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The Paul Pressler's Car Moon Twirl attraction, which recently celebrated its ornate anniversary
The Paul Pressler's Car Moon Twirl queue is like a slink across the real Moontown. The attraction cars are built like Baldie the Cab, and when you drive you can twirl them by twisting the wheel.
Don't click Princess Mode
© copyright 2011–2016
A Pants Aflame production


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That Spears Considering A Namibian Birth, It's Not True
Issue follows where the star goes. That happens to Britney Spears who by now on gets struck over reports mentioning she's considering a Namibian birth for her next baby. This was strengthen by a statement released by Deputy Environment and Tourism Minister Leon Jooste who said officials had received an inquiry on behalf of the pop superstar with husband Kevin Federline.
"She has shown interest to come over to Namibia," Jooste said by telephone from a conference in neighboring South Africa. "Nothing has been confirmed yet, but there is a definite possibility of that happening." However, despite such publication, Spears' New York-based publicist, Leslie Sloane Zelnik has in an e-mail to The Associated Press claimed the report as "Not true" while doesn't provide any further details.
More Britney Spears News
- Taylor Swift Who? Calvin Harris Gets Flirty With Mystery Brunette While Partying in Cabo
- Apple in Talks to Buy Jay-Z's Tidal
- Kylie Jenner Calls Tyga Her 'Husband' on Snapchat
- Lindsay Lohan Writing Tell-All Book About Her Life
- 'Wreck-It Ralph 2' Gets 2018 Release Date, Hints at Internet Setting
- Rihanna Is Queen of the Universe in 'Sledgehammer' Music Video
- Lady GaGa Responds to Dalai Lama Controversy
- Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan, John Boyega Join Academy After OscarsSoWhite Backlash

subset: commoncrawl


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Friday 6/24 - Monday 6/27. Bring in your plastic nursery pots and flats IN GOOD CONDITION, take away what you can use. Clean real canning jars in boxes also will be accepted.
Stop by Ithaca Community Gardens on Saturday, 6/25 at 12:30pm for our first "Compost with Confidence" class of the season. Learn the basics of setting up your bin and getting started. FREE!
This FREE "Pay Yourself First" workshop on June 25 from 3:30-5:30pm covers ways to save money and savings options to help you reach your goals. Call today to sign up!
In addition to what you'll find here on our website, we offer free or low-cost workshops on topics that range from how to start an organic garden to making a home spending plan. Explore our links, check out our upcoming events, then give us a call or visit the CCE-Tompkins Education Center to learn more. We're here to help, with information -- and people -- you can trust!
Summer is here and for many families, that means cookouts, picnics and parties galore. Here are some healthy dips you can serve, from our friends at Cooking Matters!
Bring your unwanted empty, unbroken canning jars to CCE-Tompkins on June 24-27th. Need canning jars? Take what you need.
From 6/24 to 6/27, leave your plastic nursery pots, trays and cell packs AND canning jars at CCE-Tompkins for recycling. Take away what you can use! FREE!
This FREE "Pay Yourself First" workshop on June 25 covers ways to save money and savings options to help you reach your goals. Call today to sign up!
Learn how to deal with challenging behaviors in this FREE 7-week class for parents and caregivers, meets Mondays from 6-8PM starting on July 7 at CCE-Tompkins. Call to register!
Stop by Ithaca Community Gardens at 12:30pm on the last Saturday June-October for a FREE class on composting basics PLUS a different special topic each month!
Last updated June 24, 2016


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Drones: FAA Issues Long-Awaited Final Rule for Small Unmanned ...On Tuesday, June 21, the Federal Aviation Administration issued Part 107, the Final Rule for Operation and Certification of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The Rule comes sixteen months after the FAA issued its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ... Lexology, 2 hours ago
59 images for ua certificate
FAA Issues Major New Rules Permitting Commercial Use of Drones
The FAA has issued its long awaited final rule regarding the certification and commercial operation of small unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) in the U.S. National Airspace System. Once effective, the rule will allow certain operations of small UAS ...JD Supra, 4 hours ago FAA Issues Long-Anticipated Commercial Drone Rules & Eliminates the Section 333 Exemption Process Lexology, 1 day ago
CBFC may lose teeth to snip films
The Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) may lose its power to recommend cuts or modifications in films requiring its certification, if the Centre accepts recommendations of Shyam Benegal committee. The board's role may then be confined to ...Deccan Herald, 1 day ago Shyam Benegal panel suggests six types of categorisations for films Meri News, 2 days ago CBFC Should Certify Films, Says Benegal Panel Report; Part 2 Soon News18.com, 2 weeks ago Shyam Benegal report against clearing movies on drugs Times of India, 2 weeks ago
More from: NDTV, Economic Times...and 4 other sources
Censorship by CBFC: This is Salman Khan's solution for film certification issues
In wake of the "Udta Punjab" censorship controversy, superstar Salman Khan feels more categories should be created for clearing films in the 'adult' segment. Recently makers of "Udta Punjab" were embroiled in a battle with CBFC over the number of ...DNA India, 5 days ago Salman bats for new categories for certifying adult films The Statesman, 5 days ago PTI - ENT-SALMAN-CBFC (BES19) - Salman bats for new categories for certifying adult films Namibia Press Agency, 5 days ago Salman Khan bats for new categories for certifying adult films Financial Express, 5 days ago
A conservative grandmother who has snipped away kilometres of film
When issuing the order on Udta Punjab case on Monday, the Bombay High Court asked the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) not to act like a grandmother and change with times. A look at the certification trend of Indian feature films from ...Hindu Business Line, 1 week ago Udta Punjab gets A certificate by CBFC, HC order on cuts likely today Hindustan Times, 1 week ago Your job is to certify, not censor films: HC to CBFC Times of India, 2 weeks ago CRÉDIT AGRICOLE : From now on the customers can order certificates online 4 Traders, 1 month ago
Nihalani comes to rescue of DK filmmaker
Mangaluru: Twitterati trolled Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani for wielding the scissors indiscriminately on 'Udta Punjab'. But it was Nihalani who came to the rescue of Santhosh Kodenkeri, an ad-film maker turned ...Times of India, 6 days ago 6 quotes by Pahlaj Nihalani that made people go WTF! New Indian Express, 2 weeks ago The Final Cut The Hindu, 2 weeks ago U/A certificate for The Angry Birds Movie appropriate: Pahlaj Nihalani Indian Express, 1 month ago
More from: Mid Day, DNA India...and 7 other sources
Scissors instill fear in filmmakers!
Of late, many Tamil films are facing the wrath of the Regional Censor Board, that is refusing to certify movies, and is demanding several cuts as in the case of films like Saaindhadu and Metro. Thanks to the recent verdict by Mumbai High Court, ...Deccan Chronicle, 1 week ago
Tribunal slams CBFC's 'arbitrary' film certifications
NEW DELHI: In a strongly worded order, the Film Certification Appellate Tribunal (FCAT) has pulled up the censor board for "arbitrary and capricious" approach in changing the certification of several films from adult to UA (which can be watched by ...Times of India, 1 week ago The blood-stained scissors of the censor Manorama Online, 1 week ago Right cut: Why Censor Board must stick only tocertification Yahoo! India, 2 weeks ago Don't know if it's censor board or certificate board, says Irrfan Khan Equilibrio Informativo, 2 weeks ago
Censor board was set up in 1961, has nine centres across country
How is public exhibition of films regulated in India? The Cinematograph Act, 1952 lays down the provisions for film certification and regulates public exhibitions of movies in India. There are certain broad guidelines specified in the Act. The ...Times of India, 1 week ago Amitabh Bachchan supports Censor Board's stand against Udta Punjab, says it's abiding to government rules! Bollywoodlife.com, 3 weeks ago Censor Board passes Fan with seven cuts Rediff.com, 2 months ago Big B defends censor board Chandigarh Tribune, 4 weeks ago
Censor Board Clears Amitabh Bachchan's Te3n Without Any Cuts
Director Ribhu Dasgupta's upcoming thriller Te3n has been granted a U/A certificate without any cuts. The film's producer, Sujoy Ghosh, tweeted: TE3N gets an UA with no cuts from the censor. But the board was so cool.. great group of people. ...NDTV, 2 weeks ago 'TE3N' gets U/A certificate 5 Dariya News - English, 3 weeks ago TE3N gets U/A certificate Indian Express, 3 weeks ago Amitabh Bachchan's TE3N gets U/A certificate The Hindu, 3 weeks ago
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Art: Check out Daniel Zender's wonderful nightmare paintings
Brooklyn-based illustrator and graphic designer Daniel Zender has something of a fixation upon things that go bump in the night; so much so that he has created an entire project devoted to them. Light Terrors is a series of images depicting dream-like states and the nightmares that accompany them, from losing teeth to drowning in a mysteriously water-filled bed and being melted by a spooky-looking witch. His bold, bright, graphic shapes may undermine the scariness of the characters featured but they sure are nice to look at, and his client list, which includes publications from Bloomberg Businessweek and the New York Times Book Review, proves that we aren't the only ones who think so.
- Tomáš Kral's nostalgic 3D short slapstick dragon slaying animation series
- Russia-based Max Litvinov's experimental animations are a delight
- More weird and wonderful work from Wonder Room
- Bruch creates a simple and type-based identity for Quer
- Intimacy, underwear and internet pop-ups in VLF Studio's slick redesign of Under the Influence
- A personal portrait of street life in Casablanca from photographer Yoriyas
- Don't Hug Me I'm Scared - an exclusive interview with Duck, Red Guy and Yellow Guy
- World's "ugliest" Pantone colour 448C is being used to deter smokers
- North evolves Tate identity to be more adaptable
- Babak Ganjei paints 90s sitcom sitting rooms. But which one's which?
- More bonkers and surreal selfies from Izumi Miyazaki
- Reactions to the referendum and our weekly Best of the Web


