ties to the African-American community as well
as being part of the Underground Railroad which helped African-Americans
gain their freedom.
The Otis Library, located at 261 Main Street, Norwich, CT 06360 is a major resource for researching the history of Norwich and it's significant families. Extensive records also exist with the files of the City Clerk's office at Norwich City Hall, located at 100 Broadway, Norwich, CT 06360.
More information will be added relating to specific African-American
Norwich, CT - Jail Hill, Significant African-American neighborhood
In February of 1999, the CT State Historic Commission listed the neighborhood encompassing Fountain, Happy, John and Old Fountain streets as well as sections of School and Cedar streets on the National Register of Historic Places.
The designation marks the recognition of the Jail Hill community as one of the most significant black neighborhoods in the United States from the 1830's to the 1860's. "The black community of Jail Hill consisted of a number of individuals of importance in the struggle for abolition of slavery and educational opportunities for people of color" said Municipal Historian Dale Plummer.
To continue reading about Jail Hill click here: Jail Hill continued
Queries of Connecticut Room coming!
Questions or comments: Dianne M. Daniels
Copyright © 1999-2002 by AfriGeneas. All rights reserved.


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What most surprises Harvard Business School students once they arrive on campus and dive into classes?
The answer depends on whom you ask.
Tom Humphrey, a second-year MBA student who had worked for an online company in Australia, says he his first year at HBS was so intense he didn't read a single book or watch a single movie.
Bob Evans, a former McKinsey consultant in London, was how much more relaxed the competition was among classmates. "Coming from law school, everyone was just trying to beat the guy next to them, but it's so unlike that (at HBS)," he says.
Their reflections are captured by The Harbus, the student newspaper at the school, in a series of interviews with current MBA candidates called Cold Call.
Tom Humphrey, formerly worked for a tech company in Australia: "The biggest surprise for me was, you hear all the time about how intense it is, but looking back I didn't read a single book, or watch a single movie, I went to the cinema once. You end up sacrificing a lot of things sub-consciously without really noticing it, so my advice would be to find balance. Lock it in on the calendar to do those things, otherwise they won't get done.
Bob Evans, former McKinsey & Co. consultant: "For me, I expected everyone to be way more competitive in the academics. Coming from law school everyone was just trying to beat the guy next to them, but it's so unlike that. My piece of advice would be the sooner you realize the person sitting next to you is not someone you have to beat, but is just your mate, the better."
Chris Sumner, formerly senior director of business development for EMI Music in New York: "I think it's been better than what I expected – I came feeling quite skeptical, despite everyone who'd told me it would be an amazing time. I felt like I was leaving a lot, and was rather wedded to EMI and the music industry. But the last few weeks have changed my mind in that the people are genuinely awesome, really interesting, and a bit more diverse than I originally expected. I expected tons of people from finance, and while there are a lot of people from finance, they're pretty interesting finance people, and there are so many others who were doing more eclectic things.
"Secondly, I was quite skeptical of the speed at which you're meant to learn in this environment, and I think it's worked reasonably well. I've had some classes here where even though you don't know that much about the topic, you can certainly still have an informed debate, which is quite different from my undergraduate model of more in-depth study of a single bigger question."
Diane Chang, formerly with Google: "I didn't really expect how long it would feel like I had been here, having been here for literally seven seconds. The funny thing is how quickly you get used to your classmates. Like with your discussion group, everyone has certain habits that you think you already know. I didn't anticipate also how full-on it would be from the beginning, and to never have one minute to yourself, one minute of pause. You're always scrambling or late for something."


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Here we go again.
Another Dreamliner has caught fire and once again as investigators look for the cause, airlines around the world continue to fly their Boeing 787 planes.
(Read More: Tracking Dreamliners' every move inside the 787 Ops Center)
If this situation reminds you what happened with the Dreamliner and the first battery fire back in January, you are not alone. The situation is very similar.
Boeing and the 13 airlines that fly the 787 are not parking their planes while investigators in Britain search for the cause of the fire onboard an Ethiopian Airways Dreamliner.
Why? The answer is that Boeing and its customers have not seen enough evidence to suggest this type of fire could happen on other Dreamliners.


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* Congressman says Coast Guard in "death spiral"
* Big cutters patrol half the time with major gear out
* Coast Guard fleet one of world's oldest
By Ian Simpson
BALTIMORE, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Coast Guard is on thefront lines of national security, but it struggles to completeits missions with one of the world's oldest maritime fleets anda multibillion dollar replacement program years behind schedule.
The cash-strapped service operates with frequent breakdownsand obsolete gear in what one U.S. congressman has called a"death spiral," of too few ships and too many missions.
If forced to give up some of its many jobs patrolling U.S.waters, that could mean more cocaine and illegal immigrantsentering the United States, and fewer ships protecting boatersand fisheries and cleaning up oil spills, experts said.
More money from Congress to bring its $29 billionreplacement program up to date is unlikely, given thebelt-tightening U.S. budgetary environment.
