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This little post describes the concept of game design layers and gives you some very simple analytical tools for understanding where you are investing and what the consequences can be. In the end we'll:
- Arrive at a practical definition of innovation.
- Describe major strategies of product differentiation.
- Show how pursuing innovation can affect your team structure.
The layers of a game
A game is built like an onion. Each layer of the game polishes an aspect of the previous structure and makes it slightly more appealing. Areas near the inner core give you the most bang for your buck. Areas near the outer edges of the game design are easier to change without unbalancing the system, but don't make as big of an impact.
- Core game mechanics
- Meta game mechanics
- Base setting
- Contextualized Tokens (Graphics, Sound, etc.)
- Contextualized Scenarios (Levels and Scripted events)
- Overall story
The basic risk and reward schedules that the player partakes in form the fundamental basis of the gameplay. In general, the gamer will spend 80% or more of their time performing simple, repetitive core game mechanics. In Doom, this might include running around and shooting enemies. In a RTS, it might involve building up units and attacking other units. Core mechanics borrow from the world of board game design and can typically be abstractly defined in the following terms:
- Object-oriented tokens.
- Properties on tokens.
- The interactions between tokens and the player as defined in an explicit set of rules.
Meta game mechanics are a set of game mechanics that tie together core game mechanics. The most classic example is an RPG. The first RPGs had a simple exploration mode that gave a way of linking multiple tactical battles together. Meta game mechanics also include simple initial starting conditions and end of game rules.
3. Base Setting
The base setting is simple background information that gives context to the actions performed within the game. From a marketing perspective, setting acts as an initial hook that gets the player involved and interested in the game in the period of time before the addictive quality of the core game mechanics sets in. An example setting would be labeling a game as a 'fantasy game' or 'golf game'.
4. Contextualized Tokens (Graphics, Sound, etc.)
Graphics and sound extend the base setting and provide additional visual context for the abstract game mechanics. By providing a richer, more intuitive set of symbolic stimuli to the player, the game designer can shorten the learning curve of the core mechanics. A blocky red 'alien' from Space Invaders is difficult to recognize as 'hostile'. An enemy from the latest Doom game is much more immediately understandable as a token that must be avoided.
5. Contextualized Scenarios (Levels, Scripted Events etc)
Core game mechanics often focus on the interactions between various pre-defined game tokens. Levels and pre-scripted events exist to put the player in an emotionally interesting arrangement of tokens that support both the base setting and the contextualized tokens.
6. Overall Story
The range of emotions that core gameplay can evoke is relatively limited. The context provided by levels and scripted events allows an additional level of emotional involvement. Story brings a narrative element to that game that provides an additional wrapper of context for the actions that the player performs. This lets the designer evoke additional responses beyond what the core mechanics allow.
The hierarchy of layers
Each of these six layers build upon one another. You must have the lower layers in order to attempt the higher layers.
The metagame, for example, is impossible to create without first defining core game mechanics. The story is impossible to tell without having the ability to construct pre-defined scenarios.
Most commercial games have all six layers, but historically this has not typically been the standard. Let's briefly look at the game of chess:
- Core gameplay: Very well defined
- Metagame mechanics: Limited to governing the beginning and end of the game
- Base setting: Limited to an abstract conflict between to medieval forces.
- Contextualized tokens: Limited to rough descriptions of pawns, knights, queens, etc. In reality, the names exist primarily to support the base setting and give little, if any intuitive understanding of how the pieces operate.
- Contextualized Scenarios: None. You could make a very tenuous argument that the two lines of tokens evoke armies facing one another, but why bother?
- Story: None.
A new game designer should be aware of the various layers and most importantly know that you can still make a great game without investing substancial effort in all six areas. This lesson alone can save many projects from feature creep and burnout.
The cost of investing in each layer
Each game design makes an explicit decision to invest in the various layers of the final game. When you invest human resources, you are ultimately investing money. With money comes financial risk and payoff. If the game is a success, you'll receive more money back based on your investment. If the game is a failure, you made a poor investment in the various layers of the game.
Not all game design investments are equal. In general, investments in lower layers early in the game's development have the greatest impact on the addictive qualities of your game. Investment in the higher layers have smaller impact.
However, this is not the complete story. With each change, there is always a risk of unbalancing the game's psychological risk and reward schedules. Unbalancing ruins the addictive qualities of your game and increases the chance of the game's failure. Changes to lower layers have a greater risk of unbalancing a game design, while changes to higher layers have a lesser risk of unbalancing the game design.
All of this pose some fascinating resource allocation decisions for game designers and publishers. Two extreme strategies immediately become apparent. On one hand the designer may focus on early layers and get a lot of bang for their buck. However, they dramatically increase the chances of the game being a failure since any change along the way can hurt the addictive qualities of the game. On the other hand, the designer can start with a proven addictive core game mechanic and focus their efforts on later layers. This is much more expensive, but ensures the team has a good chance of producing an addictive game that is 'better than proceeding generations'.
A method of classifying games
This is all interesting, but ends up being overly abstract for most people. Let's make it practical by showing you how you can apply these concepts to your game.
- Take a game design and break it up into the tasks necessary to complete the project.
- Assign each task to one of the 6 layers.
- Put a cost (either in time or dollars, depending on your project) on each task.
- Add up the cost of all the tasks in each category and divide them by the total project cost to get the percentage of resources you are spending in each layer.
The Innovation Scale
You can also calculate a general 'innovation' scale to classify your game title by taking the weighted average of all six categories. For example, you might have something that looks like this:
Chess innovation score = (60% x 1) + (20% x 2) + (10% x 3) + (10% x 4) + (0% x 5) + (0% x 6) = 1.7 out of 6
Now we have defined a scale from 1 to 6. At one end of the scale are highly innovative titles and at the other end of the scale are highly polished titles.
Uses of the innovation scale
It should be very clear that the innovation scale relates primarily to the game developer's investment and not to the market's perception of innovation. This is intended to be a tool used by game developers who have intimate understanding of their development costs. Without development costs, it is difficult to gain an objective innovation rating across multiple titles. The layer classification scheme gives developers a 'balanced' score card management tool that lets them quickly and easily understand where they are investing their valuable resources.
This is also of use to publishers when they are balancing their portfolios. The 'genre' method of balancing portfolios is limited and punishes innovative games. The layer-based classification system takes into account risk and cost of production without culling titles because they fail to fit into an established category.
Innovation and the life cycle of genres
Genres have life cycles. They start out with the majority of titles investing heavily in lower layers of the game design. These high risk titles have lots of innovation, but very little polish. As they mature, titles invest more in the higher layers of the game design. This results in less innovation, but lower risk. These are self evident results, but it is always good to throw something obvious at a new framework.
Innovation and Indie game developers
To put it simply, independent game developers generally cannot afford to invest in the higher layers of game development. With limited resources, you can't be innovative and polished at the same time.
In my opinion, the ideal indie team is a small agile group composed primarily of programmers with only 20 to 30% artists. Such a team can compete with the best teams that EA has to offer in terms of core game mechanics. They have the luxury of being able to inexpensively and rapidly change the game design, iterating through dozens of rulesets in order to find one that offers a uniquely addictive experience.
As soon as you bring complex level design and story to the design, you lose flexibility. You lose the ability to innovate. Companies that focus on polished games have artist heavy teams and rigidly defined production cycles. This results in a huge investment in human capital and a corresponding high cost of failure. Remember, each layer builds on the preceding layers. The moment you start making changes to the core game mechanics, you send a ripple of changes all the way through the rest of the game. Content needs to be tossed or reworked.
In a innovation-oriented team, an interesting change to core game mechanics might result in a few weeks lost. In a polish oriented team, changes to core mechanics late in the development of a game can result in dozens of man years lost. Polish-oriented teams are inherently anti-innovation.
Larger teams try to balance both low layer activities and high layer activities by splitting the development into a 'prototyping' stage and a 'production' stage. The result is incremental innovation cut off short by the looming end of the prototyping stage and constrained the intense logistical demands of the production team.
The innovation-focused game team
What would happen if instead you doubled the resources spent on the traditional 'prototyping' period, worked in tight interative cycles and then shipped it the product directly to testers? Instead of levels, you use procedural content. Instead of plot, you focus on interesting reusable game objects that introduce delightful meta-game mechanics into the title. After every iteration, you have a playable game.
- The development team follows agile development processes with rapid iterations and considerable playtesting
- The majority of development effort is put into core mechanics and meta-game mechanics.
- Graphics and sounds are abstract tokens only loosely connected to a base setting.
- No level design is allowed since it is a waste of time.
- No plot is allowed since it is a distraction.
- Statistical metrics of player addiction are used to judge success. (How long did they play, how often did they play, were they willing to play again)
The basic concept of 'innovation' has been discussed in vague terms for far too long. The concept of game design layers provides a framework for classifying the game developer's investment in innovation and polish oriented activities.
With hard numbers in-hand, developers can make more informed strategic business decisions regarding the balance of innovation, risk, and team structure. I believe that there is a huge opportunity in the game industry to create smaller, agile 'innovation-focused' teams. Smart game designs that are based on a deep understanding of balancing resource investment in the various game design layers have a greater probability of producing original, genre-busting game designs.
take care


