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Last updated at 15:43 21 December 2007
Russian police are hunting a "werewolf boy" - who snarls and bites - after he escaped from a Moscow clinic just a day after being rescued from the wild.
Doctors expressed shock saying he was found living with a pack of wolves in a remote forest in the Kaluga region of central Russia.
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"He's clearly dangerous to other people," said a police spokesman yesterday.
"He's got typical wolf-like habits and behaviour.
"He has very strong and sharp teeth, which could really endanger someone if he bites."
The boy looks about ten - but after tests conducted by Moscow medics, they believe he maybe much older.
They are puzzled because he appears intelligent but does not seem to speak Russian or any other language. It is suspected he has been running wild for many years.
Such cases are not uncommon in Russia where there have been regular reports of 'Mowgli' children abandoned by their parents who are cared for by animals.
The boy moves around with his legs half bent, said Tvoi Den newspaper. "He was running with wolves and searching for food with them."
Villagers found this "wild creature" in a lair made of leaves and sticks in freezing temperatures and told the police who named him Lyokha, though his real identity is not known.
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"He's dirty, hungry, and looked to have had a hard time," said the police spokesman. "We brought him to a clinic in Moscow.
"It was simply unbelievable. He doesn't react when we call to him." Medics gave him clothes and said that he sprang down the corridor, bursting into his room and devouring his food like an animal.
His nails on his feet were like claws.
After 24 hours he had evaded security men at the clinic and escaped. He is now believed to be on the loose in Moscow region.
"We didn't even manage to complete the proper medical checks. We only succeeded in giving him a shower, cutting his nails and took some blood and other tests," said a doctor.
"It's quite possible he is a dangerous with psychological problems but also a source of viruses and infections." |
It’s probably obvious to most of my colleagues that I am more than a little fond of our amazing railway models collection. And a less well known area of that collection are the concept models, made to promote the benefits of new designs.
We’ve recently acquired the concept model above, which is of one of the rarer examples of railway traction – a locomotive that was never built.
The model of the InterCity 250 is one of the few physical remnants of a scheme that, had British Rail had their way, would have revolutionised high speed rail in the UK almost 10 years before Virgin’s Pendolinos appeared on the scene. The InterCity 250 model was used in the publicity photo below:
In 1994, British Rail boldly stated their aims for the future of passenger travel:
“The two key words that will really decide InterCity’s future are ‘civilised’ and ‘speed’.”
The proposed high speed train illustrates the extent of InterCity’s ambition, before it was privatised along with the rest of British Rail in 1994. The locomotive concept was devised by design company Seymour Powell, who incidentally designed the famous Lynx deodorant can along with a host of other instantly recognisable designs.
According to contemporary articles by the Design Journal Magazine, the designer strove to come up with a concept for a train that would “make small boys want to become train drivers once more”. According to contemporary accounts, no concept drawings were created, which may go some way towards explaining why the only available images of the design are based on the model we have acquired.
By the late 1980s, Britain was casting an envious eye towards France where the TGV (Train Grande Vitesse) was revolutionising long distance travel. There was also a sobering realisation within British Rail that any new high speed trains were going to have to run on existing tracks, which were essentially forged in the 19th century. This combination of factors provided the spark for the ill fated IC250 concept.
Running at speeds of up to 155 miles an hour (250kph), these trains, British Rail hoped, would make UK high speed rail the equal of any in Europe. Passengers would be cosseted in boutique hotel style interiors, far superior to anything they would hope to find on the London to Glasgow air shuttle. The InterCity 250 project would involve track and signalling modernisation and complete re-electrification. British Rail also envisaged the IC250 trains running on the East Coast Main Line where their full potential could be unleashed due to the more forgiving terrain on the line.
British Rail were confident enough in the Intercity 250 plan to declare in 1994 that: “the train of the future: the 160mph IC250 is designed and ready”. But not built. Full interior and exterior designs were mocked up, but the trains never progressed beyond the concept stage, and the recently acquired model is valuable evidence of how the last trains designed for British Rail would have appeared.
So what went wrong? Some railway observers see privatisation as the main obstacle in the path of higher speed InterCity trains. Others argue that the concept was always bound to fail and was used to lure prospective purchasers of the InterCity business.
Whatever the truth, the failure of the IC250 meant that passengers on the West Coast Main Line had to endure ageing and increasingly unreliable trains until the introduction of Virgin’s fleet of Pendolino high speed tilting trains in 2002.
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Goldwind Edges Out Vestas As World’s Leading Wind Turbine Supplier
May 19th, 2016 by Joshua S Hill
In its new World Wind Energy Market Update 2016, Navigant Research found that the recent “revival of the US and German markets” was responsible for “a significant shake-up in the rankings of the world’s top wind turbine suppliers in 2015.” Specifically, China’s Goldwind edged out long-time leader, Danish wind turbine manufacturer Vestas.
Top 10 Wind Turbine Suppliers Market Share, World Markets: 2015
Vestas had a record year, with orders worth nearly 9 GW helping the company to impressive yearly figures. However, Goldwind, based out of China, and supplying primarily to China, benefited significantly from China’s massive wind turbine figures in 2015. 98% of Goldwind’s installations were located in the Chinese market, which installed 30.2 GW in 2015.
The two companies have been fighting it out for top spot in recent analyst reports. In February, Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported that Goldwind had unseated Vestas in 2015 for onshore wind turbine manufacturers. Towards the end of March, MAKE Consulting revealed that Vestas and Goldwind had reclaimed the top two positions, respectively, as the world’s leading wind turbine original equipment manufacturers.
GE Energy held onto its third spot “backed by strength in its domestic market in the United States and Brazil, as well as increasing installations in Europe.”
“Most wind turbine suppliers rode a record wave of wind capacity installation globally,” said Jesse Broehl, senior research analyst with Navigant Research. “This is especially true for the Chinese suppliers that represented 48 percent of 2015 capacity additions.”
Overall, according to Navigant’s report, 2015 represented a banner year for the global wind industry, showing “just how much the wind power industry has grown over the past few years” and illustrating “how firmly wind energy is entrenched as part of the broader worldwide energy system.” In 2015, Navigant found 63 GW of wind capacity was added, a 23.2% increase over 2014, with cumulative global wind power capacity growing to 434 GW.
Growth was seen in nearly every wind market. The Americas installed 14.5 GW in 2015, representing 23% of the global total, overtaking Europe by a single percentage point. China led the way, again, with 48% of the global total, followed by the United States. |
Batman Begins and The Dark Knight kickstarted a trend to make superhero movies more dark and gritty. In more recent years, however, people are starting to get tired of the “dark and gritty superhero” trope and embrace lighter fare, like the majority of the MCU movies. In fact, one of the main complaints against Batman V. Superman was that it was too dark and gritty. But there are still some superhero movies and TV shows that can do dark and gritty well. Ironically, Marvel’s Netflix series show this. One example is Jessica Jones.
Like Batman V. Superman, Jessica Jones takes a more realistic, grounded approach and shows what the possible negative consequences of those with powers in the world would be like in real life. But what does Jessica do that makes it beloved yet makes Batman V. Superman hated? Why does one franchise get away with being dark and gritty yet another doesn’t?
I think the characters are one thing. While Jessica Jones is not a lively show exactly, all of the characters, from Jessica to Kilgrave to even more minor characters like Ruby and Malcolm, have distinct, individual personalities that make them memorable. Most of the characters in Batman V. Superman, on the other hand, have no personality. Besides Alfred, Perry, and Lex, they are all bland and zero dimensional, including the titular Batman and Superman. I mean, sure, it’s cool to see Wonder Woman in action but, besides being able to kick butt, I couldn’t name a single thing about her based just on that first appearance. Jessica? Let’s see…she’s snarky, jaded, has a traumatic past, isn’t the nicest person but still tries to do the right thing…I could go on.
Of course, because the characters are more memorable and have more personality, they also talk more like real people. Another problem I had with Batman V. Superman is that it felt like almost all of the dialogue was made up of long speeches about the nature of man and what is the ethical/right thing to do and yadda yadda yadda! No one makes big speeches like that in real life, unless they are in a situation where they have to, like they’re at some event where they have to give a big speech.
The characters in Jessica Jones talk about ethics and what it really means to be a hero but they do it in a way that people would in real life. For example, in one episode, Jessica finds out one of her clients is trying to kill her because she hates superheroes seeing as she was effected by the huge battle at the end of The Avengers. If this was Batman V. Superman, Jessica and that lady would be trading speeches about the ethical natures of superheroes.
In Jessica Jones, however, the dialogue is a bit more simplified, which makes more sense because most people talk in a simplistic way. For example, the lady complains that the Avengers are heroes yet ended up being in a situation where people were killed, which causes Jessica to ask why she doesn’t just go after Captain America and the lady says she wants to “make an example”.
But what about Nolan’s Bat-flicks? To be fair, they also did the whole “almost every line sounds like it came out of a philosophy paper” way of speaking that was used in BvS and those movies were good. So why were those movies able to get away with it but Batman V. Superman isn’t able to?
I think the thing is…Nolan’s flicks actually back up the points they are trying to make. We see the characters making those huge speeches and then the movie shows the characters either defying those speeches or proving the character’s point. For instance, when the prisoner played by Tiny Lister gives a big speech about how it’s obvious what they have to do with the detonator, he throws the detonator off the ship.
Even without the speeches, Jessica Jones does the same thing, as it has the characters talk about the ethics of what is going on in the plot and then has the characters back up what they are trying to do. With Jessica Jones, we understand why others would hate superpowered beings, especially when we see what Kilgrave does and understand how the huge battles in the Avengers films have effected them, causing the themes to resonate more.
The problem with Batman V. Superman is that they don’t justify the points they are trying to make at all. Even if the Avengers can be destructive while trying to stop the big bad guys from, well, destroying the universe, we as the audience know they are trying to do the right thing. Same thing with The Dark Knight and the other Nolan flicks, even though Batman has inspired a group of ne’er do well’s to pretend to be him and cause destruction and Batman himself destroys things, we know he means well and wants to save Gotham. And, with Jessica Jones as well, we know she’s trying to do the right thing, even if she does some ethically unsound things to do it (like locking Kilgrave up and torturing him).
In Batman V. Superman, Batman comes off like a psychopath who doesn’t care whether or not he does the right thing while Superman just comes off as a destructive idiot. I say that because Batman does things that, as a hero, he didn’t need to do that makes him look sadistic, like scaring the people HE WAS TRYING TO SAVE and branding their kidnappers for no reason. And Superman destroys a Middle Eastern village just to get rid of some evil terrorists, when he could’ve easily gotten rid of a few non superpowered men with no ray guns, no lasers, nothing really without causing any destruction. There’s no reason given why they do these things so it’s hard to really connect with them. Yes Jessica tortured Kilgrave and locked him up but he’s been torturing her almost her whole life so it makes sense she’d want to bring him to justice, even going as low as doing things like that!
Because of this, in Batman V. Superman, there’s no middle ground. In Jessica Jones and The Nolan flicks, while you can understand and sympathize with the people who feel like the superheroes are doing more harm than good, you also understand where the superheroes are coming from and they are, more often than not, put in situations where unfortunately destruction is the only solution, making both sides easy to understand where they are coming from and making the questions those movies and this show asks more understandable and debatable. In Batman V. Superman‘s case, Batman and Superman are so destructive that I can’t help but feel like the world would actually be a better place if they gave up being superheroes!
Therefore, that’s really what makes Jessica Jones better than Batman V. Superman. It asks the same questions BVS does but it makes you understand both sides while, with Batman V. Superman, it just makes it seem like the characters are idiots and the movie comes off like it thinks it’s smarter than it really is.
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By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News
The sat collision in February spawned thousands of pieces of debris (red) On 10 February this year, a defunct Russian communications satellite crashed into an American commercial spacecraft, generating thousands of pieces of orbiting debris. At the time, some observers put the odds of such an event occurring at millions, maybe billions, to one. But experts had been warning for years that useable space was becoming crowded, boosting the possibility of a serious collision. They have argued both for better monitoring of the space environment and for policies aimed at controlling the production of debris. European space officials have now initiated a project which has the ultimate aim of protecting Europe's space-based assets against such threats. Over the past two years, a number of incidents have drawn attention to the problem of space debris. We really have to understand the environment in which our space infrastructure operates
Jean-Jacques Dordain, director-general, Esa In January 2007, China tested an anti-satellite weapons system by destroying one of its own spacecraft. According to the US military, the A-sat test created 2,500 new pieces of debris which have been jeopardising satellites in the vicinity ever since. In February 2008, the US used a sea-launched missile system to shoot down a wayward spy satellite loaded with fuel. Then on 12 March this year, a close approach by a piece of debris measuring about 1cm (0.3in) forced the crew of the International Space Station (ISS) to shelter in their Russian Soyuz escape capsule. "It's a bit like a swarm of bees in a beehive up there," said Nasa spokesman William Jeffs at the time, "the trajectories can sometimes be erratic." Found wanting There are thought to be some 18,000 objects larger than 10cm orbiting Earth, but millions more that are smaller. Intact satellites share Earth's orbit with everything from spent rocket stages, tools lost on spacewalks and spacecraft wreckage to paint flakes and dust. They are the flotsam and jetsam of more than half a century of human activities in space. The Russian sat involved in February's collision looked something like this At orbital speeds of 27,000km/h (17,000mph), even tiny pieces of debris can knock out a satellite or kill a spacewalker. And as the number of pieces of debris grows, so does the threat of collisions. Satellite shielding is effective for objects below 1cm. But beyond that size collision avoidance - commanding the satellite to move out of the way of debris - may be the most prudent option. America has the most sophisticated system for tracking objects in orbit. Its military operates 25 centres around the world to track objects in space; together they comprise the US Space Surveillance Network (SSN). Until now, Europe has been largely dependent on the US for knowing what is going on in space. But European observers have for some time regarded this situation as inadequate. Space-based systems, which provide accurate weather data, telecommunications and satellite-navigation services, play an increasingly vital role in Europe's economy. Referring to the threats facing these space-based assets, Jean-Jacques Dordain, director-general of the European Space Agency (Esa) says: "We cannot continue to develop operational space infrastructure and ignore these other elements." The US Haystack and HAX radars track cm-sized debris He added: "We really have to understand the environment in which our space infrastructure operates." Thus, in November 2008, space ministers approved a 49.5-million-euro proposal to prepare the way for a European system which will stand watch over orbital debris, near-Earth objects (NEOs) and solar activity. Together these phenomena could threaten lives and infrastructure in space and on the ground. An advanced capability to monitor such threats is known as Space Situational Awareness, or SSA. Officials will spend three years assessing what Europe needs to develop its capabilities in space situational awareness. They will need to formulate a data security policy as well as consider what infrastructure has to be built from scratch and how existing sensors might contribute. Radars are generally used to track objects in low-Earth orbit, while optical telescopes are often used to observe objects further away from the Earth. Electronic eavesdropping can be used to assess whether or not satellites are active - a discipline known as signals intelligence, or SIGINT.
"In 2010 and 2011, we will deploy and validate the preliminary elements of this system. This will hopefully allow us to deliver some precursor services," Nicolas Bobrinsky, proposal manager for Esa's SSA Preparatory Programme, told BBC News. "It is not our aim to have a fully operational system by 2011, but one which will act as an 'advanced demonstrator'." Gaele Winters, Esa's director of operations and infrastructure, adds: "There are member states in Europe with their own facilities. Esa also has some facilities. If you combine [those resources] in an intelligent way, you can reach a point where it is possible to deliver precursor services." SPACE DEBRIS Comprises manmade "orbital debris" and "incident debris" Incident debris includes particles from short-period comets About 18,000 orbital debris objects larger than 10cm The number between 1cm and 10cm in size estimated at 200,000 Number smaller than 1cm exceeds tens of millions Chinese anti-satellite test in 2007 created 2,500 new fragments A domino effect could create havoc for future space launches These existing facilities might include France's GRAVES (The French acronym means large-scale system adapted for space monitoring) radar system, which can survey objects in low-Earth orbit up to distances of 2,000km, the Zimmerwald optical telescope observatory in Switzerland, and the Esa Space Debris Telescope in Tenerife, Spain. These preliminary services should provide users with access to a catalogue detailing the orbits of functioning spacecraft and debris. They should also alert satellite operators to potential collisions between their spacecraft and other objects in orbit. In the event that a possible collision is identified, users could request a more detailed analysis of the objects' trajectories using a high power radar such as the Tracking and Imaging Radar (TIRA) in Wachtberg, Germany. The fully fledged system is expected to provide many additional services. Richard Tremayne-Smith, a former head of space environment at the British National Space Centre (BNSC), told BBC News: "Space surveillance is one thing, but to get to space situational awareness you need more than either optical sensors for high altitudes and radar for low altitudes. RAF Fylingdales in Yorkshire is part of the US surveillance network "You need details from satellite operators. Otherwise, you can only guess when they might carry out station-keeping with a satellite, or when they might do an impulse burn to change the orbit it is in." Satellite operators overwhelmingly recognise the need for better data on the melee of objects whizzing over our heads. The US already makes available data from its Space Surveillance Network on the internet. But this US Air Force data, known as two-line elements, is of relatively low quality, with satellite positions only accurate to within 20-30km (distances which are covered in 3-4 seconds at typical low Earth orbit velocities of 7.5 km/s). Additional uncertainties are introduced when satellite orbits are extrapolated days or weeks ahead. This is because spacecraft are perturbed by drag, solar radiation pressure and the Earth's gravity field. The more inaccurate the initial data on a satellite's position, the more inaccurate these predictions will be. If you just leave things up there, the statistics show they will start banging into each other
Dr Stuart Eves, SSTL In addition, for a satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit, two-line element data might throw up hundreds of potential collision alerts every day. Many satellite operators simply lack the financial resources to perform detailed analyses on each potential collision. The US Air Force maintains a second, more precise database of information on the same orbital objects. But these more accurate data are deemed far too sensitive to share publicly - for fear the data could give away clues about the capabilities of US sensors. However, keeping close tabs on all the junk up there is beyond even the resources of the US military. High accuracy surveillance is reserved only for a handful of high-value assets such as the space shuttle, the space station and multi-billion-dollar spy satellites. In March, the ISS crew had to move into the Russian Soyuz capsule
In the longer-term, computer modelling work has identified a worrying effect called a "collision cascade", a kind of domino effect where collisions create more debris, which generates further collisions, creating even more debris. "This is one of the reasons why the satellite operators and the community are quite deliberately trying to get their spacecraft down within 25 years from the end of the mission," says Stuart Eves, head of business development for military systems at Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL). NEAR-EARTH OBJECTS (NEOS) NEOs are comets and asteroids which enter Earth's neighbourhood About 1,050 NEOs are classed as potentially hazardous to Earth An estimated 81% of NEOs bigger than 1km are catalogued Nasa wants to log objects as small as 140m (460ft) in diameter Tunguska object exploded with energy of 1,000 atomic bombs Asteroid Apophis has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking Earth in 2036 "If you just leave things up there, the statistics show they will start banging into each other. Eventually, you reach the point where you can't sensibly launch satellites into the orbits you want because they'll get pounded to pieces." Esa might be able to rely on existing facilities for its precursor services, but some sensors are not capable of providing the very high accuracy data required for the fully fledged SSA system. Beyond 2011, officials acknowledge the need to build new state-of-the-art facilities to achieve high performance, including the ability to track objects down to 10cm in size. But for true space situational awareness, it will also be necessary to track objects more frequently. This means monitoring the locations of satellites multiple times each day. The Saphhire satellite system, which is being built by MDA for Canada's Department of National Defence will carry an optical telescope for tracking satellites in high orbits, especially geosynchronous orbit (GEO). "The advantage of a space-based sensor is that it is above the clouds and is unaffected by the day/night cycle, so its tracking can be far more frequent," says Stuart Eves, whose company SSTL is providing the Sapphire spacecraft bus and other elements for MDA. The Teide Observatory on Tenerife may be part of a European system The requirements decided under the European preparatory programme will be submitted for approval by space ministers when next they meet in 2011. Esa is looking at a ten-year timeline for development of the full system. But how the system should be governed in future and by whom is still to be resolved. Esa has been holding discussions with the European Union about its involvement - specifically whether the EU might assume a greater role in managing and funding SSA beyond 2011. Esa has also been talking to Nasa and the US Department of Defense (DoD) about the potential for making the European and American networks interoperable, or compatible. "In short, we are trying to put together, with the Americans, requirements for the European system and future upgrades of the US system to have a better, more reliable source of information for all of us," says Gaele Winters. The European network must be able to function independently of that used by America, he says, adding: "There is a certain level of independence Europe wants to have in its ability to protect its own space assets. But it also offers the opportunity to get more out of two systems." Good to talk Insiders say officials are determined to avoid a repeat of the dispute with America over Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system, due to be operational by 2013. Fuelled by US concerns that the European network could be used by hostile nations in attacks on American targets, the row was only resolved after lengthy negotiations. Sources say that, in principle at least, there is a willingness on both sides to work together on SSA, though some in Europe remain wary of US intentions. There were tensions between the US and Europe over Galileo "Any endeavour by Europe to enhance space situational awareness will only increase our ability to conduct safe and responsible operations in space," a DoD official told the magazine Space News earlier this year. "The United States supports international cooperation in SSA." Britain, meanwhile, has joined the preparatory programme, contributing one million euros at the Esa ministerial meeting last November. But participation presents particular questions for the UK because of its "special relationship" with America. The UK already has some privileged access to American data and some national users might not want to see the status quo shaken up. Nevertheless, some commentators recognise a need for Britain to have more control over the space surveillance data it gets. A policy directing how the data will be used is also important for Europe's system, given the sensitivities over sharing information from military sensors. Richard Tremayne-Smith comments: "I personally believe one thing that would have to be done is to have data anonymity. People will be quite glad to put things in as long as you can't trace things back and work out the power and capability of the sensor. SPACE WEATHER
Many space weather phenomena relate to the activity of the Sun Solar storms may occur a few times a week or a few times a day Caused by bubbles of plasma erupting from Sun's atmosphere Bubbles pack a punch equivalent to about 100 hurricanes Also known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs Affect functioning of technology in space and on the ground Solar activity monitored by Stereo and Soho satellites "If you want to get as many people as possible to provide data, you want to give them a warm feeling that it's not going to be misused, or allowed to drift off to people who might use it for things they didn't want." One way to address the issue, he said, might be to place a software application between the sensitive data and end users. Information provided by participating countries would be used to train this interface. Users would then obtain the answers they require without ever seeing details of the satellite positions. Space debris was once the principal concern of space surveillance, but a different threat comes from near-Earth objects - the primordial rocks left over from the formation of the Solar System. It has been difficult to find funding for facilities directed exclusively towards Neo discovery. But Mr Tremayne-Smith said existing ground and space telescopes used for astronomy or military activities are eminently suitable for logging asteroids and comets. "The third big peak in discovery of near-Earth objects below the 1km size was with the US GEODSS system used for looking at satellites. The US military allowed those satellites to be used for NEO detection while they weren't being otherwise utilised," he explains. Space weather is the third component of Esa's SSA programme. The bulk of this discipline is concerned with solar activity. Radiation from flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) on the Sun may launch X-rays and high energy particles towards Earth. These phenomena can interfere with the operation of space systems, especially those beyond the protective screen of the Van Allen radiation belts surrounding Earth. The UK MoD's Skynet 5C satellite carries sophisticated anti-jamming technology
But officials acknowledge the potential threat from deliberate attempts to interfere with satellites. In September 2005, a London-based radio station called Sowt al-Amel (Voice of Hope), began beaming into Libya via satellite with the aim of promoting political reform in the North African country. Within minutes of Sowt al-Amel's first broadcast, a high-powered signal of garbled noise was unleashed on the satellite uplink, drowning out the dissident station. But in jamming the signal, several other broadcasters, among them CNN and BBC World, were also blocked out. The US carried out on-orbit inspection of a missile warning satellite Esa is a civilian agency and is not mandated to deal with security matters. But Gaele Winters explains: "If you develop the system, it could contain additional capabilities. He adds: "The first priority is to build ground-based infrastructure. But it is not to be excluded that later in the programme, space-based monitoring could take place. "If there is a problem with our satellite, we would like to have the ability to analyse precisely what is wrong with it. One way of doing that is from the ground using telescopes. Another is to have a satellite in orbit which could approach the damaged satellite and carry out a close inspection to see what is happening." In January, it was reported that the US DoD had commanded two covert inspection satellites to examine a failed US Air Force missile warning satellite in geosynchronous orbit. Mr Winters says several organisations, including the European Defence Agency, are studying the SSA proposals and may come up with security-related requirements to be added to those being compiled by Esa. Small satellites could be deployed to "look after" other spacecraft
Military satellites 'may get stealthy' He comments: "It could well be that in the future, the European Union will take a bigger role in managing and funding the development of this system because of these aspects that are outside the scope of Esa, but are inside the mandate of the EU." Space situational awareness is also regarded as an important step towards the holy grail of space traffic management. A system analogous to that which currently governs the movements of aircraft is still some way off. But Richard Tremayne-Smith thinks Europe should consider this objective in the design of its SSA programme. He explains: "This is just a personal view, but if Europe does something, it should have a very ambitious target in the longer term that leapfrogs other capabilities and goes to what is really needed to do the job, rather than just getting to the current state of the art." [email protected]
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I needed new eyeglasses. My friend has a really cute pair of frames from Chanel that I'd been coveting, so I decided to try to buy a pair for myself at the Chanel store near my apartment in Chicago, where I live while shooting the show Empire.
On my way to the store, another friend called. Taraji said she was stuck on set and asked if I would pick up a pair of sandals for her. No problem. I grabbed a cab and in a few minutes walked into the nearly empty shop.
I was looking pretty cute. My wig was long and wavy, I was wearing new ankle boots and my prescription Balenciaga shades, and I had a vintage Chanel purse on my shoulder, over my winter coat with a fur hood. I looked as though I were in a Mary J. Blige video. Just how I like to look! The glasses display was near the door, so I walked right over. A saleswoman and I locked eyes immediately. I said "Hello" before she did. She greeted me, but the look on her face told me that she thought I was lost.
"Can I take a look at your eyeglasses?" I asked.
"We don't have any," she answered. "We only have shades. There's a store across the street that sells eyeglasses."
"Across the street?" I asked, confused.
"Yes. In the building across the street on the fifth floor." She gave me the name of a discount frames dealer. I had been at her display for less than a minute, and she was literally directing me to another store.
"But … I want Chanel frames," I said. She told me the name of the other store again and exactly how to get there and let me know that they had lots of different frames, including Chanel. I'd love to pretend she was being polite, and I'm sure she would love to pretend she was polite, but she was actually condescending. Explaining to me how exactly I should get across the street and out of her sight line, as if I were in kindergarten. I was trying to purchase glasses, and she was trying to get the interaction with me over as soon as possible. Just to be sure of what was happening, I made her tell me to leave, in her pretend-polite way, three times.
I knew what she was doing. She had decided after a single look at me that I wasn't there to spend any money. Even though I was carrying a Chanel bag, she decided I wasn't a Chanel customer and so, not worth her time and energy.
This actually happens to me a lot. My whole life. Both before and after I became a recognizable actress. It happened to me in St. Maarten on vacation after shooting a film, when I went to a Dior counter to look at lip gloss and the saleswoman literally took a gloss out of my hand and put it back down in the display case. It used to happen to me at my neighborhood beauty-supply store in New York, where I was relentlessly followed around whenever my mom sent me to pick up shampoo and Q-tips. Even when I was a teenager, I knew it was because of my skin color but also because of the environment. I lived in the hood. Being suspected of stealing is just par for the course. Also, I definitely went through a mini-klepto phase when I was around fifteen, so some of that suspicion was warranted. But I grew out of it, and if I weighed the times I was suspected of stealing versus the time I actually stole something, it would be about 99 percent to 1 percent. |
Germany sends specialist investigators to Turkey
ISTANBUL - The Associated Press
Turkish police officers stand guard near the Blue Mosque in Istanbul's tourist hub of Sultanahmet on January 13, 2016, a day after an attack. AFP Photo
Germany has sent a team of specialist investigators to Istanbul following the Jan. 12 blast in the city's historic Sultanahmet Square where 10 Germans were killed when an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)-linked suicide bomber blew himself up.A spokesman for the Interior Ministry says the investigators flew to the Turkish metropolis on Jan. 13.Johannes Dimroth said the specialists from Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office, which is comparable to the FBI, would support Turkish authorities investigating the attack.Asked whether Germany believes that ISIL is responsible for the attack, he said it was "too early to engage in wild speculation." |
Valve are rolling into 2016 with a new peak concurrent Steam users record, at least according to the eagle eyed trackers of NeoGAF. Yesterday at around 18:30 GMT, the service managed an impressive 12,332,504 gamers playing, trading and, perhaps most importantly, buying their games through Steam. The largest games on the service continue to be Valve’s pair of e-sports juggernauts, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2, with hundreds of thousands of players nailing headshots and last-hits at all times.
Get the jump on Dota 2 with our best heroes for beginners guide.
According to thisNeoGAF thread, it’s an increase of just under four million concurrent users since this time last year, and a fair million and change since just a few months ago. While they didn’t hit peaks of their own, Dota 2 managed a more than respectful 940,373 users and CS:GO hit 643,402. The all-time peaks for each are 1,262,612 and 823,694 respectively, according to SteamCharts.com. This is pretty good news for Dota 2, which suffered a significant player numbers dip after the release of the controversial and still-problematic Reborn update last year. It hasn’t quite returned to former glory, when it averaged over 600,000 players in February last year, but it’s on its way.
On the non-Valve front, Fallout 4 and Grand Theft Auto V sit in the third and fourth spot, doing incredible numbers for a pair of games with no or comparitively little multiplayer focus. If precedent, and the rest of the current top ten, are to be believed then they’ll remain there through the power of mods. Of those games doing so well, the most interesting to me is Civ V – it’s a fairly old game and even though it’s a well-known franchise, that a grand, slow strategy can even keep pace with its peers in 2016 is surprising.
Amazingly enough, it’s debatable if this is even the majority of PC players. At last count, and as the final numbers we may ever get, there’s over five million World of Warcraft players still logging in once a month, or at least paying for the privilege. Last we heard there were 40 million Hearthstone accounts out there too. Meanwhile, Riot haven’t given numbers in about two years, but theirofficial sitestill boasts a 7.5 million daily peak – rather blowing Dota 2’s numbers out of the water. In fact, it’s more than twice the entire Steam top 100 put together, which is around 3.3 million on today’s numbers.
Congratulations on playing lots of games. What have I missed in my stats-trawl, or what surprises you in Steam’s record list? |
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A majority of Americans continue to believe that Democratic President Barack Obama will win re-election Tuesday over Republican challenger Mitt Romney, by 54% to 34%. These views are roughly similar to where they were in May and August, although slightly more Americans now do not have an opinion either way.
These results are based on interviews conducted from Oct. 27-28 as part of the Gallup Daily election tracking survey, conducted before Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast. It is unknown what effect the storm will have on Americans' voting preferences or the impact of the storm on Americans' perceptions of who is most likely to win the election.
The majority of Americans continue to project an Obama win on Nov. 6. This is the case even though the general perception is the race is highly competitive and the outcome still very much in doubt. National polls generally show a tight race with many, including Gallup, giving Romney an edge. State-level polls suggest Obama doing slightly better in key battleground states that will decide the Electoral College winner.
More generally, Americans may believe the incumbent has a natural advantage when competing for a new term. In three separate polls conducted over the 2004 presidential election, voters twice viewed incumbent George W. Bush as the probable winner, including 56% who said so the final time Gallup asked the question before the election. In 1996, an overwhelming majority (69%) saw incumbent Bill Clinton as more likely to prevail than his opponent Robert Dole (24%).
Democrats Most Likely to Predict Obama Victory; Republicans Least Likely
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of partisans predict their respective candidates will win the election. Democrats are relatively more confident in their party's nominee, with 86% predicting an Obama victory and 8% projecting Romney. By contrast, 71% of Republicans predict Romney will win, while nearly a fifth of Republicans see their candidate losing to Obama. Despite evenly divided presidential vote preferences, independents predict Obama to win, 52% to 32%.
Americans Generally Have Been Accurate at Predicting the Winner
Americans have a good track record regarding their collective prediction of the outcome of presidential elections, correctly predicting the winner of the popular vote in final Gallup surveys taken in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008. Although Americans are not as optimistic on Obama's odds as various "prediction markets," such as Intrade.com, where the president has often been projected as having a probability of winning of more than 60%, the prediction markets and the American public in general find Obama the favorite against Romney. The 2012 presidential election outcome will help determine how accurate Americans are in their personal predictions.
Implications
Though it has been a long campaign season with various twists and turns, Americans by a clear margin still predict that Obama will win re-election. This in the face of presidential preference polling that has consistently demonstrated a close race. The apparent inconsistency may be the result of Obama's status as the incumbent and reflects a somewhat lower level of confidence among Republicans that their candidate will win.
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Sunil Gavaskar expressed his disappointment with Anil Kumble stepping down as coach of the Indian cricket team on Tuesday evening. He lashed out at not just the fact that Kumble had to step down but also the manner in which the entire episode played out. On Tuesday Kumble had stepped down from his role as the coach and hit out at captain Virat Kohli for the ‘difference in style’ between the two while maintaining that the relationship was ‘untenable’.
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“I have very little knowledge about the differences between Virat and Anil. But it is a really sad day for Indian cricket. India have won everything since the time Anil took over. I can’t see Anil doing much wrong in one year. Difference happens in any team but see at the results,” he told NDTV.
“Anil must have had his reasons (of resigning). I would have thought Anil would carry on. Once the CAC expressed their confidence in him, Anil should have stuck around. Hope he will take it on the chin and comes back stronger. But it is the first time a known fighter like Anil did not stand up,” said Gavaskar of Kumble who had once played with a broken jaw.
After the short series in West Indies comprising five ODIs and a T20, India will shift focus to tours in Sri Lanka and South Africa. Gavaskar said the Cricket Advisory Committee (CAC) needs to take a call on the next coach soon. |
Video of a dead whale shark being pulled from the sea off of Pakistan raises more questions about the school-bus-size fish's demise than it answers, scientists say.
Pakistani newspaper The Express Tribune posted video on Tuesday (Feb. 7) of a crane hauling a whale shark carcass onto a pier in Karachi. According to the newspaper, the owner of the nearby Charai Fishery, spotted the animal floating "unconscious" 10 days earlier, 93 miles (150 kilometers) from the fishery. [See video of whale shark]
But sharks don't fall unconscious, said Bob Hueter, the director of the Center for Shark Research at Mote Marine Laboratory in Florida. And if they stop swimming for any reason, they aren't likely to bob along with the currents.
"If and when they die, they don't float, they sink," Hueter told LiveScience. "So to have one just kind of wash up is very rare. I can only think of a few cases over the years around the world where this is happened."
It's impossible to tell from the video and news stories what really happened to the whale shark, said Jennifer Schmidt, a biologist at the University of Illinois at Chicago who studies whale sharks.
"It's possible the shark was sick, and was brought into port when it finally appeared to be dead," Schmidt told LiveScience. "It's also known, however, that Pakistan hunts whale sharks, so it's possible this is a cover story for a whale shark hunt that couldn't avoid notice."
The shark, a member of the largest species of fish on Earth, was reportedly about 40 feet (12 meters) long and required at least three cranes to pull it onto the pier, after which it was sold for 200,000 rupees, approximately $2,200 (earlier reports had pegged the price at 1.7 million rupees). According to the Dawn newspaper, the buyer will put the animal on display for fee-paying viewers for three days and then sell the meat to poultry-feed producers.
Whale sharks are listed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, but it's up to individual countries to enforce limits on killing the creatures.
From the photos, Schmidt guessed that the shark was a male. At 40 feet long, she said, he would have been about 30 years old and of breeding age.
"The death of an adult breeding animal is unfortunate under any circumstances, as his valuable contribution to shark numbers and genetic diversity is lost," she said. "Recent studies have shown that known whale shark populations, at least in some areas, are shifting toward smaller animals not old enough to breed. This suggests the larger reproducing sharks are being selectively depleted, likely targeted by fisheries, which will further endanger the status of whale sharks if reproduction declines."
Whale shark meat is eaten around the world, and the animals' fins, like those of many sharks, are expensive delicacies in Asia. But if the shark did indeed die long before fisherman found it, it's unlikely that it would be fit for human consumption.
"Decomposition is very rapid in an animal like that, and sharks, on top of that, have high levels of these ammonia-type substances in their tissues," Hueter said. "When they start to rot, it's pretty bad."
You can follow LiveScience senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.
Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
NEW DELHI: The Islamic State’s Hyderabad module, guided by suspected Syria based member identified as ‘Amir’, had amassed sufficient high-grade explosive material to assemble 40-50 powerful bombs and they posed an “imminent” threat at the time of their detention. In fact, in a recent message to Amir, a member of the module had asked: “Maal tayyar ho gaya hai, ab kya karna hai? (Stuff, or explosives, are ready. What to do now?)”.The NIA teams have recovered several hundred kgs and litres of explosive-making precursor chemicals like acetone, hydrogen peroxide, urea, sugar, mineral acid, ammonium nitrate, nitric acid, sulphuric acid, purchased and collected by the module over past four or five months. Investigators told TOI on Wednesday that this quantity was enough to make 40 to 50 potent IEDs.Sources said the module, led by Mohammad Ibrahim Yazdani, had procured all ingredients, which were being assembled into IEDs by the expert bomb-maker among them, Abdullah Bin Ahmed. Amir, according to initial analysis by intelligence agencies, could be a nom de guerre for Islamic State’s top recruiter-cum-motivator in India — Shafi Armar, who goes by the name of Yousuf-al-Hindi in cyberspace. Al-Hindi was also behind the pan-India module busted by the NIA in January this year, which was led by Mumbaibased Muddabir Sheikh.The NIA suspects some members of the module had conducted a recce at a famous Bhagyalakshmi temple situated at the base of Charminar in Hyderabad. They had also toured Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh) and Ajmer.According to sources, two operatives of the Hyderabad module recently travelled to Nanded, Maharashtra, on a bike and bought two semi automatic 9mm pistols from a contact there. One Chinese made air-gun with telescopic sight and shooting practice target board has also been recovered by the NIA.The five arrested members of Hyderabad module have been identified as “strikers” while those still under detention helped in logistics. |
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Karl Rove stated that an ad for Barack Obama "says he was raised with 'values straight from the Kansas heartland,' though he grew up in Hawaii." But Obama does not suggest in the ad that he was raised in Kansas; rather, he explicitly notes his mother and grandparents "grew up" there. Rove also asserted that Obama claims in the ad "to have passed three bills, but fails to mention that two were in the Illinois state Senate." However, Obama does not suggest that the bills referenced in the ad were passed by the U.S. Senate, and the ad displays the years in which the bills were passed.
In a July 3 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Fox News contributor Karl Rove wrote that Sen. Barack Obama's "ads show he's aware of his vulnerability on two fronts: his liberal values and his meager achievements. Yet he should be more cautious with these weaknesses. His bio ad says he was raised with 'values straight from the Kansas heartland,' though he grew up in Hawaii." However, in the ad, Obama does not in any way suggest that he was raised in Kansas; rather, he explicitly refers to his upbringing by his mother and grandparents, who he notes "grew up" in Kansas. Obama stated: "I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents. We didn't have much money, but they taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland where they grew up" [emphasis added]. Further, Rove wrote that Obama "claims to have passed three bills, but fails to mention that two were in the Illinois state Senate." Yet Obama does not suggest that the bills he references in the ad were passed by the U.S. Senate. To the contrary, the ad displays the dates the bills were passed, which were both well before Obama was elected to the U.S. Senate.
