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SITHABILE
Child & Youth Care Centre
"A
Place where Children know what it is to be a child"
We Are Happy
What
is the Sithabile Child & Youth Care Centre?
A home, rehabilitation
and learning Centre for some eighty children from the farms, informal
settlements and streets of Eastern Gauteng, South Africa.
A place of refuge for children in need of love, care
and warmth. A safe harbour for children in distress, due to abuse and
neglect.
A drop-in center for children who are hungry, sick or
cold.
A place where youngsters can re-claim their childhood,
learn to play and look toward their future with hope.
Somewhere
children can dream and know somebody really believes they are gifts to be
nurtured and cherished.
Background
The Sithabile Child & Youth Care Center was established in 1994 to rehabilitate
and educate children from the farms surrounding Dawn Park in Eastern Gauteng.
Originally a day care center up until 1997, it has since expanded into a home
where the children receive love, meals, shelter and an education.
Sithabile creates a safe haven for children who are survivors of abuse, exploitation,
and neglect. It is a drop-in facility for children who are hungry, sick or
cold; a place where youngsters can re-claim their childhood, learn to play
and look toward their future with hope; a home where children can dream and
know that others believe they are gifts to be nurtured and cherished.
The primary mission of the Center is to provide a bridging facility to rehabilitate
families in poverty and children in distress through education, care and counseling.
The main goals of Sithabile are the following:
1. Identify and rescue children at risk.
2. Provide a home for children at risk (sexual, physical and emotional abuse,
child labour, neglect and abandonment).
3. Rehabilitate and counsel children from exploitative situations.
4. Ensure that these children are receiving a meaningful education.
5. Promote literacy and skills training for the older children.
6. Integrate the children back into mainstream life.
7. Assist the children to realize their dreams and develop their full potential.
Relocation of the Center
From 1994 to 2000, the Center operated on residentially zoned property in
Boksburg, which led to the following problems:
• The Town Council of Boksburg constantly threatened the Center with
closure.
•
The lack of space for children to play freely resulted in the breaking of windows,
and forced children to play in the street, which exposed them to speeding cars.
•
The lack of accommodation meant that we were unable to separate the children
according to age.
•
Due to the lack of space, we were unable to expand skills training programs
for older children.
•
Although we had always had the support of neighbours, there were complaints
about noise.
Thanks to the constant support of 3M, we were able to relocate to bigger and
better premises in Benoni in December, 2000. The children now have ample space
to play and run without compromising their safety.
Accommodation
In 2006 we were finally able to fulfill our dream of having suitable brick
accommodation for our boys who have since the establishment of the Center been
accommodated in wooden zozo huts. We would like to thank Selina Rust of Germany
and the Greater Allen Cathedral in New York for making this a possibility.
We are also in the process of completing a girls dormitory which is also being
sponsored by the Greater Allen Cathedral.
We would also like to have nursery for our babies, so that they can have their
own space with an indoor play and dining area.
With the Assistance of the Canada Fund and the Diplomatic Women’s Guild
in Switzerland we have been able to build a Sick Bay and Clinic for the children
on the property. This has been a great help in our ability to isolate children
who are ill.
The Gardening Project
In 2001 when Sithabile relocated to the current smallholding we worked with
the Department of Agriculture to set up a vegetable garden. The department
provided our staff with skills on managing and ensuring that our garden would
be sustainable. They further ensured that our borehole was operational to ensure
that we had a natural water source to irrigate the plants.
We also have started poultry farming, which helps to provide the children
with eggs for their meals. We have also acquired geese and goats. At Sithabile’s
inception we recognized that one of the primary functions of our facility would
be to provide a good balanced diet to the children in our care to ensure to
counter the effects of malnutrition a large percentage of our children suffered
from. The animals and garden have helped to provide the children with education
on how to grow their own food and also an opportunity to interact with animals
through helping with their care. Further it was felt important to provide them
not only with a skill but also with knowledge on how a small vegetable garden
could provide food for a family for when they became adults.
In 2004 we had the grade 10 learners from Kingsmead College, pilot an eco-circles
project in our vegetable garden. This methodology was to teach young people
an innovative method of gardening that used minimal water, so as to be able
to garden even in times when there little water available.
In 2005, we had one of our young girls and a housemother attended a course
at Pretoria University on sustainable agricultural faming and animal husbandry.
The course helped them bring new ideas to continue to have a flourishing garden.
We continue to see the benefits for our children in both working with the
land and having the land provide food for them. While we are currently able
to plant and harvest prior and during the summer months, we hope to be able
to build a greenhouse to have vegetables throughout the year.
Recreation Facilities
Through a donation of a container by the Benoni Rotarians, we have been able
to set up a library for our children. The American International School of
Johannesburg donated the majority of the books for the library and even came
to spend a day setting the library up. A few of our girls were provided with
skills on how to run the library, which has been a great help to ensuring that
we keep track of all the books.
Most of the older girls have been part of the beaded card making project through
which they were ultimately able to purchase a container to house their project
and materials. While they were assisted and guided by Rebecca; a Canadian;
who volunteered her time in 2005, the girls are no managing the project on
their own.
While we do not have a computer lab at present, we do have a few computers
housed in the library, but we would like to see a fully operational computer
lab for our children in the next couple of years. We feel this has become a
necessity not only for research for their school projects, but also a basic
life skill for our older children to be able to compete in the job market once
they leave the Center.
We would also like to renovate the existing hall at the back of the property
into an indoor recreational facility with some gym equipment for the older
children as a large number of them are either involved in various sporting
activities at school or they are dancers at the East Rand School of the Arts.
We feel that having such a facility would help to maintain their fitness levels
and assist them to excel in their chosen extra-curricula activity.
Education
In an effort to prepare our younger children for education we converted the
garage into a pre-school class, where the toddlers spend their mornings learning
their numbers, nursery rhymes and abc’s. While in time we would like
to see a better equipped facility for our youngest children
Our children attend three different primary schools, three high schools and
a special school as we recognize that the needs of each child vary and to ensure
that they are able to thrive as learners these needs have to be taken into
account. Even though we have had discussions with the Department of Education,
and the school fees have been waived for our children, we still experience
problems with the schools demanding fees and we would like to thank Clientele
for their commitment over the last few years to ensuring that our children’s
fees are paid.
We recognize that education does not end in high school, so where possible
we have our older children in Technical Colleges to ensure that they are skilled
to be able to either start their own businesses or compete on the job market
as they prepare for independent living.
Other Programs
The Center hopes to initiate the following programs to provide the older children
with skills while also providing services which can help generate an income
for the Center:
We feel it is not only important for the children to get formal education,
but we also feel the need for the children to be taught alternative skills
as we are not only hoping to mould academics, but also hope to develop the
various skills which the children have and ensure that when the young people
in our care reach their majority they are able to continue to grow and live
independantly.
We need your help
Sithabile Child and Youth Care Center is a non-profit, non-governmental organization.
We depend solely upon donations and sponsorships from instituions such as yours.
Please find enclosed a copy of our running budget.
Any help that you could offer us would be greatly appreciated! Should you
require any more information, or if you would like to see proposed budgets
for our upcoming projects, please contact us by email, telephone, or post. | {
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Before I totally forget to give you an update this summer (is it seriously summer already?), here are a few recent pieces I wrote for Budget Travel, including a guide to travel “secrets” in one of my favorite cities, Miami, and my thoughts on why you should visit Joshua Tree National Park, like, yesterday. Take a look-see: | {
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Ethiopia Gets First Female President
Ethiopia’s parliament today approved Sahle-Work Zewde as the country’s new president, the first woman to hold the post.
Sahle-Work, who was born 21 February, 1950, in Addis Ababa, is at present U.N. under secretary general and special representative of the secretary general to the African Union.
She replaces Mulatu Teshome Wirtu, who tendered his resignation to parliament earlier on Wednesday. Wirtu had been president since 2013.
Fitsum Arega, Chief of staff to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described the appointment of Sahle-Work as historic.
In a tweet today, Arega said: “In a historic move, the two Houses have elected Ambassador Sahle-Work Zewde as the next President of Ethiopia.
“She is the first female head of state in modern Ethiopia. A career diplomat & senior official at the UN. She brings the right competence & experience to the office.
“In a patriarchal society such as ours, the appointment of a female head of state not only sets the standard for the future but also normalises women as decision-makers in public life”.
Woyzero Sahle-Work Zewde studied natural science at the University of Montpellier, France. She is fluent in Amharic, French and English.
She is a veteran Ethiopian diplomat. She was once Ambassador to Senegal, with accreditation to Mali, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Guinea, from 1989 to 1993.
From 1993 to 2002, she was Ambassador to Djibouti and Permanent Representative to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
She later served as Ambassador to France, Permanent Representative to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and accredited to Tunisia and Morocco from 2002 to 2006.
Zewde served as Special Representative and Head of the United Nations Integrated Peace Building Office in the Central African Republic (BINUCA). Previously, she also held a number of other high level positions including as Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and as Director-General for African Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia.
In 2011, Zewde was appointed to the position of Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi (UNON) by the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. She was the first person to hold the post at the level of Under-Secretary-General. | {
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The Samsung Galaxy S9 is one of the most sophisticated phones we’ve ever seen and is about as feature-rich as they come. One of the best options, wireless charging, gives users peace of mind. If you haven’t had the privilege, you’ll certainly want to take advantage of the technology. Here are some of the best Samsung Galaxy S9 wireless chargers for home, work, and even on-the-go.
Standard Platter
These are the flat types of chargers you’ll find on desks and night stands; they often come in circular and rectangular shapes. Many of these offer variable output speeds so they’ll play nice with your friend’s iPhone, too.
Belkin Boost Up Wireless Charging Pad
A trusted name in the tech space for decades now, Belkin still delivers the goods. This charger pumps out up to 10-watts for your Sony and LG phones, and can optimize to 9W for Samsung. The LED indicator let you know how things are going while the rubber ring holds the handset in place. The cable is five feet long so you can plug into the out-of-the-way outlets. Purchase for $ 45 from Amazon or $ 60 from Belkin.
Samsung Fast Charge Wireless Charger Pad
When it comes to smartphone popularity it’s Samsung’s pie and the rest of the players share pieces of it. If you want official accessories, this is the charger you go with for Samsung devices.
It’s about 1.4x times faster than conventional wireless tech, has a circular strip of rubber to prevent your handset from sliding around, and a bright LED to indicate charging. Offered in Black, Navy, and White to match your favorite phone. $ 25 at Amazon
Yootech Wireless Charger
When you don’t need anything fancy and don’t want to spend a ton of money, you look for something like this. Compatible with all Qi-enabled phones, it works at 5W, 7.5W, and 10W charging standards. You’ll need to use your charging adapter and cable if you go with the high speed stuff, but you already have the one that came in your phone’s box. Sleep easy knowing that the green light turns off after a few seconds so your room doesn’t glow all night. $ 15 at Amazon
Dock Style
Prop your phone up at a convenient angle so you can quickly glance at your notifications. Ideal for your kitchen corner or end table in the family room.
Anker PowerWave Fast Wireless Charger Stand
As fast as you’ll need, plus some. We like this one for its 6-ft microUSB cable and 18-month warranty. Whether you need 5W, 7.5W, or 10W of juice, this wallet-friendly option brings the power. The twin charging coils make it so you can place your phone in landscape and portrait orientation without fumbling around for connection. Works through phone cases of 5mm, too! $ 30 at Amazon
TYLT VU Charger
The VU charger features three coils inside, so feel free to put your handset on the cradle in portrait or landscape mode know it will charge. The LED under the lip of the stand turns green to indicate that it’s charging.
The bright, plastic charger comes in is available in blue, yellow and red, or you can opt for black if you’re in the mood for something traditional. The soft-touch finish and distinctive design give this charger a look that’s really unique and that’s why we’ve added it to this list. $ 30 at Amazon
Corus 10W Fast Wireless Charger Stand
Simple, compact, and a tad bit stylish, this stand doesn’t take up much room on your desk. The dual coils mean it’s as convenient to set your phone upright as it is to flip it on its side for watching Netflix. You’ll have to use your own charging adapter if you want to use the Quick Charge 2.0 or Quick Charge 3.0 technology, but doing so means much less down time. $ 20 at Amazon
On-the-Go Charging
For true wireless convenience you want something that goes with you, right? Whether it’s a library, coffee shop, or in an airport terminal, these wireless chargers have built-in batteries that allow for power-ups everywhere.
RAVPower 10400mAh Fast Wireless Charging Pad
With a generous 10,400mAh worth of power, this charger can double or triple the time you use your smartphone. And, because time is always of the essence, the power bank offers up to 10W fast charging. Out for dinner with friends or loved ones? Let them plug in through the USB port and get some of that recharge action, too. $ 50 at Amazon
Fonesalesman QiStone+
Yo dawg, we heard you like wireless charging so we put wireless charging in a wireless charger. Seriously, you can top this portable unit off by placing it on another wireless charger.
The 4,000mAh internal battery ensures your night doesn’t end early because you have to get home. What’s more, it’s portable enough to toss in a bag or backpack so feel free to stay out and keep the party going. While everyone else fights over the car adapter you can sit in the backseat with your own power source. $ 50 at Amazon
mophie Powerstation Wireless External Battery Charger
From one of the first names in charging, this portable device delivers 6,040mAh of backup power. In other words, that’s 2-3 times that you don’t have to plug into the wall. Ideal for college students, frequent flying types, and people who simply hate dealing with cables. The four LED lights let you know how much you’ve got left in the tank while the two-year warranty tells you to sleep easy at night. $ 80 at mophie
Car Solutions
Why waste an opportunity to turn that daily commute into a convenient and flexible way of recharging? These are devices that hold your phone in place and provide a wireless charge.
Vansky 2-in-1 Wireless Car Charger
Suction this one to your dashboard or snap in the attachment and place it on your air vent for true convenience. With up to 10W of charging you’ll be sure to get the most efficient charge possible, even on short little trips to the grocery store. The clamp arm automatically locks your phone into place; touch the metal or press the button to release the device when you’re at your destination. $ 40 at Amazon
iOttie Easy One Touch Car Charger
Stick it to your dashboard or invert the head and mount it to your windshield. It’s your car, do what you want. The telescopic arm extends from around 5-inches out to 8.3-inches and pivots on a 225 degree arc so there’s no reason you can’t have your phone exactly where you want and how you want it. The plug itself has a USB port so you can share your power source with another rider. That’s twice as nice! $ 50 at Amazon
BESTHING Wireless Charger
The gravity design makes dropping your phone into place about as easy at it gets. Simply set it down and watch as the arms come in to hug the handset into place. Prefer the air vent over the dashboard placement? No problem! We’re also fans of the large coil that connects to our battery; the smart technology allows for 5W, 7.5W, and 10W speeds. $ 33 at Amazon. | {
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One to One Coaching
Do you find yourself repeating the same old habits or experiencing the same situation over and over?
Do you feel drained of energy?
Or maybe you would like to have a private meditation session and learn how to connect with your angels
One to one coaching on how to use the power of the Angelic Realms to heal and help you move forward in your life could be the answer. I will use a variety of techniques to assist you to achieve your goals. The session will be unique to you and may include any of the following as appropriate for you at the time.
Healing with Sacred Geometry, Angelic Reiki or Magnified Healing
Spiritual Response Therapy to remove blocks and outdated patterns
Angel Card Guidance
Meditations/Visualisations to connect with the Angels
Coaching is available in the following techniques:
Cord Cutting
Clearing Past Vows and Contracts
Connecting with your Guardian Angel
Discovering your Soul Purpose
Manifesting Abundance
Clearing stagnant (negative) energies
Clearing Karma
Transform Your Life programme.
Sessions are charged at 40euros per hour typically last 90 minutes.The length of the session will be agreed when booking is made.
Consultations are also available via Skype and Whatsapp for clients who are not able to travel or who are not resident in Cyprus.
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Latest News
New Groups for the Autumn at Tree of Life CentreTherapies available throughout the summer at my place or Tree of Life Centre in Larnaca. Skype/Whatsapp sessions available for 12 Chakra Activation, Angel Card Readings, Spiritual Response Therapy. | {
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Avengers (Vol. 1) #11
Background
Spider-Man meets the Avengers. Well, sort of.
Just a few months back, Spider-Man met up with Giant-Man and the Wasp (Tales
to Astonish #57, July 1964) in the first major web-slinger feature without
Steve Ditko either penciling or inking. (Dick Ayers and Paul Reinman performed
those tasks, respectively.) Now Spidey (sort of) meets all of the Avengers.
(Except for Iron Man who is on the cover but not in the actual story. More
about that in a moment.) This time the illustrations are by Don Heck with
inking by Chic Stone. Stan Lee writes both stories and both stories are missing
something, both in plot and composition. No offence to everyone who worked on
these issues but the real lesson here is how essential Steve Ditko is to the
Spider-Man process at this point in time, which makes the successful transition
to John Romita in ASM #39, August 1966 all that much more remarkable.
As I said, Iron Man is on the cover, which depicts the five Avengers (Thor,
Giant-Man, the Wasp, Iron Man, and Captain America) caught in a web as Spider-
Man looks on. The splash page also shows the Avengers snagged on a giant web
(Well, Thor, Giant-Man and Captain America, at any rate. The Wasp is flying
free.) with Spidey looking on but correctly eliminates Iron Man. This is,
let's face it, a sneaky trick for anyone who buys their comics simply by
looking at the cover and who happens to be an Iron Man fan. Don't tell me that
Stan and the gang didn't know what they were doing when they slipped Iron Man
onto this cover! Shame on you guys!
All right, before we go any further, let me give a completely unnecessary recap
of the Avengers. They were brought together as a result of a scheme by Loki,
the Norse God of Evil in Avengers #1, September 1963 and originally
consisted of Ant-Man, the Wasp, the Hulk, Thor, and Iron Man. Ant-Man becomes
Giant-Man and the Hulk leaves the group in the very next issue (Avengers #2,
November 1963) and Captain America, revived from suspended animation, joins
in Avengers #4, March 1964. The big shake-up of Hawkeye, Quicksilver,
and the Scarlet Witch replacing Giant-Man, Wasp, Iron Man, and Thor is still
five issues in the future (Avengers #16, May 1965). So, what we're
dealing with is essentially original Avengers. Very early stuff here, gang.
Henry Pym, as Giant-Man, is working on a delicate experiment in his lab when a
signal light starts to flash and Thor's voice booms out over a loud speaker.
As the "Chairman of the Avengers for this week", Thor is calling a special
meeting and expects everyone to respond immediately. Giant-Man calls in and
asks for a short delay to finish his experiment but his request is emphatically
denied. "There can be no exceptions!" says the longhaired Norse
taskmaster, "Avengers business always takes priority!" (That's right, Thor!
Science be damned!) Hank's experiment melts down to glass fragments, smoke and
a puddle and he is not one bit pleased. "I should have had my head examined
when I let them talk me into joining their little sewing circle!" he says to
the Wasp, "That long-haired square has all the charm of a rusty doorknob." The
Wasp is not impressed by this outburst. "You know you wouldn't miss a meeting
for anything" she tells him.
And so the meeting comes to order with Thor, Giant-Man, the Wasp, Captain
America and Rick Jones in attendance but without Iron Man. This turns out to
be the reason for the meeting (and for this Hank had to give up on his
experiment?). Thor, reading from some papers (like he couldn't say what he has
to say off the top of his head), tells the others that, allegedly, Tony Stark
has been killed. There are two reasons why this concerns the Avengers. First,
they use Stark's home as their headquarters. Second, Iron Man is also
missing. (At this time, the Avengers do not know that Tony Stark is
Iron Man. They believe that Iron Man is Tony Stark's bodyguard.). Giant-Man
conjectures that Iron Man is out on his own, trying to track down Tony Stark's
murderer "if it was murder". Thor wonders why Iron Man hasn't called the
Avengers in to help and Giant-Man tells him "We mere mortals have a code of
honor and duty which you may find hard to understand". Captain America
concurs. "I'm sure that the golden Avenger wants to do this job alone as a
matter of pride," he says. Cap then moves that the Avengers "suspend all
operations for twenty-four hours as a mark of respect to the late Tony Stark"
and the Wasp seconds the motion. Giant-Man, however, amends the motion,
believing that "Stark himself would want us to continue to stay on duty in case
we're needed". He therefore moves for granting Iron Man "a temporary leave of
absence until his mission is done". Rick Jones raises his hand and seconds
Giant-Man's motion only to be shot down by Cap who stands and barks, "You're
out of order, Rick! You have no voting privilege with the Avengers as yet!"
(Yeah, yeah, right, Mr. Establishment. Power to the people!) Now that he's
taken the time to humiliate Rick, Cap agrees with him! He withdraws his motion
and seconds Giant-Man's motion. The rest of the Avengers also stand as Thor
rules the motion is carried. He then declares the meeting adjourned. The Wasp
immediately pulls out her lipstick and gives herself a new glossy coat. Hank
wonders why the remark that they are adjourning "always seem[s] to be a signal
for you to put on fresh lipstick, little lady" and the Wasp replies, "Every
remark is a signal for a girl to freshen her lipstick, big boy! And please
don't speak to me right now, or I might smudge it!" (Ah, the mid-60s! You
gotta love it!)
Thor then announces that the chairman of the next meeting will be Captain
America and he yields the gavel to him, little suspecting that someone has been
eavesdropping on their entire meeting but before we get to that... what's the
deal with this "death of Tony Stark" stuff anyway? It begins in Tales of
Suspense #59 (November 1964) when Tony Stark collapses in front of his
secretary Pepper Potts and his chauffeur Happy Hogan. Unknown to everyone
else, Stark wears a "protective chest device" to keep his heart beating which
is also the chest plating for his Iron Man armor. He collapses because the
device starts to malfunction. Pepper and Happy try to get a doctor but Tony
doesn't want his chest plate revealed because it will expose his secret
identity. When the evil Black Knight attacks, Tony crawls into his office and
locks the door. Inside, he recharges his chest plate but is forced
to "increase the power output" of the Iron Man suit by adding "extra transistor
power" from his "belt pods". Then, as Iron Man, he breaks through the wall and
defeats the Black Knight. Slipping back into the office (and repairing the
wall), Stark realizes that he now needs all the power of the suit to stay
alive. He dare not change out of the Iron Man armor. He opens the office door
and tells Pepper and Happy that Mr. Stark "left by another secret entrance",
that "he'll be out of town for a while" and that he left Iron Man in charge.
But Pepper and Happy don't buy it. They know that Tony was ill and they now
suspect that Iron Man has done away with his boss. In Tales of Suspense #60
(December 1964), the police are brought in and they accuse Iron Man of
murdering Tony Stark. Iron Man has a note in Tony Stark's handwriting that
authorizes him to take charge while the boss is on a secret mission but the
cops quickly discover that there are no fingerprints on the note (since Iron
Man forgot to take off his metal gloves when he wrote it). Faced with this
damning piece of evidence, Iron Man panics and makes a break for it. He flies
through a window, shattering the glass as he escapes. Once away from the
police, he contacts Thor and requests permission to be absent from the
Avengers' meeting. He also assures Thor that "on my honor as an Avenger, I
have not betrayed Tony Stark". Thor grants the permission. (Since Stan wrote
nearly every super-hero story at this time in the Marvel Universe, the
continuity is usually impressively precise. Note, however, in this case that
after Iron Man reports in to Thor in Suspense, the Thunder God merely
says that "Iron Man has been missing" and wonders why Iron Man has "not
summoned us to assist him", in Avengers as mentioned a couple of
paragraphs back.)
That's already more information than is needed to explain Iron Man absence but,
for those of you wondering, here's how it all wraps up. With Tony Stark
missing for over a month, Pepper and Happy tender their resignations to Iron
Man in Tales of Suspense #61 (January 1965). They then go to the police
and the press with their suspicions. Later, Happy sneaks onto the grounds of
Tony Stark's estate to see what he can see. Tony is in his bedroom without his
helmet on when Happy scales the balcony and starts to enter. He barely has
time to jump under the covers and pretend that he is sick in bed. He tells
Happy and the arriving Pepper that he has been exhausted and has instructed
Iron Man to run the business in his place. Happy and Pepper still don't
entirely buy it. They think Iron Man may be holding Mr. Stark hostage. All of
this becomes moot when the Mandarin attacks with a "killer satellite". The
press has gotten word that Tony Stark is sick in bed and the Mandarin uses this
info to aim a laser beam right into the bedroom, destroying everything inside.
Stark is protected by his Iron Man armor but he finds it convenient to let the
world believe that Tony Stark has been killed. It is not until Tales of
Suspense #63, March 1965 that Tony comes up with the idea of "modifying a
master transistor and tripling its power output" which allows him to remove all
the armor except for the chest plate. He puts on a suit and tie, waltzes right
into his office (nearly knocking Pepper and Happy flat with the shock) and
comes out with this cockamamie story about being out on a yacht for several
weeks and never hearing the news that he was supposed to be dead even though he
was supposed to be sick in bed only a short time before.
But that's enough of all that. As you'll recall, someone was eavesdropping on
that special meeting of the Avengers. From his hideout in the year 3000, Kang
the Conqueror watches on "a fantastic electronic device from the far future"
which looks more like a big clunky computer with an oval TV picture tube from
the year 1964. Hard as it may be to imagine with a villain like Kang who has
made something like a couple of thousand appearances (or so it seems), this is
only the second time he has shown up. (The first time was in Avengers #8,
September 1964 in which Kang reveals that he has actually appeared before.
Born in the year 3000, Kang masters time travel, journeys to and conquers
ancient Egypt where he calls himself Pharaoh Rama-Tut, as seen in Fantastic
Four #19, October 1963. After getting spanked by the FF, Rama-Tut travels
to our present where he hangs out in outer space wondering how he can get
revenge. There, in Fantastic Four Annual #2, 1964, he encounters Dr.
Doom floating in space, from his defeat in FF #23, February 1964 and
rescues him. The two chat and Rama-Tut reveals that he was a master criminal
in his own time, the 25th Century, and that his time machine is stolen and was
actually invented by his ancestor Dr. Doom. The two men even discuss the
possibility that they are actually the same man from two different points of
his time line. By the time he meets the Avengers, however, Kang is calling the
30th Century his original time and implying that he created his time machine
himself. After meeting with Doom and returning him to earth, Kang reveals
that "electro-static disturbances in the relative time stream" caused him to
overshoot AD 3000 and arrive in AD 4000 instead. There he finds a world
possessing highly advanced weapons and locked in eternal war. Kang forms an
army and carves out an empire but is soon bored by it all, so he climbs into a
time machine and proclaims himself "Kang the First, ruler of the 20th Century.
For all the good it does him. The Avengers kick his scrawny butt.) Now back in
the year 3000 instead of 4000, for some reason, and with all of time and all
those thousand of appearances to choose from, Kang decides that this
moment, this period of time when the Avengers are "without the power of Iron
Man" and therefore "at their weakest fighting strength" is the perfect time to
attack. (What? He couldn't dial in on the time when Thor, Iron Man, Giant-Man
and the Wasp all quit? Why doesn't he fight the Avengers, go away and rest up
for a month, then return to the exact instant that he left, as many times as
necessary to win? Do you get the feeling that Kang is a bit of a klutz when it
comes to choosing opportune moments in time? And since he's watching all this
from the future, shouldn't he already know that all of his attacks are doomed
from the start?) This time, he gets the bright idea to "not battle them in
person". He brags that he is "too wise, too cautious for that" but I think
he's just too chicken to risk getting Thor's hammer thrown at his snoot. He
prides himself on the fact that "with all the knowledge of the far future at my
disposal, it will be a simple matter for me to find another to wage my battle"
since, after all, he's been watching plenty of Avengers battles on his view
screen and has learned from the mistakes of others. In particular, he noted
how "[Baron] Zemo and his Masters of Evil came closest to destroying the
Avengers by using Wonder Man" (in Avengers #9, October 1964) "but they
made one fatal mistake... They failed to reason that Wonder Man himself might
turn against them." But Kang is too smart for that. He vows to use a pawn who
is "completely loyal to Kang" and, he reasons, "there is only one such creature
who fulfills that requirement and that is a robot!"
Now, if Kang was really in the year 3000 and really had the
opportunity to review all of Marvel history, he would know that Ultron betrayed
his inventor and the Vision betrayed his master and hundreds of other robots
have betrayed the various humans to whom they were supposed to be "completely
loyal". But since we really know that this story was written in 1964 and Stan
could have no idea what the next 40 years of Marvel continuity would bring,
we're going to give Kang a break and stop bringing this kind of stuff up.
(Mainly because, with all these digressions, I'm still only up to page three!)
"Just as my ancestor Dr. Doom is the greatest robotic creator of the 20th
Century" Kang tells himself, "So am I the greatest of my century! But being of
the future, my talents are even far greater than his!" His first thought is to
create a team of robots that replicate some of the most powerful super-villains
of 1964 and he conjures up images of the Radioactive Man, the Unicorn,
Mysterio, Magneto, and Dr. Doom on his view screen. But then he decides that
they may just end up "fighting among themselves or getting in each others way".
(But since Kang controls the robots, couldn't he just program them to be nice
to each other?) He decides on a different tack. He will go with one robot,
one that the Avengers will trust. Immediately, Kang knows whom he will copy
for his robot. He calls up a videotape file and plays it on his view screen.
It is a series of images of Spider-Man in action; swinging from his web,
walking a tightrope while blindfolded, battling Kraven the Hunter and his
leopards from ASM Annual #1, 1964 and fending off a force beam with a
web shield. Even from his far future vantage point, Kang only seems to know
that Spider-Man is a loner. Now he studies "available records of his previous
battles to learn to duplicate his fighting style" and to become familiar with
his webbing.
Hours later, Kang is ready to begin. First he creates "a three-dimensional
proto-image" of Spider-Man, then he feeds "all photos and facts about him into
the atomo-duplicator" so the computer can process everything. That done,
his "iso-nuclear duplicator analyzes every last sub-microscopic detail of the
proto-image" ("strength, knowledge, personality, memories") and builds it all
into a Spider-Man robot "possessing every ability of the original" but
answerable only to Kang. With the Spider-Man robot complete, the proto-image
disappears and Kang programs the "lifelike-looking" machine with "the most
minute instructions". Then, he sends the robot back to the 20th Century.
Now, "in the heart of downtown New York", in 1964, the robot stands on the wall
of a building, just like the real web-slinger and follows his instructions.
Kang has told him to "wait at this spot and my opportunity would present itself
within seconds". Sure enough, Captain America walks through after attending a
meeting of Rick Jones' Teen Brigade and he is suddenly attacked by at least six
hoods. Unbeknownst to Cap, however, these hoods are actually more of Kang's
robots. Their purpose is to provide an opportunity for the Spider-Man robot to
hook up with old Winghead, even though Cap seems to be doing just fine on his
own. Following his programming, the Spidey robot drops a big web net over all
the hoodlum robots, who just happen to be standing together in one spot, and
hoists them up into the air. (They are never seen again and we can assume that
Kang whisked them back to AD 3000 at the appropriate time.) Cap thanks Spider-
Man for the assist ("I never knew you were so... cooperative!" he says.) The
robot replies that he jumped in because he wants to join the Avengers. Cap
tells the Spidey-bot that he cannot make that decision alone, but agrees to
take the applicant to Avengers Headquarters to present his case.
Cap summons the Avengers for a special meeting but he doesn't tell them the
reason until they are all together. When Giant-Man sees "Spidey" he
immediately grows to his giant "fighting size just in case!" though the Wasp
thinks he just wants to "show off those dreamy biceps". (Giant-Man should know
better since he already had a misunderstanding with the web-slinger back in
Tales to Astonish #57, July 1964.) Cap tells the group "there's no need
for alarm" and that Spider-Man wants to join up. Thor replies that the
Avengers "do not accept any stranger merely because he possesses some power or
other". He reminds the others that "there are certain tests and a period of
trial". The Wasp states that she doesn't trust the web-slinger. "Everything
about spiders makes my wasp-instinct tingle with hate and loathing," she says.
(This was back in those great early days when Spidey was considered anti-social
and sinister by other heroes, a subplot that is, sadly, long gone, seeing as
the web-slinger has since teamed up with everyone from Sleepwalker to Howard
the Duck.) The robot has been programmed to expect this kind of reception so
he moves on to "phase two of the Master's plan". Casually turning his back on
the Avengers and lifting his hand in farewell, the Spidey-bot says that he
really "came to tell you where to find Iron Man for he needs your help". Now,
however, he refuses to divulge any further information. When Thor orders him
to "Halt!" the bot climbs a wall (who knows where he's going since he is
inside the Avengers headquarters) and replies, "Forget it, pal! I know
when I'm not wanted!" But he stops in his tracks when Thor's hammer strikes
with a "Whoom!" right next to him. (That hammer can't be all that tough. It
strikes a wall that looks like it's made out of plaster and paneling and it
bounces off!) The Spidey-bot turns and points a finger at Thor and, using
his "Spidey vernacular" programming to its fullest, says "Look, Long Hair, I
don't like havin' hammers tossed at me! You may be a real wing-doozy with your
own team, but until I'm one of you, you're just another guy named Joe to me,
savvy?" Personally, that speech cracks me up, but Thor is not amused. He is
ready to tussle with the "wall-crawler" until Captain America steps in, telling
his teammate, "We have Iron Man to think of." When Thor agrees to listen, the
bot spins his yarn. "I was swingin' around the rooftops the other night" he
says, "like a good little Spider-Man should, when I saw a guy with a nutty-
looking mask, accompanied by a 6 ½ foot tall creep and a gorgeous blonde doll
hustle him into a helicopter!" Cap immediately recognizes these descriptions.
Clearly, Baron Zemo, the Executioner, and the Enchantress have kidnapped Iron
Man. Now that the Spidey-bot has hooked his fish, he proceeds to reel them
in. "As they prepared to fly off, I heard the masked one give their
destination! It was the Temple of Tirod in Mexico!" he says.
This story only makes Thor angrier. "And, you did not come to us immediately?"
he bellows, "What manner of man are you?" Giant-Man has to hold Thor back by
grabbing him from behind. He tells Thor that the "webhead" "was under no
obligation". Thor knows that "our first concern is to our missing Avenger" so
he doesn't press the point but he promises, "When we return, I shall have more
to say to Spider-Man". And so, the Avengers go into action and they are so
impressive that even the robot is awed, ("No wonder they are so universally
renowned! Look at the speed with which they blaze into action!") even though
Thor and Cap seem to be running off in different directions. Apparently still
working on the rallying cry, Cap proclaims, "Avengers awaaay!"
Quinjets have yet to be invented so, believe it or not, the "standard operating
procedure" is for the Avengers to separate and individually get to their
destination as best they can. Giant-Man turns into Ant-Man and hitches a ride
on a flying ant to the airport with the Wasp flying along by his side. They
are just in time to catch a flight, in their insect size, on an airplane that
will take them over Mexico. As they travel they wonder why Zemo would take
Iron Man to the Temple of Tirod and why Iron Man didn't "use his built-in
communicator to contact us" when he was captured. When the plane flies over
the appropriate spot, the two tiny heroes bail out. The Wasp is shocked to see
Hank falling. "For heaven's sake, you big goop!" she calls out, "You can't
fly!" But Ant-Man is using his cybernetic helmet to contact a flying ant in
the vicinity. Soon riding his insect mount and with the Wasp again flying by
his side, Ant-Man arrives at the Temple of Tirod, which is an immense Aztec
pyramid on the shores of a lake.
Amazingly enough, the twosome actually beat out Thor and arrive first. They
step to the entrance to the temple. Hank Pym becomes Giant-Man again, growing
to a height of twelve feet. Janet Van Dyne changes to her regular height.
