text:
Cloud and Hybrid IT Challenges
Streamlining the journey
While many senior IT strategists and business leaders agree the potential benefits of moving to a cloud model are compelling — and increasingly attainable — they are under no illusions regarding the challenges facing them on this journey.
IT decision-makers have genuine concerns around issues such as security, data governance, reliability, performance, loss of control, cultural resistance, migration and integration — not to mention the difficulty of selecting trusted cloud partners with the necessary capabilities, experience and market stability to support their specific ambitions.
They often struggle to navigate through the disparate options, for example, when and where to use public, private or hybrid cloud solutions. Many need to assess what steps they have to take to enable the progressive switch to cloud, and the modernization of their IT environment legacy as part of that journey.
Hybrid IT
Cloud also requires IT and business to work together even more closely to ensure cloud adoption is not counter-productive — enabling business units to self-provision cloud service, while IT divisions take care of related risks factors, integration issues and service-level considerations. As cloud adoption surges understanding and addressing the emerging challenges of effectively managing a hybrid IT landscape of cloud alongside non-cloud systems becomes even more critical.
For more about how to tackle the issues of integration, managing risk, unifying management and controlling costs please read our latest research in the "White Book of Managing Hybrid IT" (1 MB) and see the "Managing Hybrid IT infographic" (258 KB).
While some cloud providers seek to play down such concerns, Fujitsu appreciates that the only path to cloud success is to address the challenges head-on. By bringing our technical and business expertise to ensure the least risk for our customer on their cloud journey. We recognize everyone journey is unique — the pace and precise direction of each journey will vary from sector to sector, from organization to organization, and depend on individual business circumstances, competitive pressures and strategic priorities.
Share this page


text:
When extremists bomb houses of worship, who are in those churches and schools? Women and girls.
Social science tells us that women are more religious than men, by almost any benchmark and study. Whether you measure belief in God, belief in a supreme being, attendance at religious services, personal prayer and religious practices, teaching religious values to children, raising a family within a faith tradition—by any of these benchmarks, women consistently, across time and cultures, rank as more religious than men. These results are so consistent and accepted that academic debates now tend to focus no longer on whether they are more religious but on why this is the case.
Because women are more religious than men, religious repression, persecution and violence affect women most. When churches are bombed, who are hurt and killed? Women. When people are forced to flee religious persecution as refugees and internally displaced persons, who are those refugees and I.D.P.'s? Predominantly women and their children.
When religious organizations like Catholic Relief Services and Caritas Internationalis find their work curtailed or banned because of their religious affiliation, who are hurt most? The women who make up most of the bottom billion of the world's impoverished, who rely on the activities of those religious organizations. Seventy percent of these billion are women and girls. Seventy percent of the youth not in school are women and girls. Girls are three times more likely to be malnourished. When faith-based organizations are curtailed in their service work, women and girls are harmed. Women are the primary victims of violations of religious freedom.
Women are also on the front lines of those responding to violations of religious freedom. Women lead nongovernmental organizations, women like Carolyn Woo, the president of Catholic Relief Services and a former refugee herself. Women refugees advocate for other refugees; women teachers and health care workers report violations and work with victims; women lawyers take up the cases in international venues.
But the female face of faith is often not seen. When victims of religious persecution or violence are counted, they are counted as Christians or Muslims, civilians versus security forces. Women are not counted because, in too many parts of the world, women simply do not count as fully human.
Oct. 27 is International Religious Freedom Day. A recent conference sponsored by the Institute of Policy Research at Catholic University, and recent reports, document a rising trend of religious repression. Seventy-five percent of the world's population live in countries with high restrictions on religion. Yet none of the otherwise excellent annual reports on religious freedom mention the female face of faith.
This is problematic. We cannot effectively protect religious freedom unless we understand who are the most vulnerable groups. Groups concerned with religious liberty and groups focused on women's issues typically do not work together. Domestically, their common cause is lost in the debates over how to implement the Affordable Care Act.
But the larger context is lost. Internationally, the war on religious freedom and the war on women are the same war. When religious freedom is violated, women suffer, because women are more religious.
To protect religious freedom internationally, we must see the female face of faith and work accordingly to build unlikely alliances across religious, political, gender and bureaucratic divides.
The Catholic moral and religious imagination help us. Jesus is our model, reaching out to build bridges among unlikely allies, prostitutes, tax collectors, gentiles and foreigners. In our sacraments of Communion and reconciliation, our beliefs in a relational, triune, resurrected God and our institutional structures that seek to make real these relationships of local and global church, the body of Christ, in Catholic social teaching about protection of human life and dignity and preference for the poor, we regularly exercise moral muscles for the common good, a moral imagination the world needs to protect religious freedom and save lives and human dignity.
Maryann Cusimano Love

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Approximate Dimensions:
- Adult - fits 39 inch waist and 20" long.
- Adult Plus - XXL (fits 52" hips) and 20" long.
- King - 3XL-4XL (fits 65" hips) and 26" long. Stretched out, the wrap measures 75" wide.
- Emperor - 5XL-6XL (fits 75" hips) and 26" long. Stretched out, the wrap measures 85" wide.
If a size is not shown, it is not available.
Our men's chocolate spa wraps are made in the USA by Posy Lane!
Material: 100% Cotton
Embroidery Information: Embroidery is placed in the lower corner of the wrap. Names and initials are embroidered to be approximately 2" tall and no more than 6" wide. Monograms are embroidered to be approximately 3" tall and no more than 6" wide. Please note: the longer the name, the smaller the name may have to be stitched in order to fit in the embroiderable area. We are not able to place embroidery on the pocket.
Care Instructions: Close the Velcro closure to prevent thread pulls and damage to the fabric. Wash on the gentle cycle using cold water. Tumble dry low.


text:
Drug Used to Treat Lyme Disease Is In Short Supply
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - An antibiotic used to treat Lyme disease is in short supply in Minnesota, forcing some clinics to scramble as the tick season arrives.
Doxycycline is ordinarily cheap with many uses. It's been on the national drug shortage list since January because of manufacturing delays and rising demand.
Fairview Health Services says it still has supplies, but its wholesale cost has jumped from 8 cents per pill to more than $3.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says Minnesota is one of the leading states for Lyme disease with 500 to 1,200 cases annually.
Lyme disease is usually transmitted by infected black-legged ticks. Symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue and a characteristic skin rash. Untreated infections can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system.


text:
Polk Audio UltraFit 1000
Crutchfield Customer Review (What's this?)
I recommend this product. After a few minutes fitting the Ultrafit 1000 to my ears, the product is comfortable through jogging, and working out in the gym. Sound quality is superior to other products I have used in this price range. Design quality is apparent in many features like cord design and ear pieces.
Pros: The cord design resist tangling. Sound quality is great. Overall quality design is apparent in several features.
Cons: Need a little patience for ear fitting.


text:
Said By §ü®f¡ñG_p¡kÄ©HüEvery actor who plays the role of Jesus is killing their career trough the very act of doing so
Said By Alexie Di Onieman you people are bad.
Said By Alexie Di Onieman you people are bad. Im Catholic and im going to go see it. I think its a good description of how jesus had suffered for us.
Said By Alexie Di Onieyou are so in desperate need of a penis.
Said By Alexie Di OnieA brain cell? i pretty sure i have several thousand.