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The city of Balkh comprises a large urban site of some 11 square kilometres, lying west of the modern regional capital of northern Afghanistan, Mazar i Sharif, and about 46 miles south of the Amu Darya (Oxus) river whose course ran close to the city in antiquity. The foundation of the city of Paktra, later known as Bactria is ascribed to Kaiomars, and at an early date it was said to have rivaled urban centres such as Babylon. For a long period Bactria was the spiritual centre for the Zoroastrian religion, as well as having a rich temple to the goddess Anahita. Accounts of visitors in the 7th century AD indicate the existence of a significant number of Buddhist monasteries, stupas and other monuments in the city. Subsequent accounts from the 10th century AD indicate that the city was ringed with earthen walls, with six gates, within which was a fine citadel and a mosque. The city became a centre for education, and in 980 AD the philosopher-scientist Ibn Sina was born in Balkh, as was the poet Ferdowsi. Its reputation as a place of learning persisted, judging by accounts of travellers in the 12th century AD, who describe a range of educational establishments, as well as its importance as a trading centre for the region, with links to India and China. Despite the fact that the city was sacked by Jenghiz Khan in 1220, when the inhabitants were said to have been slaughtered and all buildings leveled, and again by Timur in the 14th century, the traveler Marco Polo described Balkh a century later as a "noble city and great".
Today, the traces of Balkh's earthen walls can still be seen over a length of some 10 kilometres, to the north of which lies a secondary fortified area, the Balu Hisar. Remains that survive within this walled enclosure include Tepe Zargaran, an artificial mound with levels dating from at least the 2nd century AD, the tiled Timurid shrine of Khwaja Abu Nasr Parsa, which dates from 1460/1 and the 17th century Madrasa of Sayyid Sudhan Quli Khan, of which one iwan with tiled decoration survives. Outside of the walled city enclosure, buildings of the Buddhist period seem to have proved more durable than those of the Islamic era, with the remains of Tahkti-Rustam, the ruins of a Buddhist monastery of Nau Bahar and the associated stupa of Tepe Rustam, of which an earth-brick base of some 40 metres in diameter survives. To the north-east lie traces of extensive gardens, in which there was a large caravanserai. Some 3 kilometres to the south lies the mosque of Haji Piyada, a Samanid-style building dating from the second half of the 9th century. The remains of the building show a small structure of nine equal bays, each of which had a brick dome, all of which have collapsed. The piers and springing of the arches that once supported the domes, retain fine decorated brick and stucco work, which is stylistically similar to Abbasid decorative work found in Mesopotamia.

subset: commoncrawl


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Mooresville, N.C.-based confectionery manufacturer BestSweet Inc. is off to a smooth start for 2009 with the introduction of a new, smoother shape for its licensed Baskin-Robbins Smooth & Creamy Hard Candy.In addition to the new candy shape, updated packaging for the product is also being introduced and will prominently feature a picture of the new shape on the front of each candy bag.
Smooth & Creamy Hard Candy treats feature a natural swirl appearance and offer the delicious flavor, smooth texture and experience of your favorite Baskin Robbins ice cream in each piece. In fact, the newly redesigned candy shapes provide an overall better mouthfeel and deliver maximum flavor impact. Baskin-Robbins Smooth & Creamy Hard Candies are available in Regular and Sugar Free varieties and are individually wrapped, so they are perfect for the purse, pockets and on-the-go.
Suggested retail price of a 2.75-oz bag is $1.99.


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Maori have put down deep roots here, and the first European missionaries also chose this sunny spot for their first settlements. You can see the evidence today in Kerikeri's famous Stone Store and Kemp House – two of the oldest surviving structures from the early colonial days.
The fertile local soil of Kerikeri was a major attraction for both Maori and Europeans alike – indeed the name Kerikeri translates as 'dig dig'. Today the region is rich with citrus and kiwifruit orchards, not to mention some under-the-radar vineyards. The sunny climate that ripens crops also draws visitors. You'll see many of them at the Kerikeri farmers' market on Saturday mornings, stocking up on subtropical produce and tasting artisan foods from local producers.
From Kerikeri you're within easy striking distance of Waitangi, where the Treaty of Waitangi was solemnly signed in 1840, and Russell, once known as a rough frontier town. Those long-ago whaling days of rum and debauchery seem like an ancient memory as you walk down peaceful streets lined with historic wooden buildings. Pop into Pompallier House where French Catholics translated religious texts into Te Reo Maori, and book a table or sip a drink at the Duke of Marlborough, New Zealand's oldest licensed hotel.
An altogether quirkier attraction can be found in the town of Kawakawa just down State Highway One. The world-famous Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser made his home here, and bequeathed the town an utterly unique toilet block. The design features Hundertwasser's trademark wavy lines and irregular ceramic tiles, integrated with small sculptures and a live tree.
No trip to the region is complete without visiting the Bay's many islands. Waewaetorea has idyllic sandy beaches and panoramic views from its hiking tracks. Urupukapuka offers superb kayaking and paddle boarding, along with three campsites where you can live your castaway dream. Tranquil Roberton Island can only be accessed by boat or helicopter, with incredible snorkelling at Twin Lagoons Bay.


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WASHINGTON >> Presidential candidate Herman Cain said Tuesday that he never changed his story about sexual harassment allegations against him in the 1990s while he was the head of the National Restaurant Association, despite giving a series of conflicting statements in the two days since the accusations were disclosed.
A day earlier, Cain had said he was unaware of a financial settlement given a female employee in connection with allegations Cain had engaged in inappropriate sexual behavior. He later acknowledged he was aware of an "agreement" but not a settlement.
"It was an agreement. So it looked like I had changed my story. I didn't change my story," Cain told CNN's Headline News. "The difference between settlement and agreement, it makes a difference to me."
Over the past two days, Cain has admitted he knew of one agreement between the National Restaurant Association and a woman who accused him of sexual harassment. He has said the woman initially asked for a large financial settlement but ultimately received two to three months' pay as part of a separation agreement. Cain also acknowledged remembering one of the woman's accusations against him, saying he stepped close to her to make a reference to her height, and told her she was the same height as his wife.
He has said he is not aware of any other agreements or settlements with any other women, though Politico — which first disclosed the allegations Sunday night — reported that the trade group had given financial settlements to at least two female employees who accused the entrepreneur of inappropriate sexual behavior.
The Georgia businessman who is near the top of national polls in the Republican presidential race was in his second day Tuesday of damage-control mode as he looked to blunt the fallout of years-old sexual harassment accusations that surfaced just two months before the leadoff Iowa presidential caucuses.
He spent Tuesday much like he did Monday, hopping from interview to interview to defend himself. Cain has repeatedly has denied that he sexually harassed anyone, and has said he was falsely accused. He also has argued that the allegations are part of a "witch hunt." And he said "there's nothing else there to dig up" — all but daring opposition researchers to dive into his lengthy business career.
The immediate political fallout was unclear, although the harassment allegations — and Cain's response to them — have the potential to reshuffle the GOP race.
At least initially, conservatives rallied around Cain, likening the attacks on the Republican presidential contender to what they describe as the "high-tech lynching" of another prominent black Republican: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
The forceful early reaction to the Cain firestorm — fueled by racially charged rhetoric — suggests the Georgia businessman's attempt to cast himself as a victim of the media and liberals could, so far, be paying dividends within his conservative Republican base, which will hold considerable sway in selecting the party's nominee.
The head of the conservative Media Research Center, Brent Bozell, labeled the story a "high-tech lynching," evoking Thomas' divisive Supreme Court confirmation hearings two decades ago, where he was confronted with sexual harassment allegations from a onetime employee, Anita Hill.
"I think the left is totally and completely terrified of a conservative black man coming to power and prominence," said Debbie Dooley, a leader of Atlanta Tea Party Patriots. "They are trying to do the same thing to him that they did with Clarence Thomas."
"It's outrageous the way liberals treat a black conservative," fumed pundit Ann Coulter.
And Radio show host Rush Limbaugh said: "This is about blacks and Hispanics getting uppity … (Liberals) cannot have a black Republican running for office, can't have a Hispanic, the Left owns those minorities, those two groups can't be seen rising on their own."
But there is no evidence of liberal involvement in the disclosure of Cain's allegations, and, in the fact, the revelations could end up benefiting his Republican opponents in the short term. The accusations against Cain, an untested newcomer on the political scene, could give more moderate GOP voters pause and could cause would-be donors to shy away even as Cain works to capitalize on his rising poll numbers.
The allegations against Cain came to light Sunday night.
Politico reported that at least two women who complained about sexually inappropriate behavior while working for Cain at the National Restaurant Association had signed agreements with the restaurant group that gave them five-figure financial payouts to leave the association and barred them from discussing their departures. Neither woman was identified.
The report was based on anonymous sources and, in one case, what the publication said was a review of documentation that described the allegations and the resolution. Politico said Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon told the publication that Cain himself had indicated to campaign officials that he was "vaguely familiar" with the charges and that the restaurant association's general counsel had resolved the matter.
On Monday, Cain — who completed a round of Washington appearances amid a frenzy of media attention — labeled the charges "a witch hunt."
He said he was aware of the allegations made against him in the 1990s but called them "baseless" and denied he sexually harassed anyone. He said he had no knowledge of whether the association provided any such settlements, and he declined to address specifics of the accusations or the resolution.
While Cain seemed to benefit from an early burst of support in key quarters, the full impact of the charges is not yet known.
Women's rights groups expressed frustration that, 20 years after the Thomas hearings, sexual harassment complaints had again been reduced to a partisan fight.
Erin Matson, a vice president for the National Organization for Women, said the women in question should be given the benefit of the doubt.
"It is deeply insulting that this is being called political," Matson said. "Sexual harassment allegations are always about a woman who is simply trying to go to work."
Still, for some, the desire to oust President Barack Obama could trump most anything else.
Sonia Conte, a 73-year-old retired accountant from Akron, Ohio, said the allegations about Cain don't change her opinion of him: She is concerned that he has little governing experience and prefers former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
"But I'd still rather vote for Herman Cain than Barack Obama," said Conte, a registered Democrat. Obama, she said, mishandled the economy and the end of the Iraq war. "Anybody but Obama."
Cain acknowledged the charges could harm his campaign at a critical juncture.
"Obviously, some people are going to be turned off by this cloud that someone wanted to put over my campaign," he said. "But a lot of people aren't going to be turned off. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."


