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WASHINGTON, DC, November 3, 2008 (ENS) - The Bush administration finalized a rule Friday that allows more than 15,000 factory farms across the country to avoid certain requirements of the Clean Water Act if they claim they do not discharge animal wastes into lakes, rivers and streams.
Federal officials said the rule will help protect water quality and ensure safe disposal of manure, but environmentalists contend it does neither and lets some of the nation's largest polluters police themselves.
"The rule makes it much harder for the long-suffering neighbors of factory farms to challenge operations that pollute their rivers and streams by holding them accountable under the Clean Water Act."
The rule affects concentrated animal feeding operations, CAFOs, which annually produce some 500 million tons of animal waste from cattle, pigs and poultry.
CAFOs store waste in massive open-air lagoons or dispose of it on land.
Spills and runoff of the waste, laden with the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorous, can contaminate drinking water supplies, kill fish and spread disease.
The regulation affects compliance with the Clean Water Act's National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System, NPDES, permitting requirements.
It calls on CAFOs that discharge or plan to discharge wastes into waterways to apply for an NPDES permit and to complete a nutrient management plan as part of their application.
Those who do not believe they need a permit will not need to apply for one.
The public will be allowed to review permit applications and nutrient management plans, according to Ben Grumbles, assistant U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator for water.
Grumbles said the new rule "sets a strong national standard for pollution prevention and environmental protection" while ensuring the industry remains economically viable.
The EPA estimates that the new rule will prevent 56 million pounds of phosphorus, 110 million pounds of nitrogen, and two billion pounds of sediment from entering streams, lakes, and other waters annually.
The agency said it is also providing an opportunity for CAFO operators who do not believe they need an NPDES permit "to show their commitment to pollution prevention by obtaining certification as zero dischargers."
But what that exactly means remains unclear.
EPA, for example, did not explain whether enforcement actions would be taken against operators who decided they don't need permits, but fail to achieve such certification.
The rule was released late Friday and officials were not available for comment. The EPA says the final rule will be published in the Federal Register at a later date.
Jeffrey Odefey, staff attorney at the Waterkeeper Alliance, called the rule "an unworkable muddle" that fails to offer "meaningful protection of our nation's waters and communities."
But industry groups contend the rule effectively sets a "zero-discharge" standard for all livestock operations.
"With or without a permit, swine operations that are not well managed and have discharges are facing severe penalties," said Michael Formica, environmental policy counsel for the National Pork Producer Council. "These rules really raise the water quality bar for us, but despite this challenge, producers are going to make this rule work."
Bob Stallman, president of the American Farm Bureau, echoed that view.
"A positive aspect is that livestock farmers will have flexibility to evaluate their farm and determine whether or not to secure a permit," Stallman said. "Regardless of the farmer's decision, there is no doubt they will have to meet challenging environmental standards."
Environmentalists are far from convinced.
The voluntary decision as to whether an NPDES permit is needed "would not be reviewable by federal or state authorities under the final rule," according to Eric Schaeffer, director of the Environmental Integrity Project and a former EPA enforcement official.
The regulation "literally puts the foxes in charge of their gigantic henhouses, as well as hog and dairy confinement operations," he warned.
The EPA said the rule responds to a 2005 court decision that rejected a 2003 regulation developed to tackle the same issue.
The court found the 2003 regulation failed to ensure that factory farms would be held accountable for discharging animal wastes into the nation's waters. It also called on the EPA to remove the requirement that all CAFOs apply for NPDES permits.
But the court's ruling, Schaeffer said, did not mean EPA needed to hand authority over to the industry to make permitting decisions. "The court and the law provide the EPA with the tools to determine which animal confinements are likely to pollute and therefore require permits."
-- By J.R. Pegg, ENS Washington Bureau Chief
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2008. All rights reserved.


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NUWC Lab Will Launch Ideas For Uses Of Big Payload Tube On Future Submarines
By Jennifer McDermott
The Day
May 5, 2014
Possibilities will be explored with mockup at NUWC in Newport
Possibilities will be explored with mockup at NUWC in Newport
Newport, R.I. — Inside the "launcher laboratory" at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, underneath a large hatch, stands a tube 30 feet high.
Eventually the 15-by-15-foot hatch will open and a crane will lower in weapons and sensors - and whatever other new technology defense researchers can dream up - to be launched from the "Virginia Payload Tube."
The payload tube is identical to the vertical missile launch tubes designed for new Virginia-class submarines. Beginning with the North Dakota, currently under construction, new Virginia-class boats will have two launch tubes, each with a diameter of about 7 feet, instead of 12 smaller ones that each can hold only a single Tomahawk cruise missile.
On submarines with the new, larger tubes, the Navy may eventually want to use Tomahawk missiles that can travel farther because they are bigger than the missiles used today. Or it may want to deploy unmanned aerial or undersea vehicles to collect data, sonar to look for mines, or equipment for several tasks, said Rear Adm. David M. Duryea, the warfare center's commander.
"Those are the things that are out there in the future," he said. "I think there will be a lot of excitement, a lot of innovation in that area as we go forward."
The Navy and Electric Boat are building the tube together. The Navy will test and develop new ways of using the tube at the NUWC lab before putting them on the Virginia-class attack submarines of the future.
Duryea said that after the payload tube is finished this summer he will invite businesses to the facility in Newport to measure it. They may think of new ideas for what could go in it, he added, and later, they could try out their innovations there.
"The Virginia Payload Tube significantly expands the types of payloads that can go onto submarines, and this test site will help us to incorporate sensors, weapons and other equipment that will be essential in the 21st century," said Kurt A. Hesch, EB's vice president for the Virginia program. "As a company with a long history of integrating payloads into submarines, we're looking forward to working with NUWC to provide the Navy what it needs to keep submarines as the ultimate multimission platform."
The tube is at NUWC, and not at EB, because NUWC already had a building for it, where all of the Navy departments and contractors could use it. And with the initial testing done inside a facility, it frees up a submarine that would otherwise have been needed.
"And everything that goes into the tube needs to be evaluated. That is our core area," Paul Melancon, the project lead at NUWC, said.
The building that houses the tube is called the Undersea Warfare complex, or launcher laboratory, because it is also home to several torpedo launchers being tested for surface ships and submarines. The roof was raised 30 feet so missiles and vehicles could be lowered into the tube. EB built the 50-ton tube at its Quonset Point facility and a giant crane lowered it through the roof and into the building in November.
The cost to construct the system, modify the building and pay for labor is $22 million, funded primarily through the Navy's Virginia-class program office.
Even as the Defense Department budget shrinks, Duryea said, the nation continues to invest in undersea warfare "quite a bit" to stay ahead of adversaries and ensure maritime trade routes remain open. The Navy awarded EB a record $17.6 billion contract on April 28 to build two attack submarines per year from fiscal 2014 to 2018.
"I think that says a lot about the value of the submarine force," Duryea said.
On Wednesday, employees from Electric Boat and NUWC installed piping for the tube.
Some of the EB employees involved in the project had been recalled to work on the North Dakota, said Mark Rodrigues, the department head for platform and payload integration development at the warfare center. The North Dakota's commissioning recently was postponed, according to the Navy, to allow for more time for additional design and certification work on the redesigned bow and to resolve material issues with vendor-supplied components.
The payload tube project is at least four to eight weeks behind schedule, Rodrigues said. But, he said, the plan is to finish the payload tube at the same time as the North Dakota goes to sea, so they have more time now that the commissioning is delayed.
Rodrigues said the warfare center's tube will also be used for training and for troubleshooting any issues once the North Dakota and its successors are out in the fleet.
"Those big tubes, by definition, support six Tomahawks. In the future, we have some 50 percent more volume, which can accommodate other future payloads beside Tomahawks," Rodrigues said. "That's the real strategic return on investment. It gives us the ability to explore the integration of those payloads. That is the big, future bang for the buck."
A ribbon cutting is tentatively planned for August. Duryea said the warfare center will have a "great facility to experiment," where what experiments they do will be determined by "people's imaginations."

subset: commoncrawl


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UFC.com sat down with Ultimate Fighter 19 semifinalist Roger Zapata for a Q&A on his TUF experience.
How Did You Get Your Start in MMA?
I got my start in mixed martial arts at age 22 when I went to my first boxing gym. I always liked to wrestle and do jits. I wrestled for a year in high school and I liked watching MMA and decided I would try to do it myself.
Tell Us About Your First Fight….
My first amateur MMA fight, I actually had two fights in one night. It was a great experience. It was old school, just brawling out, definitely more street fight than technical fight. I won both fights. I have them on video and they are great to check out because it was just old school and all heart, the same way I fight now.
What Was The First UFC Fight You Remember Watching?
Man, I was always watching it. I remember watching Royce when I was younger and my mom telling me I couldn't watch this stuff.
Mom's thoughts now?
Ahh, man she hates it. My mom hates it. She tells me all the time, why did you get a degree if this is what you're going to do. I tell her, "I don't know why I got a degree; I guess it looks better for the UFC."
How has your family influenced your decision to fight?
My mom is such a soldier. She's worked two jobs her whole life because she's always wanted to improve our life. So it's easy to work hard seeing her do the same.
Feeling Homesick?
I just had a baby daughter so I'm getting homesick about my daughter. It's been seven weeks since she was born. She was born on Tuesday, I left on Sunday, so I'm just excited to see her and see what color eyes she has. My girlfriend has blue eyes, so I'm hoping hers are too.
Dive Deeper into this Topic in Zapata's Profile by Tom Gerbasi
Favorite Thing About Being on The Ultimate Fighter?
It would definitely have to be fighting in front of Dana White. He's the boss, man. I am trying to make a show for him.
Funniest Person in the House?
Man, I didn't really find anyone too funny in the house to keep it 100 percent. There were no real jokers in the house.
On In-House Feuds?
There were a few feuds, but they only lasted an hour or two. I had one with Corey but it lasted like 10 minutes. He said something to me, I took it the wrong way, so we confronted each other but talked it out like grown men. And then, there was another time he said something stupid to me again. So we confronted each other again. But we talked it out.
On Todd Monaghan's in-house bible study...
Yea man, Todd has been just opening up everybody's mind about the bible and just preaching the good word on Sunday's at the house, which is an excellent experience. I am a Catholic, but I don't go to church that much, so it was good because that created better vibes in the house. There were times when the house felt like it going explode and Sunday came and everybody got that spiritual dust on 'em.
Most memorable moment of this season?
My man, Tim the Tank, running around naked. That's the most memorable, man. He's a wild dude. He said he didn't want to drink, he had one drink and turned into Tim the Tank.
Jamahal Hill Talks UFC 300 Main Event
Hall Of Fame