text:
Solar Harvest in the Rockies
From the outside, with its rows of south-facing windows and its roof covered in solar panels, the Solar Harvest home resembles an ecologically responsible mountain inn or retreat. But instead of being located in a Rocky Mountain resort area, this 4,600-square-foot residence is situated in a typical neighborhood in Boulder, Colo., surrounded by older, more conventionally built homes.
If you have any doubts that this is a single-family home, the pebbled, xeriscaped garden in front might not be a dead giveaway. But if you take a walk around the back of the two-story building, you'll see a spacious flagstone deck, some patio furniture and a commodious solar-powered hot tub that bubbles at the flick of a control. A sturdy swing and climbing set just beyond the deck also lets you know that a family resides here.
Eric Doub, a general contractor and owner of Ecofutures Building Inc., planned and designed Solar Harvest with his wife, Catherine Childs. The couple and their two children, Ariel and Brian, have been living in the house since November 2005 - and since then the home has generated more energy than the family has consumed.
Photos Courtesy Povy Atchison
No Backup
From the beginning, Doub wanted to rely solely on the sun for the home's energy needs, so his plans called for no backup furnace or boiler in the residence. "In fact, I was so determined that the home's heat supply come only from solar power that I eliminated all fireplaces from the plan," he explains, "so people could not say, "Well of course the house is warm, look at all the fireplaces.'"
At first, a plans examiner for the city of Boulder rejected Doub's proposal because of this lack of a backup-heating source. The chief building official later gave his OK "when our engineering calculations convinced him that the house could maintain a 68-degree temperature through eight cloudy, two-degree days," Doub says. "There are no records of that sort of weather in the entire history of Boulder."
Doub acknowledges that building a furnace- or boiler-free solar home might be more challenging in Michigan or Minnesota, but Colorado usually gets 300 days of sunshine throughout the year, making the sun-powered home possible. Upon its completion and following independent testing, the home was designated by Energy Star to be the most energy-efficient home in the state.
Electricity for Solar Harvest is supplied by a grid-tied 6.84-kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system from Sharp Electronics Corp. The solar panels are mounted in two arrays: half on a first floor roof at a 20-degree tilt and half on an upper roof at a 40-degree tilt. These different tilt angles affect electricity production by only a few percent.
On cloudy days or at night, energy is purchased from the grid. But on sunny days, because the PV system is larger than it needs to be, it feeds excess electricity back into the utility grid, which results in net metering (spinning the home's electric meter backwards).
This was Doub and Childs' primary goal at every stage of the planning and construction of the dwelling - to create a "home power plant" capable of supplying more energy than it consumed, and to sell the excess energy back to the local utility. As of last May, they had not only met but exceeded their goal, as their electric meter showed about minus-400 kilowatt hours.
That same month, the local media gathered on Solar Harvest's front yard to record the moment when Doub reversed the customary cash flow from customer to utility and received an oversized cardboard check for $30,708 from the Colorado president and CEO of Xcel, the local energy company. The check was a rebate for the installation of the home's photovoltaic system and was made possible by Colorado's environmentally savvy voters, who passed Amendment 37 in 2004. This initiative stipulates that Xcel must generate 0.4 percent of its electricity through solar power by 2015. In compliance, the utility, through its Solar Rewards System, now gives customers installing solar systems rebates of about $4.50 per watt of solar power up to 10,000 watts, or 10 kilowatts.
Keeping It Comfortable
"Comfort, health and safety" are the qualities Doub strived to build into his own home, as well as all the homes he builds for his customers. And on the 90-degree summer day I visited Solar Harvest, there was "comfort" in the refreshingly cool air circulating throughout the home, in part because of geo-thermal pre-cooling. Incoming ventilation air is cooled as it passes through 260 feet of 6-inch PVC intake pipe buried 6 to 8 feet underground, where the temperature is a constant 55 degrees. In winter, the cold outside air is pre-warmed by the geothermal system.
Once it enters the house, the air passes through an energy recovery ventilator (ERV), which exchanges energy with the exhaust air. The conditioned air is then circulated throughout the building by a system called the Ultimate RecoupAerator from Stirling Technology Inc., based in Athens, Ohio. The earth-cooled air moves through the home during the day, while in the evening a whole-house fan from Tamarack Technologies pulls warm air up and out through attic vents.
Doub credits the home's insulation for an indoor temperature of 70 degrees on a hot June day. The home's exterior walls have 7 inches of Icynene expandable spray foam insulation, and the insulation in the ceiling is 12 inches thick. Aboveground walls are rated at R-34, while the ceiling is rated at R-45.
Walls were encased with double 5/8-inch sheetrock that provides distributed, indirect thermal mass. For the foundation, Doub used Greenblock insulated concrete forms (ICFs). The home's exterior is finished with GrailCoat SuperFlex Stucco, which breathes like standard stucco but prevents water penetration. Doub selected fiberglass windows from Fibertec, which have Heat Mirror insulated glass from Alpen. The glass blocks summer heat, retains winter warmth, maximizes the passage of natural daylight and reduces the damage to furnishings caused by ultraviolet rays.
Collecting Solar Heat
A sense of not only comfort but also peace and harmony prevails when you enter the home's main floor, which has a sizeable living room, dining room, kitchen, mudroom, half bath and small office. Childs, who designed the home's interior, chose varying shades of earth and neutral tones for the walls and fixtures. Her understated choices throughout the home convey a sense of simplicity and beauty. An abundance of glass and wood, including some floor-to-ceiling art display cases that Childs designed for the dining room and kitchen, add to the clean-lined, airy ambience.
Along the south wall of the main floor is a 275-square-foot "sunspace," resembling a porch or solarium. Many sun-thirsty plants flourish in this windowed area, but its main purpose is to function as a "solar furnace," collecting solar heat, which is then distributed to interior spaces through intake grilles in the ceiling and a series of ducts and fans.
Located on the home's second floor are three bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a guest wing with a bedroom and full bath that extends over the north end of the house. The basement has another guest bedroom and bath, a play and project area for the children, and lots of storage space.
Also located in the basement is a 6,000-gallon super-insulated solar cistern. Designed by Doub, the 18-by-7-by-7-foot tank collects hot water from 12 solar thermal flat-plate collectors mounted on the roof and stores the water at a temperature of 170 to 190 degrees. The cistern's coils of copper tubing act as heat exchangers, transferring heat to the domestic water supply. The cistern also provides hot water to a radiant floor heating system in the winter, and it keeps the 360-gallon hot tub at a therapeutic 103 degrees.
Solar Harvest is not only designed to be green and energy efficient; it's also a healthy place to live. Non-toxic water-based floor finishes and low-solvent construction adhesives were used throughout the home, as were Earth Weave natural wool, formaldehyde-free carpets with mold-resistant hemp cotton backing. Both salvaged oak and high-density bamboo were used for flooring; Marmoleum linoleum flooring was used in the mudroom.
The maple and cherry cabinets in the kitchen were made with wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, which indicates the wood was harvested from sustainable forests; the cabinets were finished with linseed oil free of formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Quartz countertops from HanStone are heat and bacteria resistant, and required no sealing, conditioning or polishing, while the Avonite Surfaces countertops used in the bathrooms were made from recycled materials.
Doub points to the hardwood floors in the kitchen as an example of the "salvaged and second-hand materials" that were used throughout the home. Most of the doors and all of the bathtubs in the house were seconds or misorders as well, acquired from Habitat for Humanity and other local recycled building material vendors.
Family Values
Doub says he inherited an interest in environmental issues from his energy-frugal, nature-loving parents. "I came by it naturally," he says. "My dad has not driven a car in years. He calls them "pollution waste machines.'"
This combination of family-held values, his own strong interests and early reading in the subject eventually led Doub to Stanford University. While there, he designed his own degree, which he identified as Sustainable U.S. Resource and Security Policies. He left his academic studies for a time and returned to Boulder to learn all he could about solar energy and energy-efficient homebuilding practices, then went back to Stanford to finish his customized degree.
In 1993, he founded his own contracting firm, Ecofutures Building Inc., and for his first project he built a solar greenhouse addition to his parents' home. Since then, Ecofutures has added many green homes to Boulder's eco-friendly landscape and retrofitted existing homes for maximum energy efficiency, converting their fossil fuel systems to renewable energy sources. "Most of the clients I have are filtered by the time they come to me," Doub says. "They are committed to doing everything they can to eliminate waste and toxins in their homes and in the environment."
If you're interested in building a solar home, Doub recommends that you "first educate yourself through books, journals and lectures, and get in contact with people in your area who are interested in building sustainable homes. The AIA [American Institute of Architects] is a good place to start. There is always an architect or designer in a city or town who is committed to green principles and practices." Beyond that, he suggests, "Build tight and insulate right."
After living in their home for nearly a year, Doub notes that "there is a build up of amazement at how comfortable it is." He admits that the five-bedroom, five-bath residence is large by most solar home standards, but adds that he and Childs anticipated that Solar Harvest would become a community resource where students, activists, family and friends would stay from time to time to learn more about solar building. Currently, Solar Harvest opens its doors to frequent tours, which are organized and conducted by Doub and Ecofutures.
Solar Harvest should hold up well despite all the foot traffic through it. Doub built the home to last 200 years, and hopes that in the future it might be used as a type of public center, providing both living space and meeting areas for environmental advocates. His proprietary interest in his home's future extends to details he realizes can do nothing about. "I just hope no one comes in here and considers our countertops to be the avocado green of the future," he says, smiling. After all, he points out, the durability of his chosen materials is only as good as the desirability of those materials to future generations.


text:
SAS 70 Hosting
SAS 70 reports only on controls related to financial reporting. If you need assurance of controls directly related to data centers, including privacy, security and availability, look for a SOC 2 report.
SAS 70 (Statement on Auditing Standard) was the original internationally recognized standard reporting on data center operational processes and practices, but has since been replaced by SSAE 16 (Statement on Standards for Attestation Engagements) by the AICPA (American Institute of CPAs). As of June 2011, SOC (Service Organization Control) reports are the most current way to judge a data center's operational excellence.
There are two kinds of SAS 70 reports:
- Type I - Reports on operational controls
- Type II - Reports on how effective these controls are over a specified period of time (six months)
Here's what you need to know about SAS 70 Hosting and Online Tech:
- Online Tech is SAS 70 Type II certified by an independent auditor.
- What does that mean? We implement a tested, consistent set of processes and security procedures to manage your applications daily.
- Not only do we follow best practices, we also want your data and servers to follow HIPAA compliant hosting, SOX compliant hosting and PCI compliant hosting standards.
- All of Online Tech's Midwest data centers are SAS 70 Type II & SSAE 16 audited.
- We maintain our SAS 70 audit each and every year to stay up-to-date on operational excellence and provide your company with a safe, secure and quality hosting solution.
While SAS 70 is being replaced by SSAE 16 and SOC reports, it is still referenced as an indicator of data center standards.
Related Links:
Data Center Standards Cheat Sheet - From HIPAA to SOC 2
SOX Compliant Hosting (SAS 70, SSAE 16, SOC) Blog


text:
World Junior Hockey Championships Stage Set
The teams advancing to the semi-final have been set.
Russia will first face Sweden on Monday at 1:30PM MST. Canada will then face the USA (also on Monday) at 5:30PM MST. The winners of the games will face each other for the gold, while the losers will play for the bronze. Both final games will take place on Wednesday. The bronze medal game will take place at 1:30PM MST, and the gold medal game will take place at 5:30PM MST.
All games should be available on TSN in Canada. The USA games are apparently going to play on the NHL Network for American viewers.


