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In my initial post on the myths of Easter Island I discussed the conclusions in archaeologists Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt's new book 'The Statues That Walked', which demolished the idea – popularised by Jared Diamond in his book 'Collapse' – that Easter Island's prehistoric society suffered some kind of ecologically-driven collapse which offers a parable for our modern-day environmental problems. Jared Diamond then sent over a robust response, which I published in full. Now Lipo and Hunt in turn respond to Diamond, which I am happy also to publish in full below.
By Carl Lipo and Terry Hunt
We are hardly surprised that Jared Diamond would write that we are "transparently wrong" about Easter Island. He has a vested interest in defending his "ecocide" storyline published back in 1995 in Discover Magazine and again in his bestselling book Collapse. We acknowledge that Diamond has much at stake here. But so do the Easter Islanders. So too does the field of archeology. And so too does the truth.
Diamond's thesis about what happened on Easter Island is not new, building as it did on presumptions originally offered by the first Europeans to set foot on the island in the early 18th century. Sadly, this thesis was not challenged because it so conveniently confirmed 18th century prejudice about superior (European) and inferior (everyone not European) societies. Thor Heyerdahl expanded the story and added a further racist twist about lighter-skinned people who accomplished much, and darker-skinned people who incited rebellion, warfare, and ruin. Diamond simply continues the tradition by reworking the tale to remove the racist elements, relying instead upon an environmental twist put forth by popular writer Bahn and palynologist Flenley.
An important role of scholarship is to examine long-held myths and see if they hold up under modern scientific tests. The original Easter Island thesis, in any of its iterations, including Diamond's, does not. Let us point out that we didn't go to Easter Island to tear down Diamond's thesis. We went there to support it by filling in the missing archeological data. It was only when we convinced ourselves that any iteration of that original story, including Diamond's, had no archeological evidence to support it and much to contract it that we began to see where the research was leading us.
It is also important to note that Diamond is not an archaeologist and has not done archaeological or palaeoecological research in Polynesia. We have been doing research and primary archaeological field work on Easter since 2000. One of us (TH) has worked in Pacific Island archaeology for nearly 40 years and taught at University of Hawaii for 23 years. On Easter Island we have done more field work and covered a greater breadth of archaeology than anyone else in the past two decades. Our work has been peer-reviewed and published in science's most selective and prestigious journals. We outline in detail the evidence from our work and that of scores of colleagues working on the island in our book The Statues that Walked. Diamond would have readers believe that the majority of archeologists who have studied Easter Island support his thesis. It is simply not true. The new evidence that we and other serious scholars have provided over the past decade not only contradicts the old story that Diamond has so heavily invested in, but has led to a new consensus among the majority of scholars around our work.
Now, let us deal with the four or five major points of contention.
Everyone agrees that Easter Island was almost completely deforested by the time Europeans first visited in 1722. The key issue is causation. In the absence of evidence to refute the facts we lay out, Diamond chooses either to ignore or misrepresent what we do argue. We never argued that rats were the sole cause of deforestation. As the evidence shows and as we argued in our book, deforestation was a cumulative process that took centuries. It resulted from rat predation of seeds and from people using fire to clear vegetation for agriculture.
To defend his position that rats played no significant role in deforestation, Diamond cites a study by Mieth and Bork. Setting aside the fact that even if only a fraction of palm nuts were destroyed by rats, the cumulative effect would have been significant, let's examine this study on its merits.
We were well aware of the work of Mieth and Bork as we did our work. But we were also aware of the fact (which Diamond fails to point out) that Mieth and Bork based their claim on nut fragments, not whole nuts. Before we rejected this study, we took the time to experiment ourselves with 25 modern rat-gnawed palm nuts from mainland Chile that we broke into fragments of the sizes resembling those reported by Mieth and Bork. This sample of 100% whole rat-gnawed nuts–when broken and then counted by their fragments–became a much, much smaller percentage. This shows the problem using Mieth and Bork whose estimate of 10% rat gnawed fragments implies that most nuts (if they were counted whole) were actually gnawed by rats.
Indeed, there is an extensive scientific literature on the impact of rats in island ecosystems that Diamond is either unaware of or simply doesn't want readers to know about, such as those from Lord Howe Island, where ecologists point out that without massive programs of rat eradication, the native palms on the island will go extinct. And rats have been on Lord Howe only since 1918, when a steamship ran aground! Diamond himself, in his own writing, has referred to rats as "agents of extermination" (Diamond 1985).
Bottom line: Diamond needs to explain how, in the absence of predators and with an almost unlimited supply of food, the rat population would have remained small and had no impact on native plants and animals.
Next, Diamond makes the argument that even if rats could do this type of damage, the particular type of trees on Easter Island were not vulnerable to rats. The facts are as follows: Of the 17 major woody species identified from charcoal found in ancient cooking fires, 14 are documented to have seen major rat impacts elsewhere, or to be edible and highly vulnerable. Furthermore, because the Jubaea palms were slow growing and did not fruit until about 70 years of age, they were particularly vulnerable. Some fraction of new palms would grow, but not enough to replace an entire forest over time. Older trees would die, many were lost to fire, and in the end it was a losing battle; not enough young seedlings made it to reproductive age.
As for Diamond's notion that palms were not diminished by rats, but taken down the islanders for rollers to move statues or to carve into canoes, enabling deep-sea fishing, anyone who has seen a palm tree cross-section with its thin, brittle bark and soft fibrous interior would quickly recognize these would not be suitable. Nor frankly would they have been capable of supporting the weight of multi-ton statues as rollers.
As for his allegation that palms were an important part of the islanders' subsistence, there is overwhelming evidence that the islanders didn't think so. As we document in The Statues That Walked on research conducted by Joan Wozniak (2003), Chris Stevenson (Stevenson et al 2002, 2006; Ladefoged et al. 2005, 2010) and Hans-Rudolf (Bork et al. 2004) lithic mulch gardens, along with stone-walled gardens known locally as manavai, provided the basis for the islander's subsistence soon after the island was settled. Palms provided no direct, long-term benefit so their loss had few if any consequences.
Chronology—When exactly was the island colonized?
One of our most important findings was excavation and radiocarbon dating to establish the date of settlement as 300-800 years later than Diamond's thesis requires. Diamond insists on missing evidence to argue for a longer chronology. His argument asks us to accept on faith the notion that "the evidence must be there, we just can't find it." That wouldn't stand up in court, and it certainly doesn't stand up in science. Until such time as serious scientists prove otherwise, there are no reliable radiocarbon dates that support settlement of Easter Island before 1200 A.D. (Hunt and Lipo 2006). To argue otherwise ignores more than 2,000 radiocarbon dates from multiple archipelagos that provide overwhelming evidence that all of the eastern Pacific Islands were settled only over the past thousand years (Rieth et al 2011;Wilmshurst et al 2011), with Easter settled around 1200 A.D. Even the most skeptical archaeologists working in the Pacific are now quibbling about chronological differences of only 50 to 100 years, not several centuries as Diamond imagines.
Statue Transport—Did the states move horizontally or vertically?
Diamond's thesis hangs on the need for logs to "roll" the statues from the quarries to their final destinations. In support of his thesis, he asks the reader to "imagine it yourself." Surely, he implies, it would be crazy to move a multi-ton statue in a standing position. And if all you are solely relying upon is your own imagination, it may sound like a scary proposition. But that's not reason enough to declare some past event as impossible.
But readers need to keep in mind that Diamond's collapse thesis relies heavily on how the statues were moved. To sustain his thesis regarding the eventual "collapse" of the ancient society, he needs statue movement to be the "engine" that caused the loss of trees. Decouple the loss of trees from moving statues and the "collapse" story looses steam. Thus, we are not surprised that Diamond holds so tenaciously to old beliefs and discredited claims.
But one has to wonder if Diamond has read The Statues that Walked. In the book we discuss how fallen statue positions, kinds of breakage, statue shapes with a forward center of mass, as well as statue modifications made between quarry and placement on platforms can only be explained by vertical movement. As archaeologist and colleague on the island Sergio Rapu (who has studied statues his whole life and has a M.A. degree in archaeology) taught us, the statues were "engineered to move." Oral traditions have long insisted that they "walked." And while some have shown that it is possible to move a statue horizontally on a contraption of logs, (as Diamond posits they were moved) such a method completely ignores the direct and unambiguous evidence provided by the statues themselves.
But there is much better news awaiting readers who might want "to imagine it" themselves. In recent experiments funded by National Geographic and fully filmed, we "walked" a multi-ton replica of an actual statue (one found along an ancient transport road). Moving a statue in a standing position is not only possible; it's relatively easy and can be done with a small group of people using only ropes. Our experiment will be highlighted in a forthcoming NOVA-National Geographic television special to be broadcast on PBS in the spring of 2012. Then the rest of the world will see what we have seen—the statues of Easter Island walking upright! Stay tuned!
Collapse only after European Contact
Again Diamond makes an appeal to authority in lieu of reference to evidence. He mistakenly says we relied on only one source (Peiser, who does not even appear in our book's bibliography—again, did he read our book?) who, he points out, has not done any work on the island. Let us also note once again that Diamond has not conducted any field work on the island. Nor to our knowledge has one of Diamond's proclaimed "leading experts," Paul Bahn, done any field studies on the island.
As we show in The Statues that Walked, rather than repeat assumptions and claims made in the past, we sought direct evidence with no preconceived ideas we needed to defend. In that frame of mind, what the evidence kept pointing to is that many of the "facts" offered up by so-called "experts" were simply claims repeated over and over and nothing more. The island was certainly transformed over the course of human history (including the dramatic impact of more than 100 years of sheep ranching once the Chileans took control of the island.). But what is Diamond's evidence that prehistoric loss of the forest led to cultural and demographic collapse? There is none other than the assumption that losing trees is bad for people living on this island. Is there evidence of soil erosion? Yes, but it shows re-deposited soils were successfully cultivated. In addition, radiocarbon dating and modern observations show that the most dramatic soil erosion occurred in post-contact and modern times (i.e., largely the results of sheep ranching). Would the loss of trees have resulted in a critical shortfall of food and/or necessary materials? The answer is a resounding "no." Could the palm tree have provided a vital food source for people in the form of nuts? Yes, however, the introduction of tree-dwelling rats meant that these pests would have consumed most of the nuts first.
Diamond repeats a number of traditional notions about the island's history. In particular, he cites "evidence of widespread warfare" based on "oral accounts and preserved weapons and skeletal injuries." Let's examine this so-called evidence. First, oral traditions were collected in the 20th century, almost 200 years after European contact. Alfred Metraux, an anthropologist who studied the islanders' oral traditions, concluded that they were most likely of very recent origin (Metraux 1940). Katherine Routledge, who worked on the island in the early 20th century, also describes how unreliable and contradictory she found the oral traditions. Our work does not draw upon oral traditions, given their uneven and unknown reliability. Some traditions may well be consistent with what actually happened in the past. In other cases they may not. It is impossible to evaluate them on their own merits and independent lines of evidence are necessary (e.g., statues "walking" had to be evaluated in terms of evidence beyond just oral traditions).
Diamond's "preserved weapons," the mata'a, are agricultural tools that he has chosen to describe as "weapons." Their design alone, a rounded to irregular shape, should have been enough to make him question their purpose. But if he had read the microscopic studies reporting edge damage on thousands of these artifacts, he would have seen that the damage they show is consistent with their role in cutting and scrapping plant material (e.g., Church and Ellis 1994). Indeed, our field studies show that they are found in the greatest concentrations in the lithic mulch gardening areas, right where one would expect to find them. And the island has no fortifications, such as those we see on other Polynesian islands where warfare was frequent.
Diamond points to evidence of violence in human skeletal remains. However, the published data reveal there are only two cases in which violence appears to have resulted in death, and one of these was an individual who suffered a bullet wound to the head. The skeletal evidence shows injuries and as we explain in The Statues that Walked, the ancient islanders engaged in some conflicts with one another. But as we outline in our book, statues were a focus of competitive signaling that staved off lethal violence.
Finally, Diamond ignores field research reporting dated domestic habitation sites (see Hunt and Lipo 2009 for discussion). When the habitations are plotted in fifty-year intervals, the number of those occupied clearly shows that the first and only sustained decline, as a relative measure of the population, began only in the first interval following European contact. Before contact the data show a population that is growing and stabilizing, as reflected in their habitations across the landscape. There is no evidence of population decline, let alone "collapse" until after European contact. Indeed, there is direct, abundant evidence that population numbers grew, stabilized, and then fell only after 1722.
The Lesson of Easter Island
Rather than address the evidence, Diamond attempts to deride our work by claiming that the people on the dust jacket are not experts in the field. Diamond is certainly no expert in the field of Easter Island archaeology, regardless of his popularity. The individuals who commented on our book are experts in the areas of human and environmental change, including extensive research in the Pacific Islands. These well-qualified, highly respected individuals know how science works and are directly engaged in research on ecology, evolution, and environmental change. Lacking quotes by "experts" who we have necessarily challenged in our research (perhaps such as Diamond?) is certainly no reason for suspicion. The truth of the matter rests in the hands of the reader and the factual evidence outlined in The Statues that Walked.
There are those such as popular writer Paul Bahn and and palynologist John Flenley who continue to push the old doomsday, "ecocide" scenario. But recent work has shown the central significance of lithic mulch (e.g., Bork et al. 2004; Stevenson et al. 2005; Ladefoged et al. 2010; Wozniak 1999, 2003), the lack of evidence for an 1680 AD "Collapse" event (e.g., Mulrooney et al. 2009, Lipo and Hunt 2009), that mata'a are not developed weapons (Church and Rigney 1994; Church and Ellis 1995), the lack of structural integrity of palms to serve as rollers or use as canoes (e.g., Bork and Meith 2003), the lack of evidence for cannibalism (e.g., McLaughlin 2005), the shorter chronology for colonization not just for Easter, but for the entire eastern Pacific (e.g., Kennett et al. 2006; Reith et al. 2011; Wilmshurst et al. 2008, 2011), the devastating effects that rats have on island environments (e.g., Athens 2009), details about the impact that Europeans had on historic populations (e.g., Fischer 2005), direct evidence about statue transport based on analysis of moai roads (e.g., Lipo and Hunt 2005; Love 2001), the inherently nutrient poor state of soil on Rapa Nui (e.g., Ladefoged 2005) and more. These new findings point to the growing body of evidence that falsifies the basic claims made in favor of "ecocide." And based on this evidence, the majority of archaeologists working on Easter and elsewhere in Polynesia now reject the notion that the island suffered a pre-European collapse.
Our work in The Statues that Walked brings a wide range of current research into focus and combines more than a decade of our own field and related Easter Island research to form a coherent picture that is the basis of a new scientific consensus. Easter Island was a story of remarkable success. And as young Native Islanders have told us, knowledge of their ancestors' success, not failure, matters greatly to them. The "collapse" story for Easter Island is a convenient and popular parable used for shocking the public about the dangers of over-exuberance and environmental disregard. However, as we describe in our book, the island's collapse came only with the germs, guns, and enslavement brought by the outside world. Given what is at stake in terms of lessons to be learned about long-term survival on an isolated and resource poor location, the truth matters. Indeed, we have much to learn from Easter Island.
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32 Comments
Well, it will be hard to reconciliate the opposite views ! Anyway, I don't really understand why the destiny of a small island, without any cognitive and commercial exchange for centuries, would give a lesson or even a pertinent parabole for our globalized industrial civilization. Agrarian (premodern) societies rely on farm productivity relative to demography, and it's a truism to observe its strong dependency to environmental conditions for livestocks and harvests. In an industrialized world, farmers represent 1 to 5% of population and GDP, technologies are the main drivers of productivity (in agriculture and elsewhere), global trade rules out dangerous autarcy, science, history, evidence-based policy and information systems feed a strong self-observation and self-reflection…↓