In Obama's bio ad, "The Country I Love," Obama states of his mother and grandparents:
OBAMA: I was raised by a single mom and my grandparents. We didn't have much money, but they taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland where they grew up. Accountability and self-reliance. Love of country. Working hard without making excuses. Treating your neighbor as you'd like to be treated. It's what guided me as I worked my way up, taking jobs and loans to make it through college.
A Kansas City Star article stated that Obama's "maternal grandfather, Stanley Dunham, attended El Dorado high school [in El Dorado, Kansas] and married the candidate's grandmother, Madelyn Payne, a young woman from nearby Augusta, in the 1930s. Dunham would go on to serve in World War II while his wife worked on a defense assembly line. She gave birth to Obama's mother at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. They later moved to Hawaii, where their daughter would marry Kenyan Barack Obama Sr. -- who lead a largely absentee life in the future presidential candidate's upbringing."
While Rove wrote that Obama "claims to have passed three bills, but fails to mention that two were in the Illinois state Senate," on-screen text in the ad indicates that he helped pass those bills well before he joined the U.S. Senate in January 2005. In 1997, Obama was a main co-sponsor of the state's Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (Illinois Public Act 90-0017). Text in Obama's ad states that he "Moved people from welfare to work." Underneath those words read the date "6/19/97." Additionally, Obama co-sponsored a bill that created the Illinois state earned income tax credit program for low-income individuals and families (Illinois Public Act 91-0700). Text in the ad states that Obama "cut taxes for working families." Underneath those words read the date "5/11/00."
From the ad:
From Rove's July 3 Wall Street Journal op-ed: |
NEW DELHI: Troubles for Himachal Pradesh CM Virbhadra Singh keep mounting with the Enforcement Directorate finding what it calls irrefutable evidence of the veteran Congressman resorting to forgery to build his defence in the disproportionate assets case he is facing.Sources in the ED, which is probing money laundering charges against the CM and his associates, told TOI on Monday that they have gathered a strong body of evidence to establish that Singh allegedly forged registers, obtained ante-dated stamp papers and concocted back-dated agreements with apple dealers to seek to explain a big jump in his income — from Rs 47.35 lakh before an income tax raid (on his associates in December 2011) to Rs 6.57 crore after the tax department began proceedings against him.ED sources said Singh, who is already being prosecuted by the CBI for acquiring assets disproportionate to his legal sources of income, could face arrest for fudging documents, besides charges of money laundering, a development that could create another political crisis for Congress.Significantly, the beleaguered CM on Monday met party chief Sonia Gandhi to offer his explanation to the charges which are considered by some of his colleagues to be “pretty serious”.Soon after an I-T raid on him, Singh revised the returns he had filed for assessment years 2008-09 to 2011-12. He raised his family income for these years from Rs 47.35 lakh to Rs 6.57 crore after a case of disproportionate assets was made out against him.According to a source, to substantiate his raised income, Singh allegedly obtained ante-dated stamp papers through his associates, forged registers and created false entries while allegedly concocting an agreement dated June 17, 2008 with an apple dealer who promised to pay him an enhanced amount for apples from his orchard. The ED trailed the stamp paper to the government-owned Nashik printing press, where it found that the press had actually dispatched the stamp paper only on September 24, 2008, three months after it was purportedly used by Singh.Singh had entered into another agreement with an apple supplier on June 15, 2008. The probe revealed that the stamp paper used for this purpose was issued to another person in Shimla who had on June 11 used it at Uco Bank’s Shimla branch, two days before Singh also showed its use on his agreement papers.Meanwhile, Singh has accused BJP of using the ED and other agencies to destabilise his government.BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma rejected Singh’s allegations and said, “So far he has been making efforts to avoid going to jail. He can go there any time.”The ED is probing Singh and family members under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and had last week attached his properties worth at least Rs 8 crore, including a flat in Delhi’s GK-1, bank deposits and some LIC policies. The PMLA case is based on a CBI FIR registered against Singh, his wife Pratibha and his LIC agent.The Himachal CM had earlier approached the Delhi HC but failed to get exemption from personal appearance before the ED for questioning. He may be called for interrogation any day, sources said. Already, representatives on behalf of his wife have appeared for sessions with ED officials at its headquarters in Delhi.Singh was not available for comment. Himachal Congress’s chief spokesperson Naresh Chauhan too refused to comment, saying the party was not aware about the personal matters of Singh. “How will we know with whom he signed the agreements in his personal capacity?” he added. |
If you’re like me, one of the first things that attracted you to Scala was its parser combinators. Well, maybe that wasn’t the first thing for me, but it was pretty far up there. Parser combinators make it almost too easy to create a parser for a complex language without ever leaving the comfortable play-pen afforded by Scala. Incidentally, if you aren’t familiar with the fundamentals of text parsing, context-free grammars and/or parser generators, then you might want to do some reading before you continue with this article.
Intro to Parser Combinators
In most languages, the process of creating a text parser is usually an arduous and clumsy affair involving a parser generator (such as ANTLR, JavaCC, Beaver or <shamelessPlug>ScalaBison</shamelessPlug>) and (usually) a lexer generator such as JFlex. These tools do a very good job of generating sources for efficient and powerful parsers, but they aren’t exactly the easiest tools to use. They generally have a very steep learning curve, and due to their unique status as compiler-compilers, an unintuitive architecture. Additionally, these tools can be somewhat rigid, making it very difficult to implement unique or experimental features. For this reason alone, many real world compilers and interpreters (such as javac , ruby , jruby and scalac ) actually use hand-written parsers. These are usually easier to tweak, but they can be very difficult to develop and test. Additionally, hand-written parsers have a tendency toward poor performance (think: the Scala compiler).
When creating a compiler in Scala, it is perfectly acceptable to make use of these conventional Java-generating tools like ANTLR or Beaver, but we do have other options. Parser combinators are a domain-specific language baked into the standard library. Using this internal DSL, we can create an instance of a parser for a given grammar using Scala methods and fields. What’s more, we can do this in a very declarative fashion. Thanks to the magic of DSLs, our sources will actually look like a plain-Jane context-free grammar for our language. This means that we get most of the benefits of a hand-written parser without losing the maintainability afforded by parser generators like bison. For example, here is a very simple grammar for a simplified Scala-like language, expressed in terms of parser combinators:
object SimpleScala extends RegexpParsers { val ID = "" "[a-zA-Z]([a-zA-Z0-9]|_[a-zA-Z0-9])*" "" r val NUM = "" "[1-9][0-9]*" "" r def program = clazz* def classPrefix = "class" ~ ID ~ "(" ~ formals ~ ")" def classExt = "extends" ~ ID ~ "(" ~ actuals ~ ")" def clazz = classPrefix ~ opt ( classExt ) ~ "{" ~ ( member* ) ~ "}" def formals = repsep ( ID ~ ":" ~ ID, "," ) def actuals = expr* def member = ( "val" ~ ID ~ ":" ~ ID ~ "=" ~ expr | "var" ~ ID ~ ":" ~ ID ~ "=" ~ expr | "def" ~ ID ~ "(" ~ formals ~ ")" ~ ":" ~ ID ~ "=" ~ expr | "def" ~ ID ~ ":" ~ ID ~ "=" ~ expr | "type" ~ ID ~ "=" ~ ID ) def expr: Parser [ Expr ] = factor ~ ( "+" ~ factor | "-" ~ factor ) * def factor = term ~ ( "." ~ ID ~ "(" ~ actuals ~ ")" ) * def term = ( "(" ~ expr ~ ")" | ID | NUM ) }
This is all valid and correct Scala. The program method returns an instance of Parser[List[Class_]] , assuming that Class_ is the AST class representing a syntactic class in the language (and assuming that we had added all of the boiler-plate necessary AST generation). This Parser instance can then be used to process a java.io.Reader , producing some result if the input is valid, otherwise producing an error.
How the Magic Works
The really significant thing to notice here is that program is nothing special; just another method which returns an instance of class Parser . In fact, all of these methods return instances of Parser . Once you realize this, the magic behind all of this becomes quite a bit more obvious. However, to really figure it all out, we’re going to need to take a few steps back.
Conceptually, a Parser represents a very simple idea:
Parsers are invoked upon an input stream. They will consume a certain number of tokens and then return a result along with the truncated stream. Alternatively, they will fail, producing an error message.
Every Parser instance complies with this description. To be more concrete, consider the keyword parser (what I like to call the “literal” parser) which consumes a single well-defined token. For example (note that the keyword method is implicit in Scala’s implementation of parser combinators, which is why it doesn’t appear in the long example above):
def boring = keyword ( "bore" )
The boring method returns a value of type Parser[String] . That is, a parser which consumes input and somehow produces a String as a result (along with the truncated stream). This parser will either parse the characters b-o-r-e in that order, or it will fail. If it succeeds, it will return the string "bore" as a result along with a stream which is shortened by four characters. If it fails, it will return an error message along the lines of “ Expected 'bore', got 'Boer' “, or something to that effect.
By itself, such a parser is really not very useful. After all, it’s easy enough to perform a little bit of String equality testing when looking for a well-defined token. The real power of parser combinators is in what happens when you start combining them together (hence the name). A few literal parsers combined in sequence can give us a phrase in our grammar, and a few of these sequences combined in a disjunction can give us the full power of a non-terminal with multiple productions. As it turns out, all we need is the literal parser ( keyword ) combined with these two types of combinators to express any LL(*) grammar.
Before we get into the combinators themselves, let’s build a framework. We will define Parser[A] as a function from Stream[Character] to Result[A] , where Result[A] has two implementations: Success[A] and Failure . The framework looks like the following:
trait Parser [ +A ] extends ( Stream [ Character ] =>Result [ A ] ) sealed trait Result [ +A ] case class Success [ +A ] ( value: A, rem: Stream [ Character ] ) extends Result [ A ] case class Failure ( msg: String ) extends Result [ Nothing ]
Additionally, we must add a concrete parser, keyword , to handle our literals. For the sake of syntactic compatibility with Scala’s parser combinators, this parser will be defined within the RegexpParsers singleton object (despite the fact that we don’t really support regular expressions):
object RegexpParsers { implicit def keyword ( str: String ) = new Parser [ String ] { def apply ( s: Stream [ Character ] ) = { val trunc = s take str. length lazy val errorMessage = "Expected '%s' got '%s'" . format ( str, trunc. mkString ) if ( trunc lengthCompare str. length != 0 ) Failure ( errorMessage ) else { val succ = trunc. zipWithIndex forall { case ( c, i ) => c == str ( i ) } if ( succ ) Success ( str, s drop str. length ) else Failure ( errorMessage ) } } } }
For those of you who are still a little uncomfortable with the more obscure higher-order utility methods in the Scala collections framework: don’t worry about it. While the above may be a bit obfuscated, there isn’t really a need to understand what’s going on at any sort of precise level. The important point is that this Parser defines an apply method which compares str to an equally-lengthed prefix from s , the input character Stream . At the end of the day, it returns either Success or Failure .
The Sequential Combinator
The first of the two combinators we need to look at is the sequence combinator. Conceptually, this combinator takes two parsers and produces a new parser which matches the first and the second in order. If either one of the parsers produces a Failure , then the entire sequence will fail. In terms of classical logic, this parser corresponds to the AND operation. The code for this parser is almost ridiculously simple:
class SequenceParser [ +A, +B ] ( l: =>Parser [ A ] , r: =>Parser [ B ] ) extends Parser [ ( A, B ) ] { lazy val left = l lazy val right = r def apply ( s: Stream [ Character ] ) = left ( s ) match { case Success ( a, rem ) => right ( rem ) match { case Success ( b, rem ) => Success ( ( a, b ) , rem ) case f: Failure => f } case f: Failure => f } }
This is literally just a parser which applies its left operand and then applies its right to whatever is left. As long as both parsers succeed, a composite Success will be produced containing a tuple of the left and right parser’s results. Note that Scala’s parser combinator framework actually yields an instance of the ~ case class from its sequence combinator. This is particularly convenient as it allows for a very nice syntax in pattern matching for semantic actions (extracting parse results). However, since we will not be dealing with the action combinators in this article, it seemed simpler to just use a tuple.
One item worthy of note is the fact that both left and right are evaluated lazily. This means that we don’t actually evaluate our constructor parameters until the parser is applied to a specific stream. This is very important as it allows us to define parsers with recursive rules. Recursion is really what separates context-free grammars from regular expressions. Without this laziness, any recursive rules would lead to an infinite loop in the parser construction.
Once we have the sequence combinator in hand, we can add a bit of syntax sugar to enable its use. All instances of Parser will define a ~ operator which takes a single operand and produces a SequenceParser which handles the receiver and the parameter in order:
trait Parser [ +A ] extends ( Stream [ Character ] =>Result [ A ] ) { def ~ [ B ] ( that: =>Parser [ B ] ) = new SequenceParser ( this , that ) }
With this modification to Parser , we can now create parsers which match arbitrary sequences of tokens. For example, our framework so far is more than sufficient to define the classPrefix parser from our earlier snippet (with the exception of the regular expression defined in ID , which we currently have no way of handling):
def classPrefix = "class" ~ ID ~ "(" ~ formals ~ ")"
The Disjunctive Combinator
This is a very academic name for a very simple concept. Let’s think about the framework so far. We have both literal parsers and sequential combinations thereof. Using this framework, we are capable of defining parsers which match arbitrary token strings. We can even define parsers which match infinite token sequences, simply by involving recursion:
def fearTheOnes: Parser [ Any ] = "1" ~ fearTheOnes
Of course, this parser is absurd, since it only matches an infinite input consisting of the '1' character, but it does serve to illustrate that we have a reasonably powerful framework even in its current form. This also provides a nice example of how the lazy evaluation of sequence parsers is an absolutely essential feature. Without it, the fearTheOnes method would enter an infinite loop and would never return an instance of Parser .
However, for all its glitz, our framework is still somewhat impotent compared to “real” parser generators. It is almost trivial to derive a grammar which cannot be handled by our parser combinators. For example:
e ::= '1' | '2'
This grammar simply says “match either the '1' character, or the '2' character”. Unfortunately, our framework is incapable of defining a parser according to this rule. We have no facility for saying “either this or that”. This is where the disjunctive combinator comes into play.
In boolean logic, a disjunction is defined according to the following truth table:
P Q P V Q T T T T F T F T T F F F
In other words, the disjunction is true if one or both of its component predicates are true. This is exactly the sort of combinator we need to bring our framework to full LL(*) potential. We need to define a parser combinator which takes two parsers as parameters, trying each of them in order. If the first parser succeeds, we yield its value; otherwise, we try the second parser and return its Result (whether Success or Failure ). Thus, our disjunctive combinator should yield a parser which succeeds if and only if one of its component parsers succeeds. This is very easily accomplished:
class DisParser [ +A ] ( left: Parser [ A ] , right: Parser [ A ] ) extends Parser [ A ] { def apply ( s: Stream [ Character ] ) = left ( s ) match { case res: Success => res case _: Failure => right ( s ) } }
Once again, we can beautify the syntax a little bit by adding an operator to the Parser super-trait:
trait Parser [ +A ] extends ( Stream [ Character ] =>Result [ A ] ) { def ~ [ B ] ( that: =>Parser [ B ] ) = new SequenceParser ( this , that ) def | ( that: Parser [ A ] ) = new DisParser ( this , that ) }
…is that all?
It’s almost as if by magic, but the addition of the disjunctive combinator to the sequential actually turns our framework into something really special, capable of chewing through any LL(*) grammar. Just in case you don’t believe me, consider the grammar for the pure-untyped lambda calculus, expressed using our framework ( alph definition partially elided for brevity):
object LambdaCalc extends RegexpParsers { def expr: Parser [ Any ] = term ~ ( expr | "" ) def term = ( "fn" ~ id ~ "=>" ~ expr | id ) val alph = "a" | "b" | "c" |...| "X" | "Y" | "Z" val num = "0" | "1" | "2" | "3" | "4" | "5" | "6" | "7" | "8" | "9" def id = alph ~ idSuffix def idSuffix = ( ( alph | num ) ~ idSuffix | "" ) }
While this grammar may seem a bit obfuscated, it is only because I had to avoid the use of regular expressions to define the ID rule. Instead, I used a combination of sequential and disjunctive combinators to produce a Parser which matches the desired pattern. Note that the “ ... ” is not some special syntax, but rather my laziness and wish to avoid a code snippet 310 characters wide.
We can also use our framework to define some other, useful combinators such as opt and * (used in the initial example). Specifically:
trait Parser [ +A ] extends ( Stream [ Character ] =>Result [ A ] ) { ... def *: Parser [ List [ A ] ] = ( this ~ * ^^ { case ( a, b ) => a :: b } | "" ^^^ Nil ) } object RegexpParsers { ... def opt [ A ] ( p: Parser [ A ] ) = ( p ^^ { Some ( _ ) } | "" ^^^ None ) }
Readers who have managed to stay awake to this point may notice that I’m actually cheating a bit in these definitions. Specifically, I’m using the ^^ and ^^^ combinators. These are the semantic action combinators which I promised to avoid discussing. However, for the sake of completeness, I’ll include the sources and leave you to figure out the rest:
trait Parser [ +A ] extends ( Stream [ Character ] =>Result [ A ] ) { outer => ... def ^^ [ B ] ( f: A=>B ) = new Parser [ B ] { def apply ( s: Stream [ Character ] ) = outer ( s ) match { case Success ( v, rem ) => Success ( f ( v ) , rem ) case f: Failure => f } } def ^^^ [ B ] ( v: =>B ) = new Parser [ B ] { def apply ( s: Stream [ Character ] ) = outer ( s ) match { case Success ( _, rem ) => Success ( v, rem ) case f: Failure => f } } }
In short, these combinators are only interesting to people who want their parsers to give them a value upon completion (usually an AST). In short, just about any useful application of parser combinators will require these combinators, but since we’re not planning to use our framework for anything useful, there is really no need.
One really interesting parser from our first example which is worthy of attention is the member rule. If you recall, this was defined as follows:
def member = ( "val" ~ ID ~ ":" ~ ID ~ "=" ~ expr | "var" ~ ID ~ ":" ~ ID ~ "=" ~ expr | "def" ~ ID ~ "(" ~ formals ~ ")" ~ ":" ~ ID ~ "=" ~ expr | "def" ~ ID ~ ":" ~ ID ~ "=" ~ expr | "type" ~ ID ~ "=" ~ ID )
This is interesting for two reasons. First: we have multiple disjunctions handled in the same rule, showing that disjunctive parsers chain just as nicely as do sequential. But more importantly, our chain of disjunctions includes two parsers which have the same prefix ( "def" ~ ID ). In other words, if we attempt to parse an input of “ def a: B = 42 “, one of these deeply nested parsers will erroneously match the input for the first two tokens.
This grammatical feature forces us to implement some sort of backtracking within our parser combinators. Intuitively, the "def" ~ ID parser is going to successfully match “ def a “, but the enclosing sequence ( "def" ~ ID ~ "(" ) will fail as soon as the “ : ” token is reached. At this point, the parser has to take two steps back in the token stream and try again with another parser, in this case, "def" ~ ID ~ ":" ~ ID ~ "=" ~ expr . It is this feature which separates LL(*) parsing from LL(1) and LL(0).
The good news is that we already have this feature almost by accident. Well, obviously not by accident since I put some careful planning into this article, but at no point so far did we actually set out to implement backtracking, and yet it has somehow dropped into our collective lap. Consider once more the implementation of the disjunctive parser:
class DisParser [ +A ] ( left: Parser [ A ] , right: Parser [ A ] ) extends Parser [ A ] { def apply ( s: Stream [ Character ] ) = left ( s ) match { case res: Success => res case _: Failure => right ( s ) } }
Notice what happens if left fails: it invokes the right parser passing the same Stream instance ( s ). Recall that Stream is immutable, meaning that there is nothing left can do which could possibly change the value of s . Each parser is merely grabbing characters from the head of the stream and then producing a new Stream which represents the remainder. Parsers farther up the line (like our disjunctive parser) are still holding a reference to the stream prior to these “removals”. This means that we don’t need to make any special effort to implement backtracking, it just falls out as a natural consequence of our use of the Stream data structure. Isn’t that nifty?
Conclusion
Parser combinators are an incredibly clever bit of functional programming. Every time I think about them, I am once again impressed by the ingenuity of their design and the simple elegance of their operation. The fact that two combinators and a single parser can encode the vast diversity of LL(*) grammars is simply mind-boggling. Despite their simplicity, parser combinators are capable of some very powerful parsing in a very clean and intuitive fashion. That to me is magical. |
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Muhamad Raslan is no stranger to violence.
He has been fighting in the mountains of Idlib with the Free Syrian Army for more than two years. But when his unit overthrew a regime prison in Maart al Numan, he said the conditions of the prisoners were worse than anything he had seen.
“The regime killed most of them but three were saved by some miracle,” Raslan recalled during an interview via internet from Syria on Thursday.
“I met those three men and they told me some stories of the way they were tortured. Until now, I can’t believe that a human being can bear this or even that a human being can do this to another human being.”
This week, a report released by three former war crimes prosecutors and sponsored by the Qatar government detailed 55,000 horrific pictures they say represent 11,000 executions of Syrian regime prisoners.
The report says the photos were smuggled out of Syria by a defected military police photographer. A new batch of sickening images released Friday showed corpses with clear signs of torture: starvation, severe beatings, burns and strangulation.
If authentic, this latest report shows the killing and torture has reached a far greater scale than the international community could have imagined.
It has sparked much talk of an ICC investigation and possible charges of war crimes against the Syrian regime.
Although the US State Department said it was made aware of these photos in November, the report was released on the eve of peace talks between rebel and government forces.
Marie Harf, spokesperson for the US State Department, said they were working with the United Nations to determine how to move forward with the case.
“We have no reason to believe these are not authentic photos,” she said.
The Syrian government said the report has no credibility since it was commissioned and funded by Qatar, which openly supports the Syrian uprising.
In a statement released through the state news agency SANA, the Syrian justice ministry called the photos “fake” and said the report was “politicized.”
The statement further accused international parties of trying to undermine the Geneva peace talks.
Abuse is nothing new
In Syria, you do not have to look far to meet distraught families of the “disappeared” or victims bearing shocking scars from torture in detention.
Many of these victims find it hard to understand how it has taken this long for the international community to pay attention to these ongoing violations when reports, photos, interviews and video evidence have flooded both social and mainstream media since the uprising began.
“The torture report doesn’t shock me as for the methods of torture, but the number shocks me, and the public opinion shocks me much more,” said Kinda Zaour, one of four women arrested for protesting in Damascus in 2012.
The women were dressed as ‘brides of Syria’ calling for an end to military operations against civilians. Here is some footage of the protest:
“They didn't torture us a lot; I mean they beat us a lot but they tortured other arrested people in front of us,” said Zaour who has since fled to Turkey.
“We spent 50 days in a small room — 3x3 meters — with another 23 women, so we were 27 in that rotten room. We used to listen to the tortured voices in the rooms around us. The guards sexually harassed us all the time.”
The "brides" spent 50 days in prison before being released along with 2,130 other protesters in exchange for 48 Iranian hostages captured by opposition forces.
Here is footage (in Arabic) of the exchange in which some of those released show signs of abuse and torture: The photographic evidence revealed in the Qatar-sponsored report covers a period from the beginning of the uprising in March 2011 until August last year.
But political prisoners and other inmates report torture in Assad’s prisons long before the revolution began. Human rights groups have been documenting the abuses for decades.
In an interview with GlobalPost last year, Ahmed Hiedar, 28, described the abuse he experienced after arrests in 2004 and 2006. He said he was tortured with electric shocks, burned with cigarettes, stabbed under his toenails, starved and viciously beaten.
“They left memories all over my body,” Hiedar said.
And Heidar said he’d had no interest in politics. He said his first arrest, in 2004, came after he tried to buy an album by Chris de Burg titled "The Road to Freedom." He was picked up the second time after requesting permission to build a female robot. |
In Nicholas Ray’s On Dangerous Ground (1951) Jim Wilson (Robert Ryan) is a police officer whose heart is hardened by the world of crime. Physically assaulting criminal suspects in order to obtain information, Jim believes that the ends justify the means.
The idea that the ends justify the means is derived from consequentialism: “the theory that … the moral value of an act should be judged by the value of its consequences.”1 The ethical dilemma posed by consequentialism is that harmful actions can sometimes have positive consequences. If the positive consequences outweigh the negative, then an individual may feel justified in actions that are illegal.
Although Jim’s mistreatment of criminals is against the law, there are positive consequences: gaining information that leads to the arrest of other criminals. When Bernie Tucker (Richard Irving) refuses to reveal the whereabouts of Mushy Castro and Gordy Miller—two men who murdered a police officer—Jim gives Tucker a severe beating that results in a “ruptured bladder.” Jim is a bad cop because of the “means” he uses. His brutality, however, does have a positive “end”: Castro and Miller are both arrested, and, as a result, future crimes may have been prevented.
To justify his brutality, Jim rationalizes his actions. Before beating Tucker, he says to him, “Why do you make me do it?” In reality, Jim is not being made to do anything. Tucker refuses to divulge the information because he is loyal to Castro and Miller and fears retaliation. Jim rationalizes his brutality because he wants justice.
When a person rationalizes doing something that is wrong, their heart can become hardened, and they no longer feel any guilt. A police officer for eleven years, Jim’s heart is hardened from dealing with “crooks, murderers, winos, [and] stoolies”, a class of people he refers to as “garbage.” However, when he leaves the city to investigate a murder, his heart begins to change. Walter Brent (Ward Bond), the grieving father of the murdered girl, wants revenge. In Brent, Jim sees a disturbing reflection of himself: an angry and violent man who wants to take the law into his own hands. Jim’s transformation continues after meeting Mary Malden (Ida Lupino). When he is with her, his anger diminishes, and the lion inside him becomes gentle and subdued.
Jim’s relationship with Mary shows how love has the power to soften a hardened heart. Before meeting her, he was only responsible for himself, not caring if he would suffer the consequences of his actions. But because of Mary, his future wife, it is likely that his behavior as a police officer will change. Responsible to care and provide for her, he will no longer risk breaking the law to further the cause of justice. Mary’s love for Jim restores what he lost in fighting crime: his conscience.
Notes
Merriam Webster, s.v. “Consequentialism,” accessed April 27, 2015, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consequentialism
My Free eBook ⇒ The Donkey King and Other Stories |
Convention of States supporters in Texas and across the nation, I cannot begin to explain to you the effect of your heroic efforts yesterday to call, email, and visit legislators in Austin, reminding them of HJR 77 and asking them to get it out of the Calendars Committee and to the floor for a vote.
We did it! Thank you!
The Calendars Committee voted last night 9-5 to pass HJR 77 to the floor for a vote on Thursday, May 14. This outcome is the direct result of your commitment to preserving liberty, and your tireless efforts over the past few days.
“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined.” Patrick Henry, speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, June 5, 1778
When we walked into Texas State Rep. Geren’s office and identified ourselves as Convention of States, his staffers said, "Oh we know who you are. We’ve had over 400 phone calls today in favor of HJR 77!"
Not only that, but we started the day with 14 co-sponsors and ended with 31 co-sponsors in favor of Article V as the constitutional remedy to reclaim self-governance in America and put the brakes on D.C.’s overreach. They're listed below. If one of them happens to be your representative please call them and/or email them to say THANK YOU!
Author: Miller, Rick | Bohac | Zerwas | Fletcher | Huberty
Coauthor: Anderson, Charles "Doc" | Burns | Dale | Elkins | Faircloth | Flynn | Galindo | Keough | King, Phil | Krause | Larson | Murphy | Otto | Paul | Phillips | Price | Raney | Raymond | Riddle | Rinaldi | Sanford | Stephenson | Stickland | White, James | White, Molly | Workman | Wray
We are not through yet. We still have the vote on Thursday. Anyone who wants to be there on Thursday to to remind legislators to vote yes and sit in the gallery to watch the activities and vote please come—we don’t have a time when they expect to vote, but we will keep you notified.
Thank you for inspiring all of us on the ground in Austin today. We salute you!
Details on Thursday’s vote shortly.
In liberty,
Tamara Colbert
Texas Director
COS Project
[email protected] |
Missing since December 14, 2000
Jackie Markham, a feisty trucking company manager, picks up a prescription Thursday, December 14, 2000 near her home in Callahan, Florida -- and vanishes. She appears to have made it home, because her car is in her garage. But there's no sign of violence at the house, and no trace of her anywhere. Jackie's friends and family are mystified, certain the workaholic 51-year-old would never skip out and abandon her responsibilities to her job or her relationship with her adored children and grandchildren.
But then a boyfriend says she made a mysterious phone call, warning him that a rival suitor was at her house, drunk. He says he raced to her house and found her gone. The Sheriff has his doubts -- was the "rival" ever really there? But then Jackie's purse is found in a ditch in a rough neighborhood -- not far from a serial killer's lair, and the case takes a much darker turn.
Jackie Markham, a feisty trucking company manager, picks up a prescription Thursday, December 14, 2000 near her home in Callahan, Florida -- and vanishes. She appears to have made it home, because her car is in her garage. But there's no sign of violence at the house, and no trace of her anywhere. Jackie's friends and family are mystified, certain the workaholic 51-year-old would never skip out and abandon her responsibilities to her job or her relationship with her adored children and grandchildren.
But then a boyfriend says she made a mysterious phone call, warning him that a rival suitor was at her house, drunk. He says he raced to her house and found her gone. The Sheriff has his doubts -- was the "rival" ever really there? But then Jackie's purse is found in a ditch in a rough neighborhood -- not far from a serial killer's lair, and the case takes a much darker turn. |
This series of posts form a detailed guide to my Madden 17 CFM Scouting Tool, which can be downloaded from this location:
http://www.operationsports.com/forums/madden-nfl-football/893155-scouting-tool-madden-17-cfm.html
Introduction
Most Madden players are finding that drafting top prospects in this year’s Franchise Mode is a bit of a crapshoot: sometimes a player who looks like a top prospect will turn out to be a complete bust, while other times an unfancied player taken late in the draft turns out to be a potential star, despite having poor scouted skills. This tool aims to help you identify the blue chippers within the draft and rule out the busts, ensuring you can draft a full class of potential starters (at least 75 OVR rating) and really rebuild your Franchise the old-fashioned way: through the draft. It will also find good depth players in the later rounds, designated as red chip prospects (70-74 OVR), allowing you to fill gaps on your roster.
Key Features
Never draft a bust : “Draft Status” column separates the blue chippers from the scrubs using a huge number of position-specific checks against unlocked scouting attributes and combine stats.
: “Draft Status” column separates the blue chippers from the scrubs using a huge number of position-specific checks against unlocked scouting attributes and combine stats. Scout Dev Traits : My extensive research into how you can use draft stories to predict dynamic dev traits is now incorporated into the tool.
: My extensive research into how you can use draft stories to predict dynamic dev traits is now incorporated into the tool. Find the mid/late round gems : You will now be able to see the potential stars hiding in the middle and late rounds of the draft.
: You will now be able to see the potential stars hiding in the middle and late rounds of the draft. Find depth in the later rounds : As well as the elite prospects, the tool will also find potential contributors for your team who are likely to have an OVR in the 70-74 range.
: As well as the elite prospects, the tool will also find potential contributors for your team who are likely to have an OVR in the 70-74 range. Rebuild through the draft like a real GM: The tool will help you draft entire classes of high quality players who are all potential starters for your team.
The tool will help you draft entire classes of high quality players who are all potential starters for your team. Draft by BPA : The unique “True Value Rating” system provides a ranking algorithm to compare all prospects so that you can always draft best player available.
: The unique “True Value Rating” system provides a ranking algorithm to compare all prospects so that you can always draft best player available. Compare YOUR draft class to the average Madden draft class : Draft Class Strength Analysis tab shows you how your class compares to the average post-Tuning Update class (based on approx. 15 classes) in terms of elite prospects, depth, and strength at different positions.
: Draft Class Strength Analysis tab shows you how your class compares to the average post-Tuning Update class (based on approx. 15 classes) in terms of elite prospects, depth, and strength at different positions. Big Board : Tool provides you with an NFL-style Big Board ready for draft day.
: Tool provides you with an NFL-style Big Board ready for draft day. Scout efficiently: Tool ensures you spend your scouting points as efficiently as possible, ruling out players with a low OVR quickly in the scouting process.
Tool ensures you spend your scouting points as efficiently as possible, ruling out players with a low OVR quickly in the scouting process. Scout more players : the Tool will ensure you can cover as many prospects as possible in the class, meaning you don’t have to focus on positions of need.
: the Tool will ensure you can cover as many prospects as possible in the class, meaning you don’t have to focus on positions of need. Bring in Free Agents at the right positions: Draft Class Strength Analysis will show you which holes in your team you can plug through the draft, and which areas you would be advised to bring in Free Agents.
New for Version 4
Scout Dev Traits ! My research into scouting dynamic dev traits via draft stories is now incorporated into the tool. You get a predictor for % likelihood of a certain dev trait, and the draft stories now impact TVR at a much more granular level than in previous versions.
! My research into scouting dynamic dev traits via draft stories is now incorporated into the tool. You get a predictor for % likelihood of a certain dev trait, and the draft stories now impact TVR at a much more granular level than in previous versions. Some minor scouting criteria tweaks . Lots of minor tweaks and changes. 4-3 OLBs are now at less of a disadvantage compared to their pass rushing counterparts, and the chance of missing on a potentially good safety that the tool tells you not to draft has gone down significantly.
. Lots of minor tweaks and changes. 4-3 OLBs are now at less of a disadvantage compared to their pass rushing counterparts, and the chance of missing on a potentially good safety that the tool tells you not to draft has gone down significantly. True Value Rating algorithm tweaked to further normalise it across positions.
algorithm tweaked to further normalise it across positions. Got rid of the annoying data input pop-ups that everyone hated in v3.
Happy drafting,
Old Man Nathy
Navigation
< Previous Post in the Series: N/A | Next Post in the Series: Part 2: Data Input >
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There is an ongoing debate I have with my fellow green sufferers. Which would you rather – a close defeat where you give your all but fall just short of the final hurdle, or get smacked to next Tuesday.
This is not a simple question. There are many subtleties and nuances to consider which influence the outcome. For example, it depends who you’re playing.
Getting smacked by the yellow scumbags may not be nice, but it’s much, much worse if it’s against Bangladesh doing the drubbing. On the other hand, a tight loss to India hurts much less than a heartbreaking world-cup screw ups against said yellow scumbags.
The general consensus though is that a smack is way preferable. Much better to get tonked so badly you know early on that it’s in your blood pressure’s best interests that you switch to Parliament TV for the 2nd innings.
It’s just not good for you to spend an entire day obsessed with a game. To be so preoccupied with it that you have to develop a shocking headache (really) and leave work early to avoid annoying clients and park your car by the zoo lake listening to the rubbish commentary on Radio 2000 because you can’t bear to watch, finally mustering up the courage to go home for the last 10 overs because it’s going well and you think maybe, just maybe, today is the day you get to see Shane Warne and Steve Waugh cry, only to stare at the screen in horror as Allan Donald has a complete brain fart and do a perfect impersonation of a statue when all he has to BLOODY WELL DO IS RUN 22 STUPID YARDS TO THE OTHER CREASE!!!!
I think you get my point.
So I’m sitting here trying to work out how to process the drubbing handed out by the poms.
Fist off I must give thanks where it is due and praise the good Lord for Jimmy Anderson’s injury. Though far be it for me to question they way He runs the world, I would like to point out to Him that the request form did say “one month”. I’m not being ungrateful or anything, just saying that news of Anderson bowling in the nets was not what I wanted to hear.
So back to the first test. A loss so bad the turning point was the coin toss.
Speaking of the coin toss, what happened to the old adage that 9 times out 10 when you win the toss you bat. And the 10th time you think about it for a while… then bat? Whatever.
So, by the accepted general standard one would usually choose a defeat like this. We should care less because it is, after all, the first test in a 4 part series and there’s plenty time to get it right.
Yet I cannot write this one off so easily. Something is not right. This team which has dominated the sport for the past four years is clearly in decline. I am beginning to doubt if linking my own sense of self-worth the on-field fortunes of professional sportsmen was wise.
The best way I could express my views on that abject batting collapse in the 4th innings was to ‘retire’ to the loo as the poms were administering the last rites. At least I got a measure of revenge as England lost to South Africa in StickCricket. My beloved greens successfully chasing down 968 runs in 20 overs for no loss.
If there’s any comfort in defeat it’s this. Sport works in cycles. Peaks and troughs. One day you’re on top, the next you’re crap. That’s just the way it is.
It totally sucks but we just have to live through it and wait for the next upswing in fortunes. God knows England spent years perfecting the art of the batting collapse. Stupid running in Birmingham notwithstanding, my pregnant wife tells me that one can forget even the most excruciating pain. I think she’s right and I can totally identify with what she’s going to go through.
So bring on the next three tests. The beauty of sport is that each game starts fresh with the scores level, and a true fan is there. Unless we’ve already lost the series and the last test is dead. I don’t watch dead tests. Never understood them.
Going forward I can only hope that the powers that be will also stop scheduling test matches in Durban. What’s not lost to bad light there usually ends in defeat. How rubbish can a venue be when even Sri Lanka get a test win?
GPF |
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WABC viewers won’t see Laura Behnke anchoring weekend sports coverage anymore.
Behnke’s contract expired Tuesday, following failed renegotiations for a three-year extension in the same role, Page Six has learned, but her battle with WABC isn’t over.
As Page Six exclusively reported last month, Behnke filed a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights against WABC/Channel 7 boss Camille Edwards alleging gender and race discrimination. Now, Behnke and her attorney plan to file an additional retaliation complaint, they told us this week.
Behnke told Page Six on Wednesday that while she was going through contract renegotiations, she repeatedly emailed human resources to find out whether she’d still have to work under Edwards, who is on leave until Jan. 2.
“I wanted answers to try and figure out if there were going to be any changes,” Behnke told us, “and if all the complaints of harassment and retaliation that I had claimed, if any of those were being investigated and if they had come to any conclusion about whom I would continue to be working under and what sort of work environment I would continue to be working under if I were to sign this three-year extension that they were offering.”
According to Behnke and her attorney, Dave Rosenberg, she received responses, but “WABC purposefully refused to respond to specific questions about whether or not Camille Edwards would remain as her supervisor.”
Behnke and Rosenberg claim her questions were ignored “in retaliation of her gender, race and color discrimination complaint.”
When asked if she would have re-upped her contract had she not had to work under Edwards, Behnke replied, “Possibly. There are so many questions that were not answered.”
Rosenberg added, “It wasn’t just limited to Camille. She was retaliated against by other employees at WABC … the number-one issue, of course, would’ve been to solve the issue with Camille Edwards, whether or not she was going to be there.”
“Once we couldn’t get past [the Edwards issue], it was basically a nonstarter,” Behnke said.
Behnke also considered whether she even wanted to stay with WABC in the same role as weekend anchor — without a promotion.
“A large concern to me and the reason for seeking out legal help and for filing this complaint in the first place is that I do believe I was passed over for a position that I was qualified for, that I deserved, that I had worked hard for,” she said, “and when I was not given that, it was very difficult.”
Behnke wanted a “hostile-free work environment,” as well as the main sports anchor position, which she claimed in her original complaint she was passed over for because she’s a white woman.
Behnke is taking the time around the holidays to “step back” and analyze what she wants to do next.
A WABC spokesperson told Page Six that Behnke’s allegations were found to be “unsubstantiated” after an investigation.
