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A data compression system includes an input store (1) for receiving and storing a plurality of bytes of data from an outside source. Data processing means for processing successive bytes of data from the input store includes circuit means (21-25) operable to check whether a sequence of bytes is identical with a sequence of bytes already processed, output means (27) operable to apply to a transfer medium (12) each byte of data not forming part of such an identical sequence, and an encoder (26) responsive to the identification of such a sequence to apply to the transfer means (12) an identification signal which identifies both the location in the input store of the previous occurrence of the sequence of bytes and the number of bytes in the sequence.
1. A data compression system comprising an input store for receiving and storing a plurality of bytes of uncompressed data from an outside source, and data processing means for processing successive bytes of data from the input store;
the data processing means including circuit means operable to check whether a sequence of successive bytes to be processed identical with a sequence of bytes already processed, and including hash generating means responsive to the application of a predetermined number of bytes in sequence to derive a hash code appropriate to those bytes, a temporary store in which the hash code may represent the address of a storage location, and a pointer counter operable to store in the temporary store at said address a pointer indicative of the position in the input store of one of the predetermined number of bytes;
output means operable to apply to a transfer medium each byte of data not forming part of such an identical sequence; and
encoding means responsive to the identification of such a sequence to apply to the transfer medium an identification signal which identifies both the location in the input store of the previous occurrence of the sequence of bytes and the number of bytes contained in the sequence.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the circuit means also includes check means operable to check for identity between each of the said predetermined number of bytes in sequence and each of a similar sequence of bytes contained in the input store at a location defined by a pointer read out from the temporary store at said address and to check whether identity exists between succeeding bytes in each sequence of bytes, and a byte counter operable to count the number of identical bytes in each sequence.
3. A system as claimed in claim 2 in which the encoder is operable when such identity exists to encode the pointer read out from the temporary store and the output of the byte counter.
4. A system as claimed in claim 1 which includes a plurality of input stores each of which contains part only of the data from the outside source.
5. A data compression system as claimed in claim 1 which includes data receiving means operable to receive compressed data from the transfer medium, an output store operable to store any uncompressed byte of data received by the receiving means, and copying means responsive to an identification signal to apply to the output store the sequence of bytes already contained in said output store and identified by the said identification signal, the arrangement being such that the data contained in the output store is an exact reconstruction of that applied at some earlier time to the input store.
6. A system as claimed in claim 5 in which the data receiving means includes decoder means operable to separate uncompressed bytes of data from identification signals.
7. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the transfer medium comprises a communication channel between two spaced locations.
8. A system as claimed in claim 1 in which the transfer medium comprises a data storage medium.
This invention relates to a data compression system for compressing data which is to be either stored or transmitted to another location for later expansion.
Data is normally handled not a bit at a time but using a fixed length binary code referred to as a `byte`. Commonly a byte contains eight bits, but this is not necessarily the case, and in the specification the term is to be taken as indicating a succession of bits of any convenient length.
Data compression techniques are used to reduce the amount of data to be stored or transmitted, either to reduce the storage capacity required or to reduce the transmission time. In either case it is, of course, necessary to provide the inverse expansion to enable the original data to be reconstituted.
Many data compression and expansion arrangements are known, and one common technique involves examination of the next sequence of bytes to be processed to check whether that sequence has already been handled. Some systems have a store containing a library of the most commonly used sequences. In the case of text files these sequences will be commonly-used words. Any word in the file which is contained in the library may then be replaced by the address in the library where that word may be found, and it is this address which is then stored or transmitted. In order to reconstitute the original data an identical library is necessary to enable expansion of the address to the original word to be carried out. Some systems elaborate on this technique by having a fixed library and a further variable library into which words are entered as they occur if they are not already in the fixed library. When the variable library is full the least-used words in it are deleted as new words appear.
Such a system may provide a considerable degree of text file compression, but the limiting factor is the size of the library. In addition, each word is considered separately, so that although each word may be compressed down to a library address, the potential compression represented by repeated word sequences is not realised.
It is an object of the invention to provide a data compression system which improves the compression of data.
According to the present invention there is provided a data compression system comprising an input store for receiving and storing a plurality of bytes of uncompressed data from an outside source, and data processing means for processing successive bytes of data from the input store, the data processing means including circuit means operable to check whether a sequence of successive bytes to be processed is identical with a sequence of bytes already processed, output means operable to apply to a transfer medium a representation of each byte of data not forming part of such an identical sequence, and encoding means responsive to the identification of such a sequence to apply to the transfer medium an identification signal which identifies both the location in the input store of the previous occurrence of the sequence of bytes and the number of bytes contained in the sequence.
Also according to the present invention there is provided a data compression system as set out in the preceding paragraph which includes receiving means operable to receive compressed data from the transfer medium, decoding means operable to determine whether received compressed data represents a byte of data or an identification signal, an output store operable to store any byte of data from the encoding means, and copy means operable to copy into the output store any sequence of bytes identified by the identification signal, the arrangement being such that the data contained in the output store is a reconstruction of the data applied at some earlier time to the input store.
As previously stated, the term "byte" is used to denote a collection of a required number of bits, not necessarily eight.
The term "transfer medium" is used in this specification to denote either a communication channel over which compressed data may be transmitted from a first station for reception at a second station, or a storage medium to which the compressed data may be applied for later recovery. The nature of any communication channel or of the storage medium is not relevant to the invention.
The object of the invention is achieved in two ways. Firstly the algorithm used is simplified so that a hardware realisation is made simpler or a software realisation is made faster. Secondly, the algorithm is made "date transparent", that is relatively independent of the form which the data takes. Thus the invention does not depend upon the data being in any particular form, or in any particular language, or upon the use of a particular computing device.
The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of the main elements of the system;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of part of the system of FIG. 1;
FIGS. 3 and 4 (4a,4b) are flow diagrams illustrating the operation of the circuitry of FIG. 2.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of another part of the system of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating the operation of the circuitry of FIG. 5.
Referring now to FIG. 1, this shows a very simple block diagram of a data compression system. An input store 10 is provided, to which may be applied data to be compressed, and the data is stored in that store until the data compression operation on that data is complete. From the input store 10 the data is passed to the compression processor 11 where it is processed and applied to a transfer medium 12. From the transfer medium 12 compressed data is applied to an expansion processor 13 where the data is processed so that the reconstituted data is applied to the output store 14 for subsequent use. Clearly if the transfer medium 12 is a communications channel the compression and expansion features will be in different location. If the transfer medium is some form of storage medium then the two features may be in the same place or in different places. The basic features shown in FIG. 1 apply to almost any data compression system, but the use of these features is different, as will be explained below.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of part of the compression processor 11 of FIG. 1. The overall control circuitry has been omitted from this diagram for simplicity. The input store 10 is also shown in FIG. 2, as is the transfer medium 12. A hash generator 21 is connected to an output from the input store 10 and applies signals to a temporary store 22. A check circuit 23 is connected to outputs from the input store 10 and the temporary store 22. The output from the check circuit 23 is connected to a byte counter 24 which delivers an output N, whilst the temporary store delivers an output P. A pointer counter 25 is provided which is operable to apply an input to the temporary store 22. Outputs P and N pass to encoder 26 which applies appropriate signals to the transfer medium 12. Output means 27 has bytes applied to it from the input store 10. These are also passed to the transfer medium 12 after appropriate encoding. The function of the pointer counter 25 is to provide an indication of the latest byte to be read from the input store 10, and this pointer is stored in the temporary store 22 at an address determined by the hash generator in groups of three, with one byte being replaced at a time. FIG. 3 illustrates this operation.
To commence a new phase in the cycle of operation therefore a new byte is applied to the hash generator 21 and the pointer counter 25 indicates the position in the input store of this byte. Together with the two preceding bytes the new byte is encoded using a suitable "hash" or algorithm. The output of the hast generator 21 indicates an address in the temporary store 22 which corresponds to the particular combination of three bytes applied to the encoder. The check circuit 23 looks at the contents of the temporary store at the address indicated, checks whether there is a store output at that address, and stores the output of the point counter 25 at that address in the temporary store.
The process described above is one which occurs repeatedly during the operation of the data compressor, and it is shown in the flow diagram of FIG. 4 by the box labelled "STEP".
Referring now to FIG. 4, it is initially assumed that the input store 10 of FIG. 2 contains data on which the compression operation is to be performed. When the operation is started the first operation is to clear the temporary store 22. Since the "step" operation described earlier requires the presence of three bytes of data from the input store 10, it is necessary to set the pointer stored in pointer counter 25 of FIG. 1 to `2`.
When the next byte of data is read out from the input store 10, then the first three bytes are available to the hash generator 21. The hash operation is then performed and the contents of the temporary store 22 at the address defined by the output of the hash generator is read. If there are any more bytes of data in the input store 10, that is if the end of the data to be processed has not been reached, then any pointer found in the temporary store is held and the value of the pointer counter 25 is stored at the address. As shown in FIG. 4, if the temporary store location was in fact empty then the first byte of data in the temporary store, is transmitted. "Transmit", as used in this specification, indicates the process of passing signals to the transfer medium, whatever form that may take. The fourth byte is passed to the hash generator, which then performs the hash operation on bytes 2, 3 and 4, and the process is repeated. Each time the temporary store is addressed, the value of the pointer counter 25 relating to the latest byte to be read from the input store is stored at that address.
The cycle described above continues until a hash operation results in a temporary store address which contains a pointer. This is read out and the new pointer stored in its place. The occurrence of the stored pointer indicates that the group of three bytes which produced the address is probably identical with a previously-processed group of three bytes, the last of which is indicated by the pointer read out from the temporary store. The check circuit 23 of FIG. 2 compares the two groups of three bytes to see if they are in fact identical. This is done in case two groups of three different bytes have produced the same temporary store address after the hash operation.
As indicated in the flow diagram of FIG. 4, if in fact the two groups of bytes are not identical then the first of the bytes in the group just processed is transmitted by output means 27 and the process continues.
If the two groups of three bytes are identical then the byte counter 24 of FIG. 2 is set to 3 to indicate the number of identical bytes so far found. The check then proceeds to see if any following bytes are also identical.
The "step" operation is repeated with the next byte from the input store, since it is necessary to store a pointer for every group of three bytes in case these occur again. However, any contents found in the temporary store are now ignored. Instead, checking the next byte from the input store against the byte following the group of three previous bytes just identified. If a further identity is found then the byte counter 24 is increased by one and the check continues. This is repeated until no further identity is found, up to a preset limit, or until the need of the data is reached.
When no further identity is found then the contents of the pointer counter, indicating the first of the earlier-transmitted identical bytes, and those of the byte counter indicating the number of successive identical bytes, are suitably encoded and transmitted. The encoding is necessary so that the signal transmitted cannot be confused with the transmission of a normal byte transmitted by the output means 27.
The "step" operation is then repeated and, if there are more bytes in the input store then the whole operation restarts as indicated in the flow diagram.
When there are no more bytes in the input store then any untransmitted bytes are transmitted, and the data compression is then complete.
The expansion process is considerably simpler, and a block diagram is shown in FIG. 5, again with the transfer medium 12 and output store 14 also shown.
The expansion processor 13 of FIG. 1 includes a decoder 51 which separates the bytes transmitted by the output means 27 of FIG. 2 from the identification signals containing the outputs P and N of the pointer counter 25 and byte counter 24 respectively. In addition, the decoder 51 separates the two numbers P and N. The byte output from decoder 51 is applied directly to the output store 14, whilst the P and N outputs are applied to a copy circuit 52 which is connected to the output store 14.
The operation of the expansion processor is shown in the flow chart of FIG. 6.
The decoder 51 receives signals from the transfer medium 12. Each of these signals is checked to see whether it is a byte or an identification signal indicating a succession of bytes which have been received earlier. If the signal is identified as a byte then that byte is entered into the output store 14. This is repeated with each successive received signal until a signal is identified as being encoded outputs of the pointer counter and byte counter of the compression processor. The signal is then decoded to give the two counter outputs P and N. The pointer P indicates the position in the output store of the first of a sequence of bytes to be repeated, and the number N indicates the number of identical bytes. These bytes are then copied in the output store and the process of expansion continues, until the data is entirely reconstituted in the output store 14.
It will be seen from the above description that not only do the input store 10 and output store 14 act as their own libraries, but also a succession of repeated bytes is indicated by a single signal. Previous systems have had to consider each small group separately. The temporary store 22 need only store pointers, that is numbers indicating the position of a byte in the input store 10, and hence need only store simple numbers. The number of pointers which may be stored in the temporary store may be limited, down to the point where the compression efficiency starts to fall unacceptably. In practice this probably occurs at between half and one quarter of the input store size. Similarly there may be practical reasons for limiting the size of the input and output stores, using these as buffers in the processing of large files. If these buffers are of a reasonable size there is little loss of efficiency, since any repetitions which are lost as a result cannot be very frequent.
The use of groups of three bytes for application to the hash generator is not essential. However, it has been found that little or no compression occurs if small groups are used, whereas use of large groups will reduce the likelihood of repeated groups. Three therefore appears to be the most convenient number.
The form of hashing algorithm used has not been discussed. Hash techniques are well known and many different forms of hash will be suitable. Similarly, nothing has been said about the form of signals sent to and from the transfer medium. It has already been stated that signals representing uncompressed bytes must be distinguished from signals indicating identity of a group of bytes with a previously-processed group. The simplest way of indicating this distinction is to set the first bit the transmitted code to `1` for one form of signal and `0` for the other. Other distinctions may be introduced and various well-known means may be used to encode the P and N outputs in the most efficient manner.
The invention has been found to be very efficient at compressing the kinds of files typically found in a computer backing store, namely a mixture of text files, program source files in several languages, program object files and data arrays.
It is, of course, possible to construct data which compresses very little or even results in slight expansion. For example, data which has already been compressed is unlikely to be further compressible.
In addition to the data compression and expansion provided by the system described above, it is a simple matter also to provide encryption of the compressed data for, say, security reasons. An encryption unit of any suitable form may be introduced before the input to the transfer medium and an equivalent description unit introduced after the output from the transfer medium. In this way the compressed data in or passing through the transfer medium may be maintained secure, and the chance of unauthorised reconstitution of the original data is probably reduced. Data which is already encrypted is unlikely to be compressible, and hence encryption should always follow compression and not precede it.
Patent Citations
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I did not think this could possibly be true, but it is. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's press secretary has confirmed that Yana Lapikova is Putin's new personal photographer, brought on to relieve the two he currently has working for him.
Why didn't I think it was true? This is Yana:
This is also Yana:
And this is also Yana:
Oh, and this, too. This is also Yana:
So how did Yana Lapikova get the plum gig? Her photographing talents, of course:
And there's also this one, titled "Fruit Composition — East":
And this untitled gem:
So it's no wonder she was hired. "We don't choose our photographers based on gender," press secretary Dmitry Peskov said. "She really is a good photographer. Her modeling past doesn't concern us whatsoever for it is not a crime." (Lapikova made it into the finals of the 2008 Miss Moscow competition, which is also not a crime.)
Peskov also pointed out that the position is actually a terrible one. The work is "drudgery" and poorly compensated to boot. Monetarily.
And while Russian bloggers salivate and scratch their heads, Lapikova is already hard at work, drudging up her meager paycheck at Putin's foot.
via Drugoi, A Good Treaty

