text:
Throughout my business travels I often encounter public figures
- in airplanes, in elevators, at conferences. What's the appropriate
etiquette for greeting celebrities?
Star Stuck,
A few years ago, during the filming of a smash British Invasion-inspired
comedy, I was dining in an exclusive Indian restaurant in London's
fabulous Mayfair. As I contemplated the handsome, well-appointed
dining companion seated across from me, the sound of voices wafting
over from another table suddenly interrupted my train of thought.
What broke my concentration was the subject of the other party's
conversation, which was the speaker's own renown. It was the star
of the film, talking about himself. Had he not drawn
such audible attention to his celebrity plight, my eyes and ears
might never have strayed from dear Nigel.
people are not People. They are Celebrities. Personalities. Public
Figures. Or as Lena Lamont put it in Singin' in the Rain,
"I ain't people. I'm...'a shimmering, glowing
star in the cinema firmament'."
can't so much as go to the corner drug store for rash ointments
or family planning supplies without someone recognizing them and
saying something silly. Although many stars are polite, well-meaning
creatures with decent manners, most of them have never even met
each other, and are highly unlikely to have heard of you.
the same time, many famous people are real people. They behave with
and respond to common courtesy: holding the door for those with
cumbersome packages; offering to get someone a drink at a party;
saying thank you when someone returns a dropped wallet. They're
civil to people they recognize, decent to their friends, and accessible
at networking functions, weddings, and church. They introduce themselves
to their classmates at breakfast in the Calhoun College dining hall
(though Jodie hasn't called me in years). They don't want
to be isolated from the world, yet they don't want to be smothered
by it either. After all, suffocation leaves unbecoming discoloration
around the eyes and mouth.
make a courteous yet nonthreatening impression, you've got to read
the signals, which differ from place to place and from star to star.
When my dog Dickie and I visit friends in the Hollywood Hills, we
drive right by the impressive quarters (!) of my number-one Hollywood
heartthrob. He drawls hello almost every time, so it's all I can
do not to invite him to sleep with me and take all my money. But
in my neighborhood, Beverly Hills, I could pass the same must-see
sitcom brother in the green Range Rover every day, and he would
face straight ahead without ever making eye contact. Alas, Dickie
and I forbear in the name of courtesy.
practice, you can get comfortable with the luminaries around you.
Remember, just be yourself - because if you're not, who will be?
tips on chatting up celebrities


text:
|From: Jon Rafkind (rafkind at cs.utah.edu)
Date: Fri Jul 10 15:37:31 EDT 2009
Shriram Krishnamurthi wrote: > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMYLJUKMPbA > > Yes, those are Android G1's. > > Programmed in Scheme, using the Moby Scheme compiler. > > Thanks to Kathi, Danny, Ethan, and Lyla. > > thats neat. so what's making the sounds? the phones? was it as "simple" as "detect motion, play note" ?
|Posted on the users mailing list.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Bobb Trimble Massachusetts
"[Harvest of Dreams is] rated by most as the best psych LP of the 1980s. One of those obscurities (like Fraction) that blows even non-psych fans away... the total impact is like walking around in one of Bobb's dreams. Melancholic, moving but also hopeful - an essential experience." - Patrick Lundborg, 'The Acid Archives: A Guide to Underground Sounds 1965-1982' ... more
Streaming and Download help


text:
Jimmy Blais
After two adversarial groups of teenagers clash at a bowling alley during its midnight disco party, one of the girls is violently raped. The next night, all the kids return for a revenge session but are surprised to encounter a homicidal stranger. Wearing a bowling bag on his head to disguise his identity, the killer begins picking off the teens one at a time, making sure each experiences a grisly death in this gory slasher flick.


text:
J.P. Arencibia's pinch-hit single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted the Toronto Blue Jays to a dramatic 5-4 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
Toronto was one out away from losing before Orioles closer Kevin Gregg (0-3) walked Kelly Johnson, allowed a single to Jose Molina, hit Adam Loewen with a pitch and then threw a wild pitch to tie the contest.
Arencibia followed with a solid single to left to drive home pinch runner Chris Woodward and break Baltimore's three-game winning streak.
Baltimore took a 4-3 lead in the eighth inning when Vladimir Guerrero laced a tiebreaking double off Jesse Litsch (6-3).
Jose Bautista belted his major-league leading 41st homer in the first inning for Toronto. Bautista's two-run shot was followed by Brett Lawrie's solo shot in the second.
Chris Davis had two RBIs on a run-scoring single in the first and a double in the third for Baltimore. Matt Angle added a run-scoring single in the second. Guerrero had three of Baltimore's 12 hits.
Toronto starter Henderson Alvarez allowed three runs in seven innings. Baltimore's Rick VandenHurk gave up three runs in 2 1/3 innings.


text:
Never mind the bulls and bears, it's the lemmings that continue to rule the market for many individual Australian investors – the mug punters taking themselves for a ride, buying high, selling low and then blaming "the market" for their mistakes.
And congratulations to Wayne, Joe and Tony for helping to talk down perceptions of the Australian economy and its outlook – a contributing factor in the lemmings' rush.
The juxtaposition of news articles yesterday told the story: more than half a million people have pulled out of the Australian share market over the past two years, presumably scared off by volatility and the steady diet of scary headlines about both local and global outlooks. Meanwhile, Australian share-funds averaged gains of 24 per cent over the past year. D'oh!
And then there's Westpac chief economist Bill Evans, interpreting the dive in the latest Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer sentiment survey as reflecting a negative reaction to the federal budget. If he's correct in that guess, both sides of politics deserve to take a bow for convincing gullible members of the community there's an inherent crisis in not rushing back to surplus much faster than we usually do, that Australia's low level of net federal government debt is some sort of fundamental problem and that the Australian economy is doomed. (As previously explained, the forecast deficits this year and next were the best bits of last week's budget.)
Australia does have a demographic challenge to deal with – a large one – and we will need genuine tax reform and a more realistic set of expectations than have been encouraged by both sides of politics and the media over the past decade. There is a broad restructuring of the economy underway that will see some people lose jobs, but more new jobs continue to be created than old jobs lost. As usual, there are big headlines when one shop closes, but no one notices when another opens.
We face a challenge but certainly not a crisis, with a structural budget deficit that is on the way to being fixed. Too bad that both the Labor and Liberal parties seem to have convinced the population that there is something intrinsically evil about government debt and running a relatively small and reducing deficit. In an attempt to outflank an opposition scare campaign over the deficit, Treasurer Wayne Swan contributed to the sentiment by painting a ridiculously speedy return to surplus as an extremely good thing – and thus left the impression that the economy would be in trouble if the deficit lingered.
Hockey and the rest of the coalition front-bench have of course amplified the scare campaign, mindlessly chanting a gross government debt figure that is simply misleading and seeking to create an air of crisis that only they might be able to heroically fix. It's cheap politics, but it has worked.
Never mind that the political opportunism and dumbing down of what once might have been economic debate has become a negative economic fundamental in its own right. None of us should have any delusion about which has the highest priority on both sides of politics: the good of the nation or grabbing the keys to the Lodge.
In such a climate the lemmings confirmed their role in providing a feed for the rest of the market, making even the over-paid index-hugging funds managers look OK, by running away at exactly the worst time. The ASX figures showed 38 per cent of the population owned shares at the end of 2012, the lowest level since the ASX started keeping records in 2000.
It's an observation by a Fidelity International investment director, Tom Stevenson, that we should buy shares as we do fruit and veg – more of what's cheap and less of what's expensive.
Instead, the human herd has a tendency to do the opposite – we like buying shares when they're expensive and shy away from the market when it's cheap. That's what the half-million mugs have done.
On second thoughts, I might need to retract the lemmings analogy as it's unfair to lemmings – many of us are sillier than that. (And never mind that it's a myth that they charge over Norwegian cliffs en masse.)
Michael Pascoe is a Business Day contributing editor.


text:
found a new home!
Plenty of my friends are looking
for one too. Find a pet to adopt.
I am already neutered, purebred, a special needs pet, up to date with shots, good with kids, and good with dogs.
Lincoln, a Daleville Tibetan Spaniel dog was adopted! Here's how you can benefit by looking at adoption as an option to buying a Tibetan Spaniel for sale in Daleville, or seeking a Tibetan Spaniel dog from a breeder in Daleville.


text:
DF (dear fiancee) owns a franchised janitorial company and its growing quite nicely.
I have been a state employee largely since I was 19, and I'm at a plateau. I would love to have my own business but I just don't quite know in what?
I have a horticulture degree and I've been doing accounting/office managering type stuff for the last 7+ years, so including basically running an interior plant business for 3 years so I think I could do well as an entrepreneur. I'm also great at spreadsheets, data management, reports & website maintenance.
So I'd love to hear inspirations, suggestions, etc if you have any? Or even bad experiences, maybe I need a reality check...?


text: The country is waiting to see if -- or when -- Georgia Governor Nathan Deal will sign the state's newly passed SB 1070 copycat bill into law. Our [reporter extraordinaire](http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/04/georgia_legislature_passes_sb_107...) Seth Freed Wessler appeared on Democracy this morning to lay out just what's at stake for immigrant families in that state and many others, where [fear and paranoia have already taken root](http://colorlines.com/archives/2010/05/the_farright_movement_behind_ariz...). Watch the clip that's above, and stay tuned for the latest on the fate of [SB 1070 copycat bills across the country.](http://colorlines.com/archives/2011/03/arizona_sb_1070_copycats_fall_fla...)