“All of Ms. Behnke’s complaints and concerns were immediately and fully investigated and every allegation was found to be unsubstantiated,” the spokesperson told us. “After her most recent claim, she was invited to meet with the human resources team, which she declined. Additionally, prior to the expiration of her employment contract, Ms. Behnke declined a new, multi-year offer with salary increases.” |
If you didn’t know, the upcoming Tekken 7 has teased that they would be delivering two guest characters in the next couple of years after the game launches. Back in April, Tekken 7‘s loud mouth game director and producer Katsuhiro ‘Don’t Ask For Shit’ Harada tweeted to ask people suggestions for guest characters, suggestions went from Goku to Bayonetta. But who was the most requested? Yakuza‘s Kazuma Kiryu was the most fan requested DLC guest character. I never thought about it prior to this tweet but I think Kazuma Kiryu would fit right into Tekken 7 and if anything, would benefit both companies by promoting each others brands.
Kazuma Kiryu already has a ton of fighting moves
Yakuza‘s Kazuma Kiryu already has a ton of fighting moves in the Yakuza games, which I think would make the characters transition into a fighting game a piece of cake and even give the Tekken developers a ton of moves to work with. From having a variety of finishing moves, heat climaxes and other systems that the Yakuza Studio have put together throughout a decade, there is a lot to look through. Even Yakuza 0 introduced a few new ‘younger’ gameplay styles. As seen above, the Yakuza series also shares its like for flashy hits, crushing punches and other stylized graphics that are also shared by the Tekken developers. Being able to play in Kiryu Kazuma’s Fury Dragon’s Pride combat style would be pretty awesome and I feel that his fighting style would translate rather easily into the Tekken fold.
I would love for Kazuma Kiryu’s character to borrow moves from each of his past games to create an older, styled veteran. It seems ‘older characters’ are in as the Tekken 7 cast has aged since the first game debuted back in1994. Aging characters is also something that is part of the Yakuza franchise, as Kazuma is 48 years old at the end of Yakuza 6. I think his character in Tekken 7 should be based either on him in Yakuza 6 or shortly after. Plus I think Yakuza‘s Kazuma Kiryu character interactions with some of the main cast of Tekken would be rather funny.
Kazuma Kiryu fits the Tekken character design
The Tekken franchise and SEGA’s Virtua Fighter have a twisted history, for example the first Tekken game in 1994 was directed and designed by Seiichi Ishii who just happen to also worked at SEGA-AM 2 prior and helped design Virtua Fighter and Virtua Racing. Its not a surprise that the Tekken franchise was highly influenced by Virtua Fighter, seems that character designs also made the move. While we can bring in characters and compare them, I feel that the likeness that makes both franchises look similar comes in the way that SEGA and Namco designed their characters. The proportions and use of 3D graphics in each game have been rather similar for some of the main cast.
Akira Yuri would even go on to influence other SEGA in-house games including Ryo Hazuki from Shenmue (which started off as Virtua Fighter RPG) and even our main man Kazuma Kiryu. While I feel that any of these main characters could fit into Tekken, it seems that Kazuma Kiryu fits the best due to wearing a stylish suit that would rival Kazuya Mishima himself. OK, so maybe the suit is a bit far fetched, but let me explain why, as a company, SEGA would be better off using Kazuma Kiryu instead of another older IP…
SEGA is still going to make Yakuza titles
While its always hard to pick a guest character when it comes to SEGA because the company has a ton of fan favorite franchises throughout its existence. I think Yakuza‘s Kazuma Kiryu is a safe bet because SEGA is still going to continue the franchise. While Yakuza 6 was ‘the end’ of Kazuma Kiryu’s story, the Yakuza Studio has confirmed they are working on another Yakuza project. If this new project will be a prequel, remake or star a new main character, SEGA hasn’t confirmed yet? But SEGA seems to be all for continuing the Yakuza brand, even if it has had over a dozen entries already (including spin-offs). The Yakuza series is SEGA’s longest running, new IP since going 3rd party and I think Kazuma Kiryu deserves to be a guest character in Tekken 7. Not to mention, Yakuza‘s Kazuma Kiryu was also the most requested guest DLC character by fans online. Having an ongoing franchise that SEGA supports being represented in a big title, such as Tekken 7, would be not only great for SEGA but also Namco-Bandai. It would be great for SEGA to expose a different type of audience to their game, the same way it would be to get non-fighting game fans exposed to a 3D fighter such as Tekken 7.
While we can go ahead and name other older SEGA franchises that could also work as a guest spot in Tekken 7, if SEGA isn’t going to do anything with a franchise it just teases fans and does nothing for the company long term. For example, its great that Dead or Alive 5 had Virtua Fighter characters in the games, but SEGA never capitalized on it by releasing Virtua Fighter 6. I also expect to see Shenmue fans demand that Ryo Hazuki deserves the spot more, which is a valid argument but SEGA seems to have Yakuza as a higher priority. Not to mention the Yakuza franchise has started to pick up steam in the West, Asia and remains rather popular in Japan. While Shenmue hasn’t had a new entry in a very long time with SEGA. Yes, I know that Shenmue III was announced by Yu Suzuki a few years ago and I backed the KickStarter. But SEGA seems to be silent on the whole thing and don’t seem to be too interested in general. Which I find to be a shame, but that’s another story for another time.
But what do you think about Yakuza’s Kazuma Kiryu being a Tekken 7 DLC character? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. |
Flatow writes: "The prisons are one of the most misunderstood institutions of government."
Supreme Court justices Stephen Breyer, left, and Anthony Kennedy. (photo: Bloomberg)
Two Supreme Court Justices Highly Critical of US Prisons, Solitary Confinement
By Nicole Flatow, ThinkProgress
ALSO SEE: Pharmacists Are Getting Closer to Cutting Off Access to Death Penalty Drugs
he prisons are one of the most misunderstood institutions of government. Solitary confinement drives individuals insane. And mandatory minimum sentences are a bad idea. These were the assertions of U.S. Supreme Court Justices Anthony Kennedy and Stephen Breyer in testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee Monday afternoon.
Asked by Rep. Steve Womack (R-AR) about United States “capacity to deal with people with our current prison and jail overcrowding,” each justice gave an impassioned response in turn, calling on Congress to make things better.
“In many respects, I think it’s broken,” Kennedy said of the corrections system. He lamented lawyer ignorance on this phase of the justice system:
I think, Mr. Chairman, that the corrections system is one of the most overlooked, misunderstood institutions we have in our entire government. In law school, I never heard about corrections. Lawyers are fascinated with the guilt/innocence adjudication process. Once the adjudication process is over, we have no interest in corrections. Doctors know more about the corrections system and psychiatrists than we do. Nobody looks at it. California, my home state, had 187,000 people in jail at a cost of over $30,000 a prisoner. compare the amount they gave to school children, it was about $3,500 a year. Now, this is 24-hour care and so this is apples and oranges in a way. And this idea of total incarceration just isn’t working. and it’s not humane.
Kennedy, traditionally considered the swing vote among the current set of justices, recalled a recent case before the U.S. Supreme Court in which the defendant had been in solitary confinement for 25 years, and “lost his mind.”
“Solitary confinement literally drives men mad,” he said. He pointed out that European countries group difficult prisoners in cells of three or four where they have human contact, which “seems to work much better.” He added that “we haven’t given nearly the study, nearly enough thought, nearly enough investigative resources to looking at our correction system.”
Kennedy’s comments come just weeks after a federal review of U.S. solitary confinement policy also found that the United States holds more inmates in solitary confinement than any other developed nation. Confinement typically involves isolation in an often windowless cell with a steel door for 23 hours a day, with almost no human contact. The treatment has been found to have a psychological impact in as many as a few days, though, as Justice Kennedy pointed out, many are held for decades. In the wake of the new report, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) called upon the Federal Bureau of Prisons to alter its practices.
In his response, Breyer honed in on Womack’s use of the word “priorities” to suggest that prioritizing long prison sentences was not the best use of resources.
“Do you want to have mandatory minimums? I’ve said publicly many times that i think that’s a terrible idea,” Breyer said. “And I’ve given reasons, which I’ll spare you.”
“Is it worth your time on earth, or mine, to try to work out ways of prioritizing? I think it is,” Breyer said. “I think it is a big problem for the country. and so I can’t do anything more in the next minute or 30 seconds other than say i like the word prioritize. I hope you follow it up. And i hope do you examine the variety of ways that there of trying to prioritize and then work out one that’s pretty good.”
As far back as 1998, Breyer has called for the abolition of mandatory minimum sentences, which mandate minimum prison terms by law according to the crime, amount of drugs, or other factors, and give judges no discretion to lower those sentences. He has said they “set back the cause of justice” because they don’t allow for exceptions depending on the circumstances of a given case. Particularly for drug crimes, they have sent low-level drug offenders to prison for sentences that start at 5 or 10 years and quickly ratchet up from there.
Kennedy has also been a longtime opponent of mandatory minimum sentences, although he didn’t raise that specific issue during the hearing Monday. He blamed them for prison overcrowding in 2003. Since that time, federal prison populations continued to balloon, with U.S. incarceration rates remaining the highest of any country in the world. In his 2003 testimony before the same congressional committee, Kennedy provided an example of a hypothetical 18-year-old who might be subject to mandatory minimum sentences:
You’ll have a young man, and he shouldn’t be doing this, but he’s raising marijuana in the woods. That makes him a distributor. And he’s got his dad’s hunting rifle in the car, he forgot about it and he wants to do target practice, that makes him armed. He’s looking at 15 years.
Reform of criminal justice issues has become an increasingly bipartisan issue, since U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder declared in the spring of 2013 that “Too many people go to too many prisons for far too long for no good law enforcement reason.”
And there are several bipartisan proposals in Congress to reform criminal justice policies, including rolling back mandatory minimum sentences for drug offenses. Still, there remain some ardent opponents, including Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who recently referred to criminal justice reformers as part of the “leniency industrial complex,” seemingly the newest version of “soft on crime.” |
Your Composer Quest quest, should you choose to accept it, is to arrange a pop song or movie/TV theme for the Twin Cities Trio (Maia Hamann on bassoon, Karen Jennings on oboe, and Mary Beth Huttlin on clarinet). They’re looking for fun tunes to perform for children in schools.
In this shorter, special Composer Quest episode, I do some field reporting at the recent Twin Cities Trio concert. Take a listen and meet the trio!
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Right click to download Ep. 22, or open in iTunes.
Submit one or more of your arrangements by Monday, April 1st, 2013 (11:59pm CST) to [email protected]. The best arrangements will be performed live by the trio and featured on the Composer Quest podcast.
Subscribe to Composer Quest
Orchestration Tips
The Twin Cities Trio will gladly help you learn how to orchestrate parts for their instruments. Feel free to email them with any questions: [email protected].
General tips from clarinetist and composer Mary Beth Huttlin:
Don’t feel like we all need play all of the time – it is okay (and, in fact, better) if different parts of piece have slightly different textures by using only 2 of the 3 voices.
Don’t feel like you’re boxed in and the oboe has to have the melody, the clarinet the countermelody and the bassoon the accompaniment – it will help add variety to our program if that is NOT the case. (We can easily balance it.)
It would be best to avoid multiphonics and more extreme 20th/21st century techniques.
Clarinet part writing tips from Mary Beth:
Let’s stick with writing for Bb clarinet.
We can pretty easily play up to an octave higher than the A (A5) that
is one ledger line above the treble clef. (So this A would be A6 if
middle C is C4.) That said, for this type of transcription and with
these instruments, probably D above treble clef is a good outer
guideline. Otherwise, notes higher seem out of place in this
ensemble/type of music.
is one ledger line above the treble clef. (So this A would be A6 if middle C is C4.) That said, for this type of transcription and with these instruments, probably D above treble clef is a good outer guideline. Otherwise, notes higher seem out of place in this ensemble/type of music. We can play down to the E below the third ledger line beneath the
treble clef staff (but Eb is not an option. )
treble clef staff (but Eb is not an option. ) Length of notes – not really a problem within reason
The clarinet has a very wide dynamic range across its registers
Oboe part writing tips from Karen Jennings:
For the oboe I would say a comfortable range is middle C or D up to C or D that is 2 octaves higher (above the staff). I can play down to a B flat below middle C and all the way up to an F above the staff. The oboe doesn’t have a huge range.
I can hold notes for a fairly long time…oboe demands it. I’m never too concerned about note length.
Bassoon part writing tips from Maia Hamann:
Range: Bb below the bass clef to D on the second-to-top line of the treble clef. The E above that is reachable if stepped up to.
Give me time to breathe.
Don’t make it boring.
P.S. If you haven’t heard Maia Hamann’s episode on teaching kids to compose, check it out! |
On Saturday, Donald Trump Jr. spoke in Dallas at the annual Reagan Day dinner to a group of Republican prospective major donors.
"You guys get it” he told them. “ You understand the freedoms... so many of which we've lost... I can say that and mean it because I see it."
Yes, Donald Trump, Jr., one of the richest white men in the world, just said he’s lost so many freedoms.
if there’s one group who understands more deeply than anyone else the loss of freedom, it’s this billionaire white male and his wealthy white audience.
Praising his own father’s actions since his rise to power, he exulted: “I'm watching more take place in two months than I saw in two terms before.”
He has a point.
A point often demonstrated by others seeking to destroy the trappings of enlightenment: it’s dramatically faster and easier to tear down than to build. |
8.05 Ranked #883 Popularity #5532 Members 1,664 Manga Comic Garden Yoshida, Shirou (Art) Add to List Select (10) Masterpiece (9) Great (8) Very Good (7) Good (6) Fine (5) Average (4) Bad (3) Very Bad (2) Horrible (1) Appalling / ? Volumes: / ? Chapters: * Your list is public by default. Edit As the world is in the middle of an industrial revolution, a monster appears that cannot be defeated unless its heart, which is protected by a layer of iron, is pierced. By infecting humans with its bite, the monster can create aggressive and undead creatures known as Kabane. On the island Hinomoto, located in the far east, people have built stations to shelter themselves from these creatures. People access the station, as well as transport wares between them, with the help of a locomotive running on steam, called Hayajiro. Ikoma, a boy who lives in the Aragane station and helps to build Hayajiro, creates his own weapon called Tsuranukizutsu in order to defeat the creatures. One day, as he waits for an opportunity to use his weapon, he meets a girl named Mumei, who is excused from the mandatory Kabane inspection. During the night, Ikoma meets Mumei again as he sees Hayajiro going out of control. The staff on the locomotive has turned into the creatures. The station, now under attack by Kabane, is the opportunity Ikoma has been looking for.
(Source: MAL News) Edit Koutetsujou no Kabaneri is an adaptation of Wit Studio's original TV anime series of the same title. |
Entrepreneur. CEO. Creative Director. TV personality. Makeup artist. Visionary. Jay Manuel is all of these things in the business of managing the aesthetic, and more. Jay embodies the creativity and focus essential for developing a unique and memorable personal style. Beginning his career as a Makeup Artist, he quickly became an admired fashion and beauty expert who has worked with some of the industry’s most creative visionaries and beauty icons. He has spent 20 years on both sides of the camera working with the world’s most celebrated magazines and as a fashion correspondent, series regular, host, judge, creative director and executive producer on some of the decade’s hottest television shows.
Jay is well recognized for the energy and dynamism he brought to his roles as Fashion Correspondent for E! Networks, Host of The Style Network's makeover series, "Style Her Famous” and as the inspired Creative Director/Judge on the CW Network reality series "America's Next Top Model". He has also hosted "Style Rocks the Red Carpet" for New York Fashion Week and been co-host of "Fashion Police". He parlayed his previous experience to shine in his role as Host/Executive Producer of "Canada's Next Top Model" and has covered the glamorous red carpet world of celebrity fashion and beauty at the Emmys, The SAG Awards, the Grammys, the Golden Globes and the Oscars.
As an advocate and champion, Jay uses his celebrity to shine a light on today’s most important causes. He serves as a Smile Ambassador for Operation Smile and has lent his talents to hosting the Red Carpet for the “GLAAD Media Awards” (Los Angeles), hosting "Fashion Cares" (Toronto) which benefits AIDS research and hosting the "American Image Awards" (New York) benefiting the Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
In 2015, Jay realized his career-long dream and launched Jay Manuel Beauty, a prestige line of cosmetics based on a new Filter Finish Collection™ technology. In partnership with Simon Property Group, Jay launched the inaugural Jay Manuel Beauty Retail Experience in November 2017 at Roosevelt Field on Long Island, NY with a national expansion to follow in 2018. |
Disgusting. Actor Spews Anti-White Racism at BET Awards – CROWD GOES WILD (Video)
The BET Awards was a pep rally for Democrats and rally against whitey this year.
Actor Jesse Williams spewed anti-white racism from the stage and the crowd cheered his hate speech.
Because today it’s acceptable to speak racist hate against white people in America.
Thank you, Democrats!
AL.com reported:
Though the BET Awards were heavy on honoring the icon who died on April 21, the show went from Prince to political throughout the night. “Grey’s Anatomy” actor Jesse Williams, who earned the humanitarian award for his efforts as an activist, gave a fiery, nearly six-minute speech that brought the audience to its feet and earned a rousing applause. “We’re done watching and waiting while this invention called whiteness uses and abuses us, burying black people out of sight and out of mind while extracting our culture, our dollars, our entertainment like oil, black gold, ghettoizing and demeaning our creations then stealing them; gentrifying our genius and trying us on like costumes before discarding our bodies,” he said onstage. Williams was introduced by BET CEO Debra Lee, who spoke about gun violence and brought up the recent Orlando shooting at the Pulse nightclub. “We all need to take stance against gun violence. You can make a difference,” Lee said onstage. “Use your voice and vote.”
Newsbusters has more on this racist display. |
While it’s always dangerous to predict when any particular cultural trend peaks, I’m pegging October 31, 2015, as peak PC. When universities actually post flow charts to keep your Halloween party from being offensive, humorlessness is redefined. When students are so fragile that the very thought of ethnic-themed Halloween costumes leads to much-mocked YouTube “guides,” then political correctness is losing its punch:
If you disagree — if you think that political correctness is gaining momentum — then consider a few facts. First, the top two candidates in the Republican race for president of the United States attained their front-runner status by willfully, gleefully defying political correctness at every turn. Ben Carson shot to the top of the polls when he did the unthinkable — told the truth about guns, about Islam, about resistance to mass shooters, and about abortion — without flinching. It’s old news by now that Donald Trump’s supporters love him for his anti-PC stands.
#1 in Books > Business & Money > Economics > Unemployment
I think David French is perhaps a little optimistic here, but it is interesting to see National Review lining up against SJWs and political correctness in light of its relatively recent purgings of various contributors for their thought crimes. Perhaps the pendulum actuallyswinging back:Personally, I would like to think that the tide began to turn with the publication of, which was published just two months before the date French pegs. But whether it has or not, it is very clear that a long march through the institutions of the West to clean them of SJW intellectual corruption is required and it is not going to be quick or easy.And speaking of not being easy, while it's always nice to see one's book become a category bestseller, the fact that The Return of the Great Depression , published in 2009, is presently the #1 bestseller in the following category, is not exactly cause for celebration.
Labels: media, SJW |
L eave it to Edgar Wright to redefine the way we see our favorite films. With Shaun of the Dead, he put a comedic spin on zombie horror. And with Hot Fuzz, he added tinges of terror and black humor to the action-thriller. But with Baby Driver, the writer/director has outdone himself, creating a masterfully orchestrated genre mashup that's surely destined to become a cult classic.
A gripping heist flick, an edge-of-your-seat car chase thriller and a starry-eyed romance all rolled into one, with ample bits of sly comedy to boot, the movie follows a talented getaway driver named Miles (Ansel Elgort), who prefers to go by the name Baby. The go-to-guy for underworld mover-and-shaker Doc (Kevin Spacey), Baby lost both his parents in a tragic car accident that also left him with a case of tinnitus. Consequently, he's always listening to songs on his iPod — actually, he has several — just so he can drown out the persistent "hum in the drum."
Already anxious to leave his criminal past in the dust, Baby's plans to emancipate himself from Doc's gang are accelerated when he meets the sweet Debora (Lily James), a waitress who also happens to work at the same diner as his late mom, a once-aspiring singer for whom Baby still holds fond memories. Before you know it, Baby and Debora have fallen madly in love and dream of driving off into the sunset together. However, the lovebirds soon find the brakes slammed on their romantic getaway when Doc pulls Baby back in for the old cliché that is "one more job."
What follows is anything but clichéd, though, as Baby Driver takes viewers on a high-speed cinematic joy ride that drifts around corners instead of hugging the road, refusing to adhere to the norms of any of the many genres it so gleefully borrows from. Whether you're an adrenaline junkie or a sucker for sugary romances, odds are that you'll find something to like here, as the film serves as one big melting pot, skillfully toe-tapping around the tonal differences that separate, say, musicals and thrillers, sometimes time and time again within the same scene.
Of course, it's a boon that the cast here is as great as they are. And it's not just Elgort and James, whose extremely watchable chemistry plays a huge role in drawing audiences into their characters' predicament. Spacey's Doc proves imposing, yet strangely likeable, and avoids the lure of recreating another Frank Underwood type of persona, while the inclusion of Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Jon Bernthal and Eiza González as members of Doc's rotating squad of thugs makes for an impressive and diverse supporting cast who threaten to steal the movie at any moment.
Last, but most certainly not least, there's the music that drives the film, which ranges from Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's "Bellbottoms" to Queen's "Brighton Rock." It's an eclectic, soulful and rocking mix of tunes that you might not otherwise find on the same playlist, but Wright uses the soundtrack's unpredictability to his advantage, integrating it into the heartbeat of the narrative, giving Baby Driver an energy that spans from the opening heist to the closing credits. Suffice to say, when it's all said and done, you'll never listen to these songs the same way again.
Baby Driver releases June 28th, 2017 from Sony Pictures. The film has an MPAA rating of R for language throughout and violence. Its runtime is 1 Hr. 53 Mins. |
Matthew Moskovciak/CNET
Sonos may be the undisputed king of wireless home audio, but that hasn't stopped a steady stream of new competitors over the last six months.
Beep is the latest entrant in the increasingly crowded wireless audio market, offering up a new Wi-Fi-based multiroom audio solution. Unlike Sonos or Samsung's Shape wireless audio systems, Beep isn't selling speakers, focusing instead on a solution that works with the audio gear you already have.
The system is centered around the dial. It's an attractive piece of gear, with a solid, metallic feel, although most of the casing is actually plastic. The effect is pulled off by a manufacturing process called vacuum metallization, which applies a thin coat of metal to the plastic container. Beep showed off bronze and silver finishes, both of which looked nicer than the standard "black glossy box" look that many devices sport.
Around back is a minijack port for connecting to existing audio systems. In the demo, Beep was connected to the SoundFreaq Double Spot, but it just as easily can be connected to a larger system with an AV receiver. The Beep dial doesn't have an amplifier built-in, so you'll need to connect it either to a powered speaker or amplifier. There's also a Micro-USB port on the back, which is used for powering the device using an included power adapter.
Twisting the dial, as you'd expect, adjusts the volume, while pressing it works functions play/pause, and a double press skips a track. You can also control Beep using the company's app, which will be available for both Android and iOS. The app is used for setup, as well as grouping speakers into separate zones, so you can sync the same music in every room or play different tracks in different zones. Lastly, the app allows you to stream music stored on your phone to Beep speakers.
Matthew Moskovciak/CNET
Aside from your own music, Beep also works with Pandora using Pandora's native app on iOS and Android. It works similar to AirPlay or Google's Chromecast -- you press the cast button and pick the speaker (or zone) you want to use to use. It's simple, and the ability to use the native app is a nice touch.
All of the wireless audio streaming is done using your home Wi-Fi network. Beep has an integrated 802.11n wireless chip, although it doesn't support dual-band Wi-Fi. Using Wi-Fi will certainly deliver better audio quality than most Bluetooth speakers, although I've found in the past that Wi-Fi rarely has the same reliability as Sonos' mesh network approach.
Matthew Moskovciak/CNET
Beep is scheduled to be released in the fall and will be sold directly through the company's website. Pricing will start at $99 for preorders, with a $149 retail price after it launches.
While Beep's hardware definitely stands out, $149 seems pricey for what the system is offering. With the Sonos Play:1 ($200), you get an excellent, powered bookshelf speaker and a much more robust wireless audio ecosystem, all wrapped in a sleek design. (You do need to buy the $50 Sonos Bridge, although Sonos often offers sales that include the Bridge for free.) The lack of support for at least one subscription music service (such as Spotify) also seems like a misstep, especially as those become more popular. |
Christian Horner says Sebastian Vettel’s defiance of team orders during the Malaysian Grand Prix showed he has the competitive instincts of the F1 elite.
“He’s a very, very driven individual,” said Horner in an interview with Sky. “You don’t win the amount of events he’s won, the amount of grands prix he’s won, the amount of success he’s had in his career by being a driver that is submissive, that sits back.”
“If Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton had been in that position they’d have done the same, if Mark Webber had been in that position we’ve seen him do the same. So let’s not kid ourselves that this is something unique to Sebastian, this is something that’s in any competitive, driven driver’s DNA.”
Horner admitted there had been previous occasions where he’d attempted to impose team orders on his drivers without success: “I think any race driver, any seriously competitive race driver, teams orders go against what they compete for.”
“We saw it with Mark in 2011 at Silverstone, we saw it on previous occasions with the team, the final in race in Brazil last year, only two races ago.
“It’s a tricky one because obviously the interest of the driver is different from the interests of the team. Team orders are permitted, they exist in Formula One. The constructors’ championship for the team has equal or more importance than the drivers’ championship. The constructors’ championships is where the funds are distributed.
“So of course there are different objectives going on within a Grand Prix: that of the driver and that of the teams.”
Red Bull ‘takes equality seriously’
However Horner added he believes Vettel genuinely regrets his actions: “Sebastian’s a very honest guy. I think he was shocked after the race I think he was surprised and then the feeling came over him, you could see that, that he felt he had done wrong.”
“I believe his apology was sincere and he repeated that apology in private in the briefing that we had later that evening.”
The Red Bull team principal insisted both his drivers will continue to be treated the same: “[Webber] will have equal opportunity to Sebastian as we’ve done our very best to do for both drivers at every Grand Prix that we compete at.”
“Mark knows the equipment that we make and the lengths we go to ensure parity. We even, from weekend to weekend, switch who going to go first in qualifying, who talks first in the debrief, it’s switched from weekend to weekend to ensure there is completely parity in the way we treat our drivers.
“It’s something we take very seriously within the team and I think Mark knows the support that he has.”
“I think we’re going to give up on that code”
Horner also gave further insight into the events during the final laps of Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, pointing out that Webber had to run his engine on a lower setting because he had used more fuel:
“Mark and Seb were on opposing strategies they were running different tyres at different points in time. After that final stop of course fuel consumption between the two cars had been slightly different, Mark’s had been slightly higher than Sebastian’s so he was in a slightly more fuel saving mode than Sebastian.”
After the race Webber was heard pointing out to Vettel they had been given the instruction “multi 21” during the race. “Multi 21 means car two ahead of car one,” Horner explained.
“Multi 12 means car one ahead of car two. It’s not complicated. It’s not that difficult to translate but both our drivers in the last three races have failed to understand both of those messages.”
“I think we’re going to give up on that code,” he added. “We need to probably try something else.”
2013 Malaysian Grand Prix
Images ?�?� Red Bull/Getty |
By Erika Check Hayden of Nature magazine
NEW YORK
Should people be told about any nasty surprises that scientists discover in their DNA during research projects?
The question is becoming increasingly pertinent, as thousands of people sign up for studies in which their genomes will be sequenced. But, at present, federal laws in the United States prohibit researchers from telling patients about mutations that might affect them or their families unless a certified clinical lab has confirmed the results--something that is not done in most research projects. This means that patients often do not learn about their mutations until the studies are finally published, a restriction that is meant to ensure they are not misinformed by incomplete research.
The ethical dilemmas became all too real last year for geneticist Gholson Lyon, a geneticist at the Utah Foundation for Biomedical Research in Salt Lake City. He was studying an extended family in which some of the boys had been born with a constellation of symptoms, including thick, wrinkly skin, and who ultimately died of cardiac disease before their first birthdays. By November 2010, Lyon had convincing evidence that a genetic mutation was causing the disease. That's when he learned that one of the women in the family was four months pregnant with a boy.
Lyon knew from his study that the mother carried the mutation. But he was not allowed to tell her, because the analysis had not been performed in a laboratory that was certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, which aim to ensure that clinical tests are accurate and reliable.
The baby was eventually born with the disease--called Ogden syndrome--and later died, in the same week that Lyon's paper on the causative mutation was published.
At the fourth annual Personal Genomes meeting at Cold Spring Harbor in New York last week, Lyon argued that researchers should routinely conduct their studies in certified laboratories so that they can provide participants with results as soon as possible, adding that he plans to do so himself from now on. It is a pressing issue: according to Richard Gibbs, director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, roughly 5,000 human genomes will be sequenced this year, with some 30,000 expected next year.
But ethicists point out that although researchers and physicians may feel obliged to disclose genetic information, they must also consider other factors. "This is not just about patients or doctors. These disclosures have societal implications that need to be considered, including downstream cost," says Ellen Wright Clayton, director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.
Genome sequencing is now starting to be used in the clinic to guide diagnosis and treatment decisions. At the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, for example, pediatrician and geneticist David Dimmock offers genome sequencing to children with undiagnosed diseases. The program is controversial because many researchers think that too little is known about how most rare genetic mutations contribute to disease for the knowledge to help patients. He points out, however, that a handful of cases have been reported in which sequencing has led to a cure or improved treatment.
Using a clinically certified lab, Dimmock's team sequenced the genome of an infant with acute liver failure, and discovered that she had two mutations in a gene called Twinkle. Earlier research had linked those mutations to progressive eye and neurological conditions, and an associated liver disease. As a result, doctors determined that a liver transplant--a standard treatment for acute liver failure--would not help the infant, and recommended against it. She died when she was 6 months old.
"This was not a happy ending--but in a sense it was," says Dimmock. Disclosing the genetic information spared the infant from spending her remaining few months recovering from a grueling, unnecessary transplant, he says, and saved a scarce liver for a child who might benefit from it more.
This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on October 4, 2011. |
Image copyright AFP Image caption The Navy aircraft involved was an EA-18G Growler
US Navy officials have said it was "absolutely unacceptable" that one of their pilots used a jet's contrail to draw a penis in the sky.
The phallic outline over Okanogan County in the western US state of Washington provoked much mirth online.
But commanders at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island did not see the funny side and have ordered an inquiry.
A spokesman for the airbase confirmed that the aircraft involved was one of its Boeing EA-18G Growlers.
WARNING: Some viewers may find images below offensive.
The jet specialises in electronic warfare and can travel at nearly twice the speed of sound.
Spokesman Thomas Mills told the BBC: "From a Navy standpoint, we do hold our aircrew to the highest standards and this is absolutely unacceptable.
"It has zero training value and the aircrew is being held accountable."
The Federal Aviation Administration, a government agency that regulates US airspace, told local TV station KREM 2 that the manoeuvre did not appear to pose a safety risk and they "cannot police morality".
Plenty of onlookers on the ground were amused by Thursday afternoon's sky doodle.
Ramone Duran told the Seattle Times newspaper: "After it made the circles at the bottom, I knew what it was and started laughing."
But one householder told KREM 2 she was upset about having to explain to her children what the vapour trail's shape represented.
It is not the first aircrew to pull such a stunt.
In August this year, an RAF fighter pilot drew a 35-mile penis on radars monitoring skies over Lincolnshire, England. |
Focus Raven² Pro Tested: Focus bikes first came into existence in 1993 when their founder Mike Kluge wanted a better bike on the market than what he could find. Their development story has been successful through the years and as the E-Bike sector came into existence they have created a serious range of innovative bikes. Their push to be the first serious brand with an integrated battery came about in 2016 with the Jam² and Bold². Focus now want to be the first to market with a sporty lightweight E-Bike that rides and feels like a normal bike – their answer is the Raven². We tested the Focus Raven² Pro in Riva del Garda/Italy, right after Focus had just completed their epic Trans-Alp Challenge in only 27 hours using two Raven².
# The Focus Raven² Pro is a totally new E-Bike category.
Focus Raven² Pro – In Brief
Lightweight and fast …
The Focus Raven² Pro is a fairly revolutionary product that Focus has developed because they wanted to try to find performance bike handling characteristics in the E-Bike realm. Their philosophy is to make a bike for themselves, if it doesn’t exist. Focus want a bike that you can go places on and experience things that are for what they call, “special moments”. They want people to do different things, not just go further. The Focus Raven² Pro is a Carbon framed E-Bike based around their successful Raven XC platform. The Fazua motor and battery design is about full integration and fits inside the carbon downtube. The Fazua system used, has a bottom bracket transmission unit, motor and the battery. The motor is a completely new design that has almost no resistance for the rider when passing 25 km/h. The bike weighs about 14 kg / 30,8 lbs (medium size) and can be ridden fast with a natural bike feel. The price is competitive compared to some recent high end E-Bikes. Focus are the first to have created a new type of performance expectation in the E-Bike world.
The Price starts at 5.999 € (RRP) | Bikemarkt: Focus Raven² Pro kaufen
# It looks like a regular XC bike.
Focus Raven² – Technical Data
Geometry
Standover height: 814 mm (Framesize L)
Geometry click to expand # Focus Raven² Pro Geometry Size S M L A 420 mm 460 mm 500 mm C 69,8° 69,8° 69,8° D 74,5° 74,5° 74,5° E 454 mm 454 mm 454 mm F 68 mm 68 mm 68 mm G 104 mm 107 mm 130 mm H 501 mm 501 mm 501 mm I 44 mm 44 mm 44 mm K 620 mm 623 mm 644 mm L 420 mm 435 mm 450 mm B 592 mm 608 mm 629 mm J 1119 mm 1135 mm 1158 mm
Components
# Internal layup details - 547 pieces make this frame.
# A completely normal rear triangle. # Quality Fox 32 Performance fork up front
# The choice of magnet was due to keeping frame weight and look down. - The lesser of two evils compared to an oversized dropout. # The Shimano XT drive train didn't miss a beat.
# Wide and clean, the control center.
# Fast rolling and lightweight - we would like bigger side lugs, though.
Components click to expand Frame Rahmen Carbon, 148x12 mm,
internal cable routing, Post Mount 160 mm. Fork Gabel Fox 32 Float SC Performance, remote,
110x15 mm QR, 100 mm travel. Shifter Schalthebel Shimano Deore XT 8000 Derailleur Schaltwerk Shimano Deore XT 8000 11-speed Cassette Kassette Deore XT, 11–46 T Cranks Kurbel FSA Hollow Brakes Bremse Shimano XT M8000 180 mm / 160 mm Wheels Laufräder DT Swiss M1650, 622 x 25,
148 x 12 mm / 110 x 15 mm. Tires Reifen Continental RACE KING 2.2 SL Seat Sattel Prologo SCRATCH X8-blk Seatpost Sattelstütze BBB Carbon, 27,2 mm, 394 mm Bar Lenker BBB, Aluminium, Flatbar, 720 mm, 0 mm Rise, 9° Backsweep Stem Vorbau BBB, Aluminium, 90 mm Motor Motor Fazua Evation, 60 Nm, 250 W Display Display Fazua Evation 1.0 Battery Akku Fazua Evation, 250 Wh Power Leistung 250 W Weight Gewicht 14 kg Price (RRP) Preis (UVP) 5999 €
Motor & Battery
Details About The Focus Raven² Pro
# The Fazua integrated motor and battery unit.
Innovation starts here.
The Fazua motor unit is an interesting design. The total weight of battery and drive section together is 3.2 kg. With the transfer bottom bracket unit added in, the total weight is around 4 kg. The frame was reinforced to support the motor, which added an extra half kilo to the frame. It’s one of the lightest weight performance motor units on the market. Fazua who were a Munich based start-up that have become serious – their unit will be seen on other companies E-Bikes in the near future. Their system is about a natural feel on the pedals and low weight.
The Motor unit uses a special reduction system with a ratio of 54:1 motor-to-output, producing 60 Nm of torque. The gears are made of a special plastic and operate up to 60 degrees optimally (an industry standard). The system has two reduction gears, with the final drive being a planetary gear. The motor can spin up to 4500 rpm. Rider inputs of 100 rpm are recommended as a maximum cadence. The motor torque performance reduces to 90 % after 85rpm. Final drive is through the bottom bracket, which also has a second freewheel unit.
# A small transfer box/bottom bracket area. # The Fazua drive unit interface.
The motor/battery section connects into the drive section with a three bladed connector. This modular design allows the system to be rattle free, cable free and quick to swap in and out. It also allows the user to completely remove the motor from the bike and have a non-E-Bike that can be pedalled as usual. The rear chain stays are therefore completely normal in length and the same as the Raven XC bike. Handling is close to, if not the same as the Raven, apart from the weight penalty. The motor is made in Switzerland, assembly takes place in Germany.
# This is the 250 Wh battery - you can easily carry a spare. # It slides in like this.
The Fazua battery is a 250 Wh design that is based around Samsung e35-18650 cells. The battery on its own weighs 1.35 kg and can be removed from the motor unit. The whole system together is IP54 dust and water resistant. The power connectors on all parts of the battery and motor are the standard Rosenberger connector with power and data passed through the six pin layout, which is magnetic. The battery can’t be charged on the bike, but release of the battery is really easy and one of the quickest we have ever used, with a push button latch on the top of the downtube.
The remote is a custom unit designed by Fazua that has only the battery life display. The LED brightness changes to match the ambient light automatically. The remote has two positive feeling power selection buttons on top.
Motordetails bitte ausklappen Motor: Fazua Evation 60 Nm
Fazua Evation 60 Nm Battery: 250 Wh
250 Wh Power: max. 250 W
max. 250 W Display: Fazua Evation 1.0
Focus Raven² Pro – Hands On
Lightweight and almost indistinguishable from a non E-bike
Focus have created a product with a quality of finish that is distinctive of a high end product. The frame has been created with 547 pieces of separate carbon ply. On the normal Raven there are “only” 234 carbon pieces. It’s a complex lay up that needs to be done very precisely during the construction phase. This product is not an after thought or just a hole in a larger carbon tube. Apparently it took six weeks and numerous prototypes to arrive at the perfect combination of carbon layup.
# This beauty sits well in its surroundings.
The motor integration is the star of the show. The power pack is seamless in design and silent in operation. The bottom bracket area and rear triangle is the same as the normal Raven. This means the geometry is exactly the same as the non-assist version. It connects in easily and the battery is removed if needed for charging or swapping out. The bike can be ridden without the unit in place, which saves 4 kg in weight if so desired – it has no drag penalty when pedalling.
The choice of product specification is in our opinion all well-thought-out, with decent brakes, good gears and a responsive lightweight fork. The DT Swiss wheel builds are precise and lightweight. The body position and overall feel of the bike is exactly as we would expect of an XC race bike.
Focus Raven² Pro – On The Trail
Uphill
# The Focus Raven² climbs smoothly
Ride like a normal bike, but go further.
The Focus Raven² Pro feels lightweight uphill – riding performance is exactly as one would expect of the normal XC version when it comes to steering, which is precise and grip, which is positive. The motor is particularly interesting uphill: We discovered after playing with different gear combinations that, when you spin at about 70-80 rpm, the motor gives its best support. If you sit there and try and be a passenger in turbo mode, the bike does not respond. The Raven² has to be ridden like a normal bike – don’t stop pedalling or take the pressure off the pedals. What’s different about the motor is most noticed by the rider when you switch the motor off and you realise that the motor is actually giving you an extra 200 W of support, which translates into a significant help uphill.
