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Returning for its 15th appearance, The Strauss Symphony of America will present its traditional "Salute to Vienna" at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda. Featuring more than 75 musicians, European singers and dancers, the production hails a new year with Strauss waltzes, polkas and excerpts from "Die Fledermaus" and "The Merry Widow," among others. For more information, visit www.strathmore.org.
In Prince George's County, Frank Capra's forever-enchanting holiday tale takes an on-air twist as The Laurel Mill Playhouse presents "It's a Wonderful Life — The Radio Play" through Sunday. Directed by Michael Hartsfield, the seasonal favorite promises to transport audiences back to the days before surround sound and smart phones, when families gathered around the RCA to listen in to tales of romance and redemption. For more information, visit www.laurelmillplayhouse.org.
Tonight in Fairfax, pay tribute to one of country's most enduring entertainers, with the 17th annual Hank Williams tribute show. Featuring performers Claire Lynch, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer, Robin & Linda Williams & Their Fine Group and many more, the fun begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $29.50. For more information, visit www.birchmere.com.

subset: commoncrawl


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3 bed, 3 full bath, 1 half bath. Easy living in this maintenance free condo located in walkable Brier Creek. Home is brimming with uMore info
2 bed, 2 full bath. Enjoy downtown living in this stunning building! Immaculate 2 bedroom 2 bath modern condo. KitchenMore info
3 bed, 2 full bath, 1 half bath. Elegant End Unit Condo!Lives better than new!Hardwood flrs,crown moulding,designer paint. Kitchen fMore info
3 bed, 2.00 full bath. This property is Real Estate Owned, or REO. The property was foreclosed and repossessed by a lenderMore info
2 bed, 2 full bath. Great floor plan w/2 master suites. Very well taken care of. Offers short walks to Glenwood South,More info
2 bed, 2 full bath. Amazing TOP FLOOR 2 bdrm 2 bath condo in the heart of Downtown Ral! Open concept floor plan! HardwoMore info
2 bed, 2 full bath. Great upscale condo in Golf Course community with pool and tennis court. Only minutes to Brier creeMore info
2 bed, 2 full bath. Sue Goodwin 919-271-6208 or sgoodwin@fmrealty. com. Upscale Top Floor Condo in Premier Brier CreekMore info
2 bed, 2 full bath. Investment Opportunity - 2nd story condo offers a bright open floorplan w/2 bedrooms and 2 full batMore info
3 bed, 2 full bath, 1 half bath. This condominium was completely renovated and remodeled in 2014/2015 leaving the unit with a traditMore info


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Just a Taste: Spec's Wine Spirits & Finer Foods Deli
: August 30, 2012 : Updated: September 3, 2012 12:09pm
Photo By Jennifer McInnis/San Antonio Express-News
An appetizer order of chicken wings can be ordered to eat in or take out at Spec's Fine Wine & Spirits on De Zavala Road.
More Information
Coming Sunday in Taste
• Men and their machines
Even when they're all grown up, boys still love their culinary toys
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Take a sneak peek at what S.A.'s new market has in store for customers
•The Taste Test
Reviews of Cypress Grille and Yaghi's New York Pizzeria
Where: 5219 De Zavala Road, a few blocks east of I-10, 210-561-0900
On the menu: Appetizers, $3.49-$4.99; signature sandwiches, $5.99-$10.99; burgers and more, $1.99-$5.99; comfort foods, $2.49-$5.99; burger sides, 50 cents-$1.49; classic sandwiches, $1.99-$8.99.
Fast facts: This is the second Spec's in San Antonio and the first to offer a deli. Order at the counter at the back of the store, then take your food with you or eat at one of a handful of tables at the front of Spec's. The prices above reflect a 5 percent discount for cash. In addition to burgers and a wide assortment of hot and cold sandwiches, the deli offers items such as potato salad, fried chicken and deviled eggs. An assortment of party trays ranging $26.99-$78.89 can be ordered a minimum of 24 hours in advance.
Impressions: It was difficult for our group to tear itself away from the fabulous wine, liquor and food selections to order at the deli (be sure to check out the great selection of salts and olive oils). Prices are reasonable for large servings. We thought a chili pie for $2.49 would be small, so we doubled it for $1 more and got a serving large enough to feed two to three. The amount of shrimp in a po' boy was generous as well. Our favorite part of a chicken salad sandwich was the crisp bacon that was served on it. We didn't try them, but cookies at the deli looked inviting.
Karen Haram


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- heavy ion collisions (23) (remove)
- Monte Carlo model for multiparticle production at ultrarelativistic energies (1994)
- The Monte Carlo parton string model for multiparticle production in hadron-hadron, hadron-nucleus, and nucleus-nucleus collisions at high energies is described. An adequate choice of the parameters in the model gives the possibility of recovering the main results of the dual parton model, with the advantage of treating both hadron and nuclear interactions on the same footing, reducing them to interactions between partons. Also the possibility of considering both soft and hard parton interactions is introduced.
- pi-N correlations probe the nuclear equation of state in relativistic heavy ion-collisions (1995)
- We investigate the sensivity of pionic bounce-off and squeeze-out on the density and momentum dependence of the real part of the nucleon optical potential. For the in-plane pion bounce-off we find a strong sensivity on both the density and momentum dependence whereas the out-of-plane pion squeeze-out shows a strong sensivity only towards the momentum dependence but little sensivity towards the density dependence.
- High pT pions as probes of the dense phase of relativistic heavy ion collisions (1994)
- The properties of pions from the hot and dense reaction stage of relativistic heavy ion collisions are investigated with the quantum molecular dynamics model. Pions originating from this reaction stage stem from resonance decay with enhanced mass. They carry high transverse momenta. The calculation shows a direct correlation between high pt pions, early freeze-out times and high freeze-out densities.
- Neural networks for impact parameter determination (1996)
- Abstract: An accurate impact parameter determination in a heavy ion collision is crucial for almost all further analysis. The capabilities of an artificial neural network are investigated to that respect. A novel input generation for the network is proposed, namely the transverse and longitudinal momentum distribution of all outgoing (or actually detectable) particles. The neural network approach yields an improvement in performance of a factor of two as compared to classical techniques. To achieve this improvement simple network architectures and a 5 × 5 input grid in (pt, pz) space are suffcient.
- Azimuthal correlations of pions in relativistic heavy ion collisions at 1 GeV/nucl. (1995)
- Triple differential cross sections of pions in heavy ion collisions at 1 GeV/nucl. are studied with the IQMD model. After discussing general properties of resonance and pion production we focus on azimuthal correlations: At projectile- and target-rapidities we observe an anticorrelation in the in-plane transverse momentum between pions and protons. At c.m.-rapidity, however, we find that high pt pions are being preferentially emitted perpendicular to the event-plane. We investigate the causes of those correlations and their sensitivity on the density and momentum dependence of the real and imaginary part of the nucleon and pion optical potential.
- Nucleus-nucleus collisions at highest energies (1996)
- The microscopic phasespace approach URQMD is used to investigate the stopping power and particle production in heavy systems at SPS and RHIC energies. We find no gap in the baryon rapidity distribution even at RHIC. For CERN energies URQMD shows a pile up of baryons and a supression of multi-nucleon clusters at midrapidity.
- Phasespace Correlations of Antideuterons in Heavy Ion Collisions (1995)
- In the framework of the relativistic quantum molecular dynamics approach (RQMD) we investigate antideuteron (d) observables in Au+Au collisions at 10.7 AGeV. The impact parameter dependence of the formation ratios d/p2 and d/p2 is calculated. In central collisions, the antideuteron formation ratio is predicted to be two orders of magnitude lower than the deuteron formation ratio. The d yield in central Au+Au collisions is one order of magnitude lower than in Si+Al collisions. In semicentral collisions di erent configuration space distributions of p s and d s lead to a large squeeze out e ect for antideuterons, which is not predicted for the p s.
- "Pressure equilibration" in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions (1997)
- We study the time scale for pressure equilibration in heavy ion collisions at AGS energies within the three-fluid hydrodynamical model and a microscopic cascade model (UrQMD). We find that kinetic equilibrium is reached in both models after a time of 5 fm/c (center-of-mass time). Thus, observables which are sensitive to the early stage of the reaction differ considerably from the expectations within the instant thermalization scenario (one-fluid hydrodynamical model).
- Prominent transverse flow of clusters in stopped Au(150 A MeV)+Au reactions (1995)
- Stopped Au(150 A MeV) + Au collisions have been measured with the FOPI-Detector at GSI by imposing an upper limit on the ratio of the global longitudinal momentum to the collected charge within an event.