text:
As the Crossroads of America, Indiana has historically taken pride in the abundance of railways, canals, and roads that crisscross our state. With continued effort from all levels of the Indiana community, the state will soon live out its motto in less conventional corridors of transportation: trails and greenways.
Seth Einterz spent this summer visiting and reading about greenways throughout the state, including the Monon Rail Trail, the Cardinal Greenway, the Farm Heritage Trail, the National Road Heritage Trail, and many others. Besides excellent tools of recreation, greenways have growing potential for economic development, tourism, health and fitness, and alternative transportation ($4 a gallon, anyone?).
Hear Einterz talk about what he learned by clicking here.
While documenting the positive impact of trails in these facets of Hoosier life, Seth especially noted the ways that trails and greenways build and sustain community. As Indiana works to cross the state with a comprehensive trail network, people and towns are literally linking together, and together they are creating a stronger, state-wide community.
See a portion of Seth's presentation here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN0JBUsFV90


text:
AV Video with Real Artists
Budget $250-750 USD
Need a commercial video for a product with real artists
Experienced Candidates apply with a portfolio
10 freelance hanno fatto un'offerta media di $669 per questo lavoro
Please click "More" to see our full proposal and samples. We are a well trained certified company with years of experience with big companies as our ShowReel shows. Don't risk your money! Relevant Skills and Experienc Più
Hi! I can do this work! I have many exp in audio-visual production, distant work with customer! Work with: Canon, Sony, Nikon, Sony, RED, ARRI, Kionoflo, dedolight, DJI, etc; Best regards!
hi there, i would like to make your project Relevant Skills and Experience i am a professional video editor and you can check my portofilo. thanks Proposed Milestones $250 USD - pay after your project
We have a team of six working full time on video marketing/video production. We do have a drone if needed. We use Adobe premier Pro for all editing. Relevant Skills and Experience Music video production, business revi Più
Hello, VAV is an architectural office located in Egypt providing a futuristic visualization solution like Virtual reality, Augmented reality Panorama) and a varieties of visualization techniques. Relevant Skills and E Più
I can definitely complete this project with the best quality in the stipulated time period. you can view my work on YouTube. channel ID is as under: [login to view URL]


text:
December 8, 2008
The Wabash Admissions Office is on a record-setting pace for applications and campus visits, and with a big deadline approaching Dean Steve Klein encourages alumni to remain actively involved with the students they have referred.
To date, Wabash has received 933 applications and the Admissions Office on pace to reach 1,000 applications earlier than at any point in College history.
"This is a big week for us with the December 15 Early Action deadline fast approaching," said Klein, now in his 12th year leading Wabash's Admissions Office. "If alumni are working with high school students interested in the College, now is the time to encourage them to complete their applications."
Applications have been running over 25 percent ahead of the office's goal and ahead of last year's pace.
"What this tells me is that the messages coming out of the book Colleges That Change Lives, the data from the National Survey of Student Engagement, and the Forbes.com ranking are having an impact over time," said Klein (pictured right). "Those things are increasing the public's awareness of the opportunities students have at Wabash."
Wabash is included in Loren Pope's best-selling book, Colleges That Change Lives, and the College participates in a national college fair that includes the schools singled out in the popular college guidebook. Wabash also appeared in Forbes.com's inaugural rankings, "The Best American Colleges." The editors ranked Wabash 12th nationally based on alumni achievement and the experiences and awards won by students.
Klein credits his office's recruiting success to a combination of experience and new energy. Two new recruiters joined his staff this year, Kim King '99 and Kenya Smith "I've been very pleased with Kim and Kenya," said Klein. "Both had experience working with students in the high school to college transition, and they have brought good energy to our staff and good insight to their recruiting territories."
Klein also credits Mike Owens '02 and Marc Welch '99, both of whom have capitalized on the experience they gained last year.
"Many schools are reporting increased numbers of applications," Klein says, "and many attribute that to the economy. There is a belief that students are applying to more colleges and are applying earlier to maximize their opportunities."
And that's where the alumni can be especially helpful, according to Klein.
"It's always very competitive in private college admissions," he said. "I think it's going to be harder to yield these students given the current economic conditions. Now more than ever, we need to demonstrate the value of a Wabash College education, and we'll be calling on our alumni to help us make that case."
Campus visits have also been way up versus previous years. This year, 726 students have visited Wabash, an 21 percent increase over last year. The number of one-on-one campus visits is up 34 percent vs. last year.
The Top 10 Scholarship Visit Day again attracted well over 100 men ranked in the top ten percent of their high school class. Students engaged young alumni panelists, took tours, visited with faculty and coaches, and even attended classes in fields of interest to them.
"I don't want to overlook our new coaches, who really hit the ground running," said Klein. "In football, Erik Raeburn and Jake Gilbert have done a nice job transitioning to their new roles. And Clyde Morgan in track and Roger Busch in cross country have been very aggressive as recruiters."
Klein says that even newly retired track coach Rob Johnson has been on the recruiting trail. Johnson accompanied Klein on an east coast trip, hitting high schools in Philadelphia and New Jersey.
Alumni can be helpful in the process by encouraging prospective students to get their applications completed and to visit campus if they have not already done so. While the Early Action deadline is December 15, students have until February 1 to apply. "Given the economy, it looks like we're going to need a larger number of applicants to fill our class, so we'll be actively seeking qualified young men throughout the winter months."
The high number of applications, a vigorous campus visit program, and the energy brought to the Admissions Office by new recruiters has Klein excited for the stretch run in this year's recruitment cycle.
"I'm very optimistic at this point," said Klein, "but I am also reminded that students can apply to an infinite number of schools.
"Even if they apply to a dozen schools, they can only choose to attend one. And that's where Wabash's alumni can be especially helpful."
To refer a prospective student, click here.
To become an Admissions Volunteer, click here.


text:
New Year, New Art
"Art in the New Year" is the next show at Ashawagh Hall this weekend. The show will feature work by Cynthia Loewen, Mary Milne, Stephanie Reit, and Lewis Zacks. Ms. Loewen has a long résumé of exhibits and memberships in numerous South Fork arts groups. A painting of hers was featured in the short film "The Sea Is All I Know," which was shown at the Hamptons International Film Festival. She is also a curator.
Mr. Zacks has stated that "my love of history has inspired me to focus on the disappearing landscape of Eastern Long Island — old farm buildings, fishing boats, colonial cottages; mid-century movie theaters, ice cream parlors, luncheonettes, and the remnants of their signs." He is also known for his portraits of fading icons of earlier eras in Manhattan.
According to Ms. Reit, "I grew up on Long Island, where I played in the woods, summered at the shore and visited the many family farms that were still thriving. . . . The barns of the Hamptons inspired my early paintings. Their massive forms monopolized the canvas, producing feelings of solidity, density, and weight." Eventually those forms became abstracted, although she has kept enough identifying information.
Ms. Milne, a glass artist who has worked in stained and fused glass, has exhibited in many East End shows. She uses the "tranquil beauty and intense colors" of the natural environment of the South Fork as her inspiration. Mr. McDowell's landscapes can evoke dreams and even Renaissance painting. Lynn Martell's work will also be on view.
The reception on Saturday from 5 to 8 p.m. will feature wines of South America from Domaine Franey. The show will be on view Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Tonic Takin' Over
The Tonic Artspace on Main Street in Bridgehampton is the temporary home base for the Bonac Tonic art collective and friends. The group has taken over the Kathryn Markel Gallery space in January and February and the space will be open Friday through Monday.
According to Grant Haffner, the space will showcase "a fun and vigorous program of emerging artists from the East End. The artists now on view there include Bruce Milne, Carly Haffner, Scott Gibbons, Grant Haffner, Justin Smith, Maeve D'Arcy, Ingrid Silva, and Oliver Peterson. The gallery will have a reception on Saturday from 6 to 8 p.m. Its Web site is haffnervision.com.


text:
IRVINE, Calif. — Despite an early lead and a career night from sophomore opposite Matt Marsh, the Gauchos were unable to stop the defending NCAA champions and No. 1 ranked UC Irvine Anteaters, falling by a score of 3-1 on Thursday night. Game scores for the match went 20-25, 25-19, 25-21, 25-22.
It was the second time this season that the Gauchos have fallen to the Anteaters, thought UCSB's strong play in that Jan. 30 defeat precipitated an improvement in form that continued tonight. With the loss, the Gauchos fell to 5-9, 3-7 after playing the top-ranked team in the country in back-to-back matches. UC Irvine improved to 11-3, 8-3 to remain at second place in the MPSF standings.
Throughout the night, the Gauchos offense ran through Marsh, who recorded a career high 19 kills on 40 swings in the loss. However, Marsh's excellence was not limited to his offense on Thursday night, as he also set career highs in digs (14) and blocks (4) en route to his first career double-double. Marsh's kill and dig figures led the team, while his block total trailed only junior middle blocker Ryan Thompson, who had a career high himself with six blocks.
For the second time this season, the Gauchos were able to outblock the Anteaters (11.5 to 9.0), but were still unable to come away with victory.
With UCSB trailing 14-15 in the first set, a Jeremy Dejno service error gave way to back-to-back kills from sophomore outside hitter Kevin Donohue — who finished the night with a season-high 14 kills — sparking a 5-1 UCSB run that would give them a comfortable 19-16 lead. After a UCI timeout, the two teams would trade points until the Gauchos were able to claim the first game.
UC Irvine would quickly shape up after going down 1-0, hitting .358 as a team the rest of the way, compared to the Gauchos' .185 clip in games two through four. The Anteaters had three hitters reach double digits in kills, including Dejno (team-high 16), Connor Hughes (11), and Kevin Tillie (14 kills, as well as 16 digs).
The Gauchos also received solid performances from freshman setter Jonah Seif - who recorded 44 assists, the fourth straight time he has picked up 40 or more assists - and junior libero Chad Kingi, who had nine digs, the sixth straight match he has picked up atleast that many. Senior outside hitter struggled to get into an offensive rhythm, picking up just seven kills, but the Santa Barbara native did chip in four blocks.
Tomorrow night, the Gauchos will face UC San Diego for the second time this season. Earlier this year, UCSB was able to defeat the Tritons to end a lengthy losing streak. Video and live stats for that match can be found here.


text:
The iPhone 5s comes in three color variants; Gold, Silver, and Space Gray. We've managed to get our hands on all three models and the first order of business was to take tons of photos of all of them in all their aluminium glory. Whether you're still waiting for your iPhone 5s to arrive or just can't decide on which color to go with, we've got tons of photos to help you decide, including tons of the hard to find gold edition!
Once you've checked out all the images in the gallery, be sure to let us know in the comments what iPhone 5s you went with. You can also check out our other iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c photo galleries via the links below.
See also:


text:
Linebacker Rolando McClain has had a bumpy ride since entering the league as the eighth overall pick of the 2010 draft and it got a little bumpier on Wednesday.
McClain did not participate in practice for the Raiders because of what coach Dennis Allen called "team-related issues," according to CSNBayArea.com. Allen provided no further details about what issues might have contributed to McClain's absence on Wednesday and he offered no insight into whether or not McClain would return to the team on Thursday.
McClain has played in all 11 games for the Raiders this season and he's made nine starts, although there have been some weeks where McClain has barely been on the field. His play hasn't really merited anything more than that and the off-field incidents, McClain recently had gun charges against him dropped, overshadow anything he's done on the field.
Given the changes in the organization since McClain has come onboard and his limited production when he's on the field, it wouldn't be too surprising if the two sides part ways when the year comes to an end.


