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- This article is about an ROC person. If that person is you, and you want information removed, please see the talk page.
Dark Mouse (Kenneth V.) was the founder and administrator for the large vermin based Redwall Online Community club known as Dark Mouse's Cove. Due to the success of Dark Mouse's Cove, this ROC character became well known between 1998 - 2002. He was also the founder of the first vermin online publication known as the Dead Parrots Tavern in 2000 and the founder of Cove Productions which administered various vermin based clubs and assisted others in setting up their own such clubs.
The character Dark Mouse was a short dark-furred mouse who was captured by vermin sailors at a young age and raised with a vermin setting depicted in the Redwall book series. Due to this, although he was a mouse he acted like a vermin character. Over his life he rose to the position of the leader of the vermin horde of pirates, known collectively as Dark Mouse's Cove.
Dark Mouse was one of the first characters in the ROC to adopt the concept of a vermin-based goodbeast character.
Dark Mouse was viewed by many as an innovative Redwall club designer, pioneering many of the club activities which became popular amongst many clubs during the golden age of the ROC. Such activities as quests based on fake maps, and the incorporation of slaves as depicted in the Redwall book series into the club's structure are attributed to Dark Mouse.
Dark Mouse founded Dark Mouse's Cove based on the obscure vermin club, Bloodbane's Fortress, where he was an active member. When this club closed, he decided to found his own vermin club, Dark Mouse's Cove.
Dark Mouse and his role in the ROC was often viewed as controversial. Public disputes would erupt between him and Ublaz, the leader and founder of rival vermin club Sampetra INSU.
The character Dark Mouse was despised by many goodbeast characters within the ROC. In the spirit of the vermin theme of his club he often declared "war" on many different Redwall clubs. Although these events were officially supposed to be role-play based, they often developed into flame wars on club message boards.
Leaving the ROC
In 1999, Kenneth V. started high school. Due to this he had less time to dedicate to Redwall activities and his hundreds of active club members. At the same time his interests shifted elsewhere. As a result, Dead Parrot's Tavern was shut down in September 2000. During the winter of 2000, updates of Dark Mouse's Cove became less common. In January of 2002, Kenneth V. was elected to be the youth representative on the board of directors for the Papyrus Hurriculum Villa Foundation and thus shut down Dark Mouse's Cove due to lack of time and a shift in his own personal interests. The club shut down without any warning and disappeared from the ROC.
The legacy of Dark Mouse lived on in various other attempts to launch a new Dark Mouse's Cove. Yet, none of these new projects were directly associated with Kenneth V. Many had other individuals playing their own version of Dark Mouse. Thus, in 2002 there were several minor short lived Dark Mouse characters.
Current Activites
|This person is a Redwall Wiki user:
Since leaving the ROC, Kenneth V. has completed a degree in medical sciences at the University of Western Ontario and is currently earning a medical doctorate to become a physician.
In the summer of 2008, Kenneth V. appeared on a reality television show called Endless Europe.


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Country CD Release Dates
Many of your favorite singers have new albums coming out over the next few weeks — here's a run-down of new music headed your way!
November 8th – Joe Nichols It's All Good – If you have been looking for the CD that contains "Take It Off," your wait is almost over. Joe says he's bringing a traditional sound intro 2011 and 2012 with this album. His smooth, down to earth delivery and sound never disappoints.
November 8th – Josh Gracin Redemption – The Marine, American Idol contestant, father of four, and country music singer is releasing his third album soon. This CD contains seventeen songs, many written by Josh himself.
November 15th – David Nail The Sound of a Million Dreams – This is the follow-up to David's first CD, "I'm About To Come Alive" and includes his current hit song, "Let It Rain."
November 21st – Willie Nelson Remember Me Vol. 1 – This is a 14-track collection of hand-picked songs from the past seven decades, including his take on classics like George Jones' "Why Baby Why" and "Ramblin' Fever" from Merle Haggard. Volume 2 will be released sometime in 2012.
January 24th – Kellie Pickler 100 Proof – This is Kellie's third album and contains 11 songs, six written by her, including her latest single "Tough." In a press release, Kellie recently proclaimed, "I'm just happy to be making country music."

subset: commoncrawl


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- Description
Electric and eclectic style is featured with this cube tufted patterned 2-piece sectional that features adjustable headrest wide seating and a chaise for extra lounge space. Available in black or white bonded leather.Includes
1 White SectionalDimensions
Matching ottoman is sold separately
RIGHT-FACING CHAISE 43" x 69" x 28" - 34" H
LEFT-FACING Sofa 74" x 37" x 28" - 34" H
- Additional Information
Additional Information
SKU 14794380 MPN F7364 GTIN UPC 742169033511 Brand Poundex Collection No Assemble Length No Assemble Width No Assemble Height No Assembly Required Yes Material Bonded Leather Color White Styles No Shipping Time 2-3 Weeks Free Shipping Yes
- Reviews
Disclaimer: Pictures displayed may include optional products not included in the price. Computer monitors often display color variations. Color swatches are shown if alternative colors are available. Please call us or email us if you have any questions!


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Wax - How to Use Free Video Editor Wax to Edit Videos
Wax is a light weight but high performance and flexible video editing, composition and special effects software. And above all, it's a free video editor for both commercial and personal use. Wax can create 2D & 3D special effects and can work in two modes - as a standalone application and as a "plug-in" to video editors/NLEs like VirtualDub, Sony Vegas, Adobe Premiere, etc.
This is the getting-started tutorial for Wax. In this Wax tutorial, we are going to show you how to zoom, crop and pan video and image, how to make project settings and how to render AVI videos.
1. Zoom, crop and pan image for video
Download Wax and install it first. Run the software and Load Media Files by right-clicking on MediaPool panel. But this doesn't finish. To edit video, you need to drag-n-drop desired media files to the timeline. Then switch to Video Plugins to drag-n-drop Quick 3d plugin to the just added track.
As shown above, click the triangle next to Quick 3d, you would see many options such as Posx, Posz, Cropleft, Cropbottom, etc. Please see detailed instructions to make editing in Wax:
Zoom Video: Click the Posz clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.
Crop Video: Click the Cropleft/Croptop/Cropright/Cropbottom clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.
Pan Video: Click the Posx clock icon to set Keyframming mode to Linear, and then change the value by hanging over mouse to ZEROs and drag to left/right.
Note that you could preview the video while making settings in the top preview windows.
2. Make project settings
Press F3 or click the Project Settings button in the tool bar to bring up the dialog. There, specify the file name, save path and video options, including video dimensions, frame rate, and click OK.
3. Render AVI video
Click the green arrow button on the tool bar to start saving video to specified path in the project settings. A few minutes later, you will get the edited video.
To be concluded, this is just the beginning Wax tutorial. You will find more features while using it. Just download Wax and have a try.
Note: If you think Wax is something complicated, you can turn to Wondershare Filmora (originally Wondershare Video Editor), which enables you to edit videos with separate tracks and add transitions to your videos, finally, convert your video to any video format you like.Download the free trial version of Wondershare Filmora (originally Wondershare Video Editor) (Windows/Mac) below.
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- •Comsumer video editors in the market
- 1.1 Wax - How to Use Free Video Editor Wax to Edit Videos
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Arrest Warrants Issued In Drug Investigation in Toccoa
A number of people face drug charges after law enforcement officers visited several hotels in Toccoa Wednesday.
The Toccoa Police Department and Mountain Judicial Circuit N.C.I.S. Drug Team, with assistance from the Stephens County Sheriff's Office and Habersham County Sheriff's Office K-9 Unit, began serving several arrest warrants against the individuals Wednesday in an operation called "Taking Back Toccoa."
Toccoa Police Chief Tim Jarrell said that for the last three months, his department and the N.C.I.S. Drug Team have been conducting an undercover investigation into illegal drug activity at hotel establishments in the city of Toccoa.
Jarrell said the investigation resulted in 18 successful undercover drug buys from rooms at five local hotels.
"For many years, we have witnessed people who are selling or using narcotics use the hotels and motels in our area," said Jarrell. "This has been an ongoing issue for some time. While conducting an undercover investigation, we were able to see that many of the people who are selling narcotics were bouncing from motel to motel and selling out of the rooms."
Jarrell said the five hotels where undercover drug buys took place were the Country Hearth Inn on North Broad Street, the Toccoa Motel on West Currahee Street, the Host Inn on Big A Road, the Relax Inn on Felton Drive, and the Budget Inn on West Currahee Street.
The chief said arrest warrants were obtained against or being sought against 19 people in all.
The charges involve either methamphetamine or marijuana.
Charged with or going to be charged with Distribution of Marijuana are 37-year-old Gilbert Martin, 38-year-old Jerry Alexander, 28-year-old Terrell Cunningham, and an individual police identify only as "New York."
Charged with or going to be charged with Distribution of Methamphetamine are 27-year-old Timothy Michael Mroz, 47-year-old Roy Gene Gibson, 29-year-old Shane Lashun Lacy, 22-year-old Breann Coley, 34-year-old Jeremy Mans, 31-year-old Dustin Eli Gunn, 33-year-old Randall Gibson, 24-year-old Victoria Raney, 20-year-old Tiffany Hornick, 22-year-old Brandon Vinson, an individual identified only as Tammy York, and an individual identified as Nick Beltz.
Also, 40-year-old Alvin Myers is charged with one count of Distribution of Methamphetamine and one count of Distribution of Marijuana, 26-year-old Michael Tyler Ritenour is charged with one count of Possession of Methamphetamine, and 20-year-old Quamaine Johnson is charged with one count of Possession of Marijuana Less than One Ounce.
Jarrell said besides seeking these individuals, the hotels they allegedly operated out of have been notified that such activities need to stop.
"With the assistance of the Assistant District Attorney who handles drug cases for the Mountain Judicial Circuit, we drafted a letter that was hand delivered to each of the hotels and motels that we went to to serve these outstanding arrest warrants," said Jarrell. "It basically puts them on notice to know that this activity has to stop and it is their responsibility to help us to make sure it does stop. If it does not, we are going to seek civil action and seize their property."
Noting the relationship of drugs to other crimes in Toccoa, Jarrell says these establishments have served as "hotbeds" for such activity for too long.
He went on to say that the city commission and management have implemented goals to clean up Toccoa and this operation is one part of a larger effort to enhance the quality of life for those who live and work in Toccoa.
"I am not saying our community is worse than any other community as far as drug sales and drug problems," said Jarrell. "What I am saying is that the police department and Sheriff's Office are working together to be proactive against the sale of drugs and the crime that is a result of drugs."
Jarrell said that some of the individuals were taken into custody by Wednesday afternoon and adds that work would continue into today (Thursday) if necessary.