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Short Cuts
Author and Publisher - Catholic Online
Death: 1900
Canonized By: Pope John Paul II
Layman & Chinese Martyr
Little is known of her life, and the information was received by private revelation from her. Martyred at about age 14 in the early days of the Church. In 1802 the remains of a young ... continue reading
Nothing is known of St. James the Greater's early life, though it has been established that he is the son of Zebedee and Salome and brother of John the disciple. The title "the Greater" ... continue reading | shop
Andrew, like his brother Simon Peter, was a fisherman. He became a disciple of the great St. John the Baptist, but when John pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" Andrew ... continue reading
St. Cyril of Alexandria, Bishop and Doctor of the Church (June 27) Cyril was born at Alexandria, Egypt. He was nephew of the patriarch of that city, Theophilus. Cyril received a classical and ... continue readingMore Saint of the Day
Irish abbess and disciple of St. Abban. When St. Abban founded a convent in Ballyvourney, County Cork, Ireland, Gobnata was placed in charge. A well there bears her name. continue readingMore Female Saints
Saint Michael the Archangel isn't a saint, but rather he is an angel, and the leader of all angels and of the army of God. This is what the title "Archangel" means, that he is above all the others in rank. St. Michael has four main responsibilities or offices, as we ... continue reading
Lorenzo Ruiz is the first Filipino saint. He is also the first Filipino martyred for the Christian Faith. Lorenzo Ruiz was a layman, married, and had two sons and a daughter. Born in Binondo, Manila, about 1600's, he was educated in the school of the Dominicans there. ... continue reading
Sts. Cosmas and Damian were brothers, born in Arabia, who had become eminent for their skill in the science of medicine. Being Christians, they were filled with the spirit of charity and never took money for their services. At Egaea in Cilicia, where they lived, they ... continue reading
By Marshall Connolly (CALIFORNIA NETWORK)
On September 4, 2016, Pope Francis will canonize Mother Teresa as a saint of the Roman Catholic Church. Her canonization is an important event for Catholics and all people around the world. Here's 3 reasons why. LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - When Mother Teresa is ... continue readingMore Christian Saints & Heroes


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Fantasy Art by Agnes Boulloche
Agnes Boulloche was born in Paris, she spent her childhood in Morocco. These young years in North Africa made Agnes a legend and Djinn connoisseur, a lover of the uncanny. Back in Paris in the Sixties, she was a student at the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs, in the followed years, she entirely concentrated on oil painting on wood panels using the old "glaze" technique which consist in superimposing thin transparent layers of colours and makes it possible to combine fine strokes and luminous tints. She also uses various alchemical formulas to create her own pigments, mediums and varnishes.
Tags:Painting, surrealistic art
About The Author
Art Supporter
Discover More on Pondly
- Realistic Aquarelle Art by Steve Hanks
- Painting on Lips by Paige Thompson
- Photo-Realistic Painting by Diego Gavinese
- Surreal Painting by Moises Hergueta
- The Unique Realism of Jason de Graaf's Acrylic Paintings
- Classic Beauties - Paintings by Christiane Vleugels
- All Thing Equine – Art by Michael Zavros
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text: caves. if you lose when you are near the end you have to go all the way back through. my favorite part was not really a part, but gameplay mechanics that improved over the originals. the boxes changed automatically instead of having to change manually like red/blue, and pokeballs appeared next to Pokemon you caught which helped me a lot. and the addition of being able to breed Pokemon at sevii islands was cool.


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Williams Works Wonders, Wins Wild One for Hawks 11-6
The South Bend Silver Hawks (32-24, 72-53) won a wild one on Monday night at Four Winds Field as they plated four in the first, gave up five in the second, but came back to take an 11-6 win over the Dayton Dragons (27-29, 63-61). Right fielder Justin Williams homered, drove in four runs and scored three, including what turned out to be the deciding run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Second baseman Jamie Westbrook chipped in with three RBIs of his own.
South Bend, the Class-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as they jumped out to a lead in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, the Hawks loaded the bases on two walks sandwiched around a Fidel Pena single. Williams then singled through the left side to plate left fielder Chuck Taylor from third and Pena from second for a 2-0 lead. Westbrook followed with a two-run triple to left-center that scored third baseman Joe Munoz from third and Williams from first for a 4-0 lead.
The Hawks did not hold the lead for long as Dayton, the Class-A affiliate of the Cincinnati Reds, struck back with five runs in the top of the second to take the lead. Center fielder Phillip Ervin led off with a double to center. Catcher Jose Ortiz drove in the first Dragons run of the game with a double to left that plated Ervin. With one out, third baseman Tanner Rahier doubled to center to cut the lead to 4-2. He then scored on a single up the middle by designated hitter Avain Rachal that made it a 4-3 game. Right fielder Jonathan Reynoso followed with a double to deep-center that tied the game at 4-4. With two outs, Hawks starter Ryan Doran (W, 2-0) could not get out of the inning as he gave up a triple to shortstop Alex Blandino that scored Reynoso for a 5-4 Dragons lead.
Dragons starter Amir Garrett (L, 7-7) could not hold the lead as he gave it back to the Hawks in the bottom of the third. Munoz led off the inning with a walk and Williams also walked to put runners at first and second with no outs. Westbrook grounded a single to left to load the bases with nobody out and knocked Garrett out of the game. Joel Bender entered to replace him and quickly struck out the first two batters he faced to give the Dragons a chance to get out of the inning with the lead. Bender was unable to complete the escape act however as he hit designated hitter D.J. Bowman on the foot with a curveball to force home Munoz and tie the game at 5-5. He then uncorked a fastball to shortstop Andrew Velazquez that sailed way over the catcher's head and straight to the backstop, allowing Williams to score from third for a 6-5 South Bend lead.
The Hawks added to their lead in the bottom of the fourth. With two outs, Williams tripled deep over the center fielder's head. Westbrook came to the plate and gave the Hawks a 7-5 lead with a grounder that the shortstop was able to dive and knock down but Westbrook easily beat out the throw for an RBI infield single.
Dayton pulled back to within a run in the top of the fifth inning. First baseman Robert Ramirez led off with a double to left. Ervin then laced his second double of the night, this one to the gap in right-center. Ramirez scored to make it 7-6 but Ervin was gunned down trying to stretch it into a triple as Pena threw to Westbrook who made a perfect relay throw to third to nail Ervin.
Both bullpens settled down after the fifth and kept the opposing offenses off the scoreboard until the eighth inning. Bender threw a strong five innings for the Dragons, allowing just one run and striking out nine Hawks. Alex Byo relieved Doran in the top of the sixth and threw two shutout innings to keep the Hawks in the lead. Bud Jeter then follow suit in the eighth as he kept the Dragons off the score board for a 7-6 Hawks lead.
South Bend added some insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Pedro Diaz came in to relieve Bender and surrendered a leadoff bunt single to Velazquez. Taylor walked to put runners at first and second and Pena bunted the runners over to second and third with one out. Munoz hit a drive to deep right that was flagged down by the Dragons' outfielder but was deep enough to let Velazquez jog home and stretch the South Bend lead to 8-6. Williams was up next and he laced a 3-1 fastball the opposite way and over the left-field fence for a two-run homer and a 10-6 Hawks lead. Westbrook worked a walk and first baseman Marty Herum singled to put runners at first and second. Catcher BJ Lopez lined a single to center that scored Westbrook and made it 11-6. Jose Jose entered the game in the top of the ninth and closed it out for the Hawks with a perfect inning.
The Hawks and Dragons meet up again on Tuesday night at Four Winds Field with first pitch scheduled for 7:05pm. Sal Romano (7-10, 4.13 ERA) gets the start for Dayton while Anthony Banda (8-6, 3.30 ERA) gets the ball for South Bend. It is Triple Play Tuesday at Four Winds Field where you can get a game ticket, hot dog, and a drink for just $10 with a coupon from the South Bend Tribune.
Top Stories on MiLB.com
- Rockies' Freeland one step closer to home
- Twins slugger Walker not 'trying to change'
- Roth flirts with first no-hitter in Express history
- Yanks' Higashioka plates seven on two-homer day
- Fulmer finally busts loose in Barons' shutout
- Padres' Hedges goes yard in fifth straight game
- Astros sending Bregman, Hernandez to Grizzlies
- Nationals' Turner tallies another three-hit game
From MiLB.com Blogs
- Ben's Biz Blog: About Last Night: Greeneville Astros, June 25th, 2016
- MiLB Prospective: Minoring in Twitter: Mets prospect leaves tickets for Taylor Swift


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Oh im sorry you didnt have a game boy back then...
But now you can catch up on all the great games you missed!! :D
I have never played any of the mistery dungeon games, are they good?
Haha i like that word, it should definitely become a thing
Yeah that's the only bad thing i guess about being Dragon/Flying...but oh well, nobody is perfect.
I think Zekrom is also my all-time favorite legendary dragon, although i like Palkia too
I think I'd like to do a challenge with one of my Gen IVs :D, maybe my SS..? Hmm...
The Monotype or Username Letters one, I think. Unless I happen across something far more interesting
Quick! We must word drop at every possible occasion!
"Hi! *softnfluffeh* My name is *softnfluffeh* Dee! *softnfluffeh*"
...Or not.
Palkia? I've never had one on my team before, so I'll have to pass judgement (never owned pearl... only recently started using the Global Trade feature)