- Charmonium suppression from purely geometrical effects (1998)
- The extend to which geometrical effects contribute to the production and suppression of the J/psi and qq minijet pairs in general is investigated for high energy heavy ion collisions at SPS, RHIC and LHC energies. For the energy range under investigation, the geometrical e ects referred to are shadowing and anti-shadowing, respectively. Due to those effects, the parton distributions in nuclei deviate from the naive extrapolation from the free nucleon result; fA 6= AfN. The strength of the shadowing/anti-shadowing e ect increases with the mass number. Therefore it is interesting to see the di erence between cross sections for e.g. S+U vs. Pb+Pb at SPS. The recent NA50 results for the survival probability of produced J/psi s has attracted great attention and are often interpreted as a signature of a quark gluon plasma. This publication will present a fresh look on hard QCD e ects for the charmonium production level. It is shown that the apparent suppression of J/psi s must also be linked to the production process. Due to the uncertainty in the shadowing of gluons the suppression of charmonium states might not give reli- able information on a created plasma phase at the collider energies soon available. The consequences of shadowing e ects for the xF distribution of J/psi s at s = 20 GeV, s = 200 GeV and s = 6 TeV are calculated for some relevant combinations of nuclei, as well as the pT distribution of minijets at midrapidity for Nf = 4 in the final state.


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Kim Kardashian is still single and on the market! In her most recent bid in attracting a super hot male companion, she decided to do some sun bathing in a leopard skin bikini while in Miami. The pics of Kim Kardashian in a bikini are nothing short of jaw dropping – she still has it.
The leopard print bikini Kardashian wears in the pics is obviously JUST big enough for Kim's ample breasts and booty. In some of the photos her ahem… 'assets' are almost spilling out of the the bikini.
Hotel guests enjoyed the view, and I'd have to say I would pay double the room rate for eye candy like Kim Kardashian sunbaking near the pool in a bikini three sizes too small for her.


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Valley News
Future Phoenix
Where will you live in 2035? Who will be Arizona governor in 2050? What about that bullet train to Tucson? And zombies? Steal a glimpse of the Phoenix that could be.
Powder Play
Alcohol in the form of Kool-Aid-like powder? Mark Phillips, the Scottsdale-based inventor of Palcohol, says he's got the powder. But does he? ...
Food Reviews
Twisted Grove Parlor + Bar
Christopher Collins, the chef behind Scottsdale restaurant Grassroots Kitchen & Tap, opens a similar gastropub... and it's right next door.
The Value of Pie
Deliciousness is the constant in these sweet, summery circles called pie. Learn how to make them.
Devin Fleenor
Laser activist, artist, performer, technical wizard, communicator. Peer into the future with Devin Fleenor.
Three Bites
Brrracing Noodles
Slurp your way to summer relief with these chilled ramens, sobas and vermicellis from Phoenix restaurants.
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Arizona's Territorial prostitutes led challenging lives wrought with violence, disease and addiction – but research reveals some new insights.
Search our directory from over
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Things To Do
July 27-August 3
1. Arizona Breakfast Weekend – July 30-August 2Whet your appetite for all things egg, bacon and toast as Valley chefs and restaurateurs offer special dishes at $6, $12 and $25 price points. Arizona Restaurant Association hosts this inaugural event, which celebrates the morning meal. Among the participants are Distrito, Virtù, Proof at Four Seasons Scottsdale and Perk Eatery. Statewide, arizonabreakfastweekend.com, 602-307-9134.
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Mechanical Engineering at Messiah College
As an engineering major at Messiah College, you'll explore the art and science of engineering and consider the value and social impact of technology. In the mechanical engineering concentration, you'll learn to apply principles of engineering, physics and materials science to analysis, design, manufacturing and maintenance of mechanical systems. Courses such as Mechanics of Materials and Thermodynamics prepare you with a diverse knowledge set to apply to many different types of engineering jobs.
Job options for graduates of the mechanical engineering concentration:
- Design engineer
- Manufacturing engineer
- Researcher
- Product designer
- Materials analysis
- Product development
- Product support
View Courses
Engineering Major
The mechanical engineering concentration is offered through the Engineering major.Read more


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A method includes forming a feature vector associated with an iris of an individual using a transform operation including converting an iris image into a log-polar image, scaling one or more samples in the log-polar image according to a Fourier-Mellin transform, and performing a Fourier transform on the scaled samples. The method involves forming an iris digest based on the feature vector, and creating a biometric identifier based on the iris digest. A system includes an iris scanner, an iris analyzer that forms an image of a human iris wherein the presence of eyelashes in the image is minimized, forms a feature vector associated with the iris image using a modified Fourier-Mellin transform, and compresses the feature vector into an iris digest.
1. A method for verifying biometric identity information comprising:
scanning a barcode having encoded thereon an issued iris digest representing a scanned iris of an individual;
scanning the iris of the individual into an iris image;
compressing the iris image into a verifiable iris digest by transforming the iris image into a feature vector;
comparing the verifiable iris digest with the issued iris digest; scaling samples in the log-polar domain according to a Fourier-Mellin transform; and performing a Fast Fourier transform on the scaled samples wherein the scaling is applied in a radial direction of the iris image and the Fast Fourier transform is performed in an annular direction of the iris image.
2. A method as recited in
3. A method as recited in
4. A method as recited in
detecting a pupil in the iris image;
detecting an iris annulus in the iris image;
removing noise due to elements other the iris from the iris image.
5. A method as recited in
6. A method as recited in
hashing text from a secure document, the text being descriptive of the individual; and
separating the hashed text from the verifiable iris digest.
7. A method as recited in
This patent application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/897,664, filed on 22 Jul. 2004, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,336,806 which application in turn claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/555,555, which was filed on Mar. 22, 2004, and entitled "Cryptographically-Secure Biometric Person Identification." The Applicant claims the benefit of the filing date of these previous applications to the fullest extent permitted by 35 U.S.C. �� 119 and 120. Both of these previous applications are incorporated herein by this reference for all that they disclose. In addition, this divisional application claims the full benefit of 35 U.S.C. � 121.
In the field of information technology, the term "biometric system" typically refers to an automated system that uses measurable physiological features or behavioral characteristics of an individual to either determine or verify the identity of the individual. Physiological biometric features that are commonly used in biometric systems include fingerprints, the face, and various features of the eye. Behavioral biometrics characteristics that are commonly used in biometric systems include voice, keystrokes, and signatures. Hereinafter, only systems that use physiological features will be discussed.
In general, biometric identification involves first capturing a sample of a physiological feature from an individual. Capturing typically involves some form of optical scanning of the physiological feature. Next, distinctive characteristics are identified in the captured sample and a mathematical representation of the distinctive features (an enrollment template) is generated. The enrollment template is then stored for later comparison.
When the identity of an individual is being determined or verified, a sample of the physiological feature is again captured from the individual. The distinctive characteristics of the captured sample are identified and a "verification template" is generated. The verification template is then compared to one or more enrollment templates stored in a database.
In the case of identity determination, the verification template is compared to a number of previously stored templates. This process is commonly referred to as a one-to-many comparison. For each template comparison, a score is determined that indicates how well the verification template matches the enrollment template. The enrollment template with the maximum score is designated as matching the verification template, and the identity of the individual will be identified as the individual associated with the enrollment template.
In the case of identity verification, the verification template is compared to the individual's previously stored enrollment template. This process is commonly referred to as a one-to-one comparison. A score is then determined that indicates how well the verification template matches the enrollment template. If the score of a comparison exceeds a given match threshold, a match will be determined to have been made and the identity of the individual will be indicated as verified. Hereinafter, only identity verification will be discussed.
In creating a biometric identity verification system there are a number of trade-offs that must be considered. For example, a trade-off is typically made between the precision and/or security of a system versus the cost of the system. For example, a system designer may choose a high-performance computing device, a large database capable of storing many templates, advanced scanning devices, a number of scanning devices at a number of different access points, and/or a highly secure network to interconnect each of these elements. While these elements may enhance the precision and/or security of the biometric identity verification system, they will also greatly increase the systems cost. Conversely, if a system designer chooses to select lower performance and/or lower precision elements, the precision and/or security of a system will be reduced.
Another trade-off is typically made between the number of false negatives that a system will generate and the number of false positives a system will generate. In general, a false positive occurs when a verification template and an enrollment template are determined to match when, in fact, the individual from whom the verification template was generated is not the same individual from whom the enrollment template was generated. In contrast, a false negative occurs when a verification template and an enrollment template are determined not to match, when in fact the verification and enrollment templates were generated from the same individual.
Typically, false positives can be reduced by generating extremely detailed verification and enrollment templates and by setting the match threshold high. Unfortunately, a system that creates very detailed templates will typically be more expensive and/or computationally complex than a system that creates less detailed templates. Additionally, a system that uses a very high match threshold will typically generate more false negatives. Conversely, a system that uses a low match threshold will typically generate more false positives.