They walk down a hallway, noting that there is no sign of Iron Man. But
someone (who is revealed to be the Spidey-bot a few panels later) is watching
from another room and that someone knows that "this entire temple has been
converted into a gigantic trap for the Avengers!" (So, Kang somehow managed to
convert this huge structure, which must be a national monument, into a death
trap from one thousand years in the future and no one even knows that he's done
it? And this guy still can't defeat the Avengers?)
Suddenly, Giant-Man detects danger via his "cybernetic sense" and instantly
shrinks back down to ant-size to avoid it. The Wasp follows suit and then both
heroes peer ahead to get a look at the danger. What major death trap do they
see? Let's let Giant-Man tell it. "Look... a light beam!" he says. "Where is
it coming from?" wonders the Wasp. "From me, you two doomed fools! From our
friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!" comes the answer as the light turns into
the "Spidey mask" of the spider-signal. So, just to recap, the Spidey-bot has a
temple converted into a gigantic trap at his command and instead of using it he
chooses to announce his presence and reveal himself as an enemy without
springing any trap at all. Then he gets down on his hands and knees to try to
grab the tiny heroes. When Ant-Man wonders "How did you get here so quickly?"
the bot says, "I have secret methods you can't even begin to suspect" but, just
for our benefit, his thought balloon reveals that "Kang can move me anywhere by
manipulating his master control panel back in the 30th Century".
I'm sure it comes as no surprise that the "hands and knees" tactic meets with
failure. Ant-Man jumps up on top of a stone step that seems to appear out of
nowhere. Then, he hides in the cracks between the stones... I think. (The
truth is, I don't really have a clue what's going on in this panel. Ant-Man
seems to be hiding in some space between blocks but he is thinking
that "Spidey" is "trying to trap us with that granite block" which puts a
different spin on the panel altogether. Neither seems quite right.) He yells
out to the Wasp to "execute maneuver 4-A", which turns out to be an attack to
the bot's midsection using a combination of her flying speed and her wasp's
sting. This move knocks the robot off-balance but he quickly recovers and
tries to snag both heroes in a big web net. This backfires when Ant-Man
rapidly grows to Giant-Man height and grabs the web in one hand. ("Go get
him!" yells the Wasp, "Make spider stew out of him!") The robot responds by
stretching the web and wrapping it around Giant-Man's head. "Spidey" then
rears back to deliver "one spider-strength punch" only to hit nothing but air.
Giant-Man has shrunk down to Ant-Man again to get out of the way and then grows
right back up again, piggy-backing the Spidey-bot and pinning it up against the
wall. Before the robot can retaliate, Giant-Man shrinks back down to ant size
again and then back up again where he catches the "web-slinger" with a giant-
sized punch right to the jaw. The robot can't keep up with the size changes
and decides to run away until he can "figure some method of fighting him". But
Giant-Man has no intention of letting him escape. As the bot plans his next
move, Giant-Man tries to grab him, an arm around either side of an intervening
pillar. But the Avenger is distracted by his thoughts. "I've read a lot about
Spider-Man's exploits" he thinks, apparently forgetting that he actually met
the web-slinger just a few months ago, "but somehow he doesn't fight with the
verve and daring I'd have expected of him! He seems different in some strange
way!" This woolgathering slows Giant-Man up enough for the robot to make its
move. The bot leaps out of the way of Giant-Man's hands and then uses webbing
to tie those giant hands together, trapping him around the pillar. "And this
webbing is elasticized" says the robot, "It will shrink right down with you if
you try to escape that way!" Just then, the Wasp attacks, flitting around the
Spidey-bot's head and using her stingers. The robot merely makes a fly swatter
out of his webbing and whaps her one.
And that's when Thor finally arrives, (What did he do? Stop off for a snack in
Asgard?) just in time to see "Spidey" knock out the Wasp. The thunder god goes
to the immediate attack, flying right at the robot with his hammer, but
the "web-slinger" dodges out of the way. The bot decides to try to put Thor
out of action while he has him off-balance so he wades in with a two-handed
clout. But Thor recovers immediately and the robot realizes "He's too strong
for me" so he tries to "taunt him into defeat". (How's that for a strategy?
That's AI in action, folks!) He stands right in front of Thor and says, "How
come you don't get a haircut, chum? Tell me, do you prefer bobby pins or
ordinary curlers?" and these remarks actually succeed in infuriating the
thunder god who jumps up into the air, whirls his mallet over his head and
flings it at his opponent. This is just what the robot wants. He steps out of
the way and catches the hammer "with a double-thick web net", which causes the
mallet to land uselessly and web-covered on the ground. (Mjolnir has seemed
particularly anemic in this issue since the moment it bounced off the
headquarters wall.) Thor immediately panics since he knows that he will turn
into the lame Doctor Donald Blake if he doesn't retrieve his hammer within
sixty seconds. Desperately, he throws a huge granite block at the robot. (Did
he just yank this out of the wall? Isn't this an ancient sacred temple? And
now Thor is just wrecking it?) Again "Spider-Man" is ready for him. The robot
strings up a giant web-slingshot and attaches it to each side of the
passageway. The granite block is caught by the web and hurled right back at
Thor who runs right through it, busting the granite into chunks as he heads
right for his adversary. "Though I am pledged to harm no mortal beings" he
says, "Never have I been so sorely tempted to break that pledge as now!"
The Spidey-bot tries to slow the thunder god down by covering him in webbing
but Thor just shreds the threads as if they are paper. Just as the Avenger is
about to get his hands on the "wall-crawler", the webbing covers him like a
cocoon and holds. The bot thinks Thor "wasn't as strong as I feared" but the
real reason why the Asgardian doesn't break out is because he is no longer
there. The sixty seconds have elapsed and he has turned back into frail Dr.
Don Blake.
The robot doesn't waste much time wondering about it. All he knows is "so far
Kang's plan is working like a charm" and he is confident that he will wrap it
all up by putting it to Captain America since "he has no super powers at all".
But unbeknownst to the robot, he is being watched by a mysterious figure,
described by Stan as "the last one he would ever expect to meet". But, let's
face it, we all know who it's going to be.
Meanwhile, ol' slowpoke Cap is finally showing up by parachuting out of a
plane. The robot, now perched on an outside wall, watches as Cap lands
somewhere on the temple itself. Still believing he is dealing with the real
wall-crawler, Cap hails "Spidey" and asks if he's seen any of the other
Avengers. In response, the robot pushes one of the huge stone slabs down
toward Cap. But the false webhead doesn't account for the Golden Age Hero's
instincts, speed, and timing. Cap leaps into some niche in the temple (which
pretty much looks like the same scene as when Ant-Man hid in the cracks between
the granite just five pages ago) and the granite block falls past, missing
him. That's when Cap springs into action. He throws his shield at "Spidey"
which knocks the "wall-crawler" off his perch. Using his duplicate spider-
abilities, the robot twists around in mid-air and lands on the shield-slinger
but Cap has no trouble punching his enemy in the nose. Deciding that Cap
is "too battle-wise, too courageous, too dangerous", the robot resorts to dirty
tricks. He covers Cap's head with some webbing and then, while the blinded
Avengers tries to tug the webbing off, he pushes him off of the temple heading
for a hundred-foot fall to the ground.
Watching from the future, Kang gloats over the fact that he "had previously
filled the tomb with an odorless nerve gas which dulled the fighting
effectiveness of all of [the Avengers] but which could not affect a mere
robot". (Which is perhaps what was meant by "this entire temple has been
converted into a gigantic trap".) But Kang's feeling of triumph starts to
dwindle just a bit as he sees a web net save Captain America from his
fall. "Has my robot gone mad?" he wonders. Hoping to finish the job before
his robot malfunctions some more, Kang sends a signal to the Spidey-bot
to "turn the dial which will send all the captured Avengers here to the
future". The robot receives the command, lifts up a hunk of temple granite
revealing a gray clunky-looking control panel underneath and starts to turn
the "time-transport dial". Before the robot can touch the dial, however, he is
grabbed around the neck by some webbing and pulled away from the panel. Then a
gloved hand shoots "special sticky web fluid" onto the dial "jamming it beyond
repair".
The robot looks up from where he has landed and sees what he thinks is another
Spider-Man robot. The newcomer is quick to point out that he is not a robot
but "the real thing". He pushes the hunk of granite back into place to cover
up the control panel while a thousand years in the future, Kang can only grab
his head and moan about how the real Spidey "mustn't wreck my brilliant
plan!"
And so begins the first battle between web-slingers. Spidey tells the robot
that his very presence on "the streets of New York impersonating me" set off
his spider-sense. (An aspect of the sense that has clearly faded away over
time.) Then, he explains that he followed the bot "silently waiting to learn
what your scheme was". (But he doesn't explain how he managed to follow
him all the way to Mexico when he didn't have Kang moving him around the way
the robot did.) The Spidey-bot isn't interested in explanations anyway. He
leaps up and kicks Spider-Man in the head before the webhead can finish what
he's saying. ("Do all living beings talk so much??" he asks, "What a waste!")
The blow knocks Spidey off the tier but he stops his fall by adhering to the
side of the pyramid. He tries to counter by shooting some webbing at the
imposter but the robot uses his own spider-speed to grab the webbing and crack
the whip with Spidey still hanging onto the other end. (And he gets real
elitist and cheeky while he's at it. "Being a robot, I am far superior to any
living being!" he says.) Spider-Man, meanwhile, manages to get his footing
down on the next tier of the pyramid and he cracks the whip right back; pulling
the robot off his perch, swinging him around, and flinging him into the air
over the jungle.
Spidey expects the robot to break into pieces upon landing but things never get
to that point. The bot uses his webbing to create a couple of wings and he
glides over the jungle. Seeing this, Spidey does the same thing, running off
the end of the pyramid and gliding toward his counterpart. When he gets close
enough, Spider-Man drops his wings and lunges at the robot, grabbing him in mid-
air. The bot cannot drop his wings as well since, as Spidey puts it, "one of
us has to keep us in the air". So, Spidey grabs the robot around the neck and
goes searching for the "main control stud" which will deactivate his opponent.
(And why does Spidey think there is a main control stud? Because in the
first half of the sixties, all robots in comics had main control studs
that would deactivate them.)
Sure enough, Spidey finds the button somewhere on the body of the robot
(but I sure can't tell where because the whole thing is shown so close up that
the only thing I'm sure of is Spider-Man's finger... which doesn't even look
like a finger.) And so, the inert robot falls to the jungle floor while Spider-
Man saves himself with a web parachute. He doesn't know who created the robot
but he does know that "even a genius can make one mistake" which is that
while "a mechanical brain can be faster, contain more memory impulses, make no
mistakes... it can never really outthink a human brain". And here I thought
the "one mistake" was putting that main control stud in a place where Spidey
could deactivate him.
Over on the side of the pyramid, Captain America (who still hasn't budged and
now looks like he's completely covered in webbing) watches the whole
battle and realizes that the Avengers had been fighting a robot "and the real
Spider-Man saved us". Inside the temple (now referred to, by Stan, as "the
mysterious tomb"), Don Blake manages to push his hand through the webbing to
grab Mjolnir. He bangs it on the ground and "Thor lives again!" Somewhere in
between panels, Giant-Man and the Wasp recuperate and join the others in the
temple. There, Cap explains what he has seen and theorizes that "we have only
one foe capable of creating so perfect a robot... it can only be a man with all
the scientific marvels of thirty centuries at his beck and call". Giant-Man
knows what that means... "Kang!!" This news gets Thor to whirl his hammer over
his head and yell out to the villain (who he assumes is still spying on
them), "Hear me, man of the future! The Avengers have been warned! Next time
we shall not be taken unaware!" And Thor is right. Kang is still
listening. He pounds his view screen with both fists as he realizes that the
entire scheme was in vain. "Still the Avengers live" he thinks, "still they
defy me" and then he turns and walks away, head down, into the shadows. (But
if it makes you feel any better, Kang old pal, the Avengers do not "still
live". You're in the 30th Century. The Avengers must have kicked off almost a
thousand years ago. Why worry about them? Sit back and have a cold one.)
There is also a nifty Kang pin-up in this issue showing the Conqueror standing
next to a monitoring device that shows Rama-Tut and Dr. Doom on a couple of
(black and white!) view screens. And in the "Special Announcements Section"
Stan admits that "after we started drawing the Avengers-Spidey yarn you've just
finished, we got the feeling that some of you might feel cheated, because it
wasn't the real Spider-Man whom the Avengers were battling! So, we dropped
everything and changed the ending around until it came out the way it appears
in the mag." Meaning, I assume, that the real Spider-Man wasn't originally
slated to appear at all. No wonder Stan didn't have a decent explanation for
how Spidey got down to Mexico.
Spidey doesn't really meet the Avengers until Amazing Spider-Man Special #3
(November 1966) whose members, at that point, are Captain American, Thor,
Iron Man, Goliath, the Wasp, and Hawkeye. The Avengers offer him membership if
he can pass a test of capturing the Incredible Hulk. But when Spidey discovers
that the Hulk is also Bruce Banner, he decides to stop hounding the "poor
tortured soul" and bails out on the Avengers.
While Kang returns often and endlessly to face the Avengers (the next time
being Avengers #23, December 1965), he is never really a Spider-Man
villain at all. The web-slinger does get involved in a caper involving Kang,
Zarrko the Tomorrow Man, Iron Man, the Human Torch and the Inhumans (in
Marvel Team-Up #9-11, May-July 1973) but in the end the heroes learn
that Kang was never on the scene at all. The "Kang" they were fighting is
revealed to be an elaborate puppet while the real Kang staged everything from a
distance. I know of no other Kang-Spidey appearances but would love to hear
about them if they exist.
And, of course, the Spider-Man robot woke up in the Mexican jungle, bought a
motorcycle, changed his name to Ben Reilly and moved to Colorado. Or something
like that.
(Actually, the Spider-Man robot did wake up much later and faced off
against Ben Reilly, where he eventually ended up getting his head knocked off.
I'm not kidding. It's in Spider-Man Team-Up #4, September 1996. Check
it out.
)
General Comments
Well, it's a pretty thin issue, all in all. Here's Kang with all of space and
time at his command and the best he can do is put together a Spider-Man robot
and send him into battle against the Avengers in some Mexican pyramid? Not
only that but he apparently fills the Mexican pyramid with death traps and
never bothers to use them. And not only that but he builds his robot with a
shut-off switch! The Avengers can't even get it together to travel as a
group. And God knows how Spider-Man even shows up at all. But let's boil it
all down to two words and say, simply, "No Ditko". | {
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} |
LEADS/RESULTS: Battle for 4 states
Last updated on: May 23, 2019 15:16 IST
The Election Commission will start counting the votes for Vidhan Sabha elections on May 23. The assembly elections were held in four states -- Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim -- simultaneously with the Lok Sabha Elections over April and May.
The Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Sikkim Assemblies went to polls in the duration between April 11 and May 19, and the Election Commission will declare the results for at least 534 assembly seats — which is almost as many as the Lok Sabha seats — on May 23.
In Andhra Pradesh, the Telugu Desam Party is making a pitch for a second term. However, for the principal Opposition, the YSR Congress, it's a must-win situation to ensure its political sustainability. The Congress is seeking a resurrection in Andhra Pradesh after the rout it suffered post-bifurcation in 2014. The stakes are not high for the BJP, but it is seeking to make a point on its relevance in the state's political landscape.
>> ODISHA
The incumbent Biju Janata Dal, BJP and Congress are the main contestants for polls in the state. The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD is anticipating a fourth term while pollsters have predicted substantial gains for the BJP as well.
>> ARUNACHAL PRADESH
The elections for the Arunachal Pradesh state assembly were held on April 11, 2019. The keenly contested elections witnessed a contest between the BJP, Congress, National People's Party, People's Party of Arunachal and Janata Dal-Secular.
>> SIKKIM
The northeastern state of Sikkim, which shares its borders with Bhutan and Tibet, has a lone parliamentary seat and 32 assembly seats. The state is currently led by chief minister Pawan Kumar Chamling of the Sikkim Democratic Front since 1994. Interestingly, the announcement of election dates comes two days after the BJP joined hands with PS Goley-led Sikkim Krantikari Morcha, which is the main opposition party in the state.
The biggest surprise to come out of the assembly election results so far is from Andhra Pradesh, where Jagan Reddy's party is set to sweep the Telugu Desam Party out of power.
In Odisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is set to return to power for the fifth term as chief minister. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Ruling that ROV technician qualified as ‘seaman’ reversed
A federal district court erroneously concluded as a matter of law that an employee who piloted a remotely operated (underwater) vehicle (ROV) aboard a vessel used to provide services for offshore oil and gas drilling operations was exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA as a “seaman,” ruled the Fifth Circuit. This case presented an issue of first impression: whether ROV Technicians are seamen under the FLSA. Noting that ROV Technicians have a completely separate command structure apart from the captain of the vessel, only occasionally assisted with navigation, and were not responsible for maintaining and servicing the vessel, the appeals court concluded that it was inappropriate to grant the employer’s motion for summary judgment.
The employee worked from May 12, 2009, to October 12, 2015, as an ROV Technician and ROV Supervisor for a company that ran a ROV business for offshore applications. ROV’s are generally used to perform tasks that otherwise could not be performed by human divers because of depth or water conditions. ROV Technicians work aboard an ROV support vessel. Although the ROV command center is located on the support vessel, technicians are not mixed with the support vessel’s crew, and cannot see whether any navigational issues are affecting the support vessel. Additionally, technicians take no part in the upkeep of the vessel. They are also subject to a chain of command separate and apart from that of the support vessel.
On October 30, 2015, the employee sued the employer for alleged violations of the overtime provisions of the FLSA. The employer moved for summary judgment, arguing that the employee was exempt from the FLSA’s overtime provisions because he qualified as a “seaman” under the Act. On February 25, 2016, the district court granted the employer’s motion. After the employee’s motion for reconsideration was denied, this appeal ensued.
Seaman defined
This case presented an issue of first impression: whether ROV Technicians are seamen under the FLSA. An employee is a seaman when the following criteria are met: “(1) the employee is subject to the authority, direction, and control of the master; and (2) the employee’s service is primarily offered to aid the vessel as a means of transportation, provided that the employee does not perform a substantial amount of different work,” 29 C.F.R. 783.31. The court must “evaluate an employee’s duties based upon the character of the work he actually performs and not on what it is called or the place where it is performed.”
Here, the district court seemingly equated the ROVs with “vessels” and concluded that the employee’s “direct[ion]” and “command” of the ROVs satisfied the first prong of the seaman definition. But there was no evidence to suggest that the ROVs were vessels. The only “vessel” in this case was the ROV Support Vessel. According to the employee, he was not subject to the support vessel’s chain of command and did not report to the support vessel’s captain. However, there was contrary testimony that he did report to the captain. This competing testimonial evidence precluded summary judgment as to the first prong.
Work aboard support vessel
The second prong asks whether the “employee’s service is primarily offered to aid the vessel as a means of transportation.” This inquiry concentrates on the duties of an employee. In this instance, the employee lived on the ROV Support Vessel and operated the attached ROVs in the water to complete industrial tasks. Although he occasionally communicated GPS coordinates to the captain of the support vessel, he did not otherwise help ensure that the support vessel navigated safely or even in any particular manner from point A to point B.
The appeals court rejected the employer’s argument that because the ROVs are attached to the ROV Support Vessel, any navigation, maintenance, service, and repair of those vehicles is essentially done to the vessel itself. No case law affirmatively supported this position. Although certain components of the ROV system are structurally welded to the support vessel, the ROVs themselves appear to only be connected temporarily by tethers. Accordingly, the court declined to equate maintenance, repair, or navigation of superficially attached machinery with maintenance, repair, or navigation of the support vessel.
As a result, the Fifth Circuit concluded that the district court erred in granting the employer’s motion for summary judgment that the seaman exemption applied. (Halle v. Galliano Marine Service, LLC, 5thCir, 167 LC 36,517.)Visit our News Library to read more news stories. | {
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Smiling :)
Did you know that the physical action of smiling actually produces an emotional effect and realises certain ‘feel good’ chemicals in the brain?
If you find it difficult to smile, there are a number of techniques you can use to help:
Holding a Pencil or Pen between your teeth
Hold a pencil or pen between your teeth (across from cheek to cheek)… go on, try it now!!
As you can see and feel, this simple action forces you mouth and face to smile, and bizarre as it sounds, holding the pen or pencil here for just 60 seconds, has shown to have a real effect on your emotional happiness levels!
If, you want to try the reverse, try holding the same pencil or pen between your top lip, and the base of your nose. As you can probably now feel, holding the writing tool here forces your face into a frown. Apart from feeling pretty silly, if you hold it here for a similar amount of time, it can actually have a detrimental effect to your current happiness levels!
Smile with your eyes
Have you noticed that when you try and smile for a camera, you’re likely to suffer from a grimaced look of distress?
In surveys, respondents viewing images of only the eyes of subjects, could consistently recognise who was smiling, and who wasn’t, regardless of their age, language, gender or race.
So next time you try and smile, feel the smile start around your eyes, and focus on smiling with your eyes, and not your lips (your lips and the rest of your face will follow naturally).
Smile at Someone Else
There’s nothing more recognised across the world, regardless of the language spoken, than a smile!
Have you noticed when walking down a street, how catching the eye of a stranger and getting a nice smile, can have an uplifting effect on your own happiness?
You may or may not have also noticed, that you can have just the same powerful effect on others.
So try it!
Next time you’re in a public place, or see someone looking a bit down, try smiling briefly to them, and then watch whether that simple act of happiness spreads to those further down the road, carriage, footpath, or office.
Smile at the mirror and your own reflection
How do you think of yourself when you try to imagine how you look? …
What direction is your hair, and what colour is it?
Do you have any freckles, moles or beauty spots: if so, precisely where?
What colour are your eyes?
Now, what do you look like when you smile? Do you know?
Here’s something easy for you to do…
Every time you see a reflection of yourself in the mirror: smile!
More importantly, ensure that every single time you turn away from your reflection, the last image you have in your mind of how you look, is an image of you smiling. Extend this to when you walk past a mirror, or a reflective window, so that even when you see yourself out of the corner of your eye, you see yourself smiling.
The more you see yourself smiling, the more you will smile as part of your normal routine, the more likely you are to feel happy and positive about yourself. | {
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Condemning the desecration of polymath Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's statue in a college in Kolkata, the CPI(M) on Tuesday alleged "attacking knowledge" was central to the BJP's "poisonous project".
"BJP-RSS think nothing of when they vandalise the historic Vidyasagar College, break Vidyasagar statue. This is their advocacy of India's civilisational heritage? Attacking knowledge is central to getting their poisonous project going.
BJP and TMC supporters Tuesday fought pitched battles on the streets of Kolkata during a massive road show by BJP chief Amit Shah, who escaped unhurt but was forced to cut short the jamboree and had to be escorted to safety by the police.
Parts of the city plunged into a welter of violence as his convoy was attacked with stones by alleged TMC supporters from inside the hostel of Vidyasagar College, triggering a clash between supporters of the two parties, officials said.
Furious BJP supporters retaliated and were seen exchanging blows with their TMC rivals outside the college entrance.
Several motorcycles parked outside were vandalised and set ablaze. Shards of broken glass littered the lobby of the college where a bust of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, a noted philosopher and a key figure of Bengal Renaissance, was smashed to pieces. | {
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“A Dorchester man and a Plymouth woman have been indicted in connection with running a human trafficking and prostitution operation in the Greater Boston area, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced on May 7, 2013.
[On May 2, 2013], a Suffolk County Grand Jury indicted Plymouth resident Crystal Emerson, 29, on one count of conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual servitude.
Michael Leoney, age 49, was indicted today on the charges of trafficking of persons for sexual servitude, conspiracy to traffic persons for sexual servitude, and deriving support from prostitution.
“We allege this defendant, with assistance from another individual, exploited multiple women by transporting them to engage in commercial sex and arranging for their advertisements online, and then kept the profits from this operation,” Attorney General Martha Coakley said in a release. “This investigation is part of our continuing effort to target human traffickers who exploit others for their own profit.”
“These indictments send a clear message to those individuals who look to engage in these types of illegal activities,” Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said. “Make no mistake, we will work with our law enforcement partners to find you and put you out of business and in jail.”
The AG’s Office began an investigation last year after the matter was referred by the Boston Police Department Human Trafficking Unit. The joint investigation determined that Leoney allegedly ran the operation, coordinated the recruitment of women into prostitution, and managed the financial aspects of the organization. Leoney allegedly advertised sexual services on websites known to advertise prostitution and arranged for these encounters either at the homes of “johns” or at hotels in the Greater Boston area. According to investigators, Leoney typically received the full profits from these sexual encounters.
Further investigation revealed that Emerson assisted in the daily operations, including training the women recruited by Leoney, purchasing advertisements to promote sexual services, and setting up hotel reservations for sexual encounters.
In December 2012, State Police officers assigned to the AG’s Office and officers from the Boston Police Department executed search warrants at Leoney’s residence and on cars registered to Leoney. Following the execution of the search warrants, Leoney was arrested and arraigned in Dorchester District Court. Leoney and Emerson were indicted today by a Suffolk County Grand Jury. They are due to be arraigned in Suffolk Superior Court at a later date.
These charges are allegations and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorney General Deb Bercovitch, who handles human trafficking prosecutions within the AG’s Enterprise and Major Crimes Division, with assistance from Senior Investigator Mark Pulli of AG Coakley’s Financial Investigations Division. Victim Witness Advocate Nikki Antonnucci of the AG’s Victim Services Division is also assisting in the case. The investigation was conducted by Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Attorney General’s Office, investigators from AG Coakley’s Computer Forensics Lab, and investigators from The Boston Police Department.” | {
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ISIS beheads 9 Kurdish fighters captured in Syria
Turkish soldiers patrol as Islamic militants fight Kurdish forces to the west of Kobani, Syria, at the Turkey-Syria border near Suruc, Turkey, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. U.S.-led coalition airstrikes targeted fighters, vehicles and artillery pieces of the Islamic State group on both sides of the Syria-Iraq frontier Tuesday, including around a beleaguered Kurdish town near the Syrian-Turkish border that is under assault by the militants, activists said. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
(The Associated Press)
Turkish Kurds watch the fighting between Islamic militants and Kurdish forces to the west of Kobani, Syria, at the Turkey-Syria border near Suruc, Turkey, Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. U.S.-led coalition airstrikes targeted fighters, vehicles and artillery pieces of the Islamic State group on both sides of the Syria-Iraq frontier Tuesday, including around a beleaguered Kurdish town near the Syrian-Turkish border that is under assault by the militants, activists said. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
(The Associated Press)
Syrian Kurdish wait for transport as thousands of new Syrian refugees from Kobani arrive at the Turkey-Syria border crossing of Yumurtalik near Suruc, Turkey, Wednesday, Oct. 1, 2014. U.S.-led coalition airstrikes targeted Islamic State fighters pressing their offensive against a Kurdish town near the Syrian-Turkish border on Tuesday in an attempt to halt the militants' advance, activists said.(AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)
(The Associated Press)
BEIRUT – Activists say Islamic State militants have beheaded nine Kurdish fighters, including three women, captured in clashes near the Syria-Turkey border.
The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Wednesday that the nine Kurds were captured during fighting over the northern Syrian town of Kobani, also known as Ayn Arab.
There have been fierce clashes around Kobani since mid-September, when the Islamic State group launched an assault to seize the area.
The Observatory also says that dozens of militants and Kurdish fighters were killed in clashes overnight.
Images posted on social media networks show women's heads placed on a cement block, said to be in the northern Syrian city of Jarablous, held by militants. The photos could not be independently verified but corresponded to The Associated Press' reporting of the event. | {
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According to Levada
According to Levada Center, 2014. July 29, Kevin Winter—Getty Images Beyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24.
and both received death threats. and we have to explain how it’s going to work, In rural communities, Islamabad: Pakistan president Mamnoon Hussain on Thursday signed a key constitutional amendment bill to merge the restive tribal regions along the Afghan border with the northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Id still do it. they said. 2015. The comments came as voting was underway in Crimea, money laundering related offences allegedly committed by some officials of Benue State Government.” he continued.
com. They deeply loved the community and the community also loved them. vowed to continue to stand for his people despite the distractions. Modi’s ascent to power. when its budget was $5. Constellation was a jobs program as much as it was an exploration program, Its sort of like if Albert Einstein was a little-known mathematician. which is also a true story, the moment billions of years ago when the universe’s first stars began to shine." Jaeger’s office said.
then continue cooking over medium-low heat for another three minutes, you’ll love this next trick as much we did."Hakstol said he expected a tough battle against a Duluth team that’s split with UND in the last two series between the teams." said a 42-year-old National Guard sergeant major with more than 20 years of service, and [having] love,8 women per 100, a new super PAC dedicated to electing Trump as President. and most of the other circuit court judges to have been appointed since Trump took office, then refrain. chairman and secretary respectively.
military and environmental issues. The party opted for two-term rule of the leadership after extensive deliberations over some of the disastrous policies pursued by party founder Mao Zedong like the infamous decade-long Cultural Revolution in 1966 in which millions of people were killed.” and then it was like, Is it different now without Tina in front of the camera with you? Past VMAs were larded with star performances, enduring harsh working conditions and helping to organize strikes before establishing himself as a labor leader. who wish to appear for the interviews, another emotional intelligence researcher, given the likelihood of tariff-related price increases on everyday items. Power says.
at about 8 am, who died inside the vehicle, (Sometimes researchers use “sham acupuncture”the insertion of needles in parts of the body not thought to be helpfulas a control group for these types of studies because a treatment of any kind, would be spared an indictment." he told PTI over phone.: On the evening of 2 April. | {
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Extended Stay America - Dallas - Plano Parkway - Medical Ctr
Extended Stay America - Dallas - Plano Parkway - Medical Ctr
Situated in the suburbs, this hotel is 1.9 mi (3.1 km) from St. Andrew Methodist Church and 2.6 mi (4.2 km) from Adventure Landing. University of Texas at Dallas and Shops at Willow Bend are also within 6 mi (10 km). | {
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Facebook Hack Password 5.4.1.1
Highly interactive Face book Hack Password software facilitates users to monitor employee’s internet activities during their working hours. key logger application allow you to easily track and record overall typed key strokes activities including pressed keyboard keys, passwords, send or received mails, emails id, username, instant messages, visited web sites, opened documents, typed files and other. Graphical user interface facilitates users to friendly work with Face book Hack Password software without having any special professional training or expert guidance for operating application. Comprehensive keystroke logger program offers enhanced password protected option so that any external user cannot make any changes in software configuration setting without your permission. Key logger application is suitable for different sectors including information technology companies, schools, colleges, educational institutions, business organizations, computer labs, cyber cafe and many others. Face book Hack Password software even track clipboard contents (including copy paste items), internet activities, voice chat conversation, computer system start up or shut down time, windows caption and many others.
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index.html@downloads%2FFacebook-Hack-Password.exe file was thoroughly tested by our system on Apr 16, 2014 by the three antivirus programs and passed. Is absolutely clean, enjoy!
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Homewood Suites by Hilton Leesburg
We invite you to come home for a visit and stay a day, a week or a month. We feature a fully-equipped kitchen with full-size refrigerator, coffee maker and microwave. Additionally, we greet you with our complimentary Suite Start™ hot breakfast seven days a week and our Welcome Home® reception Monday through Thursday, featuring a light meal and beverages (local laws apply). Both are served by the warmth of the fireplace in the lodge. If you prefer to cook yourself, our kitchen is completely furnished just like home or you can try the grill provided and cook outside. Whether it's business or leisure that brings you here, our all-suite Homewood Suites by Hilton Leesburg is ideal for both. Business travelers will enjoy the complimentary wired and wireless high-speed internet access and 37 inch flat screen television. | {
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Kale, Mushroom & Sun-Dried Tomato Lasagna Rolls Recipe {Vegetarian}
After consuming my fair share of Chopped Kale Salad with Grapes & Feta Cheese last week, I put my thinking cap. With a garden bed full of kale (that makes me smile just to type those words), I needed to get creative. I could go the green smoothie route, which I probably will in the next week or two. However, what I was really craving was a hearty vegetarian meal. I might have to eat mushrooms on my own, for lack of any other mushroom lovers in the house, so it’s a good thing that these lasagna rolls turned out well. I’ll be eating them for lunch for the next five days. Fine by me!
The trick is simple: cottage cheese. Instead of a heavy bechamel sauce, I puree low-fat cottage cheese in the food processor and use that as the sauce, seasoning the heck out of it so that you don’t miss the extra fat.
On top of the “low calorie/low fat” kudos, this dish gets bonus points for the vitamins and minerals provided by the kale and mushrooms.
It’s a keeper!
The recipe:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the whole wheat lasagna noodles and cook until just tender. Drain the noodles, gently rinse with cold water and lay on a kitchen towels, separated from each other.
For the filling, heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in a large frying pan set over medium heat. Add onions and saute until soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for additional 30 seconds.
Add the remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil and the mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are tender, about 5 minutes.
Add the kale and cook until the kale is slightly wilted and bright green, about 1 minute. Stir in the sun-dried tomatoes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and allow it to cool.
Place the cottage cheese in the bowl of a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.
It was actually the generic, store-brand version. I shop at Giant, which I know is only in certain areas, but hopefully you can find a similar one where you live!
I also wanted to let you know that I loved both this recipe and your recipe for grape & gorgonzola topping so much that I featured them in my weekly Weekend Wrap-Up post on my blog. It’s a quick Saturday post sharing some of my favorite online finds from the past week. I’ve included the link to the post in case you’re interested in checking it out. Either way, thank you for such amazing recipes! Have a great weekend!
Yum! For those that have Food Allergies or Vegan: Sub Daiya brand (which is soy-free, nut free, gluten free, vegan) plain cream cheese for the cottage cheese. You could also mix in chopped beans, quinoa-polenta slices, or mushrooms in the cream cheese before adding it to the recipe. Also sub nutritional yeast or finely shredded daiya brand cheese shreds for the parm. Use GF noodles, for Gluten Free.
My boyfriend and I made these last night and they were really easy to make and delicious! We definitely ate a few spoonfuls of the filling on it’s own and it was incredible! Also, I was pretty sure ours would end up being a big mess with filling spilling out everywhere but they rolled up beautifully. Thanks, Dara! | {
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URC to launch Global Detroit International Student Retention Program
By Laura Lessnau
News Service
The New Economy Initiative of Southeast Michigan has awarded the University Research Corridor a three-year, $450,000 grant to launch the Global Detroit International Student Retention Program to retain international talent in the region.
The award was announced during the Mackinac Policy Conference, which runs through today on Mackinac Island.
The Global Detroit International Student Retention Program is based on recommendations outlined in a May 2010 Global Detroit study funded by the New Economy Initiative. The objectives of the program include:
• Marketing the region to international students from the moment of first contact to graduation
• Recruiting employers to hire international students
• Navigating immigration legal barriers
• Developing an ongoing presence and relationships with participating universities, international students, and related international organizations
U-M and UM-Dearborn are strategic partners in the Global Detroit International Student Retention Program, and U-M is part of the URC along with Michigan State and Wayne State universities.
URC Executive Director Jeff Mason said the Global Detroit International Student Retention Program directly supports the URC's mission to transform, strengthen and diversify the state's economy. It also cooperatively links the URC with other college and university partners in Michigan to achieve this shared goal.
"Michigan's reinvention requires us to retain the best talent we can," Mason said, "regardless of whether those students hail from Michigan or come here to study in our great universities. By attracting and retaining the best and brightest, we can accelerate the pace of change to a high-tech, highly skilled knowledge-based economy."