In technical sections, if you stop pedalling, the motor does not suddenly pick up the power as before, you need to rebuild momentum again – this is a feature of the low weight of the motor. This bike rides like a normal bike, except you can go significantly further. The recent Trans-Alp challenge took in 16,000 metres of climbing as an example.
Downhill
# The Focus Raven² climbs smoothly
The Raven² descents like a XC bike should.
The Focus Raven² Pro is an XC race bike, it has not been designed to charge descents at warp speed. That being said, we did find that we were able to descend at a fair pace. Cornering at speed is a bit sketchy compared to an E-Trailbike, but that’s to be expected. In the hands of an XC expert this bike will perform exactly as a non E-Bike XC machine. These qualities related to the ride feel have been refined over the last 20 years.
The bike was silent and the fork performed well. We took on some rocky trails and it appeared that the tyre combination, although not great at cornering, was puncture resistant and sturdy in the face of what we threw at it.
Trail
# The descents are smooth and precise on XC trails.
It doesn’t feel like there is a motor on the bike in most situations.
Let’s be clear: The speed of the Focus Raven² Pro is fast. It’s a bike that flows around the trails smoothly and confidently. We found we could maintain at least 5–8 km/h more than on a normal XC bike. Keep the rhythm up and you will cover at least double to three times what you would normally, if you are soft with your inputs.
We liked the way the motor performed on rolling trails and flat sections. It’s imperceptible to when it kicks in or is off. Only on corners or slight uphills can you feel the bike’s power assist cut in – the Fazua motor developers have done an excellent job regarding maintaining a completely natural ride feel with no pedal resistance.
Further Tuning
The bike setup for XC riders was pretty much down and an ideal setup. If you wanted more of a trailbike feel, then more aggressive tyres and a shorter stem with a dropper post would be the extras to add.
Conclusion – Focus Raven² Pro
The Focus Raven² Pro is another advanced development jump in the bike market. The technology of a battery and motor combined keeps bike weight down and gives a “natural” feel to our riding. We are clear that anyone, who wants a sporty, fast XC bike, is going to like the Raven². The price is actually pretty impressive for the level of technology present, and we look forward to seeing, what comes off the back of this bike in the rest of the market.
Pro
Quality finish
Lightweight
Sporty riding is completely possible
Cons
We would like slightly more aggressive tyres
Dropper post option please
# Action of the day during the product shoot.
# Batman speed and silence without lyrca
Testing Procedure
We have ridden the Focus Raven² Pro around the trails of Riva del Garda, Italy. We rode flowing XC single track, smooth roads, tight uphill trails, and rolling hills.
Riva del Garda, Italy: Here there are many different types of trail, including hard Enduro trails. We spent most of our time on XC trails.
Tester-profile Alex Boyce
Expand for tester-profile Name: Alex Boyce
Alex Boyce Height: 183 cm
183 cm Weight (with riding-gear): 95 kg
95 kg Inside leg: 88 cm
88 cm Arm’s length: 69 cm
69 cm Torso: 67 cm
67 cm Riding style: soft, jumps preferred, every terrain, Uphill in turbo-mode
soft, jumps preferred, every terrain, Uphill in turbo-mode What do I ride mainly: E-Bike, Enduro, Gravel.
E-Bike, Enduro, Gravel. Preferred suspension: Responsive and direct steering, Plus-Tires
Responsive and direct steering, Plus-Tires Preferred geometry: Wide bars (800 mm), long frame, chainstays mid-length
Is Focus setting the stage for bike development?
Price Comparison: Focus Raven² Pro
Further Information On The Focus Raven² Pro
Website: www.focus-bikes.com
Text & Edit: Alex Boyce | eMTB-News.de
Photos: Alex Boyce, Christoph Laue
Focus Raven² Pro
range of use XC: 10/10 – Trail: 4/10 – All-Mountain: 4/10 – Enduro: 1/10 – Downhill: 1/10 Motor + Battery Battery Capacity 250 Wh |
CALUM GALLAGHER reckons Rangers are reaping the rewards of the new Ibrox regime as he looks to finally make his mark this season.
The striker scored the only goal of the game on Monday night as Ian Durrant's Under-20 side beat Old Firm rivals Celtic at Lennoxtown.
After spending a couple of months on loan at Cowdenbeath, Gallagher came off the bench during the 3-1 Championship win over Dumbarton on Saturday as he got his first chance to impress boss Stuart McCall.
Gallagher said: "I am very happy; it is always nice to get on the scoresheet, especially when it is an Old Firm game because that makes it even sweeter.
"Since the new set-up has been implemented there has been a real shift in attitude and a real focus on intensity and work-rate - there has been a real togetherness that maybe wasn't there earlier in the year.
"No disrespect to the guys who were in charge then, but the boys would all agree that we have come on since earlier in the year and the changes have certainly been for the better and we have all been reaping the benefits.
"We were 1-0 up and coming under pressure, and if that had been the situation previously I am not entirely confident we would have hung on.
"But the boys worked really hard and we stuck in, fought for each other and I think we got our just rewards in getting the three points."
Rangers have just two games - at home to Falkirk and then away to Hearts - left this term as they bid for a return to Premiership.
And Gallagher is keen to play his part in the Light Blues' promotion push.
"It won't be anything to do with my attitude towards playing or my enthusiasm to play whether I get into the first team," he told rangers.co.uk
"I will keep working as hard as I can, which I always do and, if the management are happy to put me in, then hopefully I will do well." |
How much did you spend on your current mattress. What is the most you have ever spent on a mattress? Can you imagine spending thousands and thousands on a mattress?
Let’s take a look at the 5 most expensive mattresses/beds…ever.
1. Janjaap Ruijssenaars Floating Bed. The Millionaire Fair in Kortrijk, Belgium hosts extravagant products from all over the world. Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaar recently unveiled his floating bed. His goal was to create a usable product that didn’t use the standard laws of gravity. This floating bed uses magnetism to keep it suspended in mid air. The bed uses opposing magnets (obviously the magnets have to be industrial strength). The magnets allow the bed to float 40 cm off of the floor and can hold up to 900 kg. The full size bed costs $1.6 million. A bed that is 1/5 the size of the full size bed costs only $153,000.
2. The Vividus by Hastens. The Vividus has been the most expensive mattress for years. Those who have slept on the Vividus describe the experience as “sleeping on a cloud.” Swedish designs ensure the highest quality and most luxurious comfort. The cost of this “heaven-like” experience is $59,750.
3. VI-Spring. The Titantic was the most luxurious cruise liner to ever sail. Its interior had the finest products, including the finest mattresses. The tragedy-bound ship came with Hypnos VI-spring mattresses. These days, the mattresses run between $8,000-$20,000. Can you imagine what they paid for the VI Spring back then?
4. Hypnos. Hypnos is the most luxurious and prestigious British mattress company. The company is the only provider of mattresses for the British royal family. You can expect to pay at least $15,000 for these perfect, cashmere mattresses.
5. Duxiana is another Swedish mattress company. Duxiana is one of only three or four major luxury mattress manufactures. The cheapest Duxiana mattress costs about $4,000 while the most expensive is $8,700.
—
Now featuring a more affordable mattress by Rocky Mountain Mattress:
The Rendezvous 14″ is our most expensive bed and for good reason — this top-of-the line memory foam mattress boasts a comfort-evoking European Box Pillow Top, a velvety soft CoolMax damask, 100% natural latex, and 4 full inches of dense, high-quality 5-pound Bayer® Softcel™ Memory Foam. |
Eight months ago, Keller Chryst was carted off the field of the Sun Bowl with a torn ACL in his right knee. On Tuesday, Stanford head coach David Shaw felt confident enough in the senior quarterback’s recovery process to name him the starter for the Cardinal’s season opener against Rice in Australia at the end of the month.
“We feel pretty good about that,” Shaw said. “He’s shown us no signs of any issues at all physically, there are no limitations on him right now, so we feel good about him getting ready to go play in Sydney.”
According to Shaw, Chryst has been ahead of his recovery schedule since spring. There was some hesitation, though, because the injury occurred in Chryst’s plant leg. Shaw first needed to see the quarterback push off on that leg in traffic before making any decisions. After two weeks of training camp, Chryst looks ready to go.
“He’s been able to drive off it since Day 1,” Shaw said. “There have been no issues, no setbacks. He’s been doing really, really well. We’re excited about where he is.”
Chryst, who took over the starting job in midseason from senior Ryan Burns and won all six starts, threw for 905 yards and 10 touchdowns last year.
“I'm still shaking some rust, but that should come off soon,” Chryst said Sunday.
Alfieri out: Linebacker Joey Alfieri missed the second half of Tuesday’s practice after leaving Sunday’s practice early. Shaw said that the senior was dealing with an “upper-body issue” and that he didn’t think the injury would be too serious.
“We don’t think it’s that bad,” Shaw said. “We just kept him out of contact for probably today and tomorrow.”
Alfieri participated in the individual and footwork portions of Tuesday’s non-padded practice, but was not on the field for contact drills. Stanford’s fourth-leading tackler last season as an outside linebacker, Alfieri has been seeing snaps at inside linebacker during training camp. He’s expected to be one of Stanford’s leading tacklers again this season.
“We’re going to be cautious, especially with our older players who have played a lot of football,” Shaw said. “If they get something dinged up, we’ll keep them out for a couple of days.”
Shaw disagrees with Rosen: UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen told Bleacher Report, “Football and school don’t go together.” Shaw, who played at Stanford before his coaching career, disagreed with that assessment.
“There are plenty of examples of guys playing at a high level and still staying up with their academics,” Shaw said. “Not just staying eligible, but excelling in academics. So I think that’s an unfortunate comment that does not really apply to most places.”
Everett Cook is a freelance writer. |
(Pixabay/CC0)
‘Progressive’ Orders are Passing Away—the Future Belongs to the Faithful
Young women are rejecting the dissent perpetrated by women who use their status as religious to get attention for their attacks on settled Church teachings.
This past Sunday, when our pastor based his homily on National Vocation Awareness Week, which ends Saturday, I was reminded of two headlines about women religious I had seen recently.
The first headline “Why Nuns Are Dying Out,” caught my eye because I’ve written books treating that topic. The headline was for an Oct. 24 review of a new movie, Novitiate, which is not yet available in my city. However, the film, which another reviewer called “a scandalous, shameless anti-Catholic freak show,” has an “R” rating for “language, some sexuality and nudity,” so I doubt that it contributes to a serious assessment of vocations.
The other headline I saw — “Decade after dust-up, nun firm on abortion: ‘Choice is the woman’s’” — was in the Oct. 27 Chicago Sun-Times. It describes an interview with Sinsinawa Dominican Sister Donna Quinn about her 10-year pro-abortion activism, which she summed up by saying: “The choice is the woman’s ... do not interfere.”
Sister Donna also told the Sun-Times that the Vatican and Church hierarchy have no authority, and she voiced her support for the ordination of women and dismissed Church teaching on the Eucharist. As the Sun-Times wrote:
Quinn sees the Eucharist as not necessarily ‘something you go to and that only the priest has this power to change this into something else, but I see Eucharist as being part of our everyday life.’ ‘A grandparent who embraces his little grandchild ... is Eucharist to me.’
Yet, incredibly she insisted: “I still belong to the community called Sinsinawa” Dominicans and “could have left” the Catholic Church, but staying gives her a stronger voice.
In a rather perverse way, that article does shed light on one of the main reasons for the decline in vocations to the sisterhood, from 180,000 in 1965 to fewer than 47,000 today, with more than half of those sisters over the age of 70.
Certainly this decline had many causes, including the trend to smaller Catholic families, increased opportunities for laity to serve the Church, Vatican II’s emphasis on the Universal Call to Holiness, and changing cultural and societal norms.
Another important factor often overlooked, however, is the radical transformation of religious life that affected the majority of religious orders of women in this country during the tumultuous 1960s and into the 1970s. While Vatican II (1962-1965) did call for updating customs and lifestyles in convents, it never called for religious to set aside their traditional apostolates and institutions and to abandon habits, community life and prayer in common.
Yet, this is exactly what many religious orders did after Vatican II, including some of the largest and most prestigious one. Several sisters feeling trapped in orders like this have told me that when they objected to the direction their superiors were taking, they were silenced and/or marginalized and/or sent for mental health evaluation and even told to leave after a lifetime of service.
This transformation of orders caused a massive loss of identity for women religious, as lines between vowed sisters and lay Catholic women became virtually nonexistent, and some sisters, like Sister Donna Quinn, felt free to criticize Church teachings. Committed young women thus lost interest in taking vows in orders that were changing before their very eyes, professing a generic mission statement, and either allowing or ignoring public dissent by members.
When I contacted Sister Donna’s order to see if her superior had seen the Sun-Times interview and if it were true that Sister Donna is still a member of the order in spite of her position on abortion and dissent from Church teachings, I received only this statement from the Sinsinawa Dominican prioress, Sister Toni Harris:
Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters are called to participate in the building of a holy and just society and Church through preaching and teaching Gospel values. As a religious congregation, we support the teachings of the Catholic Church. We are called to be compassionate and to love one another.
I made a subsequent request for a more direct response to my questions and for clarification of Sister Toni’s statement but was told the prioress was traveling and could not be reached.
While the Quinn story is an extreme example of dissent by a so-called religious, this sad situation also raises serious questions about why higher Church authorities allow such scandal by religious to persist. It also dramatizes how some formerly outstanding religious orders have self-destructed, adversely affecting the image of religious life and slowing vocations to a trickle.
So what does this mean during National Vocation Awareness Week? Because of all the factors I have mentioned, this country likely will not see 180,000 sisters again — at least not in the foreseeable future.
All is not lost in the vocation picture for women, however, for some orders of women religious — both long-established orders and some relatively new groups — have renewed themselves according to Vatican II guidelines; and young women who feel the call to religious life and want a community with a distinct religious identity and steadfast commitment to the Church, are finding those orders.
Graphic evidence of this trend can be found on websites like the Sisters of Life, the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, the Carmelite Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Los Angeles and the Immaculate Heart of Mary Province of the Sisters of St. Francis of Perpetual Adoration, to name just a few.
Supporters of “progressive” orders insist that they are getting as many new vocations as the traditional orders that have maintained a religious lifestyle and faithfulness to Church teachings and authority. However, this claim is based on an outdated, incomplete study that included only half of the traditional orders of women religious.
The good news for vocations is that young women called to religious life are voting with their feet and choosing orders with a distinct religious identity and a specific apostolate conducted in the name of the Church. They are not buying into the dissent perpetrated by women who use their status as religious to get attention for their attacks on settled Church teachings. |
I got a cool email from a reader the other day letting me know that he was stopped by NBC News while biking in the 2nd Ave protected bike lane the other day and interviewed for what ended up being a segment on falling gas prices. Colin Petkus talked about saving money by biking to work, and the 2nd Ave bike lane got a cool shot on national news.
“Not sure where they got that figure about saving $500 a month on parking, though…” he said. Check it out:
Pacific Northwest News
Halftime Show!
There’s something mesmerizing about this time lapse footage of a person driving around Seattle. It’s amazing how much of the city’s detail you lose when you’re on major roads behind a windshield. You only really get glimpses of humanity when the video maker is stopped at stop lights. Obviously part of that is due to the time lapse. But a lot of it is due to the fact that you lose a sense of place when streets become mere pipes for cars.
National & Global News
This is an open thread. |
Ireland has been found to be in violation of European laws because of the “substandard quality” of much of our social housing.
The European Committee of Social Rights, in a decision published today, found that “a significant stock of local authority housing is of substandard quality”.
Ireland is, therefore, in breach of Article 16 of the European social charter.
The charter is a legally binding counterpart of the European Convention on Human Rights and is monitored and implemented by the committee.
In July 2014, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) brought a complaint to the European committee against Ireland over alleged breaches of the charter linked to local authority housing.
These breaches related to sewage leaks, dampness, and mould.
FIDH, provided a range of evidence to the committee showing “that a number of local authority tenants reside in poor housing conditions amounting to housing that is inadequate in nature”, according to a summary of the decision.
This evidence came from tenants, architects, and engineers. There were “problems with mould, dampness, sewage invasions”.
According to the decision, some of the conditions in the social housing, raise “serious” concerns.
“Some of the conditions described regarding sewage invasions, contaminated water, dampness, persistent mould etc, go to the core of adequate housing, raising serious concerns from the perspective of both habitability and access to services, in particular, the high number of residents in certain estates in Dublin complaining of sewage invasions,” reads the decision.
The complaint against the Government’s social housing stock was not, however, limited to just the conditions of the properties.
“No complete statistics on the condition of local authority housing have been collected since 2002 by the Irish authorities and no national timetable exists for the refurbishment of the local authority housing stock.
“A significant number of regeneration programmes adopted by the Government for local authority estates in the last decade have not been completed with the effect that a number of local authority tenants remain living in substandard housing conditions.
“The Government has failed to take sufficient and timely measures to ensure the right to housing of an adequate standard for not an insignificant number of families living in local authority housing and therefore there is a violation of article 16 of the charter in this respect,” reads the decision.
The complainant organisation, FIDH, also referred to the lack of progress in relation to the regeneration and building of more social housing.
“As a result of the economic crisis, the original regeneration programmes were delayed or halted, with a deterioration of conditions in some cases. New regeneration programmes have subsequently been developed, however not all of these have been completed to date,” state the findings.
The FIDH alleges that Ireland was in violation of four other articles in the charter, but the European Committee of Social Rights only found one breach out of five.
Ireland is now obliged to “take steps” to address this violation and a meeting will be held with a view to “adopting a formal resolution to the Irish authorities” based on the findings. |
“The Bowden Dynasty: A Story of Faith, Family & Football” will debut on Jan. 8 in St. Petersburg but will also be shown that night in 400 theaters nationwide.
The two-hour documentary on Florida State coaching legend Bobby Bowden was long an idea of John Corry, an FSU graduate and filmmaker who assembled a team of directors and producers that have delivered films for ESPN’s “30 for 30” series. They filmed interviews with Bowden, family members and more than 50 former players and coaches.
(Get FSU news sent directly to your inbox! Click for FREE FSU newsletter!)
In the trailer, Bowden returns to his boyhood home in Birmingham, going back to the bedroom he spent months in while battling rheumatic fever at 13.
“I laid right there. I had to stay there for months,” Bowden said as he walks into his old bedroom. “I prayed to God, ‘If you heal me, I will serve you any way you want. In fact, I’d love to serve you through football.’ ”
Co-director Rob Harvell said the film focuses on the 14-year dynasty of FSU's top-5 finishes (1987-2000) but also Bowden’s youth and his faith.
“His childhood is a theme throughout the movie,” Harvell said. “So much was learned from being in bed as a kid and the struggles he went through. So much of that shaped his life that we really made it a focus of the film.”
Corry has provided to Noles247 an exclusive first look at the movie trailer (above). And Noles247 readers can pre-purchase tickets now before the public sale by clicking here:
http://www.fathomevents.com/redeem/the-bowden-dynasty/Pre-Sales
(Great offers! Buy a month, get two months free or a 7-day FREE Trial!) |
Even the busy Rachel Maddow has the right to expect the first week back from a holiday break to be an easy one. But in the current news cycle, easy is hard.
In a rare maneuver for a cable-news host who rarely books big-name guests in advance, her MSNBC staff had locked in Sen. Bernie Sanders for a three-segment interview on Jan. 2. With an hour and 15 minutes before “The Rachel Maddow Show” was set to air that day, producers discovered that the influential politician could not make it. Maddow had to rely on extra material her team had produced to fill the time. The next day, she journeyed to Washington, D.C., for back-to-back segments with Chuck Schumer, the Senate Minority Leader, and Sanders, in a make-up for the previous night. On Thursday Jan. 5, she led with a look at how the National Enquirer mirrors current politics; the segment used so many on-screen elements, she joked, “I almost killed my graphics team!” On Friday, the capper: an analysis of President-elect Donald Trump’s downplaying of a much-scrutinized intelligence report stating in clear terms that Russia had influenced the U.S. presidential election. “I have to say, I don’t get weirded out by that much stuff in the news, but this kind of puts a shiver down my spine,” Maddow told viewers. “Our president-elect is lying to us.”
She doesn’t want any rest. “I’m more energized about my job now than I have been in a very long time,” she says in a recent interview. “I see my job as explaining stuff. Boy, there’s a lot to explain.”
With the election of Trump, Maddow is ready to embrace a new tactic that could be an immense challenge for her. Though she acknowledges that she has faced hurdles in luring top politicos to her show, she wants to land the big players in this new and difficult-to-read political epoch for interviews that could extend for 30 to 45 minutes. If senators, policymakers, and White House machers can go toe-to-toe with the anchor, so the theory goes, they will be rewarded with something significantly more valuable than a sound bite, the usual coin of the cable-news realm.
“I don’t pretend to be anybody other than who I am.” Rachel Maddow
Maddow won’t be leaving behind the reporting and commentary that made her famous. Since she launched her program on MSNBC in the fall of 2008, she has established herself as a sort of news raconteur. She immerses herself in the wonky details of whatever she may be examining — a river in North Carolina polluted by Duke Energy coal ash, for example — then weaves those granular bits into a colorful tale of national import, one she often tells in a mammoth 20-minute opening segment. So reliant is her program on her investigations and storytelling that it has typically had little use for the talking heads who tend to populate so much of the cable-news landscape.
“I do feel like where I do best, and what our audience seems to respond to the most, is expository work, explanatory work, putting things in context,” she says. “When I can get interviews with people who are in positions of authority, people who are decision-makers and players in this new political era that we are in, I hope I can have a conversation with them and press them so that they talk about things they would not necessarily talk about in other places.”
While she is open that her politics are liberal, she says her news delivery is not: “I’m just doing my job. I don’t pretend to be anybody other than who I am, and I’m telling you what I think is going on in the world. Whether or not that appeals to you is sort of your call.”
She points to two interviews she conducted with senior Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway in recent weeks. The exchanges were never impolite, but they were certainly tough. In a late-December interview, Maddow appeared to school the presidential counselor in the nuclear-arms race. She also prompted Conway to acknowledge that the Trump transition team had reached out to ABC News after the president-elect suggested that journalist Martha Raddatz had broken out in tears on TV upon learning of his election — a false assertion.
“I actually have high hopes for the willingness of this new administration to put people out to talk,” says Maddow. “I’ve had Kellyanne Conway doing very long — very intense, at times -— interviews with me. I give her credit for coming back and doing a second one after the first.”
PRE-SHOW PREP: Maddow conducts meticulous research for her self-described job of “explaining stuff.”
MIKE MCGREGOR for Variety
Of course, she wants to talk to Trump, whose team, she says, brought up the idea of an interview a few times in the recent past. What would she ask him? “I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.” She’d also like to land Hillary Clinton and learn her future plans.
Maddow and MSNBC have good reason to pursue the idea. The cabler has contended with ratings woes and a massive reorientation of its programming strategy in recent years, but Maddow in 2016 attracted the most viewers to her 9 p.m. time period in her history at the network. Indeed, of the 15 most-watched cable-news programs in 2016, the only one not airing on Fox News Channel was hers. The feat might have been expected in 2008, when MSNBC enjoyed a wave of popularity among progressive viewers encouraged by the election of President Obama, and when Maddow had Keith Olbermann as her 8 p.m. lead-in. But in 2016, it’s quite an accomplishment.
The trick now is to keep her viewers tuning in, even as the ardor of some political aficionados begins to dim. To parry with CNN and Fox News, MSNBC has relied less on shouting pundits and worked harder to nab guests who are involved in or experts on the events of the day. Long-form Maddow interviews present “a huge opportunity for us to do real reporting,” says Phil Griffin, MSNBC’s president.
Success is not guaranteed. Not everyone wants to spar with Maddow. “I don’t think you go on ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ without doing a lot of preparation. You cannot wing it,” says Griffin. “She’s going to be smart, and she’s going to ask hard questions.”
But Republicans would do well to meet with her, argues Jeffrey McCall, a media studies professor at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. “The GOP needs to appear to be speaking to all Americans, and going on MSNBC could help generate that image,” he notes. “Republicans on Maddow’s show won’t likely win over her viewers, but creating rational discussion would be good for all involved.”
On set and off, Maddow bears the demeanor of a graduate student. MSNBC executives liken her office to a library, and note that she spends hours there poring over source materials. She regularly dashes into her New York studio with less than five minutes to go before airtime. Some TV hosts gab with crew or producers during breaks; during one recent broadcast, Maddow spent the commercial hunched over her screen, so focused on prepping for a guest in her next segment that she chose to forgo getting a cosmetic touch-up, despite suffering from a runny nose.
“Republicans on Maddow’s show won’t likely win over her viewers, but creating rational discussion would be good for all involved.”
Jeffrey McCall, DePauw University
She discovered a desire to explain things during post-graduate study, when a series of odd jobs led her to audition to be a “news girl” on WRNX, a small, Massachusetts radio station. She won the job and went from ripping AP wire to meeting with local lawmakers and talking over issues. She left to pursue her doctorate, but after 9/11, she recalls, “I missed the opportunity to explain stuff” — so much so that she called up another Massachusetts station, WRSI, and asked if she could do fill-in shifts on the weekends, even for free. That led to her own morning program, then a stint on Air America before she made the jump to television. Little of it, she says, was planned.
Now she’s facing another intriguing opportunity. Her time-slot rival, Megyn Kelly, has jumped to NBC News from Fox News, leaving Maddow as the only female host on cable news in primetime. She doesn’t anticipate making changes to her show — she didn’t do it when Larry King left the 9 p.m. slot on CNN, she notes, or when Sean Hannity made way for Kelly on Fox News — but she wonders why only one woman is scheduled during the news networks’ most popular time slots at such a point in modern history, when the president-elect has been accused of forcing himself on women. “The American people litigated that when they went to vote in November, but that stuff doesn’t go away,” she says. “To simultaneously have him taking over in Washington and to have women gone from primetime news — it’s just worth noting.”
The world is growing extraordinarily complex, but Maddow already operates on the premise that things aren’t easy. “I have always felt like my job is to chart the waters,” she says. “We are at sea.” |
MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines has recorded about 1,800 drug-related killings since President Rodrigo Duterte took office seven weeks ago and launched a war on narcotics, far higher than previously believed, according to police figures.
Philippine National Police Chief Ronald Dela Rosa told a Senate committee on Monday that 712 drug traffickers and users had been killed in police operations since July 1.
Police were also investigating 1,067 other drug-related killings, Dela Rosa said, without giving details. On Sunday, Duterte railed against the United Nations for criticizing the wave of deaths.
The United States, a close ally of the Philippines, said it was “deeply concerned” by the reports, and U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner urged Duterte’s government to ensure that law-enforcement authorities abided by human rights norms.
The drug trafficking crackdown and some strongly worded criticisms Duterte has made of the United States since coming to power present a dilemma for Washington, which has been seeking to forge unity among allies and partners in Asia in the face of an increasingly assertive China, especially in the strategic South China Sea.
Toner made the dilemma clear in responses to questions at a regular State Department briefing in Washington, in which he referred to Duterte as “a plain-speaking politician.”
“We continue to make clear to the Philippines government ... our concern about human rights, extrajudicial killings, but we are also committed to our bilateral relationship and strengthening that bilateral relationship,” he said.
Toner said there was no question of the United States turning a blind eye to rights abuses and that the relationship with Manila, while good, was “frank and candid.”
Relatives of slain people cover their faces as they attend a Senate hearing investigating drug-related killings at the Senate headquarters in Pasay city, metro Manila, Philippines August 22, 2016. REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco
As recently as Sunday, the number of suspected drug traffickers killed in Duterte’s war on drugs had been put at about 900 by Philippine officials. But this number included people who died since Duterte won the May 9 presidential election.
Duterte said in a strongly worded late-night news conference on Sunday the Philippines might leave the United Nations and invite China and others to form a new global forum, accusing it of failing to fulfill its mandate.
His foreign minister, Perfecto Yasay, said on Monday the Philippines would remain a U.N. member and described the president’s comments as expressions of “profound disappointment and frustration”.
“We are committed to the U.N. despite our numerous frustrations and disappointments with the international agency,” Yasay told a news conference. U.S. officials declined comment on Duterte’s U.N. remarks.
Last week, two U.N. human rights experts urged Manila to stop the extra-judicial executions and killings.
Yasay said Duterte has promised to uphold human rights in the fight against drugs and has ordered the police to investigate and prosecute offenders. He criticized the U.N. rapporteurs for “jumping to an arbitrary conclusion that we have violated human rights of people”.
“It is highly irresponsible on their part to solely rely on such allegations based on information from unnamed sources without proper substantiation,” he said of the United Nations.
Senator Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of the president, started a two-day congressional inquiry into the killings on Monday, questioning top police and anti-narcotics officials to explain the “unprecedented” rise in killings.
Slideshow (10 Images)
“I am disturbed that we have killings left and right as breakfast every morning,” she said.
“My concern does not only revolve around the growing tally of killings reported by the police. What is particularly worrisome is that the campaign against drugs seems to be an excuse for some law enforcers and other elements like vigilantes to commit murder with impunity,” De Lima said. |
Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller said Tuesday that if a special session of the General Assembly is convened, the legislature should take up a bill that would strip parental rights from rapists.
The likelihood of that special session is unclear, but the Senate's top Democrat on Tuesday introduced a new wrinkle to its agenda.
In the final hours of this year's session, lawmakers failed to pass a bill that would have let rape victims who become pregnant during the assault terminate parental rights of their alleged attackers. It was the ninth year the bill died, and the panel that failed to reach a compromise consisted of five men, including three who had sponsored the proposal.
It was one of two controversial bills close to passage that ultimately failed to advance at the end of the annual 90-day session last week. The other would have expanded the medical marijuana industry to specifically include minority-owned firms, and the Legislative Black Caucus has demanded the governor and presiding officers recall lawmakers to Annapolis to pass it.
On Tuesday, Miller acknowledged that no conversations have taken place to reach a deal on calling a special session. Miller and House Speaker Michael E. Busch remain divided on whether the medical marijuana expansion should automatically award licenses to two specific companies.
"We haven't talked about it," Miller told reporters after a bill signing in Annapolis.
But Miller said that if a special session is called, he wants to revisit the proposed law about parental rights of alleged rapists.
Maryland is one of 16 states that do not have a law allowing rape victims who conceive a child to terminate the rights of their assailant. The proposed law in Maryland would permit such a termination in cases without a criminal rape conviction. |
Luke Campbell and Tommy Coyle are not close, Eddie Hearn says
Luke Campbell and Tommy Coyle will fight live on Sky Sports
Luke Campbell and Tommy Coyle are "acquaintances" and were never friends, says Eddie Hearn.
Hull's lightweight rivals have known each other for years but will collide in a fierce battle in their hometown on Saturday night, live on Sky Sports 1 HD at 8pm.
Tales of their closeness are wide of the mark, insists Matchroom promoter Hearn, who says their relationship begins and ends with the simple fact that they came up through the same city's boxing scene.
There is no friendship to put aside because they’re acquaintances, not friends. Eddie Hearn
"There is no friendship to put aside because they’re acquaintances, not friends," Hearn told Sky Sports.
"They don’t go out together. They don’t go around each other’s houses. They don’t visit each other’s changing rooms before fights. They don’t have a handshake or a cuddle. They’re just from the same town.
"The truth is, they’re not friends. But they don’t hate each other either.
Watch Tommy Coyle and Luke Campbell face off ahead of Rumble on the Humber on August 1 - see the full Ringside Special via On Demand Watch Tommy Coyle and Luke Campbell face off ahead of Rumble on the Humber on August 1 - see the full Ringside Special via On Demand
"Everything has always been respectful, but both of them have made comments to me about the other man. I realised they’re not each other’s biggest fans.
"You won’t see hatred and animosity because they do respect each other but they want to bash each other up."
Coyle's trainer, Jamie Moore, says his fighter is in the best shape of his life Coyle's trainer, Jamie Moore, says his fighter is in the best shape of his life
Olympic gold medal winner Campbell has emerged as a favourite for the Rumble on the Humber and Hearn is intrigued to see whether the 11-0 undefeated pro can impress against his cross-city foe.
While a world championship fight becomes a step closer for the winner, Hearn believes that bragging rights for the city will also play a major part.
Campbell (right) is defending an unbeaten record
He said: "We don’t yet know how good Campbell is. There’s a chance he is already the best lightweight in the world so, if he is, Coyle has a difficult night ahead of him.
"It’s a fascinating fight because Campbell is the big favourite but Coyle has the bit between his teeth, which makes him difficult to write off.
"It’s a momentous sporting event for the city. You can’t walk down the street without someone asking ‘who’s going to win?’. If you’re east Hull you’re on Coyle’s side and if you’re west Hull you’re on Campbell’s side.
"The winner of this, I think, will challenge for the WBC title and the loser won’t be competing at world level. There’s also masses of local pride and neither of them want to walk around town on Sunday having lost.
"There’s only room for one world-class lightweight in Hull so let’s see who that is." |
CD would damage the skin chemically to trigger a stem cell reaction
bleached and chemically damaged the hairline in my temples and caused it to shed.
After a few days I was ready to give up as the damage became too much. Yet a week after stopping it I would feel stubble in my temples. It felt almost like a beard. I rushed to my mirror and there it was, little black dots all over my bald temples that didn’t have hair for almost 9 years by now.
Some time in early 2014 I stumbled upon a chinese forum where a guy was showing pictures of remarkable hair regrowth. He even had it patented. This would later be the same guy who got to be known as Liu Xuewu on several public forums where he offered his product to trialists for free. Before that however I had already started to copy his patent. The active chemical chlorine dioxide wasn’t hard to get since it’s popular in some questionable alternative medicine circles, despite being a pretty harsh chemical and not very healthy. In simplified theory: The. I had nothing to lose and tried it.The damage was no joke, it literally ate my skin and caused scabs. It alsoFor that reason I kept silent on what exactly it is I’m using as I didn’t want others to risk this toxic stuff for no reason.And I could feel hairs growing out of them, thick terminal hairs. I started using the CD again, reported on ******** about my miraculous growth and said I would reveal what I’m using soon. For some reason that stubble never made it more than 2mm in length and would fall out again no matter what I tried. After several months I knew I wasn’t getting anywhere. I kept putting this toxic shit on my head that hurt my skin and only seemed to produce temporary 2mm stubble. I gave up, revealed that it was chlorine dioxide and threw the stuff into the trash. Source |
US Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul says Washington’s policy of supporting and arming anti-Damascus militants fueled the rise of (Daesh) ISIL terrorists.
Speaking at the fifth Republican Party debate on Tuesday night in Las Vegas, Nevada, Paul also distanced himself from his GOP rivals by warning against the United States pushing to militarily oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
“We have to have a more realistic foreign policy and not a utopian one where we say, ‘Oh, we are going to spread freedom and democracy and everybody in the Middle East is going to love us.’ They are not going to love us,” Paul said.
He added that “by arming the allies of ISIS, the Islamic [sic] rebels [who were] against Assad, we created a safe space; we made that space bigger for ISIS to grow,” using an alternative acronym for the terrorist group.
The senator from Kentucky said “those who wanted a regime change had made a mistake.”
“I think when we toppled Gaddafi in Libya, I think, that was a mistake. I think ISIS grew stronger. We have a failed state and we’re more at risk,” he said.
He went on to say that “if you believe in regime change you are mistaken. In 2013, we put 600 tons of weapons – us, Saudi Arabia and Qatar – into the war against Assad. But pushing Assad back we did create a safe space [for Daesh].”
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad
Syria has been gripped by deadly violence since March 2011. The United States and its regional allies - especially Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey - have been supporting the terrorists operating inside Syria since the beginning of the crisis.
The foreign-sponsored war against the Syrian state and people has killed more than 250,000 people and driven more than 10 million from their homes.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Senator Paul also slammed Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, saying his policies infringe on the US Constitution.
"Is Donald Trump a serious candidate?" Paul asked, accusing him of wanting to close the Internet and kill families of terrorists.
“It would defy every norm that is America, so when you ask yourself, whoever you are, if you think you’re going to support Donald Trump, think: Do you believe in the Constitution?” Paul said. “Are you going to change the Constitution?” |
Back on May 28, Jonathan Papelbon made his first appearance at Fenway Park since jetting from the Red Sox to the Phillies after the 2011 season. The Philadelphia closer was booed with aplomb by the Boston fans, but what would their reaction be if Papelbon returned to the mound wearing a Red Sox uniform?
That scenario may not be so unlikely, as the Phillies languish four games below .500 and are forced to consider whether or not to blow up an aging roster. For his part, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. has continued to insist he won’t begin a rebuilding project this year, but some of the organization’s actions may suggest otherwise.
The Phillies are said to be scouting the Red Sox, Tigers and Cardinals’ farm systems, as Philadelphia believes those teams may have interest in Papelbon by the trading deadline, according to The Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo. While the Phillies still don’t want to move ace Cliff Lee, the team believes that trading Papelbon could get a good return in prospects.
“It’s no secret the Phillies are scouting those teams with Papelbon in mind,” says Cafardo.
Just over a month ago, Red Sox closer Joel Hanrahan was diagnosed with a torn flexor muscle tendon, and shortly after underwent season-ending surgery. Since returning from the disabled list in late May, now-closer Andrew Bailey has gone 1-0 with a 5.00 ERA and three saves in four opportunities in nine innings of work.
Papelbon has at least $26 million and two more years remaining on his contract after this season. He also has a vesting option for 2016 at $13 million based on total games finished in 2014 and 2015. |
When night has fallen and the animal sleeps, while sound is softning as the nightingale weepsWhen darkness is growing as shadows fade, while moonlight shines upon the blinking bladeWhen war is comming and armies prepared, while zero and none are left to be sparedWhen humans are fighting and battles are lost, While womans are crying for all that it costWhen legends are forgotten and no stories remain, then all hope is gone and trying invain...Yes yes, I'm sorry I just haaad to put up another poem x.xI really need to start writing new ones O.oAnyway, I've been struggling with the colors on this armor for a very long time now, tried several combinations and somehow I just cant seem to get the one I like x.x Eventually I settled for the deep glacial sky and algae one because it matches the musket of the sunless, but still I'm not quite sure @ [email protected] Feel free to vote which color combination you like best or if you got any suggestions on what might look good!Took almost all screenshots within the Lost Precipice Guild Hall, found two rather nice spots I've fallen in love with after some in-depth exploration with a friend of mine. (With some luck when the GH's bugged out and placed an airship and proper bridges everywhere) Downside is that when they fixed it I had to use the decorations to get where I wanted to go, but all worked out well in the end! Also... Pumpkin-bridge!!!! Maaay have ended up with a few more screenshots than intended, but I can't help it, those graphics are niiiiice ^0^ |
Mark Bittman, cookbook author and former New York Times columnist, is joining the Purple Carrot, one of the many new meal kit delivery services that have sprung up over the last several years.
“We’ll be presenting a new website, incorporating Mark and a new image and language he’s helped develop,” said Andrew Levitt, founder and chief executive of the Purple Carrot. “We’ll also be starting a subscription-based business, where we currently are pay as you go.”
The company, which was started in October 2014, will also begin offering meal kits to make dinner for two, in addition to the four-person kits it currently makes. And it will begin delivering meal kits on the West Coast. Until now, it has been primarily focused in the Northeast.
The Purple Carrot is a vegan version of subscription meal kit services like Plated, Blue Apron, Green Chef and HelloFresh. Mr. Bittman will be involved in helping the company develop menus, as well as writing for its website, doing online chats on Twitter and other social media sites, and taking on other roles as the “face” of the business. |
Nintendo has sold slightly fewer than 6 million Wii U consoles since the system’s launch in November 2012.