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The statistic is revealed in a report highlighting links between domestic violence and crimes outside the home.
Of those committing domestic assaults 49% had a previous criminal conviction, 9% of victims were children and 5% of those affected were pregnant.
But the findings show the more contact offenders have with the criminal justice system, the better they get at getting away with offences.
The research profiled all reported sexual offences in a domestic situation for the first four months of 2001.
Additionally all attacks, kidnappings, attempted murders and murders identified as occurring in the home between January and February 2001 were analysed.
This totalled just less than 400 offences, with all the perpetrators individually profiled.
Four cases resulted in the victim being murdered by the suspect.
And 24 offenders had previously received a sentence for domestic violence.
The research also found that one in four of the suspects studied were female.
In some of these cases the violence appeared to be defensive and in retaliation to the threat of or actual violence from the male partner.
The report found that the on-going relationship between the perpetrator and victim increases vulnerability to future abuse and acts as a barrier to seeking help.


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59 yr old female seeking female cruisemate for Oct 2, 2010 NCL Carribean cruise
I need a female roommate for a Oct 2, 2010 NCL epic carribean cruise. I am a nonsmoker and do not want to pay the single rate.
Here is the cruise info:
October 2nd, 2010
14-Day Western and Eastern Caribbean, Round-trip Miami
Starting in Miami with stops in Costa Maya, Roatan, Cozumel, St. Maarten, St. Thomas, Nassau
Epic solo
Are you aware of the small studio cabins, 128 of them, priced for a single person with no supplement? Paul has a complete review here on home page currently.
no i was not. i will look into it. thanks!
i looked into it and it is still cheaper to get a roommate.
Sounds great...count me in.....I might drive or fly from San Diego ...where are you?
This thread is 2 1/2 years old!!!!!!!!!! rofl
Look at the posting date in the upper left hand of the original post. :shock:
|All times are GMT -4. The time now is 03:24 AM.


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Table Of Contents
Data Sheet
Multichannel E3 Port Adapter for Cisco 7200 and 7500 Series RoutersThe family of multichannel interfaces decrease cost and increase manageability of WAN links by:
•Eliminating the need for any external CSU/DSUs or multiplexers
•Providing up to 128 software configurable WAN connections per single-wide port adapter
•Supporting both clear channel T1/E1 connections and channelized T1/E1 connections on the same card
•Handling all major encapsulations including ISDN and Frame Relay
With these capabilities, the family of multichannel interfaces eliminate the need for separate interface types for separate connection types. At a cost per
T1/E1 port less than that of a standard serial port with external CSU/DSU, Cisco's family of multichannel interfaces are cost-effective for all WAN connectivity.
In Cisco's multichannel interface family are versions to support physical connectivity to T3 lines, E3 lines, T1 lines and E1 lines. For direct termination to E3 lines, Cisco's multichannel E3 card terminates 16 E1 lines multiplexed onto a single 75 ohm G.703 E3 interface.
The 128 channels of this multichannel E3 port adapter can be allocated among clear channel E1 links, Nx64K links, or ISDN PRI links. For a single clear channel E1 link, only one of the 128 channels is consumed. For each Nx64K connection, a single channel is consumed. In channelized E1 mode, multiple NxDS0 connections can be supported on a single E1. Fractional E1 mode is also supported where Nx64K of bandwidth consumes an entire E1 link. Each E1 used as ISDN PRI consumes either 30 channels respectively, one per B channel and one for the D channel.
Ordering Information
Part Number Port Adapter Description
1 port multichannel E3 with integrated E3 G.703 75 ohm interface
•16 E1 ports multiplexed onto a single E3 connection
•Channelized E1, fractional E1, clear channel E1, and ISDN PRI supported
•Up to 128 usable Nx64K channels (where N is 1 to 31) that can be allocated among the 16 E1 ports
•Internal or network clocking selectable on the E3 and each E1
•6 status LEDs
•ISDN D-channel support via VIP/NPE
•Line and Payload Loopback capabilities:
•Local and network line loopback at the E1 and E3 levels
•Full bit error rate testing capabilities on any E1:
•Programmable pseudo-random pattern up to 24 bits in length including 211-1, 215-1, 220-1, 220-1 QRSS, 233-1, all zeros, all ones, alternating ones and zeros
•32-bit error count registers
•Detect test patterns with bit error rates up to 102
•Alarm detection: AIS, Remote Alarm, FEBE, OOF, CRC Multiframe OOF, Frame errors, CRC errors
•On-board processor for alarm integration and performance monitoring
•Support for the following serial encapsulation protocols:
•Frame Relay
•Support for the following networking protocols:
E3 Features
•Line Rate: 34.368Mbps (±20ppm)
•Line Code: HDB3 (High Density Bipolar 3)
•Pulse Shape: Conforms to G.703
•Input signal: 100 mV to 1.2V (22db dynamic range)
•Output signal: 1.0V transformer coupled into 75 ohm coax cable
•E3 line and local loopback paths
•Software configurable national bit
E1 Features
•Unframed E1 or G.704 framing modes
•Data rate to 2.048Mbps (unframed mode) or 1.984Mbps (framed mode) per E1 port
•Internal and loop (recovered from network) clocking
•Software configurable E1 national bits
•Programmable pattern for unused timeslots
Compliance (Partial List)
•ITU-T G.703 Physical/electrical characteristics of hierarchical digital interfaces
•ITU-T G.704 Synchronous frame structures used at 1544, 6312, 2048, 8488 and 44736 kbit/s
•ITU-T G.742 Second order digital multiplex equipment operating at 8448 kbit/s
•ITU-T G.751 Digital multiplex equipments operating at the third order bit rate of 34368 kbit/s
•ITU-T G.823 Control of Jitter within Digital Networks
•ETS1prTBR 24 (Europe, E3)
•BAPT 221 ZV MU 11 (Germany, E3)
•BE/SP-134 (Belgium E3)
•T 14-09E (Netherlands E3)
•Germany (TUV GS)
•Germany (VDE 0878 part 3 and 30)
•France (NFC98020)
•France (EN60950, EN41003)
•Europe (EN55022 Class B, EN55102-1, EN55102-2)