text: Ok I'm stuck on two spots I need to set, WR and DST, I need to start two WRs I have Calvin Johnson, Michael Crabtree, Vincent Jackson, Steve Johnson and Mike Williams. Obviously one spot is Calvin but I'm stuck on the other spot. Defense I see a few good ones on the the waiver wire and I've been pretty good playing the match-ups I have to decide on The Giants vs the Ravens; The Panthers vs the Raiders & The Chargers vs The Jets. It's not ppr


text:
'Madison High' Pilot: Disney Returning to 'High School Musical', Competing With 'Glee'?
With all the success that "Glee" has enjoyed, one could argue that it owes at least some of it to Disney's "High School Musical," which brought the singing and dancing high school theme to the young modern audience. It seems that Disney wants to recapture some of that magic with the new musical pilot "Madison High."
The show will star "Ugly Betty" regular Mark Indelicato and feature the same burst-into-song mentality that worked so well for "High School Musical" and continues to work for "Glee." "Madison High," however, will start off where "Glee" has only just begun to explore: the world of original music.
Preliminary synopses describe the plotline of the TV series as following a high school theater club intent on putting together a revolutionary new play by the end of the year. Expect plenty of drama on the side as well.
The show is also expected to feature cameos from a number of artists on the Disney label...Jonas cross-over, anyone?
The pilot has already been picked up by Disney, who has also announced a whopping 12 other original series for next season, including more live-action shows and some animated fare, plus a few TV movies as well.
High School Musical, Glee, Ugly Betty


text:
We are happy to announce a new feature to Lulu's Marketplace which will dramatically improve your ability to search, browse for and find content relevant to you.
The new Lulu 2008.4 release brought the usual amount of bug fixes, but the new feature released was a new search engine based on Solr. You don't have to know what Solr is or why it's important, but what you will notice is a new search box in the results displayed from your query that looks like this:
This new search box is contextual in nature, meaning that features are only displayed in response to your actions. This means you have a powerful arsenal of search options, but the screen isn't cluttered with check boxes and drop-down menus. To try it out for yourself, just search for anything on Lulu. You'll see the new search box at the top of your results.
In addition to the snazzy new interface, we made plenty of other changes that will help shoppers better find what they are looking for. Some of these improvements include:
- ability to search using accented characters (i.e.: à,è,ö,ñ)
- ability to filter results by user rating
- ability to filter results by publication date
- ability to filter results by language or country of the published work
- ability to search within a category (science fiction,
romance, etc.)
- incremental indexing – this means projects are available for searching minutes after being published
Have you had a chance to see the new Lulu Search in action? Let us know what you think by commenting on this post.


text:
LONDON – A British pilot who was suddenly blinded by a stroke during a solo flight was talked safely down by a military pilot, the Royal Air Force said Friday.
Jim O'Neill asked for help after he was went blind 40 minutes into a flight from Scotland to southeastern England last week. The BBC reported that O'Neill, flying a small Cessna aircraft, lost his sight 5,500 feet in the air.
Pilot blinded by stroke is guided safely to ground
Current Status: Blessed (1)
Seeded on Sat Nov 8, 2008 10:31 AM
keyboard shortcuts: V vote up article J next comment K previous comment


text:
Newsmaker: Sister Michele Bisbey
Sister Michele Bisbey
Noteworthy: Bisbey, professor of religious studies and Ketteler Endowed Chair of Theology at La Roche College, has been named to the Irish Voice Newspaper's Irish Education 100. The annual list recognizes leading figures in education of Irish descent. Thomas Schaefer, associate vice president for academic affairs at La Roche, nominated Bisbey.
Age: 63
Residence: Allison Park Family: Father, Jack Bisbey; stepmother, Joan; two brothers, Jack and Patrick; and two sisters, Denise Davis and Eileen Cushey.
Background: She started as an adjunct faculty member at La Roche in 1992. She became a full-time faculty member in 2001, when she was awarded an endowed chair.
Education: Bachelor's degree in English from La Roche, master's degree in English from Duquesne University, master's degree in theology from Fordham University and a doctorate in theology from Duquesne.
Quote: "It's an honor both to my family, particularly my parents who highly valued their religion and their education, and the sisters of Divine Providence, who have nurtured and supported me since I was a young person."
— Bill Zlatos


text:
WBKR St Jude Radiothon – Marty Brown Loves St Jude Children's Research Hospital
Marty Brown was in the WBKR studio this hour. Marty is doing his part for the kids at St Jude Children's Research Hospital. Marty sang his latest song, "Whatever Makes You Smile" — written for his wife — but so perfect for today's day of hope. Thanks Marty, we so appreciate you getting up and getting here so early. It was worth it.Look, you got your picture taken with Chad and Jac.
Become a Partner in Hope by just placing $20 a month on your credit or debit card. Call 1-800-201-8883 now. Thanks.


text:
Jeff Foster
Jeff Foster is the author of five books, including An Extraordinary Absence. He is the youngest teacher listed in Watkins Review's 2011 list of the world's 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People.
Foster studied astrophysics at Cambridge University. In his mid-twenties, after a long period of depression and illness, he embarked on an intensive spiritual quest for the ultimate truth of existence. But, he admits, his spiritual search came crashing down "with the clear recognition of the nondual nature of everything, and the discovery of the extraordinary in the ordinary," he says.
An emerging popular teacher in the nonduality movement, Foster belongs to no tradition or lineage, and makes his teaching accessible to all. He leads retreats and private sessions around the world, gently but directly pointing people back to the deep acceptance inherent in the present moment. He helps people discover who they really are, beyond all thoughts and judgments about themselves, even in the midst of the stress and struggle of daily life and intimate relationships.
"Sometimes people talk about a recognition that can happen when you read or listen to words that emanate from Clarity," Foster writes in his book, An Extraordinary Absence. "This resonance is completely beyond the thinking mind, beyond the intellect, beyond our understanding…In that resonance there is always the possibility of something else shining through."
Jeff Foster is also the author of The Wonder of Being, Life Without a Centre, Beyond Awakening, and The Revelation of Oneness.
What Others Are Saying About Jeff Foster
"Jeff is one of the freshest voices in modern non-duality writing, the embodiment of what non-duality really is."
—Scott Kiloby, author of Love's Quiet Revolution


text:
When we started Gnip last year Twitter was among the first group of companies that understood the data integration problems we were trying to solve for developers and companies. Because Gnip and Twitter were able to work together it has been possible to access and integrate data from Twitter by using the Gnip platform since last July using Gnip Notifications, and since last September using Gnip Data Activities.
All of this data access was the result of Gnip working with the Twitter XMPP "firehose" API to provide Twitter data access for users of both the Gnip Community and Standard edition product offerings. Recently Twitter announced a new Streaming API and began an alpha program to start making the new API available. Gnip has been testing the new Streaming API and now we are planning to move from the current XMPP API to the new Streaming API in the middle of June. This transition to the new Streaming API will mean some changes in the default behavior and ability to access Twitter data as described below
New Streaming API Transition Highlights
- Gnip will now be able to provide both Gnip Notifications and Gnip Data Activities to all users of the Gnip platform. We had stopped providing access to Data Activities to new customers last November when Twitter began working on the new API, but now all users of the Gnip platform can use either Notifications or Data Activities based on what is appropriate for their application use case.
- There are no changes to the Gnip API or service endpoints of Gnip Publishers and Filters due to this transition. This is changing the default Twitter API that we integrate to for data from Twitter (added about 2 hours after original post)
- The Twitter Streaming API is meant to accommodate a class of applications that require near-real-time access to Twitter public statuses and is provided with several tiers of streaming API methods. See the Twitter documentation for more information.
- The default Streaming API tiers that Gnip will be making available are the new "spritzer" and "follow" stream methods. These are the only tiers which are made available publicly without requiring an end user agreement directly with Twitter at this time.
- The "spritzer" stream method is not a "firehose" as the XMPP stream that Gnip previously used as our default. The average messages per second is still being worked out by Twitter, but at this time "spritzer" runs in the ballpark of 10-20 messages per second and can vary depending on lots of variables being managed by Twitter.
- The "follow" stream method returns public statuses from a specified set of users, by ID.
- For more on "spritzer", "follow", and other methods see the Twitter Streaming API Documentation.
What About Companies and Developers With Use Cases Are Not Met With the Twitter "Spritzer" and "Follow" Streaming API methods
Gnip and Twitter realize that many use cases exist for how companies want to use Twitter data and that new applications are being built everyday. Therefore we are exploring how companies that are authorized by Twitter for other Streaming API methods would be able to use the Gnip platform as their integration platform of choice.
Twitter has several additional Streaming API methods available to approved parties that require a signed agreement to access. To better understand which developers and companies using the Gnip platform could benefit from these other Streaming API options we would encourage Gnip platform users to take this short 12 question survey: Gnip: Twitter Data Publisher Survey (URL: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=dQEkfMN15NyzWpu9sUgzhw_3d_3d)
What About the Gnip Twitter-search Data Publisher?
The Gnip Twitter-search Data Publisher is not impacted by the transition to the new Twitter Streaming API since it is implemented using the new Gnip Polling Service and provides keyword-based data integration to the search.twitter APIs.
We will provide more information when we lock down the actual day for the transition shortly. Please take the survey and as always please contact us directly at firstname.lastname@example.com or send me a direct email at email@example.com


text:
Gabriel Aubry, the father of Halle Berry's daughter, is in danger of deportation back to Canada after his Thanksgiving Day arrest. As previously reported by The Inquisitr, Aubry and Berry's fiancé Oliver Martinez got into a brutal fight during the holiday.
A Radar Online source claims that Gabe Aubry is not only facing losing shared custody of his daughter Nahla, he is also facing possible deportation and criminal charges. The source had this to say about the ongoing drama surrounding movie star Halle Berry:
"Gabe is in the United States on a work visa and anytime someone is arrested on child abuse, domestic violence, assault or battery charges the Immigration and Naturalization Services is contacted by law enforcement. During the time Gabe was being held at the police station he was asked if he was a United States citizen, and he said no. This is what triggered INS being contacted. It's not a given that Gabe will be automatically deported, but it's a very real possibility. He doesn't need to be convicted in order to be deported, the arrest is enough to terminate his visa."
When Berry's former significant other was spotted around town in Los Angeles over the weekend, he was allegedly sporting a rather nasty-looking black eye. Martinez, 46, was supposedly photographed with bandages around his hand from injuries sustained in the fight at Berry's home.
The fight between Aubry and Martinez reportedly happened on Thursday morning at the star's home when the 4-year-old child was being dropped off to her mother. Several weeks ago a judge nixed the movie star's plans to move to France because such a relocation would essentially remove the little girl from her father's life. The 36-year-old Canadian model also dated Kim Kardashian briefly.
The Radar Online source also had this to say about Gabe Aubry:
"Not helping matters is the fact that Gabe does have a temper and feels that his buttons were being pushed when he dropped Nahla off. Gabe will fight any attempt to deport him back to Canada. He is hopeful that once the truth comes out he won't be charged with any crime and he won't have to deal with any threat of leaving the US."