Described herein are various implementations of systems and methods for creating and verifying individuals and/or documents using data derived from a captured sample of a human iris. In accordance with various implementations described herein, a secure document includes, among other things, a graphical representation of a digitally signed original iris digest (e.g., template) obtained from a scan of an individual's iris. When verification of the document is desired, the graphical representation is acquired from the document and an attempt is made to verify the digital signature. If the digital signature is verified, the individual's iris is scanned and a verification iris digest (e.g., template) is created. The verification iris digest is then compared to the original iris digest acquired from the document. If the verification iris digest and the original iris digest match, the document is verified.
As described herein, the original iris digest may be created using unique iris isolation and compression processes. In one implementation, compressed features are at maximal distance with respect to a reference iris image database. The iris analysis algorithm performs three main phases: (i) a detecting phase detects the human iris by using a model which is able to compensate for the noise introduced by the surrounding eyelashes and eyelids, (ii) a converting phase converts the isolated iris using a modified Fourier-Mellin transform into a standard domain where the common patterns of the human iris are concisely represented, and (iii) a compressing phase optimally selects, aligns, and near-optimally compresses selected transform coefficients for each individual user. Additionally, the compressed iris data may be encoded in a bar code with text.
Generally, the issuance iris scanners 102 and 104 may comprise any of a number of optical scanners that are operable to capture an image of an individual's eye. For example, and without limitation, in one implementation, both scanners 102 and 104 are passive iris scanners, which produce a digital representation of an eye.
Generally, the document printer may comprise any of a number of printing devices that are operable to print the secure document 116. The document scanner 108 may comprise any of a number of optical scanners that are operable to capture information printed on the secure document 116.
As shown, the issuance module 110 includes an iris compression module 118, a digital signature module 122, a text hashing module 124, and a combining module 128, and an issuer's private key 120. The verification module 112 includes an iris compression module 132, a test hashing module 134, a signature verification module 138, a comparing module 142, and an issuer's public key 136.
It should be understood that the term module is used in a general sense to describe a component that is operable to perform one or more designated functions. A module may be implemented in various ways and forms. For example, a module may be implemented in or as hardware, software, firmware, or in various combinations of hardware, software, and/or firmware, depending on such factors as speed, cost, size, etc. For example, and without limitation, in one implementation each of the modules in the system 100 comprises software that is stored on a computer-readable medium and executed on a computing system, such as the computing system described below with respect to
In general, the iris compression module 118 is operable to receive an image of an individual's eye 114 from the issuance iris scanner 102 and process the image to form an iris digest, r, representing the iris 115 of the eye 114. The iris compression module 118 emphasizes distinguishing features of the iris that distinguish the iris 115 from a reference database of iris digests. Thus, the iris compression is based primarily on pattern recognition, with perceptual quality being secondary.
Generally, the iris compression module 118 performs four steps in forming the iris digest. First, the iris 115 is isolated from the other portions of the scanned eye 114. Isolating the iris includes separating the iris from the surrounding cornea, pupil, eyelids, eyelashes, skin, and so on. After the iris is isolated, the scanned iris data is transformed into a standard form used during verification. The core features of the iris are then extracted so as to maximize a distance objective. The extracted features are then compressed. Each of the steps performed by the iris compression module 118 is described in further detail below.
In a particular implementation of the system 100, supplemental text 126 is combined with the iris digest. The text 126 may include the individual's personal information, and may also include an expiration date, and any other data that may facilitate verification. The text hashing module 124 performs a hash function on text 126 to create a cryptographically secure version of the text 126. The hash function produces a message digest, t, of fixed length that represents the text 126. Exemplary hash functions that may be used by the text hashing module 124 include, among others, the Secure Hash Algorithm (SHA1) developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST and the National Security Agency (NSA) and the MD5 algorithm developed by Professor Ronald L. Rivest of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The combining module 128 combines the message digest from the text hashing module 124 with the iris digest from the iris compression module 118. A particular implementation of the combining module 128 concatenates the iris digest with the message digest. The output of the combining module 128 is combined message m.
The digital signature module 122 signs the combined message m with an issuer's private key 120. One example of an issuer's private key 120 is an RSA private key from the well-known RSA public key infrastructure (PKI). The digital signature module 122 generates a signed message, s, based on the combined message, m. An implementation of the digital signature module 122 encodes the signed message in barcode 130.
The document printer 106 prints the barcode 130 and the text 126 on the secure document 116. Thus, the combined, signed iris digest and hashed text are compactly encoded onto the security document 116, with which the user can be verified.
After the secure document 116 is issued, the individual can be verified by the verification module 112. The scanner 104 at the verification module 112 scans the individual's eye 114 to capture at least a portion of the individual's iris 115. The iris compression module 132 generates a feature vector from the scanned eye information. The iris compression module 132 generates the feature vector by performing operations similar to those of the iris compression module 118, except that the feature vector does not need to be digitized for storage.
The text hashing module 134 performs a hashing function on the text 126 in the same way that text hashing module 124 of the issuance module 110 hashed the text 126. Accordingly, the output of the text hashing module 134 is message digest t.
The signature verification module 138 verifies validity of the encoded barcode 130 using the issuer's public-key 136. The signature verification module 138 converts scanned barcode data into an authentication signature. The signature verification module 138 obtains the issuer's public-key 136 and performs RSA signature authentication to obtain the signed message, m.
The separating module 140 separates the message digest, t, from the signed message, m, and recovers the original feature vector from the bits in the barcode. The output of the separating module 140 includes information that indicates which transform coefficients were used at issuance to generate the feature vector. The iris compression module 132 can use the coefficient information from the separating module 140 to extract the corresponding transform coefficients to create the feature vector for comparison.
The comparing module 142 compares the feature vector from the iris compression module 132 with the feature vector that was recovered from the bar code. Based on the output of the comparing module 142, a verification indicator 144 indicates whether the iris 115 corresponds to the secure document 116, thereby verifying the identity of the individual.
Exemplary Operations
A scanning operation 210 first scans an individual's iris. One implementation of the scanning operation 210 employs the BM-ET100US Authenticam Iris Recognition Camera from PANASONIC, which is a relatively inexpensive (e.g., US $100), off-the-shelf iris-scanning camera. Any other iris scanner can be used in the scanning operation 210, depending on the particular implementation. The scanning operation 210 digitizes an image of the individual's iris and stores the image in memory where it can be analyzed.
An analyzing operation 212 analyzes the iris and produces an iris digest. One implementation of the analyzing operation 212 includes steps of iris detection (i.e., isolation), transformation, feature extraction, and data compression. A detailed description of the steps performed in the analyzing operation 212 is provided below with respect to
A hashing operation 214 performs a hashing operation on supplemental text. The hashing operation 214 generates a message digest. A particular implementation of the hashing operation 214 executes a hashing algorithm, such as SHA1 or MD5, over the supplemental text to create a fixed length message digest.
A combining operation 216 combines the iris digest with the message digest. An exemplary implementation of the combining operation 216 concatenates the iris digest with the message digest.
An encrypting operation 218 encrypts the combined iris digest and message digest. In a particular implementation of the encrypting operation 218, the combined iris digest and message digest are signed with a private key for use in a public key infrastructure (PKI).
An encoding operation 220 encodes the encrypted data as a barcode. In a particular implementation, the barcode is a 2D color representation of the encrypted data. The barcode is preferably readable by a standard barcode scanner.
A printing operation 222 prints an identification document including the supplemental text and the barcode. The printing operation 222 may also print a picture of the individual on the identification document. The printing operation 222 can be performed by a standard computer printer that prints in color or gray scale.
A detecting operation 310 detects the iris within the scanned eye. In the detecting operation 310, the iris is isolated from other portions of the eye using a number of techniques. A specific implementation of the detecting operation 310 is illustrated in
A transforming operation 312 transforms the isolated iris image into a common domain that facilitates efficient verification. The transforming operation 312 employs several operations, examples of which are discussed in detail with respect to
An extracting operation 314 extracts from the standardized image selected features, in the form of a feature vector, in accordance with a distance metric. The feature vector captures features of the scanned iris that distinguish the scanned iris from a set of other stored iris images. For ease of explanation, particular details of an exemplary extracting operation 314 are discussed below following the discussions of
A compressing operation 316 generates a compressed representation of the extracted feature vector. Again, for ease of explanation, particular details of an exemplary compressing operation 316 are discussed below following the discussions of
Referring now to
Isolating relevant iris data is important for system performance as the noise factors can affect the compression and pattern recognition processes, in particular in the presence of a limited storage space. The exemplary iris detection algorithm includes three operations: (i) a pupil detection operation 410, (ii) outer iris annulus detection operation 412, and (iii) a noise removal operation 414. Each successive operation further refines the image, removing noise. In the end, the result is an image, R[n,m], whose size equals that of the input image, I[n,m], but where the pixels for non-iris regions have been masked. The operations of
In the pupil detection operation 410, the pupil and the iris center are located. The pupil 602 (
Accordingly, an implementation of the pupil detection operation 410 locates a 5 by 5 region with the lowest mean pixel value. This region is highly likely to be located in the pupil. This implementation of the pupil detection operation 410 is typically iterative, because eye-lashes or other image artifacts can result in incorrect pupil detection. Thus, multiple iterations can significantly reduce the likelihood of incorrect pupil detection. The following equation is used to identify the 5 by 5 region:
First, the mean and variance of I[n, m] are determined for the pixels in the 5 by 5 region as follows:
Second, for each pixel location (n1, m1) adjacent to the non-zero region of M[n, m] such that it is within a tolerance, rt, of the mean and variance, M[n1, m1] is set equal to 1.