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Boooo! We broke the news of this update first. Angry Birds Seasons v3.0.0 is now available for iOS, PC, Mac, and Android via Google Play and Amazon Appstore, with more platforms coming soon. The update includes a brand new episode called, "Haunted Hogs", which appears inside a new, "Seasons 3" group. In typical Seasons fashion this looks to be a spooktacular update. Without further ado, let me jump into the gory details.
Attention Android Users: An update has landed for Google Play as v3.0.1, which reportedly fixes a crashing issue that some users were reporting. The initial release for Amazon Appstore is as v3.0.1.
This update includes
- 30 new levels that take you deep inside a haunted mansion. Did one of those spooky paintings in the background just blink at me? Run!!!! Ahhhh!! Vampire-pigs, Fraken-pigs, scarecrow-pigs oh my! Walkthroughs are live.
- Golden Eggs include a "Big Bat" bonus Golden Egg level that is unlocked after 3-starring all levels. There is one additional Golden Egg to be found in a level. Our Complete Angry Birds Seasons Golden Eggs guide is completely up-to-date, so check it out if you need help.
- Ghost blocks! These apparitions are there, but they really aren't. Ghost blocks hold up structures, sway, fall and break like normal blocks, but the kicker is you can shoot right through them.
- Optimized for the iPhone 5! Yep, the first major version of Angry Birds to extend all the way to edges of your shiny new toy.
- No power-ups! Which is a darn good thing if you ask me.
- No new achievements for iOS. This is expected, since there is really no space for Seasons achievements points.
- Flashback! (Pro Tip!) Orange jack-o'-lanterns (from Trick or Treat) are worth 3,000 points, and black jack-o'-lanterns (from Ham'o'ween) explode!
Helpful Links
- Need help getting those Golden Eggs? Check out our Complete Angry Birds Seasons Golden Eggs Guide that has been updated with the Golden Eggs from Haunted Hogs.
- 3-Star video walkthroughs for all 30 levels are live. Check them out if you need help!
- Want to see where you rank among some of the best players in the world? Enter your scores on our Angry Birds Seasons Leaderboard today.
Bugs That We're Checking
The Angry Birds Seasons Back to School update introduced a few bugs, which we've listed out below. We will see if these are fixed and update their status as soon as possible. We will also include any new bugs that arise.
- FIXED (Bug 45 iOS/PC/Mac): Confirmed fixed on iOS (v2.5.1) and PC/Mac (v3.0.0).
The Level Selection Screens for "Wreck the Halls" and "Season's Greedings" are not displaying properly (see this image for an example). - FIXED (Bug 46 iOS/Android/PC/Mac): Confirmed fixed on iOS, Android, PC, and Mac.
Seasons Golden Egg 16 (in Easter Eggs) is now a broken Rube Goldberg machine (see the walkthrough page for more). - UPDATED BUG! WARNING! (Bug 47 iOS/Android/PC/Mac): The original bug, in small print below, is confirmed to have been fixed on iOS, Android, and PC. However, a new bug has arisen. While the levels were un-flip-flopped, the scores were not! PLEASE avoid playing these levels. Rovio has been pinged and we hope they will quickly rectify this issue, as it directly effects data files. Leaderboard entry for these levels has been temporarily closed to avoid corruption.
The Golden Eggs in Moon(cake) Festival have been flip-flopped (see this comment thread for more). As a side effect, the "Golden Mooncake" and "Big Mooncake" unlock backwards (i.e., collecting all 8 slices unlocks the Big instead of the Golden; 3-starring unlocks the Golden instead of the Big). - FIXED (iOS/Android/PC/Mac): Confirmed fixed on iOS, Android, and PC. Mac pending.
Piglantis 2-9 minimum 3-star score has changed. It was 100,000 in the original release and was changed to 102,000 in v2.5.0. - Pending (Bug 48 iOS/Android/PC/Mac): The "New Year Egg" from Wreck the Halls cannot be unlocked in v2.5.0.
- New Bug (PC only): The ropes on the slingshot are not visible on PC.


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Find Our Latest Video Reviews on YouTube!
If you want to stay on top of all of our video reviews of the latest tech, be sure to check out and subscribe to the Gear Live YouTube channel, hosted by Andru Edwards! It's free!
Monday May 2, 2011 1:21 pm
RIM announces BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930, BlackBerry 7 OS
iPhone Retina Display meet BlackBerry "liquid graphics." RIM today announced two powerful new BlackBerry phones with high-res touch screens, fast 1.2-GHz processors, and a new OS that offers better graphics than BlackBerrys had before.
The BlackBerry Bold 9900 and 9930 are the HSPA and CDMA/HSPA+ versions of the same thing: a stretched-out BlackBerry Bold with a 2.8-inch, 640-by-480 touch screen. That isn't high resolution compared to other top-of-the-line smartphones, but it's a very rich, dense screen for its small size.
The two phones run 1.2-GHz Qualcomm processors and have 8GB of storage, 5-megapixel cameras with 720p HD video recording, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
The phones also have built-in NFC, the much-touted technology that could enable phones to be used as mobile wallets, if banks ever decide to support it. NFC may have applications in businesses, though, for things like proximity-based ID cards.
The new BlackBerry 7 OS brings the "liquid graphics" ability, which we're sure to hear more about at the BlackBerry World trade show later today. According to RIM's press release, it offers "60 frames per second performance with instant UI action/response," which doesn't necessarily mean anything. We'll have to see how it performs in demos today.
Rather than being an entirely new OS, BlackBerry 7 is an upgrade to the existing BlackBerry 6 OS. It's "designed to power the new BlackBerry Bold platform"—implying it may not work on earlier phones—and it adds better graphics capabilities, a faster browser, and BlackBerry Balance, which lets users segregate personal from business content on their smartphones.
In a Tweet, T-Mobile USA confirmed that it will carry the BlackBerry Bold 9900. The phone will come out "this summer," RIM said. We'll have a full hands-on of the phone later today.
This article, written by Sascha Segan, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.
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Spanish Verb Conjugation - gargarizar
Use our Spanish Verb Conjugation Tool (and translator) to conjugate and translate over 10,000 spanish verbs.
Listed below are some of the commonly selected verbs. Click on the verb and you will see its full conjugation and translation.
Return to the Spanish Verb Conjugation index page
Popular Phrase: conjugate sacar | Spanish Alphabet | Conjugated Verb: almacenar - to store [ click for full conjugation ]


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Oracle is buying Corente, maker of SDN technology for WANs (wide area networks), in a strike against competitors Cisco and IBM. Terms of the deal, which is expected to close early this year, weren't disclosed on Tuesday.
With Corente, Oracle will have a suite of network virtualisation products that extends from LANs (local area networks) in corporate data centres to WANs, according to a statement.
"Oracle customers need networking solutions that span their data centres and global networks," Oracle Chief Corporate Architect Edward Screven said in a statement."Enterprises will be able to easily and securely deliver applications and cloud services to their globally distributed locations."
Companies want to deploy applications in a hybrid fashion, with on-premises implementations connected to cloud services, Oracle said in a FAQ document released Tuesday. This is difficult and expensive work that Corente's technology makes much easier and faster, according to Oracle.
Corente's products include Cloud Services Exchange, which "establishes trusted network services between public or private cloud data centres and any location over any IP network," according to the FAQ.
It also offers Services Gateway, a virtual appliance that creates secured endpoints for private networks.
Overall, the Corente deal reflects Oracle's efforts to position itself as a one-stop shop for cloud computing, particularly as a technology stack for cloud services vendors themselves.
Last year, Oracle signed a high-profile deal with Salesforce.com that will see the latter company, which is the industry's largest pure cloud software vendor, commit to using Oracle technology for the long term.
Corente's customers include British Telecom, and it has partnered with IBM, VMware, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Microsoft, according to its website.