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Favorite Blink-182 Music Video – Readers Poll
The guys from Blink-182 (Travis Barker, Tom DeLonge and Mark Hoppus) might be as famous for their often hilarious and sometimes weighty music videos as they are for their catchy pop-punk tunes. In celebration of their entertaining videography, we want all of you Blink-182 fans to vote on your favorite music video from the trio. After much debate, we've narrowed the list down to 10 of our all-time favorite Blink videos, and you can vote on the video you love the most below.
Kicking off our options for Favorite Blink-182 Music Video is the clip for 'Dammit,' in which Hoppus freaks out over seeing his ex out with another guy. Of course, we can't forget 'What's My Age Again,' which finds the Blink dudes streaking through the streets. Next up is 'All the Small Things,' where DeLonge sports some nasty hillbilly teeth and Hoppus gyrates in his tightie whities as they spoof '90s boy bands like 'N Sync and Backstreet Boys.
The video for 'Man Overboard' is unique and lends us a laugh, with some little people take the place of the Blink-182 members, acting out some pivotal Blink music video scenes like frolicking on the beach a la the 'All the…' clip. 'The Rock Show' is also memorable, with the guys from Blink-182 receiving funds from a production team to film their own video, in which they can be seen giving a homeless dude a makeover and smashing television sets. 'First Date' is also amazing, with the trio dressing up in cheesy '70s garb as they try and make girls swoon in this retro clip.
On the contrary, 'Stay Together for the Kids' is much more somber and serious, as Blink take a literal approach to the song's lyrics and perform in a dilapidated home that is being destroyed by a wrecking ball. 'Feeling This' brings it back towards a more lighthearted tone, with a bunch of oppressed private school kids revolting against the rules and wreaking havoc on their school. Blink's clip for 'Down' is also compelling, as we see a police officer (played by Terry Crews) chasing down a gang member on the run. Finally, 'Always' is another cool Blink video, with the three guys getting played by the same beautiful girl — the director utilizes a three-way split screen of each band member to add a really interesting visual effect.
So, out of all of these Blink-182 music videos, which is your favorite? Click on the links in the song names above if you need to refresh your memory at all.
Next Readers Poll: Favorite Eminem Album


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Hanukkah: Ending the Boycott
Personally, I had a hard time for a long time with Hanukkah. It seemed like a pathetic sop, an empty gesture, a bone thrown to all the American-Jewish kids whose Gentile counterparts got ponies, BB guns, and a Christmas lightshow while we settled for coins made of the world's worst chocolate, a spinning top, and candles. All this and Hitler, too? It felt so unfair.
For many years, in fact, I boycotted Hanukkah. Then I became a father, which meant, first of all, that I had to help pick a boy's name. I wanted a name with a deeper link to my Old Testament roots than my own, and I also hoped to spare the kid both the Ashkenazi triad of dork — Nate, Max, and Sam — and the patriarchal onus of Adam, Moses, and Abraham.
What came to me was Judah, which I immediately recognized was 1) the right name for the kid, and 2) inextricably bound up with Hanukkah, since that's the echo it had in my head: Judah Maccabee, a member of the tribe who... ah... um... what was it he did and what the hell did it have to do with Hanukkah?
Turns out that he was a Judaean warrior, the farmer son of a farmer father who formed a small army and took to the wilderness — and to a merciless guerilla war — rather than submit to the Seleucid Empire's efforts to Hellenize the Jews. It was Judah who retook the Jerusalem Temple in 165 B.C. or so, and it was the Temple's rededication ceremony, when a one-day supply of the consecrated oil used to light the altar's eternal flame miraculously lasted for eight days, that became celebrated as Hanukkah.
And it was the oil itself that led to celebrating Hanukkah by eating latkes, thereby combining three of oppressed mankind's noblest instincts — for resistance, liberation, and the consumption of friend and salted starch — into one killer holiday.
A HANUKKAH RECIPE: Carl Bernstein's Potato Latkes