A recent Reddit post got me thinking about this from a very sobering perspective. The console is now approximately as old as the Dreamcast was when Sega announced the system’s death (in terms of its North American release date) and has sold just about half as many devices. At this rate, the Wii U isn’t even on pace to outsell Nintendo’s last struggling system, the GameCube.
Sega sold 10.6 million Dreamcast consoles between its November 27, 1998 Japanese launch and when the console was officially discontinued in March 2001. In total it was on the market for two years three months although it was also still sold in certain regions for a few more years. In terms of its U.S. launch – and this is where the sales comparison comes in – the Dreamcast was on the market for one year and six months. This is a life span that’s comparable to the Wii U’s one year and five months.
In total, the Dreamcast sold 2.32 million units in Japan. Even if that number is subtracted from the Dreamcast’s total life time worldwide sales, 10.6 million, and the number I’m comparing the Wii U’s 6 million units to, it still outsold Nintendo’s struggling console at 8.28 million Dreamcasts to approximately 6 million Wii U consoles worldwide. Removing the Wii U’s Japanese sales to keep things more fair, paints an even worse picture: Just 4.3 million Wii Us sold.
These calculations got a little complicated, but anyway you look at these numbers the Wii U is a sales disaster for Nintendo.
Nintendo is obviously in much better financial shape than Sega was at the time of the Dreamcast’s death and has billions of dollars in the bank and a moderately successful handheld console, the Nintendo 3DS (the DS sold much better than the 3DS). They also didn’t create the disastrous Sega Saturn or any of Sega’s many other ill-fated corporate money-bleeding accessories like the 32X, Sega CD or even the Nomad (although there was the Virtual Boy…).
Nintendo is coming off the ultra-successful Wii, which is probably part of why the Wii U’s struggling sales continue to be shocking. Still, there are various comparisons that can be drawn between the two consoles.
The Dreamcast failed to compete against the might of Sony and the PlayStation 2′ success, resulting in its death. The Wii U was unable to compete with the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 during its first year on the market and now that the Xbox One and the PlayStation 4 are on store shelves, the sales situation has become even more grim for Nintendo. T
Both consoles have great games but never ended up getting the console-selling title new systems often need to ship units. On the Dreamcast front, the console had Shenmue, Phantasy Star Online, Grandia II and Resident Evil: Code Veronica and a handful of other decent titles. The Wii U has Super Mario 3D World, ZombiU, Pikmin 3, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and a couple of other titles, but hardly enough to warrant purchasing the system unless you’re a Nintendo fanatic.
Even when Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8 finally get released, the Wii U’s library will continue to pale in comparison to the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, which makes sense because the Wii U hasn’t been out as long as those consoles. But even on the PS4 and Xbox One front, two systems the Wii U is supposed to be directly competing with, the Wii U is getting destroyed and those devices have only been out for a few months.
Unlike Sega at the time of the Dreamcast’s demise though, Nintendo has a rabid fan base and a relatively positive reputation for creating quality games and consoles. Two recently-released Wii U games, Super Mario 3D World and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, were well received by both critics and fans, but how much longer can Nintendo continue to prop up the Wii U on their own?
Third-party developer support is basically gone at this point (it’s still even unclear if Ubisoft’s Watch_Dogs will get a Wii U release) making Nintendo titles the only games worth playing on the system. The Dreamcast suffered a similar fate in its twilight years with games like NHL 2K2 (which is still my favourite sports game of all time) and Sonic Adventure 2 rounding out its final days.
Another amusing comparison is the Wii U’s Gamepad and the Dreamcasts VMU. Both were used in similar ways, offering up a second screen experience, but only first-party developers figured out how to take advantage of the added screen real estate in a unique way (although Ubisoft’s Rayman Legends is awesome). On a very basic level the concept behind the Dreamcast’s VMU and the Wii U’s Gamepad are very similar.
E3 is a huge opportunity for Nintendo to turn things around, especially in terms of the public’s perspective on the console. Show off a new Zelda title and a new Metroid game and Nintendo faithfuls will probably purchase the console in droves.
The Wii U isn’t going anywhere at least for now and it seems Nintendo is intent on continuing to support the system. Still, it will be interesting to see how the next few years unfold for Nintendo. Right now it looks like the Wii U will end up being another niche device with a handful of great games but still considered a financial failure.
I’m a huge fan of the Wii U and I think the few games worth purchasing on the console are some of the most innovative Nintendo’s various studios’ have produced in years. I want to see Nintendo turn things around and I still think relaunching the console with a dedicated Netflix-style game streaming model would be a revolutionary and very successful strategy, however unlikely this concept actually is.
Also it would be great if Nintendo somehow found a way to properly inform casual observers the Wii U isn’t a touchscreen accessory for the Wii.
While both companies’ pasts are obviously very different, it’s difficult not to draw comparisons between the Dreamcast and the Wii U. Hopefully Nintendo finds a way to turn things around.
Now excuse me while I go play some ZombiU.
All sales stats are sourced from VGChartz.com and NDP.
Follow me on Twitter: @Patrick_ORourke. |
NEWARK, NJ — Shovels dug into the earth, steadily burying the roots of five delicate saplings, as dark clouds loomed above this new Littleton Avenue park, near 14th Street. But the rain didn't come.
In some ways, the scene on the morning of July 27 mimicked where Newark's West Ward is right now: Crime and other social problems linger, but a group of community partners believe they're planting the seeds of a better tomorrow.
The ceremonial tree planting was part of a celebration hosted by Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newark. Between speeches from local leaders, the nonprofit announced it had received $100,000 from the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation to undertake a yearlong planning initiative to revitalize the 2-square-mile West Ward.
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But this project won't be the kind in which a group of outsiders come in and dictate the fate of a neighborhood that's not their own. Instead, the effort will rely on West Ward residents—at least 300 of them—and their thoughts on which aspects of the area must be improved, project leaders said.
“This is a resident-driven process,” Jeffrey J. Farrell, CEO of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newark, told TAPinto Newark. “We're going to see what the neighborhood and the residents want to see.”
So far, the group has surveyed some residents. Now that it has the money, it will continue that effort, he said, combing the neighborhood block by block and performing a “deep dive.”
The project is a new step for Habitat for Humanity. The organization typically focuses on affordable housing, building homes for families in need.
After the economic and social devastation wrought by the Great Recession, the Greater Newark chapter had what Board Chairman Carlton Daniels described as a “light-bulb” or “aha” moment.
“We can build homes,” Daniels told the dozens of people who attended the event, “but we need to start building communities.”
While Habitat's planning effort may result in any number of directions, the group has already begun to work with local stakeholders to implement clearly-needed fixes.
Farrell said he's working with PSE&G to add or fix streetlights, the police department to repair security cameras and the American Red Cross to install in-home smoke detectors. Other products of this experiment will include a college fair and a “critical repairs program,” which may help residents patch a roof or rid their basement of mold, he said.
But, far and away, the biggest issue is safety and security, Farrell said.
There was a time, in the early and mid-1900s, when much of Newark, including the West Ward, was not just safe. It was a place where people aspired to live.
Indeed, Irish, Ukrainian and other European immigrants settled in the ward's various neighborhoods, from Vailsburg and Westside Ivy Hill to the Rosevilles and Fairmount. The area was prosperous and a launching pad to middle-class American life.
But predatory real estate practices slowly squeezed out those residents. Fearful of an influx of African-American residents, they headed to the suburbs and watched from afar as structural racism and institutional injustices waged war on the people who now occupied the old neighborhood.
Then came the 1967 Newark riots—a term many people from that time dislike, opting instead for “rebellion.” That bursting of tensions further damaged the West Ward. Over time, the decline of industry only worsened the situation.
While parts of the West Ward remain among the safer and more affluent portions of Newark, the neighborhood is home to much of the city's violent crime. Flip through the headlines, and you'll come across reports of murder—four over the course of one fall day, back in 2013—and drug-dealing.
Or just ask Donald Garland, a Newark resident of 75 years. He stood outside the ceremony today, curious about what was to come.
“Newark has nothing for the kids, and that's what we need,” Garland told TAPinto Newark. “The good stuff going on close by isn't happening here.”
Now, with the launch of Habitat for Humanity's neighborhood revitalization project, Garland's voice will be heard. And he might even inspire some real-world change.
This sort of boots-on-the-ground, communitywide effort is precisely what the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation looks for when opening its checkbook, said Denise McGregor Armbrister, the group's executive director. Before presenting an oversize check to Farrell, she urged community members to own the project.
“It is critical—and let me say that again—it is critical that you seize the opportunity and get involved,” she said, calling on people to go the extra mile and become volunteers.
If the year goes as planned, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newark stands to obtain more money, over the next five years, from the Wells Fargo foundation. That capital would help make these residents' visions a reality, officials said.
“This is history in the making,” said Kevin Hill, a community leader who heads The Leaguers, which emphasizes early-childhood education.
And, with a few well-nourished seeds and a drive to keep digging, the West Ward as residents now know it could one day become history. |
The Grand Theft Auto franchise has come a long way since GTA: San Andreas was released back in 2005. While fans of the franchise likely hold a special place in their gamer hearts for this iteration of the series, it’s astounding to see just how far Rockstar has come in the last 7 years.
Staying true to these roots, GTA V will once again visit California. The sights and scenery may be familiar, but things certainly look much different than they did back then. A recent comparison was done of the two games via Tumblr, that shows screenshots that were recently released by Rockstar, and screenshots of the classic GTA game.
Looking at the screenshots from both games, it’s hard to believe that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas released only a short time before the arrival of the Xbox 360, a truly remarkable title on the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox that housed some pretty great graphics and a massive open world for the time. GTA V may be pulling the same trick as this title, launching only shortly before the arrival of next-gen consoles if recent rumors are anything to go on.
GTA: San Andreas Dirt Bike
GTA V Dirtbike
GTA: San Andreas Bicycle
GTA V Bicycle
GTA: San Andreas Jet
GTA V Jet
GTA: San Andreas Parachuting
GTA V Parachuting
GTA: San Andreas Sportscar
GTA V: Sportscar
GTA: San Andreas Tennis Court
GTA V Tennis Court |
ABBOTSFORD, BC — A local gym, Great FlexPecsStations, has come out with a revolutionary new membership option this week, designed to encourage people to be brutally honest about the likelihood of sticking with their New Year's resolutions. The Realistic Membership is good from January 1 to 17, and includes two additional and completely random visits, one in May, and another in November.
"I mean, let's get serious," explains owner and personal trainer Peter Pollinmari. "I'm sick to heck of it. Hoards of folks brungle in here every January 1st with their floor-length spandex vests and their eyes full of determination. But by mid-January, this place is a ghost town, and then I end up taking fourteen Zumba classes per day because I feel just terrible for the instructor."
"Upshot is, I have tremendously loose hips," he adds.
Pollinmari says that after a few years of observing this pattern he was forced to revisit the membership system on offer at his gym and reflect on whether the limited options were perhaps contributing to the problem.
"Prior to 2017, we really only offered one type of membership," he explains. "It locked you in for forty-six years, and the only way to get out of it early was to ride a Mongolian yak at dawn across three different rivers, arrive at the gym anytime during the window between sunrise and one minute after sunrise, expertly perform a choreographed dance to Katy Perry's Roar and then fall to your knees and beg me for one full hour to terminate your contract."
Pollinmari says the new Realistic Membership passes have been selling extremely well so far.
"I mean, you won't get any of the neat and cool perks of our normal membership," he sighs. "No duffel bag — because really, what are you going to do with it for 49 weeks of the year? Instead, I give you a thumbs-up for 20 minutes."
Local high school teacher Corinne Nguyen says she purchased the new pass this morning and feels motivated already.
"It's 2017 and I'm making a fresh start!" she exclaims. "I'm finally going to start getting up early three times a week and working out how to avoid the gym for the vast majority of the year."
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Whether you want to erase bloatware, install a custom ROM or run apps that require administrative access such as a video screen capture or remote control app, you'll need to root your Moto X. Rooting is the process of gaining root (aka administrative) access on a device, which will allow you to access the entire file system and alter the device as you see fit. Fortunately, it's easy easy to root the Moto X, no matter what carrier you're using. Just follow these simple steps.
As a warning, please make sure not to update your device with any software updates after doing this procedure as it will cause you to lose root and may even cause the device to crash.
1. Head to the original post here and download the apk file for your version of the Moto X and save it to your desktop.
2. Plug in the device and copy the apk file over to its internal storage.
MORE: How to Root Android Phones and Tablets
3. Toggle Unknown sources to on under the security section of the settings menu.
4. Install ES File Explorer from the Play Store.
5. Open the file explorer app and tap the rooting apk file we downloaded earlier.
6. Click Install when prompted.
After clicking Install, the device will reboot a few times, just wait for it to finish.
7. Once that is installed, install SuperSU from the Play Store.
David Cogen is a founder of TheUnlockr.com, the popular site for rooting, jailbreaking, hacking, modding, and other how tos to show you how to unlock your device's true potential. They even have a popular ROM repository. Check out TheUnlockr.com for all your Android, iPhone, and Windows Phone how tos. |
This album changes everything for the Dream Catalogue mastermind.
With last month’s deep-dive into the Dream Catalogue roster, I became aware that label co-founders telepath テレパシ and Hong Kong Express had each released an incredible amount of material in the past year. Their output rivals that of every other artist on the label combined, and incredibly, most of it is top notch. Sure, a handful of them tread in the same ultra-drifting waters, but somehow there’s a fascinating diversity of styles between the pair, all lit with the signature cyberpunk glow of the burgeoning label.
Their individual work was in addition to the masterpiece the pair released together under the name 2814, an album so good it became Dream Catalogue’s first vinyl release: 新しい日の誕生 (Birth of a New Day). As I described it at the time, the album “feels like the musical manifestation of that dream. It’s the fleeting moment, caught and expanded into an hour. The album remains incredibly vibrant and deeply moving throughout that time, coloring an ever-shifting structure with the same narrow band of soothing purple tones. This isn’t music to fall asleep to. It’s the soundtrack to the wandering, exploratory thoughts we have in our best waking moments. It’s an ode to those moments of untethered contemplation where epiphanies happen.”
It ended up near the top of my best of 2015 list.
And now we come to the first release from either artist since that list was published. Hong Kong Express has new become HKE, and his latest album comes courtesy of Olde English Spelling Bee, a label you may recognize as both innovative and definitely not Dream Catalogue. I haven’t read exactly why the switch was made, but one listen has me convinced that the music here simply outgrown the label’s aesthetic. Omnia is a massive recording, reaching vertically instead of draping across a dreamscape.
Hear it for yourself:
Instead of drifting through vaporwave clouds, the album is defiantly active, wrenching in multiple directions at once, perforated from every angle. The sound is dominated by seismic bass drops and crystalline synth spikes. It’s got much more in common with the pristine violence of Aphex Twin than with anything the artist previously crafted.
This is HKE’s supernova moment, the sound of hypercube unfolding, ripping open a new dimension. Omnia crashes the cool precision of Detroit techno into that early Warp Records aesthetic, staccato beats orbiting in the twinkling depths of space. It’s filled with a sense of wonder and confusion, a singularity of the new. This tugs on the one major connection to his past work: a warm embrace of cyberpunk atmosphere, the feeling that the future we’ve all been promised by decades of science fiction is finally arriving. HKE is helping bring it into focus.
The knotty, intellectual approach to beat science sees the album comfortably placed alongside artists like Arca and Roly Porter more than anyone under the cosmic vaporwave umbrella. Rather than setting listeners adrift, this is music to get twisted up and lost inside.
You can listen to the whole thing streaming and purchase Omnia on CD or digitally right on the Bandcamp page. |
When we think of spring, one thing comes to mind: biting into a delicious Growfruit. You know about Growfruit, right? Green with yellow and blue stripes – delicious. Surely you’ve eaten a thousand of them. No? Well, starting on March 22, you’ll be able to grow them in The Sims 4 as part of a new in-game challenge!
After you get a Growfruit, you’ll need to have your Sim use their green thumb to plant it to make a Growfruit tree. This tree will – you guessed it – grow more Growfruit. Once you get 20, bring them back to Jasmine Holiday to unlock a reward: a new planter. If you’re able to grow a perfect Growfruit, then she’ll unlock an even cooler, bedazzled planter for you. Not bad, right?
You might notice a new Sim in The Sims 4 named Jasmine Holiday. She’s not some random townie – she’s carrying Growfruit seeds, and if your Sim talks to her, she’ll hand one over.
But this isn’t the only challenge in this update. If you were playing The Sims 4 this time last year, you might remember seeing fanciful eggs scattered around the world. They’re back, kicking off the second annual Bunny Egg Hunt. There are 12 Eggs to collect (up from 10 last year), and if your Sim gathers them all, they’ll unlock an adorable stuffed bunny.
But, just as the season itself, these in-game challenges won’t last forever. They’re only going to be available for the next month – so if you want to get the planters or the stuffed bunny, get ready to start hunting for eggs and growing Growfruit on March 22!
Looking to learn more about recent updates to The Sims 4? Check out the Jealousy Reaction System updates, and learn about the updates to the Holiday Celebration Pack.
Stay in the conversation! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram, Like us on Facebook, and Subscribe to our YouTube channel. |
February 26
Help Teens Build Financial Wellbeing at Your Library
As children grow, their potential to manage money and understand financial concepts grows as well. The knowledge, skills, and behaviors kids learn when they are young lay the groundwork for their financial well-being as adults, and libraries can play a role in building these important financial literacy skills.
The CFPB released youth financial education content with a robust set of activities for teen financial education programing. While designed for a classroom, these activities can be translated into youth financial education programing in your library. Join us to learn how to help your teen patrons become empowered to navigate their financial futures.
March 26
Strategic Planning in a Deeply Weird World: The Flexible Roadmap Field Guide Approach
It's a big task to define the library’s future over the next three or five years, and strategic planning is becoming less and less effective in a rapidly changing world. The Salt Lake City Public Library (SLCPL) has created a new approach that is flexible, staff-driven, and human-centered. SCLPL's Strategic Roadmap is not a 100-page plan in a binder-on-a-shelf; it’s an experiential learning tool that invites all staff to participate in the co-creation of meaningful outcomes and experiences for the community. Join us for this webinar to learn how to cultivate new skills to help bring the Roadmap to life for your library’s strategic planning.
View Webinar Calendar |
Roddy Collins has been handed a whopping €1,500 fine and has been banned from the dugout for SIX matches by the FAI, for comments made in a recent Irish Daily Star column.
The Waterford United manager was up in front of the association's disciplinary committee on Monday, where he was grilled about his remarks.
Waterford United have since released a statement regarding the punishment.
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Collins is thought to have been handed three separate punishments of €500 and two games each.
The former Bohemians and Derry City boss will appeal the ruling tomorrow.
Here are some excerpts from the column, to which FAI bigwigs took grave offence:
“There is no security here. Figures came out over the weekend showing that the average annual wage for a player in League Two is around three times higher than in the League of Ireland.
“Yet people argue that a move to the bottom two tiers in English football is a sideways, or even a backwards move?”
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“It's not an industry, it's something that people are addicted to, often to their own detriment. They gives their lives to Irish football and get very little in return.
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“And when they pass on, their role will be filled by someone else with the same passion. That's not progressive.”
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“There are a lot of very good people involved in Irish football. And thank God, because without them we would have no league to launch on Wednesday.
“The game here is f**ked without good people who get nothing in return only stress and abuse, and without the players and the phenomenal effort they put in.
“It would be lost without the supporters and voluntary workers, everyone who tries their hardest to make it happen.
“Outside of that it's a shambles.” |
Patience the key for Roma
By Luca Cetta Friday 09 December 2011 The change of ownership at Roma sparked a great wave of enthusiasm around the club. Fans hoped this would be the change to take Roma to the top again, a decade after their last Scudetto. A new tactician, a new style: a new Roma. Appointments made on the bench and in the playing ranks signified what the project is about - long-term growth. Owner Thomas Di Benedetto wants to expand the club globally, to make Rome the ‘Caput Mundi’ once more.
41-year-old Luis Enrique has been handed his first senior coaching role. Not everybody will have instant success like Pep Guardiola at Barcelona - just ask Juventus and Ciro Ferrara - and not everybody will have the same level of squad to work with. Despite wholesale changes made, the fans are impatient. However, after the weekend loss to Fiorentina, director Franco Baldini insisted the team is on the right path.
Luis Enrique is still finding his feet in a foreign land, having spent his entire football life in his native Spain. He has tried different tactical systems and started a different XI each week. From a 4-3-3, he has also implemented a 4-3-1-2 formation. It did not start well with the early Europa League exit, but each week the tactician is discovering something about his team and can build accordingly. From their first-up defeat versus Cagliari, to losses against Lazio and Milan, as well as their victory over Atalanta where they played scintillating attacking football, each match unlocks another piece of the Giallorossi puzzle.
Di Benedetto has offered a cash injection for I Lupi, but not to the level Manchester City or Chelsea received. He has looked to exciting future prospects. Bojan Krkic, Jose Angel, Miralem Pjanic and Erik Lamela fit the bill but cannot be expected to master a difficult league like Serie A in six months. Even Simon Kjaer, with his Italian experience, is re-adjusting, but showing his undeniable potential.
In addition to those prospects are the established stars and experienced signings. Francesco Totti can at times prove a headache because of his influence, but he is the inspiration. Enrique places faith on the shoulders of Daniele De Rossi in his new-found role in front of the defence. The nucleus of a championship squad is present, when you consider those mentioned, plus Maarten Stekelenburg and Fernando Gago.
This is only the first step in the Roma project. Yes, there are still issues. Enrique does not need another repeat of the Udine dressing room punch-up, or at least the constant chatter surrounding such an incident. Both he and the players need to find greater consistency, which will come with time. Defensively Roma looks suspect and must strengthen in January, particularly given Juan’s form and Nicolas Burdisso’s season-ending knee injury.
Despite this, the shape of the project has formed. Perhaps an Italian owner would have sacked the Coach by now, but Di Benedetto comes from another environment and has showed the patience required. The fans can look at the changes and see the club is on the right track. This project is going somewhere, they just need to let it develop because Roma can be a force in upcoming seasons. Calcio grandfather and ex-Roma boss Carlo Mazzone summed up on Radio Sportiva: “You have to have patience and not dramatise. Sacking the coach would not help, it would mean starting all over again.”
Related Articles » 5 players who should never have left Serie A » AS Roma planning to build £1bn stadium for 2017/18 season » Roma v Milan - Chase on at the top » The Fall and Rise of Serie A » How High Can Atalanta Finish this Season? |
Hello!
This is something I’ve been working on with one of my English Literature professors, Erin G. Carlston (http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/people/ecar949), over the past semester at the University of Auckland and I figured I would submit the fucker thing in instalments because of its size.
Fantasy literature is one of my favourite genres to delve into and lose myself for a while so this project was extremely personal to me.
Let me know if you dig it and I’ll upload more.
Voilà, the intro:
Grumkins and Snarks:
A discussion of contemporary fantasy writers’ strategies for world-building
Fantasy: the ‘wilderness’ of possibility
According to author and literary genius Ursula Le Guin, the fantasy genre is ‘a real wilderness, and those who go there should not feel too safe’.[1] Le Guin refers to the potential dangers of the genre in the sense of the subject matter, the reading experience, and the writing process of a fantasy text. The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘fantasy’ as ‘imagination’ or ‘the process or faculty of forming mental representations of things not actually present’.[2] Yet this notion of imaginative literature is not unique to fantasy because it also applies to other literary genres. What differentiates fantasy from other genres is that the possibilities of the subject matter are unlimited. Like most genre fiction, fantasy allows the reader to escape reality for a while, yet, unlike other genres, it is highly unconventional. Of course, there are certain symbols that a lot of fantasy authors tend to use in their texts, such as medievalism, magical elements, and mythical creatures, but the strength of the genre resides in its openness. Fantasy is one of the least conventional genres because it does not have to conform to any tropes. In fact, some of the best fantasy literature does not conform to any tropes at all. For instance, in The Hobbit , J.R.R. Tolkien depicts the dragon, Smaug, as a formidable creature with evil motives, much like in European folklore. By contrast, Anne McAffrey portrays dragons in the Dragonriders of Pern series as friendly genetically-modified creatures. In the A Song of Ice and Fire series, George R.R. Martin’s dragons are particularly interesting because they bear similarities to weapons of mass destruction in the sense that whoever wields them has the most power. Essentially, a fantasy text need not adhere to any rubric.
New authors create new sub-genres and the wider fantasy genre evolves and changes constantly. One author may write in the tradition of epic fantasy, known for its dichotomy of ‘good’ versus ‘evil’, whereas another may situate his text in the realms of urban fantasy in a world much like our own but with magic. The ‘danger’ of the reading experience is that the reader should be wary and not have expectations as to what a fantasy text should be or do. When reading fantasy, the reader suspends her imagination and is at the mercy of that of the author. This is the ‘wilderness’ of the fantasy genre because each time a reader opens the pages of a fantasy text, anything could be contained within. I would like to think of myself as relatively well-read when it comes to fantasy, except each new text that I pick up challenges any preconceptions I have for the genre. I once thought that there must be dragons in a fantasy text but then I came across Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora , a text about a group of con-artists and thieves in an alternate Venice-like world without a dragon in sight. I also believed that fantasy characters should speak differently from ourselves, yet Richard Morgan’s The Steel Remains proved me wrong with his modern profanities and dialogue. The danger lies in classifying this hybrid genre as if it should be anything at all. To say fantasy is this or that simplifies and reduces the possibilities of this imaginative literary genre.
2. Blurring the lines
The main condition of the fantasy genre is the creation of fantastical and imaginative worlds. Anything is possible in these worlds and the author is God, controlling what he includes. Le Guin states that a fantasy author is a ‘guide’ because he takes the reader on a journey into his mind’s creation, pulling her further into his created world.[3] It is interesting to consider what an author includes and excludes from the present world in the created world because any similarity is noticeable and draws the attention of the reader. Perhaps the characters are humanoid in appearance or the created world resembles Northern Europe. Much like how travel broadens the mind, by spending some time in these alternate worlds, one learns something more profound about the present world. The inherent ‘danger’ of fantasy is that what one learns may be hard to digest. For instance, an alternate world that appears to be vastly different, such as Kameron Hurley’s Raisa in The Mirror Empire , may turn out to be not dissimilar to our own. Hurley investigates the political movements between characters in that the oppressed people in one universe oppress other people in another parallel universe. Hurley stresses the notion that, given the opportunity, each character would manipulate and exploit others for her own gain. Perhaps Hurley shows the reader an example of human corruptibility or maybe she exposes something frightening about the human experience such as the extent someone will go to fulfil her desires. In short, these worlds provide more than a simple escape route from reality for a few hours.
Thanks to online forums such as Reddit and websites such as GoodReads allowing fantasy readers to recommend texts to each other, fantasy is no longer a niche genre relegated to the dusty corner of a bookstore. Yet, with the increased popularity of fantasy, there also comes a demand for new and inventive forms of fantasy literature. This raises the question as to how much overlapping is permitted across genres. For instance, Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara is a murder mystery set in a fantasy world. So, should it be classified as detective fiction or fantasy? Hurley’s text includes parallel universes and Connie Willis’ Doomsday contains time travel. So, are these texts science-fiction or fantasy? Science fiction novels normally portray a future version, or vision, of the present world whereas the created worlds of the fantasy genre often mirror that of the past. While fantasy novels often contain magic, castles and palaces, science fiction texts usually display advanced technology and hyper-industrialisation. This is already a difficult question because the lines between fantasy and science-fiction literature are blurred anyway. With all the freedom in the genre, it may be dangerous territory for a fantasy author if he cannot find his place among his peers.
3. Goals / Corpus of texts
Over the course of this essay, I will discuss the world-building strategies of several contemporary fantasy writers. Within this broad topic, I want to consider the immersive settings of these texts because this is the base structure of a created world. I am going to examine maps, how the author introduces his setting and the type of setting itself to see how the author establishes his created world. I would like to touch upon the nature of heroism and what it means to be a hero or heroine within the contemporary fantasy genre. I will examine the protagonists and primary characters within the texts to see if there is a commonality amongst them. I would like to also consider the form and narrative techniques that contemporary fantasy authors use to convey their enchanting worlds. Within this section, I want to examine how the use of language and dialogue adds colour to the created world. I am going to touch upon how the author structures his text to improve the reading experience. I will look at how character perspective gives nuanced qualities to the respective worlds of the authors.
In this essay, all the texts to which I refer contain various degrees of danger. Danger is intrinsically linked to the narratives of great contemporary fantasy literature because the backdrop of potential war or violence allows the author’s world-building to shine. The threat of danger gives the characters a reason to navigate the created world to escape from danger or to defeat its source. In a sense, the reader experiences the danger vicariously through the characters in the text.
The texts that I will use to furnish my argument are A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan, The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells, Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed, A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, and The Mirror Empire by Kameron Hurley. These texts reflect the current state of contemporary fantasy and provide a balanced illustration of the different types of fantasy across the spectrum of the genre. Although many of these texts belong to trilogies or sagas, I will use the first novel in each series, because that is where the author must work the hardest to establish the setting, build his world and convince his readers to read the next novel.
[1] Ursula Le Guin, From Elfland to Poughkeepsie (Portland: Pendragon Press, 1973), 4.
[2] Oxford English Dictionary, “fantasy | phantasy, n.”, OED Online, accessed March 26, 2017,
http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/68119?rskey=udtvS6&result=1&isAdvanced=false.
[3] Le Guin, 4. |
In his latest New York Times blog post, MIT professor and former chief IMF economist Simon Johnson fallaciously argues that those who oppose welfare are mean-spirited and bad at economics. After reading this post, you’ll see it is actually Johnson who is the bad economist.
The main problem with unemployment benefits, or government handouts, is that they de-capitalize the productive members of society and capitalize unproductive members. The productive members I have in mind here are the entrepreneurs. Those who are predict what goods consumers will demand in the future and produce them in the present.
When the government imposes taxes, it takes money away from people who would have otherwise saved and invested, or spent that money. When taxes are imposed, the amount of money available for individuals to save and invest decreases. Saving and investing play a vital role in the economy. They allow entrepreneurs to borrow the money and invest in the production of goods for future consumption. Decreasing the amount of money available to entrepreneurs directly decreases the productive capacity of the economy.
In this situation, the most creative and productive people in society are hindered from continuing to make valuable contributions to society. The result is the prevention of goods from ever being produced and jobs from being created. So instead of opening up new jobs for the unemployed and underemployed, the government policy of welfare just transfers the money directly from the producer to the poor. When you de-capitalize the producers you magnify this effect and depress entrepreneurial activity. The most creative and best preference satisfying people are taken from, which sounds pretty “mean-spirited” to me. The goods we buy – those that make our lives easier, more fulfilling, and more joyful – are brought to market by the organization and foresight of entrepreneurs. Everyone is a consumer and seeks the alleviation of our discomforts through purchasing goods. Because of this, suppressing entrepreneurial activity is harmful to the whole of society – not just the “wealthy capitalists.”
The incentives present in the market economy are also messed up by the welfare system. People are given a monetary incentive to not produce anything. When you give people an incentive not to produce, they produce less. This is really a very simple principle, one that guides nearly all production. People do what they are paid to do.
There are also social effects beyond this that exist from income redistribution through taxation. The first of these is that the forced redistribution will disrupt the natural “harmony of interests” produced by the voluntary interactions of a free market. What this refers to is that by interacting in a peaceful way there is a mutual benefit that accrues. This harmony is present even when people cooperate on the market begrudgingly. For example, many people picket their management or hate Wal-Mart but continue shopping there anyways. As long as neither party physically aggresses upon the other’s property, there will be a harmony of interests working towards both parties mutual advancement.
There are many more negative effects of the government unemployment insurance system. Some people on the government dole may stop looking for work but continue to get payments. The welfare also adversely affects people’s performance when they have a job because they know that if they get fired they have a guaranteed source of income. Also, instead of the unemployed being forced to accept the most urgent need for their labor on the market, they can prolong their search for work. The result is labor being misallocated in the short run and leads to a squandering of capital. Capital is squandered because if more people were hired it could be utilized at a more efficient level.
At this point you may be thinking to yourself, “Yeah, alright, so welfare isn’t a perfect solution to the problem of unemployment, but surely it’s the best cure we have, so let’s keep it rolling.” Well, fortunately there is an alternative, one vastly superior to the government run welfare system. I am talking about private charity.
There are specific reasons the negative effects of government welfare don’t occur with private charity. The main reason for this difference in private and public methods of helping the poor is that private charities always have strings attached. They have stipulations on the funds they give out. One such stipulation is that if you are going to get the relief you must be actively trying to find a job. In addition the private charity has an incentive to actually make sure the person they are helping is trying to find a job. If it is found out that they are squandering donor’s money, they will cease getting donations. Some charities may actually train unemployed people for a job.
In addition, the sense of dependency is reduced when they make it clear that the aid is temporary. Those funding the charity can withdraw their funds at any time and cut off the stream. Those paying into the government’s welfare scheme have no choice and cannot revoke their payments if the government is found wasteful and inefficient. Thus, private initiatives in the private sector eliminate problems that arise in the bureaucratic provision of these services. When people are allowed to not work and live comfortably it pushes out their entrepreneurial spirit and urgency to find a job. Furthermore, entire communities can be bound up in the system of subsidy. This produces more people who tend to be dependent on the state for their livelihood.
The kind-spirited and economically sound approach to the issue of unemployment insurance is most certainly to end it. Let private charities, churches, and families fill the need of supplying the unemployed with resources. They will perform this function far more efficiently than the government could ever dream of doing. The result will be better resource allocation and less unemployment.
Lastly, it is a terrible fallacy to call welfare, or unemployment benefits “insurance.” They are not insurance in the sense that you purchase car or fire insurance. In the case of car insurance, a provider uses information about your age, the car you drive, and how many traffic tickets you have gotten to calculate your level of risk. You are then charged a corresponding rate depending on how risky they deem you via a probability function. Based on past evidence of people and cars very similar to yours, they calculate the probability you will crash into somebody and require a payout. The government does not do this.
The government never assesses your riskiness of being laid off (analogous to crashing your car). Furthermore, with the so-called unemployment insurance the government provides, you are forced to pay regardless of whether you perceive even the slightest chance of being laid off. It is NOT insurance. The word “insurance” is just used in an attempt to paint a prettier picture of what is really going on. |
The Eagles have been dubbed the "Dream Team" by the team's new backup quarterback, Vince Young. So far, however, it's been more of a nightmare for their receiving corps.
Although DeSean Jackson ended his holdout earlier in the week, he's unhappy about his contract. For Jeremy Maclin, their other starting receiver, the situation has been worse.
Maclin, who lost 15 pounds in April (which he has regained), hasn't been cleared to practice during training camp and left the team yesterday for further testing on his undisclosed and mysterious illness. There is "real concern" that Maclin could miss the start of the season although the team has said they expect Maclin to be ready for Week 1.
Therefore, we have bumped Maclin down several spots in our updated fantasy football rankings.
Here are our 2011 fantasy football rankings for wide receivers (based on standard scoring):
1. Andre Johnson, Texans: Despite missing three games last year, Johnson still finished with 86 receptions and 1,216 yards. Based on his per-game averages, Johnson would have finished with 106 receptions and 1,496 yards if he played a full 16 games at that pace. In other words, he would have been just four yards short of a third consecutive 100-reception, 1,500-yard season.
2. Calvin Johnson, Lions: MegaTron was my second-ranked pre-season receiver last year as well, but the gap between first and second is narrowing. For the second time in three seasons, Johnson finished with 1,100-plus yards and 12 touchdowns (although he should have had 13 last year). If Matthew Stafford can stay healthy for the full season, the sky's the limit for Johnson.
3. Roddy White, Falcons: Last year, White set career highs in receptions (115) and yards (1,389) and has now scored double-digit touchdowns in back-to-back seasons. For four straight seasons, White has had 85-plus receptions and 1,100-plus yards. The addition of Julio Jones should take some targets away from White, but it should also keep opposing defenses more honest in coverage.
4. Hakeem Nicks, Giants: Although he missed three games last year, Nicks took a big step forward in his second season. Nicks finished with 79 receptions, 1,052 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was tied for fourth in touchdowns and his 80.9 yards-per-game average ranked fifth in the NFL.
5. Larry Fitzgerald, Cardinals: As Darnell Dockett said, "it's like night and day" when comparing the team's quarterback situation to last year's mess. Fitzgerald ended a three-year streak of double-digit touchdowns by finishing with a career-low six touchdowns in 2010. And although he saw a slight improvement in receiving yards (1,092 in 2009 to 1,137 in 2010), he had 1,400-plus yards in three of four years from 2005-2008. While Fitzgerald might not post similar numbers to the ones he posted during the Kurt Warner era, an improvement over the Derek Anderson era seems likely.
6. Greg Jennings, Packers: For the second time in his career, Jennings finished with 1,200-plus yards and 12 touchdowns. It was the first time, however, that he did both of those things in the same season. If there's any concern with Jennings, it's the number of viable options competing for targets with him. The team returns all of its top wide receivers, Jermichael Finley is healthy and the Packers drafted Randall Cobb in the second round.
7. Mike Wallace, Steelers: Although Wallace finished with only 60 receptions (tied for 42nd in the NFL), he finished fifth in receiving yards (1,257). Wallace led the league in 20-yard receptions (26) and has averaged over 20 yards per reception in his two-year career.
8. Reggie Wayne, Colts: Wayne, who will turn 33 in November, has been remarkably consistent (1,000-plus yards for seven straight seasons) and durable (hasn't missed any games in past nine seasons). Last year, Wayne set a career high in receptions (111) and finished with his second-highest yardage total (1,355). Provided Dallas Clark and Austin Collie stay healthy for the full season, those numbers should decline some.
9. Vincent Jackson, Chargers: Jackson, who was designated with the franchise tag, held out for the first ten games last season, but he has signed his tender and won't miss any games due to a contract dispute this season. In fact, Jackson said after signing his tender that, "I feel like this is home." In his last full season (2009), Jackson set career highs in receptions (68), yards (1,167) and touchdowns (nine).
10. Miles Austin, Cowboys: Austin's production was much better with Tony Romo in the lineup. In three of his first four games of the season, Austin had nine-plus receptions and 140-plus yards. After Romo broke his collarbone in the team's sixth game, Austin had only two games with more than four receptions and/or 70-plus receiving yards.
11. DeSean Jackson, Eagles: Similar to Wallace, Jackson is a big-play guy. Both Jackson and Wallace have finished one-two in yards per reception in each of the past two seasons. In all three of his seasons, Jackson has finished with 1,000-plus yards from scrimmage. He's consistent on a full-year basis, however, his game-by-game production can vary greatly. For example, Jackson had two or less receptions in six of his 15 games played (counting playoff loss) last year.
12. Dez Bryant, Cowboys: Bryant has been in the news for the wrong reasons much of this off-season, but he is an immense talent on the field. All six of Bryant's receiving touchdowns came during a six-game span (Weeks 6 to 11) last year and he missed the final four games of the season due to injury. Provided Bryant stays healthy and out of trouble, he should give Austin a run for his money as the team's No. 1 receiver.
13. Dwayne Bowe, Chiefs: Despite a slow start, Bowe had a seven-game stretch where he was nearly unstoppable. He scored 13 of his league-leading 15 touchdowns and had four of his five 100-yard games during that span. Overall, Bowe set career highs in yards (1,162) and touchdowns. The Chiefs drafted Jonathan Baldwin in the first round and signed Steve Breaston via free agency, which will help take a little pressure off Bowe.