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Home and Lifestyle News
Find home and Lifestyle News and articles from the Indiana Gazette.
Top Story for Home and Lifestyle News
|Report: Modern dads more clued-in
|1 week ago -
|ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. — Seven years ago, when he was a newly minted stay-at-home dad, Lance Somerfeld looked for a New York dads group that was holding meet-ups at playgrounds and kiddie classes. [Read More]
More Stories for Home and Lifestyle News
|DEAR ABBY: Woman with secret fantasies hesitates to share
|3 weeks ago -
|DEAR ABBY: I am in a happy relationship with a wonderful man. [Read More]
|3 weeks ago -
|Today is Wednesday, June 8, the 160th day of 2016. There are 206 days left in the year. [Read More]
|ASK DR. K: A look at retinal vessel occlusion
|3 weeks ago - - ANTHONY KOMAROFF
|DEAR DOCTOR K: A friend recently lost vision in his right eye because of something called "retinal vessel occlusion." [Read More]
|When is stopping treatment for the best?
|3 weeks ago -
|CHICAGO — Two months before Joe Clark died of colon cancer at age 31, a doctor gently told him it was time to stop treatment. [Read More]
|Panel: Treating hearing loss shouldn't be a hassle
|3 weeks ago -
|WASHINGTON — Treating hearing loss shouldn't be such a pricey hassle. That's the message from a prestigious government advisory group that's calling on Medicare and other agencies to find ways to make better hearing more affordable and accessible for millions of older Americans. [Read More]
|DEAR ABBY: Daughter struggles to help widowed mom
|3 weeks ago -
|DEAR ABBY: Mom is 61. She lost her husband (my dad) six months ago. They had been married for 37 years. He used to do almost everything for her. Now her world has changed because she must do things for herself — like doing the dishes or paying the bills. [Read More]
|3 weeks ago -
|Today is Tuesday, June 7, the 159th day of 2016. There are 207 days left in the year. [Read More]
|Father, son bond over video games
|3 weeks ago -
|JANESVILLE, Wis. — Aaron Williams sat on a coffee table in his Janesville home, controller in hand, his eyes transfixed on the television. [Read More]
|DEAR ABBY: Marriage hits rough patch when old hurt resurfaces
|3 weeks ago -
|DEAR ABBY: I have been with my husband for 28 years. During our first year of marriage, I caught him making out with an old classmate of mine. He assured me that it was only that and nothing else, so I decided to work through it. [Read More]
|3 weeks ago -
|Today is Monday, June 6, the 158th day of 2016. There are 208 days left in the year. [Read More]
|New Miss USA from D.C. to take a break from Army reserves
|3 weeks ago -
|LAS VEGAS (AP) — The newly crowned Miss USA is a 26-year-old Army officer from the District of Columbia who gave perhaps the strongest answer of the night when asked about women in combat. [Read More]
|CONTROL YOURSELF: New apps help fight digital distraction
|3 weeks ago -
|When busy people sit down at night to pay bills, answer emails or RSVP for their kids' school events, they don't plan to procrastinate. [Read More]


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The Liberal government has had dozens of web pages from Stephen Harper's days as prime minister deleted from Google search results. Continue reading
Ontario's highest court has upheld the sentence imposed on a former Conservative staffer convicted in the 2011 federal election robocalls scandal. Continue reading
The investigation into Nigel Wright, formerly Prime Minister Stephen Harper's chief of staff, resumed last week. Continue reading
A coalition of human rights advocates and current and former parliamentarians and diplomats is calling on the Liberals to launch a public inquiry into the handling of Afghan detainees. Continue reading
As former Tory cabinet minister Peter MacKay stood at the entrance to his party's policy convention in Vancouver Saturday, a fellow party member ambled past. Continue reading
Political commentators used words like "florid" and "emotional" to describe Justin Trudeau, whereas Stephen Harper was "strong". Continue reading
Bob Rae was caught on video sticking two fingers in his mouth, pretending to gag. Continue reading
A motion to drop the party's same-sex marriage ban passed while a rogue campaign to make interim leader Rona Ambrose eligible for permanent leadership was denied. Continue reading
The Conservative party remains strong and united, former prime minister Stephen Harper said in his first public remarks since stepping down on election night. Continue reading
The fact that money has been pledged from Conservative MPs is a sign the party recognizes youth need to be part of the party's rebuilding process. Continue reading


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Language bias and black sheep
There have been a handful of reactions to this work, some questioning the core motivation, essentially variants of "if there are biases in the data, they're there for a reason, and removing them is removing important information." The authors give a nice example in the paper (web search; two identical web pages about CS; one mentions "John" and the other "Mary"; query for "computer science" ranks the "John" one higher because of embeddings; appeal to a not-universally-held-belief that this is bad).
I'd like to take a step back and argue the the problem is much deeper than this. The problem is that even though we all know that strong Sapir-Whorf is false, we seem to want it to be true for computational stuff.
At a narrow level, the issue here is the question of what does a word "mean." I don't think anyone would argue that "nurse" means "female" or that "computer scientist" means "male." And yet, these word embeddings, which claim to be capturing meaning, are clearly capturing this non-meaning-effect. So then the argument becomes one of "well ok, nurse doesn't mean female, but it is correlated in the real world."
Which leads us to the "black sheep problem." We like to think that language is a reflection of underlying truth, and so if a word embedding (or whatever) is extracted from language, then it reflects some underlying truth about the world. The problem is that even in the simplest cases, this is super false.
The "black sheep problem" is that if you were to try to guess what color most sheep were by looking and language data, it would be very difficult for you to conclude that they weren't almost all black. In English, "black sheep" outnumbers "white sheep" about 25:1 (many "black sheep"s are movie references); in French it's 3:1; in German it's 12:1. Some languages get it right; in Korean it's 1:1.5 in favor of white sheep. This happens with other pairs, too; for example "white cloud" versus "red cloud." In English, red cloud wins 1.1:1 (there's a famous Sioux named "Red Cloud"); in Korean, white cloud wins 1.2:1, but four-leaf clover wins 2:1 over three-leaf clover. [Thanks to Karl Stratos and Kota Yamaguchi for helping with the multilingual examples.]
This is all to say that co-occurance frequencies of words definitely do not reflect co-occurance frequencies of things in the real world. And the fact that the correlation can both both ways means that just trying to model a "default" as something that doesn't appear won't work. (Also, computer vision doesn't really help: there are many many pictures of black sheep out there because of photographer bias.)
We observed a related phenomena when working on plot units. We were trying to extract "patient polarity verbs" (this idea has now been expanded and renamed "implicit sentiment": a much better name). The idea is that we want to know what polarity verbs inflict on their arguments. If I "feed" you, is this good or bad for you? For me? If I "punch" you, likewise. We focused on patients because action verbs are almost always good for the agent.
In order to accomplish this, we started with a seed list of "do-good-ers" and "wrong-do-ers." For instance, "the devil" was a wrong do-er, and so we can extract things that the devil does, and assume that these are (on average) bad for their patients. The problem was the "do-good-ers" don't do good, or at least they don't do good in the news. One of our do-good-ers was "firefighter". Firefighters are awesome. Even stereotyped, this is arguably a very positive social good, heroic profession. But in the news, what do firefighters do? Bad things. Is this because most firefighters do bad things in the world? Of course not. It's because news is especially poignant when stereotypically good people do bad things.
This comes up in translation too, especially when looking at looking at domain adaptation effects. For instance, our usual example for French to English translation is that in Hansards, "enceinte" transates as "room" but in EMEA (medical domain), it translates as "pregnant." What does this have to do with things like gender bias? In Canadian Hansards, "merde" translates mostly as "shit" and sometimes as "crap." In movie subtitles, it's very frequently "fuck." (I suspect translation direction is a confounder here.) This is essentially a form of intensification (or detensification, depending on direction). It is not hard to imagine similar intensifications happening between racial descriptions and racial slurs, or between gender descriptions and sexist slurs, depending on where the data came from.
Procedurally generated spaceships
Video game developer Michael Davies provides a Blender script to procedurally generate pretty 3-D spaceships. Enter your parameters, such as number of hull segments, scaling, and rotation, and you've got a new vehicle for the stars. [via @albertocairo]
Tags: Blender, procedural, spaceship
Genetic Data Tools and Pop Music
Great crossover article about using tools developed for genetic analysis to also analyze pop music from 1960s onward. It's an interesting read and I encourage reading all of it so I'll just entice you with one conclusion.
There's a popular conception in the music industry that in recent years pop music has become less diverse. Usually the arguments involve standard economic ideas such as a diminishing pool of leaders emerging from an initially diverse pool of players. And in the music industry that seems to make sense with the usual arguments being limited air time to play a broader range of hits and a somewhat consolidation of radio stations.
However, the linked article and the chart I'm using to showcase the article point out this is not the case. The analysis technique quantifiably identified 13 musical genres.Since these genres were identified algorithmically, it isn't initially clear what actual genres these 13 belong to. While it'd be great if we could click on a link for each of these genres and hear a sample, the authors did the next best thing and used the tags from a popular music website to verbally describe the specific genres. This is why there's a fair amount of overlap in this "naming scheme" (eg "love song" is one of the tags for both genre 3 and genre 10).
One way to verify the conclusion that music is as diverse now as it was then is to look at the thinnest lines at the top and bottom of the graph. At the bottom, in 1960 there were only 2-3 very thin lines (one obviously belongs to rap, genre 2), but also at the top there are 2-3 very thin lines (here one belongs to "funk, blues, jazz, soul", genre 4). Basically 10-11 active genres in the 1960s and 10-11 active genres now
A traveller's diary, Nov 24th, 1874
In a traveller's diary, November 24th 1874…
Stopped at the Coliseum and
went to the very topmost platform of this tremendous ruin
and looked into the far depths of the present excavations. Walked all
around among the arches and after coming down to what used to be
considered the arena we went boldly down an inclined plain in
among the recently found arches etc into two or three long passages
heading ever so far away, saw the bronze sockets in the large
flag stones in the middle of the passage where the gates are
supposed to have turned to admit the animals. Some columns
and capitols and fragments of statuary and slabs with figures engraved on them.
some of them representing fighting or chase. After a late lunch took
a walk through via Babuino, Condoti and Corso home. On the old
pavement below the arena are long pieces of charred wood
with smaller crossbars of the same – very curious.
Sci-Fi short film scripted by machine learning algorithm
Filmmaker Oscar Sharp and technologist Ross Goodwin fed a machine learning algorithm with a bunch of Sci-Fi movie scripts to see what new script it would spit out. A script for Sunspring is the result, and this is the film, starring Thomas Middleditch. Riveting.
The thought of a machine tapping into emotion and creativity likely brings some sneers, but Goodwin argues that it's about assistance and augmentation rather than a replacement for the humans.
The machine dictated that Middleditch's character should pull the camera. However, the reveal that he's holding nothing was a brilliant human interpretation, informed by the production team's many years of combined experience and education in the art of filmmaking. That cycle of generation and interpretation is a fascinating dialogue that informs my current understanding of this machine's capacity to augment our creativity.
Tags: machine learning, movie
From the Louvre's Library to the Treasures Gallery
Release Notes for Safari Technology Preview Release 7
Safari Technology Preview Release 7 is now available for download. If you already have Safari Technology Preview installed, you can update from the Mac App Store's Updates tab. Release 7 of Safari Technology Preview covers WebKit revisions 201541–202085.
- Implemented options argument to
addEventListener(r201735, r201757)
- Updated
JSON.stringifyto correctly transform numeric array indices (r201674)
- Improved the performance of Encode operations (r201756)
- Addressed issues with Date setters for years outside of 1900-2100 (r201586)
- Fixed an issue where reusing a function name as a parameter name threw a syntax error (r201892)
- Added the
errorargument for
window.onerrorevent handlers (r202023)
- Improved performance for accessing dictionary properties (r201562)
- Updated
Proxy.ownKeysto match recent changes to the spec (r201672)
- Prevented
RegExpunicode parsing from reading an extra character before failing (r201714)
- Updated SVGs to report their memory cost to the JavaScript garbage collector (r201561)
- Improved the sampling profiler to protect itself against certain forms of sampling bias that arise due to the sampling interval being in sync with some other system process (r202021)
- Fixed global lexical environment variables scope for functions created using the
Functionconstructor (r201628)
- Fixed parsing
superwhen the default parameter is an arrow function (r202074)
- Added support for trailing commas in function parameters and arguments (r201725)
- Added the unprefixed version of the pseudo element ::placeholder (r202066)
- Fixed a crash when computing the style of a grid with only absolute-positioned children (r201919)
- Fixed computing a grid container's height by accounting for the horizontal scrollbar (r201709)
- Fixed placing positioned items on the implicit grid (r201545)
- Fixed rendering for the
- Fixed support for using
backdrop-filterproperties together (r201785)
- Fixed clipping for
border-radiuswith different width and height (r201868)
- Fixed CSS reflections for elements with WebGL (r201639)
- Fixed CSS reflections for elements with a
backdrop-filterproperty (r201648)
- Improved the Document's font selection lifetime in preparation for the CSS Font Loading API (r201799)
- Improved memory management for CSS value parsing (r201608)
- Improved font face rule handling for style change calculations (r201971, r202085)
- Fixed multiple selector rule behavior for keyframe animations (r201818)
- Fixed applying CSS variables correctly for
writing-modeproperties (r201875)
- Added experimental support for
spring()based CSS animations (r201759)
- Changed the initial value of
transparentper specs (r201666)
Web APIs
- Changed
CanvasRenderingContext2D.putImageData()to throw the correct exception type and align with the specification (r201664)
- Fixed a number of issues with Web Workers (r201876, r201970, r201918, r201926, r201791, r201898, r201925, r201808)
Web Inspector
- Added ⌘T keyboard shortcut to open the New Tab tab (r201692, r201762)
- Added the ability to show and hide columns in data grid tables (r202009, r202081)
- Fixed an error when trying to delete nodes with children (r201843)
- Added a Top Functions view for Call Trees in the JavaScript & Events timeline (r202010, r202055)
- Added gaps to the overview and category graphs in the Memory timeline where discontinuities exist in the recording (r201686)
- Improved the performance of DOM tree views (r201840, r201833)
- Fixed filtering to apply to new records added to the data grid (r202011)
- Improved snapshot comparisons to always compare the later snapshot to the earlier snapshot no matter what order they were selected (r201949)
- Improved performance when processing many
DOM.attributeModifiedmessages (r201778)
- Fixed the 60fps guideline for the Rendering Frames timeline when switching timeline modes (r201937)
- Included the exception stack when showing internal errors in Web Inspector (r202025)
- Added ⌘P keyboard shortcut for quick open (r201891)
- Removed Text → Content subsection from the Visual Styles Sidebar when not necessary (r202073)
- Show
<template>content that should not be hidden as Shadow Content (r201965)
- Fixed elements in the Elements tab losing focus when selected by the up or down key (r201890)
- Enabled combining diacritic marks in input fields in Web Inspector Enabled combining diacritic marks in input fields in Web Inspector (r201592)
- Prevented double-painting the outline of a replaced video element (r201752)
- Properly prevented
video.src="file"with audio user gesture restrictions in place (r201841)
- Prevented showing the caption menu if the video has no selectable text or audio tracks (r201883)
- Improved performance of HTMLMediaElement.prototype.canPlayType that was accounting for 250–750ms first loading theverge.com (r201831)
- Fixed inline media controls to show PiP and fullscreen buttons (r202075)
- Fixed a repaint issue with vertical text in an out-of-flow container (r201635)
- Show text in a placeholder font while downloading the specified font (r201676)
- Fixed rendering an SVG in the correct vertical position when no vertical padding is applied, and in the correct horizontal position when no horizontal padding is applied (r201604)
- Fixed blending of inline SVG elements with transparency layers (r202022)
- Fixed display of hairline borders on 3x displays (r201907)
- Prevented flickering and rendering artifacts when resizing the web view (r202037)
- Fixed logic to trigger new layout after changing canvas height immediately after page load (r201889)
Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where Find on Page would show too many matches (r201701)
- Exposed static text if form label text only contains static text (r202063)
- Added Origin header for CORS requests on preloaded cross-origin resources (r201930)
- Added support for the
upgrade-insecure-requests(UIR) directive of Content Security Policy (r201679, r201753)
- Added proper element focus and caret destination for keyboard users activating a fragment URL (r201832)
- Increased disk cache capacity when there is lots of free space (r201857)
- Prevented hangs during synchronous XHR requests if a network session doesn't exist (r201593)
- Fixed the response for a POST request on a blob resource to return a "network error" instead of HTTP 500 response (r201557)
- Restricted HTTP/0.9 responses to default ports and cancelled HTTP/0.9 resource loads if the document was loaded with another HTTP protocol (r201895)
- Fixed parsing URLs containing tabs or newlines (r201740)
- Fixed cookie validation in private browsing (r201967)
- Provided memory cache support for the
Varyheader (r201800, r201805)
Please join MITH in welcoming Purdom Lindblad to our team!
MITH is excited to announce that Purdom Lindblad will be joining us in the newly established position of Assistant Director for Innovation and Learning, beginning in July. In this position, she will play a leadership role in managing MITH's growing portfolio of courses and instructional programs.
Purdom comes to us from Scholars' Lab at the University of Virginia, where as Head of Graduate Programs she collaborated with graduate student fellows, developers, librarians, and designers to create a space for experimentation and play. She was a crucial team member of the Praxis Program, which introduces graduate students to research questions and methods for the digital humanities, and she also worked with UVA's Director of Diversity to develop a Leadership Alliance Mellon Institute (LAMI), a digital humanities-inflected summer research program, for which she developed two courses in Research Methods and an Introduction to Digital Humanities. Dedicated to cultivating supportive communities for learning, Purdom thrives in collaborative environments where people are at the heart of her work. As she notes,
"I strive to foster spaces and programs where novices as well as experienced practitioners are encouraged to take creative and intellectual risks."
Purdom's research interests include feminist interface design, exploring how digital projects can be empathetic platforms for both the users and the people affected by the content. She and her Scholars' Lab colleague Jeremy Boggs are in the process of incorporating these principles into the interface of Take Back the Archive, a digital public history project being created by UVA faculty, students, librarians, and archivists.
The post Please join MITH in welcoming Purdom Lindblad to our team! appeared first on Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities.