"In an industrialized world, farmers represent 1 to 5% of population and GDP, technologies are the main drivers of productivity (in agriculture and elsewhere), global trade rules out dangerous autarcy, science, history, evidence-based policy and information systems feed a strong self-observation and self-reflection…"
Skept, it may be true that farmers only make up 1 to 5% of the population, but 100% of the population is dependent on farmers. What would be the point in working in technological fields if there were no food to eat? Maybe we'll eat iPhones?
I watched the whole boring show, & while a little interesting, it was all about themselves "discovering" the way it happened. There was a fleeting mention that it was actually discussed & published by another person before themselves.
The other thing I found interesting … they couldn't actually get the statues to move until one of the guys helping on the ropes came up with the third rope idea ( guy in a blue t-shirt ) after the idea worked there were no accolades for him coming up with the solution, only pats on the back for themselves !
Ah well, the price of glory eh !
And that Ladies and Gentlemen, is how you craft a fine rebuttal.↓
Well I'm convinced..
… but the 'ecocide' myth will endure because so many people want it to, because it fits into their worldview↓
I think there should be room for mutual respect but these guys leave none. That's a big turn off.
But it is true that theindigenouss populations suffered when the New World was discovered by the Europeans.
It is also true that civilizations have collapsed because they ran out of resources.
So this argument seems to be a tempest in a teapot to me.↓
As an outsider, but an experienced archaeologist, I'd like to make a brief comment. I can't help but compare the archaeology of Easter Island with that of Stonehenge.
My relationship to the former is that of a tourist and an avid lifetime reader, while my knowledge of the latter is more intimate – I have excavated there, and spent much time over the years working with archives from the excavations of others. At Stonehenge, there is no question that most excavations were poorly conducted and poorly recorded (if at all). Consequently great care is needed in their interpretation, and even observations made by the excavators themselves need to be treated with informed scepticism and a strong spirit of inquiry.
Resorts to authority in the Rapa Nui debate worry me – not least statements such as Diamond's "Hunt's and Lipo's conclusions are considered transparently wrong by essentially all other archaeologists with active programs on Easter Island", or his reliance on "leading experts" or "a century of previous extensive archaeological research by many scholars".
I would not wish to rely on many of the excavations on Easter Island I can read about (and those I can't had been better not done). Like those at Stonehenge, they are often poorly described, the stratigraphies look unconvincing and the trenches were too small. The contexts of radiocarbon samples, so critical in building reliable chronologies, are rarely properly described (Hunt & Lipo's rejection of so many dates instinctively feels right – we went through the same process at Stonehenge). And why on earth is there still no properly published, peer reviewed survey of the statues? Why no major modern excavations at the quarries, surely the first thing we need if we are to understand the chronology and technology of statue building?
Where Hunt and Lipo really succeed, I suggest, is in putting together an alternative history of Easter Island that is at least as convincing as any other (and, I'll admit, one that I warm to). Given the state of archaeology on the island, it makes sense to treat their history, and the version favoured by Bahn, Diamond and the others, and anything else we might come up with, as hypotheses that need testing – with new, good archaeological fieldwork – not resolved choices.↓
What Menth wrote.↓
The second paragraph's "See, Jared stopped beating his wife" accusation of racist *reasoning* is gobsmackingly over-the-top. It makes me question all of their other assertions.↓
To me it seemed as if you (Mark) were defending Hunt and Lipo's use of Benny Peiser as a reliable source. If I know someone is telling deliberate lies (as opposed to being mistaken) in one aspect of science then I have zero confidence in anything else they say and zero confidence in anyone who cites such a person. Especially if the cite is to propound a controversial position related to the known lies.↓
Reading both arguments side by side Jared's appears more convincing. The Easter Islanders played a significant role in their ecological collapse. European arrival was secondary to an already reduced environment.↓
It seems to me, given that the story of Easter Island has come so powerfully to demonstrate the currently ongoing human folly, that defenders of the status quo would arise and try to debunk it.
I don't buy it.
As for the rats, it seems that both rats and humans would be the guilty parties here, but that just kicks the problem down the road. The question of why these humans were unable to turn around when they saw the human-caused progressive devastation of their island home, is the same as asking, why these humans were unable to turn around when they saw the devastation being caused by themselves and the rats, together.
Why would the rats be relatively contained? Because they were avidly hunted for the meat. Hunt et al say the rats had no predators. Of course they did — humans.
And I agree, the whole "racist passage" is ugly.↓
I've found this very interesting, and plan on reading the book for further information. I do have a few questions that I hope the book answers.
The authors say there is overwhelming evidence that the islanders didn't require the palm nuts, and the trees didn't provide any long term benefit to the people, because they had the lithic mulch agriculture and too much competition from the rats to gather the nuts. I find it hard to believe that people would get no net benefit from an additional food source no matter how productive their other agriculture. Wouldn't the rats be just as much a threat to the food they were growing?
I'm not an agriculture expert, but it seems that using slash and burn techniques on a fully forested area would provide more nutrients to the soil and a better growing season versus burning simple grassland. That alone seems a compelling reason that the loss of trees had a substantial negative impact to the people living there.
If burning the trees didn't have a major impact in their grown food supply, why would they burn them? Without crop rotation and other advanced farming techniques, the loss of trees seems to directly lead to a loss of food, leading to an unsustainable population level.
The evidence unearthed shows that the population didn't collapse until after European contact. But it seems at least plausible, and European accounts support the idea, that the contact coincided with the last of the trees being destroyed. Basically, I'm not convinced that ecocide wasn't at least an equal factor in the islands decline. I look forward to reading the book to see if it convinces me.↓
The discussion here leaves me more convinced of Diamond's viewpoint, rather than less. I explain why:
Your arguments, even in retrospect, all boil down to: because we say so (experts!), and because we couldn't do it (roll a 90 ton statue).
By itself, said arguments are weak.
As a side channel attack in support of AGW, completely reprehensible.
Sir, your agenda is showing.
My take from Jared Diamond's book was that unsustainable consumption is unsustainable and we need to accept that reality or our species faces collapse
The debate about what happened on Easter Island is interesting but if it turns out that their collapse wasn't due to unsustainable consumption that really doesn't change anything
We only need to look at the collapse of the worlds fishing industry for another example of where unsustainable harvesting will take us↓
as Eli (and many, many others have said) Benny Peiser is not to be trusted. You have yet to explain why you gave such creedence to Peiser as a source. (You did this here).
I repeat that if I know someone is telling lies in one area of science then I have no confidence in anything else they say. Why is that you think differently?↓
There are two ways of walking a refrigerator. In the first you lever it up with one point on the ground and then shove the part in the air forward. The real issue here is why did the forests disappear, people or rats. More to the point were both necessary but insufficient by themselves. The statue moving thing is just a sideshow
Pretty clear how you could roll the things downhill on their backs, but how do you do it standing up? (note the bit about uneven terrain, that means you are moving the damn things UPHILL for a fair and gut busting amount of time. While Eli has no experience moving 90 tons, the bunny has maneuvered a whole bunch of a ton like optical tables and without rolling it ain't a whole lot of fun.)
So to move these things standing up you need strong ropes which you can get from palms (or other trees), and some sort of grease to put under the narrow base and a smooth road of some sort. Since there were not large animals on the island that throws you back on palm oil, or maybe oil from porpoises/wales. To get the sea creatures you need boats, which means wood and ropes to build ships. Otoh rounding logs with obsiden tools is not a walk in the park either.
What is comes down to is both Diamond and Hunt and Lupo say that the civilization had to collapse when the palm and other trees disappeared, and that appears to have happened ~ 1400.
Where they disagree is why the palms disappeared. Diamond has a strong point that other islands with palms were not deforested. If the island were overpopulated, the stress on the forests from farming and fishing (to build boats) would have been immense without any pressure from log rolling anyhow, the rats would have been another source of pressure, and either the need for logs/rope to move the statues would have been a third.↓
"…anyone who has seen a palm tree cross-section with its thin, brittle bark and soft fibrous interior would quickly recognize these would not be suitable. Nor frankly would they have been capable of supporting the weight of multi-ton statues as rollers."
"Coconut timber is a hardwood-substitute from coconut palm trees. It is referred to in the Philippines as Coconut Lumber, or Coco Lumber. It is a new timber resource that comes from plantation crops and offers an alternative to rainforest timber."↓
It's getting difficult to see the wood for the palm trees here….
I suppose one obvious question to ask both parties is: "were canoes required for fishing, and if so, what were they constructed from?"
Cheers – John↓
"Furthermore, because the Jubaea palms were slow growing and did not fruit until about 70 years of age, they were particularly vulnerable. "
"Paschalococos disperta (Rapa Nui Palm or Easter Island Palm), formerly Jubaea disperta, was the native cocoid palm species of Easter Island. It disappeared from the pollen record circa 1650 AD. It is not known whether the species is distinct from Jubaea, but there is no evidence that it was Jubaea either, …"↓
Steve Bloom has pointed out elsewhere that sled were probably more likely than rollers, using palm leaves under the runners to grease the way. That looks like more of a winner than either fridges or rollers.↓
I love this! This is how science works. I'm going to read the book (Lipo and Hunt) and run the whole thing past a former archaeology professor.
People's opinions, for the most part, don't matter–it's the data; which in this case is open to quite a bit of interpretation–and therein lies the dilemma.
It is true that Diamond is not an archaeologist, but he seems qualified to synthesize data, but I cannot deny that L&H have made a good case for their argument. I do think they are a bit strident in their criticism of Diamond and would do better to stick to the facts.↓
Apparently Hunt & Lipo are misdescribing Mieth & Bork's "% of palm nuts gnawed by rats" research.
H&L say above that
"…we were also aware of the fact (which Diamond fails to point out) that Mieth and Bork based their claim on nut fragments, not whole nuts. … the problem using Mieth and Bork …[is that their] estimate of 10% rat gnawed fragments implies that most nuts (if they were counted whole) were actually gnawed by rats."
But when I asked Mieth about this claim in email, he replied ""The phrase in our paper (Mieth and Bork 2010, Journal of Archaeological Science, page 423) is very clear: 'Among more than 200 COMPLETELY preserved and charred nutshells …. less than 10 % had the teeth marks of rats.'
It is NOT less than 10 % of nut fragments. It is less than 10 % counted for whole nuts!"↓
Oops! They didn't need palm trees to build canoes for fishing, they used reed rafts using the Totora that grew in the Ranu Raraku crater and can we stop using the tired old argument that Heyerdahl claimed South American contact by a race of blonde supermen. That particular furphy was applied to 'American Indians in the Pacific' by his opponents. Kon Tiki was a splendid 'boys own' telling of an exciting tale of the raft voyage. It was not the basis for his ethnographic theories.↓
"Let us point out that we didn't go to Easter Island to tear down Diamond's thesis. We went there to support it by filling in the missing archeological data."
Of all the claims you make here, this one strikes me as the least plausible. I don't have to dig far for evidence — you go on to explain the idea you were trying to support has racist origins, call it "the old doomsday, "ecocide" scenario", fret that it is "a convenient and popular parable used for shocking the public about the dangers of over-exuberance and environmental disregard" — basically it comes across as "I went into this with an open mind — in fact, I was trying to prove that racist apocalyptic environazi-enabling alarmist scare story right!" You might as well just come out and admit you don't like environmentalists.
On a more substantive note, whether or not the Easter Islanders depended directly on the trees for food, I'm inclined to believe the consequences of deforestation were not good. I say this based on my sister's experience in Haiti, where deforestation and the resulting degradation of farmland and of watersheds are a major cause of the nation's poverty.↓
The issue that I have huge problems with is carbon dating. I am an electrician. I live my life with logic. There is no logic in any of these theories. The easiest place to debunk the "modern man" theories are at the quarry. With all things being equal, explain to me the procedure of cutting the bottom loose of a multi-ton statue or obelisk from the bed rock. It is possible to cut the statue on three sides. It is impossible to cut the bottom loose. And there is never any evidence to show how it was done.↓
Not one inline citation in these comments. This demonstrates a passive willful ignorance IMHO.↓
So the statues can weigh up to 90 tons, from what I understand.
So, regarding the moving of the statues, has anyone tested to see how much 90 tons sinks into a dirt road compared to 5 tons? If the road is sufficiently packed and it hasn't rained a lot, it might not sink in a lot, but would they have packed the soil sufficiently to keep a 90 ton upright statue from sinking in too far into the earth to move?
As far as using logs as rollers to move 90 ton while it is laying down, you would need to have the rollers pretty much next to each other, as 90 tons will force a small number of log rollers into the ground so far that they won't roll.
On the other hand, it isn't necessary to use log rollers to move a large statue. You can lay it on it's side and roll it like a log by wrapping ropes around it so they come over the top side, and then pulling on the ropes from over the top to roll the statue. This is a standard way to roll steel beams in structural steel shops to work on all sides. I've seen a 100-ton steel beam rolled this way using an overhead crane. I've seen much smaller ones rotated similarly (and done it myself), just using a 4 foot lever, sometimes requiring more than one person. Using ropes to roll the statue you would need to keep the ropes close to the ends, otherwise it becomes a problem to re-wrap them to roll the statue appropriately.
As far as cutting the base of a standing statue loose from the rock mentioned by another commenter above, I would guess that's done the same way as cutting the sides of any big block of rock away from it's bed. You use a succession of holes with wedges pounded in and eventually the rock breaks. It's easier if you have wedges of some kind that you can swell with water.↓
There was no mention of the fact that much larger statues (a multiple of the previous ones) were created but not moved from the quarrying site, possibly because there were no resources left to move them. These are mentioned in Ronald Wright's 'A Brief History of Progress'.
Also mentioned in that book is that when Europeans arrived, they found only one or two people per statue (versus up to 10 for every statue, in their heyday), with Cook recording that the people were "small, lean, timid and miserable". When Hunt and Lipo say there is "no evidence" of decline before Europeans, then you know that they are being economical with the truth, rubbishing all the work of previous researchers. There might be some evidence for their views but there surely is no reason to discard everything before they started their own research.
Perhaps the reason is that they have a vested interest in supporting their published view. To chastise Diamond for having a vested interest in supporting his view, they would need to show that they do not have a similar vested interest. This they have not done.
Whatever the truth of the matter, Hunt and Lipo have not shown that they alone have uncovered it. In so far as providing a lesson for humanity as a whole, as someone else pointed out, there is no need for such a lesson, since the consequences of our own actions are as clear as day; unfortunately, (effectively) no-one is actually looking.↓
Deforestation AND the introduction of new species are both ecological disasters very well documented and commented in Mr Diamond's book. I see no reason for Diamond bashing here. As for the statues; what if some walked and others rolled.↓
The most gripping account from Aku Aku was of TH's traversing the tunnels below Easter Island. As these were evidently man made defense works, they are certainly indicative of serious and prolonged warfare, which is after all, the only way to keep island population under control. Population controlling epidemics are problems of continents and cities, not the most remote and isolated land on earth. Warfare tells us more about population vs. food supply than about absolute population, but the existence of long tunnels cut through rock requires as much labor as statue building. No matter how abundant the food supply, the population will outgrow it.
That's why Polynesians are big and strong. They didn't send the best to fight and die in far off wars, leaving the weak at home to breed. Only the best survived the regular battles at home. And only modern, wealthy, energy rich nations have shown a proclivity for preemptive population control. Diamond's preaching is naive in the extreme. –AGF↓