Key findings of the Global Detroit report reveal that:
• Michigan has more than 23,500 international students — the eighth largest population of international students of any state.
• International students contribute nearly $600 million annually to our local economies.
• Immigrants file nearly 50 percent of Michigan's international patents and are three times as likely to start a business.
New Economy Initiative Director David Egner said the Global Detroit International Student Retention Program is an appropriate next step in response to these compelling factors. Egner said he concurs with Global Detroit's recommendation that international student retention promises to "increase the prosperity of the region, as well as the number of high-tech firms … [and] make the region more innovative."
"Not only can these students improve the overall education levels of the state's work force," Egner said, "but, because Michigan's international students overwhelmingly excel in critical STEM fields (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), they can contribute to the growth of emerging sectors in Michigan's new economy."
The Global Detroit Study noted research by Vivek Wadhwa at Duke University and Anna Lee Saxenian at the University of California, Berkeley, which shows that "foreign born talent already has had a profound impact on Michigan's tech economy with an estimated 32.8 percent of all the high technology firms created in the state from 1995-2005 having at least one immigrant founder."
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder publicly announced his support for retention of international talent as part of his strategy for economic recovery.
"In my State of the State address this year I called for us to establish an exciting new initiative to encourage immigrants with advanced college degrees to come to Michigan to live and work," Snyder said. "This effort will complement my Global Michigan Initiative. I am pleased that NEI has entrusted the URC to begin efforts in southeast Michigan to retain international students. Immigration made us a great state and country. It is time we embrace this concept again as a way to speed our reinvention."
The Global Detroit International Student Retention Program Strategic Partners include Eastern Michigan University, Lawrence Technological University, Michigan State University, Oakland University, U-M, UM-Dearborn, Wayne State University as well as the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA-Michigan), the Detroit Regional Chamber, The New Economy Initiative of Southeast Michigan and Michigan's University Research Corridor. | {
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Over the last decade or so, it has become increasingly fashionable for automakers to explore new forms of mobility outside of the traditional automotive paradigm. Initially much of this was the industry’s usual blue-sky “concept car” dreaming, but as Google’s pushes autonomous cars towards reality and the auto industry comes to term with the digital revolution, automakers are taking the idea of rebranding as “mobility companies” more and more seriously. But, as with most high-concept “pivots” that sound good on paper, there are real questions about how exactly a car company is supposed to expand into broader areas of mobility.
The big issues around autonomous cars –be they technological, regulatory or economic– will take some time to hash out, and it could take many product cycles before new mobility markets emerge on any kind of broad scale. But in the meantime, diversifying from automobiles to other forms of mobility may provide surprising new opportunities. | {
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Advertisers are willing to pay more for ads on the iPad than on the iPhone, but both top Android
Apple's iOS continued to deliver more revenue per advertising impression to content publishers than any other mobile operating system in the quarter that ended in June, according to an Opera Software report.
IOS edged out Android in the important metric of eCPM, or the total revenue a publisher earns per thousand ads served in his or her content. Generally, this metric reflects a combination of what advertisers pay a publisher to display an ad and what they pay when users click on the ad. Higher eCPMs are good news for platform providers because they attract publishers to the platform.
IOS delivered an eCPM of $2.49, compared with $2.10 per thousand impressions on Android devices, according to the Opera report. Other platforms fell far behind the two leaders.
"Google has some catching up to do, but I wouldn't necessarily count them out," said Mahi de Silva, executive vice president of consumer mobile at Opera.
The report analyzed data from Opera's own mobile ad platform, which the company said serves 35 billion ad impressions per month for more than 9,000 customers around the world and accounts for $240 million in revenue for mobile publishers. Although Opera is perhaps best known for its mobile browser, its mobile advertising platform delivers ads primarily in apps, according to de Silva.
De Silva credited the difference in eCPM between the two platforms to smoother technical performance of ads in iOS, thanks to Apple's tight integration between hardware and software.
"There's some performance lag on Android. But clearly Google will close that gap," de Silva said.
Ads served on the iPad were most lucrative of all, earning publishers an eCPM of $3.96, more than $1 above earnings per thousand ads on the iPhone, which also runs iOS. But advertisements on the iPhone delivered $2.85 per thousand, which is still significantly more than those on Android.
The study said ads on devices with larger screens and touchscreens tend to earn publishers more revenue. Those that support user interaction with ads, such as clicking a phone number in the ad to initiate a call, also tend to be more lucrative.
As a result, tablets will become even more important as an advertising platform in the next six months, the study said, noting that demand for advertising on the devices has risen 140 percent since 2011.
Finance-related content publishers' earnings dramatically outpaced those of social content publishers, the study found. Users of financial apps are generally more affluent, de Silva said.
While ads in financial apps and websites accounted for just 6 percent of impressions, they accounted for 31 percent of revenue. Nearly a quarter of the ads served through Opera's mobile advertising network were in social apps and websites, but they brought in just 5 percent of revenue for content publishers.
The researchers predicted that the disparity between types of content will continue, but they "remain optimistic about social networking as a revenue driver over the long term," the report said.
ECPM for Research In Motion's operating system was $0.64. It was just $0.20 for Windows Phone 7, which the study attributes to low adoption rates. | {
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Added to that, guns, machine-guns, rifles, and ammunition, were run over into the plebiscite area, and a mercenary "insurrectionary" army was raised, partly from the local Polish population and partly from Poland proper.
This same policy was a few weeks later urged at Topeka, where a mass meeting of the free-State men was called to support and instruct another sitting of the "insurrectionary" free-State Legislature elected under the Topeka Constitution.
Soul on Ice, which combines a visceral hatred for America with black liberation theology, admissions about "insurrectionary" rape, a spiritual odyssey, and a search for personal meaning in a racist environment.
One hypothesis is that after years of being side-lined by movements around justice (global, social, economic, environmental, climate, or otherwise), a certain kind of insurrectionary politics returned to the center of the historical stage in Greece in 2008 and with the student revolts in 2009/2010 in the USA.
Undeniably true, though Pells fails to see that the movies' formal modernity is more often than not undercut by a preachy, moralising conventionality wholly at odds with the insurrectionary impulse of the avant garde. | {
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Beware the rising tide of big government
Published: Sunday, January 6, 2013 at 08:00 AM.
The Jan. 2 editorial “Insurance under water” covers some interesting data and figures, but it does not get to the root of FEMA’s arrears and actions it is initiating to bail itself out. Like most government programs (SSI, Medicare, etc.), it runs a reversal in dollars.
Dig a little further and you will find that the National Flood Insurance Program is under the Office of Homeland Security. It has remapped the entire country and decided that if you reside near water, whether it be a pond or lake, gulf, ocean or mud puddle, you are going to get flood insurance.
I have been at my current address for 25 years and the bank I had my loan through notified me that suddenly I had to have flood insurance. The worst hurricane I have seen had tidal water 100 feet from my door, and that was a 9-foot surge tide!
FEMA sent me a bundle of papers that required a new survey. It seems this part of Florida must be sinking. They would not accept GPS readings from several instruments and they would not accept a 20-year-old survey. Must be more to that?
There is a case on the West Coast where an individual lives 2,000 feet above sea level and he needs flood insurance.
Big Brother is coming after all our money from every direction. Best to clear your home loans if possible, then when the flood comes from the melting ice caps buy a sailboat.
JAMES DEGREGORIA Panama City
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published
without permission. Links are encouraged.
The Jan. 2 editorial “Insurance under water” covers some interesting data and figures, but it does not get to the root of FEMA’s arrears and actions it is initiating to bail itself out. Like most government programs (SSI, Medicare, etc.), it runs a reversal in dollars.
Dig a little further and you will find that the National Flood Insurance Program is under the Office of Homeland Security. It has remapped the entire country and decided that if you reside near water, whether it be a pond or lake, gulf, ocean or mud puddle, you are going to get flood insurance.
I have been at my current address for 25 years and the bank I had my loan through notified me that suddenly I had to have flood insurance. The worst hurricane I have seen had tidal water 100 feet from my door, and that was a 9-foot surge tide!
FEMA sent me a bundle of papers that required a new survey. It seems this part of Florida must be sinking. They would not accept GPS readings from several instruments and they would not accept a 20-year-old survey. Must be more to that?
There is a case on the West Coast where an individual lives 2,000 feet above sea level and he needs flood insurance.
Big Brother is coming after all our money from every direction. Best to clear your home loans if possible, then when the flood comes from the melting ice caps buy a sailboat. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
The top-ranked Minnesota men’s hockey team suffered its first WCHA loss and dropped its first road game of the season on Friday night, falling 3-1 to Wisconsin at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. The Badgers scored three goals in a 5:38 span in the second period to help freshman goaltender Joel Rumpel earn his fourth win of the season between the pipes.
After playing two intense, fast-paced games in a sweep over North Dakota last weekend, the Gophers and Badgers played a slower opening 20 minutes that featured a total of just ten shots.
With 3:11 to go in the first, UW got the period’s best scoring chance. Tyler Barnes of Wisconsin entered the Minnesota zone and was stopped by UM defenseman Seth Helgeson. Barnes then dished a pass to the late-entering Mark Zengerle, who was stuffed with a great left-pad save by UM’s Kent Patterson on a one-time shot attempt.
Early in the second, Patterson kept the game scoreless again by making a save on a two-on-one by UW’s Keegan Meuer and Sean Little.
The Badgers opened the scoring three and a half minutes later when Zengerle buried a feed by Barnes in front of the Minnesota net on the tail end of another two-on-one opportunity.
Wisconsin added to its lead just 45 seconds later when a shot by Meuer from the near the right half wall in the Minnesota zone deflected off Gopher defenseman Ben Marshall and past Patterson to make it 2-0.
Michael Mersch of the Badgers almost cushioned his team’s lead with another goal on a breakaway with 12:37 left in the period, but the Wisconsin sophomore’s slapshot bid was stopped by Patterson.
Mersch made up for his miss 1:31 later when UW defenseman Justin Schultz sent him in alone again while the Gophers were in the midst of a line change. Mersch deked Patterson to the right and beat the UM goaltender through the five-hole to give the Badgers a three-goal lead.
One minute later, Minnesota senior Jake Hansen came close to cutting the Gopher deficit to two on a chance just outside of the crease in the offensive end, but Wisconsin defender Eric Springer made a stick check that delayed Hansen’s release and the shot was kept out by Rumpel’s right pad.
With 4:51 left in the middle frame, Hansen had another scoring opportunity on a two-on-one with sophomore Erik Haula, but Rumpel swallowed up the senior’s blast from the right circle.
Working on a power-play with 69 seconds remaining in the third period, Hansen finally got the Gophers on the board by potting his fourth goal of the year, knocking home a Marshall rebound.
The goal broke Rumpel’s shutout bid, but the Badgers easily held on for a 3-1 victory.
The loss dropped Minnesota to 6-1-0 in the WCHA, but the Gophers will still own a three-point lead in the conference standings entering tomorrow night’s rematch, which starts at 7:30.
UM will look to avoid being swept on the road for the first time since Dec. 3 and 4, 2010 against Minnesota State in the game, which will air on the Big Ten Network. | {
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Tesla also reported its financial earnings of a wider quarterly loss, but higher-than-expected revenue
How is Tesla Motors dealing with its latest (and wider) financial loss in the third quarter? By ramping up Model S production to 400 units per week.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company would increase production of its Model S EV to 400 units per week, or just over 20,000 per year. This is great news for Tesla, considering it recently faced production issues with the vehicle.
Around 13,000 customers have paid a $5,000 minimum fee for a Model S reservation, but only 250 have shipped. This is largely due to issues with increased production. However, Musk announced last month that Model S production had ramped up.
"Our production rate in the last week of September was roughly 100 vehicles, four times greater than our production in the first week of September as we overcame supply constraints," said Musk in October. "I am pleased to report that we completed production of 359 vehicles last quarter (delivering over 250 of those to customers) and have already made our 500th vehicle body.
"While we are indeed a few weeks later than we would like, this is not perhaps a terrible outcome for a product as advanced as the Model S, particularly given that Tesla is doing manufacturing of full vehicles for the first time with a new team and suppliers."
In December, Tesla will take production to a whole new level.
"Tesla is really past the point of high risk," said Musk on a recent conference call with analysts. "Several months ago, I said that the coming several months would really be the test for Tesla and the classic phrase of going through the valley of death. I feel as though we are through that valley at this point."
The Model S has been a bright star for Tesla, but unfortunately, that didn't stop it from reporting a wider loss for its Q3 2012 earnings. Tesla said its quarterly loss grew by 70 percent to $110.8 million USD. However, revenue increased 88 percent in the past year to $50 million. This was a nice surprise for analysts, who predicted $48.3 million.
Tesla expects to finish the 2012 fiscal year with $400-$440 million USD in revenue for the entire year.
The Model S received a nice boost last week when Automobile Magazine named the Model S its Automobile of the Year. Auto Mag compared the Model S to Apple because of its luxurious and innovative design, and even said Musk was similar to former Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
The Model S' superior range and luxurious features come at a high price. The 40 kWh base model starts at $57,400 while the 85 kWh version starts at $105,400. However, the Model S is eligible for the $7,500 federal tax credit in the U.S.
We will just have to wait and see where this goes. Unlike the leaf and electric focus people are lining up at the door to by testlas. Who would of thought instead of trying to make a electric car for everyone, but instead making a status symbol would move more product.
I think it is less about a status symbol and more about making a world class car. From all accounts I've read, the Tesla S is actually a great car. Yes, it's expensive, and the top speed isn't that high, but in terms of handling and acceleration it compares well with cars like the M5 and Panamera GTS. Certainly some good (and expensive) company.
Also, from a business perspective, it makes much more sense for a startup car company to make a high priced vehicle, because the component costs are not much more than a low priced vehicle but the profits are much higher. Also, because the demand will be lower, it will be easier to ramp up production.
I was skeptical of the Model S at first, but after reading what actual car magazines have to say about it, I'm very impressed. If Tesla can survive through the first year of produciton, and get their Model X SUV out, I think they will have a bright future. If they are able to survive, I think they have the potential to significantly change the way most people view electric cars. | {
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Determine how you will evaluate success. You must clarify how your diversity initiative will be evaluated. This is particularly important these days since the value of some diversity activities has been called into question (with good reason in some cases). The good news is that once you have effectively addressed the first three steps, the final step is relatively easy. That's because well constructed SMART goals have a built-in evaluation component. It's easy to tell if the goal has been achieved. For example, if your goal is to increase the diversity of employee candidate pools by 10%, at the designated point in time you simply measure to see if candidate pool diversity has increased by 10%. If not, you know you will have to modify your diversity program. Next Post: October 31, 2013 – Getting Results from Your Diversity Program: The 4 Tips | {
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Research news
A study released last week reported that community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has spread rapidly throughout the U.S., causing almost 60% of skin and soft-tissue infections.
In the study, researchers assessed cases of skin and soft-tissue infections at 11 university-affiliated emergency departments throughout the country during August, 2004. Overall, 59% of the infections were caused by community-associated MRSA, with the most common strain (USA300) accounting for 97% of cases. The findings appear in the Aug. 17 New England Journal of Medicine.
Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole and rifampin were effective in treating 100% of cases, the study reported, followed by clindamycin (95%), tetracycline (92%) and fluoroquinolones (60%). Most infections were resistant to erythromycin.
While the results suggest that trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole is the most effective treatment for MRSA, the variability in antibiotic susceptibility among other reported strains should be taken into account, said an accompanying editorial. As a result, physicians should consider wound culture after antibiotic therapy. Ironically, the editorial noted, surgical drainage has emerged as the best treatment option for staphylococcal infections, a treatment commonly used before the advent of penicillin.
The findings highlight the importance of educating patients about preventing the spread of infections, including covering lesions, hand washing and not sharing contaminated items, said the authors. In addition, hospitals should tighten their infection-control policies, they said, such as ensuring that health care workers wear gloves and gowns when in contact with wound patients.
FDA news
The blood-thinning drug was first approved in 1997 to treat acute coronary syndrome, said an Aug. 17 FDA news release. In approving the expanded use, FDA officials said the drug can prevent subsequent blockages in STEMI patients, thus preventing a possible second heart attack or stroke.
Quoting American Heart Association statistics, the FDA release noted that this type of heart attack strikes about 500,000 people in the U.S. annually. Side effects of the drug include bleeding and, rarely, low white blood cell counts or thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.
College news
College CEO John Tooker, FACP, will be a keynote speaker at the eHealth Initiative’s third annual Health Information Technology (HIT) Summit Sept. 25-27 in Washington, D.C.
The summit, which is co-sponsored by ACP, will feature an assembly of state leaders focused on improving quality through HIT and health information exchange at the state and federal levels. The event is being held in conjunction with the 13th annual National HIPAA Summit.
The conference will feature an in-depth look at new policies emerging from government and the private sector, including:
performance measurement
privacy and confidentiality
financing and incentive models
the impact of new regulations, such as Stark and anti-kickback
how to build organizational structures that build trust and drive change.
The 2006 Recruit-a-Resident program is offering educational rewards to residency programs that recruit at least 90% of their residents to be Associate members of the College.
Programs that reach the 90% threshold will receive the latest Updates (recent important papers in internal medicine subspecialties) and Multiple Small Feedings of the Mind (answers to essential clinical questions for the practicing internist) on CD-ROM. Programs will also receive the exclusive Recruit-a-Resident product, MKSAP OneTwenty to distribute to each resident in their program.
MKSAP OneTwenty contains two sets of 60 pre-tested MKSAP questions that meet the American Board of Internal Medicine’s high statistical standards. MKSAP OneTwenty is designed to help residents test their knowledge, compare their performance to practicing physicians, and receive focused, in-depth instruction on the questions they answer incorrectly.
As of Aug. 1, 2006, 15 programs have successfully recruited at least 90% of their residents to become Associate members. The 90% participation rate must be achieved by Dec. 31, 2006, for residents to receive these free educational products.
More information about the Recruit-a-Resident program is in the College's online brochure, or contact Jodi Siegrist, Council of Associates Coordinator, at 800-523-1546, ext 2611, or [email protected].
Test yourself
A 66-year-old man is evaluated for a persistent rash for 6 years' duration. The rash waxes and wanes in severity, and it becomes pruritic only after he becomes hot and sweating, such as when he mows the lawn or exercises. It has always been limited to his back and lower chest. He has never treated it. The patient is otherwise well, has no other medical problems, and takes no medication. Following a physical exam, what is the most likely diagnosis?
Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific
knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and
compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex
illness. ACP Internist provides news and information for internists
about the practice of medicine and reports on the policies, products and
activities of ACP. All published material, which is covered by
copyright, represents the views of the contributor and does not reflect
the opinion of the American College of Physicians or any other
institution unless clearly stated. | {
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Slashdot videos: Now with more Slashdot!
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We've improved Slashdot's video section; now you can view our video interviews, product close-ups and site visits with all the usual Slashdot options to comment, share, etc. No more walled garden! It's a work in progress -- we hope you'll check it out (Learn more about the recent updates).
For years, Slashdoters have been trying to apply a three-step business model where the third step is "Profit". Rossi has shown the world an alternative template for a business model that is likely to be much more successful:
I went with 64-bit on the laptop because it was a fresh install and my laptop has 8GB of RAM. There's probably no need to "fix" your install if you have invested much extra time in setting it up for yourself. 64-bit can be a bit faster, but probably not so much that you'd notice it for everyday tasks. Though some tasks, like audio encoding and general compression, are a bit faster: http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=ubuntu_natty_pae64
In other news, Fedora 15 just pushed out Linux kernel 2.6.40 (aka 3.0)! Thanks Fedora people! I hope it fixes my stability issues. If it does, I'll be happy to stay with Fedora and will probably move my desktop machine to it instead of Kubuntu.
I got a Sandy Bridge laptop recently with only the Intel HD 3000 graphics. I was aware that Kubuntu 11.04 wasn't going to play nice with the GPU, as the kernel was too old, so I installed 64-bit "Fedora 15 KDE Plasma Desktop Spin" (catchy name) on it instead and it worked surprisingly well. Fedora have back-ported lots of the Linux and X/Mesa stuff for the Intel HD 3000 GPU to kernel 2.6.38 and that sold it to me. It locks up a few times a week, though, so it's not perfect. It still needs a few more back-ports.
I tried a clean install of Kubuntu 11.04 64-bit on a separate partition of my desktop machine (AMD), but I lost count of the number of things that were severely broken with it in only five minutes of toying about. No thanks. I'm staying with Kubuntu 10.10 32-bit on that machine for now, but I've finally lost all faith in it; as KDE 4 gets steadily better, Kubuntu gets steadily worse.
Having found that "yum" on Fedora has solved the "RPM hell" that made me abandon RedHat for Debian a decade ago, and having migrated to Kubuntu half a decade ago because Debian+KDE was too much of a headache to configure and maintain, I'm on the lookout for any distro that can do a decent KDE desktop with good Intel HD 3000 support (i.e., Linux 3.x) and the minimum of packaging/configuration fuss. Fedora 15 should keep me going until then.
There are lots of discovery stories reported on Slashdot and they always end with, "It will probably be a number of years before it appears on retailer shelves." Well, this story ends the very same way, but this time the amount of rampant speculation in the comments can be kept to a minimum, as here we are "a number of years" later.
I say, more of this sort of thing, Slashdot! It keeps the trolls at bay.
It is not necessarily because something "better" comes along. It may be entirely sufficient for something "else" to come along. (Allegedly) teenagers using MySpace discovered that their parents had signed up, so they had to go somewhere else to protect their "privacy" and Facebook became the new darling. Now that their parents have signed up to Facebook, the teenagers are probably on the look-out for something else.
Another thing that mitigates the network effect is that these services are not mutually exclusive. A user and a few friends can sign up to a new service and watch it grow while still maintaining a presence in the old service. Perhaps the user will only post the more incriminating pics of their "private" lives on the new service, so that their parents won't see them. Thus, a new exclusive club is started, but a day will come when it is not exclusive enough and users seeking more "privacy" will move on so they can feel special again.
It is hard to argue with TFA that wrapping a few open standards around photo sharing sites, contact lists, e-mail, etc. might be enough to start a revolution--might. With e-mail, for example, we can have traditional mail applications (MUAs), web-mail, IMAP, SMTP, POP3, etc., but they all work together and users can choose whatever combination they want to do their e-mailing. All it takes is some cleverness and we can have a similar profusion of broadly compatible aggregation applications that perform a similar role to Facebook. We can already see this happening with the way Facebook support is being integrated into, for example, MS Outlook and smartphones.
The author finds "some good data on Wikipedia" (respect!) showing that the "lithography size" will be reduced from 32nm in 2010 to 11nm in 2022. He calculates this to be a "volumetric improvement" of 50%. There I was thinking that it was an 846% improvement, but I hadn't taken the third dimension into account.
Nevertheless, I think the author has a point, but he is missing part of the picture: NAND flash SSDs may not replace HDDs any time soon, but other types of non-volatile memory may well do so.
HDD densities will probably increase, but the slow access and transfer times and the static unrecoverable error rate will probably relegate them to use for back-ups or as cheap mass-storage devices for non-critical data. SSDs, however, are not restricted by the limits of NAND flash. Non-volatile memory technologies such spin transfer torque RAM and phase-change RAM have a good chance of replacing NAND flash memory in SSDs. These technologies are available today. Memristors are probably the most exciting development, as they promise a breakthrough in memory density. HP have a memristor-based design that could make petabyte SSDs possible, but we'll probably have to wait a few more years to see if that pans out. There are also major advances being made in fabrication technology, with cheap "printable" electronics already in consumer devices.
Real random-access memory that is cheap, reliable and fast is probably only a few years away from the mass market. There is so much money to be made by such an advance that R&D spending will not be lacking. So, the author is wrong; SSDs will dominate in the near future, just not NAND flash SSDs.
P.S. I don't have any SSDs because they are too small and expensive compared to my 1TB HDDs!
The blasphemy law was passed because the constitution prohibits blasphemy and requires that laws be passed to enforce that prohibition. Nothing had been done about this for decades and nobody cared. The government suddenly decided that someone might take a case against them for failure to legislate for blasphemy, so we got this law that was described as being a trivial law to tie up a few constitutional loose ends and sure the fine is only E100,000! Of course, the proper solution would have been to change the constitution, but...well...down with that sort of thing! | {
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the fact that they have taken a " free " quest series that offered negligent costume items that regardless, made " new " players want to grind their levels to obtain said items, and turned it into an ap grab is to say the least..shameful.
yes of course aeria is not to blame, that would be X-Legends..but something needs to be said about such transparent "money" grabs.
i definitely hope this isnt yet another sign of the "end is near, lets get what we can" type of thing that has happened with other aeria games in the past ( Legendary Champions...im looking at yoooouuu )
all in all just saying..this isnt a good sign, and most definitely should be seen as a negative to the player community, when they start making "pop-up" in game quests asking for money, no matter the amount, instead of making it a mere advertisement for said quests as an "option",
things dont seem kosher.
just my opinion, and not meant to bash anything or anyone, simply an opinion.
the fact that they have taken a " free " quest series that offered negligent costume items that regardless, made " new " players want to grind their levels to obtain said items, and turned it into an ap grab is to say the least..shameful.
yes of course aeria is not to blame, that would be X-Legends..but something needs to be said about such transparent "money" grabs.
i definitely hope this isnt yet another sign of the "end is near, lets get what we can" type of thing that has happened with other aeria games in the past ( Legendary Champions...im looking at yoooouuu )
all in all just saying..this isnt a good sign, and most definitely should be seen as a negative to the player community, when they start making "pop-up" in game quests asking for money, no matter the amount, instead of making it a mere advertisement for said quests as an "option",
things dont seem kosher.
just my opinion, and not meant to bash anything or anyone, simply an opinion.
1) scroll up to the top of the page
2) mouse over the ap to get the drop down menu
3) choose "Earn Free AP"
4) watch 5 videos to acquire enough ap to be able to purchase "Dank Scroll"
5) total cost: $0
6) the fact that you can get various costumes for free just by leveling up is, i think, a good thing. considering the cost of similar costumes in terms of gold or ap, this is really a good deal for a majority of new players who otherwise would have no costumes at all. the only bad thing is that the Dank Scroll is non tradeable/can't be gifted, so players who live in certain areas may not be able to use the "free ap" option.
the fact that they have taken a " free " quest series that offered negligent costume items that regardless, made " new " players want to grind their levels to obtain said items, and turned it into an ap grab is to say the least..shameful.
yes of course aeria is not to blame, that would be X-Legends..but something needs to be said about such transparent "money" grabs.
i definitely hope this isnt yet another sign of the "end is near, lets get what we can" type of thing that has happened with other aeria games in the past ( Legendary Champions...im looking at yoooouuu )
all in all just saying..this isnt a good sign, and most definitely should be seen as a negative to the player community, when they start making "pop-up" in game quests asking for money, no matter the amount, instead of making it a mere advertisement for said quests as an "option",
things dont seem kosher.
just my opinion, and not meant to bash anything or anyone, simply an opinion.
1) scroll up to the top of the page
2) mouse over the ap to get the drop down menu
3) choose "Earn Free AP"
4) watch 5 videos to acquire enough ap to be able to purchase "Dank Scroll"
5) total cost: $0 | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
eliseacevedodarticles
Why You Should Never Make Your Bed
If you got in trouble for not making your bed as a kid, your parents may have some apologizing to do. According to new reports, you shouldn't be making your bed every morning. The habit may be bad for your health.
Vector control for Zika extended to Punggol Way, Joo Seng: NEA
SINGAPORE: A day after two isolated Zika cases were found in the Punggol Way and Joo Seng areas, the National Environment Agency (NEA) announced that it is commencing inspections and outreach in the areas.
In a joint briefing with the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (Sep 1), NEA said it was stepping up vector control measures in the areas in a bid to keep Zika incidences low.
At the briefing, NEA Director-General of Public Health Derek Ho also addressed the broader outbreak management efforts across the country.
Town councils within the Zika clusters identified have stepped up their cleaning and larviciding of potential breeding habitats, said Mr Ho, adding that the Ministry of Education has conducted fogging at Geylang Methodist primary and secondary schools, which are near the Aljunied Crescent cluster. The Land Transport Authority has also flushed the drains in the KallangPaya Lebar Expressway, he added.
NEA's strategy to keep the number of cases low includes four integrated lines of operations surveillance, prevention and control, outbreak management and communications and outreach, the Director-General said.
Punitive measures have also been taken: As of July 31, about 2,200 households have been fined for mosquito breeding in their homes and another 50 Stop Work Orders have also been issued at construction sites, he said.
Tan Tock Seng Hospital director of theInstitute of Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology ProfessorLeo Yee Sin drew parallels between Singapore's management of dengue and its approach to control Zika. | {
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You Say Quinoa, I Say Just Eat it!
You may be saying, “What the heck is Quinoa?” [pronounced: KEEN-wah] or you may be saying, “duh, I eat it everyday.” Either way, let’s talk about and explore this ancient food that’s hard to pronounce and oh-so easy to make.
Let’s be clear because there is some confusion… Yes, quinoa is gluten-free and how, you may ask? Well… it’s not a grain, it’s actually a seed — one that is super satisfying and really good for you! So what’s it taste like? Just imagine a light nutty flavor with the texture of couscous. MMM. Loaded with iron, magnesium, fiber and protein, it should be a staple in the pantry of every vegetarian, vegan, and omnivore! Quinoa is also the only “complete” protein in the vegan world. It also contains selenium, a trace mineral which helps you lose weight, lowers your risk of heart disease and is considered one of the most effective naturally occurring weapons against cancer.
Sold yet?
You can find quinoa just about anywhere nowadays; look for it in the rice aisle. My favorite right now is Trader Joe’s organic tri-colored quinoa. Quinoa can integrate in most any of your recipes. Try using in your dishes normally asking for rice, pasta, orzo, or couscous. Or try my easy-to-make recipes here: Quinoa Recipes and let me know how you make out! | {
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Outdoor Research Axcess Jacket
Outdoor Research has always been know for its no-nonsense approach to absolute functionality. The Outdoor Research Axcess Jacket is no exception; from the CrossFlo™ venting to the internal balaclava and ThumbDrive cuffs, this jacket is built to provide you with bombproof weather protection no matter where you find yourself this winter. Built with GORE-TEX® and PrimaLoft™ insulation, the OR Axcess Jacket is no slouch when it comes to industry-leading technology. Whether you're a professional guide or weekend warrior, the Axcess fits the bill as a jacket you can trust everyday for years and years.
Face Fabric
70D Nylon face fabric
Membrane
GORE-TEX® - This extremely waterproof and highly breathable membrane provides unrelenting foul weather protection for many years. If you need to stay dry during aerobic activities in nasty weather, there's no better choice than GORE-TEX®.
CrossFlo™ Venting - This unprecedented chest-to-hip ventilation allows for precise temperature regulation and access to inner pockets for storing skins and goggles without unzipping the jacket.
Additional Features
Lockdown™ - This system allows OR pants and jackets to connect together, creating a snow-proof barrier, even in the most embarrassing falls.
Internal Balaclava - An easily accessible balaclava adds warms and protection in the most extreme conditions. Easily removable, and comfortable under a helmet, this balaclava there when you want it and gone when you don't.
Thumbdrive™ - An elegant solution to a common problem, the ThumbDrive™ cuffs on Outdoor Research ski jackets can be used as standard cuff closures or as thumb loops, securing the position of the sleeves and preventing their riding up, eliminating the risk of exposure to snow, cold air, and the elements.
RECCO® - This two-part avalanche rescue system is utilized worldwide to facilitate the rapid location of burials. The reflector – permanently attached to apparel – and detector – a handheld device used by ski patrols the world over – enable rapid pinpointing using harmonic radar. Complementary to a transceiver in function, the RECCO® system increases the chance of being found in time.
Hi this is my first OR Axcess jacket black w/green im 5-6 165 lbs 43 chest and I bought the Lg size fits great perfect not to big or to tight love all the features the only thing I notice was the wrist band were not to tight on my wrist they are to far apart but I can live with that personal preference like it tight on my wrist and the pictures for the black color shows a medium green but actually is a bright green and I love it better that bright green looks great thanks to Hanna costumer service on evo.com | {
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WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN
Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.
The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.
It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
NEIL ARNOLD: Crypto Stories From The Illustrated Police News Part Four
I have known Neil for fifteen years now since he was a mod schoolboy with ambitions for adventure and I was an earnest young hippie who merely wanted to start a club for people interested in unknown animals. Nothing much has changed over the years. We are just both a tad older...
From 1873 – AN ENCOUNTER WITH A SEA DEVIL: ‘We have received from the mate of an English trading vessel a rough sketch of “a monster of the deep”, known by the title of a “Sea Devil” attacking a fishing smack. We are informed by our correspondent that he can vouch for the truth of the strange encounter, which is briefly described in the paper he forwarded…(Japan Gazette April 23)…The apparently exaggerated description of the Sea Devil in The Toilers of the Sea loses much of its impossibility in one’s mind after an inspection of a huge cephaloped now being shown in the house near the temple at Asaksa, Yedo. It seems that a fishing boat was seized by its tentacles whilst off the village of Kononoto, in the district of Kisarazou, and that the boatmen killed the creature by repeated blows. Its length from the tail to the insertion of the tentacles is about sixteen feet, one of arms is from the junction of the body to the sucker at its point nearly five feet. It must be borne in mind that the polypus has shrunk since its death, so that living it would probably measure considerably more. After this, even Bishop Eric Pontoppidau’s kraken stories are almost credible.’
From 1876 – A SPONGE DIVER SWALLOWED BY A SEA MONSTER: A very terrible story reaches us from the Holy Land. There can be no doubt that in the depths of the sea there exist uncouth fantastic monsters, which like the Great Sea Serpent and Devil Fish, are only seen occasionally by mariners. It is difficult to persuade some persons that there is any truth in the story of the Sea Serpent. Nevertheless it seems most improbable that so many witnesses can be found to vouch for the truth of the statement. The monster depicted was seen by some score of persons or more. Mr T.S. Jago, Her Majesty’s Vice Consul at Beirout, in his report of the trade of Syria in 1875, states that the crop of sponges were very deficient, in consequence of the appearance of a sea monster, alleged to equal in size to a small boat, in the neighbourhood of Batroun, Mount Lebanon, the chief sponge fishing locality. The actual injury done appears to have been confined to one man, but as he was “swallowed whole”, according to the testimony of his fellow workers, there was such a fright among the divers that many of them ceased operations, and the deficiency in the quantity of sponges obtained ran prices up.’
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CFZ APPEAL
In November Sahar Dimus, our guide on four CFZ Sumatra expeditions, died of liver failure leaving a widow Lucy and four Children. On the 2nd November, Dezyama D. Sangma, wife of our friend and colleague Dipu Marak, our collaborator on the 2010 Indian expedition died, leaving her grieving husband and two small children.
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End of Season’s SANE
“Please drive fast Lakhan, I need to get there soon for something very important.”
The speedometer rises from 40 km/hr to 60km/hr.
“Damn these heels. I am not wearing them the next time I have to get somewhere important.”
ENTER ZARA.
At this point, my speed can give tough competition to even a Michael Schumacher. I begin skimming through all the untidy racks that have already been skimmed a zillion times before me. Or maybe just a few thousand times as I try not to waste many days post that ‘END of SEASON SALE’ advertisement to visit the stores.