text:
Basic Page with Navigation
The Office of Marketing & Communications advances the mission of the university through strategically targeted communications and publications and constituent relations. Services provided include news media relations, promotion and advertising, community relations, crisis communications, internal communications, print and electronic publications and other activities. The office is the university's official liaison with the news media, targeted constituent groups and the general public. Additionally, the office is responsible for maintaining a uniform graphic identity that is consistent with the university's mission and goals. The office also provides editing and proofreading services as well as assists the university community with media training on an individual or group basis and can assist departments with development of communications strategies and key messages. For assistance with marketing and communications needs, contact the office at 361-593-3901.


text:
When Portland guard Damian Lillard won consecutive games at Detroit and Cleveland earlier this season with a game-winning shot each night, he did so in different ways.
Well, sort of.
He beat the Pistons with just one-tenth of a second left in overtime after he stutter-stepped, drove, spun and lost control of the ball for a moment before he found just enough space to create a 14-foot shot that found net as the clock's final seconds ticked away.
Two nights later, he left an extra tenth of a second — a whopping two-tenths left in the fourth quarter this time — on the clock when he launched a three-point shot with one foot on the Cavaliers' half-court logo that decided a tied game.
But both times his reaction was the same sort of understatement: He walked defiantly away — no jumping, no fist-pumping, no reaction at all really other than removing his mouth guard the first time — while his teammates handled all the celebrating around him.
Just like he has done this all life ...
"When you work so much at things, you start to expect results," he said. "When I take those shots, I expect to make them. I'm confident. It's not always necessary to yell and scream about everything. Sometimes it's necessary, but if I didn't do it I didn't feel like it was necessary."
He is just 23 and still fresh enough in the NBA to become the first player ever who qualified and participated in all five All-Star events last weekend in New Orleans.
"It's amazing. I see his growth every year," Blazers teammate LaMarcus Aldridge said. "He has gotten better every year."
Every year, in this case, isn't even two full seasons.
The sixth player taken in the 2012 NBA draft out of little Weber State, Lillard is young enough to have played in the All-Star Weekend's Rising Stars Challenge that is limited to rookies and sophomores and yet he has played with a maturity well beyond his years. He is averaging 20.9 points and 5.7 assists per game this season.
He earned Rookie of the Year honors last season, played alongside Aldridge in his first All-Star Game last Sunday and has helped lead the Blazers into contention for home-court advantage in the playoffs with a 36-18 record entering this weekend.
It looks like it has all come so easy …
"I can't say I expected it," Lillard said. "It's tough. You work so hard and you expect to be successful, but things don't happen this fast. I mean, Rookie of the Year, All-Star team, my team is playing great. You've got to be thankful for it. I'm blessed to be in this position."
He will lead the Blazers into Sunday's game against the Timberwolves in Portland without Aldridge at his side. He is expected to miss the first week coming out of the All-Star break so he can let strained groin muscles heal.
Without him, Lillard will carry on, fearless when it comes to taking the big shot at game's end or any shot, it seems. Wolves coach Rick Adelman wondered aloud after a game against the Blazers in December how you stop a guy who just keeps stepping back further each time with the same shooting accuracy.
"I think that's how you've got to approach, like you're going to make every one," Lillard said. "You go into last shot … if you're playing against these level of players and you don't have that confidence about yourself that they do, that just makes the game harder for you and you get embarrassed that way.
"I try to keep my confidence high, make myself believe I'm supposed to do things like that."
NBA short takes
Been there, done that
Oklahoma State point guard Marcus Smart — an expected lottery pick this summer in a stacked NBA draft — returned Saturday after serving a three-game suspension for shoving a hostile Texas Tech fan.
It's an incident that brought back memories for Wolves star Kevin Love about that night during his one season at UCLA, a night he returned to play at Oregon in front of fans outraged he didn't stay home to play his college ball.
He said Oregon fans distributed his cellphone number on the Internet and left death-threat messages, pelted family members with popcorn boxes and empty cups and made his grandmother cry. They also insulted him with homophobic chants on a night when Love delivered a 26-point, 18-rebound performance in a UCLA victory.
"There are certain times when it really does cross the line and being a fan you can take it too far," Love said. "You don't want to see that in sports."
Everybody's a critic …
Kobe Bryant didn't think much of his Lakers trading veteran guard Steve Blake to Golden State on Thursday in a move that saved the team $4 million and brought back young players Kent Bazemore and MarShon Brooks.
Bryant took to Twitter, posting, "Not cool with @SteveBlake4 being gone AT ALL One of my closest teammates and psycho competitor GS pick up gem #smartmove."
Comeback kid
Oklahoma City star Russell Westbrook is back after he returned for Thursday's resounding home loss to Miami. He wrote Happy Birthday to his mom on the bottom of his sneakers, scored 16 points and played nearly 24 minutes after he missed 27 games because of a knee injury that also delayed the start of his season.
"I'm very excited for him," teammate Kevin Durant said afterward. "He gets to play the game he loves again. He looked really good out there. We'll see next game. He looks good today."
Wolves' week ahead
Sunday: 8 p.m. at Portland (FSN)
Tuesday: 8 p.m. at Phoenix (FSN)
Saturday: 9 p.m. at Sacramento (FSN)
Player to watch:
Goran Dragic, Suns
If you want to know why the surprising Suns are 10 games over .500 and steaming toward the playoffs, look no further than the Slovenian point guard, who is leading them there even while backcourt mate Eric Bledsoe is out injured.
"Really? C'mon …"
Wolves coach Rick Adelman when asked about an unsourced Twitter posting by longtime NBA columnist Peter Vecsey that said star Kevin Love told the team he will opt out of his contract in 2015 so he can play elsewhere.