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WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - The US Justice Department is investigating high-speed trading for possible insider trading, Attorney General Eric Holder will tell lawmakers on Friday, according to an excerpt of his remarks.
The disclosure comes the same week that securities regulators and the FBI also confirmed they are investigating potential wrongdoing by high-frequency stock traders.
Regulators have been examining whether ordinary investors are at an unfair disadvantage to high-speed traders, who use computer algorithms to rapidly dart in and out of trades to earn fractions of a penny that add up to big profits over time.
"I can confirm that we at the Justice Department are investigating this practice to determine whether it violates insider trading laws," Mr Holder told a House panel at a hearing on the Justice Department's budget.
Earlier this week, the head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms Mary Jo White, also confirmed her agency has several active probes into market integrity and structure issues, including high-speed and automated trading.
On Monday, the FBI confirmed it has been conducting a wide-ranging investigation of high-speed trading for months, an outgrowth from the years-long crackdown on insider-trading.
The bureau is examining whether high-frequency traders are front-running others' trades by getting to exchanges first.
A big trade, such as a bank shorting a million shares of a company under investigation, could be considered a material event.
Reuters also reported earlier this week that the FBI is looking at areas such as whether high-speed firms can cut the line in terms of how security orders are placed or are engaged in "spoofing" trades that are not really trades to give the illusion of market activity.
The long-running debate about high-frequency trading intensified on Monday, after best-selling author Michael Lewis published a new book, "Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt." The book contends that high-speed traders have rigged the stock market, profiting from trades made at a speed unavailable to ordinary investors.
Proponents of high-speed trading have criticised the book, saying high-speed traders actually benefit other investors by providing liquidity to the market.


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Create a Website Account - Manage notification subscriptions, save form progress and more.
As of July 1, 2023 only new carts will be serviced. The new cart will look different than your current cart. An old cart placed curbside after July 1 will be emptied and removed. If you would like a second cart, please contact WM at (772) 569-1776. There will be a one-time charge of $87.55 for a second cart. A monthly charge for a second cart will not apply.
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WM will begin delivering new 96-gallon carts to each residence between June 12 and June 30.
If you are a current subscription customer, you MUST place your current garbage cart curbside on ALL regularly scheduled garbage collection days (empty or full) until the exchange of carts has been completed. You may receive your new cart before your old cart is removed. You may begin using your new garbage cart immediately.
Residents who do not currently receive curbside collection service will also receive a new 96-gallon garbage cart, which will be delivered at the end of your driveway. You may begin using your garbage cart when universal service begins on July 1.
Since this is a new service for some residents, WM is sending the first quarterly bill early to allow time to pay. The bill is for service rendered July 1 – September 30.
The City of Sebastian City Council voted to transition to universal curbside collection service beginning July 1, 2023. This collection service will be required for all City of Sebastian residences.
The service will include one-time per week garbage and yard waste collection service, as well as on-call bulk waste collection. The monthly rate is $19.45, and the bill is for service rendered July 1 – September 30. There will be a 3% franchise fee added to the monthly rate, making the total monthly rate $20.03. WM will continue to invoice residents quarterly through September 2024. The City of Sebastian will assume responsibility for invoicing beginning October 1, 2024.
Only current subscription customers will be serviced with the new 96-gallon cart during delivery (June 12 – June 30). All othercustomers will begin receiving weekly collection service on July 1.
Universal service will not go into e ect until July 1, 2023. Each residence will receive a 96-gallon cart, which will include an informational brochure explaining collection service in more detail.
Please use the standard 96-gallon cart for three months. If you are not completely satisfied with the size, you may contact WM beginning October 1, 2023, and request an exchange fora 64-gallon or 35-gallon cart.
Service days will change July 1. The brochure attached to your cart will include a map identifying your new service day. The map will be uploaded to the City website the last week of June.
Delivery is taking place between June 12 and June 30. If you have not received your new cart by June 30, please contact WM. Please continue to use your old cart until you receive the new one.
After July 1, please contact WM to schedule removal of your old cart.


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DHS deploys undercar Kraken tentacle-bombs
'Inspired by Spiderman and giant squid'
Contractors working for the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have developed an innovative remote controlled car-stopping landmine using technology inspired by giant squid, Spiderman and extending party squeakers.
The new tentacular vehicle trap is known as SQUID, for Safe Quick Undercarriage Immobilization Device. It is the brainchild of Martín Martínez, president of Arizona-based Engineering Science Analysis (ESA) Corporation. ESA developed the SQUID under the auspices of the DHS Science and Technology directorate small-biz programme.
"SQUID was inspired by a sea creature and a superhero," says Martínez. DHS S&T boffins see it as the answer to that age-old question:
"What if — like sea monsters of ancient lore — a trap could reach up from below to ensnare anything from a MINI Cooper to a Ford Expedition?"
The Spidey/cephalopod combo bomb comes in the form of a round canister about the size of a largeish pie or cake. A policeman or other minion of the state can lay it in the path of vehicle-mounted miscreants, terrorist suicide bombers, wouldbe huddled masses attempting to illegally live the American dream, etc.
Having retired to a safe distance clutching his SQUID remote, the copper arms the device. Half a second before the speeding malefactors pass over it, he triggers it. A gas cartridge similar to that in a car airbag fires, unrolling barbed straps in all directions using a design modelled on that of kids' party squeakers.
As the tyres pass over the straps, the barbs dig in and the straps wrap around the axles. Meanwhile a second charge, triggered by engine heat passing overhead, deploys "sticky tendrils" from the canister, now beneath the vehicle.
The tendrils ensnare the trailing ends of the wheel-barb straps, causing them to wrap around any central driveshaft in the case of rear-wheel-drive vehicles. The tendrils and straps then break away from the canister, leaving it in the road.
The straps tighten as the wheels keep turning, and the tendrils stretch, gradually absorbing the vehicle's kinetic energy and bringing it to a halt within 500 feet according to the DHS S&T people.
The SQUID is reckoned to be better than ordinary tyre-bursters as it brings a vehicle to a halt more surely and under control. It beats current elastic barriers, too, which can't stop the massive pickups and four-wheel-drives favoured by many American villains. However, the federal moto-kraken designers admit it still needs work.
"We must make it lighter," says Mark Kaczmarek, DHS Q-branch official in charge of the SQUID programme. "Also, more affordable, so it becomes the stopper of choice, regardless of budget."
There's more on the SQUID courtesy of the current edition of DHS inhouse journal S&T Snapshots here. ®


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In accordance with Title 58.1 Chapter 36 of the Virginia Code real property as delineated in the statute are exempt from taxation by classification or designation. The state code tax exemptions are based on specific "uses" and this office ensures those "uses" are being adhered to prior to granting an exemption. The term exempt by classification refers to real property used by a specific group such as a church, to be exempt by designation a governing body must specify the property owner by name. Property owned by a specific group is not automatically exempt based on ownership name, but that the owner is "using" the property for the exempt purpose of the organization. In order to receive the exemption a letter and/or application is required and in certain cases approval by the Board of Supervisors.
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The Commissioner of the Revenue is the Real Property Tax Administrator for the County as such we:
The current tax rate for real estate is 0.62¢ per $100. The Board of Supervisors sets this rate annually.
The purpose of the program is to preserve land where real property is specifically devoted to agriculture, forestry and horticultural uses. The program is designed to defer the fair market value and in its place assign a special assessment based strictly on use value versus market value. Market Value represents the highest and best use of real property where Special Assessments for Land Preservation represent limited uses which benefit all citizens.
When real property changes from its limited use to the highest and best use, the difference in value or deferment in value assigned through special assessment is taxed for the current and five previous tax years. For example, when parcels change from Forestry or Farm use to residential developments.
Tax Relief programs have qualifications that are either listed in the Code of Virginia, Title 58.1 or the County Code of Middlesex. This office is the administrator for the programs; however, the qualifications and policies that determine whether and individual qualifies are codified in the State and County Codes.