I can’t wait to have touched all the clothes with my itchy fingers. Even those sections of clothes that I find unappealing or those I wouldn’t ever wear, just in case I miss a nice piece playing hide and seek between them. But mind you, you wouldn’t tell from my face alright. Not so cool to show how badly you wish to have all these clothes at almost half the rates right? My stride slows down as my heartbeat rises when that girl of medium waist like mine is heading right towards that lonely forlorn rack of clothes displaying that beautiful cover up tunic which I could well use on my next vacation to Goa. Huh! They don’t really know all the reasons behind high blood pressure I tell you. And also behind good health, because in case I get to lay my hands on that piece, my happiness knows no bounds but if that medium waist girl got luckier, then God save the next person trying to slow me down when I am on my way towards the next best garment that I eye.
I can confess that the medium waist lucky girl has not left my thoughts yet. I am secretly wishing that she has devoured two full ice creams in the past week and doesn’t fit into that garment anymore and I still have my chances of being it’s proud owner.
And after the day’s workout of carrying dozens of clothes and trying them, I come back home with the best four pieces as the rest were either too tight at the butt or so loose that they could host me and the medium waist girl together. After each such session I feel guilty and arrive at the conclusion that it’s not at all worth it and that it was my last time of going shopping crazy. And it is. Until the next Season’s SALE!
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I write stories about characters who never, ever give up.
from The Memory Plot by D. W. Carver
Cornell Wilding settled in the easy chair, lit his first cigarette of the day, then said, “If seeing her niece nearly killed by that madman at the lake didn’t bring anything back, nothing will. Jill Garvin’s hysterical amnesia is there for good, and that’s a two grand professional opinion.”
The man in the expensive suit laid both hands on his desk top. “Do you have to do that in here?”
Cornell glanced at his cigarette then smiled. “This office isn’t officially part of the building, so the no-smoking rules don’t apply. Let’s be fair, Boss.” The man sighed and tapped the report. “And are you recommending we leave it alone?”
Cornell nodded. “Brookes protected Garvin and killed our agent by the station because whatever passed for his mind had decided our surveillance man was up to no good. The CCTV camera footage shows Brookes clearly enough now we have the body. There’s no evidence at all that any other person or group was in play, and I’ve been over every word in the reports about a thousand times.”
“Is that a ‘yes?’” the man asked.
“It’s a ‘yes.’” Cornell f licked ash on the carpet. “Look on the positive side. If we don’t bury it, somebody at top level is going to start asking questions about the surveillance. Brookes did twenty-six months for assaulting a security guard in a supermarket right after killing our lad so your eyeball crew had nothing to keep them interested. But they missed him every time he broke surface over the past few weeks. And he wasn’t exactly melting into the background. Our masters might wonder if your surveillance crews were still following Garvin or maybe sitting in some pub writing out fantasy reports. Maybe even moonlighting for one of the Met or army crews, and if so, why you didn’t know about it.”
The man stared at him. “Umm…that’s an uncomfortable possibility, bloody third-raters.” He frowned at the new expression on Cornell’s face. “We didn’t need a grade one staff team since the surveillance was high profile to scare Garvin into a move.”
“That could only have worked if she were guilty of conspiracy to commit treason,” Cornell said. “Which you sort of assumed was a given, Boss, right from the off.”
The man sighed again and raised both hands, palms out. “All right, have it your way. Bury this fiasco.” He touched the beige folder. “What about Preston?”
Cornell shook his head. “Our tame psychiatrist wants Garvin killed. Said all the messing around we made him do, pushing and pulling on those memories, might come back and bite him in the professional arse if she’s left to wander free. I’m paraphrasing, naturally.”
“Naturally. I take it you informed him we are not murderers?”
Cornell nodded. “Yup, suggested that if we started cutting off loose threads, who knew where it would end?” He shrugged, adding, “Preston is a complete self-serving toss-pot with the moral outlook of an alley cat. Still, he predicted Garvin’s catharsis almost to the week. Minimal time for me working as office boy under that creep Dayton, so I’ve recommended we keep the good doctor on the books—a very strong recommendation.” He grinned without humour. “And talking about Dayton, if it’s still okay with you, I plan to piss on him from a great height in the last week of next month. I have a girl lined up.”
“I suppose after the way he publically humiliated Garvin when she went back to her old office, he’s lucky to be alive. But spare me the details.” He pushed a stapled fold of paper to his left, stared at the photograph it revealed, and went on; “It’s sad Garvin’s daughter died, though. Nice- looking little kid. Somebody should have picked up she was going to be with them that night.”
“It happens.” Cornell f licked more ash. “It’s a bigger pity that Garvin had to find out the car crash wasn’t an accident. But at least she isn’t blaming us.” “Why didn’t we know there was a witness?” the man asked. “That was an experienced crew.”
Cornell pointed at the file. “It’s all in the report. Brookes was a clever paranoid psychotic being super-furtive, watching Garvin, ironically enough, probably looking for the best place to kill her. Our crew’s experience was cleaning, not surveillance. They were focused on a quick in-and-out kill.”
The man said, disgust heavy in his voice, “And they screwed that up. Bad incendiary and that bloody incompetent seat belt thing—fixing it to open, then leaving evidence for the police.” He drummed his fingertips on the photograph, frowned at them as if they weren’t doing it right, then said, “We used to be able to afford teams that could manage both cleaning and watching, and manage well.”
“The good old days.”
“As you say.” The man touched a third file on his desk. “Your agent in place will continue to report? Garvin losing her job won’t make a difference?” “He’s on a retainer and fees, and they’re friends,” Cornell said. “He can stay in contact without rousing her suspicions.”
“You couldn’t find someone in the new workplace?”
Cornell shook his head. “My influence doesn’t stretch that far. Blowing in the right ears to get her recruited by that charity; with minimal back-checks after she was asked to resign from the other one, was all I could manage.”
“He’s terrified that I’ll set the police on him over that rape, so he wants to keep me happy. Will that do?”
The man said, “It will have to. So we wish Garvin good luck and goodbye.”
“She’s earned it.”
The man said, “And no more ghosts for her, unlike the rest of us.”
“She has her own demons.” Cornell stood up. “So do I pencil you in for a contribution to the ‘Congratulations you’re no longer red-filed’ present?”
The man smiled. “Bugger off. If I was going to buy anything for Garvin, I would get on to Interfauna and send her a dead guinea pig.”
Cornell moved towards the door as he continued, “You’ve never liked her, ever since she hooked Paul and they got married. I’m still a little surprised you’ve agreed to let her live.”
The man sighed then touched his stomach above the knot of pain. “As you have been telling me all along, there’s no proof he shared anything with her about his treason. If she did know and her amnesia was brought on by that supposed ‘intolerable knowledge’ as friend Preston thinks, it’s now buried for good.” He looked into Cornell’s face. “And, of course, you’ll make sure this nasty little episode reaches the right ears if I go against your recommendation.”
“There is that.” Cornell dropped his cigarette into a small silver box and shut the lid. Slipping it back in his pocket, he said, “Pity we couldn’t find the money Paul got from Tarasov’s people. It would have made a nice slush fund.” The man closed his eyes slowly, pain lining his face, then opened them again. “Go back to the office and get on with your pathetic clerking. Leave me in peace.”
Cornell looked at his watch. “I’ve been on leave for the past fifteen minutes, Boss. I have a month to catch my breath before I go temping at Goldbridge.”
The man’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “They’ve put you on the McKenzie woman? That’s somewhat light for your talents.”
“Coasting towards retirement, what can I say?” The man waved a hand. “Just go. I need to think.”
“Right you are. Have a nice evening with the Minister.” Cornell winked as he moved across the thick carpet. “A knighthood would still please Jennie if the subject comes up. No pressure of course, but she really fancies being Lady Wilding in her old age. It would do our cred no end of good down the pensioners club when we qualify.”
The man touched his stomach again, face losing colour, then opened the top right drawer of his desk and punched in the door-release code.
******
Eleven months later
Jill Garvin had been promising herself a skinny dip all week. Now that her sister’s children spent more time with their mother’s new boyfriend than at the villa, wearing the bikini seemed dumb, veering towards old maidish, especially in this heat. She looked down at herself. Her body was still okay. Nothing sagged too much, so there was no excuse really. In fact, none at all. Sarah walked past her to the pool’s edge. Jill glanced up as the girl dipped a toe in the water. Then of course there was comparison, but her niece’s bare bottom would make a monk sob, so that wasn’t realistic.
Sarah turned towards her and asked, “Are you coming in?”
“Maybe later.” Jill pointed. “You’ll give yourself a rash if you keep on.” Sarah peered down at her sculpted pubic hair. “It looked crooked from this angle when I got undressed. I’m still not sure.”
“It’s not crooked,” Jill said. “It wasn’t yesterday or the day before.”
Sarah rubbed at the crease between groin and thigh, grinning. “If you’d let me go to that salon in the first place, I wouldn’t have all this aggravation.”
Jill shook her head. “That was never going to happen, kid.”
Sarah offered the innocent face. “They’re professionals. It’s just like going to a normal hairdresser, only a bit lower down.” She put a finger under her chin. “Pretty please with a cherry on top?”
Jill sighed. “I’m not doing this again, my little ‘butter-wouldn’t-melt.’ Now chuck your skinny self in the pool before the f lies smell that nasty body oil you bought. We don’t want them carrying you off to their lair again.”
Sarah pulled a face, saying, “You are so gross,” turned, and jumped into the water.
Jill raised a hand against the spray. The mobile phone on the small white plastic table beside her, made its three-tone demand. She picked it up, read the display, and pressed the unit alive, realising that she didn’t want to bring her employers into their life right now but had no choice. And while Creel was just a higher-up employee than herself, he was at the sharp end of minding billionaires and felt like management.
Jill watched her niece swim across the pool using a strong, confident breaststroke. “Not really. Sarah and I are sunning ourselves a lot. My sister is off with the illustrator more than she’s here and Prue’s made a new friend. We don’t see her much either. In fact, hardly at all over these last two weeks.”
“We were never a couple,” Jill said. “I thought about it for a while after we left England, but decided my feelings towards Prue were mostly loneliness and reaction to all that violence and fear. You know, needing to cling to someone for comfort; looking for an adult to love who would love me back. I’m glad she’s found a partner.”
“Fair enough.” Jill could almost hear him thinking. Then he went on, “So how many tickets to England will you need now?”
“Rachel and the kids will be staying in France for certain if all goes well,” Jill said. “I don’t know about Prue, but I can tell you for sure by the end of the month. Will that be a problem, leaving it late?”
“No, not at all,” Creel said. “The house is ready now. Sarah’s university course is set and I can buy plane tickets right up to the day.”
Jill watched her niece climb the pool ladder, water glistening on her slim body as he talked.
Jill shook her head, took the phone from her ear to look at it as if that might help, then put it back. “The sun must be getting to me. I was watching Sarah climb out of the pool, barefoot, as they say, from the neck down and I was thinking there should be a law against looking that good. Guess I said it aloud.”
“Oh… all right.”
Jill wanted to laugh at the caution in his voice but said, “I talk to myself sometimes, always have. It’s not PTSD over nearly losing Sarah and my sister, or dwelling on the spooky past or anything like that.”
Sarah turned towards her and waved. For a moment it looked… Jill shivered; blinking hard then closed her eyes tight.
Sarah called into the spark-edged darkness, “The water’s great! Get your cossie off!”
Jill opened her eyes with an effort. It was just Sarah, the beautiful, funny, life-filling girl who kept her heart warm.
Jill said into the phone, “Sarah wants me in there with her. So if there’s nothing else?”
“No, can’t think of anything. I’ll call you again in a few days.”
Jill disconnected on his last word, dropped the phone on her lap, and lay back, feeling as if she might need to hang onto the lounger to keep from f loating away.
BioBack in the day I was a mental health community counsellor and most of my books have aspects that come from those years. I also wrote self-help books for my employers and field tested them with clients – a great apprenticeship for novel writing.
More about D. W. Carver (liberated from his website):I have been writing virtually since I learnt to read. The ‘Jill Garvin’ books described on my opening page draw heavily on my experiences as a mental health community counsellor working in West Essex and East London, England in the eighties and nineties. I specialized in OCD. My organization dealt mainly with ‘the resistant wounded’ – people who, for one reason or another were not receiving support or treatment from the UK National Health Service. This has given me a slightly different outlook on mental health and a belief that there are vast numbers of people out there who would benefit from a small amount of skilled, practical help if only they could find it.
I recall one client whose persistence while I ran a weekly support group was daunting. She didn’t want to sit down in the group but stood behind my chair and asked questions every time there was a moment’s silence and sometimes when there wasn’t. I didn’t want to be rude as I was aware how hard it could be for some people to enter a group situation, so I gave her very quick, very short answers about an exposure programme for excessive washing. A few weeks later she returned to the group and declared to those present that I had cured her when everyone else for years had failed. Of course, it wasn’t true, she had done it herself, simply by committing to a recovery attempt that she had chosen to undertake when all previous treatment had been imposed upon her.
An anecdote – people who know me will tell you that is very much my style of ‘treatment’: that and laughing over the vagaries of life that present sometimes as insurmountable problems when in reality they are not. | {
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DES MOINES, Iowa– A new non-scientific survey shows seventy-nine percent of Republicans rate the accuracy of the presidential vote tabulation process used at the 2012 Iowa caucus as excellent or good. That accuracy question received the highest rating in the survey of Republicans who attended the Iowa caucuses.
The survey of 669 Republicans by the Iowa Caucus Review Committee was conducted Monday, May 7 through Sunday, May 13. Of those who responded, 250 also offered ideas and suggestions on how to improve the caucuses.
The information will be used by the committee which is developing recommendations to improve the Iowa caucuses. The next meeting of the committee is 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 30th at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.
On the other hand, 68% gave a poor or fair rating to the release by the Republican Party of Iowa of caucus vote results to the media and public.
Seventy-one percent said their overall view of the Iowa caucuses was excellent or good.
Sixty-two percent of those who received caucus training said it was excellent or good. However, 43% indicated they received no training.
“This is very useful information for the committee,” said Bill Schickel, committee chairman. “It tells us what we are doing right and gives us guidance in the areas that we need to improve.”
The survey was conducted by email utilizing Survey Monkey software.
Those surveyed were asked to give a rating of excellent, good, fair or poor to the following questions:
1) What is your overall view of the 2012 Iowa caucuses?
2) How would you rate the accuracy of the presidential vote tabulation process used at your caucus?
3) How would you rate the release, by the Republican Party of Iowa, of caucus vote results to the media and public?
4) If you were a leader, how would you rate the caucus training that you received?
Branstad says it is time for the party to come together and devote their attention to victory against President Obama as Republicans gear up for the November election.
“I purposefully withheld my endorsement until now, because I wanted my focus to be on uniting the Republican Party going into the fall.
“I want to commend all of the candidates who participated in the Iowa caucuses. Once again, Iowa did its job in winnowing the field. The top four finishers in the Iowa caucuses remain the four candidates in the race. Now, more than three months later and after a vigorous campaign, I believe the time has come to coalesce around one candidate.
“All four candidates have worked hard. All four candidates demonstrated why they would be better than the current White House occupant. I consider all four of the remaining candidates my friends, and I am proud of the campaigns they waged in Iowa. They fought hard, and shared their ideas for our country. In the end, we knew one of the top four finishers out of Iowa would be our nominee, and I am excited to elect a Republican president who got their start in Iowa.
“Now that dozens of caucuses and primaries have occurred, the process did what it was supposed to do, and that is produce the candidate who will capture the needed delegates: Mitt Romney.
“Today, I am enthusiastically endorsing Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination for president. In Mitt Romney, Americans will have a clear contrast with President Obama in November. Gov. Romney is committed to cut out-of-control spending, unleash the private sector to create jobs, and ensure that future generations have the opportunities we have enjoyed due to the American free enterprise system.
“There is a lot at stake in the upcoming election, and Republicans in Iowa are energized. One need only look at the surging Republican registrations to understand how motivated our party is heading into November. Republicans are in a position to carry Iowa for just the second time since 1984, and we will not let this opportunity slip away. Mitt Romney is going to be a strong general election contender, and I will work every day to unite Republicans and attract independents and disillusioned Democrats to elect a president who will restore the American dream and unite our nation.”
State government Web sites will now all have a common look and feel, similar navigation, and serve Iowans from a citizen-centric viewpoint
(DES MOINES) – Gov. Terry E. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds today announced that the Website Standardization Committee established by Executive Order 73 last May has completed the necessary steps to formulate Iowa’s first Web Design Standard. Iowa’s governmental departments and agencies are now required to ensure that state of Iowa eGovernment information is from a citizen-centric viewpoint, meets applicable federal standards for individuals with disabilities, and offers a user-friendly common look, common feel and common navigation system.
“The Website Standardization Committee was tasked with identifying innovative improvements that are necessary for the state’s Web sites to more effectively and efficiently serve the people of Iowa with a cohesive, user-friendly approach to online access,” said Gov. Branstad. “Currently, there is no common thread to the state’s Web sites, and they vary greatly. As a result of this committee’s action, our state government will offer a superior Web presence that is easier for Iowa taxpayers to use.”
The Website Standardization Committee was co-chaired by interim Chief Information Officer Lorrie Tritch and Branstad/Reynolds administration Communications Director Tim Albrecht. Various departments and agencies were represented by members of the committee, and worked extensively over the past 10 months to research best practices in order to put forth a comprehensive standard.
“We are pleased to offer friendly, easy-to-use Web services for Iowans,” said Lt. Gov. Reynolds. “We believe Iowa can be a national leader in offering the best online services to serve the needs of Iowans. This is an exciting step forward for Iowans using our eGovernment services.”
With a Web Design Standard in place, agencies and departments will now complete the following:
a. Reinforce Iowa.gov identity and make it clear to users they are on an Iowa Executive Branch site through the use of the designated sliver header; and
b. Provide consistency and continuity in Web site appearance; and
c. Improve the quality, usability and accessibility of State Web sites and services for the public; and
d. Ensure that critical state links appear on all agency sites; and
e. Integrate agency sites, Web applications and the portal, to support the "one government" approach and move away from bureaucratic separation of information; and
f. Increase efficiency of Web site development and management by agencies; and
g. Compliant in meeting the federal 508 compliance standards to allow us to better serve the widest possible audience, including people with disabilities.
h. Establish two Web Content Management Systems for use within all Executive Branch agencies.
The Web Design Standard takes effect 180 days from last Thursday, when Department of Administrative Services Director Mike Carroll gave the final approval. Web sites that have been in production prior to the approval date of the standard must comply with the Web Design Standard within two years following that date. Enforcement of this standard will be pursuant to Iowa Administrative Code 11-25.9 (8A).
The committee will be chaired by RPI Co-Chair Bill Schickel. Iowa Secretary of State Deputy of Elections Mary Mosiman will serve as committee co-chair.
“My challenge to the committee is to bring back recommendations that will build upon the most open and transparent presidential preference process in the country,” Spiker said.
“The purpose of the committee is to conduct a full audit and review of the Republican Caucus,” said Schickel. “We’re going to review what went right and what went wrong. We will fix what went wrong and promote what went right.”
The committee will hold its first meeting at 10 A.M. Thursday, April 26 in Des Moines. Future meetings will be held in other communities across the state.
Committee members will be assigned to sub-committees on public relations, operations and training. A research subcommittee will gather data and background information for the committee.
The committee and each of the sub-committees will be asking for ideas and suggestions from experts and ordinary citizens alike throughout the state and nation, Schickel said.
“Although this will be a review of the Republican caucuses, we will be acting in consultation with our colleagues in the Democrat Party,” Schickel said. “Having open, honest and transparent caucuses is in the interest of all Iowans.”
Gov. Branstad thanks Strawn for his service to the Republican Party of Iowa
(DES MOINES) – Gov. Terry E. Branstad today released the following statement thanking Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn for his service to the party on behalf of Iowa Republicans:
“I want to thank Matt Strawn for his three years of leadership at the Republican Party of Iowa. Matt took over at a time when the party was in desperate shape, and rebuilt it precinct-by-precinct, putting it in the strongest position in years. Under Matt Strawn’s leadership, we defeated an incumbent governor for the first time since 1962, gained control of the Iowa House with a 60-seat majority, won six seats in the Iowa Senate, restored a strong financial standing and have surged in Republican registration. Matt’s leadership will be missed, but I am confident a smooth transition will take place at the Republican Party of Iowa and we will continue our party’s successes this November.”
Governor’s public events previously announced for Wednesday have been canceled
(DES MOINES) – Gov. Terry Branstad today announced that he has accepted President Obama’s invitation to his event in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, January 25, 2012. Gov. Branstad will greet President Obama at The Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids then travel to the event at Conveyor Engineering and Manufacturing.
Newt Gingrich continues to retain his frontrunner status in Iowa among candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination, but his support in the state may be declining, according to a University of Iowa Hawkeye Poll released today.
With the Iowa caucuses just three weeks away, Gingrich retains his lead over Mitt Romney, with 29.8 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers indicating that they would vote for Gingrich and 20.3 percent of the respondents supporting Romney if the caucuses were held today. Ron Paul placed third with 10.7 percent. Among other candidates, Michelle Bachman had 8.5 percent, Rick Perry had 8.2 percent, Rick Santorum had 5.3 percent, Herman Cain had 4.4 percent, and John Huntsman had 1.5 percent.
Cain's announcement to suspend his campaign occurred midway through polling. A comparison of responses before and after his announcement on Dec. 3 shows his support decreasing from 6.5 percent to 2.9 percent. After Cain's departure from the race, the survey found support for Gingrich dropping from 37.7 percent to 24.4 percent. The prime beneficiaries appear to be Paul, whose support increased from 7.1 percent to 13 percent; Perry, who went from 4.8 percent to 10.4 percent; and Santorum, who went from 2.7 percent to 7.0 percent. The percentage of respondents who were not sure who their choice would be also increased from 5.6 percent to 13.8 percent. Cain supporters appear to spread out among the other candidates in the race.
Frederick Boehmke, associate professor of political science in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and faculty adviser of the Hawkeye Poll, says that although Gingrich is currently in the lead, he may be losing support.
"Gingrich's 29.8 percent share among likely GOP caucus-goers still gives him a nine-point lead over Romney, but our results show that his support may be starting to slide as it has with previous frontrunners," Boehmke says. "The gap has closed to 5.1 percentage points even though Romney's support has changed very little."
Gingrich's lead over Romney is smaller among "very likely" caucus-goers, with 29.0 percent stating they would vote for him if the caucuses were held today compared to 22.6 percent who identified Romney as their preferred candidate. This gap widened among those "somewhat likely" to attend the caucuses, with 31.2 percent supporting Gingrich and 16 percent supporting Romney if the caucuses were held today. Among "very likely" caucus-goers, Bachmann placed third with 11.2 percent of respondents.
Similar results occur among "strong" Republicans—28.9 percent would vote for Gingrich and 23.1 percent would vote for Romney if the caucuses were held today. Gingrich's lead is larger when looking at Iowans who identify as Republican but "not strongly." Of those, 35.9 percent would vote for Gingrich and 20.7 percent would vote for Romney in the caucuses. Of those who identified as "not strong" Republicans, 8.6 percent said they would support Paul.
"Gingrich faces at least two obstacles according to our data," Boehmke says. "His run at the top may be starting to tail off as it has for previous front-runners. He also faces the challenge of turning out his supporters on caucus night, which will be critical since the gap between him and Romney is narrower among 'very likely' GOP caucusers and 'strong' Republicans."
Caroline Tolbert, professor of political science in CLAS and co-author of the 2011 book Why Iowa?, says campaigning in Iowa matters for support on caucus night.
"Bachman, Santorum, and Ron Paul have campaigned extensively in Iowa, while Gingrich has spent little time in the state. Romney built a strong network of support in Iowa four years ago that voters remember today," Tolbert says. "Candidate support among strong Republicans and very likely caucus-goers is our best predictor of success in the caucuses, given expected low turnout. While Gingrich is polling well, his minimal staff and grassroots organization in Iowa suggests he may be unable to turnout supporters on Jan. 3 to the same degree as the others."
In Iowa, Independents can register to caucus on caucus night. Of those who identified as Independent leaning Republican, Gingrich still leads (32.3 percent), but Paul (18.5 percent) is preferred over Romney (13.2 percent). Paul fared well among all Independent groups (19.6 percent).
Tea Party supporters may be mobilized this election. Seventy-four percent of likely Republican caucus-goers support the Tea Party. Among respondents who "strongly" or "somewhat" support the Tea Party movement, Gingrich's support is more than twice as high as Romney's. Sixteen percent of supporters would vote for Romney, while 33.8 percent would vote for Gingrich. Bachman had the backing of 11.5 percent of Tea Party supporters and Paul 10.8 percent.
"Gingrich has become the Tea Party candidate in this race, and this bodes well for him," Tolbert says. "Turnout of Tea Party supporters on caucus night could be key to his success in the state."
Romney does better among those who did not express support of the movement, with 38.6 percent of those who "neither support nor oppose" and 36.9 percent of those who "oppose" the movement supporting him.
Preference between the two front-runners varied due to basic demographic factors. Romney received slightly more support among female Iowans than among male Iowans; 23.7 percent of female Iowans would vote for Romney if the caucuses were held today, while 17.6 percent of male Iowans indicated the same preference. In contrast, more male Iowans expressed support for Gingrich (34.4 percent compared to 24.1 percent of female Iowans).
Romney's greatest support came from respondents aged 70 or older (27.9 percent), with other age groups ranging from 11.7 percent (aged 18-34) to 18.8 percent (aged 55-69). Preference for Gingrich was steady across all age groups. If the caucuses were held today, 25.2 percent of Iowans aged 18-34, 35.8 percent aged 35-54, 24.6 percent aged 55-69, and 31.5 percent aged 70 years or older would vote for Gingrich. | {
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Brazil wants social spending on sustainable trend, Levy says
SAO PAULO, March 30 (Reuters) - The Brazilian government is
seeking to put social expenses that are mandated by the
Constitution on a sustainable trajectory for the years to come,
Finance Minister Joaquim Levy said on Monday.
The governmment's ability to implement proactive spending
policies to revive economic growth and create jobs, known more
commonly as countercyclical policies, "is over," Levy said at an
event in São Paulo.
(Reporting by Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Aluísio Alves;
Additional reporting by Renan Fagalde; Editing by Chizu
Nomiyama) | {
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AU’s 1977 Freshman Orientation Brochure (is the stuff of nightmares)
As if 1977 wasn’t a confusing enough time to start Auburn, the university decided to put this freaky little friend on the cover of its Freshman Orientation Brochure.
Seriously, what’s up with that giant death palm (with bonus wart?)? It’s terrifying. It’s only worse on the inside.
You wouldn’t want that little fella looking at you, let alone groping you with his puffer. And those menacing Lie to Me/ Psych 101 eyebrows don’t exactly scream “welcome to campus.”
Our apologies if this was modeled on someone’s roommate or is self-portraiture, though if it is, and he’s right-handed, he would have drawn it with one of those giant novelty pencils. Proportionately, that arm could wrap around him like a boa constrictor (sweet mercies).
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Vijayasai Reddy Lashes Out At Pawan Kalyan And Chandrababu
YSRCP party National General Secretary Vijayasai Reddy says that Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena leaders are wasting their time and criticising the YSRCP, and the people's leader YS Jagan who came to power with the overwhelming support from the people. Chandrababu is still in a dilemma and is unable to analyse the reasons behind TDP's failure in the elections. On the other hand, Pawan Kalyan says that YSRCP came to power in AP due to irregularities in AP Elections. Both Pawan Kalyan and Chandrababu are defending their party over failure in AP Elections in their own style says, Vijayasai Reddy.
Vijayasai Reddy makes fun of Pawan Kalyan and YS Jagan saying that the owner (Chandrababu) and Package artist (Pawan Kalyan) are following the same script over their failure, he further questions Pawan Kalyan and Chandrababu through his tweets how did TDP win in 23 places and Jana Sena in One place if YS Jagan Government came to power due to EVM's tampering.
Vijayasai Reddy says that Chandrababu Naidu has turned like the Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan to AP and unnecessarily is making allegations at YS Jagan and the YSRCP party. Vijayasai Reddy further added that Chandrababu is always busy blaming YS Jagan over his ruling in AP for the past three months urging YS Jagan to resign for his CM post. He says that Chandrababu is like a chameleon with changing ideologies, and he has kept alliances with almost all front parties in India. He questions Chandrababu as to how he can again form an alliance with BJP the as Chandrababu has openly said that Modi will not become Prime Minister for a second term. Chandrababu is ready to do anything for the survival of his political party tweeted Vijayasai Reddy. | {
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Once upon a time, making a choice about how you updated Windows was easy: Let Microsoft decide. The company had a release cycle, and you went along for the ride.
Those days seem so quaint now. Today there are multiple versions of “rings” and “branches,” with what seems like impossible-to-understand nomenclature. Should you update Windows 10 according to the Semi-Annual Channel (Pilot)? Should you opt for the Fast Ring? Or should you simply throw up your hands and do nothing, and let Windows 10 update whenever Windows 10 wants to update?
We feel your pain, and we’re here to help. In this article, we’ll explain how to handle Windows 10 updates and how to choose the right release channel for you.
We’ve divided the piece into two sections, one for individuals and one for IT admins. So hunker down and get ready to master the ins and outs of choosing the best way of handling Windows updates.
Individuals: Choosing a Windows 10 release channel
Let’s start off with the basics. If you have absolutely no interest in getting the latest Windows 10 updates before they’re released to the general public, you don’t need to do anything. Windows will update itself automatically, without your intervention. You’re all set.
However, if you like getting sneak peeks at new features before they’re released, you’ve got some decisions to make and work to do. You’ll first have to sign up for the Windows Insider Program, which will let you install early versions of the latest Windows updates, known as Insider Preview Builds.
Before doing that, though, think long and hard about it. These early updates can be buggy and can harm your system. The features they introduce may not work properly, or may not work at all. The overall operating system itself could become unstable, as could any applications running under it. Windows may crash or freeze. So it’s best not to install Insider Preview Builds on your primary PC. You’d be safer using a second or third PC, or even running Windows 10 as a virtual machine and updating it there.
That being said, here’s how to do it if you want to go ahead with it. First, go to the Windows Insider Program page and sign up by clicking “Register your personal account.” It’s free to do. Once you do that and follow the instructions, you’re part of the Windows Insider Program and you’ll be able to get Windows releases before everyone else.
But signing up is only the first step in the process. That just registers you. After you’ve signed up, you’ll need to go to the PC on which you want to get Insider updates, configure it to get the updates and tell it which ones you want to get. That way, you can get the updates on some of your PCs but not others. You could, for example, choose not to configure your main PC to get the Insider Preview Builds in order to keep it stable, but could configure other PCs to get them. You can even configure different PCs to get updates on different “rings” than others.
To get the releases on a specific PC, run the Settings app on it and select Update & Security > Windows Insider Program. Click “Get started” and follow the prompts. Then click Confirm and schedule a time for your PC to restart, or restart it right then.
After your PC restarts, go back to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program, and you’ll have a choice of three different Windows Insider “rings” to choose from: the Fast Ring, the Slow Ring, and the Release Preview Ring. Which you choose depends on your appetite for risk and how quickly you’d like to get the latest updates.
The Fast Ring: The Fast Ring, as its name implies, gets you Insider updates as soon as Microsoft releases them. They’re released more frequently than in the Slow Ring or Release Preview Ring, and you may get them weekly or even faster at times.
Being in the Fast Ring means you’ll be in the know about new features before everyone else. But Fast Ring builds have also been tested the least and are the most unstable. And some of the features you’ll see in Fast Ring releases are experimental and are killed off before they ever see the light of day. So choose this ring only if you absolutely want to get the latest updates before the rest of the world.
Preston Gralla / IDG
Once you sign up for the Windows Insider Program, you’ll need to decide which Insider ring you want to be on.
The Slow Ring: If you don’t like the risks of living in the fast lane but still want to see updates before the general public, choose the Slow Ring. As the name implies, this ring receives updates later than the Fast Ring. Slow Ring updates have been tested more and have had more bugs squashed; any Fast Ring updates never make it into the Slow Ring because they’re too buggy. So it’s not uncommon to get Slow Ring updates only every six weeks or so. But they’re more stable than Fast Ring updates, and will cause fewer system problems.
The Release Preview Ring: This ring is the safest of the Windows Insider Program options. Mostly, it’s used to give you faster access to updated drivers, updated Windows Store apps, and basic Windows updates. It should be bug-free, or at least as bug-free as Microsoft is capable of making an operating system. When you’re in the Release Preview ring, most of the time you won’t be getting a sneak peek at features that are going to be introduced into the next version of Windows. Think of it primarily as a way to get early Windows maintenance updates.
However, there is an exception to that. When Microsoft releases one of its major updates, such as the Creators Update, it gets released to the Release Preview ring a bit before it gets introduced to the rest of the world. For example, the Windows 10 Creators Update was released to the Release Preview ring on March 30, 2017, several days before Microsoft made the Creators Update available to anyone who wanted it via Microsoft’s Update Assistant tool.
Skipping ahead: Beginning in late July, Microsoft rolled out an additional option that puts you into what you might think of as the super-fast lane. It jumps ahead of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update entirely and delivers updates from the next version of Windows 10, code-named Redstone 4. Users who make this choice stop receiving the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Insider builds and instead start receiving ones for Redstone 4, expected to be released in the spring of 2018.
To choose the Skip Ahead option, go to the “What kind of content would you like?” section at the top of the screen and select “Skip ahead to the next Windows release." That’s all you need to do. (Update, August 31, 2017: Microsoft announced that it has enough testers for its Skip Ahead group for Redstone 4 and is not accepting new Skip Ahead enrollments. As Redstone 4 nears completion in early 2018, however, it's likely that another Skip Ahead option will open up for Redstone 5.)
IT administrators: Choosing a Windows 10 release channel (or two)
IT administrators have two sets of needs when it comes to Windows updates. They need to know what changes are being made to Windows before they happen so they can prepare to support them, and they also need to choose the right channel for deploying Windows updates to enterprise users.
Those two needs are at odds: Checking out the latest preview version means testing risky software, while deploying Windows updates requires a conservative approach, making sure that like doctors, they do no harm. So IT administrators need to make two very different choices to solve those different problems.
Testing upcoming Windows updates
For testing purposes, IT administrators can use essentially the same technique as individuals for getting the latest updates: joining the Windows Insider Program, then choosing among the Fast Ring, Slow Ring, and Release Preview Ring for getting Insider Preview Builds. They do it slightly differently than individuals, though. They sign up for the Windows Insider Program for Business, instead of the one for individuals.
To do it, go to the Windows Insider Program page and click “Register your organization account.” In order to get the releases on a specific PC after you register, run the Settings app and select Update & Security > Windows Insider Program. Click “Get started” and follow the prompts. Log in using your business account. Then click Confirm and schedule a time for your PC to restart or restart it right then.
After your PC restarts, go back to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Insider Program. Now it’s time to choose among the rings. For more details about each, see the descriptions of the Fast, Slow and Release Preview rings in the previous section of this article. However, there are a few additional things IT admins need to know about each ring:
The Fast Ring: This may not be the best ring for IT administrators to use, and not just because it’s the buggiest. Microsoft sometimes introduces features and settings in this ring that it eventually discards, which means that IT admins will be wasting their time checking out and preparing for features they’ll never use. However, for IT admins who want to influence the future of Windows, it’s a good choice, because they can send their feedback to Microsoft early in the Windows development cycle, before features are baked into the operating system.
The Slow Ring: This ring may be the best choice for IT admins. Not only does it tend to be stable, but by the time a feature reaches the Slow Ring, there’s a very good chance it will stay in Windows. Choosing this ring, admins can get a heads up about what’s coming in Windows without wasting their time testing capabilities that may never make it into the operating system.
The Release Preview Ring: This is the most conservative choice for IT. It’s the most stable version, and what’s here ends up in Windows. But it doesn’t give much of a heads up — typically only days — so administrators won’t have a great deal of time to get familiar with new features.