subset: commoncrawl


text:
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text:
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Tilth - Seattle, WA
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
I want life in every word to the extent that it's absurd - San Francisco, CA
Gucci aviators, H&M paisley fringe scarf, Rag & Bone leather jacket, American Apparel tee, F21 jeggings, Aldo metallic cutout oxfords, Banana Republic suede fringe bag
Comfy casual look for roaming around town, leather and a scarf to shield the San Francisco wind. And a tee shirt that I slept in the night before, rolled out of bed, and made the executive decision that the effort to redress was just too much.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
The whole world is moving and I'm standing still - San Francisco, CA
ASOS back cutout dolman top, Chanel earrings, Hermès enamel bracelet, F21 jeggings
The interior of this hotel room is like my ideal place, original exposed brick wall, and a vintage vaulted window frame that opens (reluctantly, with a lot of wiggling) to lead up to the rooftop overlooking the city or down to a fire escape (have always romanticized fire escapes from that Postal Service song), and it lets in a glorious flood of light.
I'll be the fire escape that's bolted to the ancient brick
Where you will sit and contemplate your day.
Brand New Colony - Postal Service
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Commonwealth - San Francisco, CA
In continuation of Taste Thursdays, featuring one of my favorite restaurants we went to while in San Francisco: Commonwealth. I love tasty pretty food and this place was perfect.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
This night is flawless
3.1 Phillip Lim dress
Currently at the San Francisco airport awaiting our flight home, been a fun packed trip with a lot of eating and shopping so expect some pretty food and outfit posts to come! Wore this one shoulder Phillip Lim dress for Valentine's Day dinner at Angèle in Napa Valley, the grecian style and pleated draping has made it one of those timeless pieces that's perfect for an occasion.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Life is too short to not experience the madness of love - San Francisco, CA
Friday, February 11, 2011
San Francisco, here comes your wandering one
H&M elbow patch cropped sweater, F21 jeggings, Tory Burch patent flats, Marc Jacobs shoulder bag
Boyfriend and I are currently in San Francisco, here for a few days then to Napa Valley for Valentine's Day. The trip so far consists of sunshine, amazing food, sightseeing, shopping = perfect. Lots more photos to come! These were taken while shopping on Haight today. Had lunch at Tartine Bakery before, then walked off the food coma with some intense and prolific retailing. The weather was gorgeous, we ate outside, left our coats in the car, and roamed around all over Mission. Anyway, think this sweater is so adorable, stripes, cropped, and elbow patches (! obsessed with that lately..)
Monday, February 7, 2011
Not all those who wander are lost
Rag & Bone leather jacket, F21 faux fur vest and jeggings, Dries Van Noten boots
Soften up leather by styling it with a differing texture like fur (hold the red paint, it's faux..) However, especially living in the Pacific Northwest, this look may have reaped some confusion and probably slight anxiety from civilians thinking Sasquatch had run loose. But I'll take being mistaken for Bigfoot, that furry vest is super warm.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
On the fringe
AllSaints Spitalfields beanie, T by Alexander Wang blazer, Vince chambray shirt, F21 jeans and boots, Banana Republic bag
I like that this blazer is jersey but has leather trimming on the pockets so I can dress it up or down, dressing it down here for brunch this morning. Anyway, was shopping with a friend a couple weeks ago and she found this bag on major sale, like 90% off $250 (which.. why is BR charging that for their bag?) Love all the suede fringe cross-stitching goodness, think it'll be a great transitional piece into spring.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Revel - Seattle, WA
Revel is an Asian fusion restaurant in Fremont with a modern interior, bright, spacious, and an open kitchen connected to the bar offering front row seats to the chefs. The pop art on the walls was colorful in a kitschy way for an otherwise clean and simple space.
The head chef and owner of the restaurant personally stopped by our table at the end of the meal, and I found out he and his chef wife also owned Joule, this other Asian fusion restaurant in Wallingford that I love. He described the food he makes simply as, "food we like to eat." Well, it's food I like to eat too.
Revel is an Asian fusion restaurant in Fremont with a modern interior, bright, spacious, and an open kitchen connected to the bar offering front row seats to the chefs. The pop art on the walls was colorful in a kitschy way for an otherwise clean and simple space.
The head chef and owner of the restaurant personally stopped by our table at the end of the meal, and I found out he and his chef wife also owned Joule, this other Asian fusion restaurant in Wallingford that I love. He described the food he makes simply as, "food we like to eat." Well, it's food I like to eat too.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Shipley & Halmos book: "We're An American _________"
Shipley & Halmos is one of my favorite designers (worn in this post), and they traveled to Barneys CO-OP stores around the US this summer to personally meet and shoot their customers for their book We're An American _________. I was out of town this past August so I couldn't meet them, but definitely adding this to my coffee table books collection, especially because my boyfriend made the book! (He's in the red checkered Shipley & Halmos button up on the bottom left corner, the shirt may look familiar because I wore it for my Christmas video.)
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Geek Speak
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Posts filtered on Tag
Help Doctor Who Fans Unite build a TARDIS
(Wikipedia) The Doctor's not about to give us the keys to his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension In Space) so it's up to us "Doctor Who" fans to build our very own. Doctor Who Fans Unite hope to do just that when it hosts a TARDIS build planning meeting Friday, Aug. 13, at 7 p.m. […] [Read More]
'Doctor Who' fun Dec. 17 at Alamo Drafthouse Westlakes
Ho, ho, ho, "Doctor Who" disciples. It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas with the TARDIS thanks to this month's Doctor Who Appreciation Night. Doctor Who Fans Unite brings the holiday cheer this week with a showing of "The Christmas Invasion" (above) and "The Unquiet Dead" Wednesday, Dec. 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Alamo […] [Read More]
Geek jack-o'-lanterns to inspire Halloween cheer
I did this for our sister publication 210SA and just had to share it here, too. Can't wait to grab a pumpkin and get carving. The Death Star Witness the power of this fully awesome and inspirational Death Star pumpkin. This particular battle station won't destroy any planets, but it'll sure kill with kids of […] [Read More]