text:
The German national team won a nail-biter against Argentina on Sunday to take home the World Cup for the fourth time.
Here's how two Fortune global 500 companies based in Germany celebrated their team winning the month-long tournament. Tweet at @PRWeekUS to vote for the brand you think made the most of the German national team's World Cup win.
Last week, communications executives from Adidas, which also made the jersey for runner-up Argentina, told PRWeek how they were planning to take advantage of the brand's day in the spotlight.
Last week, PRWeek looked at some of the best real-time work from German automotive brands celebrating their team's historic blowout semi-final win over Brazil. Here's how they popped the champagne — make that opened a bottle of riesling — to celebrate on Sunday.
The 4th Star For #GER. pic.twitter.com/CRy4DQ4mcV
— Mercedes-Benz (@MercedesBenz) July 13, 2014
Now that's the power of German engineering! Congrats to #GER, the new champions! #VWGolfGTI http://t.co/YqPQC15GTs https://t.co/kvynAWzrLw
— Volkswagen USA (@VW) July 13, 2014

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Match your MAC address to its vendor.
Match a vendor to the MAC addresses it uses.
Search by vendor. For example: "apple" or "allied"
Search by MAC Address. For example: "00:13:A9" or "00-80-C7" or "000420"
If you want to lookup MAC address "08:00:69:02:01:FC":, enter first 6 characters "08:00:69", or full MAC address "08:00:69:02:01:FC".*** We're Back! After a long database update pause, updates are back. More changes coming to the Internet's oldest on-line MAC address database in the weeks to come. ***
Database last updated: July 10, 2013
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text:
A provision to deny compensation to a wrongfully convicted person if he or she had a previous felony or violent misdemeanor record does not have the support of Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine. In fact, his office will advocate against it. The measure was submitted by his staff but he did not see or approve the restriction. In a Columbus Dispatch article here, DeWine said, "This doesn't make sense to me."
Governor Kasich's spokesman said that the governor's office would not oppose removal of the proposal from the massive budget bill.
Thanks to Attorney General Mike DeWine and Ohio Governor John Kasich for their positions on the removal of this provision, and to Ohio Innocence Director Mark Godsey for speaking out forcefully against it, noting the difficulty exonerees often have in getting compensation for years spent in prison for crimes they did not commit, "It's too difficult as it is, " Godsey said. "There's only a few that have been able to do it."