"If you have limited resources for operations or for capitalassets, something has to give," U.S. Representative John Mica, aFlorida Republican and chairman of the House Transportation andInfrastructure Committee, told Reuters.
Signs of out-of-date gear were clear aboard the 270-foot(82-meter) cutter Tahoma, now hauled out of the water to undergoan 11-month makeover at Baltimore's Coast Guard yard.
A yard inspector, Lieutenant Commander Gary Hillman,scrambled to reach a control room through an engine spacecluttered by snaking hoses and cables and ringing to the soundof welding.
Dominating the gray-painted control room was a gleaming newpropulsion control system, which monitors the 25-year-oldcutter's engines as well as propellers' speed and pitch.
The computerized gear replaces a version dating from the1970s that constantly needed fine-tuning, especially when a bigwave smacked the Tahoma.
"It's like you had an Atari (analogue video game player)before and now you've got an Xbox," Hillman said.
The fuel purifier also is being replaced. It was so old thatparts were no longer available for it, he said.
Docked nearby was the Harriet Lane, another cutter built inthe 1980s and with a history of equipment trouble. In one case,a broken gear on its anchor windlass was so old that a new parthad to be custom built, causing a six-week delay.
Admiral Robert Papp, the Coast Guard commandant, toldCongress in March that equipment breakdowns in the 77-vesselfleet were so common that the biggest cutters go to sea morethan half the time with major gear out of order.
The Coast Guard's 11 missions range from busting drugsmugglers to icebreaking. In the last fiscal year, it carriedout 20,000 search-and-rescue missions, seized 75 tons (tonnes)of cocaine, detained almost 200 smugglers and conducted morethan 10,000 vessel inspections.
The burden falls mostly on the fleet of 378-foot (115-meter)high-endurance cutters, 270- and 210-foot (82- and 64-meter)medium-endurance cutters, and 110-foot (33.5-meter) patrolboats. Some may be twice the age of the sailors on board. Theservice also operates about 1,400 boats under 65-feet(20-meters) long.
At average ages of about 43 and 23 years, respectively, thehigh-endurance cutters and patrol boats are three years past theends of their estimated service lives, according a report by theGeneral Accountability Office, the investigative arm ofCongress, released this summer.
The mid-sized cutters also are fast nearing the ends oftheir estimated service lives.
In fiscal year 2011, the fleet fell about 40,000 hours, or23 percent, short of its benchmark for operating without majorequipment problems, the GAO said.
The number of hours the biggest cutters spent on druginterdiction fell by almost two-thirds from fiscal years 2007 to2010, mostly because of equipment breakdowns.
The fleet "is in overall poor condition and is generallydeclining," the GAO said.
The shortfall in operating hours would "likely result inmore cocaine and illegal migrants reaching U.S. shores and adecreased capability to protect U.S. waters and fish stocks fromthe encroachment of foreign fishing vessels," it said.
Representative Frank LoBiondo, a New Jersey Republican andhead of a House subcommittee on the Coast Guard and marinetransport, told a hearing last month the service was caught in a"death spiral" of too few ships and too many missions.
Rear Admiral Ronald Rabago, the head of engineering,responded that individual ships were meeting performance goals,but added: "It is true that in the aggregate our fleet is notachieving those objectives, those targets."
Captain Scott Buschman, the Coast Guard's deputy assistantcommandant for capability, knows the ships' weaknessesfirsthand. While he was chief of staff for the southeasternUnited States and Caribbean district in 2010, 10 of the 12cutters sent to help after the Haitian earthquake sufferedserious equipment failures.
"We can never do everything that people ask us to do," hesaid.
The Department of Homeland Security rejected a GAOrecommendation this summer that the Coast Guard reduce itsoverall benchmark for operating hours without major breakdowns.The target has remained unchanged for at least eight yearsdespite the maintenance headaches.
To deal with equipment problems, the Coast Guard hasstreamlined maintenance operations and is nearing the end of a10-year, $453 million program to refurbish some patrol boats andupgrade mid-sized cutters until new ships come on duty.
But a new fleet is barely on the horizon despite arecapitalization plan for ships and aircraft the Coast Guard hasestimated could reach $29.3 billion, a forecast price that is up$5 billion in the past five years.
The Coast Guard received only three of four new cutters inthe biggest class by the target date of the end of 2011. Thelast of the six planned might not arrive until 2020, the GAOreported.
The new mid-sized cutters have a final delivery date of 2034- 13 years late. The last of the patrol boats will not arriveuntil 2021, five years overdue, the GAO said.
The GAO last year blamed the rising price on scheduleslippage and cost overruns, such as an extra $1 billion forshore facilities and spare parts for fast response cutters,which will replace the patrol boats.
The Coast Guard also was rapped by the Department ofHomeland Security's inspector general in August for rushingconstruction and purchase of 12 fast-response cutters beforethey had been thoroughly tested.
Six boats under construction then had to be rebuilt,resulting in 270 days delay for each one.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Daniel Trotta and JackieFrank)
Keywords: USA COASTGUARD/


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Clefairy Tales (ピッピVSプリン Clefairy VS Jigglypuff) is the 62nd episode of Pokémon: Indigo League.