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Featured Blog | This community-written post highlights the best of what the game industry has to offer. Read more like it on the Game Developer Blogs.
Eight Mechanics to Enhance Cooperation in Online Games
Explores how game developers can increase cooperation in online games using research from social dilemmas such as the prisoner's dilemma, stag hunt, public goods, or common-pool resources. Examples demonstrate how research can be implemented in design.
July 5, 2011
Travis Ross is a Ph.D. Candidate in Communication & Cognitive Science at Indiana University. This and other work from this author can be found at: www.motivateplay.com
As we move through the world we sometimes find ourselves in interactions where what is best for ourselves is not best for those around us. Pollution, overuse of resources, the maintenance of roads, and welfare for the poor and unfortunate are all examples. This type of situation is often referred to as an n-player social dilemma: there are a number of players(n), there is a temptation for individuals to act selfishly, and selfish behavior has negative consequences for the group as a whole.
In virtual worlds it may seem that we are fortunate because resources can be unlimited. If energy shortage is a problem, just program in unlimited energy. If pollution is a problem, just design production so there is no waste or byproduct. However, having unlimited resources in games is often not an option for designers because the nature of human behavior ties scarcity to motivation and value. A quick glance at a supply and demand curve can demonstrate that scarcity drives up price. Scarcity is also closely tied to status. A scarce good is a signal for skill or resources. It feels good to collect and own things that are scarce because they are generally valuable, or they signal that you are unique and awesome. In these scenarios competition and selfishness are fun for the winner. The game is zero-sum in that the winner gets the spoils and the losers get only the experience of trying. However, sometimes when a good is scarce, it can be more rewarding to preserve or sustain the resource for all to use. In these situations there maybe gains in fun, or even resources for patience and cooperation. Cooperation makes the pie bigger and everybody gets a slice. In addition, there are social benefits as the ensuing cooperation sows trust and creates/consolidates friendships.
Besides situations with scarce resources, social dilemmas can also occur as a result of pollution, which can occur via undesirable behaviors like griefing or ninja looting – see my post on communication channels in Brink. In these situations, an individual maybe motivated by an intrinsic motivation that is not directly related to advancement in the game. Perhaps they enjoy dominating another individual, or maybe they are just trying to make a cooperative experience competitive. Research on the motivations of griefers is limited, but most of us have probably been on the butt end of griefing, or experienced someone playing in a selfish or anti-social fashion.
Another reason social dilemmas might exist is that designers may accidentally/or intentionally design them into the payouts of a game. Once a feature is in the game it can be hard to change or remove. This may lead to fun and excitement for players who enjoy competition or selfish play, but for social players who want to make friends, or those who want to try and cooperate for a change of pace, it is preferable to at least have a mechanic available that allows a group to avoid having only selfish outcomes in social dilemmas. In some games where social dilemmas were not solvable via game mechanics emergent groups have formed using third party resources or other means to provide a solution.
In the following section I will detail some of the findings from research on social dilemmas. In doing so, I will focus on findings that detail how to promote or increase cooperation. It's worth noting that I won't be doing a literature review. Rather, just pointing out where the basic idea comes from (if you have questions about further reading feel free to get in touch). In addition, I'll provide some examples of game scenarios where this type of research could be applied as a game mechanic. Hopefully, enterprising game designers can use these insights to recognize and, when necessary, build in features that allow social dilemmas to be solved, and perhaps more importantly use these findings to design game mechanics that incentivize cooperation, and allow them to more easily form stable friendships in online games.
1,2, & 3: Iteration, Reputation, and Choice of Partners
Social Dilemma Research
During 1980, in one of the seminal events involving game theory and strategy selection research, Robert Axelrod, a professor of political science at the University of Michigan, held a tournament that pitted various strategies against one another in a repeated prisoner's dilemma. What made the tournament unique what that Axelrod invited famous social scientists from all over the world to submit strategies that they believed would excel and then pitted them against one another. The results of the tournament were particularly interesting because a very simple and relatively cooperative strategy won. Its name was Tit-for-tat.
In order to understand why Tit-for-tat was able to succeed, it is first important to understand the context in which the tournament was played. Looking at the prisoner's dilemma in more detail shows that being cooperative opens a player up to deception and defection. In fact, the Nash equilibrium of the prisoner's dilemma is mutual defection, but there were two key features that allowed cooperation to be more successful than defection in Axelrod's tournament.
The first feature is iteration. Since Axelrod's tournament was played over multiple rounds sustained cooperation could do better than defection. If two players could team up they could do better by cooperating over the long run than two players who were defecting. However, defectors who pair up with cooperators for just one round or remain anonymous can still perform well.
In order for mutual cooperation to be successful other conditions must exist as well. Players must first be able to identify those who have cooperated with them in the past. In a population of players it isn't useful to cooperate expecting mutual cooperation and have the other player defect against you. In this situation, players must have both memory and reputation must persist. These features allow cooperators to cooperate solely with other cooperators since they can identify defectors and sanction them with mutual defection.
Implications for Game Design
Reputation, iteration, and choice of partners are important features for any game design not just social dilemmas. Almost all modern online multiplayer games are iterated and feature matching systems, however, iterated matching systems can come in a variety of forms. It is worth noting that an important variable in iterated matching systems is reputation. With reputational markers, and an appropriate iterated matching system, players can avoid players who have caused problems in the past. In addition, some companies have created mechanisms for identifying cheaters and problem players. Allowing them to remove these players from the system, which lets players engage in iterated random matching with less fear of being matched with cheaters, ninja loots, griefers, and jerks.
Iterated Random Matching – Players are matched randomly with other players. Depending on the size of the community you might never see the same person twice. Random matching was used more often in the early days of online gaming. As games have begun to sit on meta-platforms like GameSpy, Steam, Facebook, and Xbox Live random matching has given way to more sophisticated guided matching systems. However, random pairing can still be found in a wide range of games such as FPS, sports, and RTS.
Iterated Guided Matching – Players are matched with other players on a range of features including reputation, experience, and play style. Some degree of persistence is entailed in the player profile as stats and preferences are tracked. Guided matching is different from self-selection because it is guided by a third-party (generally a computer algorithm).
Iterated Self-Selection – Players are allowed to self-select their partners. Self-Selection works in some conditions like MMO guilds where players can take time to be choosey, however it may actually slow the process of play in games where pairing must occur frequently and holds up more intrinsically motivating elements of play. Imagine trying to self-select each group in CoD match. Most games provide the appropriate and obvious design feature here; providing options for both self-selection and guided matching. Consider World of Warcraft, which followed in the footsteps of many MMOs by only allowing self-selection for instanced dungeons. Once Blizzard recognized that players were creating their own emergent matching systems (players are less picky about 5 man dungeons that raids) Blizzard was able to provide players with a guided matching system (Dungeon Finder) that build groups on the fly, saved players considerable time, and incentivized pick-up groups.
So far I have been talking about matching systems where everyone exists in a search space. The only constraint to space is filtering information. However, games like MMOs have physical space. Although matching systems like a dungeon finder or an auction house remove these constraints, space is still worth considering as a mechanism for matching players. For example, in MMOs space provides a means for matching players who are on the same quest or are looking for a trade partner. It seems obvious when I identify space as a mechanism for matching, but space is a feature that meta-systems like Xbox-live often lack and something that we take for granted. Space also plays a big role in social dilemma research1. As spatial configurations influence the success and failure of different strategies.
Space is still an useful way to allow your players to discover others with similar needs and interests. One example is how Rift uses zone events to filter players into public groups. Here the matching system is purely self-selection. Players who are interested in participating in the event simply need to find other players who are participating – Rift designers should consider that this is sometimes a challenge – and then they can join a public group where they know everyone is trying to achieve the same goal. Here space segregates the population based on goals, interests, and motivations.
Reputation systems are closely tied to matching systems. Reputation provides players with a mechanism for quickly determining if a given partner is trustworthy. There is a very wide range of scientific literature on reputation – enough to fill its own post, or even a book. In online games and social media reputation systems have grown in importance because they solve coordination problems for players. Reputation systems are often combined with anti-cheat systems to filter out the problem players who are recognizable. They also provide a second level of reputation for members of the community to avoid problem players. There are a wide variety of reputation systems that exist, and I am going to discuss what I believe are a few important elements of them. In most of the scientific literature on social dilemmas anonymity breeds defection. Players are probabilistically more likely to defect when others can't identify them because when a player is anonymous it is impossible to sanction them. In general the key to reputation systems is to create a system that makes it difficult to be anonymous, which seems easy enough but can be a challenge in online environments.
Persistence – The first place to start is by creating player profiles that are persistent. When a players profile exists at a meta-level and travels between games the player must be more concerned about their reputation. Before social networks most profiles were not persistent, but now it is the norm for a meta-level profile to exist for a gamer.
Switching Costs – Persistence isn't really that useful without some switching cost. Without switching costs a player has no repercussions for leaving their old profile and staring a new one. The thought here is, "If my current profile gets a bad reputation then I can just make another one". Luckily there are many things that raise switching costs. Bound virtual items have real value and are locked on the character. Facebook profiles have the cost of creating a new identity (high cost when you use your real identity to begin with). Simple things like stats and achievement can add to switching costs.
Friction – Of course a player who wants to be a jerk could simply create a fake account and go to town. This is where tying accounts to real-ids and credit cards has value. Friction is generally thought of as the bane of web-developers, but in the case of reputation friction is an essential part of the switching cost. If creating a new account takes time, requires a credit card, costs money, is tied to my phone number, or has some sort of activation period, then switching costs are raised an reputation is by consequence more persistent.
4: Reciprocity
Some scientist argue that reciprocity is intrinsic to human nature because evolutionary pressures favored those who engaged in reciprocal transactions. In a previous blog post I detailed how this might be possible. Given that I've covered some of the literature on reciprocity in the past I'll quickly note that reciprocity can improve cooperation in a social dilemma because it allows for gains from trade, facilitates communication, and creates ongoing relationships between individuals or groups.
Some writers including members of this site have questioned if social games are using the innate human desire for reciprocity for evil. However, reciprocity is also a force for good. I'll list some mechanisms that take advantage of reciprocity in games (I won't cover nearly all of them):
Left 4 Dead allows players to heal one another when they are injured. Rather than keep the health for themselves they can share in the hope that someone will share with them in the future.
Most MMOs Have a Need/Greed/Pass feature. Individuals who establish that they are willing to pass or greed on items that are not immediately useful to them expect future reciprocal exchange.
In Settlers of Catan allows players to trade with one another. Reciprocal alliances often form where players make mutually beneficial exchanges in hopes of increasing the probability of winning.
In Social Games players often have the ability to give gifts to others. The hope is that other will return the favor.
Team Sports require a sharing of a ball or puck in order to make the team better. The hope is that if I pass the puck or ball to you for a tap in, you'll do the same for me later.
These are only scratching the surface so feel free to comment if you can think of additional situations.
How to build a game mechanic around reciprocity:
1. Give the players a means to reciprocate If there are not opportunities for reciprocal exchange then players won't be able to do so. Often scarcity and gains from trade and specialization provide mechanism for players to reciprocate with one another. Space is an important consideration if your game has a lot of diversity. Using space to direct players who have common interests, or putting players with common interests into groups is a means to achieve this.
2. Make sure players can communicate their intentions. In a reciprocal transaction the first player to act altruistically puts themselves in danger of defection. If players can communicate their intentions quickly and efficiently it can lead to less confusion and reduce the chance of accidental defection. Providing players with a mechanism to make credible threats can increase cooperation. When a player can retaliate defection becomes less likely. One easy way to do this is through persistent reputation, for the reasons listed above.
3. Give the players a reason to interact again. Once players have helped each other don't let the positive feelings and cooperation fade away. Give those two players another opportunity to cooperate.
5: Payoff Structure
It may seem obvious that the payout structure of a social dilemma can increase or decrease cooperation, but one of the more interesting findings of social dilemma research is that playing certain strategies or making structural changes can make a prisoner's dilemma (where the equilibrium is mutual defection) into an assurance game (where the equilibrium is mutual cooperation).
Tit-for-tat is one example of a long term strategy that turns a prisoner's dilemma into an assurance game beyond first interaction. Tit-for-tat makes what is often called a credible commitment to only two strategies. Allowing opponents to recognize that in any interactions past the first they have two options. Mutual cooperation, or mutual defection.
Game theory can be used by developers to map the basic payout structure of certain design elements. It often seems that problems with defection occur in games because developers did not adequately consider the temptation for players to defect. Figuring out player motivation is a difficult proposition. Players are often not transparent and may find intrinsic motivations in exploring the boundaries of a game or doing unexpected things. In these cases it is still worthwhile to understand the basic structure of the game. Game theory can provide the elements to sketch a rough formalization of why players are behaving in unanticipated ways. By rearranging the payout structure of the game or letting other players adjust their strategies developers can try and avoid defection and increase cooperation.
6: Communication
Research demonstrates that introducing communication channels or increasing bandwidth almost always leads to more cooperation in a social dilemma. However, as we have seen in many games, communication coupled with anonymity can lead to another channel for abuse and noise pollution. In my previous post I explored why communication channels suffer from pollution.
For those who are interested in designing communication systems that are less prone to abuse read on here.
7: Rewards
Research on social dilemmas has typically focused on the use of sanctions as a means to prevent free-riding and defection. However, in recent years, probably due in part to the influence of games, social scientists have begun to focus on rewards. Game designers are certainly far ahead of social dilemma researchers when it comes to a 'theory' of rewards. Evidence suggests that the careful use of rewards can lead to more cooperation and an overall higher payout than sanctions. When game developers design systems they should consider if players will have a higher aggregate satisfaction through rewards or sanctions. Sanctions tend to be more powerful than rewards, so in some cases preventing the behavior is more important than making sure everyone can earn rewards. Once again a simple game theoretic incentive model can go a long way toward helping designers understand if rewards or sanctions are appropriate.
In order to increase cooperation a reward system could be built into the game to incentivize the following things:
Contribution to the public good/or not polluting – In the case of not polluting or contributing to a public good, evidence suggests reward systems will incentivize contributions and decrease defection. Hence, cooperation is increased.
Mentoring/Helping others/playing in a pro-social fashion – rewarding players for mentoring others is a good way to increase cooperation. In fact, if players with high status are encouraged to be mentors they may spread norms of pro-social behavior or mentoring.
Sanctions can take a variety of forms. The most common are:
Player-driven – Players have the power to sanction one another. Like communication channels, this opens a powerful avenue for abuse if the player-driven sanctions do not operate under checks and balances. Player-driven sanctions do offer an opportunity for players to take ownership of policing themselves. In social dilemma research self-policing often provides a sense of ownership over the system or resource and creates norms of respect and cooperation. Player-driven systems also don't suffer from some of the surveillance problems that other systems suffer form, as humans are more tuned to anti-social patterns than automated systems. Once again, persistent reputation is an important factor for these kind of systems.
Automated – Automated systems find players who exhibit certain properties and expel them. With increasingly sophisticated machine learning algorithms it may not be long before artificial agents are able to police game worlds with very low error rates. Until then these systems suffer from false positives and an inability to detect many forms of anti-social behavior.
GM Based arbitration – For game developers this can be a reasonable, but costly solution. Game-masters are hired to investigate problem behaviors. Unlike player communities game-masters don't generally abuse their powers of arbitration, and they can also detect problems that automated systems can't.
Finally, there is nothing that says companies can't use a mix of all these strategies. In fact using rewards and sanctions together is something that games have done for a long time. One interesting application of rewards and sanctions working together that I really like can be found here it's called Speed Camera Lottery.
8: Efficacy
For my final mechanic I want to turn the tables. In the previous sections I have been discussing what social dilemmas can teach games. However, the reader up to this point might be thinking that games can probably teach policy makers and institutional designers important things as well. I completely agree. In the section about rewards, I mentioned that game designers probably know much more about rewards than social dilemma researchers. I believe game designers and game mechanics also have a lot to offer when it comes to increasing efficacy and meaning.
Often the production function of a public good takes the form of a step function or has a very slowly increasing slope. Situations like this might include recycling, conservation, making charitable contributions, or paying taxes. In these situation the number of individuals involved and the lack of feedback make it difficult for an individual to recognize any noticeable improvements due to their own contribution. Studies of social dilemmas have shown that a simple perception of efficacy leads to increased contributions to a public good1,2. Organizations know and understand this problem. Consider an organization that pairs donors up with sponsor families. They are demonstrating how the donor's contributions of cents per day is actually making a difference. These systems also often incorporate other feedback, such as letters from the family or photos.
A Step Function
When the production function is a step function there may be no noticeable increase in output until a given threshold is reached. If individuals can be convinced that only a few more donations are required in order to reach that threshold research1 has demonstrated that contributions can be increased. In addition, research1 has indicated that placing individuals in groups where each player understands that their individual contributions are critical to the provision of the good increases overall contributions. The key here again is finding a way to convince individuals that their contributions matter for the success and failure of the group.
One of the tasks of the new gamification movement is to figure out how to move beyond just providing individuals with badges and achievements and instead provide an individual with a real sense of meaning. Think about the psychological payoff for getting an achievement versus making the final contribution to move to the next step on a production function. Social media and game mechanics provide us with mechanisms for breaking up projects into many small step-functions. What if I could join a Facebook group that recruits a few hundred friends to recycle their plastics, glass, and paper for a month. Imagine if feedback was provided showing how the amount donated improved air quality, saved landfill space, and made new materials. In one of his posts, James Cummings showed us how Stanford University was creating a game that promoted more efficient energy use. Hopefully this is just the tip of the iceberg, and game developers can provide insights to policy makers about how to increase meaning and efficacy to increase cooperation and reduce free riding on public goods.
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You can create new modules using the syntactic form
. All definitions following this form until the
next define-module
are placed into the new module.
One module is usually placed into one file, and that file is installed in a location where Guile can automatically find it. The following session shows a simple example.
$ cat /usr/local/share/guile/site/foo/bar.scm (define-module (foo bar) #:export (frob)) (define (frob x) (* 2 x)) $ guile scheme@(guile-user)> (use-modules (foo bar)) scheme@(guile-user)> (frob 12) $1 = 24
For more on how to install your module, see Installing Site Packages.