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WASHINGTON/BEIJING (Reuters) – China and the United States plunged deeper into a trade war on Tuesday after Beijing added $60 billion of U.S. products to its import tariff list in retaliation for President Donald Trump's planned levies on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
On Monday, the U.S. administration said it will begin to levy new tariffs of 10 percent on about $200 billion of Chinese products on Sept. 24, with the tariffs to go up to 25 percent by the end of 2018.
"China is forced to respond to U.S. unilateralism and trade protectionism, and has no choice but to respond with its own tariffs," the Finance Ministry said in a statement on its website on Tuesday.
Beijing will impose levies on a total of 5,207 U.S. products – ranging from liquefied natural gas to certain types of aircraft as well as cocoa powder and frozen vegetables – at 5 and 10 percent, instead of previously proposed rates of 5, 10, 20 and 25 percent, the finance ministry said.
Both countries' tariffs come into force on Sept. 24.
So far, the United States has imposed tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese products to pressure China to make sweeping changes to its trade, technology transfer and high-tech industrial subsidy policies.
Beijing has retaliated in kind, but some analysts and American businesses are concerned it could resort to other measures such as pressuring U.S. companies operating in China.
While both sides said they were open to talks, Trump launched a Twitter broadside at China, accusing Beijing of targeting rural voters who had supported his presidency by hitting agricultural goods.
"China has openly stated that they are actively trying to impact and change our election by attacking our farmers, ranchers and industrial workers because of their loyalty to me," Trump wrote.
It was not clear what statement from Beijing Trump was referring to in his post. A short video published this summer by Beijing had suggested that farmers would not vote for Trump if their incomes were hurt by his trade policies.
Trump warned on Monday that if China takes retaliatory action against U.S. farmers or industries, "we will immediately pursue phase three, which is tariffs on approximately $267 billion of additional imports."
A senior Chinese securities market official said U.S. trade actions will fail as China has ample fiscal and monetary policy tools to cope with the impact. The government has already been ramping up spending on infrastructure.
"President Trump is a hard-hitting businessman, and he tries to put pressure on China so he can get concessions from our negotiations. I think that kind of tactic is not going to work with China," Fang Xinghai, vice chairman of China's securities regulator, said at a conference in the port city of Tianjin.
Trump's latest escalation of tariffs on China comes after several rounds of talks yielded no progress. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last week invited top Chinese officials to discussions.
In light of the U.S. action, China is reviewing plans to send a delegation to Washington for new talks, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday, citing a government source in Beijing.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Beijing was considering sending Vice Commerce Minister Wang Shouwen to trade talks this month but not Vice Premier Liu He, a senior official who is close to China's president.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Tuesday the next step on holding "constructive negotiations" was up to China.
"So the question about whether or when to have a discussion is very importantly in their ballpark," Ross told CNBC.
Fang told the Tianjin forum that he hopes the two sides can sit down and talk, but added that the latest U.S. move has "poisoned" the atmosphere.
The European Union trade chief said the tariff issues between the two should be resolved through the World Trade Organization. The EU and the United States have declared a truce in their own trade dispute while they negotiate.
"Trade wars are not good and they are not easy to win, and this escalation is of course very unfortunate," European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom told reporters, echoing one of Trump's catch phrases that trade wars were easy to win.
China's yuan currency CNY=CFXS slipped against the dollar on Tuesday after news of the U.S. measures. It has weakened by about 6.0 percent since mid-June, offsetting the 10 percent tariff rate by a considerable margin.
U.S. stock markets opened higher and the Nasdaq index was up 1 over 1 percent by mid-morning.
Reporting by Steve Holland, David Lawder, Ginger Gibson, Eric Beech, David Shepardson, Yawen Chen; Additional reporting by Kevin Yao in TIANJIN, John Ruwitch in SHANGHAI and Christian Shepherd, Michael Martina and Ryan Woo in BEIJING; Editing by Clive McKeef, Kim Coghill and Susan Thomas
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Look and you will find it—what is unsought will go undetected —Sophocles
Finding the Right Time and Place to Write
During a time when I had a demanding job as an scientist with an environmental consulting job, was a devoted wife and mother and community volunteer, I wrote and successfully marketed five books, over a dozen short stories and many articles and reviews. Some people, including my publishers, thought I never slept (true) or cloned myself (possibly). They couldn't believe my productivity when I was so busy with life.
But I did what I did, because I'd worked out a system. One that I could live by. One that fit my lifestyle. One created out of respect for my art as part of my "busy" life of commitments.
The truth of it is that we all lead busy lives. If you are going to finish that novel you've been working on over the years or book of poems sitting in the bottom dresser drawer, you need to make a commitment. Aside from giving your art the respect it deserves, it comes down to creating a time and place to write.
It starts with being realistic about your daily schedules and routines and inclinations and picking a time and place accordingly. Try to be consistent. It's actually best to create a routine related to both time and place; the key is to be realistic about it. Don't fight your inclinations or habits; instead, build your writing into your lifestyle. This will ensure success.
Choose a Sacred Time
Finding the time to write is critical to succeeding. If you don't dedicate time to write you won't. Believe me, you won't. Make it sacred.
Writer Louise DeSalvo shared a common story about her experience: "Many people I know who want to write but don't (my husband, Ernie, for example) or who want to write more than they have but say they can't find the time (my friend Marla) have told me that taking the time to write seems so, well, self-indulgent, self-involved, frivolous even. And that finding the time to write—even a diary, much less fiction or memoir or poetry—in their busy schedules is impossible. I'll write when I have the time, they say."
It doesn't work that way. You don't find time; you must create it. Writing of any kind is a commitment you make to yourself. So, choose a time that's right for you. If you're a morning person, don't pick the end of the day when you don't function as well. Instead, pick the early morning to write, a time before everyone else gets up and the day's distractions pile up.
It's actually best to create a routine related to time of the day (e.g., fixed time such as every morning or right after supper) or based on some other constant in your life, say the school calendar or your daily activities. The key is to be realistic about the time(s) you've chosen. In other words, your goals should be realistic and realizable.
The second part of the commitment is sharing it with your family and friends so that they will respect your sacred writing time. By sharing how important it is to you, you also give them the gift of sharing the experience with you and they are more likely to respect your time alone to write. This is also why choosing a routine makes more sense; it is something your family and friends will better remember and abide by. Making it easy for others is part of making it easy for you.
Find Your Own Rhythm
There's no rule for when and how often you write. Because frequency and schedule of writing depends on the kind of writing you do (e.g., novel, short stories, articles, research) and on your own rhythms, you must decide what works best.
Most writers recommend that you commit to a regular writing schedule that is realistic to your overall routine and biorhythms. Some recommend you write in the morning, after a refreshing sleep; others suggest you write at night, at the end of the day when your memories are more fresh with the day's activities and stimulations. Yet others suggest you take time out during the day to jot down relevant experiences as close to the time as the muse hits you, then spend some time at the end of the day compiling it into your work.
In the end, it's up to you to choose what works for you and your own rhythms. When is the best time for you to write? And for how long or how many pages? Once you decide, stick to that schedule.
Choose a Sacred Place
Writing is a reflective activity that requires the right environment. The best environment is a quiet one with no interruptions and where you are alone. A reflective environment will let you find a connection with your muse. You need a place where you can relax and not worry about someone barging in or other things distracting you from your reflections. You should also feel physically comfortable and the place should meet your time requirements.
Because the suitability of a place can change with the time of day, learn the rhythms that affect the place you wish to write in. For example, the kitchen may be the centre of activity during the day but an oasis of quietude during the evening. Similarly, learn what kind of environment stimulates and nurtures your writing. Does music help or do you need complete quiet? Do you respond to nature's soft breezes and sounds or do you prefer to surround yourself with the anonymous murmur of a crowded café for company?
Places that work for me include the local coffee shop, a park near my house, a library or other quiet place where I can enjoy uninterrupted anonymity. Where you write may reflect what you're writing and vice versa. To some extent, you are environment and environment is you. You might try a few places first and see what happens to your muse. What you write while sitting under an apple tree in the breeze hearing the birds singing may differ from what you write while sitting in your living room by the crackling fireplace with music playing or sitting at your desk in your bedroom in total silence or in a crowded café surrounded by cheerful bustle.
Again, as with your choice of time, tell your family and friends about your sacred place. Provide rules, if you have to. Let's say it's a desk in the study. You may, for instance, let others know that your "mess" is part of a work in progress, perhaps even explain a little about it so they understand the nature of what you're doing and why it should not be touched or moved or used, even while you are away from it. This will ensure that they respect your things and what you're doing.
In the end it comes to finding the right integration and balance of time and place. Letting others know of your choices is equally important; this will ensure that they can help you, not hinder you in your writing. While writing is to a large extent an activity done in solitude, the journey is far from secluded. Ensure that you have a good support network.
This article is an excerpt from my fiction writing guidebook "The Fiction Writer: Get Published, Write Now!" (Starfire, 2009).


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Some of the Vets in my Family Tree . . .
great-great-grandfather Capt. Nathan W. Wilcox, Bissell's Engineering Regiment of the West, MO (ca. 1861) (his headstone is being placed on his grave this week in Nashville, TN and we will be dedicating the grave on August 14)
great-grandfather, Private J. Adam Hollander, Union Army, Co. I, Wisconsin 24th Inf. (1865)
grandfather, Seaman Lee Alfred Wilcox, USN (1903)
My first cousin, once removed, Wilbur Dallman, with his friend John (WWI)
2nd cousin once removed, Robert C. Trapschuh, USN (WWII)
Thank you to them and to all the living family member vets and current servicemen:
my husband, Lynn A. Hibben, US Navy vet
My brother & sister-in-law, Robert & Jaynie Wilcox, US Navy vets
my son, Quentin L. Hibben, US Navy, ret'd.
my daughter, Sandra Hibben Dodge, US Army vet
my son-in-law, Gregory Dodge, US Army, ret'd.
my grandsons (currently serving), Chris Schmidt (US Army) and Matt Hicks (US Navy)