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Call 718.991.5700 To Speak To A Fine Wine Expert
On December 7th 2011, I had the pleasure of meeting Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier, the Chef-Owners of renowned Arrows Restaurant and MC Perkins Cove in Ogunquit, Maine. Mark and Clark demonstrated an unforgettable five-course menu for De Gustibus Cooking School's Glorious American Cooking class. The delightful menu included their Mushroom Pie and ethereal Cider Poached Salmon. Trailblazers of the farm-to-table movement, their cooking styles showcase the pure, clean flavors of the ingredients that they use. Each dish was delicious and sumptuous without feeling heavy, evidencing the true mastery of these great Chefs.
The featured wines were provided by importer Frederick Wildman & Sons and included NV Champagne Pol Roger Reserve, 2010 Pascal Jolivet Sancerre Les Caillottes and 2008 Potel Aviron Morgan Cote du Py.
After the class, I had the opportunity to sit down with Mark and Clark and ask them some questions about their culinary careers and wine preferences. The Wine Cellarage's exclusive interview with Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier is below…
WC: Based on what I've read, you guys are trailblazers of sustainability and the farm-to-table movement. What was the driving philosophy or inspiration behind the Arrows garden that you founded back in 1992?
Mark: The initial reason was necessity because we couldn't find the produce that was good enough for our restaurant. We had been in California before Maine and had access to nice fresh ingredients. In New England, in the late 80s, it was still really difficult. There were only a few local farmers and they were growing things and doing an okay business, some of them did a great business, but they couldn't supply our restaurant with quite enough produce. It was unreliable. We felt that we needed to go with the spirit of the people that lived here 100 years ago and just grow what we needed. People used to be self sufficient in many ways and now of course most people aren't. We thought that with a restaurant like Arrows and five acres of land, we could have an incredible garden and it really worked out.
Clark: For most of the year, the garden sustains almost all of the produce for Arrows, about 90-95%, and about 20-30% of the produce for MC Perkins Cove. It's a lot. It's the real deal and not just for show. It is three quarters of an acre and one of the most intensely cultivated pieces of land you'll ever find.
WC: Can you tell me a little bit about how you ended up opening a restaurant in Maine?
Clark: We were trying to open a restaurant in Carmel, California and it kept falling through. We had a backer, but Carmel is really expensive. One day, Mark's friends called and asked if we would like to buy this restaurant. Mark said, "Yeah, sure, but we don't have any money". They really wanted to give us the option to buy and encouraged us to come check it out. So we loaded up everything we owned, got in the car and drove across the country. We said, "What the hell, we've really got nothing to lose."
Mark: I knew the restaurant because I had lived in that area of Maine before, I frequented the restaurant, but never really thought I would buy it.
WC: Can you tell me about the wine list at Arrows? What is the philosophy behind the wine selections?
Clark: The wine list is split to a large degree between French and Californian wines, with maybe 1/3 devoted to other international regions. We have a particular depth in Bordeaux because Mark and I like Bordeaux and because we can't keep enough Burgundies on hand, mostly due to demand. The Burgundies fly out the door so fast. We used to have about 700 selections on the list. We paired that down during the recession and made the list leaner and cleaner. We have two cellars with a lot of capacity. We've tried to make the list as accessible and interesting as possible. We try to have a lot of interesting, lesser known wineries and eclectic options. We still love Bordeaux, so we keep collecting those and try to have a fair amount in that area.
WC: What was your biggest challenge in getting Arrows established in Ogunquit 23 years ago?
Mark: The location was challenging, because it is very seasonal in Southern Maine. We're not in a town, but in the countryside and in sort of a middle class resort area and Arrows evolved into a really upscale restaurant.
Clark: And if you will, the prejudice of Maine, that Maine is for lobster rolls, blueberry pies and down-home and it took people time to acclimate to the idea of a "Great Country Restaurant" which is what Arrows became. Rattle people's cage, and present a really interesting restaurant that's not in New York or New Orleans or Chicago, not in the city. This was a pretty wild concept and it still is. In the Americas, people still don't really look to the countryside for their restaurants. I think that was a really interesting challenge. And frankly, at that time Boston was a real backwater with just a couple of good restaurants. There was Jasper's and Aujourd'hui, and that was about it. That's why the Zagat guide kept having us as the most highly rated restaurant in New England.
WC: What experience(s) have had the biggest influence over your cooking style?
Mark: Working for Jeremiah Towers and Mark Franz at Stars [in San Francisco], had a strong influence on us. We consider them mentors.
Clark: The story I told during class about living in Beijing and the seasons. And Mark and I travel all the time. That really not only influences our food, but for example, all of the uniforms at Arrows are hand made in Thailand. All of the plates, a lot of the things at the restaurant are made for the restaurant from our travels. The food and the whole sensibility are influenced by our travels. We both really enjoy reading historical things, that's really influenced us a lot. For years we've done dinners that revolve around historical menus: Renaissance, Belle Époque etc.
Mark: Reading, research and travel are all elements that inform our cooking.
Clark: And then of course, the people who work with us have a big influence. Justin Walker has worked with us for 15 years and has had a real impact with ideas like foraging. Mark and I don't really forage, we'll go out with him, but he's the expert.
WC: Do you have a favorite wine region, if so, which is it and why?
Mark: I love Champagne.
Clark: We both love Champagne.
Mark: That would definitely be a favorite. For me, Champagne and then Burgundy. I like Burgundy more than Bordeaux. Clark prefers Bordeaux. I really love Burdundies…Drouhin is a favorite. For Champagne, I loved the Pol Roger earlier.
Clark: We love the Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill, which a friend brought for New Year's one year, a huge Methuselah sized bottle. We love rosé Champagnes too, especially Billecart-Salmon.
Mark: That's probably my favorite producer, especially the rosé.
Clark: Gosset is another favorite Champagne producer. I love Bordeaux, old and young, but it really has to do with the food for me. I like lighter wines now, as I get older, which is really odd. I always liked big wines, and now I'm more into light, food-friendly wines.
WC: If you could drink one wine every day, what would it be?
Mark: Bubbly.
Clark: Yeah, I could drink Champagne every day.
WC: What is your current favorite ingredient to work with?
Mark: That's a tough one. Probably the mushrooms that we've foraged lately.
On November 7th 2011, I attended the De Gustibus Cooking School's fascinating "Culinary Destinations" class taught by Mourad Lahlou, Executive Chef and Owner of Aziza, the highly acclaimed, modern Moroccan restaurant in San Francisco. Mourad's energy, passion and focus were apparent as he prepared a stunning seven-course menu. This was all on the tails of guest starring on the Martha Stewart Show, that morning!
Mourad was born and raised in the ancient Medina of Marrakesh amongst his large extended family. At 20 years old, he came to the United States to study economics at San Francisco State University. It was during this time that he began teaching himself how to recreate his favorite Moroccan dishes with local ingredients using his own creative techniques. This experimentation blossomed into his career as a trail blazing Moroccan-American chef.
Mourad's talent has not gone unnoticed. In 2008, he was named a Rising Star Chef by StarChefs, and in 2009, the Chronicle raised Aziza's rating to three and a half stars. Also in 2009, Zagat named Aziza one of the top 10 Bay Area restaurants of the decade, and Mourad won Food Network's Iron Chef America by a record-breaking margin. In 2010, Aziza became the first Moroccan restaurant to receive a Michelin Star. Needless to say, I'll definitely be making reservations at Aziza the next time I'm in San Francisco.
The bright, exotic flavors of Mourad's menu were perfectly paired with three delicious wines from the New Zealand Complexity portfolio. The citrus and apple flavors of our favorite New Zealand sparkling wine, the NV Quartz Reef Methode Traditionelle from Central Otago, were a sublime pairing for Mourad's Lentil Soup with date balls and celery salad. The fourth course, a Salt-Roasted Thai Snapper with lettuce puree, was beautifully paired with Complexity's Spy Valley Envoy Riesling from Marlborough. The third wine selection, Amisfield's Pinot Noir from Central Otago was delightful with all three! Cous Cous preparations that Mourad demonstrated. This incredibly versatile Pinot sailed us through the rest of Mourad's menu, pairing with both his Basteeya recipe (Moroccan meat pie) and his Beghrir (Moroccan pancakes).
After this energy packed class, I had the opportunity to ask Mourad some questions about his background and culinary career. The attention that he gave to my questions was impressive, especially considering the whirlwind day that he had. The Wine Cellarage's exclusive interview with Mourad Lahlou is below…
WC: I've read that you studied economics at San Francisco State University before becoming a Chef. At what point in your life did you decide to pursue a culinary career?
Mourad: Basically I just stumbled on it. I never knew that I was able to cook, I never knew that I had a palate that was clean and sophisticated enough for me to even taste good food. Initially, when I started cooking, it was as a student. I always invited people over because I didn't have any money and I would cook for people for their birthdays. That was literally what I did. Instead of going to a restaurant, I would bring my friends home and cook for them. I would prep for a whole day, sometimes for two days, and then people would come and we'd get together and eat. My friends would say, "This so good, this is the best food that I've had". I would think, "You're just saying that because it's free, of course you're going to say that." I never believed them to be honest with you. It became more and more precise in terms of people telling me why they liked the food. Little by little, I gained enough perspective on food that I felt that I could actually make food. Not just repeating dishes made either by somebody here, or back home, but I started actually intellectually trying to dissect and deconstruct every single thing that I was doing. Trying to understand the science, the physics and everything that happens in the dish, and once I get a grasp on that, I say, "Okay, this is what I could possibly do. It would be really cool if I take this out of it and introduce it back in a different form or texture."
WC: What do you consider to be the worst clichés and misconceptions about Moroccan food?
Mourad: The worst thing that I could possibly think of is probably that it is a food that is only enjoyed in the cliché setting of the tent, sitting on the floor and eating with your fingers and having a half naked woman shake her ass in front of you before you enjoy Moroccan food.
WC: Aziza's wine list is very unique and eclectic. Can you explain the philosophy behind the list?
Mourad: The list originally was put together by Mark Ellenbogen. He was doing my list for about 15 years. He was interested in biodynamic, organic wines. He hates wines from California, so we had no wines from California whatsoever, and people took offense to that. People would come to Aziza and see the list and say, "How can you be in a place like San Francisco and claim to be local and sustainable. Why are you bringing wines from across the world?" His argument to that was that he doesn't believe that the wines and winegrowers and makers in Napa have the same depth and the same philosophy as winemakers in Europe. When he first put the wine list together, he used to have it categorized as the "old world" and the "new world" and he really believed that the grapes that were grown in Italy and in Austria and Germany were far more superior than the grapes that were used in Napa. He also believed that the alcohol level in the wines that are made in America is a lot higher, so basically wine was made to make you drunk in a way, because of the percentage of the alcohol in it. He really believed that the lower alcohol levels in European wines made them more suitable for food, rather than just as a cocktail. He was more inclined to use wines from Europe. And he went with the Rieslings, because he felt that they paired really well with the spices of the cuisine and the sweetness. So, that's how he put it together. About two years ago, Mark decided to open his own restaurant, so now he's partnered up with a couple other people and opened Bar Agricole, and when that happened, a lady by the name of Farnoush Deylamian is the one who's taken over the list and she's been doing the list for a year and a half now. The list is more popular now than it was before because she's not so opposed to having wines from Napa but has picked them in a way that is so unique. She has great talent and is the same lady that does all of the cocktails as well.