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STATUS: My auction is still unfolding. Given the time of day, looks like it won't wrap up until tomorrow.
What's playing on the iPod right now? THE WEAKNESS IN ME by Joan Armatrading
I just had to share. Just this week, I finally got the foreign editions for my romance author Paula Reed's latest historical romance entitled NOBODY'S SAINT.
Of course I love ALL my author covers but I have to say there's a little special place in my heart for this very sexy US version. When looking at it, it just makes me want to pop on a little Julio I. and maybe indulge in some vigorous fanning or a nice mild swoon.
My hubby just laughs.
But truly, I think Paula's publisher Kensington just nailed this cover (except Paula would say they didn't have stripped sheets back in the late 1700s). I know. It should bother me but I don't mind a little historical leeway as long as it isn't blatant like zippers on blue jeans for a historical Western. Now that would drive me crazy.
So I'm pretty enthralled with the US version but then I got a load of the Dutch edition.
That guy surely doesn't look like anybody's saint. You betcha. I think this cover could work in the US without blinking an eye.
So it was doubly interesting to me to see the semi-clinch cover from her Brazilian publisher (and it's the first of my clients to sell in South America). And I find the "Don-Juan" in the title very fascinating.
Brazilian edition
But what is clear? It's a fun, sexy read that you should get your hands on if you haven't already. What other romance in the world has a Spanish Gent, an Irish lass, and Mary and Mary Magdalene as interfering saints? In some respects, I still can't believe that Kensington let us get away with this book and for that reason alone, it's worth picking up.