This process is repeated iteratively until the region growth decreases to a specified level (which can be set as low as zero). Once the region is found, the border B[n, m] of M[n, m] is defined as the pixel locations on the outer edge of the non-zero region of M[n, m]. If the standard deviation of the diameter of this region is less than a specified threshold, the region is determined to be located within the pupil 602.
If the standard deviation is too large (i.e., outside the specified threshold), then it is likely that the region found is not in fact the pupil 602. If this occurs, the outer loop is iterated but the previously located false region is ignored in subsequent iterations. To find the pupil's 602 center, denoted (nc, mc), the indices of the pupil border 606 are averaged. Such averaging works well since the border 606 is roughly circular and the averaging can be implemented with low complexity.
After the pupil 602 is detected, the iris annulus detection operation 412 uses the pupil border 606 to detect an outer annulus around the iris 604. The detection operation 412 estimates an ellipse around the iris 604. Estimating an ellipse allows for correction of errors due to flash reflection or other sorts of pixel variation. In addition, the outer edge of the iris 604 is assumed to have the same arc as the pupil border 606. This is reasonable since the iris 604 is a roughly annular region.
The iris annulus detection operation 412 initially performs edge detection on the image with a Canny edge detector. The outer edge of the iris 604 is found by correlating arcs of various radii with the output of the edge detector. Denoting the output of the edge detector as E[n, m], the results can be written as follows:
In a particular implementation, a search for {{circumflex over (R)}, A} is performed by calculating equation (4) at several radii and choosing the value of R that maximizes equation (4). This procedure is repeated twice: once for the left half of the image and once for the right half of the image. Repeating the procedure twice is done to allow for slight errors in the camera angle, other possible picture imperfections, and in general, iris asymmetry. In addition, a penalty term is applied to ensure that the left and right outer radii are substantially equal within a specified tolerance. Application of equation (4) identifies an arc 610 on the left edge of the iris 604 and an arc 612 on the right edge of the iris 604. Thus, the pupil detection operation 410 and the iris detection operation 412 obtain inner and outer radii of the iris 604.
The noise removal operation 414 removes noisy elements around the left arc 410 and right arc 412. Certain noise elements can be easily removed such as skin or eyelid contact using techniques discussed below. However, the noise due to eyelashes, which frequently has strong components radial with respect to (nc, mc), has a significantly stronger effect on iris analysis as it correlates with many iris patterns.
Eliminating eyelash noise is important to effective iris compression for subsequent pattern matching. One method to avoid the eyelash problem is to insist that system users fully open their eyelids in order for the verifier to take a full scan of users' irises; an action that carries certain inconvenience for the average user and is thus not recommended for use in practice.
The noise removal operation 414 also applies a smoothness metric, which is applied across the left arc 610 and right arc 612. Application of the metric identifies strong changes in the mean and variance of the inner and outer regions of E[n, m]. It has been found empirically that such changes are correlated to the overlap of eyelashes and eyelids upon iris patterns.
E[r, θ] is denoted as a transformation of E[n, m] into polar coordinates. At an angle θ0, the outer radius of E[r, θ] is equal to r0={circumflex over (R)}(cos2θ0+�−2 sin2θ0)−1/2. If '�' is equal to 1, the foregoing function defines a true circle when θ0 is varied from 0� to 360�. However, due to pixilization of the imaging process, the value of '�' is typically not equal to 1.
The smoothness metric is defined as follows:
The result of the above integral is a function of θ0. Low points in the above function indicate noise. Thus, the resulting function is searched for a large plateau near the center. In a particular implementation of the noise removal operation 414, the values Δ, δ, and ε are set by the user, but often these values are relative to a particular imaging quality. In a particular usage scenario, the values are chosen as δ=0.03�r0, ε=2.5�δ, and Δ=2�. By searching for the largest region above a specified threshold, it is possible to determine where the eye features acting as noise begin to impede upon the iris. The largest "consistent" region of the above integral corresponds to the smoothest part of the outer ellipse of the iris.
In order to simplify processing, and avoid problems due to eyelash and related noise, the tops and bottoms of the left arc 610 and right arc 612 are connected to define the border 616 of the iris region. This eliminates noise from the iris 604 and ensures that a pure region of the iris 604 is isolated. Connecting the arcs can result in some amount of iris data loss. Typically, the removed iris data is only recoverable at the cost of a great deal of computational complexity. If the amount of iris data that loss is small, the lost iris data is simply ignored. If the amount of iris data loss is non-trivial, it may be necessary to perform another iris scan.
In a second image pair 706, the eyelashes hang substantially farther down over the pupil and the iris in input image I[n,m] 708. As a result, the portion of iris remaining after noise removal phase 714 is only about half in the associated output image R[n,m] 710. The third image pair 712 illustrates yet another result in which a relatively large portion of the iris from input image I[n,m] 714 is obtained in output image R[n,m] 716 after pupil detection, iris annulus detection, and noise removal.
Referring now to
The exemplary transformation algorithm 312 shown in
For example, the FMT is scale invariant, meaning that the FMT of s(t) and the FMT of s(at) are related by a phase shift. In addition to the FMT's scale invariance, the FMT and the Fourier transform are related to each other in a way that is particularly useful with respect to iris verification, due to the nature of most irises.
In addition, most iris features occur along ridges that spread out radially or annularly. As a result, a Fourier analysis can be used to localize the features of the iris. Therefore, the FMT can be beneficially applied along the radial direction while the regular Fourier transform is applied along the annular direction to localize the energy of the iris image. Exemplary operations for radial and annular analysis are discussed further below.
Prior to describing the details of the transformation algorithm 312, some background is provided on the FMT and the Fourier transform. A one-dimensional FMT in the continuous domain is given in equation (5) below:
The FMT can be manipulated to result in the following relationship:
In the discrete domain, equation (6) implies the FMT includes of three parts: interpolation, scaling, and Fourier transform. Application of the FMT results in a masked image that is scaled in the radial direction.
The overall modified FMT, including the FMT and the FFT, can be summarized in the continuous domain as follows:
Turning now to the transformation algorithm 312, a converting operation 510 receives an isolated iris image (e.g., from the detecting operation 310,
Logarithmic sampling typically involves interpolating the iris image in the radial direction to obtain radially-positioned samples. In one implementation, the samples are obtained at 256 angles and at 256 radii. The radially-positioned samples are spaced logarithmically from the fitted inner radius to the fitted outer radius (i.e., the inner and outer radii determined in the iris detecting operation 310). As a result, the samples are successively spaced farther and farther apart from the inner radius to the outer radius.
The uniform and logarithmic sampling of the converting operation 510 create a log-polar image of the iris image. In log-polar domain, irises can be efficiently aligned to account for rotations in the angle of the camera that may arise between the issuance process and the verification process. A rotation can be accommodated by shifting one column of the log-polar image across to the opposite side of the log-polar image. Correlating the areas of two log-polar images of the same individual can correct for differences in camera angle.
The converting operation 510 also generates a mask image that indicates non-iris regions in the log-polar image. The mask image contains samples of the log-polar image corresponding to regions of the iris image where no iris information was recovered. The mask image is used later in the FFT operation discussed below.
A scaling operation 512 scales the log-polar image according to the Fourier Mellin transform (FMT). The scaling operation 512 applies an FMT scalar exponential (e.g., et
A performing operation 514 performs a 2-dimensional (2-D) Fast Fourier transform (FFT) on the scaled log-polar image. The performing operation uses the mask image generated in the converting operation 510 to ensure only iris data is used in the FFT. The 2-D FFT is the application of the second line of equation (7), shown above. The output of the transformation algorithm 312 is a representation of the iris in a standardized domain that concisely represents annular and radial features of the iris. Such a concise representation in the standardized domain facilitates efficient iris comparisons during iris verification.