text:
To Steal a Hyperion
Posted by djcryptid in
Saturday, September 29. 2012
Pleased with her theft of a Hyperion-class Gallente battleship, the shadowy capsuleer left the station, about to embark on the ship's maiden voyage.
The capsuleer groaned as she undocked to find a squadron of three Hurricane battlecruisers awaiting her.
"Prepare to die, thief!" the message blipped in her local channel, giving her all the warning she needed.
She willed her damage control module to go online as well as her guns to start tracking the three 'canes. The battlecruisers, comparatively agile to the Hyperion, orbited her at a close range, their medium autocannons shredding through her shield's weak resistances.
Her rack of eight electron blaster cannons began shooting the closest hurricane as a firing solution was formulated by the ship's onboard computer, firing with a shuddering *whomp*. The accelerated particles hit their mark perfectly, dealing a wrecking shot to the first assailant. Armour groaned under the force of the attack, another volley loading to be fired just a few second later.
"Shit, drones!" the capsuleer thought to herself, forgetting all about her flight of mark II Hammerhead combat drones. She again willed her ship to release the remote vessels, directing them towered the second Hurricane with guns blazing.
She smiled as the first ship was shot to pieces, eventually exploding into an explosive ball of plasma. One down, two to go. The large guns rotated in their hardpoints, aiming towards the third battlecruiser, when a warning blared inside her pod. "Armour status critical."
She had forgotten to power her armour repair modules! Swiftly willing the two nanite injectors to began reshaping her hull's thick plating. "The capacitor is empty." She swore in as many languages she knew, turning on the final modules: her capacitor boosters. A quick surge of power brought her ship back into the game, ensuring the battlecruisers' energy neutralizers did not cripple her chances.
Out of the corner of her vision, she watched the second 'cane explode under the fire of her drones.
"Attack the third, now!" she yelled, as if it would make a difference. She heard soft blips as each drone confirmed her vocal command.
She could hear the scream as the third ship was destroyed, incinerating the capsule within. Well, she imagined she could hear it.
Taking a deep breath and recalling her drones, the capsuleer sat in utter silence as her heart beat at an astounding rate, adrenaline finally subsiding from the riveting five minutes of combat.
Foolishly, she closed her eyes for a minute, not thinking to check the list of pilots in the system, as three more battlecruisers warped to her location. She almost cried to herself, but bit her bottom lip and again aimed her guns, carefully remembering to activate all of her modules. She was just about to fire, when a warning sound clicked, her onboard AI speaking in a brash tone.
"The module has run out of charges."
Ah, fuck.
EON Issue #028
Posted by Ander in
Monday, July 30. 2012
Deep in the bowels of CCP's experimental gameplay lab, the future of mining is being discussed - and EVE's official magazine has been granted security clearance to join the coversation. Their final report forms the basis of this issue, looking at EVE's oldest profession, taking in the history of Hulkageddon and profiles of some of New Eden's biggest industrial corps.
Also in EON #028:
• CSM7 Testflight - five members chose their favourite ships
• Two great new Chronicles - Flesh and The Soulless Pilgrim
• Guide to Stealth Bombing
• Guide to Slay
• How to find the Corp that's right for you
• The new War Dec and Allies system
• The Skyward Sphere story - how a Rifter took you into space
• The future of the EVE API
• The Rifter comes under the Hero Warship spotlight
• Profiles of RPS Holdings, Enlightened Industries and Taggart Transdimensional
• CSM7 reports on good early-season progress
• Interviews with CCP Veritas and CCP Loki
...and lots, lots more
Fanfest 2012!
Posted by Ander in
Friday, March 23. 2012
The dust514 presentation was quite nice but Im still a bit wary about the fact that it runs on Playstation 3.
Who knows, maybe after a year it'll be released on PC aswell?
One of the highlights of yesterday was when radiogaga of Sniggerdly told the mittani (CSM member) to shut the F up live on the panel
Anyway, the day continues and Im about to head out to the fanfest venue.
Going to the scandinavian roundtables and then to other activities.
The big plan for the evening is eating sentient beings, namely whale!
Don't hate too hard, I'm a pirate - not a greenpeace activist!
Pirate Gone Null
Posted by pushbyte in
Friday, December 16. 2011
Its 0500 Zulu and pretty quiet. INIT. controls the station during this hour so its all blued up right now. After having tried to catch a couple Cynabals and a Vaga in HLW with her Rapier and Widow combo she heads back to G-0.
"Guess I'll get back in the Malediction."
Sitting outside the station, our pilot spots a Crusader at a tactical and burns for it...
Continue Reading Pirate Gone Null
First Blood
Posted by Sovereign in
Wednesday, December 14. 2011
My eyes shifted through space, separated, multiple, roaming. My eyes were my camera drones. The feeling of looking in several directions at once was something I was not quite yet used to as I was only a few months old since my rebirth.
I did not feel the pod fluid I was suspended in, nor did I feel my body. I felt space through the engines of my Rifter, saw it via the camera drones surrounding it and perceived what I could not see through the on board scanners of the ship. It felt powerful. It felt free. I was the ship, and the Rifter responded to my every whim as it danced across the stars.
And now, for the first time, I was on the hunt.
Up until now I stayed in the secure parts of space, securing resources, making money and working on contacts. But the call of the lawless frontier was impossible to ignore. It pulled at me as my mining lasers consumed a precious asteroid and disturbed my dreams as I rested in my station quarters. Finally, I had to make the jump. I settled into my pod and waited patiently as it was installed aboard my Rifter-class frigate. It was my first solo combat flight in this ship class, but I trusted my instincts.
A minute later, the station launch catapult spat me into space. I warped my ship to the nearby gate and activated it. I brushed the low-security space Concord warning aside as it appeared in my mind. A bubble appeared around my ship. Then the unmistakable feeling of being both everywhere and nowhere consumed me as the gate activated.
The disorientation of a gate jump was still there, but it was not the stomach-turning event I first experienced a few months ago. My mind quickly went back to my scanners, while another part of my mind reached for the camera drones and looked around. Concord's pilot registry showed three people in the system except for myself. Two were branded criminals, one was not. I willed my ship into a warp towards the first planet at the system, exiting it 100km from the common orbit our ships are programmed to enter. My subconscious was already hard at work. Realizing that our minds could effectively run several processes at once (especially with the help of the ship's computers) was an important part of being a capsuleer. As I was looking around via my camera drones, still somewhat in awe with the beauty of space, the back of my mind was operating the directional scanner. Suddenly, that part of my mind demanded focus. An Incursus-class frigate was on scan. I conjured up the system map in my mind, with the size of the system and the scan resolution I used, it was obvious that the ship was in the belts of this very same planet. The Rifter's guns twitched as my excitement levels rose and Adrenaline pumped through my veins. A mute command, and the Rifter picked up speed, aligned to warp, and broke through the light speed barrier.
I came out of warp to an empty belt. My prey was not here. I was disappointed, and scanned around again. The Incursus was still on scan. My lack of experience showed, however: I warped without zeroing in on my prey first and tried to find him by pure luck rather than clever method.
However, sometimes, all you need is luck.
The equivalent of a proximity alarm went off in my brain. That was my ship indicating to me that I had company. An Incursus class-frigate was exiting warp in the very belt I was. How fortuitous. The engines on my Rifter came alive as I threw the ship into a hard turn. Then instinct took over.
I barely remember reaching across the stars to grab at the Incursus with my Warp Scrambler, and I do not recall even thinking about my weapons as I guided the Rifter into a tight orbit around my prey. Nonetheless, the three 150mm auto cannons spat death at the Gallente frigate before the pilot could even react to what was happening. I remember feeling the sting of weapon impacts as the target's blasters came alive and suddenly feeling heavy and sluggish as his Stasis Webifier activated, but the hits were sporadic, I did not care for speed, and my shield status never dropped below 70%.
Then, as rapidly as it started, it was over. The Incursus was an expanding cloud of dust and debris. My own guns were silent. A notification flashed in my brain about my Concord security status being lowered. I did not care. I tried to reach for the capsule of my foe, but he was too quick. In under a minute, he was no longer registered in the system.
I started calming down. A quick scan showed me that the wreck of the Incursus had enough intact parts to be nearly worth my entire Rifter. Some of these parts were Cruiser weapons. His loot from previous engagements, perhaps.
The Rifter came to life again after I picked through the wreckage as I engaged my warp drive. I warped to another planet, making a note of a location in the middle of nowhere. As I landed at the planet, I quickly warped again, back to that spot I just made a mental bookmark of.
I checked my security status. I was branded a criminal. I could not exit the system for about 12 more minutes.
As I waited, I realized one thing:
I felt alive.
EON Issue #025 - Published 7th October 2011
Posted by Ander in
Friday, October 7. 2011
Dominion was the last time the foundations of null-sec were reformed and, while intentions were good, two years on things haven't turned out quite as hoped. Now CCP is preparing to set things right again, only this time with long-term vision that could impact not just 0.0 space, but every part of EVE Online. Massively.com
If you weren't tempted into EVE by the boasts of an impending expansion, it may have been due to the exploits of the players - those that have stolen and scammed their way to become New Eden's most notorious characters. From Nightfreeze to Cally and from Remedial to Istvaan Shogaatsu, we look at the 10 biggest thefts and most notorious scams that dominated EVE's early years.
The Noble Exchange has probably been the most contentious addition to EVE since the game first went live, providing a means for characters to dress themselves up in specialist virtual clothing at a premium non-game-breaking price. We fired off a load of questions to CCP to see how business has been going and ask what's in store for the next iteration of NeX as a new expansion nears.
Six months on since they were introduced to New Eden, we evaluate and explore EVE's most recent gameplay addition, with a guide to joining and emerging victorious against the Sansha hordes. Also in our expanded 15-page Knowledge Base Guide section we dig behind the back story to bring you the definitive history of CONCORD.
In Crowd with CCP Zulu & CCP Tallest
0utbreak, Vuk Lau and Colossus Technologies profiled
The latest CSM and 0.0 Report
The CrazyKinux Story
All you need to know about hiring mercenaries
Alliance Tournament Testflight
The Rise & Fall of ATLAS
Apocalypse under the spotlight
Who's top of the BattleClinic Rankings?
Orca Solo'd
Posted by Ikka Sunto in
Wednesday, September 21. 2011
There I was in Unpas, sitting in my Nemesis bomber looking for some cans to flip because my corp's latest war just finished. I scan down a couple of cans, but the two I see are both Retrievers paired with a hauler, so little chance of any fighting from those two.
Finally, I see a Hulk and a can all alone in the last belt. I warp in cloaked, and see that the Hulk has a couple of mining drones out and a couple of Hammerheads. Deciding that I'm sure that I can outrun hammers if I need to, I sneak up to the can. Just my luck, a full can of ore! I flip the can, and wait about 20 klicks off it for the Hulk to react.
Six to seven minutes go by, and no reaction. I tell myself that he's hold is filling up and that he'll figure out the flip soon, since he must be AFK. Suddenly, the Hulk gathers his drones and warps to a station. Great, I say to myself, if he didn't see the flip I'll be getting another Badger II or if he did I'll watch him just mine and run for another ten minutes.
Looking at my scanner, I see his Hulk disappear, and start refreshing it to see whether or not his hauler comes out. I see a Drake pop up, and start cursing, cause my mates aren't around to help me with the Drake and I'm not taking on this baddy alone. Luckily the Drake warped somewhere to mission run, but then I see an Orca, and think that the Orca must be for another mining op in system.
Nay, the Orca drops into the belt, and my heart races. Please take the can, I think, I would be insanely happy to kill an Orca. He takes the can and I instantly uncloak and lock him up. Disruptor, and target painter start running while my first volley of torps impacts his shields. Three more volleys and he's into armor. Now comes the hard part, as he's armor and structure take about eighteen volleys of torps to finally pop him. He convos me later and says good kill, he really shouldn't mine when he's half asleep.
My corpmates congratulate me and curse me for my luck, and for a four month old character I feel great about this kill.
A solo kill..
Posted by Special Agent Reign in
Tuesday, September 20. 2011
destination achieved.
suddenly, a red klaxon, a proximity alarm. I snapped to and checked my starboard port, about 30km away. there it was.
A "comet"-class federation navy frigate. "oh my god", I said, dreams of what the modules on such a ship would bring. it had been a hard road, isk was low. pirating isn't what it once was. I activated my targeting computer, activated my tracking disruptors and my microwarp drive, hoping to close the distance in time to warp scramble the opposing pilot. he, in turn, had been battling a serpentis pirate, and didn't seem to notice me right away. his mistake. I got in range; I activated my warp disruptor, popped the firing pin on my rocket launchers, and fired.
that seemed to get his attention.
He counterattacked. a flight of T2 drones engaged me at close range, warrior 2's if my threat assessment computer had it right, but, to no avail. my shields took damage but held fast. the comet was blaster-fit; I was easily able to keep distance with my mwd, outside the range of his own warp scrambler, if he had one. those missile range rigs I invested in, when I was docked in caldari space were well worth the isk. In my excitement however, I neglected to do the one thing a pirate should always do, when you know you're winning. ask for a ransom. I was so engrossed in winning the fight, I forgot. finally, as my caldari navy rockets found their home, eating through his armor, he exploded in a cloud of dust and debris. feeling merciful, I allowd his pod to escape as I looted his wreck..some t2 drones, some t2 energized plating. both would fetch a nice price at market. it had been a hard road, but tonight was a good night. I scooped loot to cargo, activated drives, and docked at the nearest station. mission accomplished.
2011.02.03 02:40:00
Victim: xxxxxx
Corp: xxxxxx
Alliance: Unknown
Faction: Unknown
Destroyed: Federation Navy Comet
System: Pelille
Security: 0.2
Damage Taken: 3805
Involved parties:
Name: Guardian Spy / Serpentis Corporation
Damage Done: 2270
Name: Special Agent Reign (laid the final blow)
Security: 0.0
Corp: Anti Carebear Combat Operations
Alliance: NONE
Faction: NONE
Ship: Caldari Navy Hookbill
Weapon: Caldari Navy Thorn Rocket
Damage Done: 1535
Destroyed items:
Modal Light Neutron Particle Accelerator I
Small Polycarbon Engine Housing I
Antimatter Charge S, Qty: 1690 (Cargo)
Small I-a Polarized Armor Regenerator
Small Hybrid Locus Coordinator I
Small Hybrid Metastasis Adjuster I
Antimatter Charge S, Qty: 21
Dropped items:
Modal Light Neutron Particle Accelerator I
Damage Control II
Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane II
Magnetic Field Stabilizer II
Hobgoblin II, Qty: 3 (Drone Bay)
Cold-Gas I Arcjet Thrusters, Qty: 2
J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler I
Antimatter Charge S, Qty: 21
Snip Snipe
Posted by Burnwash in
Monday, September 19. 2011
"You there Wash?" I hear him say.
"Yea man. What's up?" I reply, deep in relaxation, coming off the high of various boosters.
"There's no activity here man it's too late. I sat we call it a nigh-" He says, getting cut off.
"WE HAVE A WREATHE JUMPING INTO SYSTEM! CARRYING 2.5BILL WORTH OF BPOs!" our scout informs us.
We both quickly scramble to get back in our chairs, and jump back into the neuro-interface, struggling against time to get our ships alligned to our sniper safe.
"GO GO!" I yell to the Apoc. He warps, and i am right behind him. We land, and both activate our Sensor Boosters. Our fingers are twitching, we both pop more boosters, ready for the lock and kill.
"Okay guys he's jumping... NOW! You better 1 volley him guys this is our only chance. Good luck ill be there to collect the loot. Happy hunting!" Our scout tells us though comms."
"Here we go, get ready.." i whisper into comms, anxious to see local jump +1. There we are, in the vast void of empty space. The prospect of a 2.5bill kill making us both edgy. We sit and wait. Feeling the booster kick in, i feel ready, My heart is pumping adrenaline through my whole body, my hands twitching on the "Fire Salvo" button of my ship.
"GATE FLASH!" My mate yells.
"Here we go." i say back. We both activate our guns, waiting to lock and instantly destroy the awaiting prey. He doesn't de-cloak, he is scared, checking to see where he is aligned so he can insta-warp to safety. it won't matter, our battleships lock easy targets like him in 1.5 seconds, not near enough time for his hunk of metal to align and warp.
Our sensors scream, "Ship detected. Ship detected."
"I KNOW I KNOW!" i yell at my ship, hastily targeting the ship. My salvo fires, the wreathe stops in 1/2 structure.
"FIRE NOW! FIRE!" I yell at my mate, waiting to see his lasers turn the wreath into a pile of space junk. The lasers fire, beams of light head towards the wreathe, but all is see is blue. The blue explosion of the ship.
"YYESS!" We both yell into our pods. We then see a rookie frig jump in to system. It's our mate, here to collect our loot. He scoops up the 1.95billion isk worth of BPOs, and warps to the closest station. We follow, and dock. We exit our ships and head to the bar, to meet up and have a couple of Quafes, and the look over our almost 2 billion isk worth of stolen goods.
EON issue #024
Posted by Ander in
Friday, July 8. 2011
A new issue of the EON magazine is now available.
EVE-pirate is and has been a fan of EON from the start
Ship crews have long been on the wish-list for players and developers
alike, yet it has taken CCP years just to release the numbers. We look
at how ideas for ship crews have been put forward, ask what the issues
have been that have stopped crews being a feature of EVE's combat
mechanic and ponder how, if ever, New Eden's silent NPC majority might
have a say as to how battles are played out in the future.
We go back to the dark days of bank bail-outs to see how impending
financial armageddon urged CCP to take a fearless attitude to EVE
expansions. The result was fan-favourite Apocrypha, the expansion that
opened EVE to wormholes, the persistent mystery and threat of the
Sleepers, and the future promise of Tech-III ships.
Continuing the wormhole theme this issue, Lex Starwalker brings us a
guide to living in w-space, we have the second instalment of Pottsey's
exhaustive compendium of Sleeper theories and in our regular Tesflight
round-up, Kirith Kodachi gathers together some of New Eden's most
successful wormholers, who reveal the ships and fittings they wouldn't
leave home without.
With a third EVE novel being readied for the autumn, we tackle
author Tony Gonzales to talk about his career as an EVE fan and a CCP
Developer. We ask how The Empyrean Age came about and how Templar One
will hopefully lead us into a universe where EVE capsuleer and DUST
mercenary must share the spoils of war.
All you need to know about the Guristas
In Crowd with CCP Sreegs and CCP Explorer
Profiles of Red vs Blue, Phoenix Propulsion Labs and Masuat'aa Matari
The rise and fall of Dusk and Dawn
How to get your mates playing and loving EVE
CSM6 - the first weeks in office
* The 0.0 Report…and all the latest news and events
News from EVE Online
Posted by Ander in
Thursday, May 19. 2011
Check it out at www.eve-news.com .
News from CCP
Posted by Ander in
Thursday, May 19. 2011
CCP Games is pleased to announce a Live Dev Blog on the topics of Customer Support and Security. The Live Dev Blog will take place on Thursday, May 26th at 22:00 UTC.
Live Dev Blogs are audio broadcasts from CCP heard in-game through our Vivox-provided EVE Voice service. These broadcasts will provide an opportunity for the EVE Online player community to get to know the CCP devs and our work a bit better, and we're also looking forward to answering questions that the EVE player community has for CCP.
CCP Soundwave will host the Live Dev Blog and will be joined by seasoned Senior Game Masters, Nythanos and Nova, along with CCP's very own security expert CCP Sreegs.
Alexey Rybak (CCP Spitfire)
Russian Community Coordinator
EVE Online
Pictures from EVE Fanfest 2011
Posted by Ander in
Saturday, April 16. 2011
ISK Guide 3.0
Posted by Ander in
Monday, January 31. 2011
It's been a long time coming but it's finally here! The ultimate guide to EVE Online and it's all yours, for FREE. Whether your a new or old player, there is something useful for everyone.
So for your free download, yes free, please visit www.isktheguide.com from 1st February.
Deadly, Lucky, Evil
Posted by Blacknova in
Monday, January 24. 2011
Recently, I have done something I told myself I would never do - I trained Gallente. I am now wondering why I never did before. My ship of choice, the Myrmidon, is an engine of destruction the likes of which I have never been priveleged to fly before. My T2 drones probably help on that front.
Today, I was cruising around in my lowsec of choice, when I noticed that one system only had one contact in local. I thought it was unlikely that he'd be out in belts, but in my infinite optimism, I tried directional scan anyway. Lucky me - I managed to pick up a Drake. As I have said before, I am aware of the Drake's wonderfully powerful tank - but the way I had my myrmidon fitted, I was pretty confident I could break it. Warping to the belt he was at, I landed 40km away from him - he was busy looting a battleship spawn he'd just finished killing.
Hitting my MicroWarpDrive, I began burning towards him, fully expecting him to turn away and start running for the space-hills. To my pleasure, he instead burned towards me, locked me, and proceeded to hurl missiles at me. A willing victim is always more fun! At this point, I was still 30km away, and my shields were already down - but seeing as I was in a Gallente ship, this simply meant that combat was happening. His missiles were markedly less effective on my armour - two more shots before I closed into weapons range and I hadn't had to cycle one of my repairers.
Throwing my Warp Disruptor and webifier onto him to prevent an expeditious retreat, I began pounding away with my blasters. I then noticed him launching a flight of tech 1 drones, so my tech 2 lights were sent to...deal with them. Violently.
As soon as his drones were down, my light drones were called back for a well deserved break, and it was the turn of the medium drones to work their magic! With my drones thrown upon him too, the Drake's tank was dropping...worryingly quickly. I opened a conversation with the pilot, and told him my ransom demand - 15 million for the safe release of his ship. The pilot responded with a plea to stop firing on him, but I wasn't going to comply until I could safely finish him with a single volley if his friends showed up. Local was still clear, but you can't be too careful.
As the Drake entered structure, something rather...strange...happened. A capsule appeared by the Drake. The pilot had...ejected? Well, that certainly is new. Ceasing fire upon the Drake, I advised the pilot to run in our conversation, whilst locking up the pod. No such action was undertaken by my adversary, and as such, he woke up in a clone vat.
Warping back to a station (And throwing a bookmark down at my previous location), I once again checked local - clear of anyone but me. As such, I hopped into my own pod, warped back to the Drake, and claimed it as my own. I then saw why he dropped so fast - it was fully T1 fitted. Not too badly, but still T1 fitted.
I then checked the age of the pilot I had just podded...ah...three months. That explains a LOT. Urgh. Feeling slightly guilty, I warped back to highsec in my new shiny Drake, stored it in a station, and grabbed my Myrmidon again. There was more fun to be had on this day!
I'll knock the dents out of the Drake later. Hopefully, the pilot learned something. Hopefully. I guess I should feel bad about doing that to a new player, but hey - he made the decision to go to lowsec!
I'm still confused as to why he ejected, but I can't say it ended badly for me! And in the end, isn't that what EVE is all about? Yes. Yes it is. =)