14. Brandon Marshall, Dolphins: Last month, Marshall admitted to having borderline personality disorder, for which he's been receiving treatment. That said, Marshall is coming off the worst season (86-1,014-3) since he was a rookie, but he also spent the off-season using the same training methods he used to prepare for the NFL Scouting Combine.
15. Mike Williams, Buccaneers: Williams led all rookies in receiving yards (964) and receiving touchdowns (11) in 2010. While touchdowns are difficult to predict, Williams should be in store for several 1,000-yard seasons over the next several years.
16. Mario Manningham, Giants: With Steve Smith signing a one-year deal with the Eagles, Manningham will enter the season as the team's No. 2 receiver behind Hakeem Nicks. In his final three games, he played like a No. 1 receiver -- 100-plus yards and a score or two in each game. Despite three games with one (or no) receiving yard(s), Manningham was only 56 yards shy of the 1,000-yard milestone in 2010.
17. Santonio Holmes, Jets: Holmes, who re-signed with the Jets, is the only one of the team's top three receivers returning in 2011. In addition to Holmes, the team signed free-agent receivers Plaxico Burress and Derrick Mason. While Holmes played well after serving his four-game suspension, his yards-per-game average dropped by more than 15 YPG from his 2009 level of production with Pittsburgh.
18. Kenny Britt, Titans: Similar to LeBron James' championship(s) prediction for the Miami Heat, Britt has applied the concept to brush-ins with the law -- not one, not two, not three, etc. Despite his off-the-field issues, Britt has a chance to be special on the field as illustrated by his 225-yard, three-TD performance in three quarters. [The reason he only played three -- not four quarters: his involvement in a bar fight.]
19. Wes Welker, Patriots: Failing to reach the 110-reception and 1,100-yard marks for the first time in his four seasons in New England, Welker ended the season with 86 receptions for 848 yards. Being an extra year removed from his torn ACL, however, should help Welker bounce back in 2011. [In fact, he's much higher in our point-per-reception rankings than he is on this list.]
20. Austin Collie, Colts: When he wasn't concussed, Collie put up big numbers. Through nine games, Collie finished with 58 receptions, 649 yards and eight touchdowns. In fact, Collie played only one half in his last game of the year and finished with eight receptions, 87 yards and two touchdowns. Knock on wood, Collie will have clean bill of health in 2011.
To see the rest of our top 70 fantasy wide receivers, click here. For our point-per-reception wide receiver rankings, click here.
For other positions, see below:
- Standard scoring: Quarterbacks | Running Backs | Tight Ends | Kickers | Team Defenses
- Point-per-reception (PPR) scoring: Running Backs | Tight Ends
- Our Cheat Sheets: Standard Scoring | PPR Scoring
To keep track of our fantasy updates: (1) Follow us on Twitter @EDSFootball, (2) "Like" us on Facebook and/or (3) Visit the The Tip Drill, our fantasy football headquarters.
If you have any specific fantasy questions, feel free to send us a tweet or post your question in our fantasy football forum.
Good luck in (all of) your fantasy league(s) in 2011! |
Even before this news, Sling TV was already looking like a very tempting package for cord cutters. The Wall Street Journal now reports that “Time Warner Inc. and satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp. have come to terms on a new distribution pact that includes an online offering of HBO,” which would basically make Sling TV a dream come true for cord cutters.
RELATED: Cord cutters are loaded with TV streaming options – here’s everything you need to know
Unfortunately the Journal’s report doesn’t make it clear just how the pricing structure will work for this deal. HBO will soon offer HBO Now as a standalone subscription service that will cost $15 per month, just like the option to add HBO to cable bundles costs $15 per month.
We can’t imagine that HBO would be a complementary addition to Sling TV’s basic $20 monthly package — after all, why would anyone subscribe to HBO alone for $15 per month when they could pay an extra $5 and get all the channels on Sling TV too? Sling TV, which Dish announced earlier this year, gives you online access to a whole slew of cable channels, including AMC, IFC, ESPN, ESPN 2, the Disney Channel, ABC Family, Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, TNT, CNN, TBS, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim.
The Journal is only reporting, however, that “the deal includes a way to subscribe to HBO through Sling TV,” while also adding that “Dish is unlikely to be a distributor at the launch of HBO Now, the standalone app, although Dish does have the right to do so as part of the deal.” |
Harry Redknapp: Wants final say on transfers as he looks to get QPR out of the Championship.
The Rangers manager wants to build a team capable of making an instant return to the Premier League, and he is looking to make former England left-back Wayne Bridge his first post-relegation signing.
Redknapp is keen to speak to club owner Tony Fernandes over bringing in Bridge, whose Manchester City contract is about to expire, but is adamant that he must have the final say over rejigging QPR's playing roster.
"If we don't change it, and I don't get the players that I want to bring in, then we have not got a chance," Redknapp declared.
"You can't have other people have a say at all, I'm a football person and I've got a staff around me of football people.
"We've got to make the decisions, and if we make the right ones we will have a chance. Otherwise, if other people want to make decisions we've got no chance.
"If I don't get that then I wouldn't stick around. I'll speak to Tony Fernandes, they've got to back me with the people I want. I'm not asking him to spend money, I'm looking at a couple of free transfers.
"I'm trying to get Wayne Bridge, I thought he did fantastically well with Brighton, he'd be a good left-back for us. He's got great experience, looks in great shape and is a player I want to bring in on a free.
"I'm hoping that's the first deal I can do. Tony is away, but I'll speak to him today and see if we can get the deal done." |
Spiraling rates of HIV infection in Africa, especially amongst Africa’s gay population, have been attributed to “a wall of silence, repression and discrimination” by Oxford scientists who have posted their findings in a paper made available through online journal the Lancet.
A research team at Oxford University, London, examined studies on the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in sub-Saharan Africa taken from 2003 to 2009. They found that there was a huge prevalence amongst men who had sexual relationships with other men, and found that, in some areas of Africa, the rate of infection was up to ten times higher than in solely heterosexual men from the same region.
This higher rate, which varies throughout Africa but demonstrates a trend of nearly always being higher in men who have had sexual contact with other men, is “driven by cultural, religious and political unwillingness to accept [gay men] as equal members of society,” the research concludes.
One of the researchers, Adrian Smith, noted that a “profound stigma and social hostility at every level of society concerning… same-sex behaviors amongst men” created an inability to reach and educate the individuals involved.
In the same interview logged with the BBC, Smith also told that the study’s findings demonstrated another worrying trend: that because homosexuality was so stigmatized in the first instance, gay men were more likely to be affiliated with other forms of risky behavior, such as intravenous drug use and prostitution, increasing their risk of contracting and passing on the HIV virus yet further still.
The research paper also found that because of the taboo nature attached to homosexuality, many gay men would also have female partners, perhaps even wives and children. Because of this, the impact of stigmatizing homosexuality resulted in increased risk behaviors by men trying to cover up their same-sex attraction, spreading HIV to their female partners, passing the disease to their children and so on, meaning that these findings had greater significance than just impacting Africa’s gay community: they hold national impetus.
Education is the Focus for Halting the AIDS Crisis
Statistics are difficult to come by for gauging exactly how many gay men reside in Africa, so calculating the true proportion of those infected is problematic, and reaching them in order to educate on safe-sex and HIV awareness almost impossible. Even more worryingly, of men identifying as heterosexual but having had sexual contact with other men, the study also found that those men believed that it wasn’t possible to contract HIV through anal intercourse with someone of the same gender.
What is required of aid agencies, the study says, is to make readily available basic health care messages, and perhaps most importantly, to have every person who could be infected tested. This is something the report says needs to be backed by the African government, who have, in the past, been reticent to tackle the AIDS crisis.
The journal notes that there could currently be over 21,000 Africans who are HIV-positive but do not know it. But, in order to educate those involved correctly, the paper reports that only a radical reform in attitudes toward gay men and homosexuality within Africa’s government and general population will do, as well as a reassessment of the use of condoms, which, due to deep religiosity in the country, remains a hotly debated topic.
Finally, to put into perspective how truly disturbing this report might be, figures issued by the UN agency UNAIDS estimates that there are 33 million people with HIV in the world. Approximately two-thirds live in sub-Saharan Africa. Many are worried that the world is now fast approaching a global tipping point, at which point the AIDS epidemic will be beyond control. Recent reports suggest India and Former Soviet States such as Russia might already be nearing the brink.
The AIDS crisis in Africa is well known, but with South Africa having just cut funding to AIDS vaccine research, and a new report suggesting that HIV vaccine research funding has decreased worldwide for the first time since 2000, demonstrating a 10 percent drop since 2008, it seems the message of just how serious the HIV/AIDS crisis is may no longer be getting through.
3 Care2 Actions You Can Take:
Help Children with AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa
Pledge to get yourself tested for HIV.
Help End The HIV Travel Ban.
More About HIV in Care2 Causes:
Click here to find out more about current happenings in the fight against HIV in the USA.
Did you know that Care2 has a brilliant Health Care Policy blog? Be sure to stay up to date with Health Care news by visiting it here.
Photo used under the Creative Commons Attribution License, with thanks to Trygveu. |
1000
There has been plenty of hype (here, here, here, here, here & here) about the upcoming 1,000 Women’s International Test Match and we wanted to join in on the celebration as well!
The 1,000th match will take place in Auckland, New Zealand as the current 15s & 7s World Cup Champions take on England in a three match series which starts on July 13, 2013. The numbers will continue to tack on as USA, South Africa, Canada & England will participate in the Senior Nations Cup in the next few weeks. Furthermore it has been announced that France will play a Winter series against Canada, South Africa & England.
The future is definitely bright for women’s rugby & we hope you will be a part of it! Three cheers for women’s rugby! |
× Diesel fumes in Galena Park increasing cancer risk
GALENA PARK, TX – Galena Park residents are not breathing any easier after the latest report from Air Alliance Houston.
The environmental group tested for cancer-causing ‘elemental carbon’ in the air around the community and alongside Clinton Road. It’s along that roadway that day after day, diesel trucks leave behind their toxic fumes while traveling to and from the Port of Houston.
The results came back completely unacceptable for Galena Park residents. Cancer risk due to diesel pollution there may be elevated as high as 1 in 10,000. What`s an acceptable risk? 1 in 1 million.
The report suggests banning older, dirty trucks and diverting trucks from Galena Park roads. Another suggestion would be to impose a no-idling ordinance, and to limit the time these huge trucks can huff and puff alongside the community.
The Port of Houston authority refused to comment on the noxious situation.
Whatever the solution, this city of over 10,000 people deserves a breath of fresh air. |
THE PERFECT COMBINATION OF COMFORT AND FUNCTIONALITY.
The MYTHOS backpack by Swiss Gear Wenger features a total of five external compartments - A laptop compartment, the Swiss Gear quick pocket for your gadgets, a main compartment for books and paperwork, a spacious front pocket for your utensils and a small side pocket. Additionally, there are two side mesh pockets with strong elastic to hold your beverages. This backpack has comfort padded straps as well as a reinforced Swiss Gear case base to stabilize this bag perfectly on your back. Fits most laptops up to 16 inches in size. Laptop compartment features triple layered shock absorbing foam to protect your laptop computer.
When you see the Swiss Gear logo, you know you are receiving the highest in quality. The Mythos backpack by Swiss Gear features the strongest, lightweight materials to ensure this bag will be suitable for all types of users. Comfort padding on the straps, back and handle reduce strain on your body. The sleek design and color scheme make this backpack as stylish as it is practical. Pick the backpack that will provide you with the functions you need and the comfort & style you want. |
Are you using enough detergent?
A dozen or so times a week we encounter desperate moms who are at their wits end dealing with stinky diapers. Whether it is via email, phone calls, or face to face we run down a troubleshooting list with them to figure what's going on. In almost every case, the answer is because they are not using enough detergent to wash their diapers.
As former cloth diapering mom ( my LO is now 11) and a cloth diaper retailer I am fully aware of the confusion to be found on the internet when it comes to washing cloth diapers. For this particular post I'm just going to focus on using enough detergent.
Twelve years ago, when I began cloth diapering the information I received from my retailer as well as what I read around the internet told me to use 1/2 of the manufacturer's recommended amount of detergent. Keep in mind, 12 years ago cloth diaper detergents didn't exist, HE machines were just becoming popular, and using microfiber in cloth diapers had JUST come out.
At this time the majority of cloth diaper users were using a cotton type diaper and a conventional washing machine. There were way fewer variables that we see today and the general guideline of 1/2 the amount worked for the majority of us. However, Even with these basic instructions and a more even playing field, washing questions were rampant. Such questions included, "I have a high capacity machine. Do I still use half the amount?" "I have enough diapers that I only have to wash every 4 days. Do I still only use half the amount?" "What exactly is half the amount? Is it half way up to the #1 line or is it half way up to the #3 line?". I believe that the phrase "if you can still smell the fragrance of the detergent in your diapers after they are washed, then you're using too much" became a quick blanket answer to help determine if you were using too much. Have you heard this before?
Ever heard of the telephone game? Well with the internet being as it is, information whether good or bad or right or wrong has it's way of spreading and twisting. What you think would have been a quick, easy, general rule of thumb has turned diaper washing into something more confusing and complicated. This has made for a lot of assumptions such as fragrance is bad for your diapers or you only want to use just a little bit of detergent.
I believe that over the years, this information has scared cloth diapering parents into using too little detergent in fear of ruining or effecting the performance of their diapers. Let's compile this with the introduction of cloth diapering detergents such as Rockin' Green and Eco Sprout. These detergents are made with commercial washing ingredients in commercial washing proportions. They have little to no fillers added to them that are generally found in home use detergents. Because of this you are able to use a very small quantity in the amount of 1 to 4 tablespoons depending on load size and machine type. However, this is not the case when it comes to home formulated detergents such as Tide, Purex, and the like. Mainstream detergent and cloth diaper detergents are not formulated the same. Using 1 to 4 tablespoons of these detergents will not effectively clean your diapers.
How much detergent should I use?
I wish that I had one absolute answer so that I could cure the world of cloth diaper washing confusion. No one has the same washer, water, diaper fabrics, diaper quantities, and/or detergent. All of these play a factor in how to wash diapers. However, I can provide you some general guidelines to follow.
1. Choose your detergent. The members of the Diaper Junction team uses or has used Tide, Tide Free & Gentle, Gain, and Purex Free & Clear with great success and feel confident in recommending these. We also use/used all of the cloth diaper detergents we sell with great success and do recommend these when a parent wants to wash their diapers with a more natural detergent or for those who have issues with mainstream detergents.
2. Determine your load size. Now this is important. If you have a large load and you do not use enough detergent you will battle the stinkies. However, this does not mean you have to go overboard with it. The majority of us cloth diaper to save money right? No need to let money (literally) go down the drain. First, let's determine a load size. This isn't an exact science but I have come up with a little bit of a formula to use as a guideline.
Small load = 10 - 12 complete diapers, a wet bag and/or a pail liner, and cloth wipes.
This should fill your machine about 1/3 full.
Below is a table that I have put together to help you determine how much detergent to use. Use the examples above to determine your load size, and the number in the column tells you what line to fill your detergent to on the scoop or measuring cap.
Load Size Detergent Name Machine Type* Small Medium Large Tide
(reg formula, any scent, liquid or powder) Any up to #1 up to #3 up to #5 Tide Simply Clean & Fresh
(liquid) Any up to #1 up to #3 up to #3 + up to #2 Arm & Hammer
(any scent, liquid) Any up to #1 up to #3 up to #6 Gain
(any scent, liquid or powder) Any up to #1 up to #3 up to #5 Purex
(liquid) Any up to #1 up to #3 up to #6
As I previously mentioned this isn't an exact science. You may need to adjust detergent up or down a little depending on hard or soft water areas. If using a conventional machine, set your water level to the matching load size. Do not hesitate to contact us with any washing issues you may have. We're here to help!
Disclaimer - Although we recommend the use of detergents such as Tide, Purex, and Gain these products contain optical brightners as well as enzymes. The use of the additives could void the warranty of your diaper(s). Please check the manufacturer warranty guidelines before using these products. |
Leon Draisaitl and Anthony Duclair were supposed to be the two dominant forwards at the Memorial Cup.
So far, Oshawa’s Michael McCarron has stolen
After a 5-4 overtime win over Quebec Sunday, his coach D.J. Smith called the Montreal Canadiens’ first rounder “an animal”. He looks capable of doing whatever he wants on Pepsi Colisee ice.
“I felt like that (Sunday),” the 20-year-old from Macomb, Mich., said. “I was on a roll. It was probably one of my best games of the second half of the year. I was moving my feet really well and getting pucks to the net.
“That’s my game.”
McCarron put the OHL champs on the board early in both wins. He has three points, an incredible 14 shots on goal and even engaged equally large Rimouski defender Samuel Morin in a heavyweight fight that quickly turned into a grappling match.
His line – him, Islanders fifth overall pick Michael Dal Colle and Kings prospect Matt Mistele spend the majority of their time in the opposition’s end.
“We complement each other well – Mistele is a hard worker and we both try to get Dal Colle the puck,” he said. “We’ve been holding it below the goal line pretty well. Quebec only played four defencemen and we tired them out pretty good.
“They haven’t been able to contain us. With me and Rig (fellow 6-foot-6 forward Hunter ‘Big Rig’ Smith) out there, they’re definitely looking over their shoulders.”
This entire tournament is a shot at redemption for he and Oshawa defenceman Dakota Mermis, part of the London Knights’ embarrassing winless Cup last year at home.
“Going 0-3 wasn’t fun at all,” he said. “It’s pretty awesome I’ve been able to be a big part of this team. Last year, our club in London was pretty stacked and I didn’t play as much, maybe three or four shifts a period.”
Now, he has become so valuable, you wonder if the Knights got enough in a mid-season trade for him. He is overjoyed to be playing so well in Quebec.
“Absolutely, it means something to me,” he said. “All these guys are (Habs) fans and they haven’t been able to watch me in my career because I’ve been in Ontario. This is the first really good chance to see what I’m about.”
Remparts goalie Zach Fucale, taken by Montreal 11 picks after McCarron two years ago, spent much of the game chirping each other on the ice.
“He’s a buddy, but on the ice, friend is foe,” the General said. |
Published: 08.11.2018 10:44
Last updated: 27.01.2019 03:25
Magnetite is an iron rich mineral from the spinel group. It is the most important industrial source of iron and a natural ferromagnetic substance. Magnetite is common, but it is a very nice and interesting mineral.
It is used in the production of ammonia, and it can be utilized as a sorbent in the removal of arsenic from drinking water. For similar reasons, as well as its resistance to bacteria, it is often found coating water containers, heaters, and boilers. Last but certainly not least, magnetite was historically used in the creation of audio recording tape, although it has since been replaced.
Structure of Magnetite
The chemical composition of magnetite is Fe 3 O 4 , which is a simplified formula of iron dioxide FeO.Fe 2 O 3 . Magnetite contains both divalent and trivalent iron. Magnetite is part of the spinel group of minerals with the general formula AB 2 O 4 , where both A and B positions are occupied by iron. We can also rewrite the formula as a (Fe2+)(Fe3+) 2 O 4 .
Less common rhombic dodecahedron shaped crystals of magnetite from Moravica, Romania. Size 4.5 x 3 cm. Photo: Zbyněk Buřival
Crystals are mostly shaped as octahedrons or twins, with rhombic dodecahedrons being less common, and cubic crystals being very rare. Magnetite often forms masses of irregular, fine grained aggregates or oolites. Magnetite crystals are sometimes fully replaced by hematite. These pseudomorphs are known as martite.
Physical properties of Magnetite
Magnetite falls just about in the middle of the Mohs scale of hardness, registering between 5.5 and 6.5. It features a black streak, and it may present itself anywhere from gray-black to iron black in color. Magnetite is completely opaque, and it has a metallic luster. It also shows an indistinct cleavage and uneven fracture.
Sometimes, ugly rusty coatings grow on magnetite crystals - especially when magnetite is stored in wet environment. These can be removed by chemicals. Magnetite from Cerro Huanaquino, Potosi, Bolivia. FOV 12 mm. Photo: Vítězslav Snášel
As the name suggests, the best diagnostic feature of magnetite is its magnetic properties, which are mostly permanent. Rocks with higher amounts of magnetite or even magnetite deposits can fool mechanic compasses, and in extreme case can even cause serious malfunctioning of machinery and electronics. One of these examples is the Magnitogorsk deposit in Russia, where literally a whole mountain is made of magnetite. One variety of magnetite with strong ferromagnetism is sometimes known as Lodestone.
Formation
Magnetite can form in metamorphic, sedimentary, or igneous rock, and can take many different shapes and sizes. In plutonic igneous rocks, magnetite often exists as small, fine grains or small crystals. The exception are carbonatites, where individual crystals over 10 cm can occur. Some basic rocks like gabbros or anorthosites may contain significant amounts of magnetite. Less commonly, magnetite may have hydrothermal origins in alpine veins.
Very nice folded layers of jaspilite BIF ore with magnetite from Quadrangle District, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Photo: James St. John
Sedimentary rocks that are rich in iron can be represented by abundant limonite, goethite or hematite in the sediment. Very fine grained iron minerals often form cement inside the sandstones, conglomerates or arcoses. When these sediments get buried deep into the Earth?s crust and metamorphosed, ferruginous sediments reduce, leaving magnetite or a magnetite-hematite mixture behind. Banded metamorphic rocks with layers of magnetite are known as BIF - Banded Iron Formation. BIFs are among the biggest and most important iron ore resources.
Some submarine volcanoes also produce a significant amount of iron, usually in the form of sulfides like pyrite or marcasite. When these marine volcano sedimentary rocks get metamorphosed, other layered rocks with magnetite - known as Lahn-Dill - are formed.
Massive aggregate of magnetite grains from skarn near Vlastejovice, Czech Republic. Size 8 x 6 cm. Photo: Zbyněk Buřival
Some metamorphosed ultrabasic rocks decompose into talc, and amphiboles, or green schists, also contain magnetite. These rocks are very popular among collectors as they often contain very nice and big octahedron crystals of magnetite.
Other typical sources of magnetite are skarns, which are metasomatic rocks. Many skarns contain significant accumulations of magnetite aggregates. These deposits are usually too small for modern large scale mining.
Magnetite crystal in metamorphosed schist from Binntal, Switzerland. Size: 6 x 2 cm. Photo: Zbyněk Buřival
Magnetite Occurence
At present, some iron ore mining takes place in Iran, Venezuela, Kazakhstan, Sweden, South Africa, and Canada. Some larger mines may be found in the Ukraine, the United States, Russia, and India. The three main players in the world of iron ore mining, however, are Brazil, Australia, and China.
Massive magnetite specimens have been located in Atacama in Chile, the Pilabra region of Australia, the Valentines region of Uruguay, New South Wales in Australia, the town of Kiruna in Sweden. In Mauritania, the tallest mountain (called Kediet ej Jill) is a formation completely comprised of magnetite. Another magnetite mountain Magnitnaya was mined in Magnitogorsk, Russia. California and New Zealand have some occurrences of black sand that contains iron deposits. Sand dunes full of magnetite have been found in Peru.
Octahedron shaped crystals of magnetite from Cerro Huanaquino, Potosi, Bolivia. FOV 12 mm. Photo: Vítězslav Snášel
Very nice magnetite crystals occur in alpine veins in Binntal, Switzerland and Ala, Italy. Quite widespread are great crystal clusters from Cerro Huanaquino, Potosi, Bolivia. Superb large crystals come from Kovdor, Kola peninsula, Russia. Great magnetite crystals occur also in Parachinar, Pakistan and Nordmark, Norway. Chester, Windsor Co., Vermont and St. Peters, Chester Co., Pennsylvania in the USA has produced some nice octahedron crystals, while rare cubic crystals come from Balmat, St. Lawrence Co., New York. |
House Recap for 2011
Posted by Middy on January 11, 2012
I chose Avicii for the picture because it was his year, he was able to hold the EDM community in the palm of his hand with his unreleased tracks that he would play live, but never release. His sound has become one that many have attempted to emulate and “Levels” was the song of 2011 (teaser). It was a year that saw the rise of new stars such as Madeon, Alesso, Tommy Trash, Cazzette, R3hab, and more. The grip that Europe had on EDM is slipping away and the US has become the largest market in the world for house with its wealth, space and population. The large number of festivals sell out incredibly fast and are only growing in their popularity and number. One prime example of the rise of EDM in US festivals are the headliners at Coachella, a festival with a tradition in rock and hip hop and some EDM, but this year with stars such as Swedish House Mafia, Alesso, David Guetta, Kaskade, Avicii, Afrojack and more gracing the stage, one cannot argue the prominence of EDM in American music. It has taken over pop music with producers such as David Guetta, Calvin Harris and Afrojack, all producing number one hits in the US. While Sweden and the Netherlands still hold the titles of having the highest total of most talented Djs, countries such as France and England are coming along right behind them with guys such as Gregori Klosman, Tristan Garner, Madeon, Arno Cost and more from France, and Tim Mason, Calvin Harris, Third Party and more from England. In 2012, the prominence of the US will become even stronger with festivals drawing even larger crowds and bigger bills for the summer festival season and clubs having packed schedules with guys touring the US multiple times a year.
I also foresee the rise of Asia as the next big landing point because there is infrastructure of clubs in places like Japan and South Korea, but with the rise of EDM in Asia, the numbers will only swell. Also areas that have growing economies such as Taiwan, India and Indonesia are also getting more and more clubs and throughout their respective countries and they becoming hot places to tour. I also know that India and Bangladesh are going to be big and the EDM scene will expand rapidly in the coming years because we have a solid base of fans there. Check out the rest of the recap with top 25 songs of the year, artists to watch in 2012 and more after the jump.
This was very difficult to pick because of how good a year it was for EDM as a whole. I know some or many of you will disagree with these choices for top 25 and let me have it if you do, but these are songs that charted well, were played by all the top DJs, are simply outstanding, and are now part of a lasting memory of 2011. There is obviously bias here because I like certain artists more than others, and I like certain genres of house more than others, but that happens in any yearly wrapup. Songs that are more recent or had a chance during the summer festival season may have had a bigger impact and of course some songs and artists were left off of this list, but that is the way this is. Let me know your thoughts on the rankings in the comments section. Also, consider we are in the US, so these rankings show a bit of what is big in the US.
25. Michael Calfan – Resurrection (Axwell’s Recut Club Version) – This end of the year anthem has been getting support and play time from every DJ out there. The Axwell Recut version is the prominent version, but be sure, this is the work of Michael Calfan; Axwell had very little to do with this. Calfan, the number 2 guy to watch out for in 2012, is going to use this track to propel himself to bigger and better things in 2012, possibly under tutelage of Axwell, and create some more monster tunes with his flawless productions.
24. Tiesto – Maximal Crazy (Original Mix + Remixes) – This song has been heard everywhere from sporting events to clubs and festivals. It has been played by almost ever Dj and has so much energy in to create a maximal crazy (sorry) atmosphere when played live. It shows the power that Tiesto has in his change over to house and how he can capture audiences and crowds with this one song.
23. Dada Life – White Noise / Red Meat – Dada Life has had a fantastic year in 2011 and made a plethora of amazing songs during that span. “Kick out the Epic Motherf*cker” is a close second to this, but their single at the beginning of the year set the tone for a year that would see them rise from being a primarily an opening act to headlining clubs across the world. “White Noise / Red Meat” exemplifies all that is Dada Life; hard hitting electro, heavy bass and just a crazy song that makes you want to party with champagne and bananas.
22. Calvin Harris – Awooga – “Awooga” was a slight change of pace from the songs Calvin has been making with “Flashback”, “Feel So Close” and others where his vocal samples have become staples of live sets everywhere. This one is a bit heavier with a driving bass and synth-laden drop with that signature Calvin Harris synth sound in the build.
21. Axwell – Heart Is King – Axwell is a legend on his own and has only grown through his work with Swedish House Mafia and with the rise of Axtone in 2012, there will be nothing stopping Axwell. “Heart is King” is his latest work, which exemplifies his style with a deep house and house undertones and progressive melodies. It is skillfully produced and put together by Axwell and a must have from 2011.
20. Avicii – Fade Into Darkness (Vocal Club Mix)– The first anthem that Avicii released this year cannot be denied top 25 status. The vocals have become classic by now with the uplifting, progressive piano instrumental we have come to love from Avicii, this song is a classic from him. It does not have the same energy as the number one song “Levels”, but is rather a more uplifting, emotional song. Albin Myers does a good job with the remix to give this some more energy.
19. Kaskade – Turn It Down feat. Rebecca feat. Fiona – Here the geography bias comes into play a bit because Kaskade is an American and since we are based out of the US, there will be some bias towards the winner of the winner of the best Dj in America award. Rebecca & Fiona lay down some beautiful vocals for Kaskade on this track and he does the rest with a hard build and a huge synth laden drop that is absolutely breathtaking live.
18. Diddy, Dirty Money feat. Skylar Grey – Coming Home (Dirty South Remix) – I will admit that the drop of this song is not that impressive on your computer speakers, but put this in a live arena or in a club and this is amazing, getting the crowd very much alive. The opening vocals from Skylar Grey are sublime in this mix and Diddy adds that litte bit extra with the vocal. This song is a favorite of many to bootleg and will be continued to be heard with its combination with the upcoming smash hit “Quasar” from Hard Rock Sofa and “Aerodynamic” by the members of Swedish House Mafia.
17. Florence and the Machine – You Got The Love (Mark Knight Remix) – Whenever this song is played, it makes you want to start belting out the lyrics and possibly put your hands in the air with its easy, smooth build with an addictive drop. This has been a massive tune this year, perfectly using Florence’s beautiful vocal, while giving all profits of the song to Japanese Tsunami relief showing the love in EDM.
16. Deniz Koyu – Tung! – This song is just so powerful with support from everywhere; it has everything to be a massive song. It is meant to be played live and loud; in the beginning you can hear the slight sounds of a live crowd and it has that echoing reverb in it for that big room feel.
15. Bassjackers – Mush, Mush – One of the heaviest songs on the list and of the year in terms of house, “Mush, Mush” is the perfect compliment for any Dj set to give that little extra energy to get the crowd going. “Mush, Mush” has that perfect electro house synth drive to it that is great for your computer speakers, but even better on proper club or festival speakers.
14. Tim Mason – The Moment (Original Mix + Steve Angello Edit) – With that recognizable rising snare opening, “The Moment” was the song that really broke Tim Mason through this year on Size. The Steve Angello Edit was the one that got the most airtime in sets, but the original is much the same. The synth line in the drop is timeless and is the song is still played.
13. Fedde Le Grand – So Much Love (Original Club Mix) – Fedde had a ridiculous year in 2011 and if my list were to be any longer he would have many more additions to the list. This song exemplifies traditional house. It has the long build getting your ready for the vocals that describes how we feel for our viewers, “So Much Love” and an addictive house drop that is perfect for the dance floor.
12. R3hab & Swanky Tunes – Sending My Love (Original + Hard Rock Sofa Remix)– This song combines the vets, Swanky Tunes and their progressive sound with the chainsaw madness of R3hab to create to more subdued chainsaw madness that is simply amazing. Max C, one of the more legendary vocalists in the business lays down some great vocals for this track and the drop is incredibly powerful with a driving bass and some hard electro synths. This song is amazing live and with a remix from Hard Rock Sofa that may be even better than the original, it finds its way all the way at number 12.
11. Arty – Around The World (Original Mix) – This song has been an anthem of the year for Arty with a skillfully crafted build and an amazing synth driven drop that is simply stunning live. This song really exemplifies the blend between house and trance that Arty has done and his ability to move seamlessly between genres. He can do both within live sets and he can do a live set almost entirely of house, as seen with his set at Pier 94 and a set of all trance with sets such as ones at trancemission and others.
10. Sander van Doorn – Koko (Original Mix) – The song is as addictive and infectious as it got in 2011. The whistle line is about as recognizable as there is in EDM right now, up there with “Levels”, and is something sings live. When the violin harmonizes with the violin in the second drop, the song goes to a whole new level and becomes the festival magic that it has become all year.
9. Hardwell & Tiesto – Zero 76 – This was one the biggest releases in the first few months of the year and has not come close to falling out of grace. With the signature Hardwell driving synth and Tiesto’s new house sound it was made to be big and do well in big room. This really helped Hardwell start his absolutely massive year that we tracked for you here, and helped launch Tiesto’s new venture in house, which he is conquering just as he did trance.
8. Tommy Trash – The End – This was the song that broke Tommy Trash through and has been a lasting memory of 2011. It is still being played and bootlegged regularly live by many Djs and will continue its prominence well into 2012. Its very heavy electro drop really took the EDM scene by storm and made Tommy Trash a name to reckoned with.
7. James Blunt – Dangerous (Deniz Koyu & Johan Wedel Remix) – As Sebastian Ingrosso said “Wow, this song really got me dancing in the studio, it’s banging”. It was given an Axwell edit that did not much for live purposes and it has been played by all sorts of Djs live and it does damage. Just listen to this and you will understand why it is lucky number 7 on this list with its driving bass and synths and with a heavy drop.
6. Dirty South & Those Usual Suspects feat. Erik Hecht – Walking Alone (Original Mix) – While “Alive” was a masterpiece, “Walking Alone” was even better from the Aussie who has absolutely exploded onto the scene this year. The vocals are quality and meaningful from Erik Heckt and the track itself is of utmost quality.
5. Kaskade Feat. Mindy Gledhill – Eyes (Extended Mix) – One of the most moving songs of the year with Mindy Gledhill providing absolutely amazing vocals on this song. It such an uplifting song with a great build and an even better drop that you cannot help but put your hands in the air and lose yourself in the music.
4. Swedish House Mafia – Save The World (Original Mix + Remixes) – Everyone knows this song and whether it is the heavy Knife Party remix, the fantastic Alesso remix or the original mix with some live lyrics, this song is fantastic. It was an anthem over the summer and showed the power of Swedish House Mafia to impact EDM with one single.
3. Sebastian Ingrosso & Alesso – Calling (Original Mix) – It was the anthem of Electric Zoo as Big and G could tell you, and has been played non stop at festivals and shows since. It has been getting the same treatment as “Levels” and Pendulum’s “The Island” where people sing the melody of the song. If that happens, you are doing something right.
2. Alex Kenji, Starkillers & Nadia Ali – Pressure (Alesso Remix) – The remix of the year and if you ever went out you heard this song; it was played by everyone and their mother at festivals, clubs, theaters etc. It got a second life with the East & Young bootleg with Coldplay’s “Fix You” towards the end of the year, but this remix catapulted Alesso into stardom and will not go away for quite some time. The stutter that makes it so unique has now become commonplace in songs such as Fedde Le Grand’s remix of Coldplay’s “Paradise” and many other productions.
1. Avicii – Levels (Original Mix) – You cannot argue this one. This was played at all of the New Years countdowns, even though it was first premiered in 2010, it has been an anthem of 2011 played by every DJ in every set getting probably the best reaction of any song this year. Levels is the song of the year without a doubt, no matter how tired of it you are.
Top 10 guys/gals to look for in 2012
1. Otto Knows – Visa & Million Voices. Get to know those two songs because they have already been supported by Djs high and low and are ready to be released in 2012. He is just waiting on the release dates from labels. Otto Knows is yet another Swede with a great uplifting house sound that is bound to propel him have a meteoric rise to fame next year.
2. Michael Calfan – He was really unknown quantity for the majority of the world for most of the year but he has exploded onto the scene, especially with his massive hit “Resurrection”. His productions are flawless in quality, even his latest remix of “Turn Me On” was of superior quality and with the guidance of Axwell, expect great things next year.
3. Tim Mason – If “Anima” was not good enough for you, just look at the singles and remixes that he has done this year, such as the number 14 song on the list “The Moment” and you will see quality all across the board from this Brighton native. A label member of Size, Tim Mason is going to have a huge year in 2012, starting off with his Anima tour going on right now. The young Brit is only getting started.
4. NERVO – The lovely Nervo sisters have really done it big this year. They have always done amazing work writing songs for others and helping to create songs for huge artists, but this year they really broke out and made some great single work of their own such as “We’re All No One” or “The Way We See The World. ID fest was great for them being able to tour the US and get to expand to a whole new audience. Their success this year will not end here as they have some huge songs to be released next year such as their collaboration with Omarion, “Army”. Also their collaboration with Avicii, “You’re Gonna Love Again” is going to be possibly the biggest song of 2012, so these sisters are going to be f*cking huge. UPDATE: This is not a collab with Avicii as previously though, just a song they did and it is ridiculous.
5. Deniz Koyu – Deniz Koyu really put the world on notice this year with singles such as “Tung” and “Hertz” which have been festival favorites by everyone and bootlegged by all of the top Djs. He is part of the remix that made the top 10 for me here that is absolutely insane and has so much energy. He has another song with Johan Wedel and Fedde Le Grand “New Day” set to be released soon so watch out for him in 2012.
6. Dyro – Dyro really came on at the end of the year with releases on Revealed and Mixmash that have propelled him to front of many people’s conscience. He is a 19 year old from Holland with an incredible amount of talent and has plenty of quality music to be released in 2012, so watch out for this guy to have a breakout year in 2012.
7. Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman – These guys have been cranking out remix after remix this year with their amazing, uplifting, hands in the air progressive house sound. Their Coldplay “Scientist” was a huge hit and they have released a plethora of other remixes this year you can find on the site. They are just getting started though and these two Swedes (I know right, they are all Swedish or Dutch) are going to have huge 2012.
8. Matisse & Sadko – These two Russians have had a successful 2011 with releases such as “Amulet” and “Svenska” and look forward to a bigger 2012. They have already teased two massive collaborations with Swanky Tunes and Arty with the songs, “The Legend” and “Trio” respectively, which will be massive songs this year.
9. Nari & Milani – These guys have been around for a few years and have made a few pretty successful songs, but nothing compared to what “Atom” will be next year. It has all the makings of what “Epic” was this year and possibly be even bigger because it is more complex than “Epic”. Watch out for these guys in 2012 on Size records.
10. Erik Arbores – He is just 14 and is still in school, so that will stunt his true potential as a touring Dj, but this kid is really talented and is ready to have a big year in 2012 and beyond. He played a live set at “Dance Now” in the Netherlands and premiered a few new songs that are not only different sounding from what he has done, but are also amazing. He is a 14 year old on Armin van Buuren led Armada Records, so there should be no doubt he is going to be really good.
Be on the lookout for FNT Favorites:
Pierce Fulton – With singles upcoming from the Vermont native, Pierce is going to be someone we will have our eye on to see how he progresses in 2012 after a big 2011.
FareOH – With successful singles and remixes under his belt such as Wynter Gordan’s “Buy My Love” and Rihanna & Calvin Harris’ “We Found Love”, Fareoh is ready for a big 2012. He has played big shows such as Electric Zoo this year so the bright lights are no issue for this young up and comes from New York.
More Established DJs to Watch For in 2012:
Max Vangeli & AN21 – These two Size Record label mates have been incredibly successful with the help of Steve Angello and their anthemic remix of Pendulem’s “The Island” as well as other work they have done together. AN21 is also Steve Angello’s brother so I guess house runs in the family. They have their artist album “People of the Night” coming out next year with collaborations with Example, Tiesto, and possibly Alesso; this album is going to be one of the biggest of the year.
Label of 2011:
Size – Their releases and signings this year have been the best bar none. With artists such as Tim Mason, Third Party, Max Vangeli & AN21, Thomas Gold, and label owner Angello on the roster, they have a stacked lineup with no holes. They also have other releases from artists such as Swanky Tunes & Hard Rock Sofa, Nari & Milani “Kendo”, Kim Fai “Era” and many more who have made huge songs played by many around the world. Their live show “Size Matters” has been a staple at festivals from Creamfields to Escape Wonderland to clubs around the world carrying either the entire roster or parts of it.