text:
Fortescue's infrastructure arm, The Pilbara Infrastructure (TPI), told Western Australia's Economic Regulation Authority (ERA) that Brockman's plans to use 20 million tonnes of annual capacity on a 196 kilometre section of its railway line from late 2016 could prevent other groups from gaining access.
TPI did not name potential users, but they could include Fortescue, along with third parties like BC Iron and Atlas Iron seeking haulage and port services rather than just access to the rail tracks.
Fortescue only has 155 million tonnes of capacity on its railway line which should be filled by production from itself and BC Iron, but it has said the line could be upgraded to 180 million tonnes at a low cost. ERA is seeking public submissions by July 4.
ERA will then decide if there are still enough grounds to allow Brockman and TPI to negotiate over price.
The timeline for making that decision is unclear, but if it decides in Brockman's favour, ERA will then have up to 30 days to determine whether the "ceiling" cost proposed by TPI is reasonable in negotiations or if it should be set lower.
ERA had previously been set to determine the cost range by June 23, with public submissions on TPI's offered prices due to close on June 11.
Fortescue is hoping to sell a minority, non-operating stake in TPI by June 30 with the miner looking to raise more than $US3 billion to reduce its debt.
TPI set the floor at $73 million and the ceiling price for Brockman at $576 million annually, but the per tonne cost remains unclear. Credit Suisse analyst
He has warned Brockman's push for access could lead to years of legal battles about the interpretation of the relatively untested WA railway code.
Fortescue has been battling for nearly nine years for access to railway lines owned by
A precedent for the application
The only potential precedent for a decision on whether Brockman's application will prevent rail access for other users relates to an application Portman Mining made for access to WestNet's railway line in 2001. WestNet made the same claim TPI has now made.
Two months after public submissions were concluded, ERA decided that before it blocked negotiations between the parties under the railway code, it must be "very certain" it was not technically feasible to augment the capacity on the route or that on balance it was not in the public interest or stakeholders' interest to allow for access negotiations.
Portman eventually withdrew its access application after reaching a separate commercial deal with WestNet, but then Portman chairman
In a redacted version of the Brockman access application, the iron ore hopeful noted the railway code required TPI not unfairly discriminate between the operations of itself and other parties such as Fortescue and BC Iron. In the application, Brockman said it was in talks with above-rail haulage providers with other Australian experience, which are understood to include Aurizon and Asciano's Pacific National. However, sections relating to its ability to finance the requested spur lines and "take or pay" contracts to use Fortescue's railway line were redacted as being commercial in confidence.
Fortescue is expected to challenge Brockman's ability to pay for railway access given it has yet to finance its $5 billion project. Brockman last week signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese-state owned enterprise Tianjin Port Group that could help reduce concerns on that front, but the deal is not binding.
Separately, Fortescue on Tuesday appointed Brookfield Multiplex executive director of strategy
The Australian Financial Review


text:
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
In this paper, we give an overview of the research on fluxgate magnetometers carried out in Spain. In particular we focus in the development of the planar-type instruments. We summarize the fabrication processes and signal processing developments as well as their use in complex systems and space.
Fluxgates are directional magnetic sensors based on the non-linearity of the magnetization of soft-ferromagnetic materials. Today their sensitivity spans a wide range from 10−10 to 10−4 T. Fluxgate sensors were developed in the 30s and were rapidly used for a number of applications during the Second World War: airborne magnetic surveys, submarine and UneXploded Ordinance (UXO) detection. After the war new fluxgates were applied for geomagnetism prospection, navigation, and mapping of the Earth's magnetic field. At the start of the space age, fluxgates began to be used as payloads of satellites for the in-orbit measurement of the Earth magnetic field, for navigation and for the measurement of interplanetary magnetic fields [
In Spain, fluxgates have been used in different research projects like in geophysics [
The main efforts in the development of fluxgates in Spain are due to the Group of Magnetic Devices (GDM) from the Complutense (UCM) and the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM). Their work in fluxgates started in the mid 90s with the development of the first planar fluxgate [
Here we give an overview of the work on planar fluxgates in Spain, their signal processing and systems development with these magnetic sensors. Finally we describe their use in space applications at the Spanish National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA).
Reducing the size and weight of magnetic sensors is essential in military and aerospace technologies and in the microelectronics industry. Within this context, the future development of fluxgates is closely linked to the possibility of reducing their size and making them compatible with microelectronics technology. In Spain, the search for small and reliable fluxgates started in the mid 90s with the report by Vincueria
There are two main problems to overcome in the miniaturization of a fluxgate sensor: (1) the miniaturization of the coils and (2) the integration of the ferromagnetic core in the device. There are two basic approaches for the miniaturization of the coils. One possibility consists in using planar coils in several layers, with the magnetic core sandwiched between them. The other approach is based on the use of several fabrication steps to make spiral coils surrounding a ferromagnetic thin film that acts as a sensing core.
The first approach was used in the previously cited paper by Vincueria
In 2003, Almazán
As mentioned above, there are two approaches for the miniaturization of the coils needed for making a fluxgate. At the beginning of the 21th century, the research in fluxgate sensors at GDM moves slowly to the second approach: miniaturization of the coils surrounding the ferromagnetic core. In the late 90's, the group of Prof. Martin Gijs at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne proposed the use of Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Technology for the planarization and integration of fluxgate sensors [
The use of PCB technology offers an additional advantage to the efforts at GDM: the core could be directly electrodeposited in the PCB board, avoiding the use of glue to fix the magnetic amorphous core of the device. Researchers from Complutense University had been done extensive work in the electrodeposition of soft magnetic materials, in particular Co-P alloys, since the 80s.These Co-P electrodeposited alloys present a perpendicular anisotropy for thickness above 4μm [
In 2004, Perez
Recent work has been done on the dependence of the operation on the sensor as a function of the multilayered Co-P alloy used in the core. Although previous works suggested that a large gradient in composition in the perpendicular direction is needed to achieve good soft magnetic properties in CoP, Lucas
In order to illustrate the progress in the miniaturization of fluxgates by GDM during the last two decades, we compare two different fluxgates. These are the one by Vincueria
The first planar fluxgate by Vincueria had a sensitivity of 500 V/T (at 1 kHz and 8 mA driving current) and its area was 25 mm × 50 mm. It used some planar coils produced by lithography and sputtering techniques. The fluxgate by Perez
Another important difference between both fluxgates is the nature of the magnetic core. While Vincueria
The main efforts in the miniaturization of the fluxgates have been considered: (i) reduction of the size while maintaining enough sensitivity for common applications like those described in section 3 and avoiding problems with the windings; and (ii) improving the procedure for their industrial fabrication. Much more research must be performed to improve the noise of the sensor. This requires consideration of the magnetic material used in the magnetic core since electrodeposited cores usually exhibit higher noise than bulk cores. The research to improve this important parameter was recently begun focussing on the spacecraft applications discussed in section 3.2 [
Fluxgates are commonly used for measuring DC and low frequency AC magnetic fields. The development of the double in-phase demodulation technique by GDM allowed not only to detect low intensity magnetic fields but to analyze their spectrum by using fluxgates [
Typically, fluxgates work on second harmonic principle and close-loop configuration. A lock-in amplifier (phase sensitive detector and amplifier) is used to obtain the second harmonic of the signal induced in the pickup or measuring coil of the fluxgate. The amplitude of the second harmonic in the pickup coil is proportional to the magnetic field to be measured. In conventional fluxgates the output of the lock-in is carried to a low pass filter to avoid high frequency noise, and the output is used as a feedback. This feedback improves the linearity of the response and increases the measurement range.
The GDM double demodulation technique is based on the use of two lock-in amplifiers or phase sensitive detectors synchronized with the same clock and the use of some frequency dividers and phase shifters. In this technique, the low pass filter and the feedback are suppressed to avoid a reduction in the high frequency content of the signal. Due to this open-loop configuration, the output of the first lock-in is modulated by any AC magnetic field to be measured. A second lock-in amplifier is used to demodulate this signal. This procedure can estimate the spectrum of any system excited with a magnetic field synchronized with the clock, or just the spectrum of any external magnetic field.
Fluxgates with the double in-phase demodulation have been produced by the GDM for different applications like tracking airplanes, radio frequency identification systems (RFID),
In the early 90s there was a worldwide trend to improve safety on ground operations in airports. In 1992, the Spanish Government decided to make a substantial R&D effort to prevent runway incursions and facilitate automatic guidance of aircraft along the airport movement areas. The aim was to improve the control systems and the guidance in surface movement of the aircrafts apart from preventing the runway incursions of non-authorized vehicles [
The basic function of RFID systems is to send information from a mobile element without battery called tag to an antenna. The tag is fed by an external electromagnetic wave. The different available systems can be classified by the electromagnetic band used: (i) low frequency (LF: 125–134.5 kHz); (ii) High frequency (HF: 13.56 MHz); (iii) Ultra-high frequency (UHF∼900 MHz); and iv) Industrial, Scientific and Medical free band (ISM: 2.4 GHz). All of them show problems when metals are in the surrounding of the tag. It is due to screening or detuning effects coming from parasitic inductances produced by the metals and the eddy currents induced in these materials. All these problems can be avoided by reducing the work frequency. However, LF systems work through inductive couplings that become rapidly inefficient when reducing this parameter. A complete discussion of RFID in environments with metals can be found in [
GDM has developed a new RFID system [
The tag has a soft magnetic core with a winding around it. The AC magnetic field applied induces an electromotive force (e.m.f.) in the winding. The e.m.f. is used to feed a microcontroller. This one can short-circuit and open the winding. When the winding is short-circuited a current flows through it avoiding the magnetization of the magnetic core. The change of the magnetization when opening and short-circuiting the winding allows the microcontroller to send information.
The reader is a fluxgate in which the double demodulation is implemented. The planar fluxgate developed by Perez
The fluxgate is excited at a frequency
RFID systems can be found in lots of different applications like control access, identification, tracking, automatic payment,
During the Cold War, many American and Soviet satellites carried on-board fluxgate magnetometers starting with the servo-oriented fluxgate of the Sputnik 3. Many of these fluxgates, together with other magnetic sensors (search coils and scalar sensors), were widely used to map the Earth's, the interplanetary and other planets magnetic fields.
In Spain the National Institute for Aerospace Technology (INTA) was founded in 1942. The objective was to promote the aerospace research and the space science, and to support other industrial areas. However, Spain lacked a global space strategy until the 60s, when the national commission of space research (COIE) is founded to start an aeronautic activity [
Engineering projects like the first satellite INTASAT (launched in 1974), the INTA 255 rocket and the subsequent MINISAT-01 one (launched in 1997) did not carry magnetometers on board. However, in parallel with these developments, in the late 90s INTA started a program of nanosatellites. These platforms were conceived as micro and nano-technologic experiments test-beds. Consistent with this objective, the magnetometers used in the two NANOSAT spacecrafts launched in 2004 and 2009 respectively, were both based on micro and nanoscience technology. On board NANOSAT-01 there were two magnetic sensors: the ACS magnetic sensor based on four one-axis Anisotropic MagnetoResistance (AMR) Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) sensors and an experimental sensor based on the Faraday Effect of a nanocomposed material. NANOSAT-1B carried another AMR COTS sensor and a MagnetoImpedance (MI) COTS sensor.
This strategy has been passed on to the development picosatellite OPTOS (to be launched in 2010), which will carry a three-axes AMR COTS sensor and a Giant MagnetoResistance (GMR) sensor. Here, the traditional bulky fluxgate sensors are clearly apart from the strategy of the nano and picosatellite missions [
Miniaturized compact fluxgates with masses, lower than 100 g, prices in the order of 5,000 € (taking into account the tests for extreme conditions), and even wider dynamic range, but with poorer accuracies (on the order of nT) and noise in the order of 1 nT√Hz @ 1 Hz, are good candidates for technologic experimentation platforms. This is a driving reason for INTA, which in the last four years has made an effort to develop planar ring-core fluxgates integrated in a Printed Circuit Board (PCB).
The magnetic head of actual prototypes under study are 1 cm2 surface sensors with 1.5 mm thickness. They are based in planar sensors developed in GDM [
As it can be seen in
Recently some Spanish groups have been involved in developing the magnetometers for the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA) Pathfinder mission. This mission is a precursor of a future LISA mission, which intends to demonstrate the technological capability to detect and observe gravitational waves from astronomical sources such as massive black holes and galactic binaries. One of the technological problems of this mission is to discern between magnetic and gravitational waves, and thus a very clean magnetic environment needs to be achieved (DC magnetic fields lower than 10 μT and fluctuations lower than 650 nT/√Hz, and magnetic field gradients lower than 5 μT/m with fluctuations lower than 25 nT/m/√Hz). Though the present magnetic sensing solution is still under consideration, of the current candidate magnetometers for LISA Pathfinder consist of four fluxgates magnetometers in the outer walls of a cavity to measure the magnetic field and gradient inside the cavity. In this mission the magnetometers will be space qualified magnetometers developed by Billingsey with a dynamic range of ± 100 μT and low noise up to 7 pT/√Hz @ 1 Hz, 200 g weight and 560 mW power consumption.
The research on fluxgate magnetometers started relatively late in Spain. Few groups have devoted their research to the improvement of these sensors. However, the study of planar fluxgates, one of the most trendy research lines in their miniaturization, began here.
The research carried out in the Group of Magnetic Devices (GDM) from the Complutense (UCM) and the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) has allowed the development and fabrication of different fluxgates including planar-type in Spain. GDM also developed a signal processing technique to analyze the magnetic spectrum based on the use of fluxgates. Planar fluxgates with the double demodulation technique from GDM have demonstrated to be powerful instruments to be used in complex systems implying low frequency modulated magnetic fields. These devices will probably be applied to other security, recognition, non-destructive testing, and communication systems in a short and medium term.
To finish, in the National Institute of Aerospace Technology (INTA) strategy of miniaturized payloads for space applications, some effort has been made to achieve a compact fluxgate microsensor fully based on PCB technology for a future nano or picosatellite.
We would like to acknowledge B. Hernando for critical reading of the manuscript and S. Martín Barbero of INTA for her support with the technology watch. This work has been partially supported by PJE09001 Meiga-MetNet of the Spanish National Program for Space and MAT2007-65965-C02-02 of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. D. Ciudad also acknowledges financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation through postdoctoral grant ref. 2008-0352.
"Spanish Magnetic Map".
Scheme of the planar PCB-based fluxgate of INTA.
Comparison between two different fluxgates by GMD.
|25 mm × 50 mm
|20 mm × 20 mm
|Commercial amorphous ribbon
|Electrodeposited soft magnetic multilayer
|UV-lithography, sputtering
|UV-lithography, eletrodeposition, PCB