text:
Doctors of Tomorrow
written by Alex Bainbridge at Monday, February 22, 2010
A special screening of the documentary by Tim Anderson about cooperation between Cuba and Timor Leste. It includes interviews with some of the 850 East Timorese students studying medicine with the Cubans in the biggest medical college on Earth. From 2010, these young people will begin to take control of their country's health system. Filmed in Timor Leste & Cuba.
7:30pm (following ACFS branch meeting at 6:30pm)
Monday 1 March
Perth Activist Centre (15/5 Aberdeen St, East Perth - next to McIver station)
Organised by Australia-Cuba Friendship Society
PO Box 1455, South Perth 6951
Email: email@example.com


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Good news for teenage job seekers: You don't really need a college degree to work at a Massachusetts McDonald's.
A report buzzing around the Internet Thursday claimed the McDonald's restaurant in Winchendon had posted an opening for a cashier position that said applicants must have a bachelor's degree and two years experience.
No, they do not.
"We do not require a bachelor's degree for employment," said Joe Ruscito, owner of the Winchendon fast-food outlet, in a statement. "My organization is an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse work force."
The bogus posting for the McDonald's position was listed by an independent job search site called www.jobdiagnosis.com. A spokesman for the site's owner, VHMnetwork LLC, confirmed the posting contained inaccurate information.
The listing has since been corrected, but not before it was picked up by some news outlets, including the online versions of the New York Daily News and Britain's Daily Mail, which called it "a frightening example of how competitive the job market is for young people right now."
The Washington Examiner — which also ran with the false story — quoted Evan Feinberg, president of Generation Opportunity, as saying young Americans were being hurt by the economy "even worse than the country overall."
"Sadly we've taxed-and-spent our way to an economy in which there's intense competition for just about any job," Feinberg said.
Alyssa Edes can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow her on twitter @alyssaedes.


text:
Book – Breq is only a fragment of what she used to be – quite literally, in this case. Years ago she was Justice of Toren, the artificial intelligence of a starship of the Radch Empire. Back then she had hundreds of bodies, from the starship itself to her many ancillary soldiers, captured human enemies who were joined together as part of her vast intelligence, in the service of a high-status Lieutenant. But Justice of Toren was betrayed, although she isn't quite sure how, by the many-bodied ruler of the Radch Empire, Anaander Mianaai, and Breq has a plan for revenge.
I picked up Ancillary Justice when it became apparent that it was going to be nominated for every major SF award this year. (Sure enough, it's already won the Nebula and is on the Hugo ballot.) It deserves it. Breq is an unusual character, but a compelling one, and her world is utterly fascinating. In the scenes from the point of view of many-bodied Justice of Toren, Leckie does a great job of portraying the ship's simultaneous multiple points of view without getting confusing; likewise the Radch's complete disregard of gender is an interesting twist on a far-future society. I loved it, and I can't wait for the sequel, Ancillary Sword, out in October.