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|Viewing 1-25 of 866 Record(s)
|Title: Tyrant's foe: Helping victims escape domestic violence
|Authors: Del Bosque,Melissa
|Source: Texas Observer, Sep-11, 103 :14
|Subjects: Gupta-Brietzke Shailey Aid to Victims of Domestic Abuse Family violence
|Ref ID: 92803
|Title: Postcards: Cuero bets on fracking
|Authors: Elbein,Saul
|Source: Texas Observer, Sep-11, 103 :14 ,pg 29-32-
|Subjects: Cuero (Tex.) Petrohawk Energy Corporation Eagle Ford Shale Petroleum industry and trade Meyer Sara Post Krause Charlotte Kleinecke David Reibschlager Elizabeth Hydraulic fracturing
|Ref ID: 92818
|Title: Behind the lines: Big D-vide - The John Wiley Price corruption investigation has only begun, but it has already reopened the age-old rift in Dallas between north and south and white and black. Will things be different this time?
|Authors: Sweany,Brian D.
|Source: Texas Monthly, Sep-11, 39 :9 ,pg 12+-
|Subjects: Dallas (Tex.) - Race relations Price John Wiley Political corruption Nealy Kathy Fain Dapheny Watkins Craig Lipscomb Al Collins Carr P. Sr. Williams Shawn Hill Don Farrington Sheila Lee D'Angelo Hodge Terri
|Additional Information: Inland Port project.
|Ref ID: 92944
|Title: Political intelligence: The arson files - Belated justice?
|Authors: Mann,Dave
|Source: Texas Observer, Oct-11, 103 :15
|Subjects: Willingham Cameron Todd Texas Forensic Science Commission Perry Rick Texas State Fire Marshal Maldonado Paul Judicial error
|Ref ID: 92858
|Title: Hate on the inside: Thirteen years later, the prison-gang culture that sparked the dragging death of James Byrd is still with us
|Authors: Mann,Dave;Reel,Jen
|Source: Texas Observer, Oct-11, 103 :15 ,pg 20-23-
|Subjects: Byrd James Jasper (Tex.) - Murder Berry Shawn King John William "Bill" Brewer Lawrence Prisoners - Race relations
|Ref ID: 92864
|Title: Book review: Faith without ignorance (review of Luminarium by Alex Shakar)
|Authors: Duhr,David
|Source: Texas Observer, Oct-11, 103 :15 ,pg 41-42-
|Subjects: Shakar Alex
|Ref ID: 92816
|Title: Main street Marshall
|Authors: Mallory,Randy
|Source: Texas Highways, November 2012, 59 :11 ,pg 32- 39
|Subjects: Marshall (Tex.) - Description and travel
|Ref ID: 95198
|Title: Faking the grade
|Authors: Michels,Patrick
|Source: Texas Observer, November 2012, 104 :11 ,pg 16- 21
|Subjects: Garcia Lorenzo El Paso (Tex.) - Schools Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) Shapleigh Eliot Cheating (Education)
|Additional Information: Superintendant of El Paso (Tex.) ISD arrested for mail fraud and other charges after a cheating scandal involving the TAKS came to light. Superintendant Garcia was accused of systematically misrepresenting district test scores and fostering a culture wher
|Ref ID: 95214
|Title: Boom in the shale: Big energy find worth billions
|Authors: Shields,Clint
|Source: Fiscal Notes, May-12, : ,pg Online-
|Subjects: Eagle Ford Shale Petroleum industry and trade Oil and gas leases Oil well drilling
|Ref ID: 94810
|Title: The horse's mouth: Everything I could tell you about...Being an outlaw-country legend
|Authors: Hoinski,Michael
|Source: Texas Monthly, May-11, 39 :5 ,pg 36-
|Subjects: Shaver Billy Joe Musicians and singers
|Ref ID: 91185
|Title: Marshall: All aboard!
|Authors: Hodges,Rob
|Source: The Medallion, May/June 2011, 48 :5-6 9-11
|Subjects: Marshall (Tex.) - History African Americans - History
|Additional Information: Making the Starr family home shine
|Ref ID: 91450
|Title: The Boogie Woogie man
|Authors: Rhodes,Andy
|Source: The Medallion, May/June 2011, 48 :5-6 ,pg 12- 13
|Subjects: Marshall (Tex.) - History
|Ref ID: 91458
|Title: Marshall: All aboard!
|Authors: Hodges,Rob
|Source: The Medallion, May/June 2011, 48 :5-6 9-11
|Subjects: Marshall (Tex.) - History African Americans - History
|Additional Information: Making the Starr family home shine
|Ref ID: 92700
|Title: The Boogie Woogie man
|Authors: Rhodes,Andy
|Source: The Medallion, May/June 2011, 48 :5-6 ,pg 12- 13
|Subjects: Marshall (Tex.) - History
|Ref ID: 92707
|Title: Political intelligence: Empty pockets
|Authors: Mann,Dave
|Source: Texas Observer, Jul-12, 104 :7
|Subjects: Elections - Finance Democratic Party of Texas Hampton Keith Keller Sharon Sadler Paul Cruz Ted Dewhurst David Perry Rick White Bill
|Additional Information: Texas Democrats running for election in 2012 have money problems.
|Ref ID: 94729
|Title: Red River justice
|Authors: Michels,Patrick
|Source: Texas Observer, Jul-12, 104 :7 ,pg 22- 29
|Subjects: Political corruption Racism - Red River County Red River County - Politics and government Lesher Rhonda Lesher Mark Cooksey Lynn Varley Val Justice William Wayne Harbison Brandon Coyel Shannon McCarver Red Coyel Jerry Richardson Vergil Calloway Kevin Lee Clyde Richardson Jermicole Reed Terry LaRowe Lynn
|Additional Information: Attorney Mark Lesher fought the corrupt justice system in this East Texas county until it came for him too.
|Ref ID: 94746
|Title: Public education deserves our very best: Five state lawmakers tell how Texas public schools shaped their lives
|Authors: Shapiro,Florence;Van de Putte,Leticia;Eissler,Rob;Patrick,Diane;Turner,Sylvester
|Source: Texas Lone Star, Jul-12, 30 :6 ,pg 40-
|Subjects: Public education - Personal narratives Shapiro Florence Van de Putte Leticia Eissler Rob Patrick Diane Turner Sylvester
|Ref ID: 94803
|Title: Editorial: Triumph of the perennial candidates
|Source: Texas Observer, Jul-12, 104 :7
|Subjects: Elections Dominguez Martha Yarbrough Grady Rogers Kesha Perez Marissa Soto Michael Oliver Lloyd Anderson Mike
|Ref ID: 94525
|Title: Forrest for the trees: Get rich or kill the planet trying
|Authors: Wilder,Forrest
|Source: Texas Observer, Jan-12, 104 :1 ,pg 44-
|Subjects: Oil well drilling Eagle Ford Shale Fracking Yorktown (Tex.) - Economy
|Ref ID: 93343
|Title: The horse's mouth: Everything I could ever tell you about . . . performing sketch comedy
|Authors: Sweany,Brian D.
|Source: Texas Monthly, Feb-12, 40 :2 ,pg 24-
|Subjects: Austin (Tex.) - Comedy Sedwick Shannon Esther's Follies (Austin) Comedians
|Ref ID: 93334
|Title: Tea for Texas: It has more supporters here than anywhere else. It fueled the Republican landslide. It has its own caucus. But what is the Tea Party? And how will it use its power?
|Authors: Blakeslee,Nate
|Source: Texas Monthly, Feb-11, 39 :2 ,pg 88- 89
|Subjects: Tea Party movement Engelbrecht Catherine Grisham Jennifer King Street Patriots (Houston Tex.) Straus Joe
|Ref ID: 90561
|Title: TH Traveler: Wonderland of lights
|Source: Texas Highways, December 2012, 59 :12 ,pg 62-
|Subjects: Marshall (Tex.) - Festivals
|Additional Information: Wonderland of Lights Festival (Marshall).
|Ref ID: 95051
|Title: Up in the air: In the very public fight between Texas and the federal government, no organization has been as vilified as the EPA and its 'job-killing' regulations. That may be good politics, but is it good policy?
|Authors: Blakeslee,Nate
|Source: Texas Monthly, Dec-11, 39 :12 ,pg 148-151+-
|Subjects: Air pollution Perry Rick Coal-fired power plants Luminant Energy Company LLC Fraser Troy Smith Tom "Smitty" Eltife Kevin Abbott Greg Jackson Lisa Shaw Bryan Texas Commission on Environmental Quality United States Environmental Protection Agency Geo
|Additional Information: Cross-State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR) of the EPA. People mentioned: Troy Fraser, David Campbell (CEO of Luminant), Tom "Smitty" Smith (Public Citizen), Kevin Eltife, Phil Wilson, John Wilder (CEO of TXU), Al Almendariz, Laura Miller, Trammell Crow, Rober
|Ref ID: 92777
|Title: Street smarts: A quickie guide to...Historic downtown Marshall - When the weather turns cold, the self-proclaimed 'Center Stage' of East Texasattracts tourists with its famous Wonderland of Lights. And have you tried the raspberry-chipotle burger?
|Authors: Breal,Jordan
|Source: Texas Monthly, Dec-11, 39 :12 ,pg 66+-
|Subjects: Marshall (Tex.) - Restaurants Marshall (Tex.) - Shopping
|Additional Information: 1-1901 historic Harrison County Courthouse; 2-The Blue Frog Grill; 3-The Weisman Center; 4-Charley and Bella's; 5-Michelson Museum of Art; 6-The Linen Peddler; 7-R&R Bakery and Coffee Shoppe.
|Ref ID: 92781
|Title: Excerpt from the archives: The pols he bought (Feb. 2, 1999)
|Authors: Bryce,Robert
|Source: Texas Observer, Dec-11, 103 :17 ,pg 22-
|Subjects: Sharp John Perry Rick Hobby Paul Strayhorn Carole Keeton McClellan Rylander Leininger James
|Ref ID: 92783
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The Arduino (I'm using duemilenova) in this instrument is acting only as a power source and as a simple timer, so if you don't have one you can still build this instrument with other timer sources, like 555 for example.
I took the simple Blink sketch and changed the delay to 100ms.
The timer is connected to the 4022 while each of its output connected to a 10k pot and a switch and from there to the VCO of 4046.
The output wave is square.
The samples:
cicadaboom111.ogg - clean recording. On the 1:28 minute you can hear what happens when the 4046 pin 5 is not connected to the ground.
cicadaboom222.ogg - the sound is going through an effects software, Rakarrack.
cicadaboom333.ogg - the sound is going through an effects software, JACK Rack.
Step 1: Parts and Components
- Arduino or any other timer, for example 555
- 4022 Octal Counter with 8 Decoded Outputs
- 8X 2N2222 NPN Transistor (or any other NPN for switching)
- 8X 10k potentiometer
- 8X push buttons
- 4X 470n capacitors
More stuff:
- Audio socket
- Breadboards
- Jumper wires
- a plastic box
Step 2: The circuit
- Note the block of 2N2222, 10k pot and switch. You should make 8 such blocks for each 4022 output.
- The capacitors (along with the pots) determines the range of frequency for the synth. I chose 4X470n for low frequencies and if I want to play with the general pitch I just remove or add capacitors to the breadboard so anyway you can put switches between the capacitors.
Great sequencer. I like the 1st and 3rd audio files the most. I plan on making something similar based on this project.
Also, what's the clock frequency you're getting from the Arduino?
Yes, the eight lines from the switches attached to the same pin (11) of 4046.
The clock freq from the Arduino is 100ms but of course you can put a potentiometer as an input to the Arduino in order to change it