Skipping ahead: Like individual users, Windows admins can alternatively choose to skip updates for the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update entirely and get them for the next version of Windows 10, code-named Redstone 4, by going to the “What kind of content would you like?” section at the top of the screen and selecting “Skip ahead to the next Windows release." (Update, August 31, 2017: Microsoft announced that it has enough testers for its Skip Ahead group for Redstone 4 and is not accepting new Skip Ahead enrollments. As Redstone 4 nears completion in early 2018, however, it's likely that another Skip Ahead option will open up for Redstone 5.)
Whatever choice you make, the updates happen only on the administrator’s PC, not any others. For more details about the Windows Insider Program for Business, see this detailed Microsoft document.
Deploying Windows updates
Since Windows 10 was released, Microsoft has been using the terms Current Branch (CB) and Current Branch for Business (CBB) to describe its primary release channels for major OS updates. Releases entered the Current Branch on the update’s official launch day — the day the update began rolling out to consumers. About four months later, after the initial bugs were ironed out, that same release was deemed stable enough for enterprise use, at which point it entered its Current Branch for Business phase.
Why the “semi-annual?” terminology? Because Microsoft has committed to significant feature updates to Windows 10 twice a year, a strategy it calls “Windows as a service.” In 2017, for example, the company released the Windows 10 Creators Update in the spring, and this fall will release the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update.
(There’s also a Long-Term Servicing Branch channel available to customers running Windows 10 Enterprise that receives feature updates only once every two or three years, but that’s for intended for specialized devices such as ATMs or medical equipment, according to Microsoft. Most IT admins need to be concerned with releases to the two Semi-Annual Channels.)
When Microsoft first publicly releases one of the two significant updates, it releases it for businesses into the Semi-Annual Channel (Pilot). That means that the update should only be used in enterprises for small, pilot programs, not for overall deployment.
After about four months, when Microsoft determines the bugs have been worked out and the update is as safe as possible for business, Microsoft promotes it to Semi-Annual Channel (Broad), so that companies can feel safe in deploying it widely. Of course, this doesn’t mean companies have to deploy it to all their users then, but putting it into the Broad channel means Microsoft believes it’s suitable for the enterprise.
One option for admins is to stagger the deployment of Windows updates. A handful of test machines could get the new update while it’s still in the Semi-Annual Channel (Pilot) phase. A small group of trusted testers might get it for evaluation when it first enters the Semi-Annual Channel (Broad) phase, then after another four months or so it could be rolled out to the bulk of users. Any mission-critical devices would wait even longer, until after the update has been vetted by the majority of the organization. (Microsoft suggests calling the different groups in this scenario "deployment rings," as if "rings" hasn't caused enough confusion already.)
With Microsoft’s twice-a-year update schedule, however, such staggered deployments could get very complicated, as the pilot group could be testing the latest release well before the critical group upgrades to the previous release. And note that Microsoft’s 18-month support period for each update starts when it enters the Semi-Annual (Pilot) Channel, so the longer you wait to roll it out, the shorter the period of time you’ll get security patches and bug fixes for that release.
Copyright 2018 IDG Communications. ABN 14 001 592 650. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of IDG Communications is prohibited. | {
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Volume 1, Number 21
December 26, 2003
Abstract: This paper is a continuance of a paper presented at the ISECON 2001 Conference addressing the issue of how our young women are not only falling through the cracks of the information superhighway, but are not even interested in the technology field, published in April of 2000 by the American Association of University Women (AAUW). In June 2002, the National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education published a report on gender equity in technology and issued a D+ to our nation’s schools. After two years of creating programs that offer different strategies to attract more females to the technology field, the factors that contribute to this phenomenon have been identified. Studies have found that there is a lack of mentorship at the high school level, because girls are again facing decade-old stereotypical biases. Girls want careers in which they can "make a difference." Girls have little or no knowledge about IT careers. The research information has been organized into a database model as a base for future studies investigating the continued phenomenon of gender inequality in the technology field. This model has identified the major entity or category groups, normalized the data into a database model using current relational database methodology. The result presented in the paper defines a physical database structure that will incorporate existing information that will add to the "body of knowledge" of contribution factors of the gender inequity in the field of technology. | {
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Senate Dems host ethics forum
New York Public Interest Research Group Legislative Counsel Russ Haven, left, testifies with League of Women Voters of New York President Barbara Bartoletti, right, at last Wednesday’s forum on ethics reform.
May 09, 2011
In an attempt to change the public's poor view of the Legislature, Senate Democrats asked for New Yorkers' suggestions on how to clean up Albany.
"The worst thing we could possibly do is pass an ethics bill that's a fig leaf [or] promise reform without delivering it, and today is about making sure that we do get ethics reform done and we get it done in a way that makes a difference for the state," said Sen. Daniel Squadron, D-Carroll Gardens.
Squadron hosted a forum in Albany May 4 on government ethics reform legislation. Last week's forum, which was attended by Democratic senators and representatives of good government groups, was the first on the topic in almost two years. It was also the first interactive forum, as members of the public were allowed to participate online.
Those with questions or concerns about ethics reform sent e-mails or posted questions on Facebook and Twitter. According to Squadron, more than 200 people watched streaming video of the forum. Sixty-two tweets were made throughout the event, including three from former New York City Mayor Ed Koch, whose NY Uprising group has been pushing for ethics and redistricting reform since the 2010 election cycle.
"We have a new governor who has made it clear that ethics reform is an absolute top priority. That's great news. Hopefully, working together with the legislative houses, we're going to be able to get actual ethics not just passed but signed into law this year," said Squadron. In his State of the State address in January, Gov. Andrew Cuomo called for an ethics bill this session that isn't "watered down or half-baked."
The conversation at last week's event centered on pending bills — Squadron's S.31 and Sen. Gustavo Rivera's, D-Brooklyn, S.382 — that, respectively, would establish an independent commission to oversee government ethics and increase the requirements on financial and client disclosure for lawmakers and statewide elected officials, among others working in state government and for political parties.
"We strongly believe that major steps need to be taken to overhaul the ethics and campaign finance system in our state. This should not be piecemeal. It should not just be one bill here and there. These are Band-Aids on a broken system, and we need to throw it out and create a new system," said Jessica Wisneski, campaign director of Citizen Action of New York.
The Democrat-controlled Senate and Assembly passed an ethics bill (S.6457/A.9544) last session, but it was vetoed by then-Gov. David Paterson.
"We did pass … what was the strongest ethics bill that has ever passed the Legislature. It certainly wasn't strong enough. It didn't go far enough. Also, it was unfortunately vetoed by the governor. We tried, we did a lot in the majority, we didn't do everything we should have, and I think we would all agree on that," said Squadron.
According to League of Women Voters of New York President Barbara Bartoletti, the political climate in Albany has changed over the last few decades.
"There was a congeniality … that existed then, I think there was a real feeling of: This is a privilege to serve in public office and I must live up to that privilege all the time, and I think there just was a different … feeling in the Legislature," said Bartoletti.
According to the Senate Democrats, a majority of those who serve in the Legislature still feel that sense of privilege and don't have intentions to misuse their position of power.
"I believe, fundamentally, that the vast majority of us who choose to become elected officials, who ask our constituents to give us their votes, whether it's at the local level, the state level, school boards, federal level … do it for all the right reasons. We don't intend to violate ethics laws, we don't intend to violate our oath of office," said Sen. Liz Krueger, D-Manhattan.
"I was elected, like many of my colleagues, to change the way Albany does business. Certainly my predecessor kind of embodied what was wrong with Albany so we need to move in a different direction," said Rivera. The senator succeeded Pedro Espada after he was indicted on corruption charges, accused of stealing more than half a million dollars from a Bronx health clinic.
Some legislators said they are being punished for the actions of former legislators who were convicted for ethics violations.
"When we discuss these ethics issues, I feel like I'm being penalized for what the people who are serving, who are in prison already have done or who are on their way to prison. And I'm still being asked to answer for their mistakes on a daily basis. So it's difficult," said Sen. Velmanette Montgomery, D-Brooklyn.
Good government groups stressed the importance of making sure the ethics commission proposed in bill S.31 has independent oversight to prevent conflicts of interest.
"Board members should not be involved in lobbying at any level, should not be receiving profits as partners in firms that do lobbying or have state contracts, and should not be involved in partisan affairs," said New York Public Interest Research Group Legislative Counsel Russ Haven. "Moreover, members of the commission should have a fiduciary responsibility to the public, not their appointing authorities. The public should feel that the commission members are there, first and foremost, to protect the interests of the public."
The League of Women Voters of New York wants the nine members of the independent commission to be chosen by the governor, legislative leaders, the comptroller and the attorney general to prevent unequal influence. "Therefore no single elected official would control a majority of appointments, something that we have consistently supported as essential to true independence," said Bartoletti.
According to Bartoletti, passing a strong ethics bill could be the key to passing legislation on issues New Yorkers are concerned about this session, including a property tax cap, mandate relief and rent control. "Until you get good ethics, until you get good redistricting, until you get campaign finance reform, all those other issues that they really care about are not going to change, and you're not going to be able to get to them."
Those who testified said true ethics reform cannot be achieved without also changing the campaign financing system.
"As critical as the ethics reforms we are discussing today are, the Brennan Center believes, based on our study of ethical lapses in New York state government, as well as successful efforts to transform corrupt governing elsewhere in the nation, that a package with campaign finance reform is essential to restoring public integrity," said Kelly Williams, attorney for the Brennan Center for Justice.
Dick Dadey, executive director of Citizens Union, said changing how the state defines lobbying is a component in ethics reform.
"The definition of lobbying should be enhanced to include resolutions and advocacy done prior to a bill's introduction. One of, I think, the biggest loopholes right now is that lobbying under the state law is only defined on a bill that has been introduced formally into the Legislature. We all know that a lot of effort goes into lobbying to try and even get to that stage of introduction," said Dadey.
Senators were welcoming of the suggestions offered by those testifying at last week's forum and shared some of the same concerns.
"I do believe there is a direct connection between ethics reform and campaign finance reform. I truly believe that with public financing, it limits outside donor influence, it increases public input and it does allow campaigns to focus more so on the people, their needs their concerns and the issues," said Sen. Joseph Addabbo D-Queens. | {
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UK News
Launched in September 2011 by parent company Future, Gizmodo UK combines syndicated posts from its bigger brother Gizmodo.com, with local stories covering tech, design, science, and all the other areas within the Giz universe. At this Giz UK hub here, you can access all content originally published by Gizmodo UK, excluding content transferred from the US website. | {
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This comet was one of several faint comets discovered by the
LINEAR program in May 1999. At discovery it was an inconspicu-
ous object of 17th magnitude, but when a first orbit became
available, it was soon realized that this comet could become
an interesting object both for visual comet observers, AND
meteor observers. A preliminary orbit indicated that periheli-
on was due on September 20, only 0.98 AU from the Sun.
Moreover, it appeared that the descending node of the high
inclination orbit was only 0.01-0.02 AU outside the Earth's
orbit, suggesting that dust particles associated with this
comet could possibly be observed around 11 November as fast
meteors emanating from a point near Gamma Ursae Majoris.
Now that the comet has been observed for almost 5 month, and a
fairly accurate orbit has been published, it is possible to
give a better assessment of what to expect of the associated
meteors.
Visual observations of this comet since discovery show that
this is an intrinsically faint comet, with Ho ~ 9.
The very steep rise in brightness with n = 6-8 ('normal' is 3-
4) strongly suggests that this is not a dynamically new comet,
but rather an old one, that is only active during a short
period around perihelion passage. Although a short (gas)tail
developed, it is also clear that this comet is not producing a
lot of dust. Nevertheless, it was a nice object in the morning
sky, reaching magnitude 7.5-8 in the middle of October.
Currently it is moving to high southern declination and star-
ting to fade.
The most recent orbital elements published in MPC 35814 also
show that C/1999 J3 is not a 'new' comet; the indicated period
is ~63000 year. It should be noted though that this figure is
only a rough indication. Strictly speaking the period is only
valid for a choosen time close to perihelion, and planetary
perturbations may have influenced this figure considerably,
sothat the 'original' period could easily be a few ten thou-
sends years more, or less. But it now appears safe to assume
that this comet has passed the inner parts of the solar system
before, although the period is quite long.
The aforementioned orbital elements show that comet 1999 J3
passed its descending node on October 2.86 (UT), at 1.0013 AU
from the Sun, only 0.0115 AU outside the Earth's orbit. The
Earth itself is crossing the orbital plane on November 11.82
(UT), 40 days 'behind' the comet. This is also the best time
that associated meteors can be observed, with a radiant near
R.A. 176 deg and Dec. +54 deg. (J2000.0). This position is
very close to second magnitude Gamma Ursae Majoris.
This sort of observing geometry has generally been found the
best for observing (high) activity of any possible shower.
Unfortunately, at the time around orbital plane crossing the
radiant is due north for European observers, and consequently
low over the horizon, but the further east one goes through
(Northern) Europe and Asia the better. Possible meteors are
swift, much like the Perseids.
Remains the important question what sort of activity we can
most likely expect in this particular case...
I don't think that here any comparison with most known meteor
showers is appropriate, even the ones that have similar dis-
tances to the Earth's orbit and a faint parent comet, like
P/Giacobini-Zinner/Draconids and P/Tempel-Tuttle/Leonids,
because of the big difference in time scale. One may expect
that any dust that has been ejected during a previous perihe-
lion passage of C/1999 J3 has been largely dissipated after
several tens of thousends of years, even when planetary per-
turbations are very minor, because of the high inclination
long period orbit, and thus not complicating the matter as in
the case of showers that are mainly residing in the inner
solar system, and more or less permanently subject to planeta-
ry perturbations, particularly by Jupiter.
But some (heavy) particles may have survived in the wake of
the comet, and some of these we may encounter...
It should be noted further that no long period comet in an
orbit that comes very close to the Earth has ever produced a
major shower. A good example is C/IRAS-Araki-Alcock that
came very close to the Earth in May 1983; the Earth passed
the plane of the comet near the descending node only 2 days
BEFORE the comet, and nothing significant was seen then.
However, careful monitoring by Dutch observers Langbroek and
Miskotte , as well as some other observers, in subsequent
years, showed a low annual activity of associated Eta Lyrids,
with a ZHR of ~2. This comet has an absolute brightness simi-
lar to C/1999 J3 with H10 ~ 9, but its period is considerably
shorter, near 1000 years.
Even a big comet like 1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) that released huge
amounts of dust, only produced a few possible meteors in early
January 1998, although admittedly its miss distance is 10
times larger than that of C/1999 J3.
Considering all the pro's and con's I find it unlikely that
C/1999 J3 will produce a significant shower this year, despite
the favourable geometry. Nevertheless, it may be useful to be
on the alert, particularly within 24 hours on both sides of
the orbital plane passage, for fast meteors coming from the
Big Dipper. In would not be the first time that meteor showers
have a surprise for us after all! | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
This page is designed to help you get the word out about your event or program. Be strategic and you’ll be successful.
Don’t reinvent the wheel. Benefit from existing communications that already have a broad reach and strong following. Find a communication that’s already being sent to your audience base and contact the liaison to see if you can include your announcement in their upcoming message. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
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My Interests
What I like to do:
My Friends
Random Thoughts
Random Thoughts
Man is this going to be the best fall ever for video games.Two new system are coming out. Big title games like ff12 and Zelda
are finally coming out.Man I am going to waste a lot of money this year.Oh here are some games that you people should play right now if you have the time.
Castlevania:Dawn of Sorrows
Capcom Classics Collection for the old school crowd
ZOE The 2nd Runner. Great action game
And don,t forget to buy Okami and Ulitmate Ghouls n Ghosts when they come out. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Trailer: Saturday Morning Mystery (2012)
A dark and bloody parody about a Scooby-Doo-like team of paranormal investigators and their devoted dog. With the crew nearing bankruptcy, they’re hired to get to the bottom of a series of spooky events at the remote Kyser mansion, an old religious school plagued by rumors of satanism and ritualistic murder.
They’re experts at debunking ghost stories, so they get right to work, and despite the ominous signs that this isn’t just another greedy land-developer or bitter landlord, they set up to stay the night. When the sun goes down, the truth comes out: this place might actually be haunted…by sadistic spirits or something much, much deadlier. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Jordan Hallewell is a young upstart in the Melbourne hair and makeup industry. Her portfolio includes working with Tkay Maidza on her first magazine cover, makeup for the Australian-made film It’s Not Me and music videos for local artists. She draws her inspiration from Carmella Soprano, Pamela Anderson, photobooths and 1920's artist George Grosz, and is currently obsessed and gagging over RuPaul’s Drag Race. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
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Friend of the Site
Any play with an asterisk means I haven’t seen that one yet. So’ If you happen to be the bored Director of an acting troupe with nothing better to do, feel free to select any one of those to produce, and I’ll be thrilled to come check it out. | {
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I’m not one of those people who makes lists of their top ten favorite everything (big shout-out to the specific friend of mine who does that, LOL) — but if I had to make a top ten list of my all time favorite Nineties R&B hits, Davina’s So Good would be all up in there. […] | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
It is the sole responsibility of the purchaser and installer of any BMS part to employ the correct installation techniques required to ensure the proper operation of BMS parts, and BMS disclaims any and all liability for any part failure due to improper installation or use. It is the sole responsibility of the customer to verify that the use of their vehicle and items purchased comply with federal, state and local regulations. BMS claims no legal federal, state or local certification concerning pollution controlled motor vehicles or mandated emissions requirements. BMS products labeled for use only in competition racing vehicles may only be used on competition racing vehicles operated exclusively on a closed course in conjunction with a sanctioned racing event, in accordance with all federal and state laws, and may never be operated on public roads/highways. Please click here for more information on legal requirements related to use of BMS parts.
It is the sole responsibility of the purchaser and installer of any BMS part to employ the correct installation techniques required to ensure the proper operation of BMS parts, and BMS disclaims any and all liability for any part failure due to improper installation or use. It is the sole responsibility of the customer to verify that the use of their vehicle and items purchased comply with federal, state and local regulations. BMS claims no legal federal, state or local certification concerning pollution controlled motor vehicles or mandated emissions requirements. BMS products labeled for use only in competition racing vehicles may only be used on competition racing vehicles operated exclusively on a closed course in conjunction with a sanctioned racing event, in accordance with all federal and state laws, and may never be operated on public roads/highways. Please click here for more information on legal requirements related to use of BMS parts.
It is the sole responsibility of the purchaser and installer of any BMS part to employ the correct installation techniques required to ensure the proper operation of BMS parts, and BMS disclaims any and all liability for any part failure due to improper installation or use. It is the sole responsibility of the customer to verify that the use of their vehicle and items purchased comply with federal, state and local regulations. BMS claims no legal federal, state or local certification concerning pollution controlled motor vehicles or mandated emissions requirements. BMS products labeled for use only in competition racing vehicles may only be used on competition racing vehicles operated exclusively on a closed course in conjunction with a sanctioned racing event, in accordance with all federal and state laws, and may never be operated on public roads/highways. Please click here for more information on legal requirements related to use of BMS parts.
It is the sole responsibility of the purchaser and installer of any BMS part to employ the correct installation techniques required to ensure the proper operation of BMS parts, and BMS disclaims any and all liability for any part failure due to improper installation or use. It is the sole responsibility of the customer to verify that the use of their vehicle and items purchased comply with federal, state and local regulations. BMS claims no legal federal, state or local certification concerning pollution controlled motor vehicles or mandated emissions requirements. BMS products labeled for use only in competition racing vehicles may only be used on competition racing vehicles operated exclusively on a closed course in conjunction with a sanctioned racing event, in accordance with all federal and state laws, and may never be operated on public roads/highways. Please click here for more information on legal requirements related to use of BMS parts.
It is the sole responsibility of the purchaser and installer of any BMS part to employ the correct installation techniques required to ensure the proper operation of BMS parts, and BMS disclaims any and all liability for any part failure due to improper installation or use. It is the sole responsibility of the customer to verify that the use of their vehicle and items purchased comply with federal, state and local regulations. BMS claims no legal federal, state or local certification concerning pollution controlled motor vehicles or mandated emissions requirements. BMS products labeled for use only in competition racing vehicles may only be used on competition racing vehicles operated exclusively on a closed course in conjunction with a sanctioned racing event, in accordance with all federal and state laws, and may never be operated on public roads/highways. Please click here for more information on legal requirements related to use of BMS parts.
Wasn't trying to break any records, it was more of a self satisfaction of seeing what I could do by my self tuning. Believe it or not that baseline started 100% on the street. I still have about 10% left in the map I build with the proceed but felt like this was a good stopping point for 93oct. I know I could hit 700 with one setting change and 100oct. I just don't have any points to prove right now. Its my DD, so I don't run race gas on the reg.
You still have the record for most powerful auto right?
Seriously question for all, but is this a record? I know captianinsano is at 738. I don't really keep up with it to be honest.
07Tundras fuel pump has been working flawless, I'm running 5%more meth than the OTS Vishnu single tune, the rest has been fueling thru the stock fuel system. I defiantly noticed a difference in hpfp just by what the lpfp has been supplying it over my old bosch 044 set up.
Like I mentioned earlier I'll post the logs of the dyno runs either tomorrow night or Monday at the absolute latest.
Formerly 3000GT MR
Have a single turbo and/or tired of burning up O2 sensors? Ask me about the new ADV retro kits!Please Email me at [email protected] in lieu of PM's for fastest response on any topics.
335i E92 2010
Mods: VM 6466 top mount, VRSF IC, twin disk, and lots more!335iVFF900 E90 2009 RIP
Wasn't trying to break any records, it was more of a self satisfaction of seeing what I could do by my self tuning. Believe it or not that baseline started 100% on the street. I still have about 10% left in the map I build with the proceed but felt like this was a good stopping point for 93oct. I know I could hit 700 with one setting change and 100oct. I just don't have any points to prove right now. Its my DD, so I don't run race gas on the reg.
You still have the record for most powerful auto right?
Seriously question for all, but is this a record? I know captianinsano is at 738. I don't really keep up with it to be honest.
07Tundras fuel pump has been working flawless, I'm running 5%more meth than the OTS Vishnu single tune, the rest has been fueling thru the stock fuel system. I defiantly noticed a difference in hpfp just by what the lpfp has been supplying it over my old bosch 044 set up.
Like I mentioned earlier I'll post the logs of the dyno runs either tomorrow night or Monday at the absolute latest.
yup still most powerful 6at
i honestly think you should claim n54 93oct record WHP its close.. u might need a bit wait i think 673 is 93 WHP record... look at vargas sig... You are right there my man..
i honestly think you should claim n54 93oct record WHP its close.. u might need a bit wait i think 673 is 93 WHP record... look at vargas sig... You are right there my man..
redyno and claim that record monica!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ehh I don't really count Vargas. If the car was still out there running around or did more than just a dyno pull then id count it. Anyone could have easily cranked boost up for one record pull and really have nothing to back it up. But to each their own. Like I said though I didn't do it for a record, just having fun. I may squeeze 680 out of it after I cruise with this tune for a few months.
Formerly 3000GT MR
Have a single turbo and/or tired of burning up O2 sensors? Ask me about the new ADV retro kits!Please Email me at [email protected] in lieu of PM's for fastest response on any topics.
335i E92 2010
Mods: VM 6466 top mount, VRSF IC, twin disk, and lots more!335iVFF900 E90 2009 RIP
Ehh I don't really count Vargas. If the car was still out there running around or did more than just a dyno pull then id count it. Anyone could have easily cranked boost up for one record pull and really have nothing to back it up. But to each their own. Like I said though I didn't do it for a record, just having fun. I may squeeze 680 out of it after I cruise with this tune for a few months.
excellent point.
same here when i dyno'd last just wanted to see my daily set up no meth on a hot day for fun | {
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Don”t miss the BOAT
Published: 09:04AM May 16th, 2012By: Tony Hoyland
Visitors to the Devon County Showground this weekend (May 17-19) will get the chance to see students from Bicton College in action completing their latest restoration for the BOAT (Bicton Overseas Agricultural Trust) Charity.
Chris Jaworski, Lecturer Bicton College on the BOAT restoration tractor before the rebuild.
The rebuild of the tractor, a Ford 3000, is using over £4000 of parts donated by Vapormatic, in preparation for the tractor being the star prize of BOAT’s 2012 prize draw raffle.
“The Ford 3000 remains a popular tractor to this day, with many still in use on farms around the country”, said Bill Vellacott, BOAT charity spokesman. “It’s a fantastic first prize for our annual raffle (tickets only £1 each) and should prove to be a real crowd draw at agricultural shows and events around the country”.
The charity has been working with Bicton College and Vapormatic for over 10 years to conduct an annual tractor rebuild, which helps in raising funds to support local agricultural education in developing countries such as, Tanzania, Gambia, Kenya and others.
“This is the 10th BOAT tractor rebuild and Vapormatic has been proud to donate parts for all of them and promote the cause. This charity truly makes a difference to the people and communities they support,” says Peter Brennan, Managing Director of Vapormatic.
Bill Vellacott added: “We hope to raise over £20,000 this year to allow us to ‘train more trainers’, bringing educational leaders from developing nations to the UK to show them the latest agricultural and business methods. This knowledge can then be passed on in the classrooms and farms of their home countries. We thank Bicton College and our sponsors for their tremendous support, in particular Vapormatic and Firestone Tyres.” | {
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What's Wrong with the Women? (Equity Pictures, 1922). Six Sheet
(81" X 81"). The answer to this burning question posed by th...
Description
What's Wrong with the Women? (Equity Pictures, 1922). Six
Sheet (81" X 81"). The answer to this burning question posed by
this low-budget domestic drama made during the "jazz age" was; they
tended to want more from life than their husbands were able to
afford. The film starred not only the young Constance "Connie"
Bennett in her second credited role, but future gossip columnist
Hedda Hooper, and Dorothy Hammerstein, wife of Oscar Hammerstein.
The poster is Kraft backed and in two pieces. It has some surface
paper loss in several areas, but none which could not be easily
corrected with restoration. Very Good/Fine. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Million-Dollar Fruit Bat Trade Could Be Spreading Ebola, UN Warns
More than 4,000 people have been killed in this year's Ebola virus outbreak. Photo: Wikipedia commons
Health officials are scrambling to control the Ebola epidemic that has already killed 632 people in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea since February. Though their top priority is stopping people giving it to one another, they’re now looking to the forests to stem another possible route of infection.
On Monday that United Nations warned that people in some rural communities may be unknowingly spreading the Ebola virus by hunting and eating certain wildlife species. But the “bushmeat” industry is much more than a hobby. The underground trade is likely worth millions, and provides a necessary boost for families in the most impoverished areas.
“Bushmeat is an important resource in the livelihoods of many rural communities in sub-Saharan Africa and may be a crucial safety-net for the most vulnerable households, especially during times of economic hardship,” wrote researchers from the Zoological Society of London in a report on the industry.
Though its hard to know the size of the bushmeat economy, since most consumption and trade is done in the home or outside ordinary markets, researchers estimate it to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Because this trade so prevalent, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said on Monday that it was “working closely with the World Health Organization to raise awareness of the transmission risks from wildlife among rural communities that hunt for bushmeat --- or meat obtained from the forests -- to supplement their diets and income.”
“Increased efforts are needed to improve awareness among rural communities in West Africa about the risks of contracting the Ebola virus from eating certain wildlife species, including fruit bats,” the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations said Monday. Though it sounds simple enough, trade in wild animal meat has become an integral part of many rural economies.
Though it's often rural communities that hunt the animals, the meat often ends up far away from where it originated.
“Livelihood and consumer preferences are the main drivers of bushmeat consumption,” wrote researchers at the African Center for Economic Transformation in a recent newsletter, adding that it’s also served as a delicacy in upscale areas, and can be even more expensive than domesticated meat.
“While urban restaurants sell the most bushmeat to consumers, rural hunters appear to make the most profit, indicating that the bushmeat trade is an important part of the rural economy,” they wrote, noting that it’s an especially important income source for women.
The term “bushmeat” applies to any non-domesticated animal killed in the wild sand sold as food. This can include gorillas, chimpanzee, rats and even fruit bats -- which are especially popular and especially worrisome for health workers.
Since bats can carry the virus without showing signs of the disease, the FAO advised that they should be avoided altogether.
However, these are one of the most popular animals in many places. Researchers found that in Ghana, fruit bats were some of the most high-demand bushmeat products. They noted that more than 100,000 were sold every year through a supply chain stretching more than 200 miles with multiple vendors.
“The willingness of vendors to buy as many bats as they could find or afford as well as the high retail price suggests that the demand for fruit bats in consistently high,” they wrote.
They also noted that peak bat-hunting season corresponded with the dry season in Ghana, when agricultural production generally falls.
“Although bat bushmeat is a highly seasonal product, rarely providing consistent and sufficient profit for a year-round venture, we found that the profit margin offered a significant source of additional income,” the researchers wrote, adding that one carpenter told them he could make more money hunting bats than a weeks’ worth of carpentry, or that a bushmeat hunter in Ghana typically makes at least three times the official minimum wage. | {
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12-year-old girl stalked by coyotes
STAMFORD, Connecticut (WABC) — A 12-year-old girl says she was stalked by a trio of coyotes as she walked home from school in Stamford.
Now the town is raising the alarm.
“It was pretty scary, I was more in shock than scared,” said the girl, Navya Sharma.
She is home safe and sound, but there were some scary moments this week.
On Monday she says she was walking from her school bus stop when she saw three coyotes following her in the woods near her house.
One growled and showed its teeth, she says.
“Called my mom, she told me to keep calm. Then one came out of the woods and I started to run,” said Navya.
Coyotes are not uncommon. They are generally more visible at night, but do hunt for small animals like squirrels, chipmunks and rabbits in the daytime.
Wednesday, the city’s animal control officer was in North Stamford reminding residents to not leave their pets loose in their yards and making sure rabies vaccinations are up to date.
“There’s no predators to the coyotes besides ourselves and we have to make sure that if we are uncomfortable with coyotes around our properties that we are scaring them away,” said Tilford Cobb of Stamford Animal Control.
Nearby schools also sent letters home to parents. There have been a number of reported coyote sightings and recently a dog was killed near a golf course.
Stamford is considering trapping, though that usually has limited results.
“It’s likely that new coyotes will re-populate that area, so it’s not a matter of just trapping coyotes and getting rid of them, that’s not going to happen,” said Cobb. “You’re not going to get rid of the coyotes.”
As for Navya, “I don’t want to walk down these streets again, what if something happens next time?”, she says. | {
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Archive for June, 2005
The growing surge in the number of reality TV shows, combined with a severe drop in the genre’s overall popularity has for the first time brought about a state of affairs where there are currently more American featured as participants on reality TV shows than there are Americans watching reality TV. “If all the people on these shows would even watch them when they are broadcast, this would not be happening,” said TV expert Langord Goldstein, “but most of the participants I’ve talked to who were on shows like Transvestite Island or Baby Momma Swap never want to see another reality TV show again in their lives.”
For the 11,637th day in a row, The Rev. Brendan Powell Smith managed to defy death, successfully staying alive in the face of life’s innumerable potential pitfalls, pratfalls, and deadly afflictions. In the last twenty-four hours alone, Smith deftly avoided being struck by any of the 428 automobiles that crossed his path, kept clear of any and all falling anvils and open manhole covers, and did not succumb to any fatal physical ailments. Experts marveled that Smith “even considered this worth mentioning.”
A full-page ad for Rev. Smith’s latest book The Brick Testament: The Ten Commandments can be seen in the latest issue of Heeb magazine, the self-proclaimed “New Jew Review”. Meanwhile in European press news, a short article on The Brick Testament can be seen in the June issue of FHM Portugal, and The Brick Testament’s rendition of The Last Supper was featured in an article about the changing face of LEGO in the April 2005 issue Swiss finance magazine Bilan. These and other newly-scanned items can be seen on the Brick Testament’s press page.
A new H-Net/Fritz media poll reveal that 96% of Americans who believe in God also believe that God has a beard. Of those people, 89% believe that God’s beard is white, 2% believe God grew his beard (and therefore at some time did not have a beard), while 94% believe that God has always had a beard and has never been clean shaven. 10% of Americans do not believe in God. | {
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Built for clients – higher quality and a user-friendly interface.
Great things don’t always need to be expensive:Cost of implementation
Paywall implementation projects are commonly thought to consume a great amount of time and money - without guarantee of success. These projects have the potential to cause large cuts in ad revenues. We decided to prove this stereotype false by offering quickly-adaptable, full-service paywall technology with no significant monetary or time investment.
The Internet is a medium to try and test.Complex paywall technology and self-designed solutions are typically slow to adapt to change. Plenigo enables companies to quickly adapt different business models with only a few clicks of a mouse. | {
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October 14, 2013
Lake Erie dropped three conference matches over the weekend to wrap up the fall portion of their schedule. The Storm was dealt 9-0 losses by Findlay, Hillsdale and Wayne State.Full Story | {
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Standalone Expansions
In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.
Out Now on Mac and Linux
The sinister science fantasy universe of Warhammer® 40,000® comes to savage life with Dawn of War® II on Mac and Linux.
It’s the 41st Millennium in the Sub-Sector Aurelia, a cluster of worlds on the edge of the Milky Way, where a battle of epic proportions is about to begin. As a newly promoted Force Commander of the Blood Ravens Chapter, it is your privilege to lead crack squads of Space Marines into battle against the forces of Orks, Tyranids and Eldar that threaten the Imperium of Man.
Driven by an innovative campaign narrative steeped in the lore of Warhammer 40,000, armies of technologically advanced warriors wage brutal war against remorseless enemies in a series of addictively fast-paced and visceral combat missions. | {
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Synced Warriors is a puzzle game where each button press controls all of the characters on the screen at the same time. You must navigate them to different locations while killing off the extra warriors.
Buy Synced Warriors
About This Game
Description
Synced Warriors is a puzzle game where each button press controls all of the characters on the screen at the same time. The main feature of the game is that each character moves relative to the direction they are facing. This means that if you instruct the characters to move left, they do not move to the left relative to the camera. Instead, they move left relative to the direction they are facing. This makes for some interesting puzzle situations as you attempt to orchestrate a battle between the forces of red, blue, green, and yellow.
Modes
In puzzle mode you attempt to move the warriors to the puzzle pads of the same color while killing off the extra warriors.
In infinite mode you attempt to keep the number of warriors on the map greater than 0 and less than a specified number.
Features
Dozens of puzzles
Three kinds of warriors that add complexity to the puzzles
Moving blocks and ballistae
Puzzle editor for making and sharing puzzles
System Requirements
All rights reserved. This game or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of Zachary Garrett except for videos and screenshots of gameplay for use in reviews or similar purposes. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
} |
Hot Sauce Enamel Pin
Hot Sauce Enamel Pin
10.00
Small but spicy, this hard enamel pin measures in at 0.5" x 1.4." Made proudly for Bang Bang Pie Shop in Chicago, Illinois. Best stored on your favorite jean jacket or backpack, includes a red, rubber clutch backer. | {
"pile_set_name": "Pile-CC"
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General Paper Standards
Standards for Papers
Electronically submitted papers should be in a standard 12-point font (e.g. Times New Roman or Cambria), with 1” x 1.25” margins, and double–spaced. Pages must be numbered and labeled according to MLA conventions. The title of the paper, your name, the date, the course, and the name of your instructor should appear in the upper left hand side of your paper. I will be taking grammar, spelling, and structure into account—good ideas cannot be communicated with poor form. If the grammar or structure in a paper is severely flawed in such a way that your thesis and arguments cannot be conveyed, I reserve the right to fail the paper. I encourage you to visit the Writing Lab in the Main Campus Library for assistance.