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The film is about a girl and her mates driving across America on their way to a singing competition in LA, and we need one of you to review the movie.
If you win, you'll get to go to the premiere in London, and mingle with all the stars. Then you need to do a review for the Newsround TV programme, and one for the website too!
You've got to be free to come to London on 25 March, and don't worry, we'll pay for your travel, and accommodation if you have to stay over.
And you've got to answer this simple question:
What's the name of the character Britney plays in her movie?
You can apply in two ways:
1) You can either phone us with your answer on: 09001 114458.
Calls cost 30 pence maximum and the lines close on Wednesday at 9pm. Please get permission from whoever pays the bill.
2) Or fill out the form below and don't forget to include your answer!
We'll pick a winner and announce their name here at the end of the week.
Good luck!


text:
"Brief History of the Seagoing Marines," a two-page handout prepared by the Reference Section, History and Museums Division, Headquarters, Marine Corps, 19 May 1982.
"Brief History of the Seagoing Marines," a two-page handout prepared by the Reference Section, History and Museums Division, Headquarters, Marine Corps, 19 May 1982.
Brief History of the Seagoing Marines
Nearly everyone is acquainted with the Marine Corps and its air, land and amphibious operations. Less well-known are its seagoing activities. Although the very word "Marine" pertains to the sea, it is not so closely related today. U.S. Marines have always been seagoing. Their service aboard ships of the fleet spans the days of sharpshooting from a frigate's rigging to the present day service of manning a 5-inch gun on an aircraft carrier.
Marines, equipped with a musket and a cutlass, first served under Commodore Esek Hopkins aboard the USS Cabot in December, 1775.
In 1803, action against the Barbary pirates took the Marines to the northern coast of Africa and the "shores of Tripoli."
During the period from 1815 to 1825, a wave of piracy swept the Caribbean area, resulting in the capture of many American ships and the murder of their crewmen. U.S. forces, including 200 Marines on board the Macedonian and other ships, helped end these outrages by capturing pirate ships and their shore strongholds. Punitive action also was required against Sumatrans, following the 1831 sacking of an American trading ship in the harbor of Quallah Battoo and the murder of part of its crew. An expedition, including Marines from the frigate Potomac, seized several Sumatran forts.
In 1835, the Seminole Indians attacked Army troops who had been sent to Florida to move them to the western reservations. Marines from the Navy's West India Squadron were among the first reinforcements sent to the area. They later participated in operations of the "Mosquito Fleet" composed of canoes, barges and other small vessels which were used until 1842 to patrol the swamps and everglades.
The year 1842 also saw ship detachments of Leathernecks become engaged in the suppression of slave trading which had sprung up along the western coast of Africa.
When sails gave way to steam, the United States needed advance bases for the purpose of supplying fuel for her ships as well as supplies for her crews. The added speed gained in steamship travel also stimulated interest in the increase of foreign commerce. When Admiral Matthew C. Perry visited Japan in 1854, Marines participated in the impressive ceremony and pageantry of the occasion, which helped to promote trade agreements between the two countries.
During the Civil War, both the Union and the Confederacy had a Marine Corps. These Marines, both north and south, were used in the same manner aboard ship and on land.
In 1871, after a number of American seamen had been massacred in Korea, a U.S. naval squadron was sent to that country to negotiate for the protection of American seamen and, if possible, to open up Korea to America trade. When ships of the squadron were fired upon by Koreans, a landing force was sent up the Sallee River to attack the forts. Of the squadron's 105 Marines who formed the shock troops for the expedition, six were awarded Medals of Honor for their heroism.
Illegal destruction of seals in the Bering Sea had reached wholesale proportions by 1892 following the purchase of Alaska from Russia. The poachers, principally British, were threatening the complete extinction of the valuable animals. A settlement was finally reached between Great Britain and the United States by which naval officers of each nation were authorized to arrest and detain poachers. The steamer Al-Ki, with three Marine officers and 40 Marines aboard, was sent to the troubled area, and the ruthless slaughter was soon ended.