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What Brexit? This Tech Microcap Has Zoomed 28% in Five Trading Days
If you want to make money in the face of intense market uncertainty, take special note of stocks that just keep surging – despite the apparent growing risks.
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How would you like to put an extra $125,000 in your nest egg? You can potentially do it this year - and you'll only have to risk $20 to learn how. Click here.
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Keith is the Chief Investment Strategist for Money Map Press. A seasoned market analyst and professional trader with more than 30 years of global experience, Keith is one of very few experts to correctly see both the dot.bomb crisis and the ongoing financial crisis coming ahead of time - and one of even fewer to help millions of investors around the world successfully navigate them both. Forbes.com recently hailed him as a "Market Visionary."
He is a regular on FOX Business, CNBC, and CNBC Asia, and his observations have been featured in Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, WIRED, Forbes, and MarketWatch.
Keith has been leading The Money Map Report since 2008, our flagship newsletter with 80,000+ members. He's also the editor of the High Velocity Profits trading service. In his new weekly Total Wealth, Keith has taken everything he's learned over a notable career and distilled it down to just three steps for individual investors. Sign up is free at totalwealthresearch.com.
Keith holds a BS in management and finance from Skidmore College and an MS in international finance (with a focus on Japanese business science) from Chaminade University. He regularly travels the world in search of investment opportunities others don't yet see or understand.
So-called "inverse funds" are widely misunderstood and can be tricky to use, but these specialized investments have a place in most portfolios.
In fact, with U.S. stocks having zoomed more than 80% off their market lows, now could be the ideal time to add inverse exchange-traded funds to your portfolio.
But there's definitely a right way and a wrong way to use them.
So it's worth taking a closer look.


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1) The book was published by the Oak Spring Garden Library in Upperville, Virginia in 2009.
What does OSGL stand for?
OSGL stands for Oak Spring Garden Library (Missouri)
This definition appears frequently and is found in the following Acronym Finder categories:
- Organizations, NGOs, schools, universities, etc.
Other Resources:
We have 3 other meanings of OSGL in our Acronym Attic
- Abbreviation Database Surfer
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- One System Ground Control Station
- Oni Save Game Editor (gaming software)
- Open Source Geospatial Foundation
- Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Nigeria)
- Open Society Georgia Foundation
- Office of the Secretary to the Governor General (Canada)
- Open Services Gateway Initiative (now OSGi Alliance)
- Opportunity, Security and Growth Initiative
- OSGi Alliance (formerly Open Services Gateway Initiative)
- Österreichische Studiengesellschaft für Kybernetik (Austrian Society for Cybernetic Studies, Vienna)
- Office of Servicemen's Group Life Insurance
- Officer Staffing Goal Model
- Oratorio San Gerardo Maiella (Italian: Oratory of St. Gerard Majella)
- Ontario Smart Growth Network (Canada)
- Ordered Statistics Greater-Of (CFAR processor type)
- Office of the Surveyor General of the Federation (Nigeria)
- Ohio Supercomputer Graphics Project (Ohio State University)
- Open Smart Grid Protocol (European Telecommunications Standards Institute)
- Operations Support Group Processor
- Ozarks Stream Geomorphology Project (USGS)