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This week the world of tech will turn its attention to Las Vegas, where two separate conferences dedicated to hacking and security are about to get underway. Each year during the height of summer, thousands of security researchers, hacktivists, black hats, white hats and feds descend on Vegas for Black Hat and Def Con. Here are a few stories and trends we're keeping an eye on:
Gen. Keith B. Alexander Speaks
The organizers of Def Con asked feds to consider staying away from the conference this year in the aftermath of revelations of the NSA's extensive phone and data surveillance option.
But the organizers of Black Hat had asked Gen. Keith B. Alexander to speak months before the details of the NSA surveillance programs were leaked by Edward Snowden. And that speech is going ahead.
There's actually a long tradition of feds coming to both of these events, overtly and covertly. Not only do they try to keep tabs on what this community is up to, but these conferences have become a hotbed of recruiting for military intelligence, three-letter agencies and other feds.
This speech should be particularly interesting as it will be the first chance for Alexander to publicly respond to a growing chorus of voices in Washington, D.C., that are calling for legislation to rein in the NSA surveillance programs and bring more transparency to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
And Alexander is going to have to deliver it to a skeptical, possibly hostile and technically sophisticated audience.
Barnaby Jack
Barnaby Jack was one of the good guys. He spent his professional life hacking products, not for personal gain but instead to pressure companies to make them safer.
He became famous for hacking into ATMs and getting these machines to spew out piles of cash. The hack became known as jackpotting.
Jack was reportedly found dead in his apartment, and although foul play isn't suspected the cause of death is being investigated by the San Francisco medical examiner.
The hacking community is tightknit, and the announcement has been difficult for many of Jack's friends and colleagues. He was well-liked and widely considered to be a brilliant researcher.
Jack had been scheduled to deliver a talk on Aug. 1 at Black Hat on newly discovered vulnerabilities in pacemakers. He had discovered a mobile attack that allowed him to alter their function from 30 yards away, in what he described as a potentially lethal attack. Last year, Jack demonstrated it was possible to remotely attack a insulin pump manufactured by Medtronic. That research led Medtronic to make changes in the product that made it more secure.
Hacking The 'Internet Of Things'
As more and more devices are connected to the Interne, more and more things can be hacked. This year at Def Con and Black Hat researchers will be showing off attacks that let them take over everything from cars to toys to smart TVs to embedded control devices used on oil platforms.
Researchers and hackers say they worry that as nontech industries start building embedded computers and Internet-connected technologies into their products, they are overlooking security. Hopefully, they say, some of the hacks unveiled this year will be a wake-up call.
Hacking Cars
In previous years researchers like Don Bailey and Mat Solnik and others demonstrated it was possible to hack into a car remotely. This year Charlie Miller and Chris Valsek hacked into a Toyota Prius and Ford Escape. The two researchers received funding from DARPA to see whether they could take control of the embedded computers that are now ubiquitous in modern cars. They did.
Here you can see them showing off what they were able to do to Forbes writer Andy Greenberg.
It's ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.
I'm Audie Cornish, and it's time for All Tech Considered.
CORNISH: We begin in Las Vegas, where the tech world is gathering for two different conferences. Black Hat and DEFCON are both dedicated to hacking and security. And they bring together a wide range of interested parties from security researchers to hackers, to leaders from the federal government.
NPR's Steve Henn will be there, too, and he joins us now. Hey there, Steve.
STEVE HENN, BYLINE: Hey.
CORNISH: So, why two different hacker conferences?
HENN: Well, these two conferences have slightly different traditions. DEFCON is a little bit more countercultural, has almost an anarchist feel to it. Black Hat, traditionally, has been a little bit more buttoned up. And they both attract a variety of really technically sophisticated people to Las Vegas, so it works for both of them to take place during the same week. Many people go to both, but they sort of specialize a little bit.
CORNISH: So what are the highlights?
HENN: Well, one of the big highlights will be a talk by General Keith Alexander, the head of the NSA. You might remember that the organizers of DEFCON asked the NSA and Feds, generally, not to come to the conference this year. But the organizers of Black Hat had asked Alexander to speak months before the details of the NSA surveillance program were leaked. And the speech will really be Alexander's first chance to publicly respond to, you know, a growing chorus of voices in D.C. that are calling for new legislation to rein in the NSA surveillance programs.
It should be an interesting speech, and more interesting because it'll take place before a skeptical and technically sophisticated audience. So it's one to watch.
CORNISH: Now, the other big news in the hacking community this week has been the death of Barnaby Jack. And he was a well-known hacker who was found dead in San Francisco last week. But tell us more about him and, at this point, what's known about his death?
HENN: Well, Barnaby Jack was really one of the good guys. He spent his professional life hacking products, not for personal gain, but instead to pressure companies to make them safer. He became famous for hacking into ATMs and getting them to spew cash. That hack was known as jackpotting.
He was reportedly found dead in his apartment last week. Foul play isn't suspected. The cause of death is still being investigated by the San Francisco medical examiner. And we most likely won't have any more answers for a few more weeks.
But this has been a tough time in the hacking community. It's tight-knit. Jack was widely considered to be brilliant and well liked. And he had a talk coming up this week at Black Hat on work he done on pacemakers, showing that you could attack them remotely and potentially deliver a lethal shock to someone wearing one. He did similar research on insulin pumps last year and that actually led to changes in the product that made them more secure.
CORNISH: You know, ATMs, computers, I understand that. But insulin pumps and pacemakers, why?
HENN: You know, it's actually one of the big themes at both Black Hat and DEFCON this year. More and more things are being connected to the Net and having computers built into them. And when that happens, they become vulnerable to attacks like this. So this year, we're going to see research showing that cars can be hacked, toys can be hacked, television sets, so all those things like infrastructure and oil fields and water treatment plants.
You know, the researchers and hackers I've talked to say one of their big concerns is that as non-tech industries adopt these technologies, they're not necessarily doing what they need to to make them safe.
CORNISH: That's NPR's Steve Henn. Steve, thank you.
HENN: My pleasure. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of Greece will meet with eurozone policymakers next week as he hopes to achieve two objectives: to assure them that he will carry out mandated austerity measures and to win more time to do so.
Reuters reported Wednesday that although specific dates have not yet been announced, Samaras, who was sidelined after eye surgery that kept him from traveling to a eurozone summit meeting in June, intends to meet with eurozone head Jean-Claude Juncker first. From there he intends to go to Berlin to meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and then to Paris to confer with President Francois Hollande of France.
Greece is behind on its targets to cut its budget and to implement new changes designed to bring its debt under control. Its people are already tired of the cuts in salaries, pensions and jobs that have been pushed through but Samaras is working to steel them for more such measures, and was reported on Monday to have told them, "We're all having a difficult time. There will be more hardship."
As a condition of its latest bailout package, Greece was ordered to put in place an austerity package of 11.5 billion euros ($14.2 billion) on top of cuts it has already made. Its failure to do so has resulted in calls by a number of German politicians for it to leave the eurozone.
An unidentified Greek government source said that the purpose of Samaras' trip is to convince eurozone officials that the country can carry out the mandate so that it can continue to receive funds from its second 130 billion-euro bailout. The official was quoted saying, "Our key priority is to regain our credibility by showing our determination."
Samaras does not intend simply to promise cuts, however. He also hopes to win approval for the cuts to be put in place over four years instead of two. Greece is already mired in a recession longer and deeper than any since World War II.
While the proposal has not officially been made, Samaras campaigned on it in the second election in the spring—and he intends to propose it, according to the official, in discussions during next week's meetings. He had not done so earlier because of Greece's repeated failures to achieve its targets, and hopes to convince policymakers that Athens is serious about meeting its objectives even as he asks for more time to do so.
The official was quoted saying, "The matter of extension is already being debated in Greece and abroad. Its official submission is a different matter."


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20 Black Writers to Read All Year Round
Each year when February rolls around there is a sudden influx of content, online, in libraries and elsewhere, featuring black writers, artists, activists and historical moments and figures. Much of the focus looks to the past and while that's important, we at Room want to also centre writers in the here and now, and also look to the future. Here is a list of some of our most beloved black Canadian women and non-binary writers to enjoy all year round, compiled by some of the Room collective. Our list is certainly not an exhaustive one but these are some of our favourites.