text:
10036365, Stripe
Please help our community — upload your photos of 10036365.
This is a stripe for Pontiac cars. This stripe fits 6 General Motors car models which have been manufactured for US market. This part is genuine General Motors part with GM OEM part number 10036365.
This stripe has manufacturer's warranty and 100% fits for General Motors cars. Stripe is made of top quality materials, it passed not only all manufacturer's tests but also General Motors quality control and, has to endure rough road conditions over a long time.
In spite of higher price of genuine parts buying GM genuine stripe will be a smart decision, because you will be absolutely sure that GM genuine stripe will serve you longer and will provide maximum safety and performance.
Front fender-left hand (dark reduction metal-79a)
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Would you like to save as your currency permanently or for this visit only?
We are group of pilgrims.Room and bathroom very nice and clin.Dinner and breakfast exelent.Staff very caindl.
The ratio price/quality is excellent; the hotel is good organised, the rooms are in good cleaning shape. We will come again
Great location, helpful and friendly staff with very good restaurant nearby.
In my case it is close to the job, but far from the town. Too much noise on the corridor, specially the staff.
The quality of the hotel 1 noise made by the street to close 2 the swimming pool closed at 6.30 pm even for the customers of the hotel
Receptionist friendly and very helpful and spoke English well. Swimming pool was great the kids enjoyed it immensely. Cleaning crew forgot to leave shampoo and soap once so we had to ask for more at front desk and they quickly provided some for us.
excellent room. easy to find. friendly staff, even though i dont speak Italian.suprised by swimming pool complex!! couldnt work out air conditioning. the buffet breakfast was empty.
The room was clean and quiet and the breakfast was fine and convenient for our family of young children. This hotel's selling point is the pool, however, the first day we were there they closed it which really was frustrating as we choose this hotel because of the pool. Also, the room was a bit small for the price.
The air conditioning had been switched on in advance of our arrival - heaven! The staff were also extremely helpful and polite.
Service was very good. The restaurant staff was very attentive. The door knob came off in our hands. Rm 123
The hotel staff are wonderful: polite, helpful, professional and anticipate your needs! The hotel is well maintained and the rooms and restaurant are extremely comfortable, modern and clean. I cannot fault this hotel; I recommend it unreservedly!
The modern decor crafted into an old building, the enjoyable restaurant (menu and service). We visited the Museo della Cavalleria and the hotel staff were helpful in giving directions. Private parking
Staff are friendly, restaurant is lovely, clean and comfortable rooms - we ended up booking another night... We were offered to be brought complimentary coffee's as we had missed breakfast and ended up being charged for the coffee's plus a room service fee!!!
First of all the booking was not registrated at the hotel so they were not expecting us and did not seem to appreciate another guest (even though it was plenty of rooms.) Other bookings for the same trip went well so I am not sure whether it was the booking system failing or the hotel handling the booking.
The superb quality and value of the accommodation, and the outstanding breakfast. Nothing.
A very modern hotel with excellent facilities the room was hugh and water and fruit was free. The breakfast was very good with lots of choice. Alittle out of the way but we only used it as a stop over on our way to rimmini.
modern design with quality amenities, excellent continental breakfast, pleasing gardens and relaxed atmosphere. no
A beautiful hotel in an amazing part of Italy. Immaculate rooms, excellent service and facilities, plus a great chance to be away from the chaos and overpriced places that mar the coastline. We enjoyed a relaxing expericence and a chance to explore the Italian countryside.
nice rooms
Very pleasant area, wonderful meal, staff very friendly and helpful. Fabulous room. Only complaint was regarding the hardness of the mattress. Need to make them softer.
Nice harmony between modern art and comfort with an elgant, pleasent service
Comfortable rooms, stylish hotel, garden. Nothing really, though Barge seems a strange place to find such an arty hotel. It's not a very convenient location for Turin, though we had reasons to be in the area. Menu a little limited - you wouldn't want to dine there more than once, though the food is good.
The loft room was beautiful and spacious, for a family of 4. The girl on reception was very friendly and kind. The hotel itself was very clean, modern yet cosy, romantic with the candles in fact. Beautiful. The bar and restaurant seemed to be understaffed. We wouldn't choose to eat at the hotel again.
The hotel itself was fantastic and interesting. Very modern and the service was brilliant. Barge itself isn't so great, but the mountains and Saluzzo are not far away by car.
nice hotel very clean hard to find


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text:
Chris 84>>
shared a blustery boat ride to Chiles Juan Fernández Islands on a filming expedition with
fur seal 42>>
John Francis 60>>
They said, No, Chris, thats not our boat. Its that little one next to it, which was this sort of pink and green wooden thing that
was rocking and rolling, even in the harbor.
Our equipment was floating. Everything
all our cameras, all our filmwas underwater.
I was going to make pumpkin pies, cranberry sauce, canned turkey, and
all kinds of little goodies for our Thanksgiving dinner.
We finally got to camp about sunset. By then we didnt even know which case the turkey dinner was in. We had
an old cloth bag of tortillas and a jar of peanut butter,
which we gratefully sat down and consumed.
Read the full story.
© 1999 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.
Chris on the Cruise From Hell
Photograph 84 from
National Geographic Television
Photographs 42 and 60 by
Chris Weber


text:
Today, I tried to get my boyfriend to roll over while he was asleep. He snores loud enough to wake the neighbors and if he lays on his side he usually stops. Instead of rolling over, he stuck his leg in the air, farted twice, and laughed about it in his sleep. He's still snoring. FML
By no sleep for me / Tuesday 8 January 2013 07:44 /


text:
Rick Krompelwrote a review of Arc'teryx Rampart Pant - Men's on November 27, 2012
BEWARE BUYER These pants are junk
I bought 3 pairs of these pants in July of 2012. After only wearing the one pair half a dozen times it is starting to develop holes in the outside of the pockets, the material in these pants are so thin. I called Arcteryx their reply you can send them in for valuation and it will be 8 weeks. 8 weeks to look at a defective pair of pants is past a joke. And then he states that he really doesn't think that it would be a warranty issue and would have to let me know what the charges would be to fix them. The pants are a rip off at any price but when you are paying a 100 dollars a pair you expect some decent quality. I read a complaint on how noisy they are and that statement is very true, that part does not really bother as much as the quality of their product. When buying these I thought they would of been made in the US but no they are just made in China like most inexpensive clothing. The only thing with these pants are they cheap in quality and you pay a premium for this junk. And their customer service has even less quality than the pants. BUYER BEWARE


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Best Of :: Sports & Recreation
The Valley's nine canals serve as an oasis to pedestrians and bicyclists who are thrilled to escape the inevitable close calls with Danica Patrick speed demon wanna-bes. We're partial to the part of the Arizona Canal in Scottsdale, near the art galleries and cool little restaurants near Goldwater Boulevard and Fifth Avenue. The Arizona Canal runs 38 miles from Granite Reef Dam to the east and 75th Avenue to the west. But this flat stretch of unpaved but hard-packed dirt is perfect for a relaxing walk or a hard bike ride alongside the flowing waters. Even if it's a hot one out there, there's something about being next to the canal that cools the spirit (if not the body). After the workout, the step back into reality is eased by the coffeehouses and myriad other neat places within walking distance in Old Scottsdale.
The Valley's a real valley, in case you never noticed, and it's surrounded by numerous, picturesque desert mountains. Most are contained within governmental recreation areas, making them easy to park near and hike up. But not Red Mountain, located on the eastern side of the Salt River Pima- Maricopa Indian Community. The eye-pleasing reddish hue and steep, weather-worn cliffs make Red Mountain (a.k.a. Mount McDowell, FireRock, and Gunsight Butte) one of the area's most beautiful crags. At 2,830 feet in elevation, it stands higher than either Camelback Mountain or Piestewa Peak. Since the early 1980s, though, the mountain has been off-limits for hikers, climbers, and photographers who want something more than a shot from the Beeline Highway. Tribal officials tell us that local law prohibits even Salt River residents from walking the summit trail, thanks to punks who descrecated some of the mountain's centuries-old petrogylphs. No permits for hiking are issued, and those caught sneaking in for an illicit adventure should expect to be prosecuted if caught. Like it or not, some things are sacred.
Hiking to the top of Brown's Peak, the tallest summit of Four Peaks, can be a challenge for people in the best conditions. Brown's Trail, the typical summit route, is about four miles round-trip and steep in places. Hands-on scrambling is required near the top of the gully close to the summit. After a wet year, like this one, the upper flanks of Four Peaks can be covered with ice and snow. And that changes things for hikers — for the better, if you like adventure. When we hiked Four Peaks with a friend in mid-April, the gully was a long, glacier-like ice chute. The only group of hikers we saw summiting that day, besides us, had used harnesses and a climbing rope to belay each other up. Somewhat unintelligently, we forged our way up the chute using sticks like half-assed ice axes. Wearing crampons, those spikes you can attach to your shoes, would have been preferable for the hike. While crossing the chute seemed to invite a potential death fall, the sketchiest moment of the hike came when hikers above us kicked down a head-size boulder. The boulder rolled down the snowfield straight for us and banged into the stick we were holding. We descended a different way, spidering over the snowless summit blocks, ending up in thigh-high snow before finding the main trail. In other words, this spring outing felt like a day in the Himalayas. We're going back the next time it snows — and we'll be taking better gear.
At 7 p.m., the gate closes off the park road leading into Pima Canyon, near the northeast tip of Phoenix's extraordinary South Mountain Park/Preserve. Cars can't get back in there — but you can. A ranger told us recently that night hikers or bikers are good to go, even after hours. (He added that if police catch you out there past 11 p.m., they may tell you to get out but won't ticket you). We can't tell you where to park for a night adventure in South Mountain — the Pointe neighborhood surrounding the park entrance is private property. However, once there, it's a beautiful, peaceful walk by moonlight — or starlight — that anyone can do. Unlike a desert single-track trail, this hike is easy at night because it begins on a mile-long asphalt road (usually filled with parked cars in the daytime) and continues with another mile or so of pleasant dirt road winding through low hills. At night, we typically stop at the benches near the National Trail trailhead before turning around. True, the place can be spooky after the sun goes down — akin to a stroll down a long, dark alley. It's probably best to take a friend or two. But if you're the type who scoffs at such risk, hiking Pima Canyon at night offers a tantalizing trade of perfect safety for an hour or two of wilderness-inspired bliss. Did we mention it's cooler at night?
We've hiked the Grand Canyon to the Colorado River and back up in a day many times, and only once did the climb out nearly do us in. On that fateful trip, somewhere between Indian Gardens and the three-mile rest stop on the Bright Angel trail, as our quads seemed ready to pull off the bone, we vowed never again to forgo our traditional Grand Canyon training hike. Our friend came up with this one: You hike to the top of Piestewa Peak via the main summit trail, but instead of going all the way back down, you set off on the four-mile Circumference Trail. That will plug you back to the lower slopes of Piestewa and the main summit trail — which you then climb to the top. Although our buddy claims the second time up is easier, because you're warmed up, we've never found that to be the case — it always seems much tougher. But adding this hike to your training regimen will allow you to enjoy the Grand Canyon ambiance instead of worrying whether you'll need a mule to drag you out.
This may be our all-time favorite hike in the Valley. If you want to see the Sonoran Desert in its entire splendor, head to Usery and rock the Pass Mountain Loop hike. Just make sure it's between February and May when our unique vegetation actually looks fertile (for once). Yes, the saguaros will be tipped with white blossoms; the ocotillo will be covered in lush leaves and orange blooms; and the barrel cacti will glow with their hot pink, orange, and yellow flowers. And don't forget the Brittle Bush, and, ahem, Blue Dick that sprout from the dirt. We say, with such a rare opportunity to see some life in our desert, make the most of it with this eight-mile loop. You'll certainly get an eyeful as you wrap around the mountain's base, slowly climbing to make a steep descent on the other side.