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NASA Loses Climate Orbiter (Updated!)
News story originally written on October 4, 1999
NASA says they caused the Mars Climate Orbiter to burn up. Scientists confused the units when finding the right orbit. The orbiter got too close to the Red Planet and blew up.
The spacecraft would have studied Mars' weather for one Mars year, which is 687 days. Now, scientists are trying to find out how they could have made the mistake.


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Ive looked extensively online but keep getting contradicting information as well as different information from different airlines.
I am looking to make the move from NZ back to the UK with my miniature dachshund. I suffer with depression and anxiety so I would like my dog to travel as an emotional support animal. Apparently its only possible via the USA so thinking of booking 1 ticket from Auckland to San Fran then another from San Fran to London.
Has anyone done this or know any info?? Super appreciated!


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When it comes to morning routines (especially when traveling), brevity and ease of use trump all. So while searching for a shaving cream that was both practical and packable, we happened upon this pre-shave stick by Sharp's popular Kid Glove line. Formulated as the first step in your ritual (think a solid shave oil), we found the lightly-scented stick works just fine on two-day stubble all by itself. Slick without being greasy, it softens whiskers and soothes skin with a combination of chamomile and willowherb. We may never need shaving cream again. Pre-Shave Stick, $16, at Sharps USA
What should I pack for my first business trip?
- Matt, OH
With nearly every airline imposing a baggage fee nowadays, if you can get away with flying with just a carry-on, do it.
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Seamen's Protection Certificate for William Liming
My maternal 2nd great grandfather William Liming was a sea captain and was born in Philadelphia around 1795 [1]. He died in Mt. Holly, New Jersey, on January 13, 1873 but is buried in Philadelphia at the Old Swedes Ground, Gloria Dei Church [2]. We haven't been able to find out who his parents were, so I was not only hoping there was a seamen's certificate for him but that a relative was the witness. Below is a Seamen's Protection Certificate that I found for a William Liming.
Below is a transcription of the above certificate. The handwritten parts are in italics:
City of PhiladelphiaThe age of 19 would make this William's birth year about 1795 which fits our William as well as the birth place of Philadelphia. I'm surprised that they didn't ask for eye color on the certificate. Brown complexion? Could that be from being outdoors on ships or in the shipyard or from his genetic heritage? I don't know who the witness Uzziel Oliphant is. It's not a name I recognize from my research into the Limings, so I looked up a certificate for him, too.
Be it Known, that on the day of the date hereof, before me MICHAEL KEPPELE, Esquire, one of the Aldermen of the City of Philadelphia, Personally appeared William Liming – an American Seaman, aged nineteen years, or thereabouts, of the height of five feet seven and a half inches, has dark hair and brown complexion has a scar on the big toe on the right foot & likewise one on the left thigh—& one on the first finger on the left hand arising from a cut who being duly sworn according to Law, did on his solemn oath depose and say, that he is a native of Philadelphia in the County of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania and a Citizen of the United States of America.
s/n William Liming
AND at the same time appeared Uziell [?] Oliphant who being also duly sworn, did on his solemn oath depose and say that he is well acquainted with the above named William Liming and that the facts above stated are just and true, according to the best of his knowledge and belief.
SWORN as above, before me, this 20 day of May 1814 s/n Uzziel Oliphant
s/n Michael Keppele
Seamen's Protection Certificate for Uzziel Oliphant
I found a certificate dated 1813 that I believe is for Mr. Oliphant as the signature looks similar to the one on William's. This helped verify the spelling of his first name as "Uzziel" as I had a bit of trouble deciphering it in William's certificate.
Mr. Oliphant's certificate (to the left) does note his eye color (blue). His witness was a Benjamin Johnston. Neither of these names are familiar to me. Maybe these are sailors just vouching for each other as I found two other certificates (both dated 1810) that have Mr. Oliphant as the witness. I found him in the 1810 Philadelphia census (took some searching as his name was indexed incorrectly on ancestry.com) [3]. His occupation is listed as stevedore. That's the first census record that I've seen from that time period that lists the occupation! I found a death record for a "Uzibe" Oliphant on ancestry.com with a year of birth as 1775 which fits Uzziel Oliphant [4]. Date of death is May 6, 1819, in Philadelphia; he is buried at the First Reformed Dutch Church. Ancestry.com has the Pennsylvania Vital Records Volumes I, II, and III online [5]. On page 646 of Vol. III, there is a listing for Uzziel Oliphant with a death date of May 7, 1819, but with a question mark next to the passage "in his 11th year." It should probably say "in his 44th year." I haven't found any other record for Mr. Oliphant nor have I been able to find a connection between him and William Liming. (Note: I found no Limings in the Pennsylvania Vital Records indexes. Found a couple of Lemons/Lemmons, though, but could not make a connection to my Limings. My aunt told me once that a couple of variations of Liming are Leming and Lemon. )
Seamen's Protection Certificates for Other Sailors Named Liming
I searched for just the last name of Liming to see who would pop up. Below are a Seamen's Protection Certificate dated 1796 for a John Liming born in New Jersey (no age listed), and one dated 1831 for a "Devilda" Liming age 21-22, born in Philadelphia. (Through some searching on the web, it seems that "Devilda" might be "Dewilde".)
Seamen's Protection Certificate for Devilda or Dewilde Liming. Note that the witness John Hamell claims to have known him since birth.
I'd like to think that the U.S. Seamen's Protection Certificate above for William Liming is for our William, but so far I haven't found anything to confirm this aside from the year and city of birth. I'd like to know who Uzziel Oliphant is and what his relationship to William was (employer? relative? fellow sailor?). I searched for a connection between William, John, and Devilda/Dewilde Liming and between John Hamell and Devilda/Dewilde but haven't yet found any. The name "William Liming" seems to be a fairly common family name in 18th and 19th century Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Mt. Holly, New Jersey, and they may all be from the same clan. All in all, while I didn't find any clues as to our William Liming's father, I did find the U.S. Seamen's Protection Certificates fascinating to read, and I believe they would be very useful for family research!
[1] Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census. Southwark Ward 5, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Roll: M432_822; Page: 380A; Image: 286.
[2] Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Death Certificates Index, 1803-1915, for William Liming. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
[3] Ancestry.com. 1810 United States Federal Census. Philadelphia High Street Ward, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for Uzziel Oliphant; Roll: 55; Page: 155; Family History Number: 0193681; Image: 00021.
[4] Ancestry.com. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Death Certificates Index, 1803-1915, for Uzibe Oliphant. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
[5] Pennsylvania Vital Records Volume III (Genealogical Publishing Company, n.d.??). Compilation of articles from The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography (PMHB) and The Pennsylvania Genealogical Magazine (PGM).


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Anderson Photograph Collection of YWCA in China, 1920s-1940s
Miss Elsie Anderson spent seventeen years in China as a Secretary for Young Women's Christian Association of China (YWCA) 中華基督教女青年會 between 1920s-1940s. She went to China around 1918 and worked in YWCA organizations in various places, including Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shandong, Tianjin, etc. She was also involved with True Light Middle School in Guangzhou (真光女子中学). The private photography collection of Elsie Anderson was donated to the East Asia Library Special Collections by the relative of Miss Elsie Anderson in 2010. The collection includes more than 2900 photos, one diary and some slides and postcards. The site currently features selective photographs from the collection.
Copyright and permissions
Images from the Anderson Photograph Collection courtesy Stanford University Libraries. Images may be reproduced or transmitted, but not for commercial use. For commercial use or commercial republication, contact Zhaohui Xue. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. By downloading any images from this collection, you agree to the terms of that license.