After chasing down a Clefairy, the heroes notice their bags are missing. Furthermore, people in town have their stuff missing as well. A scientist named Oswald has a theory that aliens are taking the stuff. After Team Rocket's failed attempt to capture Pikachu, a Clefairy takes it to power their spaceship up. However, the Clefairy's rival, Jigglypuff, appears and battles each and every one of Clefairy.
Episode plot
At night, a Jigglypuff is strolling casually through a forest. In its wake, a Pidgey and a Caterpie fall from the trees, both of whom are drawn upon by Jigglypuff. As Jigglypuff puts the cap back on her marker, a kettle suddenly falls and hits her on the head. Rubbing her head, Jigglypuff notices a strange blue light trailing across the sky. She heads to the crash site, and the object opens up to reveal several Clefairy. Meanwhile, Ash and his friends enjoy some ice-cream on their break, as a Clefairy eagerly walks up to them. Misty attempts to capture it, leaving Brock and Ash no other alternative but to follow her. As they leave the table, their bags and ice-cream cones are stolen.
Later, Misty remarks that the Clefairy was able to elude her, as Brock returns to the table and notices that their bags are missing. They resolve themselves to go to Officer Jenny and report the theft, but are surprised to find a large crowd of similarly distressed people flocking around the police station. Brock wonders why such unusual items were stolen, to which a scientist named Oswald proclaims the thieves to be aliens. After showing a book of alien spacecraft to Ash and his friends, one of the townspeople explains that he saw one of the machines three nights ago in the forest. This statement is reinforced by Officer Jenny, who reports that the thefts have been going on for approximately three days.
Ash, Misty and Brock follow Oswald, whose use of a tracking device brings them to a giant flying saucer. It lands before them, and two occupants step out. They make off with Pikachu, and reveal themselves to be Team Rocket in disguise. Ash and his friends realize they have been tricked, and he uses his Pidgeotto to cut the cable hoisting the saucer up. Team Rocket recite their motto, as a Clefairy appears before them. Oswald's tracking device goes haywire, fuelling his suspicions that Clefairy is an alien. Whilst Oswald breaks down over his destroyed scanner, Clefairy makes off with Pikachu. Team Rocket attempt to pursue it, but are stopped in their tracks by its Reflect.
Ash and his friends pursue it, only to find themselves facing a dead-end. Jigglypuff uncovers that she went into a manhole, and proceeds to jump in, with Ash and the others following it. As they land deep underground, the group finds themselves faced with the spaceship. Oswald speculates that the Clefairy built the craft, to which Brock realizes that they were the ones who stole the items as parts for the ship. Ash notices one of the Clefairy carrying Pikachu, to which Oswald believes that they will use its electrical capabilities to power their ship. Ash refuses to let this happen, as the timer begins counting down slowly.
Team Rocket are also inside the cavern, and formulate a plan not only to capture Pikachu, but also the entire fleet of Clefairy. In the spaceship, Ash finds Pikachu encased inside a glass chamber, but is guarded by several Clefairy. They refuse to hand Pikachu over, as Jigglypuff intervenes, fighting all of the Clefairy at once. Jigglypuff and Oswald head to the control room, where it once again begins fighting with the Clefairy. The two are evenly matched, but the battle is stopped when Oswald accidentally breaks the joystick at the controls. Jigglypuff snatches the broken "joystick" out of his hand, and begins singing a lullaby. Predictably, this causes everyone to fall asleep, and Jigglypuff draws on them in frustration.
Suddenly, the spaceship then begins launch procedures, as Pikachu's electricity powers it. Meanwhile, Brock is having a hard time convincing Officer Jenny of the events. The spaceship moves through the vicinity, as several of the stolen items are returned. It takes flight, and Jessie and James attempt to escape from the spaceship just as it begins to detach its compartments. Team Rocket then fall back down to Earth. Pikachu manages to shatter the glass with its electricity, as Ash and his friends discover their bags nearby. They attempt to flee the failing spacecraft, but they are up too high. Ash instead uses his Bulbasaur to wrap its Vine Whip around a nearby skyscraper, pulling them to safety.
The spaceship heads off into the distance, with Oswald and the Clefairy still on board. Ash and Misty both believe that they are going on a grand adventure. However, the spaceship crash lands not too far away, and Oswald frightens off several passersby, as the Clefairy run amok once again. Officer Jenny thanks Ash and his friends for solving the mystery, as they walk off into the distance. Jigglypuff proceeds to follow them as they head to the Pokémon League.
- "We've lost our window of opportunity!" - James, after running into Clefairy's Light Screen
- "Is this the planet of the Clefairy?" - Oswald
- The English dub title of this episode "Clefairy Tales", is a pun based upon fairy tales.
- When Team Rocket (disguised as aliens) make off with Ash's Pikachu, they repeat the mantra "Nomekop", which happens to be the reverse of Pokémon.
- The "Who's that Pokémon?" in this episode is Arcanine.
- Brock's bagpack was nowhere to be seen when Ash and Misty jump out of the spaceship.
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