WC: What experience(s) have had the biggest influence over your cooking style?
Mourad: The friendships that I have. My friendship with Daniel Patterson, the Chef-Owner of Coi, and David Kinch, the Chef-Owner of Manresa, those relationships have really been an inspiration.
WC: Is there a market in NYC that you would recommend for sourcing Moroccan ingredients? Do you have a favorite NYC marketplace?
Mourad: Kalustyan's Spices and Sweets on Lexington Avenue at 28th Street (123 Lexington Avenue).
WC: Do you have an all-time favorite ingredient to work with?
Mourad: That's a tough question, but I'd have to say it's time. I don't like to be rushed. If you skip a step or leave an ingredient out, the dish is not going to be the same. When making a Vadouvan spice blend for example, which is a French version of curry, every step is really important. I have to say that time is my favorite ingredient.
On October 17th 2011, I attended a riveting "Across the Seven Seas" cooking class at De Gustibus Cooking School, which was taught by Ben Pollinger, Executive Chef of Oceana, NYC's Michelin-starred shrine to seafood. Ben was joined by Oceana's Executive Pastry Chef Jansen Chan, who concluded the class with an impressive demo of four ethereal custards. Pollinger's dedication to showcasing the pure flavors of the ocean through his innovative cooking techniques was palpable in every bite that the class enjoyed that evening. Pollinger's informative demonstrations included boning and filleting a whole fish (a branzino) from start to finish.
A New Jersey native, Ben Pollinger graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY, as class valedictorian. Ben's distinctive cooking style is heavily influenced by his work and travels in France, Italy and Spain. In addition to sustaining Oceana's Michelin star for five years in a row, Pollinger is a father of three, an avid gardener and also makes the time to contribute to various charitable organizations including City Harvest, Share Our Strength, Autism Speaks and the James Beard Foundation.
Pollinger's five-course menu was magnificent, elevating the fresh seafood flavors with nuanced, expert preparations. The featured dishes included Striped Bass Sashimi with peach chutney and macadamias, Loup de Mer en Papillote and Whole Roast Branzino stuffed with spinach, mushrooms and olives. The menu was paired with three delightful Italian wines from the Banfi Vintners portfolio: Vigne Regali Pricipessa Perlante Gavi Sparkling, 2010 Vigne Regali Gavi Principessa Gavia and 2009 Vigne Regali Dolcetto d'Acqui L'Ardi.
The Wine Cellarage's exclusive interview with Chef Ben Pollinger is below…
WC: I've read that you have a 500 square ft organic garden, where is it located?
Ben: It's a home garden. I live in Oradell, New Jersey. Just to be completely honest with you, when it was 500 square ft, I was living in Lodi, New Jersey. It's a little bit smaller now, probably 300 square ft. I moved last year, last summer, and had to replant my garden and it's still a very large garden. Just because of my yard layout, I have another thirty pots with all different kinds of herbs, so besides my vegetables and such, I probably have about 30 different herbs. This year, I also planted a peach tree in my yard.
WC: What suggestions do you have for New Yorkers interested in urban gardening?
Ben: You need living soil for any kind of garden, but particularly for planters and potted plants. You need good living soil, not just sterile topsoil that you find at the garden center. You need living organisms in there. If you can, this is probably exceptionally hard, but if you can get farm soil, I would do that. I would suggest going to a farmer's market and asking a farmer, "hey, can you bring me a five gallon bucket of dirt and I'll buy it off of you." I would start with good Hudson Valley black dirt, North of NJ, old alluvial soils from ancient times and it's rich, black and really great. Try to buy a bucket of black dirt off of a farmer. If you can, amend your soil with compost. At the farmer's markets in the city, you can buy organic compost with worm castings and stuff like that. That's going to give you living microbes and living microorganisms. That and some worms, and each season, I would continually refresh your soil with fresh compost and get your hands on a mix of leaves. Keep your soil vibrant and alive. I know this is hard to do in an urban setting. In my garden, I add all of my leaves every fall. I dig them into my garden and they break down. Every summer, I take my grass clippings from the lawn and spread them like mulch in between the plants. Continually amending the soil with living matter. If you're ambitious, I would buy a composter for your sink with red worms in it. They look like earthworms, but they're small and red. If you can deal with worms in your place and you have enough room, get a composter. The key is good living soil.
WC: As a father of three and Executive Chef, how do you find the time for your philanthropic endeavors? How do you balance it all?
Ben: It's time management and organization. A balance of committing to what you can handle. Unfortunately, you can't fulfill every request. Every cause that you're asked to do is a great cause, but you can't fulfill every request. It's a matter of supporting the causes that are closest to you and good time management. It's a challenge. Long days.
WC: What experience(s) have had the biggest influence over your cooking style?
Ben: I would say, two main experiences. One is not a particular moment in time, but the general experience of having worked at Tabla for Floyd Cardoz, was the most significant experience that I've had for several reasons. It opened up an entire new world of cuisine, a style of food, a cuisine and ingredients that I had never been exposed to before. In terms of the whole Indian pantry and certain Indian techniques. Things that I would not really have ever learned anywhere else, and those things affect me not only in the way of knowing how to work and use Indian spices in an Indian manner, but just the general sense of how to use these ingredients now, and also the flavor profiles. Different kinds of flavor profiles that exist in that cuisine, things that I have been able to work into my cuisine now. Whether it will be some dishes that are Indian inspired or will seem Indian, but there's even a Greek dish on the menu tonight, incorporating dill and anise seeds, as well as adding fresh dill, gives another layer of flavor. Taking spices that I understand how to work with from an Indian perspective and using them in a non-Indian way.
The other main thing is working under Floyd is really where I learned to be a Chef. As opposed to being a cook or even a good Sous-Chef. He really taught me how to manage the business side of running a restaurant. Food is first, but you also need to hold the business side together. He really taught me how to do that. How to manage the labor and ingredient costs, how to manage scheduling and planning a menu. How to maintain a restaurant. He taught me how to run a restaurant.
The other main experience overall would have been the year that I lived in Monaco and worked for Alain Ducasse at Le Louis XV. The life experience of living overseas and living in a different culture was just huge. The general flavor profile and style of cooking and food that exists in the French Riviera and the South of France. More in general, the Northern Mediterranean, South of France, North of Italy, Coastal Spain, there are a lot of similarities in those areas that really affect my cooking. A lot of them are really driven by the same kind of lightness of flavor, clarity of ingredients. This may sound like a cliché, but olive oil instead of butter. It's really a lighter, cleaner style of cooking that I think overall really defines what I do, defines my style of cooking.
WC: Where does your affinity for preparing seafood and fish stem from?
Ben: Most restaurants, particularly at our level, generally break down the cooking responsibilities. They create stations based on either ingredient and/or the equipment that you're cooking it on. A lot of the restaurants that I worked in were very classic, where you have a cook who cooks fish, a cook who cooks meat, a cook who cooks vegetables, and as a cook, the fish station was my favorite station to work. I love cooking meat, and I'm very good at cooking meat as well, but I really just like the fish because there are so many more different varieties out there than meat. I think that fish can require a little bit more finesse to cook and it's a little less forgiving, so it's a little trickier to cook and a little more challenging. It's kind of more reflective of how I like to eat these days, a little lighter. I still eat plenty of meat, but I like how fish is generally a lot lighter than any given meat. As well, from the perspective of being a Chef, from an artistic perspective, you can apply a broader palate of other ingredients and styles and flavors to fish that are a lot more challenging than what you can do with meat, you can do a lot more with fish.
WC: Do you have a favorite wine region, if so, which is it and why?
Ben: Champagne. It's so refreshing and crisp, there are so many different styles within Champagne as well.
WC: If there were a wine you could drink every day, what would it be?
Ben: Champagne. I don't drink anymore, but when I did, I really enjoyed the bolder Champagnes. A blanc de noir or even a full-bodied yeasty Champagne, like Bollinger, Ruinart, Krug. Bigger, fuller Champagnes would be my preference.
WC: Do you have an all-time favorite ingredient to work with?
Ben: Good question. Olive oil. I use a lot of olive oil and there are so many different styles of olive oil.
WC: What is your wish for the future of food and dining in the U.S.?
Ben: I hope we get to a point where people have a better understanding of where their food comes from. And not that everybody has to be into everything, some people tonight were squeamish about when I was taking the guts out of the fish. That's fair enough and you don't have to be into that, but I think that people need to really understand that their food comes from a living animal that had to be killed to be put on their plate, and to respect that process, and that your produce comes from the land. Your chicken doesn't come from a Styrofoam package in the store, it comes from a chicken. I think we need to have an understanding of where our food comes from because the next thing we need is to live our lives in a manner, and eat in a manner, that supports overall sustainability and good health of the planet. I'm not against farmed protein or even farmed fish, but I think we need to have all of this stuff in a manner that's sensible. We need to have more of our food come from more natural sources and raised in a manner that is natural. We need to raise our protein in a way so that we don't need to jack them up with antibiotics to keep them from getting sick, or with hormones to get them to grow faster.
I wish we could get to a point where we treat food less as a commodity, and more as an actual ingredient that we're going to eat. There's a quote from this book Tomatoland, a farmer is asked what he thinks about the way that his tomatoes taste. He responds that he doesn't get paid by the taste, he gets paid by the pound. We need to grow foodstuffs that are for taste first, and support artisanal production. We need less industrialization of the food process. We need to have an understanding that quality food costs money, quality food can't be cheap.
In terms of food and dining, I think there's room across the spectrum of restaurants, for everything from very casual street food and small Mom & Pop restaurants, all the way to ultra-luxe dining, there's room for all of it, but I wish we got a little bit closer, particularly on my end of the spectrum, to cooking more from a natural perspective. I don't want to say that we should be stuck in the past and not move forward with new technology, but I want there to be a bit more emphasis on teaching folks how to cook, how to cook traditionally, and then move on to more modern things. But you have to understand where you came from to go someplace.