Hint: Take your paper to the Writing Lab to be proofread before turning it in for a grade!
Paper Length
Papers and other written assignments of insufficient length will receive a deduction from one letter grade to a grade of F, regardless of the writing quality, to be determined at the discretion of the instructor. Paragraphs that essentially repeat the same information or do not contribute to the thesis or prompt (i.e. that go off on a tangent) will not count toward the required word count and will not be considered part of the paper’s overall word count for grading purposes. So be sure your papers are on topic and of sufficient length. Lastly, while all written assignments have a “minimum word count,” there is never an official “maximum word limit”.
Policy for Grading Disputes
If you have a question regarding a grade, you must meet with me within one week after the work in question is graded. No exceptions will be made to this policy. If an exam or assignment is to be re–scored, the entire exam or project will be graded again. This means that your score may increase or decrease. This second grade, whether higher or lower, will be your permanent grade.
Academic Honor Policy (i.e. Cheating & Plagiarism)
My policy (which is reflective of my department’s policy) is that first offenses will result in a grade of zero for the assignment. Additional violations of the policy will result in the student receiving an F for the course. For additional information on Academic Honesty, see the Academic Honesty Policy document in Canvas. | {
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Posts Tagged ‘swivel store’
Hey there! Today we want to discuss a problem that many of us deal with in our homes…STORAGE SPACE! For us, moving into a 2 bedroom, 1 bath home, this problem became quite relevant very quickly. We had to start coming up with ways to utilize ALL the space we had. So let us take you on a little field trip around our home…
Let’s start off with the bathroom. Seeing as we only have one small bathroom, this posed a problem. We had to fit a bunch of stuff under the sink and it was looking like a hot mess down there, until we found Roll-Out (read in a Ludacris voice) Under-Cabinet Drawers at Bed Bath and Beyond. Hallelujah! These suckers are awesome because you can make use of the vertical space under the sink. Now everything has its own spot, in its own compartment. For us anal retentive people, it’s so nice to see things organized. =)
Now let’s move on to the kitchen. The space under the kitchen sink is home to all of our cleaning products; this includes about 5 spray bottles. This area is our hot mess zone #2! The minute you start using products and you don’t put them back exactly where they belong, the area slowly evolves from perfectly aligned rows, to complete and total under-sink pandemonium. So we found this very clever solution on Pinterest. Basically, you install a tension rod towards the top part of the cabinet space so that you can hang all of your spray bottles! Genius I tell you!
Ok, so now let’s shift our eyes over to the cabinet where we keep all of our spices. We’ve all been in the situation where you’re looking for a specific spice and you have to lift each and every bottle to read the label because they all look the same from the top. Well, that’s where we got sucked into an infomercial! Have you ever seen the one for the Swivel Store Spice Rack?
Well, yea…we bought it. And guess what? It’s the greatest thing ever! You just slide it into your cabinet and load it up with up to 20 bottles! You even still have enough space on the sides to store larger bottles. Really guys…it worked for us!
So you might be asking yourselves, “what the heck are those red things on the door?!” Well, my friends, this is another little idea we found on Pinterest. (I must stop here and do a little plug for this fabulous website…if you haven’t been on it yet, you MUST…after you read our blog of course….it’s the best idea for organizing all of the awesome things you find online…ok now back to our regularly scheduled programming). So, while pinning my life away, I stumbled upon a great idea from Family Handyman and decided to try it out. All you need are some 3M plastic hooks and a label maker, and you’ll have yourself the most organized measuring cups/spoons in town!
Finally, let’s talk about our pantry. When we first bought the house, this area used to be an actual pantry closet; but the smartest thing we ever did was knock it down and turn it into a big ol’ cabinet with pull-out drawers! The top part has 2 monstrous shelves that are still half empty, and the bottom part has 4 pull-out drawers that house everything from cans, to pots/pans, to even our printer.
Yes folks, you heard read right…our printer is in there too! Since we don’t have the space for a real home office, we had to make do with what we had. So we bought ourselves a wireless printer and connected our laptops to it. Now we can be sitting on the sofa, working on our laptops, and hit “print” and our papers will be sittin’ pretty, waiting for us to pick them up from the pantry drawer! Crazy, huh?
So these are just some of the adjustments we had to make in our home to have everything fit comfortably. And it’s actually becoming a bit addictive. Your creative juices really start flowing when necessity strikes! So, party on Garth! (yes…feelin’ Wayne’s World-ish right now). | {
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IOTA: integration optimization, triage and analysis
IOTA is a user-friendly front end for the cctbx.xfeland DIALS suites of serial diffraction data processing programs. It is comprised of three main modules:
Raw image import, conversion, pre-processing and triage
Image indexing and integration using cctbx.xfel (with optimization of spot-finding parameters) or DIALS (this is currently in the process of being adapted for diffraction stills)
Analysis of the integrated dataset
Please note that IOTA is a front-end for (currently) two pieces of data processing software: cctbx.xfel and DIALS. Therefore, the preferred construction for citation should be something like "diffraction data were processed with IOTA [1] using data reduction algorithms implemented in cctbx.xfel [2] (or DIALS [3])".
Running IOTA: GUI Mode
in your command line. First you will see the main input screen, which will allow you to enter basic information, such as the input and output folders (the current folder is automatically designated as output, but can be changed). This version, therefore, will only accept a single path (which must be a folder) as input. A folder with image-containing subfolders will also work as input.
Currently, two multiprocessing modes are available (by clicking on the "Preferences" toolbar button): 'multiprocessing' refers to merely using multiple cores on your local machine, while "lsf" will allow you to submit jobs to an LSF queue. The queues can be selected from a drop-down list or, if not found on the list, a queue name can be supplied by user.
The main screen also contains three buttons that open dialogs for image import options, processing options (this varies depending on backend choice) and analysis options. The image import options dialog allows the user to turn on/off image triage (i.e. image rejection based on whether sufficient Bragg spots are found), override beam XY and detector Z coordinates, threshold out the beamstop shadow, etc. The processing options dialog allows the user to generate a default target (PHIL) file for cctbx.xfel or read in an existing one, and modify the settings manually in a text window. Furthermore, you can modify spot-finding grid search options and integration result filter options. The analysis dialog allows you to output various charts summarizing IOTA output as well as individual image integration results.
Once IOTA is running, a run-time processing window will appear with two tabs: a Log tab that will display iota.log as it is updated in real time, and the Charts tab, which will display several useful graphs: of resolution vs. frame, number of strong (I / sigI > threshold) spots per frame, a pie chart breaking down indexing / integration success for the full dataset, and a beam XY chart, which can be used to monitor the ongoing processing run for indexing abnormalities (detected as concentric striation patterns of the refined beam XY coordinates for the processed images). The processing window will also allow the user to turn on the "Monitor Mode", in which IOTA will continuously check if any new diffraction images have been added to the input folder (or subfolders therein); this is a useful mode to use when running IOTA concurrently with data collection. A "time-out" period can be set, at the end of which IOTA will finish the run if no new images have been found. (If no time-out period has been set, un-toggling the Monitor button will cause the run to finish.)
When the run finishes, a new Analysis tab will appear in the processing window. There, the pertinent summary of the run would be displayed, along with buttons that will display several useful charts: a heatmap of the spot-finding results (if the LABELIT backend was used), resolution histograms and beam XYZ charts. The user can also choose to run PRIME from this window, in which case the PRIME GUI will launch with the parameters pertinent to this run filled in (e.g. input / output folders, resolution limits, pixel size, unit cell, etc.)
Running IOTA: Auto Mode
The simplest way to run IOTA is in Auto Mode. To do so, simply issue:
iota.run /path/to/image/files/
The path may contain a tree of folders in any configuration. IOTA will then carry out a conversion step if the source folder contains raw diffraction images. The converted image pickles will be saved in the current folder under the subfolder "converted_pickles". Inside that folder, converted pickles will be saved separately for each IOTA run, under subfolders named "001", "002", "003", etc. Alternatively, once raw images have been successfully converted to image pickles, IOTA can be pointed to the image pickles instead, e.g.:
iota.run ./converted_pickles/001/
Alternatively, if a text file with a list of images exists, IOTA can accept that file as input (IOTA creates the input list automatically and saves it under ./integration/###/input_images.lst):
iota.run ./integration/001/input_images.lst
Once running, IOTA will display a program logo, some information about the configuration of the run and a progress bar for each major step, e.g.:
IOTA will automatically create two script files: iota.param (which contains settings for running IOTA) and target.phil (a cctbx.xfel target file), which can be modified by a user to fine-tune various settings. The output will be collected in the folder named "integration", which will contain subfolders for each integration run, titled "001", "002", "003", etc. Each run generates a folder named "final" with the final integrated pickles as well as individual cctbx.xfel logs for each image. Furthermore, lists of files that have been successfully integrated (integrated.lst), failed integration (not_integrated.lst), etc. can be found there. Finally, a pre-populated script for PRIME (prime.phil) can be found there as well. (Currently, the user must manually edit prime.phil to specify the number of residues - "n_residues" - in order to run PRIME successfully.)
Running IOTA: Target Files
IOTA itself is a front-end to the data processing programs cctbx.xfel and DIALS. These programs require their own set of parameters, distinct from IOTA parameters, which are located in so-called "target" files: text files containing parameters encoded in Python-based hierarchical interchange language or PHIL. When run in AUTO mode, IOTA generates an appropriate target file for cctbx.xfel or DIALS using defaults deemed reasonable for most serial crystallography projects. (NOTE: since the DIALS stills indexer remains a work in progress, those defaults may not work very well.) These default target files can also serve as a starting point for the user to modify those settings as they see fit. The user has the option to provide their own target file (perhaps generated during a previous data processing attempt). The user can edit the IOTA settings to specify the target file
Perhaps the most useful of these are -r and -n options, as they allow the user to adjust an IOTA run in Auto-mode on the fly. Alternatively, both of these settings can be changed within the script file.
All of the options in the script can be introduced as command-line statements by using a "compressed" PHIL format. Thus:
cctbx {
grid_search {
type = None *brute_force smart
}
}
translates into
iota.run script.param cctbx.grid_search.type=brute_force
IOTA Output
Due to IOTA's flexibility, there are several types of output that co-exist simultaneously and can be somewhat disconnected from one another. It helps to think of them as three separate stages of the process: pre-processing, grid-search / integration, and post-processing / analysis.
In pre-processing, raw images are read in and converted to Python pickles. These are saved under the "converted_pickles" folder in the format <prefix>_<run_no>_<#####>.pickle; each cycle of pre-processing is assigned a run number (e.g. "001", "002", "003", etc.). Pre-processing is only triggered if a) the read-in image is not already pickled or b) the image has to be modified in some way (e.g. override beamXY coordinates, change detector distance, etc.). Thus, if converted and modified pickles are submitted to IOTA, the "converted_pickles" folder will not be created. The purpose of this is to allow the user to experiment with image modification, then subsequently select the converted pickles that best fit the user's needs.
The output of the other two steps (grid-search / integration and post-processing / analysis) can be found under the "integration" folder. The grid-search results are saved to the "integration/###/image_objects" folder in the format <filename>.int. These are pickled dictionaries which contain all the information about the individual images (without the pixel values or integrated intensities), such as raw image filename, converted pickle filename, the details of the grid search, etc. These can be used for some of the advanced operations, such as experimentation with the selection process without repeating the grid search.
The integrated pickles are collected under "integration/###/final" folder, in the format int_<filename>.pickle. Only successfully integrated images are saved this way. For each of the input images, however, a log of cctbx.xfel or DIALS output is saved in the same folder, in the format <filename>.log. This log documents each integration attempt from the grid-search with the final integration attempt at the end (for cctbx.xfel) or the linear indexing/integration output (for DIALS) and can be used for troubleshooting.
If the user chooses to output any charts (e.g. grid-search heatmap, beam center plot, image visualization, etc.), these will be found under "integration/###/visualization" folder.
Finally, the "integration/###" folder itself contains text files with lists of images, e.g. input images, all integrated images, all images that failed integration, major clusters from the unit cell-clustering module, etc. The main logfile (iota.log) is also found here, as is the default input file for PRIME (prime.phil). | {
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Guys,hi!Got a question...When i`m jewelcrafting, all i can do is craft the jewel with oil of craft+jewel+arcane shard+rune.Then i can lucky it.Are there any more ways to add affixes to the jewel?Like shrine blessing, MOs, or whatever?Coz i see lots of pics with plenty of stats jewels...but i only get like LL and rezist...maybe 1 to all attributes.
I`m back in bussiness with the javazon!I found SotS and and some great runes, including a Sha'ad.So, i was thinking, 5% Chance to cast level 12 Spiral Dance when you Kill an Enemy+(251 to 300)% Enhanced damage+(301 to 400) to Maximum DamageIgnore Target's DefenseAdds 1000-1500 cold damageDamage Reduced by 5%Total Character Defense Plus (31 to 40)%
the runeword javelin with sha`ad looks awesome...DR,TCD,ITD, maximum dmg and that spiral dance(what does that do?) isn`t better than Herfjotur? | {
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2003-2007 5.9 Dodge Cummins Dual CP3 Kit
We originally designed the first low mount dual CP3 kit around 10 years ago. This is a complete redesign of that original low mount version. We have moved the pump location, and relocated the idler pulley position to allow for clearance of the late style power steering pump reservoir. This allowed the placement of the pump to be moved both up and outward. Where once we had issues with the need for very specialized fittings for the lower CP3, that is now a thing of the past. You can use readily available 90 degree AN fittings on a lower 5.9 pump, with good clearance between the fittings and any upper CP3 you may choose to use with the kit.
Our’s features a 1.28:1 drive ratio. This equates to comparable output from a stock displacement belt driven pump exceeding that of a 10mm stroker CP3. Since 2006 we have been running the CP3 with added RPM, with no abnormal issues. Of course we cannot vouch for other manufacturers modified stroker pumps. All unmodified pumps top out the flow potential at 3000 rpm. So to get the most of a stock pump with our dual CP3 kit, or any pump exceeding this flow limiting rev range, we can modify your pump and verify the testing results.
Our kit does NOT include a CP3 pump, you must provide your own. We provide a dual high pressure supply to the common rail, by relocating the pressure sensor to a custom machined tee connection. We include the Billet composite pulley, the mounting brackets and hardware, belt and idler, all the required high pressure components and connections, and dual CP3 controller.
Due to the myriad of plumbing options, we do not supply these in the kit. You will find fittings, hose, and adapters available in the plumbing section of this site. | {
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Evolutionary Genetics and Conservation Biology
Lab News
November 2018: Dr. Reece and students were featured in a video for Fresno State’s Day of Giving! The video was about Dr. Reece’s work with Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks for environmental DNA sampling of the rivers in the area. Check it out here!
October 2018: Reece Lab was featured in Fresno State news for research involving acoustic monitoring of bats in the Central Valley and Sequoia National Park! Check out the story here. Rachel was awarded a Graduate Research Fellowship for her research on Western Pond Turtle genetics and conservation. Congratulations Rachel!
August 2018: Dr. Reece, Chris, Rachel, and Shelby travel to New Orleans, Louisiana to attend the Ecological Society of America meeting! This years’ theme was extreme events, ecosystem resilience, and human well-being. Dr. Reece gave a presentation on his research on sea level rise and climate change in Georgia and Chris, Rachel, and Shelby gave poster presentations on their research.
July-August 2018: Lab members enjoyed participating in a variety of research trips this summer! Dr. Reece and students conducted bird and invertebrate surveys in Morro Bay, snorkeled in Sequoia National Park to collect water samples and information on amphibians, reptiles, and fish that live in foothill streams, and assisted with acoustic monitoring and mist-netting of bats in Sequoia National Park.
Stream surveyors caught a western pond turtle
Filtering water samples for environmental DNA collection
Stream surveys for amphibians, fish, and reptiles
Checking for Whitenose Syndrome
Checking for Whitenose with a UV light
Keying out a bat in Sequoia National Park
Morro Bay survey crew after kayaking
Kayaking in the harbor!
Acoustic monitoring for bats
Morro Bay survey crew
Long-eared Myotis bat
June 2018: Our undergraduates Rob, Saramae, and Lexi were awarded grant funding through the ASI Undergraduate Research Grant program at CSU Fresno! Rob and Lexi are researching how coastal dredging will impact the ecology of Morro Bay, California. Saramae’s project involves using environmental DNA (eDNA) to monitor California tiger salamanders in local riverine systems. Claire, who researches sea-level rise with Dr. Reece, was accepted as a transfer student to UC Berkeley. Congratulations and best wishes Claire!
June 2018: Saramae and Dr. Reece were awarded a $5,000 grant from the Sequoia Learning Center to do environmental DNA surveys of amphibians and fish in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. Our first collection trip is in July; Congratulations Saramae!
June 2018: Chrisionna joins the lab! Dr. Reece and four students (Rob, Saramae, Chrisionna, and Shelby) travel to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park to collaborate with the park wildlife team during the first of several bat monitoring events over the 2018 summer. Dr. Reece and his students assisted park staff with data collection and public outreach throughout the evening.
Enjoying the view from Moro Rock!
Checking a pallid bat for Whitenose Syndrome
May 2018: Dr. Reece led an eight-day study abroad course to Belize! He was accompanied by 18 students and another CSU Fresno biology faculty member, Dr. Lent. The group experienced the beautiful scenery, Belizean culture, and vibrant flora and fauna through birding opportunities (over 100 species of tropical birds were seen!), rainforest hikes, and snorkeling on the Belize Barrier Reef! The course focused on conservation and the biodiversity of Belize’s birds, mammals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates. Students learned about the different Belizean ecosystems, conservation issues, and the interaction between biodiversity and humans in Belize. It was an amazing trip!
Representing Fresno State!
Hike to St. Herman’s Cave!
Exploring Mayan ruins!
A sunny day out on the Belize Barrier Reef!
Jungle survival hike!
March 2018: Dr. Reece, Rachel, Saramae, Lexi, and Shelby attended a donor event for the College of Science and Mathematics to present their research. Rachel and Saramae presented on California Tiger Salamander eDNA and Western Pond Turtle conservation genetics. Lexi and Shelby presented on interdisciplinary course-based research and the impacts of coastal dredging in Morro Bay.
February 2018: Dr. Reece and Conservation Biology students travel to Morro Bay to collect more sediment and survey for coastal birds. They were joined by Dr. Brady’s sedimentology class.
Dr. Reece talking to Dr. Brady’s sedimentology class
Hike to Valencia Peak!
January 2018: Dr. Reece and his Conservation Biology class travel to Morro Bay to collect sediment samples and survey for coastal birds!
Hike to Black Hill!
Canoeing across the harbor
January 2018: Dr. Reece, Chris, Rachel, and Shelby travel to Santa Clara to present research at the CSUPERB conference.
Chris presenting his research on mammal phylogenetics
October 2017: Rachel, Claire, Bryant, Rob, Lexi, Saramae, and Daisy joined the lab as undergraduates! Chris, Rachel, Claire, and Shelby were awarded FSSRA grants and Claire and Shelby were awarded COAST grants.
June 2017: Dr. Reece, Chris, and Shelby traveled to Portland, Oregon for the 2017 Evolution conference. Dr. Reece gave a talk about body size and shape evolution in hagfish, Chris presented on phylogenetics of California’s high-risk mammals, and Shelby gave a poster presentation on phylogenetics of climate change vulnerability in California birds.
November 2016: Our undergraduate, Francisco Barajas, was awarded funding from the “COAST Undergraduate Student Research Support Award” from CSU Fresno for his research on hagfish evolution!
October 2016: Dr. Reece and the lab travel to San Francisco to take hagfish measurements from the California Academy of Sciences.
August 2016: Reece Lab moves to CSU Fresno!
Shelby, Gurjap, Francisco, Conner, and Michael all join the lab as undergraduates.
The red-haired Reece was recently featured in an article by PBS on one of his sea turtle papers. Read the full story here.
Dr. Reece was accompanied by two additional VSU faculty members, Theodore Uyeno and Corey Anderson, in attending the 2015 International Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology (SICB) meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida. Each of the faculty members presented on their research, and we also brought along seven VSU undergraduates who presented on their research. The students (and their advisors) were:
Bradley D. Owens (Reece-Uyeno)
Erika L. Schumacher (Reece)
Arturo Sanchez (Reece)
Lauren C. Sparks-Hoskins (Reece)
Ashilee T. Thomas (Reece)
William A. Haney (Reece-Anderson)
Yessi Castro (Uyeno)
Dr. Reece gave an oral presentation on his research on how sea-level rise, climate change, and human infrastructure affects sea turtle nesting patterns. Dr. Uyeno was invited to speak in a special symposium on the biomechanics of soft-bodied organisms. Dr. Anderson presented a poster on his research on the spatial distribution of spanish moss.
As for the students:
Brad Owens attended to learn more about the comparative methods he is using to understand the evolution of hagfish and their unique morphological characteristics. Erika Schumacher coauthored two posters, one with Arturo Sanchez and Dr. Reece where we describe a method we developed to use genetics to identify the sex of the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow, a Federally Endangered species with males and females that look identical. This work will aid in the design of captive rearing programs for this species. In a second poster, Erika Schumacher, William Haney, Dr. Reece and Dr. Anderson describe the results of a genetic survey of the Florida Grasshopper Sparrow where we show that the mysterious and precipitous decline in this endangered species is not due to low genetic diversity. Lauren Sparks-Hoskins and Dr. Reece presented a poster that examined how different color patterns evolved in tropical moray eels. Lauren developed a crowd-source method (using VSU undergraduates) to identify unique color patterns and then she examined evolutionary correlations between color patterns and the ecology of the different eel species. She found that different color patterns probably relate to the ability of morays to camouflage themselves, either to ambush prey or to avoid predation themselves. Ashilee Thomas and Dr. Reece presented a poster describing their research on how different species of eels evolved from ancestors that were entirely marine to descendant species that varied from marine to freshwater to brackish water to different types if migratory eels that spend portions of their lives in freshwater but breed in salt-water. We found that the ability to move from marine to freshwater environments evolved independently several times, probably through unique adaptations each time. Yessi Castro delivered an oral presentation on how a local species of crayfish (sampled from near the VSU campus) generates sound, and under what conditions it makes various types of sound. See article here.
Dr. Reece taught the inaugural version of his Coastal Biodiversity (BIOL 4020/6020) course this summer. Thirteen students participated in this course, which focused on the coastal ecosystems of Florida and Georgia. This was primarily a field course, and the class visited Sapelo Island (a barrier island in Georgia), Florida’s gulf coast springs and beaches, Seahorse Key (Gulf of Mexico), Key Largo for snorkeling and diving in coastal marine environments, Everglades National Park, the premier nesting beach for loggerhead turtles in Melbourne Beach, Florida, and the Matanzas region of North Florida. In addition to field experiences in coastal ecosystems, students focused on understanding how past climate change and sea-level rise has affected these systems, and how the current pattern of accelerated anthropogenic climate change is and is likely to continue to affect these systems. Dr. Reece plans to teach this class in future Maymesters. See article here. | {
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Author: Gam_Admin
Hi. We had a great time at the SHR 15 year show! Well, Forrest,me and most of the people in attendance did! Scott on the other hand had a real rough night thanks to the food poisoning he had from eating at Steubens earlier that day. He was a real trooper and made it through all but one song ( “bloodstains pictureframes” ) during which he was puking all over the place! I missed it as I was trying to hold my shit together but Forrest and the people on the side of the stage got quite a show I guess! Scott continued to hate life well into the next morning but is feeling better now. Thanks to everyone for showing up and going pretty nuts. It was super fun.
That’s gonna be it for state side shows until November probably. We leave for Japan on the 25th and hang out for a few days before tour starts. Then 2 shows in Tokyo before we head off to the Ukraine. I think we have 3 shows there and the rest are in Russia. Forrest and I will head home on the 17th, or is it the 18th? Scott will go on to Spain to hang out there with his family until early November. When we are all back our plan is to play a local show where we only do the Parts album from start to finish. We think it would be fun we just have to figure out the best place to do it. Ok that’s it for now! Be sure to head over to our bandcamp page for sweet deals that support the band directly. We will be adding some shirts and package deals real soon. Also check back here for tour updates, shows, stories from the road, all that.
So we had the CD release show at the Gothic Theatre which rocked and was a lot of fun. We also filmed for a video that day that should be out soon. It’s for “Falling Apart”.
The album has been streaming on PunkNews.org for a couple of days now and is getting some great feedback! I’m back in the studio working with Ume, the band from Austin that played at the release show. Great band, very nice people.
We have a show this weekend at 3 Kings in Denver for the 15 year anniversary of Suburban Home Records. Damn, has it really been that long? We play Saturday night around 10:30 or 11 I think.
We were selling limited edition CD’s at the show that had a jewel case and a simple insert. We should have the full on digipack this weekend at the show so come by and check it out! Also pre order for vinyl went up yesterday. We have 4 different colors to choose from! All very cool.
Hello friends. It has been a while hasn’t it? We, the Gamits, decided in November or something of 2009 to get back together, write a new album, and play some shows. Now it is August of 2010 and we are happy to say that all has gone according to plan and we just played our reunion show to a packed house here in Denver, ( thanks to everyone who made it even though the Warlock Pinchers were playing that night! ) and we are gearing up for the “Parts” album release show on Sep 4th at the Gothic Theater!
So….yeah, we have some big shows coming up and then we leave on a very exciting tour that takes us to Tokyo, then to the Ukraine and on to Russia. As soon as we have all those dates we will post them for ya. Can’t wait for the release show! See you there! | {
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Products
The ModularHose system is a mounting system that is adjustable, flexible, and of course…modular. The system is great for holding switches, small devices, and tablets including the iPad and Surface. As we like to say, ‘time to get mounted’. | {
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Technology | Media | Telecommunications
Tuesday, May 03, 2016
How Wireless Technology is Evolving for IoT Apps
Smart home, beacon, wearable, and other nascent Internet of Things (IoT) applications -- including energy management and smart cities -- are to propel the wireless IoT connectivity market forward, according to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research.
The market's trend toward multi-protocol connectivity IC adoption will ease development time, boost scale, and reduce complexity and cost for manufacturers across these different sectors in the years ahead.
"2015 witnessed a growing trend toward the development of multi-protocol connectivity SoCs for the IoT, some of which support both Bluetooth Smart and 802.15.4," said Andrew Zignani, industry analyst at ABI Research.
ABI analysts believe the devices that incorporate multi-protocol chipsets will stand the tests of time. While a product might utilize Bluetooth in the short term, a device manufacturer may want to switch to Thread in the future or have the ability to talk to multiple connectivity protocols once deployed.
Demand for Multi-Protocol Semiconductors
Moving forward, Bluetooth, ZigBee and Thread technologies could coexist in a single device. ABI Research also expects to see a growing presence of smart home hubs that incorporate multiple connectivity solutions such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Smart, Z-Wave and 802.15.4 (ZigBee/Thread).
These solutions will have a significant role to play in the development and consolidation of wireless connectivity solutions for the smart home. These hubs are already being already offered by the likes of Google, Samsung, and Huawei.
ABI Research forecasts that Bluetooth smart home devices will show a 75 percent growth rate between 2016 and 2021, though 802.15.4-based ZigBee and Thread will lead with 34 percent volume share of the home automation and 29 percent of the smart lighting markets by this time.
The ZigBee/Thread technology will also see growth in smart metering, building automation, industrial applications, and in the street lighting market -- accounting for almost one third of 802.15.4 shipments by 2021.
Wireless Connectivity Market Development
A majority of fitness and activity trackers are utilizing Bluetooth Smart, with the solution extending to medical applications moving forward. It also promises significant opportunity for beacons across numerous verticals, such as retail and advertising -- with a 129 percent growth rate between 2016 and 2021.
However, looking ahead there will be increasing competition in the connectivity sphere across numerous IoT verticals. Wi-Fi HaLow, or 802.11ah, operating in the sub-1GHz band will be of increasing importance for the Wi-Fi Alliance and chipset suppliers over the coming years as it tries to target various IoT verticals with low-power requirements.
According to the ABI assessment, these solutions will also face new challenges from LPWAN technologies, such as Sigfox and LoRa, but most importantly, by emerging cellular technologies, such as NB-IOT and eMTC. | {
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Guide to Spoofing Attacks: How to Prevent Them
Judging its light-hearted name, ‘spoofing’ may seem harmless at first glance. However, it’s one of the most serious types of cyber attacks, responsible for millions of dollars in losses each year. Since spoofing attacks can be hard to detect, they can allow attackers to hide in networks for months, giving them plenty of time to steal important data, inject systems with malware, and much more.
A serious spoofing attack can cripple any enterprise—especially small businesses who have less of a financial buffer to fall back on. As a result, it’s crucial that all organisations wise up to spoofing attacks, putting greater emphasis on understanding and preventing them.
Here’s a guide on the basics of spoofing attacks and what you can do to stop them from ruining your business.
What is a Spoofing Attack?
Before the advent of cyber attacks, the word ‘spoofing’ was used solely to describe a comedic imitation. Online spoofing attacks got their name because they also involve imitation, but there’s nothing funny about them. In fact, despite getting less press than ransomware and other types of cyberattack, they can be just as harmful—if not more so.
Simply put, spoofing is the practice of imitating a party or device in order to trick another party or device for malicious or fraudulent purposes. This definition may sound vague, but that’s because spoofing can take many forms, each with its own specifics.
Some of the most common types of spoofing attack are as follows.
Types of Spoofing Attacks
1. IP Address Spoofing Attacks
IP address spoofing is one of the most common forms of a spoofing attack.
The transmission of IP packets forms the basis of most communication between networked devices today. Alongside its body content, every IP packet contains a header which includes a source address. Typically, this source address belongs to the sender of the packet. However, during an IP spoofing attack, the attacker creates and sends IP packets with a spoofed source address.
Alongside being one of the most prevalent spoofing attacks, IP spoofing is also one of the most varied. In most cases, IP spoofing is used to launch a DDoS (direct denial of service) attack, flooding networks with traffic by disguising malicious IP packets as packets from legitimate addresses. There are two main IP spoofing methods used in these attacks:
The masked botnet method: In this method, attackers use botnet devices to infiltrate and flood servers, sending multiple packets with spoofed addresses to hide the identity of the devices. This allows attackers to execute a successful DDoS attack without being detected by the target, law enforcement, and even many DDoS-mitigation tools.
The reflected attack method: In this method, the attacker spoofs the target’s IP address and uses it to generate and send falsified packet requests to other network devices. This triggers an automatic response, sending a flood of response packets back to the target. This method is used in a variety of DDoS types, including NTP amplification, DNS amplification, and Smurf attacks.
On top of these attack methods, IP spoofing can also be used to bypass authentication on trust relationship-based networks. These networks only require an IP address to verify the identity of a device trying to access the network. Spoofing one of these IP addresses gives attackers a simple way around the network’s security measures, instantly granting them access permissions.
2. ARP Spoofing Attack
ARP spoofing is another frequently used attack which can have very serious consequences for organisations, particularly with regard to data theft.
Used in data transmission, ARP (which stands for Address Resolution Protocol) is a protocol which links IP addresses to MAC (Media Access Control) addresses. During an ARP spoofing attack, the attacker sends a spoofed ARP transmission across the network, thereby linking their MAC address with a legitimate IP address on the network. Once the attack has been successfully executed, the malicious party can receive, block, and modify data intended for the host IP’s address.
One of the most common purposes of an ARP attack is to steal sensitive information from the target. However, that’s not its only use. ARP spoofing can also be used as part of a DoS attack, resolving the target’s MAC address with multiple IP addresses to flood the target with traffic. Session hijacking (gaining access to a system by stealing its session ID) and man-in-the-middle attacks (used to intercept traffic between targets) can also be executed using ARP spoofing.
When it comes to preventing ARP spoofing attacks, it’s important to note that they can only be performed on networks that use the Address Resolution Protocol.
3. DNS Server Spoofing Attack
DNS spoofing is another way attackers exploit system vulnerabilities by falsifying network identities. To put the power of DNS spoofing into perspective, the vulnerability it exploits was also responsible for the ‘Great Firewall of China’ spreading to the US in 2010, blocking American residents from accessing popular websites like Twitter, Facebook and more.
One of the core systems of the internet, the Domain Name System (more commonly known as DNS) links domain addresses with their corresponding IP addresses, allowing devices to load internet resources efficiently. Unfortunately, like many other essential systems, it can be exploited by spoofers.
In a DNS spoofing attack, the attacker manipulates a DNS server to redirect a domain name to an IP address they control. This is used as a foundation to allow attackers to steal sensitive data, spread malware, and more. In some cases, the website on the attacker’s IP address mimics the target website exactly, making it DNS attacks very hard to spot. As with all the above types of spoofing attack, DNS spoofing can be carried out for a variety of purposes using multiple methods.
One of the most well-known forms of DNS spoofing is DNS cache poisoning. DNS servers keep up speed and efficiency with caching between other servers, but this leaves them open to attack; once attackers inject spoofed DNS entries into the server, all nodes connecting to it will use that entry until the cache expires. Worse, DNS poisoning can quickly and easily spread if other servers (such as home router servers) are pulling their information from the compromised target server. DNS spoofing can also be used as part of a man-in-the-middle attack, among others.
How to Prevent Spoofing Attacks?
Once you understand how spoofing attacks are commonly used to bring harm to organisations, you can better understand how to prevent them. One important thing to note is that in the vast majority of cases there is no way to stop a malicious party from launching a spoofing attack. As such, the best way to prevent spoofing is by adding more layers of security to your network so attacks cannot get through. Here are some of the security methods you can use.
Use Packet Filtering
One of the best all-round ways to prevent spoofing attacks is to use packet filtering. Ingress packet filtering is a firewall technique that monitors all incoming packets, catching and blocking all those that show a conflict between their source of origin and their source address. There is also a second form of filtering—egress packet filtering—which does the same for outgoing packets, preventing attackers from launching attacks from within the network. Packet filtering is most commonly used as a preventative tool against IP spoofing, but it’s also a useful tool against ARP spoofing, monitoring for conflicts between MAC and IP addresses.
Use Encrypted Protocols
Another very efficient prevention method is using secure, cryptographic network protocols such as HTTPS (HTTP secure), SSH (Secure Shell) and TLS (Transport Layer Security). These protocols encrypt outgoing data and authenticate incoming data, thereby preventing attackers from intercepting and modifying said data even if they’ve executed a spoofing attack.
Don’t Use Trust Relationships
As noted above, IP spoofing can be used to illicitly gain access to any network using trust relationships as an authentication method. This can have disastrous consequences for any organisation. Unsurprisingly, the best way to prevent this spoofing method is to avoid using trust relationships on your network. Logins are a far more secure method of verifying devices.
Use Spoofing Detection Software
Similar to how anti-virus software is one of the best ways to block malware, anti-spoofing software can be a useful tool in your arsenal against blocking spoofing attacks. Said software inspects and verifies all data transmissions, helping to catch and block any submissions it believes to be spoofed. While spoofing detection software should not be relief upon as your sole spoofing preventative, it’s a good way to bolster security.
Get a VPN
Last, but not least, a VPN is a good all-round security tool that organisations should make use of. A VPN (short for Virtual Private Network) encrypts all the traffic transmissions from a device. This ensures that even if you fall victim to a spoofing attack, the attacker won’t be able to intercept or modify any of your data. One possible cybersecurity VPN to try is NordVPN; however there are many good VPNs, you just need to choose carefully.