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Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Don't Mess With Texas Trademarks
Christie Craig has a book out called Don't Mess With Texas. Texas's Department of Transportation believes she is, in fact, messing with them. They've filed suit on the grounds that as they've trademarked that motto to protect their right to be the exclusive purveyor of "Don't Mess With Texas" souvenir items, Craig's book violates that trademark.
I've got Henry, my intellectual property attorney (and first husband) here, so I've put it to him: Should TxDOT prevail? His answer: No. Okay, but why?
Henry: The phrase "Don't Mess With Texas" is so widely used, the trademark should be invalidated.
Me: But according to the spokeswoman for TxDOT, they've already won a lawsuit in which they asserted their exclusive right to the "Don't Mess With Texas" motto. Here's an article about the origins of the motto as an "anti-litter" campaign dating back to the 1980s.
Henry: Nobody in her right mind would conclude that a steamy romance novel with that title was supplied by the TxDOT, so there's little chance the state can prevail on the confusion argument, which leaves dilution.
Me: How does the dilution argument work in this case?
Henry: Basically what TxDOT has to argue is that this used to be a good anti-litter motto but it's losing that thrust, so to speak, so the state is trying to get people to stop misusing it.
Me: How does having a romance novel called Don't Mess With Texas dilute the anti-littering campaign, or is TxDOT really concerned about the tchotchkes it sells in stores like Barnes & Noble, where Craig's novel is also for sale?
Henry: Well, the trademark only applies to items for sale, not the anti-littering signs by the roadside.
Me: Ah, okay. So you be the judge: Can a steamy romance novel do sufficient damage to the mark for TxDOT to prevail?
Henry: One argument would be that the genie's already out of the bottle -- there's no reputation left to dilute.
Me: But I thought Texas wanted to limit the items that can bear the motto, such as T-shirts and key-chains, so that having an unauthorized book with that title on sale violates the mark?
Henry: Which leads me to think that the mark is invalid -- as there can be no confusion about TxDOT writing romance novels, and too many people use the phrase "Don't Mess With Texas" without meaning anything to do with littering, there are no legal grounds left.
Me: See, I can understand TxDOT's efforts to make sure only their T-shirts and key-chains say "Don't Mess With Texas," so I'd be inclined to rule in their favor in cases where they are trying to block the sale of unauthorized "Don't Mess With Texas" souvenirs. A book, I figure, is different.
Henry: TxDOT's trademark registrations seems to cover a lot of printed paper materials, including pamphlets but not novels. You could argue that books and pamphlets are too similar for comfort, or you could argue that associating the slogan with steamy sex in any concept tarnishes and dilutes it.
Me: Can the court hold that the "Don't Mess With Texas" trademark be invalidated solely as to fiction?
Penguin paperbacks?
Me: Of course.
Henry: That's a trademark covering all books -- except for books about penguins.
Me: But it's unlikely that an American court would do that in this case. If TxDOT prevailed in the case of Christie Craig's book, I assume Hachette would have to republish the book with a new title -- but only those copies to be sold in Texas, right?
Henry: As it's a federal registration, the prohibition would cover all book published in the U.S.
Me: Wow. Okay, and if Hachette and Craig prevail, what's the likely ruling then?
Henry: The court would likely hold that the nature of the goods is different enough that there's no confusion or dilution.
Me: Which certainly seems the least disruptive ruling. One last question: How was Craig to know that this was a trademarked phrase?
Henry: She could have checked the federal trademark database -- if the question had ever occurred to her.
Me: But as so many of us know "Don't Mess With Texas" as generic braggadocio, why would it have occurred to her even to look?
Henry: Clearly it didn't.
This is a work of fiction and any resemblance between the characters and persons living or dead is purely coincidental" disclaimer protected her. (And it might have; the case obviously never got to the merits so we're unlikely to know.) I realize you can't prevent all lawsuits -- and maybe Christie Craig is happy with the amount of publicity she's getting for her book -- but can you give writers any advice in these situations?
Henry: With respect to titles, writers can search to make sure the title they want isn't trademarked. Go to the index page for trademarks and start a search. Of course, there are also state trademark registrations, but doing all 50 searches is a much more complicated process.
Me: (groan) No, that's okay, Henry. I think we've give people enough to think about already.
Edited to add: The judge denied TxDOT's request for an injunctive relief in the form of an order that Hachette recall, destroy and retitle Craig's book. The court held that TxDOT's trademark registration didn't extend to books -- just like Henry said. (That's why he's my intellectual property attorney -- and why I won't allow him to retire.)
6 comments:
I almost cross-ref-ed this post over at Dear Author, as today's mid-day post is about lawsuits. But I didn't-I figured that was your perk.
Your post is spot on. I am quite aware, being a Texan one generation removed, that the slogan started as an anti-litter campaign. But Lordy! the number of Country songs that use the phrase (and not in a 'let's clean up the highways' sort of way)! I would have though that TxDOT would have thrown in the towel by now.
Thanks to Betty Henry for the info--great post!
Will I read the book? Probably not. But that is neither here nor there.
This comment has been removed by the author.ReplyDelete
Uh, all Texans know it is an anti-littering campaign (the funniest early ad being one featuring Bum Phillips of the Houston Oilers) so my sympathy is with the DOT because the author did really steal their idea. Of course, on the legality of it, I bow at the feet of Betty Henry's greatness.ReplyDelete
I have no plan to read this; I mostly hate romances set in Texas. They seem to be written either by snot-noses in Austin (who have zero connection to elsewhere in the state) or folks who have never set foot in the state at all, which leads to hilarious--if annoying--blunders. I once read a Harlequin in which the heroine had to do her shopping for a dress for that evening in either El Paso or San Antonio! (Good luck making the dance with either choice--they are a looooong way apart.)
(Can you believe I poked my head in over here? Hi, Betty Barbara!)
Hey, my brother lives in Austin.ReplyDelete
Oh, wait, my brother lives in Austin. Rather proves your point. Never mind.
There are two problems with defending the trademark "Don't Mess With Texas" that, say, John Deere's "Nothing Runs Like a Deere" doesn't have. First, not messing with Texas is a MUCH larger concept than just anti-littering. It's not surprising that an anti-littering concept slipped the lasso, landed in country songs and thus to the cultural gestalt of Texas as bigger and bolder than the rest of the U.S.
Second, you can't prohibit speech, which is why they can't enjoin the country songs. That's how the expression slips the lasso. So, you take the ever-expanding sense for the expression "Don't Mess With Texas," the fact that the trademark doesn't extend to fiction, and the really weak argument that a sexy novel is going to dilute an already diluted mark.
I too have no plans to read Craig's book, but I'll bet there's no mention of litter anywhere in there. Not that intent matters in trademark cases, but I doubt Christie Craig would ever have used the title if the expression hadn't slipped its lasso and entered the vernacular.
Perhaps her next book will be Texas, It's a Whole Other Country, courtesy of the Texas Board of Tourism.ReplyDelete
(When British Airways first started non-stop service into Texas its billboard slogan was: "We Fly to Texas and 115 Other Countries"--it was a big hit (still makes me laugh).
Hope Betty Henry has battened down the hatches with Irene approaching....
Hey! Wait just a minute!! My sister lives in Austin (BTW, she and I get along great) and she's no 'snot-nose'. Take that back, Betty JoDee!ReplyDelete
She is what so many Austin-ites are: She graduated from UT in 1972 and never left. She currently works for the state--never has written a romance (set in Texas or otherwise).
(I apologize to Magdalen for bringing over the pillow fight atmosphere from TUJD.)
Hi. This is a moribund blog, so it gets spammed from time to time. Please feel free to comment, but know that your comment may take a few hours to appear simply as a result of the spam blocking in place.


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Page 6 of 10
SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is a 32 and 64-bit Windows system analyser that includes benchmarking, testing and listing modules. It tries to go beyond other utilities to show you more of what is really going on under the hood so you draw comparisons at both a high and low-level in a single product.
Change Log for Sandra 2013:
- Updated Device Performance Certification
- New Drivers/Firmware Notification
- Windows 8 support
Any significant memory boost quickly shows on bandwidth numbers, up to 6 or 7 percent on our tested speeds.


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USA – Most travelers are surprised to find out that, in addition to their trip's airfare costs, they have to account for the significant fees required for airport parking. The exorbitant prices attached to securing a spot in an airport parking lot often act as a deterrent for extending the duration of one's trip, as the longer the stay of their car in an airport parking facility, the higher the cost they have to pay for its services. Acknowledging this common issue pestering travelers across the nation, Park it USA has decided to launch its eponymous website, through which anyone pondering a trip, either for business or recreational purposes, can benefit from comparing the available parking options in the vicinity of their destination airport, and thus from making an informed decision on the parking service that would suit their budget and needs best.
Commenting on the imminent launch of the Park it USA website, the company's media representative stated that "We started by asking ourselves a simple question: Which is the main prohibitive cost, other than airfare or lodging, when it comes to planning a trip? And, surprisingly, we all came up with the same answer: airport parking fees. There hadn't been one person that hasn't received an outrageous airport parking bill at one time or another."
He continued, "We decided it was time we helped put a stop to it, and give people the chance to enjoy their travels – without worrying about how much it would cost to park their car, or whether they would have to recruit a friend or family member who would drop them off at the airport and be the ones to greet them in order to take them home once they return – and all that, just to avoid paying for unconscionable airport parking fees."
Concluding his statements, the company's media representative emphasized the numerous requests it has received by travelers wishing to use its online search services, saying that "People have already started visiting the Park it USA website, and they've written to us saying that they can't wait to finally be able to save money on airport parking. We have worked hard, and we will not disappoint them. We aim for the Park it USA website to become a household name, synonymous with smart, affordable and accessible airport parking."
To learn more about Park it USA, please visit: www.parkitusa.com
Media Contact
Company Name: Park it USA
Contact Person: Ishmael Picott
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
Country: United States
Website: http://www.parkitusa.com/


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Integral reveals exotic and dusty binary systems
ESA's orbiting gamma-ray observatory, Integral has revealed a new population of exotic and dusty binary stars which might represent a brief evolutionary period in a binary star's life. The findings bring to light a gap in our knowledge of the formation and evolution of such binary star systems.
Since 2002, when Integral was launched, the observatory has been surveying the galaxy, looking for sources of the most powerful X-rays and gamma rays. Fifteen of its new discoveries appeared to be so-called supergiant high-mass X-ray binaries (HMXB). These binary systems consist of a neutron star orbiting around a supergiant star. Before Integral, only seven supergiant HMXBs were known.
The supergiant star is at least 20 times larger than the Sun, contains 30 solar masses, with luminosity one million times greater and a temperature of
Sylvain Chaty, University of Paris Diderot and CEA Saclay France, and colleagues have used Integral along with X-ray satellites and telescopes of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) to target the 15 new discoveries and confirm that most are indeed supergiant HMXBs, some of them enshrouded by a cocoon of gas and dust.
The supergiant star is at least 20 times larger than the Sun, contains 30 solar masses, with luminosity one million times greater and a temperature of
"They are so deeply embedded that only Integral has the sensitivity to see them," says Chaty. In each case, the neutron star is orbiting within the outer atmosphere of its supergiant companion.
This may be a precursor of what astronomers refer to as the common envelope phase, a short-lived period of a binary star's existence that is thought to last for just a few thousand years. If so, it gives astronomers an unprecedented opportunity to study this aspect of stellar evolution. It also presents a problem.
These celestial pairings must once have been two supergiant stars in orbit around one another. According to our computer models of how stars form and evolve, such a supergiant pairing should be more scarce than Integral is showing it to be.
"There must be many more of them than we thought you could have," says Chaty, "So we don't quite know what is going on, yet."
High-mass X-ray binary stars offer a snapshot of star formation, but delayed by about 10 million years. This is because the neutron star forms about 10 million years after the original system is formed, when the more massive of the two stars has lived its life and collapsed.
Eventually, such a system will evolve further with the death of the remaining supergiant star. At this point, a neutron star pair, or even a neutron star-black hole pair, is formed. As these tiny stellar remnants orbit one another, calculations show that they should lose energy and spiral together. At the point of collision they may release a giant Gamma Ray Burst.
A potential future ESA mission, currently undergoing technological development, hopes to detect nearby neutron star pairs. Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) will find them by spotting the gravitational waves they radiate as they spiral together.
In the meantime, Integral has plenty of work to look for more supergiant HMXBs and study the known ones further.
Notes for editors:
The following papers have been published today in the online issue of Astronomy & Astrophyiscs:
'Multi-wavelength observations of Galactic hard X-ray sources discovered by Integral.'
I. The nature of the companion star by S. Chaty, F. Rahoui, C. Foellmi, J.A. Tomsick, J. Rodriguez, Walter
II. The environment of the companion star by F. Rahoui, S. Chaty, P.-O. Lagage, E. Pantin
For more information:
Sylvain Chaty, University of Paris Diderot, France
Email: Chaty @ cea.fr
Christoph Winkler, ESA Integral Project Scientist
Email: Christoph.Winkler @ esa.int