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- Summer Life in Whitley County
SOUTH WHITLEY — Despite a threatening sixth inning, Whitko's baseball team held on for a 9-7 win over Eastbrook Friday night in South Whitley.
The Wildcats took a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Austin Mort and Alex Stoddard scored off a single by Riley Cokl, and Wyatt Wolf hit a groundout to drive teammate Zach Snep to home plate.
Eastbrook didn't score its first run until the fourth frame.
Whitko blew the game open in the fifth inning, scoring five runs. Wolf took the first run of the frame off a Eastbrook pitching error. Then Ryan Weigold hit an RBI single, giving Ethan Nicodemus the run. Weigold worked his way around the bases to score off another Eastbrook error.
The visiting team tallied four errors on the game.
Wes Gensch scored off a double by Mort, who then got a run with the help of Stoddard's double. Though Eastbrook fought back with five sixth-frame runs, the Wildcats hung on for the win. Pitcher Nicodemus was awarded with the win, with three strikeouts in five innings.
Stoddard also took a turn at the mound with four strikeouts in two innings to close the game. Both pitchers gave up six hits apiece, giving Eastbrook 12 hits on the game, to Whitko's nine.
The Wildcats are back in action Saturday at Garrett for a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m.View more articles in:


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Connecting to a NAS drive
In my home, I have a network attached storage (NAS) drive on my network. I have all of my music and video stored on it. It was originally installed to support my SONOS. The files that are on it were copied from a Windows system. I would like to be able to access those files from my Mac.
How can I map that drive to my Mac?
Will I be able to read the file once mapped?
If it isn't FAT32, you need to take all the data off of it, reformat it to FAT, and then replace the data.
How do I find out how it is formatted? It is a Maxtor drive.
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Visit Bel Red Home Energy - Make your home more energy efficient, save money, and enhance comfort and safety.
Bel Red is all about serving our customers with expert, responsive heating, air conditioning, and plumbing service and repair. Offering only high-quality, greener solutions for heating, air conditioning, plumbing and much more. Guaranteeing and standing behind everything we sell and do. Most of all, we're about great people dedicated to serving customers like you. We truly walk the talk every day. Learn more about our commitment.
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Have you ever used a Zelco Brisk Brew?
It's the cutest one-cup coffee maker and I'd never seen one before. After my lovely Nana passed away last week, my parents were sorting through all of her possessions and found the little thing. She and my Papa traveled around the country a lot before having children so I'm sure it came in handy while on the road. I tried it out yesterday and it actually brewed a decent cup.
Out of curiosity, have you heard of and/or used one of these before?
Talk is closed, but that doesn't mean the conversations have to stop!
Check out this post for a more thorough explanation, and jump onto our Facebook page or our Twitter feed to keep the conversations going!


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social media content strategy
Content strategy is the hallmark of a successful social media program. Consistent publishing schedules and useful information create engagement and build community. Putting a content strategy together simply takes a little organization. We're that organization. ;-)
The Social Object
An status update. A blog post. An uploaded picture. A video. A wiki contribution. Anything shared in social media is a social object, and your audience wants each to be interesting. Or newsworthy. Or instructional. Or a scream.
How, when and where you publish these social objects needs to be planned and managed.
Wee have a plan, free
We'll show you how it works. For 30 minutes we'll discuss with you how you can implement a content strategy that's useful to members of your social graph while meeting your social media needs. Just fill out the form on the right and we'll get in touch. (Don't worry. Nothing spammy. It's not our style.)
Please contact us. Wee love talking about this stuff.
"Informational candy, in order to taste good, has to be well written."
– Peter Shankman, entrepreneur, author, founder of HARO
Our experience shows that by giving away what we know in a brief conversation or WebEx, chances are you'll see our value and contact us again sometime in the future.


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On Thursday, May 27, 2010, Mango a 1 year old Sun Conure flew out side and was frightened away from the( Winged Foot Ct.) Townhouse Development in Howell, NJ. He is a pet and is fed daily and has been missing now for almost a week. Flyers have been put up and now relying on help from good natured people who may see him in the area to let me know, so I can get my beloved pet back.
He is about 12" inches long from beak to tail and bas bright orange and yellow feathers on his neck and body and red feathers around his eyes, and green feathers on the edge of his wings. He has a silver ID band on his right foot. He is brightly colored so he will be easy to see. He is still very young, is fed daily, and is not accustomed to being outside.
If you do see him and say "hello" he will most likely say "hello " back. He also may step onto your finger if you say "Step Up." Take it slow, offering food will help. He always likes to take bread. He also may do a loud shriek that you can tell apart from other birds. He normally does this shreik in pairs.
Its been over a week, he could be miles away by now, so even if you are not in the Howell, NJ (07731) area, please let me know if you see a bird that matches this description and we can verify by the number on his band.
If you see him at all, please contact me as soon as you can. It is very much appreciated, he is very much missed and needs to be back home where he is safe.
Thank you - Terrence.
email: firstname.lastname@example.com
we have some ads up on Craigslist, birdnet.com petfinder, etc. He may be flying with a pack of other non Conure/Parrots Birds, so if you see a out of place bird with others, let us know, we may be able to narrow down his location from good bird sightings !


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We have a very generous financial assistance program. We can assist you in meeting the costs of studying Theology at the School of Religion.
Financial assistance is available to students in theology after they have reached the limits of their own resources. All agencies providing aid, including the School of Religion, will require that other sources of income have been accessed, and expect an honest disclosure of personal financial information. In view of this, it is a good idea to prepare in advance a financial statement and a realistic budget.
Bursary applications are considered twice per year:
Please print, complete and submit the bursary application (link to PDF below) to the Bursary Committee by the appropriate deadline. Questions about the application may be directed to Cheryl O'Shea, Admissions/Student Services Coordinator, 613-533-2109.
Bursary Application (PDF, 345KB)
Students in the 24-month MDiv/BTh program will receive $10,000 in bursary assistance over the course of their program. This bursary is automatic upon admission and students do not need to apply for it. Students are eligible to apply for further bursary assistance, which will be assessed based on financial need.
Students in other Theology degree programs, studying full-time (the equivalent of 16.00 units per term), can expect to receive bursary assistance of $6,000 or more during their program of study upon application and demonstrated need.