Ultimately, the best way to reduce your risk of falling victim to a spoofing attack is to bolster your security in as many ways as possible. All of the suggestions above will help to protect you, but no one option represents a full solution. Using all possible prevention techniques will ensure you’re protected against as many angles as possible, which is key when it comes to a type of attack with so many variations. | {
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March | 08, 2017 :: Gone are the days when women were considered no match for all powerful men in this world. The new generation women across the world have overcome all negative notions and have proved themselves beyond doubt in all spheres of life including the most intricate and cumbersome world of entrepreneurship. Women […] | {
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HEAD IN THE CLOUDS: ServiceNow’s CFO Resigns and Cloud Price Protection Myths
It is hard to stay on top of the latest news, events and rumblings tied to cloud computing and the cloud vendors responsible for it. For many of us, our memories are not what they use to be, making it even harder to keep up. Here are a few conversational topics that have come up recently, along with my thoughts, perspectives and observations:
ServiceNow’s CFO Mike Scarpelli Leaves for the “Next ServiceNow”
ServiceNow announced last week that CFO Mike Scarpelli is leaving during Q3 of 2019. This announcement came shortly after ServiceNow’s Q2 earnings release. Scarpelli has been at ServiceNow since 2011 (pre-IPO) when the company had annual revenue of roughly $100M with about 400 employees. It has grown since then to a $2.6B company with roughly 8,600 employees. Regarding his departure, Scarpelli said:
“This is an extraordinary company, and I couldn’t be more confident in ServiceNow’s opportunity to become a $10B company. That’s why I felt this is the right time for me to find my ‘next ServiceNow,’ and return to doing what I love most — scaling innovative start-ups into successful companies.”
The first question is, how will this impact ServiceNow moving forward? Ultimately, ServiceNow will be fine and they will continue to march towards becoming not only a $10B company put perhaps even an acquisition target of a much larger vendor, like Google. The second question, and perhaps the most interesting, is where will Scarpelli end up and has he already identified his “next ServiceNow”? My belief is, he has; and it almost seems too obvious.
Also last week, it was announced that one of Silicon Valley’s darlings, the up-and-coming, fast-growing cloud data warehouse technology company, Snowflake Computing (Snowflake), was switching CEOs. Out goes Bob Muglia (former Microsoft veteran) and in comes Frank Slootman. Muglia has shown no interest in rushing to IPO and Slootman is known for taking technology companies public. So why is that interesting? Beyond the clear direction Snowflake is now taking towards IPO, Frank Slootman is the former CEO of ServiceNow (one of the companies he took public). In fact, he was CEO while Scarpelli was CFO.
As Slootman and Snowflake work towards growing its base of customers and revenue, it makes perfect sense that Scarpelli would be the perfect choice as CFO to help make that happen. From Scarpelli’s perspective and based on his comments about wanting to scale innovative start-ups into successful companies, it makes perfect sense for him as well. My guess is an announcement is coming soon that the band is getting back together.
Did your Cloud Vendor Really Give You a Price Protection?
Beyond upfront pricing and discounting, the most critical component of any cloud subscription agreement is long term price protections. I could even argue that it is the most important, given the high likelihood of renewal. The problem is, most cloud subscriptions are either ambiguous regarding what will happen to the pricing you have been living with, or if there is a provision that provides a “protection”, it is full of conditions that effectively remove any protection you felt you had.
Ideally, and this is often difficult to achieve without the right strategy and approach, your cloud subscription agreement should have a period (i.e., subsequent to your initial term) in which that great upfront price used to get you to adopt is still available to you. In other words, your pricing should remain flat for a period beyond your initial term. There could even be an argument that your pricing should improve but that is for another time.
Most customers that do achieve a renewal term price protection, achieve a commitment that their pricing will not increase by more than a stated percentage, or a cap on the price increase. The problem is that even with an achieved cap or commitment to not increase upfront pricing, there are most likely also conditions included that effectively diminish, if not remove completely, the protection that certainty you think you have. Here are few we typically see:
You must maintain, at a minimum, a certain quantity of products or volume of users. More often then not, the entire quantity and volume must be maintained. What if you don’t need that volume anymore?
You must maintain the same exact set of products. What if you don’t need the same products anymore? What if you simply need other products? What if the product name changed or is actually no longer commercially available?
You must renew for the same length of term as your initial term. What if there is uncertainty moving forward and the market has changed, and a shorter duration is more appropriate?
Needless to say, it is important, if not critical, to be on the lookout for these conditions and address them in parallel with any discussions you are having around renewal term price protections. Without proper renewal term price protections, you are setting yourself up for downstream exposure and limited leverage to correct. | {
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Climate Change: BLM's Response
Clockwise from top left: BLM/Idaho; BLM/Arizona;BLM/California;BLM/Alaska
The Bureau of Land Management's response to climate change is multi-facted and includes controlling wildfires in the Lower Snake River District in Idaho, conserving resource values in Aravaipa Canyon, Arizona, developing wind energy in California, and monitoring vegetation changes in the Seward Peninsula in Alaska.
An Influence on the Land
Climate change is influencing western lands and resources in many ways. As average temperatures rise, droughts are increasing, snowpack is declining, and water supplies are diminishing in key areas. Arctic permafrost is thawing. Wildfires have become larger and more frequent. Noxious weeds and invasive species are crowding out native plants and wildlife (see USGCRP findings below).
These changes undermine the ecological health of BLM-managed lands and impact our quality of life. Healthy public lands produce vital water supplies and natural resources for energy, food, and shelter. They also provide valued recreation opportunities, and places of solitude and beauty, which nurture and replenish our spirit. These core values and benefits are threatened by the environmental changes underway.
The BLM is undertaking two connected initiatives to understand, anticipate, and respond to the effects of climate change on the public lands. These initiatives are Rapid Ecoregional Assessments (REAs), which are currently being prepared, and a proposed landscape approach for managing public lands.
The purpose of these initiatives is to help BLM managers and public land stakeholders understand environmental conditions and trends from a broader landscape perspective, and to use this information to inform, focus, and coordinate management efforts on-the-ground. The REAs and proposed landscape approach offer a way to integrate the BLM’s conservation, restoration, and development programs in a cohesive manner. These efforts will help sustain important public land values and meet the Nation’s energy needs in an era of climate change and other profound environmental challenges.
In addition to developing strategies for adapting to climate change, the BLM is working to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This is being accomplished in three ways: 1) by siting and developing renewable energy on public lands in an environmentally responsible manner; 2) by exploring the potential to sequester carbon dioxide in geologic formations beneath public lands; and 3) by designing and retrofitting BLM facilities to conserve energy. Taken together, the BLM’s climate change adaptation and mitigation efforts provide a constructive framework for addressing climate change and the environmental challenges of the 21st Century.
Recent warming in the Southwest has been among the most rapid in the nation. This is driving declines in spring snowpack and Colorado River flow.
Alaska has warmed at more than twice the rate of the rest of the United States over the last 50 years. Insect outbreaks and wildfires in Alaska are increasing with warming, lakes are declining in the area, and thawing permafrost is damaging roads and infrastructure.
In the Northwest, higher temperatures are causing more winter precipitation to fall as rain rather than snow and are contributing to earlier snowmelt. Further declines in snowpack are projected, leading to reduced summer streamflows.
In many areas of the West, increasing temperatures, drought, wildfire, insect outbreaks, and invasive species will accelerate transformation of the landscape. | {
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Friday, June 19, 2009
Priest labeled a hero after pulling a man from a burning-car.
I’m a stipler for manners with my children.
They are taught manners, to respect their elders, to admire achievers in society and ignore the knockers – above all ‘make their own decisions’ in life.
The other day as I passed my local church on the way to the pool, I got to wondering, why is it a priest or any other man of God, deserves anymore adulation than say a school-teacher, or for that matter a rubbish collector?
For the record, my first job was the later.
So, why should anyone give respect to a ‘man of the cloth’?
We don’t see people postulate in front of school-teachers do we?
Businessmen normally, don’t beg for mercy amongst their peers.
The vast majority of the public respect police-staff, but when you analyse their anointed positions, a policeman is merely a civilian with more rights.
Police in this country often have to put themselves at risk.
Just last month one constable was labeled a hero for dragging two people from a burning-car, under high-risk of injury and even death.
We don’t see teachers or any other professionals as free physiologists – but, apparently priests and ministers of the cloth are automatically qualified to act in this fashion?
Given these individuals have no more powers than a witch-doctor, and by & large less life-experiences than your generic bone-thrower or entrail reader – they are frankly far less deserving of any adulation based on merit, than say a fireman.
So when someone dies, do we go looking for answers from say a fireman?
Does The Head of The Fire Brigade issue a statement on sex-education in school?
Who gives a minister, pastor etc the right to not just hear peoples ‘issues’, but to treat them as if they were qualified to perform this duty?
From a believers perspective, is there any evidence a priest/minister/pastor/mullah etc has ‘magic’ that is some-how stronger than any other person, who can pray & believes in suppositious intervention?
I for one fail to see why normally intelligent people, ‘go weak at the knees’ in the company of ‘men of the cloth’ – it’s cringe worthy and pathetic in the extreme.
Adults acting like 13 year old girls at a Boy-Band Concert.
It’s a public admission that person is weak and easily lead.
Anyone who thinks a minister of the church is by rights worthy of umbrage - suffers some sort of character-flaw or is brainwashed.
Wake-up!
These ‘men of the cloth’ are not worthy of any social status, yet our papers are full of their demands every-time they feel they have been aggrieved by secular life.
Ministers/Priests/Mullahs/Bishops/Pastors etc are all leeches, who hide behind the broad-brush term ‘respect’ as some sort of automatic shield against criticism.
Despite the fact they serve no real function in modern-society – some-how we should all respect them - believers and un-believers alike.
These bludgers exploit on the benevolence of the week-willed and gullible.
They are added by a tax-system which gives them historic privileges that are demeaning to anyone with a grasp of reality.
I play basketball with a guy I would consider a friend. He does not know I am an atheist though, most people I know don't know my religious beliefs because I live in the Bible Belt. His "job" is Youth Pastor at a local church. I constantly ask him when he is going to get a real job. He just laughs and thinks I am joking. | {
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Forget-Me-Knot-Weddings
Personal and friendly wedding planning, wedding co-ordinating service. Packages offered are tailor made to requirements of couple based on budget, from full package to Mix and Match packages. Bespoke stationary design, table design etc. Also party planning, parties from large to small. | {
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When You Go To Buy Your Dream Car
If asked what car you want you would like to buy, we all have a dream car in mind immediately. Even if we do not have the money to buy the car immediately, we will still have an ideal car that we want to buy in our minds. Something that we see on the road or parked at a mall, we often see someone else car and we immediately grow fond of it. How often do we then go home and check out the price of one of those cars and check out the features of it and make a plan of how and when we will buy it. Often we go and look up leasing and loan facilities that can be used to help purchase the car. And one day, the dream comes true and you finally have collected the money to buy that dream car of yours, but all of it is ruined after a few weeks from purchase as you realize the car you were given was actually run down and heavily mistreated, or was sold by a crook who sold a bad faulty car as a brand new one.
This nightmare could be come true. That is why it is extremely important to have proper advice about the car you are buying from a professional, unless you yourself are a professional. It is in these cases that you benefit from having a pre purchase car inspecton Sydney who can make sure your car is in tip top condition and is you get exactly what you are paying for. These are the experts that crooked dealers hope you don’t have so that can give you a lousy deal. With these mechanics on your side you can rest easy that you won’t be duped and the responsibility of making sure the car is in prime condition is not yours but the mechanics.
Addition if you want to make sure that your dream car is always in good hands another important thing to make sure is that you have a mobile car mechanic Sydney on call or on hand so that you are assured that no matter what happens or where it happens, you are not stranded because there is an expert ready to help you wherever you are. This can be very important if they offer twenty-four hours, seven days a week service because if you get stuck in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, you want a better plan than sitting quietly in the dark and hoping for the best.
These are two very important and useful tips that can help make sure that the you don’t get swindled out of a good deal and that you are always assured of support, if the worst should ever happen. | {
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After seeing "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2," Kidsday reporters Darwin Esteban, Brendan Kilcommons and classmate Violet Rand went to the AOL offices in Manhattan on Monday to talk to the movie's star, Kevin James. Here is part of their interview with him:
What was it like fighting with the bird?
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Fighting with the bird was one of the hardest things I did in the movie because, first of all, I was scared of the real bird. They had a real bird there for a little while, but of course I wasn't going to fight a real bird. So that bird got to go home and they brought in a mechanical bird. It was really a big bird . . . . A guy was controlling it. It was a remote controlled bird and it was beating me up. It hurt a lot. It was hard to fight that bird and win. I don't think I did too well against it.
The dancing scenes in Mall Cop 2 . . . why would you bring in a stunt double for dancing for me? You know I'm the greatest dancer who ever lived. Right? I don't think there's anybody better than me out there. I did all my dancing, unfortunately. So if you don't like the dancing then I'm sorry, but yes, I did a lot of the dancing and we do have a stunt double for some things I got to do, but not dancing.
I did most of them. There were a couple ones in there that I couldn't do, they wouldn't let me do and I was afraid to do so we have a guy who's much braver than me and he would come in and his name is Heath and he would come in and do the stunt for me. He would paste on a mustache and he would look like me except not as chunky, but we would chunky him up with a pad, and he would fall and hit a car or whatever, something crazy. I don't like heights. I'm afraid of heights. So he would do some of that stuff. But I wouldn't hold a snake, not that there's a snake in this one. If there was a snake in my movie I wouldn't hold it. I would bring in Heath. So the stuff I didn't want to do I would bring in my stunt guy. But I did a lot of it. I did most of it because I wanted it to be real.
What was your favorite scene to act in "Mall Cop 2"?
My favorite scenes were probably the scenes we have [with] a lot of other comedians in the movie, like Loni Love's [she played Donna Ericone] in there, we have a bunch of newer guys too, Vic Dibitetto, Gary Valentine, Ana Gasteyer [Mrs. Gundermutt], Nick Turturro [Nick Manero]. There were a bunch of very funny comedians to work off of. So I got to play around with them. Anytime I was with them, this band of misfits that were kind of like myself. They're security guards as well. We had a lot of fun. And Shelly DeSai [Khan Mubi].
What was your most embarrassing moment in filming?
My pants fell down when I ran away from one scene. I had a lot of stuff on my belt. I have a lot of equipment on my belt and when I was running away from . . . the desk at the hotel and I had to go run and chase somebody and the weight of the belt took my polyester pants down. So I was running basically in my underwear. And this was embarrassing because I didn't have Superman, but I had Spider-Man underwear on.
Last Saturday, we were on the red carpet before the advanced screening for the new movie "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2" starring Kevin James. Do you like action, adventure, and comedy? We do, and we all agree: It was such a good movie! After meeting many of the stars of the film including James, Raini Rodriguez (she plays Maya), David Henrie (Lane), Daniella Alonso (Divina), and director Andy Fickman, we went inside to watch the movie with many of the stars. It was a fun afternoon.
The movie picks up six years after the first Paul Blart movie. In this film, Paul is invited to go to Las Vegas. At the same time, his daughter, Maya, finds out that she has been accepted to UCLA, but she is afraid to tell her dad because she knows he will be so lonely without her. They travel to Las Vegas and here is where their adventure begins. There is a group of bad people who are trying to steal many of the famous pieces of artwork that are displayed around the hotel.
The movie is so funny, even better than the first one, which we watched to prepare for the sequel. Kevin still dances like crazy in this film. Erin loved the scene where Paul has to zip line from one building to the next to break up the crime ring. She liked it because in the end he says, "Always bet on Blart."
Physical comedy is one thing that makes every Kevin James movie so great and that is what Darwin liked the best. Wait until you see him run face-first into a glass window. You will be shocked and laughing at the same time. Darwin also liked the bird scene with Paul Blart. It really is hysterical, especially since the piano player in the scene never comes to help him.
Brendan liked the action and the big fight scene between the bad guys and mall cops. He added, "It has action and comedy. Action because they're fighting and comedy because, well, you will just have to watch the movie to find out!" | {
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John F. Braun Discusses Amazon’s Mac Software Store on Mac Roundtable
By Jeff Gamet
May 31st, 2011 11:52 AM EDT
The Mac Observer’sMac Geek Gab co-host John F. Braun joined the Mac Roundtable crew to talk about Amazon’s new Mac application download service and more.
This edition of the Mac Roundtable podcast also included The MacVoices Group’s Chuck Joiner, along with Katie Floyd from the Mac Power Users. Along with Amazon’s Mac App Store competitor, the group discussed issues with AT&T’s billing process, Skype and Twitter service outages, monitoring your Internet data usage, and online computer security.
Mac Roundtable episode 101 is available as a free download at the Mac RoundtableWeb site. | {
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MILAN - A study shows that a tumultuous series of geopolitical events is slowing growth in the luxury goods sector.
The study of the global luxury trends, released Tuesday by consultancy Bain & Company, indicates sales of designer apparel, leather goods and jewelry are expected to increase 2 per cent this year to 223 billion euros ($282 billion) from 218 billion euros in 2013.
Senior Bain partner Claudia D'Arpizio said that the crisis in Ukraine, demonstrations in Hong Kong, a military coup in Thailand along with record cold in North America and declining consumer confidence in Europe all have slowed the pace of luxury goods purchases.
Chinese consumers retain their place as the biggest collective spenders, snapping up nearly one-third of global luxury goods, although growth there was slowing amid anti-corruption measures. | {
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Will the UK See a Summer of Discontent?
The shadow of the Winter of Discontent is looming over the UK again. Increasing unemployment, belt-tightening in the public sector, and a harder line from unions are ringing alarm bells for businesses.
Getty Images
Angry demonstrators clashed with police in a student protest outside parliament as the coalition government faced its biggest test yet in a vote on proposals to triple university tuition fees.
The austerity agenda pursued by the British Conservative-led government is under attack from unions across the economy, and strikes by public servants are threatening to paralyse the country on June 30.
There have recently been strikes at Jobcentre Plus, the government agency which helps the unemployed find work and is ironically facing job cuts itself.
Conservative politicians have started calling for tougher laws against industrial action, bringing back memories of Margaret Thatcher’s crushing attack on unions during the 1980s.
“Strikes disrupt the public and are bad news for the economy, so we hope unions will work constructively with employers to avoid industrial action,” Jim Bligh, principal policy adviser at the CBI, the business body, told CNBC.com.
“We are calling for the law to be changed make sure no strike can go ahead unless it has clear support. We want strikes to have the backing of at least 40% of the balloted workforce, as well as a majority of those voting."
The first national rail strike in the UK for 16 years was only averted after the intervention of the High Court last year, and strikes by British Airways cabin crew hit the well-known airline hard. Management at the airline came to an agreement with members of the Unite union last week after a dispute over pay which cost the company £150 million and lasted for almost two years.
The bombastic Bob Crow, leader of the RMT transport workers union, is often cited as a figurehead for an increasingly strident union movement. His union argues that the country’s rail system should be renationalised, which would be a radical departure.
“There’s certainly scope for strike action,” Justin Fisher, professor of political science at Brunel University and director of the Magna Carta Institute, told CNBC.com.
“The interesting thing is the extent to which the strike is observed, which depends on how many people are in unions.”
Union membership has declined in the UK along with the manufacturing industries which had large-scale union membership during Thatcher’s years in power. Unions have failed to make the same inroads into white-collar jobs. They are competing with each other for job sectors, with teachers, for example, having to choose between three different unions.
“As manufacturing activity declined, so did union penetration in the workforce. Unions failed to keep up with changes in the economy,” Fisher said. | {
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The Black Man in the Civil War. Taken from Charles H. Wesley and Patricia W. Romero, International Library of Negro Life and History; Negro Americans in the Civil War. Published in Baton Rouge as part of the American Bicentennial celebration. Ca....
Officers of the district meeting of the Horizon Club (older branch of the Camp Fire Girls) at the annual meeting, 1957, held at Pleasant Hall on the Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, La. (L. to r.) Suzanne Leequette, Port Author, Tx.;...
Construction of the dock facilities of the Port of Greater Baton Rouge just below Port Allen, La. The Large white tank structure is the grain elevator which was put into operation in 1955. Dock construction was completed in the Fall of 1955.
Postcard: "Baton Rouge Bridge, over the Mississippi River, Baton Rouge, La." Reverse reads A view of the new bridge across the Mississippi with Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the thirty-four story capitol, and the Standard Oil Company of Louisiana in the...
Third Street, Baton Rouge, La. Baton Rouge Louisiana was founded over 200 years ago and its present population with suburbs is over 100,000. It is the capitol of Louisiana, then nation's nineteenth ranking port and the home of Louisiana State... | {
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Tag Archives: thirst
The first step to preventing dementia is to stay hydrated. The brain is more sensitive to dehydration than any other tissue in your body. This issue is on my mind due to numerous friends’ parents having tragically developed Alzheimer’s and also learning of contemporaries with early-stage dementia. Craniosacral therapy can help, and I’ll write about that in the future. Today: hydration.
This is a topic that your doctor will probably never mention unless you have a severe issue like kidney disease, but your massage therapist certainly will!
You are at your most dehydrated when you wake up in the morning. Therefore, drink water soon after you wake! It’ll help get your brain and your whole system going. Continue reading →
First. Let yourself get hungry. Abstain from eating so that you feel hunger. Check in with what your body is feeling every so often for an hour after you first feel hunger. Notice whether the sensations stay the same or change.
Drink water and notice what happens. Sometimes we mistake thirst for hunger. Learn the difference.
Savor these sensations. They are wisdom from your body. They are real, present sensations. Hunger for them. Trust them. You may have been ignoring them. You may have trouble recognizing them.
(Don’t worry. If you are reading this post, you will not die from hunger in one hour, or thirst, although your mind may be telling you differently. Your mind has been conditioned to mindless eating. That’s what is changing.)
If your mind starts thinking about food, write about it. Make a list of foods you daydream about. Evaluate this list. Is it good for you? If not, could something else satisfy you — a hug, a walk, dancing?
Notice the difference between what you feel with your body and what your mind is doing. Each way of being has a signature.
What would your life be like if you only ate after you fully and consciously felt hunger? Would you eat at certain times, or might the times vary? How often do you really need to eat to maintain or improve your health?
Second. Eat. After an hour of hunger and its sensations has gone by, eat. Eat some food that is healthy. Eat it slowly with an eye to noticing the sensation of satiety, of having eaten enough.
Do not eat with the goal of cleaning your plate. Give yourself a small serving.
The goal is to really notice eating and “enough”. Take one bite. Chew it. Taste it. Notice as many qualities of the taste as you can. Swallow.
Take another bite. Chew, taste, swallow. Move your arm slowly as you pick the food up with your fork or spoon or fingers and bring it to your mouth. Chew slowly.
After the third bite, pause for a minute. Notice the sensations in your stomach. How have they changed? Do you still feel hungry? Do you feel less hungry?
Remember that your empty stomach is the size of your fist, and your full stomach is the size of both fists. You don’t even have to fill your stomach to feel satiated.
Eat ten bites and notice your stomach sensations.
You might decide to stop then, or you might decide to eat 15 or 20 bites. But stop when you’ve eaten less than you would mindlessly eat.
Then see how long it takes for you to feel hungry again, and do it all again. It might mean you need to have food available as you go through your day, perhaps some nut butter, a banana, an avocado. Just enough to stave off your hunger pangs. You could eat half a banana or avocado, or a teaspoon of almond butter.
You might also think about where the food came from, plant or animal, soil, rain, sunshine, farmers, and all the places it has been and hands it has passed through to get to your mouth. With gratitude.
Third. Do this often. It’s a great way to lose weight, because it’s portion control, but more importantly, it gets you back in touch with your body, and it extends your experience of gratitude and connection to the planet.
Also, if you are only eating when hungry, and only eating enough to stave off hunger for a couple of hours, you will want every bite of food you eat to be nutritious as well as delicious. No HFCS, please.
And that’s it. I’m posting this to remind myself that I can eat like this, because I have put on a little more weight than I’d like. I’m having a small cup of quinoa tabouli for breakfast, then it’s off to work.
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I have an affiliate association with Amazon.com. When you click links for products available on Amazon.com, I receive a tiny percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. This is the only way I make money off this blog. | {
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Cops seize 2,100 pot plants in recent sting
NEVADA COUNTY “-An investigation into questionable financial dealings drew the attention of federal drug enforcement agents who raided properties in seven counties, leading to the arrest of a Nevada County man at a residence just outside Grass Valley.
Richard McClure, 51, was arrested at a home on Butler Street in Grass Valley after authorities found him at a home with 60 marijuana plants. McClure was also found with $15,000 in cash in a vehicle on the property.
His arrest was part of a two-month operation that concluded Tuesday and netted the seizure of 2,100 marijuana plants and $625,000 in cash as well as rifles, shotguns and handguns. Most of the material was found in El Dorado County.
It is the latest example of the criminal acts and violence often tied to commercial pot growing, by far California’s most valuable cash crop according to law enforcement authorities.
McClure was transported by federal marshals to El Dorado County after he was arrested. Four other suspects were taken into custody by the U.S. Marshal’s office, Nevada County Narcotics Task Force Sgt. Bill Smethers said. They were identified by the state Department of Justice as Ryan Ennis, 36, Justin Downey, 27, Colleen Wood, 47, and Maika Tagalu, 19.
Those arrested will face federal charges of conspiracy to manufacture and cultivate marijuana, according to the California Attorney General’s Office.
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The El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office initiated the investigation.
The investigation began in September as the Mountain and Valley Marijuana Investigation Team, comprised of state and federal law enforcement agencies investigated questionable financial dealings and forwarded them to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Authorities later discovered an outdoor growing operation in Pollock Pines in El Dorado County, according to the California Attorney General’s office. Suspects in the case had spent “millions of dollars on properties in El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Mendocino, Sacramento, Alameda and San Francisco counties.” The operation, which included land purchases, had been going on for four years, according to the Attorney General’s office.
U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott said his office has been looking to aggressively pursue marijuana traffickers by researching questionable multiple financial dealings of those involved, which is how this particular case unfolded. In many cases, suspects make deposits of large sums of cash — generally sums just shy of $10,000 — that raise the suspicions of investigators and led to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency assisting local law enforcement in cracking this case.
In many cases, the federal government intervenes in such marijuana busts when there are over 1,000 plants to be rounded up, Nevada County Sheriff Keith Royal said.
The federal government generally has wider latitude to punish offenders who grow and sell marijuana, which means those arrested Tuesday will most likely face harsher federal penalties than those allowed under California law, Royal said.
California Proposition 215, which allows for the medicinal use of marijuana, has no bearing on federal law.
The size and scope of this operation triggered federal action on this case, Royal said.
“And they’re going to see much more severe penalties, because the feds don’t have to comply as much with state statutes,” he said.
The number of plants seized in Nevada County this year has dropped precipitously from last year.
In 2007, the county’s Narcotics Task Force seized 50,000 plants. This year, the task force has rounded up just 3,800.
Smethers said he believes the reason is because prescriptions for medicinal marijuana have simply become easier to obtain.
“Now, you have people 16 years old getting prescriptions,” he said. “People are seeing that it’s becoming more lucrative, and they’re hiding behind (the issue) of medical marijuana.”
The issue, Royal said, is determining whether a commercial operation is in place. In this instance, the people involved in the operation built extensive greenhouses for the marijuana and even hired legitimate backhoe services to excavate and grade land for the construction of facilities. | {
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BACKGROUND: Type 2 diabetes (DM) is a strong risk factor for tuberculosis (TB) and is associated with a slower response to TB treatment and a higher mortality rate. Because lower concentrations of anti-TB drugs may be a contributing factor, we compared the pharmacokinetics of rifampicin in patients with TB, with and without DM. METHODS: Seventeen adult Indonesian patients with TB and DM and 17 age- and sex-matched patients with TB and without DM were included in the study during the continuation phase of TB treatment. All patients received 450 mg of rifampicin (10 mg/kg) and 600 mg of isoniazid 3 times weekly. Steady-state plasma concentrations of rifampicin and its metabolite desacetylrifampicin were assessed at 0, 2, 4, and 6 h after drug intake. RESULTS: Geometric means of rifampicin exposure (AUC(0-6 h)) were 12.3 mg x h/L (95% confidence interval [CI], 8.0-24.2) in patients with TB and DM, and 25.9 mg x h/L (95% CI, 21.4-40.2) in patients with TB only (P=.003). Similar differences were found for the maximum concentration of rifampicin. No significant differences in time to maximum concentration of rifampicin were observed. The AUC(0-6 h) of desacetylrifampicin was also much lower in patients with TB and DM versus patients with TB only (geometric mean, 0.60 vs. 3.2 mg x h/L; P=.001). Linear regression analysis revealed that higher body weight (P<.001), the presence of DM (P=.06), and plasma glucose concentration (P=.016) were correlated with exposure to rifampicin. CONCLUSION: Exposure (AUC(0-6 h)) to rifampicin was 53% lower in Indonesian patients with TB and DM, compared with patients with TB only. Patients with TB and DM who have a higher body weight may need a higher dose of rifampicin. | {
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Category: Physics-Astronomy
After 85 years of hard work and searching, scientists have confirmed the presence of a massless particle called the Weyl fermion for the first time ever. With the exceptional ability to act as both matter and anti-matter inside a crystal, this odd particle can produce electrons that have no mass. The discovery is a big step, not just because we lastly have proof that these mysterious particles exist, but because it paves the way for far more effective electronics, and new types of quantum computing. Lead investigator and physicist M. Zahid Hasan from Princeton University in the US told AnthonyCuthbertson of IBTimes “Weyl fermions could be used to solve the traffic jams that you get with electrons in electronics – they can move in a much more efficient, ordered way than electrons.They could lead to a new type of electronics we call ‘Weyltronics’.”
“A metaphorical chip holding all the programming for our universe stores information like a quantum computer.” This is the radical insight to the foundation of our Universe developed by Mark Van Raamsdonk, a professor of theoretical physics at the University of British Columbia, that says that the world we see around us is a projection from a set of rules written in simpler, lower-dimensional physics-just as the 2D code in a computer’s memory chip creates an entire virtual 3D world. “What Mark has done is put his finger on a key ingredient of how space-time is emerging: entanglement,” says Gary Horowitz, who studies quantum gravity at the University of California Santa Barbara. Horowitz says this idea has changed how people think about quantum gravity, though it hasn’t yet been universally accepted. “You don’t come across this idea by following other ideas. It requires a strange insight,” Horowitz adds. “He is one of the stars of the younger generation.”
“We’re trying to construct a dictionary,” says Van Raamsdonk, that allows physicists to translate descriptions of our complex universe into simpler terms. If they succeed, they will have found the biggest jigsaw piece in the puzzle of a Grand Unified Theory-something that can describe all of the forces of our universe, at all scales from the atomic to the galactic. That puzzle piece is, specifically, something that can describe gravity within the framework of quantum mechanics, which governs physics on small scales. Such a unified theory is needed to explain the extreme scenarios of a black hole or the first moments of the universe.” The catacylst for Van Raamsdonk’s theory was a 1998 paper by Juan Maldacena a theoretical astrophysicist at Princeton’s Institite for Advanced studies that proposed that to understand quantum gravity through string theory, you can look instead to the much more ordinary, well-described system of quantum mechanics called quantum field theory that concluded that it seems that all the information about our complex multi-dimensional world can be described using a simpler, lower-dimensional language-just as a 3D image is projected from the 2D screen of a hologram, or a 3D computer gaming world created from a 2D memory chip. “After that, people wrote thousands of papers just testing whether that could be true,” says Van Raamsdonk. “No one has actually proven it, but we’re as certain about it as about anything in physics,” he added.
The most amazing thing about math is that, throughout its history, we have learned concepts and theories that were completely useless at the time (or at least, appeared so), but later proved priceless. Many of these theories eventually led to significant revolutions in our understanding of the universe, and many others placed the groundwork for mathematical theories that went on to give us a deeper an better understanding of the universe. For example in the field of quantum mechanics, which came about because of Einstein’s work in general and special relativity. In the end, you can say, math is the language of the universe. With it, we can comprehend the rudimentary construction of our home in the cosmos. Learn about the most important numbers (to us, anyways) in the video below.
A 60-year-old concept about the structure of the magnetic fields around Planet Earth has been confirmed openly for the first time ever in recent issued research paper. The main author of the paper is surprisingly an undergraduate student who devised a way to view the Earth’s magnetosphere in three dimensions. The sun releases a continuous stream of charged particles that’s supplemented by cosmic rays from causes such as supernovae. As these particles touch Earth, their route is altered by the Earth’s magnetic field, which bounces some and funnels others towards the poles, leading to awesome views such as aurora. This area, known as the magnetosphere, contains the ionosphere and plasmasphere as its inner layers. These differences aside, we don’t know all that much about the arrangement of these areas. A better understanding would be valuable because the ionosphere affects satellite navigation systems and the pictures received by radio telescopes. During her honors project at the University of Sydney, Cleo Loi recognized she could use the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) radio telescope to analyze these areas in a way that had never been done before, leading to a paper in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.
A compact fusion reactor presented by Skunk Works, the stealth experimental technology section of Lockheed Martin. It’s about the size of a jet engine and it can fuel airplanes, most likely spaceships, and cities. Skunk Works state that it will be operational in 10 years.
A compact fusion reactor presented by Skunk Works, the stealth experimental technology section of Lockheed Martin. It’s about the size of a jet engine and it can fuel airplanes, most likely spaceships, and cities. Skunk Works state that it will be operational in 10 years.
In late May, mathematician Eric Weinstein gave a talk at Oxford University about his ideas about “Geometric Unity,” a mathematical theory that purports to explain why the universe works the way it does. Weinstein He earned a 1992 Ph.D [in Mathematical Physics from Harvard University and has since held a Lady Davis Fellowship in the Racah Institute ofPhysics at Hebrew University, an NSF fellowship in the mathematics Department of MIT.
In late May, mathematician Eric Weinstein gave a talk at Oxford University about his ideas about “Geometric Unity,” a mathematical theory that purports to explain why the universe works the way it does. Weinstein He earned a 1992 Ph.D [in Mathematical Physics from Harvard University and has since held a Lady Davis Fellowship in the Racah Institute ofPhysics at Hebrew University, an NSF fellowship in the mathematics Department of MIT. | {
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Series of random posts on the life and reign of the Queen Mary I, England's first anointed, and most notorious, queen regnant.
Saturday, 25 April 2009
Anne of Cleves and Princess Mary
Anne of Cleves was Mary’s third stepmother, and later a good friend. Anne, who is always perceived to have been Henry VIII’s ‘lucky wife’ for she kept her head, was also the last of his wives to die. When she died in 1557 Mary, who was then queen, ensured that she was buried with full honours at Westminster Abbey. Yet their relationship got off to a rocky start.
Anne arrived in England on 27 December 1539 and married Henry on the 6th January 1540. David Loades in Mary Tudor: The Tragical history of the first Queen of England (2006) asserts that Mary was present at her father’s wedding and cites from Retha Warnicke’s work on the Cleves marriage to back this point. However he has cited this information incorrectly as Warnicke points out that we don’t know when Anne and Mary first met. She even notes that plans to have both Mary and her half-sister Elizabeth amongst those to greet the new queen were cancelled. Although the idea that Mary was present at her father’s wedding to Anne of Cleves as been affirmed in a recent biography – Linda Porter’s Mary Tudor: the First Queen (2007) – again no primary source is used to back up this story.
So we do not know when the two women first met, but the subject of their meeting proved to a point of controversy.
Why a disagreement occurred is still relatively unknown. But the dispute occurred in Easter 1540 (holidays are always a popular time for family quarrels!) It seems that Henry VIII asked Anne to call upon Mary to attend her and stay in her household. There was nothing amiss in this request – we know, for example, that Henry asked his subsequent wife, Katherine Howard, to do the same thing in May 1541. By this point Henry and his daughter Mary were reunited and he appears to have found her company pleasing. It therefore seems likely that Henry, who was rather disappointed with his marriage to Anne, wanted to have his daughter back at court to keep him company. Anne was none too pleased and she made this known.