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Long-Term Business
Founded a little over 20 years ago, AutoMAC opened its first dealership in 1991. Located on 7146 Chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges, Montreal. Our inventory offers an outstanding selection of all types and brands for all budgets and all tastes. Though our main specialty is Imports.
We've been serving clients for over 20 years! We are always working on expanding our vision with AutoMAC! Great business starts by great Respect between the customer and the business, we always strive to give the best service possible out there!Stay tuned...
Management Team
We are a very proud family business with many employees, ready to serve you any way they can so that your experience at AutoMAC can become unforgettable. Come visit us now!


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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/).
Hazards in our indoor environments have been recognized since biblical times. The advice in Leviticus 14:33–48 for treating mold infested houses has contemporary meaning in the recent World Health Organization (WHO) document on damp and moldy indoor spaces [
Today concerns about indoor air quality in developed countries have found expression in green building guidelines, smoking bans, and product standards. Nevertheless, indoor problems persist because of faulty construction, complex building systems, deferred maintenance, new formulations of products and a growing recognition that our homes contribute to our body burden of chemicals. Increased time spent indoors and reduced air exchange rates have increased personal exposure to many compounds originating indoors. Residential environments have the potential to be critical sources of chemical exposures through their release from building materials, household furnishings, and a wide range of consumer products. This diversity of exposures mirrors the dramatic rise in the development and production of synthetic chemicals globally since the 1950s [
We live in an ever more complicated and connected world. A sustainable path for the built environment will depend on our wise use of resources as well as the protection of human health. Energy consumed to build and operate buildings is an obvious component of greenhouse gas reduction strategies. Ambitious energy conservation programs should not lose sight of the lessons learned 40 years ago when sealing buildings with reduced ventilation led to sick building syndrome, combustion source problems and mold with associated health and productivity losses. A warmer atmosphere has already brought increasing weather variability with increased frequency of extreme precipitation and hot spells. For non-air-conditioned homes, warmer nighttime temperatures and prolonged heat events are likely to alter indoor comfort due to the retained thermal mass of the structures, inducing heat stress. Increased humidity and excessive precipitation will lead to dampness in indoor environments and may exacerbate problems with mold. With insight from past indoor air lessons and precautionary use of untested synthetic chemicals, our indoor environments still to be built might offer climate adapted sanctuaries that promote health and reduce carbon emissions.
We are encouraged by recent WHO efforts to focus attention on issues related to housing and health, as well as the U.S. Surgeon General's recent Call-to-Action on Healthy Homes [


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Salem Oregon Coffee Shop
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Coffee In Motion is a unique Salem, Oregon drive thru coffee shop serving Millars 100% organic wood roasted fair trade coffee.
Coffee In Motion serves hot, iced and blended espresso drinks as well as real fruit smoothies, Italian sodas, Chai tea made with a special My Chai blend (the best tasting Chai tea around!). We also serve delicious bagel sandwiches, muffins, scones and more. Learn more about us!
You'll enjoy excellent customer service and some of the finest drinks around!
And, our largest drink...... 44 oz!!
Our Mission street double decker bus is open LATE, so if you're working late (or early) or traveling through, we are here for you! Delivery is also available from this location: Contact Us for more info.


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Guy Marks: Probably the funnest comedian you have NEVER heard of...
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Mini Biography
Guy Marks was arguably not a career actor but rather a topnotch entertainer who dabbled in acting. In this case it is the quality, not the quantity, of his work that merits him a place among the great character actors. He was better known as a stand-up comic and world-class impressionist. No one could steal a scene or a show like the fabulous Mr. Marks! He was born Mario Scarpa in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1923, the youngest of 11 children of concert clarinetist Ermedlindo Scarpa, a member of the RCA Recording Orchestra. He grew up on Phillie's South Side and frequently ran away from home working at odd jobs. As a young man he found his niche in comedy, especially impersonations, and he was a Master! He could do animals, birds, inanimate objects, just about anything and not just the sounds but the actions, the walks and the faces. When he did an impression of a famous person, he "looked like" that person. He toured the nightclub circuit opening for big stars like Eddie Fisher and Sammy Davis Jr. He worked in Las Vegas quite often. He guested on many TV variety shows such as "Ed Sullivan", "Hollywood Palace", "The Milton Berle Show" and "The Dean Martin Show." This eventually led to a role on a brief but hilarious comedy series with Tim Conway "Rango" as a very sarcastic Indian sidekick which was his greatest success. He appeared in the films: "Peeper" (1975) uncredited as Man in Alley (Bogart Imitation) and "Train Ride to Hollywood" (1978) as Bogie, a Humphrey Bogart look-alike, doing his impeccable Bogart voice impression. On TV he was a regular on the series: "The Joey Bishop Show" (1961-62) as Freddie; "The John Forsythe Show" (1965) as Ed Robbins; "Rango" (1967) as Pink Cloud and "You Again" (1986) as Harry.
Sadly, not many producers picked up on his talents or maybe it was that he preferred the nightclub circuit, but audiences were at a loss for it never the less. He also composed a "one-hit wonder" novelty song called "Loving You Has Made Me Bananas" that was quite popular in the 1970s. At the time of his death he had completed a TV series pilot with Sid Caesar which never panned out. His talents can be seen on the current video release of the "Dean Martin Roasts." He was married and divorced several times and was survived by two brothers and five sisters. He died on November 28, 1987 in Brigantine, New Jersey at age 64


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Padma Samye Ling Shedra
The Four Philosophical Schools Series
Study the academic and philosophical foundations of the path with the Venerable Khenpos. Recorded during the annual Shedra sessions at Padma Samye Ling.
Year One: The Vaibashika and Sautrantika Schools
Year Two: The Mind-Only School
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Transcripts also available; call for information.
Chant of the Secret Wisdom DVD
Now it is possible to listen and study teachings from Venerable Khenchen Palden Sherab Rinpoche and Venerable Khenpo Tsewang Dongyal Rinpoche in your very own home through the Morning Dawn Study Series. To purchase, click on any of the links which will take you directly to the Chiso Store.
If you have questions on any of the material presented in the Morning Dawn Study Series, please contact us at email@example.com


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by Staff Writers
Seocheon, South Korea (UPI) Nov 8, 2012
Eleven penguins from an aquarium in Japan have been brought to a South Korean facility to conduct research on the rare species, Korean officials said.
The penguins from the Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium arrived at the National Institute of Ecology in Seocheon on Thursday, The Korea Times reported.
Two female and four male chinstrap penguins and two female and three male gentoo penguins were taken to the institute after arriving at Inchon International Airport, South Korea's Ministry of Environment said.
Both species are rare with only around 100 chinstrap and 50 gentoo penguins being bred across the world.
"The penguins are for research about their behavior in a manmade environment such as eating habits and mating, which will be used for educational purposes," Cheong Seok-wan, researcher at the institute's planning office, said.
Researchers hope to increase the number of the chinstrap and gentoo penguins and exchange them with institutions abroad, officials said.
Hillary Clinton slams wildlife trafficking
"Over the past few years wildlife trafficking has become more organized, more lucrative, more widespread, and more dangerous than ever before," the top US diplomat told a meeting at the State Department.
Despite progress over the past three to four decades to clamp down on poaching, growing wealth meant demand was on the rise again.
"As the middle class grows, which we all welcome and support, in many nations items like ivory or rhinoceros horn become symbols of wealth and social status," Clinton said, urging all governments to join the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking.
"And so the demand for these goods rises. By some estimates, the black market in wildlife is rivaled in size only by trade in illegal arms and drugs.
"Today, ivory sells for nearly $1,000 per pound. Rhino horns are literally worth their weight in gold, $30,000 per pound."
The rise in trafficking in endangered animal species was also hitting domestic economies where local populations depend on wildlife for tourism, as well as spreading disease and helping to fund rebel militias.
"We all, unfortunately, contribute to the continued demand for illegal animal goods. Wildlife might be targeted and killed across Asia and Africa, but their furs, tusks, bones, and horns are sold all over the world," Clinton stressed.
The United States was now the second largest destination for smuggled animal goods, she said, adding "that is something we are going to address."
But Clinton insisted it was "a global challenge that spans continents and crosses oceans, and we need to address it with partnerships that are as robust and far-reaching as the criminal networks we seek to dismantle."
It was one of the messages that she would be taking with President Barack Obama to the East Asia summit in Cambodia later this month, she said.
Clinton urged the establishment of a global system of regional wildlife enforcement networks, which she was hoping would get off the ground with $100,000 being put up by the United States.
Clinton said she was also asking for an intelligence assessment of the impact of large-scale wildlife trafficking on security, saying she had been alarmed by reports from leaders in Africa.
"It is one thing to be worried about the traditional poachers who come in and kill and take a few animals, a few tusks, a few horns, or other animal parts," she said. "It's something else when you've got helicopters, night vision goggles, automatic weapons, which pose a threat to human life as well as wildlife."
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ASRock's latest AliveDual eSATA2 motherboard combines the M1695 chipset, originally designed by ULi, with Nvidia's nForce 3 250, which launched in 2003, to create a modern mash-up that may sound bizarre, but is also strangely compelling.
Thanks to AMD's commitment to backwards compatibility, the AliveDual eSATA2 will still be able to rock quad-core Phenom X4 CPUs, if that is what you want, and ASRock has had the foresight to build in support for up to 8GB DDR2 memory.
- Wireless broadband developments in Southeast Asia markets
As of 2013, the 10 ASEAN nations had a total of over 700 million mobile subscriptions, with the CAGR from 2003-2013 reaching 24%. This Digitimes Research Special Report analyzes the various mobile broadband markets in ASEAN and looks at the respective trends in 4G LTE development for those markets.
- 2015 global tablet demand forecast
This Digitimes Research Special Report provides a 2015 forecast for the global tablet market and analyzes the strategies of key market players such as Google, Apple, Intel, and Microsoft.
- 2015 China smartphone panel trend forecast
This Digitimes Research Special Report analyzes the strategies of key China-based major panel makers BOE, Tianma and IVO for attacking the different market segments through technology and pricing, and their relationship to local vendors Huawei, Lenovo, ZTE, Xiaomi and Coolpad.