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Hang tight!
Recipe by Jerri
"This is a great holiday treat. I've made it for years and have passed it on to friends and family. Good eating!"
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2 cups
1 1/2 cups
all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon
baking soda
1/3 cup
boiling water
1/2 cup
1 cup
white sugar
1/2 cup
butter, softened
1/2 cup
heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon
vanilla extract
It isn't Christmas at our house without this cranberry pudding. We make it in the crock pot using the cake pan. Very easy and always a hit. My daughters now make it for their in-laws. When we are in Africa, cranberries aren't available so we us plums.
I tasted this dessert and it was delicious. Now, I did follow this recipe and it turned out weird. It`s like there was not enough liquid in it and not enough baking soda. It turned out like a ball of playdough, tough and rubbery.
23 Ratings
I ship this frozen to all my relatives - they insist on it. It can thaw and be refrozen with no adverse affects. It is fat free before sauced! I steam and ship the pudding in fancy christmas tins! Perfect for gift giving
This recipe is an old family favorite for generations. You can make it in a cake pan and then cut into small squares. If you split the square in the middle 2 pieces it absorbs more sauce and turns into something quite spectacular!
This is the exact recipe my mother-in-law gave me 36 years ago. She had prepared it for her family every Thanksgiving and Christmas. I have made this recipe over seventy times myself! I cut the berries in half if they are large and I steam the pudding in a decorative German steamer (the ones that look like little bundt pans with lids). I also make the sauce in a double boiler. Pudding and sauce reheat well (separately) on lower power (70%) in the microwave oven.
I followed a reviewers advice and put the pudding in a 9x13 pan, increasing the ingredients 1 1/2 times so it would fit the pan better. I covered it with foil and baked it in another (little bigger) pan of water at 325. I think it turned out the way it was supposed to, the berries popped and it was not sour. My problem was with the sauce, it was gritty from the sugar. I am going to try it again since the flavor was good.
This is the best! My family looks forward to it every Christmas.
This is a delicious pudding cake. My recipe calls for an additional 1/2 cup light karo syrup and no salt at all. But other than that it is the same recipe. Don't hesitate to try it. It's really quite delicious!
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Cranberry Pudding
Serving Size: 1/10 of a recipe
Servings Per Recipe: 10
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 327
Calories from Fat: 125
Kale is the healthy, green leaf that transforms into a crunchy snack chip in your oven.
You can't go wrong choosing from over 400 pork chop recipes with ratings and tips!
Delicious recipes, party ideas, and cooking tips! Get a year of Allrecipes magazine for $7.99!
See how to make a delicious, seasonal cranberry dessert.
Authentic Italian biscotti with distinct, surprising flavors.
See how to make mini pudding cakes with luscious dark chocolate.


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It's A Book Thing - Book Discussions and Activities for Readers in Grades 4 - 6
Thursday, January 31 - The Outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place by E.L. Konigsburg Thursday
March 14 - Masterpiece by Elise Broach Thursday
May 2 - The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett Thursday
June 6 - The Artsy Smartsy Club by Daniel Pinkwater
March 14 - Masterpiece by Elise Broach Thursday
May 2 - The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett Thursday
June 6 - The Artsy Smartsy Club by Daniel Pinkwater
All meetings will take place in the library's meeting room from 4:00-5:00.
Please register for each session individually, and visit the Youth Services Desk to borrow a copy of the book. Click here to download and print the book discussion schedule.
Winter Reading Program for Grade 5 and Up!
You are invited to Check In @ Your Library and participate in our first winter reading program for students in grade 5 and up. Read or listen and log in 300 minutes between January 7 and March 9. When you have completed 300 minutes, return your reading log to the Youth Services Desk for your chance to win one of three iTunes gift cards! Winners will be randomly selected from all the submitted logs. The winners will be contacted during Teen Tech Week (March 10-16).
Click here to download the reading log or you can pick one up in the Library's Teen Space.
Browse and download thousands of eBooks for free with your library card. The eBCCLS catalog is available 24 hours a day from any computer with an internet connection.


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For any topic you choose, determining keywords and other search terms helps focus your research and select appropriate search terms.
Once you have determined the keywords and phrases for your topic, where are you going to search? Library databases may be the best place to find what you need.
|Modified 2005 from The University of Texas at Austin's TILT by members of the LSU Libraries Reference Department.
LSU Libraries |
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Tel (225) 578-5652 | Fax (225) 578-9432
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How much time do you think parents can take off to watch their kids? Summer camps are closed (and cost money.) This wasn't scheduled like holidays and summers are. And the parents are paying taxes for their children to be taught by teachers who already make $76,000 a year and just turned down a 16% raise because they don't want to be evaluated. In this day and age of job uncertainty, unless parents are unemployed, how much can they risk their jobs for these selfish job-secure teachers?– Joanne
Facts are stubborn things.
Clearly what is most important to you is that someone watches your kids. Great for you. But that's not a teacher's job. You're thinking of a baby sitter. The teacher is the one who most likely has a Masters Degree.
No disrespect to baby sitters.
Teachers are responsible for teaching your kids however, which is an entirely different matter.
Teachers in Chicago don't make $76,000 dollars. Most make far less than that. You are confusing everyone making with averages. Sleeping during your math class was probably a mistake.
The union didn't turn down a 16% pay raise. The offer was 3% the first year and 2% the second and third year. You add those up and get 16%? See? Sleeping during math? Not good. The reason the teachers are out is not because of the pay offer. Both sides agree that they are close on that point.
One issue that remains unresolved is this: If you are a teacher with a good evaluation and job performance review and your school closes through no fault of your own, you now have no right to a job in another Chicago school. Makes your "job-secure teacher" argument sound kind of stupid, doesn't it?
Here's the thing. If you think taking care of your kids is something you wanted someone else to do, perhaps you should have thought of that before you had them.
But if you want your kids to have an excellent education in a high quality school district, you should be slipping on a red shirt like so many other Chicago parents and joining the teachers in front of your school. They're actually fighting for your kids.
Although you are apparently too busy with other things to notice.
– Fred
Dienne permalinkSeptember 11, 2012 10:58 am
Excellent response! I'm passing this on.
Barb permalinkSeptember 11, 2012 11:15 am
This was totally perfect. Every time a news "reporter" interviews a complaining parent, I wonder why that parent is so clueless, why teachers are viewed by many as baby sitters, not educators. Your response was spot on. I, too, will pass it on.
September 11, 2012 11:20 am
omg, response of the century.
Anonymous permalinkSeptember 11, 2012 11:29 am
Love this, passing it on.
Dienne permalinkSeptember 11, 2012 11:32 am
Okay, having done a bit of research, I think you should have challenged that $76,000 figure a bit more than you did. From what I'm finding, depending on the source, starting salaries in Chicago are about $50,000 if you include the "pension pick-up" (and I'll admit I have no clue what that is). Maximum salary is around $82,000 and the average (sources seem to vary widely here) is between $55,000 to $67,000. So where is it that people are getting these ridiculous figures? Just today someone assured me that they know a CPS teacher making $89,000 – how is that possible if the max is $82,000? Is there something I'm missing here?
DZV permalinkSeptember 11, 2012 12:07 pm
Dear Fred,
Thank you for posting this! I've just got home from picketing and I'm heading downtown. Most parents are supportive, but I can't tell you how many think we are babysitters! I'm especially disappointed in a blog site called "CPSobessed" where parents have been doing nothing but bashing teachers and the Union, calling us greedy, selfish, and a whole bunch of other nasty things.
From the sounds of it, they seem to be parents who happen to be in great CPS schools and parents that are very involved. Great for them! I wish we had more of them! Unfortunately, that is not where my students come from. Many of my parents are no where to be found and often, my students disappear for weeks on end too. The majority of my "kids" need serious and intense wrap around services, but of course there's very little to be found at my school due to CPS's years of neglect.
I seriously don't understand how our dear mayor can go on air and tell everyone that the kids in CPS deserve a "world class education" then think this can be done on a shoestring budget (talk about silk purses from pigs' ears). Since Mr. Mayor made this promise to all the parents and students of CPS maybe we should ask him to start enrolling kids at his "Lab" school?
ReTiredbutMisstheKids permalinkSeptember 11, 2012 1:40 pm
And somebody, somewhere, just wrote that the CPS pension is in jeopardy (as well as our TRS), and that will come up next, after all this is said and done. It doesn't end for those in public schools. The bottom line, Joanne, is to destabilize the CPS system and to privatize your schools. See how happy you are when your children are actually placed in the care of babysitters (TFA & inexperienced teachers), and receive a less-than-stellar education. It will be too late. THAT's WHY the CTU is standing up now–you know the cliche–"if you don't stand for something you'll fall for anything." This is now a NATIONAL struggle–in fact, the whole world is watching. This is ultimately for respect for EVERYONE–"the teacher's working conditions are the student's working conditions." Read an earlier post where a teacher states that she has FORTY THREE KINDERGARTEN students in a class–taught by only her! (I taught K–alone. with 28 students, and THAT was a challenge–43 is INSANE.) Read Teacher X's blog–"Letter to My Boss" (or maybe you can repost it here again, Fred) about WHY he's striking (no air conditioners, for example, on the hottest of days–in fact, a group of retired teachers went out & bought a/c's for their former school!!!)–but you can bet all the CPS offices have a/c!
The new SB 7 is the reason that teachers must strike on the premise of salary (& blame Jonah Edelman & Stand for Children AND your legislators for THAT one), but make no
mistake–the teachers are on strike for your children and the very life of the public schools.
One more suggestion, Joanne–read "Diane Ravitch's Blog," and you'll find out what you need to know about education & profiteering–all over the country. OR–better yet–Google PURE (Parents United for Educational Responsibility–a Chicago group), & keep informed as to the REAL story.
Linda Carter permalinkSeptember 11, 2012 2:56 pm
The response is the most reasonable,clear and concised reply that it should be shared across this country.
Retired Educator but still educating
Tom Olson permalinkSeptember 11, 2012 9:04 pm
Fred: One of your best yet!!! And that's saying something.
Solidarity from Oregon, buddy. Keep up the good work, and I'm wearing everything red everyday.
former Illinois teacher
Sig Lisowski permalinkSeptember 11, 2012 10:01 pm
Good response!
Jay permalinkSeptember 13, 2012 9:32 am
I don't think it benefits the conversation to ridicule this parent and question her intelligence. She is obviously frustrated and may have some bad information which she could have read in any number of news media that are reporting on the strike. This is from today's tribune:
"while there has been little if any debate over a proposed salary boost that would average 16 percent over four years."
Please take the time to educate people and share your perspective rather mock and demean their intellect.
Math? permalinkSeptember 14, 2012 11:15 am
You comment about the numbers not adding up is wrong. Included in the 16% figure is the COLA.