A graphical example of transforming a scanned iris image into a standardized form is illustrated in
The description now returns to the extracting operation 314 of the iris analysis algorithm 300 shown in
Accordingly, after the transforming operation 312, an extracting operation 314 extracts selected features and generates a representative feature vector. Feature extraction can be achieved using techniques such as singular vector decomposition, Fisher discriminant kernels, or Principle Component Analysis (PCA) and its variants. However, use of such techniques frequently comes at the expense of a large storage requirement at the verification module. For example, a PCA based system requires storing subspace eigenvectors at the verification module.
To simplify the verification process, an implementation of the extracting module 314 satisfies a distance objective via the Maximum A Posteriori (MAP) principle. When determining whether two iris digests match, the two possible outcomes are denoted as IS and NOT, for the two cases when iris digests do and do not correspond to the same physical iris, respectively.
To explain the MAP approach, a physical iris of user k is denoted as I(k), the iris's jth scan as I(k, j), and the corresponding extracted features as a vector {right arrow over (υ)}(k,j)⊂□n of length n elements contained in an iris digest. Assume a reference database is available that includes feature vectors Υ={{right arrow over (υ)}(k,j), k=1 . . . K, j=1 . . . J}, which are associated with I={I(k,j), k=1 . . . K, j=1 . . . J} iris scans, respectively. A feature vector, {right arrow over (υ)}(0,1)∉Υ, is extracted from mFMT transformed iris scan I(k,j) such that the distance between {right arrow over (υ)}(0,1) and the feature vectors {right arrow over (υ)}(k,j)εΥ is maximized.
In addition, subsequent scans of the same iris should have minimized distance. In one implementation, Euclidean distance is used as a similarity metric. Hence, for two feature vectors {right arrow over (υ)} and {right arrow over (ω)}, their similarity is quantified as:
In order to model the two possible outcomes (i.e., IS and NOT), the two distributions are estimated over s, one for the IS comparisons and one for the NOT comparisons. To achieve a low probability of an incorrect decision, the two distributions must be largely separated with low variances. They can be accurately modeled as non-central χ2-distributions, however, for simplicity and relative local accuracy, in this work, we perform their Gaussian fitting. Once the distribution of the metric is obtained for both the IS and the NOT case, the decision can be made using the MAP principle:
The decision making equivalent to the above expression is equivalent to threshold comparison s<T and s>T. The threshold μIS<T<μNOT can be selected so as to balance the false positive and negative probabilities. Using the above equations, a metric can be determined that induces the largest separation between the comparison distributions.
Given a reference vector class X, a series of m unrelated vector classes, and an input vector
Given the foregoing vector data, a subset of vector indices S⊂{1, . . . , n} is determined such that the subset of vector indices maximizes the expected Euclidean distance for vectors of class X, such as
The feature extracting operation 314 then selects the subset S that optimally maximizes the expected metric Δ(S,X) for a vector
It can be shown that the metric Δ(S,X) improves as long as indices i for which the following relation holds:
The extracting operation 314 performs a simple search over the set of magnitude and phase coefficients [mag(x, y), phase(x, y)] to find an optimal subset of these coefficients that generates maximum separation of I with respect to I. This assumes that normalized magnitude and phase mFMT coefficients are IID random variables, for a given input class of iris scans [mag(x, y), phase(x, y)]=mFMT(I(k,j)) for j=1 . . . J associated with user k and a reference database I(k)∉I.
The extracting operation 314 includes all mFMT coefficients in S that satisfy the feature extraction requirement from equation (10). The metric is computed individually for each coefficient as coefficients of mFMT(I) are compared to the corresponding statistics of mFMT coefficients of other users from I. More relevant statistics for {μi, σi} and {μj,i, σj,i} may be obtained with more iris scans. For example, in one implementation at least ten scans of each iris class I are required, i.e., J>10. Because feature extraction is performed only during issuance, this requirement does not impose significant user inconvenience.
In a particular implementation, the feature extraction and compression processes are performed simultaneously. The set of actual indices included in the iris digest is governed by the storage requirement. If the set can be compacted such that it fits the storage limitation, then the entire set S is included—both indices and quantized coefficient values. Otherwise, only a subset of indices from S is included with the best feature extraction metric. It is straightforward to show that this approach provides good performance under a certain storage constraint.
Advantageously, for each person, the set of indices that are selected are typically different. Thus, the feature vector emphasizes the distinct features of a given iris scan, features that are not likely to be present in other peoples' irises. In the encoding process, some bits are used for indicating which mFMT coefficients are selected.
Additionally, the bulk of the selected points occur on the DC frequencies of the mFMT. This makes intuitive sense, because the typical features of the iris occur along the shapes indicated by the DC coefficients. Since the points used for each person vary, the optimal threshold for each person also varies. For this reason, the threshold used for the decision must also be encoded.
For a large I, the learning of feature vectors typically have only minor statistical variations for similar iris data-sets outside of I. According to the best practice of random sampling, and as has been verified through bootstrapping methods, the unrelated class of vectors represent the features of the expected final user base.
The compressing operation 316 of the iris analysis algorithm 300 compresses the selected feature vectors into a final iris digest, r. There are three data-sets that are compressed: the values of the data in the feature vector, the location of the selected mFMT coefficients, and the decision threshold T.
In a particular implementation of the compressing operation 316, the three data-sets are compressed using standard data encoding techniques to transform the data-sets into fewer than 2000 bits. The data vector values are compressed using uniform scalar quantizers, using 5 bits per sample for a total of 850 bits. Since the phase is approximately uniform between −π and π, a scalar quantizer gives good performance at low complexity.
In the particular implementation of the compressing operation 316, the coefficient locations are encoded using an off-the-shelf point compression algorithm. This algorithm uses delta-modulation and combinatorial optimization via the traveling salesman problem to encode planar paths; in our application it encoded the 170 locations at, on average, 6 bits per location for a total of 1 KB. Finally, the desired threshold is encoded using a scalar quantizer. In this implementation, 10 bits per threshold are used based on a quantizer generalized by the Lloyd-Max algorithm. This totals, on average, 1880 bits while maintaining the computers' ability to distinguish among people based on their irises.
Exemplary Variation on Iris-Based Biometric Verification System
As shown in
The text hashing module 916 performs a hashing algorithm on text 508 that is descriptive of the individual. Exemplary hashing algorithms are SHA1 and MD5, but any other hashing algorithm can be used. The text hashing algorithm 916 outputs a message digest, t.
In this implementation, the individual's face 906 is scanned into a digital image by a facial scanner (not shown). Using the digital image of the face, a face compression module 918 generates a face digest, f, which compactly represents the face 906 while increasing a distance metric relative to other faces in a reference database. Specifically, the face compression module 918 increases the distance between any two distinct facial structures. In so doing, the face compression module 918 reduces the likelihood of a false negative and false positive during the verification.
A combining module 920 combines the iris digest, the face digest and the message digest to create a combined message, m. The combined message is input into an RSA signing module 922 that signs the combined message with the issuer's private key 924. The signed message, s, is encoded and printed on the security card 910 in the form of a barcode 926.
Later, the individual can be authenticated at the verifier 912. The verifier scans the iris 904, the face 906, the text 908, and the barcode 926. The barcode 926 can be scanned using standard barcode scanning equipment (not shown). The text 908 is scanned using optical character recognition (OCR).
The scanned barcode is input to an RSA verifying module 928. The RSA verifying module 928 verifies that the signed message is authentic with respect to the issuer's public key 930. The output of the RSA verification module 928 is message, m, if the signed message is authentic. If the signed message is not authentic, the output of the RSA verification module 928 will not be the same message, m, as encoded at the issuer 902, and the individual's identity will be determined to be invalid.
The text hashing module 932 performs the same hashing algorithm on the text 908 that the issuer's text hashing module 916 performed on the text 908. The text hashing module 932 outputs a message digest, t.
A separating module 934 separates the face digest, f, and the iris digest, r, from the message, m, using the message digest, t. Unlike the implementation in
Accordingly, a face decompression module 936 decompresses the face digest using operations that are generally the inverse of operations used by the face compression module 918. An iris decompression module 938 decompresses the iris digest using operations that are generally the inverse of operations used by the iris compression module 914. The output of the face decompression module 936 is an image of the face 906 (assuming the same face as at issuance). The output of the iris decompression module 938 are the feature vectors that were encoded by the issuance module 110 (assuming the same iris as at issuance).
One or more comparators 940 compare the decompressed iris image with the scanned iris and the decompressed face image with the scanned face. Specifically, the comparator(s) 940 compare the facial-feature data decompressed from f to digital facial-feature data of the scanned face and quantifies the level of similarity (e.g., correlation) between the two faces: the de-compressed face and the scanned face. Similarly, the comparator(s) 940 compare the iris-feature data decompressed from r to digital iris-feature data of the scanned iris and quantifies the level of similarity (e.g., correlation) between the two irises: the de-compressed iris and the scanned iris. The output of the comparator(s) 940 is an authentic or invalid signal.