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Notorious lover comes to Milton Keynes
The internationally acclaimed company will transport audiences to decadent 18th century Venice with Casanova, telling the sensational story of the infamous Italian adventurer in a seductive masquerade of passion and politics.
The world premiere will take place in March next year, after which the production will tour to seven venues in the Spring, including MiltonKeynes Theatre.
Commissioned by artistic director David Nixon OBE, Casanova will be the first full length ballet by award winning choreographer Kenneth Tindall.
The story focuses on fiercely intellectual Giacomo Casanova who leads a controversial life consumed by his desires.
He dabbles in careers as a scam artist, violinist, alchemist,spy and church cleric, but with a penchant for gambling and women his exploits lead him into a whirlwind of scandal and excess, leading to imprisonment and exile.
A true story so sensational it's hard to believe it is real - showing Casanova is much more than just the infamous lover we have all heard of.
The production will be set to an original score by modern classical, film and television composer Kerry Muzzey.
Sets and costumes will be designed by Tony and Olivier award winning Christopher Oram.
Lighting will be by Alastair West whose Northern Ballet credits include Jane Eyre which was recently performed at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury.
Choreographer Mr Tindall has previously worked with Northern Ballet on one act ballets.
He said: "I am thrilled that my first full length ballet will be with Northern Ballet, a company that holds a special place for me.
"Casanova lived a life far richer and stranger than most fictions, and the physicality, theatricality and energy of his exploits make him a perfect subject for the stage."
Mr Nixon said he was delighted to give Mr Tindall this opportunity with the company, where he spent the majority of his performing career and first began to choreograph.
Mr Nixon added: "Casanova's story is one of sex, romance, intrigue and scandal and I am looking forward to surprising our audiences and challenging the idea of Casanova as nothing more than a prolific lover."
Casanova will be performed at Milton Keynes Theatre at 7.30pm from Wednesday April 19 - Saturday April 22 next year, with additional 2.30pm matinees on the Thursday and Saturday. Tickets from £14.90 to £40.90, box office 0844 871 7652, or book online at www.atgtickets.com/miltonkeynes


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Lone Bidder Buys Strands of Che's Hair at U.S. Auction More on Che: Che Remembered 40 Years After Death
By MARC LACEY DALLAS, Oct. 25 — The hair itself looked unexceptional, dark with sun-burnished tips, perhaps 100 strands, wrapped in a piece of notebook paper. But when the final gavel fell Thursday in a bizarre auction conducted under high security here, the hair and the sheaf of historical documents that accompanied it sold for $100,000, the minimum bid. The lock of hair on auction was taken 40 years ago from the corpse of Che Guevara, the famed revolutionary and cultural icon, by one of the men who had tracked him down and, after he was killed, buried him. The lone bidder was Bill Butler, 61, a Texas bookstore owner and collector of '60s memorabilia. After making the bid, Mr. Butler told reporters by telephone that Mr. Guevara was "one of the greatest revolutionaries in the 20th century" and that it was "a great feeling" to own the items, which he said he would display in his bookstore. The lock of hair was trimmed from Mr. Guevara's body by Gustavo Villoldo, a Cuban-born C.I.A. operative who helped Bolivian troops capture him in 1967. He took the hair from Mr. Guevara's head shortly before he and some of the soldiers buried him in an unmarked grave. Mr. Villoldo, now 72 and a Miami resident, said he told few people about the lock until arranging to sell it this year. He said he took the hair out of spite while Mr. Guevara's body was briefly displayed for photographers and examined by Bolivian doctors before burial. "I basically took it because the symbol of the revolution was this bearded, long-haired guy coming down the mountain," Mr. Villoldo said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "To me, I was cutting off the very symbol of the Cuban revolution." Mr. Villoldo was not present at the auction. His involvement with the C.I.A. has been corroborated by declassified American government documents. The house that conducted the auction, Heritage Auction Galleries of Dallas, in April sold the diaries of Anna Nicole Smith, the celebrity who died of an accidental drug overdose. Mr. Villoldo said he heard of that sale and decided to sell his material as well. Along with the hair were a map used by the Bolivian military to track down Mr. Guevara in the remote jungle region where he was captured, fingerprints taken from his corpse, grisly photographs of Mr. Guevara and his comrades after their deaths and various other documents. By selling the lock of hair, Mr. Villoldo said he was closing a chapter in his long effort to end the rule of Fidel Castro in Cuba. Mr. Villoldo took part in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and spent years after that tracking Mr. Guevara, Mr. Castro's most famous and charismatic associate, around the world. The hair and the documents were part of Mr. Villoldo's personal scrapbook, he said, which he would pull out from time to time to relive the old days. "This is some of the most macabre memorabilia of the history of the cold war that's ever gone on the auction block," said Peter Kornbluh, director of the Cuba Documentation Project at the National Security Archive, an organization at George Washington University that stores and chronicles declassified government documents. Academics continue to debate the role of the C.I.A. in Mr. Guevara's death. Not in doubt is that agency operatives aided the Bolivian Army in tracking him and his small band of guerrillas. But the order to kill him appears to have been made by the Bolivian Army brass, and possibly from the president at the time, Gen. René Barrientos Ortuño. A declassified memorandum to President Lyndon B. Johnson from a senior adviser, Walt Rostow, dated Oct. 11, 1967, called the decision to kill Mr. Guevara "stupid" but "understandable from a Bolivian standpoint." General Barrientos's son, who teaches math at Miami Dade College and uses the same name as his father, said it was his understanding that his father gave the order for Mr. Guevara's killing, although he never discussed the issue with his father, who died in 1969. The decision was justified, the son contends. "There is no basis to admire him," Mr. Barrientos said of Mr. Guevara. "He destroyed a lot of lives. Those are the facts." As for the auction, Mr. Barrientos said he found it surprising that anyone would pay for such memorabilia. "Why anyone would want to buy this kind of stuff, I don't know," he said. "I would find better uses for my money." But Mr. Kornbluh said the material was historically significant. "If I had $100,000, I'd buy it," he said. "It's not just about the hair. It's the other documents, intercepts. It all deserves to be in a museum." Mr. Butler, the buyer, paid a total of $119,500, including a 19.5 percent buyer's premium. There had been widespread speculation that President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, an admirer of Mr. Guevara, planned to bid. The auction house received a call from Caracas recently asking that a copy of the catalog to be sent to Venezuela via overnight mail, but no telephone bid came. This was not the first time that the auction house had sold off hair, although the price broke all records. Earlier this year, three strands of Abraham Lincoln's hair sold for $11,095, and a lock of Lincoln's hair drew a winning bid of $21,510. What was described as a large lock of hair from J.E.B. Stuart, the Confederate general, garnered a winning bid of $44,812. "I don't care what other people think," Mr. Villoldo said of his decision to sell the items. "I have a clean conscience. I'm 72, am getting older, and my kids don't care about this like I do. I see this as history and I want someone else to take care of this." As for what Mr. Villoldo will do with the money, he said he had made no definite plans. A portion of the proceeds, however, may go to make a political point. Mr. Villoldo said if he could make contact with the widows of the 55 Bolivian soldiers who were killed by Mr. Guevara's guerrillas, he would use some of the money to help them out. |


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Curb your enthusiasm. Even if your favored candidate did well on Super Tuesday, ask yourself if he or she will seriously challenge the bloated military budget that President Bush has proposed for 2009. If not, military spending will rise to a level exceeding any other year since the end of World War II, and there will be precious little left over to improve education and medical research, fight poverty, protect the environment or do anything else a decent person might care about. You cannot spend well over $700 billion on "national security," running what the White House predicts will be more than $400 billion in annual deficits for the next two years, and yet find the money to improve the quality of life on the home front.
The conventional wisdom espoused by the mass media is that Bush's budget is a lame-duck DOA contrivance, but that assumption is wrong. The 9/11 attacks have been shamefully exploited by the military-industrial complex with bipartisan support to ramp up military expenditures beyond cold war levels. This irrational spending spree, which accounts for more than half of all federal discretionary spending, is not likely to end with Bush's departure. Which one of the likely winners from either party would lead the battle to cut the military budget, and where would the winner find support in Congress? Both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have treated the military budget as sacrosanct with their Senate votes and their campaign rhetoric. Clinton is particularly clear on the record as favoring spending more, not less, on the military.
John McCain, who previously distinguished himself as a deficit hawk and was almost in a class by himself in taking on the rapacious defense contractors, has thrown in the towel with his inane support for staying in Iraq till "victory," even if it should take a century. It is simply illogical to call for fiscal restraint while committing to an open-ended war in Iraq that has already cost upward of $700 billion. Bush's request for $515.4 billion for the Defense Department doesn't even include the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which accounted for nearly $200 billion over the last budget year and which will cost at least $140 billion in 2009. Add to those numbers $17.1 billion for the Department of Energy's weapons program and over $40 billion for the Department of Homeland Security and other national security initiatives spread throughout the federal government, and you'll see that my $700 billion figure underestimates the hemorrhaging.
McCain knows, and has frequently stated as a Senate watchdog, that much of the military spending is wastefully superfluous for combating terrorists who lack any but the most rudimentary weapons. Bush totally betrayed his campaign 2000 promise to reshape the post-cold war US military when he seized upon the 9/11 attack as an opportunity to reverse the "peace dividend" that his father had begun to return to taxpayers. Instead, Bush II ushered in the most profligate underwriting of weapons systems that are grotesquely irrelevant for combating terrorism.
The US already spends more than the rest of the world combined on its military, without a sophisticated enemy in sight. The Bush budget cuts not a single weapons system, including the most expensive ones, those designed to combat a Soviet military that no longer exists. Those sophisticated weapons have nothing to do with combating terrorism and everything to do with jobs and profits that motivate both Democrats and Republicans in Congress. It is not known whether Osama bin Laden even possesses a row boat in his naval arsenal, but that won't stop Joe Lieberman from pushing, as is his habit, for an increase in the defense budget to double the funding for the $3.4-billion submarines built in his home state of Connecticut. Nor does the collapse of the old Soviet Union–and with it the need for enormously expensive stealth aircraft to evade radar systems the Soviets never built–dissuade Congressional supporters of those planes from pushing for more, not less, than Bush is requesting. Nor does wasting an additional $8.9 billion on ICBM missile defense have anything to do with stopping terrorists from smuggling a suitcase nuke into this country.
The centerpiece of the Bush legacy is a "war on terror" based on a vast disconnect between military expenditures and actual national security requirements that the presidential candidates all fully understand. The question is whether the voters and media will force them to face that contradiction or whether we're in for more of the same–no matter how much the candidates go on about change.