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Boxer: If ObamaCare covers Viagra, why shouldn't it cover abortion?
posted at 5:34 pm on December 8, 2009 by Allahpundit
Because … no one has grave moral reservations about treating sexual dysfunction? Or is pregnancy itself a sexual "dysfunction" in this analogy?
The clip comes via The Hill. Even better than the Viagra comparison is her insinuation of a gender double standard perpetrated by dastardly male senators, never mind the fact that more women now call themselves pro-life than pro-choice. Or at least, that's what Gallup claims. And you know how those little babies at Gallup can be.
Breaking on Hot Air
LA Police charge gay You Tube star with filing false report of attack
Documents suggest Lois Lerner's hand over of tax information to DOJ violated the law
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'Special' moments
Special Olympics trains, empowers its athletes to succeed
POLK COUNTY — If there's one thing Shirley Wimer didn't like it was sports.
Mini race offers big time fun
MONMOUTH/INDEPENDENCE — The Monmouth-Independence Mini-Marathon has been a staple on the Fourth of July for more than four decades.
Getting the swing of it
It was my big moment.
43rd MONMOUTH-INDEPENDENCE FOURTH OF JULY TENNIS TOURNAMENT: Tennis tourney set for July 2-3
Registration due by noon on June 29
MONMOUTH/INDEPENDENCE — Patty Youngren has been a part of an annual tradition for more than three decades — the Monmouth-Independence Fourth of July tennis tournament. "I moved here in 1985. I played against Mary Christensen in my first competition," Youngren said. "She and Phil Schroeder, who ran the tournament at the time, crushed my partner and I. Mary has become a lifelong friend."
Channeling my inner Roger Federer ... sort of
As I stepped onto the tennis court, staring down my arch enemy, I paused and took a deep breath before I hit my first serve.
Feeling the burn
There's a belief that every competitive person has: that no matter what the situation, we'll always bet on ourselves to find a way to win. That we'll triumph against long odds, emerge victorious and proud.
Adult rec grows up
DALLAS — When the city of Dallas brought adult recreation programs back in 2013, the goal was simple — give people a way to stay active.
Priebe finds calling in Jiu Jitsu
DALLAS — Daniel Priebe was living the life — or so he thought.
COLUMN: Here's to an athletic 2016
Ah, the New Year is almost upon us. The time when anything seems possible. A time when an inspirational movie quote gets me pumped up to set ridiculously ambitious (for me) goals, because how hard could that really be? A time when the possibilities seem endless — until I remember my favorite cooking tool is a microwave and my athletic career peaked before the age of 18.
Becoming an athlete
Roller derby giving Dallas resident confidence in herself
SALEM — Throughout her life, Dallas resident Sarah Hausman has always watched sports from the sidelines.
DISC GOLF: New course ready for debut tourney
The Summer Fling tournament caps off a two-year project
INDEPENDENCE — Recently finished, the MINET Disc Golf Course in Independence's Riverview Park will have its big unveiling this weekend.
Dallas serves up friendly game of tennis
When the city of Dallas approached Jordan Sollman about running a tennis tournament, he didn't take long to answer.
Having some 'Krazy' fun
Summerfest Fun Run and Kids' Triathlon
Fun Run ready to rock Summerfest
Event aims to appeal both to new and experienced runners
DALLAS — No matter if you are a competitive runner or someone looking to start getting active, the Summerfest Fun Run offers something for you.
Tennis tournament a success
Eble, Youngren look to carry on tradition, broaden appeal
INDEPENDENCE — As the Monmouth-Independence Tennis Tournament hit full swing on Saturday and Sunday, Mike McDougall of Corvallis called it "(Monmouth and) Independence's little secret."
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Aren't You Reading ASHES TO ASHEVILLE Yet?by Buzz on 2/06/2016
Mi amigo John Shore is hard at work on a new novel, Ashes To Asheville, which, in the time honored tradition of Charles Dickens and Armistead Maupin, is being serialized in a newspaper, in this case the Asheville Citizen-Times.
I'll let John describe it:
"It's the story of Tammy, a 45-year-old mother of two grown children whose husband of 22 years … well, let's just say critically disappoints her.
"For 10 years she taught art and painting at a San Diego junior college. She thought her life was settled. And suddenly she discovers that it's anything but. This launches her into what is, to say the least, an unsettling time for her.
"In her anguish, Tammy flees her comfortable life in San Diego for the home of her beloved half-brother, Charlie, who lives in Asheville.
"And if you're going to be thrust into an intensely wrenching, soul-upheaving season of your life, in which so much of what you know, or thought you knew, about yourself is essentially up for grabs, then Asheville is certainly a spectacularly unique place to have that experience. It sure proves to be for her, anyway."
Check it out. As a former resident of Asheville (and with family members still living there), I can say he's capturing the flavor and spirit of the town in a really well crafted story.
Things I Do When I Should Be Workingby Buzz on 1/06/2016
art by Arthur Sarnoff
That's the title of my new Tumblr account, which I mentioned I'd be putting up back in this post.
Beast by John Byrne [tm] Marvel
This will be mostly stuff that I've posted on my Instagram and Twitter feeds, some here, a few (very few) on Facebook, and perhaps a few that haven't been posted anywhere yet.
The Instagram account will still be the source of most new picture posts of the kind shown here, with Facebook and Twitter getting linked from that.
But I set up the Tumblr account so it will be easier for people to share the stuff I do…and I do want you to share it. Something I do for money, some things I do for fun. The silly captions are fun.
What IS Star Trek?by Buzz on 31/05/2016
Of the several threads woven into the ancestry of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek, one — and I think the most important one — can be traced all the way back to John W. Campbell's Astounding Stories by way of Forbidden Planet and Dianetics.
There's a wide variety of opinion on how to look at Star Trek (and we will confine ourselves to just the original three seasons of the first series, Roddenberry's core idea in its purest distilled form).
Roddenberry himself referred to it semi-sarcastically as "Wagon Train in space". Others have called it a planet-of-the-week story. As with many science fiction and fantasy programs, it was at core a series of morality plays.
The common joke is that the basic Star Trek idea is they meet God, and –
- He's a child.
- Or an idiot.
- Or a machine.
- Or some combination thereof.
Much truth is said in jest, and I think the core of Star Trek, the philosophical heart and soul, as it were, is really a much more profound question:
"How then shall a god behave?"
Yes, I know Roddenberry was an atheist;
they frequently as the best questions.
Here are the episodes that I consider to be in the "How then shall a god behave?" theme:
"The Cage"
"The Menagerie"
"Where No Man Has Gone Before"
"The City On The Edge Of Forever"
"The Squire Of Gothos"
"Charlie X"
"Shore Leave"
"The Return Of The Archons"
"Errand Of Mercy"
"Who Mourns For Adonis?"
"The Changeling"
"The Apple"
"Plato's Stepchildren"
Quite a number, and several of them crucial to the series' impact / success / longevity. I hold that if you remove these episodes, particularly the first five on the list (which include the two pilots), you remove what makes Star Trek "Star Trek".[1]
The stories cited above involve characters who are either capable of altering the fabric of reality ("The City On The Edge Of Forever", as opposed to other time travel stories in the series, is about a moral choice that will drastically alter the future instead of merely creating a mild disruption), creating an illusion so universal that it might as well be altered reality (as opposed to fooling just one or two individuals), or overtly demanding to be worshipped as a god.
The difference between these episodes and those where characters possess superhuman abilities (including shapeshifting), are extremely powerful but in a conventional manner, or use illusion to attempt to gain what they want is that the latter still fall inside the range of recognizable human conflicts and behavior while the core stories involve to one degree or another human interaction with a being who, whatever their origin, is now several degrees of magnitude above and beyond humanity.[2]
The quintessential Star Trek story, it appears, is basically a 20th century retelling of the Book of Job. It is humanity staring God in the eye and asking, "What gives?"
Okay, so how did Star Trek arrive at that particular equation?
What led Roddenberry and his staff in that direction?
Roddenberry made no bones about drawing inspiration from the published science fiction of the era. Star Trek is certainly chockablock with pulp sci-fi gadgetry and concepts; it's not that far removed from Space Patrol or Rocky Jones.
And the episodes themselves certainly drew inspiration from older science fiction stories. "Arena" notoriously ripped off Frederick Brown's short story of the same title, and purely unintentionally: Line producer Gene L. Coon, needing a script in a hurry, dredged up the idea from his subconscious, having forgotten he'd read it in college. The moment Desilu's legal department realized the similarity, Coon contacted Brown and purchased the story rights from him.
And where was that story first published?
From the ur-source of 20th century science fiction:
The pages of Astounding Science Fiction and the editorial offices of John W. Campbell.
art by Hubert Rogers
John W. Campbell by Frank Kelly Freas
Before we get to Campbell,
we'll make two brief stops.
First is Forbidden Planet, one of the clearly acknowledged inspirations for Star Trek, and itself derived from Campbell's pool of creative talent.
Forbidden Planet was the last big budget film of the early 1950s sci-fi craze, arriving just too late to catch the crest of the wave. A B-movie from MGM, an A-list studio, Forbidden Planet stood head and shoulders above most science fiction films of the era.
While it's origins were decidedly B-movie, Forbidden Planet received two creative streams through screenwriter Cyril Hume.[3]
Hume melded in Shakespeare (by way of The Tempest) and popular sci-fi (by way of whatever was on the stands at the time). He found the sweet spot for the story, the perfect blend of corn and cosmic consciousness.
For those not familiar with Forbidden Planet, it involves a starship arriving at a remote planet where a
mad scientist has been playing with a now extinct advanced race's brain boosting machinery, giving him the god-like ability to create a super-sapient robot, a menagerie of living animals and, in the film's great unanswered question, possibly even his own daughter.
The studly young space captain falls for the daughter (of course) and arouses a Freudian fit of incestuous jealousy in the scientist that finds form in the infamous Monster Of The Id, which in the end can scarcely be constrained long enough to allow the daughter to escape with the captain and his crew before the entire planet blows up.
Is that or is that not as perfect a Star Trek episode as one could hope for?
Despite a mediocre performance at the box office,
Forbidden Planet remains a touch stone of literate science fiction.
Hume's dip into the depths of literary sci-fi doubtlessly occurred at Campbell and Astounding's end of the pool.
Campbell and Astounding had already provided the foundation for two of the 1950s earliest sci-fi successes:
The Day The Earth Stood Still, based on "Farewell To The Master" by Harry Bates (originally published in the October 1940 issue of Astounding Science Fiction) and The Thing From Another World, based on "Who Goes There?" by Don A. Stuart (originally published in the August 1938 issue).
"Don A. Stuart" is
the pen name of
John W. Campbell.
Campbell is arguably the single most influential person in the history of American science fiction. A writer of slam bang adventure in the early pulp era, once he ascended to the editor's desk of Astounding he demanded writers jettison early cardboard characters, formula writing, and dubious science to produce stories that were sound as both science and as fiction.
His high standards almost immediately propelled Astounding to the top of the pulp sci-fi heap; it remains in print to this day as Analog Science Fiction / Science Fact. If he didn't find the all great writers of the 1940s and 50s, he certainly championed and challenged them, leading to some of their best stories.[4]
But for all his strengths, Campbell also had one weakness, one type of story he was a sucker for.
As a young college student at Duke University, he was aware of the research of J. B. Rhine and his Parapsychology Laboratory.
Rhine was an enthusiastic believer in parapsychology, but he approached the field with a basic set of scientific controls. While Rhine's results were never duplicated by other researchers, he at least made an effort to weed out frauds and attempt to find genuine examples of parapsychology.
At Astounding, Campbell revived his interest in parapsychology in the form of "psionics", originally parapsychology through electronic means but eventually any form of the phenomena, including through human evolution.
Campbell was far from the only person interested in the field, but his influence and guidance led to the publication of the Lensman stories by E.E. "Doc" Smith[5] which in turn provided inspiration (i.e., was ripped off by) the 1950's revival of the Green Lantern, "Slan" and "The World Of Null-A" among others by A. E. van Vogt[6] which in turn provided inspiration for the X-Men and other Marvel mutants, James H. Schmitz' Telzey series about a teenage girl with psionic abilities[7], and a little thing by Frank Herbert called "Dune".
Unfortunately, Campbell also promoted a lot of other iffy ideas, proving yet again that the most hardened cynic is really a dashed idealist. Among other ideas he promoted as rooted in reality were the Dean drive, a reactionless drive that never worked as advertised, the Heironymus Machine, a psionic device so powerful one didn't need to actually build it but just possess the blueprints, and a new "science of the mind" called Dianetics.