Label to Watch out For in 2012:
Axtone – With releases such as Trio, In My Mind, Leave the Lights On and Quasar, Axtone is going to have a meteoric rise to prominence in 2012. Axwell has largely used it for his own releases and some smaller releases, but with the success of Size and Refune by his fellow members of Swedish House Mafia, he probably thought it was time to pay attention to his largely dormant label. He is the most successful of the 3 individually with his remixes and singles from years past still being played consistently, so expect his astute ear to find the shiniest gems in the morass of artists out there and deliver some absolute bombs in 2012 and beyond.
Top 4 Bootlegs of 2011
Kaskade VS. Tiesto, Hardwell, EDX & Marco V. – Angel On My Shoulder Reaver 76 (Kaskade Mash Up) – This mashup was outstandingly put together by Kaskade using the dorp of Marco V’s “Reaver”, our number 9 song “Zero 76” and the vocals from “Angel on my Shoulder” by Kaskade & EDX. This song kills live and is so artfully put together seamlessly moving back and forth between songs, it easily gets top bootleg of the year honor.
Axwell vs. R.E.M vs. Ferry Corsten – Heart is King vs. Losing My Religion vs. Punk (Arty Rock-n-Rolla Remix) – Ever song here is fantastic and with the R.E.M vocals adding that little extra to Axwell’s “Heart is King”. Then when it drops into Arty’s remix of “Punk” it is wild and this has been played all the time by many Djs, especially championed by Axwell and SHM.
Cassius vs Michael Woods vs Nero vs Calvin Harris – I Love You vs Bullet vs Promises (Dirty South Bootleg) – A brilliant bootleg using the Calvin Harris remix of Nero’s” Promises”, which does not sway much from the original in the bootleg with the stunning vocals from Cassius “I Love You” and drops in Michael Wood’s much supported “Bullet”. Everything about this bootleg from the multiple vocal samples and the seamless change in genres and the heaviness of it makes it so good.
Starkillers, Alex Kenji, Nadia Ali & Alesso ft. Coldplay – Fix You(r) Pressure (East & Young Mashup) – The aforementioned East & Young Bootleg of the number 2 song on the top 25 songs of the year is a weapon if used right by Djs can be perfect for any set. It brings the calmness of the “Fix You” into the up-tempo remix of “Pressure” and gives the song a change of pace, without changing it at all.
DOWNLOAD: Starkillers, Alex Kenji, Nadia Ali & Alesso ft. Coldplay – Fix You Pressure (East & Young Mashup)
Prediction for 2012:
Alesso will have the same kind of year in 2012 that Avicii did in 2011.
Tags: 2012, drop, house, number, quality, remix, song, work |
Is John Oliver's Show Journalism? He Says The Answer Is Simple: 'No'
Enlarge this image toggle caption Eric Liebowitz/HBO via AP Eric Liebowitz/HBO via AP
On Sunday, John Oliver returns to HBO with the latest season of Last Week Tonight. The satirical current events show doesn't shy away from complex topics — drones, net neutrality, the NSA; Oliver even landed an interview with Edward Snowden last year.
YouTube
Facts are always the backbone of the show, Oliver tells NPR's Kelly McEvers. After sorting through lots of pitches, stories are aggressively researched.
"You can't build jokes on sand," Oliver says. "You can't be wrong about something — otherwise that joke just disintegrates. ... You try to be as rigorous as you can in terms of fact-checking because your responsibility is to make sure that your joke is structurally sound."
That's a lesson Oliver says he learned while working as a correspondent on Comedy Central's The Daily Show. It was Oliver's stint in the host chair — while Jon Stewart was away for the summer — that was a trial run for Last Week Tonight.
Oliver talks with McEvers about the kinds of topics he tackles on the show, casting dogs as Supreme Court justices, and his aspirations for next season.
Interview Highlights
On what Last Week, Tonight does differently from The Daily Show
There were a couple of stories that we did that were slightly different than what we would normally do at the Daily Show. ... We liked the idea of using the skills that we had learned from working with Jon Stewart for so long to some longer-form stories — things where we're not reacting so much to the news cycle and we were more looking at single issue stuff.
On the episode that made fun of televangelists
Televangelism feels like a relic of the bouffant-haired 1980s. ... There's also this concept of "seed faith" which has been misinterpreted by some of these preachers and pastors to basically mean that they can offer an investment scheme whereby you send money to them and they promise that you are "seeding" the ground and will receive riches in the future. Which you would think is dancing pretty close to the legal line ... but you can absolutely do that. You can promise that — and not only that — but you can operate without any tax liabilities. ...
It's like — it's one thing to, in theory, say to people you can make these promises and you can take people's money and there are no consequences to that. But we wanted to show that in practice you can actually do it. So we could on TV say: Give us your money, you will get more money in return, and we could take people's money and not be taxed on it and it was like showing the proof of concept really that this seems to be a problem.
YouTube
On creating a church
We created a church — it was called Our Lady of Perpetual Exemption. And my wife, Wanda-Jo, who was played by Rachel Dratch, she and I each week screamed at people to give us their seed ... and they did, to the tune of $70,000 in single dollar bills. ... We took it — which we're allowed to do — and then we asked for more, and then we got more and then we kept asking for more. And all of this is inexplicably OK.
On what they ultimately did with the money
We gave it to Doctors Without Borders. ... The church, I guess, is lying dormant until we decide to pick it up again. So I think if we ever want another $70,000 we can just start asking for money.
On whether his show is investigative journalism
No. There's a pretty simple answer to that. No, it is not. No, we are a comedy show so everything we do is in pursuit of comedy. ... It's confusing to me somehow the fact that this is often the line of questioning. ... It almost makes me feel like, when people say: "This is journalism," it almost makes me feel like: Am I a terrible comedian? ... Is it like looking at a sculptor and saying: "Well it's not art, so are you trying to build a wall? What exactly are you working on here?"
YouTube
On what makes the best stories for the show
I don't know. We're two years in now, so we're about to start a third year and we're still changing our process. The scope of what our production is capable of has started to be really exciting so from the very silly examples such as making an entire miniature Supreme Court with dogs as the justices — it's just an amazing waste of HBO's resources — or trying to get an effective interview with Edward Snowden about incredibly complicated things — both of which we did last year and both of which are kind of equally fun in different ways and equally challenging.
On how he's going to approach next season
[We're] going after the things that seem most complicated — whether that is trying to explain some of the NSA's detailed programs, or whether that's putting a cowboy hat on a cat. |
Trying to watch Netflix’s new season of “Black Mirror” but can’t connect? You’re not alone.
Early Friday, hackers struck the New Hampshire-based web company Dyn, which controls one of the cornerstones of America’s internet infrastructure. The ongoing attack has spawned outages for major websites such as Twitter, Spotify, Amazon, Reddit, Airbnb, Tumblr, the Boston Globe and The New York Times.
Details are still unraveling, but here’s what we know so far.
At 7:10 am EDT, hackers performed a DDoS attack against Dyn’s Domain Name System services. Domain names are essentially the internet’s version of telephone numbers. So without these services, your computer cannot “call up” or connect to a website.
“Anytime you send an e-mail or browse a website, your machine is sending a DNS look-up request to your Internet service provider to help route the traffic,” cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs wrote of today’s outage.
Dyn (pronounced “dine”) rectified this first attack after a couple hours, but by lunchtime, the hackers had hit again. Computer engineers continue to battled the hackers who employed a DDoS attack to cripple Dyn’s servers throughout the day, though an update at 5:17 pm EDT said the issue had been resolved.
A DDoS attack is akin to an electronic blitzkrieg. Hackers attempt to overwhelm one or more online servers by redirecting huge swaths of fake traffic to it. Eventually, the server runs out of bandwidth to handle bonafide requests, in essence suffocating the system.
Meet Marai
The DDoS weapon of choice right now is the botnet. To create a botnet, a hacker installs malicious software on as many devices as possible. The software can then execute commands, like send boatloads of traffic to companies like Dyn, unbeknownst to the device’s owner.
Security experts suspect that today’s attack on Dyn involved a sophisticated botnet called Marai. The program preys on the widespread but often understated vulnerabilities laced across the internet of things, IoT. The internet of things represent every new-aged, WiFi-enabled gadget in a household, business, car and classroom with access to the web. Marai can siphon an unprecedented amount of web traffic and cripple even the best cybersecurity systems. Brian Krebs’ website, for instance, got slammed by the largest DDoS attack in history in September. The instigator: Marai.
And Marai’s blueprint is now public.
“The source code for the botnet was released last month by a hacker by the name of Anna_Senpai,” James Scott, co-founder and senior fellow at the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology, ICIT, wrote in an email to NewsHour. “And since then, cybercriminals have begun to threaten attacks against organizations in extortion schemes.”
Though the culprit behind the Dyn hack remains unknown, DDoS strikes are ever popular among cybercriminals. The BBC and Donald Trump’s campaign website were targeted by massive DDoS attacks last winter. WordPress-backed sites are constant victims.
Over the last year, these attacks have increased by 130 percent, according to Akamai, a global leader in internet content delivery. Computers in China were responsible for most — 56 percent — of the phony traffic behind these offenses. The U.S. was next closest competitor at 17 percent.
Scott said today’s attack may be just the beginning. Bruce Schneier, one of the nation’s top cybersecurity experts, spotted signs that someone was probing for weaknesses among the companies responsible for critical pieces of the internet.
“The magnitude, precision, and methodology of the attack campaign indicates a level of sophistication and resourcefulness indicative of a nation state-sponsored threat; likely originating in Russia or China,” Scott said. “The adoption of Mirai or of a similar tool by an advanced persistent threat group is troubling because when combined with a disciplined methodology, the targeted attacks are significantly more devastating.”
Editor’s Note: The attribution for an internet outage map was previously cited as “Level3 communications” as the source. It has been changed to Downdetector. |
One of China’s biggest corporate investors has bought a stake in a blockchain startup.
Reuters reports that Fosun Group is investing in Shanghai Distributed Technologies Co Ltd, the company behind the Onchain blockchain project.
Founded in the 1990s, Fosun has become a major force in China’s finance space. Among its listed investments include stakes in Cirque du Soleil and Club Med. Fosun also has operations in the mining, insurance and technology sectors, among others.
It’s not immediately clear how much of a stake was purchased, but according to the report, the amount is worth “tens of millions of yuan” per a Fosun official. The conglomerate is the sole investor in this particular funding round.
Onchain, a start-up that utilizes an open-source distributed network architecture (DNA), previously developed the public blockchain network NEO. Formerly known as Antshares, NEO raised more than more than $4.5 million in an initial coin offering (ICO) last fall.
The startup is aiming to create a “universal platform” built on the tech. In recent months, it has inked several key partnerships, including an email storage concept with e-commerce giant Alibaba and an identity initiative with the city government of Guiyang.
Image Credit: Shutterstock |
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SM Gibson & Nick Bernabe
April 2, 2015
(ANTIMEDIA) Police officers in the United States were responsible for killing over 100 people last month. The United Kingdom has seen 52 killings by police since 1900. You didn’t misread that. Cops in the US took the lives of more people in 31 days than have been killed by UK cops in the past 115 years.
This startling statistic comes just one month after the Obama administration released the White House Task Force on 21st Century Policing report. The report, though supposedly created to improve community policing policies, has been seen by activists as a simple way to appease American fears over the growing police state-like situation developing in the US.
The issue of police violence and institutional racism seems to be growing in the US despite a massive people-powered movement to hold these agents of the state accountable.
Recently, there was a shimmer of light when the cop who brutally slammed an Indian grandfather to the ground, paralyzing him, was actually charged with a federal crime for abusing his power. Unfortunately, this case is the exception in the rule; most cops who commit these violent acts are never held accountable.
Forget rationalizing difference in population, amount of guns on the streets of the two western nations, or whatever other statistic that could be used to alleviate your fears and justify this data. These numbers are beyond alarming. The fact is that people are dying at such an unfathomable rate, it’s time to stop making excuses and start searching for real solutions.
This article (US Cops Killed More People In March Than UK Cops Have Killed Since 1900) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and TheAntiMedia.org. Tune in to the Anti-Media radio show Monday through Friday @ 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. Help us fix our typos: [email protected].
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Andy Blatchford, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA -- The economy exceeded low expectations to grow at an annual rate of 0.8 per cent in the final three months of 2015, Statistics Canada said Tuesday.
A consensus of economists had predicted real GDP for the fourth quarter to produce a flat reading, according to Thomson Reuters.
While the latest report on real gross domestic product beat expectations, it still marked slow growth -- something that Statistics Canada said was due to weakness in domestic demand, business investment and exports. These negative factors partially offset a positive boost from a decrease in imports.
The economy fell into a technical recession at the start of 2015 when it contracted over the first two quarters by a revised 0.9 per cent and again by a revised 0.4 per cent. Real GDP increased by a revised 2.4 per cent in the third quarter.
The reading was released as the federal government prepares a spring budget expected to contain billions of dollars worth of commitments -- such as infrastructure spending -- that it insists will help revive economic growth and create jobs. The budget date is March 22.
Last week, the Liberal government acknowledged next year's deficit could surpass $20 billion -- and some observers believe it could reach as high as $30 billion.
Statistics Canada also said Tuesday that the country's terms of trade -- a measure of export prices relative to import prices -- sunk for the fifth consecutive quarter to reach its lowest level since late 2003.
Looking back at 2015, the agency found that the economy grew by 1.2 per cent -- less than half of the 2.5 per cent pace for 2014. Before that, the economy grew 2.2 per cent in 2013, 1.7 per cent in 2012 and 3.1 per cent in 2011.
The report said the 2015 reading was dragged down by a contraction of 4.8 per cent in business gross fixed capital formation, a category that includes buildings, machinery and intellectual property.
Statistics Canada said the decline, the first after five consecutive years of increases, was mostly due to a 12.7 per cent drop in business investment in non-residential structures.
Meanwhile, Canada's terms of trade shrunk by 6.9 per cent last year, which followed a 1.3 per cent decrease in 2014.
The agency also said real GDP grew at a month-to-month rate of 0.2 per cent in December, which followed monthly increases of 0.3 per cent in November and 0.1 per cent in October. |
On March 9, legendary Soviet cosmonaut Yury Gagarin, the first man in space, would have turned 80. His 108-minute epic orbital flight on April 12, 1961 ushered in the era of space exploration – and his charming smile became its symbol.
Watch RT's documentary on Yury Gagarin
Blasting into space aboard Soviet rocket Vostok One, Gagarin also blasted into the history of mankind. He returned to Earth as an international hero, proving that a human can indeed fly to the stars.
One of the most famous people on the planet, he remains a much loved and respected figure in Russia. For many, Gagarin is the symbol and pride of the Soviet epoch; the epoch that was not all about the Cold War, Communist ideology, and the Iron Curtain, but also about scientific, engineering, and technical progress and achievements – something that some Soviet-born people still feel nostalgic for in the new era, where market and money rule the game.
Yury Gagarin was born into a poor family on a collective farm on March 9, 1934 in the village of Klushino, near Gzhatsk (now called Gagarin in his honor) in the Smolensk region. In 1941, just as Yury entered secondary school, the village was occupied by Nazi forces who shipped his elder brother and sister to labor camps in Germany.
After WWII, Yury and his family moved to Gzhatsk, where he continued his studies which had been disrupted by the Nazi occupation. The town seemed too small for him, and Gagarin – always active and goal-oriented – wanted to move further.
In 1949, Gagarin entered a vocational school in Lyubertsy, near Moscow, where he earned a diploma in mold-making and foundry work. In 1951, he enrolled at Saratov Industrial Technical School and joined a local aviation club – a step that defined his future choice of career and changed his life forever.
“Starting from the 1930s, all boys raved about aviation,” Gagarin’s daughter Elena said in an earlier interview with RT. “Soviet pilots set numerous records, and, of course, during the war, Soviet pilots were a force that could withstand all the hardships that fell on this country’s fate. Besides, planes and helicopters were the most advanced technology at that time. That is why everybody who wanted to serve in the army and test new hardware wanted to be pilots.”
Yury Gagarin had dreamed of flying since childhood and “did everything within his power to make his dream come true,” his daughter said.
In 1955, the future first human in space was called up for military service and sent to study at an aviation school in Orenburg.
Gagarin was rather short – only 165 cm (according to some sources 157 cm) – which made it difficult for him to see the runway through the cockpit window during plane landing. One of his instructors at the aviation school, Yadkbar Akbulatov, recalled that Gagarin solved the problem by placing a cushion under his seat.
But Gagarin’s height was no obstacle to becoming a great basketball player. Also, it was largely thanks to his small size that he was later selected to become a cosmonaut, as the cockpit of the projected spaceship was rather tiny.
In 1957, already a qualified fighter pilot, Gagarin decided to serve with a Northern Fleet aviation unit in the Arctic. The same year, he married Valentina Goryacheva, with whom he had two daughters: Elena (born in 1959) and Galina (born in 1961).
“He chose, perhaps, the hardest of all possible jobs: he worked in the conditions of the far north in the Murmansk region,” his daughter Elena said. “Gagarin served there pretty long, despite the fact that he had been offered the position of a flight instructor upon his graduation from the Orenburg military school.”
On December 9, 1959, Gagarin applied to join a squad of candidates who would become cosmonauts. A week later, he was invited to Moscow for medical tests.
“When Gagarin heard that they were selecting people for a squad that would test much more modern and upgraded hardware, absolutely new vehicles, he was one of those who applied and began undergoing a medical checkup,” his daughter said.
Sporty and healthy, he passed the rigorous medical examination and was declared suitable for space missions. On March 3, 1960, Gagarin was included in the group of 20 prospective cosmonauts and on March 25, he began his training.
“Yury Gagarin looked like everyone else; all the men arrived of approximately the same age and weight. And the reason was obvious: the spacecraft was designed for an average-sized man,” recalled Ada Kotovskaya, once Gagarin’s personal physician, who monitored the health of the future cosmonauts.
Speaking earlier to RT, she said the young men did not know what they had to face because the work was extremely classified. They were only told they were about to test the new craft – but they were completely unaware what kind of craft it was.
The eventual choices for the first launch were Gagarin and Gherman Titov. But on April 10, an official commission picked Gagarin for the flight, appointing Titov as his backup.
On April 12, 1961, Gagarin began the first person to orbit Earth. Seconds after the launch, he yelled his famous “Poyekhali!” (Let’s go!), piloting humanity to new discoveries and the Soviet Union to its victory over the US in the race to get the first man into space.
There were many myths surrounding the decision to choose Gagarin as the first cosmonaut, including his famous smile and background.
A Baikonur legend says that he was preferred over his substitute Titov because of his good manners: when he entered the spaceship training module, he took off his shoes. For Sergey Korolev, the chief space designer and the mastermind behind the first-ever manned space flight, this was, allegedly, a sign of respect and determination. There was apparently a combination of things that contributed to the choice, including Gagarin’s excellent performance during the training, his charisma, and, of course, luck.
Gagarin’s flight lasted only 108 minutes, and he was never allowed to fly into space again – something he dreamt of most of all.
“He really wanted to continue flying, and he was very jealous of his fellow spacemen who got to spend much more time out in space,” his daughter Elena recalled. “He was very interested in space missions. He dreamed of mastering the new equipment; he wanted to participate in the lunar program. And in Korolev's time, they started developing the Martian program, so he believed that he would definitely participate in it, too.”
On March 27, 1968, while on a routine training flight, Gagarin was killed in a MiG-15UTI crash near the town of Kirzhach. The death of the 34-year-old cosmonaut became a nationwide tragedy, with tens of thousands of people attending his funeral. Gagarin was laid to rest in the wall of the Moscow Kremlin on Red Square. |
I admit, I dragged my feet a bit with this game. It just looked so complicated, so involving and requiring of attention that I was afraid it would eat my life. Turns out I was wrong, but in a good way.
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World Alpha is an MMORTS. It’s a collaborative, free to play, real-world style browser game, with more layers of involvement and detail than you can shake a cursor at.
Players work together (and individually) to build the world and influence its overall society, through four major strata of world building:
Economy: Start by getting a basic job and buying and selling consumables. Move on to starting and maintaining an in-game business, perhaps becoming an industry mogul.
Military: Joining the army and working your way up through the ranks. Commanding troops and moving mountains.
Politics: Vote, run for office, create new political parties, propose laws and even a constitution, and basically become a power player on the political stage. Perfect for the game-oriented political wonk.
Media: Don’t like the news? Make your own. Buy a media outlet and craft your own message to the people.
After more than two years of development, (and at least one sadly lackluster funding campaign at IndieGoGo) WA was launched this summer and not only took off, it already seems to have inspired a dedicated (nigh fanatical) player base.
The interface is aesthetically pleasing, and astoundingly easy to navigate for such an extremely detailed and involved game world. While World Alpha does require a long-term commitment (you know, if you actually want to achieve anything), it doesn’t require a huge commitment of time. You can check in when you please and schedule tasks and move on, or you can spend the day with the browser open, carefully shepherding your character to the pinnacle of popular influence and personal capacity. Moreover, you can take it with you and advance on the go, as the game is device friendly.
Alpha Coins are the main currency, and can be earned through working jobs and selling goods. They can also be bought from the cash shop. Earth Bucks are the cash shop currency, you can win them in the lotto, earn them in quests or, of course, buy them with real world money in the cash shop. It’s a strange thing, buying fake world money to advance your fake world career with real world money you earned with your real world job. That’s just so meta I can barely wrap my head around it.
The good thing is, there’s no hurry to achieve greatness, or for that matter, mediocrity. The game doesn’t rush you into anything, so you can take your time and get your feet wet. Personally, I advise making full use of the starter stuff they give you, rather than just blowing money at the outset. You’ll get a better feel for the game and the direction you’d like to go, and besides, free stuff!
Once your earnest endeavors have banked you some bucks (or rather, Alpha Coins) you can think of starting a business, or maybe even moving out of your starter shack. Because really, who ever heard of a world-influencing CEO living in a shack?
WA provides a chat server that you can choose to connect to or not. You can make/invite friends, give and receive gifts to those friends, as well as transfer money (probably also to those same friends, the slackers.) If you refer a fellow player to WorldAlpha you can get a bonus of 25% of all their future Earthbucks gained from pack purchases.
The one thing that struck me as odd though, is that not all of the quest rewards seem economically commensurate to the required task. For example: buying/owning a newspaper (a media outlet, not just an issue of the Daily Bugle) only gets you 100 Alpha Coins. But in an economy where a basic sandwich can cost 35 Alpha Coins or more, that means becoming a media mogul (however minor) is worth slightly less than three grilled cheese.
While investigating the game, I was able to ask World Alpha’s creator, Mike Koehler, a couple of questions about the recent release:
LJ - Have there been unexpected hiccups?
MK - For the most part things have gone fairly smoothly. There are a few more bugs being found than I would have hoped for, but the community has been great at reporting them, and we are fixing them up, and continuing on.
LJ - How about unexpected joys?
MK - Honestly, it has been some of the articles written in the media section of the game. Initially there was a citizen creating these hilarious cartoons about players in the game. They were a riot. It is nice to see the dedication of the players in writing excellent articles about the game, the dynamics, politics and such.
An intricate and involved world that players can influence, with an equally involved community and game creator, and it’s all free to play? What’s not to love? Go sign up and give World Alpha a shot. Get a job, conquer some industry or win the hearts and minds of society, then come back and tell us what you think. We’ll keep the comment section warm for you.
*Not to be confused with the Cube World alpha test. |
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Show-Me Cannabis has filed an initiative petition to amend the Missouri Constitution to legalize, tax and regulate cannabis. The petition was filed with the Missouri Secretary of State for the 2016 election cycle.
The petition was the first one received for the new cycle, being submitted the day after November 4 midterm elections.
The petition language reads that it would legalize and regulate cannabis for adults over 21, in addition to allowing the distribution of medical cannabis with the recommendation of a physician.
Show-Me Cannabis is an association of organizations, groups and individuals focused on policy reform for marijuana in Missouri. Their goal is to create an effective and comprehensive system for legal production, distribution and consumption for the state – while also combating the substantial criminalization of drug use in Missouri.
For the petition to make the ballot, Show-Me Cannabis and fellow drug policy reform organization and individuals will need to gather 165,000 signatures from residents in six of Missouri’s eight congressional districts to qualify for the November 2016 ballot. Show-Me Cannabis has expressed that they are still open to receiving feedback on the petition draft.
The secretary of state will take approximately four to eight weeks to have the ballot title and language approved by the attorney general, and for the auditor to assess the financial implications that would be associated with the approval of petition. After the proposed petition is approved, it will be posted on the secretary of state’s website for a minimum thirty day public comment period.
A report from the Department of Public Safety reported that in 2013, eight of Missouri’s 27 drug task forces spent a disproportionate amount of time and resources on marijuana-related cases rather than other high risk drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine.
The issue is being talked about across the state, as the petition begins to gain its course of review in the Capitol. On October 20th, the Columbia City Council discussed, debated and ultimately rejected an ordinance that would decriminalize the cultivation of certain types of cannabis in the city.
Earlier this year, Rep. Galen Higdon (R-St. Joseph) sponsored House Bill 2054, headed by Representative Mike Colona (R-St. Louis), stating that would make it legal for any person with no background of felony offense of drug-related misdemeanor to grow and cultivate industrial hemp. The bill was not made into law.
“Hemp is the first step toward us bringing a new cash crop to the state of Missouri,” Galen said.
Rep. Higdon says if Rep. Colona elects to generate another bill that would favor the legalization of commercial hemp production and potential medical marijuana distribution, he would eagerly co-sponsor. Rep. Higdon, a former deputy in Buchanan County Sheriff’s department, feels a full legalization and decriminalization of the substance would not be in best interest of the state.
“It’s just like the alcohol prohibition, more people consumed it more readily and more people became intoxicated in public instead of being privately at home, and people get in their car and drive down the road,” Higdon said. “I think if you repeal the prohibition on cannabis there the danger of people driving impaired – it’s going to make it more flexible for users to use and drive.”
The economic benefits of the policy reform for cannabis, says Show-Me Cannabis, could results in tens of millions in new tax revenues that would be poured right back into the communities and municipalities. The money, according to Show-Me Cannabis, would be allocated for enforcement and firefighter pensions, substance abuse programs and underage drug use prevention, elementary, secondary, and higher education programs, veterans’ services, and the enforcement of cannabis regulations.
As the petition is considered by the Secretary of State, Higdon says the people from his district have been showing a mixture of views about whether the substance should be granted legalization, and to what degree.
“I am leaning toward getting more information for the medical, and I am willing to listen to my district on this issue,” Higdon said. “If 51% of my district says no, I will vote no regardless of what I think.”
If the petition and subsequent ballot measure were approved, Missouri would join Colorado and Washington in permitting people 21 and older to legally produce and consume marijuana.
Colorado and Washington state voters passed a ballot measure in 2012 legalizing the use of recreational marijuana. Show-Me Cannabis’ Director of Research Aaron Malin said this past November, voters in Alaska, Oregon and the District of Columbia approved a ballot measure that legalizes production, retail sale and distribution and consumption of cannabis.
“Colorado is the only state that has fully embraced the legalization, and there haven’t been increases in use or underage use that we’ve heard might eventually happen,” Malin said.
Malin and Show-Me Cannabis continue to push the idea that the decriminalization would generate greater social justice across the state, and provide safer and more just regulation for those who suffer from substance dependence and abuse. Show-Me Cannabis has spoken with constituents from across the state, and many demographics can find something to gain from some degree of legalization of the substance, such as a cash crop in commercial hemp or a more comfortable amount of marijuana regulation for the conservatives in the state.
“We’ve had town hall meetings all across the state and an extremely warm reactions in places where we wouldn’t have gotten one,” Malin said. “The infrastructure of the war on drugs is crumbling in Missouri.” |
Lots of officers from Free Syrian Army (FSA) have joined Islamic State militants, one FSA commanders told RT. That's despite the rebels' centers repeatedly getting attacked by the extremists.
“But lots of our officers joined Islamic State because of ideology,” Hussam Alawak, a commander of the Free Syrian army, told RT. He added that some extremists from the Islamic State's (IS, formerly known as ISIS/ISIL) branch in Iraq come to FSA centers and “cause trouble for them.”
“They [IS] took lots of people from our army to achieve their goals of expansion, to control oil regions in Syria. They attacked us with very dense fire in the Al-Bab region [Aleppo province, northern Syria], so we had to tactically retreat to other places."
READ MORE: FSA proposes Russia to hold talks on Syrian crisis in Cairo – official
According to the Alawak, FSA also hopes that Russians and Syrians “can work hand-in-hand when it comes to counter terrorism and extremism in the region.”
“We hope the Russian role in the Syrian crisis will be effective and Russia will be on the side of justice, dealing with all parties in the Syrian crisis,” he added.
URGENT: Russia is ready to offer aerial support to Syrian opposition fighting ISIS - Lavrov https://t.co/KQAdAUFJ2Epic.twitter.com/I2IIREIQvx — RT (@RT_com) October 24, 2015
Russia has repeatedly said it never stopped working “either with Syrian President Bashar Assad, or with the Syrian opposition, including the Free Syrian Army.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier announced that Moscow is ready to provide air support, in the form of airstrikes, to help Syrian opposition forces, like the Free Syrian Army, which is fighting IS militants.
“We are ready to back the patriotic opposition, including the so-called Free Syrian Army, with our air support,” Lavrov said.
FSA forces, in turn, said on Sunday that they have sent Russia a proposal to hold talks on the Syrian crisis in Cairo, Egypt, adding that the opposition is ready for dialogue with Moscow.
“The Free Syrian Army is ready for dialogue with Russia. We need to organize a new meeting, so that we can present our position and discuss our collective actions,” one of the founders of FSA and the coordinator of National Salvation Front Fahad Al-Masri told RIA Novosti. The group, however, hasn’t yet received an answer from Moscow.
The military operation targeting positions of Islamic State militants in Syria was launched by Moscow September 30 following a formal request from Assad. In the past three days the Russian aviation group in Syria has hit 258 targets belonging to IS and Al-Nusra Front terror groups, the Defense Ministry said.
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Cryptocurrency bitcoin moved a few paces forward towards mainstream respectability in 2016, but its use as a payment method for online poker in the regulated markets remains fraught with complexity. At the heart of the matter is the essential paradox of attempting to regulate a currency whose sole purpose is to be unregulated,while bypassing the world banking system.
The poker media pricked up its ears in August when the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) appeared to sanction the use of bitcoin and other digital currencies when it published its most recent License Conditions and Codes of Practice. In that document, it spelled out what would and wouldn’t fly:
“Licensees, as part of their internal controls and financial accounting systems, must implement appropriate policies and procedures concerning the usage of cash and cash equivalents (eg bankers drafts, cheques and debit cards and digital currencies) by customers, designed to minimise the risk of crimes such as money laundering, to avoid the giving of illicit credit to customers and to provide assurance that gambling activities are being conducted in a manner which promotes the licensing objectives.”
Anti-Money Laundering Directives
The addition of the phrase “digital currencies” led many to conclude that the UK was preparing to permit its online gambling licensees to use bitcoin as a valid one, but this assumption is probably wide of the mark. The problem with bitcoin transactions is that they fail to satisfy EU and global anti-money laundering (AML) standards, because the currency is essentially encrypted, anonymous, and (for the most part) untraceable nature.
The latest AML dictum from the European Union, of which the UK is still a paid up member, at least for the time being while Brexit issues are thrashed out, states the following on the subject of digital currencies:
“Transactions with virtual currencies benefit from a higher degree of anonymity than classical financial fund transfers and therefore entail a risk that virtual currency may be used by terrorist organizations to conceal financial transfers. Possible further risks relate to the irreversibility of transactions, means of dealing with fraudulent operations, the opaque and technologically complex nature of the industry, and the lack of regulatory safeguards.”
More Transparency, Less Anonymity
The European Commission has suggested money laundering regulation should be applied to both virtual currency exchange services and custodial wallet providers as a method of “ending the anonymity associated with such exchanges.”
This could be a way forward for the use of digital currencies as a viable payment alternative in online gambling. But the problem for bitcoin is that the more “regulated” and transparent it becomes, the more it loses the edgy, subversive qualities that made it attractive to many gamblers in the first place.
Maybe authorities will find a way to regulate the maverick currency, but it will be a thorny process. All eyes will be on jurisdictions like the UK and the Isle of Man in 2017. Until then, it will remain a tool of the unregulated gambling markets. |
Joshua Freeman, CP24.com
An 88-year-old woman has been pronounced dead after two vehicles collided at a high rate of speed in Etobicoke, sending one of them into a house.
The vehicles collided at around 10:30 a.m. near Kipling Avenue and Birmingham Street.
One of the vehicles rolled over and one ended up in a house, police said.
The elderly woman was pronounced dead at the scene, Toronto Paramedic Services said.
Const. Clint Stibbe told CP24 it appears she was in one of the vehicles.
“As I understand it there was nobody at the house at the time of the incident,” Stibbe said.
Stibbe said it is still too early in the investigation to say exactly what happened, but it appears from the damage that speeds higher than the 50 kilometre-per-hour limit may have been a factor.
“I think it’s safe to say that the speeds involved here were well above that,” Stibbe said.
He said the structural integrity of the home will have to be checked before occupants are allowed to return.
“I think we’re very fortunate that more people weren’t injured in this collision,” Stibbe said.
The intersection of Kipling Avenue and Birmingham Street has been closed as a result of the collision. A stretch of Birmingham Street has also been closed from Kipling Avenue to 22nd Street. |
No WWE '13 on PC, Wii U or Vita For you RAW and SmackDown wrestling aficionados hoping that WWE '13 would make its way to Wii U or to PC, don't hold your breath. THQ's creative director for the series has confirmed the game is strictly for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
For you RAW and SmackDown wrestling aficionados holding out hope that WWE '13 would make its way to Wii U, PC, or handhelds, don't hold your breath. THQ's creative director for the series has confirmed the game is strictly for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii.
THQ's Cory Ledesma tweeted a simple "no" when asked if the game would be coming to PS Vita. He has tweeted the same response to similar questions about PC and Wii U. THQ has traditionally had its WWE titles on console and handhelds only, but its most recent fiscal report released on May 15 listed the game for console and PC.
The game is scheduled to hit the ring on October 30, but it's disappointing that I'll never be able to put Daniel Bryan's head through a table or deliver an RKO to the Big Show on my PC. |
Correction appended.
During a breakfast he recently hosted in a K Street bar, American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers President Chet Thompson leaned forward in his seat and said his industry isn't sweating the fossil fuel divestment movement.
"Worried's not the right word," said Thompson, whose member companies includes firms like Valero Energy Corp., Dow Chemical Co. and Husky Energy Inc. "We're not worried, but we do think this is a part of a broader campaign."
That unruffled demeanor isn't unusual among industry officials, who since the divestment effort urging investors to sell coal, oil and gas holdings began apace in 2014 have dismissed the boycott as politically motivated, symbolic and ultimately feeble.
Yet while fossil fuel companies deny the campaign is affecting them and American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM) has until now largely stayed out of the debate, the breakfast is one of several recent signals that business leaders are now hitting back hard against a growing threat to their sectors.
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In recent weeks, fossil fuel trade groups in Washington, D.C., have ramped up efforts to control the conversation around divestment, issuing statements, producing research and publishing surveys.
"I've definitely seen the industry push back a lot more, more recently," said Chloe Maxmin, co-founder of Divest Harvard. She cited as an example DivestmentFacts.com, a website the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) runs.
"Sometimes I think about their reaction as part of the five stages of grief -- grieving the end of the era of fossil fuels," Maxmin said. "The first stage is denial, and then the second stage is anger, and the third stage is bargaining, which is I think what this falls in."
Indeed, the fossil fuel divestment movement has had some wins of late, such as the vote by Berlin's Parliament last week to divest pension investments.
Industry has responded forcefully.
After officials at the Washington, D.C., city pension fund announced June 6 they had sold off direct holdings in coal, oil and natural gas, the American Petroleum Institute (API) called the decision a "tactic of misinformed activists" likely to lose money.
"Millions of retirees and pension holders depend on income from oil and natural gas investments to live," an API spokesman said hours after the announcement.
Two days later, the IPAA released a survey of pensioners' views on divestment and said the D.C. fund's action didn't include commingled funds -- investments like mutual funds that charge fees when sold.
"No one seems to know or particularly care what actual pension beneficiaries think about these policies," said IPAA Senior Vice President Jeff Eshelman, adding that the poll found pensioners "don't like these divestment schemes one bit."
Eshelman followed up with a column critical of divestment in The Hill newspaper a week later.
Matt Dempsey, an IPAA spokesman, said his trade group and others have made an effort to get ahead of campaigns by anti-fossil fuel activists on issues ranging from divestment to hydraulic fracturing.
"It's all about providing facts and information on this topic," he said. "Companies want to make sure they're represented."
Brad Hager, an earth sciences professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology opposed to divestment, called the recent industry responses understandable.
"It's natural for these companies to be concerned about their image," Hager said. "They may have tried being quiet for awhile and it didn't go away, so now they're, I guess, trying to counter it to some extent."
Age-old arguments, new fights
The fossil fuel divestment movement, which targets the holdings of colleges and universities, pension funds, religious institutions, and other long-term investors, can be traced to a student divestment campaign at Swarthmore College in 2010. Since then, environmental activist and 350.org founder Bill McKibben has led the push.
So far, more than 500 institutions that oversee more than $3.4 trillion in assets have pledged to divest from coal, oil and gas holdings to some degree, according to 350.org.
Still, just a sliver of that sum -- $50 billion -- has been divested from fossil fuel investments, based on 2014 figures from the group.
Industry has been squaring off against the movement since the beginning. As early as 2013, API was fighting divestment legislation in the District of Columbia, according to a compilation of remarks filed with the D.C. City Council.
"Divestment, which leads to the erosion of state and municipal employees' hard-earned nest eggs, is not the way to go," API's Drew Cobbs wrote at the time, arguing the fossil fuel industry underpins almost 10 million American jobs and 8 percent of the U.S. economy.
But efforts to dismantle environmental groups' economic arguments began in earnest last year.
Since 2015, the IPAA has commissioned three reports and three surveys on the effort. API has released two reports in that time period on the costs of pulling out of fossil fuels by Robert Shapiro of Sonecon LLC, a private consultancy.
And AFPM issued a personal challenge to McKibben to not use "anything to do with fossil fuels" for a week.
"We know how active the divestment activists are on trying to make this effort seem bigger than what it is," Dempsey said.
Like a couple married for decades, both sides are familiar with the other's arguments and rebuttals.
Coal taking the biggest hit
Divestment critics say the divestment effort is politically motivated and question the movement's funding from left-leaning groups, including the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and the Tomkat Charitable Trust, a charity of the billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer.
They argue selling shares is fruitless and hypocritical since coal, oil and natural gas fuels are so pervasive and such investments have been and will continue to be blue-chip stocks.
The divestment campaigners rejoinder: The industry is morally questionable and simply because a business model has provided great wealth doesn't mean it has a rosy financial future.
At least six companies, primarily coal firms, have told the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that the divestiture push threatens their business and has lead to at least 10 banks shutting off coal industry loans.
Spokespeople for the American Gas Association and the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, Washington trade groups, said their firms don't appear to be in the divestment crosshairs. And the utility trade association Edison Electric Institute said their members hadn't been affected either.
Of the schools that have purged shares from their endowments, some have just gotten out of more carbon-intensive sectors such as coal, an industry already hemorrhaging cash.