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Urbanism in Evolution: New Urbanism and Beyond
Dr Stephen Marshall, University College London
This essay outlines an evolutionary interpretation of urbanism, and suggests implications for New Urbanism
[SM 17.10.07: 2730 words]
Had natural history turned out differently, Earth might have been 'urbanised' by smartly dressed bipeds descended from social dinosaurs. Evolutionary history teaches us that there is no single direction identifiable with progress; changes can go in any direction, according to context; there is no optimal form knowable in advance; no foreseeable destination. What is 'good' is relative, contingent and uncertain. In a sense, nineteenth century Darwinism gave us all the 'relativity' and 'uncertainty' that any postmodern theory might need to challenge the 'universal truths' of Modernism.
While it is easy to be critical of Modernism, there is no point in hauling down the whole Modernist edifice – trashing its rationality and trampling on its aspiration – if there is nothing viable to put up in its place. New Urbanism, at least, is not merely a critique of Modernism but actually offers a definite and constructive alternative – an alternative that is now subject to critical scrutiny, the more definite and more constructed it becomes.
New Urbanism is in fact a blend of modern, rational idealism and traditionalism, that may be identified more generally with neo-traditionalism. Neo-traditionalism may be regarded as the philosophy of adapting traditional urbanism to meet contemporary needs. Neo-traditional urbanism can be appreciated not only for its formal qualities or style or its traditionalism, but for being functional. That is, neo-traditional urbanism's porches and pitched roofs and courtyards and streets with shops and public transport can be regarded as being desirable because – to the extent that – they are more functional than the would-be functionalism of all the slabs-on-stilts and blasted asphalt of the Modernist landscape.
Neo-traditional urbanism is functional not least because it is based on inherited viable precedents – both in terms of urban formats and professional practices – that are adapted to a particular time and place. Indeed, this neo-traditional combination of tradition and innovation and adaptation has a direct resonance with what we identify in nature as evolution.
This essay argues that it is useful to understand urbanism in evolutionary terms, and suggests how an evolutionary perspective can articulate some of the challenges faced by New Urbanism. Here, we first interpret the organic and evolutionary nature of cities – outlining some arguments that are more fully elaborated in another work, Cities Design and Evolution– before directing attention and application towards New Urbanism, and beyond.
A city is not an organism
A city may be 'organic', but this does not mean it is an organism. A city is not corporate: it is not a finite, self-contained whole, constituted by parts that support the functioning of the whole, such that that the purposes of the parts are subordinate to the purposes of the whole. Also, a city is not in equilibrium: it does not have an optimal 'balanced' state, which it must maintain in the face of change. Finally, a city is not developmental: it does not, like an organism, develop progressively from birth to maturity; it does not grow and unfold like a seed growing into a tree, that however unique and unpredictable in detail, has a typical and predictable characteristic overall form. The three facets relating to corporate whole, state of equilibrium and developmental process are interlinked, and these make sense together in the case of an organism, but not, it is argued, for a city.
We can agree, then, with Christopher Alexander, that 'a city is not a tree'. Rather, a city may be likened to a forest, or, indeed, an ecosystem. A city, like an ecosystem, may appear to be a coherent whole in the sense of having a complex web of inter-relationships in which all components are ultimately inter-dependent. But, significantly, the parts are not subordinate to the whole. The individual components have their own agendas: these may be to some extent in co-operation, but they are also partly in competition. A city, like an ecosystem, can change over time in an open-ended manner; the end result is unknowable. There is no particular optimum equilibrium state to which it 'should' return to in resistance to forces of change. In other words, there is no final mature form towards which change is precipitated. In effect, urban change over time tends to be not so much developmental – like the unfolding of a whole according to a pre-envisaged blueprint – but may better be regarded as being evolutionary.
The evolutionary nature of cities
A city is evolutionary in the sense that urban change is gradual and incremental, adaptive, and ultimately transformative. While there is some continuity over time, there is no particular direction of progress, and the long term outcome is unforeseeable. A city may suddenly gain new extensions in new formats that are radical departures from what went before. There is no fixed functional or hierarchical order: a suburb may become the new centre; a new town may outperform an old city.
In this evolutionary perspective, a city is not a unitary whole, but a collection of many types of component – buildings, roads, transport modes, land uses, institutions, and so on. Each of these kinds of component may be said to evolve; indeed, these all co-evolve together. Urban evolution, then, is the long term aggregate effect of these co-evolving components.
As with biological evolution, urban evolution can be seen as involving a combination of variation and selective retention. Urban plans and designs and codes and patterns are varied and copied and selected for further copying and variation. Unlike biological variation and natural selection, of course, in the urban context there will be deliberate purpose applied to individual instances of variation and selection. Nevertheless, the long-term adaptive effect is emergent: it cannot be anticipated from individual increments of design. So, we make individual purposeful increments of intervention – to our buildings and streets and land uses and so on – but these do not follow a predictable developmental programme.
Significantly, urban evolution is a continuous process that applies as much today as in the past. That is, evolutionary urbanism is not some rudimentary historic process that was supplanted by modern town planning. From an evolutionary perspective, traditional 'unplanned' urbanism, classical town planning, old Modernism and New Urbanism are all part of the same evolutionary game. They each, to different degrees, have some innovation or variation, and some selective retention or building on precedent.
The evolutionary perspective outlined here is advocated not primarily for any theoretical organic appeal, but because it seems to work. It seems to fit urbanism much better than the sometimes contrived analogy between a city and an organism: the evolutionary perspective still allows cities to be interpreted as 'organic', without this interpretation being burdened by the limitations of the city-as-organism metaphor. In a sense, the evolutionary perspective liberates the organic interpretation of cities from the corporeal constraint of the organism.
But beyond organic wordplay, the evolutionary perspective seems useful as it can relate directly to real-world concerns of cities: the realities of urban change, social co-operation, economic competition, environmental adaptation, and different kinds of planning and design intervention. Put another way, whereas the city-as-organism is something rather mysterious and intangible, implying the need for expert understanding and intervention, 'urban evolution' although an abstract concept is something that everyone tangibly participates in, just as we participate in the abstract entity we call 'society' when conversing with a neighbour, or participate in 'the economy' when shopping online, or participate in 'the environment', when building or adapting our homes or tending our gardens.
Learning from evolution
Evolution teaches us that tomorrow's optimal is probably an adapted version of today's: that is, not exactly the same as today's, but still recognisably a progression from it. That said, a key lesson from evolution is that while the immediate next step may be foreseeably an improvement, the long term optimal future is unknowable. With urban evolution there is no knowable long term target form that might be said to be in the direction of progress.
Therefore, traditional models of large-scale urban structure, whether monocentric cities or polycentric conurbations, may be useful starting points to build from, but are not sacrosanct as models for future long term targets. Moribund models of what cities and city regions used to be like could be just as dysfunctional as the monstrous novelties of Modernism. 'Neanderthal' urbanism is not necessarily better than 'Frankenstein' urbanism (although the former, at least, was viable once). Instead, we should allow existing cities to adapt, and urban hierarchies and relationships between centres and suburbs to fluctuate, if they are to be responsive and viable. This implies some degree of receptiveness to novelty.
That a city is not an organism with a definite preferred form, 'in equilibrium,' means that deviations from the normal do not necessarily mean aberrations or pathologies, like decayed branches or diseased tumours that need to be cut away. Rather, departures from precedent could be innovative variations that could be the gateways to new future viable forms. Overall, the urban future is likely to contain – as ever – a combination of novelty and things retained: a mix of old urbanism, old Modernism, New Urbanism and new Modernism.
A challenge to New Urbanism
The evolutionary message here seems to have a direct resonance with one of two significant strands running through the New Urbanist agenda. This is the strand of New Urbanism that is perhaps closest to traditional urbanism: a respect for tried and tested urban formats; a sympathy with piecemeal growth and incremental renewal, and an appreciation of the adaptive effect whereby traditional urban forms seem to nestle organically within their physical and social contexts.
However, the New Urbanist agenda has a second significant strand, to do with the vision for what a contemporary city should be like: here, the image is of some kind of coherent metropolitan region, made up of a definite, preconceived structure of distinct cities, towns and neighbourhoods, perhaps with fixed types of zone in fixed locations. But this second strand does not necessarily follow from the first, especially in the contemporary context of modern democratic technological market economies such as the United States.
This is because an incremental, evolutionary, piecemeal, organic approach to urbanism is very likely – in the contemporary context – to lead to the very kind of chaotic 'sprawl' that the second strand of New Urbanism is trying to counteract. Put another way, in a democratic market economy, where people choose to live and work and access services where they will, enabled by cheap personal transport and telecommunications, then in the absence of planning intervention otherwise, the 'natural' or 'organic' outcome would be what we recognise as sprawl. Alex Marshall has said as much in How Cities Work; for example, in connection with the suburban 'city' of Silicon Valley, which can be interpreted as being as natural, vital and heterogeneous, in its own way, for its own day, as the Greenwich Village of Jane Jacobs' Death and Life of Great American Cities.
Conversely, to impose a pre-determined hierarchical structure of definitely contrived neighbourhoods, towns and cities seems uncomfortably like the kind of top-down planning that was identified over forty years ago as part of the problem of Modernist planning, by the likes of Jacobs in Death and Life and Alexander in A City is Not a Tree. Jacobs and Alexander were not just arguing against the dysfunctional products of Modernism – the 'concrete jungles' and 'prairie planning' – but they were arguing against the technocratic processes that created them. And so, despite the apparent consensus within contemporary urbanism that endorses these classic arguments of Jacobs and Alexander, there is a sense in which their lessons have not been learned. We are still in danger of churning out simplistic, professionally contrived hierarchies of settlements and neighbourhoods, which may superficially resemble traditional urban structures but are not necessarily functional like traditional communities, nor fitting for today's societal realities.
This evolutionary interpretation is perhaps uncomfortable for urban planning, as it draws attention to the limitations of being able to target optimal urban form. That said, acknowledging the evolutionary nature of urbanism need not mean we abandon attempts to intervene in the urban system for the common good. The point is to understand how best to intervene, informed by the evolutionary realities of urbanism, instead of organic metaphors that imply that urban professionals should be designing cities as if they intrinsically had optimal anatomies, or applying corrective urban 'surgery' to any departures from the municipally approved interpretation of the 'urban organism.'
Recognising the evolutionary nature of urbanism does not mean accepting 'the law of the jungle' or a laissez-faire free-for-all. After all, just as humans can intervene in biological evolution through artificial selection, public authorities can intervene in urban evolution through mechanisms such as development control, to over-ride the 'natural selection' of the urban market-place, where appropriate. It is a matter of getting the right kind and degree of intervention.
Civic intervention need not just mean development control, but could include the proactive generation of codes. Codes can specify urban components – such as building type, land use, street type, and so on – and how these may relate to one another. While the urban components and their relationships are organised in a pre-envisioned manner, the overall outcome can be left open. The code may be set by the planning authority to ensure a basic compatibility and functionality, for the public good, but otherwise allowing individual freedom for incremental construction, with no target form necessarily prescribed at the urban scale. In effect, a code-based approach could form the basis of a bottom-up system, where the public control is applied at the level of building type, street type or block type.
A suggested system based on different types of route type, frontage type, land use type and block type has been proposed elsewhere, in Streets and Patterns.
Shifting the units of planning and design to the level of streets and blocks is not only a technical matter but could have implications for the actors involved. In terms of professions, there could be a shift in the division of labour and creative control between planners and architects, code-writers and builders. But this could also extend to more proactive involvement of individual citizens as self-builders.
Such approaches could be supportive of the kind of organic urbanism implied by the spirit of Death and Life and A City is Not a Tree. They could also be compatible with Alexander and associates' A Pattern Language. That said, any such urban patterns and processes would not be universal or 'timeless' but would be expected to evolve over time, adapting to different contexts.
Paths beyond
Given the evolutionary nature of urbanism, we can expect New Urbanism itself to adapt and evolve in the future. In effect, New Urbanism faces a choice as to the emphasis given to the two identified strands: one that is more directed towards an incremental approach, that is closest to the processes of traditional urbanism, but which may in the contemporary context give rise to something rather chaotic and even sprawling; and an approach to replicating the large scale structures of traditional settlements and urban regions, that however implies processes that are more like conventional top-down Modernist planning (albeit with updated values and more sensitive implementation).
There is also a wider choice between New Urbanism settling for being a fashionable 'alternative' urbanism, a niche market of 'Nice Urbanism' (coexisting with conventional development and planning) where the movement is coherent and comfortable within itself, but only addressing part of the urban problem; or reaching out more to engage with issues tackled by the original town planning movement – issues of community in the widest sense, and the use of the land in the widest sense, and planning for the future in the widest sense – and become more like the 'New Planning'.
Ultimately, this becomes a matter of politics: to do with the role of the community or state in directing urbanism for the common good. It may not be knowable whether in the long run it is better to be more individualistic or collective, or, ultimately, how far we should go as a 'social' species. But in any case, evolution reminds us that our theories and practice must at least be workable with the world as it is: not as it was, and not just as we would like it to be.
[SM 17.10.07: 2730 words]