text:
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Report a crime, go to jail
If the story is correct, not for the first time the victim reporting a crime has spent time in Al Slammer.
In summary, when meeting friends at a hotel a young German woman was offered sweets. She felt dizzy and uncomfortable immediately after she ate a sweet and blood tests confirmed she'd been given a drug.
She reported the incident to police, who set up a sting operation which resulted in a man being punished and deported.
All witnesses and law enforcement officers confirmed that she was the one who reported the matter to the police. Forensic doctors confirmed that the drugs which appeared in her blood could have resulted from the sweet she ate.
On Thursday she appeared in court after five months in jail.
After five months in jail.
You have to ask why she was in jail in the first place and why it took five months to get the case to court.
There've been similar cases in the past which have attracted scathing criticism in international media, and rightly so.
On every level it's absolutely the wrong thing to do.
On a moral level it's indefensible to lock up a victim.
It can't be right to keep someone in jail for five months before bringing them to court.
It's counter-productive in the fight against crime. People won't report crime for fear they'll be jailed themselves.
It further harms Dubai's reputation, already under sustained attack by sections of the western media.
And still she's not free. The woman was released on bail, had to surrender her passport and, as the report says, the trial continues.
Gulf News has the full court report here.
12 comments:
Come on ...
Never believe the Gulf News Page three story which does not have any name of person.
If you notice the news paper "Bassam Za'za', Senior Reporter" wrote the full page of such stories every day.
- March 20, 2011 2:43 pm
- Seabee said...
firstname.lastname@example.com, GN policy is not to name defendants but to always give initials, and the story is attributed to Bassam Za'za' so I don't understand your point.
(I did say, of course, "if the story is correct").
- March 20, 2011 4:20 pm
- ♀♥Kiara ♥♀ said...
I'm just terrified with this new!
Maybe it's possible to be truth! We don't know!
I heard many histories of raped expat women, who have reported this, and ending up go to jail! So, each case is a case. We need to check it out individually!
For more that the expat people are in UAE and need to follow the rules, I think that they should be more respected too! Even if an emirati is wrong, it's considered right when it envolves an expat! It's not fare!
- March 20, 2011 4:48 pm
- Seabee said...
Kiara, the people involved were German and Indian.
- March 20, 2011 5:57 pm
- alexander... said...
And today's story about the bloke that tragically ran over his own son and is now being prosecuted by a system that runs on rails to an insane degree.
What a nightmare...
- March 21, 2011 10:23 am
- Gerry said...
this happens a lot, seabee. police investigative technique is basically "arrest everyone and let the court sort it out." unfortunately-especially in drug cases--that sloppy approach can mean defendants are stuck in jail for long stretches of time before even getting to tell a judge they are not guilty.
the uae legal system will chew you up and spit you out (or swallow you). avoid it at all costs.
- March 21, 2011 2:57 pm
- Seabee said...
Alex you beat me to the punch, I'm just checking comments before posting about that. What an unbelievable situation it is.
- March 21, 2011 3:17 pm
- Nelisa said...
I was interrogated by a plain clothed policeman in a hypermarket @Ibn Batutta..body searched in the security room and humilated at the check-out. NO alarm was triggered but they insisted that I stole a book and after a body searched and went through my purse they still could not find anything on me! To cut the story short, the policeman took me back in the store and asked me to pick up the book that the security guard claimed he saw me reading. Brought me back to the security room and placed the book with me!!!! I was hopping mad! I shouted at everyone in the security room.They were trying to frame me?Why?? To save their sorry ass for wrongly accused me in case I make an issue about it!!
To my horor they continued interrogating me as if I was a criminal! I shouted stupid to them! They said, they will call the police for me if I was not satisfied about the whole matter. What could I do at that point? They placed the "stolen book" with me!! I asked the policeman why did he do that to me? why did he placed the book that I did not take, with me? he told me, it was a normal procedure because I have stolen a book but they could not find the book with me so they have to have to do that as an evidence . Evidence of WHAT????????
I demanded the security officer to show me the security camera footage to prove that I stole a book but they ignore my request!
During the 45mins interrogation, he asked me where I was from and demanded my passport..of course I didn't have a passport with me so I showed him my driving licence. He was surprised to see that I am a citizen of *** . He asked me why I did not mentioned the country I was from earlier? I was puzzled! After that he released me... with a smile.. and told me that one day he want to go to my country for a vacation. WHAT the hell??
I went back home and told my husband. He went to the hypermarket had a talk with the manager and the manager apologized and said the security guard was new and their mentality was such..looking for a quick way to get promotion, praised bla bla that I didn't really care! And he also said that he reviewed the security camera and said I was innocent! He apologized once again and promised to mail us a voucher as an apology for humiliating me(no voucher ever mailed to us anyway...:D
- March 21, 2011 5:34 pm
- ♀♥Kiara ♥♀ said...
Oh, sorry! Now I got! I think I heard about this case, when you mentioned their nationalities.
But I was also talking about these cases involving an emirati and an expat one.. did you get it?
- March 21, 2011 8:39 pm
- Seabee said...
Kiara yes, there are cases involving Emiratis/expats but many others involving only expats where I think the findings or the law itself are wrong.
- March 22, 2011 11:15 am
My lord, let's pray that Vanity Fair doesn't get wind of this.
But on a more serious note,This is absolutely ridiculous. I'm absolutely disgusted. I'm embarrassed to say this us the country I live in.
- March 22, 2011 12:17 pm
This lady went to jail and is being prosecuted because she had drugs in her blood. Regardless of how the drug got in, either voluntarily or innocently, the UAE justice system sees it only one way: it is a crime to have drug in your system.
- March 23, 2011 11:04 pm