text:
This sport is enjoyed by 1000's of people across the country and the Jungle has put together this taster session to allow you to try this addictive sport for yourself.
The event starts with a full safety brief and includes expert supervision along with 25 bird shoot. The instructor will show you how to hit your first clay and then its up to you to see how many you can get out of a possible 25.
This event is a great gift idea as it can be provided for groups of any size from one up to 100. We can also provide this as a gift voucher for that "hard to please" someone!!!
Simple - just click on the 'book now' button above or give our events co-ordinators a call on The Adrenalin Jungle number 0800 952 4232.
Full payment of the event is required when booking to secure the event. (N.B this is non refundable)
Hire of the gun, cartridges, expert instruction, a full safety briefing and all safety equipment.
Equipment used: 12 gauge and 20 gauge shotguns, low recoil cartridges, eye & ear protection. The event will last at least one hour for 1 person, the time will increase depending on the size of the group.
When you book this event why don't you add Quad Biking, Paintball or 4x4?
Click here for more Adrenalin Jungle Activities


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Craftwerk 2.0: New Household Tactics for the Popular Crafts, an exhibition curated by Clara Åhlvik and Otto von Busch for the Jönköping county museum in Sweden, has been prolonged to March 21, 2010.
I'm going to get out of my comfort zone and write about an exhibition which, alas!, i haven't visited. Still i felt the post was due because 1. god knows if i'll ever set foot in Jönköping to report about this show or any other one for that matter, 2. Craftwerk presents the work of talented Swedish (and non-Swedish) artists/crafters i might otherwise never have got to know.
The pieces on display -whether they stem from activism, relate to techno-enhanced textiles, or are objects anyone can buy on Etsy- challenge today's conceptions of economy, durability, sustainability as well as the public's expectation of what art and design can be. Interestingly, the title of the exhibition plays on the idea that Alexander Dorner, director of the Hannover Museum during the 1920's, had of a modern museum. He defined it as a Kraftwerk, a dynamic and flexible powerhouse that would embrace other fields and disciplines and consequently function as a bridge between the art and society as a whole while. That's exactly what the workshops, lectures and the Craftwerk exhibition at the Jönköping County Museum are trying to achieve.
Blurb about Craftwerk 2.0: New Household Tactics for the Popular Crafts:
Over the last decade there has been a surge in crafts among young practitioners, often combined with political aspirations and networked efforts over the internet. From being a personal hobby the textile crafts have gone public and methods, techniques and tools are shared among users in ways similar to what we have seen in internet phenomena like Facebook and Wikipedia.
Craftwerk 2.0 explores the new "updated" textile crafts that are developed by a new generation of serious amateurs, innovative craftsmen, engaged entrepreneurs and political practitioners. Once again the home is the workshop where economic and ecologic innovation happens - not only in the labs of the industrial expertise. After decades of outsourcing, the new modes of production are in the hands of the layperson.
Now how about a few works and artists i've discovered while reading about the exhibition?
Ulrika Erdes has been embroidering on bus seats as a means to reclaim public space with textile crafts and to bring more feminine expressions into a cold functionalist and masculine world. You're invited to be take her cross-stitch patterns on the bus with you today!
Stitching Together, by Åsa Ståhl and Kristina Lindstöm, is a "hacked" digital sewing machine. People forward the machine one of their personal SMS and it dutifully embroiders it.
Rüdiger Schlömer's Schalalala is a a fan scarf remix project. Using the Remix-Interface software, football team fans can mix and match elements of existing scarves to create individualized knitted fanscarvess. Et voilà! The humble fan scarf becomes a social media in itself. Schlömer created a special edition of fan scarf letter archive especially for the workshops at the exhibition, using the typographies of popular local teams.
The number you can read on the first hand of the Body Count Mittens is 1524, it's the number of American casualties in Iraq on March 23, 2005, the day Lisa Anne Auerbach started knitting the mittens. 8 days later she began the second mitten. The number had jumped to 1533. The amount is much higher now.
Zoe Sheehan bought for a few dollars a series of garments at Wal-Mart, copied them by hand, using matching pattern, fabric, and embellishments. She then sew the tags from the original item into the duplicate and 'shopdropped' it on the Wal-Mart rack for potential sale at the original price.
In 2008, there were a number of squats all over Sweden as a protest to the housing shortage, in particular in biggest cities. "Cross Stitch Ninja" a.k.a. Maria Halvarson (part of the famed online collective Radical Cross Stitch) decided to make a cross stitch based on a photo from an article about one of these squatting actions. The text on the banner says "Homes For All".
Views of the exhibition space:
Craftwerk 2.0: New Household Tactics for the Popular Crafts exhibition will continue until March 21st at the Jönköping county museum (Sweden.)
Related exhibitions: Diritto Rovescio, Threads that weave art, design and mass creativity, Pricked: Extreme Embroidery and Delirious knitting show at Craft Council.
First the usual warning: i don't do announcements and i don't copy/paste PR material but i also like to find exceptions to the rule.
Ulla Taipale who runs Capsula, a unique programme about the intersection of art, science and nature, has set up a fantastic series of talks, workshops and field trips called Herbologies/Foraging Networks together with Andrew Gryf Paterson and Signe Pucena. The sessions are kicking out next month during the Pixelache festival (btw, check out their ongoing call for applications.)
Now comes the copy-paste party!
The Herbologies/Foraging Networks programme of events, focused in Helsinki (Finland) and Kurzeme region of Latvia, explores the cultural traditions and knowledge of herbs, edible and medicinal plants, within the contemporary context of online networks, open information-sharing, biological and hydroponic technologies.
The traditions of finding and knowing about wild food in the local Nordic environment are slipping away from the current generation. How can one attract their attention? With books, online maps, workshops, mobile-guided tours, open-source information or DNA code? Or learn how to grow them yourself, over the dark winter months?
The Pixelache Festival events introduce the different meeting points between the three collaborating partners, including seminar presentations by international artists and Finnish botanical experts; workshops sharing that knowledge with the public; a round-table discussion about foraging in the urban context; and a localised manifestation of the Windowfarms Project (US).
Following, in a pre-midsummer expedition to rural Rucava in Kurzeme, Western Latvia, SERDE Interdisciplinary Art Group will lead fieldwork to learn about the cultural heritage of Balts using wild plants, and create documents for the younger 'digital native' generation.
Initiators and organisers: Andrew Paterson (SCO/FI), Ulla Taipale / Capsula (FI/ES) and Signe Pucena / SERDE (LV)
As part of Pixelversity.
Saturday-Sunday 20-21.2.2010, Kiasma 'taka-ikkuna', 12.00-18.00.
Participate in Windowfarms Finland
Participatory workshop open for people to attend (as part of Pixelversity). Construction led by Mikko Laajola (FI), Niko Punin (FI), Andrew Gryf Paterson (SCO/FI), Ulla Taipale (FI) + other enthusiasts.
As part of Pixelache Helsinki Festival.
Friday 26.3.2010, Kerava Art Museum (Camp Pixelache), time to be confirmed.
Contribution to DIY/Bio-tech/Open-source Hardware themes with short presentation by Niko Punin (FI) of 'LetsGrowIt' and remote/recorded presentation by Britta Riley (US) about the Windowfarms Project.
Saturday 27.3.2010, Kiasma Seminar Room, 13.00-16.45.
Herbologies/Foraging Networks Seminar
Introduction to full Herbologies/Foraging Networks programme (10mins)
*Cultural Heritage* (50mins)
*Urban Space* (1hr 15 mins)
*Information & Sharing* (1hr 30 mins)
Saturday 27.3.2010, Kiasma Seminar Room, 17.30-18.30.
VivoArts Workshop with Adam Zaretsky (US)
American bio-artist Adam Zaretsky will lead a performative workshop inviting to get involved with plant DNA using DIY methods and household implements.
Sunday 28.3.2010, Botanical Garden Kaisaniemi (Linkola & Elfving Rooms), 11.00-14.00.
Herbologies Workshops
Wild plant expert Ossi Kakko (FI) and artist-producer Signe Pucena (LV) will share traditional methods for processing herbs through fermentation (villivihannesten hapatuskurssi) and vodka tincture-making respectively.
Sunday 28.3.2010, Kiasma 'taka-ikkuna', 18.00-19.00.
Windowfarms Project Closing
Dismantling event with music.
In collaboration with Centre for Interdisciplinary Arts SERDE (LV),
Expedition to Rucava, June 20-25, 2010.
An expedition of fieldwork will take place in Rucava, Kurzeme region, building upon SERDE's experience of engaging cultural heritage subjects as an arts organisation. Here the Herbologies/Foraging Networks project aims to preserve and document traditional cultural values related to herb-gathering in Latvia, promoting and developing a more diverse society than the traditional understanding of the cultural manifestations of the past and today, the identification and assignment needs.
Several persons from the assembled network: Kultivator (SE), Klaipeda Cultural Communication Centre (LT), Ossi Kakko (FI) as well as coordinators Andrew Gryf Paterson (SCO/FI) and Ulla Taipale (FI), are invited to Latvia from Sweden, Finland and Lithuania, along with Latvian experts, cultural workers and other documenters.
'Documentation Sprint', SERDE Art Residency Centre, Aizpute, June 26-30 2010.
Using a method from extreme software development and project management, 'Sprints' produce collectively-made artefacts (software, manuals, etc.) quickly over a set period of time.
In this case, several of the key invited collaborators will be invited to stay longer, to write up the fieldwork in the form of stories, charts, manuals, recipies, reports, diagrams, and process media or data. Several information and media experts will be invited from Riga to help with the process, as well as nomination of persons who would translate as much textual content as possible into the different regional languages (Latvian, Lithuanian, Russian, Finnish, Swedish, English).
The ambition of the sprint will be to make a proof layout of a new 'Traditional Booklet', published by SERDE, and online documentation, to be ready in September 2010.
Expressions of interest to join the expedition should be sent to herbologies [-at-] pixelache.ac by 30th April 2010.
The programme is supported by an Art and Culture Production grant from Kultur Kontakt Nord, AVEK (The Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture) and the Austrian Embassy in Helsinki.
Previously: Interview with Ulla Taipale from Capsula, Day 1 at the VivoArts School for Transgenic Aesthetics: Seed broadcasting workshop. Photo on the homepage: Big Window Farm at Eyebeam.
While in Athens, i checked out the Mark Amerika retrospective at The National Museum of Contemporary Art. How could i miss it? I knew so little about Amerika, an artist who, as the press release reminds, had been described as one of the "Time Magazine 100 Innovators" of the 21st century.
Amerika describes himself as a "thoughtographer", an "artist-medium", a "fictional philosopher", a "remixologist", a "network conductor", a wonderer who constantly changes identities and roles in a fragmentary world where time acquires an a-synchronic and non real dimension. By trying to express the complexity and the interest of contemporary digital reality, he delves into different aspects of himself and draws on elements and traits that he transfers to the characters of his works, by using the media the technological platforms of our time. Developing projects on the net, filming with mobile phones, remixing common moments and figures of today`s culture in an VJ-like audiovisual rhythm, Amerika redifines the characteristics of today's culture and opens up the possibilities for new interpretations and thoughts from the audience itself.
What is sure is that he's probably the only net artist who is not only responsible for a publication that Publishers Weekly described as "the literary publishing model of the future" but also the director of a feature-length film shot entirely on mobile phone. After having seen the digital videos -Society of the Spectacle (A digital Remix) is particularly good- and internet artworks on show at the museum, i feel more puzzled than ever. It's one of those shows that require a second viewing (at least in my case) because everything doesn't come to you at the first visit. Just like the OK TEXTS printed on stickers and hidden under the steps of the stairs when you go downstairs to see the Amerika retrospective. I only saw them on my way out of the museum.
I copy/pasted a couple of them below:
We cannot process your information. Your information is corrupt and needs cleansing. Erase brain?
An error has been detected in your consciousness. All source-code is corrupt. Continue?
Revolutionary double-speak has engendered a new information war. The system is about to crash. Download drugs now?
The application could not be opened because your genetic code is dysfunctional. Abort?
A cyborg orgy is not valid. Only digicash transactions are available at this time. Would you like to pay for the privilege?
The network is monitoring your Digital Being. Create alias?
This document wants to blow you. Go to finder?
A transfer of $247,789.40 is about to download. Are you sure you want to disconnect?
At least, I'll get a second chance with the online works which EMST has listed on one of its webpages and made accessible to visitors in their Media Lounge.
Some images.
P.S. You can also see Immobilité Remixes at the Vivo Arte.Mov festival in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on November 12 - 15, 2009.
I normally don't blog about events i can't attend but some cultural initiatives call for exceptions. Cruel Weather. Arab Middle East Film Festival is a festival of recent film/video from the Arab Middle East that opens in Aberdeen on October 2 and will move to other Scottish cities afterward. In parallel with the movie, Peacock Visual Arts is setting up Identities in Motion, an exhibition of Ayah Bdeir's work, a media artist whose ingenious and sometimes tongue-in-cheek projects invite us to have another look at media's tendency to flatten the Arab identity and reduce it to a set of cliche images and iconographies.
Cruel Weather explores artistic responses to crisis and the role of the moving image in today's Middle East. The festival showcases a series of award-winning documentaries, experimental and mixed genre works, many of which have never before been screened in Scotland.
I asked the curator of the festival, Jay Murphy, of the University of Aberdeen's Centre for Modern Thought a few questions about Cruel Weather:
Why did you call the festival "Cruel Weather"?
I hope it's an imaginative title. There is a sort of maelstrom going on in the Middle East, and it's cruel in that much of this suffering is avoidable. Although many of us may feel disconnected from it, it is directly related to U.S. and U.K. actions, and the acquiescence of the E.U. I have a writer friend in New York who feels when she's going down the street as if she is walking on corpses, but a profound dissociation is far more typical.
How did you get to be involved in films from Arab Middle East?
I've been involved in Palestinian solidarity work of one kind or another from the late '80s on. It was the theme of an issue of the magazine I did at one time, Red Bass, in 1988, and then a book anthology I edited that was published in 1993. At first it was a matter of competing representations, since the Palestinian struggle on film was rare at one point, and Palestinian filmmaking a small handful of people, whereas now there are widening developments, and remarkable talents like Elia Suleiman who take things to another level altogether.
"Cruel Weather" is in another period and concerns itself with another matter: it is not an issue so much of righting or balancing the censorship of points of view (not that this is resolved, far from it, especially in countries like the United States), but of providing a glimpse of a very inventive and wide-ranging creativity that has gained momentum especially just in the past decade.
It's hard not to detect some political undertones in the festival's programme. Do you expect Cruel Weather to stir controversy?