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It's official: Women definitely can't jump
One worked two jobs to make ends meet, another sold her skis to raise money for a team coach, some slept in barns at low-budget competitions in Europe, and three showed their mettle by sweeping the gold, silver, and bronze at World Championships last year.
But today this plucky group of women ski jumpers lost their legal bid to pry open the last Olympic door shut to women.
Canada's Supreme Court today refused to hear the women's case, in which the skiers argued that it was against Canadian law for 2010 Olympic host Vancouver to allow men to compete in ski jumping if women were barred – which they are.
Since the inaugural Winter Olympics in 1924, women have been ski jumping on hills from Norway to northern Michigan – but never as Olympians. This despite the fact that women have been known to out-jump their male counterparts; 2009 World Champion Lindsey Van flew farther than any men at the inaugural event at the 2010 Olympic venue several years ago – though she got to start somewhat higher up the ramp because women are lighter and need a longer in-run to gather enough speed.
But these women have demonstrated their prowess in their own right. The main problem, says International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, is that there aren't enough women at that top level.
"In jumping competition, there is clearly for women two groups – there is a group of about 15 women, technically very able, jumping well. And a second group that is quite far from them," he said at a Dec. 10 press conference. He then pointed out that while the top men are usually very competitive with each other, there can be a big drop-off between the best women and the rest of the field – a point born out by a Monitor analysis of last year's World Championship results.
For a sense of what it feels like to be one of the top women jumpers in the world, check out this video that US athlete Jessica Jerome took while going off a ski jump in Utah. The "helmet cam" she wore captured the action soaring out over the landing hill and, on a separate jump, gave a bumpy, blur-your-vision look back at the jump tower as she sped down the ramp – ponytail flapping in the wind.
IOC official: 'Textbook' case of discrimination
The group of more than a dozen women ski jumpers who sued Vancouver's organizing committee (known as VANOC) argues that their sport needs Olympic status to narrow the wide gap between the few top women ski jumpers and the rest of the pack. Led by former Salt Lake City mayor Deedee Corradini, who was instrumental in adding women's bobsled and skeleton events to the 2002 Olympics in Utah, they point to the growth of those sports and others since being added to the Olympic roster. Philip Hersch of the Chicago Tribune wrote an interesting analysis of pole vaulting's evolution since 2000 that strongly supports the women's position. (Editor's note: This version was updated to correct an error about which women's events were added in 2002.)
They also say that the fact that women's ski cross – think gravity-fueled BMX racing on snow, minus the wheels – was admitted to the Olympics in the same 2006 meeting at which women's ski jumping was turned down for having too weak a field, shows thinly veiled discrimination. Women's ski jumping had roughly twice the number of elite competitors as women's ski cross at the time, though neither fully met the International Olympic Committee (IOC) requirements for being added to the Games.
So after exhausting all other channels, the women sued Vancouver's organizing committee (known as VANOC) for implementing the IOC's discriminatory policy – even if they had not come up with the policy. They had asked VANOC to refuse to hold the men's competition if the women weren't allowed to compete. While the Vancouver court that first heard their case agreed that the IOC's policy constituted discrimination, they said VANOC was powerless to do anything about it – a decision upheld in a British Columbia appeals court after a Nov. 11-12 trial.
Anita DeFrantz, who as chair of the IOC's Women and Sports Commission has presided over a huge increase in women's participation in the Olympics, told the Monitor last month that the ski jumpers' situation was a textbook case of discrimination that she hadn't seen in any other sport. (While ski jumping is the last Olympic discipline closed to women, there are still no canoeing events in the discipline of Canoe & Kayak.)
There is evidence to support the women's claim that ski jumping – especially in Europe, where the men's World Cup circuit is quite lucrative – is an old boys' club. In 2005 Gian-Franco Kasper, head of the International Ski Federation, told NPR, "Ski jumping is just too dangerous for women. Don't forget, [the landing] it's like jumping down from, let's say, about two meters to the ground about a thousand times a year, which seems not to be appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view."
IOC 'definitely considering' jumping at 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia
Undeterred, the women jumpers whose legal bid ended today – an international group that includes athletes from Norway, Germany, Slovenia, and Canada, as well as the US – have pressed on with their careers. At a competition in Norway this weekend, two of the top three finishers were plaintiffs in the case.
Ms. Corradini vowed that the Supreme Court's decision would not halt the women's efforts.
"Although we are hugely disappointed by the Supreme Court's refusal to hear us this time, we won't give up. This is about human rights and discrimination. It's a wrong that must be righted," she said. "These women are ready, they're highly skilled athletes and given the chance, would have provided Olympic spectators with a thrilling and competitive performance in February at Whistler."
Mr. Rogge, who has received an angry letter from the women over his Dec. 10 comments, said that the IOC is "definitely considering" women's ski jumping for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.


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Ranjit Nair, President of the Centre for the Philosophy and Foundations of Science in New Delhi, introducing James Langer as the Jagadis Chandra Bose Lecturer for 2000. |
Last October, then-APS President James Langer (University of California, Santa Barbara), and APS Director of International Affairs Irving Lerch visited institutes and university physics departments in three major Indian cities: Mumbai (formerly Bombay), Bangalore and New Delhi.
In the aftermath of the Indian and Pakistani nuclear tests in May 1998, there was concern that the punitive impediments enacted by the Congress to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons might undermine long-time scientific collaboration to the detriment of the US and both India and Pakistan. Through the medium of a visit that would be informal, collegial and unofficial, and by participating in private discussions and scientific exchanges, it was hoped that Langer and Lerch could help to assure the Indian physics community that it remains a valued partner in the international enterprise.
Of pressing concern to the Indian scientific community is electronic access to journals, particularly the lack of on-line access. While the most important universities and institutions have such access, most lack broad-band Internet connections. India has no national network, and hence major institutions must maintain their own ground stations or land lines. Lerch and Langer stressed that before the APS can discuss possible effective solutions to the problem, the Indian Physics Association (IPA) and other education and research institutes must catalog their needs and capabilities. Lerch believes that the remedial distribution of CD-ROMs will probably be the best alternative in the short run, pending the advent of a wide-band national network in India.
Another issue is the net flow of students and technically trained people from India to the US. "The Indians recognize the importance of this, even though to some extent they are in competition with us," says Lerch, pointing to the fact that the US brings in critical talent which India badly needs at a time when it is trying to build an independent technology base in cities like Bangalore. "Yet they're reluctant to impede these exchanges because they feel the mobility of scientific talent is more important than their immediate needs."
Langer and Lerch were drawn in to casual discussions on issues of safeguards and arms control during their visit to the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS). The Institute Director, Roddam Narasimha, and a number of senior faculty have been engaged in such discussions with the Committee on International Security and Arms Control of the US National Academy of Sciences and there was considerable interest expressed about the attitudes within the US physics community concerning India and Pakistan's entrance into the nuclear club. To date, the Indian physics community has not developed an independent reservoir of nuclear policy expertise capable of affecting government decisions, further hampered by the fact that most Indian physicists are government employees who find it difficult to oppose or even question government policy in this area. "Scientists are essentially wards of the state, as they are in socialist countries," says Lerch, who views this as a major problem.
Both Lerch and Langer believe that they were successful in the central purpose of their mission: to invigorate contacts and explore issues of mutual concern between the two scientific communities. In fact, the APS intends to explore further joint APS/IPA activities, such as junior and senior scientist short-term exchanges, and possibly workshops or similar scientific forums. And the APS plans to continue to work with selected contacts within the Indian physics community to develop and pursue grass-roots discussions on a variety of issues such as obstacles to scholarly exchange and the impact of the technology embargo on Indian-US scientific collaboration.
Langer, who visited India several years ago, confessed to being somewhat distressed at "the sense that some things are getting worse" in the region, most notably air pollution, overpopulation and transportation. However, he was heartened to find that the level of scientific research remains world-class in several institutions, particularly in the area of condensed matter physics, and concluded that "collegial scientific interaction" between the two countries "is as important today as it has ever been."
APS encourages the redistribution of the materials included in this newspaper provided that attribution to the source is noted and the materials are not truncated or changed.


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Sistema de diseño único
Recent Posts
In the Epoch of Human Ignorance
This week marks the three year anniversary since my first post on It's All Sad™. What began as a simple blog to explore the trauma I'd buried over the years has evolved into so much more. The timing of the latest release today, entitled, "Peace of Mind," wasn't planned, which seems serendipitous.
Read More