Why did Anne not want Mary at court? Was it perhaps jealousy that her husband showed more interest in his daughter than in her? Was this worsened by the fact that her new-stepdaughter was only a year younger than herself and also pretty, thus could have overshadowed Anne? Was she offended by Mary’s faith? Mary has always been presented as staunch Catholic whereas Anne of Cleves has been regarded as a Lutheran. However Anne, who was raised by her Catholic mother, worshiped in the same manner as her husband who was certainly not a Lutheran and in turn would have worshipped in the manner Mary did. It seems hard to assert that Mary’s faith offended Anne because the pair became very good friends later on and Anne died a devout Catholic thus indicating that the pair shared similar interests and ideas. In short the idea that Anne was a Lutheran is incorrect and based almost simply on the fact that Anne has family ties with Lutherans (namely to her brother-in-law, the Elector of Saxony).
Retha Warnicke’s suggestion that Anne was offended by the presence of her husband’s illegitimate child at court seems interesting. Mary was no ordinary royal bastard but Anne, who seems to have been uninformed about so many things, may not have been told about Mary’s delicate situation. By asking her to have Mary in his household, Henry may have offended his new wife. On top of that Mary was the cousin of Charles V and Charles just so happened to be her brother’s and her brother-in-law’s enemy.
But the tense situation was soon over with as Anne and Mary became good friends, possibly because Anne was later informed of Mary’s situation. On top of that it seems that Mary treated her as with respect, which may have improved matters.
Henry of course later annulled his marriage to Anne, having by that point become enraptured with one of Anne’s ladies-in-waiting, Katherine Howard. Mary never took to Katherine and continued to treat Anne well. In March 1543, Henry VIII even licensed his former wife to visit the princesses at court for several days. After his death Anne and Mary appear to have seen each other infrequently (there is a recorded visit between the two in 1551). By this time both had their respective problems; for Anne it was financial, for Mary it was more dangerous as her Catholic faith put her in direct opposition to the reformist policies of Edward VI’s reign.
When Mary did become queen, Anne shared in the celebrations. Alongside Princess Elizabeth she rode in a chariot lined with cloth of silver, during the coronation procession on 29th September 1553 and sat at the foot of the queen’s table at the coronation banquet on 1st October. She also sought financial assistance from the new queen and Mary appears to have been ready to help.
Anne died, aged forty-one, on 16th July 1557, appointing as the overseer of her will, “our most dearest and entirely beloved sovereign lady Queen Mary”. In turn Mary ensured Anne was awarded an impressive funeral at Westminster Abbey. Whilst Mary enjoyed good relations with two other stepmothers – Jane Seymour and Katherine Parr – her relationship with Anne was longer than those she enjoyed with the other women. Anne and Mary proved to have a number of things in common, namely that both had faced rejection of sorts from Henry VIII and with this a humiliating downgrade in status.
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to, kindly, advise you, that my Dear Ancestry Grandmother the German Princess and English Queen Anne of Cleves, with my Ancestry Grandfather the English Monarch King Henry VIII have had together two Royal Children. Their first-born Royal Child was their little Princess, born, in Sept/October 1540, which, then, became, my next Ancestry Grandmother, and their second Royal Child was the "Fairy Boyee", born, in January 1542, when this truth, about these their concealed Royal Children, have been exposed, by the servants, which loved their English Queen Anne of Cleves, very much, and wanted her, to live, also, officially, with her Royal Husband, and not just secretly. But however, in this moment, when this have been revealed, our Dear Ancestry Grandmother the English Queen Ann of Cleves, according which, all things and all beings, in this world, which were and which are clever, have been named, have immediately lost both of her Royal Children, at ones, as they had to be, immediately, sent, secretly, to exile, on to the Slovak Territory, of the Holly Roman Empire, where they, then had to live, without Mother and Father, in poverty and need and discriminations, and where all their Royal Descendants lives, this way, even, until today! Dear Friends, I would like to ask you, very much, please, be so kind, and do not talk, anymore, about our Dear Ancestry Grandmother the German Princess and English Queen Anne of Cleves, such disgracing her, and also us, all her Descendants, totally untrue things. She is my maternal strait line Ancestry Grandmother, and she was the most beautiful and the most decent, merciful, kind, and the most humble Queen, this World ever had! And this, I know absolutely exactly! Because exactly the same human character and beautiful look, have and had, also, all her Royal Descendants, - also my dear Mom, my dear Grandmother, and all the Ladies and Girls, in our Family, which are the Royal Descendants of this English Royal Family. Please, be so kind, and just, read very carefully, and cautiously, everything about her, and do not believe any illogical statements, about her. Please, just, Open your Eyes and see, that she was a very beautiful Lady. Holbein did not lie, he was a GENUINE ARTIST! And nothing was "flattered", nothing was "old fashion", she just have done something, which no one, in this world ever did, which caused, then, just, quite logically, this "strange/loving" behavior of my Ancestry Grandfather the King Henry VIII, towards her. But all this illogical, disgracing her, slanderous words, against her, putting her down, were just made up, by her enemies, wanting to get, instead of her, and instead of her Royal Children and their Royal Descendants, on to the English Throne. But our Grandfather the King Henry VIII loved her very, very much!!! Just look, what he gave her, and how he treated her, made her the most richest Lady, in England! But on the other hand, he wanted to protecting, her, and also his most Precious Dear and Beautiful Royal Children, as otherwise, no one from us, would be here, today! His first three Children died, without being able, even, having children, is this not strange, enough? And the Royal Descendants, from their both Royal Children, even, despite of the poverty discriminations and very hard life, they, still, live in Slovakia, even, until today! And what their enemies did to me, personally, you can read on: www.ludovitbialon.com Thank you very much and Best Regards to all! Prince of England from Cleves Ludovit Bialon. | {
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Pages
Thursday, November 3, 2011
"Justin Bieber" Performs "(It's Not My) Baby" With The Roots On Late Night With Jimmy Fallon [VIDEO]
Rumors have been circulating EVERYWHERE about a 20 year old claiming that Justin Bieber is the father to her newborn child. 17 year old Justin Beiber has denied the allegations, but Jimmy Fallon couldn't help but spoof his now ironically titled hit single, "Baby." Check it out below! | {
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Venezuela pushes back against U.S. sanctions before the World Trade Organization
By the end of 2017, Venezuela had initially declared that it was emerging a crypto trading platform, the petro. The currency was presented in 2018 and has by now been well-ordered into use within numerous dissimilar businesses by the country’s well-known president, Nicolas Maduro. Presently, before the World Trade Organization Venezuela is pushing back in contradiction of U.S. authorizations, including ones imposed against its controversial cryptocurrency pains.
“Furthermore, inasmuch as digital currencies originating in the United States are not subject to the same prohibitions as Venezuelan digital currencies, the United States is according less favorable treatment to Venezuelan financial services and service suppliers than to like domestic financial services and service suppliers, in violation of Article XVII:1 of the GATS.”
As per the report published in Reuters, the U.S. has 60 days to answer to Venezuela’s grievance. If the country does not reply, Venezuela can then ask the WTO to resolve on the grievance’s facts. The Secretariat has arranged the summary under its accountability. The review is for over-all info only and is not anticipated to affect the rights and responsibilities of Members.
Nicolas Maduro, the Venezuelan president, had previously made a statement about the new cryptocurrency among a financial disaster and a drop in the price of the bolivar, the country’s national currency. Maduro made this statement at the time of December at television special, mentioning that the as-yet-to-be-present cryptocurrency will be backed by the commodity reserves, such as oil.
Maduro who took office in 2013 and has controlled more than a deteriorating socio-economic disaster says that the crypto trading will aid the nation to become a financial barrier, as per the announcement on the government’s official website.
The statement reads (according to a rough translation):
“Venezuela will create a cryptocurrency to advance monetary sovereignty, as it will help to overcome the financial blockade and thus move towards new forms of international financing for the economic and social development of the country.”
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Lately, soda is getting a bad rap, even diet ones. Researchers say a lot of soda is linked to diseases like, diabetes, osteoporosis, heart attack, and stroke. But Americans love their soda, so much, we drink about 44 gallons! Knowing this, I have been making some organic choices and guess what they taste amazing! | {
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Build Log for Quadryx
Hi all. Wanted to say hi, let start my build log. I like making these projects, and love the idea of making a log, similar to my last build, 7 years & 4 kids ago. I made a computer for my Saab before they started getting popular. You can check that out here.
My goal for this quad copter is to make a medium size quad, and incorporate FPV, or at least strap on a GoPro camera.
The long term goal is to make a heavy copter capable of being able to mount a Nerf Vulcan cannon with independently motorized gimbal platform.
First things first. For some silly, non-productive reason, I wanted to come up with a name for my copter first. It was something to do while raising funds and cleaning the garage out. I came up with Quadryx.
So far build went pretty smoothly. Got the frame put together, ESCs, Motors & battery installed & wired. I made my own power distro from the battery by using a terminal block from Radio Shack & some 14Ga wire I had lying around. Wired up the ESCs to the motors with some 16Ga I had.
Came up against some interesting problems to work through. I honestly thought putting this together would be a little easier from what I've been reading (I'm not sure where I got that idea from!). I honestly am glad I have to use my brain to get past some of these. This is the whole reason I started this...to mess around with something and try to improve it and or customize it to my desires.
First up was mounting the motors. I had the choice of drilling a clearance hole for the shaft, or cutting the shaft. Or, I found out yesterday...reversing the shaft & just mounting the prop to that. In the end, I drilled clearance holes for a couple of reasons: A-the metal tubes are probably the cheapest component on this rig if I mess up, B-I didn't want to mess up the motors by cutting the only moving part that has to run true. Unfortunately, the tradeoff for this was that I couldn't run the wires inside the tube as they would be up against the spinning shaft. I know there is a way around this, I just have to find a way to isolate the shaft with a plug or something. But for now I just ziptied the wires to the arm. Besides, I reason to myself, easier to get to for troubleshooting.
Next was how to wire the ESCs to the motors. After some searching I learned that there is no polarity or matching required. Just connect all 3 any way you want, and if the motor spins the wrong way, reverse any of the 2 wires. Odd, but ok.
Next was power distro. I didn't know how to make 1 wire from the battery branch into 4 wires. I came up with a couple of solutions, and info from the Forum helped make up my mind. I was trying to make a nice custom solution instead of just buying the harness. Trying to save money & mass. My solution fits my criteria perfectly: customizable, low mass, low cost, but still robust & serviceable.
Then, the CNC (AeroQuad v2.1 Kit) came in the mail. Awww yeah. Somehow I lost the standoffs that was supposed to make this installation a snap. After deliberating for a day or 2 I finally came up with a reasonably clever solution involving computer risers, some screws I had, and hot glue. Then, as I'm reading, I find that vibration is kind of a concern. I don't want the vibrations from the motor/frame getting into the board with the gyros as it introduces errors & stuff. Darn. Just spent two days mounting it and now I have to rethink it. I have some ideas on how to isolate the boards with foam, but am not so sure I want to on the first go round. This is an open issue.
Props: Got my APC props in the mail! Now I have to try and figure out how to mount them to these crazy Turnigy 2217 motors. The adapters are either too big, or too small and just barely fit over the threads. Not going to reverse the motor shaft unless I absolutely have to at this point. So, I'm going to try and be brave and drill out the small adapter to 5mm. Getting my 5mm drill bit today. I wonder if I should glue the adapter inside the prop so it doesn't act as a bearing or something.
RX: Got a AR6200. Thought about a AR6100, but saw a lot of bad reviews about it compared to the 6200. Got that in the mail too, and discovered that I had no idea where to put it, or how to wire it up. Went to the Forum to ask about placement. Discovered I need these to connect. Again...trying to do my own wiring here. Had a heck of a time finding info about these connectors for some reason. I thought this odd because they're pretty common. So I chalked it up to varietal proliferation. I found 2 wicked awesome sites. One was education, one was product (connectors & cables). The first was an excellent source of everything you ever wanted to know about this specific cable (receiver to servo). The other was a low priced place to make your own colors/lengths/genders. I love this place. Waiting for these in the mail!
I had some trouble mounting my KDA20-22L motors on my Turnigy Talon frame, but ended up just cutting off the shaft with a cutting disc on a Dremel rotary tool. Worked great and was very easy. I just finished my build last weekend, and will put up some pictures soon. Still have to tune it!
Thanks for posting your build log. Let me know if you want me to ship you any spare parts for the Cyclone frame (PM me your order number). I specifically mounted the flight board and camera using antivibration grommets to isolate vibration from the motors with the rest of the system. Have fun!
I mounted the RX w/cables. All the cables weigh more than the RX! Maybe I'll spring for shorter ones in the future as part of the V2.0 diet.
I had CNC mounted, and was pretty happy with it, but it still nagged at me. So I found some 2" thick foam at work and had a brainstorm. I'm gonna encapsulate that sucker. I did something similar with my carputer. Instead of rig something fancy to isolate vibration, just overkill with foam and call it done. The solves a couple issues at once. Since the foam is so thick, I can use it as 3-dimensional mounting material. So I hogged out a section for the boards, and some holes for the RX and satellite. I could mount them whichever way I wanted, per spec (one being perpendicular to the other). The only issue I can see right now is overheating (I don't think that's an issue for the boards or RX, and the top is open to air) and stability of CNC. The board isn't fastened down securely, and can be moved. If not touched, it won't go anywhere, but I think a gyro cal is in order before every flight. I'm having commitment issues with permanently using something like tape/adhesive to mount it. I like switching things around.
Todo:
-Wire Ardu to Main Power (a snap since I used a terminal block!)
-balance props & mount. I think I have to glue the adapter ring inside. Also drill out to 5mm.
-Wait anxiously as the last part comes in the mail: DX7! | {
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***On Twitter @OfficialRVGA and on YouTube @ http://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialRVGA*** Welcome to the Retro Video Game Addict's Official blog page! Here you will be able to tap into the mind of a man who knows, loves, and enjoys his retro/classic video games. Everything from the Atari 2600 to the Nintendo 64 is covered here, so strap yourself in for a fun ride down memory lane, and don't say that you weren't warned before hand. Please, enjoy your stay and keep your kids off my lawn.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Yeah, yeah. I know what you're
thinking. “Why is there an article about comic books on a retro
video game blog site?”. Well, to tell you the truth, I'm not
exactly sure. I was just laying around doing nothing and I suddenly
felt the need to sit down and type out my feelings on the pulp
storytelling movement that is currently happening over at Dynamite
Entertainment. For those who don't know what I'm talking about,
relax, this won't hurt (I swear!) and you may find yourself kind of
interested in what I have to say. But before I do I have to let you
in on a little secret. You ready? Here it comes.....
Superheroes no longer have to
wear spandex.
There, I said it! Dynamite
Entertainment has enlisted quite the crew to bring us comic book
readers some of the absolute best comics on store shelves right now
and these characters are not spandex clad and do not leap tall
buildings in a single bound. They're normal human beings just like
you and me, but with a few dollars in the bank that allows them to do
what they do. These characters were popular back in the 30's and 40's
but have basically been absent from the public eye for several
decades until a company known as Dynamite Entertainment picked them
up and decided to publish comics based around these characters for
both fans of the originals and a bold new modern audience. This was a
risky task considering modern comic book fans are used to their
heroes having superpowers and being either mutants or tricked out in
some colorful superhero gear. Not these heroes! These guys are
packing heat, wearing fine business suits, ankle long trench coats,
and many of them protect their identities with cheap eye coverings
and fedora's. Take that Spider-Man!
This style of “pulp hero” is
something that actually found popularity before the traditional
superhero ever graced a comic book page. Comic books started finding
their ways to newsstands sometime in the mid 1930's while pulp books
have been printed since the very early 1900's, and the differences
between a superhero and a “pulp hero” is that the pulp hero will
shoot you clean between your eyes and leave for you for dead while
the superhero will try to rehabilitate you. Pulp storytelling is a
violent, take no prisoners, affair that has found it's way back into
readers hands for what appears to be a long haul and something I've
personally taken to over the past couple of years.
Dynamite publishes a lot more pulp
characters than the ones I'm going to discuss in this blog but I'm
choosing to discuss the pulp heroes in the traditional sense. They
publish comics based on John Carter, Zorro, Lone Ranger, Tarzan, and
a few others, but this blog entry is geared more toward The Shadow,
The Spider, Green Hornet, The Black Bat, Miss Fury, and others. For
me (and many others) Dynamite hooked me on the pulp characters when
they first started publishing The Green Hornet sometime in 2010. The
Shadow in May of 2012 was another title that hooked me and then soon
after that they began putting out comics based around The Spider and
before you knew it more and more started trickling in. Luckily pretty
much all of the books within this line have been extremely well
written and feature art that fits the mood of the books. In other
words, it's been a hell of a ride.
I like the fact that these heroes
are not scared to kill their enemies as opposed to the traditional
superheroes you get from DC and Marvel, it gives the books a sense of
unpredictability that you won't find elsewhere. These classic heroes
swear, smoke, drink, engage in adult “situations”, and kill with
the best of them. But all in the name of “justice”, of course.
And why not? Sometimes to preserve the law you need to break the law
and if killing a man who poisoned a city or who tossed an elderly
woman off of a rooftop after wiping out a bank full of hostages is
the only way to get the job done, than I say go for it. The only
alternative is either rehabilitation the criminals by locking them
away in Arkham, or delivering a super powered psychopath to the boys
in blue. And I think we all know how that turns out, you see what I'm
saying?
Now, I'd like to take a few
moments to talk about a few of the specific titles within the pulp
line Dynamite had going on. The firs title I would like to discuss
with you would be their flagship book, The Shadow, which was launched
by the legendary writer known the industry over as Garth Ennis. The
opening arc was a mixed bag to many fans, it seemed like they either
loved it or hated it (I enjoyed it quite a bit) but the sales
remained strong and the story was quite compelling. The artist on the
book illustrates The Shadow and his 1930's surroundings perfectly and
the artist that took over the book on it's 12th issue
gives the title a flair that is up there with some of the best
pencilers in the comic book industry. It's just remarkable. The story
is dark and violent and The Shadow pulls no punches as he fights
criminals in New York and over seas, bringing justice in the only way
he knows how: Through the barrels of his double pistols. Make no
mistake here kids, this isn't you're friendly neighborhood Spider-Man
or your classic red cape who is vowing to bring us “justice in the
American way”, no, this head crackin' to the 10th degree
and definitely not for anyone under the age of 14 or 15.
The Spider is very similar. This
book features a hero who is defending his city against crazed
lunatics on a daily basis while trying to keep an eye on the woman he
loves who just happens to be married to his closest friend, the
police chief. Most of the book is written with The Spider trying to
use the police to help him solve mysteries while trying to keep his
identity safe while he desperately wants to win back his true love.
It's remarkable how this book cliff hangs and pulls you in for the
next issue, it's definitely underrated and deserves all the readers
it can get. In fact, Dynamite almost pulled the plug on it as of it's
12th issue, but fan outcry on the Dynamite forums and on
Twitter helped to #SaveTheSpider and the book is solicited to it's
15th issue as of this writing. The writing in this book is
top notch and some of David Liss' finest work, the art was phenomenal
as well with the original artist and even better with Ivan Rodriguez
since he's taken over pencils as of a few months back. Stellar colors
and inks set this book apart as a real looker too, everything is just
solid all around.
The Green Hornet is off to a
masterful start as Mark Waid takes the character back to his original
roots. Don't confuse this book with the existing Green Hornet title
that was launched by Kevin Smith, though! That Green Hornet title has
been rebranded as “Legacy” and follows the adventures of the
original Hornet's son in the modern day while Waid's book follows the
original Green Hornet in his native setting. Both book are great and
should be given a chance but the newer of the two GH comics is the
top dog in the eyes of Dynamite and their readers. Waid's art and
Indro's pencils couple to make a kick in the ass that reviewers all
over the world have said is the best rendition of The Green Hornet to
date, which is a huge compliment seeing as how the character has been
around since the late 30's or early
40's. And the book is just
getting started too, lot's more is on it's way including a crossover
title between The Green Hornet and The Shadow and more from the
“Legacy” book. For me, this character has the making of becoming
something truly special in the world of comics, especially with a top
tier talent like Mark Waid at the helm and art that pop's out at you
the way that it does. Phenomenal!
I could go on and on about these
pulp titles. MASKS, Miss Fury, The Black Bat (a personal favorite),
and more.....but instead I'll just kick back and let you be the
judge. That's right. I CHALLENGE you to give these books a shot
whether it be through single issues, trade/GN's, or digitally through
Comixology and tell me that these aren't some of the most enjoyable
comics you've read in a while. Seriously, I think that as successful
as they are they've yet to truly scratch the surface and I believe
that this whole revolution will be something special that we'll
remember for quite some time to come, especially by those who
embraced the movement. So, with that said I want you to get down to
you're local comic book store or grab you're closest iOS or Android
device and snatch up some of these Dynamite Entertainment gems, I
truly think you'll see what I'm talking about and stay on board for
the long haul. If not than at least you can say you tried them, but
yeah, prepare for a long and blissful stay upon the S.S #PulpComics.
Cheers!#PulpComics #SaveTheSpider
4 comments:
Excellent! I've been enjoying this revival as well. The Shadow, The Green Hornet, and especially The Spider. The art is fantastic, and the stories are really well-written. Also loving Masks and The Black Bat. It's hard to decide to wait monthly on print issues or binge on trades. They're that good! Thanks for the article.
Great article. RED SONJA was my first Dynamite title, and over the years they have kept publishing more and more titles I have enjoyed (LONE RANGER, ZORRO, BUCK ROGERS, THE PHANTOM, PROJECT SUPERPOWERS, KIRBY:GENESIS, FLASH GORDON, and more). That has reached an all-time high with the pulp comics. I'm currently getting (and loving) SHADOW, SHADOW:YEAR ONE, SPIDER, MASKS, MISS FURY, BLACK BAT, LONE RANGER, LORD OF THE JUNGLE, WARLORD OF MARS, DEJAH THORIS, Mark Waid'S GREEN HORNET, RED SONJA, P.C.:THUNDERBOLT, PATHFINDER, SHERLOCK HOLMES, and I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting some other titles! Looking forward to THE OWL. I hope this Pulp Comics revival will thrive. | {
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SeanCody’s Nick Exposed As Former Bold and Beautiful Star
Jeremy Skott Snider, who starred as Katherine Kelly Lang’s son Eric on The Bold and the Beautiful has been exposed by Radar Online as Sean Cody’s Nick. Oh, would-be celebrities — when will you learn that your spread ass cheeks will always surface?
Pics after the jump …
According to his Sean Cody bio ..
Nick is a production assistant so he is used to being around video cameras. He’s usually the one going out and grabbing coffee or things that are needed, and that ended up being something he brought with him. During breaks, he would ask if anyone needed anything!
Jake September 18th, 2011 at 12:20 AM
furballvie September 18th, 2011 at 1:51 AM
the only embarrassing thing was the I-am-a-straight-virgin story line sean cody came up with for him …
“yeah, I am totally getting fucked for the first time in my life today … do you get a clear shot of how I can put my knees next to my ears and how I stay fully erect while having my straight virgin cherry popped?” | {
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The Law and Economics of Class Actions in Europe: Lessons from America(Hardback)
Synopsis
This well-documented book discusses the power and limitations of class actions with insights and analysis from a panel of distinguished scholars. It pays special attention to the introduction and the applicability of such a legal device in European civil law countries.
The book offers a broad legal and economic investigation, drawing insights from US judicial experience and giving a rigorous discussion of both the philosophical and constitutional aspects and the economic mechanisms and incentives set up by class actions.
The Law and Economics of Class Actions in Europe will be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of all those interested in the function of class action litigation for promoting justice and efficiency. In particular, it will benefit graduate and postgraduate students, researchers and academics in law, economics, and law and economics, policymakers, judges and attorneys.
Customer Reviews
CLASS ACTIONS: A TRANSATLANTIC VIEW OF THE LAW FROM AN ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE
An appreciation by Phillip Taylor MBE and Elizabeth Taylor of Richmond Green Chambers
Class actions… even the threat of them… generally strike terror in the hearts of those titans of industry who control big corporates.
Even as we peruse this thought provoking book from Edward Elgar Publications, the reality of the class action -- used by individuals as a weapon against the might of a large company -- is currently newsworthy, as groups of vengeful investors gang up against Facebook following its recent disappointing flotation.
‘Class actions,’ says a quote from Theodore Eisenberg of Cornell University, ‘offer a rare opportunity for individuals with small losses to obtain redress against large companies and may provide important incentives to comply with the law.’ They exit in few countries, he adds -- and he would probably also comment that in Europe, they are a relatively new idea which has certainly engendered some controversy and debate.
The sub-title ‘Lessons from America’ will be of special interest to lawyers, legal scholars and theorists outside the US, as well as within it. The book is a collection of articles and essays from legal scholars and academics mainly from Europe, with the commentary focusing primarily upon the power and limitations of class actions and their applicability in European civil law jurisdictions.
‘Some 15 years ago, ‘says Mikko Valimaki in his article on class actions in Finland, ‘the idea of class actions was something new in Europe.’ In Finland itself, ‘partisan claims on class action cases in the United States and their potential implications to companies were used as a strong argument to restrict the law’s scope of application.’
The result apparently in Finland (one of the few European countries that have maintained its financial stability) is that ‘…the law can be applied (there) only in civil litigation in cases between consumers and businesses.’
This, of course, is only one example of dozens of interesting insights in this scholarly examination of the efficacy and efficiency of class actions. The book is certainly an important comparative study and a welcome addition to the body of scholarship on this particular legal procedure.
Lawyers, post-graduate students of law and economics, as well as policy makers and judges concerned with the issues raised by class actions will find this book, with its copious footnotes, a valuable tool for further research into this emerging area of law.
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Delivery is free for the UK. Western Europe costs £60 for each 12 month subscription package purchased. For the Rest of the World the cost is £100 for each package purchased. All delivery costs are charged in advance at time of purchase. For more information please visit the A Year of Books page.
If you are not completely satisfied with your purchase*, you may return it to us in its original condition with in 30 days of receiving your delivery or collection notification email for a refund. Except for damaged items or delivery issues the cost of return postage is borne by the buyer. Your statutory rights are not affected. | {
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The money that determines the outcome of elections is responsible for America’s symptoms — virtually every major problem that America faces today.
Originally published 2004
Here are the major problems:
Concentration of wealth and income in the hands of a fraction of the top 1%.
Decline of the middle class, with more than a million people a year dropping into poverty.
Lowered standard of living, especially among the middle class.
Lowest standard of health among all industrial nations, and some third world, on all measures of health, from child mortality to longevity, and every measure in between.
Rampant obesity, heart disease, and cancer—so rampant that for the first time in history, our children have a lower life expectancy than their parents.
Lowest actual rate of corporate taxation, among all industrial nations.
An environmental crisis that threatens the life of the human species, and virtually every other species on earth, within the century.
This article summarizes the threads and traces the connections, so it becomes clear why money in elections has led to those problems—not as the result of some sinister conspiracy, but because of a small hiccup in an otherwise terrific system in which people are allowed to act in their own self-interest.
However, that small hiccup has snowballed into major systemic problems because, rather than voting in their own self-interest, people are voting at the behest of moneyed interests who pay for the propaganda-level advertising, and who have effectively bought every candidate in the “election”, before it even starts.
As dire as the situation is, however, it can be changed, virtually overnight. The components we need to do so are already in place. We only need to put them together effectively:
Social media feeds like Twitter allow short messages to be posted.
Those messages are seen only by those who subscribe to the channel, or who search for them.
Sites like SmartVoter.org in California provide information on upcoming ballot measures based on a user’s address and zip code.
It is only necessary to create a separate Twitter feed for voting advice, and to define a unique tag for each ballot measure. For example: #2016SanFranciscoCACityCouncil.
It is then possible to subscribe for recommendations from channels you respect, and to filter the advice from those channels, so you see only the recommendations you care about. | {
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Google and icculus.org partner on new endeavor...(posted 2009-04-01 03:42:40 by icculus):
In a historic--and historical--partnership between Google and icculus.org, these two giants of industry are announcing a revolutionary new technology, to be demoed to the public for the first time today.
"It is time to bring the power of our wildly successful AdSense technology to a new content provider. It's like tabbed browsing, or maybe even the ShamWow: the world just doesn't know how much they need this until they have it," said Ryan C. Gordon, CFO of icculus.org.
Google AdSense for .Plan Files (beta) brings Google's ground-breaking targeted advertisement technology to a new medium. Having proven this model with the Google Groups USENET archives, where the consumer is greeted with context sensitive advertising on posts from 1981, icculus.org will now apply this strategy to technology favored by game developers in the mid-90's.
Sergey Brin, one of the masterminds behind Google, said, "we feel this technology will propel Google's stock to unheard of heights. The public's demand for ASCII-based ads on .plan files will be unblockable. Er, I mean unstoppable. It won't be stopped."
Added Mr. Gordon: "I'll be rolling around in money for fun after this."
Added Mr. Brin: "I already do that. With two chicks at once. That's how I hang on Fridays."
To see how the power of Google AdSense for .Plan Files can also help you get two chicks at once, just finger any user @icculus.org, today! | {
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For the monetary policy panel at Netroots Nation, I opened with the story about how the giant battle over the Bush tax cut extensions, payroll taxes and unemployment insurance from last December received (well-deserved) extensive coverage, but the FOMC battles over whether or not to call Mission Accomplished for the recovery and start raising rates in 2011 hasn’t. Whatever stimulus created by that December compromise would be immediately cancelled out if the Fed started raising rates or signaled it was exiting QE2 early, and these fiscal policy deals would have been for nothing.
To prep, I watched Obama’s December 7th press conference where he takes questions on the compromise again. I forgot about the fact that the debt ceiling question came up there.
If you click at this link, or simply move the youtube video to 22m and 50s mark above, you can see Marc Ambinder ask the President why he didn’t try to include the debt ceiling increase in the Bush tax cut extensions. First the President asks him to repeat the question to clarify (as if he didn’t understand?), and, shocker, basically says he’s not worried because the Republicans will behave responsibly.
“I’ll take John Boehner at his word…You can’t just stand on the sidelines and be a bomb thrower.” Classic.
Q Mr. President, thank you. How do these negotiations affect negotiations or talks with Republicans about raising the debt limit? Because it would seem that they have a significant amount of leverage over the White House now, going in. Was there ever any attempt by the White House to include raising the debt limit as a part of this package?
THE PRESIDENT: When you say it would seem they’ll have a significant amount of leverage over the White House, what do you mean?
Q Just in the sense that they’ll say essentially we’re not going to raise the — we’re not going to agree to it unless the White House is able to or willing to agree to significant spending cuts across the board that probably go deeper and further than what you’re willing to do. I mean, what leverage would you have —
THE PRESIDENT: Look, here’s my expectation — and I’ll take John Boehner at his word — that nobody, Democrat or Republican, is willing to see the full faith and credit of the United States government collapse, that that would not be a good thing to happen. And so I think that there will be significant discussions about the debt limit vote. That’s something that nobody ever likes to vote on. But once John Boehner is sworn in as Speaker, then he’s going to have responsibilities to govern. You can’t just stand on the sidelines and be a bomb thrower.
And so my expectation is, is that we will have tough negotiations around the budget, but that ultimately we can arrive at a position that is keeping the government open, keeping Social Security checks going out, keeping veterans services being provided, but at the same time is prudent when it comes to taxpayer dollars.
Keep watching for President Obama to get upset at the left on the public option after a question about what are his core values are is asked.
Meanwhile, Ezra Klein is hearing that the “debt-ceiling deal looks like it’ll be almost entirely composed of cuts and caps.” Yup.
Remember, in a fit of irrational exuberance, the Fed did actually raise the discount rate… And when they did, the dollar strengthened, for those of you who say the discount rate doesn’t matter. What an emblematic mistake that turned out to have been…
“Whatever stimulus created by that December compromise would be immediately cancelled out if the Fed started raising rates or signaled it was exiting QE2 early, and these fiscal policy deals would have been for nothing.”
I am not aware of any evidence that the December tax deal and a Fed tightening of some unspecified magnitude would be offsetting. since we cannot know the magnitude of an unspecified tightening, it’s sort of ridiculous to make claims about what it could offset. Even if we posit a particular Fed move, we – and that includes you, dear host – have no ability to make accurate comparisons of economic impact. The range of estimates of the impact of fiscal and monetary policy are generally pretty large. You simply cannot know that some unspecified Fed tightening would fully offset the December tax cut. You shouldn’t make claims predicated on the ability to know something you cannot know.
Why can’t liberals have nice things? Because we’re locked in a race to the bottom. Jon Huntsman understands this — and we little people can trust him because he sincerely enjoys cheap Mexican take-out. | {
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aboutlawinfo.comupdated ago
aboutlawinfo.com Tags
aboutlawinfo.com is a website that ranks 98,161 in Alexa. aboutlawinfo.com is ranked 153,194 on statisy and has 35 backlinks according to Alexa. The hostname or fully qualified domain name (FQDN) aboutlawinfo.com is identical to the domain name aboutlawinfo.com. The domain is registered under the domain suffix com and is named aboutlawinfo. The aboutlawinfo.com Server is hosted by Global Net Access, LLC and is located in United States (Georgia). aboutlawinfo.com is not listed in the dmoz open directory project. After analyzing aboutlawinfo.com's demographics we have determined that aboutlawinfo.com average users are 18-24 years old, with No College. We also have determined that aboutlawinfo.com's average user earns $0 - $30K a year and is most likely Female. Oh wait it seems like we know a little bit more about aboutlawinfo.com's average user, they have No Children and browse from Work and are Asian. | {
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Prime Mood is your new daily companion for enhanced well-being and stress-support! A cutting-edge supplement designed to reduce stress and enhance mood, all whilst maintaining optimal cognitive functioning.
Prime Sleep is the perfect supplement for anyone who is looking to optimize their sleep and sleep quality, with a blend of nootropics and herbs designed to calm the mind and provide the body with the necessary nutrients for optimal sleep.
Directions: Refer to the recommended usage for each product as per their label. | {
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The Secret of Apple Design
He couldn't get access to anyone now at Apple, so he interviewed a number of former Apple people. Yes, I'm in there as well.
The article does an excellent job of showing that good process is useful, but a strong leader, with good taste , an excellent eye for detail, and the strength to lead a team to focused, cohesive design makes all the difference between good design and great design. | {
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In the course of reporting for Mongabay.com, I spent time in several countries in 2012, including Indonesia, Brazil, Madagascar, and Malaysia, among others. Some of my key stories can be found here.
The following are some of my favorite nature pictures I took in the field. Overall I added more than 20,000 images to the site in 2012. For more, check out travel.mongabay.com, which now has nearly 100,000 captioned photos.
Many of these images are available in high resolution format for purchase at mongabay.zenfolio.com. Through the end of the year, you can use code Dec2012 for a 15 percent discount on downloads, prints, and other products.
Thanks for your interest in Mongabay and I wish you the best for 2013!
Navigating the photos
You can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the images. "n" also advances through images, while "p" goes to the previous image. Use "c" or click on the background to close the window.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from mongabay.com operations (server, data transfer, travel) are mitigated through an association with Anthrotect,
an organization working with Afro-indigenous and Embera communities to protect forests in Colombia's Darien region.Anthrotect is protecting the habitat of mongabay's mascot: the scale-crested pygmy tyrant. | {
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