It would be very controversial in much of the U.S. and England, but there is a different political complexion in Scotland (due to its own colonized history perhaps?). There could still be a backlash, but I've only seen very solid support for this idea. It is also meeting a real need, since to our knowledge (and those of our partners in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee), none of these works have been screened here before.
The films you selected speak of dynamism, hip hop music, culture jamming, future, etc. They explore several regions of Arab Middle East. How did you choose the movies to be presented in the festival?
I remained with the work from the Levant and Egypt, because I'm most familiar with that, also being mindful of the limitations of our resources and time, since there are many films emerging from the Middle East, and video is a tool used across the region. I also think much of the best work has come from those spots, although what the festival often reflects is more of a thoroughly globalized poetics of location from artists on the move rather than specific geography. I feel the selection is somewhat unpredictable and quirky (Roy Samaha's video is inspired as much by William Burroughs' "cut ups" and Carlos Castaneda as contemporary Beirut, Chahine's "Chaos" is not one of his best received films, other films have a raw and improvisatory quality, while "Slingshot Hiphop" is a very assured first feature from Jackie Salloum), even while including some of the usual suspects.
Slingshot Hip Hop trailer:
Could you tell us a few words about the state of cinema making in Palestine? Are there organizations, structures and schools for documentary, animation and feature-film directors in the country?
There have been initiatives like the Cinema Production and Distribution Centre, started by filmmaker Rashid Masharawi in 1996, there is a virtual gallery at Birzeit University, and a number of filmmaking collectives, of which Annemarie Jacir's Palestinian Filmmakers Collective is only the best known; foundations like the A.M. Qattan Foundation, support residencies and awards and training for young artists, including filmmakers. But I think largely the infrastructure is still very embryonic, and most filmmakers study in the metropolises to learn their trade, and bring that knowledge back home to bear on its current realities.
An exhibition of artist Ayah Bdeir accompanies the festival. Can you tell us something about the works selected for the show? How does her exhibition complement the film festival?
Ayah Bdeir was the choice of the outgoing curator at Peacock Visual Arts, Monika Vykoukal, and I think she is a perfect choice in her play with cultural expectations, her diversity, inventiveness and range, which goes from animation and visuals for music concerts (such as Guy Manoukian's August 9 at Beiteddine, Lebanon outside Beirut) to electronic lingerie (Teta Haniya's Secrets).
Bdeir was born in Montreal but grew up in Beirut, and is currently a senior fellow at Eyebeam in New York; the issue of 'tradition' and identities and their relations with the metropolis are all foregrounded and problematized in her work, as they have to be. Bdeir participates in this very radical questioning of identity (for example in Jayce Salloum's "there is no Arab art") or probing the "withdrawal" of tradition (as in Jalal Toufic's writings) that is also central to the film and video artists presented here. As Toufic has written, "We do not go to the West to be indoctrinated by their culture, for the imperialism, hegemony of their culture is nowhere clearer than here in developing countries." I think Bdeir's work often traffics in this counter-intuitive and shifting relation of centre/periphery, in the electronically-hacked items in her The Arab Store, for instance.
Thanks Jay!
See also Jay Murphy's essay about Cruel Weather (PDF).
Previous entries about Ayah Bdeir's work: littleBits, pre-engineered circuit boards connected by tiny magnets, SP4M. D0 Y OU SWA1LOW? and Underwear for airport searches. Also this interview with the artist at How to Win.
In his book Gramophone, Film, Typewriter, Friedrich Kittler draws parallels between the introduction of a new media and spiritism. The Morse alphabet was quickly adopted in seances of spiritism to converse with the deceased. On some photographic plates one could sometimes discern the face of a ghosts. In 1893, Edison described the 10 uses he imagined for the phonogram and one of them was to record 'the last words of dying persons'.
'Awake Are Only the Spirits' - On Ghosts and Their Media, an exhibition currently open at HMKV (Hartware MedienKunstVerein) in Dortmund, explores the presence of the supernatural, the manifestations of spirits, and (trans)communication with the beyond facilitated by technical media.
Curated by Inke Arns and Thibaut de Ruyter, the show aims to tell a 'ghost story' that explores the question of why, for all our enlightenment, irrational capabilities are regularly ascribed to the new media and technologies of a given time - for instance, the ability to act as a channel for messages from the beyond. The projects exhibited question the existence of ghosts, they explore the integration of new media and technologies in spiritualist contexts, make visible or perceptible the invisible and trace the political implications as well as the aesthetics of such contemporary transcommunication phenomena.
The selection of works is exceptional. It might sometimes seem that i'm disillusioned with media art and indeed i'm not finding much pleasure anymore in works and exhibitions that are more the result of techno-fetishism than of a meaningful and far-reaching reflection on technology. 'Awake Are Only the Spirits' has everything that makes me enthusiastic about media. The exhibition manages to be intelligent, spectacular (starting with walls painted in a mystic purple hue) and engaging in spite of what would look at first sights as a rather puzzling focus. 'Awake Are Only the Spirits' doesn't just introduce you to some exciting artworks, it also makes you question your beliefs and your perception of the world.
One of the starting points of the exhibition at HMKV is the audiotape archive of Friedrich Jürgenson who discovered in 1959 the Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP), electronically captured sounds that resemble speech, but are not the result of intentional voice recordings. In the 1950s, the painter, film producer and archaeologist found traces of extra voices on tapes with which he was trying to record birdsongs. He believed the voices were coming "from the other side." Over the years, Jürgensen made thousands of recordings of the voices of the dead, from his family to Vincent van Gogh and even Himmler's masseur.
Jürgenson died in 1987 but the hundreds of tapes he recorded have been preserved, archived at the ZKM in Karlsruhe and are now part of the exhibition 'Awake Are Only the Spirits'. The other archive in the show is the one of an anonymous Aachen-based researcher who recorded images of deceased persons he believed were appearing on a running tv set.
In the early '80s deceased relatives of Klaus Schreiber informed him via EVP: 'We're on television, too'. Thanks to much efforts, money and time, Schreiber developed a method based on video feedback for distilling relatively clear images of his loved ones -including his two deceased wives- from the infinite expanses of bleary reflections. The Archive of an Anonymous Ghost-Seer curated by Hans W. Koch and presented at HMKV bears witness to this process.
Donald Judd Faces of Death, by Joep van Liefland, responds directly to Schreiber's findings on Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC). A large silkscreen poster displaying the blown-up image of a scrambled TV screen evokes the untuned screens where Schreiber used to see faces. Watch it as much as you want, no face ever turns up on Van Liefland's installation. Not even on the video that is also part of the work. The installation also features an object made out of empty and glossy video cassette boxes, is an ironic take on Abstract Minimalism and Pop Art.
For some time, it was even rumoured that Black Sabbath's song-Into The Void contained secret Satanic messages if played backwards. Jason and Lucas Ajemian transcribed the music and text of the track to create a new version, a project called Out of Nowhere/From Beyond. In the new version, the track is played backwards by a ten-piece orchestra with Jason Ajemian as the conductor and his brother singing phonetically in reverse.
Video of the artists discussing the idea and preparation behind From Beyond:
The performance was documented on video, but you can also get your hands on an audio recording pressed into 10-inch vinyl record. HMKV is also exhibiting the score printed on plexiglass as well as an original Black Sabbath cover splashed with Yves Klein blue as a reference to Klein's work with voids.
The International Necronautical Society (INS), a pseudobureaucratic organization founded in London in 1999, aims to examine radio in all its (necro-)poetical and also political aspects.
Black Box is comprised of a series of texts compiled by the author Tom McCarthy from local Dortmund radio shows, newspapers, and weather reports. These were transcribed and recorded onto a black box, from which the text lines are transmitted twenty-four hours a day via ultra-short wave (USW) which can be received in the vicinity of the PHOENIX Halle.
Nina Fischer & Maroan El Sani
Fischer and El Sani took pictures of abandoned rooms which had been maintained throughout time. The site is represented from two viewpoints: colour photography shows the visible, whereas high-frequency photography depicts phenomena that usually remain invisible to the human eye. The photos refer to a 19th century belief that psychological activity generated discharges which could be recorded later. Could former occupants of the room really have left something there?
Kathrin Günter has invented a number of so-called 'intraocular light eye cameras', portable devices consisting of a Polaroid camera back mounted on a small black box which is strapped over the user's head. Günter's Polaroids are thus produced by the light emanating from the sitter's eyes. The resulting picture is influenced by the interferences that occur during the 'transmission' process of the image from the retina to the instant photographic paper. Visitors are invited to wear the camera and record the images that have accumulated in their eyes.
The exhibition continues until 18 October 2009 at Hartware Medienkunstverein Phoenix Halle, Dortmund, Germany. It is accompanied by a series of film screenings, lectures and workshops. Check out the HMKV website for more details. More images on flickr, Derwesten and HMKV.
Related: Spy Numbers at the Palais de Tokyo, an exhibition inspired by the shortwave radio stations that broadcast artificially generated voices mysteriously reading streams of numbers, words, letters, tunes or Morse code.
I never do event announcements on this blog. I guess that would make some people happy but i can't find the time to blog about every single event i'd like to share with you. I'm not even sure my blog is the best place for that so i'd rather make exceptions to my "no call no announcement" rule once in a blue moon. Here's this semester's exception.
You might remember that back in May i was throwing seedballs all over Amsterdam along with Adam Zaretsky, the Waag society and other eco-enthusiast.
The VivoArts School for Transgenic Aesthetics Ltd. comes back to town in September and this time the focus will be biology and bacterial transformation. VASTAL is a temporary research and education institute that Zaretsky has created in Amsterdam following an invitation by the Waag Society. The lectures and workshops aim to show the public what it means to work both artistically and scientifically with living organisms and materials. VASTAL also aims to make this form of art-science accessible for a broader audience and invite them to discuss the ethical and aesthetic issues at stake.
Sadly i can only attend the September 15 sessions but i hope you'll overcrowd the school. Here's some details that Adam Zaretsky kindly forwarded to me:
Friday 11 September - Alt-Biology: Solar Transgenics, Synthetic Biology, Nanotech Biomimicry, Post-Natural History and Green Biofuel
Huub de Groot is a Professor of Biophysical Organic Chemistry at Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University. His research on producing Solar Biofuels from Microorganisms has consistently been focused on appropriate and sustainable hi-tech replacement of fossil fuels. By engineering green bacteria whom can collect sunlight with high efficiency conversion to chemical energy, we may have a source of cheap, clean and ubiquitous energy. While working with plants and algae Huub is also interested in engineering carbon nanotube latticeworks of super bio-solar battery structures which mimic the very efficient light harvesting 'antennas in disarray' found in green bacteria. As a possible infection/effect of Huub's continued collaborations with Rob Zwijnenberg (art-philosopher) of The Arts and Genomic Centre and the artists in residence, which his lab welcomes, Huub has proposed a Genetically Modified Solar Transgenic Art-Sci fish project intended for collaboration and future research.
Richard Pell, a professor of art at Carnegie Mellon is one of the founding members of the Center for PostNatural History. Rich will speak about the Center's investigations into the geographic placement of transgenic plants and animals and the cultural and ecological effect on their cartographic areas through such museum displays as Transgenic Organisms of New York State and Strategies in Genetic Copy Prevention. Rich will also speak about Synthetic Biology and his role as a iGEM Judge.
Tuesday 15 September - Tissue Culture Lab
What does it mean to grow disembodied cells from a former organism? Why do people want to keep samples and parts of beings well fed and free from contamination? How is a cell line kept alive and healthy after isolation from the living or the dead? This is a hands-on wet lab for public practical and experiential tissue culture technique. We will isolate primary tissues (bone marrow, scar tissue, muscle and, possibly, embryonic stems cells) in a sterile hood and then incubate them separately from their original corporeal context. The emphasis is on zombie fetish rites versus the general living rights of the undead vampiric matrix.
Growing Politics: Tissue Culture and Art meets Urbanibalism
Oron Catts is co-founder and director of SymbioticA will speak about the politics of tissue cultured artworks also known as semi-living extended body artworks. With such challenging projects as Victimless Leather, Semi-Living Worry Dolls and Disembodied Cuisine, Oron continues to challenge conventional readings of tissue culture as well as the general culture of eating, using and explaining life politics.
Matteo Pasquinelli is a writer, curator and researcher at Queen Mary University of London. He wrote the book Animal Spirits: A Bestiary of the Commons (2008) and edited the collections Media Activism (2002) and C'Lick Me: A Netporn Studies Reader (2007). He writes frequently at the cross of French philosophy, media culture and Italian post-operaismo. His current project is a book about the history of the notion of surplus from biology to knowledge economy and the environmental discourse. In Amsterdam, together with Katrien Jacobs and the Institute of Network Cultures, he organized the Art and Politics of Netporn conference (2005) and the C'Lick Me festival (2007).
Matteo will be presenting "Parasitic life, fermenting yeasts and cybernetic DNA: The art of living matter versus biodigitalism." Before the discovery of DNA, chromosomes were considered containers for an obscure fermentation activity. Today biotech hobbyists have reduced 'life' to a predictable copy-and-paste of numeric codes. How does the so-called bioart cover the parasitic and decaying process at the basis of life and the negative entropy of the cell that was discussed by Erwin Schrödinger in 1944 together with his prophetic hypothesis of a genetic code? Matteo Pasquinelli shows how there is more know-how in the most ancient practice of fermenting ambrosia than in contemporary bioart.
Saturday 19 September - (De)Mystified DNA: Sequencing Lab
Join us for the random creation of a sequence of DNA. This lab is about understanding the Genetic code and the online freeware available to 'read' DNA. Our sequence is arrived at through chance. We will then creatively explore software options like BLAST for finding where the random sequence is already embedded in the genomes of sequenced nature. We will also explore the online tools of plasmid design including DNA text to flesh online ordering and the anatomy of a DNA sequencing machine. As a group we will arrive at a symbolic reading of our chance strand of potential life alteration. Discussion in risk assessment in both chance based and knowledge based systems of hereditary difference production.
(This is not a Wet Lab)
Registration is possible via info at vastal dot eu. There are limited number of places available, so be in time! All courses and lectures will be in English.
Previously: Day 1 at the VivoArts School for Transgenic Aesthetics: Seed broadcasting workshop.