Yes, that Dianetics, by author L. Ron Hubbard, one of Campbell's regular stable of writers and an eager promoter of his own ideas regarding the outer limits of human abilities and perception.
For all the hard science nuts & bolts stories that Campbell published, he also included a good stiff brace of more fanciful ideas.[8]
So the realm of science fiction, even in the 1940s, was already deeply into the question of superhuman ethics. Ayn Rand's best selling books (and "Atlas Shrugged" is borderline sci-fi) clearly advocated the right of the strong to tyrannize the weak, while a legion of more altruistic writers saw a possibility of human morality through psychology and not religion.
That was the heady cultural mix that Roddenberry drew from when he first pitched Star Trek in 1964. From that starting point he, as did Rod Serling with The Twilight Zone, used the genre of science fiction to examine certain assumptions about the human condition.
But while Serling clearly believed there was some underlying sense of karma dealing out justice in the universe, Roddenberry clearly believed humans had the right and ability to choose their own fate.
Star Trek certainly celebrated that yin, but it also recognized the yang of the equation, that without some sort of moral and ethical governance, the temptation for absolute power to corrupt absolutely is strong, the serpent, as it were, in a new garden of Eden.
God and Satan frequently get blamed for things they're not responsible for, with human beings quick to shift their own guilt to other shoulders.
And while Roddenberry and Star Trek celebrated a triumphant humanist culture, they still needed to deal with that dark part of the human soul, and rather than face it directly, used the metaphor of the insane god-child machine.
That's not a condemnation.
Sometimes it's hard to face the reality before us, and we find metaphors more acceptable, more comforting.
Star Trek's metaphor is that those who wish to be gods must also be eternally vigilant against the temptation to not be vigilant, to drop our guard, to let the worst of our natures rise to the surface.
It is not a warning but a caution.
And it's what gives Star Trek the depth and resonance that previous space opera lacked.
[1] And, yes, these aren't the only kind of stories Star Trek could do; there are a lot of really top notch episodes in a variety of sub-genres and themes which are good stories to this very day. Even the most lackluster 3rd season episodes had their brief moments of incandescent wonder. Nonetheless, those stories are not what gives the show its life.
[2] Episodes like "The Paradise Syndrome", "And The Children Shall Lead", and "Spectre Of The Gun" brush up close but don't cross the line into this particular theme.
[3] Allen Adler, a blacklisted writer, and Irving Block, who co-owned a special effects company that specialized in low budget films, came up with the idea of a planet of invisible monsters to appeal to low budget film makers. MGM was having none of that and promptly elevated the budget and scope of the film considerable.
[4] Of all the great names in the golden age of magazine science fiction, only Ray Bradbury traveled outside his orbit.
[5] He had a PhD in making donuts. Seriously.
[6] He also wrote "The Voyage Of The Space Beagle" which in turn led to the films Night Of The Blood Beast, It! The Terror From Outer Space, and Alien.
[7] Somebody is leaving money on the table by not reviving this series today.
[8] There's nothing wrong with such flights of fancy when they are clearly just flights of fancy ala They Might Be Giants core conceit. Campbell thought too many of them were bona fide and eventually enough of his writers and readers said, "Really, John…?" and he backed off a bit, though he still published stuff like Herbert's and Schmitz' work, among others.
The Words Of The Prophets…by Buzz on 28/05/2016 No Comments
"Vada a bordo, cazzo!"by Buzz on 25/05/2016
A few years ago PBS' Nova series aired a fascinating episode called "Why Ships Sink".
[Short answer:
Water gets inside.]
It was called "Why Ships Sink" because the more honest, less generic "Why Cruise Ships Sink So Often" would doubtlessly have had them facing a barrage of legal threats from the cruise industry.
Bottom line:
Cruise ships sink so often because the cruise industry staffs them with MBA graduates in hotel management, not real sailors.
One can understand the reasons for this. Real sailors tend to be a colorful but often unappealing lot, foul mouthed and somewhat brusque to landlubbers.
Unlike the various navies and merchant marines of the world, the cruise industry places a priority on making their passengers' experience as pleasant as possible.
They hire crews — and captains — based on their ability to interact well with paying customers, no salty dogs here! As a result the crew can mix a really mean martini, provide hours of entertainment in the lounge, guide you to the best tourist
traps bargains at the various ports of call, etc., etc., and of course, etc.
Navies and merchant marines hire sailors based on their ability to (a) keep the ship afloat and (b) fulfill the ship's mission.
And of the two, (b) comes in second to (a) because without (a) there will be no opportunity to do (b).
Ya with me so far?
On January 13, 2012, Captain Francesco Schettino of the Carnival cruise ship Costa Concordia deviated from his assigned course to give his passengers a better view of the lights on shore.
The Costa Concordia hit a submerged rock and lost power. It began listing and sinking. While the engine crew and a few other genuine sailors tried to keep the ship afloat long enough for the passengers to evacuate, while the entertainers and housekeeping staff tried to maintain order long enough for everyone to get safely aboard the lifeboats, Captain Schettino opted to hop off the ship and head for shore.
The Italian Coast Guard, speeding to the Costa Concordia's rescue, managed to make radio contact with Captain Schettino in one of the lifeboats.
When they learned he had left his crew and passengers behind while he headed to dry land, they remarked in a typically reserved Italian understatement:
"Vada a bordo, cazzo!"
Which in common everyday English can be translated as "Get the fuck back on board!" or "Get back on board, for fuck's sake!" or "Get on board, damn it!"
Being half Italian,
I lean towards the first
two translations.
We jest, but the wreck of the Costa Concordia resulted in 32 people dying that night plus one diver later when the ship was being salvaged. The 32 who died on January 13 were passengers who had paid handsomely to be entertained on what was advertised as a perfectly safe cruise, and crew members who despite their inexperience sacrificed their own lives to save passengers entrusted to them.
Unlike Captain Schettino.
Captain Schettino had no business being in charge of a ship carrying over three thousand passengers and a crew one/third as large.
Though a graduate of a naval institute, his previous seagoing experience had been as a crew member on a ferry. Hired by Carnival Cruises in 2002 to be a security officer, Schettino was promoted to executive officer and then captain by 2006. He was then placed in command of the Costa Concordia and sailed her until he ran her aground in 2012.
Compared to a typical naval or merchant marine captain, he had virtually no experience at all, and certainly was not entrusted with key decisions on the navigation and operation of the ship.
It was, as noted above, his decision to deviate from his ordained course in order to show off to passengers that led to the disaster.
Further, cruise ships are by intention the easiest to sail vessels on the open seas. They are floating hotels that quite deliberately steer away from danger; rough seas and stormy weather will cancel a cruise, but merchant ships with cargos to deliver and naval vessels with hostile waters to patrol aren't afford that luxury.
Those bad boys are trained to go out in
the worst of it and accomplish their mission,
quite literally come hell or high water.
Schettino acted more like a hotel manager than a ship captain, and a very poor hotel manager at that.
If a hotel suffers a fire or earthquake, then 90% of the job is getting people safely out of the building; once they're on the street they are pretty much safe.
A sinking ship is still a danger to those trying to evacuate it, and lifeboats under the best of conditions are not easy to operate, and wind and water and weather can prove life threatening hazards to shipwrecked passengers.
Yet Schettino's first instinct was to leave these people behind and see to it that his own skin was saved.
Schettino had no real training in commanding a large ship.
Schettino had no regard for carefully established protocol to guarantee the ship operated safely.
Schettino had no qualms about showing off to impress others.
Schettino had no idea what to do when disaster struck his ship.
Schettino had no sense of duty or responsibility to the four thousand plus passengers and crew entrusted to his care.
Schettino turned a good situation into a bad situation and then made the bad situation even worse.
Schettino lacked the ability, education, experience, integrity, intellect, and temperament to be a ship captain, especially for the Costa Concordia.
Schettino was
the wrong man in
the wrong place at
the wrong time in
the wrong job and for
the wrong reason.
Why am I writing about Captain Francesco Schettino?
Why do you think?
Clinton Agonistesby Buzz on 24/05/2016
Today's it's Hillary's turn in the bullseye.
Don't worry, Donald Trump in particular and the GOP in general will be topics of future posts, with the Democrats being mentioned either along with the GOP or in a separate post of their own.
For those not interested in things political,
here's an amusing gif of a dog taking a bath
with a rubber ducky on his head.
For the rest of you, we start after the jump.
Who's Leaving Christian Churches And Whyby Buzz on 23/05/2016
The number of Americans identifying as Christians on their census reports and attending churches has been dropping steadily over the last few decades. Here's my wholly unscientific / totally anecdotal look at what's been happening.
Those leaving Christian churches tend to fall into these four broad categories:
Those who were never really in it in the first place – We're talking about the cultural Christians here, the ones who went because it was socially expected of them by friends or family. In many cases these people never actually participated in any religious functions, they just checked off the "Christian" box whenever asked because once upon a time somebody in their family had gone to church. Others attended only sporadically (typically Easter and Christmas services) but shockingly a few were regular attendees and often even high ranking members of their local churches. Their faith and knowledge was as deep as a Dixie cup and the moment there was no longer a social penalty for not belonging, they walked away.
Those who were hurt by Christians – This includes all those who were raped, beaten, sexually / emotionally / spiritually / financially abused by clergy, lay members, and their own families driven by the dictates of their local congregation. It can be the direct hands on approach of a bestial father who takes "spare the rod" too literally and beats their children and spouse so badly that hospitalization is required, the sexual abuse of a predatory minister who preys on emotionally fragile congregants then gaslights them if they object, a person demonized by their denomination for being outside their comfort zone, or guilted into commitments by the threat of shunning or humiliation if they aren't compliant. This group often overlaps with…
Those who see only the bullshit – Despite claims to the contrary, most denominations and local churches do indeed say they have the answer to everything: Faith in Jesus, which really means sit down and shut up. When they do give Biblical answers it's typically a word salad of theological gobbledygook that can and does mean anything anybody wants it to mean to justify their position. This group tends to be people with a genuine longing for some sort of spiritual connectivity, only to find their spiritual nature is routinely brushed aside as they are told to replace their often unanswerable questions with empty words and phrases; as well as those with questions about their pastor's showy lifestyle or denomination's stand on social issues. In the end they decide that because their local church or denomination has no answer on some things that Christianity as a whole has no answer on anything, and they leave.
Those who see through the bullshit – This group includes many of the sincerest, most genuinely faithful followers of Christ. They know what is expected of them as true followers of Christ and they don't see their local church or denomination doing enough to help those on that journey, and so they leave, not out of bitterness, not even disappointment, but in the knowledge that whatever it is they are supposed to be doing, following the agenda of a local church or earthly denomination ain't it.
In light of the above, perhaps it's time to reframe the question re why the number of Christians is shrinking.
Maybe it isn't.
Maybe the real Christians have always been the same small number, not easy to pigeonhole but identifiable through their actions.
Maybe what has been identified as the body of believers is a misnomer, and that instead of obsessing over increasing the number of believers, the Christian church as a whole should concentrate on improving the Christ-like qualities of those who are truly disciples.
Better a single warm heart
than a hundred warm bodies.
The Words Of The Prophets…by Buzz on 22/05/2016 No Comments
Bill Clinton in 2016by Buzz on 18/05/2016
Normally I try to avoid direct political commentary on this blog, but this isn't going to be a normal election year and so I'm going to posting a few observations between now and November.
This one is an air clearer; it's something I think needs to be openly acknowledged before discussion can shift to a more current topic.
And we need, both as party partisans and American citizens as a whole, to acknowledge what went on here, and why it is important, and what we need to do to improve things in the future.
For those willing to face the ugly truth, proceed apace.
For the rest of you,
here's a cute gif of a
cat eating spaghetti.