Exemplary Computing Device
With reference to
As depicted, in this example personal computer 20 further includes a hard disk drive 27 for reading from and writing to a hard disk (not shown), a magnetic disk drive 28 for reading from or writing to a removable magnetic disk 29, and an optical disk drive 30 for reading from or writing to a removable optical disk 31 such as a CD ROM, DVD, or other like optical media. Hard disk drive 27, magnetic disk drive 28, and optical disk drive 30 are connected to the system bus 23 by a hard disk drive interface 32, a magnetic disk drive interface 33, and an optical drive interface 34, respectively. These exemplary drives and their associated computer-readable media provide nonvolatile storage of computer readable instructions, data structures, computer programs and other data for the personal computer 20.
Although the exemplary environment described herein employs a hard disk, a removable magnetic disk 29 and a removable optical disk 31, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that other types of computer readable media which can store data that is accessible by a computer, such as magnetic cassettes, flash memory cards, digital video disks, random access memories (RAMs), read only memories (ROMs), and the like, may also be used in the exemplary operating environment.
A number of computer programs may be stored on the hard disk, magnetic disk 29, optical disk 31, ROM 24 or RAM 25, including an operating system 35, one or more application programs 36, other programs 37, and program data 38. A user may enter commands and information into the personal computer 20 through input devices such as a keyboard 40 and pointing device 42 (such as a mouse).
A camera 55 (such as a digital/electronic still or video camera, or film/photographic scanner) capable of capturing image data can also be included as an input device to the personal computer 20. The images data is input into the computer 20 via an appropriate camera interface 57. In this example, interface 57 is connected to the system bus 23, thereby allowing the images to be routed to and stored in the RAM 25, or one of the other data storage devices associated with the computer 20. It is noted, however, that image data can be input into the computer 20 from any of the aforementioned computer-readable media as well, without requiring the use of the camera 55.
Other input devices (not shown) may include a microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 21 through a serial port interface 46 that is coupled to the system bus, but may be connected by other interfaces, such as a parallel port, game port, a universal serial bus (USB), etc.
A monitor 47 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 23 via an interface, such as a video adapter 48. In addition to the monitor, personal computers typically include other peripheral output devices (not shown), such as speakers and printers.
Personal computer 20 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 49. Remote computer 49 may be another personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the personal computer 20.
The logical connections depicted in
When used in a LAN networking environment, personal computer 20 is connected to local network 51 through a network interface or adapter 53. When used in a WAN networking environment, the personal computer 20 typically includes a modem 54 or other means for establishing communications over the wide area network 52, such as the Internet. Modem 54, which may be internal or external, is connected to system bus 23 via the serial port interface 46.
In a networked environment, computer programs depicted relative to personal computer 20, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storage device. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers may be used.
Various modules and techniques may be described herein in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments.
An implementation of these modules and techniques may be stored on or transmitted across some form of computer-readable media. Computer-readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example, and not limitation, computer-readable media may comprise "computer storage media" and "communications media."
"Computer storage media" includes volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by a computer.
"Communication media" typically embodies computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal, such as carrier wave or other transport mechanism. Communication media also includes any information delivery media. The term "modulated data signal" means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared, and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above are also included within the scope of computer-readable media.
Although the exemplary operating embodiment is described in terms of operational flows in a conventional computer, one skilled in the art will realize that the present invention can be embodied in any platform or environment that processes and/or communicates video signals. Examples include both programmable and non-programmable devices such as hardware having a dedicated purpose such as video conferencing, firmware, semiconductor devices, hand-held computers, palm-sized computers, cellular telephones, and the like.
Although some exemplary methods and systems have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing Detailed Description, it will be understood that the methods and systems shown and described are not limited to the particular implementation described herein, but rather are capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the spirit set forth herein.
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The Rooster's Crow
Community Service Project, Thurs., May 29thPosted on Friday, May 9th, 2014
Calling all Primary Students–come out for a special Community Service Project for the Primary Students, Thursday, May 29th, from 3:05 pm to 3:35 pm. (Rain date to be determined if needed.)
Children from the PRIMARY Programs are invited to paint Summer-themed Wind Chimes for the residents at Review Estates – an assisted living, rehabilitation and skilled nursing care center located in Riverton, New Jersey.
This fun event will take place here, outside in our Gazebo! There will even be a little something that they can make for themselves as a take home reminder of the wonderful service they are doing in making others happy!
If your child is interested in participating please contact Renita Brady at firstname.lastname@example.com no later than Wednesday, May 14th. We cannot accept RSVP's after this date due to the ordering of supplies and logistics of organizing the event.
Volunteers to help the children are welcome and will be very much appreciated. Thank you for allowing your children to experience the joy of giving through Community Service!
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Giugiaro Clipper electric 6 seater MPV, Clipper Ducati and Patrick Dempsey at Geneva
Italdesign Giugiaro has introduced their new Clipper concept at Volkswagen Group Night on the eve of 2014 Geneva Motor Show. Sporty and versatile, the MPV is based on Volkswagen's MQB platform and is seen with butterfly front doors and gull wing rear doors.
The new Clipper gets a pillarless design, offering easy entry and exit to and from second and third row seats. Interiors are high tech and sports while seats are done up in a two toned Alcantara upholstery. 4 iPad Minis are integrated into headrests of first and second row seats while the front end is dominated by an 11 inch touchscreen display mounted on an electronically adjustable center console. A floating digital instrument cluster hogs the limelight in front offering information via two different screens.
The three row seating arrangement can be altered by folding rearmost seats flat thereby resulting in a 900 liter boot space. Clipper measures 4534mm in length and is named after a sailing ship. Not to forget, this is Volkswagen-owned design house Italdesign Giugiaro we're looking at. Giugiaro's new concept sits on Volkswagen's MQB platform.
This apart, Italdesign Giugiaro showcasing the Clipper Ducati version. At Volkswagen Group Night "Future Tracks" in Geneva, 2014, Mark Webber and Patrick Dempsey were visiting among others.
Nabanita Singha Roy
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Pornstars: Ariel Rose, Nipsy Doll
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Lucky Man Got A Booty Call - These two horny babes just got home from the bar and they want to fuck so bad. They call one of her friends and this guy gets handed two beauties on a silver platter. Needless to say he jumps on the occasion and has one hell of a good time.


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I offer to help in any way I can. And then I try to leave it alone from there. If they accept, great. If they don't, then it's their business, not mine. Am I ALWAYS able to do this? Sadly, no. But I do try. It's hard not to get entangled in your child's unhappiness, no matter what age they are. But I have to remind myself that they are adults, and that they have the right to their feelings and to their own solutions.
How do we give our grown children support when they are mad?
When a grown child is having a difficult time, how can you help them through it and give them support?
When this happens to my 2 adult children(often), I heart wants to take over and make it better; I have to Make myself remember they are grown adults. I tell them I am here always for them, no matter what, I will listen, and help in any way I can, however I cannot give them 'The' answer, they have to figure that out themselves. This is the hardest thing I have ever had to do...I'm the kind of Mom, that always 'fixed' things for them, just like my Mom and Dad did for me.
"The hardest thing for a Mom; is watching a child go through something really tough and not being able to fix it for them."
I totally agree with your last statement!! My son just got served divorce papers today (his grandfathers birthday too) after only being married from April. He is in California and I'm in Kansas and all I can do is tell him I love him and cry inside for him. Motherhood sucks sometime but I would NEVER trade it for ANYTHING!!!!
My childrens lives are their own. If they come to me with a problem, I listen to them till they get it off their chest, then if they ask for advice I tell them what I think I would do in that situation and that gives them another perspective to think about to get to their own conclusion.
I am there for my grown child, simply by letting him know that I am there and that I love him. No judgements and no bashing, just support.
I tried to post this as a general answer... sorry to add it as a comment, but it would not post under "Share your Answer": Mad at what? Mad at life? Mad at you? Mad at a relationship? Mad at themself? Mad at work? Too many variables to offer a valuable opinion on this one.
I usually listen to the whole situation quietly without interrupting. I then wait until I am asked in one way or another for my input. Most of the time they just want to vent to someone. Now, there are times when they will ask for an opinion and that is when I start by saying this may or may not work for you, and I begin my scenario. If I say something that seems out of line with them I apologize and we go from there.
This is my approach and it usually helps, but waiting for the anger to pass is the hardest part!
I find at times that I don't always handle "motherhood" well, at least according to my daughters; I certainly try but sometimes when I do share things with my adult children, they are often miscontrued and are taken in the wrong manner. I am learning to pray for them (daily) as well as praying the following verses over myself, "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips."--Psalms 141:3. I am leaning on Christ to give me discernment and wisdom so when I do open my mouth it would be acceptable to Him and edify my children. I am also learning to be a better listener and try not to jump in and fix everything even if it is just giving advice. I once heard a pastor say, "When you give advice when it hasn't been asked for, it is no longer advice, but just noise."