Georgetown and Stanford universities have sold direct positions in coal stocks alone. Other colleges have only blacklisted oil-sands firms from their portfolios. And a few, such as Syracuse and Oxford universities, have announced they would divest from extraction companies only to later disclose they never held such holdings.
"We've seen about a dozen small schools, I mean I'm talking really small schools, that have fully divested and actually done what the activists wanted them to do," Dempsey said.
'You don't take an ineffective campaign seriously'
Whether the divestment movement is succeeding is an open question.
Rachelle Peterson, director of research projects at the National Association of Scholars and a critic of the movement, said the campaign has not made an economic dent in coal, oil and natural gas companies. It has, however, amplified the topic of investment and global warming -- something she said she does not believe is occurring.
"If the question is, 'Has fossil fuel divestment affected the larger national political scene?' the answer to that is clearly yes," said Peterson. "It preys off of students' needs to be part of a larger moral campaign.
"Students are learning to take pride in being arrested and flouting rules," she added. "It's also linked in many cases to a larger climate of intolerance."
But divestment campaigners say the recent backlash is a sign that their movement is working.
"If you follow the money, I think it's pretty obvious that this is coming from the fossil fuel industry," said Matt Grason of DC Divest. "The fact that they say that it's useless and have to publish newspaper articles and reports about it points to the fact that they're concerned about it."
David Turnbull, campaigns director at Oil Change International, agreed.
"You don't take an ineffective campaign seriously if you're the industry," he said.
Correction: Because of an editor's error, a previous photo caption misstated the location of the divestment protest. It took place at the University of Washington in Seattle. |
A politician has claimed in no uncertain terms that their secret plan for Brexit is considerably better than their opponent’s secret plan for Brexit.
The politician, who was wearing a suit and had absolutely no conscience whatsoever, made the claims yesterday because it was his turn to do so.
“It seems clear to me that none of my opponents have any sort of plan to deal with Brexit,” he said.
“Whereas we have a very clear and detailed secret plan for Brexit that I’ve definitely seen and which is absolutely smashing, it’s going make everyone 4% richer, improve the weather and add several inches to the length of your penis.”
However, the politician’s claims were immediately rubbished by his opponent.
“Their secret plan for Brexit? A load of old balls. Everyone should definitely trust me when I say that our secret plan for Brexit is the secret plan for Brexit you want to go for.
“It’s a ruddy marvel. With our plan, life expectancy will increase by several years, your computer boot time will be slashed, and Mars bars will go back to the size they were when you were a child.”
It is expected that tomorrow a different politician will claim that their secret plan for Brexit is better than their opponent’s secret plan for Brexit. |
WKUK Welcome Transcript dillmackey Mar 24th, 2016 ( edited ) 347 Never 347Never
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rawdownloadcloneembedreportprint text 3.19 KB I made the script by ear as requested by LICK_MY_GOAT_CHEESE on Reddit. It's a homage to one I did a long time ago on Notepad. If you know the corrections or that left parenthesis question mark right parenthesis things, let me know in the comments because I'm posting it in the comments on Reddit! :) Hello there! And welcome to the Whitest Kids CD! You're listening to me! I want you to think of me, not has a CD that you own, But has a friend you could come fight in. Your best friend! We're gonna have so much fun together, and you could tell me all of your thoughts and dreams that will always be here for you. Whenever you're feeling blue, you could just put me on! So, how is your day today? Yeah? Did you have fun at school? Uh-huh? Really? They did? They did? They think they'll so fucking smug, don't they? I bet they wouldn't be so smug if we brought a fucking gun to school! That would shoot the smug right off their fucking faces, wouldn't it? I bet you're talking to you right now. But, guess what? We're talking about them! The only difference is, that we're planning. Where's your dad's gun? This is almost too easy. But, we're do this tomorrow right before first period. I think I heard your mom coming. Don't worry! I'll pretend that I'm a normal CD, I'll pretend to sing a song! London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, My- Okay, the coast is clear! The bitch is gone! Now, where were we? Oh, yeah! Murder! Wow, you and I are getting along great! I feel like we can do anything together! Hey, I got a crazy idea! While we're planning our murders, Why don't you relax by masturbating? I'll play you some sexy girl sounds to help you out! *initiate sexy girl sounds which is voiced by Darren.* Okay! First, we need grappling hooks to get to the Cafeteria roof. Keep masturbating! Then write us that the kids are coming back from Breakthrough Quad when we propell through the sky! (?) Yeah! Keep masturbating! They'll be like fish in a barrel! Oh, your mom is coming back! Put it away, Put it away! London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling- Okay, she's gone. Hey, you know feels really good while you're masturbating? Cutting yourself. Cut yourself with one hand while you drink off at the other. We're going to kill everybody, It's gonna take forever! Yeah, it feels good, doesn't it? You know what else is gonna feel good? Watching the Look-up Taylor (?) and your classmates' faces when we descend from the roof Tomorrow morning with our guns blasing! Why did you blow on the speakers? Why did you blow on the CD tray? Cover me in your blood! Oh, my blood! You know what else I bet is really awesome? Jerking off to dog sounds! *initiate dog sounds* Here, listen to these while you masturbate! Oh, yeah! Oh, that's good! Oh, shit! Your mom's coming! London Bridge is falling down, Falling- Okay, she's gone! Alright, Now finish on yourself! Finish on yourself! Oh, dogs and sexy ladies! Coming to your bazingo! (?) HAHAHAHA! Finish now! HAHA! OH! Oh! Oh, gross! You stupid little shit! I can't believe you actually did that! God! Stop being such a follower all the time! Kids at school are right. You are a dickweed.
RAW Paste Data
I made the script by ear as requested by LICK_MY_GOAT_CHEESE on Reddit. It's a homage to one I did a long time ago on Notepad. If you know the corrections or that left parenthesis question mark right parenthesis things, let me know in the comments because I'm posting it in the comments on Reddit! :) Hello there! And welcome to the Whitest Kids CD! You're listening to me! I want you to think of me, not has a CD that you own, But has a friend you could come fight in. Your best friend! We're gonna have so much fun together, and you could tell me all of your thoughts and dreams that will always be here for you. Whenever you're feeling blue, you could just put me on! So, how is your day today? Yeah? Did you have fun at school? Uh-huh? Really? They did? They did? They think they'll so fucking smug, don't they? I bet they wouldn't be so smug if we brought a fucking gun to school! That would shoot the smug right off their fucking faces, wouldn't it? I bet you're talking to you right now. But, guess what? We're talking about them! The only difference is, that we're planning. Where's your dad's gun? This is almost too easy. But, we're do this tomorrow right before first period. I think I heard your mom coming. Don't worry! I'll pretend that I'm a normal CD, I'll pretend to sing a song! London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling down, My- Okay, the coast is clear! The bitch is gone! Now, where were we? Oh, yeah! Murder! Wow, you and I are getting along great! I feel like we can do anything together! Hey, I got a crazy idea! While we're planning our murders, Why don't you relax by masturbating? I'll play you some sexy girl sounds to help you out! *initiate sexy girl sounds which is voiced by Darren.* Okay! First, we need grappling hooks to get to the Cafeteria roof. Keep masturbating! Then write us that the kids are coming back from Breakthrough Quad when we propell through the sky! (?) Yeah! Keep masturbating! They'll be like fish in a barrel! Oh, your mom is coming back! Put it away, Put it away! London Bridge is falling down, Falling down, falling down. London Bridge is falling- Okay, she's gone. Hey, you know feels really good while you're masturbating? Cutting yourself. Cut yourself with one hand while you drink off at the other. We're going to kill everybody, It's gonna take forever! Yeah, it feels good, doesn't it? You know what else is gonna feel good? Watching the Look-up Taylor (?) and your classmates' faces when we descend from the roof Tomorrow morning with our guns blasing! Why did you blow on the speakers? Why did you blow on the CD tray? Cover me in your blood! Oh, my blood! You know what else I bet is really awesome? Jerking off to dog sounds! *initiate dog sounds* Here, listen to these while you masturbate! Oh, yeah! Oh, that's good! Oh, shit! Your mom's coming! London Bridge is falling down, Falling- Okay, she's gone! Alright, Now finish on yourself! Finish on yourself! Oh, dogs and sexy ladies! Coming to your bazingo! (?) HAHAHAHA! Finish now! HAHA! OH! Oh! Oh, gross! You stupid little shit! I can't believe you actually did that! God! Stop being such a follower all the time! Kids at school are right. You are a dickweed. |
Bill Peterson, league amicably agree to part ways
The NASL is pleased to have received confirmation from U.S. Soccer that it has retained Division II status. This news helps provide important stability to the NASL, which enters the 2017 season with eight clubs.
It is, however, important to acknowledge that 2016 was a challenging year for the league. All NASL club owners therefore wish to pay tribute to the patience shown by their fans and partners in 2016, especially over the last several weeks. The NASL also wishes to thank U.S. Soccer and other stakeholders within the sport for the support and time given to discussions with the league recently.
NASL club owners are committed to delivering a new era for the league in which a new direction and vision is essential. The NASL and Bill Peterson, Commissioner of the NASL since 2012, have amicably agreed to part ways, effective immediately. Rishi Sehgal, Director of Business Development and Legal Affairs, will become Interim Commissioner of the NASL. The process has already begun to find a permanent Commissioner. The club owners would like to thank Bill for his tireless efforts to grow the NASL and his dedication and commitment to the league during his tenure. On leaving the NASL, Bill said:
“The last four years have been incredibly exciting and challenging. The league and clubs accomplished so much during this time and I am very proud to have been a part of it. I am especially proud of the effort and accomplishments of so many others along the way. There is a lot of work still to be done and now is the time to allow someone else to come in and lead the next phase of development for the NASL. I would like to thank the owners, clubs, coaches, players, sponsors, staff, and fans for all of their support and I wish the NASL much success in the future”.
The new Commissioner will inherit a league strong and primed for growth. By severing ties with Traffic Sports USA in November 2016, the NASL, more than ever, has created a strong foundation with a great opportunity to grow the league sustainably over the coming years. With new owners ready to join the league, the NASL is already showing new growth under the direction believed to be necessary to move the league to the next level. In addition, there are a number of groups that have been in discussions with the NASL about committing to the league in the next 12 months.
The new NASL will have three priorities going forward. It will continue its responsibility to work collaboratively with soccer stakeholders across North America to help grow the game. Second, the league will take a more prudent approach to expansion with a more rigorous vetting process by creating an Expansion Committee. Lastly, there will be a focus on long-term growth and as such, the NASL has begun implementing financial sustainability measures to grow the league. To achieve these priorities, the NASL will be investing in the leadership, skills, and capabilities required to maximize its potential.
As the NASL enters the 2017 season, club owners are more committed than ever to enhancing the experience and excitement for soccer fans in North America for years to come.
NASL club owners would like to thank their fans and partners as they work to create an even stronger and more exciting league in the years ahead.
The eight clubs are FC Edmonton, Indy Eleven, Jacksonville Armada FC, Miami FC, New York Cosmos, North Carolina FC, Puerto Rico FC, and San Francisco Deltas. |
Steve Wilhite made the controversial declaration during an interview with the New York Times in the run up to the Webby Awards where he will accept a lifetime achievement award.
He said he was proud of his creation but remained annoyed that most people failed to get its name right.
"The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations," he said. "They are wrong. It is a soft 'G,' pronounced 'jif.' End of story."
The announcement caused shock and outrage on Twitter, where users reacted with horror. "I refuse to accept this," said one, while another tweeted "My life has no meaning any more".
Commentator Caitlin Moran summed up the backlash: "Twitter quite obdurate you will prize "gif" out of our cold, dead three-second clip-looped hands."
The GIF, or Graphics Interchange Format, was invented in 1987 and is widely used on the internet.
One of the most famous GIFs is the dancing baby, from 1996. |
Urban legends
Richard Bellman
The book Dynamic Programming by Richard Bellman is an important, pioneering work in which a group of problems is collected together at the end of some chapters under the heading "Exercises and Research Problems," with extremely trivial questions appearing in the midst of deep, unsolved problems. It is rumored that someone once asked Dr. Bellman how to tell the exercises apart from the research problems, and he replied: "If you can solve it, it is an exercise; otherwise it's a research problem."
At parties, when asked what he did for a living, Bellman would always reply "I am a tennis coach." When asked why he invariable did this, he remarked, "I get tired of the automatic response to the statement that I am a mathematician."
Abram Besicovitch
In 1950, on his fifty-ninth birthday, Besicovitch was elected to the Rouse Ball Chair of Mathematics, succeeding the first holder J. E. Littlewood. Twenty-three years earlier, on his thirty-sixth birthday, thinking that the years of greatest intensity of life were passing, he had said "I have had four-fifths of my life."
When J. C. Burkill reminded him of this in 1950, he received a postcard which read "Numerator was correct."
[ Told by S. J. Taylor in "Abram Samoliovitch Besicovith," Bull. of the London Math. Soc. 7 (July 1975) 194. ]
George Dantzig
George Dantzig, while studying in college, arrived late to one of Neyman's graduate math classes. On the blackboard there were two problems, clearly the homework problems assigned for the week. Dantzig copied them down, and worked on them for days and days. Fully a month later, Dantzig finally turned the problems into Neyman, remarking that they had been a little harder to do than usual.
About six weeks later, at 8 am on a Sunday morning, Dantzig and his wife were awaken by the sound of Professor Neyman banging loudly on their apartment door. Bleary-eyed, Dantzig opened the door, through which Neyman rushed in carrying papers, clearly excited: "I've just written an introduction to one of your papers. Read it so I can send it out right away for publication."
"What are you talking about?"
"Those problems on the board weren't homework problems. They were famous unsolved problems in statistics!"
George Dantzig went on to become the "Father of Linear Programming."
[ Various versions of this story circulate around, usually with better known mathematicians and physicists as the protagonists, with 6 or 8 as the usual number of unsolved problems. I think this -- the real story -- is just as cool; you can find it in "An Interview with George. B. Dantzig: the Father of Linear Programming," by Donald J. Albers, Coll. Math. J. 17 (September 1986) 301. ]
Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac
Dirac had a horse shoe over his desk. One day a student asked if he really believed that a horse shoe brought luck. Professor Dirac replied, "I understand that it brings you luck if you believe in it or not."
Dirac, while still a student, attended a mathematical congress where the following problem was proposed:
Three fisherman were fishing on a secluded island. The fish briskly gobbled the bait; the fisherman were so absorbed that they did not notice that night had come and did not realize till too late what a mountain of fish they had hooked. So they had to spend the night on the island. Two fisherman quickly fell asleep, each nestled down under his boat, but the third had insomnia and decided to go home. He did not wake his comrades, but divided all the fish into three parts. There proved to be one extra fish. After a moment's thought, he threw it into the water, took his hare, and went home. In the middle of the night, the second fisherman woke up. He did not know that the first fisherman had already left and also divided all the fish into three and, as before, there was one fish left over. As before, the fisherman threw the extra fish in the water, took his share, and went home. By early morning, the third fisherman awoke. He did not notice that the other two fisherman had left, so he too divided all the fish into three and, as before, there was one fish left over. As did his comrades before him, the fisherman threw the extra fish in the water, took his share, and went home.
The problem was to determine the least number of fish that the fisherman could have caught. Dirac thought about the problem for a moment before coming to an answer: there were (-2) fishes.
His reasoning? After the first fisherman carried out the antisocial action of throwing a fish into the water there were -2-1 = -3 fish. The he went, carrying in his bag -1 fish, and there were -3-(-1) = -2 fish left behind. The other two fisherman merely repeated this procedure.
[ Related by V. Berezinsky in his article "How a theoretical physicist works," from Paths into the Unknown No. 2, 1968. ]
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein, who fancied himself as a violinist, was rehearsing a Haydn string quartet. When he failed for the fourth time to get his entry in the second movement, the cellist looked up and said, "The problem with you, Albert, is that you simply can't count."
Ia I Frankel
It is said that in the Physical Theoretical Institute in the 30s, a certain experimenter caught up with him in a corridor and showed him a curve obtained from an experiment. After a minute's thought Ia I gave an explanation for the form of this curve. However, it was explained that the curve had accidentally been turned upside down. The curve was put into place and having thought it over he explained this behavior too.
[ Related by V. Berezinsky in his article "How a theoretical physicist works," from Paths into the Unknown No. 2, 1968. ]
Evereste Galois
Evariste Galois was not only a mathematical genius but also a dedicated revolutionary. Ironically, he proved that many problems cannot be solved by radicals.
[ Related to me by Jason Lee. ]
Jacques Hadamard
At the Bologna Congress, the meetings started in Bologna and ended in Florence. That's about a three-hour train ride and for this there was a special train. Hadamard was placed in a compartment of particularly noisy mathematicians, but he himself was tired and wanted to have some peace. Rather than simply try and ask the group to settle down (and since they were easily excitable mathe,aticians, this would likely be ineffective anyway), he instead posed aloud in the compartment a puzzle -- a rather difficult problem.
Very quickly, everyone started working on the puzzle, and it suddenly became quiet so Hadamard could sleep.
[ Polya was one of the mathematicians in the compartment, and he tells this story in A Polya Picture Album , Boston: Birkhauser, 1987, p. 87. ]
Godfrey H. Hardy
Hardy once said that he could prove anything if it given a contradiction to begin with. McTaggart denied the consequence: "if 2+2=5, how can you prove that I am the pope?" Hardy replied: "if 2+2=5, 4=5; subtract 3; then 1=2; but McTaggart and the pope are two; therefore McTaggart and the pope are one."
A famous mathematician (I don't know who) was to give a keynote speech at a conference. Asked for an advance summary, he said he would present a proof of Fermat's Last Theorem -- but they should keep it under their hats. When he arrived, though, he spoke on a much more prosaic topic. Afterwards the conference organizers asked why he said he'd talk about the theorem and then didn't. He replied this was his standard practice, just in case he was killed on the way to the conference.
Actually, the previous story is true, although for prosaic reasons, Fermat's Last Theorem is better known and hence delivers the punchline better. But the real story is just as amusing.
In fact, the story is actually about Hardy and the Riemann Hypothesis.
Hardy had a running feud with God. In Hardy's view, God had nothing more important to do than to frustrate Hardy. This lead to an insurance policy for Hardy one time when he was trying to get back to Cambridge after a visit to Bohr in Denmark. The weather was bad and there was only a small boat available. Hardy thought there was the real possibility the boat would sink.
So he sent a postcard to Bohr saying: I proved the Riemann Hypothesis. --G. H. Hardy. That way, if the boat sank, everyone would think that Hardy had proved the Riemann Hypothesis. God could not allow so much glory for Hardy, and so he could not allow the boat to sink.
And lo and behold, it did not. Hardy was saved.
[ This version of the story is told by George Poyla; c.f. A Polya Picture Album , G. L. Alexanderson (ed.), Boston: Birkhauser, 1987, p. 89. ]
Hardy was also highly opinionated. In his workings with Hardy, Polya once had an idea of which Hardy approved. But afterwards, Polya did not work it out sufficiently hard to carry out the idea, and Hardy disapproved. Of course, he did not say so, at least not directly.
However, soon afterwards, he, Polya, and Riesz went to a zoological garden in Sweden. While they were at the bear cage, the bear sniffled the lock of the cage, hit it with his paw, growled a little, and finally turned around and walked away.
At this point, Hardy elbowed Riesz and replied, "He is like Polya! He has excellent ideas, but does not carry them out!"
[ Told by George Poyla in "Some Mathematicians I Have Known," Amer. Math. Monthly 76 (August-September 1969) 752. ]
David Hilbert
Hilbert was very absent-minded (what famous mathematician isn't?). During one of tha parties he held at his house with his wife, Frau Hilbert noticed that her husband forgot to put on a fresh shirt. "David," she said sternly, "go upstairs and put on another shirt." David, as befitting a married man, meekly obeyed and went upstairs.
However, he did not come back. Five minutes pass... ten minutes pass... and yet David failed to reappear downstairs to greet his guests. Finally, Frau Hilbert went upstairs to see what was taking her husband so long. She entered the room and found him tucked in bed, quietly asleep. You see, it was the natural sequence of things: take off the coat, take off the tie, take off the shirt, and so on, and then go to bed.
[ Told by George Poyla in "Some Mathematicians I Have Known," Amer. Math. Monthly 76 (August-September 1969) 752. ]
Mark Kac
During an oral examination by the Polish mathematician Mark Kac, a student was asked the behaviour of the Rieman zeta function zeta(s) at s=1. When the student had no idea, Kac gave the hint, "Think of me."
The anser came immediately. "Aah, it has a simple pole!"
Paul Levy
Alfred Errera was a Belgian and a student of Landau's. He was also a multimillionaire (but then again, so was Landau). To be invited to his house for dinner was quite something: the dinner was always very elaborate, with many courses and different wines, footmen and waiters were there to answer upon each guest, and so one.
Anyway, Errera hosted a part in honor of Levy, who was (of course) notoriously absent-minded. The next day, Levy and Errera met on the street, and Errera (who was very polite) said: "I had great pleasure last evening."
"Ah, really?" said Levy. "And where were you last evening?"
[ Another story told by Polya in the Polya Picture Album . ]
Lev Loytiansky
Lev Loytiansky was a mathematician in the Soviet Union in the 30s and 40s. Loytiansky organized the seminar in hydrodynamics in his University. Among the regular attendees there were two men in the uniform, obviously military engineers. They never discussed the problems they were working on.
Then one day they ask Loytiansky to help with a math problem. They explained that the solution of a certain equation oscillated and asked how they should change the coefficients to make it monotonic. Loytiansky looked on the equation and said "Make the wings longer!"
H. A. Rowland
It seems that Rowland was called on to testify as a science expert in a court case. In exploring his competetnce an attorney asked him who was the foremost American physicist. Unhesitatingly, Rowland answered, "I am." Later a friend reproached him gently for his immodesty. Rowland's response was, "Well, you have to remember, I was under oath."
[ Told by Paul Kirkpatrick in A Random Walk in Science , (New York) 1973. ]
Bertrand Russel
Russell to Whitehead: "My Godel is killing me!"
Russell was once asked if he believed in God. He replied "Yes. Up to isomorphism."
Around the time when Cold War started, Bertrand Russell was giving a lecture on politics in England. Being a leftist in a conservative women's club, he was not received well at all: the ladies came up to him and started attacking him with whatever they could get their hands on. The guard, being an English gentleman, did not want to be rough to the ladies and yet needed to save Russell from them.
He said, "But he is a great mathematician!" The ladies ignored him.
The guard said again, "But he is a great philosopher!" The ladies ignored him again.
In desperation, finally, he said, "But his brother is an earl!" Bert was saved.
Allen Shields
Shields like to play with words. His letters were spiced with all sorts of intentional and outrageous distortions. A Banache spave was sometimes called a Bone Ache space. He referred to Chubby Chef's inequality. A proposed course in measure theory with modest prerequisites became a course on the LaVague integral. One page of a manuscript sent to Peter Duren contained a sentence that read "Without loss of genitalia, we may assume..."
When asked why he wrote such things, Shields said that he was just checking if anyone was reading them.
[ Told by Peter Dureh in "In Remembrance of Allen Shields," Math. Intell. 12 (Spring 1990) 12. ]
Waclaw Sierpinkski
Sierpinski was always rather absent-minded. On one occasion, we had to move into a new residence.. His wife wife didn't trust him very much, so when they stood down on the street with all their things, she said "Now, you stand here and watch our ten trunks, while I go and get a taxi."
She left and left him there, gazing off into space and humming absently. Some minutes later she returned, presumably having called for a taxi.
Said Sierpinski (possibly with a glint in his eye): "I thought you said there were ten trunks, but I've only counted to nine."
Panicked that some of their possessions might have been stolen from under their noses, his wife demanded "No, they were TEN!"
"No, no, no! Just count them. 0, 1, 2, ..."
Hugo Steinhaus
When Steinhaus failed to attend an important meeting of the Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences in 1960, he received a letter chiding him for "not having justified his absence." He immediately wired the President of the Academy that "as long as there are members who have not yet justified their presence, I do not need to justify my absence."
[ Told by Mark Kac in "Hugo Steinhaus -- A Remembrance and a Tribute," Amer. Math. Monthly 81 (June-July 1974) 578. ]
Steinhaus' seminar course had a small attendance and one day only two students were present. Steinhaus went through the lecture without so much as a glance at the depleted audience, and at the end, one of the students asked him what was the minimal number of listeners to whom he would feel compelled to lecture.
"Tres facit collegium," said he. "Three make a college."
The very next day, the other student failed to attend, leaving just the one student present with Steinhaus. Again, Steinhaus went through the lecture as before, untile the student interrupted him and asked jokingly, "What about the tres facit collegium?"
"God," said Steinhaus, "is always present," and continued to lecture. Steinhaus was, of course, an avowed atheist.
[ The student is question was Mark Kac, the story is related in Enigmas of Chance , New York: Harper and Row, 1985, p. 38. ]
Norbert Wiener
When Wiener moved from Cambridge to Newton his wife, knowing that he would be absolutely useless on the move, packed him off to MIT while she directed the move. Since she was certain that he would forget that they had moved and where they had moved to, she wrote down the new address on a piece of paper, and gave it to him.
Naturally, in the course of the day, an insight occurred to him. He reached in his pocket, found a piece of paper on which he furiously scribbled some notes, thought it over, decided there was a fallacy in his idea, and threw the piece of paper away. At the end of the day he went home (to the old address in Cambridge, of course).
When he got there he realized that they had moved, that he had no idea where they had moved to, and that the piece of paper with the address was long gone. Fortunately inspiration struck. There was a young girl on the street and he conceived the idea of asking her where he had moved to, saying, "Excuse me, perhaps you know me. I'm Norbert Wiener and we've just moved. Would you know where we've moved to?"
"Yes daddy. Mommy thought you would forget."
[ This story was originally told by Steven G. Krantz in "Mathematical Anecdotes," Math. Intell. 12 (Fall 1990) 38. However, the version above is my personal favorite variation of it. ]
Theodore von Karman
Karman held a double position: professor at Aachen in Germany and lecturer at Cal tech in Pasadena. As an important aeronautical engineer, he was consulted to several airlines, and so he got free transportation whenever he found an unoccupied seat on the plane of one of these airlines. So he commuted more or less regularly between Aachen and Pasadena, and gave similar lectures at both places.
Once, he was somewhat tired when he arrived in Pasadena, but being a trooper, started lecturing. That was not so difficult anyway: he had the notes which he also used in Aachen. He talked, but as he looked around he had the impression that the faces in the audience looked more blank than usual.
And then he caught himself: he had been speaking in German! He became very upset. "You should have told me -- why did you not tell me?"
At length, one student spoke: "Don't be upset, Professor. You may speak German, you may speak English; we will understand just as much."
[ Karman himself liked to tell this story. ]
John von Neumann
The following problem can be solved either the easy way or the hard way: Two trains 200 miles apart are moving toward each other; each one is going at a speed of 50 miles per hour. A fly starting on the front of one of them flies back and forth between them at a rate of 75 miles per hour. It does this until the trains collide and crush the fly to death. What is the total distance the fly has flown?
The fly actually hits each train an infinite number of times before it gets crushed, and one could solve the problem the hard way with pencil and paper by summing an infinite series of distances. The easy way is as follows: Since the trains are 200 miles apart and each train is going 50 miles an hour, it takes 2 hours for the trains to collide. Therefore the fly was flying for two hours. Since the fly was flying at a rate of 75 miles per hour, the fly must have flown 150 miles. That's all there is to it.
When this problem was posed to John von Neumann, he immediately replied, "150 miles."
"It is very strange," said the poser, "but nearly everyone tries to sum the infinite series."
"What do you mean, strange?" asked Von Neumann. "That's how I did it!"
[ Told by Paul Halmos, in "The Legend of John von Neumann," Amer. Math. Monthly 80 (April 1973) 386. ]
Von Neumann had the habit of simply writing answers to homework assignments on the board when he was asked how to solve problems. (The method of solution was, of course, obvious.) One time one of his students tried to get more helpful information by asking if there was another way to solve the problem. Von Neumann looked blank for a moment, thought, and then answered, "Yes".
Von Neumann is quoted as saying the following to a grduate student. "Young man, in mathematics you don't understand things, you just get used to them."
Antoni Zygmund
Once, when walking past a loungue in the University of Chicago that was filled with a loud crowd watching TV, Zygmund asked one of his students what was going on. The student told him that the crowd was watching the World Series, and explained to him some of the features of this baseball phenomenon.
Zygmund thought about it all for a few minutes an commented, "I think it should be called the World Sequence."
[ From A Century of Mathematics in America, Part III , Peter Duren (ed.), Providence, RI: AMS 1989, p. 348. ]
Other legends
The Stanford Linear Accelerator Center was known as SLAC, until the big earthquake, when it became known as SPLAC.
SPLAC? The Stanford Piecewise-Linear Accelerator.
There exists a Harvard student organization called PCC (Peer Contraceptive Counselors) who hand out free prophylactics to students ...and go into freshman dorms, armed with bananas, to demonstrate their proper use. Some joker posted one of their flyers in the math department computer lab. The flyer read, "Do You Dream About Latex?"
[ If you have to ask, you don't understand. ]
This appeared in the euology of a certain mathematician: "He made a lot of mistakes, but he made them in a good direction. I tried to copy this, but I found out that it is very difficult to make good mistakes." |
As we deliver the stat of the week, it’s important to remember this is the preseason. Take every number with a grain of salt.
But it’s hard to ignore the Heat’s start to the preseason. Even with 10 new players on the roster, Miami has played impressive basketball in stretches over its first three preseason games.
Our stat of the week is evidence of that strong start.
8.5 net rating: This is a positive number for the Heat. The net rating is a good indicator of how a team is playing on both ends of the court because it’s the difference between a team’s offensive and defensive ratings (OR-DR). The offensive rating is the number of points a team scores per 100 possessions and the defensive rating is the number of points a team allows per 100 possessions. A positive net rating is good and a negative net rating is bad. Through three preseason games, the Heat’s offensive rating is 106.2 (3rd in NBA) with a defensive rating of 97.7 (15th in NBA) for a net rating of 8.5 (4th in NBA). Yes, its only three preseason games. But the Heat have shown some encouraging signs early on. Miami finished last season with a 2.6 net rating, which ranked the Heat 10th in the NBA. This number is worth keeping track of.
[Improved spacing helping Goran Dragic, Hassan Whiteside, Heat offense]
[Q&A with Heat (power) forward Luke Babbitt]
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New data released by state regulators provide a detailed snapshot of California’s battle against global warming. We’ve crunched the numbers on specific sources of pollution, including planes, cars and trucks, and how the state’s pollution compares to the size of its economy.
The state has been chipping away at greenhouse gas emissions in recent years. However, it’s going to need much deeper cuts to reach its goals.
version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"? ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 ’05 ’06 ’07 ’08 ’09 ’10 ’11 ’12 ’13 ’14 ’15 300 350 250 400 450 500 550 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions 300 350 400 450 500 Data: abcdefg hijkl mnop qrstu vwxyz 1234 56789 Joe Fox / @latimesgraphics Source: California Air Resources Board 2015: 440 million 2020 target: 431 million 2030 target: 260 million
Emissions have been reduced by approximately 1% each year since 2006, when California enacted its landmark law setting a target for cutting pollution that causes climate change. But to reach a newer, more ambitious goal for 2030, cuts will need to happen at about three times that pace.
California tracks emissions from each sector of the economy, and the data show how each has changed over time. Transportation remains the single largest source, and the transition from gasoline engines to electric cars has been happening more slowly than regulators want. Emissions from passenger vehicles alone jumped 4.4% in 2015 as more Californians hit the road, fueled by the economic recovery and the relatively low price of gasoline.
More progress has been made on electricity generation. Overall emissions from power plants fell 5.2% in 2015, reaching a level 30.4% lower than it was in 2008. There’s less coal power and more renewable energy being imported into the state.
Sources of California greenhouse gas emissions
Here’s a closer look at how the state’s emissions were generated in 2015, the most recent year for which data were available. Besides transportation, industrial sources are the next largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. |
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Alabama-based creationist writer Darek Isaacs has created a stir with his assertion that dragons must be real because they are mentioned in the Bible.
"The Bible speaks about dragons,” Isaacs said in an interview on the talk show Creation Today, posted on YouTube. "Our authority, everything we do, we have to measure by the word of God. That is what I believe. So we have to go to the Bible, and the Bible speaks about dragons."
Cover of "Dragons or Dinosaurs" book by Darek Isaacs.
Isaacs is a filmmaker and author of "Dragons or Dinosaurs: Creation or Evolution?" He has spoken at Beth Hallel Messianic Congregation in Hoover, where he lived for a time, said the former pastor there, Rabbi Eric Walker.
Walker said he believes Isaacs' assertion that dragons must be real because they are in the Bible. "He’s an armor-plated defender of biblical creation," said Walker, who left as pastor of Beth Hallel on May 11 for a sabbatical and recently announced he’s not returning.
In the Book of Revelation, Satan is compared to a dragon.
“If dragons in fact were entirely mythological, if they were a figment of the imagination, and if they never ever did exist, then God just compared our adversary to a make-believe creature that never existed,” Isaacs said on Creation Today.
The interview was the subject of a news report on the Huffington Post web site.
Isaacs sells copies of his books and videos through his web site, www.watchmen33.com. |
Twitter/@HuffPostMedia
CNN's Wolf Blitzer had two rather defiant moments early this afternoon.
First, he made a brief appearance on air to talk about Egypt's unfolding events, in a cut away from the network's ongoing, sometimes tireless coverage of the George Zimmerman trial.
When he handed it back to Ashleigh Banfield for more Zimmerman analysis, he snidely remarked that while there was "historic news in Egypt right now," there was "other news going on, too."
Then, as he was set to go live on air for the 1 p.m. ET hour of "CNN Newsroom," he tweeted a message specifically noting that he would be covering the Egypt developments.
CNN has taken plenty of heat today for its focus on the Zimmerman trial, which it has only interrupted for brief updates on a situation one of their star anchors calls "historic."
There's a simple reason why, however, as the New York Times' Nate Silver pointed out on Twitter. The public is much more interested in the play-by-play of a domestic trial that has attracted enormous media interest because of its implications for the debate on race in America.
As you can see in the Google Trends chart below, searches for Zimmerman-related searches far outpace those related to Egypt: |
Money may not be able to buy you happiness, but it can buy you a seat in a rocket ship next to Leonardo DiCaprio. One fan won the opportunity of a lifetime with a bid of $1.5 million at the Cannes Film Festival during a charity auction on Thursday, May 23.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the winning bidder will get the chance to travel into space aboard the Virgin Galactic strapped into a seat next to the Great Gatsby actor — while also doing some good for the world.
PHOTOS: Celebrity do-gooders
A portion of the proceeds from the auction will go toward the AmFAR Cinema Against AIDS charity. A second pair of seats was also auctioned off on Thursday for a whopping $2.3 million.
The trip was initially listed in the auction booklet as a "once-in-a-lifetime trip to space with a mystery guest," and Harvey Weinstein later revealed that the mystery guest was DiCaprio himself.
PHOTOS: All the stars at Cannes!
"We're going to get someone to bid on a seat next to him," he told The Hollywood Reporter, adding as a joke that plenty of people in the film business probably wanted to see him fly into space as well, "but only on a one-way ticket."
DiCaprio would not be the first celebrity lined up for a journey into the beyond — it was revealed in March 2012 that Ashton Kutcher was the 500th customer to sign up for Richard Branson's venture to launch tourists into space.
PHOTOS: Leo and Blake's whirlwind romance
"I gave Ashton a quick call to congratulate and welcome him," Branson wrote on his blog at the time. "He is as thrilled as we are at the prospect of being among the first to cross the final frontier (and back!) with us and to experience the magic of space for himself."
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Nim Karma said that he wants to contest for the NC because firstly, he feels as a responsible Bhutanese citizen it falls upon him to participate in the democratic parliamentary process and ensure its success, relevance and stability.
Corcoran added, 'Barny's history as a co-founder of Fisker Automotive and as Managing Director Europe and Asia for Karma Automotive uniquely qualifies him for this role, the strategic importance of which cannot be overstated due to the huge potential of the Chinese EV market.
has voted to dismantle 'Net Neutrality', Karma has created a security product that provides an internet 'buffer zone' to protect your identity, activity and location while online" says Todd Wallace, Karma Mobility CEO.
I tend, however, to regard karma more as a natural physical law rather than a moral law.
amp;nbsp;The connection between natural calamities and Karma has been drawn on several instances.
Credit Karma , a top venture-backed personal finance company, has named Susannah Wright its first general counsel.
A combination of body and sun care products, our favourite is the Ritual Of Karma Sun Protection Milky Spray Spf 30, PS18, rituals.
The first Revero automobiles were loaded onto transport trucks at Karma 's Moreno Valley production facility destined for delivery to Karma retailer showrooms.
The great thing about Karma Hospital is because of where it's set you have actors people aren't used to seeing, so that can make it more interesting.
And, it is the multiple language versions of Karma Sutra(the flagship product of the Hingori Sutras) that were launched today by Mr Suresh Prabhu, Union Minister for Indian Railways.
Karma can manifest as recurring patterns of struggle, relationships that feel a little too familiar, or, as Joanne DiMaggio explores in her new book Karma Can Be A Real Pain, mysterious aches and pains. |
Action pic "Escape Plan" and WikiLeaks movie "The Fifth Estate" are also opening this weekend, while "Gravity" is likely to have another strong outing.
Carrie, MGM and Screen Gems' new adaptation of Stephen King's classic novel, was unleashed on Thursday night, earning $725,000 in late-night and midnight runs.
The horror film starring Kick-Ass actress Chloe Grace Moretz in the titular role opposite Julianne Moore has the potential to take the No. 1 spot from Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, now in its third week in theaters.
PHOTOS: 25 of Fall's Most Anticipated Movies
Directed by Kimberly Peirce, Carrie, which opened at 10 p.m. in some cities, comes to theaters 37 years after Brian De Palma's big-screen adaptation, which starred Sissy Spacek. The story follows a timid high school student who suffers abuse from her religious mother and the torment of her classmates until she realizes she has telekinetic powers.
Opening at 3,157 locations, the horror pic -- made for under $30 million -- is likely to be a popular choice for the teen crowd and has a chance of hitting $30 million in its debut, although Sony is being far more conservative, suggesting it could open in the $18 million to $20 million range.
VIDEO: 'Carrie's' New Look: Chloe Grace Moretz, Julianne Moore Are a Horrific Mother-Daughter Duo
However, space epic Gravity starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney has been showing incredible staying power and has the possibility to earn at least $30 million in its third outing. The Warner Bros. film has earned $204 million globally through Wednesday and could approach $300 million by the end of the weekend.
Also opening this weekend is Escape Plan, the action pic starring Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. The Summit Entertainment and Emmett/Furla film is opening in 2,833 theaters, but is likely to open soft, to about $10 million.
Q&A: 'Carrie' Star Chloe Grace Moretz on Stephen King's Book, Fake Pig's Blood and Bullying
DreamWorks' WikiLeaks movie The Fifth Estate also isn't likely to have a strong opening this weekend. Directed by Bill Condon and distributed in North America by Disney, Fifth Estate may only open in the $5 million to $6 million range, a blow for the filmmakers. It's opening in 1,769 theaters.
The movie, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, faces fierce competition for adults from Gravity and Tom Hanks starrer Captain Phillips. (Sony's Captain Phillips opened to a better-than-expected $25.7 million last weekend.)
E-mail: [email protected]
Twitter: @Beccamford |
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