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Lincoln Chafee on EnvironmentLibertarian presidential challenger; Independent RI Governor; Republican Senator (1999-2007) | |
In March 2005, the bill unfortunately failed by a 9-9 tie vote in committee, thanks chiefly to Senator Lincoln Chafee, who went on to lose his Republican-held seat in the Senate despite his calculated opposition to appease the Big Green machine.
Progress on environmental issues could do much to enhance the new administration's program, and a first step could be enactment of legislation I have sponsored to advance the cleanup of abandoned urban "brownfields," both to speed the redevelopment of these properties and to preserve the environment. There is wide bipartisan support for this legislation and I hope it can be made part of your agenda. In addition, I hope the new administration will be open to proposals to reduce the country's reliance on foreign oil, through energy conservation and greater investment in mass transit.
H.R. 2941 Brownfields Redevelopment Enhancement Act.
Republican Main Street Partnership Congresswomen Marge Roukema (NJ), Sue Kelly (NY), and Melissa Hart (PA) as well as Congressman Paul Gillmor (PA) have introduced legislation providing a new source of funding for improving former industrial sites. H.R. 2941 reauthorizes the Brownfields Remediation Grant Program as well as creating a new loan program for brownfields redevelopment. The pilot program encourages cities to tap private loans for civic improvements by using the federal grants as collateral. The bill allows for Community Development Block Grants to be used in industrial site clean up as well.
H.R. 2438/H.R. 2694 Department of Environmental Protection Act.
Republican Main Street Partnership members Sherwood Boehlert (NY) and Steve Horn (CA) each have introduced legislation that would elevate the position of Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to that of cabinet level. Initially, the EPA served as a regulatory agency, but as a result of numerous statutes enacted by Congress, the agency's jurisdiction has swelled. Each bill would redesignate the EPA as the Department of Environmental Protection. RMSP supports the efforts of Congressman Vern Ehlers to include a deputy administrator for science within the department.
The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) is the political voice of the national environmental movement and the only organization devoted full-time to shaping a pro-environment Congress and White House. We run tough and effective campaigns to defeat anti-environment candidates, and support those leaders who stand up for a clean, healthy future for America. Through our National Environmental Scorecard and Presidential Report Card we hold Congress and the Administration accountable for their actions on the environment. Through regional offices, we build coalitions, promote grassroots power, and train the next generation of environmental leaders. The 2003 National Environmental Scorecard provides objective, factual information about the environmental voting records of all Members of the first session of the 108th Congress. This Scorecard represents the consensus of experts from 20 respected environmental and conservation organizations who selected the key votes on which Members of Congress should be graded. LCV scores votes on the most important issues of the year, including environmental health and safety protections, resource conservation, and spending for environmental programs. Scores are calculated by dividing the number of pro-environment votes by the total number of votes scored. The votes included in this Scorecard presented Members of Congress with a real choice on protecting the environment and help distinguish which legislators are working for environmental protection. Except in rare circumstances, the Scorecard excludes consensus action on the environment and issues on which no recorded votes occurred.
To: Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Dear Administrator Leavitt:
We are writing to urge you to take prompt and effective action to clean up mercury pollution from power plants. The EPA�s current proposals on mercury fall far short of what the law requires, and they fail to protect the health of our children and our environment. We ask you to carry out the requirements of the Clean Air Act to protect our nation from toxic mercury contamination.
On January 30, 2004, EPA proposed two alternative rules to address mercury emissions. Unfortunately, both of these proposals fail to meet the Clean Air Act directives for cleaning up mercury. EPA's proposals permit far more mercury pollution, and for years longer, than the Clean Air Act allows.
The toxicity of mercury has been proven time and again by scientists around the world. The Agency's own scientists just released a study finding that approximately 630,000 infants were born in the US in the 12-month period, 1999-2000, with blood mercury levels higher than what is considered safe. This is a doubling of previous estimates.
The newest scientific studies show that controlling mercury emissions works. As we saw in Florida, sharp reductions in mercury pollution are mirrored by reductions in nearby fish populations. A study in northern Wisconsin indicated that reductions in the input of mercury from air corresponded with marked reductions in mercury fish tissue levels in the 1990s.
As the Administrator of the EPA, you have the legal authority and the responsibility to address mercury emissions and protect public health. We do not believe that EPA's current proposals are sufficient or defensible. We urge you to withdraw the entire proposed rule package and re-propose a rule for adequate public comment that meets the terms of the 1998 settlement agreement and is promulgated by the December 15, 2004 deadline.


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While the case for a divorce against Catherine of Aragon was building, one aspect of the church that the advisors of Henry VIII was studying revolved around what were perceived as church abuses – abuses of church power and authority. If the likes of Thomas Cromwell could prove that the church was letting down its flock as a result of these abuses, then it would seemingly be all the more easy to convince the English public that the church needed wholesale reform without provoking any sort of backlash.
Most of the abuses identified by Henry's advisors involved money. The Church was a very wealthy organisation and owned vast amounts of land throughout England and Wales. Despite this wealth, the church still charged the general public for its services – be it a baptism, wedding or burial – all Christian ceremonies that took place on a very regular basis. Though the individual amount for each 'service' was small, to the poor it was money they could ill afford to pay. This was an easy issue for Henry to target as it was a double-edged attack – your money is being taken by a very wealthy organisation for services that the church states must take place if you are to go to Heaven. Henry's advisors could play on the money issue and the fact that the church all but demanded this money. However, what was stated – and the money issue was an easy target – and what was truth were two different issues. While the Church was a very rich organisation and men at the top, such as Cardinal Wolsey, were wealthy and lived luxurious lives, this was not universally true throughout the land. Not all priests charged for their services and many were poor. Many priests lived within their communities and worked for their flock. They were certainly not living the style of life experienced by bishops, archbishops etc. However, many served numerous parishes and were seen as absentee priests or non-residential within one parish. Therefore, they could not serve all their flock at once and this left them open to attack – often unfairly – by Henry's advisors who tried to cultivate a negative attitude not towards Christianity within the land but against those who worked in the Church. As the church played a major part in the day-to-day life of everybody in the kingdom, it was an easy target to attack.
A detailed list of church abuses was aired in the 1529 Reformation Parliament by a group of London MP's. As there were no parliamentary records kept at this time there are no official records. However, Edward Hall, a Member of Parliament, wrote about this in his 'Chronicles'. How accurate his writings are is open to debate especially as he was almost certainly a member of the group that aired these abuses. Hall recounted that the House was swept with indignation when it was informed about absentee priests, pluralism etc. If he had been a member of the MP's who wanted to air these grievances then he was almost certainly exaggerating what occurred. However, three measures were passed by Parliament to limit pluralism and non-residence. If Henry was angered by the Reformation Parliament, he did not show it. What it did demonstrate to the Pope, however, was that anti-clericalism did exist in England and it is thought that it was allowed by Henry so as to put pressure on the Pope to grant an annulment.
Church 'abuses' were used as a reason for the government to attack the church. There is little doubt that Henry was very interested in acquiring much of the wealth of the church. He was advised to take legal action against a small group of senior churchmen or against churchmen in general if their loyalty to the king was in question. Another approach against the Church was to put pressure on it to hand over to Henry a very large sum of money as a sign of its loyalty to the king. Henry was also advised to take legal control of the Church – this ended in the Act in Restraint of Appeals, which effectively gave Henry this power. By combining all three, Henry started a movement that was to end the authority of the Pope in England and Wales and ultimately culminated in establishment of the Church of England in the reign of Elizabeth at the expense of Catholicism.
At the end of 1530, all churchmen in England and Wales were charged with praemunire. This was a catch-all legal term that arose from the C14th when laws were passed that forbade all clerics from taking any action that reduced the authority and powers of the crown. In particular, these acts forbade clerics from recognising any foreign authority as being more powerful than the king unless they had the monarch's express permission to do so. These laws were used to bring down Wolsey. They were then used on all clerics as they had by their very vocation placed the Pope at the top of their 'loyalty chain' but without the king's permission. During the reign of Henry VII this was not an issue as Henry VII was a devout Roman Catholic and during his reign there is no evidence to even suggest the smallest of clashes with the Pope. However, during the whole annulment issue, these C14th laws became invaluable – especially as Henry could claim that they had not been passed by him to influence any decisions, and that he was simply using the law as it stood. If the churchmen were found guilty of breaking the law, they faced the real prospect of losing their property to the Crown.
Related Posts
- Many in England believed that the succession of Henry VIII would usher in a less austere era than the one Henry VII had ruled…


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Lee Ufan
Lee Ufan, Korean artist and founder of the Mono-Ha group, lives in Japan but is a nomad who has succeeded in uniting the language of the Western avant-gardes and the culture of the Eastern ones. Going beyond the ready-mades of Cartesian Duchamp and the cuts of Baroque Fontana, Lee Ufan replaces the principles of representation with that of contemporization, in a process that has been ongoing since the Sixties, with sculptures and installations, evolving with the "Correspondences" of the Nineties and the paintings of today. Without any contradictions, he has created an encounter between space and time, replacing the concept of form with that of "structure" and that of space with that of "field", a system of relations open to developments that tends to form a unity between full and void. The entire research of Lee Ufan aims to undermine the "objet trouvé" and its metaphysics: a dead form, contoured against the aesthetic space, removed from life. Lee Ufan, on the contrary, does not represent but contemporizes an idea of active temporality that sustains the encounter between the artist and the world, and between the work of art and the spectator. At one point, a "tache" is immediately irradiated against the active surface of a painting, that becomes an epiphany of a meeting with the public. At another he creates paintings where he is the omnipresent artificer of everything. The signs orchestrated on the canvas have a tension, an itinerary and a spatial duration staged in the name of a manually drawn yet standardized measure. A measure memorized by a gesture that does not forget precision and energy, the smoothness of craftsmanship and the geometry of extension. These spaces often represent architraves of vision, in the order of two or three they structure the spatial field in terms of visual essentiality, to underscore precision and indefiniteness, constriction and potential change. It is as if the artist wants to give the strong sign traced on the surface of the painting the solid volume of an object or material, as those he once used in his installation. The impact of the trace serves precisely to intensity the moment of encounter between the work and the spectator, through the interaction between time and space, dimensions that are both necessary to realize the value of art, that of its contemporizing. And so Lee Ufan solves the problem of the immortality of the work of art, without wanting to mortgage the future, instead laying the foundations for a persistent present. Creating an eternal present becomes, to the Eastern artist, a way to on the one hand do without the pathetic system of predictions of the future, and on the other to mortgage, through a different dimension of space, a field vast enough to house the time of its constant heartbeat.