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"Black Screen" Problem with GraphicsBlitzMax Forums/BlitzMax Beginners Area/"Black Screen" Problem with Graphics
| Hi,
I am new to blitzmax. Looking at the examples I am experiencing a problem when setting the display mode, that I also had with DarkBasic before.
using for example:
Graphics 1024,768,32
the screen(s) will just go black and i have no option left except hitting the reset button on my computer. No ALT+F4, No Windows Key, No Alt+Tab can bring me back.
The Resolution and Depth is Supported by my graphics card and my primary and secondary screen. even tho the secondary screen should not matter anyways.
The Graphics Card is an ATI Radeon 4800 Series (i dont have the actual model # at hand)
In DB, the resolution to the problem i believe was to switch a setting from "fullscreen" to "Full desktop" through the IDE. After that i could change the resolution in code without the bug happening.
The Operation System is Windows 7 64 Bit Pro, even to (at least in DB) the problem also occoured under Windows Vista 64 Home Premium.
It is also noteworthy that i am an avid video game player and thus run alot of directx applications that all run fine.
Any ideas ? Thanks.
| I am not sure if I'm going to make you sound like a total beginner, maybe I'm misunderstanding the problem... but basically when you call Graphics and you include a depth (32) it DOES and IS MEANT TO open a black screen. Depth of 0 opens in a desktop window. When in fullscreen mode it probably will disable certain keys/functionality of the operating system. On my Mac for example, fullscreen mode disables pretty much everything except perhaps volume and brightness keys. Things like alt-tab and such stop working. It's not a bug, in that sense. It's just that in fullscreen you can't expect to be able to play nice along with the operating system. If you want to your game to operate like a desktop application, open it in a desktop window ie Graphics 1024,768,0
A `bug` is something that is not working the way it is supposed to, or IS doing what you told it to do but you were mistaken. Sometimes bugs are in the mind ;-D
| Lol, yes sorry you misunderstood. What i meant is that it will go to a black screen and then dismiss the rest of the application, e.g. "Hangs up" or whatever you wanna call it.
| For Example when i run the "AStar"-Example that by default sets the display mode to 1024x768x32, i will JUST get a black screen and then nothing happens after that, and i cannot return "back".
if i change that to open it in a window, it runs normal.
i hope that makes it more clear.
| Have you got the latest graphics driver for your card?
Have you tried changing the default graphics driver with...
SetGraphicsDriver GLMax2DDriver() 'SetGraphicsDriver D3D7Max2DDriver() 'SetGraphicsDriver D3D9Max2DDriver()
It could be a DirectX driver issue?
| Well, i dont think its a directx or graphics driver issue per se, because all of my directx games and what not works fine.
i am guessing that the method darkbasic and blitzmax use to set the display mode in direct x is propably the same and that something in my setup conflicts with how they do that and that it is either related to the color depth or the refresh rate.
| Does your graphics card support that resolution in fullscreen? do you have enough video ram? Can you open a 640x480 fullscreen? Do you have a widescreen monitor and does it support the resolution you want?
| This is my Primary Monitor:
This is my Graphics Card Details:
Primary Adapter
Graphics Card Manufacturer
Powered by ATI
Graphics Chipset:
ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
Device ID
Subsystem ID
Subsystem Vendor ID
Graphics Bus Capability
PCI Express 2.0
Maximum Bus Setting
PCI Express 2.0 x16
BIOS Version
BIOS Part Number
BIOS Date
Memory Size
Memory Type
Core Clock in MHz
900 MHz
Memory Clock in MHz
975 MHz
Total Memory Bandwidth in GByte/s
124,8 GByte/s
Theese are my supported display modes as reported by
BlitzMax's "GraphicsModes()"-Command:
Available graphics modes:
I now know that it has something todo with the refresh rate indeed. If i tell BlitzMax to use 59hz, the bug does not appear and the application runs as expected.
However in that mode the mouse cursor behaves very jittery.
Also I should be able to run in 60hz fine.
| Actually my above statement is not entirely correct. in 59hz, it works but only in theese resolutions listed with 59hz support in the above list.
| Actually now thats also not entirely correct. For Example 640,480,32,59
also does not work.
This is a bit bad to test because i get to restart my computer every time and i am bit nervous about getting some memmory or hdd corruption out of all theese reboots.
i guess the question for me now is: on the directx level, what does say "Mass Effect" do different for setting the display mode compared to how blitzmax does it?
| it might also be your monitor not supporting certain frequency or resoution. In my pc when resolution can not be matched by my monitor it just shuts down.
| Apparently the monitor gets a problem with whatever happens on the directx level once blitzmax sets the display mode.
However this is not the issue.
It is not like i am trying to set a specifig resolution/frequency that will cause this bug. In effect i cannot set any fullscreen resolution using the Graphics-Method.
Even tho i admit i have not tried all of them (for reasons of trying to avoid issues from all the rebooting). I am however not trying to set any "stupid" resolutions. i know my monitor can display 800x600x32 at 60hz and 1920x1200x32 at 60hz. i can set theese manually in windows and they work, and off course they work in every game i currently have installed too.
this is really not the issue of my trying to set a resolution of ... 289x333 or something weired.
as posted above to me the question remains, what does a game like "mass effect" do differently when it tells directx to switch display mode to 1920x1200x32 compared to what blitzmax does.
| Have you tried changing the graphics driver blitzmax uses to DX7 and OpenGL?
| Yes. Using DX7 and OpenGL results in the same effect.
This is what I used to test:
'SetGraphicsDriver GLMax2DDriver()
SetGraphicsDriver D3D7Max2DDriver()
Graphics 1920,1200,32,60
While (Not KeyDown(KEY_ESCAPE))
DrawText "test",10,10
This also helps determining that not only the screen gets unresposnive, but also one of two things also happen:
1) User input is not being recognized (Cannot quit with ESC)
2) User input is being recognized but quitting does not trigger the screen to revert back.
Also setting "Disable Composition Mode" and "Disable Visual Styles" on the compiled exe doesnt solve this either.
| Could you try the demo version of Qbix or mmjChallenge, linked in my sig, both games have a toggle full screen mode (800x600x32 res).
Both of these games were made with older versions of BlitzMax pre 1.36, so it might be worth trying an older version of BlitzMax e.g. 1.35 to see if it is just the current version of BlitzMax that has the issue.
| hi,
i have downloaded qbix. it started windowed, but then i set it to fullscreen through the options and it worked.
| Qbix was made with about a year ago so was probably pre 1.3 and uses the Dx7 and opengl drivers.
Excellent try downloading version 1.34 or earlier of BlitzMax from the accounts page, after backing up/renaming your 1.36 installation and try building that?
There have been a lot of changes to 1.35+ Dx9/Virutal Resoultions ect
| Hi,
with 1.34 the problem also occours.
(using the same code from above)
| OK try 1.30
If that still doesn't work try going back to 1.18
If that works try patching forward to find the best vesion
| Have you uninstalled/reinstalled the latest GFX card drivers and updated to the latest DirectX yet? Make sure you're using the reference drivers for your card too. Does your monitor have drivers available? Maybe they're needed. Have you tried using DriverCleaner?
It smells like drivers to me. Even though your other games are working fine, this is still the number one most likely cause of all your problems.
| It looks to me like an incompatible refresh rate. At 59 Hz it works... Are you using a CRT monitor? The card my be reporting it supports 60Hz but that does not mean the screen is able to show images at this rate.
| You don't mention using Ctrl-Alt-Delete as a way of shutting down your task.
Does DXdiag run all tests ok?
If you have followed these rules-
then God help you. I would consider an upgrade to nVidia - avid video game players tend to consider their cards superior from such experiences as yours.
For more pain, I would investigate badly configured IRQ in BIOS, testing with alternative monitor, uninstalling everything in your toolbar, and looking into vial-ware such as net-meeting that is known to cause hideous issues due to "innovative" virtual video graphics drivers.
Another serious third party problem encountered by Blitz users was Wacom tablet drivers that have only recently updated versions that do not introduce serious problems.
I would also consider testing your apps in release mode run from the desktop and not the IDE.
| -the drivers are the latest version.
-also i have the latest directx + the directx development pack or how you call it, that has all the directx versions
-i think it has todo with refresh rate too, but it does not work at 59hz, that was a misunderstandment
-i have not tested the earlier blitzmax versions yet, because "testing" does involve an inproper shutdown with every test and i'd like to avoid to keep doing that so i dont get hardware failures.
however aparantly something has changed since the earlier version in how the display mode is being engaged. also i must repeat that i play alot(!) of games, that ALL work fine ! so it is not a general error of my setup.
-regarding the "upgrade" to nvidia, i actually "upgraded" to ati a few months back, because nvidia didnt have a card that could do hdr and antialias at the same time, and actually i think ati is fine now.
if a developer could tell me how blitzmax engages the display mode change (e.g. what api call or dll call and with what parameters, i might then write an email to ati and ask them why that provokes the described behaviour? or if a developer could look back in the patch notes and find the entry where the display mode changing code was changed, so i dont have to damage my hardware
| @GuntiNDDS have you had any progress with older builds?
If we can work out which version work then we can check for differences in the source.
Or you can raise the issue with ATI regarding the driver problem!
| i am currently discussing the issue with ati support.
i will try not having to go through the older builds to avoid hardware damage from doing all the restarts, unless ati or someone else provides me with a "safe" test method.
still i'd be interested in the native function that blitzmax calls in order to set the display mode, and what parameters it provides to that function. might help the discussion with ati.
thanks for the input thus far.
| You could try VirtualBox, but you would have to install your operating system "again" (it's a virtual computer). It is not slow because it can run code directly on the CPU just like the operating system already on your computer
VirtualBox is developed and supported by Sun Microsystems, the same people who develop Java.
It's worth a shot, and if it 'hangs' like before, you just restart the virtual machine, without having to touch your physical power/reset switch.
It's definitely worth a shot, it's free, and you have nothing to lose.
Also, I'm sorry for your woes, but thus is the life of a developer. T_T
still i'd be interested in the native function that blitzmax calls in order to set the display mode
You're very likely going to have to get your hands dirty with C and become familiar with this if you want to make "native" calls to the display.
| Hi,
interesting idea but i dont see me going through this.
As for the native call, i dont want to do it - i want to know what blitzmax does internal, so i can tell the ati guy something like "the application that provokes the error does <this> and then the issue appears".
The problem is that other applications and games work fine and thus the conversation with ati will propably end with them telling me its the fault of the application (Blitzmax). Therefore i would like being able to tell them more technical details.
| Even if the problem lies with BlitzMax, the problem could be any number of things.
You would have to walk through hundreds of lines of code and know what they mean (I know what you're talking about (drivers)), because there are so many things that the problem could be, that the conflict(s) between the driver(s) BlitzMax uses and what your system has and how your system is set up could be. Mass Effect's method(s) of outputting graphics to the screen is buried within thousands and thousands of lines of code that is not accessible to non-employees of BioWare.
Also note that installing VirtualBox (or your operating system "again" (on VirtualBox)) will not install over what you have now, it will only take up additional hard drive space. Such a virtual machine is the only "safe" test method for things like this. It runs in a window, but the virtual machine is set up so that the VirtualBox operating system sees the display that is allocated to the VirtualBox program window as the entire display (thus making it easily manageable); that is any program running in fullscreen in the VirtualBox environment will take up just that window. It is a "separate" machine, in so far as operating systems are concerned (they're on the same hard drive of course, except you don't have to boot into it from poweroff, and in fact must run it from another OS). I hope this makes sense.
If you have followed these rules-
then God help you. I would consider an upgrade to nVidia
If you can't solve this, GuntiNDDS, then I believe you may have, as they say, slipped between the raindrops.
| Hi GuntilNDDS,
You could try the latest BlitzMax update 1.37 to see how if it works?
| Sorry about the bump. I just wanted to say that I made several edits to my last two posts in this thread.
| Hey,
i been away for a while. Sorry for letting the topic slip, but i had other things in my head.
Latest Version 1.39 produces the same effect.
I have decided to just make windowed programs now since it doesnt seem that there is a solution or even explanation to the problem in sight and further testing comes along with risk of damages to my hardware.
| i have never had a problem with using the cntrl-alt-delete, comand-option-esc for mac, and
going to processes and ending the blitzmax program.
i would think it was your code that was not properly working, but from other posts
i would ascertain that your coding prowess is fine.
sounds like a very annoying problem.
hope you get it fixed
| its not a problem of ctrl-alt-del not working. i am very certain that the problem is the monitor gets into an invalid display mode. i am also pretty certain it has todo with the refresh rate.
Unfortunitly i dont know enough of what happens behind the curtain when blitzmax tells directx to change the display mode and then what directx technically does. I suppose so there are different options of how this can be set in directx. For example using darkbasic, i can set a fullscreen display mode. So there must be someting db does differently from blitzmax when it tells dx to change the mode.
| i used to program in darkbasic too actually.
i havent had any problem with either builds of darkbasic or blitzmax.
i am using the most recent build of blitzmax on both my:
macbook 2.4Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
4 GB MHz DDR2 SDRAM
basic hardware accelerated graphics card
Intel GMA X3100
and my very old IBM T40
1.6 Ghz
1 GB Ram
basic crappy graphics card
and they both work fine.
i wonder if your monitor is just a lemon or something
i know that both darkbasic and blitzmax use directX in the same way.
they talk to directx and directx talks to the graphics card.
ever since directx 9 (i think) directx will check the capabilities of your computer to see
if it is able to to what you are asking of it (hardware wise) which makes it easier since
you dont have to do it yourself in your code.
if your hardware is unable to do what you are asking of it directx will emulate it via
software so that you can still do it. this will drop your fps rate and works better with
lower resolutions and depth but still allows you to do it.
there could be a problem with the way blitzmax is talking to directx compared to mass effect as you stated above.
i dont know how they differ in that aspect, but im sure that mass effect stream lined the
way in which it talks to directx. altho at this point im just speculating.
if anyone could clarify anymore than i have, (which is not much i assume) that would be
now i am really interested in this problem.
hope i helped, even just a little bit
| Hi.
Well you can see my graphic card and monitor above in the thread. Both are not very exotic in my oppinion :D
What i mean with how blitz and db may talk to directx differently is:
(this is all speculation)
possibly the method that initializes the display mode in directx has overloads or optional parameters. for example it might be possible to tell it only width and height and colordepth, and optionally it could be told the frequency/refresh rate too. Maybe DB passes only the optional parameter to it if it is specified in the DB program, whilest maybe blitz allways passes that parameter based on a default value it retrieves via some windows api or vice versa.
this is kind of the difference there could be, that i mean and that could cause the problem.
| i think that in both blitzmax and db if you do not specify refresh rate it will attempt
the highest that your system can support.
but ya there are probly many more things that are happening that could cause
problems that i am not aware of.
good luck with solving your problem.
if i find anything that might be of use i will be sure to post it here
| Have you tried something like:
Graphics(DesktopWidth(),DesktopHeight(),DesktopDepth(),DesktopHertz(0),GRAPHICS_BACKBUFFER)(you may need to use chaos.desktopext on some versions of blitzmax for that to work)
If that doesn't work, then for sure there's a problem in your system, be it the monitor, the drivers or whatever.
As for seeing 'the calls' done by blitzmax, you can check out the source yourself, it's included on every bmax copy. Look under /mod/brl.mod/ and see specially d3d7max2d.mod/dxgraphics.mod and glmax2d.mod/glgraphics.mod.
But I really don't think this is a problem with the way bmax calls DX or OGL - it's pretty standard. What bugs me the most is this 59hz thing. That's not usual refresh rate - usually you get 50hz, 60hz, 75hz... but 59?
Have you installed the drivers for your monitor? Maybe if you didn't, Windows could be not detecting refresh rates correctly...
| the 59hz things has todo with how it is mathematically rounded. my monitor is 60hz, but technically it is like 59.9xx hz. Windows rounds this down to 59hz instead of up to 60hz.
(yes i have the monitor drivers installed)
what bugs me is that i run alot of directx applications/games and i only have this problem with blitzmax.
| you could try reinstalling the latest version of directx and then reinstalling blitzmax and rebuilding all the modules.
| Got latest version of directx and also just a few days ago reinstalled blitzmax.
I wrote another test program today with an interesting result. (Also updated to lastest ATI driver again)
This is the test program i wrote:
Graphics 800, 600, 0 SetClsColor(255, 0, 0) Cls Flip(0) DrawOval(0, 0, 500, 500) Flip(0) WaitKey() Graphics(DesktopWidth(), DesktopHeight(), DesktopDepth(), DesktopHertz(), GRAPHICS_BACKBUFFER) SetClsColor(0, 255, 0) Cls Flip(0) DrawOval(0, 0, 500, 500) Flip(0) WaitKey() Graphics 800, 600, 0 SetClsColor(255, 0, 0) Cls Flip(0) WaitKey() End
the expected behavior on a machine not affected by my problem is:
1) 800x600 sized window, screen goes red with white oval on it
After Keypress:
2) Screen goes fullscreen to desktop-specification, screen goes green with white oval on it
After Keypress:
3) Goes back to 800x600 window with red screen
After Keypress:
4) Quits
the expected behavior on my machine is:
1) 800x600 sized window, screen goes red with white oval on it
After Keypress:
2) Screen goes and stays black - Computer needs restart
however, the actual behavior now is this:
1) 800x600 sized window, screen goes red with white oval on it
After Keypress:
2) Screen goes fullscreen to desktop-specification, screen goes green with white oval on it
After Keypress:
3) Screen goes and stays black - Computer needs restart
So the issue is now more similiar to the issue with DarkBasic, where the screen "freezes black" at the END or so to say "when the program tries to revert BACK from the fullscreen mode".
| sorry for the late reply, college is kicking my butt.
that is quite an interesting result, you could try refreshing the memory in between
Graphics width,height,etc... cmd usage.
there was a command for it in DB, but i do not know its counter part in blitz.
I would not know why you are having that problem.
I never need to use that many graphics calls in 1 program tho.
I am going to run that code right now.
EDIT: ran fine on my macbook and my ibm
tho i changed the DesktopWidth() cmd to the actual res of my desktop
because that cmd was not found for me.
have you tried using the Endgraphics cmd after each graphics call?
| Try calling EndGraphics after each waitkey and see if it helps... and be sure to test it with opengl, dx7 and dx9 - if all of them fails the same, you can be sure the problem isn't with bmax :P
and why are you doing a flip after cls, and another after drawing the circle? Just do it like this:
Graphics 800, 600, 0 SetClsColor(255, 0, 0) Cls DrawOval(0, 0, 500, 500) Flip WaitKey EndGraphics Graphics(DesktopWidth(), DesktopHeight(), DesktopDepth(), DesktopHertz(), GRAPHICS_BACKBUFFER) SetClsColor(0, 255, 0) Cls DrawOval(0, 0, 500, 500) Flip WaitKey EndGraphics Graphics 800, 600, 0 SetClsColor(255, 0, 0) Cls Flip WaitKey EndGraphics End
| Hmm. It seems that calling EndGraphics does the trick.
Thanks !
I hadn't thought I would ever get this solved.
| no prob.
glad you did.
| This is a realy late reply but OP is using an ATI card, is he running the "D3dOverider" tool/hack to force v-sync on some games? there will be a system tray icon for it. Most gamers will have this.
I cannot run any blitzmax game in full screen with this enabled, I get a black screen and its almost like it has hung. Ctrl+alt+del works after a few tries though. (windows 7)
| Also a late reply, and someone's probably already mentioned this ...
Are you drawing and then capturing images? Sometimes it's as simple as setting the blend mode and colors to 255,255,255, and alpha to 1. I've had problems with this before. Also, enabling a graphics driver in your code will do the trick - sometimes on your machine but not everyone else's.
I'm not sure what your doing, but if capturing images make sure to include DYNAMICIMAGE in your image flags.
Also maybe try different flipping policies, like FLIP(1) - Just a thought.