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Brooklyn DA: No criminality caught on ACORN video
ACORN employees caught on video apparently advising a couple posing as a prostitute and her boyfriend to lie about her profession and launder her earnings did not commit a crime, the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office said Monday.
The office began its investigation Sept. 15, the day after the video was released online by the conservative activists who posed as an outlaw couple seeking help buying a house. It was but one in a series of such videos filmed at ACORN offices around the country that sparked a national scandal and helped drive the organization to near ruin.
"We are gratified that the district attorney, after a thorough investigation, found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by ACORN," said a statement by Jean Sassine, a spokeswoman for the organization that has replaced ACORN's Brooklyn operation.
Several of ACORN's local offices have officially disbanded and resumed operations under new names and with similar staff in an effort to escape the scandal that has surrounded the 40-year-old organization in recent months.
In Brooklyn, the newly established New York Communities for Change "is committed to moving forward with management and transparency reforms and building a strong independent organization to advocate for low-income New Yorkers," Sassine said.
The videos were made by conservative activists Hannah Giles and James O'Keefe, who used a hidden camera on visits to ACORN offices in Brooklyn; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; California and elsewhere.
The videos created a political and media firestorm when they were released, adding to problems the organization had faced as it was dogged by allegations of voter-registration fraud and embezzlement. In September, Congress blocked previously approved funds from going to ACORN.
"Hopefully today's announcement, and similar results from independent reviews, will make politicians and media examine the facts more carefully the next time a valuable community organization is attacked," ACORN spokesman Kevin Whelan said Monday in a statement.
But Kurt Bardella, spokesman for Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the ranking Republican on the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee, said Monday that ongoing federal and state investigations "will expose the criminal nature of ACORN's deliberate effort to abuse taxpayer dollars to advance a radical political agenda."
The two ACORN employees who were recorded handling the couple's case in Brooklyn were fired, and ACORN brought in ex-Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger to perform an internal investigation, which concluded there was no criminal conduct.
Since then, O'Keefe and three others have been arrested and accused of trying to tamper with Sen. Mary Landrieu's New Orleans office phones. O'Keefe has denied the charges and said the group was trying to investigate complaints that constituents calling the Democrat's office couldn't get through to criticize her support of a health care overhaul bill.


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'UNSPEAKABLE THINGS': Evan Rachel Wood details years of horrific sexual abuse during Congress testimony
Evan Rachel Wood has detailed the years of sexual abuse she was subjected to in a powerful testimony to America's Congress.
The 30-year-old Westworld actress was joined by Amanda Nguyen, chief executive of civil rights organization RISE, and Rebecca O'Connor, the president of anti-sexual violence organization RAINN, as they testified to the House Judiciary Subcommittee in support of the Sexual Assault Survivors' Bill of Rights Act.
As she spoke of her own experiences, Evan revealed that she had been "mentally and physically tortured until my abuser felt I had proven my love for them".
Detailing the "toxic mental, physical and sexual abuse", which "altered the course of my life", Evan told the subcommittee that her ex-partner had raped her while unconscious, bound up her hands and feet in "sick rituals" and beaten her and told her "unspeakable things".
"My self esteem and spirit were broken. I was deeply terrified and that fear lives with me to this day," shared the star. "So often we speak of these assaults as no more than a few minutes of awfulness, but the scars last a lifetime. Even though these experiences happened a decade ago, I still struggle with the aftermath.
"Seven years after my rapes – plural – I was diagnosed with long-term PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder), which I had been living with all that time without knowledge about my condition… I simply thought I was going crazy."
The actress is campaigning for The Sexual Assault Survivors' Rights Act, which establishes statutory rights for survivors, gives victims access to sexual assault counsellors and distributes "fair and efficient rape kits", to be passed at federal level in all 50 U.S. states. It has currently only been applied in nine.
"This bill is just one step in the right direction of setting the bar higher for what's right and what the standard will be that we set for society," Evan said, describing the bill as a "safety net that may help save someone's life".


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Brings the triumph and turmoil of some of history's greatest Asian civilizations to stunning life. Wielding the symbolic power of immense Wonders of the world, lead the armies of China, India or Japan in a struggle for dominance against the European powers, or against each other. Crush opponents with ranks of new military units, such as the Chinese Flame Thrower, the Indian Siege Elephant, or the fierce Japanese Shogun. Or play the role of master diplomat, and befriend your allies at the Consulate, biding your time and building a force of foreign weaponry that will topple your enemies. In Age of Empires III: The Asian Dynasties, players use the might of the East to bring the world to its knees.
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


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Reds to honor Barry Larkin, retire No. 11 jersey
Event to cap '11 Days Of Larkin'
The Reds will retire Barry Larkin's No. 11 jersey on Aug. 25, a month after he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Cincinnati will host "11 Days of Larkin," a series of celebrations beginning Aug. 16 at Great American Ball Park, and concluding with the ceremony for the former shortstop.
Larkin's jersey will be the 10th retired by the Reds. He joins Fred Hutchinson (1), Johnny Bench (5), Joe Morgan (8), Sparky Anderson (10), Dave Concepcion (13), Ted Kluszewski (18), Frank Robinson (20), Tony Perez (24) and Jackie Robinson (42).
"The entire Hall of Fame experience has been a dream for us, and (this) will be a fitting end to an incredible summer," Larkin said. "I want this to be a celebration about all Cincinnatians who have made the city proud."


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This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Washington • Sen. Mike Lee is calling on President Barack Obama to withdraw his nominee to head the Defense Department, while Utah's other senator, Orrin Hatch, isn't sure he'll vote for his former Senate colleague, Chuck Hagel, to oversee the Pentagon.
Lee joined 14 fellow GOP senators in opposing Hagel's nomination, requesting in a letter to Obama on Thursday that the president pull back the nominee rather than put in place a secretary lacking support.
"Senator Hagel's performance at his confirmation hearing was deeply concerning, leading to serious doubts about his basic competence to meet the substantial demands of the office," Lee said in the joint letter. "While Senator Hagel's erratic record and myriad conversions on key national security issues are troubling enough, his statements regarding Iran were disconcerting."
Lee and his colleagues noted that no defense secretary in the past 50 years had been confirmed with three opposing votes, and never in history with more than 11 senators against the nominee. The letter was signed by 15 Republican senators.
Hatch voted "present" on advancing Hagel's nomination, but his office said the senator hadn't decided how he'll vote on the nominee when he comes up for a vote next week.
Hatch says he has concerns about Hagel a former GOP senator from Nebraska not being forthcoming with information Republicans have requested, namely past speeches he's made concerning Israel and Iran.
"He still has the same concerns," Hatch spokesman Matt Harakal said Thursday.
Hagel needs 60 votes in the Senate to get past a procedural hurdle to be confirmed, though he got a boost Thursday when Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., became the third Republican to back the nominee.
White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest said last week that the delay by Republicans in confirming Hagel was a political tactic and that the GOP was depriving the nation of a critical leader.
"It's unfortunate," Earnest said, "there are Republicans in this case who are choosing to play politics as opposed to doing the right thing."


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Honeymoon Trial Judge Scoffs at Alleged Motive
Judge Tommy Nail scolds prosecutor over motive and tactics.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. Feb. 22, 2012 -- The judge presiding over the murder trial of accused "Honeymoon Killer" Gabe Watson has openly scoffed at the prosecution's claims and angrily asked the prosecutor if he needs lessons on the rules of court.
The actions by Judge Tommy Nail raise questions about the prosecution's case.
Watson is accused of killing Tina Watson, his bride of 11 days, during their honeymoon in Australia by drowning her while scuba diving off the Great Barrier Reef. The motive for the alleged crime was Watson's intention to collect on a $130,000 insurance policy and to sell her possessions, the prosecution argued in its opening statement.
The judge's anger boiled over Tuesday after prosecutor Don Valeska questioned funeral home director Sam Shelton about Watson retrieving his wife's engagement ring from the casket, but asking that her wedding ring remain on her hand.
The judge interrupted the testimony to say, "I took my grandmother's engagement ring when she was buried. I think it's quite common." Nail asked Shelton if most of his customers took their loved one's rings and Shelton responded, "It's quite common."
"Honeymoon Killer" Trial Draws Judge's Skepticism
The sparring between the judge and the prosecutor continued until Nail sent the jury out of the courtroom and posed a sharp question to Valeska.
"You mean to tell me that [Gabe Watson] bought the engagement ring, married her, he and his family paid for a wedding, he planned and paid for a honeymoon halfway around the world, all so he could kill her to get an engagement ring he bought in the first place?" the judge asked.
The courtroom fell silent.
During the prosecution's questioning of Tina Watson's sister, Alanda Thomas, on Tuesday the defense repeatedly objected to Valeska's questions and Nail sustained nearly every defense objection.
When Valeska became visibly frustrated, Nail loudly asked him, "Do you need the definition of hearsay? If y'all can't accept my ruling you know where Montgomery is; take off." During this statement, the judge pounded his desk and pointed at Valeska. Montgomery was a reference to another jurisdiction.
The heated discussions began after prosecutors pressed their witnesses on questions about Watson's character. Throughout the trial, prosecutors have tried to paint Watson as an unemotional, calculating killer.
Valeska later said to ABC News, "I wish we had gotten in the stuff that he ruled out, but I can't do anything but move on."
Watson never received any money from his wife's insurance policy since her father was listed as the beneficiary. Watson had filed a claim for $10,000 in travel insurance to cover what he says would was the total cost incurred as a result of his wife's death in Australia.
Watson, 36, has since remarried.
There was no testimony in the case today.