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Loews Hotels & Resorts Announces Loews Chicago Hotel Opening in 2015
Loews Hotels & Resorts Announces Loews Chicago Hotel Opening in 2015
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Loews Hotels & Resorts, a wholly owned-subsidiary of Loews Corporation (NYS: L) , today announced that the company will open a new property in Chicago. The hotel is being developed by Chicago-based DRW Trading Group (DRW) and designed by the architectural firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz.
The Loews Chicago Hotel will feature 400 guestrooms, including 36 suites, a signature restaurant, more than 25,000 square feet of innovative meeting space, multiple outdoor terraces for guest and function uses, spa/fitness center and an outdoor rooftop including a pool overlooking the city. The hotel is slated to open in January, 2015.
"This Chicago property promises to deliver a unique experience for our guests as we expand and grow our brand," said Jonathan Tisch, Chairman of Loews Hotels & Resorts. "The location, amenities and services will surpass expectations, making the Loews Chicago Hotel one of the most sought after hotels in the area."
Boasting city and lake views from the guest rooms, the property is located just one block north of the Chicago River and two blocks east of North Michigan Avenue, in the heart of Chicago. The hotel will be part of a highly visible 52-story tower comprised of the Loews Chicago Hotel and 390 luxury residential apartments.
"We are thrilled to partner with Loews Hotels & Resorts to bring a unique experience to downtown Chicago," said Donald R. Wilson, Jr., Founder and CEO of DRW Trading Group. "The Loews Hotels brand will be an invaluable addition to the Chicago hotel market."
Loews Hotels & Resorts' plans for the new Chicago hotel follow the announcement of another new build, the 1,800-room Cabana Bay Beach Resort at Universal Orlando, expected to open in 2014. Cabana Bay Beach Resort is the fourth hotel in partnership with Universal Parks & Resorts, and is one of the largest hotels being built in the United States at the present time.
"Loews Chicago and Cabana Bay Beach Resort further highlight our goal of working with proven investors and partners as we seek to continue operating distinct properties in key markets," said Paul Whetsell, President and CEO of Loews Hotels & Resorts. "These new developments are important steps in our plan to expand Loews in major cities across North America."
The addition of the Chicago and Orlando properties is part of the company's strategy to add substantially to its portfolio of hotels over the next five years. Loews Hotels & Resorts continues to seek hotel additions in gateway cities and resort destinations and anticipates announcing additional Loews properties in the coming months.
About Loews Hotels & Resorts
Headquartered in New York City, Loews Hotels & Resorts owns and/or operates 18 hotels and resorts in the U.S. and Canada including the Loews Hollywood Hotel located adjacent to the Hollywood & Highland Center. The hotel features 632 guestrooms, including 113 suites and over 120,000-square-feet of meeting space. Located in major city centers and resort destinations in North America from coast to coast, the Loews portfolio features one-of-a-kind properties that go beyond Four Diamond standards to delight guests with a supremely comfortable, uniquely local and vibrant travel experience. For reservations or more information about Loews Hotels & Resorts, call 1-800-23-LOEWS or visit: www.loewshotels.com.
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• Applications are pre-screened for basic qualifications• Pre-screened applications are forwarded to the hiring manager for review• Selected candidates are invited to interview and applicants not selected will be notified• Selected candidates are invited to return for a second interview• Final candidate is offered the position, completes pre-employment screening, and meets with the General Manager
Some positions may require applicants to pass a written exam. A performance test may be required for a position requiring certain skills, such as typing or the operation of heavy equipment. Decisions about the selection process are made by the hiring manager and the Human Resources Manager when the position opens. The job flyer will contain details if there are specific requirements to that recruitment's selection process.


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Perhaps a made-up word — "mavericky" — may be the most appropriate way to describe state Sen. Jeff Wentworth, R-San Antonio. After six terms in the Senate, the 70-year-old has earned a reputation as someone whose stubborn adherence to principle leads him to buck his own party and lock horns with leadership, sometimes to the detriment of his legislative priorities. "I don't cow easily by anybody," he says. "I don't care whether I'm re-elected or not. I'm gonna do in the brief time I have in public office what I think is right, and if that goes against my colleagues or my political party, I'm not their representative. I represent the people."
Of course, going one's own way can wear a man down, and Wentworth wasn't expected to come back next session after seeking two high-profile higher education jobs this summer. After both fizzled, he says he's "gunned up and ready to go" for his seventh term in the Senate, even if he'll return with clout resembling that of a freshman. He's without a few of the aides who knew him best and stripped of the Jurisprudence Committee he used to chair. He says he's hopeful he can just get a seat on the redistricting committee that he also once chaired.
"For me not to even be a member of the Senate Redistricting Committee seems to be an oversight of some kind," he says.
Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst says part of the reason he reassigned Wentworth's committees was because he wasn't expecting the senator to return. "Senator Wentworth was talking about moving on and doing something different, and that was in the back of my mind," Dewhurst says.
That prospect of moving on may have also been on the minds of Wentworth's 2009 staff members, at least a half dozen of whom have departed in the last year. All of his former aides on the Jurisprudence Committee are gone, replaced after the lieutenant governor removed Wentworth as chair in July. His chief of staff, Joe Morris, and his general counsel, Katie Henry, both moved on, too. Wentworth said he simply warned his top aides that he was up for the job of chancellor of the Texas State University System in the spring but did not instruct them to leave. They left on their own for various reasons, he insists.
"They were absolutely invaluable to me, an integral part of the team," Wentworth says of his senior staff. "That said, the cemetery is full of people who were so-called indispensable when they were alive."
If he sounds blunt, he doesn't apologize for it. A former county commissioner and a three-term veteran of the Texas House, Wentworth is known for his Texas-style independence and candor. He takes pride in calling out his Republican colleagues for their unwillingness to support his proposals to make government more representative and refuses to cooperate in the common Senate practice of suspending the rules to fast-track bills to passage. This summer, he very publicly fumed in a five-page letter after he wasn't selected to lead the Texas State System. (The chancellor's job went to another lawmaker, state Rep. Brian McCall, R-Plano.)
Today, he still stands by the sprawling letter (and the accompanying side-by-side comparison of his curriculum vitae with McCall's) that he sent to Ron Blatchley, the chairman of the Texas State Board of Regents, and copied to others, including the media.
"Frankly, Ron, I'm more than a little disappointed and puzzled; I'm personally offended that my significant and sustained support of and advocacy for higher education and the system for many years apparently count for so little ..." Wentworth wrote to Blatchley. "If I ever write my autobiography, this experience in my life deserves a chapter entitled 'No Good Deed Goes Unpunished'. … Y'all threw overboard a loyal, tried and true, longtime member of the crew in favor of (please pardon my unvarnished candor) a Johnny-come-lately opportunist."
"I have no animosity toward Brian McCall," he says now. "My criticism was of the Board of Regents and what I continue to believe is their flawed selection process."
A month later, more of the unvarnished Wentworth was on display when he was all but offered a senior-level post by the Texas A&M University System Chancellor Mike McKinney. He says he opted to stay in the Senate because of the timing: Had he resigned, he says, his district's Republican county chairs, instead of voters, would have chosen his successor. "That didn't seem to me the respectful way to leave the Senate," Wentworth says.
Nonetheless, Wentworth sent McKinney a list of salary requirements and title requests, to which McKinney has not replied. "The ball, if there is a ball, is in McKinney's court," Wentworth says. "I have no assurance he will ever throw it back on my side of the net." McKinney wasn't available for comment Wednesday, but Texas A&M University System spokesman Jason Cook said, "We do not have an opening for that position, nor do we see one in the future."
Of course, Wentworth could always leave the Senate and return to practicing law, but he sounds almost allergic to the idea. "I don't know many people who enjoy practicing law, and I'm among them," he says. He has told his colleagues he will finish out the session, if not his full term, which ends in 2012. "He has said he would stay through, and I expect him to," says state Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, a longtime friend. "Besides that, I talked to his wife. And she told me he was staying through."
So come January, one of the upper chamber's most unpredictable members will be back in his seat in the green-carpeted chamber, which could be a rare bit of good news for Democrats in a Senate in which Republicans don't quite have the two-thirds majority they'll enjoy in the House. Because Wentworth often puts his own political views ahead of his party's — he received the lowest rating of any GOP lawmaker from taxpayer watchdog group Texans for Fiscal Responsibility last session, for example, and he consistently gets high scores from NARAL Pro-Choice Texas — he could potentially help the Democratic minority in stopping some legislation from reaching a floor vote.
At the same time, he regularly pushes for a Republican-friendly measure to allow concealed handguns to be carried on college campuses, and he is co-sponsoring a voter ID bill with state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay.
He will for the 10th time attempt to win passage his pet bill, which calls for creating a bipartisan committee to redraw congressional and legislative lines. And he will once again advocate for legislation eliminating straight-ticket voting. "Both political parties oppose that," he says, "and I think that's very self-serving on their part."
"I gave him a statue of Don Quixote with a plaque that said, Jeff Wentworth, R-La Mancha," Zaffirini says. "He is a person of high integrity, and he doesn't give up." As evidence of their friendship, Zaffirini has given over one of her former staff members to Wentworth, who is now filling his 2011 roster with fresh faces. For his part, the lieutenant governor says he's open to reconsidering Wentworth's committee assignments, which will determine the role the senior senator will play next session.
"If he stays, we're gonna have a lot of challenging things for him to do," Dewhurst says. "Traditionally, I sit down and we make some changes in the first week in January … so everything's on the table."
But with Wentworth, as always, nothing is guaranteed. "I'm a Republican," he says, "but that's second to being a Texan."
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Plazas and Terraces
Buzon pedestals can help you create a grand public space to offer visitors a space for contemplation and comfort. But, pedestals are equally suitable for a courtyard between building to offer respite from the noisy office environment. In the intimate Baiso Temple shown below, the architect envisioned a terrace by day, to be walked on but, by night the terrace transforms to a pristine lake to be admired from the temple through the floor to ceiling windows.
The plaza and terrace projects shown below boast heavy natural stone and concrete pavers but Buzon pedestals can be also be strewn with joist hangers and covered with decking material ranging from traditional wood planking, engineered wood tiles, composites, or even ceramic and glass tile.
The plaza and terrace projects below represent a few different installs but there are 1000′s of installs around the world that make use of Buzon pedestals. Each project is unique; there are as many variations as there are designers and architects. If you have a question about whether Buzon pedestals are right for your project, please contact us.
Buzon pedestals in art museum terrace with granite slabs
Buzon pedestals in illuminated terrace
Buzon pedestals in Baiso Temple in Tokyo
Water feature as well as normal outdoor roof top terrace. During the days the water stays in the basin and during the nights the water is on top of the tiles. Stunning view from inside to the terrace outside. At night it looks a lake.
Comments are closed.
Materials used with Buzon
• Stone - marble, granite, etc.
• Paver - hydrapressed concrete slab• Wood - wood tile, deck joist systems
• Grating - steel & fiberglass
• Tile - ceramic & glass
• Composite - composite tile, composite joist systemReference Projects
• Parliament of the EU - Belgium
• Military Royal School - Belgium
• National Museum of Tokyo - Tokyo, Japan
• University of Kansas Medical Hospital - Kansas City, US
• University of Denver, Colorado - US
• Site of the General Society - Belgium
• Bank Communal Crédit - Belgium
• Disneyland, Paris - France
• Films FUJY Laboratory - France
• Metro Building - Portugal
• Petronas Tower - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
• Diabetes Treatment Center - Kuwait
• New National Theater - Singapore
• City Bank - Bahrain
• Amusement Park - Belgium
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Welcome to Wise Bread's Best Money Tips Roundup! Today we found some awesome articles on if you should upgrade to the iPhone 5c or 5s, how social media can find you deals, and creating an emergency fund.
Should I Upgrade to the iPhone 5c or the 5s? — People on a budget or who like color should opt for the iPhone 5c while gamers and camera users should opt for the iPhone 5s. [Lifehacker]
Financial Advice: How Social Media Can Help You Find Deals and Save Money on Shopping — Checking in to a certain business on Foursquare may score you coupons or discounts. [Dumb Little Man]
6 Quick Ways to Create an Emergency Fund — Selling stuff or getting a side job can help you create an emergency fund quickly. [Christian PF]
10 Tasks That Should Be On Your Todo List Today — If you made a promise to someone, make sure fulfilling that promise is on your to do list today. [Time Management Ninja]
4 Signs Your Fall Internship is a Waste of Time — Are you only performing low-level tasks at your internship? Consider asking for more responsibilities. [US News and World Report]
31 Reasons to Work at Craigslist — Craigslist offers their employees a monthly transportation stipend and an employee assistance program among other awesome benefits. [Budgets Are Sexy]
20 Tips for Commercial Real Estate Investment — When investing in commercial real estate, only work with expert real estate agents. [One Cent At A Time]
10 Ways to Gain Fame for Being a Good Person — Letting your passions ignite your ability to thrive and inspire others is a great way to be recognized for being a good person. [Marc and Angel Hack Life]
How to Get Your Point Across Every Time — If you want to get your point across every time, be clear and concise. [PopSugar Smart Living]
How to Raise an Organized Child When You're a Slob Like Me — To raise an organized child, make lists and use toys. [Parenting Squad]
Disclaimer: The links and mentions on this site may be affiliate links. But they do not affect the actual opinions and recommendations of the authors.
Wise Bread is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.