text:
England's Under-21s must win their final group game, against Czech Republic on Sunday, to avoid elimination from the European Championships following a determined but uninspired draw with Ukraine. A draw will suffice for the Czechs, who are currently one point ahead of Stuart Peace's team despite losing 2-0 to Spain.
In keeping with his assertion that he was "buoyed" by his team's performance in the opening match against Spain even though the opposition had dominated possession, Pearce made only one alteration to the team-sheet from that game and, contrary to expectation, it was not to replace captain Michael Mancienne, whose position was in jeopardy following an ineffective display against the Spanish. Instead Jack Rodwell came into midfield for Tom Cleverley, who had also been peripheral to the first match.
While the composition of the team was similar to that which faced Spain on Sunday, the approach was not. Rather than fire long, high balls towards the channels as against Spain, right from the outset, England showed an eagerness to zip the ball around on the ground. Eagerness does not equate to execution, alas, and England lacked the accuracy to forge any early threat.
Instead, as so often, it was England's opponents who looked more accomplished in possession. Ukraine duly created the first openings. A jagged surge from the left brought Yevhen Konoplyanka into shooting range in the ninth minute, but Phil Jones hurled himself in the forward's path and deflected his shot over.
Three minutes later, however, Konoplyanka hurtled down the left again and unleashed a low effort from 20 yards that goalkeeper Frank Fielding parried. The alertness of Ryan Bertrand prevented Maxym Billy from converting the rebound.
England found themselves cast in the familiar role of dogged ball-chasers but at least they chased intelligently, seldom losing their defensive shape and making it difficult for Ukraine to turn their possession into chances. Ukraine's next threat came from set-piece, Yaroslav Rakitskiy curling a long-range freekick wide in the 26th minute.
England's only offensive encouragement came from Daniel Sturridge – whenever the Chelsea forward received the ball at his feet, anything seemed possible. If only England could get it to his feet more often. In the 32nd minute Mancienne managed to do just that, slipping a fine ball through the middle that Sturridge teed up with one touch before crashing a superb, swirling 25-yard shot off the crossbar.
That narrow escape stunted Ukraine's attacking ambitions for a spell and the game settled into an high-intensity attritional period in which neither side made real territorial gains until just before the interval.
Danny Rose swept a delicious cross-field pass to Sturridge in the 42nd minute, but for once the striker's touch betrayed him and he failed to get the ball under control just inside the Ukranian box.
Rose, who was constantly being instructed by Pearce to "run at the full-back" began to get the upperhand on Bohdan Butko after that and twice more before half-time he raced past his marker and delivered dangerous crosses that forced urgent defensive clearances.
England had begun the match pressing high up the pitch but, in the face of nimble Ukranian interplay, had dropped deeper and deeper. At the start of the second half, however, they returned to pressurising the opposition close to their own box and that policy lead to England winning a free-kick 25 yards out in the 48th minute. Sturridge curled a low shot into the goalkeeper's arm.
Five minutes later Sturridge, inevitably, created England's clearest opportunity, springing a counter-attack with a splendid long pass into the path of Danny Welbeck.
The striker had been working tirelessly for such a chance all evening but when it came he squandered it, blazing wide with only the goalkeeper to beat.
England started to become more fluent. Pearce made two substitutions in the 57th minute in a bid to keep his team on the front foot, replacing Rose and the disappointing Jack Rodwell with Scott Sinclair and Henri Lansbury.
Now it was Ukraine who were playing on the counter-attack. Though the menace was not particularly pronounced, it was ever-present: Denys Garmash underlined that point by getting on the end of a rapid break and firing a fierce 20-yard drive that Fielding beat away with difficulty.
Pearce changed formation and shifted Sturridge into a central attacking position for the last 15 minutes but it was Ukraine who came closest to victory.
Jones, for once, was caught out with an exquisite one-two at the edge of the England box and Garmash darted behind him and shot hard and low from eight yards. Fielding preserved a point by making a fine save with his feet.