Well said. It hit home for me and I like what you said is scripture based.
I offer my support to my grown Son as an advisor and not as a parent. I try to give him the best advice as possible for the situation. I alway let him know that I Iove him and he knows that he can always talk to me about any thing that may be troubling him without feeling ashame.
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I mainly just listen, let them get things off their chest and out in the open. Other than that, I pray for them, be there for them. I can't fix things for them, but I thank God they all have good heads on their shoulders and once they get things off their chest, they bounce back.
I have two grown daughters, both now moms, too, who are very different types of people thus my supportiveness is modified accordingly but the main thing is that they know mom is always there for them and willing to give advice as wanted, or to not meddle if that is most desirable to them. It is hard to witness your children going through some of the same traumas and dramas that you went through and not be able to guide them in what would probably have been a more successful way of working through whatever was transpiring back in the day. I know that from my own experiences that nobody could have guided me to make different choices and unfortunately we cannot always guide our own children regardless of their age and maturity level. I think that as long as they know you love them and are always there for them that anything else is sticking your nose in where it just might not be wanted. But if asked ....
When my daughter's are upset about something, they call me and vent away. I listen to them and advise if they ask for it. What they choose to do with it is their choice. I am there as their friend and confidant as much as I can be. They are both strong young women and have good head's on their shoulders, I reassure them that I am there if they need me and will help as much as I can. Always let them know I am here always and love them always. I try to not interfer with their lives, I give them that respect.
tell them you are there if they need you, but don't tell them what they should do or not do unless they ask you, Just let them know you are there for support if they ask you, don't force yourself on them that will only drive them away.
This is so very hard for me, because my son doesn't talk to me anymore. I know he wants to "be a man" and "handle it himself" but he hasn't had much of a role model with his father living 3,000 miles away. They used to have a relationship, but when my son started "experimenting" with drugs and got caught, his father told him he was DISOWNED. Now it seems my son has no fear of disappointing anyone cuz he thinks he already has. I try my best to support him by listening to whatever he DOES share with me, and not judging him, because I was unable to share with my mom. It just scares me so much because I KNOW he's most likely going to be arrested or killed if he continues to act without any fears.
With my grown children..I just let them know I love them no matter what and they have my support.When they want to talk I'm there.I give them the advice I think may be right at the ime..whether they take it is totally up to them.
I had a bad experience with both of my grown daughters with giving them advice. They both got mad at me and did not speak to me for over a month. I have been really good to them and their children. It really hurt but I prayed about it and now im healed and I no now to keep my opinion to myself and to let go and let God work it out for them and for me.
that's true they have to work it out by themselves...i've 2 grown daughters too i no how it is I've been thru it before since my girls are grown...
First off LISTEN to them. Just sit quietly while they tell you what is on their minds. I always make sure that they know that I love them and that God is always there to talk to. If they ask for advice I try to give it to them but if they just want to talk and get it out I try to just sit and be there for them.
it depends on what the situation is. I have four children, if one of them is angry over a situation that they cannot control I tell them that there will always be situations in life like this, and that the only thing we can do is move on, or if possible try to change it. If they are mad because of something they did and got caught for it, or hurt another persons feelings for it, I go back to my saying that if you are grown enough to make that choice be grown enough to deal with it. I always tell my children that it is okay to be mad, but they must look at the situation in a way that allows them to deal with it responsibly.
You can listen to what they have to say and try to give them some advice, even if they don't take it.
i tell them to calm down and think things through. by having a clear thought and when emotions subside, then i ask them to address the issue objectively and explore their options. but before i tell them all these things, i listen first before i give advice or not at all. sometimes, all they need is a listening parent to air their frustrations.
When my grown children are having a difficult time, I ask them to think about the people they choose to surround themselves with. During their childhood I always encouraged them to surround themselves with others that want to be successful; by those that go about achieving their successes in a positive manner and those that would only choose to be around people that have high expectations for themselves. Once you began weeding out those that lack those characteristics, it is easy to detect where a lot of dessention and drama come from. When life seems to get better, then for the moment, you know that you have removed the source. Readjust and move on toward bigger, better things!
I listen and when I am asked, I try to give the best advice I can give. I try and go back in time and remember any circumstance that I was faced with in my lifetime and compare with the situation that they are up against. Other times when I talk the situation out with them, we can find an answer together. I remind them that God plays a huge role in their lives and to open their eyes and hearts to his answers and have patience. I remind them how everything always worked out when they were younger and we had some really hard times. Everything will always be okay and they will always have me if they need anything.
Let them know you love them at all times.You are there for them.If they want your help give it . and pray for them all the time. Put them in Gods hands.
Nancy i agree with u !00% u only can put it in God's Hand .. U can give them good advice if they 'll listen to their parents.. Most of the time they don't want to listen to their parents .. I 've 2 grown girls & 3 gr girls...i no how it is ...
Listen. Say, "Ummmm hmmmmm." "Use "So you feel" statements. Try to support her/him to arrive at a conclusion. DON'T OFFER SOLUTIONS. Above all, DON'T criticize the spouse or significant other.
good point. it does not help to criticize the spouse.
What is your adult child is upset with you, won't tell you and tells your grandchildren, who you are very close to, that they won't see you. Both they are I are devasted.
My oldest is 31 and he will call me from time to time and ask for advice. I give my opinion and am carefull at wording my responses. I do not critisize his wife ( who I have known since she was 14 she is oldest daughters BFF both are 29) It has take all of them a long time to realize that Hey good ol' mom is pretty wise !!
how do i help my daughter that seems to know it all but keeps getting involved with the wrong people and just stopped listening and talking to me
I never tell my 23 year old daughter how to resolve the issue at hand as she is so strong willed that she will do what she wants anyway. I do give her advice and 2-3 different courses of action and then I let her know I am her prayer support partner and to take her time making the final decision especially if it's a big decision and she has the luxury ot time to decide the final outcome.
Listen first, then ask them "Do you need to just vent or do you want my advice?" Most of the time they just want you to listen and they figure it out through processing it aloud. Then, show them empathy, honest to goodness empathy. "I am really sorry you are going through this time." Always encourage them by letting them know that they have what it takes to emotionally tackle life and that you believe in them. Finally, let them know you are praying for them. I try to follow up with a text to let them know I am thinking of them and love them.
In the question you said "mad". Then you said "difficult situation". Part of adulthood is owning our anger and learning not to act out of anger. A very wise man said, "Be angry but don't sin." If you can help your child (or anyone) to thnk through the situation and act rationally then you have been a good parent or friend. You can express your love and support without getting into a "poor you" mode that serves no helpful purpose.
I need help on the same subject can anyone help me out
I just tell them I'm there for them & I'm a good listener. If they want my advise, I will tell them what I think, otherwise I don't tell them. I support them in what they do & tell them I love them.
Give him/her a little space, but tell them you love them and are here to talk about it when they are ready.
Good coment but sometimes they just run the oppisite direction .Parents sometimes get the blame because the children are hurting so bad and they tune every thing out .
I really try to listen them out completely, don't interrupt, stay calm believe it or not they are hoping you will hold together when it's something they know you won't want to hear.Don't get pulled in remember it's their anger speaking. they might not have all the information. It could be a misunderstanding.
I have 3 grown children, 2 sons and a daughter. My daughter is my step daughter actually and I didn't even know her until she was already in her 20's, but I love her and she IS MY DAUGHTER, the mother of my 18 year old granddaughter. I have a problem with her that she calls here crying over every little thing and gets me upset and I am in very bad health and so is my husband. My granddaughter will do the same thing if she is here and something doesn't suit her or is said that she doesn't like she will call her mommy and bother her about it, I tried talking to her and telling her that she is an adult now and mommy isn't always going to be there and she needed to learn to talk to me if she had a problem with me or her grandpa, but her mom got married and was on her honeymoon and the granddaughter couldn't leave her alone.... the other night after they picked her up my daughter called me (I thought this would be over with) wanting to come home, her and my granddaughter...blubbering so that I couldn't hardly understand what her new husband had done wrong.... We live barely month to month because we are both disabled and can't afford to support 2 other people, I didn't actually answer her, we got disconnected somehow but I did call her back and left a message that every married couple has probs and maybe she should give it a chance, if she needed a few days away to come here, but if it came down to it that they could come here and stay... I sure can't have my daughter and granddaughter out in the streets...they neither one have a job and in the small town I live in it is near impossible to find one, they don't have drivers licenses either.