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Bullcoming v. New Mexico
|Docket No.
|Op. Below
|Supreme Court of New Mexico
Mar 2, 2011
|Jun 23, 2011
Disclosure: Goldstein, Howe & Russell P.C. represents the petitioner in this case.
Holding: The Confrontation Clause does not permit the prosecution to introduce a forensic lab report containing a testimonial certification through the in-court testimony of an analyst who did not sign the document or personally observe the test. If an out-of-court statement is testimonial, it may not be introduced against the accused at trial unless the witness who made the statement is unavailable and the accused has had a prior opportunity to confront that witness.
Judgment: Reversed and remanded, 5-4, in an opinion by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on June 23, 2011. Justice Scalia joined Justice Ginsburg's opinion in full. Justices Sotomayor and Kagan joined all of the opinion except Part IV, while Justice Thomas joined all of the opinion except Part IV and footnote 6. Justice Sotomayor also filed a separate opinion concurring in part. Justice Kennedy filed a dissenting opinion, which was joined by the Chief Justice and Justices Breyer and Alito.
SCOTUSblog Coverage
- This week at the Court in Plain English (Lisa McElroy)
- Opinion analysis: New curb on crime lab reports (Lyle Denniston)
- Argument recap: Scalia for the defense (Lyle Denniston)
- Argument preview: Is a "stand-in" witness OK? (Lyle Denniston)
- A review of "state secrets" (Lyle Denniston)
Briefs and Documents
Merits Briefs
- Brief for Petitioner Donald Bullcoming
- Brief for Respondent New Mexico
- Reply Brief for Petitioner Donald Bullcoming
Amicus Briefs
- Brief for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National College for DUI Defense, and the New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the Innocence Network in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia, Alaska Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Arkansas Public Defender Commission, Alameda Public Defender's Office, County of Sacramento Office of the Public Defender, San Francisco Office of the Public Defender, and 20 other Defender Organizations in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for Richard D. Friedman in Support of Petitioner
- Brief for the States of California, Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, District Of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming in Support of Respondent
- Brief for the National District Attorneys Association, California District Attorneys Association, American Society of Crime Lab Directors, California Association of Crime Laboratory Directors, International Association of Coroners and Medical Examiners, the National Association of Medical Examiners, and the California State Coroners Association in Support of Respondent
- Brief for the State of Mexico Department of Health, Scientific Laboratory Division in Support of Respondent
- Brief for Law Professors in Support of Petitioner
Certiorari-stage documents
- Opinion below (Supreme Court of New Mexico)
- Petition for certiorari (unavailable)
- Brief in opposition (unavailable)
- Petitioner's reply (unavailable)


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nPower PowerSurfacing RE 2.30 (Win) | 112.1 mb
nPower Software launches version 2.30 of of revolutionary product Power Surfacing – is an industrial design add-in product for SolidWorks 3D design software that significantly improves the design process for modeling organic, free form surfaces in SolidWorks.
Power Surfacing makes it easy and fun to design complex free form, aesthetically pleasing "Class A" surfaces in SolidWorks. Creating and manipulating Power Surfacing parts is as simple as modeling with clay. Power Surfacing allows great flexibility and productivity in designing those difficult surfaces by pushing and pulling on the faces, edges or vertices of the part. When a shape is designed with Power Surfacing it is a single unified object, which can easily be modified in both subtle and significant ways without pulling apart the resulting NURBS surfaces. Once converted into a native SolidWorks part, those Sub-D models are treated just as if they had been created with traditional SolidWorks tools. Thus SolidWorks features like Booleans, fillets, shells, etc. can be applied to the parts just as if the parts had been modeled with typical SolidWorks tools. Design changes are a breeze with Power Surfacing. After applying SolidWorks features, Power Surfacing users can go back to the original Sub-D form and modify the surface shape and downstream features will be reapplied.
Power Surfacing is also an excellent bridge between Sub-D modeling products like modo® and SolidWorks. Power Surfacing can quickly and accurately convert virtually any Sub-D model (even Sub-D models that have some triangles) into the precise NURBS representation that is standard for SolidWorks parts. Power Surfacing creates high quality surfaces, which accurately interpolate the vertices of the original Sub-D mesh.
Power Surfacing unites the diverse modeling paradigms of Sub-D (Subdivision Surface) modeling and CAD (NURBS-based) modeling. Neither Sub-D modeling nor NURBS modeling can effectively solve all 3-D design problems. Each has strengths and weaknesses. Sub-D modeling is great at producing and modifying complex freeform / organic shapes with smooth surfaces. NURBS modeling is good at combining shapes via. Boolean and Feature operations as well as refining shapes with operations like filleting, blending and face editing. We see Power Surfacing as a novel and powerful unification piece between these two technologies. Being able to use both modeling paradigms together in the modeling process provides huge productivity advantages in both the design and revision process. Power Surfacing free form design combined with SolidWorks parametric design provides Solidworks users with a ground breaking Industrial Design toolkit.
Power Surfacing is based on IntegrityWare's SOLIDS++ geometric modeling Kernel, a unique and powerful hybrid modeling system that supports Solids, Surface and Polygonal modeling. nPower modeling tools (Power NURBS, Solids, Translators) provide the highest order of surfacing, solids modeling, analysis, and tessellation technologies. In addition, Power Surfacing utilizes the new SubD-NURBS library product, which provides accurate conversion between Sub-D geometry and NURBS geometry.
Engineers, designers, architects, and artists from top companies around the world like Toyota, Boeing, Microsoft, Disney, SEGA, Blizzard Entertainment, Northrup Grumman, Sony, Honda, Siemens, Mitsubishi, Whirlpool, Blur Studio, Fisher Price, Gensler, Harley Davidson, Fox Sports, Caterpillar, Johnson & Johnson, Philips, BAE Systems, SolidWorks, Skidmore Owings & Merrill, HDR, Hewlett Packard and Cannon Equipment are optimizing their design throughput with nPower Software.
About IntegrityWare Inc.
IntegrityWare Inc. is a company that specializes in advanced geometric modeling solutions. Founded in 1996, IntegrityWare has been providing advanced modeling solutions to a growing base of customers building industry-leading solutions. The SOLIDS++ modeling kernel is an Object-Oriented Non-Manifold Modeling kernel that provides a comprehensive suite of geometry and topology tools for Solids Modeling, Surface Modeling, Curve Modeling, Polygonal Modeling and Non-Manifold Modeling. SOLIDS++ has been in development for more than 10 years, with research and development of the most advanced modeling solutions. The SOLIDS++ kernel is currently licensed to developers needing to provide the most advanced geometric modeling functionality to their customers – such as Autodesk, MOI, Nemetschek, PTC, New River Kinematics, Bentley Systems, and Ford Motor Company.
Name: nPower PowerSurfacing RE
Version: (64bit) 2.3 (build 2.30.0075)
Interface: English, Spanish, Chinese Traditional
OS: Windows XP / Vista / 7even / 8 / 8.1
System Requirements: SolidWorks 2012-2015 64bit
Size: 112.1 mb
Download Via RapidGator
Download Via SecureUpload


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Hoping to stand out among the clutter, the nets have embarked on another round of viral marketing stunts to launch their fall shows.
Travelers flying in and out of LAX, for example, can't help but notice a gigantic ad for CBS' "The Amazing Race" painted over the roofs of three buildings, all in a row.
"We're right on an active approach path," said CBS marketing topper George Schweitzer. "So we've gotten plenty of reports from people who have seen it. It organically fit 'The Amazing Race,' and we thought it would be a fun thing to do."
The Eye is also slapping promo messages on thousands of eco-friendly, biodegradable hangers that have been handed out to dry cleaners in New York and Los Angeles.
Created by a company called Hanger Network, the EcoHangers are made of recycled paper and plastic bottle caps, reshaped into hangers with room for marketing messages on the front and back. According to Hanger Network CEO Bob Kantor, the CBS hangers alone will replace more than 17 tons of steel-based wire hangers — which usually end up in U.S. landfills.
"The composition of the dry cleaning marketplace is exclusively adults, with a slight affluent skew," Kantor said.
In other recent network viral campaigns, ABC let loose a traveling kiosk that gives away free pies in honor of "Pushing Daisies," while Fox created a mysterious website filled with strange plot-based clues for "Fringe." NBC, meanwhile, plans to launch several returning shows on Hulu first before the skeins make their return bow over the air.