text:
The more I read up on a topic, the more complicated it ends up being. As you start trying to unravel the ball of yarn, every thread leads to three more, and each of those lead to three more. The Zika virus has highlighted that in a very tangible way.
In December of 2012, I was asked my thoughts on the Sandy Hook shooting on Twitter, and if I was going to write about it through a public health lens. I said no – I didn't want to weigh in so soon, and I didn't really know where to start. Sandy Hook capped off a year where 130,437 people were shot by firearms. Of these, 31,672 people died, with almost 60% listed as suicides. Since that exchange, there have been several more mass shootings (defined as 4 or more fatalities in one instance – not including the shooter), and I kept surfing the internet to explore the arguments on both sides of the gun control debate. As pointed out by Kathleen Bachynski over on The 2×2 Project's series on gun violence, aptly titled "Fully Loaded", if "measles or mumps killed 31,672 people a year, we would undoubtedly consider the situation to be a public health emergency."
The issue is, I'm not inherently against owning firearms. Sure, I don't understand it, and it makes little to no sense to me how owning a gun makes you feel safer given how every other country in the Western world doesn't and they seem to be getting along just fine, but that's not the point. Many gun owners own firearms for self-defence, but use them mainly for fun and recreation – shooting targets and hunting are two of the major uses. More importantly though, Americans don't want to give up their firearms, and that attitude isn't going away any time soon: Anyone who thinks advocating for a universal ban on firearms in the US is wasting their time.
"A lie that is half-truth is the darkest of all lies."
― Alfred Tennyson
Last week, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at the prevalence of childhood obesity over the last 10 years. The study, performed by Cynthia Ogden and colleagues at the CDC, aimed to describe the prevalence of obesity in the US and look at changes between 2003 and 2012. The study itself had several interesting findings, not least among them that the prevalence of obesity seems to have stabilized in many segments of the US population. However, they made one observation that caught the media's attention:
"There was a significant decrease in obesity among 2- to 5-year-old children (from 13.9% to 8.4%; P = .03)"
This is where things get interesting, as the focus was not on the 5.5 percentage points difference. Instead of reporting the absolute difference, i.e. how much something changed, news outlets focused on the relative difference, i.e. how much they changed compared to each other. In that case, it would be (5.5/13.9 =) 40%. Which is much more impressive than the 5.5% change reported in the study. So you can guess what the headlines loudly proclaimed.
As I write this post, I'm sitting here watching the 49ers take on the Seahawks. It's been a great game so far, although the sheer number of injuries have been terrifying, culminating in an absolutely horrific injury to 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman where his leg bent in ways it shouldn't under any circumstances.
LOUD NOISES pic.twitter.com/6NxnTYv4z9
— SB Nation GIF (@SBNationGIF) January 12, 2014
Like a lot of people, I like sports. In fact, I was one of the 56 million people who tuned into that NFC Championship game mentioned above – more than the entire population of Spain, and the total population of California and Florida together. Getting together with friends, watching football, hockey, UFC, or any other sport is one of my favourite passtimes. The drama that comes along with professional sports in the form of redemption stories, a veteran's final chance at a title, and the bad blood associated with historic rivalries all lead to a great afternoon/evening/day. In addition, there's the sheer skill and athletic ability of the competitors and watching years of practice and training pay off. Along with this comes one of the most exciting things for any spectator, especially those who like football or hockey, to witness.
The Bone Crushing Hit.
You know what this is. A player gets the puck/ball and runs towards the goal/endzone, and a defensive player absolutely destroys them. You're sitting at home, miles away, and you cringe with the sheer impact. It makes every highlight reel, and transcends sports, appearing on highlights reels for the NHL and the NFL. Sometimes this is illegal but more often than not, it's perfectly legal, and considered "part of the game." This is where I have trouble.
2013 was a big year for public health. We were thrust to the forefront again with disease outbreaks, and have had to deal with increased skepticism of the nature of what we do from the public. Meanwhile, within the establishment, rifts have been growing between groups, as different professional organizations vie for power and control. Here are my top five public health stories for 2013, presented in no particular order, but I'd love to hear yours in the comments.
1. Polio in Syria
Polio is a crippling disease that has been covered on the blog before. It's been almost completely eradicated, but is still endemic to certain parts of the word. However, following civil unrest in Syria, polio has started to spread again and has, to date, crippled 17 children. Before the March 2011 uprising, vaccination rates were estimated to be above 90%. However, since then, estimates for vaccination rates hover around 68% – enough to prevent the benefits of herd immunity from kicking in. In order to increase immunization rates, the UN is trying to mobilize a vaccine drive. However, due to political and safety concerns, they are having a hard time ensuring that all children are vaccinated. To quote NPR:
Polio does not stop at borders or military checkpoints. Without a comprehensive response to stop the virus, aid workers fear that the outbreak could become a public health catastrophe.


text:
WEBSITE TOP > School Introduction TOP
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text:
Dudley and Halesowen magistrates donate £350 to borough cancer charity
12:00pm Sunday 30th March 2014
12:00pm Sunday 30th March 2014
THE old Dudley and Halesowen Magistrates' Bench has donated £350 to the borough's White House Cancer Support charity.
JP Helen Edwards, outgoing chairman of the bench which as a result of cost-cutting has become part of the Black Country Magistrates' Bench, said borough magistrates decided to hand over what was left in their social fund to the Dudley charity.
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