text:
Wesley Chapel, FLUSA
Wesley Chapel
December 8, 2013
Cross communication
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text:
I've never seen a McDonald's or a Burger King under construction. They just show up.
Related posts:
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Good Guy Leo - Meme


text:
"Baltimore Or Less" by Jules Verdone
"Baltimore What" remix"
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Category Archives: Towson
Vlad the Dumptruck Impaler
Is God a Mentally Disturbed Haitian Immigrant with Drug Problems, a Paintbrush and a Twitter Account? Tuesday, May 13, 2014 – Calling himself "God," "Jesus Christ" and the reincarnation of King Tut, Vladimir Mehul Baptiste drove a stolen landscaping truck … Continue reading
Posted in Baltimore Babylon, Crime, Media, Neighborhoods, Roadside Attractions, Television, Towson, Uncategorized Tagged abc2news, multiverse, towson, vladimir baptiste, WMAR TV Leave a comment
The 1973 Badfinger Concert at Calvert Hall
Over 41 years ago, on February 3, 1973, British rock band Badfinger played a concert in the gymnasium of Calvert Hall College in Towson. It would be the last concert to be held at the high school for over 35 … Continue reading
Posted in 1970s, 70s Rock, Decades, Entertainment, Events, Music, Neighborhoods, Roadside Attractions, Towson, Uncategorized Tagged 1973, Badfinger, beatles, Calvert Hall College, towson 1 Comment
Todd Stachowski's fan letter to BIG NURSE
Big Nurse was a zine I used to pick up at Atomic Books back in the early '90s. It was published by Jean and Sue, two ultra-cool Asian girls living in my ultra-uncool suburban 'hood of Towson. Their zine was inspired … Continue reading
Posted in 1990s, Atomic Books, Baltimorons, Entertainment, Media, Towson, Uncategorized 2 Comments
Here Comes Towson, Maryland's White-Power Safety Patrol
Here Comes The White-Power Safety Patrol They Want To Clean Up Your Campus By Wes Enzinna (Vice.com, 5/29/2013) Matthew Heimbach insists he's not a racist. This comes as a surprise to his fellow students at Towson University, in the suburbs … Continue reading
Posted in 2010s, Baltimorons, Towson Leave a comment


text:
Small Stone Records www.smallstone.com
There is definitely something good in the water in Sweden as not only do they produce a stream of top notch melodic rock and 70′s influenced acts, they have been producing some top draw modern rock bands like Deville. Deville are onto this their third album and its safe to say if you enjoy the vocals of Dave Grohl and the riffs of Queens of the Stone Age you will adore this album.
Between them the two guitarists, Andreas Bengsston (who also sings) and Martin Hambitzer, produce wave after wave of fine riffs. Add in the restrained but heavy drumming from Markus Nilsson and pounding bass of Markus Akesson and you know the album is going to be one for repeated spins. The opening trio of 'Lava', 'Iron Fed' (a Sabbath song title if ever there was one!) and 'In Vain' are worth getting the CD for on their own merit. Great choruses, grooving backing and the in your face vocals of Andreas Bengsston. They stretch their wings a little on the instrumental 'Battles Will Be Won' and 'Blood Crown' could be hit as it has the most instant chorus on the album.
Live I would imagine Deville are simply stunning and they aren't too shabby on CD either…
Jason Ritchie
More information
Listen in to Get Ready to ROCK! Radio…
Click the appropriate icons at the top of the page.
Power Plays w/c 27 June 2016
MORRISSEY & MARSHALL Stand Down (indie)
JUPITER WAY Trouble Is Mine (indie)
ALICE SWEET ALICE Floodwaters (indie)
NEIL TAYLOR Your Very Own Rock Star (indie)
ROADHOUSE Blues Highway (Krossborder Records)
THE DAVID CROSS BAND Starfall (Noisy Records)
Featured Albums w/c 27 June 2016 (Mon-Fri)
09:00-12:00 FIRST SIGNAL One Step Over The Line (Frontiers)
12:00-13:00 ATTICA RAGE Warheads LTD (Off Yer Rocka)
14:00-16:00 ANNIE KEATING Trick Star (indie)