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|hope college > academic departments > provost's office
SALT in Moodle for mid-term assessment
If you are interested in using the SALT tool in an informal way for midterm course assessment, you can choose it as an activity within your Moodle course. If you use it in this way it will be totally for your own use and will not be aggregated through the Frost Center nor will it be available for others to see, and it will reside solely within your Moodle course.
Here is how you can activate it within your Moodle course:
Even if you don't employ Moodle for other purposes in your course, you can still use Moodle to administer this assessment. Remember that a Moodle course has been created for every course of the Fall semester, and all your students are registered in it.
If you have questions about using your Moodle course in this way or have problems activating SALT, please contact Barry Bandstra, Director of Academic Computing, firstname.lastname@example.com.


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Quick question for everyone who owns a SPR...
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Mogui, I hear you loud and clear, regarding the laziness factor.
Hence my desire to find something that's 'one-click' only.
RWood, your 'bookdesigner' suggestion sounds good also.
I may give that a go.
Sounds easier to use than PDF2LRF etc.
Heck, at the end of the day, I just wanna read books on the thing, so maybe plain text will be okay?
I don't care if it's "pretty-fied", but I DO know that my eyes find it easier and more enjoyable reading nice ariel-smooth fonts rather than the somewhat harsh edges and thin type of the *.txt font, if you know what I mean?
I guess I'll have to try them all out on the Sony and see how they look.
I don't suppose somebody could post a screenshot of how a standard text file looks on the reader?
That would be very helpful...
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Urias McCullough wrote:
On Tue, Oct 12, 2010 at 2:32 PM, Ithamar R. Adema <ithamar.adema@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:Unless a developer has access to i810/i815 Intel Graphics hardware, and the motivation to implement support for it, you'll be waiting for a long time.I do have at least one machine with an i810/i815 chipset (not sure which one) that I would be willing to part with, but it's a heavy brick-of-a-machine and I'd hate to ship it internationally... It's also not the healthiest machine - it may end up failing. Perhaps someone in the states is interested in working on support for this chipset? Gerald?
Hi Urias,I've thought about doing a video driver for the i810 and i815 chips since I do have computers that have these two chips. The thing that kept me from working on a driver for these chips is that AGP GART code has to be implemented to handle the memory for these chips.
I'll take another look at it, and if I decide to do it, it will certainly not be ready for the R1/A3 release.
-- Gerald