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Researchers have shown that a process called DNA methylation can shield duplicate genes from being removed from the genome during natural selection. The redundant genes survive and are shaped by evolution over time, giving birth to new cellular functions.
"This is the first study to show explicitly how the processes of DNA methylation and duplicate gene evolution are related," said Soojin Yi, an associate professor in the School of Biology and the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
The study was sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and was scheduled to be published the week of April 7 in the Online Early Edition of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
At least half of the genes in the human genome are duplicates. Duplicate genes are not only redundant, but they can be bad for cells. Most duplicate genes accumulate mutations at high rates, which increases the chance that the extra gene copies will become inactive and lost over time due to natural selection.
The new study found that soon after some duplicate genes form, small hydrocarbons called methyl groups attach to a duplicate gene's regulatory region and block the gene from turning on.
When a gene is methylated, it is shielded from natural selection, which allows the gene to hang around in the genome long enough for evolution to find a new use for it. Some young duplicate genes are silenced by methylation almost immediately after being formed, the study found.
"What we have done is the first step in the process to show that young gene duplicates seems to be heavily methylated," Yi said.
The study showed that the average level of DNA methylation on the duplicate gene regulatory region is significantly negatively correlated with evolutionary time. So, younger duplicate genes have high levels of DNA methylation.
For about three-quarters of the duplicate gene pairs studied, the gene in a pair that was more methylated was always more methylated across all 10 human tissues studied, said Thomas Keller, a post-doctoral fellow at Georgia Tech and the study's first author.
"For the tissues that we examined, there was remarkable consistency in methylation when we looked at duplicate gene pairs," Keller said.
The computational study constructed a dataset of all human gene duplicates by comparing each sequence against every other sequence in the human genome. DNA methylation data was then obtained for the 10 different human tissues. The researchers used computer models to analyze the links between DNA methylation and gene duplication.
The human brain is one example of a tissue for which gene duplication has been particularly important for its evolution. In future studies, the researchers will examine the link between epigenetic evolution and human brain evolution.
This research is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under award numbers BCS-1317195 and MCB-0950896. Any conclusions or opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the sponsoring agency.
CITATION: Thomas E. Keller, et al., "DNA Methylation and Evolution of Duplicate Genes." (PNAS, April 2014). http://www.dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1321420111
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Writer: Brett Israel


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If you've played any of the Splinter Cell games you'll remember the PDA that [Sam Fisher] carried around with him. What if you could have one of your own when playing capture-the-flag? [Brad] has created the ZephyrEye as an electronic command and communications device for real-life games.
Each player carries around their own unit. The ZephyrEye has a GPS module, Xbee module, LCD screen, and control buttons. This allows a player to setup one of several different games, map out the game field including base locations and flag locations, and monitor a time limit and scoring. Other players can join the game in progress. The best part? The GPS modules report tracking to each handheld and act as radar for your team and the enemy team. We've got a couple of demo videos after the break.
Words can't describe how delighted this would have made us back in the day. We don't play outside with the other neighborhood kids anymore (insert dirty-old-man joke here) but that might change just because of this device. We may end up joining [Barney Stinson] for some amazingly awesome laser-tag games after all.
[Brad's] posted hardware information and source code so that you can use to throw together a dozen or so units. We think the next version should incorporate a wearable display.


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WESTERN AUSTRALIA POPULATION CHANGE IN PERTH In the year to June 2011, Perth SD had the state's largest population growth, increasing by 42,800 people (or 2.5%) to reach 1.74 million. This SD accounted for just over three-quarters (77%) of WA's growth between June 2010 and June 2011 and represented just under three-quarters (74%) of the state's population at June 2011. Perth SD also had the fastest growth rate of all the capital cities in Australia. The largest population growth in 2010-11 occurred in the outer suburban fringes of Perth SD, with the northern coastal LGA of Wanneroo (C) increasing by 6,200 people. Stirling (C), an inner LGA which also abuts the coast, grew by 4,000 people, while the southern coastal LGA of Rockingham (C) increased by 3,900 people. Strong growth was also recorded for Armadale (C) to the south-east of the city (up 3,300 people), and Joondalup (C) and Swan (C) to the north of the city (3,200 and 3,100 respectively). Together, these LGAs accounted for more than two-fifths (42%) of the growth across the state. No LGAs in Perth SD experienced population decline in the year to June 2011. In Perth SD, the fastest-growing LGAs in 2010-11 were Serpentine-Jarrahdale (S) (6.9%), Armadale (C) (5.4%), and Kwinana (T) (4.8%), all located in the southern suburban fringes of the Perth SD.
POPULATION CHANGE IN THE REMAINDER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA In the year to June 2011, the population outside of the Perth metropolitan area grew by 2.2%, to 610,500. This represented 26% of the state's total. South West SD continued to be the state's fastest-growing, increasing by 3.0% (or 7,600 people) in 2010-11. Over one-third of the LGAs in South West SD experienced growth rates above the state average (2.4%) in this period, with Mandurah (C) recording both the largest and fastest growth in the SD (up by 3,700 people or 5.3% in 2010-11). This LGA, which adjoins Perth SD to the south, has been among the fastest-growing in the state for several years as indicated by its average annual growth rate of 4.6% over the five years to June 2011. The shires of Capel (S) (4.0%), Augusta-Margaret River (S) (3.2%) and Harvey (S) (3.1%) also had growth rates well above the state average. In contrast, the shire of Manjimup (S) recorded a population decline of 60 people or 0.6%. The Pilbara was the second fastest-growing SD in the state, increasing by 2.7% (or 1,300 people) in 2010-11. Roebourne (S) was the LGA with the largest growth in this SD, increasing by 640 people (3.3%), while Ashburton (S) was the fastest-growing with an increase of 3.7%. The Kimberley was the next fastest-growing SD in the remainder of the state (2.3%), with growth in the LGA of Broome (S) (up 490 people or 3.0%) attributable for almost 60% of the increase in this region. The remaining SDs of Lower Great Southern, Midlands, South Eastern and Central experienced slower population growth in the year to June 2011 (below the state average of 2.4%), while Upper Great Southern SD was the only SD in WA not to increase in population. Almost half of the LGAs in this SD declined slightly. POPULATION DENSITY WA's population density at June 2011 was 0.9 people per square kilometre (sq km). This was the second lowest of all the states and territories after the Northern Territory and compares with 2.9 people per sq km for Australia as a whole. Most of the state had a very low population density, with over half of the SLAs in WA (comprising 97% of the total area of the state) having less than one person per sq km. The population density of Perth SD was 320 people per sq km at June 2011. While this was an increase from 2010, it was the third lowest of all the capital cities and lower than the density of Australia's capital cities combined (380 people per sq km). South Eastern SD (which includes Kalgoorlie) was the most sparsely populated in the state, followed by the Kimberley; each having a population density of less than 0.1 person per sq km. At June 2011, the SLAs with the highest population densities within Perth SD were Vincent (T) (2,800 people per sq km), Subiaco (C) (2,700) and East Fremantle (T) (2,500). The SLAs of South Perth (C), Mosman Park (T), Cottesloe (T), Stirling (C) - South-Eastern and Claremont (C) also had densities of more than 2,000 people per sq km. All of these SLAs had an area of less than 20 square kilometres. Between June 2010 and June 2011, the largest increases in population density within Perth SD occurred in the SLAs of East Fremantle (T) (up 69 people per sq km), Perth (C) - Remainder (up 57) and Vincent (T) (up 49). CENTRE OF POPULATION At June 2011, the centre of population for WA was in the Avon Valley National Park, in the LGA of Toodyay (S). In the five years to June 2011, the centre moved approximately 1.9 kilometres south-west, reflecting strong population growth in Perth. The centre of population for Perth SD at June 2011 was in the Swan River, between the Perth central business district and South Perth. LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA POPULATIONS For a full list of LGA populations, see the Downloads tab. Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window. |