text:
|Publication number
|Publication type
|Application number
|Publication date
|Apr 19, 2005
|Filing date
|Dec 6, 2002
|Priority date
|Dec 6, 2002
|Fee status
|Also published as
|Publication number
|R. Evan Smith
|Original Assignee
|R. Evan Smith
|Export Citation
|BiBTeX, EndNote, RefMan
|Patent Citations (22), Referenced by (3), Classifications (4), Legal Events (2)
|External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, Espacenet
The present invention relates to a propulsion device for a swimmer, and particularly to a propulsion device designed to increase the propulsion efficiency of a swimmer.
In the design of a propulsion device for a swimmer, the applicant feels there are important criteria that need to be considered. For example, efficiency of the device is an important consideration. Specifically, as a swimmer kicks, it is important to provide useful thrust while minimizing drag forces that can cause undesirable resistance. In addition, a propulsion device should exploit the strengths of the swimmer's body and account for its weaknesses. Specifically, the device should account for the strenuous forces and moments that are applied to the swimmer's foot and ankle and also minimize the risk of overworking the hamstring and calf muscles of the swimmer's legs. Thus, it is desirable for the device to not overtax these vulnerable parts of the swimmer's body, while at the same time exploiting strong muscles like the quadriceps.
Thus, a principal objective of the present invention is to provide a swimmer with a propulsion apparatus that takes into account the differences in power available on up-strokes and down-strokes so as not to overtax any of the swimmer's muscle groups. Another objective is to provide a propulsion device designed such that forces and moments applied to the user's feet and ankles by the fin be relatively small to reduce physical strain on the swimmer.
The present invention provides a new and useful propulsion device designed to meet the foregoing criteria. The propulsion device comprises (a) a support structure configured for connection to a swimmer's foot, and (b) a rigid fin connected with the support structure by a flexible coupling in a manner that enables the fin to be stroked in alternating downstrokes and upstrokes by flexion of a swimmer's knees. The flexible coupling is configured to enable the fin to rotate in a first direction relative to the support structure during a downstroke, and the propulsion apparatus has a mechanical stop for limiting rotation of the fin in the first direction to physically set the angle of incidence on the fin, relative to the support structure, during a downstroke.
In its preferred form, the flexible coupling comprises an elastic suspension extending between the support structure and the fin, the elastic suspension being configured to (a) allow the fin to rotate in a second direction opposite to the first direction during an upstroke and (b) dynamically set the angle of attack during an upstroke. The elastic suspension has a flexible center positioned in relation to the chordal center of pressure of the fin such that during an upstroke the resultant fin angle in relation to the fixture is a dynamic response of the hydrodynamic forces on the fin against the elastic fin suspension.
Moreover, a propulsion device according to the preferred embodiment includes a fin with an aspect ratio greater than 6 for optimum efficiency.
Still further, a propulsion device according to the present invention is designed to be simple to make and use.
Further features of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
As described above, the present invention relates to a propulsion device designed to increase the propulsion efficiency of a swimmer. The principles of the present invention are described below in connection with one exemplary version of such a propulsion device. However, from the following description, the manner in which the principles of the present invention can be used to design various types of propulsion devices for swimmers will be apparent to those in the art.
Initially, it is believed useful to describe some factors that applicant considers important in the design of a propulsion device. For example, as described above, as a swimmer kicks, a propulsion device should provide useful thrust while minimizing drag forces that can cause undesirable resistance. In addition, the propulsion device should exploit the strengths of the swimmer's body and account for its weaknesses. Specifically, the device should account for the forces and moments that are applied to the swimmer's foot and ankle and also minimize the risk of overworking the hamstring and calf muscles of the swimmer's legs. Thus, it is desirable for the device to not overtax these vulnerable parts of the swimmer's body, while at the same time exploiting strong muscles like the quadriceps.
When a swimmer is essentially horizontal in the water, upward strokes are made using the hamstrings. The muscles producing the energy for the downward strokes, the quadriceps, are more powerful than those providing the upward strokes. Therefore, it is desirable to set the angles of attack of the fin so that full advantage is taken of the power of the downstroke and the upstroke is manageable by the less powerful muscles used for that stroke. It is also important to understand that effective use of swimming fins requires that the user's feet be held in alignment with the legs as much as possible. This alignment is easy on the downstrokes but requires use of the calf muscles on the upstrokes. This is a further reason for providing for up-stroke angles of attack which ease the forces needed and do not require full extension of the feet, while still providing useful propulsion.
In addition, it is important to take advantage of the efficiencies of a high aspect ratio fin, but also to control the fin's angle of attack to ensure that it stays efficient over a broad range of operation. For purposes of this disclosure, the angle of incidence is the angle between the base of the fixture (which is in contact with the soles of the user's feet) and the chordal plane of the fin, and the angle of attack is the angle between the chordal plane and the direction of the fluid flow toward the leading edge of the fin.
The center of pressure P on the fin (
In addition, the aspect ratio of the fin is in the range of 6.0 to 12.0. Such a high aspect ratio provides the propulsion device with optimum efficiency.
A preferred fin configuration has a span of 3.5 to 4 feet and a fin area of approximately 1.6 square feet. The fin is attached laterally to the fixture with the span of the fin perpendicular to the height of, and in the plane of the shoulders of, the user. The means for attaching the fin to the fixture is such that the angle of incidence during a down-stroke is physically set with the fin coming into contact with a mechanical stop to set the angle of incidence. The angle of incidence is such that the resulting angle of attack produces a high lift to drag ratio, providing maximum or near maximum thrust from the fin relative to the effort used to produce the thrust. The means for attaching the fin to the fixture is also such that during up-strokes the angle of incidence is hydro dynamically set against the fin's elastic suspension system, providing angles of attack, which produce useful thrust, while not over-taxing the muscles used for up-strokes.
As described above, the fin has a hydrofoil section on the leading edge that is effective on up-strokes and down-strokes, i.e. positive and negative angles of attack. Also, it may be cambered near the trailing edge so that it produces a hydrodynamic moment, which tends to rotate it against the angle of incidence limiting stop during the down-strokes and dynamically sets the angle of attack during up-strokes. The addition of this camber will tend to increase the fins effectiveness on both upstrokes and down-strokes. Another advantage to using a cambered fin is that a simple adjustment is attainable by remounting of a cambered fin design, reversing top for bottom. This adjustment can be used to lower the fin's effectiveness making it easier to kick, which may be desirable for swimmers who are smaller than what the fin was designed for.
In the disclosed embodiment, the means for attaching the fin is an elastic suspension system, which comprises two flexible straps spaced five to eight inches apart around the span-wise center of lift of the fin to provide lateral stability to the fin. The flexibility of the straps is such that it allows the fin to move to the mechanical stops, one aligned with each suspension strap, during down-strokes and helps to set the angles of incidence during up-strokes. These straps may incorporate a composite laminate within an elastic matrix for strength. An additional benefit to using a composite within the elastic suspension strap, is that the laminate may be biased toward one bending direction of the strap which allows the suspension to bend more easily in one direction than in the other, such that the elastic forces of the suspension system which balance the forces of the fin to set the fin's angle of incidence on up-strokes may be changed by reversing the top to bottom mounting of the suspension means. In this way the swimmer may select the suspension's orientation to adjust the fin for their particular style of swimming.
Another preferred feature of the fin's suspension is accomplished by the clips, one on either side of each flexible strap, at different lengths, so that the pivot point of the strap is varied with pivot direction rather than fixed in location. This feature may allow the flexible center of the fin's elastic suspension to be substantially forward of the chordal center of pressure of the fin for down-strokes allowing the fin to rotate with little restraint to the mechanical stop. Also, by allowing the flexible center of the fin's elastic suspension to move back near the center of pressure of the fin for up-strokes, the elastic forces of the suspension system may sufficiently balance the forces of the fin to set the fin's angle of incidence for up-strokes. Alternately, the same mechanical effect can be accomplished by bonding the flexible strap to the fixture, such that the fixture extends beyond the bond joint, so that in one direction the flexible strap bends from the bonding joint, and in the other direction it bends around the end of the fixture.
Also, in the preferred embodiment, the leading edge of the fin may be notched where it passes over the flexible straps. This will allow the pivot point of the fin, for rotations against the mechanical stop, to be closer to the center of pressure of the fin, thus minimizing mechanical backlash of the fin when the stroke changes in direction. Alternately, if the fin is not notched, it may be easier to manufacture the part as a straight extrusion, which may substantially reduce manufacturing costs. The losses incurred from not notching the wing are small as the backlash is still relatively insignificant.
Still further, in the preferred embodiment, the means for attaching the fin to a swimmer's feet would include plastic or rubber straps or pockets. Alternately, the straps could be made of other materials, including textiles.
In addition, in an alternate embodiment of the invention two fins and two fixtures can be used, one set on each foot. In that embodiment, the spans and aspect ratios of the fin will naturally be lower.
The mechanical stops, which limit the fin's rotation for down-strokes, may be made adjustable to accommodate different fins, and/or swimming styles, with one fixture.
Moreover, surface features that cause early transition from laminar to turbulent flow on the fin may be beneficial because they can delay flow separation at large angles of attack, given the low Reynolds numbers at which the fin operates. Flow separation seriously decreases the hydrodynamic efficiency of the fin and must be avoided to realize the benefits of the subject invention.
Accordingly, from the foregoing description, it will be understood by those in the art that a propulsion device according to the principles of the present invention provides an efficient propulsion device for a swimmer. The apparatus allows for the differences in power available for up-strokes and down-strokes. It will also be understood by those in the art that other embodiments and modifications of those described are possible within the scope of the invention, which is limited only by the attached claims.
|Cited Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|Oct 25, 1910
|Nov 7, 1911
|Emanuel George Halvorsen
|Swimming device.
|Oct 11, 1916
|Aug 21, 1917
|Conrad Schneider
|Mar 17, 1922
|Apr 24, 1923
|Claupin Wilhelm F
|Swimming device
|Sep 30, 1927
|Feb 19, 1929
|Charles Altman
|Swimming device
|Feb 23, 1927
|Jan 28, 1930
|Fletcher Snapp Le Roy
|Swimming appliance
|Feb 25, 1960
|Sep 25, 1962
|Antonio Cressi
|Swimming fins or flippers
|Apr 17, 1962
|Jan 15, 1963
|Ciccotelli Stephen S
|Flexible swimming aid
|Feb 10, 1961
|Mar 3, 1964
|Aerojet General Co
|Swimmer's propulsion device
|Feb 28, 1964
|Sep 7, 1965
|Aerojet General Co
|Leg connection
|Mar 26, 1965
|Feb 7, 1967
|Samuel Ciccotelli Stephen
|Aug 13, 1970
|May 30, 1972
|Picken James B
|Swim fin
|Sep 12, 1975
|May 31, 1977
|U. S. Divers Co.
|Angular foot fin
|Apr 14, 1980
|Aug 3, 1982
|Wayne Wilson
|Hydrofoil swim fin assemblies
|Oct 28, 1983
|Sep 17, 1985
|Wenzel Clarence E
|Swimming apparatus
|Aug 12, 1985
|May 12, 1987
|Schneider John D
|Tube Fisherman's foot fin
|Oct 27, 1987
|Aug 30, 1988
|Ciccotelli Stephen S
|Swim fin with hinged, spring-biased blade displaced from toe of foot pocket
|Mar 30, 1987
|Nov 1, 1988
|Caires Kenneth J
|Swimming apparatus
|Apr 4, 1994
|Jul 4, 1995
|Evans; Robert B.
|Monofin swimming apparatus and assembly method
|Nov 2, 1999
|Oct 3, 2000
|Htm Sport S.P.A.
|Swimming flipper
|Feb 23, 2001
|Sep 18, 2001
|Htm Sport S.P.A.
|Swimming flipper
|Oct 11, 2000
|May 28, 2002
|Chien-Rung Chen
|Fin with movable flap
|Title not available
|Citing Patent
|Filing date
|Publication date
|Aug 6, 2008
|Aug 2, 2011
|Deka Products Limited Partnership
|Swimming propulsion device
|Aug 21, 2012
|Paul Joseph Sweet
|Swim fin system
|Aug 6, 2008
|Feb 12, 2009
|Deka Products Limited Partnership
|Swimming Propulsion Device
|U.S. Classification
|International Classification
|Cooperative Classification
|European Classification
|Sep 18, 2008
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 4
|Apr 19, 2012
|Fee payment
Year of fee payment: 8


text: Word of the Day – Naif By Bradley James October 12, 2012 7:06 AM Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Tim Boyle, Getty Images Today's Word of the Day is: naif Dictionary.com defines naif as: a naive or inexperienced person. Are you naif at something? Category: Bob & Marianne in the Morning | Word of the Day Share on Facebook Share on Twitter More Leave a comment Send to a friend! Print this page Pin it! Reddit This! Share on Tumblr! Best of WOBM-AM Off-duty Howell Police Officer stops burglary in progress 'Street Smart NJ' campaign reaches Jersey Shore BREAKING: No gas tax for now, NJ senator says 4th of July Playlist: 13 Songs to Soundtrack Your Cookout Recommended For You ZergNet Best of the Web ZergNet