text:
What is a vaginal prolapse?
The normal anatomy of the female pelvis is illustrated in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1 The Normal Female Pelvic Anatomy
- The walls of the vagina have elasticity to facilitate intercourse and childbirth.
- If the support is weakened a vaginal prolapse may develop.
- The prolapse may involve the uterus, which descends into the vagina and may eventually protrude from the vaginal opening.
- The concept that all vaginal prolapses relate to the uterus is incorrect.
- Sometimes it is the front or back walls of the vagina which are bulging with associated distortion of the bladder (cystocoele Figure 30.2) or rectum (rectocoele Figure 30.3).
- If you have had a hysterectomy the vault of the vault (top) of the vagina can prolapse.
- Sometimes the bowel may prolapse under the posterior (back) wall of the vagina (enterocoele Figure 30.4).
Figure 30.2 Bladder Prolapse - Cystocoele
Figure 30.3 Rectocoele
Figure 30.4 Prolapse of the Bowel - Enterocoele
What are the symptoms associated with vaginal prolapse?
Usually there is a feeling of 'something coming down? or vaginal discomfort. Some women are aware of a dragging ache in the pelvis. The degree of vaginal prolapse does not necessarily match the severity of symptoms that you may experience. Sometimes we find quite marked vaginal prolapse but the patient has no symptoms. Other women report quite severe symptoms although there may be only minimal prolapse. Most backaches are due to problems in the back, although, on occasion, repair of a vaginal prolapse may provide some relief.
If there is a cystocoele there may be bladder symptoms (Chapter 29).
What could be the cause of a vaginal prolapse?
Vaginal prolapse is usually seen in women who have had children delivered vaginally. It is unusual to see a prolapse in ladies who have never had children.
Vaginal delivery of a large baby is particularly likely to weaken the vaginal supports, and there is greater likelihood of prolapse the more children you have.
After the menopause, the reduced levels of oestrogens may further weaken the vaginal support.
Overweight women are stretching the vaginal support (pelvic floor) as well as their backs and joints.
Ladies with chronic cough (e.g. smokers), or others with constipation may similarly weaken their pelvic floor.
I have a vaginal prolapse. Should it be treated?
If a vaginal prolapse is causing problems for you treatment is advisable.
In deed, the only reason to treat a prolapse is to alleviate symptoms.
Many women have lax vaginal walls but are not aware of any problems: they may, for instance, be told that they have a vaginal prolapse when they are examined at a well woman clinic.
If there are no symptoms, there is probably no reason to recommend surgery.
For reassurance, a further examination at six monthly or yearly intervals may be sensible.
How can my vaginal prolapse be treated?
The use of pessaries to treat vaginal prolapse is becoming increasingly popular.
A ring pessary can be introduced into the vagina to support some vaginal prolapse and reduce symptoms.
Most women, find that they are not aware of the pessary and that it does not affect them in any way. It should not interfere with love-making.
If the vaginal outlet is enlarged, the ring may slip out. Shelf pessaries have been useful for many patients with vaginal prolapse when the ring is not suitable. To evaluate a simplified protocol for pessary management women with symptomatic pelvic organ prolapse who opted for pessaries were enrolled in a prospective simplified protocol for pessary management. After the initial pessary fitting, they were seen at 2 weeks for re-examination and thereafter at 3- to 6-month intervals. One hundred ten women (mean age 65 years) were enrolled, and 81 (74%) of them were fitted successfully with a pessary. Life-table analysis showed that 66% of those who used a pessary for more than 1 month were still users after 12 months and 53% were still users after 36 months. The severity of pelvic prolapse did not predict the likelihood of pessary failure except in cases of complete procidentia. Patients complaining of stress incontinence were less likely to have a successful pessary fitting and more likely to opt for surgery. Current hormone use and substantial perineal support do not predict greater likelihood of pessary fitting success. No serious complications from using the pessary were observed in the study sample. It was concluded that stringent guidelines calling for frequent pelvic examinations during pessary use can be relaxed safely. Pessaries can be offered as a safe long-term option for the management of pelvic prolapse.9701 There is some evidence that pessaries prevent progression of vaginal prolapse and that they may reverse it.0201
Picture showing some of the available vaginal pessaries.
The treatment of choice has been surgery to repair your pelvic floor.
In some circumstances, where other illness preclude this, or if it is your preference, an internal support pessary, usually a ring, may be fitted by your gynaecologist. For hygienic reasons these rings should be replaced at three or four monthly intervals.
- Do pessaries prevent the progression of pelvic organ prolapse?(2002-01)
- A simplified protocol for pessary management.(1997-01)
What happens during a pelvic floor repair to treat a vaginal prolapse?
This depends on what parts have prolapsed and the degree of uterine descent (Figure 30.1; Figure 30.2; Figure 30.3 and Figure 30. 4). If there is a cystocoele (Figure 30.2) or rectocoele (Figure 30.3) the vaginal skin is dissected off the underlying bladder or rectum, and the excess skin is removed. Two layers of stitches are introduced to restore the vagina into its correct position.
Should there be a major degree of uterine prolapse, it may be necessary to remove the uterus vaginally – vaginal hysterectomy (hysterectomy). If there is a lesser degree of uterine prolapse just the neck of the womb (cervix) may be taken away and the ligaments previously attached to the neck of the womb are then stitched into the lower part of the uterus to keep it in place. This is called a Manchester repair or Fothergill procedure.
Picture of Procidentia - Complete vaginal prolapse
Figure 30.2 Bladder Prolapse - Cystocoele
Figure 30.3 Rectocoele
Figure 30.4 Prolapse of the Bowel - Enterocoele
What can I expect after a pelvic floor repair?
You will probably need to be in hospital for a week. On return from the operating theatre you will have a fine tube (drip) in one of your arm veins with fluid running through. Most surgeons will have introduced a bandage in the vagina (pack) and a catheter into the bladder. Usually the drip and pack come out the day after surgery and the catheter is removed three to five nights after the operation. As soon as your bladder is functioning without difficulty and you are feeling ready you will be able to go home.
It is important to avoid stretching the repair particularly in the first weeks after surgery. The stitches dissolve during the first three weeks and the body will gradually lay down strong scar tissue over a few months.
It is usual to have a consultation with your gynaecologist about six weeks after the operation. After that assessment, you should be able to resume most activities, including sexual intercourse. It is advisable to avoid heavy lifting for a few more weeks and even then care should be taken.
What are the risks of a pelvic floor repair operation?
The general risks of surgery are discussed in surgery risks. The risks of hysterectomy (hysterectomy) are discussed in Q 24.21. During pelvic floor surgery your gynaecologist will be tailoring the vagina so that the symptoms related to the laxity will be resolved whilst not making the vagina too tight. On occasion the vagina may still feel too loose or too tight.
How successful are pelvic floor repair operations?
The majority of operations are successful. Failure is more likely to occur if you are overweight, if you are a smoker or if constipation is a chronic problem. These problems should be corrected, if possible, before surgery. In postmenopausal women who have not had HRT the tissues may be weak. There is often merit in treating the vagina with local oestrogen (Q 28.2) before surgery. Again, care to allow the repair to heal in the weeks after surgery must be emphasised.
When there is vaginal prolapse causing discomfort, surgery is likely to provide symptomatic relief. If there is vaginal prolapse and stress incontinence, surgery may resolve both problems. When urgency is the major bladder problem, it may not respond to surgery if the cause is detrusor instability. Urodynamic studies may be considered before operating (Q 29.22). Occasionally a second operation may be required if the vaginal prolapse recurs. Success rates from a second operation are lower.
Related Medical Abstracts - Click on the paper title:-
What should be done if I have a vaginal prolapse and plan a pregnancy?
Clearly there is no reason to refrain from pelvic floor exercises. The question of surgery is more difficult to answer. The benefits of surgery for vaginal prolapse or stress incontinence may well be lost after another vaginal delivery. If the pregnancy is to be fairly soon, a support vaginal ring pessary may relieve some vaginal prolapse symptoms. If surgery has been performed, the obstetrician may offer Caesarean section delivery next time, particularly if stress incontinence has been successfully treated.
Support groups
Members of a support group, provide each other with various types of help and information for a particular shared difficulty.
The support may take the form of providing relevant information,
- relating personal experiences,
- listening to others' experiences,
- providing sympathetic understanding and
- establishing social networks.
A support group may also provide ancillary support, such as serving as a voice for the public or engaging in advocacy.
Support groups maintain interpersonal contact among their members in a variety of ways.
Support groups also maintain contact through printed information rich newsletters, telephone chains, internet forums, and mailing lists.
Support groups offer companionship and information for people coping with diseases or disabilities. Support groups may not be appropriate for everyone, and some find that a support group actually adds to their stress rather than relieving it.
Evaluation of the quality of Web sites is discussed in (internet information). You may find that several general women's health sites may help you (internet information). The following are more specialised relevant Web sites:-
This page was reviewed on 24th April 2008
Please click on the required question.
- 1 What is a vaginal prolapse?
- 2 What are the symptoms associated with vaginal prolapse?
- 3 I have developed a vaginal prolapse. Why has this happened?
- 4 I have a vaginal prolapse. Should it be treated?
- 5 How can my vaginal prolapse be treated?
- 6 What happens during a pelvic floor repair operation?
- 7 What can I expect after a repair operation?
- 8 What are the risks of a repair operation?
- 9 How successful are repair operations?
- 10 What should be done if I have a bladder problem or vaginal prolapse and plan to have another pregnancy?
- 11 Are there any alternatives to surgery for vaginal prolapse?
- 12 Where can I obtain more information?
- 13 Support Groups.
This is the personal website of David A Viniker MD FRCOG, retired Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist - Specialist Interests - Reproductive Medicine including Infertility, PCOS, PMS, Menopause and HRT.
I do hope that you find the answers to your women's health questions in the patient information and medical advice provided.
I do hope that you find the answers to your women's health questions in the patient information and medical advice provided.
The aim of this web site is to provide a general guide and it is not intended as a substitute for a consultation with an appropriate specialist in respect of individual care and treatment.
David Viniker retired from active clinical practice in 2012.
In 1999, he setup this website - www.2womenshealth.com - to provide detailed
information many of his patients requested. The website attracts thousands of visitors every day from around the world.
If you would like advice on how to make more from your website, please visit his website Keyword SEO PRO or email him on firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
Washington, DC – A scientific expedition to the Colombian
Amazon has revealed a new species of titi monkey (Callicebus
caquetensis), Conservation International announced today. However, the
exciting news is tinged with concern as researchers from the National University
of Colombia who discovered the new primate consider it to be critically
endangered due to rapid loss of the forest where it lives and its small
The discovery, described in the journal Primate Conservation, was made by the
professors Thomas Defler, Marta Bueno and student Javier García, after an
expedition to the Department of Caquetá, close to the border with Ecuador and
Peru, in 2008 – more than three decades after the renowned animal behavior
expert Martin Moynihan visited the area and mentioned his observations of the
For many years, it was impossible to travel to Caquetá due to the presence of
insurgent groups. When violence subsided about three years ago, García, a native
of Caquetá, was able to travel to the upper Caquetá River, and using GPS,
searching on foot and listening for calls, he found 13 groups of the new
species. Titi monkeys (or zogui zogui as they are called in Spanish) have one of
the most complex calls in the animal kingdom and use it every morning to mark
their territory.
"This discovery is extremely exciting because we had heard about this animal,
but for a long time we could not confirm if it was different from other titis.
We now know that this is a unique species, and it shows the rich diversity of
life that is still to be discovered in the Amazon," said Dr. Defler.
IN DEPTH: Hear more from Dr. Defler about his experiences
in Colombia on our blog.
The Callicebus caquetensis is the size of a cat. It has
grayish-brown hair, but does not have a white bar on its forehead as many other
species of Callicebus most closely related to it. Its long tail is
stippled with grey, and it has a bushy red beard around its cheeks. Unlike most
primates, Caquetá titi monkeys (and probably all titi monkeys) are monogamous –
they form life-long relationships, and pairs are often seen sitting on a branch
with their tails entwined. They usually have one baby per year. As a new baby
arrives, the parents force the oldest baby to leave to allow them to focus on
the newborn (this is based on information collected from closely related
species). The families of this species stick together in groups of about 4
individuals and can be seen in the trees close to some of the main rivers of
But this newly discovered species is struggling to survive. It is estimated
that less than 250 Caquetá titi monkeys exist – a healthy population should be
in the thousands. The main reason for this small number is the degradation of
the forests in the area, which have been felled for agricultural land. It is
very dangerous, and sometimes impossible, for these animals to move to other
patches of forest as they have to cross grassy savannah or barbed wire fences to
reach them.
Both the very small population size and the fragmented habitat should demand
a classification of the Callicebus caquetensis as a Critically
Endangered (CR) species, according to the International Union for Conservation
of Nature (IUCN) criteria, which means that it faces an extremely high risk of
extinction in the wild in the immediate future.
"This discovery is particularly important because it reminds us that we
should celebrate the diversity of earth but also we must take action now to
preserve it," said José Vicente Rodríguez, head of science at Conservation
International in Colombia and president of the Colombia Association of Zoology.
"When world leaders meet later this year in Japan for the Convention on
Biological Diversity, they must commit to the creation of many more protected
areas if we want to ensure the survival of threatened creatures like this in the
Amazon and around the world."
The research led by Dr. Defler was funded by Conservation International's
Primate Action Fund and the Iniciativa de Especies Amenazadas of Conservation
International Colombia established to honor the memory of the well-known
Colombian biologist and conservationist Jorge Hernández Camacho and the Fondo
para la Acción Ambiental y la Niñez and Fundación Omacha.
Photos available here: http://bit.ly/9EduLE
Download: Caquetá titi's morning call (MP3 - 434
Notes to the Editors:
Conservation International (CI)Building upon a strong
foundation of science, partnership and field demonstration, CI empowers
societies to responsibly and sustainably care for nature for the well-being of
humanity. With headquarters in Washington, DC, CI works in more than 40
countries on four continents. For more information, visit
Professors Thomas Defler and Marta Bueno work in the Biology Department at
the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Javier Garcia is an undergraduate biology
student in the same department.