text:
The Vivid Racing Stage 2 kit for the Porsche 997 Carrera really begins to open up the power with the addition of the Agency Power Exhaust System and Agency Power Racing Headers. The Stage 2 also includes the K&N cold air intake kit and a VR Tuned ECU Flash. The normally aspirated vehicles need to have a good balance between exhaust backpressure and exhaust flow. The headers help improve the low end torque and power by changing the length of each header tube and the collector. The exhaust system is less restrictive then the factory unit. It improves the mid to top end RPM power where the stock exhaust holds back. The Agency Power exhaust also saves about 20lbs off the rear of your car. The racing tone is very clean and will not drone in the car. Expect to gain 45 Horsepower to the crank with our Stage 2 kit.
Stage 2 Porsche 997 Carrera Kit Includes -


text: On Tue, Apr 06, 2004 at 12:55:15AM +0200, Jesper Skriver wrote: > On Mon, Apr 05, 2004 at 03:48:13PM -0700, Kris Kennaway wrote: > > Looks like ftp.freebsd.org is having problems again (I'm getting > > timeouts, connection refused, and truncation of data transfers). > > It looks normal to me, light to medium load, and I get expected > throughput from my DSL in the UK and freefall too. Hi Jesper, Seems it is having trouble again. The last sync of /pub/FreeBSD/ports/i386/packages-current/All/ was May 28, 2004. The last update of the same on ftp-master is July 6th; with freebsd.isc.org showing it was able to sync the new packages from ftp-master. This is of course causing major problems with 'pkg_add -r' and 'portupgrade -PP'. -- -- David (obrien_(_at_)_FreeBSD_(_dot_)_org)