Vickie, as you have written this, you are being treated poorly by two women who are immature. You and your husband need to tell your daughter what you need...enough food, peace, positive energy, help around the home when they visit. If you feel unable to speak about how difficult it would be to have them stay with you, could one of your sons speak with her....calmly and kindly. I know the economy is not good, but the two women need to step up and take responsibility for themselves.....and give care to you and your husband. Good luck.
I just let them know how much I love them and let them know that I am there for them no matter what. I don't pry until they are ready to share or ask for help, but I just keep showering them with love and understanding.
My husband keeps in touch often with our sons. I think that helps so that when they want to talk they know he will listen. My youngest son opens up more to me and the older one to my husband. We use SKYPE so we can see each other. We live in Belgium and they live in other countries so it really helps. But i agree with the other comments that all we can do is listen and give advice when asked and it is hard.
I have a 16 year old son whom will not listen anymore andhates school. He has never adapted since kindergarten..We have homeschooled for several years due to sickness and he has since decided to just quit and get a GED later and go on back to either the service or some training at an Ittt college...I am driving myself crazy. and feel like a horrible mom for not making him go but I know he cant cope and I hate it he isnt moving forth at this time and am afraid he will do crazy things and get into triouble. He has quit going to church and only goes if it benefits him....I just want to fix this and cant. I am afraid to let the school system and courts step in. he dont deserve juvinile hall or a out of town jail for teenageres that are problems to society. He does need insurance when he is of ageg because he is sick and needs treated and if he dont go through school or to college to get a good job with benefits this want be possible and God only knows what will happen then. I know he will continue to brreak my heart. and I jsut pray someday things are normal again and he is functioning in society as norm does well for himself. Any suggestions.....that I havent tried. email@example.com
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What a gorgeous day here in Phoenix! After some more freak weather - rainy for four days, it's back up in the 70s. Luckily I have Friday off, so I met up with some girlfriends for lunch and ended up walking around campus a bit just enjoying the sun.
This peplum top was actually purchased at the Lulu*s Style Studio last semester, and I haven't worn it since! It's definitely out of my comfort zone since my style revolves around very casual and comfortable pieces. This peplum top is definitely more structured and dressy than I'm used to! I'm really happy it's a casual t-shirt material though, since it allowed me to dress it down. I just bought these "Sexy Boyfriend" jeans on sale from Gap, and figured they were the perfect way to dress down this top. It worked out well! Plus, these are my first boyfriend jeans and I'm very happy with them! So relaxed and comfortable.
These rings have become my OBSESSION. I bought just the blue and green ones a few weeks ago at Madewell, and I loved them so much I went back and bought all the other colors! I scored them on sale with an extra 40% off so I think it ended up being about $2 a ring. Talk about a deal!
One of my favorite pairs of Minnetonkas!
Candid shot!
Well, back to attempting to finish some school work over the weekend! Senior year is very different from what I'm used to, so I'm trying to stay on top of things. Let's hope for the best!
Outfit details: top - Lulu*s; jeans - Gap; belt - Nordstrom BP; rings - Madewell; shoes - Minnetonka (via Saks Off 5th); necklace and bracelet - vintage


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The cans in ceiling are 4" low-voltage by LITON. They're hung in pairs of two everywhere on upper floor.
These are telephone, television and data media panels. Security panel is on right wall.
Lighting subpanel and control panels.
Lighting control panels, took me 8 hours. Tired fingers, tired back.
Subpanels in utility room.
Lighting control panels.
Kitchen/dining, right to left, against far wall.
Infinity edge with tile.
Boiler on left back, and two large air handlers on right.
Installed boiler system.
Main service, 400 amps.
Pool equipment room.
A view from dining room toward study; kitchen and island are in left of picture. The study area will be on other side of division wall. Skylight is 8' X 16'.
Here will be in-floor heating pumps and controls.


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Takoma Park Maryland Library · 101 Philadelphia Avenue · Takoma Park Maryland 20912 USA · 301.891.7259
Come try to guess the 2013 Caldecott Medal winner on Wednesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m. All ages welcome; cookies & lemonade will be served! Using our big screen and special projector, well look at some top possibilities for this years Caldecott Medal, which is awarded annually by the American Library Association to the best-illustrated picture book. The actual winner of the 2013 Caldecott Medal will be announced on the morning on Monday, Jan. 28 lets see how close we can get! No registration required, just come and read some wonderful books with us on a winter night. (NOTE: Both the program and the date of this event mark a change from the scheduled Caldecott Medal Birthday Club. If you have any questions, give us a call at 301-891-7259.)


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The big news yesterday was of course the announcement by Deadline that Sony (Sony Corporation) is apparently plotting a spin-off of their Amazing Spider-Man franchise that will involve a female superhero. Details are scarce, with much speculation about which female Spider-Man universe character it might feature (Black Cat? Spider-Woman?) but it is allegedly intended for sometime in 2017. What this means, assuming said movie actually gets made, is that Sony has beaten DC Comics and Marvel Studios to the punch in terms of a high-profile female-centric superhero movie. Combined with the recently announced Sinister Six super-villain team-up film planned for November, 2016, Sony's much-derided (by myself among others) expansion hopes for Spider-Man may in-fact be brilliant. Assuming these films get made, Sony is going out of its way to do precisely what the other studios are not doing.
It can be argued that Sony merely reacted to the $79 million-and-counting domestic success of Scarlett Johansson's Lucy, along with the obvious big wins for the likes of Divergent and Maleficent and the outcry over a lack of female superheros from Walt Disney, Warner Bros. (Time Warner, Inc.), and 20th Century Fox (21st Century Fox Corp.) and decided to call "First!" for the sake of pre-production huzzahs. The best case scenario, one that is almost too wonderful to even speculate about, is that this announcement along with talk of a female-centric Ghostbusters reboot means that Sony is trying to differenciate itself from the tent-pole pack by crafting explicitely girl-powered superhero/action-fantasy tent poles. But even if the two announcements are merely coincidence, it is no coincidence that this story broke two weeks after Drew Goddard's Sinister Six film was scheduled ahead of The Amazing Spider-Man 3.
$706m worldwide grosses notwithstanding, Sony has to know that the newest Spider-Man franchise isn't exactly gaining new fans or growing the brand all that much, especially as the films keep costing around $250m a pop and they just killed off the most popular character. If Amazing Spider-Man was "Let's do Batman Begins!" and Amazing Spider-Man 2 was "Let's do Iron Man 2!," then it can be argued that these current plans, final results of course unknown, are Sony basically going out its way to differenciate itself from the pack. A supervillain team-up is indeed something completely different than what we've seen in really any kind of superhero cinema. And a mainstream superhero blockbuster highlighting a female superhero is something that has been utterly absent at least since the modern (post-Catwoman/Elektra) era. If Sony pulls off a female-centric superhero film that qualifies as a (relative) box office smash, then they will have attempted and succeeded at what Marvel and DC would not or could not do up to this point. If their supervillain team-up picture succeeds, same thing, although obviously with less social importance attached to it.
Why this makes sense, again presuming everything comes to fruition, is that Sony is seemingly going out of its way to distinguish their Spider-Man franchise instead of merely trying to be like everyone else. The tragedy of the first two Amazing Spider-Man films was that the once great Spider-Man film franchise was rendered a pale shadow of its imitators, akin to Michael Jackson at the end of his career attempting to mimic today's King of Pop-inspired musicians. I have no idea if Sinister Six or (theoretically) Black Cat: The Movie will get made and/or will be successful. But even if these announcements are merely an attempt to placate Sony stockholders who want their own Avengers-style expanded universe, Sony at least deserves credit for taking its universe in thus-far untapped directions. Instead of saying "Let's be like Marvel!," they are apparently saying "Let's see what Disney and Warner aren't doing and do that!" Heck, if they could now just announce that Amazing Spider-Man 3 will be a passing-of-the-torch saga for Miles Morales, Sony could really pull off a hat trick worth rooting for.
If this all seems unduly optimistic and idealistic, so be it. I would rather presume the best intentions and hope for the best results rather than assume the worst and expect the worst from a studio that is at least seemingly trying to do something different and/or fill a rather obvious gap in genre filmmaking. I still think Sony blew their chance to distinguish their Amazing Spider-Man franchise back when they decided not to do the small-scale and romance-centric "Spiderman meets Twilight" concept that was initially intended as the reboot template. But if they give us an artistically and commercially worthwhile villain team-up movie and an artistically and commercially worthwhile female superhero movie, then maybe, just maybe the Spider-Man franchise can once again amazing, superior, and/or spectacular. For the moment, I'm a true believer.
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Gjetost Cheese: Yay or Nay
I recently purchased Gjetost (Brunost) cheese from the brand ski queen. It is a brown colored, caramel like cheese imported from Norway. I think it is the most popular product exported from Norway. Just wanna hear what you guys have to say about the...let's say...interesting stuff.
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