text:
TORONTO (AP) _ The owner of a monkey caught wandering outside an Ikea store in Toronto says the tiny primate rarely left her side until he was confiscated by authorities _ and she wants him back.
Yasmin Nakhuda said Tuesday she initially tried to return the monkey she named Darwin to the breeder who supplied him, but she changed her mind after hearing his cries. She says Darwin stayed near her at all times, including while she slept.
The monkey let itself out of a parked car Sunday and ambled around the store's parking lot dressed in a fitted shearling coat.
He was captured by animal control officers and moved to a primate sanctuary.
Nakhuda was fined $240 for breaking a prohibited-animal bylaw. She says she is considering legal steps to regain custody.


text:
~Other parents are way more tolerant than I think. Ryder seems to ask every adult on the playground to watch him, or catch him, or help him. I run over and try to help him myself, but of course he doesn't want my help. I've learned that the other parents are okay with the whole thing. Maybe their kids do the same.
~Sometimes it is okay to break the rules. You'd think I would know this by now. It us a really difficult lesson to remember. Sometimes pretending not to see him is okay as long as it is not dangerous. What playground nowadays can you even do anything dangerous in?
~You don't have to maintain clear sight at all times to be a good parent. If Ryder runs behind a tree for a second, it does not mean he has been stolen. It is okay for a piece of playground equipment to obscure my sight for a second or two.