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Members of Clydeside Industrial Workers of the World, the Anarchist Federation and Solidarity Federation picketed the Queen Street branch of Holland & Barrett at lunchtime on Saturday 31st March. We managed to turn some people away at the entrance. We had placards proclaiming 'The H&B Workfare Deal, Employ Three, Get One Free' in the style of Holland and Barrett advertising as Holland and Barrett plan to have a quarter of their workers as unpaid labour. Another placard said, 'Say No To Workfare At Holland and Barrett'. We gave out 500 leaflets detailing Holland & Barrett use of unpaid labour. A number of people stopped to ask what the picket was about. A member of the Holland & Barrett staff was one of these people on her way in to start her shift. She said that one girl had been on work experience at the store, but that she had got a permanent job. We pointed out generally Holland and Barrett have not given permanent contracts to 80% of people on work experience, their plans to introduce a 1000 more work experience people in the next year and how that could affect the hours of the permanent staff. The manager tried to tell us to move away from the entrance, but we just ignored her. In a final pathetic attempt to show us who was boss she bluffed that the police were on their way, even though there was nothing remotely illegal about what we were doing.
There were over 20 actions against workfare over the weekend around Britain that will be part of an ongoing campaign. These actions were part of a national day of action called by the Solidarity Federation. The actions tied in with the international days of action against austerity called by the International Workers Association that included the general strike in Spain on March 29th, and the M31 European Day of Action Against Capitalism.
Report with photo here:


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Andre Paskowski came up with some news regarding his latest movie project "Minds Wide Open", so here the moviemakers short update:
Hi Friends,
we just returned from CaboVerde. After not scoring the conditions we
expected in November, we decided to go when a good
forecast is on the way. Apart from Philip Köster, who could not join because his flight was delayed and he missed his connection to Lisbon, everybody made it in time.
Conditions have been extremely great with wind and waves pretty much all the time. A highlight was surely Sunday the 13th with perfect Ponta Preta
conditions and our last day with something even bigger.
We are sure now, that we got all we need for our CV chapter and move on to
Maui beginning of next week.


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Self-driving lorries to be tested on motorways in England with HGVs in convoy
Up to three wirelessly connected HGVs will travel in convoy, with acceleration and braking controlled by the lead vehicle.
Lorries driving close together could see the front vehicle pushing air out of the way, making the other vehicles more efficient and lowering their emissions.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? To email us your thoughts on driverless lorries click here.
Similar trials have already been carried out elsewhere in Europe and in the US but motoring experts questioned the suitability of self-driving lorries in the UK.
The Government has provided £8.1 million funding towards the trials, which are expected to take place by the end of next year. All lorries involved will have a driver ready to take control if required.
Transport minister Paul Maynard said: "We are investing in technology that will improve people's lives. Advances such as lorry platooning could benefit businesses through cheaper fuel bills and other road users thanks to lower emissions and less congestion. But first we must make sure the technology is safe and works well on our roads, and that's why we are investing in these trials."
The trial is also funded by Highways England and will be carried out by the Transport Research Laboratory. Initial test track research will help to ascertain the appropriate distance between vehicles and on which roads the tests should take place.
AA president Edmund King warned that a platoon of three lorries can obscure road signs from drivers in outside lanes and could block access to slip roads.
"A three-truck platoon is longer than half a Premier League football pitch," he said. "We all want to promote fuel efficiency and reduced congestion but we are not yet convinced that lorry platooning on UK motorways is the way to go about it.
"We have some of the busiest motorways in Europe with many more exits and entries. Platooning may work on the miles of deserted freeways in Arizona or Nevada but this is not America."
RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding said: "Streams of close-running HGVs could provide financial savings on long-distance journeys, but on our heavily congested motorways – with stop-start traffic and vehicles jostling for position – the benefits are less certain."
Road Haulage Association chief executive Richard Burnett said the organisation understands the benefits of platooning but insisted that "safety has to come first".


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Cobia Hole Dive Site
Located just off the shore of Lizard Island north of Cairns, Cobia Hole features a jumble of rocks, no bigger than a tennis court, decorated with marine life. With a maximum depth of 18 metres, this rocky outcrop is home to hovering sweetlips, emperors, cobia, estuary cod and more.
The rock is covered in sponges, soft coral, feather stars, sea stars, sea squirts, shrimps, crabs and gobies. Also look out for impressive sea whips, gorgonian fans and stinging hydroids. Large turtles, circling pelagic barracuda and trevally are all common visitors, and will often follow you down to explore the sea grasses and algae on the nearby sand.
Disabled access available, contact operator for details.


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I'd like to know how much time I have on my gas mask on the surface.
My character's breathing frequency changes sometimes. Is that an indicator that I should change my gas mask?
Also, should I change my gas mask for any other reason than if it becomes damaged, like, glass broken from an attack?


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The U.S. government intends to further their control over the lives of Americans by introducing microchipping for children in the near future.
As time goes by, the government seems to want to regulate the lives of Americans more and more.
Sometimes these decisions for further regulation actually help the American people, which is always up for debate and depends on who you are, and sometimes the reasons behind these decisions are dubious and must be called into question.
The latter scenario has been occurring recently as news of the future of tracking people has been spread around.
The concept is simple but the implications behind it are serious: the U.S. government intends to introduce microchipping for children in the near future in an effort to better keep track of them.
Though it's easy to say that this technology would simply protect children from being kidnapped or getting lost, it goes much deeper than that.
Proponents of microchipping, such as mother of three Steffany Rodriguez-Neely, have pointed out that:
"If it'll save my kid, there's no stuff that's too extreme. Microchipping would be an extra layer of protection, if something bad does happen."
She added:
"If a small chip the size of a grain of rice could have prevented a tragedy, I think most parents would have said, 'I think I would have done it.'"
Rodriguez-Neely doesn't seem to take into account what having a microchip could mean for the child once they grow up or what else the microchip might be used for without the parent's or child's permission.
Electronics expert Stuart Lipoff attempts to compare microchips in humans to barcodes on products in the store, but also falls short.
He told NBC:
"When barcodes first came out in the late 1960s, people were appalled. They were wary of them and did not understand the concept. Today, it is so commonplace, we don't even notice it. A microchip would work much in the same way."
There is a significant difference between barcodes that identify and hold information about products and tracking devices that store records inside of people.
Some microchips may only work when they are scanned, but others used in pets can also track the location of the pet at all times using GPS, and that's where the true concern lies.
If parents are able to gain access to their child's location, there's a likelihood that this information could be hacked and complete strangers could also track them.
In addition, the children are stripped of their freedom to choose whether they want the chip implanted in them and must live with the decision their parents make for them for the rest of their lives.
One argument in favor of the microchip is the ease with which information about a person can be stored and retrieved, such as important medical records, bank accounts, and much more.
However, is the convenience of the chip worth the unforeseen troubles that would accompany the introduction of this device?
The idea behind the microchip conjures up thoughts of science-fiction tales gone awry, but the choice would ultimately, or at least hopefully, be given to citizens.
If they embrace it with open arms, microchips could become the norm, but if they reject it, the idea would fade away like many others.
If NBC reporter Melanie Michael, who interviewed several people to uncover facts and opinions about the future of the microchip, is right, then this technology could be introduced "sooner rather than later."
NBC Reports: Americans Will Receive a Microchip Implant in 2017


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Transparent Government
Our agency strives to provide constituents, members, and citizens information to help them fully understand our mission, administration, and operations. This page helps locate important information related to transparency based on recommendations for administrative and financial data disclosure and best practices. Not all recommendations shown here apply to our agency, however we've provided links to help you locate available information online. If you need information that is not posted online, or have difficulty locating a document, please feel free to contact us.


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Shanta Williams was born in Los Angeles, California. From 2006 to 2007, Shanta interned and worked for the department of Educational Technology at a local college.
During 2008, Shanta studied fine art and mixed media at the Paris American Academy in Paris, France. She has shown artwork at galleries in Paris, France, Camarillo, and Ventura, California.
In the winter of 2009-2010, Shanta traveled to New Zealand to study and conduct research on restorative justice (conflict management through victim, offender, and community mediation) and art.
As a presenter at the 2nd Annual Conflict Transformation Conference at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia in the spring of 2010, Shanta discussed her research findings about the creative arts and restorative justice with members of JMU's campus community.
You can find Shanta's work in print, and online. She has been published, as a contributing artist, in A World of Artist Journal Pages by Dawn DeVries Sokol (2015). Shanta was also a participant in the 2016 Brooklyn Library Sketchbook Project, with a professionally scanned copy of her sketchbook available for viewing on the official Sketchbook Project website. Her 2016 sketchbook is also available for viewing in-person, at the Brooklyn Art Library in Brooklyn, New York, USA.
Shanta Devi welcomes new followers on her social media Flickr, Instagram, and Twitter pages.
Comments, questions, and purchase inquiries can be made by email to: through [dot] thehand [at] gmail [dot] com.
Website: shantadevi.com


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DETROIT (AP) — Sales fell at General Motors, Toyota and Volkswagen in September, an odd month that appears likely to snap a 27-month streak of gains for the U.S. auto industry.
GM posted an 11 percent decline compared with a year ago as the company even reported falling sales of its redesigned full-size pickup trucks. Pickup truck sales have been a strong point for the industry as small businesses return to dealer showrooms. Volkswagen sales were off 12 percent, while Toyota sales were down 4 percent.
But Ford and Chrysler appeared to have outperformed the industry. Ford sales were up 6 percent, while sales at Chrysler rose 1 percent.
All automakers report U.S. sales on Tuesday. Chrysler and Ford officials joined many industry analysts in predicting that overall sales fell last month for the first time in more than two years. Analysts say a quirk in the calendar — not lower demand — is to blame.
Labor Day weekend is typically strong for U.S. auto sales, and this year was no exception. But because the holiday came early, the auto industry counted all of that weekend's sales in its August tallies. That means September's sales will be missing the usual holiday boost.
Analysts say all the factors that have been driving this year's strong car sales — including low interest rates, the improving economy and the need to replace aging vehicles — remain in place. They see a strong close to the year.
"The market continues to move at a very healthy pace," said Erich Merkle, Ford's top U.S. sales analyst.
September U.S. sales are expected to total around 1.1 million, according to auto shopping site Edmunds.com. That would be a 4 percent decrease from last September and a 24 percent decrease from the blistering pace in August, which was the best month in more than six years.
The U.S. government shutdown could be the wild card that cuts into sales for the remainder of the year, but Jim Lentz, Toyota's North American CEO, said the only way it would have an impact is if it causes credit to tighten.
At GM, sales of the redesigned Chevrolet Silverado pickup fell 11 percent, while the GMC Sierra dropped nearly 2 percent, reversing a recent trend and marking a contrast to GM's main rivals in the truck market.
Ford reported that sales of its top-selling F-Series pickups rose 10 percent. Chrysler was buoyed by the Ram pickup with sales up 8 percent.
Chrysler also said sales of the Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV increased 19 percent.
Ford was led by sales of its Fusion midsize sedan, which jumped 62 percent over last September, while the subcompact Fiesta posted nearly a 29 percent gain. But sales of the Escape SUV — one of Ford's best sellers — dropped 2 percent to 22,607, and Explorer SUV sales were up just 1.5 percent.
Bill Fay, the Toyota Division chief, said September was still a good month for the industry even though there were two fewer selling days than a year ago. "Industry fundamentals are strong as interest rates stay low and consumers remain confident," he said.
Volkswagen, which has struggled all year against strong 2012 numbers, had a poor month. Its top-seller, the Jetta small car, posted a nearly 10 percent sales decline.
Nissan also reported a sales drop, off nearly 6 percent from a year earlier. The Nissan Division's sales were off 6 percent, while the Infiniti luxury brand posted a 4 percent decline.


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• opsimath •
Pronunciation: ahp-sê-mæth • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: (Literary) A person who undertakes study late in life, a person who learns late in life (an old dog that can learn new tricks).
Notes: As more and more people return to school and on-line study after retirement, the more we need today's Good Word. We even predict that the growing number of opsimaths will include many polymaths, people who are educated in many subjects. The activity of opsimaths is opsimathy. Things pertaining to opsimathy and opsimaths are opsimathic.
In Play: The popularity of opsimathy is growing in the US as baby-boomers age and more and more of them return to university after retirement: "Professor Badenoff was surprised to discover that 25% of the students enrolled in his medieval philosophy course were opsimaths." Experience, in fact, enhances learning, so be careful how you speak to older folks these days: "I didn't realize what an opsimath the boss was when I told him that old dogs can't learn new tricks."
Word History: Today's Good Word comes to us from Greek, where opse means "late" and math- means "learning". Mathematics shares the same root, but it comes from the adjective of mathema "science, learning". The original Proto-Indo-European stem that became math in Greek turned into Russian mudry "wise", Avestan mazda "wise", and Sanskrit mantrah "counsel, prayer". It turns up with a Fickle N (an N that is sometime there, sometimes not) in Latin mens, mentis "mind" that we find in the English borrowing, mental, and the common abstract noun suffix -ment found in English and Romance languages.
P.S. - Register for the Daily Good Word E-Mail! - You can get our daily Good Word sent directly to you via e-mail in either HTML or Text format. Go to our Registration Page to sign up today!


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Bright Path Behavioral Health
Bright Path Behavioral Health service
Bright Path Behavioral Health, a reputable organization that provides intensive mental health programs to teens, is a reputable group. Our team knows that mental health is crucial to the well-being of young adults, so we go the extra mile to get them on the right track. We achieve this through intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs. Both programs use evidence-based therapy to help teens with anxiety disorders and self-harming behaviors. We also create an environment that is supportive and free of judgment, so teens can be themselves. This will motivate them to participate in the recovery process. We also offer our treatment services at a competitive price to make them affordable to all families.
Wake Forest is a town in Franklin, Granville and Wake counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina; located almost entirely in Wake County, it lies just north of the state capital, Raleigh. At the 2020 census, the population was 47,601. That is up from 30,117 in 2010, up from 12,588 in 2000. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the city's population to be 47,601 as of April 1, 2020. In 2007, the town was listed by Forbes magazine as the 20th fastest growing suburb in America, with a 73.2 percent increase in population between 2000 and 2006.
Austin Creek, Avondale Townhomes, Bennett Park, Bishops Grant, Brook Hollow, Caddell Woods, Cardinal Hills, Carriage Run, Club Villas At Wake Forest, Country Club Downs, Creekwood Townhomes, Crenshaw Forest, Dansforth, Edgeford Park, Fairway Villas Townhomes


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Premera, Anthem data breaches linked by similar hacking tactics
Customer data, including bank account and clinical data going back to 2002, may have been compromised in the attack, affecting 11 million people, Premera said Tuesday.
It is the largest breach to affect the healthcare industry since Anthem disclosed last month that upwards of 78.4 million records were at risk after hackers accessed one of its databases.
Several computer security companies have published data that points to a China-based group known as Deep Panda as a possible source for Anthem's breach.
But what is known is that the Anthem attackers created a bogus domain name, "we11point.com," (based on WellPoint, the former name of Anthem) that may have been used in phishing-related attacks. Companies try to detect such confusing domain names -- a practice known as typosquatting -- but are not always successful.
One of Deep Panda's attack methods is to create fake websites that imitate corporate services for companies. In Anthem's case, the attackers set up several subdomains based on "we11point.com," which were designed to mimic real services such as human resources, a VPN and a Citrix server.
By targeting Anthem employees with phishing emails and luring them to the fake sites, it may have been possible for the attackers to collect the logins and passwords and eventually access the insurer's real systems.
ThreatConnect, an Arlington, Virginia-based security company, found that Premera appears to have been targeted by the same style of attack.
On Feb. 27, ThreatConnect wrote a blog post describing its research into the Anthem attacks. In the course of that work, ThreatConnect found a suspicious domain name -- "prennera.com."
On Dec. 11, 2013, that domain name resolved to the same IP address as a malware sample seen by ThreatConnect. Even more interesting is that the malware sample was digitally signed with a certificate from DTOPTOOLZ Co., which appears to be a Korean company that at one time made advertising software.
A digital certificate is used to verify that a software program comes from the developer it purports to come from. But the certificates are occasionally stolen. They're especially useful for hackers, as one can make a malware program appear at least on first sight as legitimate.
In September 2014, the computer security firm CrowdStrike found a remote access tool called Derusbi that was often used by Deep Panda. The sample was also signed with a DTOPTOOLZ Co. digital certificate.
In another example, ThreatConnect found a spoofed domain last year that appeared to mimic defense contractor VAE, based in Reston, Virginia. Two malware programs -- Derusbi and another type of one called Sakula -- were linked to the spoofed VAE domain and signed once again with the DTOPTOOLZ Co. certificate.
It could be that the Korean company did not do enough to prevent its digital certificates from being stolen, and that it was pilfered by multiple hacking groups who have then used it in multiple, unrelated attacks. If not, it would be a strong indication that a single group is involved.
Anthem and law enforcement have yet to say who they believe may be responsible, and the Premera investigation is in its early stages. If an attacker is named, it could put further pressure on the U.S. government, which has shown less and less tolerance for what are classified as state-sponsored attacks.
In December, the U.S. government blamed North Korea for the devastating data breach against Sony Pictures Entertainment, one of the first times the government has so quickly and so directly attributed a single attack. The documents released included salary details, internal email and HR documents for employees. Other malicious code destroyed the hard drives of Sony computers.
In May 2014, U.S. federal prosecutors of the Chinese Army with stealing trade secrets from U.S. organizations over eight years in the first legal action of its kind. China, as is customary, denied the accusations.
Send news tips and comments to firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow me on Twitter: @jeremy_kirk